Side 1
1. The Warning, by Don Shirley
2. Carry me Back to Old Verginny, by James A. Bland
3. Bridge over Troubled Water, by Paul Simon
4. The Shadow of your Smile, by Paul Francis Webster & Johnny Mandel
Side 2
5. Alfie, by Burt Bacharach & Hal David
6. Gershwin Medley, by George Gershwin 
7. By the Time I get to Phoenix, by Jim Webb

3 BY THE TIME I GET TO PHOENIX (By Jim Webb; Dramatis, BMI. Time: 3:07)

The personnel is:
Don Shirley, piano & organ;
James Boyd & Juri Taht, cellos;
Kenneth Fricker, bass.

Recorded at Atlantic Recording Studios, New York, N.;
Recording & re-mix engineer: Gene Paul
Photography: Joel Brodsky
Album design: Haig Adishian
PRODUCED BY JOEL DORN

Back in 1954 Don Shirley was playing at a New York night-club called BASIN STREET. One evening I was taken there to hear him by Al "Jazzbo" Collins, a disc-jockey at Radio Station WNEW, New York. From that time on, I have never ceased to be amazed by the prodigious talent of Don Shirley. As a musician, I am constantly overwhelmed by his technical virtuosity and his imaginative creativity. As a human being, I am often moved by his lyricism, sometimes—I am not ashamed to say—to the point of tears.
Don Shirley's real greatness lies, I believe, in his creativity. His version of a song is not an arrangement—it is a recreation—a new composition. It is his impression of the original in terms of his own means of expression—just as a painter paints his impression of a subject in terms of his own means of expression.
The means of expression Don Shirley uses are as many and varied as the influences which contributed to his development. He was born of highly intellectual parents—he spent six years studying piano and composition at the Leningrad Conservatory—he spent a short time as a practicing psychologist—he has the same admiration for Ellington, Gershwin and Ray Charles as he has for Chopin, Rachmaninoff and Debussy. All these influences—and many more—create the uniqueness of his musical expression.
However, because of this uniqueness Don Shirley does not fit any of the "pigeon hole" categories into which show business likes to put people. Although he makes use of the jazz idiom, he cannot be called a "jazz pianist." Although he makes use of the blues and gospel idioms, he cannot be called a "blues pianist" or a "gospel pianist." Because he makes use of classical idioms and often develops thematic material in the manner of a serious composer, he cannot be called a "popular pianist." Because he devotes his performing and creative talents to songs of the people—folk songs, blues, gospel songs, spirituals and pop songs—he connot be called a "Classical pianist."  What is he then?  I say he is a uniquely talented creative artist--perhaps a genius--who brings an extraordinary musical experience to anyone who listens to him with an open mind and an open heart.

Archie Bleyer
'01~ 114~,V_111