James Last - The Magical World Of James Last (1993) [6CD Box Set]

James Last was a German big-band leader with a large fan base in Europe, although he never had a comparable following in the United States. Last's trademark was arranging pop hits in a big-band style; his series of "party albums" became equally well-known. Over the course of his career, he sold well over 50 million albums.

Last learned how to play piano as child, switching to bass as a teenager. He joined Hans-Gunther Oesterreich's Radio Bremen Dance Orchestra in 1946, when he was 17 years old. In 1948, he became the leader of the Becker-Last Ensemble, which performed for seven years. During that time, he was voted as the best bassist in the country by a German jazz poll for three consecutive years, from 1950-1952. After the disbandment of the Becker-Last Ensemble, he became the in-house arranger for Polydor Records, as well as for a number of European radio stations. For the next decade, he helped arrange hits for artists like Helmut Zacharias and Caterina Valente.

In 1965 Last released his first album, Non-Stop Dancing, a record of brief renditions of popular songs, all tied together by an insistent dance beat and joyous crowd noises. It was a hit and helped make him a major European star. Over the next two decades, Last released over 50 records, including several more volumes of Non-Stop Dancing. On these records, he varied his formula by adding different songs from different countries and genres, as well as guest performers like Richard Clayderman and Astrud Gilberto.

Though his concerts and albums were consistently successful – especially in England, where he had 52 hit albums between 1967-1986, which made him second to Elvis Presley in terms of number of charting records – he only had one hit single with "The Seduction," the theme from American Gigolo (1980).

by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AMG

Tracklist CD1:

01. James Last - Granada [4:16]
02. James Last - The touch of your lips [3:43]
03. James Last - You are my sunshine [2:02]
04. James Last - Moonlight serenade [5:08]
05. James Last - That old black magic [2:48]
06. James Last - Charmaine [4:13]
07. James Last - South of the border [3:38]
08. James Last - Jealousy [4:25]
09. James Last - Medley: September song/Serenata [3:03]
10. James Last - A string of pearls [2:45]
11. James Last - Summertime [5:10]
12. James Last - Begin the beguine [2:59]
13. James Last - Always [2:22]
14. James Last - Theme from symphony no.40 [3:30]
15. James Last - Morning from 'Peer Gynt' [4:05]
16. James Last - Waltz from 'Swan Lake' [7:02]



Tracklist CD2:

01. James Last - Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini [3:01]
02. James Last - Romance no.2 [4:37]
03. James Last - Rhapsody in blue [5:30]
04. James Last - Nadir's theme from 'the Pearl Fishers' [3:58]
05. James Last - Arioso [2:53]
06. James Last - The blue Canube [11:33]
07. James Last - Close to you [3:16]
08. James Last - Fly me to the Moon [3:30]
09. James Last - Michelle [5:06]
10. James Last - Without you [2:57]
11. James Last - Lady in red [4:32]
12. James Last - I just called to say I love you [4:28]
13. James Last - Song for Guy [4:32]



Tracklist CD3:

01. James Last - Nights in white satin [5:02]
02. James Last - If you could read my mind [3:51]
03. James Last - The power of love [5:10]
04. James Last - It's going to take some time [2:56]
05. James Last - Romeo (Salome) [3:33]
06. James Last - She loves you [2:27]
07. James Last - You've lost that lovin' feelin' [2:59]
08. James Last - The dock of the bay [3:30]
09. James Last - Happy heart [3:03]
10. James Last - Mr. Tambourine Man [2:26]
11. James Last - Norwegian wood [3:34]
12. James Last - The house of the rising sun [4:24]
13. James Last - I got you Babe [3:08]
14. James Last - My love [2:24]
15. James Last - Penny Lane [2:50]
16. James Last - The lonely bull [3:12]
17. James Last - Blowin' in the wind [3:31]
18. James Last - The 'in' crowd [2:50]
19. James Last - Proud Mary [3:23]
20. James Last - All you need is love [4:22]



Tracklist CD4:

01. James Last - O Sole Mio [3:07]
02. James Last - Valencia [2:45]
03. James Last - The Volga Boatman [3:37]
04. James Last - El Choclo [2:36]
05. James Last - Guantanamera [3:55]
06. James Last - Wimoweh [3:44]
07. James Last - La Golondrina [3:15]
08. James Last - Lichtensteiner Polka [2:38]
09. James Last - Come Back To Sorrento [2:58]
10. James Last - Malaguena [2:50]
11. James Last - Kalinka [3:45]
12. James Last - Who Pays The Ferryman? [2:34]
13. James Last - Kumbayah [2:33]
14. James Last - Avalon [3:25]
15. James Last - Mexican Hat Dance [2:14]
16. James Last - Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White [2:49]
17. James Last - April In Portugal [2:45]
18. James Last - Where Is Your Heart [3:04]
19. James Last - Anna [3:13]



Tracklist CD5:

01. James Last - Around the world [2:34]
02. James Last - Blue tango [3:12]
03. James Last - Delicado [2:34]
04. James Last - Kiss me, honey, honey, kiss me [2:38]
05. James Last - Unchained melody [4:40]
06. James Last - The bandit (O Cangaceiro) [3:28]
07. James Last - Moonglow and Theme (from 'Picnic') [3:15]
08. James Last - On the street where you live [4:02]
09. James Last - Everybody loves a lover [2:22]
10. James Last - Canadian sunset [3:46]
11. James Last - Moon river (from 'Breakfast at Tiffany's) [3:17]
12. James Last - This is my song [2:31]
13. James Last - Love me or leave me [2:01]
14. James Last - Never on Sunday [3:06]
15. James Last - Zip-a-dee-doo-dah [3:34]
16. James Last - Slaughter on tenth avenue [4:58]
17. James Last - A hard day's night [3:10]
18. James Last - Let the sunshine in (from 'Hair') [2:28]



Tracklist CD6:

01. James Last - Born free [2:13]
02. James Last - Theme from 'Love Story' [3:57]
03. James Last - Theme from 'A summer place' [3:09]
04. James Last - Somewhere, my love (Lara's theme) [3:28]
05. James Last - Don't cry for me Argentina [6:39]
06. James Last - Little brown jug [2:36]
07. James Last - You do something to me/tree little words/I want to be happy [2:52]
08. James Last - Time after time [2:39]
09. James Last - Perhaps ? Perhaps ? Perhaps ? [2:57]
10. James Last - Sibony [2:14]
11. James Last - Fools rush in [4:16]
12. James Last - Perfidia [2:11]
13. James Last - Sweet Georgia Brown [2:15]
14. James Last - Caravan [2:53]
15. James Last - Donkey serenade [3:04]
16. James Last - Makin' Whoopee [1:43]
17. James Last - Tuxedo Junction [3:35]
18. James Last - St. Louis blues march [3:31]
19. James Last - Tico tico [3:15]
20. James Last - Love for sale [4:35]



All thanks go to maestro