Lee's tuxedos present: Sounds to start the weekend rolling!

Bingo, Rosie, and Perry chose this morning's playlist, and I think they did a very good job. If too many kazoos turn you off, you might, um, want to skip the second track (which is not to be confused with the same bandleader's 1947 hit version for the same label):

One O'Clock Jump, Si Zentner, 1964. From Liberty label demonstration LP.

I'm Looking Over a Four-Leaf Clover, Art Mooney and His "Everybody Join in" Orchestra and Chorus, 1961. From Spectacular Voices with Banjos. (More than you wanted to know?)

Baby Face (Davis-Akst), Art Mooney and His "Everybody Join in" Orchestra and Chorus, 1961. Same LP.













Calcutta (Livingston-Evans), Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney, 1958. From RCA Victor various-artists comp.

Hawaiian War Chant, Morton Gould and His Orch., 1960. From RCA Victor various-artists comp.

I'll Never Stop Loving You (Sammy Cahn and Nicholas Brodszky), Doris Day, 1955. From Columbia label various-artists LP.

And here's a masterful 1945 movie theme by the same composer (Nicholas Brodszky), as performed by the always-excellent Melachrino Orchestra:

Way to the Stars (Brodszky), Melachrino Orchestra, late 1940s. From RCA 45 RPM EP Music to Work or Study By.

And we close on a light note with the Ray Charles Singers' cool performance of the following radio theme song:

Little Orphan Annie, Ray Charles Singers, 1966. From the Command label LP, One of Those Songs.

"Arf!" says Sandy.


Lee

Cowboy and Western, Part 3

Howdy, howdy. We have more C&W files for your city-slicker enjoyment on this fine, 70-degree Friday. We begin with--who else?--Clint Eastwood. This originally appeared on an album of cowboy songs that Clint recorded for the Cameo label. I've heard it, and this is one of the more successful tracks, vocal-wise. I'm sure Eastwood knows he's no singer--and, to his credit, he can hold a tune. On NPR, Eastwood noted that he recorded this on last-minute request from the label:

Sierra Nevada, Clint Eastwood, 1963. (From Wyncote label various-artists comp)

How can I not follow up Eastwood with a spaghetti Western theme--and from the soundtrack, no less? This is from a vinyl reissue of the original soundtrack LP:

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (Main Title; Ennio Morricone), 1967.

Brilliant stuff. That might be the best Western movie theme ever. Tough call.

I don't know (Segue Alert)--The Big Country is still one of my favorites. And here's Al Caiola, in an arrangement by Don Costa, with that very theme. You may notice (I sure did) that, in spots, this sounds scarily like the Dallas theme, Disco-thump and all:

The Big Country (Jerome Moross), Al Caiola, 1964, Arr: Don Costa. From the United Artists LP, On the Trail.

You know, I'm sure that Al Caiola made a bad record at some point--he must have. But I've yet to hear it. What an incredible musician! And here he is again, with an original. This rocks:

Wheels West (A. Caiola-M.A. Romanis), Al Caiola, 1964. From United Artists LP, On the Trail.

From who-knows-when, here's Tennessee Ernie Ford with the best version of Stack-o-Lee I've ever heard. I have no idea whether or not this was made at the same time as his Capitol version, or if it's an out take, or what. I know that it appeared on a Camay label LP, that the sound quality is awful, and that it's too bad Ford's Capitol sides didn't rock/swing this hard:

Stack-o-Lee, Tennessee Ernie Ford, year unknown.

We close with The New Establishment's groovy 1970 version of Seattle, the theme to TV's Here Come The Brides:

Seattle (Sheldon-Keller-Montenegro), The New Establishment, 1970. From Colgems 45.

Yeeeeee-haaaaa!!



Lee(eeeeee-haaaaa!!)

Queenie Presents: Sounds for Friday morning!

This morning's recordings were chosen by Queenie, whom I've dubbed our "Outer Limits cat." Reason being, she looks a lot like the Galaxy Being from the Outer Limits episode of the same name. And I'm not being facetious. Witness:












Queenie, our Outer Limits cat (above, left).

On to the sounds. We start with my--er, Queenie's--favorite Gene Pitney record, from 1964:

It Hurts To Be in Love (Greenfield-Miller), Gene Pitney.

We follow this with a terrific number by Dmitri Tiomkin and Ned Washington (the guys who gave us Rawhide!):

Town without Pity (Tiomkin-Washington), Gene Pitney, 1962. (Sign at entrance--"Population: 5,600. Pity: None")

A happy follow-up is called for. Here's Mrs. Mill's mega-jaunty (mega-jaunty??) version of the 1920s classic, Crazy Rhythm:

Crazy Rhythm, Mrs. Mills, 1964. From Liberty promotional LP. (Of course, she's "Mrs Mills" on the Box.net file.)

I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "What's next? Hello Dolly?" Why, how did you guess!

Hello Dolly, The Galahads, 1964. From the same Liberty LP.

In addition to the two retro-Dixieland sides we just heard, the late 1950s and early 1960s of course gave us The Stripper (David Rose, 1962), Washington Square (The Village Stompers, 1963), Midnight in Moscow (Kenny Ball, 1962), Way Down Yonder in New Orleans (Freddy Cannon, 1959), and Down at Papa Joe's (Dixie Belles, 1963). Far out, no?

A genre I love. I also love retro-big-band from the same period:

Ohhhhh-kay.

And Box.net just went bye-bye. I hope it comes back soon. (Grrrrrr!!!!) We'll have to hear the retro-big-band side at a later date.

("I hope you didn't come here looking for any pity."--Town without Pity resident, to visitor.)


Lee

Late-afternoon wake-up music for Thursday!

Looks like Box.net is back up. Hopefully, looks aren't deceiving, in this case....

This is the stuff I was going to put up this morning.

This first one is extraordinarily cool. Hugo Montenegro catches a lot of heck from the lounge crowd, for some reason--he's (get this) too cheesy. And the Irony Cops would be rushing here, right now, but they passed out from shock. Too much irony, even, for them.

Yeah, we can't listen to lounge that's TOO CHEESY!! (Imagine that sentence being shouted at Jay-Leno volume.)

This is from an LP I found last weekend--it was so grimy, I even washed off the cover! (With warm water, dishwashing soap, and a paper towel. Worked like a charm.) Luckily, there was little to no mildew, so no odor. Just left-over dirt. The all-important vinyl cleaned up beautifully. (Auggghhh! I thought I snapped a photo of the cover. I guess not.)

These two tracks, arranged by Hugo, are superb. And, yes, I love the song MacArthur Park. Always have:

Moog Power (H. Montenegro), Hugo Montenegro Orchestra and Chorus, 1969. From Moog Power LP on RCA.

MacArthur Park (Allegro Part III; Jimmy Webb), same folks.

Best thing about the second selection is that it takes the upbeat portion of Park and keeps it going--something I've been wanting to do with the original recording--i.e. , loop that great instrumental break so it lasts several minutes. Rock critics love to make fun of the lyrics to Park on the premise that they don't make sense. Of course, they're pulling our leg, because the Park lyrics make more sense than 90 percent of psychedelic rock verses. No, what they're doing is ridiculing Webb for trying to be hip. He's not part of the club, you know. Probably, the critics are terrified of someone with his talent and knowledge of musical history and forms. In fact, I'm sure that's it. They can't fool me.

Similarly, rock critics, who have the sense to be scared of jazz, have never recovered from their resentment toward Blood, Sweat, and Tears, a group that dared to merge the complexities of jazz with rock. I mean, look at the bind BS&T placed the critics in--do they admit that they have zero knowledge of chords and modes, or do they snipe at the group for having the nerve to merge genres (something, oddly enough, that they praise everyone else for)? Gee, which option do you think they exercised?

Anyway, here's The Peter Pan Orchestra and Chorus' take on Spinning Wheel. I still love this song after all these years:

Spinning Wheel, Peter Pan Orchestra and Chorus, from "Songs from Sesame Street," 1972.

Hopefully, everyone is awake now. I certainly feel better after bitching!













Our blogger, trying to look natural for this arty shot....

Lee

Wake-up music for... um... Thursday. (Or whatever day this is.)

I think it's Thursday. In all the excitement, I forgot. You know--the excitement of 1:02:03 04/05/06 and my cats lined up in a row. I'm so glad I got a photo of the event.

I swear I didn't fake that photo. I don't know how--my expertise is limited to making trashed records sound new. Don't know nothin' about images.

Anyhow, Box.net is back up. I think. I hope.

And, no, it isn't. I can get in, but I can't do a damned thing on it. My apologies. I guess we won't we hearing any wake-up music.

Any suggestions for another file-storage site? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.



Lee

Read all about "Mah-Na Mah-Na"

Click here to go the Los Angeles City Beat article "'Mah Na' Mania."

From a "1968 Italian softcore porn documentary," no less. Wow....

I guess the song title has no hyphens. But it does on the Peter Pan LP. I think it works better with the hyphens, personally.

Looks like Lady Domi was right about Henri Salvador:













And look--hyphens!

Lee

01:02:03 04/05/06 three-tuxedo alignment--captured by my Kodak!

The amazing three-tuxedo alignment shown below occurred precisely at 01:02:03 on 04/05/06. Except that it happened at 1:02:03 PM on 04/05/06, which is technically 13:02:03. Plus, it happened about 20 after 1. But it's still a pretty amazing shot:





















Bottom to top: Bing, Rosemary, and Perry.

How often does that happen? Not very. In fact, this might be only the second time I've gotten all three of my tuxedos in a single photo. And it happened precisely at 1:02:03 on 04/05/06, give or take twenty minutes.

And you... was there! (Bob and Ray reference.)

A skeptic speaks out:









"This 01:02:03 04/05/06 stuff is total mouse manure!"



Lee

Gene Pitney, 65, dies in Wales

The sad news can be found here. My thanks to Myron for letting this blog know.

("This blog" being, of course, me. But "this blog" sounds more official.)

No foul play is suspected. Apparently, he died peacefully, which is good. Here's one of Gene's best recordings--this Bacaharch/David number was written for the John Ford film of the same name:

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (Bacharach/David), Gene Pitney, 1962. From Sceptor LP.

Box.net is still moving extraordinarily slowly. But, rejoice--their blog announces that everything will be fine. By the start of next week, that is.

Please try to contain your excitement....

R.I.P., Gene. More of this fine artist to come, Box.net willing.

Lee

Two tracks from the not-affiliated-with-Sesame-Street LP

Hope these play with no problems. I'm unable to play anything at the site to test it. I just heard from Box.net's Aaron Levine, who says, "We're in the process of making things Much faster with the site. You can check on what we're doing here: http://blog.box.net/"

I hate to be a whiner, but I just want to be able to upload files and link to them. I'm perfectly fine with sites that aren't improving themselves all of the time. See "If it ain't broke..."

Anyway, here are Mah-Na Mah-Na and Yellow Submarine by the Peter Pan Orchestra (orchestra?) and Chorus. I suspect that Peter Pan used stuff they already had on hand, though I don't know for sure. But I suspect:

Man-Na Mah-Na, Peter Pan Orchestra and Chorus, 1972. From the scary-Ernie LP.

Yellow Submarine, Peter Pan Orchestra and Chorus, 1972. From the not-affiliated-with-Sesame-Street LP.

Fabulous--I had to sign in twice to link to two MP3s (the second time, clicking "Enter" about 20 times). Good luck, everyone.

Why can't Box.net stop messing with everything? This is so tiresome. I can't run a blog if it takes me fifteen minutes to link to two files. This is like the days of dial-up.


Lee

Don't mess with Rosie!

Rosie ain't afraid of Tom "The Hammer" DeLay, no way. She's gobbled tougher prey for between-meal snacks. Just the other day, for instance, she nabbed a ladybug.

Don't--repeat, do not--mess with Rosie.





















"You talkin' to me?"--Rosie, in charge.

TODAY's QUIZ

We should mess with Rosie. True or false.

A. True (Just kidding)
B. False
C. Yeah, if we want to kiss our keisters goodbye
D. You do it. I'll stand out of the way and watch
E. Nobody messes with Rosie
F: All of the above



Lee

Tom DeLay--ain't gonna hammer no more

Wow. I did not know this. Tom DePraved, a.k.a. "The Hammer," once took Ted Kennedy's patriotism to task, and Max Cleland sent him these words of appreciation: "This country deserves more patriots like Senator Kennedy, not more chicken hawks like you who never served."

Well, now, let's not jump to judgment--Tom "The Exterminator" DeKnave has explained why he didn't serve. He said, "So many minority youths had volunteered that there was literally no room for patriotic folks like myself."

Of course, he couldn't really have said that, because such an outrageously racist statement would have gotten him kicked off the planet without delay (hey, I made a funny!!). Right?

No? You mean, it didn't??

Anyway, Mr. Bunker has elected not to run again, because (according to the TV report I watched) victory would be anything but certain. That is, he might have to fight a tough fight. Tom, apparently, is not up to the challenge.

Which, believe it or not, makes him very brave. That was the tone of the report--I swear. DeHammer is proving his toughness by pulling out, it said. You know, sometimes I think that a Republican could run, screaming, from a spider--"Help me! Help me! Kill it!!! It's going to eat me!!!"--and the reports would be all about the courage it takes to run from a creature 1/1000th your size while crying and falling over people. Meanwhile, the Democrat who stepped on the thing would be accused of macho grandstanding.

When the going gets tough, the tough run. Maybe there are minorities after his seat (er, so to speak). All the more reason to run.

Anyway, DeLay is quite a bully (or was), by all reports. Amazing. Yeah, cowards usually are.

Best of all, his party plans to use him as a fall guy--the Repubs are going to pretend that, once DeLay splits, all of the corruption will be splitting with him. I think that's hilarious. Play the vicious bully and your "friends" consume you the moment your power slips. There's plenty of scapegoat protein in such a corpus. Chomp, chomp. Munch, munch.

Poor Tom. His party's going to use him and then deposit his political cadaver on the curb for the next Waste Management vehicle. Which, hopefully, will be manned by a black guy and a Hispanic-American, both of them Vietnam vets.

Lee

Wake-up wonders for Tuesday!! (Box.net is back!)

MY(P)WHAE's guarantee: These will (almost) definitely wake you up. Unless they don't.

We begin with a terrific 1963 Ray Conniff track that I ripped from a jacketless LP I found over the weekend. The labels reeked of/from mildew, so I washed them along with the vinyl and let the poor, abused Columbia Record Club item air out over a couple of days. Once 80 percent of the mildew smell had departed, I ripped the track I wanted and tossed the LP in the trash. "Thank you, thank you," it said. This was followed by a long sigh. It was ready to go.

Caravan, Ray Conniff, 1963.

This next one, I found at Goodwill on Saturday. 99 cents--they cut their LP prices in half. Smart move, as they'll move more of them that way. (This early-A.M. word play brought to you by my tired brain.) I'd never heard of Pete Balboa's Nassau Palms Orchestra--they're terrific. They rock. I mean, they merengue:

Artistry in Rhythm (S. Kenton), Pete Balboa and the Nassau Palms Orchestra, 1960. From Capitol LP Let's Dance the Merengue.

And here's one I found ages ago, who knows where. It's from the Liberty label demonstration record Liberty Is for Everybody (Fall '64 Program). Our Founding Parents would agree. "Original soundtrack," it says, and it's definitely the original music, but not the version used on TV. Nice try, Liberty....

Burke's Law, Original Soundtrack (oh, sure), 1964. From Liberty demonstration LP.

Now that we're all woke up (woken up?), here's a cry-in-your-coffee ditty to keep everything in perspective. Wish I'd written down the songwriters' name, dang it. This is from an LP that departed my collection a while back--from 1968, it's Bobby Scott (who gave us A Taste of Honey and He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother) with Eight Million Stores (In the Naked City). Not to be confused with the theme from the TV show, btw:

Eight Million Stories (In the Naked City), Bobby Scott, from self-titled LP on Columbia, 1968.

Man, that was depressing. In a nice way. Therefore, I've decided not to jump out of the window. Anyway, here's Spike Jones to cheer us up again--from that Liberty demonstration LP. (Gee, you don't think this was inspired by David Rose's The Stripper?) Great after-hours sounds for our early hours. (Boom-chicka, boom-chicka....):

I'm in the Mood for Love, Spike Jones, 1964.

And I'd better fix the title--i.e., remove the apostrophe ("I'm"). Box.net won't tolerate apostrophes.


















Oh, no! Watch out for that semi!


Lee

Back to Bacharach

Time to get back to Burt with some Bacharach-Davids (and one Bacharach-Hilliard) that you may not have heard. In fact, two of these you're almost certain not to have heard....

Why? Because I performed them. Me! Me, myself, and Lee.

Just kidding. No, actually, because one is a cheap cover from the Waldorf Music Hall label and the other is a pop-piano version that was incorrectly credited on the jacket and label. More on that when we get to it. First, here's Jim Richards' cover of Marty Robbin's performance of Burt and Hal's big hit The Story of My Life. I'm almost certain the date on this is January, 1958, because I'm psychic. And because the record number is 33-JAN-58. (January 33, 1958?) I'm guessing that "33" means 33 1/3, but that's just a guess....

The Story of My Life (Bacharach-David), Jim Richards, from 18 Top Hits, Waldorf 33-JAN-58.

This next number was originally recorded by Dick Van Dyke in 1961. I have no idea why The New Christy Minstrels revived it, except maybe as a showcase for Barry (Eve of Destruction) McGuire. I'm almost positive that's him doing the lead, unless there was someone else in the group who sounded like that:

Three Wheels on My Wagon (Bacharach-Hilliard), The New Christy Minstrels, most likely Barry McGuire, vocal. From Cowboys and Indians LP, 1965.

There's something very annoying about that side, and yet... I've listened to it a number of times since finding it, so I can't hate it too much. Pretty PC stuff, no?

This next one is a Hal-Burt number I've only heard in this version--i.e., by Kate Smith. I know. Kate Smith, ha, ha! But she does a good job, the only problem being that she hardly sounds like a "girl." Of course, at 40, Burt was hardly a "boy" when this was recorded, so it all kind of balances out:

That's the Way I'll Come to You--Kate Smith, 1969. From RCA Victor LP Songs of the Now Generation.

I've saved the oddest item for last. This is Carmen Cavallaro's version of Another Time, Another Place, which Patti Page also recorded the same year (1958). What's odd is that the song is credited to Jerry Livingston and Ray Evans. Or maybe not so odd, seeing as how two other Burt songs of the 1950s were miscredited--Keep Me in Mind and Once in a Blue Moon. Was someone out to get Burt?

Anyway, this is a very nice version, though I came darned close to not buying the LP when I read "Livingston-Evans." Until I realized it had to be the Bacharach-David number (same year, same movie). Logic 101.

Another Time, Another Place (Bacharach-David), Carmen Cavallaro, from Decca LP Cocktails with Cavallaro, 1958.

But I was so close to putting the LP back in the box, especially since the jacket was slightly mildewed. But why let mildew get in the way of hearing great pop? Found this one on Saturday, I should note, at a local flea market. Kept the LP, tossed the cover. But not before snapping a photo of it:


















And here, in case you didn't catch it first time around, is Patti Page's recording of the song:

Another Time, Another Place (Bacharach-David), Patti Page, 1958. From Mercury 45.

More Burt to come!


Lee

MY(P)WHAE recommends....

...Andy Senior's terrific Radiola! blog. And we recommend Andy's radio show of the same name, which airs on WCHL-FM (Hamilton College, Clinton, NY). The programs can also be heard at Andy's Live 365 station . Since I only managed to catch half of his last show (which was excellent), I'll be checking out Live 365. Lots of fun novelty and/or semi-Classical material in that program, including an extraordinary performance by Toledo's own Art Tatum. I didn't realize Art had such unbelievable technique. I knew he was good, but.... Now I see (hear, rather) why my Dad was such a Tatum fan.

Art made Oscar Peterson sound like... me, almost. That bad. Anyway, Andy has a fine announcer's voice and his asides are funny and smooth and natural. His sides are even better. They'd never allow such a genuine kind of talent on our local public station. If that sounds like a comment on central Ohio, then, Bingo. (No, Bingo--I wasn't calling you.) Bingo is my second tux. He's the most social of my three cats.

Anyway, give Andy's music and voice a listen.

And there's Brad the Impaler's amazing Shellac Shanty, which I've been meaning to comment upon for a week or so--and the Shanty posts are piling up as we type. Brad's restorations are first-rate and the selections are consistently excellent and educational--what a combination. Like me, Brad likes commenting at length. Which is good. I don't buy the conventional fewer-words-the-better blogging wisdom.

Brad and Andy have music worth listening to, and they love it, and they love to share it. They pass the MY(P)WHAE test with flying colors. If you haven't already checked them out, please do so.

Rosie thanks you, even if she prefers to sit on records rather than listen to them. (Years ago, she climbed on board an LP as it was turning. I said something like, "Aieeeeee!!!!" Since then, the Dual is off-limits to Rosemary!)














Rosie "Heh, heh--the Birds will Never See Me" Hartsfeld, in action

Lee

R.I.P., Dan Curtis

Dan Curtis, who died at age 78 on March 27, was the man behind Dark Shadows, The Night Stalker, Trilogy of Terror (the devil doll vs. Karen Black--remember?), The Winds of War, and War and Remembrance. Among other TV productions.

Like a lot of Boomers, I remember Dan for Dark Shadows, the gothic soap opera that gave kids like me a week-daily dose of vampires, werewolves, time travelings and Chroma-keyed ghosts. I don't remember if I literally ran home to see the show, but I might have walked faster. Of course, in those days, my walking pace was just about as fast my running pace is now. It's probably even more sluggish now that we've lost an hour.

Curtis was diagnosed four months ago with a brain tumor--good grief. If that weren't bad enough, his wife of more than fifty years died on March 7 of heart failure. I'd like to think they are both in a much happier place.

I loved the music on Dark Shadows, which was the creation of Robert Cobert, a person I used to think was Canadian until I just now saw that he was born in New York, New York in 1924. Oh.

(Wow--at some point, he was was the musical director on The Price Is Right, says the Internet Movie Database).

Anyway, Cobert's DS music is often criticized for being way over the top, but that's what it was intended to be, so I give it high marks. Here's the soundtrack version of the Dark Shadows theme, which was never my favorite piece of Cobert music, but it'll do. In fact, the CD says it's an alternate version. Ohhh-kay:

Dark Shadows Theme--The Robert Cobert Orchestra (1966?). From the CD Dark Shadows: The 30th Anniversary Collection. DS fans are advised to get a copy of this!

Had Dan passed away under less depressing circumstances, I might say "Fangs for the memories, Dan." Instead, I'll just say my monster-addled childhood was a better place because of him. I was a Lugosi, Karloff, Universal, etc. fan, and Dan brought all of that into the present, and into my living room, and daily. Thank you, thank you, Dan.












Lee

Wake-up music for Sunday, April 2!

Man, I could swear that I just lost an hour. As if the clocks were set ahead, or something.

Problem is, I can't remember, on account of the lost hour. Isn't that ironic?

Anyway, spring is here, and everything's coming up roses. Which happens to be the title of our first selection--Spring is Here. I mean, Rosie the Cat. I mean....

Everything's Coming Up Roses--Ferrante and Teicher, 1958. From ABC-Paramount LP (I forgot which one!).

How about that? I can't even remember the album I ripped it from. It was a few weeks ago. I just remember that it was on ABC-Paramount. And I know it's from 1958, because that's what I recorded as the date. We're very organized at MY(P)WHAE.

I'll have to see what else I have ready to go. Ummmmm--O.K., here's a great one: Tennessee Ernie Ford's Kissin' Bug Boogie. I don't know when this was made, because it's not the Capitol version. It's either an unused Capitol label take OR something he made at an earlier time for another label. However, I've yet to find any mention in any discography of pre-Capitol Ford material. So, who knows. Anyway, this rocks!

Kissin' Bug Boogie--Tennessee Ernie Ford (from a not-very-hi-fi Camay label LP).

The lousy sound quality, along with the sloppy edits, are the fault of the Camay label. I had nothing to do with either! In fact, I brightened the sound while taking off some annoying hiss. Wish I knew where Camay got those masters (and why they sound so awful)....

Our last number is Gustav Holst's Marching Song, as conducted by Holst himself in 1926. This is right from my one-dollar copy of the original 12" 78. I swear:

Marching Song (Holst), Gustav Holst conducting the London Symphony Orchestra, 1926. From Columbia label 78.

Once--and only once--during boot camp, our ARPOC (forgot what that stood for) gave us the following marching command: "Groucho, March!!" At which point, we all crouched in Groucho fashion, wiggling our imaginary cigars.

Get it? Groucho March! You know, as opposed to, um....

Yeah.


Lee