Li'l Abner was the second musical that Shelly Manne, André Previn, and Leroy Vinnegar honored with special treatment. The first was My Fair Lady, and the trio's album of its songs (OJC-336) was a bestseller. The run of the Broadway production of Li'l Abner was a fraction as long as My Fair Lady's. With two exceptions, its words and music did not capture public affection, despite having been written by Johnny Mercer and Gene de Paul. Perhaps Dogpatch lacked the charm of Ascot. Nonetheless, the show included songs with lasting qualities. "Namely You" and "Jubilation T. Cornpone," which could hardly be more different from one another, have become standards. Manne and friends converted them and seven other songs from Li'l Abner into charming, and sometimes funky, jazz tunes. One of the many delights is the section of free improvisation by Manne and Previn in "Oh, Happy Day."

with André Previn, Leroy Vinnegar