JAY AND THE AMERICANS – Livin’ Above Your Head – (United Artists) – 1966

Posted on August 16, 2011 by Franko

For those who have mentioned that they don't like it when I comment on LPs by acts I have already commented on … hit delete now. Go turn on JJJ as you are bound to find something new and interesting there*.(*sarcasm)

I am going to use a lot of shorthand here again and copy what I said back in other "What Frank is Listening to" comments in relation to the underrated vocal group Jay & The Americans:

"A great underrated US pop band from the 60s. It baffles me that pop groups like Jay and the Americans, Gary Lewis and the Playboys, Dino, Desi and Billy, The Four Seasons,  are often referred to disparagingly whereas all the Merseybeat bands are lauded. When it comes to sublime pop the Brill building  type bands had it all over Merseybeat (with one notable exception) . The trouble is perhaps that in1967, the summer of love, and the evolving psychedelic scene a Spectorsish wall of sound vocal group was "perhaps" dated. I use "perhaps" intentionally because it may have been dated but the music stands up surprising well today especially compared to a lot of the psychedelica or hippy tunes of the day.

New York's Jay and the Americans (John "Jay" Traynor, Howard Kane (né Kirschenbaum), Kenny Vance (né Rosenberg) and Sandy Deanne (né Yaguda)) were discovered by Leiber & Stoller ( of Elvis song writing fame – if you don't know them shame on you) in the late 1950s. They were recording by 1961 and notching up 4 top10 hits, and many top 40s ( they even had a #6 late in the piece in 1969 with the magnificent "This Magic Moment"). Like many other bands of their ilk they were a singles band and never really had much chart action with their albums, which is a pity as the albums are professionally put together and contain many hidden gems.

The group started off as a white doo wop band, heavy on semi operatic teen dramas and laments of unrequited love …. and they never really moved far from that. And there is nothing wrong with that – as the recording techniques improved the sound necessary to create these mini pop operas improved accentuating the drama of the song. Forget the rock operas of the 70s there is much more rock "opera" in any 2 minutes of Jay and The Americans or The Four Seasons .

Generally with a band like this the vocals are always infinitely superior and the music is nothing short of lavishly produced…. Whilst the singles  are usually tailor made for the band, the albums succeed or die according to the strength of the covers chosen".

This album marks JATA move to middle ground lush pop. Those with a fascination for song writing will note that here JATA actually write two songs. I only note this because JATA being a vocal group wrote very little material. In fact only one of their five members played an instrument … did I say they were a vocal group? It could be argued that they are the grandfathers of the contemporary boy band though that is not something I care to concede but the link is there. If that is the case then the boy band is also the slovenly descendant of doo wop, and white and black gospel quartets as are JATA. So don't blame JATA.

Interestingly here, JATA are not so much a vocal group as they are a backing vocal group for lead singer Jay Black … well even more so than normal.

This change in direction and occasional song writing would mark this as their "Rubber Soul" or "Summer Days (and Summer Nights)" which, as transitional albums, they are not dissimilar to.

The move to "big ballad" type stuff, with big instruments, and Jay's deep voice, makes them at this time a sort of American "Walker Brothers" or  perhaps the Walker Brothers are a English "JATA" (yes I know the Walker Brothers were American anyway). Either way this is also a move into what The Righteous Brothers were mining with perhaps more MOR and less blue eyed soul … a sort of Phil Spector doing cabaret (and that's not all bad either).

I'm never going to convince hardened punk rockers or dedicated metal heads but for anyone that likes The Beach Boys, Phil Spector, Big Star or any other number of pop rock perfectionists it's not a quantum leap from there to here …I just re-read what I have written above … it's all very bitty but I couldn't be bothered to change it.

Tracks ( the best in italics)

  • Livin' Above Your Head – a original big beat MOR track … and an excellent track which throws everything 1966 into the mix including some slightly Spanish flavoured horns half way through. Interestingly it is less a group effort than a solo with backing voices. Covered by the Walker Brothers in 1966.
  • The Grass Will Sing (For You) – a  big mid tempo MOR ballad … a big sound but …
  • Two Many Times, Diana (From Howie to Diana) – another original – MOR – it sounds like something else (not surprisingly) as the music was designed to capitalise on whatever else was around. On occasion the songs transcend their "unoriginal" origins … this doesn't, but does come close.
  • Over The Mountain – mush …but totally listenable.
  • I'll Remember You – a Leiber & Stoller track. There is a reason why Leiber & Stoller are so well regarded and covered. This is a ballad and it is slight to be sure but the song-writing is impeccable. I think this was originally written for JATA and had been recorded as early as 1964.
  • The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore – a magnificent big beat ballad from Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe … originally recorded by Frankie Valli (of the Four Seasons) in 1965 the song failed to chart. The Walker Brothers had the big with it in 1966 (#13 USA, #1 UK). The JATA cover is based on The Walker Brothers version. It may be a cover, and a pretty straight cover at that but its a great song.
  • The Reason For Living (For You My Darling)  – hmmmm
  • Monday, Monday – The Mamas and the Papas song – more MOR, less "hippie" and very much more mainstream with an arrangement that would work for Dean Martin or Frank Sinatra, this is nevertheless a good cover and a good song – the lyric especially lends itself to this type of arrangement.
  • Baby Come Home – another original and nothing to be ashamed of though a tad dated for 1966 … even by this albums standards.
  • Stop The Clock – catchy but it bears a passing resemblance to Elvis' "Do the Vega" from his film "Viva Las Vegas" (1964) … though this version is better produced with nice horns …
  • Look At Me – What Do You See – again more Spanish flavoured horns – it works on me …
And …

So, this is not the best Jay and the Americans album I have heard but it has its fair share of good moments and I have the rest so … I'm keeping this.

Chart Action
 
The album reached #105 on the US charts. No singles charted.
 
Sounds
 
Livin' Above Your Head

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znjqXYIvk1c

a French version by JATA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bTUtf57xlw

The Grass Will Sing (For You)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zpiAGCCSFw

Two Many Times, Diana (From Howie to Diana)

Over The Mountain

I'll Remember You

The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore

The Reason For Living (For You My Darling)

Monday, Monday
attached

Baby Come Home

Stop The Clock

Look At Me – What Do You See
attached
 
Others
Elvis' "Do The Vega" – similar to "Stop the Clock"?
 
"The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine anymore" versions:
the original:
 
Review
 
 
Bio
 
Leiber and Stoller
 
Trivia
  • The original lead singer of this quintet was John "Jay" Traynor. After he left the group in late 1962, David Blatt assumed the name Jay Black and became the new lead singer…. The original band split in 1970. Later on, Jay Black as well as Jay Traynor have travelled with a band of "Americans" due to a court settlement that allows them both to make a living off the name.

Other comments

what Frank is listening to #127
what Frank is listening to #123
what Frank is listening to #77
 
(originally posted: 16/05/2010)

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in Pop Rock | Tagged | Leave a comment

DEAF SCHOOL – English Boys / Working Girls – (Warner Brothers) – 1978

Posted on August 16, 2011 by Franko
I had seen this album floating around for many years before picking up my copy. I had little knowledge of Deaf School though I assumed they were an English New Wave act.
 
As it turns out they are but only through default. Their music predates New Wave and punk but its uncomerciality gave it some popularity in New Wave circles.
 
I shall say this at the outset: the band are reasonably well regarded and this album, their third studio (and final) album, is generally regarded as their worst. I cannot say whether that is the case as I have not heard their other albums. So my comments on this are in a vacuum (in relation to the bands body of work), though some references can clearly be made to other bands of the time.
 
Inserted note by me: in searching for some links to the band – I came across their web site with tracks from their earlier albums … very interesting. Excellent actually. Very Kinks-ian at their most Broadway-esque and cabaret (notice how I made no reference to rock operas which despite assumptions to the contrary are not all that Kinks-ian). Back to the comments …
 
As it turns out there was much praise heaped on Liverpudlians Deaf School:
 
According to wikipedia: "The journalist, author and founder of Mojo, Paul Du Noyer, described them thus: "In the whole history of Liverpool music two bands matter most, one is The Beatles and the other is Deaf School. If that seems like a sweeping statement then consider this: after the pop revolution of the 1960s led by The Beatles and other Merseyside groups, it looked as if the city's music scene had dried up forever. But in 1975 there came a motley band of Liverpool art students called Deaf School"".
 
A big call, though Liverpool's music scene did splutter after the Beatles vacated town.
 
Deaf School's music has variously been called pub rock, punk, glam rock and art rock.  Also there are a number of references to the bands affinity with tin pan alley. I can see all of these in this third album. And it's an interesting mixture but hardly an original one. Bowie had already gone down this glam / art / tin pan alley path as had The Kinks and Roxy Music and the influence of all these acts is heard on this album. There is also a lot of new wave noise – well there are eight band members and it was 1978. By all accounts this album was their most "new wave" and I suppose by 1978 it was swim or sink. Certainly this album has only traces of the cabaret, tin pan alley and prog rock that the band are associated with on their first two albums.
 
Perhaps the band are closest in sprit to the Sparks or Steve Harley if he was quirkier mixed in with some Television and Richard Hell. Think Elvis Costello doing tin pan alley … wait he eventually did. You can also hear a little Boomtown Rats and the Clash in here.
 
But , t all sounds too busy for me and though the music is far from uninteresting – there are some good tracks, great ideas and some smarts – it's a little dated (and it would have been one year after it was released) and it smacks a little of a "pub band jumping on a new wave bandwagon" (not that there is anything wrong with that, maybe – think Mi Sex, Split Enz, The Sports, The Romantics, The Knack, The Tubes, Graham Parker, Tenpole Tudor, Squeeze, The Records, Ian Dury and yes Elvis Costello). The trouble here is they have subsumed any originality under the influences.
 
Maybe I should hear the first two albums … I like my cabaret pure …
 
I refer to the inserted note above – I most definitely would prefer their earlier stuff.
 
The band members went on to form other bands, produce and do all sorts of things. Refer to the links.
 
Tracks (best in italics)
  • Working Girls – a more heavy handed Steve Harley.
  • Golden Shower  –  probably one of the best songs about golden showers I have heard *
            But it's real
            It's only what you feel
            Golden Showers
            At the end of the day
            When I put the day away
            And I'm feeling draggy
            Then I know it's time to play
            Golden Showers
            I don't see her face it's only golden showers
  • Thunder and Lightning – awful … the pub band trying on punk really comes through on this … as bad as any of those bands coming out of New York in 1978 who were pretending to be new wave who were so clearly just mainstream rock.
  • What a Week – Very Clash like without the jagged guitar and spit. I like the song if for no other reason than the Elvis line:
            What a week this has been
            Elvis gone so he's on TV
  • Refugee – the other Elvis (Costello) is channelled here.
  • Ronny Zamora  –  very Kinks from their "Misfits" (1978) and "Low Budget" (1979) period.
  • English Boys (With Guns) – a Clash song title if there ever was one – but no new wave here (apart from chanted Clash–like vocals) instead it's an odd mix of 60s jazz beat and English music hall … pleasantly stoopid …
  • All Queued Up – another bad new wave cash in … interestingly enough co–vocalist Bette Bright sings on all the "cash in" tracks … don't know what's up there given she didn't write any of the songs?
  • I Wanna Be Your Boy – the Clash meets Elvis Costello … the twin male / female vocals recall LA's "X" who didn't release an album till 1980 though they formed and were playing from 1977 … any "meeting of minds" is entirely plausible as Deaf School were in LA and played the Whisky a Go Go in 1977. Who knows?
  • Morning After – another "retro" track recalling mid 70s prog rock … again with Bette Bright on vocals … (Bette went on to marry Suggs from "Madness")
  • Fire  – just bad …
  • O Blow – more Clash influences …
And … 

Not atrocious but not for me. I'll tape a couple of tracks and sell. (of course I will probably find their first two albums, love them, then regret selling this).

Sounds
 
What a Week
attached
 
English Boys (With Guns)
attached

Other:
Deaf School Live
 
Bio
 
 
Website
 
 
well, blow me down … I just looked at their myspace site and they (Deaf School – whoever they may be) list their influences as … Roxy Music, The Kinks, Sparks, Stackridge, Cole Porter, the Manhattan Transfer, Kilburn & the High Roads, Sailor.
 
(originally posted: 09/05/2010)
Posted in Punk and New Wave | Tagged | Leave a comment

ROBERT PALMER – Double Fun – (Island) – 1978

Posted on August 16, 2011 by Franko
I have never been into Robert Palmer. "Johnny & Mary" from 1981 was the highpoint for me (a great mainstream song).
 
To me he was just an up-tempo Bryan Ferry … though that possibly comes from the fact that they both mined various areas of American soul, dressed like lounge lizards, exuded English ex-patriate lying in the sun charm, and had sexually suggestive record sleeves.
 
Check out this sleeve – the bikini in the foreground implying a girl somewhere naked outside the photo frame. But wait there are two bikinis … hence the album title I suppose … "Double Fun".
 
After half an album side all I can say is "At least someone is having fun".
 
Background to Palmer (1949 – 2003) from allmusic: "Born Alan Palmer on January 19, 1949, in Batley, England, he spent much of his childhood living on the island of Malta before permanently returning to Britain at the age of 19 to sing with the Alan Bown Set. A year later he joined Dada, a 12-piece, Stax-influenced soul group which soon changed its name to Vinegar Joe; after three LPs with the band — a self-titled effort and Rock'n'Roll Gypsies, both issued in 1972, and 1973's Six Star General — Palmer exited to mount a solo career, and debuted in 1974 with Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley, recorded with members of Little Feat and the Meters".
 
allmusic also succinctly summarise his popularity (hey I couldn't be bothered):
 
"The career of blue-eyed soul singer Robert Palmer was a study in style versus substance. While the performer's earliest work won praise for its skilful assimilation of rock, R&B, and reggae sounds, his records typically sold poorly, and he achieved his greatest notoriety as an impeccably dressed lounge lizard. By the mid-'80s, however, Palmer became a star, although his popularity owed less to the strength of his material than to his infamous music videos: taking their cue from the singer's suave presence, Palmer's clips established him as a dapper, suit-and-tie lady's man who performed his songs backed by a band comprised of leggy models, much to the delight of viewers who made him one of MTV's biggest success stories".
 
This album accurately reflects the allmusic comment … and unfortunately this is a music I have never had time for. It's bad enough when this Caribbean influenced crossover pop is done by Caribbean types like Billy Ocean but when it's done by whites like Palmer it's almost unforgivable. From there it's a slippery, short slope to the most evil of all music … white reggae.
 
The only time I can handle Caribbean music is when it's "authentic" and traditional (every one should have at least one steel calypso band in their collection) or when its taken, shaken, stirred and mixed with something else and then given back as something different a la Jimmy Buffett.
 
That said this is 1978 and the Caribbean loose (but slick) vibe was popular (think bits and pieces of Rod Stewart, Bryan Ferry, The Police, Chris Rea* and most of The Rolling Stones "Black & Blue" album). What is it with the English that they have to go afar for inspiration? Can't you write sexual, seductive, soul songs about sunny London afternoons whilst hanging out in Hackney?
 
When the Caribbean thing is turned down the music leans to up-tempo cocktail jazz reminiscent of most of the awful 80s albums aimed at "adults" … remember "adult contemporary rock" … that music reserved for drunk salesmen with small dicks and smaller brains and drunk secretaries in taffeta ball gowns waiting to be rammed by the said small dicks before indulging in subsequent smaller conversation. The types of people now comfortably middle aged who go to Bali for their holidays (an Australian cultural reference).
 
Interestingly, Palmer, who does his fair share of covers, writes most of the tracks here and the lyrics are either sexually suggestive or "thoughtful". It's all very well played, smooth and slick, but …
 
Tracks (best in italics)
  • Every Kinda People   – written by ex-pat Englishman Andy Fraser (bass player, formerly of Free (he co-wrote "All Right Now") and he also wrote and sang the song, "Obama (Yes We Can)", to support the campaign to elect Barack Obama as the next president of the United States). This is very much like later Jimmy Cliff, which is not the best Jimmy Cliff era. The song was a hit though and a lot of people have covered it … it's message is peace and multiculturalism …
  • Best of Both Worlds  – yawn.
  • Come Over 
            Oh you run my motor
            You make me think it over
            We've got the rug from under us
            Let's stay off it till we had enough
       
            You tease my monkey
            You make my knees feel funky
            I ache for you when you're not here
            I can't bear it when you get too near
 
        Nothing quite like someone who writes their own material.
  • Where Can It Go?  – awful late 70s black soul rip off. 
  • Night People – a Allen Toussaint song ….
  • Love Can Run Faster  –
  • You Overwhelm Me  –
  • You Really Got Me – wtf?  The Kinks were riding high in the US charts around this time which perhaps accounts for this cover … Van Halen also covered this on their first album from 1978. This version may be ill conceived trying to make it into a slow burning groove rather than the piece of angst it was but it's not the first time the song has been slowed down – Ray Burgess and the Kinks themselves have done it slowed down.
  • You're Gonna Get What's Coming  – the closest to a rock song and this looks towards Palmer's 80s hit making period like "Addicted to Love". Pretty boring regardless.
And … 

Might tape a track or two … well I have to tape the Kinks cover at the very least … and then off it goes. 

Gimme a Trinidad steel band and a pina colada instead … seriously 

Chart Action
 
Singles:
Every Kinda People: #16US,  #53UK
 
Album:
#45 US, no chart UK.
 
Sounds
 
Every Kinda People 
live

Best of Both Worlds
live 1983
 
You Overwhelm Me 
 
You Really Got Me
attached
You're Gonna Get What's Coming  –
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgIebIQLiiQ
 
Review
 
 
Bio
 
 
*thanks Sive for the Chris Rea and the taffeta
 
(originally posted: 02/05/2010)
Posted in Rock & Pop | Tagged | Leave a comment

JOHN HARTFORD – Aereo Plain – (Warner Brothers) – 1971

Posted on August 16, 2011 by Franko
 

Is John Hartford an acquired taste?

Maybe.

Though a lot of that "maybe" depends on where you start in his repertoire and what you know of music generally before hand.

For background on Hartford see What Frank is Listening to #93.

There, I called Hartford "Progressive" or "Weird" country. He is still that, but as I said then he is also much more.

I said back then, "He has also been referred to as literary folk music and "MOR romantic nostalgia told from the perspective of a homeless man remembering days of perfect love"…. I like that …. He has also been called Americana/Appalachian Folk/Country-Rock/Old-Timey/Progressive Bluegrass/Progressive Country/Progressive Folk/String Bands/Traditional Country … take you pick …but I like all those also".

This album is his old timey album with bluegrass and Appalachian sounds thrown in. Hartford, however, is no mere traditionalist as themes are regularly updated to suit the modern world. It's as if the music of times past was never marginalised but remained the dominant mainstream music and current concerns were incorporated into the sound, just like in rock music.

Floating in the background is Hartford's personality which is definitely and defiantly left of centre. Take a look at him on the cover if you need any further proof.

Hartford's musicianship and smarts makes the music work for both lovers of "old timey" and "weird country" music. This is music that Hartford clearly loves and is smart enough to treat with some disrespect as only a person who is truly familiar with something can. It is not surprising that Hartford compiled and performed on some of the songs for the Coen Brothers "O Brother Where Art Thou" (James are you reading) soundtrack as well as playing in the spin-off "old timey" concert "Down From The Mountain". He also added music and narration to Ken Burns’ landmark "Civil War" series.

He is assisted by Nashville legends Norman Blake (guitar), Tut Taylor, (dobro), Vassar Clements (violin),Randy Scruggs (bass) and produced by the great solo and sessionman David Bromberg.

If you know where Hartford is coming from this is pretty much a near perfect album.

If you don't know then the loss is yours. You will have to wait until Bruce Springsteen, Ryan Adams, Nick Cave, Coldplay, Sonic Youth or Radiohead discover this music and make it hip again. So, put those nose rings in and get comfortable …

Tracks (best in italics)

  • Turn Your Radio On – that old time religion … and if you aint a believer you may well be at the end. Either that or you will burn in hell. To me, it's so matter of fact, as if Hartford was sitting and plucking on my front porch, if I had one. Though I'm sure he would like my pergola.
  • Steamboat Whistle Blues – Hartford here has written a authentic old time folk song (an ode to steamboats) with current themes (comsumerism and the disposable society – very Kinksian). The steamboat is a reoccurring theme in his music (he was even a steamboat captain for a while).

Well the city's growing up where it looks all square
Like a crossword puzzle on a landscape
It looks like an electric shaver now
where the court house used to be
The grass is all synthetic and we don't know for sure about the food
The only thing we know for sure is the,
Steamboat whistle Blues
I'd sit and watch my TV if I thought I could trust the news
About the only thing I trust these days
Is them steamboat whistle blues

  • Back in the Goodle Days – the "goodle" is not a misprint – this song is a jokey ode to the good old days narrated from the future … think about it. 
  • Up on the Hill Where They Do the Boogie – lots of double meaning and sufficiently obscure to make Bob Dylan happy this song, on face value, is a gentle bouncy romp that will make you tap your foot and if you care to listen there is a message.
  • Boogie – a hoot but totally insane … this could rival Blind Melon Chitlin but is Hartford joking? I suspect he is taking the piss out of all the sexually suggestive songs by blues based rock bands of the time … but who knows.
  • First Girl I Loved – beautiful ode to lost love (and a reflection on future loves) and played really well. Apparently the first love referred to was Hartford's cousin hence the lyric in the second verse.

            But the laws of nature said, ‘forget it, son’
            ‘least that’s what somebody told me
            I worried about it a little bit, but that’s all

        There is a genuine regret but not necessarily sadness in Hartford's voice as he reflects on future

         loves and past loves. Wonderful.

            I regret my life won’t be long enough
            To make love to all the women that I’d like to
            Or least of all, to live with the ones I’ve loved
            And I’ve never regretted a love affair, 
            except one and that’s all over
            I worried about it a little bit, but that’s all

  • Presbyterian Guitar – an instrumental and quite beautiful … but Presbyterian?
  • With a Vamp in the Middle  – I have no idea what a "wiggle in the middle" is, but this is a joyful bounce.
  • Symphony Hall Rag – a beautiful bouncy banjo instrumental.
  • Because of You – short and to the point "Because of you I close my eyes each time I yodel"
  • Steam Powered Aereo Plane – very evocative with Hartford straining his upper register – more like a glorified jam this still works on evoking a mood …

            Sittin' in a 747 just watching them clouds roll by,
            Can't tell if it's sunshine or if it's rain.
            Rather be sittin' in a deck chair high above Kansas City,
            On a genuine old fashioned steam powered aero plane.

  • Holding – a drug song on an old timey bluegrass album!
  • Tear Down the Grand Ole Opry – an excellent song about the Opry and it's prospective demolition which is also a statement on the then contemporary country music establishment and a affirmation of country music past.
  • Leather Britches – another old timey instrumental.
  • Station Break – dialogue.
  • Turn Your Radio On – a reprise of the opening and a fitting way to close.

And …

A definite keeper.

Sounds

Turn Your Radio On

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjhZGG_U9Hk

Steamboat Whistle Blues 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lp1VlWpNDt0

and attached

 

Back in the Goodle Days 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hfmr-Zn_nRI

Up on the Hill Where They Do the Boogie 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aXZmbbPLaM

Boogie 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9GgvHDVq_I

live ! – how the hell do you do this song live?

Here's the answer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uZ4_5dgfs0

First Girl I Loved 

attached

 

Presbyterian Guitar 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3p6kCLedJ9A

Steam Powered Aereo Plane 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdgLtzWJhbU&feature=related

Holding 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUQXVnfRCNE&feature=related

Others:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chTOWT78etY&feature=related

hello

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rd5okmSRCa8&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43TtbOEaABE&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCVQ3w3sKxA

Review

A succinct an great review of this album is found on amazon.com (I usually link other reviews but this is is short and spot on):

John Hartford didn't just bite the hand that fed him; he made it a full-course meal. After Glen Campbell rode Hartford's "Gentle on My Mind" to the top of the charts, Hartford was secure enough to stick his tongue out at the Nashville establishment. His songs offer an almost unparalleled blend of sardonicism and sincerity, a silliness tempered by a respect for musical tradition and beautiful melody. And despite his irreverence, he attracted the best pickers in the business. Norman Blake, Tut Taylor, Vassar Clements, and Randy Scruggs accompany him on this 1971 "newgrass" gem, a spontaneous album that was recorded live in the studio without any arrangements whatsoever. Delicious instrumentals stand by novelties about sex ("Boogie") and drugs ("Holding"), and semiserious diatribes ("Tear Down the Grand Ole Opry") live next to old-time gospel harmonies ("Turn Your Radio On"). Somehow, Aereo-Plain manages to be deeply cynical and emotionally uplifting at the same time.

Bio

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

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:gifrxql5ldse~T1

http://www.johnhartford.org/ZHome%20Page/JohnHartfordBiographyandDiscography/John'sBiographyandDiscography.htm

producer:

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

Website

http://www.johnhartford.org/ZHome%20Page/JohnHartfordBiographyandDiscography/John'sBiographyandDiscography.htm

http://www.johnhartford.com/biography.cfm

(originally posted: 25/04/2010)

 

 

Posted in Alt Country | Tagged | Leave a comment

FANCY – Wild Thing – (Atlantic) – 1974

Posted on August 16, 2011 by Franko
what Frank is listening to #153 – FANCY – Wild Thing – (Atlantic) – 1974
 
I thought I wouldn't have to spend too much brain time on this album as I thought it was going to be totally frivolous and disposable. Having said that "frivolous and disposable" can be endearing when it unintentionally transcends itself.
 
This doesn't transcend itself but it's not frivolous or disposable. Having said that it's not particularly memorable either. Importantly though, it doesn't offend and occasionally surprises.
 
"Fancy" is a manufactured group from start to finish. English producer Mike Hurst (formerly of folk popsters The Springfields) apparently had a "dream" of covering the Chip Taylor written, Troggs hit from 1966, "Wild Thing", for the 70s. He knew he could get away with a lot more innuendo than Reg Presley did in the 60s and he knew there was a market for this. England in the early to mid 70s was all disco, glam, sex, black divas, Adventures of a Taxi Driver, Barbara Windsor's norks, fwoarhhh, Benny Hill, Carry On films, decadence and hairy muff. In other world possibly the greatest era in English pop cultural history. Does the Swinging 60s really stack up against Barbara Windsor's norks of the 70s?
 
Hurst collected a group of musicians and session musicians with a view to covering the title track, which they did. When that track became a hit this album was rushed out to cash in.
 
Helen Court (or Caunt) a former Penthouse Pet (yes, seriously, with that name) sang on the "Wild Thing" single …a nd I assume that is the track on this album. For the remainder of the songs she was replaced (presumably because she couldn't sing – her "Wild Thing" vocals was heavy breathing punctuated by a series, of moans, cries of ecstasy and occasional suggestive words which fit the song perfectly but probably would not sustain a whole album) by British born Australian Annie Cavanagh (who had been doing backing vocals on stage in Godspell). Cavanagh sings in the soul funk bluesy rock diva style of the 70s.
 
Other members were:
  • Ray Fenwick – guitar and backing vocals – ex Spencer Davis Group and Tee-Set and future Ian Gillan Band member, who co-wrote most of the songs with Hurst. http://rayfenwick.com/fancy.htm
  • Henry Spinetti – drums – who I assume only plays on "Wild Thing" – otherwise he was a session man extraordinaire to Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney, Gerry Rafferty, George Harrison, Roger Daltrey, Andy Fairweather-Low, Joan Armatrading, Bob Dylan, Willie & the Poor Boys, Bonnie Tyler, and Procol Harum etc.
  • Les Brinks – drums –  ex Headstone, Alvin Stardust Band and future member of Judas Priest.
  • Mo Foster – Bass – ex Affinity and session muso legend. http://www.mofoster.com/biog.php
  • Alan Hawkshaw – keyboards – former Emile Ford & His Checkmates and session muso to Serge Gainsbourg, Jane Birkin, Dusty Springfield, Barbra Streisand, and Olivia Newton-John etc and future member of camp disco act "Love & Kisses".
The album is well played, as you would expect given the musicians, and the music here is equal parts disco, bluesy rock and glam rock. It's as if Suzi Quatro was singing Donna Summer and I have no problems with any of that as I love Suzi Quattro (aaaah to be a kid in the 70s again) but the glam rock / disco melange is for small spoon tasting only as a little of this goes a long way.
 
So why are the band remembered?
 
Probably because "Wild Thing" is a particularly funny piece of Euro trash and the band had that and another Top 20 hit in the US ("Touch Me") and in a 250+ million person marketplace that means those hits were very big. (Lets put it this way : The Smiths, Blur and The Jam never even had any Top 40s in the US)
 
Impressive as that is it was also done without any substantial promotion. The single did not even chart in England (and neither did its follow up). "Wild Thing" was a bona fide hit made by the public.
 
Tracks (best in italics)
  • Wild Thing  – Taylor  –  downright stoopid but perfectly agreeable – a 70s companion piece to "Je T'aime" Serge Gainsborough and Jane Birkin.
  • Love for Sale – Fenwick, Hurst  –  The singing here in a bluesy rock style is a million miles removed (for the better) from the last track though the song itself is not as good.
  • Move On  – Fenwick, Hurst  –  mid-era Status Quo but more gentle with lead vocals by Fenwick (I assume).
  • I Don't Need Your Love   – Fenwick, Hurst  – 
  • One Night  – Bartholomew, King, Steiman  – the Elvis hit from 1958 and quite a suggestive song even in the Elvis cleaned up version. Elvis did sing the original Smiley Lewis blues lyric, "One Night (of Sin)" but that remained unreleased until after his death.
  • Touch Me  –  Fenwick, Hurst  –  ahhh ode to a songwriter … nothing like writing your own music …
            In the night, in the city
            Alone in my room, all alone
 
            Touch me
            Ooh, I get the feeling
            Touch me
            Ooh, it feels good
            Touch me
            Yeah, I get the feeling
            Touch me good
  • U.S. Surprise  – Fenwick, Hurst  – 
  • Between the Devil and Me  – Fenwick, Hurst  –  a Bo Diddley rip off.
  • I'm a Woman  – Leiber, Stoller  –  The famous Leiber & Stoller song sung originally by Christine Kittrell in the early 60s but popularised by Peggy Lee.
  • I Feel Good  – Fenwick, Hurst  –
And … 

Tape a couple and sell.   

Chart Action
 
Singles:
"Wild Thing" #14US, failed to chart in England.
"Touch Me" #19US, failed to chart in England.
 
Album:
failed to chart US and England.
 
A second album "Turns You On" followed in 1976 – it bombed also.
 
Sounds
 
Wild Thing  
attached

Love for Sale
attached
 
I Don't Need Your Love 

One Night    
attached
 
Touch Me   

I Feel Good 
 
Review
 
 
Bio
 
 
(originally posted: 11/04/2010)
Posted in Soul, Funk & Disco | Tagged | Leave a comment

DEL SHANNON – Little Town Flirt – (London) – 1963

Posted on August 15, 2011 by Franko
Despite the fact I didn't have this album till recently there is nothing new here to me as I had heard all the tracks before on compilations and on a Shannon box set I have. Still for the sake of completeness …
 
Shannon along with Bobby Darin (for different reasons) was perhaps the most remarkable artist in the AE/BB (After Elvis/Before Beatles) era. I must admit I love a lot of artists from this era regardless of their cheese quotient – Fabian, Frankie Avalon, Jay and the Americans, Bobby Vee, Bobby Vinton, Len Barry etc. Del Shannon however was an authentic rocker and even his pop tunes, though poppy, are quite rough around the edges when compared to some of the slick pop rock of the era.
 
Unfortunately his talent is generally underestimated – his hit making period lasted only five years before he hit the "oldies" circuit (I saw him live in 1989 and he was still excellent live despite the bloodless venue and audience). The "underestimation" of him is a pity as he put out consistently interesting and occasionally magnificent albums – especially those after his hit making period was over (there are some serious gems there). He is however forever associated with the AE/BB era which doesn't gain much attention or respect from the "serious" music critics whilst the general public tend to concentrate on the singles of that era. Again, this is a pity, because this era is probably the most undervalued in rock and which still unearths hidden gems.
 
The AE/BB era is generally portrayed as conservative and comfortable before everything started to fall apart in the mid 60s. Fair enough, everything did fall apart, but the late 50s and early 60s were certainly on simmer with a lid pushed down tight. Think about the early 60s … civil rights, the Cuban Missile Crisis and the threat of Nuclear War, the first movements towards Vietnam, and culturally, the kids of the 50s, now teens or young adults, were generally questioning societal norms and patterns of behaviour, whether they intentionally knew it or not. The conservative external appearance which was forced on entertainers in an attempt to redress the seismic cultural attitudinal change as a result of Elvis and others in the 50s music was not affecting the music which was still (though subtly) subversive – the folk movement was becoming political again, teen death songs were in abundance, crazed nonsensical frat rock was mutating into garage rock and pop songs with banal lyrics to disguise obscene emotions were all quietly challenging the moral majority. Perhaps Del's slightly tense, slightly nervy, slightly paranoid and occasionally manic delivery fits the eras contradictions the best.
 
Shannon also wrote or co-wrote a lot of his own material which also is consistently interesting and on this album those songs are occasionally stellar (some of it is quite downbeat and there are reoccurring themes of loneliness and alienation which may have been organic rather than intellectual on Del's part) . Shannon also had a way of taking a cover by the balls and singing it off the planet while variously sounding like Elvis, Roy Orbison, a fifth Beatle or all three. Across all his vocalising there is the aforementioned slight desperation and heartbreak to his voice with a hint of pent up anger which juxtaposes his conformative exterior appearance. He is the musical equivalent of Glenn Ford's film persona, if anyone remembers that film great … all nervous confusion, anxiety and doubt. And its that edge (or difference) which makes his music that much more distinctive and impressive, well that and the fact that there are some well written songs.
 
Shannon himself possessed demons and had a topsy turvy career moving between big hits, introspective albums, covers albums (he did a whole album of Hank Williams numbers in 1965 … so much for Gram Parsons), writing and producing for others (specifically Brian Hyland who had some big hits with Del), and the oldies circuit. On two occasions his disciples tried to revitalize his career : Tom Petty produced and the Heartbreakers backed him on his"Drop Down and Get Me" album from 1981 whilst Jeff Lynne (of ELO) produced his last album "Rock On" in 1991. His career made a bit of a comeback when "Runaway" was re-recorded and used in the hit TV show "Crime Story" and then finally he was to replace Roy Orbison in he Travelling Willbury's after Roy's death. Del however, prone to bouts of depression, let his demons take control and he shot himself in the head, dead, in 1991.
 
Interestingly Del played on the same bill as some pre US fame Beatles in Europe and would become the first American artist to cover a Beatles song when he recorded "From Me to You" in 1963. More interestingly, and occasionally referred to is that Shannon's melodic style of rock – rough but poppy – was influential on the British scene where he was incredibly popular. His music is not that dissimilar in tone and mood from the English Beat bands though a bit rougher.
 
This album rarely rates well because, according to the norms of the time (and our perceptions of them), there are a number hits surrounded by filler. I though will differ with the general consensus. Del was an underrated guitarist and the playing here is excellent whilst the occasional clavioline is a treat. The hits here are stellar and the filler is well above average. And, with no song over three minutes you don't have to wait long if it doesn't tickle your fancy. It is hard not to listen to this album without putting it on again. It captures the era magnificently.
 
Tracks(best in italics)
  • Two Kinds of Teardrops  – McKenzie, Shannon – a killer track.
  • Dream Baby – Walker –   the Orbison song – well done but nothing is added to the original.
  • Happiness – Ellis, Shannon – very much of the era
  • Hey Little Girl – Shannon – A edgy, nervy, fretful and magnificent pop song …
            Last night I walked through the,
            Streets of my town,
            I saw the shadow of a girl I had know,
            And through the shadows I could see many tears,
            And so I walked up and I said
 
            Hey! Little girl,
            Let me fix your broken heart,
            I'll replace each broken part that's gone,
            Because I know why you cry-y-y,
            Hey! Little girl my hearts been broken to.
  • She Thinks I Still Care – Duffy, Lipscomb – the big George Jones country hit from 1961 and later covered by everyone from Elvis to Connie Francis. Del always had a country bent – he played in country bands in the 50s, put out the aforementioned Hank Williams LP and wrote lyrics which owe more than a little to the emotional country heart on your sleeve type lyrics.
  • Runaway – Crook, Shannon – one of the greatest rock songs ever written. Nothing else needs to be said. Put it on and turn it up. (Apart from the 80s re-recorded version he also did another version of the song for Andrew Loog Oldham in 1967)
  • Runaround Sue – DiMucci, Maresca – the magnificent Dion song well sung by Del but forever associated with Dion.
  • Hats Off to Larry – Shannon – a nasty song … and one any boy can relate to. Swapping between tenor and falsetto the narrator congratulates a guy who caught the narrators girl on the rebound after she dumped the narrator and now the new guy has dumped the girl and the narrator hopes she feels what he did (phew!).
  • Kelly – McKenzie, Shannon – mid-tempo love songs with girls names … everyone had to do one.
  • Hey! Baby – Channel, Cobb – the 1962 #1 for Bruce Channel which was written by Bruce Channel and future country star Delbert McClinton. Another solid version by Del.
  • Go Away Little Girl – Goffin, King – a #1 for Steve Lawrence in 1962 and written by the great Goffin and King … Del's version is great though the Jay and the Americans version from 1966 is pretty stellar.
  • Little Town Flirt – McKenzie, Shannon – another killer …
            Here she comes (here she comes)
            Little town flirt (here she comes)
            You're fallin' for her
            And you're gonna get hurt
 
            Yeah, I know it's so hard to resist
            The temptation of her tender red lips
            But you can hurt, hur-hur-hur-hurt
            Yeah, you can get hur-hur-hur-hur-hur-ur-urt
            Foolin' around (foolin' around)
            With that little town flirt
 
            Here she comes (here she comes)
            With that look in her eye (here she comes)
            She plays around
            With every guy that goes by-y-y-y-y-y-y-y
            Yeah, I know she's gonna treat you wrong
            So your heart just better be strong
            'cause you can hurt, hur-hur-hur-hurt
            Yeah, you can get'a hur-hur-hur-hur-hur-ur-urt
            Foolin' around (foolin' around)
            With that little town flirt
 

 And…

Yes, I'm keeping this. 

Chart Action
 

The album went to #12 in the charts in the USA.
1961 "Runaway"  #1 USA, #1 England
1961 "Hats Off to Larry" #5 USA, #6 England
11/61 "Hey! Little Girl" # 38USA, #2 England
1962 "Little Town Flirt" #12 USA, #4 England
1963 "Two Kinds of Teardrops" #50 USA, #5 England
 
Sounds
 
with the attached songs … wait till the middle of the night, turn down the lights and turn up the volume …..
 
Two Kinds of Teardrops
 
Hey Little Girl

Runaway
live
re recorded
original attached

Runaround Sue

Hats Off to Larry
live1982
attached
Kelly
Hey! Baby 
Go Away Little Girl
 
Little Town Flirt
live
attached
 
Covers:
 
Bio
 
 
Website
 
 
Picture
 
early 60s Del
 
 
Mid 60s Del with some other blokes
 

 

Late 60s Del
 
(originally posted: 04/04/2010)

 

Posted in Rockabilly and Rock n Roll | Tagged | Leave a comment

PETE SEEGER – God Bless The Grass – (Columbia) – 1966

Posted on August 15, 2011 by Franko
This one has been kicking around for a while. It was part of my collection and then in a cull I thought to get rid of it. I realised that a cull of my collection is not the solution … the making of more shelves for records is. So now its time to revisit a record I haven't listened to in 20 years.
 
I was always partial to Pete Seeger … there was a time in my life when I had a lot of questions and I found a lot of American folk music answered those questions. Admittedly I preferred the fighting words of Woody Guthrie and the directness of Phil Ochs but, hey, I was in my early 20s. Pete Seeger I wrongly lumped in with the hippies and the peaceniks and holding hand sing a longs when I preferred direct action and confrontational music … errr, whilst sitting comfortably at home in front of the stereo. 
 
Pete was a contemporary of Guthrie's but of more even temperament. Woody Guthrie's guitar was stickered with "This Machine Kills Fascists," whilst (early on) Seeger's banjo was emblazoned with "This Machine Surrounds Hate and Forces It to Surrender." A subtle but distinct difference in philosophies (or temperament).
 
Of course things are not as I thought they were and Pete sang much more than simple platitudes. Over the years, as he has grown older and more acceptable to the middle class (he even appeared on Sesame Street), he became more benevolent and Father Christmas like, but don't be fooled he has not sold out and is now America's most favourite communist (or socialist – depending on where you stand in relation to definitions and the political fence). Of course I would argue that the respect of the middle does not imply a sell out, especially here, as Seeger started where most people end … from a well considered position.
 
Pete is the historian, archivist and librarian of folk. He is also the philosopher and thoughtful debater. His music reflects the scope of American folk (and the American Left) from the white middle class on the civil rights band wagon of "We Shall Overcome" to the in your face working-class politics of "I Hate the Capitalist System". His music also encompasses romantic ballads, environmental songs, kids songs and nonsense songs. His music is not anti–American and encompasses patriotic songs but never racist or exclusionist songs. He, like the rather more biting Phil Ochs, does encompass the "I love America" attitude but chooses to cast a critical eye over it. More than anyone else he has delineated the boundaries of folk music (and he was none to happy when Dylan plugged in even though he was a big influence on Dylan as well as on Bruce Springsteen, Don McLean, The Byrds and the mundane Billy Bragg).
 
The good news is Pete is still singing and releasing records (he was born in 1919 in New York) and played at President Obama's inauguration in 2009. He lives with his wife in in a small modest cabin in upstate New York. His life has had so many milestones I leave it to you to look at the bio links for detail.
 
Some people say there is a tendency for Pete to appear preachy or smug and I have noticed that but I give him the benefit of a doubt as those complaints usually say more about the listeners politics than anything else. I think sometimes his songs can be a little twee or one dimensional (especially on the live LPs where he has an audience and a cause) but I always find them valuable if for no other reason than from a historical perspective as his songs being "folk" songs do deal with the concerns of the "folk", at the time they were written.
 
His albums are normally him, his banjo and a bundle of songs, sometimes with related themes. The fact that he can control the listeners attention is a testament to his ability as a musician and storyteller.
 
This album is an album of songs about the environment and conservation or linked to those concerns. The fact that it was released in 1966 puts it at the forefront of music about the environment and environmental concerns, making it possibly the first ecological album. Those concerns would become dominant themes in the music of the late 60s and early to mid 70s culminating in the "no nukes" concert of the late 70s.
 
It's not rock so any Rolling Stone magazine type discussions on early "concept" albums sadly miss this (or the other albums that precede it) … apparently the Beatles invented the concept album.
 
What is good about the album is that not all the songs are diatribes. Some are evocative rural songs whilst some are old traditional songs of a simpler time past. It is this mix of songs and subsequent mood that makes the album become a more forceful polemic than it otherwise would have been. Malvina Reynolds co-writes a lot of the songs and her strident pointed lyrics are self evident as you would expect, and as they should be. Bio link below.
 
For all you climate change sceptics, weekend warriors, jet skiers and off road four wheel drivers the album may annoy you as the issues in 1966 seem to be much the same as the ones now even though the science has changed and our appetite to destroy has become more proficient. The album doesn't really point fingers but it makes it clear that you cant' have it both ways vis a vis the environment. And that is still lost on today's public, who are by and large, apathetic … selfish at best, morons at worst.
 
Tracks (best in italics)
  • The Power and the Glory – Ochs  –  one of Ochs most powerful songs is given a too genial interpretation by Pete.
            First verse
 
            Come and take a walk with me thru this green and growing land
            Walk thru the meadows and the mountains and the sand
            Walk thru the valleys and the rivers and the plains
            Walk thru the sun and walk thru the rain
 
            Last verse
 
            But our land is still troubled by men who have to hate
            They twist away our freedom & they twist away our fate
            Fear is their weapon and treason is their cry
            We can stop them if we try
  • Pretty Saro – Traditional –  a beautiful traditional song about new lands and lost loves. Quite haunting and well covered.
  • 70 Miles – Reynolds, Seeger  –  environmentalism with a capital "E" and quite persuasive.
  • The Faucets Are Dripping – Reynolds  –  in the best tradition of folk – a sing-a-long song but with a relevant message.
            The faucets are dripping in old New York City,
            The faucets are dripping and oh, what a pity,
            The reservoir's drying because it's supplying
            The faucets that drip in New York.
 
            You can't ask the landlord to put in a washer,
            He'd rather you move than to put in a washer,
            The faucets are dripping, they sound in my ears, 
            The tap in the bathroom's been running for years.
 
            I'm forever changing washers but then again I'm not from NYC.
  • Cement Octopus – Reynolds  –  if there ever was a song that is still relevant now (if not more relevant) then here it is … you wont have to think too much to pick up the meaning …
            There's a cement octopus sits in Sacramento, I think,
            Gets red tape to eat, gasoline taxes to drink, 
            And it grows by day and it grows by night 
            And it rolls over everything in sight. 
            Oh, stand by me and protect that tree
            From the freeway misery.
 
            Who knows how the monster started to grow that way; 
            Its parents are frightened and wish it would go away.
            But the taxes keep coming, they have to be spent
            On big bull dozers and tanks of cement,
            Oh, stand by me and protect that tree 
            From the freeway misery.
 
            That octopus grows like a science-fiction blight, 
            The Bay and the Ferry building are out of sight,
            The trees that stood for a thousand years,
            We watch them falling through our tears
            Oh, stand by me and protect that tree
            From the freeway misery.
 
            Dear old MacLaren won't take this lying down, 
            We can hear his spirit move in the sandy ground,
            We built this Eden on the duney plain, 
            Now they're making it a concrete desert again,
            Oh, stand by me and protect that tree
            From the freeway misery.
 
            The men on the highways need those jobs, we know
            Lets put them to work planting new trees to grow.
            Building new parks where kids can play,
            Pushing that cement monster away,
            Oh, stand by me and protect that tree
            From the freeway misery
  • God Bless the Grass – Reynolds  –  "Rory", "Corey", "Allegory" … small blades of grass that come up through the cracks in cement and eventually take over. A metaphor for all kinds of roots based (no pun intended) action especially non-violent revolution. Something that I would have thought the internet would have assisted … ( in between all the shopping and porn)
  • The Quiet Joys of Brotherhood – Farina –  a powerful song by Richard Farina done well by Pete but there have been better versions. Read up on Richard Farina who died young in the 60s – see link below.
  • Coal Creek March – Steele, Steele  –  an instrumental and Pete doing what he does best – plucking his banjo … a perfect way to end side one
  • The Girl I Left Behind – Traditional –  A beautiful traditional instrumental which actually evokes the title. The song has been used and adapted many times though its melody came from an Irish tune of the 18th century which was popularised during the American Civil War by Union Troops (probably by Irish conscripts – who incidentally were on both sides). And that is where I heard it … not in the war but in the criminally underrated John Ford – John Wayne film "The Horse Soldiers" (1959). Though Ford was fond of it he used it (to my ears) in the post-civil war film (also criminally underrated) "Rio Grande" (1950). The melody (to my ears) was also used as the backing to the Elvis song "A Cane and a High Starched Collar" a song cut from his 1870s era western (and one of the best westerns of the 1960s) "Flaming Star" (1960).  Aaah musical archaeology, is there anything better?
  • I Have a Rabbit – Eliran  – nice. 
  • The People Are Scratching – Marrs, Martin, Seeger  –  another song with a barbed message and quite convincing.
            Up in the sky there were meat-eating fowls.
            The dead rabbits poisoned the hawks and the owls.
            Thousands of field mice the hawks used to chase
            Were multiplying all over the place.
 
            Now the people are scratching all over the street
            Because the rabbits had nothing to eat.
            …
 
            All you small creatures that live in this land
            Stay clear of the man with the poisonous hand!
            A few bails of hay might keep you alive
            But he'll pay more to kill you than let you survive.
 
            Now the people are scratching all over the street
            Because the rabbits had nothing to eat.
  • Coyote, My Little Brother – La Farge  –  Peter La Farge was a Indian (possibly not) singer of the 1960s who was much loved by Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan before dying young. This version is so so.
  • Preserven el Parque – Elysian  Kellen  –  a Spanish song … "Preserve the Park" … Pete often sings in other languages and translates for the audience …
  • My Dirty Stream (The Hudson River Song) – Seeger  –  A plea for the polluted Hudson river in New York to be cleaned up. Seeger was (and is) involved in the environmental organization, Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, which he co-founded in 1966 a early inspiration to Greenpeace (before they sold out). A powerful song.
  • Johnny Riley – Traditional –  a snippet of the haunting old traditional ballad
  • Barbara Allen – Traditional  –  another old beautiful old ballad, here done as a instrumental. There are millions of versions of this song and it never fails to evoke.
  • From Way up Here – Reynolds, Seeger  –  no war but peace, love and understanding … so what's wrong with that?
  • My Land Is a Good Land – Andersen – the famous song by (with a touch of refreshing cynicism) US folkie Eric Andersen (see below) … excellent.

 And …

Still relevant – I'm keeping this.

Sounds

70 Miles
live

God Bless the Grass
attached
Girl I Left Behind
attached
 
Ford-Rio Grande-The Girl I Left Behind
The People Are Scratching
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyGYXjyrvhY
 
Coyote, My Little Brother
live
My Dirty Stream (The Hudson River Song)
attached
 
Barbara Allen
re-recording
 
Others:
Pete did everything from Communist workers songs to kids songs:
And his stuff whether it be solo, or with The Weavers or the Almanac Singers ( with Guthrie) has always been top notch
 
Bio
 
 
Review
 
 
Bio
 
 
Other
 
 
Website
 
 
Picture
 
Photo
 
(originally posted: 28/03/2010)
Posted in Folk | Tagged | Leave a comment

KIM FOWLEY – Outrageous – (Imperial) – 1968

Posted on August 15, 2011 by Franko
 
I do not recollect how I ever heard about Kim Fowley but I have about ten of his albums now. His early ones, however, have eluded me in the past. They would inevitably cost a arm and a leg locally and even on the net you can't really find them that cheap. (This one I got for a bargain at $26 US)
 
To say Kim Fowley is eccentric would really be an understatement. Perhaps "nut job" would be better. Either way "unheralded genius" would be fair and I do not use that term lightly.
 
He does make Phil Spector look normal though.
 
His genius is not based on creating anything new but is based on drive, stamina, vision and a single minded determination to paddle his boat his way regardless of where the current is going.
 
Usually I would put in a bio here, and I will though I will say that I approach Fowley's bio with some trepidation. I do not know where to start as the guy has done everything over the last fifty or so years. So, with that in mind I will do a stream of consciousness ramble and if that tweaks something in you then go to the bio links at the end and … happy journeys.
 
1939 or 1942, Hollywood Brat, Hollywood supporting actor Douglas Fowley, Catholic school, 1958, Sandy Nelson, National Guard, Hollywood Argyles, B Bumble & the Stingers, Nut Rocker, Paul Revere & the Raiders, PJ Proby, Singer Songwriter, Skip Battin, garage rock, producer, Warren Zevon, Frank Zappa, Gene Vincent, psychedelica, Rodney Bingenheimer, poet, Helen Reddy, prime bullshitter, svengali, The Runaways, Joan Jett, sex, punk, no sales.
 
Allmusic politely introduces Fowley with: "One of the most colorful characters in the annals of rock & roll, Kim Fowley was, over the course of his decades-long career, a true jack-of-all-trades: singer, songwriter, producer, manager, disc jockey, and published poet. He was also the catalyst behind much of the music to emerge from the Los Angeles area during the 1960s and 1970s, guiding his associates and protégés to fame and fortune while remaining himself a shadowy cult figure well outside the margins of the mainstream."
 
If you haven't figured it out yet you are not going to be kicking back with some nice Sgt Peppers tunes here …
 
This album is "out there" at a time when there were quite a few "out there" albums.  There is the tendency for one to say that Fowley is being "outrageous" for it's own sake but a closer listen to the music negates that. There is vision and a consistency of theme that is not manufactured. This is not the rantings of a mad man but it certainly is the ravings of a sane man who does not want to conform. His subsequent recordings vindicate this point of view. This album is no one trick pony but part of a larger body of work.
 
The album leans heavily on American west coast garage rock stylings with a bit of Zappa, Beefheart and Jim Morrison thrown in and all of these things would be positives that would achieve everlasting fame normally. Fowley however doesn't have the sex appeal of Morrison or the cultural kudos of Zappa and Beefheart (not enough jazz, art or Beat – too much LA Hollywood ) and the music is just too abrasive for commercial acceptance.
 
Fowley as writer, performer and producer knows what he is looking for. Backed by various members of Steppenwolf, Three Dog Night, as well as legendary guitarist Red Rhodes, and percussionist Joe Torres this is played well and, no doubt, achieves what Fowley was looking for.
 
What impresses most is that even though there are elements that are dated on the album, especially some of the studio tricks, the album is way ahead of its time. The themes and Fowleys vocalisation look forward to post-Stooges Iggy Pop, Bowie, Henry Rollins and punk. Fowley, like a schizophrenic pornographer on speed at a girls school vacillates between in your face garage rock and crazed spoken word ruminations. The albums grabs you buy the balls and demands to be listened to, and just when you have your most serious rock 'n' roll face on Fowley turns around and slaps you on the head and you realise he's taking the piss … probably.
 
Tracks (best in italics)
  • Animal Man– Has Iggy listened to this ? Methinks he has. This is garage updated for the 70s … in 1968!. A year before The Stooges would tackle the same concept and a few years before the not dissimilar "I'm Bored". This song is magnificent.
            Oh animal man, you’re so rough and so… big.
            Grunt , moan, grunt
            It’s too dirty, it’ll be banned
  • Wildfire – I have no idea what this song is about … but as a meaningless rambling with slow grind backing goes this is great.
  • Hide & Seek – a instrumental inserted for no apparent reason but a beautiful nod to Kim's roots of the early 60s updated with sleek funky keyboards and wha wha guitar.
  • Chinese Water Torture – I don't know what is going on here I'm just grateful that he didn't put on blackface. There seems to be a recurrent them of the Chinese invading America in 1987.
  • Nightrider – more Stooges.
  • Bubble Gum – as radio friendly as Fowley would get on this album with a touch of The Doors.
  • Inner Space Discovery – Hello Iggy, you have great taste. Magnificent.
  • Barefoot Country Boy – Fowleys straight rock number as if Chuck Berry was playing on Elvis' "Kissin Cousins" soundtrack.
  • Up: Up/Caught in the Middle/Down – these three songs are listed separately on the album but usually listed together as they form a suite … in fact I can't tell where one song ends and the other begins. This is 14 captivating minutes (and I'm not drinking) of stream of consciousness which is part double entendre, part nasty sex, and part treatise on sexual politics building to a apocalyptic or orgasmic crescendo. Straight people going "nowhere", a roomful of virgins, black negroes taking white chicks, white guys taking black chicks, and the Chinese invading in 1987, again, are covered with a backbeat of jagged guitars, freestyle rhythm and sound effects. Benny Hill meets Frank Zappa at Marquis de Sade's house. 
            How does you organ feel? … I want to see you get organized
  • California Hayride  – this is supposed to be the cigarette afterwards (after the last song) but instead we have Fowley yelling at us.

And … 

A great album … file next to and on the same level as The Stooges, Zappa and The Fugs.

 

Sounds
 
Animal Man
attached
 
Wildfire
attached

Chinese Water Torture

Nightrider

Bubble Gum
 
Other:
this is a spin:
 
Bio
 
 
Interviews:
 
Website
 
 
(originally posted: 21/03/2010)
Posted in Garage, Surf and Frat, Psychedelic | Tagged | 1 Comment

ROY ORBISON – Memphis – (MGM) – 1972

Posted on August 15, 2011 by Franko
I approached this album with some trepidation as most Roy Orbison albums after his 1960s hit making period (and some during that period) are patchy. That's not to say they are bad, as there is always something good on those albums, but they are, well … patchy.
 
The Roy story should be reasonably familiar to you all. But if it's not go to the bio section below. The story is compelling … and tragic.
 
Career wise Orbison's position in rock history cannot be underestimated. Singing professionally from 1955, he became a Sun records artist along with Elvis (well Elvis had just left), Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Charlie Rich and others. He had a couple of rock-a-billy hits then in 1960 he signed with Monument records and created some of the most magnificent ethereal pop rock songs of all time.
 
In 1965 Roy moved to MGM records and continued in the same vein but to lesser effect. The 70s and most of the 80s were marked by infrequent, misjudged albums, and cabaret shows. He was in the wilderness. In fact, in the US no Roy album charted between 1966 and 1989 and no single between 1967 and 1980.
 
In 1987 however, Roy came back riding on the enthusiasm of younger musicians who he had influenced. The 80s were peppered with musicians trying to revitalise the careers of their idols. John Cougar produced Mitch Ryder, Bruce Springsteen produced and wrote for Gary US Bonds, Tom Petty produced Del Shannon, Nick Lowe produced Johnny Cash, Jeff Lynne of ELO produced another Del Shannon album, Dave Edmunds produced the Everly Brothers, Marc Almond of Soft Cell sang with Gene Pitney, Dave Edmunds produced Dion, Keith Richards produced Chuck Berry, George Harrison, Eric Clapton and Ringo Starr appeared with Carl Perkins on a TV special. In that spirit new albums of material were released by Jerry Lee Lewis, Charlie Feathers, Little Richard, Charlie Rich, Link Wray and Ricky Nelson.
 
Of all these Roy hit the biggest with the "Mystery Girl" comeback album produced by Jeff Lynne, Bono and others and a popular filmed live concert, " A Black & White Night" , with  Jackson Browne, T Bone Burnett, Elvis Costello, k.d. Lang, Bonnie Raitt, Bruce Springsteen,Tom Waits and Jennifer Warnes. he was also a member of successful "supergroup", The Travelling Willbury's, with George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne.
 
Roy was flattered and humbled and found it hard to cope … he died in 1988 at the age of 52.
 
If nothing else, and there is much more, it is those magnificent hits from the early to mid 60s which Roy is associated with. His voice is otherworldly but with a slight fragile waver implying human heartache. I cannot wax poetical enough about these recordings. "Running Scared", "Love Hurts", "Crying", "Dream Baby", "Working for the Man", "Leah", "In Dreams, "Distant Drums", "Blue Bayou", "It's Over", "Indian Wedding", "Oh, Pretty Woman" are all essential. And I think everyone should own at least this era of Roy.
 
Bob Dylan referred to these recordings, "With Roy, you didn't know if you were listening to mariachi or opera. He kept you on your toes. With him, it was all about fat and blood. He sounded like he was singing from an Olympian mountaintop. [After “Ooby Dooby”] (h)e was now singing his compositions in three or four octaves that made you want to drive your car over a cliff. He sang like a professional criminal … His voice could jar a corpse, always leave you muttering to yourself something like, 'Man, I don't believe it'.
 
This album is from Roy's wilderness period in search of an audience. In some ways this was Roy's attempt to replicate Elvis' major return to the charts and live performing in the early 70s.
 
This, perhaps, is not unreasonable as Elvis was a Roy fan and Roy was an Elvis fan. Their paths had crossed many times since Roy saw Elvis in Dallas in 1954 and many times afterwards. They became friends and Roy – one year Elvis' junior – always held Elvis in high regard. Elvis' band often (later) played with Roy, they covered each other,  and there was the ill-advised Roy white jumpsuit stage in the 70s …
 
Roy, on this album, tries to replicate that general mish mash that were Elvis' albums in the 70s – where he recorded whatever he wanted on a whim. The trouble of course is Elvis made most of the songs his own and Roy, despite his magnificent voice, was not forcefully expressive enough to do the same. Some songs plainly do not work. Elvis also did not (generally) make concession to modern music but rather kept mining the music of his youth (or songs that sounded like the music of his youth).
 
So, largely, Roy fails … he should have been playing to his strengths not commercial considerations and on this album when he does play on his strengths, he soars.
 
Produced by Roy and rockabilly singer Joe Melson (who had been working with Roy since the early 1960s) the sound is crisp. Don Gant produces "Danny Boy" however, which is (magnificently) out of step with the rest of the album.
 
Tracks (best in italics)
  • Memphis, Tennessee – (Chuck Berry) – the great Chuck Berry song. Less rockier than Berry's 1958 version and less desperately frenzied than the Elvis version from 1964 this version actually still works in a MOR 70s funky way.
  • Why A Woman Cries – (Jerry McBee) – Country pop with maudlin lyrics which is carried by Roy's voice. I'm surprised Elvis didn't record this.
  • Run, Baby, Run (Back Into My Arms) – (Joe Melson, Don Gant) – A nice bit of MOR country rock with some very 1970s "whacka whacka" guitar. Not especially memorable but catchy.
  • Take Care Of Your Woman – (Jerry McBee) – more middle of the road country pop with overly dramatic lyrics.
  • I'm The Man On Susie's Mind – (Joe Melson, Glenn Barber) – mid tempo country pop … very much in the Glen Campbell paddock.
  • I Can't Stop Loving You – (Don Gibson) – Elvis recorded this in 1969 and sang this many times live in concert in the early 70s. It may be a coincidence but Roy's version sounds much like the Elvis version … the drama, the backing voices and general (good natured) pomposity. This is pure Vegas and that was Elvis at that time. Roy though generally restrains his voice. Still, a pretty good version.
  • Run The Engines Up High – (Jerry McBee) – this Jerry McBee really likes the dramatics. This is his (McBee) best song on the album and captures Roy in full flight. It's also much like what Gene Pitney was doing at the time.
  • It Ain't No Big Thing (But It's Growing) – (Neal Merritt, Alice Joy Merritt, Shorty Hall) – a Charlie Louvin, of the immortal Louvin brothers, song. Elvis recorded it in 1968 in his phenomenal sessions for Chips Moman at American Sound studios. It seems that Roy has covered the Elvis version … respectable but not as good. Though the song itself is a tad dodgy.
  • I Fought the Law – (Sonny Curtis) – perhaps the greatest song of rock rebellion ever. The law might win though the act of "fighting" speaks volumes. Covered many times though the Bobby Fuller Four version from the early 60s still reigns. This version is not a "threat" … Roy' special brand of rock was not aggressive, violent or contrary to the public good. Pleasant though.
  • The Three Bells – (Bert Reisfeld, Jean Villard) – a throwback to the Roy of the early 60s … a song originally recorded by The Browns in 1959 (#10 R&B USA) though the French version was done by Edith Piaf in the early 50s. Here it just sounds dated.
  • Danny Boy – (Frederick Weatherly) – who hasn't done this standard? Originally released in 1915 and covered by everyone from Johnny Cash (1965), Tom Jones (1969), Elvis Presley (1976), Link Wray (1960) to every second string balladeer. The song is obvious, maudlin, and overly dramatic, usually at the same time. The song has become a staple for "traditional pop" singers or drunken persons of Irish ancerstry in pubs late at night. The appearance of this song on a record sleeve usually has "Danger Will Robinson" written all over it. Roy transcends just about every version I have heard. This is the gem on the album. And even with the syrupy lyric this is an incredibly moving performance with Roy balancing out the folky and the pop aspects of the song as it is both a folky backwoods campfire song and also a Vegas, powerful, big ballad show stopper. And at almost six minutes it still works.

 And …

 

Patchy, but I'm still keeping this.

 

Sounds

Memphis, Tennessee

attached

I Can't Stop Loving You


Run The Engines Up High

It Ain't No Big Thing (But It's Growing)

I Fought The Law
(a so so recording)
 
The Three Bells

Danny Boy
attached
 
Other:
 
the jumpsuit years ( but what a voice) and you have to love the Japanese chicks
 
a good career review ( which is actually a long promo for a Roy box set)
 
Review
 
 
Bio
 
 
Website
 
 
(originally posted: 15/03/2010)
Posted in Rockabilly and Rock n Roll | Tagged | Leave a comment

GARY LEWIS – Listen! – (Liberty) – 1967

Posted on August 15, 2011 by Franko
Aaaahh, more Gary Lewis  … the delete button is marked with an "X"  on microsoft outlook … use it if you have any complaints about another Gary Lewis album being commented on but you will miss out on something quite surprising.
 
Do i have a Gary Lewis fixation … not quite, though I must admit I bought a bundle of his albums cheap and I am getting off on them. Though as I have said in the past, a couple of wines adds to the ambience.
 
I have said on four occasions in the past: ""Most of his albums were 1/2 originals( some written by him) and 1/2 covers of recent(ish) hits. Regardless, whether original or cover, Lewis seemed to have hit after hit. I suspect cause the records are well recorded, tightly played pop rock with a consistent musical personality throughout all …… Gary had a limited vocal range and was a bit gawky looking – like some sort of uber nerd but what he had was sass and good backing. He does what he does best, allows his voice to be pushed into the background or chorused with backing vocals or a multitude of instruments. The result is a romantic, lush pop rock with lyrics that are very mid 60s California – fun, sun, happy and optimistic"
 
This "romantic, lush pop rock with lyrics that are very mid 60s California – fun, sun, happy and optimistic" is the Lewis sound.
 
This all still holds true except here Lewis starts to explore the more cerebral side of the pop he was playing. Yes it does exist. And he is surrounded by arrangements by the legendary Jack Nitzche.
 
Jack "The Lonely Surfer" Nitzche is a legend: writer ("Needles and Pins"), arranger (for Phil Spector), producer (Neil Young), band member (Crazy Horse), solo act ("Lonely Surfer"), studio musician (piano, sax), soundtrack composer (One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest). A true eccentric – a comrade once commented when I found his "Lonely Surfer" album in an op shop …"I can see why he is lonely".
 
Nitzche's arrangements are contemporary (1967) and lush without being middle of the road which gives Lewis a dimension that he did not have in his other albums. This is not "out there" music but it is sufficiently bent around the edges to make it more than interesting. Prior to this Lewis was content to mine Beatles invasion type sounds or pre-Beatles 60s pop rock. Here he catches up with the "new" sounds but still maintains an identifiable link to his old style. This I like as any other way and it may be disingenuous.
 
Lewis writes none of the tracks here but he actually is in some of the best voice I have heard as his voice is actually up front and expressive. The song selections are strong as is the playing, and the album is quite experimental and adventurous for Gary Lewis. Previously Lewis albums were aimed at teens (not that there is anything wrong with that) but here the tracks are aimed at young adults. Accordingly there is more doubt, questions posed, and general melancholia which fits in with 1967 (which is the year before everything got markedly worse).
 
The album comes close to the sounds of The Association, post "Pet Sounds" Beach Boys, The Grass Roots or a less cabaret Gary Puckett and the Union Gap with the first side leaning towards Sunshine pop/baroque pop whilst side two leans to poppy folk rock.
 
This album qualifies as a "lost" late sixties soft rock / sunshine pop mini masterpiece made more surprising given where it came from. I kid you not … the album is entirely pleasing and would be more highly regarded if it were from someone else other than Lewis. Critics can be blinded by their prejudices and pre-conceptions and they usually are with Lewis which makes this album overlooked.
 
Lewis however was only encouraged to experiment if the result was shown in "sales" and neither the album or any singles charted. Subsequent albums I have heard reverted to the old formula.
 
The Tracks ( the best in italics)
  • Jill  – Bonner, Gordon  – a excellent song in the folk rock (with a touch of the baroque) style. Not surprising perhaps as the writers were otherwise in the folk rock band The Magicians.
  • Don't Make Promises  – Hardin –  Hardin ("If I were a Carpenter") was one of the best of the 60s singer-songwriters. Here they have taken his song and fused it with a backbeat (especially at the start) reminiscent of a mid-60s Gary Lewis tune. And it works.
  • She'd Rather Be With Me  – Bonner, Gordon  –  The Turtles hit from 1967 though I'm not sure if Lewis' version was first or not. I say that because the writers supplied four songs for this album which suggests that the song may have been supplied to Lewis first. The trouble is they also wrote four songs for the Turtles around this time. I will let others do the digging into recording dates if they could be bothered, though I think Lewis covered the Turtles. Either way the track is a killer for both Lewis and the Turtles
  • Here Comes the Sun  – Boylan, Boylan – The Boylan brothers were in The Appletree Theatre who put out one great (apparently) album before falling apart. I commented on a solo album by Terry Boylan (what Frank is listening to #41) which wasn't much chop. Here at least this song is excellent though very much of it's time.
  • Happiness  – Lehman, Perles –  one of the few songs on the album that harkens back to Lewis' old teeny bopper image. Though, even here, the song is not so much a teeny bopper song but rather an ode to the innocence of youth.
  • Bring the Whole Family – Boylan, Boylan – another Boylan brothers song … not as good as the earlier one but still catchy and quite trippy … very weird for a Gary Lewis song which makes it a kind of perverse pleasure.
  • Reason to Believe – Hardin – One of Hardin's best songs and often covered (Bobby Darin, Rod Stewart). Lewis version is good, but the song is so good it's hard to stuff up. Lewis' version sticks close to Hardin's.
  • New Day  – Bonner, Gordon – another weird one …
  • Small Talk  – Bonner, Gordon –  channelling the post "Pet Sounds" Beach Boys and why wouldn't you?
  • Angel on the Corner-  Jacobs – a Lovin Spoonful folk rock type number.
  • Six O'clock  – Sebastian  – a actual Lovin Spoonful number – #18 in 1967 for them. A good version.
  • Young and Carefree – Dobyne, Jones  – a fitting end to the album. A song of its time and, though optimistic, there is a touch of melancholia in it.

And …

 

This is one of the best Lewis albums I have heard thus far … I'm a keepin'.

 

Sounds

Jill


Don't Make Promises 
attached
 
She'd Rather Be With Me 
attached

Happiness 
 
Small Talk 
attached
 
Young and Carefree
attached
 
Review
 
 
Website
 

Other Comments

what is Frank Listening to #22

what is Frank Listening to #72

what is Frank Listening to #88

what is Frank Listening to #96

what is Frank Listening to #108

what is Frank Listening to #131

what is Frank Listening to #134

 

(originally posted: 08/03/2010)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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