The 45s Keep on Comin'! Buckinghams, Five Satins, Carol Hughes, Big Jay, Ides of March....

Billboard ad for above disc: The Rockin' Kids, kindly provided by a reader.

More 45s given the Stanton T.92 turntable treatment, only with a more expensive stylus this time. I love the way it (the new stylus) tracks the more worn specimens. I think my new tonearm has less tracking error than the former. In fact, I know it does.

And what 45s these are. Five titles by the Buckinghams; the terrific 1970 Ides of March single, Superman; Carol Hughes' version of Carl Perkins' Lend Me Your Comb (with Hugo Peretti of Hugo and Luigi fame); a Big Jay McNeely rock'n'roll classic; and alternate takes of The Five Satins' (I'll Remember) In the Still of the Night and The Jones Girl. And... The Crows' Gee from the original label (playing better than I expected), a rocking 1952 number by the Mel-o-Dots, and two by The Rockin' Kids, about whom I know nothing.

The Five Satins numbers were released in 1965 on Lana, and, after finding contradictory Net info about the label (imagine that!), I turned to good e-friend and label über-expert Pete Grendysa, who gave me the scoop: "Lana was legitimate, sometimes using new versions, sometimes over-dubbing original versions, sometimes using alternate takes." So, I can say with nearly absolute certainty that the Satins sides are alternates, unless they actually went to the trouble of reproducing the precise, crappy sound of the originals--muffled high end, out of tune piano, exaggerated bass, and all. Three days of work, at least, and why?

And, somehow, the lousy sound only adds to the effectiveness. It's one of those unexplained rock'n'roll mysteries. (I'm not referring to the circa-1957 lament, "Why are the kids listening to this stuff?") Anyway, enjoy!

Click hear to hear zip file: ZIP FILE NO LONGER AVAILABLE

TRACKLIST


THE GOOF--Big Jay McNeely, 1952.
WHERE DID YOU COME FROM--The Buckinghams, 1968.
SONG OF THE BREEZE--Same.
DIFFERENCE OF OPINION--The Buckinghams, 1969.
LEND ME YOUR COMB--Carol Hughes w. Hugo Peretti and His Orch., 1957.
THE MONKEY'S UNCLE--Annette, with the Beach Boys, 1965.
MAKING UP AND BREAKING UP--The Buckinghams, 1967.
LAWDY MISS CLAWDY--Same.
SUPERMAN (Jim Peterik)--The Ides of March, 1970.
GEE--The Crows, 1953.
(I'LL REMEMBER) IN THE STILL OF THE NIGHT--The Five Satins, 1965 (reissue, alternate take)
THE JONES GIRL--Same.
YEA YEA (I'M IN THE MOOD)--The Rockin' Kids, 1958.
BLACK STOCKINGS--Same.
ONE MORE TIME--Mel-o-Dots, Feat. Ricky Wells, 1952.

Lee

Little-known Burt--Cryin', Sobbin', Wailin' (1965)

Put "Cryin' Sobbin' Wailin'" + "Bacharach" into the Google search box (with the quotes and + sign), and you'll get four entire matches. (Well, maybe five, after I post this.) This is not one of the better-known Burts.

The song, according to Serene Dominic's Burt Bacharach: Song By Song, was copyrighted in 1960 with music by Burt and words by Nita Jonas. No recording is mentioned.

Well, MY(P)WHAE found one--from 1965, this is Dane Hunter accompanied by Les Reed, who is better known for his work with Tom Jones, the Dave Clark 5, and Engelbert Humperdinck. As a songwriter, Reed gave us There's Kind of a Hush, It's Not Unusual, Delilah, and The Last Waltz, among others.

From 1965, Bacharach and Jonas' Cryin', Sobbin', Wailin.' Not classic Burt, but not bad at all.

Click here to hear: Cryin', Sobbin', Wailin' (Bacharach/Jonas)--Dane Hunter.



Lee

Memorial Day 78s

For those who wanted to see my new turntable, here it is. Even if you didn't want to see it, here it is. So far, I love it, and I expect to continue doing so, unless it decides to conk out or something. Seems doubtful, the way the motor is running. This is my first direct-drive TT, so I'm kind of amazed at the starting-up-ness of it.

And we have five Memorial-Day-related 78s I ripped today, starting with one of the noisiest pressings I've ever laid a needle upon. Not the best disc for showing off my new Stanton, but the others sound good to excellent, so... don't let the first one fool you. Not that I was expecting Grade-A fidelity from the Luray Singing Tower label, but....

Cool-sounding carillon, though. The quietest of the group are a 1917 side (Pietro Deiro's American National Airs medley) and a 1954 vinyl issue (Richard Hayman's Huckleberry Finn). There's no logic to this stuff.

I would have included a terrific Prince's Orchestra side, but the stylus goes bumpity-bump about 1/4 of the way through and keeps on bumping. There's no visible warp, but I can sure hear it. Not that, just because my 52-year-old eyes didn't spot something, it isn't necessarily there in plain sight.

Meanwhile, I'm uploading the zip file, which I'd forgotten to do. Luckily, this post isn't happening in real time. (Humming, whistling, tapping on desk. Looking at clock. Trying to remember words to Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean....)

Okay, it's up: ZIP FILE NO LONGER AVAILABLE

PLAYLIST

AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL--COLUMBIA THE GEM OF THE OCEAN--Charles T. Chapman, Carillonneur.
AFGHANISTAN (Donnelly)--Prince's Dance Orch., 1920.
AMERICAN NATIONAL AIRS--Pietro Deiro, Piano-accordion solo, 1917.
HUCKLEBERRY FINN--Richard Hayman and His Orch., 1954.
ON THE TRAIL (F. Grofe)--Jimmy Dorsey and His Orch., 1940.


























Lee

Memorial Day, 2009--Part 2

Click here to hear: ZIP FILE NO LONGER AVAILABLE



PLAYLIST

FLAG WAVER (Gray)--Jerry Gray and His Orch., 1953.
YOU'RE A GRAND OLD FLAG--George M. Cohan, Jr., 1948.
OVER THERE--Same.
YANKEE DOODLE BOY--Same.
OVER THERE FANTASIE (Grofe)--The United States Army Band, Colonel Samuel Loboda--Leader and C.O., 1975.
STAIRWAY TO LIBERTY (Hartsfeld)--Lee Hartsfeld.
P.T. 109--Jimmy Dean, 1962.
THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS (Driftwood)--Floyd Cramer.
THERE'S A STAR-SPANGLED BANNER WAVING SOMEWHERE--Pat Boone.
WE MUST BE VIGILANT--Chico Marx Orch.; Ziggy Lane, vocal, 1942.
GOODBYE, SUE--Perry Como w. Mixed Chorus, 1943.
RODGER YOUNG--Merv Griffin, 1963.


Lee

Memorial Day, 2009--Part 1

One of the great features of modern popular culture is how political religion and patriotism have become. Just kidding--it's not a great feature at all. I try to remember back to the day when they were simply ordinary, everyday, popular things, but I can't. Not because I wasn't there, but because I was so young at the time. Young and without any idea of how radically things would change.

If someone had told the young me that God and the flag would become controversial topics, I would have said, "Really? How do you know? Have you traveled to the future?" I probably would have been backing away as I said this.

Anyway, you might notice that the pro-diversity, multi-faith sentiments contained in the first selection, I Am an American, are a lot like Obama's. Such ideas were the pop norm once upon a recent time. Commentators, though, unaware of anything that happened prior to four weeks ago, love to praise Obama for his new and exciting version of religion, which people back in 1954 called "religion." I'm not sure what they called the all-shapes-and-sizes theme--it had yet to be dubbed "diversity." But the concept of inclusion was there, even if the reality had a ways to go.

Hope you like the Valley of the Sun Suite selection by Ferde Grofe. A while back, I heard from someone who performed on this recording--he reported that Grofe was revising the score up to the last rehearsal. This must have been heaven for the players.

Grand Walkabout, from the 1951 Hershey Kay ballet Cakewalk, was based on Louis Moreau Gottschalk's circa-1844 Bamboula. Now you know. And, if you're wondering what the Sibelius selection has to do with Memorial Day, so am I. It just has the right feel, somehow. I was moved to include it.

Click here to hear: ZIP FILE NO LONGER AVAILABLE

PLAYLIST

I AM AN AMERICAN (Carmen Dragon)--Edward G. Robinson w. The U.S. Air Force Band, 1971.
AMERICAN SALUTE (Gould)--National Symphony Orch., Conducted by Howard Mitchell.
CAKEWALK: GRAND WALKAROUND (Gottschalk-Kay)--Same.
KARELIA SUITE--ALL MARCIA (Sibelius)--Same.
GEORGE M. COHAN MEDLEY--Ferrante and Teicher.
VALLEY OF THE SUN SUITE--MASQUE OF THE YELLOW MOON (Grofe)--Arizona State College (Tempe) Symphonic Orch., Conducted by Ferde Grofe, 1952.
SUSANNA'S LAST STAND (Foster; Arranged by F&T)--Ferrante and Teicher, 1952.
GOD'S COUNTRY (Harburg-Arlen)--Paul Whiteman Orch.
OH! SUSANNA--National Choir, Boys' Clubs of America, 1959.

Lee

Sunday morning gospel--The Harvest Time Singers

The Harvest Time Singers of Newark, Ohio are Woody Kidwell, Tenor; Mike Randolph, Lead and Baritone; West Kidwell, Bass; and Paul Kidwell; Lead and Baritone. The track list includes three of my very favorites: He's More Than Just a Swear Word (one of the all-time great gospel titles!), Love Lifted Me, and God Walks the Dark Hills.

Southern gospel with more than a slight touch of bluegrass--very nice sounds for our Sunday.

Click here to reach zip file: ZIP FILE NO LONGER AVAILABLE

PLAYLIST

OH I WANT TO SEE HIM HE'S MORE THAN JUST A SWEAR WORD WHEN I WAKE UP LOVE LIFTED ME SOMETHING I CAN FEEL GOD WALKS THE DARK HILLS BEACON/THIS LITTLE LIGHT OF MINE/RISE & SHINE KEEP ON HOLDING ON HALLELUJAH SQUARE WHAT A TIME

Blue Ash KM-26-L-27-L (Kingsmill Recording Studios; Columbus, Ohio)

(Help Me omitted from track list owing to extra-noisy condition!)


Lee