Stan Kenton! Tex Ritter!

This is much more than an “unusual" album. It is, in fact, a completely new vocal-instrumental concept in which two forms of American popular music, each as different from the other as day is from night, are brilliantly combined. It brings together the genius of Stan Kenton, master innovator and perennial leader in the field of contemporary music, and the deep, rich voice of the man whose singing seems to typify the spirit of bygone days on the rugged Western frontier-the inimitable Tex Ritter.

Neither one of these fine artists makes any concession to the style of the other, a tribute to the mutual respect upon which this project was conceived. Instead, each man retains his own musical identity, approaching these familiar ballads in the style which suits him best. The result of this most unique collaboration is something that really must be heard to be believed.

Tex sings them the way they have always been sung, the way they were meant to oe sung. And behind his lusty voice the Kenton Brass Choir paints the spacious landscape with magnificent splashes of tonal color, utilizing modern instrumental and harmonic techniques to capture the beauty and grandeur of the romantic West. Aided by guitar, rhythm, and touches of piano and celeste, Stan's battery of mixed brass voices provides the basic orchestral backdrop throughout the album. The arrangements, novel as they are, still manage to retain the original flavor of each song that Tex sings. Tempos are similarly varied according to mood, from brisk, bouncy numbers like The Bandit of Brazil to the easy lope of such tunes as Wagon Wheels, Empty Saddles, and The Last Round Up.

Slightly off the beaten trail in content, but both beautifully done, are the Kenton-Ritter versions of September Song and The Green Leaves of Summer. And of course there's a fine arrangement of the memorable film favorite that will be forever identified with the voice of Tex Ritter-Dimitri Tiomkin's High Noon. Tex sings it here as only he can, with the contemporary sounds of Stan Kenton's orchestra adding even more dramatic impact to this stirring modern ballad of the West.

"Record Review: Tex Ritter." Billboard, 15 September 1962: 31.

★★★★ STAN KENTON! TEX RITTER!

Capitol T 1757 (M); ST 1757 (S)—Tex Ritter sings a group of familiar Western songs while Stan Kenton lends big band backing through the entire album. Neither Ritter nor the Kenton ork seems at ease here, although the combination of the Ritter-Kenton names may move a few sets. They have both, however, sounded better elsewhere. Songs include “Home on the Range,” “Wagon Wheels,” “Cool Water” and “The Last Round Up.”