101 Strings - Play the Great Standards (1957) Vinyl LP • Wilhelm Stephan

Catalog Number: SF-4300

Record Grading: Very Good (VG), Sleeve Grading: Very Good (VG)

Condition Details:

Vinyl plays with crackles and some clicks (play-graded). Cover has a few creases near edges; light-scuffing (front/back). Inner-sleeve is plastic bag; one seam partially split. Spine has no-text and mild-wear. Catastrophic shelf-wear along top/bottom-edge and corners, both edges completely split alongside right corners. Opening is crisp with signs of light use and divots. Release date is approximately 1957. (Not a cut-out.)

Tracks:

• Close To You
• There's A Small Hotel
• You Go To My Head
• The Touch Of Your Lips
• Day By Day
• The Way You Look Tonight
• You And I
• The Nearness Of You
• Alone Together
• Two Sleepy People

About The Record:

Play the Great Standards, by 101 Strings, features lush orchestral interpretations of timeless American popular standards from the Great American Songbook. It exemplifies the group’s signature style of string-heavy arrangements designed for relaxation and background ambiance, conducted by Wilhelm Stephan with the Northwest German Radio Orchestra of Hamburg. The tracklist includes classics such as Close to You, The Way You Look Tonight, You Go to My Head, and The Nearness of You, all reimagined in a smooth, instrumental format that captures the elegance of mid-20th-century lounge music. Historically significant as one of the earliest releases from 101 Strings—debuting just a year after the group’s formation in 1957—it contributed to the explosion of easy listening records that sold over 50 million copies worldwide during the label’s run until 1981. While the album itself did not produce any hit singles, 101 Strings achieved broader commercial success with five UK chart-topping albums, underscoring their enduring popularity in the genre.