jim henson

One of several eclectic instrumental arrangements of this tune recorded back in the day.

Excerpted from the back cover liner notes:

"The ever changing concepts of modern living have given rise to new ideas in many areas of creative endeavor, including the artistic field of music making.

"The Zither, although a very ancient and revered instrument, has had to wait for a major talent, with a flair for popular music and a modern mind, to bring it out of its traditional use as an atmospheric background in European cafes, or a twangy accompaniment for old world 'folk' ballads.

"This talent has arrived! He is Viennese born (1937) Karl Swoboda.

"Karl, who now appears regularly on European Radio and TV, began zithering when only nine years old. He received his most valuable legitimate training from 1953 to 1956 at the Conservatory of Vienna. The door to fame was opened for him as a result of his winning an amateur contest which led directly to an American TV appearance on the Ted Mack Hour. When he returned home, his still continuing appearances began.

"His previous album for Philips, 'Pop Goes The Zither' is a hit on both continents, thereby making him an artist of international stature.

"Karl uses the delicate instrument more like a guitar, in that he has freed the zither from its usual traditional use in a chordal mode with his conception of a free flowing single note melodic line.

"The zither has many tone qualities which can remind one of the plano, harpsichord, harp or guitar. In the hands of Karl Swoboda it takes on a very warm and personal sound with a timbre on certain numbers not unlike that of the great Gypsy guitarist, Django Reinhardt."

Post-pop music endeavors, Karl Swoboda has made dozens of classical recordings in Europe, presumably playing the zither in a more traditional manner.

From the LP 'Dancing Zither' (Phillips Records, 1966),
listen to: Karl Swoboda - The "In" Crowd
(click for audio)

I came across this full-page illustration in a '57 issue of LIFE Magazine, acompanying an article about the innovations and possibilities of recording tape.

I was struck by artist Richard Erdoes familiar and charming style, as well as the happy and only slightly off-target prescience of the images...

(click on image to ENLARGE on a new page)

"Present and future uses of tape ranges from simple home recordings (top strip) to complex operation of push-button households (bottom)."

In casting about for further examples of Erdoes' work, I was pleased and not at all surprised to discover that there has been at least a small bit of further discussion online: (click on links)

Some images from the 1954 book Jokes, Jokes, Jokes appeared a couple of months back at
Mike Lynch's site (Found via Drawn!), which in turn yielded a link to some 1960's color book illustrations posted at flickr by Eric Sturdevant.

What can be gleaned about Erdoes' from these links is that he supplied many illustrations to LIFE in the fifties, and by the sixties produced artwork for several children's books.

Is there anyone reading this who can share further info about this artist, or point us all to further examples of his work? If so, please drop a line or leave a comment on this post. Much obliged!

ADDENDUM, 4/6/08: Thanks to Sami (see comments) for sharing the discovery of an Erdoes LP cover.

It's the 1953 'studio cast' recording of Rodgers & Hart's 'The Boys From Syracuse'.

Googling about I found a clearer image of the album art.
Agreed, Sami, very Flora-esque!

ADDENDUM, 5/3/10: Thanks to Ariel S. Winter (see comments) for providing a link to his
Flickr sets, including plenty of Erdoes illos!

A few randoms and sundries with a quickness whilst I'm on the fly back here in my old bay area stamping grounds...

- My Guest-DJ shift at KALX yesterday morning was a complete BLAST!

A treat to hang with Sex 14s, great to get that rush of the 'seat-of-the-pants, non-definitive radio' experience that I've not had in a while. Several nice calls and follow-up emails from well-wishers, a few pop-ins from old radio pals... A true lovefest.

Elsewhere - -

- Be sure to bookmark the enormous and stunning bad music etc mp3 archive at April Winchell's website.

("The only bad music is boring music" - Barrett 'Dr. Demento' Hansen)

(Thanks to Laura In The Living Room for the link!)

- During a visit to Green Apple Books the other day I was lucky enough to find a copy of Taschen's new 'Tiki Modern' book to leaf through.

I'd read about it at Eye of the Goof, but it was my first chance to see it in person. Absolutely lovely! A feast of eye-candy. Yum yum!

- 'Dreams To Remember: The Legacy of Otis Redding' - - a new DVD from Stax. Haven't seen it yet, but you better believe I'll be checking it out.

Spotted it the other day. Loaded with performance clips, it looks like a dream come true. Fingers crossed...