No, not a post about Queen. I'm just being extra clever tonight.
I may have mentioned it in passing here, although I can't remember for sure, that the kid has a rather unusual musical taste. Specifically, he is really, and I mean really, enamored of opera. He once was content to have a presentation of Cosi Fan Tutti run in its entirety as background music--as well as stopping to watch it--when it was being shown on the Ovation channel...and then insist on having the TV on for the encore. Thank god that it had been restaged as happening in the 60s, during the Vietnam War, which at least made it entertaining for me on some level, otherwise I may have fan tuttied myself after the first hour.
However, as much as I am not quite so fond as opera as my kid, there is one album that I absolutely loved as a child myself. It used to belong to my aunt's husband, I think, and I think I came across it at my grandmother's. Initially, I was more enamored by the enchanting story told on the back of the album of the lovely looking woman whose voice was captured on the grooves of the vinyl, than by the actual music, but the songs--and the voice--grew on me. It wasn't until much later that I learned about the controversy surrounding the 'story'.
Regardless, whether you believe she was Yma Sumac, Peruvian Incan princess, or plain Amy Camus, from Brooklyn, NY, there is no denying the power of her voice or the interesting arrangements made by her musical director (and husband) which was certainly progressive for her time and still sounds innovative. These are the ones that I like best off the album, which the kid is also partial to, although his favorite is Chuncho (The Forest Creatures).
Oh, and you may know already know this first one, off a different album...
Gopher (Mambo) - Yma Sumac
Selections from Yma Sumac
