Easy Listening Blowout, Part One!

Get ready to crank it up, because Easy Listening Blowout, Part One is here!!

We start with Jan August's reverb-laden version of Dizzy Fingers, from 1951. Very Ferrante-and-Teicheresque--it's as if August had tried to out-Ferrante-and-Teicher the duo before it had even had the chance to record anything. Or as if the recording engineer had said, "Let's make this sound really dizzy!" This is all speculation on my part, of course....

The two Columbia label Otto Cesana tracks are from 1953, as far as I know, though I own them on a later 45-rpm issue. Cesana's mood music had a quality all its own--it was smooth and lush but rhythmic, as well as dreamy, but not too mushy, in the audio department. The "dreamy, but not too mushy" part is what I like best--natural-sounding echo at its finest. Whether it was completely natural, I don't know, but it sounds it. What something sounds like is all that matters on a recording.

Yes, you can quote me.

Franck Pourcel's 1959 version of Only You is easy listening that rocks, proving that such a thing is possible, at least where there are piano triplets and a heavy backbeat. 101 Strings had pulled off the same miracle the year before with its Plays the Blues LP. Jesse Crawford's version of the Perry Como hit Magic Moments (Bacharach-David) rocks more gently in a pre-rock-and-roll, 6/8, Oh, That'll Be Joyful sense. Two different styles of rocking, and in one blog and one post. What a deal!

For all their resemblance to Andre Kostelanetz sides of the same period, the three Percy Faith gems from 1944 manage to bounce along in a Big Band style--well, the first and third, anyway. There's even a swing quality to these, something nearly impossible to achieve in easy mode--unless the arranger is Percy Faith. Then anything is possible.

The two Norman Green sides--Black Magic and Little White Lies--were much more than I expected from an obscure, cheap-looking 45 rpm from 1951. The lush, sophisticated arrangements sound like they were written years later, and the fi is extremely hi. Bachelor-den pop, complete with outer-space chorus, and perfect for showing off the hi-fit set. And from 1951!

Ferde Grofe's Daybreak is given the Big Band treatment by Ralph Marterie and His Marlboro Orch., and in the kind of hi fi not quite possible prior to the post-Big-Band era. And I've always wanted to type "prior to the post-Big-Band era."

If pressed, I will deny having written any of this....

Click here to reach Easy Listening Blowout, Part 1!

PLAYLIST

Dizzy Fingers (Confrey)--Jan August, 1951.
Devotion--Otto Cesana O. and Cho. featuring Bob Holland, 1953.
Interlude--Otto Cesana Orch., w. Buddy Weed, harpsichord, 1953.
Only You--Franck Pourcel's French Fiddles, 1959.
Magic Moments (Bacharach-David)--Jesse Crawford, 1958.
Long Ago (And Far Away)--Percy Faith Orch., 1944.
Star Dust--Percy Faith Orch., 1944.
Embraceable You--Percy Faith Orch., 1944.
Black Magic--The Norman Green Orch., 1951.
Little White Lies--The Norman Greene Orch., 1951.
Daybreak--Ralph Marterie Orch., 1956.


Lee

Early Burt Special, 2008--Part 3

After putting up Part 2, I realized that I wasn't sticking to the "early" part of the "Early Burt" requirement. In particular, 1973's The World Is a Circle isn't early Burt. Late-middle Burt, maybe, but not early Burt. (Yes, I'm feeling well. Why do you ask?)

Previously, I'd decided on 1967 as the cut-off year for early Burt. So... 1967 it will be.

If you haven't already, notice the orchestra credit on the 45 label pictured above--Burt F. Bacharach and Orchestra! From 1954, no less. As far as I know, this was Burt's first appearance on disc as Burt. Maybe it's his arrangement, too (?). I do not know.

I featured this last year in a pretty hammered recording. This cleaner copy recently entered my collection, and it sounds way better, in spite of some hissing-s syndrome.

The Burt Bacharach-Anne Croswell A Girl Like You was recorded in 1960 by Larry Hall, and it has a lot going for it. Serene Dominic, author of Burt Bacharach, Song By Song, however, considers the recording a disaster. He writes, "Unable to find his place after the key change, Hall begins oscillating between several wrong notes in the hope that one might be the correct one. None are." Wow. See if you can hear all of that--I didn't. Either my copy is a different take or Dominic was a tad too eager to trash Larry.

I like the slightly eccentric structure of the tune--the extra bar (bars?) in the verse gives it a very Bacharach feel. Whether it's a matter of bar or bars depends on whether or not the tempo is a fast 4/4 or the same meter taken at twice the speed. Only the sheet music has the answer, and it could be wrong.

1959's Loving is a Way of Living is even nicer--there's a better tune and a more "legit" voice (Steve Lawrence's), though Dominic may not have liked this, either. This one, I have the sheet music for, and the score confirms that the bridge is as quirky as I thought. I disagree with the meter as transcribed--it's a fast 4/4 with sixteen bar sections, not slow 4/4 with eight bar sections. I protest.

Whom do I write to complain??

Dionne's version of They Long to Be Close to You is from 1965, and I guess I prefer it to the Carpenters' less melancholy mega-hit, if only because the slower tempo and quieter treatment seem more apt.

1960's Long Ago Last Summer is flat-out lovely, with shades of Chopin and Rudolph Friml. (And I've always wanted to type, "Shades of Chopin and...") It started out as the title/promo/whatever tune to the movie Suddenly, Last Summer, but ended up in this form. Fine with me. This is a minor pop-vocal classic.

Click here to reach Early Burt Special, 2008--Part 3.

PLAYLIST

Mama Don't Cry at My Wedding--Barry Frank, Burt F. Bacharach Orch., 1954.
A Girl Like You (BB-Anne Croswell)--Larry Hall, Al Caiola Orch., 1960.
Loving Is a Way of Living--Steve Lawrence, w. Don Costa, 1959.
They Long to Be Close to You--Dionne Warwick, 1965.
Long Ago Last Summer--Diana Trask, w. Glenn Osser, 1960.

And I just bought Winzip 11.1, I think it's called. I let the full 45-day trial elapse, but only because I was annoyed with their tactics. I refer specifically to a dialogue box that came up each time the trial version was opened--it was designed to trick the user into believing the trial had elapsed and that it was time to order the $$ edition. Not as slimy as Rhapsody's con of trying to get users to "register" (i.e., to subscribe to their monthly music "service"), but pulled from the same playbook.

These cheap scams must stop! (They won't, but it's fun saying that.)


Lee

True tales of the strange

So, I'd remembered the Bill Reed interview with Jo Stafford, and I wanted to quote it for my last post. I Googled the interview, and up came Bill's blog, People vs. Dr. Chilledair.

Today's entry quotes from that very interview with Jo Stafford. And it includes an mp3 of Underneath the Overpass!

Note that his post preceded mine.

It's a small blogosphere, I guess. Anyway, figure the odds. I hope Bill doesn't think I ripped him off!

Let me note that the idea for my text blog originated with him, however. That idea I am guilty of swiping.

Yes, figure the odds. This has been a strange week, folks.



Lee

Early Burt Special, 2008--Part 2

In an interview with Bill Reed, Jo Stafford cited Underneath the Overpass as one of the less Jo-friendly numbers pushed on her by Mitch Miller--not awful, but just not right for her. Paul Weston (in another interview) was much less kind, calling the song "crap." Yikes.

I don't think it's that bad. It's catchy, fairly clever, and Weston's arrangement has it sounding like a genuine Big Band artifact. Then again, I'm speaking as a collector and not as an artist persuaded to record something he doesn't like. So, there's that.

45s made by Hector Records (Division of Dance Records, Inc.) show up all the time in the thrifts around these parts. I'm guessing they were made for dance classes. (Duh?) The music for Hector Records was provided by... well, no one, apparently. Not according to the labels.

We're going to hear the wonderful Hector version of What's New Pussycat. It works for me in ways I can't even describe. This straightforward rendering of the goofy tune has an unintentional tackiness that the Tom Jones recording intended but didn't quite attain. And that's no cut on the musicians here, who sound quite good, even if--according to the label--they weren't even present.

Now, a blogger who disses Imagine should never, ever turn around and confess that he likes The World Is a Circle, but... what the heck. I'll do it, anyway. (Comments are temporarily closed, by the way.) The thing is, Circle was meant as a children's song, and the words seem right for the task. We're not looking for anything deep. They're meant to be sing-songy. And this performance--by the Sandpipers and a group of kids--is that and more. Extreme sing-song, we could call it.

And that melody is marvelous, even if the I/bVI cliche was old as Shangri-La when Burt resorted to it. A stale device in the hands of a master is no stale device....

Let Your Love Come Through is from Casino Royale, and I stupidly passed on the orchestral version of this a while back. Dang me. But, somewhere along the line, I acquired this terrific vocal version, and here it is. In the battle of Shani Wallis vs. David Whitaker's Orchestra, I think we can declare a tie. You may notice a melodic and harmonic similarly to Day Tripper. They're there.

And here's the second (or third?) appearance of Eileen Rodgers' version of the Burt Bacharach/Wilson Stone Desperate Hours, which sounds a lot different than Mel Torme's recording. I have no idea what's up with that. I hear similarities between the two Desperate Hourses (Desperate Hourses?), but they may, in fact, actually have no relationship beyond title. Further study is required.

Click here to reach: Early Burt Special, 2008--Part 2.

PLAYLIST

Let Your Love Come Through--Shani Wallis, David Whitaker Orch., 1967.
What's New Pussycat--Hector Records 1779.
The World Is a Circle--The Sandpipers, 1973.
Underneath the Overpass--Jo Stafford, Paul Weston, 1957.
The Desperate Hours (Stone-Bacharach)--Eileen Rodgers, Ray Conniff, 1955.


Lee

Early Burt Special, 2008--Part One

I'll start by putting my life, reputation, and credibility on the line by saying I think Johnny Mathis is a fabulous singer. Hopefully, that's not too far outside of the officially-endorsed assessment. We will be hearing his 1967 version of Saturday Sunshine, which should have been a hit, ime (in my estimation).

I used to have the original 1963 version of Sunshine without knowing it was the original. It was on some Kapp compilation, and it featured a very young lead singer. Had I known it was the original version, I'd likely have kept the LP. But I didn't, and I didn't.

Margaret Whiting's version of Mack David and Burt Bacharach's Hot Spell is the better-known version, but this is the better one. I spotted this in a thrift store way back, and I noticed the Bacaharch credit right off, but I concluded the badly-worn disc wasn't worth buying. So I left it there. I came to my senses later in the week, went back, found it was still there, and I bought it. Glad I did. Sounds pretty good for a disc with its grooves missing.

Mack was the brother of Hal, by the way.

The very young Gary and the Hornets do a very decent job with Baby It's You, and the record does a very decent job playing on my Dual 1229. The thing looks like it spent a lot of time on somebody's Close'n'Play phonograph, and yet it survives to tell the tale.

From the same year (1967), we have Marlena Shaw's terrific version of the Bacharach-Hilliard Waiting for Charlie to Come Home, a tune first recorded by Etta James in 1962. I call myself a Bacaharch fan, yet I've yet to hear the James version. For shame.

Lost Little Girl is a pleasant tune very well performed by the Light Brothers. I haven't made a complete decision regarding this one, but I don't think it'll end up on my Best of Burt list. On the other hand, I'm glad I heard it. File it under "Agreeable."

And I refuse to engage in any blatantly obvious "light" wordplay, such as, "This will light up your morning." It may, though.

Click here to reach Early Burt Special, 2008--Part 1.

PLAYLIST

Saturday Sunshine--Johnny Mathis; A&C by Tony Osborne, 1967.
Hot Spell (BB--Mack David)--Ernie Felice, Dennis Farnon Orch., 1958.
Baby It's You--Gary and the Hornets, 1967.
Waiting for Charlie to Come Home (BB-Bob Hilliard)--Marlena Shaw, 1967.
Lost Little Girl--The Light Brothers, 1964.



Lee

Thank you, Steven

My friend Steven Strauss wrote a wonderful piece inspired by the Imagine fallout (I've always wanted to type "inspired by the Imagine fallout"): Ukebox, Jan. 11.

Excellent writing. Even if he weren't being so pro-Lee, I'd still think the writing was excellent. But the pro-Lee part makes it that much better.

Thank you, Steven. Steven makes very, very fine music, too. Music that I recommend highly.

Do check out God and the U.S. (last post)--it's a very entertaining time capsule. I wasn't expecting it to be, but I never complain about pleasant surprises.

Lee

Right-wing fun from 1963: "God and the U.S."

I just had some good thrifting in Utica, Ohio--which is good, because it's a slightly long drive, and I'd have hated to encounter no vinyl. Which happened to me in another local thrift recently.

Oh, the agony. Someone had decided to buy all of the 300 to 400 discs at that spot. I'm assuming she didn't have to pay the full 99 cents apiece. But things were different at Utica. Three boxes, lots of Word label stuff and pop and country, and all the sort of music that square-shooter, fanatical, Lennon-hating religionists like me love to find.

Of course, I had to buy God and the U.S., though I would've passed it up had there not been music on the flip side. Seriously. I wasn't interested in another conservative narrative by itself--such things aren't that interesting to me, and they're covered obsessively by other collectors and bloggers. And I figured this was a common find.

No, to both. First off, I'm very pleased with the talking side. Second off, the LP doesn't show up anyplace on the 'Net, unless I'm not searching right. (I always have to leave open that provision.)

Narrator Marvin Bryan must be this person. Especially seeing as he's the one doing all the historical voices. Overdoing them, in spots. Clearly, he's an actor/announcer. This came out on the Microcopy label of Los Angeles. It was produced by Micocopy, Inc., which I haven't yet Googled. Feel free to do so.

Note that the arguments are identical to those in/of the current debate--Jefferson said this, Franklin said that, our coins have this or that stamped on them, etc. A very scientific way of deciding the issue of whether or not we're a country "under God." Just count the number of times "God" shows up in the record. Then divide it by... three? There must be some formula in that regard.

I think this stuff is hilarious. And I find it interesting that the script hasn't changed over 45 years. More amazing, this kind of thinking occupies the same area on the right--even after close to half a century. If our society were really moving ever-closer to a theocracy, as the hipsters keep saying, wouldn't we expect to observe a change in that relationship? Wouldn't these sentiments have moved more toward the middle? But they haven't.

Not that a single cultural artifact proves or disproves anything. Just searching for context.

The music side turns out to be the less interesting one by far, though two or three selections are blog-worthy. No titles or artists, though. God knows where they dubbed the things from. Besides other records. Library music, maybe?

Download God and the U.S. to hear the same arguments we're hearing today, only from forty-five years ago. Some things change, other things stay the same. And you... was there!!

It's a big (sixteen-minute) file, so be advised. Click here to hear: God and the U.S.


Arrangement of material and original narration: William R. Barton.
Narrator: Marvin Bryan.
Cover design: Arnold C. Hartjen.
Blogger: Lee Hartsfeld.
His cats: Perry and Rosie.


Lee

Froma Harrop sez...

"The Democratic race for president was supposed to herald a new era for blacks and women in politics. What became clear was that for the African-American, it is the 21st century. For the woman, it is 1955."--Froma Harrop.

Froma is just one of many women who are worked up and indignant over the press' treatment of Hillary. They're mad, and they're not going to take it any more.

To which I say, yeah!!! Amen. Hallelujah. About time. It's hard to think of a group with more right and cause to be fed up.

No one has to like Hillary, and the press is under no obligation to treat her like royalty. But obviously we're in no danger of that happening. Point is, nothing justifies going the opposite route and, simultaneously, dumping on her while doing their damnedest to portray her as totally irrelevant and yesterday. If she were so irrelevant, then where's the threat? Why are they pulling out all the stops to paint her as a has-been candidate? Hillary, who may very well become our first female president?

To borrow from Ellen Goodman and Froma Harrop, what in the world is old hat about a possible female president? Is the press in shock or something? Must be.

Even if I didn't like Hillary (and I love her), I'd be fuming over the media's trashing of her reputation, wrinkles, generation, and gender. Hopefully, I don't have to share Hillary's gender and list of outrages to want to rush in and defend her. What happened to chivalry? Or has that concept morphed into a bunch of dorkola talking heads ganging up on the accomplished female candidate, as if on cue?

What happened to mutual human concern? No one, male or female, young or old, deserves to be treated that way, on or off camera.

Somehow, in our allegedly post-feminist era, it's deemed business as usual to sweep the accomplishments of the Hillary Generation under the rug. And I guess it must be business as usual, judging by the casual and dutiful way in which Hillary is being anti-Hilliary-ized.

And hitherto silent and patient feminists have had enough. That tremor we feel is the sound of their shoes hitting the Earth in unison. Hopefully, younger women will join in. And men. My gender. Especially the liberal ones, who are supposed to be all for having a woman in office, who are supposed to be cheering the possibility, not maligning the messenger.

I didn't see this coming. I figured there'd be a mildly sexist response to Hillary across the population, though nothing major. And I figured the TV talking heads--most of whom are to the left--would be cautiously but decently supportive of Hillary's campaign. We can expect them to religiously straddle the middle. They seem to view that as their job.

Well, was I wrong. Anyway, it's too early to predict, but I think a revolution is coming. Good. We need one.