Mitch, "Zulu Warrior," Godzilla news

Just some stuff I've been wanting to note but so far haven't. Putting off until later (P.O.U.L.) is one of my specialties. I should write a manual on the art.

First off, I hope everyone is doing as Savio commands.

Second off, I wanted to note that Zulu Warrior, the 1952 Marais-Miranda-Miller selection (several posts back), was not an ethnic slur, regardless of how it may sound 68 years later. Josef Marais and Miranda were highly-regarded concert folk singers who specialized in South African folk material--i.e., their version of.

Regarding my Godzilla Suite, any passages that sounded like Semprini or Carmen Cavallaro weren't "me"--they were examples of programmed playing. For example, the "Godzilla Rhapsody." Not that my left hand is unable to play arpeggios, but I doubt it can pull of fast 16th notes at the moment, and there's no way to do them properly on a $200 Casio, at least "live." A more real piano, maybe. As far as improvising vs. planning, I wrote most of the suite quickly at the keyboard while recording, except that most phrases were worked out prior to being either programmed or played live into my PC. (This suite was half and half in that regard.) Much of the music was written with a mind to altering the sound afterwards--I knew, for example, that the ascending, Godzilla-stomping chords could be made to sound very loud and percussive. That track, undoctored, didn't sound like anything much. This is especially true for my various noodlings, which I knew would sound interesting with reverb and layering, though pretty mundane on their own. I had to compose with "effects" in mind.

It's kind of hard not to notice that I've become the Mitch Blog with Mitch Miller's passing. So it will remain for a while--the Mitch Period, as I call it, is where I live as a record collector, and somebody needs to be answering the media's Mitchlore with actual facts. My next Rock-Along-with-Mitch zip file should blast the Mitch-never-recorded-r&r myth out of the Milky Way for good, but of course it won't--such stories die hard, largely because our media lives on them. And Mitch's story represents something very important since it functions as a foil for both jaaaaaz music and the holiest of all mass-media franchises, rock. It pulls double duty.

Five years later, this blog continues to be a pop culture blog. In other words, I love and respect common, ordinary, everyday music. This place is all about what "the people" listened to in pre-Lee days, and I have no interest in what people should have listened to. I'm no elitist and don't care about middlebrow notions of "essential" vs. worthless, though I do find them funny. As ever, if I were interested in listening to (or hawking) serious music, I would do so--and you'd be hearing lots of Ravel, Chopin, Debussy, Bartok, and Mozart. There is more serious music in this world than we'll ever have time to play or listen to, a fact which makes the hyping of jaaaz and rock all the more mystifying to me.

Anyway, more Mitch, soon....

You will do all that Savio commands you to do

Fuzzy despot Savio commands, "Obey me!!"

That is all.

The Man Who Wouldn't Sing Along with Mitch--Halifax Three (1963)

Blogger buddy Ernie just alerted me to the existence of this recording, which I had never heard nor heard of--it borders on brilliant and was a minor 1963 hit for the Halifax Three, whose members included Denny Doherty (1940-2007) of the Mamas and the Papas. Their sound (and sense of humor) is highly similar to the Mitchell Trio's.

Seeing as it was recorded on one of Mitch's labels, Epic, we can assume Mitch had a sense of humor about such things. Many thanks to Roysrecords, whose Youtube upload this is, and to audio detective Ernie. Songwriters Fred Hertz and Charles (The Thing) Grean also gave us Leonard Nimoy's Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Earth. Novelty master Grean gets a mention at this blog about every third post or so....

Mitch Miller, Part 9--Rock Along with Mitch, Part 3!

Click here to hear: Rock Along with Mitch, Part 3!

PLAYLIST--Ripped from Columbia label, unless otherwise noted.

ROCK AND ROLL UPRISING--The Adventurers, 1962.
THE SLIDE--Same.
WONDER (Glasser)--The Three G's, 1958.
SIDEWALK SWEETHEARTS--The Coquettes w. Ray Conniff, 1957.
TEEN-AGE BEAUTY--Jimmy James and the Candy Kanes, 1957.
MARJOLAINE--Same.
SHIRLEY--The Schoolboys w. Leroy Kirkland Orch., 1956. (Okeh)
NO SLEEP TILL DAWN--Peggy King w. Frank De Vol Orch., 1957.
BAZOOM! (I NEED YOUR LOVIN') (Leiber-Stoller)--Les Elgart Orch., 1954.
HAMBONE--Frankie Laine and Jo Stafford, 1952.
SHE WAS ONLY SEVENTEEN (Robbins)--Marty Robbins w. Ray Conniff O., 1957.
PLEASE SAY YOU WANT ME--The Schoolboys w. Leroy Kirkland, 1956. (Okeh)
I'VE COME OF AGE--Billy Storm w. Frank De Vol Orch., 1959.
IN THE MIDDLE OF AN ISLAND--Tony Bennett, 1957.
WALKING PROUD (G. Goffin-C. King)--Steve Lawrence, 1963.


Lee

Mitch Miller, Part 8--Interesting Sides

Well, I think they're interesting, anyway. Oh, before I forget....

"To this day, Mr. Miller remains a frequent target of music aficionados who maintain that he lowered the standards of pop music and turned it into a wasteland."--Washington Post.

I don't agree with that, so I guess I'm not one of them there aficionados. Wow--a wasteland. Did he use a ray gun? And how did he manage to do it all by himself? Fascinating questions, and I'm sure the answers are just as interesting.

But not as interesting as the sides we are about to hear, all ripped from 78s and 45s in my collection and all featuring the late Mitch Miller, that notorious zapper-away of pop music, as artist and producer. I chose them primarily because they're Mitch sides you won't find easily (or at all) elsewhere in the blogosphere. Things start with an Alec Wilder tune, Whistle Stop, recorded by Mitch in 1957, and continue with three pre-"Sing Along with" sides that sound like the Mitch to come (add to this track 08, 1957's Who Will Kiss Your Ruby Lips). The source for all five numbers: the 1958 LP, Mitch's Marches.

Then, from 1952, the over-the-toppest of all Mitch productions, The Zulu Warrior, featuring Marais and Miranda and Mitch. My favorite novelty of all time? If not, darned close. Its flip, Johnny Goggabie, is another pre-"Sing Along" side that would have been at home on his 1961-66 TV show.

Also, repeats of Alec Wilder's Horn Belt Boogie and Serenade for Horns, both featuring Gunther Schuller as a member of the French Horn quartet. 1964's Whip Out Your Ukulele features the all-male "Gang" in one of their last (maybe the last?) Columbia label singles, and it's really not that bad of an attempt to merge with current pop styles, keeping in mind that the same period of pop gave us (Down at) Papa Joe's, We'll Sing in the Sunshine, Hello Dolly!, and Kissin' Cousins. Not everything on the radio was the Beatles or Stones.

Then, three of my favorite pop sides from Mitch's time at Columbia--Tell Us Where the Good Times Are, Zero Hour, and Never--with the first title, penned by Bob Merrill and sung by Guy Mitchell and Mindy Carson, possibly my favorite pop side ever. To the Mitch:

Mitch, Part 8--Interesting sides

PLAYLIST

WHISTLE STOP (Martin-Wilder)--Mitch Miller and His Orch., 1957. (From LP)
WILLY CAN (S. Bryant)--Same, 1955.
WOODEN SHOES AND HAPPY HEARTS--Same, 1954.
FOLLOW ME--Same, 1955.
THE ZULU WARRIOR (Marais)--Marais-Miranda-Miller, 1952. (From 45)
JOHNNIE GOGGABIE (Marais)--Same. (From 45)
JAVA--Mitch Miller, 1957. (From 78)
WHO WILL KISS YOUR RUBY LIPS--Mitch Miller, 1957. (From 78)
TELL US WHERE THE GOOD TIMES ARE (Merrill)--Guy Mitchell and Mindy Carson, w. Mitch Miller, 1953. (From 45)
HORN BELT BOOGIE (A. Wilder)--Mitch Miller, 1951 (From 78)
SERENADE FOR HORNS (A. Wilder)--Same.
WHIP OUT YOUR UKULELE (HERE COMES THE SUMMER)--Mitch Miller and the Gang, 1964. (From 45)
SABRINA--Mitch Miller Orch. and Chorus, 1954. (From 45)
ZERO HOUR--Peggy King w. Frank De Vol Orch., 1957. (From 45)
NEVER--Toni Arden w. Percy Faith Orch., 1951. (From 45)



Lee