The Living Strings
RCA's strings group. The Living Strings was more of a commercial creation than a musical entity. RCA producer Ethel Gabriel worked on the Melachrino Strings' "Moods in Music" series and developed The Living Strings as a package for RCA's budget label, Camden. The Living Strings were an unbilled European symphony--the Oslo Symphony at first, later the BBC and London symphonies--and the albums are all centered around a theme: the sea, the West, Broadway, night music. In England, Johnny Douglas was the primary arranger and conductor for the series, but Hill Bowen, Bob Sharples, and Geraldo made frequent contributions. Gabriel also tapped Mexican arrangers D'Artega and Rafael Armengol for albums such as The Living Strings Go South of the Border. The Living Strings were second only to the 101 Strings in their prolificness, and their numbers became a mainstay of easy-listening radio and commercial venues. Soon, Gabriel spawned "Living" ventures into other genres: Living Voices, Living Guitars (Al Caiola), Living Brass (Ray Martin), Living Marimbas (Leo Addeo), Living Jazz (Phil Bodner), Living Trio (Dick Hyman and Al Caiola), Living Percussion Phil Kraus) and Living Organ albums. Source: Space Age Pop