WHAT FRANK IS LISTENING TO

TIM BUCKLEY – Greetings from L.A. – (MCA) – 1974

Posted on August 11, 2019 by Franko

There has been much written about Jeff Buckley and there is no shortage of reviews on him.

Forty-four years after his death, Tim Buckley probably remains best known as father of the late Jeff Buckley but to the self-consciously aware music types (sand especially musicians) he is a cause celeb and an act they often throw up in interviews to show they are hip.

Am I one of those?

I don’t know but I will join them in praise. I’m always partial to a voice and Buckley had a wonderful voice that could stimulate both the spine and the brain.

He had a musical palette that was broad and a future that seemed limitless (though probably marginal).

Buckley is the great loss.

Like a Nick Drake but with a wider palette, more taste and a better voice.

He could do anything and probably would have tried anything.

He is primarily a vocalist. Yes, yes he writes most of his material but like Elvis, and Nilsson (who also writes a lot of his own material) it is his voice which is his primary instrument and what he uses to be express the lyrics.

He loves his voice, and I don’t mean in a narcissistic way) but what I mean he loves using it to see if the tone, pitch and accents can impart meaning to the words (or more meaning to the words) that aren’t otherwise noticeable.

Let’s face it, the written word is about expansion … the more you write the clearer and more unambiguous the language (that’s why legal contracts are so long – and even they aren’t bulletproof).

So reducing language has to lead to a misunderstanding in meaning. That’s why “twitter” is such a load of rubbish and prone to misunderstanding and misinterpretation.

In music the need to bring some meaning to three or four verses and a chorus is imparted by the music and the voice.

The music creates the mood and the melody but the voice is what brings the intimate and perhaps emotional force to the words as written.

How the voice tackles the lyrics is all important.

Even if the lyrics are screamed o yelled there is differences in how a person approaches the words.

Buckley, to me, always seemed to be trying to impart the lyric emotionally with his voice.

And there is a certain joy in this as there is in hearing him do that.

Allmusic (Richie Unterberger) says this about him and then compares him to two great acts in relation to his eclecticism, though, oddly, no one is relation to his vocals: “One of the great rock vocalists of the 1960s, Tim Buckley drew from folk, psychedelic rock, and progressive jazz to create a considerable body of adventurous work in his brief lifetime. His multi-octave range was capable of not just astonishing power, but great emotional expressiveness, swooping from sorrowful tenderness to anguished wailing. His restless quest for new territory worked against him commercially: By the time his fans had hooked into his latest album, he was onto something else entirely, both live and in the studio. In this sense he recalled artists such as Miles Davis and David Bowie, who were so eager to look forward and change that they confused and even angered listeners who wanted more stylistic consistency. However, his eclecticism has also ensured a durable fascination with his work that has engendered a growing posthumous cult for his music, often with listeners who were too young (or not around) to appreciate his music while he was active”. https://www.allmusic.com/artist/tim-buckley-mn0000595101/biography

Buckley I compare to Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Harry Nilsson, Bobby Darin and others who used their voices as instruments of communication.

Where you breathe or pause in a word or sentence is as important as the word or sentence itself.

And where that comes from is in your past.

Buckley never had a great (straight) rock voice but he had all the “voices” of the musics that came before, and, perhaps made up rock.

Trad pop, folk, country, rhythm and blues, old timey, soul.

And that made him great, much like a counter culture Bobby Darin.

A lot of people won’t like that comparison. Darin’s cultural hipness stock is low and even the film with Kevin Spacey (“Beyond the Sea” – 2004) didn’t help … and has perhaps made it lower still (now).

By way of bio: “Tim Buckley was born in Washington, D.C. on Valentine's Day (1947), to Elaine (née Scalia), an Italian American, and Timothy Charles Buckley Jr., a highly decorated World War II veteran who was the son of Irish immigrants from Cork. He spent his early childhood in Amsterdam, New York, an industrial city approximately 40 miles northwest of Albany; at five years old he began listening to his mother's progressive jazz recordings, particularly Miles Davis … Buckley's musical life began in earnest after his family moved to Bell Gardens in southern California in 1956. His grandmother introduced him to the work of Bessie Smith and Billie Holiday, his mother to Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland and his father to the country music of Hank Williams and Johnny Cash. When the folk music revolution came around in the early 1960s, Buckley taught himself the banjo at age 13, and with several friends formed a folk group inspired by the Kingston Trio that played local high school events”.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Buckley

“Buckley emerged from the same ’60s Orange County, CA, folk scene that spawned Jackson Browne and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Mothers of Invention drummer Jimmy Carl Black introduced Buckley and a couple of musicians Buckley was playing with to the Mothers’ manager, Herbie Cohen. Although Cohen may have first been interested in Buckley as a songwriter, he realized after hearing some demos that Buckley was also a diamond in the rough as a singer. Cohen became Buckley’s manager, and helped the singer get a deal with Elektra … Before Buckley had reached his 20th birthday, he’d released his debut album”. http://www.timbuckley.com/biography/

Tim Buckley drew from folk, psychedelic rock, singer songwriter, Latin, and progressive jazz to create a considerable body of work – nine albums in eight years.

Always a little reckless musically (and in his personal life it seems (he died of a heroin overdose at age 28 in 1975)) this willing to take chances (musically) has to be admired, even if not always successful. There is nothing worse than an act who never takes chances. I should say, as an aside, that single minded devotion to a sound regardless of changing times has to be admired also, but that is something altogether different to the plodders..

This album is his Buckley's third last and generally, it seems, to be less regarded than his earlier works.

The usual complaint is, it’s a sell-out (a compromise for radio airplay) … I’m not sure what radio (at the time) this would be played on (apart from the then obscure FM). There is a lot of sex in the lyric and the vocal (though the liner notes and art work seem to suggest concerns about the (then) famous L.A. smog) is too adventurous. This is white boy funk without the innuendo or black fun, without the sexual playfulness of early rock n roll, without the philosophical ruminations of The Doors. It’s in your face matter of fact sex sung, with nods to all sorts of musical styles, though primarily funk.

Or as this perceptive blogger says: “I have never listened to Tim Buckley. I know he is Jeff Buckley’s dad and I assumed he was a folk singer. Listening to Greetings from L.A. the last thing I thought of was folk. This guy sounds like a hipster Elvis or an American version of Serge Gainsbourg … So what the hell is this? It is a bit artsy, mainly funky, a bit jazzy, a bit deviant (maybe more than a bit deviant) and a bit silly (in a good way)”. https://catchgroove.com/2017/02/15/tim-buckley-greetings-from-l-a/

It sounds like the blogger is describing later Jim Morrison. And, it is interesting that this album could almost be a sequel companion to The Doors "Morrison Hotel" (1970) in spirit.

Most importantly, Buckley (naturally enough for him) sings his way (multi octave style) through this funk rather than shouting or talking it. There is never a doubt that he is white.

And, that is not a problem. He knew what he liked.

“Greetings from L.A.” was recorded in June of 1972 and released in October of the same year. It probably confused most of his old audience, didn’t sell well nationally, and was another flop for Buckley.

Tracks (best in italics)

Side One

Move With Me – (Tim Buckley, Jerry Goldstein) – This is a great funky workout. It's missing a hook but it is immensely entertaining.
Get on Top – a extended funky work out. This is hard to dislike.
Sweet Surrender – a gentler (?) sexual make out song.

Side Two

Nighthawkin' – an excellent pumpin' funk with social commentary overtones. Much like what War were doing though less strident.
Devil Eyes – some street talking, errr singing with some wonderful keyboards.
Hong Kong Bar – (Tim Buckley, Joe Falsia) – Magnificently moody with a vague (very remote) feel of Sandy Bull.
Make It Right – (Tim Buckley, Larry Beckett, Joe Falsia, Jerry Goldstein) – With its strings it's like the closing theme to a gritty 1970s urban drama. And, that's a good thing.

And …

This is a wonderful piece of white funk which holds its own against a lot of black funk. Underappreciated. Excellent. A definite contender for soundtrack inclusion on any future Quentin Tarantino L.A. 70s crime action-flic. … I'm keeping it.

Chart Action

Nothing nowhere

Sounds

Move With Me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsB9qjcjzeE

Get on Top

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmjzxODwGcM

Sweet Surrender

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-qNBxXjbI4

Nighthawkin'

mp3 attached

Devil Eyes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6haM9c1fjTw

Hong Kong Bar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZN4rQkfs2Zo

Make It Right

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NR-hmFrR20

Others

On The Monkees (1968)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMTEtDBHGY4

he was already being called “legendary” in 1974

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtU-9EMSYu0

Review

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greetings_from_L.A.

https://www.allmusic.com/album/greetings-from-la-mw0000203677

http://www.gigslutz.co.uk/record-tim-buckley-greetings-l-1972/

http://mushythebeatle.blogspot.com/2010/04/tim-buckley-greetings-from-la-just-in.html?_sm_au_=iVVQQR0DVvQVv71s

http://rockasteria.blogspot.com/2018/01/tim-buckley-greetings-from-la-1972-us.html?_sm_au_=iVVQQR0DVvQVv71s

https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_album.php?id=6497

https://catchgroove.com/2017/02/15/tim-buckley-greetings-from-l-a/

https://davidvriezedaniels.wordpress.com/2016/02/11/731-greetings-from-l-a-tim-buckley/

Bio

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Buckley\

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/tim-buckley-mn0000595101/biography

obituary

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/tim-buckley-dead-at-28-94675/

Music biography

https://thevinylfactory.com/features/introduction-tim-buckley-10-records/

Website

http://www.timbuckley.com/

Trivia

Personnel: Tim Buckley – vocals, 12-string guitar, Joe Falsia – guitar, string arrangements (3,7), Kevin Kelly – piano (1), organ (2,5), Paul Ross Novros – saxophone (1), Eugene E. Siegel – saxophone (1), William Kurasch – violin (3,7), Louis Kievman – violin (3,7), Robert Konrad – violin (3,7), Ralph Schaffer – viola (3,7), Harry Hyams – viola (3,7), Jesse Ehrlich – cello (3,7), Chuck Rainey – bass, Reinhold Press – bass (7), Ed Greene – drums,Carter C.C. Collins – congas (2,4), "King" Errison Johnson – congas (3,5), Clydie King – backing vocals (1,4), Venetta Fields – backing vocals (1,4), Lorna Maxine Willard – backing vocals (1,4), Jerry Goldstein – percussion, arranger, producer.

RIP: Damien Lovelock 1954 – 2019

Posted in Rock & Pop, Soul, Funk & Disco | Tagged 1974 | Leave a comment

JOHNNY HORTON – Johnny Horton Makes History – (Columbia) – 1960

Posted on July 14, 2019 by Franko

Check my other comment for biographical detail on Johnny Horton.

This is Johnny Horton’s second album and he further moves away from his straight country roots into saga historical songs.

His first album didn’t make the charts but two of the singles went into the charts:

“When It's Springtime in Alaska (It's Forty Below)” #1US Country

“The Battle Of New Orleans” #1 US Pop, #1 US Country

Both were country folk story songs done with heavy doses of pop to make them as commercially viable, and it worked.

He then released “Sink the Bismarck” another story song and it went #6 Country US and #3 Pop US.

An album of the same or similar was inevitable.

I like the pun in the title: “Johnny Horton Makes History”.

The subtitle "Action Tales of Battles, Heroes, and Epic Events" is even more accurate

All the songs are mini (loose) history lessons.

Much like much of the first album this is well sung, bouncy and good natured. What is lacks is the diversity of the first album. Here the eye is on the money, the saga song, where on the first album there was country lament, Nashville sound ballads. Honky tonk and rockabilly in the mix (toned down largely, but there nonetheless).

With the exception of the two World War Two naval singles, the hit, “Sink the Bismarck” and “Reuben James” the songs are colonial, civil war and wild west and north west and that is perhaps not surprising that is the time period where the myth making and the identity creation of the United States took place. A lot of the incidents also had been the subject matter for films and the writers, Horton included, are getting their history lessons from well-known films to make their history lessons for music.

There is nothing wrong with that as the songs have their own bounce and their inner life.

They also, perhaps, inspired, in part, the early philosophy of the folk revival in the USA in the late 50s and early 1960s. Though not folk they were in the same ball park as The Kingston Trio, The Brothers Four, The Chad Mitchell Trio and the granddaddy of them all The Weavers. In turn it went on to influence (Horton’s good friend) Johnny Cash who recorded albums of thematic historical American music.

And, music can be educational (as can film).

After all, that was the raison d'être for folk music.

You hear the song (watch the film) and want to know more about what is being communicated to you.

I could imagine a kid at the time, and even now, hearing one of these tunes and being suitably roused to reach for his Encyclopaedia Britannica (or laptop) and learn about the people and places in the songs.

I would be happy to go into a coffee shop (that serves alcohol) and hear someone singing these historical tales about other people and other events than about themselves.

It would make a nice change of pace, musically.

In the meantime I can put this album on at dinner parties or BBQs ….

Tracks (best in italics)

Side One

Johnny Freedom – (George Weiss, Jule Styne) – First done by Johnny. A summation of America and freedom. The song was written for the "Freedomland U.S.A." American history theme park in the north-eastern part of The Bronx , New York. Set in the past but with relevance to the (1960) present. Perfect cold war country music.
Jim Bridger – (Leon Payne) – First done by Johnny. A song about this famous frontier scout, trapper and tall tale teller.
Comanche (The Brave Horse) – (Francis Bandy, Johnny Horton) – First recorded by Johnny. The sole survivor of Custer's Seventh Calvary at the Little Big Horn. Quite moving. A popular film about the horse Comanche was made by Disney in 1958, “Tonka”. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comanche_(horse)
Snow-Shoe Thompson – (P. M. Howard, Buddy Ebsen) – Recorded by Tennessee Ernie Ford in 1952. Co-writer Buddy Ebsen of “Beverly Hillbillies” and “Barnaby Jones” fame was a famous character actor going back to the 30s. I’m not sure how this came about though Ebsen could sing and dance. The song is about John A. Thompson (a Norwegian) who was a mountaineer and a mailman (!) … he transported mail through the harsh winters of the High Sierras.
O'Leary's Cow – (Dave Snow, Ray Winkler, Leroy Morris) – First done by Johnny. About the cow that started the Great Chicago Fire of in 1871.
The Battle Of New Orleans – (Jimmy Driftwood) – This appeared on Horton’s first album “the Spectacular Johnny Horton” but fits in, perfectly, thematically, here … so it was inevitable it would make another appearance. One of the greatest of all history themed songs.

Side Two

John Paul Jones – (Jimmy Driftwood) – Another Jimmy Driftwood song and first done by him in 1959. A big budget Hollywood spectacular named after the naval commander was released in 1959. Jones was a dauntless American naval captain fighting the British during the revolutionary War.
Young Abe Lincoln – (Ronald Huffstettler, Johnny Horton) – done first by Johnny. Lincoln is …. well, if you don't know who Lincoln is you should probably be reading some history rather than this blog. And if you are going to give moving picture life to the man go Henry Fonda not Daniel Day Lewis.
The Battle Of Bull Run – (Leon Payne) – Written by Texan Leon Payne about the over confident North at the start of the Civil War. General Jackson got his nickname here, "Stonewall" when he was compared to the same. The liner notes that in the Battle (there was actually two battles, this is about the first) the South lost more soldiers. I'm not sure where this comes from sources suggest a Confederate victory and less human losses. This is ballsy. I believe this was first recorded by Johnny.
The Sinking Of The Reuben James – (Almanac Singers) – written by Woody Guthrie with others whilst he was in the Allmanac Singers. The Reuben James was the first US navy warship sunk by the Germans in World War 2. A great song. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sinking_of_the_Reuben_James
Johnny Reb – (Merle Kilgore) – a first recorded by Johnny. The author released his version in 1963. Interestingly a popular TV western TV show that ran from 1959- 1961, called “The Rebel” dealt with a young Confederate Army veteran Johnny Yuma. This is an ode to the Confederate soldier.
Sink The Bismarck – (Johnny Horton, Tillman Franks) – first done by Johnny. The song was “inspired by” the film and commissioned by the US film studio to sell the film given Americans minimal knowledge of this piece of English World War 2 history. It worked. A great song. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sink_the_Bismark

And …

Wonderful music and you will learn something also … I'm keeping it.

Chart Action

Singles

1959 The Battle Of New Orleans US Pop #1 US Country #1

1959 Johnny Reb #10 Country US, #54 Pop US

1960 Sink the Bismark #6 Country US, #3 Pop US

1960 Johnny Freedom #69 Pop US

Album

—

England

Singles

1959 The Battle Of New Orleans #16

Album

—

Sounds

Johnny Freedom ("Freedomland")

live

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oSlh9ijlSo

Jim Bridger

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnJL4ErQK8k

Comanche (The Brave Horse)

mp3

live

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_P0mIiPkS4

Snow-Shoe Thompson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaqGXxhZiQA

O’Leary’s Cow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsA5_srhkIc

The Battle Of New Orleans

live

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjXM6x_0KZk

John Paul Jones

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9s58mlY1R6k

Young Abe Lincoln (Make A Tall, Tall Man)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ro0SlVPlWE

The Battle Of Bull Run

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xI7vBQRuTYg

The Sinking Of The Reuben James

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rbj89yI54nM

Johnny Reb

live

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAbZ3I6-1lY&t=103s

Sink The Bismarck

mp3

live

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgw8UYAxMgY&t=163s

Others

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1c9e-4wm9HU&t=22s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EArPVHtQ5wc

Review

https://www.allmusic.com/album/johnny-horton-makes-history-mw0000223377

Bio

http://www.rockabillyhall.com/JohnnyHorton1.html

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/johnny-horton-mn0000198783/biography

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Horton

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/1990

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Driftwood

Website

—

Trivia

—

Posted in Country | Tagged 1960 | Leave a comment

LESLEY GORE – Boys Boys Boys – (Mercury) – 1964

Posted on June 30, 2019 by Franko

It would be tempting to say something humorous about the title of this record in relation to the fact that Lesley was a lesbian.

And, I just did.

Well, I said something, though not humorous.

And, in any event, I don’t like defining a person’s artistic output on the basis of their sexual preferences.

And it may have no relevance as Lesley has said she didn’t know she was a lesbian till she was twenty years old (according to her) and she is eighteen here.

And, in any event it has very little to do with the music.

So, disregard the lines above.

Which you can’t, because you have read them.

Well, then put them to the back of your mind.

Actually, I should delete them.

Though in a roundabout way I just wanted to say as I have, “I don’t like defining a person’s artistic output on the basis of their sexual preferences”, with a proviso …unless that is the point of the artistic expression.

Check my other comments for biographical detail on Lesley.

Much of Lesley’s early work, and this is her third album (in two years) is the boy girl longing / hooking up / breaking up pop.

In fact, any of her albums could be called “Boys Boys Boys”

Boy / girl songs was the music of the time and had been the bread and butter in commercial pop going back to Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra, down through Elvis Presley and even to the early Beach Boys and Beatles. Sure youthful rebellion had entered as a theme with Elvis in the 50s and the Beach Boys and Beatles added variations but it wasn’t until Bob Dylan (and other folkies like the Kingston Trio) introduced other themes into radio friendly pop that songs started to encompass other themes.

More power to Dylan and things must move on but there is something about these themes that resonate with teenagers and young adults. And, we were all teens once, in age and in attitude, at least in the West.

The song writing is pure and more honest that many a song written about “big picture” world themes, alienation, existential despair, and the meaning of life.

Probably because most people in the world have fallen in and out of love and can relate to the themes.

Of course, some of this is dated and some is a little silly but then you have the glorious Brill Building pop sound to tap your toes to. The themes rarely get in the way of the melody. The singalong-ability is everything.

This is what gave you radio airplay.

And, it still does (arguably).

The year was 1964 and the British Invasion spearheaded by the Beatles and the Dave Clark Five was under way, but Lesley held her own, albeit for a brief time.

Lesley was more feisty than most (perhaps it was her ambivalence about men, or her distance which gave her perspective which she could communicate through her voice, or perhaps she was just a perceptive person). Whatever the reason her best boy / girl songs always have a in your face fierce self-assertion which doesn’t dwell on self-pity or mournful regret like much of the other female vocalists singing in the genre.

She is godmother to Cher.

Having said that, pop being pop means she has to give a nod to the dominant attitudes of the day.

Some of have suggested that (some of) the songs on this album are a step back from the defiant attitude of her hits the preceding year.

For example in relation to the single, “That’s the way Boys Are”: “Music critic William Ruhlmann called the song "a well-crafted reflection from a sympathetic and understanding female perspective on the obtuse mating habits of boys." Author Richard Aquila noted that the lyrics "voice the era's acceptance of sexual double standards," in contrast with the theme of Gore's previous single, "You Don't Own Me". Aquila regards "That's the Way Boys Are" as one of several examples of Lesley Gore songs that regard women as dependents or passive objects, along with earlier singles "It's My Party" and "Judy's Turn to Cry." Musicologist Walter Everett described the song as one of the many 1960s sexist songs that "perpetuated a boys will be boys tolerance for male but not female infidelity." Music critic Greil Marcus also remarked on the way "That's the Way Boys Are" backs off from the "proto-feminist manifesto" of "You Don't Own Me" to a message of "he may treat you like garbage, but they're all like that, and we love 'em for it!"” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/That%27s_the_Way_Boys_Are

"It's My Party" (#1US 1963), "Judy's Turn to Cry" (#5US, 1963), "She's a Fool" (#5US, 1963), "You Don't Own Me" (#2US, 1964) were strong female statements (as well as big hits) where Lesley didn’t back down and got on with it. Here, there is some sadness and regret, but I think it is a long bow to imply anything other than just a bunch of songs being placed together for commercial reasons. The songs were probably all recorded around the same time (in fact “Danny” as the B side to “It’s My Party”) so I assume once something as defiant as “It’s My Party” was a hit that the record label tried to follow it up with more of the same. Sooner or later, when “more of the same” is used up they released the other tunes that were left.

Also, most of the songs are written by men.

Not everything is a conspiracy.

In any event there is nothing wrong with regret, mournful or not, sadness at the loss of love or longing just as there is nothing wrong with independence or defiance. All the songs here are pop about teenage love and heartbreak.

And there is plenty of the “old” Lesley here also.

This is her third album and she is in fine voice. Someone said that Lesley was basically a "girl group without a group" and this is a great description of her music – her clear, well enunciated, sweet voice backed with lots of hand-clapping, shing-a-lings and pop beat.

The beauty is by and large they (the powers that be) had enough faith in Lesley to try mainly new material on her. It was common for the teen pop stars, at the time, to rehash other people’s hits. Here, with the exception of one cover we have songs written for Lesley, first recorded by her as well as a couple she co-wrote.

The album is produced by, regular, Quincy Jones with arrangements by, regular, Claus Ogerman (an Afro-American producer (Quincy Jones), German arranger (Klaus Ogermann) and a Jewish pop singer (Lesley Gore) all with their eyes on the love life of teens).

Tracks (best in italics)

Side One

That's the Way Boys Are – (Mark Barkan, Ben Raleigh) – A great pop song with a sentiment that wouldn't pass the test nowadays, but then again, girl pop songs nowadays are rarely as catchy as this. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/That%27s_the_Way_Boys_Are
Boys – (Paul Anka) – first sung by Lesley. Another catchy pop song with another great vocal from Lesley and, perhaps, a template for some Motown tunes.
It's Gotta Be You – (Mark Barkan, Claus Ogerman) – first sung by Lesley. She also appeared and sung the song in the film “The Girls on the Beach” from 1965. This is more the standard pop of the day but still incredibly catchy.
Something Wonderful – (Oscar Hammerstein II, Richard Rodgers) – a show tune from the 1951 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical "The King and I" and done by everybody including Bing Crosby (1951), Doris Day (1960) and Nina Simone (1964). Okay, not really Lesley's bag. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Something_Wonderful_(song)
You Name It – (Norman Blagman, Edna Lewis) – first sung by Lesley. Ballsy and fun with some rollicking piano work
Danny – (Paul Anka) – first sung by Lesley. This would be a special treat if your name was Danny. A girl swoons and desires Danny. Good fun. Pity the song title wasn't "Franky" though.

Side Two

I Don't Wanna Be a Loser – (Mark Barkan, Ben Raleigh) – first sung by Lesley. She appeared and sung the song in the film “The Girls on the Beach” from 1965. The song was also featured in the soundtrack of the 1964 movie The Pawnbroker about a Jewish pawnbroker, the former victim of Nazi persecution, (Quincy Jones was the films composer). A melancholy statement and a grest pop song. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Don%27t_Wanna_Be_a_Loser
That's the Way the Ball Bounces – (Marvin Hamlisch, Howard Liebling) – an early work by legendary composer Marvin Hamlisch who with Howard Liebling wrote a few songs for Lesley. Very good.
Leave Me Alone – (Lesley Gore) – a great song. Well sung and thoughtful.
Don't Call Me – (John Madara, David White) – Madara and White had been in various white doo wop bands and wrote Lesley’s hit of 1963 “You Don’t Own me” (#2US), “The Fly” (1961 #7 US for Chubby Checker), co- wrote “At The Hop” (1957 #1 US for Danny & the Juniors), and later 1-2-3 (1965 #2 US for Len Barry). First sung by Lesley. A statement of defiance.
I'll Make It Up to You – (Edna Lewis, Gloria Shayne) – first recorded by Lesley. Not too bad but not a standout.
I'm Coolin', No Foolin' – (Lesley Gore, Sydney Shaw) – a little different with a nifty clip clop in the chorus. Very moody and very catchy.

And …

Lesley has many accolades but I suspect she is still vastly underrated. She is one of the best pop singers of the 1960s. This is a a really, really good pop album … I'm keeping it.

Chart Action

Singles

1964 That's the Way Boys Are #12

1964 I Don't Wanna Be a Loser #37

Album

1964 #127

England

nothing

Sounds

That's the Way Boys Are

mp3 attached

Boys

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBxLgqog6-g

It's Gotta Be You

From film

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VghZM5ypJXY

You Name It

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFyie9Cv22A

I Don't Wanna Be a Loser

from film

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JF2qPXjsCg0

Leave Me Alone

from film

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnzYuA5BNE8

I'm Coolin', No Foolin'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCExxJmXOiI

Others

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acRMALrg1t4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDUjeR01wnU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GaFEqPEvYM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFeMuAWDUA

Review

—

Bio

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quincy_Jones

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claus_Ogerman

Website

http://lesleygorefanclub.com/index.html

https://www.facebook.com/Lesley-Gore-International-Fan-Club-142250429133327/?ref=search

Trivia

—

Posted in Pop Rock | Tagged 1964 | Leave a comment

CYMARRON – Rings – (Entrance) – 1971

Posted on June 9, 2019 by Franko

There is very little out there on this band.

The best bio is (in total): “A soft rock act which placed one single in the US Top 20 in 1971, ‘Rings’, Cymarron comprised Rick Yancey (1948), Sherrill Parks (b. 1948, Jackson, Tennessee, USA; guitar/saxophone) and Richard Mainegra (b. 1948, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA). The trio was formed after Yancey was hired as a studio musician and songwriter by Chips Moman for the latter’s American Recording Studios in Memphis, Tennessee. Yancey met Parks, they decided to work together, and Parks brought in Mainegra. They named the group Cymarron after a television western called Cimarron Strip. ‘Rings’, released on Entrance Records, was not written by the group but by outside writers, Eddie Reeves and Alex Harvey, and it became Cymarron’s only success, despite a handful of subsequent singles and an album”. https://www.oldies.com/artist-biography/Cymarron.html

Yancey, Parks and Mainegra may have been the “band” (and no slouches themselves) but in the studio they were assisted by the ace session men, known as The Memphis Boys, working at American Sound studios in Memphis under owner and producer Chips Moman.

“The Memphis Boys, American Sound Studio's House band was composed of drummer Gene Chrisman, bassists Tommy Cogbill and Mike Leech, guitarist Reggie Young, pianist Bobby Wood, and organist Bobby Emmons. They brought versatility to the studio, including Joe Tex's "I Gotcha"; Merrilee Rush's "Angel of the Morning"; Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline"; The Box Tops' "Cry Like a Baby"; Elvis Presley's "In the Ghetto"; and Danny O'Keefe's "Goodtime Charlie's Got the Blues". It was Tommy Cogbill's bass ride out in Dusty Springfield's hit "Son of a Preacher Man." They were also the band in flutist Herbie Mann's 1969 Jazz Rock classic Memphis Underground . In 2007, they were inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, TN.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Sound_Studio#The_Memphis_Boys

The playing, as you would expect, is wonderful. I mean, guitarist, Reggie Young played on Elvis’ “Suspicious Minds”, “Kentucky Rain”, “In the Ghetto”, “Don't Cry Daddy”, and “I've Got a Thing about You Baby”, and “Stranger In My Own Hometown” as well as for many other artists.

Chips Moman, I suspect, is the driving force behind this band. And despite references to the band as “soft rock”, Moman is too Southern and rustic to easily let them fall into that genre. There are country and gospel influences here and the lush dramatic faux orchestral in the background.

Likewise, most of the covers, seems to have come from songs recorded previously at American Sound Studios under Chips Moman. I assume Moman liked the songs and thought they had enough potential to give them another try. Moman seems to have done this a bit with acts he produced or worked with (Neil Diamond, Elvis, BJ Thomas, Dusty Springfield, The Box Tops etc) either writing or resurrecting each other’s songs.

It ticks all the right boxes of the emerging, soon to be a dominant sound, slick musicianship, country vibes, harmonies, gentle non-confrontational lyrics and a general relaxed feel.

This is soft rock as if played by the Eagles or perhaps the Grass Roots, or perhaps John Stewart or better still, Crosby Stills Nash and Young.

Written by band members unless otherwise noted.

Tracks (best in italics)

Side One

Rings – (A. Harvey, E. Reeves) – written by songwriters Alex Harvey ("Reuben James" recorded by Kenny Rogers, and "Delta Dawn," recorded by Tanya Tucker) and Eddie Reeves (“If You Wouldn’t Be My Lady” recorded by Charlie Rich and “All I Ever Need Is You” recorded by Kenny Rogers & Dottie West). The song has a convoluted history but was first recorded by Running Bear & Goldstein (which was Mike Settle and the two writers). Within a year it was recorded by Cymarron, Tompall & the Glaser Brothers (#7 C&W US) and Lonnie Mack. Other versions have been done by Lobo (#43, 1974), Charlene (1976), Twiggy (1977), Dr Hook (1982), Leo Kottke and Mike Gordon (2005) and Instrumental by Bill Black's Combo (1971). This is a very catchy song (and a little different to the rest of the album)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rings_(song) https://www.songfacts.com/facts/cymarron/rings

In Your Mind – (B. McKnight) – Billy Wade McKnight had been in garage band Billy McKnight & the Plus 4 based in Tyler, Texas in the 60s. This is a country rock ballad.
Across The Kansas Sky – (S. Parks) – not to bad but not distinctive
A Good Place To Begin – (B. Carter, R. Mainegra) – very good. A bit like Jim Croce if he went country rock.
How Can You Mend A Broken Heart – (B. Gibb, R. Gibb) – First release by Bee Gees (1971) #1 US. If you wanted to hear the Bee Gees in a country rock setting, then, here it is. Quite good reallt. The Bee Gees vocal harmonies (around this time) are suited to country. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_Can_You_Mend_a_Broken_Heart

Side Two

Valerie – (R. Mainegra) – a stunning original and a good mix of soft rock and country rock.
Hello Love – (R. Williams, R. Young) – written by guitarist Reggie Young with Red Williams. First recording and first release by Brenda Lee on her "Memphis Portrait” album from 1970 which was recorded and produced by Chips Moman at American Recording Studios (with Reggie Young on guitar). Not too bad.
Tennessee Waltz – (P.W. King, R. Stewart) – The magnificent song originally by Pee Wee King & His Golden West Cowboys (#3 (later C&W charts, 1948)) and then bu Cowboy Copas (#6 (later C&W charts, 1948)) but forever associated with trad pop songstress Patti page (#1 Pop, #2 C&W 1950). It has been recorded hundreds of times since … Ivo Robi? (1957), Eddy Arnold (1954), Connie Francis (1959), Sam Cooke (1964), Tennessee Ernie Ford (1960). Otis Redding(1966), Petula Clark (1951), The Louvin brothers (1958), Pat Boone (1962), Lloyd price (1963), Billy J. Kramer with The Dakotas (1965), Manfred Mann (1966), Leonard Cohen (2004), Guy Mitchell (1990), Sandy Bull (1972), Elvis Presley (1966 home recording) and many others. A great song. This isnt as mournful as some but it does capture the right mood.
Break My Mind – (J.D. Loudermilk) – First release by George Hamilton IV (1967) and covered many times since including by the Box Tops (1967) who recorded it at Chip Moman's American Recording Studios (produced by Dan Penn). Quite good wih a very late 60s lyric.
Table For Two For One – (S. Tyrell, W. Carson) – First release by B.J. Thomas on his "Most of All" (1970) album recorded at American Sound Studio and produced by Chips Moman. Co-author Carson (who co-wrote "Always on My Mind" for Elvis) and Steve Tyrell are songwriters and singers. Carson recorded the song for his album "Life Lines" (1972) (where the song is, curiously, credited to Carson and his normal co-author, John Christopher). Pleasant.
True Confession – (S. Parks) – this is 60s rock given country overtones. Interesting, and catchy.

And …

Patchy but quite good as country rock goes soft. There are some gems here … I'm keeping it.

Chart Action

Singles

1971 Rings #17

1971 Valerie #96

Album

1971 #187

England

nothing

Elsewhere

Australia

Singles

1971 Rings #46

Canada

Singles

1971 Rings #41

Sounds

Rings

mp3 attached

In Your Mind

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94b2d6bDgik

Across The Kansas Sky

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKeHUx0JsnE

Valerie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMHoqMWZJ2M

True Confession

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxHmcEfjSyg

Others

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQZYMCuYocc

Review

—

Bio

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cymarron

https://www.oldies.com/artist-biography/Cymarron.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Sound_Studio#The_Memphis_Boys

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chips_Moman

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reggie_Young

Website

—

Trivia

Personnel: Bass – Mike Leech, Drums – Gene Chrisman, Guitar [Lead] – Reggie Young, Guitar [Rhythm] – Johnny Christopher, Guitar, Vocals – Richard Mainegra, Rick Yancey, Harmonica, Vocals – Sherrill Parks, Organ – Bobby Emmons, Percussion – Hayward Bishop, Piano – Bobby Wood, Producer – Chips Moman.
According to the liner notes the band name came from the television western show "Cimarron Strip" from the late 1960s (which starred Stuart Whitman).
“In 1991, Yancey and Mainegra joined Jimmy Griffin (formerley of Bread) in forming the country music band The Remingtons. Yancey and Griffin also performed together as GYC until Griffin's death in 2005”. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cymarron
Richard Mainegra went on to write many songs including "Separate Ways" for Elvis Red West (who he rote a few things with). Rick Yancey wrote less but he did work with Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and others. Sherrill Parks was the quietest though he later worked with Willie Nelson and provided (and sang) a song, "Memphis Thelma", to the "Ode To Billy Joe" soundtrack (1976)

RIP

Dr John 1941 – 2019

and a belated

Reggie Young 1936 – 2019

Peter Tork 1942 – 2019

Posted in Country Rock, Soft Rock | Tagged 1971 | Leave a comment

THE TOKENS – We The Tokens Sing Folk – (RCA) – 1962

Posted on May 26, 2019 by Franko

The Tokens have gone through many line-ups though their most famous and the one at the time of this recording was Phil Margo, Mitch Margo, Hank Medress and Jay Siegel.

There were so many white doo wop pop bands that they tend to blur into each other though the Tokens stand out, for one reason:

Their big 1961 #1 US hit (#11UK), "The Lion Sleeps Tonight”

From their website, “In 1961 THE TOKENS, four boys from Brooklyn, recorded, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" on the RCA label. The song (originally a Zulu folk song called "M'bube" and Anglicized to "Wimoweh") soared up the charts to become the number one hit in the nation. To date it has sold over 15 million copies and is known throughout the world. In a survey conducted by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Record Industry Association of America The Tokens' classic recording of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" placed 159th in the top 365 records of ALL TIME”. https://www.thetokens.com/biography

And that seems to be it despite placing nine songs in the US Top 100 between 1961 and 1970 and recording some six albums over the same time, and then recording another ten since, moving through doo wop, early rock ‘n’ roll, R&B, Brill Building Pop, Sunshine Pop, Psychedelic Pop and the “golden oldies” circuit.

They are still performing in some form with at least an original member out there somewhere.

But, their entire allmusic entry reads: “This Brooklyn doo wop group was originally known as the Linc-Tones when it formed in 1955 at Lincoln High School. Hank Medress, Neil Sedaka, Eddie Rabkin, and Cynthia Zolitin didn't have much impact in their early days recording for Melba. They later disbanded, but Medress re-formed the group in 1960 as the Tokens. Brothers Phil and Mitch Margo and Jay Siegel were now the members. They recorded for Warwick in 1960, then had their one glorious hit in 1962, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." It was based on the South African Zulu song "Wimoweh," and reached number seven on the R&B chart while topping the pop surveys. The Tokens formed their own label in 1964, B.T. Puppy, but weren't able to keep the hits coming very long, although "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" remains a standard”. https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-tokens-mn0000919853/biography

Wikipedia gives some better background, “The group was formed in 1955 at Brooklyn's Abraham Lincoln High School, and was known first as The Linc-Tones. Originally featuring members Neil Sedaka, Hank Medress, Eddie Rabkin, and Cynthia Zolotin, Rabkin was replaced by Jay Siegel in 1956, and the band recorded its first single, "While I Dream" that same year. In 1957 Sedaka and Zolotin left the band, leaving only Siegel and Medress, who would recruit two additional band members and record the single "Picture in My Wallet" as Darrell & the Oxfords. Finally establishing its most famous name and crew, the band became known as the Tokens in 1960 after they recruited the 13-year-old multi-instrumentalist and first tenor Mitch Margo and his baritone brother Phil Margo’. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tokens

Rolling Stone take it further, “The Tokens were clean-cut Brooklyn boys who had grown up listening to DJs Alan Freed and Murray the K, and the dreamy teen stylings of Dion and the Belmonts and the Everly Brothers. Hank Medress and Jay Siegel met at Lincoln High, where they sang in a doo-wop quartet that briefly featured Neil Sedaka. Phil Margo was a budding drummer and piano player, also from Lincoln High, and Mitch Margo was his kid brother, age fourteen. One presumes that girls were already making eyes in their direction, because the Tokens had recently been on TV’s American Bandstand, decked out in double-breasted mohair suits with white shirts and purple ties, singing their surprise Top Twenty hit, “Tonight I Fell in Love” … And now they were moving toward even greater things. Barely out of high school, they landed a three-record deal with RCA Victor, with a $10,000 advance and a crack at working with Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore, ace producers of Jimmy Rodgers, Frankie Lymon and many, many others. These guys worked with Elvis Presley, for God’s sake. “To us this was big,” says Phil Margo. “Very big” … The Tokens knew “Wimoweh” through their lead singer, Jay, who’d learned it off an old Weavers album. It was one of the songs they’d sung when they auditioned for Huge and Luge, their nickname for the hotshot Italians. The producers said, yeah, great, but what’s it about? “Eating lions,” said the Tokens. That’s what some joker at the South African consulate had told them, at any rate: It was a Zulu hunting song with lyrics that went, “Hush, hush. If everyone’s quiet, we’ll have lion meat to eat tonight.” https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/in-the-jungle-inside-the-long-hidden-genealogy-of-the-lion-sleeps-tonight-108274/

All of the entries seem to dwell (or end) on “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”. Understandably it was a big, big hit and will forever be associated with them (in the UK “Tight Fit” had a UK #1 with the song in 1982. It charted in Europe and some of the former English colonies but it failed to chart in the US)

The song was riding on the emerging on the folk music boom despite the fact the Tokens were hardly folkies.

The Weavers had brought folk back to the national platform and then Harry Belafonte and a livelier Kingston Trio had given it chart success. There was a breed of new enthusiastic, young white folkies emerging, playing a more strident, gritty and authentic folk music and an audience hungry for the same.

The authentic sounds of folk and Americana had been explored by The Everly Brothers on “Songs Our Daddy Taught Us” (1958) and Johnny Cash on many albums but especially “Songs Of Our Soil” (1959) and ‘Blood, Sweat And Tears” (1962) but the new breed emerging included Bob Dylan who released his self-titled first album, in 1962, as did Peter Paul and Mary, and Tom Paxton whose debut “I'm the Man That Built the Bridges” came out in the same year. Phil Ochs would follow soon with his “All the News That's Fit to Sing’ (1964) and many others followed.

But there was also room for pop folk (a precursor to folk rock perhaps) where the old (familiar) folk songs (or new faux ones in the same style) were dusted down, given sweet arrangements, and then sung in a pop style.

Jimmie Rodgers in the late 50s, perhaps, spearheaded this pop folk (though he leant to the trad pop side of the music business) with hits including "Honeycomb" (# 1 US, 1957), "Kisses Sweeter than Wine" (# 7US, 1957), and "Oh-Oh, I'm Falling in Love Again" (#7, 1958) and albums like “Jimmie Rodgers Sings Folk Songs” (1958) which was subtitled “With Hugo Peretti And His Orchestra”.

It was inevitable that a teen pop version of the same would follow.

And who better to sing it melodic folk than kids youth well versed in vocal melodies through doo wop and early rock ‘n’ pop.

That came when they were paired with cousins, and songwriters, and producers Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore who shared an office in New York's Brill Building who produced “The Lion Sleeps Tonight".

The Tokens may have known the tune but Hugo and Luigi had already explored its terrain when they produced the hits for Jimmie Rodgers.

They knew how to tailor an ethnic, regional folk songs for the broadest possible listening market.

And it worked.

The success of “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” means The Tokens led the folk pop charge whether they liked it or not.

The folk pop flood gates opened with albums by The Four Seasons “Born To Wander” (1964) and “Folk-Nanny” (1964) (Folk-Nanny, despite its title, was not a hootenanny style release but, rather, a bunch of folk flavoured tracks left on their old label), Gene Pitney “Meets The Fair Young Ladies Of Folkland” (1963), Jackie DeShannon “In the Wind” (1965), Bobby Darin “Golden Folk Hits”, “Earthy” and “18 Yellow Roses” (partial folk) all 1963, Jay & The Americans “Live From The Cafe Wha” (a nod to folk in their second album) (1962), Connie Francis “Sings Folk Song Favorites” (1961) and a nod to folk in “Around The World With Connie” (1962) and “In The Summer Of His Years” (1963).

Even Elvis even tried it, when Peretti and Creatore (again) wrote Presley's hit single Wild in the Country (#26US, 1961)

On the success of the single an album, of the same name, was rushed out to capitalise (and it did a respectable #54US, a good album placing for a teen pop band at the time)

That album was full of old folk songs, sea shanties, cowboy lullabies and Jamaican ballads.

The music industry dictated at the time (and still does) never rock (sic) a happy boat.

Or, perhaps, milk whatever works for all its worth.

Accordingly, this album produced more of the same.

It didn’t do as well as the market was saturated but it is a worthy album of a commercial folk style which doesn’t get re-visited very often.

Tracks (best in italics)

Side One

This Little Light Of Mine – (Adapted By – Medress, Siegel, M. Margo, P. Margo) – a old folk and gospel song done by everyone including Guy Carawan (1959), Sister Rosetta Sharpe (1960), Pete Seeger (1962) and others later The Seekers (1964) and Bruce Springsteen (2007). Pure folk pop. About as mainstream as you get

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Little_Light_of_Mine

https://www.thoughtco.com/this-little-light-of-mine-1322521

Five Hundred Miles – (Adapted By – Medress, Siegel, M. Margo, P. Margo) – the most famous versions appeared on Peter, Paul and Mary’s self-titled debut from 1962, The Kingston Trio’s “College Concert” (1962) and as a Bobby Bare single which went to #1 US in 1963. This captures the right pitch of mournfulness .https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/500_Miles
B'wa Nina (Pretty Girl) – (Weiss, Peretti, Creatore) – very similar in style to the “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”. This was first done by The Tokens. Catchy, though not as catchy as "lion".
Monkey Vendor (Tumbili) – (Adapted By – Medress, Harvey, Siegel, M. Margo, P. Margo) – I don’t know anything about this song. It’s faux calypso.
Wayfaring Stranger – (Adapted By – Kaiman, Medress, Siegel, M. Margo, P. Margo) – this is an old folk song dating back to the early 19^th century done by everyone most identified with Burl Ives who first recorded it in 1944. Frankie Laine recorded it for his album “Call of the Wild” (1962) and Jimmie Rodgers for his “Jimmie Rodgers in Folk Concert” (1963). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wayfaring_Stranger_(song)
A Bird Flies Out Of Sight (Felicidad) – (Jobim, Weiss, Hugo & Luigi) – “A felicidade" ("Happiness") is a bossa nova song by Antonio Carlos Jobim, with lyrics by Vinícius de Moraes, composed for the great 1958 French film Orfeu Negro (Black Orpheus). This is a little more intricate in vocal and instrumental arrangements.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_felicidade

Side Two

La Bomba – (Adapted By – Medress, Siegel, M. Margo, P. Margo) – an old folk song which was done as rocker by, and forever associated with, Richie Valens who had a #22 US 1958 with it. Trini Lopez performed his own version of "La Bamba" on his album “Trini Lopez Live at PJs” (1963) and Los Lobos had a #1 with it in 1987. In 1956 Harry Belafonte recorded the song on an EP and in 1960 the song was included on the album "Belafonte Returns to Carnegie Hall. A great song, no matter who sings it and the Tokens get the right joy on it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Bamba_(song)
A Boy Without A Girl – (Sexter, Jacobson) – Originally by Frankie Avalon this went to #10US in1959. This is not a folk song. This is more what I expect them to sing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Boy_Without_a_Girl

The Mountain Boy – (Elias, Medress, Siegel, M. Margo, P. Margo, Lowe) – first done by the Tokens. Not really folk but with a fair bit of yodelling (yes, yodelling) it is faux world folk.
A Tale Of Two Lovers – (Gluck Jr., Nader) – first done by the Tokens and not folk but some bongos give it a world folk feeling.
Weeping River – (Kaiman) – first done by the Tokens. A mix of folk and pop "death song" craze. Not too bad.
Joshua – (Adapted By – Medress, Siegel, M. Margo, P. Margo) – a version of "Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho". This old slave gospel song from the 19^th century has been done by everyone including Paul Robeson (1925), Mahalia Jackson (1958), and Elvis Presley (1961). This is done as a pop rather than a gospel. It's fun. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_Fit_the_Battle_of_Jericho

And …

Not that great. It's sung (really) well but it doesn't stand out amongst other pop folk efforts … still, I'm keeping it.

Chart Action

Singles

1962 "B'wa Nina (Pretty Girl) #55

1962 La Bamba #85

Album

—

England

nothing

Sounds

This Little Light of Mine

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUNkhr7dKF8

Five Hundred Miles

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vhK78MCP3k

B'wa Nina (Pretty Girl)

mp3 attached

Monkey Vendor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHWOWm1F-2E

Wayfaring Stranger

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_by191sV9I

A Bird Flies Out Of Sight

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIYq8lbldf4

La Bomba

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPswnfTiyZc

live, a lot later

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vanG6K9hW84

A Boy without A Girl

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uchoK2m7hHI

The Mountain Boy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuyXxb3UlAA

A Tale of Two Lovers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKluSSxAFl0

Weeping River

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjEc6PwSkbs

Joshua

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKWSn5Gevs8

Others

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoKmyugl_bo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3khhdsOj0Y

Review

https://www.allmusic.com/album/we-the-tokens-sing-folk-mw0000858529

Bio

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tokens

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-tokens-mn0000919853/biography

Website

https://www.thetokens.com/

https://www.facebook.com/jaysiegelstokens

Trivia

“After leaving RCA in late 1963, they established their own record company called B.T. Puppy. The B.T. comes from the Tokens music publishing company Bright Tunes, the puppy name was a nod to RCA with their dog mascot Nipper … The company was a 50-50 venture with Jerry Blaine, the owner of Jubilee Records. Jubilee was responsible for manufacturing and distributing the records produced by the Tokens. Their first hit was in late summer 1964, "He's in Town," which reached No. 43 on the Billboard charts (a cover version in the UK by the Rockin' Berries made #3 there). In the spring of 1966 they had a #30 hit with "I Hear Trumpets Blow." … Eventually, the Tokens abandoned recording for their own B.T. Puppy label and began recording albums for other labels. In 1967 they signed with Warner Bros and recorded the album It's a Happening World [Warner Bros WS 1685], which produced the top-40 hit "Portrait of My Love." The Tokens offered a version of their later LP Intercourse to Warner Bros as a followup to It's a Happening World, but Warners rejected it and apparently the group, too. The group then signed with Buddah in 1969 with the LP Both Sides Now [Buddah BDS 5059], which contained a stereo overdub version of "He's In Town," new remakes of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" and "Tonight I Fell In Love," the original version of "I Hear Trumpets Blow," as well as minor charters "She Lets Her Hair Down (Early In The Morning)," "Don't Worry Baby," "Both Sides Now," and "Some People Sleep." Hank Medress left the group in the early 1970s to become a producer (e.g., Tony Orlando & Dawn). The remaining trio carried on, recording as Cross Country in 1973 with the LP Cross Country [Atco SD 7024] … In addition to their own career, the Tokens produced other artists, both on the B.T. Puppy label and for other labels. They produced the Chiffons and Randy and the Rainbows for Laurie/Rust. Their biggest success on B.T. Puppy was with a New Jersey group called the Four Graduates, who changed their name to the Happenings when they signed with B.T. Puppy. The Happenings had the hit "See You In September" which reached No. 3 on the US charts in August 1966. The Happenings did better with "I Got Rhythm" which went to No. 1 in the Cash Box Charts, and they had a couple of additional hits in 1967 with "My Mammy" and "Why Do Fools Fall in Love." The Happenings put out two original albums and a Greatest Hits compilation on the label, and although the first LP and the compilation charted, their second album, Psycle, arguably their best, inexplicably failed to chart. The Happenings left to sign with Jubilee Records, where they released Peace of Mind [Jubilee JGS 8028] in 1969”. http://www.bsnpubs.com/nyc/btpuppy/btpuppy.html

RIP : Doris Day – (1922 – 2019)

Posted in Pop Rock | Tagged 1962 | Leave a comment

BOBBY RYDELL – Somebody Loves You – (Capitol) – 1965

Posted on April 28, 2019 by Franko

Bobby’s peak of popularity was over. His fortunes declined with the rise of the Beatles (and others).

People were ready for more beat, more soul, more experimentation and more attitude. The Beatles and other English acts supplies the beat, Afro-Americans supplied the soul, folk rockers supplied the experimentation, and the garage acts supplied the attitude.

The teen idol pop ‘n’ roll / pop rock singers of the early 60s had to evolve with the times, play to their existing market hoping it wouldn’t diminish, or find new audiences by tweaking their old style.

Very few evolved (well, not initially) but they knew they had to do something, so, most tweaked their sound, hoping to maintain their audience and find a new one.

Many acts (Frankie Avalon, Connie Francis, Tommy Sands, Bobby Vinton, Ray Peterson) did just that, and that is to tweak their sound and make adult oriented music (after all some of them were now in their twenties. Bobby Rydell was 23!). Musically, it wasn’t a big leap for them … just replace teenage themes with adult ones and add (more) orchestration.

Bobby Darin had been doing it with great success since the early 1960s.

For Bobby Rydell it was even less of a leap than most. He had always had an affinity for trad pop and had sprinkled his pop albums with trad pop and had tackled trad pop in three previous albums “Salutes the Great Ones” (1961) where he tackled Sinatra, Jolson and Crosby, “Rydell At The Copa” (1961) where he swings at a dinner club, and “An Era Reborn“ (1962) where he did big band.

The difference there was, at last on the studio albums he gave the trad pop a little rock ‘n’ roll zest but here the music is more straight. It is not without a little “roll” but it is a little smoother, a little less ragged. This is Capitol records after all and not his previous label Cameo. This was the big time and Capitol were masters of trad pop having had Sinatra, Dean Martin, Nelson Riddle, Les Baxter, Nat "King" Cole, Sammy Davis Jr., Stan Kenton, Peggy Lee, Billy May and many others.

And Capitol threw a bit of money at him though they knew they had to keep the talent young (ish) to appeal to the youth, or so it was hoped.

Three tracks (tracks: A4, A5, B4) were arranged by H. B. Barnum (born 1936) who was a young Afro-American who was a rising star in the trad pop and pop worlds and went on to record and work with Count Basie, Frank Sinatra, Etta James, Aretha Franklin, The Supremes and Lou Rawls, among many others.

The rest were arranged (and everything was conducted) by Jimmy Wisner (born 1931, died 2018) who was a pianist, arranger, songwriter, and producer, best known for his 1961 hit single "Asia Minor", released under the name Kokomo. Wisner was also on the ascent and worked in trad and rock including Freddy Cannon, Neil Sedaka, Bobby Vinton, Herbie Mann, Len Barry, Miriam Makeba, Judy Collins, Paul Evans, Spanky and Our Gang, Tony Bennett, the Cowsills, Carly Simon, Al Kooper, Iggy Pop, Barbra Streisand, Tommy James, Brigitte Bardot and others.

David Axelrod (born 1931, died 2017) was an American composer, arranger, and producer. And bona fide legend in the making. He worked in trad pop and with rock acts like The Electric Prunes and recorded a number of eclectic solo instrumental albums.

This is beautifully sung by Bobby who has mastered the lower range of his voice when required. These are bravura performances. The music is a mixture of dramatic, Vegas-style pop ballads, country-pop and straight trad pop (all the things Darin had been doing at the time) with the magnificent contributions of Barnum, Wisner and Axelrod. It’s great trad pop but, perhaps, because of the relative youth of all the central figures, or the times, it has a little quirkiness. There is a playfulness in the orchestration and vocals which doesn’t owe anything to the older trad pop stars. It’s great to listen to and sounds fully realised.

It all looked good on paper and the results matched it but the times were a changin’ (err, sorry about that) … and the public didn’t go for it.

Bobby didn’t record another album until 1976.

It’s a pity that this music couldn’t co-exist, in this age group, with all the new music coming through. It wasn’t until the 1990s that the youthful lounge music swingers brought up on their parents records and op shop finds rediscovered the joys of trad pop.

Tracks (best in italics)

Side One

Diana – (Paul Anka) – Paul Anka’s big hit from 1957, #2 US, #1UK, #1Australia, #1 Canada, #1 Holland. Wow, this is a totally different take on the song. Better? No, perhaps not because the original is so familiar but this has it's own joy 9and gravitas).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diana_(Paul_Anka_song)

Stranger In The World – (H. Greenfield, J. Keller) – Greenfield and Keller were prolific pop songwriters famous for writing the themes to “Bewitched” (1964), “Gidget” (1965) and “Venus in Blue Jeans” by Jimmy Clanton (#7, 1962). This is first done by Bobby I believe. This is good, not great but really, actually quite good trad pop.
It's A Sin to Tell a Lie – (Billy Mayhew) – often record trad pop standard dating back to the mid-30s. done by everyone including pat Boone (1960), Fabian (1960), Tony Bennett (1964), Not too bad.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_a_Sin_to_Tell_a_Lie

You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You – (Morgan, Stock, Cavanaugh) – A trad pop standard first recorded by Nat "King" Cole (1945) but forever associated with Dean Martin who recorded it twice, in 1960 (for Capitol) and 1964 (for Reprise). The 1964 version peaked at #25 Pop (#1 Billboard's Middle-Road Singles). This version swings, but swings less than Dean's versions. It's still a treat. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You%27re_Nobody_till_Somebody_Loves_You
Come To Me – (Beveridge, Prior) – first done by Julie Grant (1964) the song is an adaptation of "Si tu as besoin d'un ami" written by Richard Anthony and Franck Gérald and sung by the former (1964). Dramatic and quite European (not surprisingly, 'cause it is originally). It sounds a little like a film theme song to a spaghetti western (ahead of the curve). I like it.
Bellazza – (R. Valente, J. Wisner) – first done by Bobby I believe. A variation on the "Volare" mood, and quite good.

Side Two

Please Don't Stay Away – (P. Andreali, V. Poncia) – done by The U.S. Four in 1962. Pete Anders and Vini Poncia recorded as the Videls, the Tradewinds and the Innocence. As song writers, they penned “Do I Love You” and “(The Best Part Of) Breaking Up” both for the Ronettes and many other 60s’ songs.
Don't Be Afraid To Love Me – (C. Taylor, T. Daryll) – first done by Bobby I believe. This sounds like something else, especially in the high voice (and slightly jarring) parts. I don't know what. I like it though
Dansero – (Hayman, Daniels, Parker) – First done by Richard Hayman and His Orchestra (1953) but also by Joni James (1958) and Eydie Gorme (1963) and others. A dancing "groovy" treat.
Time Out For Tears – (Abe Schiff, Irving Berman) – First done by Savannah Churchill and The Four Tunes (1948), and then done by Ink Spots (1950), Nat "King" Cole (1950), Teresa Brewer (1958) and many others. Another good cover.
Theme Of Love – (F. Day, J. Wisner) – first done by Bobby I believe. Serious with mucho gravitas. I like this. There should be more of this. People can't sing anymore …

And …

There are so many good songs here from a "mature" Bobby. This is quite a treat and as good as anything by Frank or Dean at the time. Great "easy listening" … really, really good. I'm keeping it.

Chart Action

Singles

1965 Diana #98

Album

—

England

Nothing

Sounds

Diana

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qH12vybQDhM

It's A Sin To Tell A Lie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZS3wcddmOs

You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hmkC-uGH7Y

Please Don't Stay Away Too Long

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-N0abwHwjkg

Dansero

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPbvn5si4RM

Theme Of Love

mp3 attached

Others

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKCHUzLDcrA

A single from the Capitol records period

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryeyOq6Fsg0

Review

—

Bio

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._B._Barnum

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Wisner

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Axelrod_(musician)

Website

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Rydell

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/bobby-rydell-mn0000062270

Trivia

http://bobbyrydell.com/

and, yes, Bobby looks a little like Roddy McDowall on the cover.

RIP:

Scott Walker 1943 – 2019

Hal Blaine 1929 – 2019

Posted in Pop Rock, Popular & Crooners | Tagged 1965 | Leave a comment

EVERY MOTHERS’ SON – Every Mothers’ Son – (MGM) – 1967

Posted on April 8, 2019 by Franko

I had no idea who this band was when I first came across them.

There are many acts in the US that just didn’t have much impact here, in Australia. Even Gary Lewis and the Playboys, who had seven Top 10s, including a #1, in the US (which is hard work as that market is big) only had one Top 10 here and nothing in the UK. And, them, I’m not sure how they even had that Top 10 here because, despite our protestations of encroaching American culture, in the 60s, at least, we were very Anglo-Centric … we seemed to get all their music, whereas the US stuff seemed a little selective. As a result Gary Lewis and the Playboys, Paul Revere and the Raiders, Johnny Rivers and others were never as big here as they were in the US. So, if those acts don’t have a big presence here Every Mother's Son are positively obscure.

But, I checked them out and found out they were a “sunshine pop” band (apparently).

Search this blog for other definitions of sunshine pop but “Sunshine pop originated in the American state of California in the mid to late-1960s, beginning as an outgrowth of the California Sound and folk rock movements. Rooted in easy-listening, advertising jingles, and the growing drug culture, the music is characterized by lush vocals and light arrangements similar to samba music. Most of the acts were lesser-known bands named after fruits, colors, or cosmic concepts who imitated more popular groups like the Beach Boys, the Mamas & the Papas, and the 5th Dimension. In some ways the genre is similar to baroque pop music through being elaborate and melancholic, though it also crossed into folk pop and Brill Building styles. It may be seen as a form of escapism from the turmoil of the times. The A.V. Club's Noel Murray writes: "sunshine pop acts expressed an appreciation for the beauty of the world mixed with a sense of anxiety that the good ol' days were gone for good." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunshine_pop

And, I think I always loved sunshine pop way back when without knowing what it was because I watched a lot of films from the 1960s as a kid and, musically, the genre reminds me of the more jangly and gentle side (a side that is often forgotten) of the Paisley Underground music movement from the 1980s. And, I was heavily into that as a teen … bands like The Three O'Clock, The Bangles, Game Theory.

Every Mother’s Son: The entire allmusic entry, “A pop group from New York City, Every Mother's Son enjoyed a brief fling with fame thanks to their 1967 hit "Come On Down to My Boat." Every Mother's Son was formed by lead singer and guitarist Larry Larden, a veteran of New York's folk music scene, and his younger brother Dennis Larden, who played the coffeehouse circuit with Larry before joining Every Mother's Son as lead guitarist. The Larden Brothers teamed up with Bruce Milner on keyboards, Schuyler Larsen on bass, and Christopher Augustine on drums, and the band's lineup was complete. Every Mother's Son was signed to MGM Records, who made the most of the band's clean-cut image and friendly sound in their publicity for the group; they also gave the band a tune written by Wes Farrell and Jerry Goldstein that had been a flop for the Rare Breed, but "Come On Down to My Boat" (originally titled "Come and Take a Ride in My Boat") was a hit after Every Mother's Son got their hands on it, becoming a favorite on radio and rising to number six on the Billboard singles charts. The group made the rounds of television variety shows and even filmed a guest appearance for the popular espionage series The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (it was probably a coincidence that the show was produced by MGM's television branch). A full-length album, simply titled Every Mother's Son, was released in the summer of 1967, featuring "Come On Down to My Boat," along with ten original tunes from Dennis Larden (one of which was co-written with Bruce Milner). Later the same year, a second LP, Every Mother's Son's Back, had arrived in stores; by this time, Schuyler Larsen had left the band, and Don Kerr became their new bassist. Three singles were released from the sophomore album, but none broke the Top 40, and in 1968, Every Mother's Son called it a day. Dennis Larden went on to join Rick Nelson's Stone Canyon Band, and Christopher Augustine later recorded with Rick Derringer”. https://www.allmusic.com/artist/every-mothers-son-mn0000129131/biography

This is that first album.

It is music of its time but, it was a time which always appealed to me. This is pure pop but pop that enjoys itself. There are messages, and there is thought, but it’s not strained or in your face. The music is meant to soothe and foot tap to ….

The Sunshine Pop here is clear but there are elements of clean summer rock as espoused (two of three years earlier) by the Beach Boys, a (big) dash of folk rock, and a (largish) cupful of garage rock.

It's sunshine pop filtered through garage rock.

Think Harpers Bizarre catching a lift with the Monkees in a little deuce coupe, in a bad neighbourhood.

There is more than a little Beach Boys, The Turtles, The Lovin Spoonful, The Kinks, The Hollies, and The Monkees here but they do sound like themselves.

1967 was a perfect time for this. California in the 60s was all good times, not for everyone, but for most. Even so, the social fabric was starting to fray around the edges. By 1968 there were visible tears and it wasn’t long till everything fell apart.

But, for a while, there was the bouncy music of sunshine pop where the highs were natural, or at least appeared that way. The music exuded bouncy happiness and any drug induced joy was obtained behind closed doors.

Supposedly they were signed to the MGM Records label because management saw the band's clean-cut image as an antidote to the hippie influx. I’m not sure about that because “money talks”, so I assume the “clean cut” image wasn’t so much an antidote to any social movement but rather an attempt to broaden the music’s appeal to the biggest market possible, the mainstream. And it worked in the short term.

There were hits but it put these bands, including Every Mother’s Son, at odd with the critics and the “hip” youth.

As the very canny guy from Badcat says: "Every Mothers' Son" was actually far better than critics would have you think. Featuring largely original material written by Dennis and Lary, MGM's interest was clearly in mining the group's commercial pop potential which instantly turned the anti-establishment audience against them. The irony is that in many respects they were no different than The Mamas and The Papas, The Monkees, or scores of other "hipper" acts. That said, they sure did look white-bread establishment … While there's no way to label the collection a lost classic, it really was better than most reviewer’s would have you believe". http://badcatrecords.com/BadCat/EVERYmother.htm?_sm_au_=iVVrWF7WkQkPMN27

The great Wes Farrell produced this with Jerry Goldstein. Farrell was young (born 1939) with a good pop ear. He wrote or produced for Boyce and Hart, The Cowsills, The Poco Seco Singers, and The Partridge Family. Goldstein likewise was young (born 1940) with a good ear for rockier pop … he wrote or worked with The Strangeloves, War as well as being important to the careers of The McCoys and Sly and the Family Stone

Go lay in defused sunlight, with a gin and tonic, put this on … you will be surprised.

All songs by Dennis and Larry Larden unless otherwise noted.

Tracks (best in italics)

Side One

Come And Take A Ride In My Boat – (Wes Farrell, Jerry Goldstein) – The single which was previously recorded by garage rock band Rare Breed (1966) under this name. On the single the song was called "Come on Down to My Boat". Melodic melodies and huge, heavenly harmonies. This is bouncy pop with a touch of garage rock awareness. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Come_On_Down_to_My_Boat
I Won't – a great garage pop tune. I'm sure someone has covered this
For Brandy – a nice, slightly introspective, tune. Very much of the times (think Simon and Garfunkel or Lovin Spoonful when gentle) but well done.
Didn't She Lie – Monkees crossed with English beat.
What Became Of Mary – (Dennis Larden) – sentimental stuff … the stuff you would hear in a film of the time. I like it.

Side Two

Ain't It A Drag – the guy at Badcat (see below) thinks this sounds like The Mamas and the Papas … and he is 100% right. Still, it's well done.
Allison Dozer – a touch of the Kinks with “All Day and All of the Night” but with the organ as the central pivot. I love the Kinks so … A+ from me.
I Believe In You – "thoughtful", introspective pop. This could be a lot worse than it is. That says something about how good these guys are.
Ain't No Use – (Peter J. Milner, D. Larden) – slight, filler but pleasant.
Sittin' Here (Peter's Tune) – A touch of the Lovin Spoonful in gentle poppy jug band mode. This stuff is usually filler, and it is here, but it is always pleasant and usually breaks up an album well, as it does here.
Come On Queenie – a jug band-ish olde-worlde type of song.

And …

There is a lot of referencing of other bands and music going on at the time but there is a lot of good here also. Sheer force of personality has set this apart from other bands who were just copping on to the sounds of the day. Is it a lost gem? No, but, it comes close. Wonderful (Jr). I'm keeping it.

Or, is that the Maraska Cherry Wine talking?

Nup, though cherry wine and 60s pop rock work well together.

Chart Action

Singles

1967 Come and Take a Ride In My Boat #6

Album

1967 #117

England

Nothing.

Sounds

Come And Take A Ride In My Boat

live

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTvUbAQIefA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmyWvGO06HU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9ViyfAneJ4

recent

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1DA6wXePs0

I Won't

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDRac6Lztds

Didn't She Lie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBK9P2V7EYQ

Allison Dozer

mp3 attached

Others

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzE5SvttKKw

Review

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Every_Mother%27s_Son_(album)

http://badcatrecords.com/BadCat/EVERYmother.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Every_Mother%27s_Son_(album)

Bio

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Every_Mother%27s_Son

https://www.historyofrecording.com/EMS1.html

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/every-mothers-son-mn0000129131/biography

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wes_Farrell

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Goldstein_(producer)

Website

—

Trivia

"By the end of the decade, Every Mother’s Son expired and were all but a nice memory. However, singer, guitarist and songwriter Dennis Larden remained active in music, as he joined Rick Nelson’s Stone Canyon Band and lent his talents to Who drummer Keith Moon’s amazingly horrific “Two Sides Of Moon” solo album". http://somethingelsereviews.com/2012/07/04/forgotten-series-every-mothers-son-the-very-best-come-on-down-to-my-boat-1997/
Christopher Augustine later recorded with Rick Derringer.
According to the CD reissue liner notes: "Every Mothers' Son was born in New York City in the spring of 1966. Soon after folk-singers Larry and Dennis Larden met organist Bruce Milner at a Greenwich Village niteclub. Larry and Dennis had spent four years working as a folk duo in the New York area, playing all types of engagements from private parties to Village nite clubs. (They worked only weekends since school and homework took up the other days of the week.) Early in 1966 they decided that they would have more scope for musical growth as members of a rock group. Through a mutual friend they heard about a young musician named Bruce Milner, who, after a number of years as an organist for various groups, was looking for a permanent affiliation. Larry, Dennis and Bruce met one momentous night in Greenwich Village, took to each other, and decided on the spot to form a rock group of their own. Within a week they added a bass player, Schuyler Larsen, and a drummer Christopher Augustine. The group was now complete – Every Mothers' Son was ready for its adolescence … The group spent a month rehearsing, writing new songs, working together until they felt they were ready for their sound and ready to be seen professionally. They contracted Peter Leeds, young manager of rock acts, who knew the Larden Brothers from their old folk duo days. They asked him to watch them perform at a college fraternity party, one that the boys had booked themselves. Leed came to watch them, was strongly impressed and signed them to a management contract … Peter Leeds put them in touch with writer-producer Wes Farrell in the summer of1966. Their meeting with Farrell was their first major step on the road to fame and fortune. Farrell, writer of "Hang On Sloopy," "Boys," Come A Little Bit Closer" ad many other songs recorded by name artists such as The Beatles, Ronnie Dove, The McCoys, and Jay and The Americans, had the boys audition for him in a small studio in a ramshackle building off Broadway. After climbing three flights of stairs with the instruments and amplifiers in the 90 degree heat that July day, Every Mothers' Son was so beat that they forgot to be nervous. They came through so excitedly at the audition, that the hard bitten Wes Farrell flipped over the group and immediately signed them to record for his Senate Records Production firm. He cut twelve sides, normally an unheard of practice with a new group and took their records to a number of top record forms, Within a week five major labels were competing to distribute their records and finally a deal was completed for Every Mothers' Son records to be released by MGM."

The mono copy of the albumseems to have more pic of the band … the gatefold centre and back are the same …

Posted in Garage, Surf and Frat, Pop Rock, Sunshine Pop and Baroque | Tagged 1967 | Leave a comment

TRINI LOPEZ – It’s a Great Life – (Reprise) – 1968

Posted on March 3, 2019 by Franko

It's a great life.

It certainly was (is), for Trini.

Okay, I’m sure the life didn’t come without its hardships.

Growing up a poor(ish) Mexican American in Texas in the 1950s would have been a challenge.

But, he learnt to play guitar and sing and then took himself and his guitar to Los Angeles. Within a couple of years he was doing well enough to get noticed by Frank Sinatra who had him signed to his Reprise record label in 1963.

Hits followed.

This is Trini’s 17^th album … in five years!

It’s a great life indeed.

By 1968 the albums and singles may not have been selling as well as they had earlier but he had his audience and made enough sales to justify the label putting out albums.

It’s a great life.

By 1968 the formula was set on a Trini Lopez album (actually it was probably set by 1964) and that’s not a bad thing. Constant reinvention can be good, but, when you have a sound that works and you enjoy doing it why complain.

Music is a job, right?

Well, it has to pay the bills.

The formula: a couple of new songs (none written by Trini here, though he could shake out a tune every now and then), some covers of recent hits, some old Latin songs, and some songs of the past that Trini heard and liked which he has retrieved from his musical memory.

The formula works because it is fun and done enthusiastically.

It is a superb display of style over content.

Trini sings, stamps, and brings his own personality to every song, every time.

All his vocal tricks and trademarks are here along with his guitar keeping the beat. His guitar pulsated a beat, here in 1968 it is more a "groovy" beat. Also, the backing vocals are very 1968 … sunny, happy, and very MOR.

Still, it works.

The joy in listening to this is visceral and it is hard to be unhappy at the end of the album.

And, that is enough.

By the mid-70s his Anglo audience had moved on and he concentrated on his Latin fans, both domestically and internationally.

And, he is still out there putting in 110%.

It’s a great life.

Check out my other comments for biographical detail on Trini. (Trini where is the autobiography?)

Arranged and Produced by Don Costa.

Tracks (best in italics)

Side One

It's A Great Life – (O'Hara, McReynolds) – A new song first done by Trini I believe. This sounds like a theme song to a MOR film about the youth culture or the generation gap. I like it though.
Windy – (Ruthann Friedman) – written by American folk singer-songwriter Ruthann Friedman which was written in twenty minutes whilst she was living in an apartment in David Crosby's house (apparently). The Association released it first in 1967 and had a big hit with it: #1 US, #1 Canada, #34 Australia, #3 Yugoslavia. Trini's vocal yipppp is on display. A good reading of this sunshine pop classic. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windy
Let's Take A Walk – (Leonetti, Russell, Beck) – co-written by American trad pop singer-songwriter and actor Tommy Leonetti (who was very popular in Australia) and his step daughter Kim (Kimberly Beck). It was released as a single under the name of "Tommy Leonetti and his daughter Kim" and charted at #4 on the Melbourne Australian charts. Too cute. I have no idea who is singing with Trini.
Luna Lunera – (Gomez, Fergo) – a staple of Latin trad music released originally in 1954. This is a Spanish language song. Wonderful and not dissimilar from of Calexico's Latin excursions. Now there is an idea …Calexico and Trini together.
The Happening – (Holland, Dozier, Holland, DeVol) – recorded by the Supremes as the theme song for the 1967 crime comedy film of the same name. It went to #1 in the US and #6 UK, #5 Australia. It sounds like a film song but it is quite a bit of fun. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Happening_(song)
The Letter – (Wayne Carson Thompson) – First recorded by The Box Tops (with Alex Chilton singing) in 1967. The song was the group's first and biggest record chart hit, reaching #1 in the United States and Canada, #4 Australia, #5UK. This is not as deeply dark as the original. Trini's natural bounce makes him seem not all that concerned about the letter his baby write. Great song though. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Letter_(The_Box_Tops_song)
Side Two
I Can't Go On Living Baby Without You – (Tempo, Riopell) – First recorded by brother/sister team, Nino Tempo and April Stevens, and released as a single in 1967. Okay.
Shame And Scandal In The Family – (Donaldson, Brown) – a calypso song dating back to the 1940s (and used in the wonderful film "I Walked with a Zombie" from 1943). It was kept well alive (under other names) by folkies, Odetta (1956), The Kingston Trio (1964) and others. Brown and Donaldson varied the lyrics for Lance Percival (#37UK 1965). A humorous song which is also social commentary. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shame_and_Scandal_in_the_Family
Nochesita – (L.Kalass) – A new song first done by Trini I believe. Quite good Spanish language song.
I Won't Let You See Me Cry – (Kasha, Hirschhorn) – the writers were Brill building pop writers who worked mainly in film composition. They wrote Elvis Presley's "Your time hasn’t come yet, Baby" for his 1967 film "Speedway". This seems to be an original. It sounds a little like an outtake from a film.
Pow Pow Pow (Mas Que Nada) – (Ben, Deane) – A Latin song originally by Zé Maria & Jorge Ben from 1963 and then bastardised into English in a variety of forms. This version with a lyric by Loryn Deane was first done by (Latin-American) Vikki Carr (1967). The melody has been used a lot – you will know it. Sergio Mendes had a US hit with it in Latin in 1966 (#47US, #4US Adult Contemporary)
Sally Was A Good Old Girl – (H. Howard) – a country song written by Harlan Howard and done first by Hank Thompson in 1962. It was covered by many country and pop musicians including Bobby Darin (1963), Buck Owens (1963), Rusty York (1963), Roy Clark (1963), Fats Domino (1964), Waylon Jennings (1964), Lee Hazlewood (1965), The Lettermen (1967), Bob Luman (1968). Out of it's country milieu Sally isnt as good.

And …

Quite a "groovy" bag of tunes. It won't change your life but it will put you ina good mood … I'm keeping it.

Chart Action

Nothing nowhere

Sounds

It's a Great Life

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGtA82bjJQ4

Windy

mp3 attached

Let's Take a Walk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxPugdCOOeA

The Happening

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgrVRYQ8_rI

The Letter

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ni_LBepJfVQ

Shame and Scandal in The Family

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lf1ByAkqO0Q

Pow Pow Pow (Mas Que Nada)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8S7DfMUerjc

Others

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPnyOOzqShg

Whole concert

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tI8SJPfWmSg

Review

—

Bio

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trini_Lopez

https://markguerrero.net/14.php

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Costa

Website

http://www.trinilopez.com

Trivia

—

Posted in Pop Rock, Rock & Pop | Tagged 1968 | Leave a comment

CROSBY & NASH – Graham Nash / David Crosby – (Atlantic) – 1972

Posted on February 10, 2019 by Franko

This style of music has aged well and is perfectly relevant to today.

It combines singer-songwriter ruminations, melodic catchiness, rural and country flavours, observation and social (albeit mild) criticism.

Everything that an alt-country troubadour or indie kid going acoustic aspires to.

The difference is that this music was in the charts and now is just marginal or a non-commercial footnote to a more successful indie career.

That may be because of changing tastes in the audience or a changing industry, which needs more control of production, or a bit of both.

But, one thing for certain, it is decisively marginal now.

That's not to say it wont come back, and I suspect it will, though as is often the case.

The space it occupied is now occupied by middle brow, emotive and obvious pop singers masquerading themselves as meaningful singer-songwriters … Ed Sheeran, James Blunt, Mumford & Sons etc.

But, they are rubbish*.

They are clear examples of less than meets the eye and technique over content.

Why, when they seen to have similar attributes?

I suspect, it's because time and place affects how you look at things.

Crosby and Nash were toddlers in the war years (1941 and 1942, USA and England respectively), grew up in the social upheavals (USA) and economic upheavals (England) of the 1950s, matured during the counter cultural forces of the 1960s and hit their stride in the socially, environmentally and economically chaotic 70s.

Generational forces of course don't apply exclusively as there are people with different social standing on either side so the affluence and security spectrum at any given time but, generally, time and place can dictate how you approach a song.

Look, I'm not expecting everyone to be Pete Seeger, Phil Ochs or Woody Guthrie but even a love song is affected by time and place. Declarations of love, or, songs of love lost, differ greatly in tone before and after the Second World War, in the 1950s , 60s, 70s and so on.

That's because the singer is affected, subliminal or cognizant, by external concerns. ie: A love song written in the middle of a war by a person who may be called up is going to be different to a love song written by a kid in his bedroom, in his middle-class suburb in a time of relative peace.

Also, the more dramatic the external historical events the more they will creep in and rub shoulders with personal concerns.

And, you can hear that here.

Love songs, topical songs, "who am I?" songs, where are we going songs are all included.

And, ultimately, that's why many of these songs have (will have) a longer life than some of the songs by the current crop of commercial singer-songwriters mentioned.

Because these are concerns and observations that are still relevant that goes beyond pop considerations.

Don't get me wrong, I love pure pop but these contemporary singer-songwriters are trying to import meaning into pop ballads which isn't there. It's all narcissism surrounded by wordplay without substance.

Crosby and Nash may fail occasionally but there is something else at the heart of their music.

This is their first album.

Check out my other entries on Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, individually and collectively, for some background to them ….

Wikipedia, "After the split of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young in the summer of 1970, all four members would release solo albums over the next twelve months. Neil Young and Stephen Stills would both pursue independent band projects through the early years of the decade, Young working with Crazy Horse and the Stray Gators, with Stills assembling Manassas. Both If I Could Only Remember My Name and Songs for Beginners respectively by Crosby and Nash fared well in the marketplace, and in the autumn of 1971 the duo embarked on a series of concerts together, unable or unwilling to include Stills and Young. The success of the tour led Crosby and Nash to take the new songs auditioned on the road into the recording studio".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham_Nash_David_Crosby

The joy here is that Crosby and Nash have met in the middle musically (they both have fantastic harmonies) but they also concentrate on opposites. Nash is more plain spoken and pop oriented whilst Crosby is more obscure and ruminative. The beauty is they support each others endeavours and by contributing give a bit of their strengths to the other.

These songs are not collaborations (Nash wrote six, Crosby wrote five) but they sound as if they are from one voice.

This wonderful harmonious voice of Crosby and Nash is not surprising as harmonies were central to Crosby Stills & Nash, Crosby Stills Nash & Young as well as to their earlier bands where they made their names, The Byrds (Crosby) and The Hollies Nash). They are centre stage vocalists by default only and are much more comfortable in a (vocal) group.

And they are backed by crack early 70s California musicians.

This was always going to work.

That doesn't mean every song works but when they do they still resonate.

Tracks (best in italics)

Side One

Southbound Train – (Graham Nash) – the harmonica in this setting always sounds like Dylan is being channelled and that is the case here … Dylan with a vocal group pop sensibility
Whole Cloth – (David Crosby) – this is very Crosby. I'm not sure what it is about.
Blacknotes – (Graham Nash) – a note of a song … it's 57 seconds long.
Stranger's Room – (Graham Nash) – another winner
Where Will I Be? – (David Crosby) – more obscurity from Crosby. It works well as a mood piece though.
Page 43 – (David Crosby) – another solemn mood piece but quite affecting.

Side Two

Frozen Smiles – (Graham Nash) – Bob Dylan meets The Beatles (which sums up The Hollies at certain times in their career). Excellent
Games – (David Crosby) – an arty mood piece.
Girl to Be on My Mind – (Graham Nash) – if the Beatles had paired off after "The White Album" we may have got something like this
The Wall Song – (David Crosby) – walls, internal and between people.
Immigration Man – (Graham Nash) – still relevant today. And, a great song to boot. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_Man

And …

A little of this goes a long way but this is very good and strangely compelling. It gets better with repeated listening… I'm keeping it.

Chart Action

Singles

1972 Immigration Man #36

1972 Southbound Train #99

Album

1972 #4

England

Singles

—

Album

1972 #13

Sounds

Southbound Train

live

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qk2kqkSbiyg

Whole Cloth

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzLTzIWHqes

Stranger's Room

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SP2b2k0y_tE

Page 43

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odWFvcn5rN4

Girl to Be on My Mind

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_6wnQU8Jh8

Immigration Man

mp3 attached

Others

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWEd1bdufOQ

Full concert

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvAmsBJloEM&t=38s

Review

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham_Nash_David_Crosby

https://www.allmusic.com/album/graham-nash-david-crosby-mw0000738541

Bio

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crosby_%26_Nash

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Crosby

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham_Nash

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/crosby-nash-mn0000846357/biography

Website

https://www.crosbynash.com/

Trivia

Personnel: David Crosby – vocals all tracks except "Blacknotes"; electric guitar on "Whole Cloth", "Page 43", "Frozen Smiles", "Girl to Be on My Mind", "The Wall Song" and "Immigration Man"; guitars on "Southbound Train", "Where Will I Be?" and "Games" / Graham Nash – vocals; piano on "Whole Cloth", "Blacknotes", "Stranger's Room", "Frozen Smiles", "The Wall Song" and "Immigration Man"; organ on "Girl to Be on My Mind" and "The Wall Song"; harmonica on "Southbound Train", "Stranger's Room" and "Frozen Smiles"; guitar on "Southbound Train" / Danny Kortchmar – electric guitar on "Whole Cloth", "Stranger's Room", "Page 43", "Frozen Smiles", "Games" and "Girl to Be on My Mind" /Jerry Garcia – pedal steel guitar on "Southbound Train"; electric guitar on "The Wall Song" / Dave Mason – electric guitar on "Immigration Man" / Craig Doerge – electric piano on "Whole Cloth", "Where Will I Be?" and "Frozen Smiles"; piano on "Page 43", "Games" and "Girl to Be on My Mind"; organ on "Stranger's Room" / Leland Sklar – bass on "Whole Cloth", "Stranger's Room", "Where Will I Be?", "Page 43", "Frozen Smiles", "Games" and "Girl to Be on My Mind" / Chris Ethridge – bass on "Southbound Train" / Phil Lesh – bass on "The Wall Song" / Greg Reeves – bass on "Immigration Man" / Russ Kunkel – drums on "Whole Cloth", "Stranger's Room", "Page 43", "Frozen Smiles", "Games" and "Girl to Be on My Mind" / Johnny Barbata – drums on "Southbound Train" and "Immigration Man" / Bill Kreutzmann – drums on "The Wall Song" / David Duke, Arthur Maebe, George Price – French horns on "Stranger's Room" / Dana Africa – flute on "Where Will I Be?" / Crosby & Nash, Bill Halverson – producers.
To date Crosby & Nash have recorded another three albums together since this (plus two live albums) as well as a couple of others with Stephen Stills and / or Neil Young (as well as solo albums of course)

*even rubbish throws up a good song or two though here one would have to look hard.

Posted in Country Rock, Singer Songwriter, Soft Rock | Tagged 1972 | Leave a comment

DELANEY BRAMLETT – Some Things Coming – (Columbia) – 1972

Posted on January 27, 2019 by Franko

White blues I find quite boring.

Now, I'm not talking about those who take blues somewhere else of mix it up. I'm not talking about Elvis, the Rolling Stones, Paul Butterfield blues band, Blues Projections, George Thorogood, or even The Animals … few of them, would call themselves blues bands, some would call themselves, at one time or another, Rhythm and Blues bands, Elvis would call himself neither.

And he is perfectly right to do so. There is no doubt he loved the blues but he also loved gospel, country, trad pop, and even opera vocalists.

So, his blues can be pretty authentic, but usually he incorporates his other loves.

Delaney Bramlett, is much the same.

He is steeped in the blues and is, accordingly, name checked in white blues circles,

But Blues Hounds rarely find much joy in him. He is not authentically acoustic folkie, and he isn't aggressively electric with rhythm and beat.

He is both and more.

Like Elvis he grew up in the South and like Elvis hi likes country, gospel and the blues, but he also likes everything that came after, like early rock, southern soul and Elvis himself.

This makes him an bona fide Americana roots inspiration.

Bramlett was the husband half of roots blues and soul husband and wife duo Delaney & Bonnie.

They made six albums together before fame and (no doubt) temptations on the road let to them splitting, personally and professionally.

Bonnie had great lungs and shared Delaney's enthusiasms but Delaney was the musical brains.

As wikipedia says, "In the late 1960s, British guitarist Eric Clapton joined Delaney & Bonnie & Friends on tour, after which Bramlett produced and co-wrote songs for Clapton's debut solo album, Eric Clapton. Clapton has credited Bramlett for pushing him to sing and teaching him the art of rock vocals. Bramlett produced King Curtis's last album, which produced two hit singles, "Teasin'" and "Lonesome Long Way from Home" … Bramlett taught George Harrison, who was then with the Beatles, to play slide guitar, which resulted in Harrison's hit "My Sweet Lord". Bramlett wrote, recorded, or appeared on stage with many notable performers, including Joe Cocker, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Billy Preston, John Lennon, the Everly Brothers, Spooner Oldham, Steve Cropper and Billy Burnette. Members of the Friends appearing in concert or recording with Bramlett on Friends albums include Clapton, Harrison, Leon Russell, King Curtis, Duane Allman, Gregg Allman, Dave Mason, Rita Coolidge, Carl Radle, Jim Gordon, Bobby Whitlock, Jim Keltner, Bobby Keys, and Gram Parsons".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delaney_Bramlett

Delaney and Bonnie were envies, respected and in the charts.

And, it was Delaney who engineered this.

Bonnie, born and raised in the urban industrial north, was a wonderful R&B shouter, Delaney was a "down home" country boy from the South (who moved to California in his 20s).

The music he created, both with Bonnie and solo, oozes the South in buckets.

His records have that uncanny, specifically southern, sound where they sound both tight and ragged. There is a musical workout going on which sounds like it could fall apart.

Also, he was never afraid of mixing things up a little of taking a chance.

This isn't Zappa experimentalism or Beefheart cosmic reinvention but it is Southern root music which means everything gets a run, even the kitchen sink.

This is southern rock and soul.

This album is the first after Delaney's, personal and professional, break-up with Bonnie. It was amicable (I'm led to believe) which, perhaps, explains why there are no "tear in my beer", "crying in my grits", "sobbing on your sleeve" type songs.

This is upbeat, as upbeat as anything from a Delaney and Bonnie album (and the backing vocalists replace Bonnie for all intents and purposes) though "upbeat" from the south is always tempered with melancholy, memory and regret.

As sometimes happens, in these full blown roots rock and soul albums, the individual songs aren't as important as the groove or workout going on.

And that is the case here. Not one songs stands, out. That doesn't mean they are bad, just that the overall sound is more important.

And this is a first class roots rock 'n' roll and southern soul record.

Delaney writes all the songs, bar the traditional, plays guitar, sings, arranges and produces.

Check out the Delaney & Bonnie comments for biographical detail on Delaney.

He died in 2008 (aged 69) and is only remembered by vinyl addicts, genre enthusiasts or the lucky ones who saw and heard him the first time round when the world was at his feet.

Roots music, with horns has been done to death and is usually slicker than it is here but Delaney’s contribution to roots rock deserves more applause.

Tracks (best in italics)

Side One

Over and Over – this rocks in a funky way and has great backing vocals.
Thank God – what starts as a restrained soul in the Ray Charles manner gets a great organ workout half way through.
Please Accept My Love – gospel blues.
Keep It Going – a funky work with shades of Rufus Thomas "Chicken Scratch"
Some Things Coming (Heartbeat) – the title song sounds like it has dropped of another album. Authentic sounding African rhythms and chants, well before Paul Simon, open the song before it slides into a rock and then back again … and its over in a jiffy. I don't get it but I love it.

Side Two

Down By The Riverside – one of the most famous of all spirituals. It has been done by everyone. I'd like to think he was inspired by Elvis' version from the "Frankie & Johnny" film soundtracks (1966) which is dolloped with Hollywood southern pop, but that would be a stretch. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Down_by_the_Riverside
Sit Right Down – another rock and soul workout with some nice bottleneck guitar.
I'm Not Your Lover, I'm Your Lovee – a soul ballad.
Try A Little Harder – an Allman Brothers type of Southern rocker if they were a gender integrated band.

And …

A hoot, where is my mint julep? …. I'm keeping it.

Chart Action

Nothing nowhere

Sounds

Over And Over

mp3 attached

Thank God

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLhH_qEt8RY

Please Accept My Love

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuhKXoHm7_I

Keep It Going

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJO7nkUdDnM

Some Things Coming (Heartbeat)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rMLds3o2O8

Down By The Riverside

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-ov_PVLkYA

Sit Right Down

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=539W0NUrgNk

I'm Not Your Lover, I'm Your Lovee

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EH56VD1q84

Try A Little Harder

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkDFWmH6fY0

Others

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxI4t-AeIVw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4gqGlq27qU

Review

https://www.allmusic.com/album/some-things-coming-heartbeat-mw0000850032

https://bluesmatters.com/delaney-bramlett-some-things-coming-mobius-strip/

http://stuckinthepast08.blogspot.com/2012/02/delaney-bramlett-somethings-coming-1972.html

https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?id=2582&name=Delaney+Bramlett

Bio

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delaney_Bramlett

http://badcatrecords.com/BadCat/DELANEYbonnie.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delaney_%26_Bonnie

Website

—

Trivia

Personnel: Bramlett (lead vocals and guitars), (a full-on) horn section (Jim Gordon, Jerry Jumonville, Joe Davis, Darell Leonard, Larry Savoie), Venetta Fields and Clydie King on backing vocals throughout with future disco diva Gloria Jones and Shirley Matthews on some tracks, George Bohannon (string arrangements), Milt Holland (percussion), Ron Grayson (drums), Robert Wilson )bass), Tim Hedding (organ).
Bonnie Bramlett said this on Delaney's passing “My heart is broken. This morning my soul mate, the father of my children, and my Partner in Musical History crossed over into the Light. Delaney Bramlett has left the building. Long Live the King'. http://www.swampland.com/posts/view/title:delaney_bramlett_the_death_of_a_southern_legend

Posted in Roots Rock, Southern and Boogie Rock | Tagged 1972 | Leave a comment

WHAT FRANK IS LISTENING TO

TIM BUCKLEY – Greetings from L.A. – (MCA) – 1974

JOHNNY HORTON – Johnny Horton Makes History – (Columbia) – 1960

LESLEY GORE – Boys Boys Boys – (Mercury) – 1964

CYMARRON – Rings – (Entrance) – 1971

THE TOKENS – We The Tokens Sing Folk – (RCA) – 1962

BOBBY RYDELL – Somebody Loves You – (Capitol) – 1965

EVERY MOTHERS’ SON – Every Mothers’ Son – (MGM) – 1967

TRINI LOPEZ – It’s a Great Life – (Reprise) – 1968

CROSBY & NASH – Graham Nash / David Crosby – (Atlantic) – 1972

DELANEY BRAMLETT – Some Things Coming – (Columbia) – 1972

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