Memorial Album (Bunny Berigan album)
{{short description|1944 jazz album by Bunny Berigan}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Bunny Berigan: Memorial Album
| type = compilation
| artist = Bunny Berigan
| cover = Bunnyalbum.png
| released = November 1944
| recorded = 1937, 1938
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| length =
| label = Victor
| producer =
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Memorial Album is a compilation album by trumpeter Bunny Berigan that was released posthumously. Drawn from sessions where he was bandleader of his Orchestra,{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/sing%21-sing%21-sing%21-vol-3-1937-1938-mw0000865402 |title=Sing! Sing! Sing!, Vol. 3: 1937-1938 |website= Allmusic |publisher= RhythmOne |access-date=23 October 2018}} tributes from publications appeared on the inside of the cover titled "Final Salute to Bunny Berigan".
Reception
{{Album ratings
|rev1 = Billboard
}}
In November 1944, critics hailed the album as a testimonial to the late Berigan's playing style.{{cite web|url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-Billboard-IDX/IDX/40s/1944/Billboard-1944-11-11-OCR-Page-0018.pdf |title=Popular Record Releases |date=11 November 1944 |website= American Radio History |publisher= The Billboard |access-date=18 October 2018}} Due to similarities in tone, phrasing, and ability, Berigan was often compared to Bix Beiderbecke.{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/bunny-berigan-mn0000639789 |title=Bunny Berigan Biography by Scott Yanow |website= Allmusic |publisher=RhythmOne |access-date=23 October 2018}} His early death due to complications from alcoholism added to the comparison because Beiderbecke, too, was an alcoholic. "One of these years they're going to start talking about Bunny Berigan the way they now talk about Bix Beiderbecke. And they'll be right, of course."{{cite journal |last1=Simon |first1=George T. |title=Bunny, Like Bix, Will Soon Be a Myth |journal=DownBeat |date=July 1944}} A reviewer for Billboard magazine said the album would be cherished like the early albums by Armstrong and Beiderbecke.
The liner notes to the album were reprinted from a 1942 memorial tribute to Bunny Berigan by critic George T. Simon for Metronome magazine. They were republished in Simon's 1970 collection "Simon Says," an anthology he compiled of his writings about the big bands from 1935 to 1955 for Metronome.
"I Can't Get Started," the first song on the album, was originally recorded on a 12-inch 78 rpm master and played for 4 minutes 45 seconds. For the Memorial Album it was cut to fit onto a 10-inch master by removing the long, bravura trumpet introduction and starting the performance at the initial statement of the song's melody.
Track listing
These reissued songs were featured on a 4-disc, 78 rpm album set, Victor P-134.
Disc 1: (20-1500)
{{ordered list|start=1
| "Frankie and Johnnie", recorded June 25, 1937.{{cite web|url=http://www.78discography.com./RCA201500.htm |title=RCA Victor 78rpm numerical listing discography: 20-1500 - 20-2000 |publisher=78discography.com. |date= |accessdate=2022-05-03}}
| "I Can't Get Started", recorded August 7, 1937.
}}
Disc 2: (20-1501)
{{ordered list|start=3Russian Lullaby
| "Russian Lullaby", recorded December 23, 1937.
| "Trees", recorded December 23, 1937.
}}
Disc 3: (20-1502)
{{ordered list|start=5
| "Black Bottom", recorded December 23, 1937.
| "Jelly Roll Blues", recorded November 22, 1938.
}}
Disc 4: (20-1503)
{{ordered list|start=7
| "'Deed I Do", recorded November 22, 1938.
| "High Society", recorded September 13, 1938.
}}
References
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Category:RCA Victor compilation albums