Billy Vaughn - Look for a Star/A Swingin' Safari (CD)

All Music Guide

Look For A Star and Swingin' Safari were recorded two years apart when Billy Vaughn and his Orchestra were busy as all get out backing Pat Boone and other Dot artists as well as slinging out LPs of their own. This double LP on one CD pairs a heavily drenched string datethe formerwith a wild and wooly big band date (that does contain some strings on a few cuts but nothing so syrupy as Look For A Starthe latter. Look For A Star went so far out of its way to be "dreamy" it's buried under sugary strings littering the entire spectrum of sound and is dismissible on all counts. While the arrangements for Swingin' Safari are over the top, they are in a real space age bachelor pad kind of way. These are arrangements that would not have been out of place on Louis Prima session.. Some of the hot picks on the last half of this disc are "Blue Flame," "Glow Worm March," and "When The Saints Go Marching In."

- Thom Jurek, All Music Guide