Format: LP
Catalogue No.: POPPYLP039
Release Date: 12 Apr 2025
Genre: Jazz

GREEN VINYL limited to 500 pressing
 
Rare 50s LP remastered and released on colour vinyl for Record Store Day 2025.
 
The Weekend of a Private Secretary is as hip and delightful as its title promises. A singer whose fierce intelligence and droll wit more than compensate for her limited vocal range, Charlene Bartley is the very essence of postwar chic, navigating the rhythmic twists of Tito Puente's lively arrangements with sophistication and style. Bartley is a consummate storyteller, interpreting lyrics like "She Didn't Say Yes" and "Sand in My Shoes" with inimitable pluck. While Puente's Latin treatments lend the session much of its energy, co-arranger Hal McKusick is no less vital to the album's success, crafting simple but effective settings that underscore Bartley's modernist outlook.   It's like the stuff that would play in a super hip martini lounge, and not only is it unique but it has substance too. The lyrics on this album are remarkably sharp and witty and unexpected, really quite a surprising treat,
 
Dusty Grooves -  “One of our favorite 50s vocal albums from RCA -- a hip little set by the lesser-known Charlene Bartley -- and one with a fair bit of jazz and Latin elements as well! The title track alone is worth the price of admission, but the rest of the numbers are equally great too -- and include some lesser-known gems next to interestingly-arranged standards -- all a cut above the usual for the time. Of course, Charlene gets some great help here from Tito Puente, who arranged some tracks with a Latin flair, and Hal McKusick, who arranged others with a slightly modern undercurrent -- both slightly unlikely talents for such a record, but that's another part of its appeal!