HOW THIS ALBUM CAME ABOUT
Irving Berlin, after too long an absence from the Broadway scene, has brought magic back into the theater with his tremendous score for the Broadway show MR. PRESIDENT. We felt this one Sunday afternoon when we heard a run-through of the score. Even before it was over, we were itching to record several of the songs we had heard for the first time. But how? Which tunes? With whom?
There was only one answer.
The next day we approached Perry Como with fingers crossed and an idea. How would he like to devote an entire album to songs from Irving Berlin's score for MR. PRESIDENT ?
Perry said he'd like to hear the score. A reasonable request. Fingers still crossed, we brought him the score. Ray Charles played it through on the piano . . . Perry hummed. Somebody mentioned that Kaye Ballard could do "They Love Me" real great. Somebody else said, "Can you hear Sandy Stewart doing "The Secret Service?" Soon the room was filled with excitement and ideas.
This is the way it happened that the songs from a great Irving Berlin score of a new Broadway show were recorded by Perry Como and his great TV cast.
THE BEST OF IRVING BERLIN'S SONGS FROM "MR. PRESIDENT" PERRY COMO KAYE BALLARD & SANDY STEWART THE RAY CHARLES SINGERS WITH MITCHELL AYRES' ORCHESTRA
| Album Sessions | Produced for records by Hugo & Luigi Orchestrations by Philip J. Lang Vocal Arrangements by Ray Charles With Mitchell Ayres' Orchestra & the Ray Charles Singers Also with Kaye Ballard and Sandy Stewart Recorded in Webster Hall, New York City Recording Engineer: Bob Simpson
Recorded September 30th, October 1st and 2nd, 1962
