DAVID DUNDAS – Jeans On – (Crysalis) – 1977

Posted on June 9, 2013 by Franko

 David Dundas - Jeans On 

Does one song justify a career?

Well maybe but it’s not a question I have to think about because there wasn’t quite a career here.

Does one song justify an album?

Perhaps not, but in pop it has on many, many other occasions.

That song here is "Jeans On".

And it is pop. Pure pop. It was originally a TV ad jingle. Could anything be more commercial?  

I recall that song in my early youth, my pre teens.

It was infectious and irresistible. And it came out at a time when "jeans" were all over the airwaves.

Neil Diamond , "Forever in Blue Jeans" (1978) went to #20 in the US, Dr Hook with their  "Baby Makes Her Blue Jeans Talk" (1982) went to #25 (US) in 1982 and in Australia the legendary Skyhooks took their ode to, and indictment of conformity, "Blue Jeans"  to #12 in 1976.

And for whatever reason most of the clips for those songs, I recall, featured girls in very tight jeans. Perfect.

It kept me going until Daisy Duke turned up in her, errr, jeans in the late 70s.

Has any item of clothing been more venerated in song and popular culture?

If you feel sorry for David, then I ask "How many Lord’s do you know"?

wikipedia: "Lord David Paul Nicholas Dundas (born 2 June 1945, Oxford, England) is an English musician known for his film and television scoring, having previously had chart success in the rock genre….Dundas is the son of the 3rd Marquess of Zetland, and was educated at Harrow and the Central School of Speech and Drama. His 1976 single "Jeans On" reached #3 in the UK Singles Chart, #17 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and #1 in the German Singles Charts, where the song remained 19 weeks in the Top Ten"

It seems that Dundas’ musical "career" may have been accidental. He had actually started out as an actor. You can see him  in "Prudence and the Pill" (1968)  with David Niven and "Mosquito Squadron" (1969). He contributed music to some early films and then wrote TV ad jingles including as ad for Brutus jeans which became popular and metamorphed into "Jeans On".

On the success of that song he recorded two albums (this one and "Vertical Hold" in 1978)  and then went on to score for film and TV in England including composing the score for the (tedious) cult favourite "Withnail and I" 1987.

He wrote his own material, was a idealised product of the 70s, and truly nailed it once with a catchy bit of pop.

That’s enough.

Tracks (best in italics)

All written by David Dundas unless otherwise noted

• Intro (Hallo)  – It is what it says , an "intro"
• New York Doll – quite a bouncy little ditty which has nothing about the band of the same name. This comes over as a crazy cross between Lovin Spoonful and The Kinks. Not a bad place to be though it’s perhaps 7 years too late.
• Another Funny Honeymoon – the follow up single and another catchy tune.
• Daisy Star – written about Dundas’ child.
• Baby Face – (Harry Akst /  David Dundas) – The old song from the 1920s, done by everyone including Little Richard and Bobby Darin but probably associated with Al Jolson. This is done with ukelele and  tellingly recalls the Kinks who performed live as captured on their live album "Everybody’s in Show-Biz" from 1972. Dundas with his background in film must have been attracted to Davies who’s concept albums of the 70s were visual. The song here is totally charming with little concession to modernity.
• Stick on Your Lollypop – shades of McCartney, if he got cuter still. "I wanna be the stick on your lollypop" – try that line next time you are in a club and see if you pick up. Email responses to comments box.
• Jeans On – (David Dundas / Roger Greenaway) –  The song originally appeared as a television advertising jingle for Brutus Jeans. The words used in the ad were "I pull my Brutus jeans on" which were replaced with "I pull my old blue jeans on". Catchy pop and a memorable hit single.
• Hold On – Soft rock of the most obvious kind.
• Where Were You To-Day- no new ideas here
• Sleepy Serena – more McCartney sounds, and none too bad.
• Out of the Darkness – a suitably grandiose ballad to end the album – as if Jeff Wayne had discovered gospel…and again not unlike Ray Davies big pop ballads of the early 70s.
• Outro (Smile On) – yes, an outro.

And …

This album is a little slight but surprisingly listenable and strangely memorable. If this had come out 5 years earlier it may have been better regarded as it exists in a auteur pop world lodged somewhere between three other Davids – Bowie, Essex and Cassidy.

So, the answer to whether I’m keeping this is …….maybe. I do have the 45 but ….
 
Chart Action
 
US
Singles
1977 Jeans On The Billboard Hot 100 #17

Album
—

England
Singles
1976 Jeans On #3
1977 Another Funny Honeymoon  #29

Album
—

Clearly a hit single doesn’t guarantee a charting album.
 
Sounds
 
Intro (Hallo)
New York Doll
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_rRgsBtM-E

Another Funny Honeymoon
live
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Abte_ExZpaI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8g9N8nriLI

Daisy Star
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0mkzwzI-i4

Baby Face
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=se3rt6MTUvk

Stick on Your Lollypop
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sme-bWP7his
mp3 below

David Dundas – Stick on Your Lollypop  

Jeans On
live
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWdcZqG02Ls
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_cHUGUppk0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMiLZcT38fE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXsRHbi3ysw
more live, this one has dancers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIYM_i7IISE

the original Brutus Jeans add
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKKwXCwrUu4

mp3 below

David Dundas – Jeans On

Others
—
 
Review
—
 
Bio
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_David_Dundas
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/david-dundas-mn0000944165

 
Website
—
 
Trivia
—
 

Posted in Pop Rock | Tagged | Leave a comment

HARRY NILSSON – Knnillssonn – (RCA) – 1977

Posted on June 2, 2013 by Franko

Harry Nilsson- Knnillssonn

I started another Nilsson entry on this blog with a "Nilsson is a genius" statement.

Check out that entry for reasons why and biographical detail.

I would like to be short as this "comment" is a rush job of sorts. I’ve got a lot of  half finished posts that need more time. The trouble is with acts I haven’t commented on before I feel a little compelled to do some background on them, which is usually, at the very least some quoting from wikipedia or allmusic. The repeat acts are fun and easy because they tend to be stream of consciousness and do not need any external research.

That’s why I pulled this Nilsson album from the pile.

The trouble is, though, Nilsson refuses to be rushed.

Sure, Nilsson has his own style, his own musical preferences and his own musical shorthand he utilises across albums but within this framework he is forever tweaking and twisting the edges of his talent.

If oddball or quirky is a style then Nilsson it it’s high priest. The guy couldn’t "play it safe" if he tried.

The reality is, I think, is that Nilsson had a large musical palette, a broad sense of humour and got bored easily.

At the dawn of modern punk Nilsson creates a pop album which relishes it’s lushness and puts the guitar way back in the instrumentation so much so that, at times, the guitar is nowhere to be heard.

The "pop" in the album owes little or nothing to 70s soft rock or 70s pop and seems to draw from eras past, both rock and pre rock.

The spirit of Gershwin hovers over any attempts at modernity.

Nilsson is in great voice (and he sure can sing but he wouldn’t win such lemming like lame arse fests as "Idol" or "The Voice"). On this album his youthful vocal acrobatics are put on hold, and replaced with a gentle, though gruff, expressive voice which gives emphasis to  his song writing which is particularly mischievous and playful.

This combination of voice and writing added to the ethereal music create an album that is quite otherworldly, but not in a spiritual sense. Rather, it is something that has come from an parallel universe where imagination is valued more than commercialism.

Yeah, yeah, wank, wank.

I know but the album is pretty out of step with 1977.

"Album" is  the crucial word. A few of the songs don’t work as well as the others but the same gentle otherworldly vibe runs through the whole album making it akin to one long song with different verses.

"Baroque dream pop"  is a description I have seen used in relation to this album and that is as good a description as any.  

Tracks (best in italics)

  • All I Think About Is You – a very quiet way to start an album and a haunting love song.
  • I Never Thought I’d Get This Lonely – out of left field. Pop with some strange instrumentation. Nilsson’s voice is beautiful.
  • Who Done It? – whoa, wtf? A Agatha Christie murder mystery as a song or is it a musical Cluedo? This song is out there, occasionally brilliant and always amusing.
  • Lean On Me – Lush
  • Goin’ Down – Brilliant. Nilsson revisits the early 60s with a quirky  sense of humour. He has ripped off (or paid homage to) Bruce Channel and his 1962 hit, "Hey Baby"
  • Old Bones – A song about growing old with the attention on the detail. This is similar to Brian Wilson and Ray Davies at their most personal and expressive. It’s all small picture detail that gives way to a big picture vision. Yeah, yeah, wank, wank. I hope I’m not being too cryptic.
  • Sweet Surrender – the obligatory love song, but hardly a straight one.
  • Blanket For A Sail – a boat on the sea of emotion.
  • Laughin’ Man – is the laughing man happy though? Probably. I hope he is.
  • Perfect Day – the lyrics by themselves don’t do the song justice. How the words are phrased, and emphasized along with the music make the song exceptional.

And …

I’m keeping it….definetly.
 
Chart Action
 
US
Singles
—

Album
1977 #108

England
Singles
Album
—
 
Sounds
 
All I Think About Is You
the official video (and weird it is)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cf3gyNbn5JI

the album
http://recordlective.com/Harry_Nilsson/Knnillssonn/95f83e65-4425-3273-9827-fef7623329f6/

MP3
I Never Thought I’d Get This Lonely

Harry Nilsson – I Never Thought I’d Get This Lonely

Others
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AzEY6ZqkuE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dswVK5si45M
 
Review
http://www.allmusic.com/album/knnillssonn-mw0000175562
 
Bio
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/nilsson-mn0000560208
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Nilsson
 
Website
http://fortheloveofharry.blogspot.com.au/
 
Trivia

– The cover design is by Klaus Voormann

-Nilsson said in interviews later he thought this album was perhaps his favorite record. There was also some suggestion that, "Nilsson anticipated Knnillssonn to be a comeback album. RCA seemed to agree, and promised Nilsson a substantial marketing campaign for the album. However, the death of Elvis Presley caused RCA to ignore everything except meeting demand for Presley’s back catalog, and the promised marketing push never happened" (wikipedia). I’m not sure if this album would have been a hit.
 

Posted in Baroque Pop, Singer Songwriter, Sunshine Pop and Baroque | Tagged | Leave a comment

TONY BENNETT – Yesterday I Heard the Rain – (Columbia) – 1968

Posted on May 26, 2013 by Franko

Tony Bennett - Yesterday I Heard the Rain

Here I will just be a little more random with my thoughts.

Bennett, born 1926, is the last of the great male trad pop singers.

As a kid, Elvis led me to Bobby Darin and Bobby led me to trad pop. I was naturally not adverse to trad pop anyway because I was an avid “old movie on TV” watcher. As a kid in the 70s I was forever watching movies from the 40s and 50s. Sinatra and Dean Martin (with or without Jerry) were devoured and watched over and over.

At the age of fifteen I came to op shopping age with my first money earnt as a Woolworths casual. To buy Sinatra and Martin, which was abundant in op shots, was a no brainer.

Did it sit well next to the paisley underground, California hardcore, cowpunk, garage, indie pop and other contemporary sounds of the time that I was into?

Perhaps not but it was played regularly. My “mix tapes” would often feature a trad pop number which had caught my ear.

Was I trying to be different?

Fuck yes.

Always trying to carve out a little identity that distinguishes you from your peers.

But I was also genuinely enthusiastic about the music and I could see how the trad white male pop of pre rock had influence on the world of rock and roll in a way black music never did.

The more I listened the more I realised there was a lot more to trad pop. On one side you had Frank Sinatra who was white and black jazz based, ambitious in his recordings and extended himself whilst on the other you had Dean Martin who was straight white tin pan alley pop, laid back and never really extended himself. God Bless Dean Martin but Dean’s music is about the force of his laidback personality (if that makes any sense). Sinatra, with persona to spare himself, is also about the interpretation of the lyric. In the middle somewhere is Bing Crosby leaning to Sinatra and Guy Mitchell leaning to Dean.

Tony Bennett is on Frank Sinatra’s side of the fence…..and well over.

I first bought a Bennett record in an op shop in the late 80s but never really got into him until the late 90s.

His LPs aren’t as common as Martin, Sinatra, Crosby, Martino, Como or any number of other male singers but his records continually throw up surprises.

He tackles standards, new songs, obscure songs. Anything and everything. But, he is committed to the songs and to the lyric and tries to interpret and find his own personal meaning in each of the songs.

That’s what singers do.

The trad pop sounds that surround the singer throw a lot of people off but I’ve never had a problem with the sound generally, as long as it’s done well and tastefully.

Could this music make a comeback?

Maybe.

For years, rock audiences had problems listening to Johnny Cash in the 70s and 80s and his (slicker) country sounds. Once his cultural capital kicked in with the younger, urban kids there didn’t seem to be a problem with those same sounds.

Of course it would be good if Rick Rubin did an album with Bennett but there are treasures enough to be re-discovered or heard for the first time.

With that in mind I always look forward to a new Tony Bennett album.

Tracks (best in italics)

  • Yesterday I Heard The Rain (esta tarde vi Llover) – (G.Lees, A,Manzanero) – Written by Mexican Legend Armando Manzanero this is a good translation into English which captures a melancholic Latin romance. Bennett is in magnificent voice which controls the songs which others would have turned into romantic mush. It’s dramatic with every word deliberate. He shows that singers are more than just voices. I think Bennett was the first to do the English version.
  • Hi-Ho – (Gershwin, Gershwin) – George and Ira Gershwin wrote this for “Shall We Dance” in 1937 but it was never used and remained dormant. Tony had the first commercial recording of it on this record. It’s a little twee and a throwback to Mitch Miller frolics of the 50s.
  • Hushabye Mountain – (Sherman, Sherman) – (from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang )- Sung by Dick Van Dyke and Sally Ann Howes in the film "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" (1968). I don’t remember the song being this melancholy and, even, dark. It works though.Ernie Calabria does the guitar solo.
  • Home Is The Place – (Sondheim, Styne) –  A random, non-show song by the great Stephen Sondheim (lyrics) with music by Jule Styne. A solemn number which is, not surprisingly, quite Broadway.
  • Love Is Here To Stay – (Gershwin, Gershwin) – From the movie “The Goldwyn Follies. “ (1938). The song became better known as "Our Love Is Here to Stay" probably after its appearance under that title in the movie "An American in Paris" (1951). Done by everyone including Bennett under the original title in 1959. The way Bennett sings it implies he doesn’t seem too convinced with the concept. Well sung with typically perceptive lyrics by the Gershwin brothers.
  • Get Happy – (Koehler, Arlen) – This song has been done by everyone also – Sinatra, Jerry Lewis, Roy Hamilton and others in the 50s. More recently Rufus Wainwright has tackled it. It is most associated with Judy Garland, who performed it in her last MGM film "Summer Stock" (1950) though, it’s also from the "Nine Fifteen Revue". It was the first song Arlen and Koehler wrote together (they wrote "Stormy Weather" and many others), and was introduced by Ruth Etting in The Nine-Fifteen Revue in 1930. Tony captures the right happy bounce on this one
  • Fool Of Fools – (Curtis, Meyer) – Curtis and Meyer had song writing careers dating back to the 20s and 30s. I’m not sure if this was ever recorded commercially before this. It’s a bouncy mid tempo ballad in the Sinatra style. And there is nothing wrong with that.
  • I Only Have Eyes For You – (Dubin, Warren) – This may be standard, but this one more so and dates to the 30s (it’s from "Dames"). A magnificent song with many great versions: Dick Powell, Maureen O"Hara, the Flamingos. Ella Fitzgerald, Art Garfunkel, Johnny Mathis, Mercury Rev (!), Mark Eitzel, Rod Stewart, Harry Connick Jr as well as many jazz versions. Bennett is deliberate and precise in his vocals.
  • Sweet Georgie Fame – (Dearie, Harris) – The song was written by Blossom Dearie who was an American Jazz singer, who had long stints in Europe and who was very popular in the jazz clubs of London, where no doubt she met the then very hip and popular Georgie Fame. It was on her "That’s Just the Way I Want to Be" album from 1970. I’m not sure how Tony got it first.
  • Only The Young – (Ahlert, Fisher) – Another standard, Scott Walker did it in 1969 and Nancy Wilson in 1967.
  • There Will Never Be Another You – (Gordon, Warren) – Another standard standard. First sung by John Payne (a great film star) & Joan Merrill in movie "Iceland" (1942). Subsequently it was done by Frank Sinatra, Chris Montez, Alex Chilton, Jerry Jeff Walker, Harry Nilsson and many jazz dudes. The song transcends genres. Fark, it would be good (royalty wise) to write one standard.

And …

I love a standard and Bennett does them in his own style. But he has done this before, on many occasions. Still there are so many good songs done well… I’m keeping it.
 
Chart Action
 
Nothing, no where.
 
Sounds
 
Yesterday I Heard the Rain
live
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ozj1HSw-l8A
live, recently
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TA0pNZcBo2Q
MP3 attached: Tony Bennett – Yesterday I Heard The Rain

Hi-Ho
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlzGyD3xBgI

Hushabye Mountain
MP3 attcahed: Tony Bennett – Hushabye Mountain

Fool of Fools
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZMsqdD7FpM

There Will Never Be Another You
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOG-llopdGc

Others
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0WbQkJYKdE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTPpe64jlWQ

Review
—
 
Bio
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Bennett_discography
 
Website
https://tonybennett.com/
 
Trivia
I finally got to see him live in 2003, age 86, and he went off.

Posted in Popular & Crooners | Tagged | 4 Comments

DAVE EDMUNDS – D.E. 7 – (Arista) – 1982

Posted on May 19, 2013 by Franko

Dave Edmunds DE7

Not another Dave Edmunds album I hear you say.

Tough.

I like Dave Edmunds and you should do.

That’s not an order but a suggestion.

If we had more Dave Edmunds in this world we would have less James Blunts … and that is not a bad thing.

Read any of my other comments for Dave Edmunds information but, musically, it would be safe to call Dave a Americanophile.

The guy wears his heart on his sleeve. As I said in another comment: “His passion for his chosen music is not something by an affected dilettante, it is neither superficial nor an attempt to jump on the band wagon. He is passionate and is not afraid of doing some well-considered covers of old songs, which though not always successful are always sincere”.

Dave’s Englishness is not necessarily subsumed as it rears its head on individual songs, but it does remain hidden a lot. When it does poke through it’s not to steal another culture, repackage it and call it your own (like Mumford & Sons do) but to acknowledge the universality of the music itself. When he digs into the roots of rock bag he goes back to the songs and sounds that influenced Elvis and Chuck Berry not back to the Irish and Scottish folk songs or English sea shanties which may have been their base. Edmunds knows that rock n roll could not have come from any place in the world bar the South of the United States even if they do sing in English.

Musical archaeology aside Dave is smart.

Very smart.

And he has a taste.

A lot of taste.

You cannot leave his albums without thinking “that was fun”. Sometimes there are things a little deeper there, sometimes not. But, either way you know you have had a fun, popular culture, history and music lesson.

Dave writes convincing rock and roll originals also but on this album he abandons any song writing and does a batch of covers as well as some originals written by his band. He had lost his old Rockpile / Nick Lowe backing band and had attracted a new group of musicians for this album. He reunited with old Love Sculpture band mates, guitarist Micky Gee and bassist John David, and adding drummer Dave Charles and Geraint Watkins on keys and accordion. The sound difference between the new and the old is minimal , maybe a little more retro and less poppy, but ultimately Dave is running the show and knows what he wants to sound like.

Tracks (best in italics)

  • From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come) –  (Bruce Springsteen) – Springsteen’s more retro rock n roll songs are perfect for Edmunds. The un mistakeable Springsteen style is there though. A great toe tapper of a song. In his 2005 book on Springsteen, “The Ties That Bind”, author Gary Graff explains: “When (Edmunds) went to see Springsteen perform at Wembley Arena (in 1981), he expected a good show but not necessarily a new song to record. "I was backstage in the hospitality area after the gig," Edmunds remembered, "and one of his crew of road managers tapped me on the shoulder and said, ‘Bruce wants to meet you.’ I went back and had this great talk with him, and he played me this song and said, ‘I’d like you to do this, if you like it.’ He said he’d send me the tape, which he did."
  • Me And The Boys – (Terry Adams) –  a 70s style rocker / thumper by NRBQ. None to subtle but engaging enough.
  • Bail You Out –  (Chris Rees) – a most enjoyable Louisiana styled song which you could here Doug Kershaw doing ….
  • Generation Rumble –  (Graham Lyle) – this is light and witty and much like a Chuck Berry tune.
  • Other Guys Girls – (C Gent) – an excellent little toe tapper about youthful wondering ….
  • Warmed Over Kisses (Left Over Love) –  (Gary Geld, Peter Udell) –  a Bryan Hyland song that Dave upends giving the song the sound of a traditional country hoe down. You’d never guess this guy was from England
  • Deep In The Heart Of Texas –  (Geraint Watkins) – more of a Joe Ely type country rock number – excellent.
  • Louisiana Man –  (Doug Kershaw) – The old Cajun rock song. Apparently it’s been covered over 800 times. I don’t know about that but it certainly is the song most associated with Kershaw and it has been covered a lot.
  • Paula Meet Jeanne –  (Jude Cole) – 
  • One More Night –  (Liam Grundy) – Liam Grundy is another English (Irish?) rockabilly roots rocker who has been around since the 70s.
  • Dear Dad –  (Chuck Berry) – a cover of a great song from the underrated “Chuck Berry in London” album from 1965. Only Chuck Berry can write a song that every kid (well at least every western kid in 1965) can relate to…..

Dear Dad, don’t get mad,
What I’m asking for
Is by the next semester
Can I get another car ?
This one here is sick’ning
On a wide dual road.
I might as well be walking
As to drive this old Ford.

And …

Edmunds albums are all varying shades of good…. I’m keeping it.
 
Chart Action
 
US
Singles
1982 Me And The Boys Mainstream Rock #47
1982 From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come) Mainstream Rock #28

Album
1982 D.E. 7th The Billboard 200 #46

England
Singles
—

Album
1982 #60 

Sounds

From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come)
live
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlqJc8qYU_o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuziFyNEQug

Dear Dad
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0JYpTUCPok
attached MP3 below

Dave Edmunds – Dear Dad

the album
http://recordlective.com/Dave_Edmunds/D.E._7th/bfbd72d3-c504-3942-8883-326afc594eac/

Others
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWktoG5DU_4
 
Review
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D.E._7th
http://www.allmusic.com/album/de-7th-mw0000310954
http://coolalbumreview.com/?p=24908
 
Bio
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Edmunds
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/dave-edmunds-p4167/biography
http://www.rockabillyhall.com/DaveEdmunds1.html
 
Website
—
 
Trivia
—
 

Posted in Rockabilly and Rock n Roll, Roots Rock | Tagged | 2 Comments

JOHN STEWART – Fire in The Wind – (RSO) – 1977

Posted on May 12, 2013 by Franko

John Stewart - Fire in the Wind

Stewart had a strange career.

Perhaps, but I don’t know, for a time he was known as one of the vocalists for the (successful) folk band The Kingston Trio.

Nowadays, that isn’t that widely known.

Normally people may recall him as a 70s singer songwriter.

More likely they will think of him as a one hit wonder circa 1979.

A pity because Stewart was a convincing vocalist and quite the individual singer songwriter.

He had a warm voice, sharp mind, and good taste so even when he made concessions to then contemporary (now dated) sounds the music is always totally palatable.

Or it seems to be.

I only have two other albums, and the most well regarded ones.

I would think that is more than most punters.

It’s not much considering he wrote some 400 songs and released a couple of dozen solo albums.

Stewart was born in San Diego, California and grew up in Pasadena and Claremont listening to the country music of the time.
 
Wikipedia: Stewart’s first venture into popular music was with a high school garage band known as Johnny Stewart and the Furies. Influenced by the reigning icons of the day, Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly, the Furies toured southern California colleges and coffee houses, releasing one single, "Rockin’ Anna," which was a minor, regional hit….  Following the breakup of the Furies and a short time as a member of The Woodsmen, Stewart teamed up with Gil Robbins (father of actor Tim Robbins) and John Montgomery to form The Cumberland Three, a group patterned after, and heavily influenced by, the increasingly popular Kingston Trio. The major accomplishment of The Cumberland Three was a two-LP set of Songs from the Civil War, with the albums containing a compilation of songs from the Confederacy and the Union, respectively. In all, the Cumberland Three released three albums, after which Stewart left the group to join the Kingston Trio, replacing Trio founder Dave Guard in 1961….The Kingston Trio had emerged from the relatively crowded San Francisco folk music culture in 1957, using a mixture of calypso, pop, and folk styles, along with several forms of comedy, in their act. Relying on new pop-oriented arrangements of folk music classics as well as some original compositions, the Trio earned their first gold record with "Tom Dooley", and thereby launched a major revival in folk music that would lead to and influence the careers of Bob Dylan, Peter, Paul, & Mary, and John Denver, among others. The group had become one of the best-known and best-selling acts on the folk music scene, and were enjoying a lucrative recording and touring contract with Capitol Records, having ten albums under their collective belts, when Dave Guard departed the group in 1961 to explore other musical directions. Stewart was selected by the remaining members Nick Reynolds and Bob Shane as Guard’s successor, bringing with him his respected skills as a musician, composer, and performer…. Reynolds, Shane, and Stewart would record a dozen albums together, taking the music of the Trio into new directions, including more original material, and performing covers of songs by relative newcomers Tom Paxton, Mason Williams and Gordon Lightfoot….The pop-folk era began to wane as the music of groups such as the Beatles and the Rolling Stones increasingly dominated the charts, and in 1967 the members of the Kingston Trio decided to disband.

Stewart was always critically favoured with the critics and made some magnificent albums – “California Bloodlines” from 1969 perhaps the most highly regarded.

There are many beauties to Stewart’s music though his voice and wit stand out.

Stewart has a fine, deep voice not dissimilar to Johnny Cash. He has, perhaps, a little more range than Cash but, like Johnny, his voice is very expressive within its range. When he sings it feels as if he is sitting across from you having a chat.

The chat though it not an idle, scatterbrained one whilst twittering or facebooking.

Stewart, without any pompousness (and hopefully none from me in mentioning the same), is, perhaps, one of the most intellectual of the singer songwriters.

He isn’t as studied (or obvious) as Leonard Cohen.

His folk and country influences keep him more grounded so he is akin to Dylan without the obscure lyrics or perhaps Phil Ochs without the politics.

He hung out with Tim Hardin, Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt but had no problem praising Tommy Sands voice.

He had it all but he never really had any success until he adopted some sooth 70s sounds.

This album, his ninth solo album, is a testing of those waters.

The sound, a synthesis between personal observations and commercially popular soft rock, was fully realised on his next album "Bombs Away Dream Babies" (1979) which reached #10 while it’s big single "Gold" went to #5. Two other tracks, "Midnight Wind" and "Lost Her in the Sun", made #28 and #34 respectively.

OK, maybe, commercially, he was a one trick pony because he never achieved that success again but he continued releasing records and performing up till he died.

As slick as it is there are quite a few good tracks, despite Stewart suffering from wind ….. “Fire in the Wind”, “On you like the Wind”, “Promise the Wind” and, even, “Morning Thunder”.

Tracks (best in italics)

  • Fire In The Wind – a 70s country pop rock song – and a good one.
  • Rock It In My Own Sweet Time – slick but you can hear the woods under the gloss. It’s good wood.
  • On You Like The Wind – a Caribbean type of feel to this one.
  • The Runner – superior mush – singer songwriter with a nod to "Piano Man" era Billy Joel but less sweet.
  • Morning Thunder – a nice piece of country rock. Though in Australia morning thunder would likely elicit sniggers – well from juvenile regressives like me.
  • Promise The Wind – a good bouncy almost country rock song. Great lyrics.
  • Boston Lady – a singer songwriter tune with the folk imagery you would expect, Perhaps reminiscent of Tim Hardin (for the title alone).
  • 18 Wheels – magnificent trucker song with a difference. There is no male bravado. Observations and humour. Lyrics
  • The Last Hurrah – a gentle, slightly melancholy, song.

And it’s all right, it’s only music
It is singing in the stars
Keep your dreams as clean as silver
This may be the last hurrah

 

 

Loyal friends and front row dancers
Hitch you wagon to a star
A chilly wind blew cold this morning
This may be the last hurrah

  • The Wild Side Of You – A response or companion piece to “The Fighting Side of Me” by Merle Haggard, perhaps? Filler perhaps but bouncy and catchy

 
And …

At first I thought it was too slick but the album grows on you and the smooth sounds don’t distract from the genuinely perceptive lyrics….. I’m keeping it.
 
Chart Action
 
US
Singles
—

Album
1977 Fire In The Wind The Billboard 200 #126

England
—

 
Sounds
 
18 Wheels
attached below

John Stewart – 18 Wheels


The Last Hurrah
live recently
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-YltYuRKhA


Others
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eC5tiUTLHE

Gold
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1JosrXRxGA&list=PL45D6AA7F7964CF7C
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-CJji921gM

Interview
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtOYNwhG0kQ

Kingston Trio
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nccqzhy8mo8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIW8T-sNU10
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubz1ydY4-O0
 
Review
http://www.allmusic.com/album/fire-in-the-wind-mw0000016119
 
Bio
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Stewart_(musician)
http://www.sonic.net/~roadman/bloodnotes/
http://bitemyfoot.org.uk/reviews/leigh98/leigh98.html
http://www.beautifulbotany.com/Latest/Latest-Stories-2008/Feb-John%20Stewart/John%20Stewart.htm
http://www.hiddenhistory.com/page1/storhom3.htm?http://www.hiddenhistory.com/page6/jstewone.htm

Website
http://bitemyfoot.org.uk/
 
Trivia

-Stewart’s brother Mike, who died in 2002, founded the folk-rock group We Five in the mid 1960s.

-He wrote "Daydream Believer " for The Monkees. He has been covered by Eddy Arnold, The Association, Beat Farmers, Nanci Griffith, Robert Goulet, Limelighters, Lobo, Lovin’ Spoonful, Joan Baez, Harry Belafonte, Pat Boone, Roseanne Cash, Barry McGuire, Modern Folk Quartet, Anne Murray, PJ Proby, Jimmy Rogers, We Five, Glenn Yarbrough.

– Musicians: John Stewart – guitar, Jon Woodhead – guitar, Troy Seals – guitar, Reggie Young – guitar,  Joey Harris – guitar, background vocals,  Dave Kirby – guitar,  Shane Keister – keyboard,  David Briggs – keyboard,  Bill Cuomo – keyboard,  Mickey Raphael – harmonica,  Gary Weisberg – percussion/drums,  Kenneth Buttrey – drums,  Chris Whalen – bass/background vocals,  John Williams – bass,  Buffy Ford Stewart – background vocals,  Herb Pederson – background vocals,  Denny Brooks – background vocals.

Posted in Country Rock, Singer Songwriter | Tagged | 3 Comments

THE ASTRONAUTS – Down The Line – (RCA) – 1965

Posted on May 5, 2013 by Franko

Yes, another Astronauts LP – hey, don’t complain it could have been another Bobby Vee.

I get on these kicks.

Look at my other comments on The Astronauts for background detail on them.

I would be repeating myself (again) if I called them a "working band".

I have waxed lyrical about them and their time and place and  I will repeat, again,  they were a "working band".

As a working band they had one ear to the ground to see what was happening around them.

You have to sell units, get exposure, get bookings, get cash to pay the bills.

Where is the art?

The art is in the result and it doesn’t have to be conscious.

This album in a little schizophrenic – the first side is hard edged rock n roll with more than a touch of garage and R&B.

The songs don’t  just pump they pound. There is menace hovering over every song , and it’s sharp. The precise and distinct instrumentation only adds to it.

For sure, The  Paul Butterfield  Blues Band, The Blues Project, The Animals and The Rolling Stones were reinterpreting the R&B classics at around the same time  but the Astronauts, who must have had an eye on that, were ex rock n rollers.  Accordingly they never let the black R&B shine through totally. There is a lot of  white rock attitude here. They are, on the first side, akin to Paul Revere and the Raiders and they do anticipate the garage sound of the Seeds, The Shadows of Knight, The Standells and others.

So they walk a line somewhere between white garage and white R&B. They aren’t going forward but the sound is beautiful.

The second side is more pop and beat. There aren’t many English songs but the similar tunes they had made hard on side one are given a more pop sound on side two. Clearly, they were watching the record buying public and how they reacted to the behemoth that was the Beatles record sales in 1964. Rather than going "English" though they took the beat and popped up the songs. Think Johnny Rivers if was a combo playing a dive in the Midwest rather than the swank whiskey a go go.

Or, perhaps, they are trying to be the American Rolling Stones?

Did I say they were a working band.

The album is a bunch of covers but it is testament to the Astronauts that they give the songs readings in their own style.

So, you say, is that it?

A band doing a bunch of stylistically similar covers.

It sounds easy?

It may be but seldom do you get results as good as this.

Not enough to set the world on fire but that goes with the territory also.

Tracks (best in italics)

  • Down Home Girl– (Leiber, Butler) – Originally done by Alvin Robinson in 1964, The Rolling Stones covered this in early 1965 on their US released "Now!" album. The version here is magnificent. It never breaks loose but smoulders all the way through. Perfect for the beginnings of garage.
  • Memphis, Tennessee -(Berry)- Slower and deliberate, this is a totally different reading to Chuck Berry’s original or even Elvis’ and Johnny Rivers famous covers. All three of those versions have different moods and maybe meanings. Here the song isn’t so melancholy about the  trying to get home but rather a threat to the person who put the distance between the narrator and Marie, in Memphis Tennessee.
  • Oh Baby (We Got A Good Thing Goin’) -(Ozen)- another song covered by the Rolling Stones in early 1965 (on Now! again)
  • Dimples -(John Lee Hooker)- The great Hooker song – interestingly it was covered by two British invasion acts: The Spencer Davis Group in 1964 and The Animals in the same year.
  • The Seventh Son -(Willie Dixon) – The Willie Dixon tune souped up and released by John Hammond and more relevantly here, Johnny Rivers in the same. The Astronauts version is somewhere between Willie Dixon and Johnny Rivers and is a joy.
  • Walking The Dog  -(Rufus Thomas) – The great Rufus Thomas song, also covered by, err The Rolling Stones in 1964. To be sure all these songs are R&B classics but I see a pattern developing…especially noticeable in the harmonica. Hey, you could do worse than cover a song The Rolling Stones had covered.
  • Sweet Little Rock And Roller – (Berry) – Another great Berry song given a bouncy treatment quite faithful to the original. It would have been perfect for The Rolling Stones.
  • Only Those In Love -(Alquist, Stuart)- The Chad and Jeremy (British Invasion)from 1964. Pop, as you would expect, but a little rougher than it’s British original.
  • Down The Line -(Roy Orbison)- a total re-interpretation of the Orbison classic. A lot of beat.
  • Where There’s Smoke There’s Fire -(Steve Venet, Tommy Boyce)- This my be an original written for the Astronauts. Steve Venet and Tommy Boyce could write this in their sleep. This song is a perfect American rip off of the dreamy English beat sounds.
  • It Doesn’t Matter Anymore -(Anka)- The Paul Anka song identified with Buddy Holly. Not surprisingly the Astronauts would dig into 50s rock n roller. And this Buddy Holly song shows just how much of an influence he was on British Beat.
  • It Could Never Be The Same -(Don Addrisi, Dick Addrisi)- Another original? The Addrisi Brothers later released albums. Here they are writing variations on the sounds of the day. Pleasant enough.

And …

Gosh I like The Astronauts …. I’m keeping it.
 
Chart Action
 
Nothing no where
 
Sounds
 
Down Home Girl
attached below

The Astronauts – Down Home Girl


Memphis, Tennessee
Live 1965
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMFDcHgJROI

It Doesn’t Matter Anymore
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocscPsNDewc


Others
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGH-VJarH8A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHbcU5ArqBQ
 
Review
—
 
Bio
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Astronauts_(band)
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-astronauts-mn0000753852#discography

Website
—
 
Trivia
– Liner notes and various behind the scenes manoeuvring are by Lee Hazlewood.

Posted in Garage, Surf and Frat | Tagged | 2 Comments

MELANIE – Phonogenic – Not Just Another Pretty Face – (Philips) – 1978

Posted on April 28, 2013 by Franko

I commented on another late Melanie album no so long ago, “Arabesque” (1982)..

It was a revelation as I thought she had gone off the boil by the mid-1970s.

That album proved me wrong.

See my other comment for biographical details on Melanie. I will say here she is the original flower child who had to deal with changes in musical tastes not to mention a changing world and no doubt changes within herself.

This is her 18th album in 10 years. She certainly didn’t take a laid back “hippie” approach to recording.

That, or she had a lot to say.

Or maybe not that much because only four of the songs are originals the rest being covers. 

Covers I never mind but Melanie is a prolific songwriter so it is perhaps surprising..

Actually, if the truth be known, Melanie is not adverse to covers. She sprinkles, sometimes liberally, most of her albums with covers. The beauty is that she doesn’t always remain faithful to the originals. She adapts them to suit her musical persona.

On this particular album is that she has changed her musical persona, ever so slightly, to keep up with changing tastes. You can’t pay the bills by sticking to your guns. No matter how noble it is.

You can change without selling out. And, Melanie, for the most part avoids selling out but where she does make a lot of concessions she sounds a little duff.

A pity …as the covers are well chosen and the originals have their moments.

Generally it’s accepted that Melanie’s previous album “Photograph” was a triumph though not commercially so. This was seen as a chance to redress that.

It didn’t.

Oddly, Melanie had just released a cover of Buddy Holly’s “Oh Boy” (which is odd in itself) but the song is not on this album.

Sexy saxes are provided by the Brecker Brothers – Randy (ex Blood Sweat and Tears, Dreams) and Michael (ex Dreams), and David Sanborn.


Tracks (best in italics)

  • Knock on Wood- (Steve Cropper / Eddie Floyd) – Sexy sax on this song? Ill conceived but original at least. The Eddie Floyd hit (#28) from 1966 and covered Otis Redding and Carla Thomas. Amii Stewart had a #1 with it in 1979.
  • Bon Appetit – (Melanie) – an excellent original by Melanie. Wistful and delicate. With the gentle horns it’s as if Burt Bacharach went hippie.
  • Spunky-(Melanie)- funky but not really spunky. Melanie’s persona is innocently sexual not raunchy spunky.
  • Runnin’ After Love -(Melanie)- a dramatic song about "love" with unusual mood changes.
  • We Can Work It Out – (John Lennon / Paul McCartney)- another cover (Beatles , derrr) that misses the mark though the original was such a good song that this sounds better than it otherwise should.
  • I’d Rather Leave While I’m in Love – (Peter Allen / Carole Bayer Sager) – hmmmm, good advice. Peter Allen (the co-author) released this in 1979 and Rita Coolidge released it in 1980 and had a minor hit with it (#3 Adult Contemporary, #32 Country, #38 Hot 100 ). Melanie seems to know which songs will become hits … for others!
  • Let It Be Me -(Gilbert Bécaud / Manny Curtis / Pierre Delanoë)- Done by everyone this is well sung but maybe misguided. The sexy saxes kill. 
  • Yankee Man – (Jesse Winchester) – a song byt eh occasionally great Jesse Winchester. Dramatic and telling.
  • Record People – (Melanie)- a (very) cynical comment on the music industry. 
  • California Dreamin’-(John Phillips / Michelle Phillips)- wow, Melanie, in the tradition of the great jazz vocalists (think Helen Merrill) , totally re-invents the Mamas and Papas ode to being in California rather than in an East Coast winter. This California, with just vocals and piano,  is now darker and more dangerous. The narrator doesn’t seem to be one hundred percent convinced she wants to be there though she still doesn’t want to be where she is. Regardless of meaning this is a tour de force.

And …

Not at all successful but Melanie nails some songs and, I have her other albums…. I’m keeping it.

There are a lot more to come.
 
Chart Action
 
Nuttin’ no where
 
Sounds

Knock on Wood
live 1978
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02uiOh37o2Q

Bon Appetit
live 1982
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLAH6wpg4BE

We Can Work It Out
live (awful clip)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23aMR3FUYtA

attached MP3

Melanie – Bon Appetite 

I’d Rather Leave While I’m in Love
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rpo9xLgkMqs

California Dreamin’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lDIkABgHqE


Others
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6zfS96WGNE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AAa7iGhS3M
 
 
Review

http://www.allmusic.com/album/phonogenic-not-just-another-pretty-face-mw0001879020
http://dkandroughmix-forgottensongs.blogspot.com.au/2010/01/melanie-phonogenic-not-just-another.html
http://melaniemusicsociety.tripod.com/McAftDrk.htm

 
Bio
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melanie_Safka
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/melanie-mn0000409670

 
Website

http://www.melaniesafka.com/home.cfm
http://www.patswayne.com/melanie/melanie.htm
 
Trivia

• This was released on RCA in the US.

 

Posted in Singer Songwriter | Tagged | Leave a comment

WILLIE NILE – Willie Nile – (Arista) – 1980

Posted on April 21, 2013 by Franko

I never really listened to any Willie Nile before even though I’ve seen this album many times.

I assumed he was another rock n roller snapped up and taken for a ride with the new wave.

And that’s about right.

I don’t mean to make that sound pejorative though.

Wikipedia: “Willie Nile (born Robert Anthony Noonan on June 7, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter. In 1980 Nile released his self-titled debut album which according to one critic remains “one of the most thrilling post-Byrds folk-rock albums of all time”. His career was interrupted several times by various problems, but he has always returned to recording and performing in the US and Europe, re-establishing himself as a singer-songwriter.
 
Born and raised in Buffalo, NY, Nile came from a musical family—his grandfather was a vaudeville pianist who played with Bill "Bojangles" Robinson and Eddie Cantor; his uncles played boogie-woogie. His listened to the music of Elvis Presley, the Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, and Fats Domino, brought home by his older brothers. Nile himself began playing piano at age eight and took classical music lessons until he was a teenager, when he taught himself his first rock & roll song. He soon began to compose short songs and continued the habit into his college years, when during the summers he made trips into New York City to frequent hootenanny clubs like Folk City and the Gaslight.
 
Nile studied philosophy at the University at Buffalo where he received a BA in 1971, before heading for Greenwich Village. After graduation, Nile took an apartment in the Village; however, during his first winter in New York, he contracted pneumonia, which put him out of commission for about a year. He continued writing songs while recuperating, determined to make a name for himself as a latter-day troubadour. He pursued that throughout the 1970s, becoming a regular in the Village folk and rock scenes and getting tabbed by some as the next big thing to come out of that long-thriving artistic community.

Establishing residency at the Village club Kenny’s Castaways on Bleecker St., Nile began drawing crowds, which in turn led to his first record deal. In a review in The New York Times, rock critic Robert Palmer wrote of Nile; "Every once in awhile the times seems to produce an artist who is at once an iconoclast and near-perfect expression of contemporary currents”

The result is this, his first album.

This is a much praised album and I’m not going to disagree with the critics. Though, I will say that it wasn’t created in a vacuum.

Nile was one of many Dylanesque singer songwriters who liked pre 70s rock n roll. Most of these guys were born in the late 40s or early 50s which explains both their love of rock n roll and Dylan – having lived, as kids, through both those musical eras. Not surprisingly this may have driven them to combine the sounds.

What they did was combine Dylan’s wordiness with the spirit and the beat 50s and 60s rock n roll.

Dylan may have done that himself in the 60s and 70s but these guys really highlighted the beat.

Graham Parker, Bruce Springsteen, John Hiatt, Marshall Crenshaw, Elvis Costello, Jim Carroll, Warren Zevon, Stevie Forbert and many others fit into this group.

Most of them were called the “next Bob Dylan” at one time or another.

And, luckily for a lot of them, their sound happened at a fortuitous time with the new wave booting out the bloated prog rock of the 70s.

With their emphasis on beat and thoughtful lyrics it was easy to see why these guys got swept up in that movement.

Really, though, it’s not so much new wave as retro rock for new audiences….maybe all new wave is anyway?

Still, this music thumps and pumps in a way which is direct and immediate and lyrically there is something to say.

The music is thoughtfully angry. Or, a controlled anger. Unlike punk.

It’s a sneer rather than a spit.

Let’s not forget most of these guys were in their late 20s early 30s whilst the punks were in their late teens.

That’s not to say they can’t be fellow travellers.

And they were.

Willie, from what I hear on this album, embodied thoughtful anger, wrapped in "street" observations done to a beat.

He is somewhere between Springsteen the traditionalist on one side and Jim Carroll the quirky new wave punk on the other.

Not a bad place to be.

Nile writes his own material (naturally enough).

Tracks (best in italics)

  • Vagabond Moon – a fair bit of jangle on this one. Coming over as a harder Byrds.
  • Dear Lord – street wise lyrics like a cross between Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen. The production is a little light, on what should be a thumping song. Still, it’s catchy enough.
  • It’s All Over – Tom Petty-esque. Which I suppose means it’s Byrds-esque. Very catchy – not surprisingly.
  • Across the River – some classic 70s guitar wankery going on here. Nothing remotely new wave about this song. That doesn’t mean it’s bad but it doesn’t stand on its own and it doesn’t really fit in..
  • She’s So Cold – A power pop type number
  • I’m Not Waiting – More power pop and well done with a bit of the Springsteen epic ness
  • That’s the Reason – old school early 60s style pop. Of course ….these dudes loved this stuff
  • They’ll Build a Statue of You – the socially relevant forceful ballad . Humpfff
  • Old Men Sleeping on the Bowery – very street and very New York.
  • Behind the Cathedral- the acoustic number.
  • Sing Me a Song – good number with a pulsating almost ominous beat. Quite Violent Femmes like.

And …

Enough good moments and a couple of excellent ones…. I’m keeping it.
 
Chart Action
 
US
Singles
—

Album
1980 The Billboard 200 #145

England
Singles
—
Album
—
 
Sounds

Vagabond Moon
live recently
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8yLHm-ukLM

It’s All Over
live recently
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOFa5Lyh37E

Across the River
live recently
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kK-bLz4eb1Y

She’s So Cold
live recently
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7bLXnHZ8sA

That’s the Reason
live recently
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezA7Q0FqTHg

Sing Me a Song

MP3 attached

Willie Nile – Sing me a Song 

You can listen to all the album tracks here:

http://recordlective.com/Willie_Nile/Willie_Nile/1682f871-e393-31bd-99a5-0573dc14b71c/

Others
with Bruce Springsteen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDhzEAHjIYs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hD9UUEJDYso
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgtzGnUQLtg

with Marky Ramone
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQI6k6un9KM
 
Review
http://www.allmusic.com/album/willie-nile-mw0000073293
 
 
Bio
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_Nile
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/willie-nile-mn0000683686
 
Website
http://willienile.com/
http://www.myspace.com/willienile

 
Trivia
—

Posted in Punk and New Wave | Tagged | Leave a comment

JESSE COLIN YOUNG – Love on the Wing – (Warner Brothers) – 1977

Posted on April 14, 2013 by Franko

Very early in my blogging I commented on another Jesse Colin Young album. You can search that it you wish though here I will flesh out a few of the points I raised there.

Wikipedia: “Jesse Colin Young is an American singer / songwriter / folksinger and a founding member of the group The Youngbloods….Young was born and raised in Queens, New York City. His mother was a violinist and his father was an accountant with a strong interest in classical music. At the age of 15 years old, Young received a scholarship to the Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, and was later expelled….During the 1960s, while living in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan, Young released two solo albums, The Soul of a City Boy and Young Blood. He then formed the group called The Youngbloods which included guitarist Jerry Corbitt, keyboardist/guitarist Lowell "Banana" Levinger, and drummer Joe Bauer. Their first album contained the song "Get Together", written by Chet Powers, which was re-released as a single in 1969 and used as an advertising theme for television. Young and his band, the Youngbloods, founded a record label called Raccoon Records, and released four additional albums … Young left the group in 1972”

“Love on the Wing” is Jesse Colin Young’s (“JCY”) sixth album after leaving The Youngbloods.

I don’t know about you but I think Jesse looks pretty cool on the album sleeve.

That’s about it.

The motorbike, the chick, the wide open spaces may imply freedom. But, the trouble with a lot of electric folkies or “hippie rockers” from the 60s is, that by the mid to late 70s, their music had nowhere to go.

The song sentiments may have been admirable but they couldn’t really confront the issues of the day. Which is exactly what they had done in the 60s?

I think a lot of them realised that they were no longer on the cutting edge and retreated into music of America past or put out MOR love songs.

This is a pity because they had something to say and they could have said it with the knowledge of what they had learned in the 60s.

JCY music was never confrontational so his music does not date, lyrically, as much. The instrumentation though, like a lot of his ilk, does become slicker and more MOR.

JCY does retreat into some old timey sounds but seems content to just put out a gentle, relaxing vibe.

I love this music in small doses – it doesn’t make me want to dance, sing, go out, root or anything but what it does make me do is relax. OK not as much as a Martin Denny album but the laid back vibe is infectious.

Unlike punk which was confrontational this music is all about saying "peace" and retreating away from society to your hideaway, island or peninsula. Once upon a time I would have scoffed at the same but now the idea is more inviting. 

We all retreat don’t we? Clearly I do on this blog …otherwise I would be writing about emerging music sounds.

This album didn’t sell and within a couple of years Jesse had relocated to Hawaii and organic coffee growing with occasional albums praising the virtues of domesticity, family and home.

Which is something he was always dwelling on…even when he was a younger man in a different time.

No man is an island to be sure but that doesn’t mean you can’t build a moat around your domain.

Produced by Felix Pappalardi and Jesse Colin Young.

Photography by Joe Bauer (drummer for The Youngbloods)

Tracks (best in italics)

  • Higher and Higher – (Jesse Colin Young) – the song id dedicated to the Monterey peninsula. Of course it is. A jaunty, sunny, happy song. Not dissimilar to one of Jimmy Buffet’s Caribbean country bounces…..It’s slight but it’s pleasant enough when it’s on.
  • Love on the Wing – (Blue Hazlehurst) – a country rock ballad. Quite beautiful but perhaps four or five years too late.
  • Workin’- (Jesse Colin Young) – too much sexy sax in an otherwise good little song. A pity about the sax but it is 1977.
  • Hey, Good Lookin’- (Hank Williams) – Hank with horns. I’m not sure if this works but it isn’t offensive. And, importantly, it isn’t reverential. Hank would have appreciated that.
  • Fool-(Jesse Colin Young)- a touch of Tony Joe White in the whispered lyrics with funky (funkyish) back up.
  • Drift Away-(Jesse Colin Young)- a nice singer songwriter rumination about love.
  • Do It Slow-(Jesse Colin Young)- as was popular at the time a throw back to the 30s and 40s.  The female vocalist is Suzi Young
  • California Cowboy- (Jesse Colin Young)- a humorous little ditty
  • Louisiana Highway-(Jesse Colin Young)-a medium tempo rustic variation on Chuck Berry’s "Promised Land".
  • Your Lovin’ Hobo- (Elvin Woods) – a gentle song about a free spirit hobo

And …

Slight, very slight and a little too slick….but I love the Youngbloods and have a couple of other Jesse albums so I’m keeping it.
 
Chart Action
 
US
Singles
—

Album
1977  The Billboard 200 #64

England
Singles
 
Album

 
Sounds
 
Love on the Wing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbADyNskwTs

Louisiana Highway
attached MP3

Jesse Colin Young – Louisiana Highway

Others

live No Nukes 1979:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Odf1WWhAF6I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgk9m4QvtEQ

Review
 
http://www.allmusic.com/album/love-on-the-wing-mw0000185186

Bio
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/jesse-colin-youngs-mn0000331846 
 
Website
http://www.jessecolinyoung.com/ 
 
Trivia
• He now grows coffee in the Kona Coast area of Hawaii.
 

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

BRIAN HYLAND – Sealed with a Kiss – (ABC Paramount) – 1962

Posted on April 7, 2013 by Franko

When it comes to white boy pop from the 60s Brian Hyland is the person I know the least about.

Maybe it’s because he isn’t a Bobby?

I know the Bobby’s : Darin, Vee,  Rydell, Vinton.

I also know Lou Christie and Bobby Goldsboro.

I know Hyland had hits and I know the great Del Shannon later produced him but otherwise my knowledge is scant.

Bio: Allmusic: "Brian Hyland’s puppy-love pop virtually defined the sound and sensibility of bubblegum during the pre-Beatles era. In the years after his teen idol stature faded, he enjoyed a creative renaissance, releasing a series of underrated country-inspired efforts and even making a brief return to the pop charts….  Born November 12, 1943, in Brooklyn, NY, Hyland studied guitar and clarinet while singing in his church choir. At 14 he co-founded a harmony group dubbed the Delfis, which cut a demo they shopped to various New York City record labels. Hyland ultimately signed as a solo artist to Kapp Records, and in late 1959 issued his debut single, "Rosemary." For the follow-up, "Four Little Heels (The Clickety Clack Song)," the label paired him with the Brill Building songwriting duo of Lee Pockriss and Paul Vance, and when the single proved a minor hit, Pockriss and Vance set to work on the follow-up. The resulting "Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" topped the Billboard pop charts in the summer of 1960, vaulting the 16-year-old to teen heartthrob status…  After a move to ABC Records, Hyland partnered with the songwriting and production tandem of Gary Geld and Peter Udell for the hits "Let Me Belong to You" and "I’ll Never Stop Wanting You." With 1962’s "Sealed with a Kiss," a Top Five entry on both sides of the Atlantic, Hyland sealed his reputation as a paragon of youthful innocence and first-kiss romance, perfectly capturing the adolescent zeitgeist in the months leading up to Beatlemania".

I admit this type of white boy pop – before The Beatles and after Elvis – I have a lot of time for. The albums generally are not that great because they are usually the hit single(s) with some rushed out covers and filler to pad out the rest.

But I treat them as a form of high quality muzak. Put them on and they are never shrill, they won’t challenge you but they won’t hurt your ears or make you say “what the fuck is going on here?”

It’s not demanding listening but like a slow working drug it can slowly overwhelm and ultimately soothe the brain.

On that level the music works perfectly.

But what you are getting is "product", albeit well made "product".

Think about it. When you buy one of these albums:

-You get a recognisable hit song (or maybe two if you are lucky)
-You get a couple of covers ( a bonus being that they may be done a little differently to the recognised version)
-You get some songs that sound like the hit song
-You get original songs written by the staff writers in the style of the artist.

The set is meant to be played but more importantly units are to be moved.

I’m sure enough units were moved to turn a profit but, oddly, these albums didn’t do well in the charts.

These guys were, largely, singles acts.

That, though, may be what the business perception of pop and rock n roll was all about. As I have said elsewhere – before The Beatles the only rock n pop star to put albums at #1 was Elvis.

Albums were thought to be for serious adult music fans: classical, jazz, Sinatra concept albums, soundtracks, show albums.

Elvis changed the commercial perception of that and Johnny Cash put out some concept albums but otherwise , and normally, a pop album was just a cash in on a hit single.

Hyland had just hit it big with “Sealed with A Kiss” (#3) so an album was needed quickly. This album, which obviously capitalises on the hit single, lifts seven tracks from an album he had released earlier in the year, "Let Me belong to You" (1962) – Bye Bye Love, Let Me Belong To You, The Night I Cried, Are You Lonesome Tonight, Love Me Tender, I’ll Never Stop Wanting You, Walk A Lonely Mile.

He adds 5 tracks (including the single): Should Be Gettin’ Better , Ginny Come Lately, Sealed With a Kiss, It Ain’t That Way At All,  Summer Job.

There are quite a few 50s covers in there whilst the rest of the material is provided by NY writing/production team of Gary Geld and Peter Udell (who wrote quite a bit for Hyland including the hit here).

The surprising thing is this album holds together pretty well. Hyland has a great voice for this type of material. The hits are great, the new material is solid and the covers are fun. Hyland has played with the covers a little, changing them but not losing the essence that makes them identifiable. I always like that ….and it’s harder to do that you think.

Tracks (best in italics)

  • Bye Bye Love – (F&B Bryant) – a magnificent song. This one is more gentle with a bouncy pop backbeat. Less rustic and frantic than the Everly Brothers hit with "oooooh" and "woe, woe, woe" backing – wonderful. The guitar break / bridge in the middle is interesting also.
  • Let Me Belong To You – (Udell, Geld) – a dramatic romantic ballad.
  • The Night I Cried – (Udell, Geld) – this could be something out of the Roy Orbison song book.
  • Are You Lonesome Tonight-(Turk, Handman) – The big Elvis Presley hit from 1960. The tempo has been upped and the song has been give a gentle Latin lilt. Interesting.
  • I Should Be Gettin’ Better – (Udell, Geld) – sublime pop. A bit like fairy floss but while it lasts, addictive.
  • Ginny Come Lately – (Udell, Geld) – more sublime romantic pop.
  • Love Me Tender(Presley, Matson) – another Elvis song, from 1956
  • Sealed With a Kiss – (Udell, Geld) – one of the greatest of all songs about the pain of physical distance whilst in romantic love. It’s like being in Korea in love with a chick in upstate New York. The music and lyrics both compliment each other to create a pervasive and persuasive song.  Gary Lewis later had a big hit with it (#19, 1968).
  • It Ain’t That Way At All – (Udell, Geld) – dramatic. There is even a church bell in it.
  • Summer Job – (Udell, Geld) – call me perverse but any song where the narrator wants to give his "baby the best of care" with "moonlight walks and salty spray" is going to end with raised eyebrows. He is as "happy as can be" …no shit, I would be too. "Hand" should have been in the title at the very least.
  • I’ll Never Stop Wanting You – (Udell, Geld) – more romantic drama with a spoken bridge much like the one in Elvis’ "Are You Lonesome Tonight". The effect was popular at the time.
  • Walk A Lonely Mile – (Udell, Geld) – more drama. Quite convincing though Elvis would have hammered the drama into oblivion on a song like this.

And …

Not perfect but excellent in parts and it grows on you …. I’m keeping it. I look forward to more Brian Hyland albums.
 
Chart Action
 
US
Singles
1962 Ginny Come Lately Billboard Hot 100 #21
1962 Sealed With A Kiss  Billboard Hot 100 #3
1961 I’ll Never Stop Wanting You Billboard Hot 100 #83
1961 Let Me Belong To You Billboard Hot 100 #20

Album
Nothing – did I mention singles act?

England
Singles
1962 Ginny Come Lately #5
1962 Sealed With A Kiss  #3
 
Album
Nup
 
Sounds
 
Let Me Belong To You
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tuKpMHcM4k

The Night I Cried
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQikbfAOjUQ

Are You Lonesome Tonight
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPytYLheNBM

Ginny Come Lately
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9b9k3xMf_g

Love Me Tender
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z5uGoYzwEA

Sealed With a Kiss
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yml7wMD_ZTM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1s_fGvziI8w

MP3 attached below

Brian Hyland – Sealed with a Kiss 

It Ain’t That Way At All
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNAk1lgLqgk

Summer Job
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-DSdBev68g

I’ll Never Stop Wanting You
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLEaQCIki2E

Walk A Lonely Mile
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYj8iDqmmoQ

Others
 
this clip is a little disturbing (oh how times have changed)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ge9Ou3-YyqU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZlUe6CEB8U
 
Review
—
 
Bio
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Hyland
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/brian-hyland-mn0000516202#discography

Website
http://www.brianhyland.com/
 
Trivia
• Brian Hyland is a cousin (by marriage) of the late Louis Feinberg, aka "Larry Fine" of the Three Stooges.
 

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