The Broadway Orchestra & Singer Present: It's A Grand Old Flag, A Collection of George M. Cohan Hits and others…

George M. Cohan, a man who's music is the very personification of the American spirit. This albums first side gives us 10 tracks of Cohan greatness, of which two songs are featured twice (So Long Mary and Over There). My copy has been played one times to many, and so there are jumps and noise that are commonplace with a worn styrene record. Yes ladies and gentlemen, Halo records were pressed out of styrene... I will get to the boring technical stuff that explains that later. Anyways, the first selection starts you off with a smooth Female vocalist (unknown because of the generic label credit), then the stylus takes us through very 40's style recordings, and then precedes with a fantastic Instrumental of "So Long Mary". The A side closes with a  stirring marching band rendition of "Over There". The B side's contents relate in no way to the previous side. It was typical for Oberstien (Owner of a slew of budget labels in the 1950's) for his late budget reissue labels. Most of the B sides of these release were just simply sides from previous albums Oberstien has issued before, and this album is certainly no acceptation to that practice. The B side is a collection of, for the lack of better term "Elevator Music" or background music. It's swell music still, I enjoy this as much as the previous side's offering make no mistake about that.

The engineering on this album was pretty decent from a sonic perspective. The problem with this copy is due to the fact that it is worn and slightly scratched (Halo records almost never play through without at lease a jump or skip). The first selection is rather damaged, yet the artistic value merits its inclusion in this video. First tracks on this label's release are not often free from sonic flaws in my experience. I own quite a few Halo releases, so I can say this with some level of confidence. Regardless of the sonic flaws of this copy being presented here, I think people that are used to dealing with such flaws as the price to pay in order to hear rare and or obscure music will find this well worth their time.

Songs and times they appear in the video:

Side A

Give My Regards To Broadway (0:00)
Your A Grand Old Flag (2:24)
So Long Mary
Over There
Yankee Doddle Dandy
Mary's A Grand Old Name
Harrigan
45 Minutes From Broadway
So Long Mary (Instrumental)
Over There

Side B

I'm Following My Secret Heart
La Petite
Falling In Love Again
Apache Waltz
Oh, What A Pal Was Mary
The One Rose
Oh How I Miss You Tonight