Allergies worse than ever. Hopefully, they won't trigger another transformation into...

...The WereGodzilla.















It's been quite a while since I last changed into this half-man/half-rubber-lizard, but stress caused by unusually high levels of pollen have been known to trigger wereGodzilla changes in some. I know--I've been through a couple of them since returning to the United States from Japan in 1985.

Background: During my Japanese tour in the Navy, each and every full moon meant a wereGodzilla transformation. The above photo was taken by friends in March, 1985. I have no idea what happened to them. Did I devour them? Did they run? No one knows. Their camera was all that could be retrieved from the rubble of their rented home.

Anyway, I thought the dang conversions would cease the moment I got back to the U.S. And, for the most part, they have. Exceptions: two episodes brought on by allergy attacks.

So, of course, I'm worried sick as I type this. I have no desire to change into the wereGodzilla again. For one thing, that rubber mask is tighter than heck. And forget about peripheral vision....















Lee

Easy sounds for Thursday evening

Have I mentioned that I'm dying from allergies? I am. Not literally dying, of course, but suffering pretty rottenly. (Rottenly?) Adverbs fail me when I'm allergied-out. My apologies.

My hayfever was so bad last night, I took emergency measures--a dose of Benadryl. And, predictably, I had Benadryl dreams. I.e., exceptionally strange dreams (a normal dream being mildly strange, by definition).

None of which has a dang thing to do with the music we're about to hear. Two things unite these selections: 1) they're all on the mellow side, and 2) I recorded them all at the same time. Well, actually, one after another. "At the same time" would have sounded very weird.

Fun stuff here, especially Guy Lombardo's version of Willie Nelson's Crazy. The Percy Faith side is pre-Columbia and -Majestic. Jo Stafford's tracks are 1964 Capitol remakes of much earlier tracks she did for that label. No Other Love, in particular, sounds significantly different than the 1950 original. Which is fine with me, because I like it better. The tune is from Chopin, of course.

Embraceable You (George and Ira Gershwin), Percy Faith and His Orchestra, 1946. From Vocalion LP (originally a Decca 78).

Twelfth of Never (Livingston-Webster), Anita Kerr Quartet, 1960. From Decca LP.

Crazy (Willie Nelson), Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians; vocal by Cliff Grass, 1962. From Decca LP.

Comes One in a Lifetime (Comden-Green-Styne), Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians; vocal by Kenny Gardner, 1962. Same LP.

No Other Love (B. Russell-P. Weston), Jo Stafford with Paul Weston's Music, 1964. From Capitol label LP, The Hits of Jo Stafford.

The Gentleman Is a Dope (Rodgers--Hammerstein II), Jo Stafford with Paul Weston's Music, 1964.

The Trolley Song (Martin-Blaine), Jo Stafford with Paul Weston's Music, 1964.

I'm about to take a Claritin. After a while, maybe I won't be suffering so rottenly. I've decided that's the perfect adverb for the situation!

"Allergy sufferers are having an especially rotten time this week...."--Local meteorologist.

Lee

Walt to the rescue!

Reader Walt went to http://www.jananddean-janberry.com/covers/jd-covers.html and found this information:

Danny Iida & the Paradise Kings Surf City(Berry-Wilson)— Toshiba 1963 Sung in Japanese. Also released on CD "Let's Go! Surfin' - Far East Collection, '63-'65," Toshiba TOCT-9478, 1996 (JAPAN). HIROHISA IIDA and the Paradise Kings debuted in 1956, progressing from Hawaiian music to mainstream pop.

Danny Iida and the Paradise Kings--wow.

Took Walt a couple minutes to find all this! I had tried "Toshiba Records" and the song titles, but no luck. Walt to the rescue. Many thanks!

I'll update (i.e., add) that information shortly.



Lee

Two for Sara's Birthday

Sara, who turns 50 today (Happy Birthday!) asked for music from Japan or music that is Japan-related. Well, I came close--here are two Japanese recordings that are U.S.-related. Specifically, they're covers of two big U.S. hits (and good covers, too)--Surf City and Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport. I bought this in an antique mall in either Yokohama or Yokosuka, and I'd gladly tell you the name of the group, but my Kanji-reading skills are pretty nonexistent. Here's the picture cover, in case anyone can help me out.

UPDATE: Walt found the group's name at a Jan and Dean website, and Sara, through her kanji-reading skills, verified the surname: Danny Iida and the Paradise King(s), from 1963. Sad to say, Danny Iida passed away in 1999.


















Surf City, Danny Iida and the Paradise Kings, 1963, from Toshiba label 45.

Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport, Danny Iida and the Paradise Kings, 1963. Same.


Good singing, good production. And, really, the group members don't look any less hip than most other outfits of the day, from any country. Studio poses from that era haven't aged well, in general. And this one is pretty artistic. I like it.

Hope Sara (and everyone else) enjoyed,


Lee

Sheet music showcase

Let me start by saying this: I hope these images upload. My luck with photo uploads are about 50/50 on Blogger. I just read a "couldn't upload the photo until after I had posted this" account by another blogger. So this is likely a Blogger-wide glitch.

I've always wanted to type "Blogger-wide glitch." Sounds like some kind of mountain-folklore monster. "Watch out for the Blogger-wide Glitch! He'll get you when you're out alone! Ha, ha, ha, ha!"--Legend of the Blogger-wide Glitch.

Anyway, here are the sheet music covers to three of the selections we've heard at this joint--all are from my collection. The two way-colorful pieces were published by E.T. Paull. I have my share of Paulls, and I've paid as little as 50 cents for some and $5 to $20 for others. These two were on the cheaper end of that scale. Tell Taylor's Down by the Old Mill Stream was self-published, looks like. It includes a vocal quartet arrangement on the last page.

Yee-ha! They came up just fine:

























You should be able to get a much bigger image with these by clicking on them and clicking again. I made a point of not size-reducing them.

It's always nice to see the pictures that go with the music. And I should've recorded the dates, but I didn't....

Lee

The blues come around. And then they go.

That second part is always nicer. Don't know what had me bummed out last night, but just wanted to say thanks for the continued support. And thanks to all who comment and all who don't. Seriously. I'm proud and happy to have all the visitors I do (even if some folks probably get here by accident!), and it's just a thrill to know that so many are reading my words and listening to "my" sounds. Your coming here is greatly appreciated, and don't feel you have to sign in. For one thing, it's a pain in the behind to get past that word verification. I know--I have to negotiate it every time I answer anyone, and it almost always takes two tries. Or three.

What gets me every time are the v's versus the u's. They look too much alike. I make my best guess, but it's a 50/50 situation. But, of course, it's the only way to keep spam off the blog. Otherwise, I'd ditch it in a heartbeat.

Anyway, who knows where blue moods come from? Weirder yet, why would a high counter count bum me out? Humans are such complicated creatures. We insist on being illogical.

I know that, of course, from decades of watching Star Trek.

You folks are the greatest. Thanks for giving me a reason to keep this up.


Lee

400,000 hits on my site counter!

400,000 visits! Far out.

The cats are all very thrilled for me. Here's Elvis:














And Reddy:














Tucker:













And Pete:













As you can see, these guys couldn't be more excited.

Nice to have a four followed by five zeros, but the zero in "0 Comments" has me wondering if I suddenly lost any following. It makes for a puzzling contrast, the five zeros versus one. So, I'm a bit down, frankly. Which is a sign I need to take a vacation. I'll be back. Many thanks to those who have commented, but I need to figure out if these high numbers ultimately mean very much....

Later,

Lee