Although once considered the height of sophistication, by the mid-'60s, instrumental pop -- known to some as "space-age bachelor pad music," "space age pop," "beautiful music," and/or "elevator music" -- had all but met its match on the charts and radio airwaves. The rise of rock and folk initially complemented combos such as the
Brass Ring -- a group of studio professionals led by the incomparable
Phil Bodner. His career boasted stints with
Benny Goodman and as a co-founder of the Metropolitan Jazz Quartet. However, it was his contributions to
Enoch Light's Persuasive Percussion platters that became the impetus for a modernized version that blended concurrent songs with a lighter and non-threatening sensibility.
Bodner chose selections inspired by or lifted from tunes on the silver screen for
the Brass Ring's debut long-player Love Theme from the Flight of the Phoenix (1966). The two non-cinematic exceptions being the midtempo bossa nova vibe that flavors the pop standard "Love Is a Many Splendored Thing" and a saxophone-led reading of "My Foolish Heart" that is set to a steady doo wop backbeat. Hammond B-3 enthusiasts will revel in "Secret Love" and the solos on "Moment to Moment" as they capture the almost obligatory "mod" mid-60s sound. The interpretations of "Unchained Melody" and
Henry Mancini's classic "Moon River" are particularly notable for their seemingly incongruent upbeat arrangements. Perhaps more tellingly, they join "Lara's Theme" and several other titles in possessing an undeniable Tijuana Brass influence. This emerging "inspiration"quickly became one of
the Brass Ring's primary assets. While the album landed just shy of the Top 100 (number 109) chart, the "Phoenix Love Theme (Senza Fine)" would be the
Brass Ring's highest scoring single, topping out at number 32 in April of 1966. In 2007, Collectors' Choice Music coupled Love Theme from the Flight of the Phoenix (1966) with the
Brass Ring's subsequent LP
Lara's Theme (1966) onto a two-fer CD -- making each available for the first time in several decades. ~ Lindsay Planer