JAY AND THE AMERICANS – Try Some of This – (United Artists) – 1967

Posted on July 22, 2011 by Franko

 what Frank is listening to #77 – JAY AND THE AMERICANS – Try Some of This – (United Artists) – 1967  

 

A great underrated US pop band from the 1960s. It baffles me why pop groups like Jay and the Americans, Gary Lewis and the Playboys, Dino, Desi and Billy and 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) .
 
In any event, in 1967 with 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.
 
Some bio: New Yorks 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 notched up four 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. So, I urge you to forget the rock operas of the 70s as there is much more rock "opera" in any two minutes of Jay and The Americans or The Four Seasons.
 
Generally with a band like this the vocals have to be superior and the music has to be lavishly produced, and this LP reflects that exactly. Importantly, the singles are usually tailor made for the band but the albums succeed or die according to the strength of the covers chosen. The covers here are well chosen and tasteful, with Brill building material, folk, and of course a Beatles tune.
 
This album is solid, enjoyable and concistently exciting.
 
The album is produced by number of producers – those supplying songs produce their own tracks (Leiber and Stoller, Jeff Barry) whilst Arnold Goland, and Bob Feldman produce the rest. The multiple producers haven't affected the sound of  the album adversely – it could all have been produced by one person – which would lead me to believe that there was a formula and producers just did whatever they wanted to do within the set parameters.
  • the songs are very "street" (well a New York 60s street from "West Side Story");
  • they have a concise narrative (any number of these tracks could have ended up on a Broadway show such are the narrative skills of the songwriters);
  • usually both sides of the narrative are explained, and;
  • the instrumentation accentuates the mood of the narrator

…. so you can enjoy the venacular, the story and the music.

It's easy to scoff but isn't this what Brian Wilson was doing at the same time though in in a more contemporary musical setting? Admittedly, he also found it hard to find an audience for his multi-layered and complex pop masterpieces ("Friends" – 1968, "20/20" – 1969, "Sunflower" – 1970, "Surfs Up" – 1971 are LP masterpieces that barely made a dent in the charts) … OK , I don't mean to compare Jay and the Americans to late 60s Beach Boys but they were barking up the same tree – albeit one was a palm in California and the other a elm in New York. (Scott Walker was also barking up the same tree though again with more critical acclaim).
 
Seriously, if you follow the line then The Flaming Lips "The Soft Bulletin" or "Yoshimi" is not too far removed from this.
 
Musically this album leans to "folk music" popular at the time but it is pop, "folk pop" perhaps … and there is a lot going on in there, well, more than meets the eye.
 
The Tracks: (the best ones are ***):
  • You Ain't as Hip as All That Baby*** – Jeff Barry – (3:05) – a great song – one of the best tracks on the album. More than a touch of Orbison drama and teen opera.
  • (There's) Always Something There to Remind Me*** – Burt Bacharach, Hal David – (2:38) – always a classic song.
  • Where's the Girl ***- Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller -(2:30) – great lyrics…."the canary stopped singing the moment she walked out the door" .. ha, great!
  • The Show Must Go On – Jeff Barry – (2:02) – another teen opera.
  • Truly Julie's Blues*** – Bob Lind – (2:58) – Bob Lind put out a couple of killer folk rock albums in the mid 60s and this is one of his tracks. Here Jay et al have emphasised the melody over the lyric and create a nice piece of aforementioned "folk pop" .
  • Where Is the Village – Traditional – (3:16) – a strange traditional … yiddish(?) folk pop? 
  • Nature Boy – Eden Ahbez – (2:40) – a good up-tempo version of the oft recorded song – Nat King Cole, Roy Hamilton etc.
  • Here, There and Everywhere*** – John Lennon, Paul McCartney – (2:44) – Lennon/McCartney certainly could have had careers as songwriters if they couldn't sing (derr). A good slightly Broadway-esque performance. Again, a hint of Roy Orbison.
  • (He') Raining in My Sunshine ***- G. Allen, Ron Dante -(2:56) – Ron Dante (the voice of the Archies) co-wrote this semi operatic baroque-y tune about a love that is stolen. Excellent! For everyone who's had some cuntstick steal his chick.
  • What to Do With Laurie – Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller – (2:31) – a very strange Leiber -Stoller track. Like a soliloquy from a Broadway musical.
  • It's a Big Wide Wonderful World ***- John Rox – (2:06) – an old standard … and it must have been an intentional way to end the album – a slice of (intentional) optimism at the height of Vietnam…. or irony? Either way it works. Thematically and in mood it bears a passing resemblance to Elvis' "Wonderful World" from 1968 (which must have been lifted from this old standard and which was written by a couple of Englishmen for Cliff Richard as his entry for contention to represent the UK in the Eurovision. How Elvis heard it I don't know but he liked it enough to record it).
On first blush it seems Jay and the Americans are the 1960s equivalent of the "boy band" of today but that would be wrong, and anyway as I have said in the past … if you are going to pick MOR pop to listen to … pick it from the 60s.
 
I'm a keeping this.
 
Sounds:
someone has uploaded most of the tracks … good on 'em … though most of the associated video clips are bad.
 
You Ain't as Hip as All That Baby
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uf5E_88wlto
(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYYsA-CZlJI
Here, There and Everywhere
attached – probably got into copyright problems with this Beatles classic – for Phil

(He') Raining in My Sunshine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAd5EZk1MOI
It's a Big Wide Wonderful World
 
Bio:
 
Website:
 
Further re-search:
Brill Building
Leiber and Stoller
Jeff Barry
 
(originally posted: 19/08/2009) 

 

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GLEN CAMPBELL – Big Bluegrass Special – (Capitol) – 1962

Posted on July 22, 2011 by Franko

 what Frank is listening to #76 – GLEN CAMPBELL – Big Bluegrass Special – (Capitol) – 1962

 

Where do I start with Glen Campbell?

The guy is a bonafide living legend. From rock band member, to session man, to pop country hit maker his guitar has never let him down. He in unquestionably one of the finest country, or rock, guitarists in the world.
 
His resume is to big for this commentary but in brief I paraphrase from a few sites:
 
Born in 1936 in Delight, Pike County, Arkansas. Playing guitar as a youth he eventually made his way to California where in 1959 he joined The Champs (who had had their big hit "Tequila" already).
  
He recorded an album (this one) and a couple of others and a couple of singles.
 
He was a touring member of The Beach Boys, filling in for Brian Wilson in 1964 and 1965. He played guitar on the group's Pet Sounds album, among other recordings. On tour, he played bass guitar and sang falsetto harmonies. Other classics featuring his guitar playing include: "Strangers in the Night" by Frank Sinatra, "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" by The Righteous Brothers, and "I'm a Believer" by The Monkees. He can be seen briefly in the 1965 film Baby the Rain Must Fall, playing guitar in support of Steve McQueen. Campbell was also the uncredited lead vocalist on "My World Fell Down" by the psychedelic rock act Sagittarius, which became a minor hit in 1967.(wikipedia)
 
In 1967 he recorded John Hartford's great song " Gentle on My Mind" and the rest is history as it was a big hit. He then teamed up with Jimmy Webb and put out a series of country pop hits.
 
Country pop is normally a bad genre but tracks like "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", "I Wanna Live", "Dreams of the Everyday Housewife", "Wichita Lineman"(all 1968) and "Galveston" (1969), "Try a Little Kindness" (1969), "Honey Come Back" (1970), "Everything a Man Could Ever Need" (1970), and "It's Only Make Believe" (1970), "Let It Be Me," "All I Have to Do Is Dream" are genius.
 
Just about everything he did between 1967 – 1972 is great. It's not revolutionary and surprisingly his guitar is rarely up front but there are some well written pop songs, well sung and well produced for mass entertainment.
 
His 1972 – 1982 stuff is patchy – there are a couple of good albums and a great single "Rhinestone Cowboy" otherwise there is too much 70s MOR. And in my view if you are going to be MOR then 1960s MOR is the only place to be … full stop.
 
Glen also had a long cocaine fuelled affair with country singer Tanya Tucker in the 1970s (he was in his mid-40s and she was 21) – and she was a mega fox in a 70s country sort of way. (he has been married four times thus far and has eight kids).
 
Maybe his personal life contributed to his 1970s output though his 1980s and 1990s work is seemingly worse – or what I should say is, what I have heard is pretty average. Though again, to be fair, I have not heard a lot from these years.
 
Since 2000 there has been some improvement apparently – possibly due to the interest in authentic Americana and roots music which is after all how Glen started.
 
Wikipedia says: Since 1962, Campbell has recorded and released 51 studio albums and 6 live albums. He has also lent his vocals to 3 soundtracks for motion pictures (True Grit, Norwood, Rock-A-Doodle). He has placed a total of 81 singles (one of which was a rerelease) on either the Billboard Country Chart or the Billboard Hot 100 or the Adult Contemporary Chart, 9 of which peaked at #1 on at least one of those charts…… Campbell was hand-picked by actor John Wayne to play alongside him in the 1969 film True Grit …. ( I hesitate to add they offered the True Grit role to Elvis first but the Colonel turned it down because it wasn't top billing).
  
The guy has done it all.
 
Read any of the bios on him if you need proof.
 
So, when I found this album I was very excited as it was his first album – having said that it has been in the pile for six months now (there are about 200 country records I want to listen to in the pile … you lucky readers).
 
This album is unlike anything you have heard from Glen … it is straight country with an emphasis on bluegrass. On various albums over the years, and especially live, he has done a authentic country song or two but here we have a whole album of roots country and folk.
 
For those who may love the US folk boom of the early 60s it is pretty clear this album is aimed at that folk crowd also (check out "Rainin on the Mountain"). Authentic country, Appalachian and bluegrass music was being regularly revived ("The Kentucky Colonels", "The Gosdin Brothers", "The Dillards") at the influential Newport Folk Festivals anyway, so this is obviously an attempt to tap into that revival.  
 
Country music like other genres has its familiar touchstones, and emotionally, country is "white man blues" – listen to the music and you will hear the songs are about manual labour, getting drunk, getting married, cheating on your wife, your wife leaving you, getting drunk, God, driving a truck, smoking, getting thrown in jail, getting drunk, having the "man" hassle you, getting drunk, being the outsider and importantly, family. Musically, it draws on a number of folk musics … Irish, Scot, English shanties as well as Spanish and French music – depending on which region you are from. Despite its highs and many, many lows country music is probably the most authentic and organic expression of the white blues as you are likely to get.
 
"Big Bluegrass Special" hooked Glen up with the Green River Boys and they did songs by Merle Travis (five songs), Cliffie Stone, Bob Nolan, and the Delmore Brothers (three songs) … so, given those writers, it's pretty authentic. And, that authenticity is what is surprising about this album, given what we know about the later Glen. But it is good, real good. Glen sings with the right amount of country white blues … and the playing is faultless. His voice is a tad to "clean" to be Merle Travis as he doesn't have that "lived in" voice yet, but that is only a minor detail when the music is done so well.  One cant help but wonder if this was a hit whether Glen's career might have been entirely different.
 
Best Tracks
  • Truck Driving man –  the obligatory truck driving song?
  • There's More Pretty Girls Than One .
  • No Vacancy
  • Kentucky Means Paradise – a fun nonsense song which you could see Jerry Reed doing 10 years later.
  • Lonesome Jailhouse Blues – how could you have a country album without a jailhouse song? – very Johnny Cash.
  • One Hundred Miles From Home – what the fuck? … this is the (later) folk standard which is usually a song of joyous emancipation. Glen has slowed the song right down and turned it into a sad blues. The song is normally called "500 Miles" (as done by Peter, Paul and Mary, The 60s Highwaymen, Peter & Gordon, The Kingston Trio etc).
  • Long Black Limousine – a magnificent song which is a great country lament. Elvis did this on his magnificent "From Elvis in Memphis" album in 1968.
Sounds:
Truck Driving Man – Live 1965
Long Black Limousine
 
Other Glen
 
Elvis' version of Long Black Limousine
or if you prefer it without the full production:
 
Another Review:
Bio
 
Website:
 
Other interesting bits:
 
Trivia:
  • the album was re-issued in the early 70s in a different sleeve – which I have.
Do yourself a favour – listen to some Glen if you haven't before. Everyone needs at least Glen's Greatest Hits (on the Capitol label) in their music collection.
 
(originally posted: 16/08/2009) 
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MORTIMER – Self titled – (Phillips) – 1968

Posted on July 18, 2011 by Franko

 what Frank is listening to #75 – MORTIMER – Self titled – (Phillips) – 1968

 

Another one from the very old maybe pile – very little is known about Mortimer except they were a trio from upstate New York and got to meet McCartney and Lennon on the "Tonight Show" in 1968 and almost got signed to the Apple label.

They released this one album and dissolved.

This is pure psych pop and very Anglo at that – they are often said to be influenced by The Beatles but I can see more of The Hollies in them. In any event the Anglo influences may not be that surprising … I don't know what they sounded before 1968 but in 1968 they ended up in London working with record producer Daniel Secunda (brother of Procol Harum manager Tony Secunda).
 
In trying to find some detail on Mortimer I read somewhere that they come off like the Bee Gees. I can see that – multiple harmonies and vocals with an emphasis on pop ballads and mid tempo numbers. The Bee Gees were certainly doing this in 1968. But the comparison ends there – otherwise Mortimer are a particularly experimental Bee Gees … pop yes but not necessarily straight pop. They come off more as a Anglo version of a late 60s Beach Boys living in New York … how's that for a think through?
 
There are also elements of "sunshine pop" in the pot – the harmonies and gentleness (and optimism).
 
From allmusic: "Naturally created in California, sunshine pop was a mid-'60s mainstream pop style typified by rich harmony vocals, lush orchestrations, and relentless good cheer. It was often mildly influenced by psychedelia, but it usually didn't aim to evoke any sort of drug-induced mind expansion; it simply drew from the warm and whimsical sides of psychedelic pop, incorporating production innovations of the time (especially those of Phil Spector and the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson). Sunshine pop often resembled the more elaborate and melancholy baroque pop style, though it could also cross into folk-pop or Brill Building pop. The stars of sunshine pop included the Beach Boys (circa Pet Sounds), the Turtles, the Association, and the Mamas & the Papas; other groups to score hits in the style were the Buckinghams, the Grass Roots, and the Left Banke, while certain others — Sagittarius, the Yellow Balloon, the Millennium — became cult favorites years after the fact".
 
There is some baroque pop in there also.
 
allmusic: "Baroque Pop emerged during the mid-'60s, a time when artists including the Left Banke, the Beach Boys, producer Phil Spector, and composer/arranger Burt Bacharach began infusing rock & roll with elements of classical music, achieving a majestic orchestral sound far removed from rock's wild, primitive origins. Layered harmonies, strings, and horns are all hallmarks of baroque pop, as is the music's dramatic intensity. At the time of its inception, it was rock's most mature outgrowth to date, and its spirit lives on in everything from the Philly soul sound of the early '70s to the like-minded chamber pop sound of the mid-'90s".
 
None of the tracks are covers so they have to stand on their own material and stand they do. There is nothing here which has knocked me over but it is incredibly pleasant and catchy and it grows on me.  The whole album is solid and I'm surprised they didn't do better. It is well played and the multi-layered harmonies with lots of reverb works. Its quite a gentle and a pleasant "trip".
 
Best Tracks:

  • Dedicated Music Man – a nice slice of psych pop. And they've lifted a bit from some other song but I cant think of what.
  • Where Dragons Guard the Door – Baroque psych pop … I suppose the "ye olde worlde" themes, dragons and what not works … if you are on drugs. A good song anyway despite the silliness. Like The Hollies circa "Evolution" (1967).
  • Singing to the Sunshine – could have been done by any number of low fi pop bands today ("Cardinal" covered this in the 90s)
  • Mortimer's Theme – dream pop – perhaps it's dream like as there are voices with no lyrics over light jangly instrumentation with a very slight Eastern influence.
  • Life's Sweet Music – Sunshine pop

I'm moving this from the maybe pile to the keeper pile.
Sounds:
Dedicated Music Man
attached
Life's sweet Music
attached

Trivia:

  • apparantly Mortimer evolved out of garage rock band The Teddy Boys

Bio:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:d9frxq85ld0e~T1
http://psychedelichouse.blogspot.com/2009/02/mortimer-mortimer-1968.html

(originally posted: 15/08/2009)

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THE PEPPERS – A Taste of Pepper, A Taste of Honey – (EMI) – 1974

Posted on July 18, 2011 by Franko

what Frank is listening to #74 – THE PEPPERS – A Taste of Pepper, A Taste of Honey – (EMI) – 1974

The Peppers

I didn't know what to make of this when I bought it. it was recorded in Paris and New York in 1974 with names that sound continental so I suspected disco.

Because it wasn't (well not totally) I was pleasantly surprised.

It's a moog album.

For those of you not in the know, the moog synthesiser was "the" instrument of the future when first marketed by American Robert Moog in the mid 1960s. Musically, there were tentative steps with the moog as it tended to be used as another instrument rather than as "the" instrument.  It was Perrey-Kingsley (a Frenchman and a American) who really did all the ground breaking "far out" recordings in the 60s that we associate with the instrument.

The first Perrey-Kingsley album I got in the 80s sometime got me hooked on the moog – until then I had heard only the kitsch-y and cheese-y 70s moog albums and had dismissed them. Perrey-Kingsley, perhaps because they were not looking for commercial success or in just covering rock tunes, really gave the moog a good workout. It then became pseudo hip when the Beastie Boys praised its values in the 90s sometime.

Though I like the sonic explorations of moog and the otherworldly quality and spacey ambiance I do also like the corn so I eventually got hooked on those kitsch-y and cheese-y moog albums of the 70s. I hesitate to add I rarely listen to moog unless I've been drinking – or maybe I start drinking after I put on a moog album. I cant remember.

So, if you want to listen to moog (and I have quite a bit of moog), then come on over … but bring a bottle.

I'm not sure how far I want my moog collection to go as there were many moog albums … I'm not sure if it would have impressed the girls in my salad years, huh? That is a question lost to the ages unless someone wishes to volunteer a girl for a test?

Some of my favourite Moog albums:

  • Country Moog – "Hooked on Nashville" – one of my all time moog favourites – country songs done on a moog. I think at least one of you out there has been pissed with me whilst listening to this album.

  • Claude Denjean – always interesting.

  • Perrey-Kingsley – (of course) 'The In Sound from Way Out" and "Kaleidoscopic Vibrations"  albums.

  • Electric Hair – the "Hair" soundtrack done on moog.

  • Hot Butter – Popcorn – a good album with the big hit "popcorn" – one of the greatest of all moog singles.

This album is by (I believe) a bunch of Frenchmen – musicians Mat Camison (Keyboards), Pierre-Alain Dahan (Drums), and Tonio Rubio (Bass). I have always had reservations about French pop but at least it's not as (unintentionally) funny as German pop. In any event Frenchmen have always loomed large in the moog / synthesiser history so I have to cut them some slack.

Most interestingly for 1974 is that The Peppers were going for some street credibility with the moog. By that stage there were many moog albums out there but most of them were just doing the hits of the day on the moog. The Peppers have however have written most of the tracks on this album. The album is definitely of its time though: a moog synthesiser album done to Euro disco beats with some wordless chanting vocals. The selling point is the disco – the moog is at times funky and though it never reaches a total freak out it is good enough to shake your booty to. (I would think the more discerning dance kids would get off on this album)

Best Tracks:

  • Hot Caramel – I could see Stevie Wonder doing this.

  • Blue Ballade (sic) – the moog captures modern day isolation perfectly – whether that is the intent of the song or not.

  • Pinch of Salt – spicy.

  • Pepper Box – (#6UK, #76US, #5 France) – obviously influenced by "Popcorn" ( #9US, #5UK) – I'm not sure what a pepper box is but given it was the 70s and the popularisation of mixed race relationships it probably has sexual references.

  • A Taste of Honey – I have always liked this song anyway and any number of lounge,organ, moog, percussion bands have done the track.

Not the perfect moog album but good enough to keep, and good enough for dancing.  I have many, many, many more moog albums in the pile I haven't listened to yet … be afraid.

Viva la moog … bring it back.

And whilst there bring back the thermin.

Sounds:

Pepper Box

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzuUJPbnU6A

A Taste of Honey

attached

Moog:

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

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

The big moog hit by Hot Butter -"popcorn" (1972)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9N4ckFN96-k&feature=related

the original from 1969

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSRCemf2JHc&feature=related

As far as I know Elvis never used a moog.

(originally posted: 12/08/2009)

Posted in Lounge & Exotica | Tagged | Leave a comment

DEAN MARTIN – The Door is Still Open to my Heart – (Reprise) – 1964

Posted on July 17, 2011 by Franko

what Frank is listening to #73 – DEAN MARTIN – The Door is Still Open to my Heart – (Reprise) – 1964

aaah, the only Dean Martin album I don't have … I now have all fifty or so. Can you ever have enough Dean Martin ?

I will progress by assuming everyone knows the Dean Martin basics. There is nothing I can say generally about Dean Martin that people don't know anyway. Read any number of sites on him regarding, his comedy (with Jerry Lewis), film, music, and television careers. If you have the inclination then read the biography by Nick Tosches, "Dino: Living High in the Dirty Business of Dreams". It is the best biography written on Dean and probably one of the best bios ever written on anyone in showbusiness.
 
Dean Martin (Dino Crocetti – born Steubenville, Ohio 1917) came from that group of Italian American singers that dominated "pasta" World War 2 radio … sorry "post" World War 2 radio (lame):
  • Frank Sinatra ( born Sinatra, Hoboken, New Jersey 1915)
  • Jerry Vale (born Gennaro Luigi Vitaliano, July 8, 1932, The Bronx, New York)
  • Al Martino (born Alfred Cini, October 7, 1927, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  • Tony Bennett (born Anthony Dominick Benedetto; August 3, 1926)
  • Mario Lanza (January 31, 1921 – October 7, 1959 born Arnold Cocozza in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
  • Pierino "Perry" Como (May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001 born Canonsburg, Pennsylvania)
  • Frankie Laine, born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio (Chicago, March 30, 1913 – San Diego, February 6, 2007),
  • Buddy Greco (born Armando Greco, 14 August 1926, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
  • Vic Damone was born Vito Rocco Farinola in 1928, in  Brooklyn, New York
There were other non-Italian post war singers: Tony Martin, Andy Williams, Mel Torme, Jack Jones, Robert Goulet, Sammy Davis Jr, Johnny Ray, Ed Ames but the only ones who came close to Dean and the Italians in popularity are Mel Torme (born in Chicago 1925 – 1999 of Russian Jewish background) and Guy Mitchell (born Albert George Cernik born in Detroit, Michigan 1927 – 1999 of Croatian background).
 
If I really wanted to wax lyrical on Dean this blog entry would probably be longer than all the other blog emails I have sent. I grew up with Dean almost as much, but not quite, as I grew up with Elvis. Dean was on the turntable at home, there were Martin-Lewis films on TV every other weekend (Elvis films were on in between), there were the risqué (well over my head) Dean Martin roasts on TV at night, and my mum worked at the Italian Club for many years so it was natural to have Italian's over and Italian spoken around the house all the time … and of course all the Italians love Dean Martin (and Elvis for that matter). So, Dean was the the uncle that I never saw … I believed that as a child. Actually I recall mum saying Jerry Lewis was related to us … she was joking, and he's not (though with a Slavic name of "Levitch" it was posssible in my brain).
 
Dean's "Favourites" EP was one of the first records I got back in the early to mid-70s when I decided to get "into" music.
 
So, the connection I have with Dean is as much an emotional one as a musical one. And therein lies the danger … as impartial as I try to be maybe I see more worth in Dean than actually exists.
 
As a singer Dean didn't stretch himself very much. He was not a stylistic innovator like Frank Sinatra or  the consummate craftsman like Bing. He worked within his box, but within those parameters he made some glorious sounds. From what I have read Dean saw films and music as a means to an end, namely, security, wealth, and an escape from poverty. He certainly didn't have the concerns of "art" that Sinatra had but then Sinatra could never replicate Dean's lush, "feeling of I guy I know" tones.  Dean also didn't pay to much attention to musical gaffs – there are some here … but as long as they aint major the track is in the can.
 
Whether Dean's voice reflected his persona or whether his persona took on what people perceived him to be I'm not sure. There has been lot written and a lot of mythologizing done so I don't know what's true or not. He drank a lot vs. the alcohol was a prop, he was a gregarious party animal vs. he liked his solitude … who knows. Certainly he knew his voice, he knew what he was trying to convey and he knew his limitations. Not many vocalists have that insight.
 
And he never felt the need to write a song.
 
Dean had a big hit in 1964 with the single "Everybody Loves Somebody" and a album called (surprisingly) "Everybody Loves Somebody" was released to cash in on the hit. The album consisted of the hit and tracks borrowed from other albums and singles. Then Dean cut "The Door is Open to my Heart" which was a hit (only about two months later) so the label had to rush out another album called, err surprisingly, "The Door is Open to my Heart" – so they used what new tracks they had and padded it out with three selections that had appeared previously on the 1963 album "Dean "Tex" Martin Rides Again" ("I'm Gonna Change Everything," "The Middle of the Night Is My Cryin' Time," and "My Sugar's Gone"), which became this LP. And then "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You" became a hit. 
 
The albums all work, regardless of the recycled material, because they are all from around the same time frame and sessions, so they have the same feel … we aren't talking concept albums which take years to make here. So on this LP Dean is in good "Dean" voice and the material is pretty standard mid-60s Dean styled music with chanting choruses and lush instrumentation. Dean does what he does to every song but when he has a great tune he soars … here that song is "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You" … which became a big hit … and nothing really comes close to that, though all the tracks are listenable because Dean is so listenable but that doesn't mean those tracks are necessarily memorable (derrrrrr … why I don't I state the obvious). The songs are a mix of contemporary songs as well as standards going back to the 40s.
 
The world was on the "eve of destruction" in the mid 60s … assassinations, the Vietnam war, student unrest and Dean was happily singing without a care in the world …. God bless him.
 
Best Tracks:
  • The Door is Still Open to my Heart  (USA: #1 Adult Pop Charts, #6 pop charts) (#42UK)
  • We'll Sing in the Sunshine
  • The Middle of the Night is my Cryin Time
  • In the Misty Moonlight
  • You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You (USA: #1 Adult Pop Charts, #25 pop charts)
The album went to #9 pop
 
I'm keeping this.
 
Sounds:
The Door is still Open to my Heart
 
We'll Sing in the Sunshine

The Middle Of The Night Is My Cryin' Time
 
In the Misty Moonlight
 
You're Nobody till somebody Loves You
 
Some live clips of him doing You're Nobody till somebody Loves You
 
Bio:
 
Trivia:
oh, have I mentioned Elvis yet? … Dean  was a big influence on Elvis – possibly the biggest (along with Roy Hamilton).
 
(originally posted: 09/08/2009)
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GARY LEWIS & THE PLAYBOYS – This Diamond Ring – (Liberty) – 1965

Posted on July 17, 2011 by Franko

what Frank is listening to #72 – GARY LEWIS & THE PLAYBOYS – This Diamond Ring – (Liberty) – 1965  

I commented on the "Gary Lewis & The Playboys" LP, "More Golden Greats" back in what is Frank Listening to #22.  For some background on Lewis go back to that. Though I did say then in relation to Gary Lewis: "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"
 
I have no reason to deviate from that (apart from the fact that the covers outweigh the originals on this LP). Interestingly though, given this album is from 1965, there is more of a nod to the British Invasion than on some of his later albums. As I have said elsewhere (WFILT #52 Hullabaloos, WFILT #55 The Blue Things) there were a number of responses to the British Invasion of 1964-66. Gary Lewis (born 1945) was in the right place at the right time to accept the British Invasion and just make it part of his sound. There is certainly a lot of British invasion influences but the music is really post Elvis / pre Beatles pop rock. What makes it stand out (and no doubt gave Gary Lewis the hits – two #1s and five top 10s in two years – he was that popular!) was the wealth of talent in the playing, arranging, producing and writing. All sorts of people were floating through L.A. in the early 60s and many picked up a few bucks as session men and writers in the many West Coast recording studios or ended up doing similar work in Hollywood (in Elvis, beach, and teen films).
 
It's this access to talent that separates this from many other acts who were happy to ape the Brits.

Having said that, the one big standout, and the only song that was written for him was "This Diamond Ring" – as perfect a piece of pop fluff as you are likely to get.
 
Allmusic: "The hit single is everything a hit should be, and most anyone on the planet could have sang it with just as much success; the frosting of the production here is the cake, but for camp and cool no one could rain on the Gary Lewis parade which launched with this classic. And don't deny Leon Russell's brilliant arrangement its moment in the sun — the dark keyboards absolutely bring these blues home in their pop setting".
 
A bit rough on Gary's voice – the sheer neutrality of his voice allows the arrangement to shine I think (though there was some studio trickery – overdubs on the vocal track etc but hey that's pop). In any event its a great song. And its written by (the great) Al Kooper!!! Who would have thunk that? It was his first hit. Al, shortly after backing Dylan (on keyboards) on the maelstrom going electric and in your face English tours, which forever changed music, sessioned for everyone, put out solo albums and co founded the great "Blues Project" and "Blood Sweat and Tears". The guy is a legend : 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Kooper
 
Similarly, Leon Russell who arranged the track (and the album – and also worked a lot with the producer Snuff Garrett and Gary Lewis) is another legend who sessioned for everyone before embarking on a successful, mainly country, career. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_russell
 
Chances are Glen Campbell played on this also.
 
Whilst referring to legends … Gary at first was also the drummer in the band … but really Jim Keltner played drums on most of the recordings and eventually on appearances … he guy has sessioned for everyone – including the Beatles solo etc: http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:wpfwxqe5ld6e~T1
 
The rest of the album never reaches the heights of the title track but is pleasant enough and quite relaxing. Does rock have to be about "rebellion", why cant it be about "conformity" and "security"? Or maybe it was? There was no rebellion on the Beatles first four albums was there? Or on "Herman's Hermits". In fact I suppose Herman's Hermits is the UK version of Gary Lewis and the Playboys, though not as good.
 
Snuff Garrett produced (as he did most Hollywood acts) … and the band play well enough … they may have had a hand up through Gary's father (Jerry) but they weren't slumming it … his band started in late 1964 and recorded their first album in 1965 (this was their third album … and it's still 1965!).
 
The music certainly isn't threatening but it is pleasant and breezy and would be perfect for a coffee bar or high school hop. It is heavy on covers of then recent hits.
 
The Tracks:
  • This Diamond Ring – the best track – read above – #1 US for Gary Lewis.
  • Dream Lover – The big Bobby Darin hit (#2) from 1959 – a passable version.
  • All Day and All of the Night – yup the great Kinks track (#7 1965) … done as pop. I am partial to the Kinks of course. Any cover is good … I know a good number of you out there will say it's "lame" … but I dont think they were trying to out-rock The Kinks.
  • Forget Him – Bobby Rydell's #4 from 1964. I don't know the Rydell track but this is extremely Beatles-y.
  • Needles and Pins – The Searchers hit (#13) written by Sonny Bono and Jack Nitzsche – another great song regardless of who does it.
  • Love Potion #9 – a hit for both the Clovers (#23 1959) and The Searchers (#3 in 1964) … and written by the great Leiber and Stoller.
  • Keep Searchin' (We'll Follow the Sun) – the #9 Del Shannon track from 1964. A great track in the vastly underrated Shannon's hands, and a good track here.
  • The Birds and the Bees – a hit for Jewel Akens ( #3 1965).
  • Sweet Little Rock and Roller – the only real rocker – Chuck Berry naturally – #47, 1958.
  • Go to Him – another original by gads … pleasant enough.
  • The Night Has a Thousand Eyes – Bobby Vee's 1964 #3. Probably the best cover on the album. The poppy original lends itself to the Gary Lewis dynamic better than some of the faster numbers.
  • The Best Man – Another "original" and a sequel to "The Diamond Ring" where the narrator ends up the best man to the 2-timing hussy of the first track. Actually quite a good song. Again a throwback to the pre Beatles era … though the guitar is decidedly mid 60s.
  The album went to #26, which is quite respectable as the US is a big market. By way of example, up until The Beach Boys and The Beatles, Elvis was the only rock act that had albums go to #1 (just about) … if you don't believe me … google it.
 
I said it regarding the other Gary Lewis LP and I'll say it again: I like 60s pop … I'll keep this.
 
Sound:
This Diamond Ring
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPeUNxV4O1E
Dream Lover
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvnVZJhs__c
All Day and All of the Night
attached

Forget Him
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMcNYE-0DuA
Love Potion #9
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzLA67ITBqo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tK-btgI5yow
Keep Searchin' (We'll Follow the Sun)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyP1qTbXNM4
Birds and the Bees, The
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYwBNHF7b-M
Night Has a Thousand Eyes, The
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGUK5y1ZrIU
The Best Man
attached
 
Website:
http://www.garylewisandtheplayboys.com/
 
Website
Al Kooper
http://www.alkooper.com/bio.html
 
other hits:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Um8qeoV8Xd8http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oXEQzb4s5c
 
Other Comments re Gary Lewis and the Playboys:
what is Frank Listening to #22
 
(originally posted: 08/08/2009)

 

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MARK LINDSAY – Silver Bird – (CBS) – 1970

Posted on July 17, 2011 by Franko

 what Frank is listening to #71 – MARK LINDSAY – Silver Bird – (CBS) – 1970

I've had this album floating around in the "maybe" pile since the 80s. I bought it initially, probably, because Lindsay was the lead singer of "Paul Revere and the Raiders" who I quite liked back in the 80s (their version of "Kicks" is one of my favourite songs of all time). Since then I have picked up a few other "Paul Revere" albums and thought "well I may as well keep this" as a adjunct to the set.
 
This is his second solo album – his first is still in the pile somewhere.
 
At the time of buying I thought this was too pop-py. And it is, though my tastes have mellowed considerably since then … I am of course an adult now, apparently ... adults mellow out don't they?  This is very much "adult pop" (the musical genre known as "adult contemporary pop" ) which had its heyday in the late 60s and early 70s with Elvis, Bill Medley, Neil Diamond, Oliver, Gary Puckett & the Union Gap, Jake Holmes and others. The genre was equally influenced by blue eyed soul, The Beatles, later Beach Boys, singer-songwriter, tin pan alley, and especially Burt Bacharach.
 
The music is actually perfect weekend fair – lush instrumentation, strings, big vocals, choruses of multiple voices and an emphasis on melody. Most of the tracks are mid tempo and aren't really made to make you think (regardless of the message) but rather to put you in a certain mood.
 
And, actually, it is quite relaxing and makes you fell quite happy and "warm" and I aint drinking. Well, its morning at the time of this writing so I wouldn't be having one, I would hope.
 
Too much pop you say? Well "Paul Revere and the Raiders" were adept at playing musical chairs … starting as a frat rock band in 1960, they moved into garage, occasionally added touches of British invasion, pop, cabaret etc. So this album isn't far removed from that … in fact its pretty close.
 
From memory I don't think it's as good as his first LP "Arizona" (1970).
 
Best Tracks:
  • Silver Bird – his voice soars on this one – probably as intended given the songs title. (USA: #7 Adult Charts, #25 pop charts)
  • We've Only Just begun – yes … that song by The Carpenters … this version has balls (or more balls) and is the only version I have heard so far which I find palatable.
  • And the Grass won't Pay no Mind – the great Neil Diamond song. The best version is still Elvis' from 1969, to my ears.  Lindsay did well with this one also (USA: #5 Adult Charts, #44 pop charts).
  • Feel the Warm – sounds like something out of a Rod McKuen LP, but it's a nice "adult" rumination.
There is the obligatory Beatles tune – "Yesterday" yet again – here in a medley "The Long and Winding Road/Yesterday".
 
Its produced by Jerry Fuller who is an old hand at this type of stuff … http://www.jerryfuller.com/bio/bio.htm
 
The album went to #82.
 
Though the Raiders (and Lindsay solo)  had some serious chart action in the US they never made the charts in the UK.
 
Sounds:
Silver Bird
 
We've Only Just begun
attached
 
And the Grass Wont Pay No Mind
 
The Long and Winding Road/Yesterday
 
Others: 
Paul Revere & Raiders:
Kicks
Steppin Out
 
Elvis' version of "And the Grass Wont Pay No Mind"
 
Neil's original "And the Grass Wont Pay No Mind"
 
Bio:
 
Website:
 
(originally posted: 05/08/2009) 
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DAVE BRUBECK QUARTET – Jazz: Red Hot and Cool – (Coronet) – 1955

Posted on July 12, 2011 by Franko

what Frank is listening to #70 – DAVE BRUBECK QUARTET – Jazz: Red Hot and Cool – (Coronet) – 1955

 
In my review of Helen Merrill's album I put this in as a footnote:
 
A footnote on Frank and jazz : I was actually quite hostile to jazz in my youth. Trouble was I kept finding jazz records for $1 and found myself getting into it…especially when drawing the line to vocalists like Sinatra, Crosby etc.  I then realised I wasn't actually hostile to jazz but to the jazz audience ( the people who think they know jazz). I still don't revere jazz as much as my other favourite genres but I certainly have a lot of time for it ( from ragtime, trad, down to bop, cool and modern)… and I still think the mainstream jazz audience are fuckwits.
 
Dave Brubeck was possibly the first jazz artist  I got into … by  that I mean I actually enjoyed listening to his records at a time when I was hostile to jazz. The more I read, the more accepting I became of the genre. This was acerbated by the fact that when you were selling a jazz record (as I was on eBay) you would have to describe it according to music and personnel. After a while you realised that jazz musicians, at a certain level, are all intertwined – that is they have all played with each other. They make rock session men look positively under utilized. Part of the enjoyment I get from jazz nowadays is the "who's who" aspect as well as the music.
 
A lot of hard jazz fans don't necessarily like Brubeck as he had a career, had some hits, made some money, didn't have any debilitating drug habits and is generally liked by people who think they like jazz. And these are all valid points however the whole west coast cool jazz movement is based around him or Chet Baker … and regardless of what one may think tof he movement (and a lot of hard jazz , bop types do not like cool jazz) Brubeck was certainly influential.

Brubeck (born 1920 in California and still playing) put out his first album in 1949 and this is his 19th from 1954! Mind you that was jazz: you were either cutting an album in the studio or they were taping you at a concert. The large repertoire of material, the tendency to improvisation and the fact that most bands didn't have stable line-ups (so each new member if dominant enough would bring their own sound which may alter the bands sound) meant that endless concerts could be taped and released on LP and they wouldn't sound the same.
 
Joining Brubeck (piano – for those who don't know), are Joe Dodge (drums), Bob Bates (bass) and the legendary Paul Desmond on sax, one of the most influential sax players of his generation.
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:0ifoxqt5ldke

So what's this album like? Its a good pleasant album. A reviewer had this to say, and I should say that the trouble with jazz still is the critics: Paul Desmond's alto tone had yet to take on the dry martini velvety texture that became his trademark, and Brubeck was not yet inserting the totality of his classical ideas about the extrapolation of dissonance from consonance and its resulting harmonic theory that was built on an elaborate contrapuntal system.These ideas, that were introduced to him by the French composer and instructor Darius Milhaud and the music of Shostakovich and Stravinsky would later result in the wildly inventive tonal identity expressed in his compositions on Jazz Impressions of Eurasia, Jazz Impressions of New York, and even Time Out. On this set, while Brubeck is playing with large augmented chords and without the use of arpeggios, his strident melodic sense keeps him rooted in the American vernacular musically.
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:3zfoxqrgldte
 
Frankly I don't understand a lot of his review but then I'm not a jazz critic or music teacher, just a punter who likes music.
 
I would have have said that Brubeck doesn't swing on this set as wildly or as inventively as he does on other albums where he is doing his more signature tunes or songs in that style. Amongst the interpretations here are a few Hart-Rodgers tunes and a Gershwin … and there's nothing wrong with that though Brubeck treats them a bit to respectfully. His stamp is not firmly placed on the songs but that doesn't mean they are bad. The trouble here (and it's not big trouble as I hasten to add that this album is good) is that though the set is still "cool jazz" there is a tad to much respectful pop. I like my jazz to be inventive though not necessarily outside the box. (Brubecks "Time Out" LP from 1959 with the magnificent "Take Five" and "Blue Rondo a la Turk" is a good example).
 
The beauty of "cool jazz" is that you can listen to it and it can be evocative as it is a music of memories in a lot of ways which something like '"bop" isn't. Anyone playing soft jazz likes to consider themselves "cool jazz" though that's total crap … that's like calling "Blink 182" a punk band. Cool jazz is more formally regimented than some other jazz styles but there is a substantial amount of improvisation within its parameters.
 
So why the gentile respect ? Maybe the Californians were intimidated? This was recorded at the Basin Street Night Club (did that become Basin Street East?)  in New York, apparently New York's top night spot (I gather it was an upmarket dinner and music venue in Manhattan). Then again, maybe a lot of Brubeck Quartet stuff from the early 50s barks up the same tree (I haven't heard it all so I cant say).
 
Of course it's played well … ( this is one of the last recordings of this long, and original line up) you can say whatever you want about jazz musicians but one thing for sure is they know how to play their instruments. Endless gigging, jamming and testing of ideas with fellow musicians probably brings you to that level. It's not surprising that so many rock session men are / were jazz musicians … whereas the reverse is not true.
 
Best Tracks:

  • Little Girl Blue – be very inventive within the box.
  • Fare Thee Well, Annabelle – Desmond's velvet sax is genius, great interplay between him and Brubeck.
  • The Duke – Brubeck's ode to the Duke (Ellington) – and a beautiful song.

Sounds:
attached:
Fare Thee Well, Annabelle
 

The Duke
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfLJN2ltEEI
 
Some Brubeck hits (live clips):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwNrmYRiX_o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2htbaJFEAXQ

Bio:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:aifoxqt5ldhe~T1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Brubeck
 
Website:
http://www.davebrubeck.com/live/
 
Other comments of thes LP:
http://www.amazon.com/Jazz-Red-Cool-Dave-Brubeck/dp/B00005B17R

Cool Jazz:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cool_jazz
 
and I still maintain what I have said in the past about jazz fans.

(originally posted: 02/08/2009)

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JAN & DEAN – Folk ‘n Roll – (Liberty) – 1965

Posted on July 12, 2011 by Franko

 what Frank is listening to #69 – JAN & DEAN – Folk 'n Roll – (Liberty) – 1965

Well, everyone knows Jan and Dean, though there is a tendency to write them off as just another surf rock act. Sure their hits were all surf or beach songs but there was more to them than that … and they were in the right place for music. California, especially L.A, must have been an amazing place in the early to mid 1960s.
 
Jan Berry and Dean Torrence were more than a surf band and though they never strayed far from pop rock the productions are always top notch and the harmonies and songs are catchy. Like The Beach Boys they were trying to create mini teen operas full of emotion and drama and I'm certain The Beach Boys were listening to Jan and Dean (and vice versa). Though they never reached any of the artistic peaks that were set by The Beach Boys they held their own, and Jan was arranging and producing all their material by 1960 (and co writing a lot of it) . Again, like The Beach Boys in their early period, they are best when describing California in the early 60s. Listening to any number of Jan & Dean songs reminds me of that (imagined) California … sun, surf and innocence with innuendo.
 
And this paid off … wikipedia: Jan and Dean reached their commercial peak in 1963 and 1964. The duo scored an impressive sixteen Top 40 hits on the Billboard and Cash Box magazine charts, with a total of twenty-six chart hits over an eight-year period (1958-1966). Jan and Brian Wilson collaborated on roughly a dozen hits and album cuts for Jan and Dean, including the number one national hit "Surf City" in 1963.
 
This album is fairly late in their career – critics are generally harsh to it saying that it is a attempt to jump on the folk rock bandwagon without any sincerity.
 
 
Half the album is covers of folk songs whilst the other half is the more familiar surf rock and pop … hence the album title "Folk n Roll" … get it ? Certainly there are nods to folk music (with the choice of covers) but the songs aren't particular folky … they still sound like surf music in a different tempo. The critics have also questioned their sincerity … for example:  the anti-war "The Universal Soldier" has been reworded to the opposite view for "The Universal Coward" … That may be dodgy but a couple of surfer types from California singing "Universal Soldier" would have been equally disingenuous. The song was co-written by Jan but apparently Dean objected and did not participate in the recording. Similarly, the back cover has photos with captions that take pot shots at "the protest train" (join the Jan & Dean protest train – sit on railroad track, and  send $6000 for a protest "kit"), and Berkeley students ("Burkley students"),  and "sit ins" (Jan & Dean are having a "cook in"). They are easy shots … their audience was never going to be and never was folkies, civil rights marchers or Berkeley students … though who knows how much of this was attributable to the band  as opposed to the record label.
  
Interestingly, according to rock critic Dave Marsh, the attitude and public persona of punk rock can be traced to Jan and Dean. Moreover, both Jan Berry and Dean Torrence's anti-establishment attitude toward the music industry is well documented.Their music has been covered by numerous Punk and alternative bands since the 1970s.
 
The album is patchy at best … what saves it is the harmonies and production … produced by Jan.
 
Best Tracks:
  • I Found a Girl – a nice slice of pop about teen love co-written by PF Sloan (he is another genius of mid-60s California).
  • I Cant Wait to Love you – a Beach Boys type number.
  • Eve of Destruction- a so-so version of a great song. The hit version of  "Eve" by Barry McGuire is still the best by miles.
  • A Beginning from an End – a throw back to the teen death songs of the early 60s.
  • Yesterday – a delicate performance of McCartney's delicate song.
  • It Ain't Me Babe – Dylan songs always lend themselves to harmonies … despite his voice his songs are always very musical and lyrical. Here, Jan and Dean are covering the Turtles version of Dylan's song.
  • Folk City – is an updating of "Surf City" and is slightly cynical.
  • Turn Turn Turn – a credible cover of The Byrds.
The album reached #145 in the US. The single "I Found a Girl" went to #30 in the US.
 
I'll keep it cause I like them but this is patchy.
 
Sounds:
Yesterday
attached
 
and
 
Bio:
  
Website:
 
(originally posted: 01/08/2009) 
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LANI HALL – Double or Nothing – (A&M) – 1979

Posted on July 12, 2011 by Franko

what Frank is listening to #68 – LANI HALL – Double or Nothing – (A&M) – 1979

"Double or Nothing"? … I'll take nothing.
 
I didn't know who Lani Hall was but the look of the album didn't hold out much hope for a rare jewel.
 
You could have knocked me over with a feather though when I found out that Lani was the lead vocalist in Sergio Mendes Brazil 66 (I thought everyone in the band was from Brazil – she wasn't and had to learn Portuguese phonetically) and is also the wife of Herb Alpert (who co-produced half this album). Now I am partial to 60s Latin stuff, even the faux Latin of Alpert, but Latin in 1979 I have reservations with, as most of it is tainted with bad New York disco. This however is not a Latin album … it's worse.
 
It is straight pop … late 70s style. Granted there are some Latin touches and some jazz touches, as well as some disco, but otherwise it is strictly MOR with a technically perfect and superior (though totally bloodless) band of sessionmen*… I see the dull Neil Larsen cropping up on keyboards (see "what Frank is listening to #25"). The problem is that this is no different to any number of female pop albums from the late 70s and early 80s. It is however the music you would get (much like I said about Larsen's LP ) in one of those would be erotic thriller films of the 80s.
 
* Thanks to wikipedia for this …. a list of some of the session men ( feel free to skip the Italics section) : 

  • Manolo Badrena (born March 1952 in Puerto Rico) is a percussionist most noted for his work with Weather Report from 1976-1977. He has made contributions to over 100 recordings that span jazz, world music, pop, and Latin music.

  • Buzz Feiten is a North American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and session musician. He is best known as a lead and rhythm electric guitarist, and has been in hot demand for sessions, concert tours, albums and CDs since the late 1960s. He has played with the Butterfield Blues Band, The Rascals, and the project album 'Full Moon', featuring Neil Larsen (keyboards), Freddie Beckmeier (bass), Phillip Wilson (drums). Feiten's session work includes recordings and/or performances with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, the Rascals, Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Etta James, The Brecker Brothers, Bruce Willis, Gregg Allman, James Taylor, Wilson Pickett, Chaka Khan, Olivia Newton-John, Neil Larsen, Rickie Lee Jones, Stevie Wonder, Bette Midler, David Sanborn, Dave Weckl, Kenny Loggins, Art Porter Jr., Michael Franks, Dave Koz, Felix Cavaliere, Jeff Lorber, Stuart Hamm, Jason Miles, Claus Ogerman, Boz Scaggs, Mr. Mister, Richard Pelkoff, Bill Quateman, and many other great jazz, pop, rock and blues musicians. Feiten also invented a new tuning system for guitars, called the 'Buzz Feiten tuning system'.

  • Paulinho da Costa (born Paulo Roberto da Costa on May 31, 1948) is a Brazilian percussionist born in Rio de Janeiro, considered one of the most recorded musicians of modern times. He has done crossover work in a variety of music genres including: Brazilian, blues, Christian, country, disco, gospel, hip hop, jazz, Latin, pop, rhythm and blues, rock, soul, and world music…. look who he has played with http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulinho_da_Costa

  • Charles Louis Domanico (January 20, 1944–October 17, 2002), better known as Chuck Domanico, was an American jazz bassist, playing both acoustic and electric bass on the West Coast jazz scene. Singers backed by Domanico included Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Carmen McRae, Joni Mitchell, Taj Mahal, Diane Schuur, Natalie Cole, and the group Manhattan Transfer. Along the way he participated in instrumental jazz performances by Chet Baker, Shelly Manne, Oliver Nelson, John Klemmer, Roger Kellaway, Barney Kessel, Art Pepper, and many more. His bass could be heard in themes for television shows like M*A*S*H and Cheers, and he is said to have contributed to the soundtracks of more than two thousand films.

  • Jerry Knight (born April 14, 1952 in Los Angeles) was an R&B vocalist and bass player in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Along with Ray Parker Jr., he was a founding member of the group Raydio, singing vocals on their early hit, "Jack and Jill". He then left to pursue a solo career, releasing three solo albums and achieving moderate success with minor hits such as "Overnight Sensation," "Perfect Fit" and "Turn It Out".

  • Manolo Badrena born March 1952 in Puerto Rico) is a first-call percussionist most noted for his work with Weather Report from 1976-1977. He has made contributions to over 100 recordings that span jazz, world music, pop, and Latin music. Badrena has played with Zawinul Syndicate, the Rolling Stones, Mezzoforte, Spyro Gyra, Art Blakey, Bill Evans, Steve Khan, Carla Bley, the Talking Heads, Blondie, Michael Franks, Ahmad Jamal, and others.

  • Michael Lehmann Boddicker (born January, 19, 1953 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.[citation needed]) is an American film composer and session musician, specializing in electronic music. He graduated from Coe College in 1975 and received an honorary doctorate degree from Coe in 2004. As a session musician he played synthesizer on, among others, Michael Jackson's albums Thriller, Bad and Dangerous.

  • Ernie Watts (born Ernest James Watts on October 23, 1945 in Norfolk, Virginia) is an American jazz and rhythm and blues musician. He plays saxophone (tenor, alto and soprano) and flute. He might be best known for his work with Charlie Haden's Quartet West and his Grammy Awards as an instrumentalist. He has also toured with the Rolling Stones, joining them on their 1981 tour. He is noted for playing the "The Mystery Horn" (actually a Conn straight necked C Melody Saxophone) solo on Frank Zappa's album The Grand Wazoo in 1972.

This begs the question … if you have this much talent backing you how can an album be so dull? Bad songs – yes, partially but inspiration and imagination also go a long way to saving the day. It doesn't matter if your voice is good (Lani's is) and you have perfect musicians because without inspiration and imagination you will sink.

This was Lani's 4th album (she has put out about 14 thus far) and it didn't chart (she has never made an impact on the charts with her solo stuff). She did win a Grammy in 1985 for best Latin pop performance … ooohhh a Grammy (sarcasm).
 
Best Tracks:
Sunshine after the Rain – stands out like a sore thumb …. written by ( the great 60s songwriter) Ellie Greenwich – it had been a hit in the UK for Elke Brooks in 1975 (#10UK).

Sounds:
"Sunshine" – attached
  
Tape the "Sunshine" track and sell
 
Oh Lani sang the title track to the Bond film " Never Say Never Again"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwP0K6Aw3pg
 
Bio:
http://www.nndb.com/people/835/000047694/

(originally posted: 29/07/2009)

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