Rhapsodies For Young Lovers – MIDNIGHT STRING QUARTET***

Strangers In The Night/The Shadow Of Your Smile/You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me/Blue Star/A Lover’s Concerto/Lara’s Theme/Yesterday/Young Lover’s Rhapsody/What Now My Love/Moonlight Sonata/Tonight’s Dream/My Heart’s Symphony

Rhapsodies For Young Lovers was the first, and most successful, of a series of instrumental covers LPs marketed under the 'Rhapsodies' theme, that were notable for being produced by Snuff Garrett and conducted and arranged by Leon Russell. (US:17)

"The Midnight String Quartet was a best-selling instrumental group comprised of top-notch studio musicians assembled by record producer 'Snuff' Garrett. The album concept featured instrumental versions of some of the most popular hits of the day and stayed on the Billboard charts for a remarkable 59 weeks."

"In the year of 'The Summer of Love', this was the instrumental album to own. It was 'make out music' to the maximum. The most notable member of the Midnight String Quartet was Leon Russell, who not only played piano on the group’s first album, but also conducted and arranged the record as well. In fact this album is considered to be his very first as a recording artist."

"The emergence of rock 'n' roll through the late 50s and early 60s pushed many mainstream instrumentalists to the side. Radio and records had become a teenager's province as the generation gap cleaved popular music in two. In an attempt to court the older audience with a semblance of contemporary air, numerous easy listening orchestras waxed string-based arrangements of popular hits, and endless MOR arrangements that sapped the life from then contemporary rock and pop tunes. One of the lesser remembered studio groups in this genre was the Midnight String Quartet, arranged and conducted by no less than Leon Russell, produced by Snuff Garrett, and featuring some of Los Angeles' top studio players."

"Midnight String Quartet took a hybrid approach to bridging the generation gap, mixing contemporary standards such as Strangers In The Night and The Shadow Of Your Smile, with bona fide pop hits such as Yesterday and My Heart's A Symphony. The mix of film tunes, pop hits and the occasional classical theme Moonlight Sonata, echoed the song lists of other easy listening artists. This music sufficiently pleased the record buying public to sustain the album for over a year on the charts."