JERRY REED – Ko-Ko Joe – (RCA) – 1971

Posted on January 29, 2017 by Franko

JERRY REED - Ko-Ko Joe

I love Jerry Reed.

His voice and guitar are distinctive and even iconic.

He, though, unfairly gets stereotyped as a loud good ol’ boy singer mainly because his big hits (Amos Moses, When You’re Hot You’re Hot etc), were, errr, loud good ol’ boy hits and he reinforced that with the same image on television appearances and in many film roles.

But, Reed was more than that. He was a sensitive soul, not that he would admit it, who would frequently turn to contemplative songs – he put out many covers of  gentle folk songs (at a time when folk had waned) and even an album of Jim Croce songs (another gentle giant who tripped between bravado and sensitive in his music).

Likewise he wasn’t afraid of mixing up musical styles. Just about everything was open to his musical palette. He started out in the late 50s in country rockabilly before moving to Nashville and becoming a top sessionman and songwriter before going solo again. Whilst there he dug into his musical memory and stuck his toes in all sorts of country styles (Progressive Country, Traditional Country, Countrypolitan, Cajun) as well as jazz, light blues, folk, rock and popular.

Also, across his music he injects a good dose of humour, and not subtle humour either, but humour which is the equivalent of the broadest slapstick. Despite the fact that country music is littered with humorous songs (probably as a counterweight to the tragic material which is the norm to country music) the overabundance of humorous songs doesn’t endear Reed to contemporary tastemakers who would rather have thematically consistent albums, or a group of songs that reflects a point of view, and, usually, cynical, dour or negative points of view.

So Reed’s eclectic and quirky nature works against him.

The allmusic review of this album sums up that, “A largely eclectic and overproduced work, Ko-Ko Joe isn't a great Jerry Reed album. From the loose Creedence Clearwater Revival meets the Charlie Daniels Band boogie of the title cut, to the countrified Tom Jones-like quality of the more pop-oriented "You'll Never Walk Alone" and "A Stranger to Me," the set lacks consistency. A four-minute mock anti-smoking dialogue, which appears to be more of a comedy piece than anything, is followed by a dead-serious cover of Gordon Lightfoot's "Early Morning Rain." Anthemic pop songs, straight country, and more blues-oriented songs are also included, making this a rather confusing and difficult listen” http://www.allmusic.com/album/ko-ko-joe-mw0000888189

But, what the allmusic reviewer sees as a fault I see as a strength. The mix of material may just be a bunch of songs randomly selected but they do seem to sum up life with all its changes in emotion, its ups, downs, its humour and sadness.

There is a lot going on and ultimately this hodgepodge isn’t that different to other Jerry Reed albums.

I love my Jerry a little ragged but this album is quite slick (cello, viola, violin, bongos all make appearances) being caught in the wake of Nashville before the rise of outlaw country.

And if you like Jerry Reed there are some treasures here … and it fits all moods. And that works on me, the listener.

Check out my other comments on Reed for biographical details.

The album was produced by Chet Atkins. Jerry Hubbard and jerry reed Hubbard are aliases for Jerry Reed.

Tracks (best in italics)

           Side One

  • Ko-Ko Joe – (Jerry Reed Hubbard) – a good ol boy song and a hoot.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ko-Ko_Joe
  • Another Puff – (Earl Jarrett, Jerry Hubbard) – Casual humour with a bite. Jerry died in 2008 of complications from emphysema but I have no idea if he was a regular smoker. The "Chester B." referred to in the song is Chester Burton Atkins aka Chet Atkins.
  • Early Morning Rain – (Gordon Lightfoot) – This is a great version of the song even with the strings. There is something convincing about Southerner singing about being "long ways from home".  Bob Dylan recorded Early Morning Rain on his 1970 album "Self Portrait", Elvis Presley released it twice, first on "Elvis Now" (1972) and later on the live album "Elvis in Concert" (1977). It was a small hit for Peter Paul and Mary in 1965 (#91US), George Hamilton IV took it to #9 on the US Country chart in 1966. It even scraped into the UK Top 40 in the last spot, for Paul Weller in 2005. It was also recorded, in 1965, by fellow Canadian husband and wife duo Ian & Sylvia as well as Grateful Dead in the same year. Judy Collins, Chad & Jeremy, Jerry Reed and Jerry Lee Lewis have also recorded the song – Neil Young recorded it on his recent album, "A Letter Home"(2014). Lightfoot recorded the song in 1964 but it didn’t appear by till his self-titled solo album in 1966 (he re-recorded it for "Gord’s Gold") (1975)).https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_Morning_Rain
  • A Brand New Day – (John Ragsdale) – it seems to have been first recorded by Jerry. A big mid tempo power ballad, country style with some quirky delay on the guitar.
  • Not As A Sweetheart (But Just As A Friend) – (Cindy Walker) – this country weepie was written by the magnificent Cindy Walker. This may be the first recording of the song, though Jim Ed Brown (of The Browns) also recorded a version on his album “She’s Leavin” which also came out in 1971 and was also on RCA.

            Side Two

  • You'll Never Walk Alone – (Richard Rodgers-Oscar Hammerstein) – This has been done by everyone but I like to think he got his inspiration from the Elvis Presley version from 1968 (perhaps given weigh by the fact the song was included as the title song on an the Elvis gospel compilation album, “You’ll Never Walk Alone” released in 1971 on RCA) though Reed doubles the pace on the song (and no one has done that before as far as I know). It's unusual hearing it at this pace but it is such a good song it still works. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You%27ll_Never_Walk_Alone
  • (Love Is) A Stranger To Me – (Jerry Reed Hubbard) –  There is big production on this song which is very catchy.
  • Country Boy's Dream – (Ernie Newton) – first recorded by The Browns in 1967 on their RCA album “Browns Sing the Big Ones from Country” and on which Jerry played guitar on. Another up tempo number in the good ol boy style with some great electric guitar.
  • Seasons Of My Mind – (Sonja Bird Yancey) – Young songwriter, Sonja Bird Yancey, was 13 when Jerry recorded this which is odd given the sensitive adult themes in the song. Well, they were worldly early in the South, perhaps. It was the first recording of the song.
  • Framed – (J. Leiber-M. Stoller) – The first recording was by The Robins (1954) and Ritchie Valens also recorded it in 1958. A fun version which again fits in the good ol boy style.

And …

Call me old fashioned. Better still, mix me a Old Fashioned … I'm keeping it.

Chart Action

US

Singles

1971 Ko-Ko Joe #11 Country, #51 Pop

1972 Another Puff #27 Country, #65 Pop

Album

1971 #7 Country, #153 Pop

England

nothing

Sounds

Ko-Ko Joe

live with Glen Campbell

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

Another Puff

live

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxogOzQPqY4

Early Morning Rain

mp3 attached

A Brand New Day

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1YiJ_DxSRE

Not As A Sweetheart (But Just As A Friend)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6r4CmTQd2E

You'll Never Walk Alone

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

(Love Is) A Stranger To Me

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

Country Boy's Dream

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvyv-Zq1GUE

Seasons of My Mind

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkrM9JR3XGs

Framed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuiU8dJAaD0

Others

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95V1XJZ2xYE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRYVxLtNy7A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFGZM7k951Y

With Glen and Larry McNeely (and John Wayne)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fX04ZQ_BTyI

Review

http://www.allmusic.com/album/ko-ko-joe-mw0000888189

Bio

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/jerry-reed-mn0000334644/biography

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

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

Website

https://www.facebook.com/jerryreedfanpage/

Trivia

  • On Sonja Bird Yancey who wrote “Seasons Of My Mind” … "Her career began at the age of 12 when she met musician Vernis Pratt at a Merle Haggard concert in Hazard in 1970. “I ran down and told him I wrote songs. He and his wife came over and listened to my music and took me straight to WKIC and made a tape.  We all knocked on doors – you could do that then,” she said. At a restaurant in Nashville, Miss Yancey talked to “a man in a funny fishing hat.” It was singer Jerry Reed. “I didn’t know who he was but I told him I was a songwriter. He asked me to come to his office the next morning and he published seven of my songs and signed me as an exclusive songwriter with his company, Vector Music,” said Yancey". https://www.facebook.com/180785432011304/photos/a.180837378672776.42395.180785432011304/1105502769539561/?type=3&theate
Posted in Country | Tagged | Leave a comment

TRINI LOPEZ – Viva – (Capitol) – 1972

Posted on January 22, 2017 by Franko

Trini Lopez - Viva

This was Trini’s last album during his hit making period or the first album of his non-hit making period.

Trini released more albums on a variety of (minor) labels between 1972 and today but his time as a force on the charts in the US was over.

Check out my other comments for biographical detail on Trini.

Career wise, Lopez started out on the King label released upbeat rock ‘n’ roll 45s, but he made his name with go go beat driven rock n pop in the 60s when he signed with reprise. All his subsequent albums, and there was something like twenty original albums in seven years, apart from this one, were on the Reprise label.

I’m not sure why he left Reprise but I would think he was not a bankable star by 1969 when he released his last album there.

A couple of year’s later Capitol records took a chance on him to release this album.

A Spanish language album.

Though, perhaps, it isn’t a great risk. Lopez always had a big following in Spanish speaking markets and had released a couple of Spanish (and semi Spanish) language albums on Reprise. It was viable and bankable.

I have a basic understanding of Spanish so I have never avoided the music. Though, the argument that you can’t understand the words if they are in a non-English language is a redundant one …

You can’t understand the words in most operas (assuming you don’t speak Italian).

Music can move you without the necessity of you being able to understand the lyric. The vocal performance or the musical virtuosity may excite you. The passion may stimulate the senses. Or, sometimes, just the melody and vibe will keep your toes tapping.

And all that applies to Trini on his Spanish language records. That’s not to say that they are all great but that an understanding of Spanish isn’t needed to enjoy the albums.

It would help but it isn’t required.

The 60s was a big time for foreign language albums, especially in the US. Sure, there are many migrants and their offspring in the US, which probably accounted for most of the target sales, but I suspect some people were buying just because of the vocalist or because of the sound.

Gene Pitney put out an album of songs in Italian and another in Spanish, Connie Francis went a couple better and put our albums in (or partially in) Italian, Jewish, Spanish and German. Hell, even Elvis released songs in the American market in Italian, German and Spanish (check his soundtracks).

For Trini,  a American of Latin ancestry, this was no brainer … and he had success before with his Spanish language songs.

Spanish seemed to be the preferred foreign language music of the US. Of course it helped that one quarter of the US was Latin / Hispanic or of Latin ancestry and that much of its south-west had been under Mexico 100 or so years earlier.

Trini, Jose Feliciano, Trio Los Panchos, El Chicano all did well in the 60s and early 70s with Spanish language music.

And it was used in every second western film and TV show.

And it was the street talk and native language in many parts of the US.

Spanish music wasn’t unfamiliar to Caucasian ears.

Trini, here, adds another strand to the music, making it even more relatable to non-Spanish speakers, by singing Spanish language versions of some well-known English language pop hits. As a listener, if you don’t speak Spanish, the melody will be familiar to you so you can tap along to that whilst getting the meaning from the song in the familiar English lyric which has been translated in your head.

Trini’s style was specifically 60s and it is interesting hearing the 70s sounds incorporated. He taps into the jazz, funk, Latino (Chicano) and the general MOR sounds of the early 70s and doesn’t sound like the Trini of old, though he manages to squeeze in some of his trademark oooohii squawks in.

Perhaps, Trini’s time had come and gone but Trini's force of musical personality keeps this more than listenable. This type of Spanish language pop rock would eventually become quite plastic with synths providing the bloodless backing. Here it is still  all organic with instruments (and arrangements) up front playing off the singer.

Nice.

The album didn’t sell nationally.

The cover art is crap.

Tracks (best in italics)

      Side One

  • Vive La Vida Hoy – (Nino Frias) – Spanish rumba duo "Los Amaya Y Su Combo Gitano" released a version in 1971 and salsa man "Frankie Dante & Orquesta Flamboyan Con Larry Harlow" released a version in 1972. Translated this is "Live Life today" … and it is a bouncy toe tapping hoot!
  • Y Volvere – (A. Barrier, G. De La Fuente, R.Lopez) – Co-written by Germaín de la Fuente of Chilean pop band “Los Angeles Negros” the song was released on their second album in 1969 and was a big Latin American hit. It is a cover version of "Emporte-moi" by Alain Barrière with new lyrics by De la Fuente. Emotive and effective.
  • Canta – (Sing) – (Joe Raposo) – A song from and sung often in the kids TV show Sesame Street. The Carpenters subsequently had a hit with this (#3 1973). Who doesn't know this? Enjoyable. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sing_(Joe_Raposo_song)
  • Tu Amigo Fiel – (You've Got A Friend) – (C. King, B.M. McCluskey) – It was first recorded by Carole King on her album, Tapestry (1971), though James Taylor had the hit with it in 1971 (#1US, #4UK). Well sung. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You%27ve_Got_a_Friend
  • Montana Rubi – (Ruby Mountain) – (Kenny Young) – Songwriter, musician, record producer (and environmentalist) Young recorded and released this as a single in 1970 as "Shine On Ruby Mountain" as did the Hondells.  Kenny Rogers & The First Edition also released it as an album track in 1970. A good bass line beat keeps this pumping along.

      Side Two

  • Viva! – (Viva Tirado) – (Gerald Wilson, Norman Gimbel) – The song Viva Tirado was written by Norman Gimbel and was first released by The 5th Dimension in 1971. It was adapted from the instrumental Viva Tirado recorded by The Gerald Wilson Band in 1962. Catchy.
  • Sol De Mi Vida – (Bring Back My Sunshine) – (Jim Weatherly) – Written by country singer-songwriter Jim Weatherly. He eventually released it on his self-titled album in 1973. This is an early version of the song. It could be a Trini first. Really, quite good.
  • Jesus Cristo – (Carlos, Carlos, Singleton) – released by “Al De Lory and Mandango” and by “Alan Shelly With  Equator” in 1971 in the same year. A quite funky song about Jesus Christ.
  • Siempre Le Sigo – (All That Keeps Me Going) – (Jim Weatherly) – Another one by country singer-songwriter Jim Weatherly.  He eventually released it on his album "Weatherly" in 1972.It could be a Trini first. MOR country Spanish style.
  • Mi Mami Blue – (Mammy Blue) – (Hubert Giraud-Phil Trim) – a French song released in 1970, which was given English lyrics in 1971 and was a hit for the Pop-Tops (US#57, Japan#2), Joël Daydé and Roger Whittaker (UK#31). Very catchy though it always reminds me of The Benny Hill  Show where it was used on some skits (at least I think it was ..
  • .if it wasn't something similar was) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mamy_Blue

And …

Very enjoyable. A little gem even … I'm keeping it.

Chart Action

Nada no donde .. Nothing no where

 Sounds

Vive La Vida Hoy

mp3 attached

Viva! (Viva Tirado)

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

Mi Mami Blue

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

Others

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duY1Yg-2BA0

Review

—

Bio

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

Website

http://www.trinilopez.com

Trivia

  • Produced by Stan Silverberg. Arranged by Larry Muhoberac.
  • Larry Muhoberac grew up in Louisiana and moved to Memphis, in 1959. He has worked with Elvis Presley, Neil Diamond, Tina Turner, Ray Charles, Tanya Tucker, Ray Conniff.

 

Trini Lopez - Viva - back

Posted in Ethnic | Tagged | Leave a comment

FABIAN – Hold That Tiger! – (Chancellor) – 1959

Posted on January 15, 2017 by Franko

FABIAN - Hold That Tiger

I’ve always liked Fabian as a result of watching films he made in the 1960s. Not  just the teen films but  his two films with Jimmy Stewart, “Mr Hobbs Takes a Vacation” (1962) and Dear Brigitte (1965), as well as his bit in The Longest Day” (1962). But my favourite, and I can’t count how many times I have seen it, is “North to Alaska” (1960) with John Wayne and Stewart Granger.

I love that movie.

He sang in some of those films, albeit briefly, so it was natural I would search out his vinyl. He was also from a period of music I quite like, the early 60s before the rise of The Beatles.

Fabian started off as a singer but his career as a singer (or at least as a hitmaker) was quite short (two years) whilst his film career (though never spectacular) kept him busy for 20 years or so.

Today’s audience when they think of him, if they think of him, think of him primarily as a singer, and part of the wave of clean urban rock pop (Frankie Avalon, Bobby Rydell, Bobby Vinton) that replaced the rough, ragged and regional rock of Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, et al.

He was cast to a mould at the time …

As he says himself: “We were plastic, these plastic . . . things–not even people … They laughed at us. They wouldn't take us seriously as artists. They didn't think we could sing or perform or anything. To them, we were this low form of life. You can't laugh that off. Everybody craves respect. If people are looking down on you, all the money in the world doesn't really make you feel any better about it." http://articles.latimes.com/1985-05-13/entertainment/ca-10079_1_fabian

An aside: every cloud has a silver lining as Fabian goes on to say: "Don't get me wrong. It wasn't all bad. For a teen-age boy, you can imagine what it was like having all those girls drooling over you. That was heaven. Sometimes I was on top of the world. Me, this dumb kid from South Philly, got to be a star. I couldn't believe it." http://articles.latimes.com/1985-05-13/entertainment/ca-10079_1_fabian

It’s easy to say that this late 50s pop mould was a result of the threat of rock 'n' roll, which had become too much for parents. The music was cleaner, softer, pop-ier and less threatening.

And if you like (ridiculous) conspiracy theories it was a good time to make the move to something gentler: first generation rock had been silenced : Elvis was in the army, Jerry Lee was banned, Chuck was in jail, Buddy was dead, Gene Vincent had retreated to England, Eddie Cochran would be dead, Little Richard had turned to God …

But all of these rock n rollers being off the scene doesn’t really explain anything.

The new rock ‘n’ posters had to tread carefully. Elvis and his peers had opened a floodgate which threatened to (and did) change the world. That sounds dramatic but they did change the world and make it uncomfortable or unsettling for some … they also, certainly, changed the noise level on music.

So, perhaps this newfound softly softly was a natural societal reaction to the wild men of yesterday.

There is some truth to that, and,  their lack of presence certainly meant the softer music options could come forward but, by the same token, Elvis himself liked his pop (and alternated it with his rock ‘n’ roll) and Pat Boone, always the softer option, had been a consistent hit maker since 1955.

Contrary to popular music history the wild men of rock still existed in the late 50s / early 60s – Link Wray, Bobby Fuller, all the frat rockers all over the States. They didn’t dominate the charts but they were there.

Fabian, and his crew (Frankie Avalon, James Darren, Paul Anka, Neil Sedaka, Bobby Vinton) weren’t anything new in rock 'n' roll terms. They were an extension of the Pat Boone logic … play it softer and try to appeal to the biggest audience.

And, savvy music producers and record labels pushed the logic and moulded or created the artists to pass it on to the public.

Despite that, and unlike Pat Boone and his posters, Fabian and his teen idol friends were brought up on the rhythm and rock of the early first generation rock ‘n’ rollers like Elvis. Also, Fabian and friends heard the sounds of the streets of the urban north … the black doo wop, the street corner singing, and the Italian (there were a lot of Italians amongst this crew) ballads of their households.

So there was rhythm and beat in there as well as the various sounds of their environment and ethnic backgrounds.

That was something new but to purists it was a sell-out of old school rock ‘n’ roll to record music by pretty boys who couldn’t sing

Okay, there was some truth in that as some of them couldn’t sing as well as the rockers or Pat Boone and the smooth popsters.

And, Fabian was tarnished with that brush.

Fabian had an Elvis-type face, including hair style and eye shadow but he couldn’t sing all that well. He could sing in key but without much range or vibrato, which is why he rarely holds a note. He didn't so much sing as speak in tune, or speak to the melody or talk with the rhythm. At the time he was criticised for it but it became the norm with Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, and even John Lennon (perhaps) and today it is everywhere, though, there is usually a more complicated backing to  hide the fact.

In Fabian's case songs were arranged to hide his shortcomings.

The rest he sold on attitude and looks.

But, that, combined with his light entertainment and B-film movie career, has done nothing to preserve or enhance his reputation with the music archaeologist or pop culture historians.

Criticism like “cookie cutter creation”, “puppet” or “cast from a mould” are used but it doesn’t matter because …

I like Fabian,

And,

Though limited, I think he was quite underrated as a musician (and as a film star) because he has a nice voice and an appealing musical personality. Admittedly, saying Fabian is underrated is not saying much because any interest in Fabian is “up” from where he sits at the moment on the cultural capital pole.

Allmusic’s entire entry is, “Thanks to a series of performances on Dick Clark's American Bandstand, Fabian rocketed to stardom in the late '50s. With his stylish good looks and mild rock & roll, he became one of the top teen idols of the era; luckily, he had the support of the legendary songwriting team of Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman, who provided him with "Turn Me Loose," "Hound Dog Man," and "I'm a Man," among other songs. Fabian's fame peaked in 1959 with the million-selling "Tiger" single; after that, he valiantly tried to become a movie star. When Congress fingered him as one of the performers who benefited from payola, his already-ailing career was given a nearly fatal blow; under questioning, Fabian explained that his records featured a substantial amount of electronic doctoring in order to improve his voice. After the hearings, he starred in some more movies in the '60s, without regaining the audience of his peak years”.

But what he was, was a well-rounded entertainer. His star only really shone for about two years in music and five years in film but the period he was working in (both in film and music) is a generally forgotten period between the wild days of 50s rock and the experimentation of 60s rock.

A period of innocence.

It’s easy to criticise those artists, or to forget them, but they were working with some exceptional songwriters and musicians (generally) and if you like the sound of that era, as I do, they made some beautiful music.

But, a lot of their material was second rate or rushed. A lot was not newly written. There was a tendency to go back to Tin Pan Alley and update an old tune … perhaps this was an easy way to fill an album, perhaps it was about royalties, perhaps the labels liked the tunes because there is the potential for the song to reach older listeners as well as the kids, or perhaps they didn’t have access to all the best new songs.

I mention that because Elvis rarely did Tin Pan Alley – songs like “Blue Hawaii” and “Are You Lonesome Tonight” being exceptions – Elvis, a non-writer, would dig back into his extensive memory music bag or would be able to pick songs from the hundreds or thousands sent to him to choose from.

Every writer wanted Elvis to record their songs – that’s money in the bank. So, I assume that acts like Fabian etc didn’t get as much new material from the songwriters. The songs tended to be ones Elvis didn’t want to do (“Turn Me Loose” here) as Pomus-Shuman and Leiber-Stoller have indicated.

As a side note: it wasn’t all one way traffic between the old and the new because it wouldn’t be long before Sinatra and other trad pop crooners were doing versions of rocks songs.

WIKIPEDIA: “Fabian Forte (born 1943) is the son of Josephine and Dominic Forte; his father was a Philadelphia police officer. He is the oldest of three brothers … Forte was discovered in 1957 by Bob Marcucci and Peter DeAngelis, owners of Chancellor Records. At the time record producers were looking to the South Philadelphia neighborhoods in search of teenage talents with good looks … Marcucci was a friend of Fabian's next door neighbour. One day Fabian's father had a heart attack, and while he was being taken away in an ambulance, Marcucci spotted Fabian. Fabian later recalled: He kept staring at me and looking at me. I had a crew cut, but this was the day of Rick Nelson and Elvis. He comes up and says to me, 'So if you're ever interested in the rock and roll business…' and hands me his card. I looked at the guy like he was fucking out of his mind. I told him, 'leave me alone. I'm worried about my dad.'" … However when Fabian's father returned from hospital he was unable to work, so when Marcucci persisted, Fabian and his family were amenable and he agreed to record a single … Frankie Avalon, also of South Philadelphia, suggested Forte as a possibility … "They gave me a pompadour and some clothes and those goddamned white bucks," recalled Fabian, "and out I went." "He was the right look and right for what we were going for," wrote Marcucci later”

This was Fabian’s first album and the mould was set … some newly written songs and some Tin Pan Alley songs (and one Elvis song) all sung in an Elvis type style and with some Elvis attitude, designed to make the girls scream and swoon … just quieter.

Fabian’s voice is a little thin, the backup singers are Jordanaires wannabees, and his band is a little all over the place …but … this album is fun and chockfull of Elvis Presley knockoffs making it quite endearing.

Eventually, Fabian became a more accomplished actor than a singer though he wasn’t highly regarded there either.

It’s a pity, because, ultimately, this pop rock is perfectly evocative of time and place and charming on its own level.

Tracks (best in italics)

Side One

  • Tiger Rag – (Harry DaCosta )- This song has been done by everyone going back to 1917. Take your pick as to why Fabian did it. There was a trend towards rock guys doing big band trad stuff (Darin, Boone) so maybe why that’s why they dug deep? This is sung in harmony by Fabian and his backing vocalists. It is also one of two tiger themed songs (I assume because he had a big hit with another tiger song, "Tiger" in 1959 (#3)). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_Rag
  • Hold Me (In Your Arms) – (Ricciuti, Ricci, Aquilino, Damato) –  An original written for or chosen for Fabian. A lovely little ballad the chicks would have loved.
  • Ooh, What You Do! – (Ed Marshall)-  An original written for or chosen for Fabian. A mid tempo rocker. Pleasant.
  • I Don't Know Why – (F. Ahlert, R. Turk) –  another oldie dating back to 1931. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Don't_Know_Why_(I_Just_Do)
  • Please Don't Stop – (Gordon Galbraith) – An original written for or chosen for Fabian. A totally enjoyable rocker, err mid-tempo rocker.
  • Lovesick – (Ballard, Hunter) – An original written for or chosen for Fabian. Again, fun.
  • Gonna Get You – (Gordon Galbraith) – An original written for or chosen for Fabian. Quite a hoot.

      Side Two

  • Love Me, Love My Tiger – (Roy Straigis) – An original written for or chosen for Fabian.
  • Don't You Think It's Time? – (Wayne-Raney) – This is a cover of the Elvis hit (Doncha' Think It's Time) from 1958 (#15). It also must have been the result of one those strange 50s song writing credits with pseudonyms, co-writer sell off or something. The song here is credited to Wayne and Raney, most contemporary credits to the Elvis song credit Brook Benton, and Clyde Otis, whilst old Elvis vinyl credits it to Otis and Dixon (Luther not Willie and sometimes written). But, it is all the same song. Maybe someone got a credit for correcting the slang, harrr. Fabian does the song well but the difference in singing styles between Elvis and Fabian is accentuated.
  • Just One More Time – (DeAngelis, Marcucci) –  An original written for or chosen for Fabian and another good one with some Scotty Moore type guitar.
  • Cuddle Up A Little Closer – (C. Hoschna, O. Harbach) – This one dates to 1908 and sounds like it.
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuddle_up_a_Little_Closer,_Lovey_Mine
  • Steady Date – (DeAngelis, Marcucci) – An original written for or chosen for Fabian and again, it suits him perfectly..
  • Turn Me Loose – (Pomus-Shuman) An original written for or chosen for Fabian. And very much in the Elvis style with a hint of Gene Vincent. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turn_Me_Loose_(Fabian_song)

And …

I enjoy this a lot and a couple of wines make it even better … I'm keeping it.

Chart Action

US

Singles

1959 Turn Me Loose  The Billboard Hot 100 #9

Album

1959  The Billboard 200 #5

England

—

Sounds

Tiger Rag

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thHlQiYO3kQ

Hold Me (In Your Arms)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uATF9MaeuF8

Ooh, What You Do!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XRgpsCx2iM

I Don't Know Why

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBoluB7NmjI

Please Don't Stop

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4hk0l-BKHE

Lovesick

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ocl_l6DaEIY

Gonna Get You

mp3 attached

Love Me, Love My Tiger

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Z9B8CAP0qg

Don't You Think It's Time?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgDkre4scPY

Just One More Time

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ebt8AdpsCb8

Cuddle Up A Little Closer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=be2Z57SO2sA

Steady Date

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGy50TmyxH0

Turn Me Loose

Live

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVHCfBBraK0

mp3 attached

Others

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eoRPW79iSw

with Frankie Avalon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51cexQtVKks

Fabian-mania

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQLTmy3YYC8

Review

—

Bio

http://neptsdepths.blogspot.com.au/2011/02/now-this-is-my-forte.html

http://www.goldminemag.com/article/a-tale-of-two-idols-fabian-and-neil-sedaka

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

http://www.classicbands.com/FabianInterview.html

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/fabian-mn0000793192/biography

http://www.popentertainment.com/fabian.htm

Website

http://www.fabianforte.net/

Trivia

  • Fabian remembers the day he met his doppelganger. “My road manager told me that Elvis was on the phone and that he wanted to meet me. I asked him, ‘Why?’ He came up to my hotel room, which I couldn’t believe. I opened up the door, and there he was”. Fabian said that both of them appeared awkward at first; Elvis was said to be terribly insecure and felt threatened by others who could steal the spotlight. “We started laughing and joking around, and Elvis told me that he was learning karate. I had four other guys in the room with me. Elvis said, ‘Have your four guys surround me. I want to practice my karate.’ He wanted to do it, and he did it, and he got around them and knocked them all on their ass. He ripped his pants, by the way. I gave him a pair of my pants to wear home. That’s how I met Elvis Presley.” http://www.goldminemag.com/article/a-tale-of-two-idols-fabian-and-neil-sedaka
  • On his films from his blog; “Fabian's early films rocketed him to stardom. He made his screen debut in 1959 in "Hound Dog Man", directed by Don Segal. He traveled iout of the country to make "Five Weeks In A Balloon" and "The Longest Day". He worked with two of our great screen giants in "North To Alaska" with John Wayne and "High Time" with Bing Crosby. Fabian was fortunate to have worked with the incomparable and gracious James Stewart in two films in his career, "Mr. Hobbs Takes A Vacation" and "Dear Brigette." He learned to surf with Tab Hunter in "Ride The Wild Surf" which has become a cult classic. More recent work includes being interviewed by Michelle Pfeiffer in the 1996, Jon Avnet directed film, "Up Close & Personal" … Fabian's role as a homicidal maniac in the TV production titled "A Lion Walks Among Us" directed by Robert Altman solidly established him as a versatile and powerful actor. This history making production was the first television show to run an hour without commercials”.
Posted in Rock & Pop, Rockabilly and Rock n Roll | Tagged | Leave a comment

JONATHAN EDWARDS – Jonathan Edwards – (Capricorn) – 1971

Posted on January 8, 2017 by Franko

jonathan-edwards-jonathan-edwards

Jonathan Edwards is one of those overlooked singer songwriters from the 1970s that seems to have a small following.

Check out my other comments on him for biographical detail.

This was his first solo album and he had a Top10 hit with the single "Sunshine" (#4) in the US.

It's not easy to (well, not until the digital download era) have a Top 10 single hit in the US. It is very difficult to have a #1. It is near on impossible to do it repeatedly.

The market is so big.

Well, the population is so big

That's a "derrr" statement.

But, accordingly, there are many musics, singers, and record labels trying to get into the Top 40.  Getting there indicates your songs' popularity but once there, there is more visibility and your song can progress to the Top 10 or up to #1.

But it's not easy.

If you don't believe me do some googling.

For example, acts that we think have had it all, in terms of singles sales: The Who never had a #1 (they only had one Top 10), Bruce Springsteen has never had a #1, Bowie only had one #1,  Oasis had only had one Top 10, Neil Young has had only one Top 10 (though a number one) … you get the idea.

Sure you can say some of these guys are "album artists" but the single is the format that sold the most, and it is the song that people hum, evokes memories and becomes what people talk about in the future.

Yes, I know on this blog I comment on albums only.

So, for Edwards to have a Top 10 is something, and on this, his first album.

But the single is what entranced people.

This album didn't chart.

He followed up this album with others but he fell from view.

But like John Stewart, Steve Young, Gordon Lightfoot, John Prine, Tom Rush and many others he has a devoted, small following.

Perhaps (likely) he is even less known here (Australia) and in the UK because he never had that hit, but that makes me listening to him even more fun for revelations.

Edwards had just split from his psychedelic folk group, "Sugar Creek'" who had released one album on Metromedia records in 1969, " Please Tell A Friend", but he remained friendly with band members Joe Dolce and Malcolm McKinney.

What is interesting about that may be lost on Americans. Dolce moved to Australia in 1978 and wrote and recorded the humorous and slightly cynical song about a fictitious rebellious Italian boy, "Shaddap You Face", which he released under the name Joe Dolce Theatre in 1980. The song was a mammoth hit in Australia – it went to #1 and sold more than 450,000 copies (a lot in Australia). It also went to #1 in the UK, Ireland and another 12 or so countries but in the US it only got to #53. It has sold six million copies worldwide.

Dolce contributes a song (a co-write) to this first album and Edwards would continue to record Dolce material over his other albums. Two songs by Malcolm McKinney appear here and Edwards would, again, record him in the future.

But by 1970 the band Sugar Creek wasn't making any headway, Edwards wanted to go solo, and the dominant music sound was changing.

Singer songwriter sucked in a lot of the old folkies as well as some of the Brill building pop crafts people, country sounds were all about and the psychedelic noise of the 60s was being left behind for something gentler and more earthy. That's not to say that full steam ahead rock 'n' roll was dead but balladry, with country and folk overtones and bouncy earthy songs were popular also.

Despite all the problems of the early 70s in the US like (I repeat myself here from other blog comments), pollution, urban decay, crime , unemployment, civil strife etc there was a back to the earth movement in spirit if not in physicality (though it existed in both) and introspection, observation of others and the world around you was the order of the day.

Edwards was in the right place at the right time.

This album is a direct result of the place and the time.

And Capricorn records was the right place for him sound wise if not major label push wise. Capricorn Records was started in Macon, Georgia by Phil Walden, Alan Walden and Frank Fenter in 1969. The label issued records from The Allman Brothers Band, Jonathan Edwards, Captain Beyond, White Witch, Grinderswitch The Marshall Tucker Band, The Outlaws, The James Montgomery Band, Elvin Bishop, Wet Willie, , Cowboy and many other acts during its ’70s hey day. They went bust in 1979 (though Phil Walden resurrected the label in the early ’90s).

Many singer songwriter country folk albums were released in the 70s but Edwards does have something .

He is clean voiced (much like Jesse Colin Young or John Denver) with some silky-ness to it rather than gravel-ly which throws him into the folkie singer songwriter traditions rather than the country singer songwriter traditions.

There are also orchestrations and interesting chord progressions that further support the folkie traditions.

That's not to say you can't have country success with these sounds just that folk sounds outweigh the country ones but they do co-exist happily … yes, yes, it's a rich tapestry.

Edwards, himself, gravitated more to country as time progressed.

If you know anything from him, it will be "Sunshine" or "Shanty" (see trivia at end) but there is a lot more here.

Now, for a Nick Drake style revival ..though he may be too happy and positive for that and people seem to revere the opposite in music's fringe dwellers.

All songs written by Edwards unless otherwise noted.

Tracks (best in italics)

      Side One

  • Everybody Knows Her – a great example of folk meets poppy singer songwriter. This is a great tune
  • Cold Snow –  some good violin
  • Athens County –  (Edwards, Joe Dolce) – another great tune. Very Chris Hillman in his bluegrass phase.
  • Dusty Morning –  getting into Shawn Phillips territory here
  • Emma – (Edwards, Barbara Ann Brannon) – This could be a John Denver outtake. And there is nothing wrong with that.
  • Shanty – a old sounding harmonica white blues.

      Side Two 

  • Sunshine –  gentle and not explicit the message may be missed but there is a defiance of authority here as well as and assertion of personal independence (against the war machine) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunshine_(Jonathan_Edwards_song) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGb3BDMdCCw
  • The King – more Shawn Phillips style music though the emphasis on piano rather than guitar. A nice jazzy interlude.
  • Don't Cry Blue – (Malcolm McKinney) – a gentle hoot of a song.
  • Jesse – John Denver meets Shawn Phillips.
  • Sometimes –  (Malcolm McKinney) – nice and beautifully sung.
  • Train of Glory – a folky harmonica driven song about emancipation that crosses Peter Paul and Mary with Paul Butterfield, and I like it.

And …

More than meets the eye … I'm keeping it.

Chart Action

US

Singles

1971 Sunshine #4 Pop, #7 Adult Contemporary

1972 Train of Glory #101

1972 Everybody Knows Her #101

Album

—

England

nothing

Sounds

Whole album

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gcmzq46GtYQ&list=TLQaUw4d53sCE

Emma

Live recently

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ym9JHfdLLWU

Shanty

Live recently

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6vyTM_qJAE

Sunshine

mp3 attached

Sometimes

Live recently

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrOpMDz1hmQ

Train of Glory

Live recently

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQNs49ZkrEg

Others

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBoj9Ssbxd4

Review

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Edwards_(album)

https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=Jonathan+Edwards

Bio

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

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/jonathan-edwards-mn0000261866/biography

http://www.appleseedmusic.com/jonathanedwards/

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

http://www.classicrockhereandnow.com/2015/02/jonathan-edwards-talks-about-new-cd_13.html

Website

http://www.jonathanedwards.net/index.cfm

Trivia

  • For many, “Sunshine” became a rallying protest cry against war and politics.Edwards reveals in this interview … “It was a combination of factors that went into the inspiration of pulling that one together and started with my dad being an ex FBI agent and me taking over ROTC buildings at the same time he was still an FBI agent. It was the height of the Viet Nam war that was brought to us through ways of lies and submergence, Nixon was president and I had just narrowly survived my pre induction draft board physical and I was very frustrated with our Government and the conduct it was having in our name, so I just sat down with this in Brighton, Massachusetts, wrote the song, and it took off.” http://www.musictriedandtrue.com/single-post/2015/02/12/Jonathan-Edwards-Talks-about-New-CD-with-Darrell-Scott-Vince-Gill-Shawn-Colvin-Jerry-Douglas-and-Alison-Krauss
  • "Athens County" was recorded under the title "Sweet Maria (Athens County)" by the Montana bluegrass group Mission Mountain Wood Band in 1977 for their first album, In Without Knocking. The song "Shanty" is used as the "Friday Song" on various "classic rock" FM radio stations; played at various times every Friday, it represents the unofficial start of the weekend. The song "Sunshine" was used in a Jeep commercial, and was also featured on the soundtrack for the film Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Edwards_(album)
  • Jonathan Edwards recorded and released a bluegrass version of "Sunshine" (along with an entire album) with the band "The Seldom Scene."[when?] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunshine_(Jonathan_Edwards_song)
  • Vocals, Guitar, Harmonica [Harp], Bass – Jonathan Edwards / Bass, Violin – Stuart Schulman / Drums – RIchard Adelman / Engineer – Bob Runstein, Mike Leary / Guitar – Eric Lilljequist / Keyboards – Jef Labes / Pedal Steel Guitar, Banjo – Bill Keith / Producer – Peter Casper

 

jonathan-edwards-jonathan-edwards-gatefold

 

Happy Birthday EP.

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

BOBBY RYDELL – The Top Hits of 1963 Sung By Bobby Rydell – (Cameo) – 1964

Posted on January 1, 2017 by Franko

bobby-rydell-the-top-hits-of-1963-sung-by-bobby-rydell

The music is both streetwise and innocent.

Can they exist together?

Yes,

Cast your mind back to a time when you were a teen.

You thought you knew it all and you had all the answers and you tried to swagger but ultimately you were a wide eyed innocent.

This music is sung by people not much older than that and at a time when the ear was not tuned in to irony, parody or the postmodern.

Everything was straight.

The world was simple or so it seemed despite the fact that the civil rights movement was exploding, tensions over the Cuban missile crisis were still around, people were hopping over or tunnelling under the Berlin Wall, Kennedy had been assassinated … but what is that all compared to the girl down the road who rebuffs your advances?

Has anything changed?

Perhaps, err perhaps not.

Rydell was on Cameo records and was its biggest star and hitmaker. Accordingly they loved product being released. When there are no new suitable songs then … release an album of covers.

Nothing wrong with that but there has to be a reason or theme that holds everything together. ie; Jerry Lewis sings Al Jolson, Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Johnny Mercer Songbook, Tony Bennett Sings a String of Harold Arlen, Sinatra sings Antonio Carlos Jobim, Bobby Vee sings Buddy Holly ("I Remember Buddy Holly"), Gene Pitney Sings Bacharach, Connie Francis Sings Jewish Favorites … here the theme is a lot more cynical.

Bobby Rydell sings the big hits of 1963.

It was normal for the teen idols of the time to include, one, two or maybe three covers of recent hits. But a whole album?

Plus a new original song (see below).

The beauty then is that this is more than a covers album because the songs have been subsumed into Rydell’s style. Rydell isn’t faithful to the originals and he shows he has the force of personality and voice to, maybe not always make the songs his own, but enough to be able to make them clearly distinguishable from the originals.

And that is not easy to do.

But he was experienced at this. Cameo had already released Rydells “An Era Reborn” (1962) which was him tackling old crooner material so perhaps him tackling the hits of the day was inevitable.

1964 was the year the Beatles took America by storm and ruined everything or revolutionised music. Take your pick.

But Beatlemania effectively did away with this music, all of it. The baby went out with the bathwater.

A pity.

The pop craft here is substantial (and it was acknowledges by Paul McCartney – see trivia tag)

See my other comments for biographical detail on Rydell.

Tracks (best in italics)

           Side One

  • Ruby Baby – (Leiber-Stoller) – (a #2 for Dion) Maybe you have to be Italian to sing this but it swings with the youthful streetwise attitude of an inner city ethnic tenement. The double up chuck a lunk thunping and clapping make Gary Glitter proud. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruby_Baby
  • So Much In Love – (Jackson, Williams, Straigis) – (a #1 form The Tymes) a pretty song that comes out as a white doowop crossed with a show tune … though the original wasn't far from that. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/So_Much_in_Love
  • Go Away Little Girl – (Goffin-King) – (Bobby Vee had a #1 with it and crooner Steve Lawrence had a #1 with it in the Easy listening charts), This is a beautiful Goffin and King song with familiar themes (teen love when one is with another) sung beautifully …  excellent early 60s pop. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_Away_Little_Girl
  • Our Day Will Come – (Hilliard, Garson) – (a #1 chart hit for Ruby & the Romantics). A little bit of Latin cha cha cha on this.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Day_Will_Come
  • Can't Get Used To Losing You  – (Pomus, Shuman) – (crooner Andy Williams had a #2 hit in both the US and the UK). An excellent version. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Can't_Get_Used_to_Losing_You
  • Blue On Blue – (David-Bacharach) – (Bobby Vinton had a #3 hit with this / #2 on Billboard's Middle-Road Singles chart). This one should have been a little more delicate. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_on_Blue_(song)

      Side Two

  • Wonderful! Wonderful! – (Raleigh, Edwards) – (The Tymes had a #23 R&B hit with this in 1963. Johnny Mathis had the big one, a #14 in 1957). Not as good as the Mathis version but as good as the Tymes. Happy, delicate and life affirming. Surely. Pure corn but totally subversive. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonderful!_Wonderful!
  • My Coloring Book – (Ebb-Kander) – (Kitty Kallen had a #18 hit, though, in 1963 alone there were versions by Barbara Streisand, Andy Williams, Brenda Lee, and Julie London floating around). I find the tune a little dull but the drama is nice and it is extremely well sung. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Coloring_Book
  • If I Had A Hammer – (Hays, Seeger) – (Trini Lopez went to #3 with this) – Bobby hasn't done much too change this one. It's got Trini's go go beat. Seeger recorded it in 1949. A song of emancipation with a "groovy" beat!  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_I_Had_a_Hammer
  • Blue Velvet – (Wayne, Morris) – (Bobby Vinton went to #1). A great version of a great song. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Velvet_(song)
  • The Alley Cat Song – (Bjorn, Harlen) – (in 1962, the Bent Fabric composition reached #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number two on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart). So-so, but then so was the original.    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alley_Cat_(song)
  • I Will Follow Her (Chariot) – (Altman, Roma, Stole, Gimbel) – (Little Peggy March's gender correct "I Will Follow Him"  version went to #1). Excellent. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Will_Follow_Him

      Bonus Single

  • Side One – Forget Him – (Mark Anthony) – Now that's marketing … an album with a new single on it and the single is with the album and not part of it. It was a #13 hit in England in 1963. Apparently (according to Bobby on the flipside) he recorded it England and it was a hit there so they decided to include it on this album. It did it work – it went up to a #4 in the US. It was a hit in Europe – # 1 on the continent apparently). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forget_Him_(Bobby_Rydell_song)
  • Side Two – Message From Bobby  – more marketing … cool. Bobby explaining the single and thanking us for his career and for buying this album!

And …

A great album. I know that half the joy comes from the fact of the choice of songs. But they are well sung and arranged and sometimes as good as the originals … I'm keeping it.

Chart Action

US

Singles

1964 Forget Him #4

Album

—

England

Singles

1963 Forget Him #13

Album

—

Sounds

The whole album

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R020CrTA5g0&list=PL252MvG4p9vsk8mlo2mTisl_W1bW4exsk&index=1

Ruby Baby

mp3 attached

So Much In Love

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

If I Had A Hammer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5x9ENC-rGZk

Blue Velvet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MG5ZvKqYTSs

Forget Him

live

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bK5btGA42h8

live recently

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jM5B6uSLPSg

Others

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csqvBhbwX1I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hRulR1zPD0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5bBcepwgsw

Review

—

Bio

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

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

http://www.waybackattack.com/rydellbobby.html

http://www.rockabilly.nl/references/messages/bobby_rydell.htm

http://thehistoryofpop-the60s.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/bobby-rydell-and-his-amazing-hair.html

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/the-top-25-teen-idol-breakout-moments-20120511/fabian-frankie-avalon-and-bobby-rydell-1961-20120511

Website

http://www.bobbyrydell.com/

https://www.facebook.com/OfficialBobbyRydell/

Trivia

  • "Paul McCartney has stated in "The Beatles Anthology" that Bobby Rydell was an inspiration for a lot of the "Yeah Yeah's" used in "She Loves You" (Remember the Yeah Yeahs and Whoa Whoa's his background singers were so famous for?) Paul McCartney also said that a Bobby Rydell song "Forget Him" was the original inspiration for actually writing "She Loves You" — Inspired by "Forget Him" Paul McCartney had the idea to write an "answer song" to Forget Him and "She Loves You" was born" https://www.facebook.com/OfficialBobbyRydell/posts/640890955972474
  • "In 2000, McCartney said the initial idea for "She Loves You" came from a Bobby Rydell hit that was popular at the time (mid-1963). Lennon and McCartney started composing "She Loves You" after a concert on June 26, 1963 (about four weeks after the release of "Forget Him" in the UK). They began writing the song on the tour bus, and continued later that night at their hotel in Newcastle. "She Loves You" was completed the following day at McCartney's family home in Forthlin Road, Liverpool." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forget_Him_(Bobby_Rydell_song)

 

Happy New Year

 

RIP: Debbie Reynolds

Posted in Pop Rock | Tagged | Leave a comment

PAUL REVERE & THE RAIDERS – A Christmas Present …. And Past – (Columbia) – 1967

Posted on December 25, 2016 by Franko

paul-revere-the-raiders-a-christmas-present

It’s Christmas time so …I pulled this Christmas record out.

I knew this album wasn’t a selection of traditional Christmas songs but I wasn’t expecting this.

A total spinout album.

This album comes after a major line-up shuffle in early 1967 that saw three members (Valley, Volk, and Smith) leave the band and songwriter Mark Lindsay take control of the direction of the band. From this point on Paul Revere & the Raiders would move away from their garage rock, frat rock beginnings towards a more pop style. The band had been moving that way anyway as evidenced by the fact that Volk and Smith joined another former member, Drake Levin, in the more serious and uncommercial Brotherhood.

Also, June 1967 saw the release of The Beatles Sgt Peppers album, an album I’ve never really loved though its musical historical importance is undeniable (though it did not appear in a vacuum and wasn’t as revolutionary as many contemporary music critics seem to think … it was very popular at the time though, and was preceded with quite a bit of hype).

At the time its popularity did shake things up though. Its catchy and fully orchestrated pop tunes sold to the kids and the mainstream whilst its musical quirks endeared it to the emerging hip underground rock movement. It crossed many audiences and demographics and was an extremely influential album.

It punctuated in commercial terms what had been happening since Bob Dylan started recording … and that is that if you were a serious musician you put out albums not singles.

Paul Revere & the Raiders where, essentially, a singles act.

Albeit a singles act who put out many worthwhile albums, but ultimately, a singles act.

Or, that’s how the public perceived them.

In 50s and 60s rock ‘n’ roll there were only a handful, hell, probably only two, singles acts who could sell albums en masse … Elvis Presley and The Beatles. And, both, in their own ways became more album oriented.

OK, you could add The Monkees and maybe Credence Clearwater Revival to that list.

Outside of music (in the real world) the Vietnam War was being fought, the Cold War was alive and well, civil rights demonstrations and poverty riots were ongoing and there was turmoil in the air which would culminate in the events of civil disobedience both in the US and across the western world in 1968.

Accordingly, there was growing pressure in 1967 for pop musicians to "have something to say".

And the music single was not the way to say it.

The album was.

So, this is what Paul Revere & the Raiders were faced with.

And, Christmas was looming.

And, record labels love Christmas albums.

Some quick sales on the back of Yuletide cheer without a hit single needed.

The new Raiders were moving to a more pop commercial sound and also (no doubt) trying to distance themselves from the prefab teeny bopper image (with colourful Revolutionary War costumes and near-daily appearances on TV (mainly on the show “Where The Action Is”)).

They, no doubt, wanted to flex their musical muscle (and explore new sounds) and wanted to do it a way which would not affect their normal output … what better than a Christmas album that would be deleted shortly thereafter?

But what happened was extraordinary.

Lindsay recalls it this way, “When CBS said they wanted a Christmas album, we couldn’t see giving them the one they probably expected,” former lead singer Mark Lindsay said. “Then we’d flip on the news and see ’Nam in full color, so that had to sink in. We were also traveling in the South at the time, so those kinds of [civil rights] issues came up. So most of our singles weren’t political, but the Christmas album totally was. It was a disaster, but it reflected what we were feeling at the time. It was a good time for flower power and protest.”

http://www.goldminemag.com/article/solve-the-mystery-behind-paul-revere-the-raiders%E2%80%99-christmas-album

The album was unusual for many reasons. For starters, unlike most Christmas albums which are made up of standards this is one which only has one standard, the rest are all originals.

And the originals were, musically, pop and the more familiar garage (though toned down) but all saturated with a raiders trying to be hip like some countercultural pranksters.

These guys are to pop (and mainstream) to ever be The Fugs but it is amazing to listen to.

The album is topical and quite cynical with acute societal observations, rambling narratives, Vietnam protest, boozy singalongs, hippie and beat humour, quirky musical interludes (like the two minutes of kazoo at the end and the brass band oom-pahs between each song), and studio trickery all done to their usual catchy tunes.

Even the title of the album “A Christmas Present … and past” referring to both a gift and today and yesterday is in on the humour … get it?  

Are they referring to the mix of old Christmas tunes (one) and new ones or something about America and the state of the union? Mark Lindsay and producer Terry Melcher (son of Doris Day, friend of Brian Wilson) wrote all the original songs apart from a bizarre version of "Jingle Bells".

There is a "PS" on the back that reads: "There are actually nine "presents" in this album – nine original Christmas songs by Mark Lindsay and Terry Melcher. Presents with a future, the past saluted with Jingle Bells".

What I like is the gentle cynicism. The cynicism is not about Christmas itself but about people and the nation at Christmas. The detail of everyday things on some of the songs is quite Ray Davies Kinksian.

Not surprisingly, Columbia hated it, DJs hated it, and the public at the time hated it (it made it to #10 on the Christmas albums list but that isn’t saying much as it only got to #71 on the Top 100 … and this is from a band who were charting well). In fact this is quite daring for a mainstream band, and a big one at that. They were very popular.

“One of the most popular and entertaining rock groups of the 1960s, Paul Revere & the Raiders enjoyed seven years of serious chart action, and during their three biggest years (1966-1969), sold records in numbers behind only the Beatles and the Rolling Stones”. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/paul-revere-the-raiders-mn0000750456/biography

The album is a period piece and of its time. There are more studio ideas than music and at times it feels like it isn't fully formed. But these types of records, even with their faults, give us some insights into what was happening in the real world at the time … much more than something like “Sgt Peppers”, perhaps.

Musically it will never be on high rotation with the masses but for those who like to dig there is a little piece of gold here.

Check out my other comments on Paul Revere & the Raiders for biographical detail.

All songs by Lindsay-Melcher unless noted

Tracks (best in italics)

Side One

  • Introduction – a humorous introduction introducing The Salvation Army band – shades of Sgt Peppers.
  • Wear a Smile at Christmas – A Lovin Spoonfull-ish tune which is quite good (despite the bad click I have on my copy of the vinyl). A Lyndon B Johnson (the president of the US at the time) impersonator makes an appearance.
  • Jingle Bells – (Pierpont) – Just a weird version of Jingle Bells that sounds like it was sung at the local bar after everyone has had a few. The singers (who are credited but weren't in the band) were a mystery for some time. Says Lindsay, “That was a guy named Paul Connors, who worked at the hot-dog stand around the corner from the studio. Terry Melcher and I would talk to him when we went on breaks. He was a big showbiz fan, a living encyclopedia. When he found out we worked at the studio, he kept begging us to let him come visit,” Lindsay says. “His girlfriend used to hang out at the counter with him, so we invited both of them to sing ‘Jingle Bells.” When we were done, I pulled out a Johnny Mathis track and let Paul sing on it, then gave him the tape to take home. Please, CBS, don’t bill us for that”. .http://www.goldminemag.com/article/solve-the-mystery-behind-paul-revere-the-raiders%E2%80%99-christmas-album
  • Brotherly Love – a ballad which is quite effective (if a little dated) and is adapted from the traditional tune Greensleeves.
  • Rain, Sleet, Snow – it's as  if Eric Clapton and Cream went Christmassy. A song about the postman getting the mail through, I think.
  • Peace – an orchestral instrumental that meanders and sets mood.

      Side Two

  • Valley Forge – you are taken to Valley Forge in 1775 … a very pretty song with something to say.
  • Dear Mr. Claus – a bizarre love song done in a Vaudeville style which is quite lascivious (and some would say misogynistic). The narrator is writing to Mr Claus asking him to send him a real life doll to, apparently, help with the pots, pans, dirty dishes. There is even a wolf howl at the end.  It is up there with "Trim Your Tree" by  Jimmy Butler, "It's Christmas Time" by Mojo Nixon, "Let's Make Christmas Merry Baby" by Amos Milburn" and "Santa Claus Is Back In Town" by Elvis Presley in the great sexy Christmas song list.
  • Macy's Window – another gentle song with Christmas as a background. Like a Christmas version of Elvis' "In The Ghetto" with Ray Davies like observations … but it is over too quick.
  • Christmas Spirit – pleasant with a little more emphasis on the brass band
  • A Heavy Christmas Message – "who took the Christ out of Christmas" is the central theme of the song with a spoken sermon like (church organ and all) interlude followed by two minutes of background kazoo music. Nice.

And …

Not fantastic and perhaps not fully realised, but, at times, effective, catchy and endearing  … I'm keeping it.

Merry Christmas.

Chart Action

US

Singles

—

Album

1967 #71

England

nothing

Sounds

Introduction 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cn21kEDZ1-0&list=PL2HAzKCAHKxVMgL09v-mct9R7JN-GAUVr

Wear a Smile at Christmas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LTJJ3D5AJ4

Brotherly Love 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3Djn8wwEMY

Rain, Sleet, Snow 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgZf0deQx-k

Valley Forge 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPzN2FKJz8I

Dear Mr. Claus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7XijaV-A4s

Macy's Window 

mp3 attached

Christmas Spirit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kkzy994zQZY

A Heavy Christmas Message

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIdautf8I2I

Others

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2OBN1oCcSY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiiDbB-Ur8c

Swinging LA!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovqgX6s_a_s

Review

Liked it

http://www.hipchristmas.com/artists/r/revere.php

http://www.goldminemag.com/article/solve-the-mystery-behind-paul-revere-the-raiders%E2%80%99-christmas-album

http://www.waxpoetics.com/blog/features/rediscovery/paul-revere-and-the-raiders-rain-sleet-or-snow/

Half liked it

https://60sundergroundmusic.wordpress.com/2012/12/26/paul-revere-the-raiders-a-christmas-present-and-past/

http://www.allmusic.com/album/a-christmas-presentand-past-mw0000690062

Dislikes

http://www.markprindle.com/revere.htm

Bio

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/paul-revere-the-raiders-mn0000750456/biography

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Revere_%26_the_Raiders

http://www.musoscribe.com/features/paul_revere_and_the_raiders.shtml

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

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

Website

http://www.paulrevereandtheraiders.com/

http://www.marklindsay.com/

Trivia

  • Paul Revere And The Raiders at this stage: Mark Lindsay – Vocals, Saxophone / Charlie Coe – Bass Guitar / Drake "Kid" Levin – Lead Guitar / Freddy Weller – Lead Guitar / Joe Correro, Jr. – Drums
  • "Rain, Sleet, Snow" b/w "Brotherly Love" was due to be released as a single but was cancelled.

 

paul-revere-the-raiders-a-christmas-present-back

Posted in Christmas, Psychedelic | Tagged | Leave a comment

TOMMY ROE – Sweet Pea – (ABC) – 1966

Posted on December 18, 2016 by Franko

tommy-roe-sweet-pea

Tommy Roe is another one of those sixties pop stars I like to resurrect.

Why.

He is, to the wider music public, occasionally derided, rarely discussed, often mistaken, largely forgotten, and greatly undervalued.

The mid to late-60s Tommy’s and Bobby’s are too hard to distinguish for contemporary audiences I suspect.

Tommy Roe, Tommy James, Tommy Boyce …

Bobby Hart, Bobby Sherman, Bobby Goldsboro …

Not to mention the non-Tommy/Bobby crew …

Brian Hyland, Billy Joe Royal, Len Barry, Ron Dante, B.J. Thomas, Lou Christie, Chris Montez, Keith  …

And groups like Jay and the Americans, Gary Lewis and the Playboys, Gary Puckett and the Union Gap …

They all practiced AM Pop with touches of bubblegum pop, sunshine pop, blue eyed soul and rock n roll.

Their mentors were Roy Orbison, Buddy Holly, The Everly Brothers, Gene Pitney, Del Shannon, Bobby Vee, Bobby Rydell, Tommy Sands, Ricky Nelson, Fabian, Pat Boone, Bobby Darin, and Elvis Presley.

Given that, it can’t be too bad …

But, when they talk about those guys they talk in terms of hit singles or how they did other things linked to other famous musicians: ie: Tommy Roe opened for the Beatles in 1964 (they also opened for him).

There is more than that here, but, the question remains … is this pop any more worthwhile than pop of the 70s, 80s, and beyond?

Putting aside the 70s I would say, definitely yes.

I’m not a teen of the 60s so I’m not using rose coloured glasses but the pop of the 60s was still testing the boundaries of where rock ‘n’ pop could go so there is quite a bit of experimentation and playfulness in the pop grooves.

Melodies hadn’t been exclusively replaced by beats, the narrative and lyric hadn’t been reduced to unrelated nonsensical words and the music was the result of organic multi person input.

This, all, appeals to me.

But, the subsequent rush to venerate the 60s (especially the mid to late-60s) as the thoughtful decade (maybe it was) meant that if you weren't Bob Dylan, The Beatles or serious in your intentions (album oriented) then your music was largely forgotten. But, like a lot of music in that golden age of rock ‘n’ pop, even something as pop as Tommy Roe has merits not often seen. In Roe’s case those merits are substantial. He is a consummate singer, a prolific song writer, and a strong musician.

The allmusic entry is short but hints at Roe’s hidden talents, “Widely perceived as one of the archetypal bubblegum artists of the late '60s, Tommy Roe cut some pretty decent rockers along the way, especially early in his career — many displaying some pretty prominent Buddy Holly roots. In fact, Roe's initial pop smash, 1962's chart-topping "Sheila," was quite reminiscent of Holly's "Peggy Sue," utilizing a very similar throbbing drumbeat and Roe's hiccuping vocal. The singer had previously cut the song for the smaller Judd label before remaking it in superior form for ABC-Paramount. The infectious "Everybody" — another hot item the next year — was waxed in Muscle Shoals at Rick Hall's Fame studios, normally an R&B-oriented facility (it's not widely known that Roe wrote songs for the Tams, a raw-edged soul group from his Atlanta hometown). Once Roe veered off on his squeaky-clean bubblegum tangent, he stuck with it for the rest of the decade. His lighthearted "Sweet Pea" and "Hooray for Hazel" burned up the charts in 1966, and he was still at it three years later when he waxed his biggest hit, "Dizzy," and "Jam Up Jelly Tight"”.

Roe was born May 9, 1942, in Atlanta, Georgia. When he was in high school he sang in the vocal group "The Satins" and they released a couple of records in 1960. In 1962, he went to ABC-Paramount Records and released "Sheila" (which had been a song released by The Satins). The song was a hit. During 1963 and 1964 he followed with some other chart toppers. In late 1964 and 1965 he served as an electrician in the U.S. Army reserves. Though his early work was in the soft rockabilly style he continue to explore pop and, when he returned to his music career in 1966 he realised he needed a change of style and moved to a more full pop style, and released the song "Sweet Pea" which re-established him on the charts. In 1969, he scored his biggest hit with "Dizzy" which went to #1. His chart visibility diminished in the 1970s though he released a number of albums. He still tours on oldies shows.

This album came on the back of the hit single “Sweet Pea” and is a bit of a hodge podge release, just like many records by Roe and his AM Pop contemporaries at the time … their songs were product and were packaged quickly on the back of a hot chart song or two. You have a hit single or two, record a couple of originals, stick in some covers of other people's recent hits, pad the rest out with non-album A or B sides, and voila …. instant album.

Here the hits are “Sweet Pea” and “Hooray for Hazel”, there are another couple of originals, the four recent covers are (mainly of) British Invasion songs (popular at the time and Roe lived in England for a while in the mid-60s), and the rest are old A sides.

The album does not hide the fact. The liner notes state, "This is an accumulation of only the highlights of Tommy's first four years in the entertainment field …"

Accordingly the first side is the hits and the new songs, and the second side are the old hits and singles and a couple of new songs

So, the album is a little schizophrenic. The first side is different to the second side, but, given we are only talking a couple or so years the stylistic shifts may not be noticed to non-anal types. Even then, Roe's voice holds everything together.

The Roe originals are catchy and clearly he knows the sound he is looking for. What I like is the way Roe then tackles the covers and subsumes them within his musical palette.

It was his fifth album, the first having come out three years earlier.

Tracks (best in italics)

Side One

  • Under My Thumb – (Jagger, Richards) – The great Rolling Stones song from 1966 (from the "Aftermath" album) which was not released as a single but was extremely popular. Del Shannon released a version in 1966 as did The Kingsmen. This is a great pop version of the song which softens the snarl in the lyric but doesn't diminish the implication. A hoot. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Under_My_Thumb
  • Pretty Flamingo – (Barkan) – a cover of Manfred Mann's #1 UK hit (#29US) from 1966. Another good version but it's another good song. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Flamingo
  • Where Were You When I Needed You – (Sloan, Barri) – a cover of The Grass Roots #28 song from 1966. Early sunshine pop and well sung
  • Sweet Pea – (Roe) – released as a single in December 1965. Roe wrote the song for the McCoys but they never got back to him. Great pop, and a bit of a throwback to the early 60s but with some great mid-60s organ.

      Side Two

  • Party Girl – (Bouie, Jr Atkins) –  released as a Roe single in 1964. The start is like something that escapes me at the moment (something by Bobby Darin perhaps?) and at times he sounds like a sweeter Sonny Bono. A great song.
  • The Folk Singer – (Merle Kilgore) – released as a single in 1963 this was written by country song writer (and occasional singer) Kilgore (he co-wrote "Ring of Fire" with June Carter). This was first recorded by Roe. A strange one for Roe … it sounds more like something Johnny Cash would do.. A good song though. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Folk_Singer_(Tommy_Roe_song)
  • Pleasing You Pleases Me – (Roe, Bouie) –  gentle mid-tempo pop.
  • Kick Me Charlie – (Roe) – some R&B introduced here.
  • Sheila – (Roe) – released as a single in 1960 by Roe and his vocal group The Satins and then by Roe solo in 1962 when he had a hit with it. The Beatles recorded it in 1962 at the Star Club in Hamburg. It sounds a lot like Buddy Holly's "Peggy Sue" and doesn't fit with the newer songs but it is a great song. Jerry reed apparently played guitar on this.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheila_(Tommy_Roe_song)

And …

Great and perfect for parties … I'm keeping it.

Chart Action

US

Singles

1962 Sheila #1

1963 Everybody #3

1963 The Folk Singer #84

1964 Party Girl #85

1966 Sweet Pea #8

1966 Hooray for Hazel #6

Album

1966 #94

England

Singles

1962 Sheila #3

1963 Everybody #9

1963 The Folk Singer #4

Album

—

Sounds

Hooray For Hazel

Live

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNZWPVa9-ZQ

Under My Thumb 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8H5I_kh27jU

mp3 attached

Pretty Flamingo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPXxic23Lv8

Where Were You When I Needed You 

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

Wild Thing 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qQhExhY21Q

Sweet Pea 

Live

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

mp3 attached

Party Girl

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

Everybody 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zU5OD2xRgl8

live later

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P86_pclfeKg

The Folk Singer 

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

Pleasing You Pleases Me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ihzjmv1UuZI

Kick Me Charlie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXM6upaH9Ik

Sheila

Live

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

Others

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbdtQ99yIUo

Review

—

Bio

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

https://sites.google.com/site/tommyroefanclub/

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/tommy-roe-mn0000627337/biography

http://www.waybackattack.com/roetommy.html

video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FCvYt577T0

Website

http://www.tommyroe.com/The_Official_Tommy_Roe_Web_Site/Home.html

Trivia

  • produced by Steve Clark.

 

tommy-roe-sweet-pea-back

Posted in Pop Rock, Rock & Pop, Sunshine Pop and Baroque | Tagged | Leave a comment

SHAWN PHILLIPS – Faces – (A&M) – 1972

Posted on December 11, 2016 by Franko

shawn-phillips-faces

It's hard opening a comment sometimes, especially when it's on someone you have discussed before. Perhaps you need something punchy, something to suck the reader(s) in? That opening line can be crucial, and I've probably just wasted it with my observation above.

Okay, I'll try again.

There is no reason I should like Shawn Phillips.

He represents a genre of music which I largely, at worst dislike, at best am ambivalent to.

Well, Phillips plays in the singer-songwriter style but I'm not talking about that because I like a lot of that. Where I start to nod off is where the singer-songwriter is also a virtuoso on their instrument and the music is designed to show off that as well as any emotion in the lyric and song.

Phillips is a guitar virtuoso.

Worse still he was recording mainly in the late 60s through to the late 70s … a decade when singer-songwriters, generally, took themselves very seriously.

At worst: the music is too hippie (or if it isn't, former hippie types like it), the lyrics can be a bit vague and overly spiritual (there is no Woody Guthrie directness here), because Phillips was an album artist there aren't any pop singles, his songs are rarely short, the music seems designed, at times, only as a display of his virtuosity, his songs lean to the precious and, on their face, lack humour, and, his fans would be total bores (well most fans are bores but Phillip's show would be populated by people who were into him in 1973 and were bores then).

Okay I have probably offended a few fans. But then why would they be reading this? They would already have this record.

So, to you non-fans or, people not in the know who may be reading this, what I have said may be true but, I like Shawn Phillips.

Why?

Well, Phillips plays in the electric folkie style but he is like the "pure form" of that style. He writes, plays, sings and, it is clear, he is gifted. Importantly he draws in other forms of music and incorporates them into his sound … sometimes singer-songwriter, sometimes eastern influences, sometimes country, psych, folk, classical, Hawaiian. He is never afraid to mix it up and he is never afraid to let the songs ramble with his emotions … so he becomes a sort of prog folk jazz singer-songwriter.

His songs may be long but lyrically they can be sparse, and normally his song lines are usually short. There is wordplay though there isn't excessive wordplay in his songs. His father who was a crime novelist, James Phillips who wrote under the name Phillip Atlee, may have had an influence:

“When I tried to read him a lyric once, I’m standing there all proud, he grabbed me by the front of the shirt and he jerked me about an inch away from his face, and he said, ‘Listen, punk. I’ve been writing for half a century, and I still can’t write a better line than ‘Jesus wept’.”  http://www.goldminemag.com/article/follow-the-ever-changing-ballad-of-singer-songwriter-shawn-phillips

Though, I'm sure you wouldn't see mystical dancing pixies in any of his fathers novels and at times in Phillip's music you fully expect one to hop out.

Then there is his voice … Phillips has a four octave vocal range and he isn't scared to use it and uses it all to punctuate the emotion in his songs. It can be direct but normally likes to be otherworldly. He comes across as a hippie cosmic Roy Orbison.

Or at least Roy Orbison who has been hanging out with Donovan, Sandy Bull and Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull.

But, what I like about this music is you put it on and it is disarming and quite relaxing. You can't dance to it, you can't sing along to it, you can't even hum to it. But like the jazz or classical you can put it on and it will stimulate the senses.

Now I'm sounding like a hippie but, hey, we all need some time out to sit and think and this music tells us stories and allows us to chill out.

This album came at Phillips most creative peak and was recorded in 1972 apart from three that date back to 1969 ("Landscape", "Chorale", "Parisien Plight II").

All sorts of legends including Steve Winwood, Leland Sklar, Sneaky Pete Kleinow assist him on this record though the Glen Campbell is Juicy Lucy (and The Misunderstood) steel guitarist Glen Ross Campbell.

Tracks (best in italics)

      Side One

  • Landscape – Nice, really nice and a little ethereal. An ethereal landscape?
  • 'L' Ballade – so gentle and delicate it seems to barely exist.
  • Hey Miss Lonely – another one cone in the familiar Phillips style but genuinely enjoyable
  • Chorale – one of Phillips wordless songs, though not an instrumental. Have I used the word "ethereal" yet? A mix of Catholic chorale and Eastern traditions. It is meant to open the mind I suppose … all seven and a half minutes of it.

      Side 2

  • Parisien Plight II – The song starts with mood and percussive sounds combined with sound effects (monkey chattering, exotic birds chirping) before going off into a funky beat. If Woodstock had of been held on the West Coast of Africa instead of in upstate New York you would have an idea of where this is coming from. Thirteen minutes of it. It is of its time but enjoyable
  • We – a love song and a bouncy (well, as bouncy as Phillips gets) one.
  • Anello (Where Are You) – a playful song about musicians in a Donovan style but taken away on a tangent. Very funny.
  • I Took A Walk – a nice pointed song about America circa 1972.

And …

I do like Phillips but I'm not sure where you would play him unless you were alone or with a lot of people who were stoned … I'm keeping it.

Chart Action

US

Singles

—

Album

1972 #57

England

nothing

Sounds

Landscape

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQkO5Xx8vY4

live

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

'L' Ballade

live

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFYcbGOsBm4

Hey Miss Lonely

live

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XbvkuPd7Ak

mp3 attached

We

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fz4DCLsRp4I

Anello (Where Are You)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEk0YWe440I

I Took A Walk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Chzj25bJHiE

Others

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykPBUqo1GuQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtNEFJ3uyS4

Review

http://www.allmusic.com/album/faces-mw0000194368

http://stuckinthepast08.blogspot.com.au/2011/12/shawn-phillips-faces-1972.html

https://thecdcritic.wordpress.com/2015/03/02/faces-shawn-phillips/

http://therockasteria.blogspot.com.au/2015/10/shawn-phillips-faces-1969-72-us.html

Bio

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

a verg good overview:

http://www.goldminemag.com/article/follow-the-ever-changing-ballad-of-singer-songwriter-shawn-phillips

http://www.hippy.com/modules.php?name=Reviews&rop=showcontent&id=553

http://andywhitman.blogspot.com.au/2005/05/shawn-phillips-arias-for-common-man.html

Website

http://www.shawnphillips.com/

https://shawnphillips.wordpress.com/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Shawn-Phillips-Music-Fans/225187107260

Trivia

  • The musicians:

            Bass – Brian Odgers (S1, T1), Jack Conrad (S2, T2-44), Lee Sklar (S1, T3)

            Drums – Ed Greene (S2, T2-4), Ed Morin (S1, T3)

            French Horn – John Pigneguy (S1, T1), Martin Ford (S1, T1)

            Guitar –Shawn Phillips, Caleb Quaye (S2, T1)

            Harp – Skaila Kanga (S1, T2)  

            Organ – Steve Winwood (S2, T1)

            Percussion – Reme Kabaka (S2, T1)

            Piano – Joe Sample (S2, T2-4)

            Piano, Cello – Paul Buckmaster (S1, T1)

            Saxophone – Chris Mercer (S2, T1)  

            Steel Guitar – Glen Campbell (tracks: B1), Sneeky Pete Kleinow (S1, T3)

            Trumpet – Henry Lowther S2, T1)

  • Produced by Jonathan P. Weston (with the help of Robert Appere)
Posted in Folk Rock, Prog Rock and Art Rock, Singer Songwriter | Tagged | Leave a comment

PAT BOONE – Days of Wine and Roses – (Dot) – 1963

Posted on December 4, 2016 by Franko

pat-boone-days-of-wine-and-roses

Whenever I comment on a Pat Boone album I inevitable start off by defending him.

Pat Boone isn’t very popular with hard core music fans.

Apparently he stole songs from black artists and denied them the charts. Him personally. But in reality was a to and fro from before the first time Nat King Cole crooned or Chuck Berry heard "Ida Red" and wrote "Maybelline" . Covering songs for different markets or rearranging them to have the largest potential market was the norm in the music business.

Arguably, Boone's covers were more blatant though. Elvis and others were recording songs and sounds they grew up with where in Pat Boone’s case his label would approach him and say sing this and we provide a softer sound with new arrangements. This led to the new, clean, and white versions of Afro-American R&B songs.

He is roundly criticized for that despite the fact that trad pop singers like Johnny Ray, Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra had also doing the same to black songs for years.

And, regardless what people say his hit versions must have brought attention to the original versions.

And, then their are the royalties. Would a black composer complain about Pat Boone taking his song to the Top 10?

There is the impression that Boone's entire fifties output was covers of R&B songs and that those white washed covers (initially) stopped black artists getting high up in the charts

This is rubbish and lazy historically whether you like Boone or not.

In that era it was quite normal for three or four covers of a popular song to be released in the same year. The one with the broadest appeal would make the most money.

America wasn't ready for hard black R&B sounds to dominate the charts but they were warming up to it. Boone's records just picked up the people who hadn't warmed to it yet.

Examples:

His version of Fat's Domino's "Ain't That a Shame" went to #1 (1955). Fat's version had already had its run getting up to #10. Some Afro-Americans must have liked it also as it went to #14 in the R&B charts.

His version of the El Dorados' "At My Front Door (Crazy Little Mama)" went took to #7 Pop, #12 R&B 1955). The El Dorados had a #1 R&B , #17Pop (1955) hit with it.

His version of Ivor Joe Hunter's "I Almost Lost My Mind" went to #1 Pop, #14 R&B and didn't impact on the original which went to #1 in the R&B charts in 1950.

His version of Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti" went to #12 in 1956. Little Richards version had peaked at #2 in the R&B charts in early 1956 and wen t to #17 in the pop charts. A little extra in royalties doesn't hurt.

His version of Little Richard's "Long Tall Sally" went to #8 Pop #18 R&B in 1956. Little Richards version released in early 1956 went to #6 Pop, #1R&B.

In all cases except for the El Dorados the singers were the authors or co-authors of the songs …  the royalties must have been nice.

Importantly, the songs above represent most of the R&B songs he covered in the fifties. During that era he released another 35 or so singles which were tin pan alley or pop and all very white …. and contain some of his biggest hits:

"I Almost Lost My Mind" (1955), "Don't Forbid Me" (1956), "Love Letters In The Sand" (1957), April Love" (1957) were all #1s but others charted well: "I'll be Home" (#4 1956), "Friendly Persuasion" (#5 1956), "Why Baby Why" (#5 1956), "Remember You're Mine " (#6 1957), "A Wonderful Time Up There" (#4 1958), "It's Too Soon to Know" (#4 1958), "Sugar Moon" (#5 1958), "If Dreams Came True" (#7, 1958), 

He was only second to Elvis in sales (and also was the only 50s popster to have a film career) and he clearly didn't do that by just covering and stealing black tunes.

His English chart positions were also impressive (one #1 and nine Top 10s in the 50s)

Clearly people responded to his music

But never let the truth get in the way of a good story.

You don't have to like Boone but accusations of this sort are historically dishonest.

But that is not the only reason he is unhip. His music can be middling. It wasn't so much a white version of raucous black music but rather a softer version of Elvis (even though Elvis loved his ballads also).

He didn't typify rock either … He was married young (faithfully) (at 19) , didn't smoke or drink, was open about his religion and wasn't a hellraiser. As times moved on his views seemed more archaic. His religion approached fundamentalism, his politics were far right, his faith in his country was maudlin. These aren’t bad traits necessarily but it doesn’t endear you to the rock n roll crowd who like some cynicism.

The most unforgivable thing of course was to take the rock 'n' roll of your white and black contemporaries and sanitise it. At the time it paid dividends but history doesn’t look on it kindly. Both Bobby Darin and Bobby Vinton have suffered because of their love of trad pop and move towards smoother sounds …t hough admittedly Darin and Vinton were doing it later.

But Boone was incredibly effective on the charts and in film.

Does it make his music good?

Yes and No.

A lot of it is bland

It is not as innovative, dangerous, or memorable as Elvis but there is a lot of good material in there and Pat Boone can sing especially if he sticks to ballads and mid-tempo pop. He suited trad pop but a version rooted in the 50s obsession with rhythm. He was a pop singer who moved to trad whereas, say Guy Mitchell, was a trad pop singer who moved to pop and rhythm.

Within his best range (mainly in the 50s) Boone has created some bona fide classics.

As mainstream rock n roll mutated from it's hard ragged origins into something smoother and gentler in the early 60s Boone moved further and further into trad pop.

This album is a no brainer.

Boone was a movie star at the time and loved trad pop so why not have him sing themes and hit songs from other films.

After all they were songs people had in their collective and individual memory from the films.

Singers (as well as composers and orchestras) doing movie songs was a norm in mainstream popular music from the fifties through to the early seventies.

Sinatra did "Sinatra Sings Days of Wine and Roses, Moon River, and Other Academy Award Winners" (1964), Tony Bennett  did "The Movie Song Album" (1966), Matt Monro did "From Hollywood With Love" (1964) and "Born Free (Invitation To The Movies)" ( 1967), Joni James  did "100 Strings & Joni In Hollywood" (1961), Helen Merrill did "Sings Screen Favorites" (1968), Eddie Fisher did "Academy Award Winners" (1955) and Andy Williams did "Moon River and Other Great Movie Themes" (1962) and "The Academy Award-Winning "Call Me Irresponsible" and Other Hit Songs from the Movies" (1964).

Williams, perhaps, influenced the creation of this album and also had a lot of influence on Boone's trad pop style. Boone does four songs on this album that Williams had done on his "Moon River And Other Great Movie Themes" (1962) album (Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing, The Exodus Song, Moon River, Three Coins In The Fountain). Williams repaid the favour (perhaps) and does three songs on his 1964 album that Boone does here (Mona Lisa, Laura, The Song From Moulin Rouge (Where Is Your Heart))

I note for completeness that some of Boone's pop rock fellow outcasts also put out movie them albums: Bobby Darin did "Hello Dolly To Goodbye Charlie" (1964) and Bobby Vinton did "Drive-In Movie Time: Bobby Vinton Sings Great Motion Picture Themes" (1965)*.

On this album Boone sings the songs well but, as to be expected because he isn’t a trad pop vocalist of the skill of a Sinatra or Bennett, how good the songs are depends on arrangements and the material itself.

The arrangements for his albums around this time are all standard trad pop and they are glorious. Sinatra, Tony Bennett or Andy Williams could have done these songs in these arrangements. Here they are by Jimmie Haskell, Milt Rogers and Ernest Hughes. (Album produced by Randy Wood)

The material is flawless and well tested.

I love this stuff, or make excuses for it, because I love films. So in my lounge of the mind these songs remind me of the films they came from.

There are no surprises but if you let it wash over you it is quite relaxing and perhaps comforting.

Tracks (best in italics)

        Side One

  • Days Of Wine And Roses – (Henry Mancini, Johnny Mercer) –  beautifully warm
  • Mona Lisa – (Livingston & Evans) –  no one can match Nat King Cole but the song is a classic
  • Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing – (Paul Francis Webster, Sammy Fain) –  not quite as head in the clouds as the original theme or version by The Four Aces but quite good.
  • Laura – (David Raksin, Johnny Mercer) –  well done but not as haunting as some of the other versions.
  • Song From Moulin Rouge – (Georges Auric, William Engvick) –  I'm not a big fan of this song in any of the versions I've heard … but there could be an interpretation out there that works on me.
  • Sweet Leilani – (Harry Owens) – could have been a little more Hawaiian

       Side Two

  • Moon River – (Henry Mancini, Johnny Mercer) –  a beautiful song beautifully done.
  • Ruby – (Heinz Eric Roemheld, Mitchell Parish) – 
  • Three Coins In The Fountain – (Jule Styne And Sammy Cahn) –  Not as great as Sinatra but Boone gives it a good interpretation.
  • Be My Love – (Nicholas Brodszky, Sammy Cahn) – full of swirling strings but the operatic bombast of Lanza is needed.
  • Fanny – (Harold Rome) – he doesnt really suit this song.
  • The Exodus Song – (Ernest Gold, Pat Boone) –  also known as "This Land is Mine". Powerful and dramatic. A side you don't hear from Boone outside some of his religious records, which his is in many ways. For any nation who have fought for lands taken from them this song would resonate. I don't know for sure if this is the 1961 single or whether it was re-recorded here. It is the only song on the album which was arranged by Ernest Hughes though the 1961 single was arranged by Milt Rogers.

From the films:

  • Days of Wine and Roses – from the great 1962 Blake Edwards film of the same name about alcoholism in marriage. The song has been done by every trad pop singer but Billy Eckstine (1961), Andy Williams (#26 Pop, #9 Adult Contemporary 1963), Frank Sinatra (1964) and Tony Bennett (1966) do it best. Co-Writer Mancini had an instrumental hit with it in 1963 (#33 Pop, #10 Easy Listening). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Days_of_Wine_and_Roses_(song)
  • Mona Lisa – Sung by Nat King Cole for the Alan Ladd film "Captain Carey, U.S.A." (1950) and went to #1 (1950). it has been often covered.    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mona_Lisa_(Nat_King_Cole_song)
  • Love Is a Many Splendored Thing – from the 1955 William Holden Jennifer Jones romantic film of the same name. The Four Aces covered it and had a #1 with it in 1955. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_Is_a_Many-Splendored_Thing_(song)
  • Laura – the lyrics to this song were written after the film, "Laura" (1945) made the melody popular, though in the same year. It has become a standard. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_(1945_song)
  • Song from Moulin Rouge – also known as "Where Is Your Heart" is a popular song that first appeared in the 1952 film "Moulin Rouge". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Song_from_Moulin_Rouge
  • Sweet Leilani – A song sung first in the 1937 film, "Waikiki Wedding" by its star, Bing Crosby. It became one of the biggest hits of 193 and is a standard on both Hawaiian themed albums and movie albums. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_Leilani
  • Moon River – It received an Academy Award for Best Original Song for its performance by Audrey Hepburn in the Blake Edwards film "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (1961). It became the theme song for Andy Williams, who first recorded it in 1961 and performed it at the Academy Awards ceremony in 1962 though he never released it as a single. It has been covered many times. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_River
  • Ruby – a song from the 1952 film "Ruby Gentry" (starring Jennifer Jones and Charlton Heston), also performed by Ray Charles in 1960. The song has become a standard.
  • Three Coins in The Fountain – from the 1954 romance film of the same name. It refers to the act of throwing a coin into the Trevi Fountain in Rome while making a wish. Each of the film's three stars performs this act. Frank Sinatra recorded the song first but The Four Aces had the #1 hit on the US (1954). Sinatra did well also (US #4, UK #1) and the song is associated with him. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Coins_in_the_Fountain_(song)
  • Be My Love – Mario Lanza sang the song with Kathryn Grayson in the film "The Toast of New Orleans" (1950) which they starred in. Bobby Vinton did it also on his "Bobby Vinton Sings the Big Ones" album from 1962. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Be_My_Love
  • Fanny – from the Broadway play Fanny which was made into a film of the same name in 1961. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanny_(musical)
  • The Exodus Song – The song is from the 1960 film about the creation of the Jewish state, "Exodus". The theme was popular:  Ferrante & Teicher made #2 (1960) but Boone himself added lyrics to it in 1961. His version went to #64 (1961). Andy Williams then recorded it for his 1962 album "Moon River and Other Great Movie Themes" and it has become associated with him. It has been recorded by many others. http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/insideisrael/2013/february/pat-boone-gives-exodus-song-to-holocaust-memorial/?mobile=false

And …

I like movie theme albums and this is a good selection well sung by Boone. It would be great for dinner parties … I'm keeping it.

Chart Action

US

Singles

1960 The Exodus Song (This Land Is Mine)" #64

1963 The Days Of Wine and Roses #117

Album

Failed to chart

England

nothing

Sounds

The whole album

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdsKgPeADVA&list=PL4TzU-KtaXnyYeuysGA54Onfr8qH9X9GB

Days of Wine and Roses

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdsKgPeADVA&list=PL4TzU-KtaXnyYeuysGA54Onfr8qH9X9GB

Moon River

mp3 attached

The Exodus Song

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

Live recently

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo06gff_XIs

Others

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=von9jW-_eqI

Review

http://www.allmusic.com/album/days-of-wine-and-roses-and-other-movie-themes-mw0000845830

Bio

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

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/pat-boone-mn0000131681/biography

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Er-lb3N5oPU

Website

http://www.patboone.com/

Trivia

* Composers and orchestras also did the movie theme thing … Henry Mancini: "Our Man in Hollywood" (1963) and "Theme From "Z" And Other Film Music" (1970), Peter Nero: "The Screen Scene" (1966), Marty Gold And His Orchestra: "Stereo Action Goes Hollywood" (1961), Nelson Riddle: "Interprets Great Music Great Films Great Sounds" (1964), Xavier Cugat And His Orchestra: "Most Popular Movie Hits As Styled By Cugat" (1962), Victor Silvester and His Silver Strings: "Great Film Melodies" (1962), Percy Faith: "Hollywood's Great Themes" (1962), "Held Over! Today's Great Movie Themes" (1970), Higo Montenegro: "Great Songs From Motion Pictures Vol. 1 (1927 – 1937)" (1961), "Great Songs From Motion Pictures Vol. 2 (1938 – 1944)" (1961), "Great Songs From Motion Pictures Vol. 3 (1945-1960)" (1961).

As did musicians … Ferrante & Teicher: "Music From The Motion Picture West Side Story And Other Motion Picture And Broadway Hits" (1961), Roger Williams: "Academy Award Winners" (1964), Liberace: "Piano Song Book Of Movie Themes" (1959) and "Plays Golden Themes From Hollywood" (1964), Buddy Morrow: "Night Train Goes To Hollywood" (1962), Chet Atkins: "Chet Atkins in Hollywood" (1959), Al Caiola: "The Return Of The Seven And Other Themes" (1967)

 

RIP: Leon Russell  (born Claude Russell Bridges; April 2, 1942 Lawton, Oklahoma, United States – November 13, 2016 Mount Juliet, Tennessee, United States)

Posted in Film Songs, Popular & Crooners | Tagged | Leave a comment

FRANKIE MILLER – Easy Money – (Chrysalis) – 1980

Posted on November 27, 2016 by Franko

frankie-miller-easy-money

I've spoken about Frankie Miller before. Check out that comment for biographical detail and what not.

Blues rock.

A little of this goes a long way with me.

Especially the 70s variety where Miller made his name.

Well, the later varieties are even worse..

This was 1980.

Synths and the desire to sound contemporary invaded the music of many a white bluesman. And not in a good way. Steve Miller, Eric Clapton, Rod Stewart, Joe Cocker, Bob Seger, Long John Baldry, Jeff Beck  all put out shit as a result.

Frankie was not immune.

The desire to sell records is a strong desire. It's not just ego, though that must be a component. Lifestyle, career, mortgages, a family are all dependent on you selling records. The more records that sell the more likely the label will cough up money for your next album, the more they will promote you, and the more people you will get at gigs.

So if synths and slick sounds are in it's easy to be seduced, especially if everyone around you is doing the same. It becomes acceptable. You don't think about looking back, from 20 years in the future, to see what you put out.

And even when you have the sense to think about your legacy the label may have forced the sound on you, either overly ("this is what we are doing on this album") or subtlety ("we are going to drop you if you font have a hit, it's up to you").

Of course who is to say that the sound you are embarking on won't become the standard that the future wants to emulate? Who is to know what is right or wrong in music and sound at the time you are doing it?

To add synths and smooth sounds to blues rock may have seemed quite reasonable.

But, to me, blues rock, was always raw and ragged even when it made concessions to pop. The slickness and the smooth lines just don't sound right. All you have left is the rhythm but none of the emotion, no matter how hoarse and loud the vocalist is.

Luckily this early on in the 80s so the rot hasn't totally set in

Miller had put out some convincing blues rock in the 70s but the pressure was on to have a hit. He had scored a runaway Top Ten hit (#6, 1978 ) in the UK with "Darlin'" a single included on the album preceding this, "Falling in Love (aka Perfect Fit)" (1979). That was quite slick, so I assume it was more of the same and lets take advantage of the technology and instruments emerging.

The joy is, Miller's vocals. He is such a persuasive bluesy rock vocalist (with a good ear for pop and soul not to mention a good ear for new music) that he can lift a good song to greater heights. At the time of release 1980 this is as good, if not better than Rod Stewart, though Rod was having all the hits.

In my other comment I mentioned the fact that Bob Seger has said Frankie was a big influence on him. I think, and this isn't out there as Rod has said so himself, he is quite a influence on Rod Stewart. Though, the influence isn't one of musician and pupil because they were both around at the same time. A Glaswegian, Miller's first group was The Stoics in the late sixties before joining the short-lived Jude which  Robin Trower had formed shortly after leaving  Procol Harum. Upon their demise Miller recorded his first solo album, "Once In A Blue Moo" (1973). Rod started in 1963, played in a variety of bands before releasing his first album in late 1969.  I think the influence is a result of their love of the blues and the fact that their voices are similar and they are both Scottish (well Rod identifies as a Scot and is of Scottish descent on his fathers side).

Rod generally has (had in the 70s) better material and can swagger.

Frankie has got the balls but, to the record buying public, he is a less sexy Rod Stewart.

Check out the sleeve to this album and then compare it to any Rod Stewart album of the time if you need further proof.

And sex helps pay the bills.

Produced by Hitmen and Frankie Miller. The Hitmen are Troy Seals and his (Miller's) backing band (and some of Nashville's finest session musicians at the time), Reggie Young, Bobby Thompson, Larry Londin, Joe Osborne). The album was recorded at Sound Stage Studios, Nashville.

Tracks (best in italics)

      Side One

  • Easy Money – (Miller, Setser, Seals) – very slick and quite empty. Strange as this is the title song.
  • The Woman In You – (Miller, Seals) – this is quite good and shows a very Rod Stewart feel and has some great full horns.
  • Why Don't You Spend The Night – (McDill) – Country singer Ronnie Milsap had a country #1 (US) in 1980 with the song. You can hear McDills country flavourings. Miller gives it a blues kick but otherwise still respects the country elements. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Why_Don't_You_Spend_the_Night    
  • So Young, So Young – (Camilleri, Faehse, Burstin) –  Originally written by Joe Camilleri and others and released in 1978 on the  Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons album "So Young". The song was a #48 hit in Australia. I'm not sure how Frankie Miller came across it as Jo Jo Zep were a popular blues and rock band in Australia only. (though they toured the US in1980). Elvis Costello & The Attractions did a version in 1987.
  • Forget About Me – (Miller, Setser, Seals) –  The Bellamy Brothers hit the country charts (#5) with this song in 1984. A great mid tempo rootsy pop song.   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forget_About_Me

      Side Two

  • Heartbreak Radio – (Miller, Seals) –  a nice (small) rip of "Pretty Woman" at the start turns into a honk blues rock.
  • Cheap…Thrills – (McDill) –  David Allan Coe had a #45 country hit with this in 1983.  Confederate Railroad covered the song in 2007. So-so and very barroom country rock circa 1980s. 
  • No Chance – (Martin) – quite a nice rootsy mid tempo song. Originally by the author, rockabilly and pop singer, Moon Martin, released in 1979 (#50US).
  • Gimme Love – (Miller, Setser, Seals) –  funky breaks about five years too late. 
  • Tears – (Miller) – a power ballad. Bonnie Tyler covered this as a duet with Frankie on her "Faster Than the Speed of Night" album from 1983.

And …

I thought this was going to be a lot worse this is, actually, quite good. Dated by 1980 but quite good … I would normally tape a couple of tunes and sell it, and I still might, but I may just keep it and file it alongside Rod Stewart,

Chart Action

Nothing no where

Sounds

Full album

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfxJ4fR5suk

Forget About Me

mp3 attached

Tears

Live – duet with Bonnie Tyler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTqUMoUONl8

Others

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSG5ATYgLrk

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

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

Review

http://www.allmusic.com/album/easy-money-mw0000512959

Bio

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

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/frankie-miller-mn0000794173/biography

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DI24jV1Axw

http://thegreatrockbible.com/portfolio-item/frankie-miller-biography/

http://www.alexgitlin.com/npp/miller.htm

http://tartanrocker.blogspot.com.au/2014_03_01_archive.html

Musically

http://www.backseatmafia.com/2014/07/10/a-buyers-guide-to-frankie-miller/

Website

http://frankiemiller.net/

Trivia

—

 

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