Forbidden Island (album)

Forbidden Island
Forbidden Island
Studio album by Martin Denny
Released	May 1958
Recorded	March 1958
Genre	Exotica; world; easy listening;
Label	Liberty Records
Producer	Si Waronker – producer
Martin Denny chronology

Forbidden Island was the third album by Martin Denny. The album was produced in March 1958 at the Liberty Studios in Hollywood, following the group's nine-month gig performing at Don the Beachcomber's Bora Bora Lounge in Hawaii. Forbidden Island was Denny's first album to be recorded and released after vibraphonist Arthur Lyman left the group to pursue his own solo career.^[1] The album includes four original compositions by Denny: "Cobra", "Exotica", "Primitiva", and "Forbidden Island".

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	^[1]

Upon its release in May 1958, Billboard awarded the album four stars and wrote: "Interesting treatment of exotic original and standards . . . produced provocative sound. Good off-beat jockey wax."^[2]

Richie Unterberger, in a review for AllMusic.com gave the album four stars and noted that it mixed "island sounds, easy listening, and Asian/world music accents."^[1]

Australian critic John Masters wrote in December 1959 that high fidelity addicts may enjoy Denny's "conglomeration of weird and wonderful imitations of tropical rhythms" and opined that, although "most of the content . . . is sugar coated trash, the recorded sound is outstanding and for this reason the disc is commended, as a technical showpiece only, to stereophiles."^[3]

Track listing

Side A

1. "Cobra" (Martin Denny) – 3:01
2. "Port au Prince" (Les Baxter) – 2:07
3. "Exotica" (Martin Denny) – 3:00
4. "Little China Doll" (Dave Snell) – 2:38
5. "Bali Hai" (Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein) – 2:55
6. "Narcissus Queen" (R. A. Anderson) – 2:25

Side B

1. "Sim Sim" (Les Baxter) – 3:03
2. "Goony Birds" (Julius Wechter) – 2:13
3. "Primitiva" (Martin Denny) – 2:30
4. "March of the Siamese Children" (Richard Rodgers) – 2:43
5. "Sukura" (Dai Keong Lee) – 2:41
6. "Forbidden Island" (Martin Denny) – 2:56

Personnel

Band members

Martin Denny – piano, celeste, arranger, composer
Augie Colon – Latin instruments, special effects, bird calls, and bongos
Julius Wechter – vibes, marimba, xylophone, percussion
Harvey Ragsdale – string bass

Guest specialists

Lew Paino – percussion
Will Brady – flute and musette
Bud Lee – guitar and Japanese samisen
Mike Garcia – conga drum

Other contributors

Si Waronker – producer
Garrett-Howard – cover design
Bob Lang and Ted Keep – engineers
Sandy Warner – cover model, "the Exotica girl"
Buck Buchwach – liner notes

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Unterberger, Richie. Martin Denny - Forbidden Island (1958): Review at AllMusic. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
^ "Reviews and Ratings of New Popular Albums". Billboard. May 26, 1958. p. 18.
^ "Exotic Sounds and Sonic Tricks". The Age. December 16, 1959. p. 14 – via Newspapers.com.

[AllMusic-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Unterberger, Richie. Martin Denny - Forbidden Island (1958): Review at AllMusic. Retrieved January 8, 2024.

[2] "Reviews and Ratings of New Popular Albums". Billboard. May 26, 1958. p. 18.

[3] "Exotic Sounds and Sonic Tricks". The Age. December 16, 1959. p. 14 – via Newspapers.com.

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