TOMMY SANDS - This Thing Called Love - (Capitol) - 1959, comment, review, elvis.

A while back I commented on Tommy Sand’s “Sands Storm” album and during the course of that comment I said this:

“Tommy Sands was one of the million Elvis rip-offs in the late 50s (eg: Gene Vincent, Terry Stafford, Bobby Darin, Ral Donner, Dion, Ricky Nelson, Buddy Knox, Jack Scott etc). No offence to any of these artists because some of them were legends in their own right but still "rip-offs". OK, rip-offs is perhaps a bit too strong but Sands, like the others, was influenced by Elvis and Elvis' success. They all took aspects of Elvis' style in different ways and adapted it to their styles … by way of example, Gene Vincent took the histrionics and made a career out of that, whilst Darin took the ballads and went down the lounge path. Tommy Sands took the "clean" Elvis path. He had, however, been a credible soft rockabilly singer who had some minor hits ("Teenage Crush" was a #2 hit in 1957). By the time of this album (his third) the record label were trying to soften his image, perhaps scared of any anti-rock backlash (which never happened) after the Presley riots and moral outrage in 1956/57”.

http://whatfrankislisteningto.negstar.com/rockabilly-and-rock-n-roll/tommy-sands-sands-strom-rca-1959/

Apart from the Colonel Parker link Sands and Elvis had paths that crossed a number of times:

He and Elvis worked together on the same bill a lot in the South through 1954-1955.
He got his break playing a Elvis-like singer in a TV drama, “The Singin’ Idol” in 1957 (a role they producers wanted Elvis for and when they failed to get him they searched for an “Elvis look-a-like”. He became an immediate overnight sensation as a result and the single, “Teenage Crush", from that show went to #2 on the US Pop charts. He went on to play in the expanded film version “Sing, Boy, Sing” in 1958.
He married Nancy Sinatra in 1960 who in the same year welcomed (on behalf of the media and all the young girls of America) Elvis back from the army at Fort Dix, New Jersey on March 3, 1960

“Sands was born (1937) into a musical family in Chicago, Illinois; his father, Ben, was a pianist (and a Russian Jewish immigrant), and his mother, Grace, a big-band singer. He moved with the family to Shreveport, Louisiana. He began playing the guitar at eight and within a year had a job performing twice weekly on a local radio station. At the beginning of his teen years, he moved to Houston, Texas, where he attended Lamar High School and joined a band with "Jimmie Lee Durden and the Junior Cowboys", consisting of Sands, Durden, and Billy Reno. They performed on radio, at county fairs, and did personal appearances. He was only 15 when Colonel Tom Parker heard about him and signed him to RCA Records”. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Sands_(American_singer)

His big break in music (and consequently acting) came in 1957 with the TV drama “The Singin’ Idol”, which was a hit and also provided a hit single, “Teenage Crush”.

From then on he had two crossover careers in music and in acting (in film and television).

Sands’ career was (apparently) on a big roll and he was being compared with Elvis (and Harry Belafonte) frequently, not just for his looks (Elvis) but for potential sales (Elvis and Harry). There was much hype but there was little pay off in chart success.

Perhaps that’s why Sands concentrated on acting from 1960 on. Apart from participation on two soundtracks he only issued two albums in the 1960s (“Dream with Me” (1960) and “Seasons in the Sun” (1969)).

Sands divorced Nancy Sinatra and moved to Hawaii around 1967, where he had a nightclub and a clothing business. He still performs, apparently.

The “Sands Storm” (1958) album which immediately preceded this album (his fourth) was the first of the Tommy Sands albums to hedge bets on whether rock and roll was a fad by adopting trad pop and adding some rock n roll attitude.

I said this in relation to “Sands Storm”, “I suspect the old record labels still did not really understand rock, so pairing a rock singer off with a old school orchestra was reasonably common place. Here, Sands is linked with the Bob Bain Orchestra. The album is subtitled "Tommy Sands Presents a Collection of Rock n' Roll Hits with the Music of Bob Bain” and that surely isn't a lie. The tracks are all well-known rock "hits" of the preceding three or four years so there are no surprises. The only interest then is incidental … attaching those rock songs to an orchestra giving you a "lush pop" which isn't hard on the ears even if it is mildly forgettable. Pat Boone probably took that to the extreme, though Tommy is more raw than Pat and sometimes this is jarring as Sands vocals don't always compliment the lush orchestrations”.

http://whatfrankislisteningto.negstar.com/rockabilly-and-rock-n-roll/tommy-sands-sands-strom-rca-1959/

All of that applies here (including the Bob Bain arrangements) though on “Sands Storm” Tommy tackled rock and R&B numbers and added orchestrations whereas, here, Tin Pan Alley and trad pop songs are covered, and done relatively straight with orchestrations. The ballads are especially straight though the up-tempo numbers have some beat with more dominant electric guitar than normal for trad pop numbers.

I don't know (yet) if the next three albums he did were in the same paddock, but, two were with standards orchestrated by Nelson Riddle and another was a live set of (mainly) standards at the Sands Hotel.

With chart success (or lack of) hindsight the career as a trad pop singer and movie star was not a good move but, at the time, the same strategy was working well for Bobby Darin and Pat Boone.

So in some ways Tommy went from an Elvis inspired singer to a Bobby Darin inspired singer.

None of this is meant as criticism.

There are always a couple of touchstones who influence all those around them at any given time.

Tommy does have his own voice, a good voice, and does impart his personality on his music, but he just doesn’t get to do it enough.

Tracks (best in italics)

Side One

You're Driving Me Crazy – (Walter Donaldson) – a standard done by everyone and a hit for Nick Lucas in 1930 (#7 US Pop). This is quite fun. It's not rock though there is a guitar and saxophone break in the middle which takes it out of trad pop
I Only Have Eyes For You – (Al Dubin, Harry Warren) – Done by everyone. The song dates back to the film Dames (1934) where it was sung by Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler, The Flamingo's had a hit with it in 1959 (#11 US Pop, #3 US R&B). Quite a pretty ballad.
Don't Blame Me – (Jimmy McHugh, Dorothy Fields) – the song dates back to the early 30s. It has been done by everyone including Nat King Cole in 1948 (a #21 US pop hit) and Johnny Ray (1952). Very trad pop.
All I Do Is Dream of You – (Nacio Herb Brown, Arthur Freed) – dating back to the mid-1930s this has been done by everyone including Johnny Ray (1953), Pat Boone (1956), Bing Crosby (1959) and Dean Martin (1959). There is a bit more swing here and it is most enjoyable.
All Over Again – (Tommy Edwards) – a US R&B #10 in 1951 for Tommy Edwards. A beat ballad.
I'm Confessin' – (Al Neiburg, Doc Daugherty, Ellis Reynolds) – another song done by everyone and dating back to the late 1920s/ early 1930s. Versions include Ricky Nelson (1957), Bing Crosby (1957), Johnny Ray (1958), and Frankie Laine (1958). One of the swooning songs teen girls loved so much.

Side Two

Should I? – (Brown, Freed) – the song dates back to the late 1920s and has been covered on numerous occasions including versions by Frank Sinatra (1950) and The Four Aces (1952). A nice mid-temp pop which is very easy on the ear.
I'm Yours – (Robert Mellin) – Eddie Fisher had a #5 hit US Pop in 1952 and the Four Aces had a #21 hit in 1952. Another dreamy mid tempo ballad.
Sunday – (Chester Conn, Benny Krueger, Ned Miller, Jule Styne) – dating back to the mid 1920s with versions by Frank Sinatra (1954), Pat Boone (1956) and Al Martino (1959).
My Happiness – (Betty Peterson Blasco, Borney Bergantine) – another standard that has had a lot of chart success, The Marlin Sisters #24 1948 US Pop), Jon and Sondra Steele (#3 1948 US Pop), The Pied Pipers (#4 1948 US Pop), Ella Fitzgerald (#8 US Pop) and John Laurenz (#26 US Pop). The versions most relevant here i suspect would be Connie Francis #2 hit from early 1959 and Pat Boone and Shirley Boone version from the same year. Interestingly this is one of two songs Elvis recorded as an acetate at Sun in 1953 (it wasn’t released until the 1990s).
That Old Feeling – (Sammy Fain, Lew Brown) – Dating back to the late 1930s this has been recorded many, many times including versions by Doris day (1949), Eddie Fisher (1952), Frank Sinatra (1956), The Platters (1958), The Four Lads (1948)
Afraid – (Fred Rose) – Bluegrass singer Clyde Moody released the first version of this song written by country music song writing legend Fred Rose in 1949. I don't know if it was hit or if there were any other hit versions. The familiar country themes of romantic distrust are evident and don't sit with the other songs but it's a gentle hoot with some nice sharp guitar.

Song Links:

You're Driving Me Crazy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You%27re_Driving_Me_Crazy

I Only Have Eyes For You

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

Don't Blame Me

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_Blame_Me_(song)

All I Do Is Dream of You

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

I'm Confessin'

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confessin%27

I'm Yours

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I%27m_Yours_(1952_song)

My Happiness

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Happiness_(1948_song)

That Old Feeling

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/That_Old_Feeling_(song)

And …

Sands has a great voice which suits trad pop perfectly. It's nothing you haven't heard before but it would be perfect background music … and would have everyone guessing … I'm keeping it.

Chart Action

Nothing nowhere

Sounds

You're Driving Me Crazy

mp3 attached