Easy listening
pianist
Bent Fabric
raised some eyebrows when he won the Grammy for Best
Rock & Roll
Recording in 1962 with
"Alley Cat,"
a
pop
instrumental that consists -- like most of his recordings -- of simple one- or two-finger melodies played on a piano with lean accompaniment that prominently features an electric bass guitar.
Fabric
subsequently released a series of instrumental albums with colorful animal photos on the cover and whimsical song titles such as
"The Happy Puppy,"
"The Drunken Penguin,"
and
"The Pink Elephant,"
all of which adhered to his established formula. His only
hit in the wake of
"Alley Cat"
was
"Chicken Feed,"
"Turkey in the Straw"
-type of melody that reached the Top 20 on the
adult contemporary
charts.
The Very Best of Bent Fabric
collects all of
's hits and more, including the A and B sides of every
Atco
single and a few album cuts, two of which are title tracks from the albums
Never Tease Tigers
Operation Lovebirds
.
"Alley Cat Dance"
is a reprise of
's biggest hit sung by a chirpy
girl group
dubbed
the Alley Kittens
, with different lyrics from the ones heard on
Peggy Lee
Bobby Rydell
's vocal versions. All tracks except
appear in stereo. For those who love
and would like to hear many more recordings in the same vein,
is the place to go. ~ Greg Adams