Listen Here.

Track List Here.

My purpose in making this mix is anything but ironic. Easy listening means many things to many people, but if it’s the right era and the right vibe, I’m a true fan.

My Mixcloud friend Joe, a.k.a. Rumpel, motivated me to take a more active interest in this kind of music. I thought of it as a kitchy style from my youth that evoked a hazy nostalgia when I came across it. But when I heard one of Joe’s easy listening mixes a few years ago, I had to admit that I loved the music more than I realized.

Around the same time I was volunteering for an advocacy group working on music legislation in the US. I learned about The Music Modernization Act (MMA) of 2018, which made new laws in many areas, including the status of recordings made before 1972.

One outcome of the new laws was that any pre-1972 recordings that were not reissued by their owners could essentially be treated as public domain. So some websites took on the task of ripping old vinyl releases that their record companies had “abandoned” and making them available for free. As a result, a huge amount of copyright-liberated 60s easy listening is now available to download.

So when I say the mix is “all vinyl”, it doesn’t mean I made it in real time with two turntables. Many of these tracks are downloads ripped from vinyl by somebody else. Others are ripped from vinyl I purchased at used record stores. Needless to say some of this vinyl was not in great condition, so I found software that does an good job of cleaning up pops and clicks without wiping out high frequencies.

As you can see by the track list, my collection isn’t huge, about 15 artists total. I chose some of my favorite melodies; some songs I knew but never knew the title; and some that are brand new to me. All the selections are instrumental, meaning nobody is singing the words. You will hear some singing in the form of an occasional “ooh” or “aah”.

As for individual tracks, I’ll start by pointing out that two of these songs also appeared in my “regular” Winter mix in jazz versions: “I Concentrate on You” by Patricia Barber, and “Stella by Starlight” by Grant Green.

You might recognize “Io Che Non Vivo Senza Te”. It’s an Italian song (as you may have guessed by the title) that debuted at the 1965 edition of the Sanremo Song Festival. At the festival that year was Dusty Springfield, who was reportedly moved to tears by the song even though she didn’t understand the Italian lyrics. A year later, Dusty asked some writers to provide English lyrics. “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me” was the result.

Anyone who knows 60s and 70s American pop culture will probably remember Doc Severinsen, the bandleader on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show. He didn’t get to play the trumpet much on the show, but he was a top LA musician when he got the job. Apparently he did some studio work in 1966, because he’s the soloist on Enoch Light’s version of “Alfie”.

I’ll end with a personal memory about easy listening. I spent many childhood summers in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. One of the families I knew often had an easy listening radio station playing in their home. This station had a feature called “Music for Dining”: commercial-free easy listening from 6 to 7 PM. As a tribute to “Music for Dining”, this mix is just about an hour.

1. Frank Chacksfield and His Orchestra – More
2. André Kostelanetz and His Orchestra – What to Do?
3. Clebanoff and His Orchestra – Theme from By Love Possessed
4. Caravelli and His Magnificent Strings – Non Pensare A Me
5. Le Grand Orchestre de Paul Mauriat – Vivre Pour Vivre
6. John Cacavas and His Orchestra – Bunny Lake Is Missing
7. Hugo Montenegro and His Orchestra – Candy’s Theme
8. Franck Pourcel et Son Grand Orchestre – La Ronde
9. Mantovani and His Orchestra – The Shadow of Your Smile
10. Billy Vaughn and His Orchestra – Some Enchanted Evening
11. Clebanoff and His Orchestra – Bonjour Tristesse
12. Caravelli and His Magnificent Strings – Io Che Non Vivo Senza Te
13. André Kostelanetz and His Orchestra – Ebb Tide
14. Bert Kaempfert and His Orchestra – Fascination
15. Enoch Light and The Light Brigade – Alfie
16. John Cacavas and His Orchestra – I Concentrate on You
17. Franck Pourcel et Son Grand Orchestre – Sous Quelle Etoile Suis-Je Né?
18. Frank Chacksfield and His Orchestra – Canto D’amore
19. Billy Vaughn and His Orchestra – Stella by Starlight
20. Le Grand Orchestre de Paul Mauriat – Un Monde Avec Toi
21. The Clebanoff Strings – Theme from The Valley of the Dolls
22. Mantovani and His Orchestra – Quentin’s Theme