Greenbank School, Ottawa

Not a lot of info on this collection from Greenbank School in Ottawa. Actually, there is no info at all on it. No year, no stories on who they are. Here are the only credits:

Band - Mr. W.J. Smith
Orchestra - Miss M. McDougall
Choir - Mr. D. Heath
Production - W. J. Smith
Cover - J. Voyce
Produced and recorded at Greenbank School, Ottawa

Raindrops - This one should qualify as a good attempt. It gets a bit out of tune, but you'll still sing along with a familiar Bacharach tune.
Ode To Joy - What's a school compilation without a little Beethoven?
Never On Sunday - A jazzy number with the Greenbank Jazz Combo
Barbara Allan - A classic choir piece

The highlight of this record is attributed to "Laurie and Beckie" and wow. This is a great folk track, with two young girls who can harmonize like they were the B-52s. Truly excellent track.

Is There A Future

Another pristine vinyl album for us. I found this one at the Salvation Army store on Moodie in Bell's Corners (Ottawa). In fact, I found 6 copies that had yet to be opened. I refrained from getting them all, and settled on this one. There aren't many details on the kids performing on this record, but here's what I know.

Side 1 is dedicated to a series of "highlights" from a show called "Captain Noah and His Flying Zoo" by Michael Flanders and Joseph Horovits. The sample below is the first 3 minutes of this side. I won't lie to you...this is not the best version you will likely hear of this song. The band isn't really playing in time with each other, and the vocals are hard to interpret, but like many school groups, this shows a lot of effort.

Excerpt from "Captain Noah"

Side 2 has 7 tracks of the school bands in various incarnations. The best performance on here, however, goes to Martin Hirniak and his solo guitar take on "Waltz" by Carulli.

Waltz