"The awe and mystery which reaches from the inner mind to outer space. Please Stand By."

The Outer Limits was going to be called Please Stand By--this is the original intro and title from the 1962 pilot (The Galaxy Being). The closing title features Dominic Frontiere's complete music for same--not the edited version used for Limits.

Lee

Unused "Star Trek" intro & title music from second pilot (1965)

...and portions of the episode. I kind of like the original title music better than the hokey theme they settled on.

Directed by The Outer Limits' James Goldstone.


Lee

Carole King classics

It's been at least five minutes since I wrote something controversial, so let me start by saying I consider Carole King to be rock's best songwriter, by far. Along with ex-hubbie Gerry Goffin (a very talented lyricist, to be sure), her influence on the Beatles and Brian Wilson, to name just two, was enormous. I have a theory that Brian was torn between being Carole or Burt, never quite becoming either. Which is how it usually works out. He managed to be Brian, which is more than good enough.

Carole, in turn, owes a lot to Neil Sedaka, as far as I can tell. Sedaka never had Carole's edge, but he was quite a brilliant musician. Not every young piano prodigy has a fan in Arthur Rubenstein, for instance.

Anyway, here are some of my favorite King-Goffin numbers--save for Bobby, Bobby, Bobby, which I'm including for its (possibly)-won't-hear-anyplace-else value. A cute tune, but not King at her best. I've Know You All My Life, We Love and Learn, Randy--King at her distinguished, brilliant best. These are pre-solo-era Carole, and all were ripped from my collection o' vinyl.

To the Kingsongs: FILE NO LONGER AVAILABLE

PLAYLIST

RANDY
I'VE KNOW YOU ALL MY LIFE--The Four Preps, 1964.
WE LOVE AND LEARN--Earl-Jean, 1964.
I CAN'T STOP TALKING ABOUT YOU--Steve and Eydie, 1964.
EVERYBODY GO HOME--Eydie Gorme, 1963.
THEY'RE JEALOUS OF ME--Earl-Jean, 1964.
BOBBY, BOBBY, BOBBY (M. Glazer-C. Weiss-C. King)--Jo Ann Campbell, 1960.


Lee

More Leroy Anderson--Spike Jones, Living Strings, Merv, Don Baker

A Leroy Anderson 45 rpm record drink coaster, from eBay. That's exactly how the ad describes it. I had nothing to do with this. I only hope this is a facsimile of the disc--i.e., that a real one wasn't cruelly melted down for this purpose.

While we're wondering that, here are Merv Griffin, The Living Strings, Don Baker, and Spike Jones with five Leroy Anderson numbers across eight sides. That comes out to Sleigh Ride, Blue Tango, Belle of the Ball, Serenata (times two), and Fiddle Faddle (times three). The Living Strings tracks are from the 1963 Holiday for Strings LP (RCA Camden CAL-760), and if you think you hear a Ringo-style beat behind the Strings' Sleigh Ride, you do--only, in the days just before the Beatles, it was called a Twist rhythm. This is a "vigorously updated" Sleigh Ride, the notes claim, but the transformation sounds gentle to me. Then again, no one asked.

Accordionist Dom Frontiere, whose octet we hear in track 7, is better known for composing the soundtracks to TV shows like Outer Limits, The Invaders, Rat Patrol, 12 O'Clock High, and Branded, and movies such as Hang 'Em High and Chisum. My favorite TV composer of them all.

If you missed my first helping of Leroy Anderson, simply travel on over here.

To get today's second helping, click here: FILE NO LONGER AVAILABLE


PLAYLIST

FIDDLE FADDLE--The Living Strings, 1963.
SLEIGH RIDE--The Living Strings, 1963.
BLUE TANGO--The Living Strings, 1963.
SERENATA--The Living Strings, 1963.
BELLE OF THE BALL--Don Baker, theatre pipe organ, 1959.
FIDDLE FADDLE--Spike Jones w. Homer and Jethro, 1950.
FIDDLE FADDLE--Dom Frontiere Octet, 1956.
SERENATA--Merv Griffin w. Freddy Martin Orch., 195?


Lee

Tina Fey

I was going to make a joke about Tina Fey--namely, that she showed up at the Golden Globes in a revealing outfit, but with nothing to reveal. However, she doesn't take kindly to her critics, it seems, so I'll just put a top on it. Er, cover.


Lee

A Deresco rock 'n' roll party!

I was hoping Deresco would turn out to be yet another cut-rate cover label of the Fifties, but it appears to be simply another disguise for Gateway Top Tune, Big 4 Hits, Hollywood, and Super-Value Extended Play Records. The "Four Jacks" credit gave it away before I even set needle to groove.

Now, I don't know if we're looking at an instance of, "So, what shall our label be this week?" or a number of teeny-tiny independent labels leasing the same cheap masters (though the latter seems highly unlikely). I don't know. I don't have all the answers--just the records.

Speaking of Super-Value Extended Play Records (and who isn't?), my one and only disc on that celebrated label includes the Fred Gibson/Bill Warren Rock Around the Clock. This time, the singer is credited as Dick Ronson. I was hoping against the odds that I'd found a new cheap-label version of Clock, but, no. But I digress. (What do you mean, yes, I do?)

Back to the platter at hand, which starts out beautifully with The Stroll, a very good cover of the Diamonds by Bradley Arthur. As if to say "Just kidding!" Deresco follows up with an awful but fun misfire (Oh Boy) that should have been titled "Ohhhhh-kay." I'm guessing that Gootch Jackson wasn't even trying to sound like Buddy. The final two numbers are pretty good efforts--though, in trying to capture the proper bland delivery, the guy doing Ricky Nelson (Bradley Arthur, again) merely sounds lethargic. And, no, I have no idea what I just typed.

A Google check quickly established that these sides also came out on Gateway, so my ears were correct. What other same-as-Gateway labels are waiting for me to be found by me or some other lucky collector of musical sounds?

To the Deresco rock'n'roll party!!! Click here: FILE NO LONGER AVAILABLE

PLAYLIST

THE STROLL (Originally The Diamonds)--Bradley Arthur OH BOY (Orig. Buddy Holly)--Gootch Jackson Jo Ann (The Playmates)--Dick Warren Stood Up (Ricky Nelson)--Bradley Arthur


Lee

New look

Hope you like the new look--I upgraded. I now have "Layout" instead of "Template." Nearly everything survived the transition--except my site counter. Oops.

I guess I'll be starting over at zero. Anyway, I was up to 875,000. When I hit a million, it'll look like 25,000 125,000, but it'll be plus 875,000. (UPDATE: My new site counter allows me to start at my old accumulated count.)

Anyway, the new look is great. I think.

Please note my new advertiser, Ticket City, at the lower left bottom. Please welcome them to our happy cyber-home!

And I have a second new sponsor (love that word!)--PartSelect.com. In fact, I had had this second sponsor up in the right sidebar, but that was back in the "Template" days of old.

Please welcome them to our upgraded blogspot!



Lee

And I thought the era of memorable Spam was over....

"Loook likee a mdoel wtihout dites!"

Awesome.

Sunday morning gospel--Charles H. Gabriel, Part 3: Glory Song- and Higher Ground-athon

(Above) Charles H. Gabriel's original manuscript for O That Will Be Glory (a.k.a. The Glory Song) of 1900. According to Gabriel, Glory did gloriously, selling more than twenty million copies in the space of twelve years! Mega-hits, I think we can safely say, are not a new phenomenon.

We'll be hearing six fine recordings of this once very popular gospel song, including 1905 and 1908 78 rpm rips. The surface noise is fairly extreme (fairly extreme?) on the 1905 side, which kicks things off, but things get much quieter very quickly. And I've always wanted to type "much quieter very quickly."

Way back around 1990, when I first played this song at my keyboard, I found myself wondering where the tune (then barely 90) was. It seemed way too simple and monotonous. Something like this was a big hit? But it grows on a listener, believe me. There's much beauty hidden within this no-frills 1-2-3-4-5-6 gem. (It's in 6/4, remember.)

Higher Ground, the second number in our -athon, is featured here in eight versions. Lord knows how many have been recorded by now (or maybe he's lost track, too). This 1898 number--with music by Gabriel and words by Johnson Oatman, Jr.--has a very modern country sound to it, to my ears at least. It's not as dirt-simple as Glory, but pretty close. It first struck me as pleasant but drab. Then, as you might have guessed, it progressed from drab to inspiring. How many listens this took, I don't remember. (I should write these things down.)

To the -athon: FILE NO LONGER AVAILABLE

GLORY SONG (O THAT WILL BE GLORY)--Hayden Q., 1905.
O THAT WILL BE GLORY--Ira Gerig, piano.
THAT WILL BE GLORY--Marshall Vaughn.
THE GLORY SONG--North Industry Christian Church Chancel Choir.
O THAT WILL BE GLORY--The Musical Biolans.
GLORY SONG--Criterion Quartet, 1908.

HIGHER GROUND

Old Fashioned Revival Hour Q.
Fairfield Highlands Baptist Church Choir.
Higher Ground, 1973.
Mack Evans.
Blue Ridge Quartet, 1966.
The Coffey Family.
The Tabor Family.
The Jordan Family.


Lee