Collected together here on a single 26-track disc are two prime albums from saxophonist and orchestra leader
Billy Vaughn
, one of the greats of easy listening music. After taking a job as music director at
Dot Records
, the Kentucky-born musician went on to form his first orchestra in the mid-'50s and would dominate the
Billboard
charts over the coming decade and a half with his smooth pop arrangements and his golden alto sax, which would cover many of the lead melodies. Though his band would become the go-to backing orchestra for many other pop stars, these two albums were recorded in what is considered his prime solo era (1957-1963).
1962's Greatest Hits
(released in early 1963) is just that, a collection of some of that year's best-known songs like
the Tornados
' "Telstar,"
Ray Charles
' "I Can't Stop Loving You," and
Henry Mancini
's classic "Moon River."
The Shifting Whispering Sands
(from 1962) employs
Vaughn
's creamy "twin sax" sound to a set of Western-themed songs like "Cool Water," "Home on the Range," and the two-part title cut complete with its spoken word tale of the Western desert. Both are definitive works from a major star of the easy listening era. ~ Timothy Monger