Gerald Harper

[julian_craster]

A new UK release (the CD premiere) of this 1957 West End Cast recording

featuring Gerald Harper (tv's Adam Adament Lives!, Hadleigh, and various film roles) and Patricia Bredin (her films include: Make Mine a Million, The Bridal Path, Desert Mice)



As Gerald Haper reveals in the songs 'Her mummy doesn't like me any more'

and 'I've got my feet on the ground' he has a very pleasant musical comedy singing voice !

The CD is worth buying for these two numbers alone if you are a fan of Gerald .....





FREE AS AIR [Julian Slade and Dorothy Reynolds]

MCSR 3040

Available to order now at:

http://www.must-close-saturday-records.co.uk/html/pages/freeasair.html



The musical with which Julian Slade and Dorothy Reynolds followed Salad Days

has one of the team's finest scores, orchestrally rich and tuneful. Produced

at the Savoy Theatre in 1957, FREE AS AIR ran for a year. The story follows

the adventures of a young heiress, Geraldine Melford, who escapes the

attentions of the popular press by sailing away to a Channel island,

Terhou,occupied by eccentrics and a young island girl, Molly (played by

Patricia Bredin) who yearns for a man from the mainland. Slade's music is as

'open-air' as he ever wrote, in a score that he never eclipsed, including

the immortally relevant 'Let the grass grow'. This issue includes orchestral

dance music from the show by Tommy Kinsman and His Band, and Slade's own

piano selection.

Sound restoration by Alan Bunting.



With: Patricia Bredin, Gerald Harper



Tracks:



1. PIANO SELECTION from FREE AS AIR



FREE AS AIR Original London Cast



2. I'm up early

2. Let the grass grow

4. Nothing but sea and sky

5. The boat's in

6. A man from the mainland

7. Free as air

8. Her mummy doesn't like me any more

9. The girl from London

10. A man from the mainland [reprise]

11. I'd like to be like you

12. Testudo

13. I've got my feet on the ground

14. Holiday island

15. Geraldine

16. We're holding hands

17. Terhou

18. Let the grass grow [reprise]



19. ORCHESTRAL MUSIC from FREE AS AIR

Tommy Kinsman and His Band : 'Perfect for Dancing' :

Free as air; I'd like to be like you; I've got my feet on the ground;

Nothing but sea and sky; Terhou; The boat's in; Holiday island; Let the

grass grow





MUST CLOSE SATURDAY RECORDS website:

http://www.must-close-saturday-records.co.uk/html/home.html

[Nick Dando]

The cast list also includes Michael Aldridge as Lord Paul Postumous, Josephine Tewson as Ivy Crush, and Len Rossiter as John and a reporter. Gerald Harper is listed as Jack Amersham.



My Mum has the original cast list LP and I've made a recording from this, so I'll be interested to see what the CD is like. And I've an idea for a Christmas present.



Nick

[Nick Dando]

Here are some more details taken from the LP cover.















Nick