Changes worth launching at TVWW

You may have noticed a smoke trail coming from my "Cool Blogs" box (over to the right). No cause for alarm--simply remnants of TV Worth Watching's recent "relaunch." Diane Werts, managing editor of TVWW (home of Diane's For Better or Werts) describes the post-relaunch site (cut-and-paste alert):

"This is now a more dynamic web site, with elements all over the page changing on a regular basis. Not just (David Bianculli's) daily Best Bets and not just the blog columns, but lots more down the page, too: Video Worth Watching, TV Worth Buying, New This Week, and Links."

The pages, they are a-changin'. Despite this fact, these links should stay good until (and possibly even through) the next relaunch. A site worth visiting, says MY(P)WHAE. You could do far Werts:

TV Worth Watching

For Better or Werts


Lee

Sing! It's Good for You--The Norman Luboff Choir (1962)

Despite the packaging, this is not yet another "Sing Along with Mitch" rip-off--it's the superb Norman Luboff Choir, from 1962, sounding like the Norman Luboff Choir. Which they were very good at.

On the other hand, Harry Simeone's Miller rip-offs are very close copies--you'll be hearing one of those next time. Simeone's version of Mitch, in fact, may have sounded more like Mitch than the original, in the way that many of Ed Sullivan's mimics sounded more authentic than Ed.

Back to Luboff--Google research reveals that he and his choir are invisible (inaudible?) to the Space Age Pop fans, who prefer gimmicks with their pop. I don't suppose Luboff makes the S.A.P. grade, his choral material being too conventionally choral. It's beautifully done, and musically superb on every level, but what is this, the music blogosphere? Please. (Wait a minute....)

Anyway, "All you bathtub-baritones and shower-sopranos... unite! Raise your voices in melody (on- or off-key) and discover the power of positive singing!" So start the album notes. They continue: "In this pressure-laden world, there are few 'safety-valves' more effective than the singing of a happy song." I'll sing to that! I'm as bad as the next guy or gal....

To the singing: Sing! It's Good for You--The Norman Luboff Choir

SING-LIST

SING, IT'S GOOD FOR YOU
GET OUT AND GET UNDER THE MOON
PICK YOURSELF UP
THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE FREE
I GOT THE SUN IN THE MORNING
WHISTLE WHILE YOU WORK
HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN
SIDE BY SIDE
OH, WHAT A BEAUTIFUL MORNIN'
BREEZIN' ALONG WITH THE BREEZE
I GOT PLENTY O' NUTTIN'
IT'S A GOOD DAY

Sing! It's Good for You--The Norman Luboff Choir (RCA Victor LSP-2475; 1962)


Lee

Adventures in Mitch research: Rockabilly at Columbia--one huge secret (not)

So, here I am, digging up examples of rock and roll on Columbia during the Mitch era, and it turns out (to my non-surprise) that I'm hardly mining new territory. Take, for instance, these two Sony compilations (budget-priced, no less!) from 2008 and 2009:

Whistle Bait: 25 Rockabilly Rave-Ups (2008)


Ain't I'm a Dog--25 More Rockabilly Rave-Ups (2009)


Two Sony comps sitting out there! I could have saved myself a lot of digging, but it's only through digging that we discover the dirt. (I just made that up.) What we have are a bunch of Columbia label rockabilly numbers known to collectors but, apparently, no one else. Fascinating.

As we've heard (in previous posts), other types or r&r were recorded at Columbia--examples in a more pop vein. I'm slowly putting the story together on these, and so far it's much more interesting than the official take.


Lee

Getting the facts wrong, again--Wimoweh/The Lion Sleeps Tonight

Not that I ever question what the New York Times has to report about pop music history (loud cough), but--and no disrespect to the late George Weiss, who wrote some very nice tunes--I have my doubts about the following, from NYT's Weiss obit:

"The Lion Sleeps Tonight” (1961), based on a South African Zulu song first recorded in the 1930s, was given a reworked melody and new lyrics (“In the jungle, the mighty jungle/The lion sleeps tonight”) by Mr. Weiss, Mr. Peretti and Mr. Creatore.

A reworked melody? Maybe someone can tell me what fresh melodic material the NYT is referring to. I present the Weavers' 1951 version, which, besides being twenty times better handled musically than the Tokens' hit, seems to contain all of "Lion"'s strains. There are several, a few of them consisting primarily of riffs.

The Weavers: Wimoweh (Mbube)--The Weavers w. Gordon Jenkins, 1951. (Decca)

I mean, there's the "In the jungle, the mighty jungle" strain, the "Wimoweh" chant, the main falsetto strain, and the various short riffs. It's the same song! The Tokens' version adds a countermelody to the "In the jungle..." strain, but so what? That's called arranging, not songwriting. And it sure as heck isn't an instance of "reworking." If I, for instance, elaborate on the chords to Silent Night, I don't become a co-author of that famous carol, do I?

The Tokens: The Lion Sleeps Tonight (1961) (Link from NYT piece)

Same song, just presented with a lot less art. Given that we hardly have a "reworked" melody with the 1961 hit, then what is the NYT's excuse for claiming same?

Lee

Everybody Sing!--The Fireside Gang (1958)

There's only one logical response to encountering a 1958 sing-along album by the "Fireside Gang" on the tenth-rate Golden Tone label (part of the Tops/Mayfair family). That response being, "So, THAT'S where Mitch got the idea!" Either that, or this LP (originally released in 1958 on Tops) is the usual Tops/Mayfair rip-off of its day. Actually, I think we can safely go with the second theory.

On its original Tops issue, this collection contained two more tracks. And I'm betting it didn't sound quite as bad. The Tops original sat in my collection at some point, but it's gone. Most of my records suffer that fate, since I'm always downsizing.

The bad sound is due mostly to the poor-quality pressing--the performances themselves, though, are highly expert rip-offs of the Mitch sound. This LP, of course, testifies to the extreme popularity of Mitch's recordings--after all, Tops/Mayfair only ripped off the most popular music of the moment. They had standards, you know.

Meanwhile, here's everything you ever wanted to absorb about Tops/Mayfair at one of the Internet's best discographical resources: Tops/Mayfair Story.

I managed to make this LP sound much better than it actually does--one of my tricks involved a Dolby-style tactic, where (using my 31-band EQ) I pushed out the least distorted portion of the high end as I recorded it, then reduced it after the fact. This allowed the "good" sound to prevail over the "bad." It's the timeless good-vs.-evil theme.

Regarding today's playlist, suppose you were 20 when Sweet Rosie O'Grady first became a hit. In which case, I'd mainly want to know one thing--how does it feel to be 134? Yes, these songs are quite old--most of them had entered the realm of uncool by the 1920s and '30s. Just as modern bloggers ridicule Eisenhower-era pop, folks of my grandparents' day made fun of Victorian and Edwardian ballads (except they didn't have blogs to do it on). Barbershop singing was old hat by about 1925, and songs like Where Is My Wandering Boy Tonight were considered the outer limits of maudlin. That is to say, if today's playlist strikes you as antique dreck, you're participating in a perception that's been around for eight or nine decades. Far out, huh?

To the music: Everybody Sing!--The Fireside Gang

PLAYLIST

TAVERN IN THE TOWN
AFTER THE BALL IS OVER--THE BAND PLAYED ON--TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME
TA-RA-RA-BOOM-DER-E
OLD BLACK JOE--MY OLD KENTUCKY HOME--OH! SUSANNAH
CLEMENTINE
MY WILD IRISH ROSE
I'VE BEEN WORKING ON THE RAILROAD
A BICYCLE BUILT FOR TWO--MAN ON THE FLYING TRAPEZE--SIDEWALKS OF NEW YORK
I'M A RAMBLING WRECK FROM GEORGIA TECH
SWEET ROSE O'GRADY

Everybody Sing!--The Fireside Gang (Golden Tone 14044; Recorded 1958)


Lee

Rock Along with Mitch, Part 4--What would Elvis have sounded like at Columbia?

I'll explain the photo in a moment. First, a question raised by many on the occasion of Mitch Miller's passing--namely, what if Mitch had agreed on Col. Parker's asking price and Elvis had become a Columbia artist? What would he have sounded like? How could we possibly know?

Well, I suppose that, to get an idea of what Columbia r&r of the Mitch period might have sounded like, we could listen to Columbia r&r of the Mitch period. And then imagine Elvis doing it. You think? Counterintuitive as heck, I realize, but I believe it could work. So beautifully simple, I'm the first person in history to come up with the suggestion.

As we've previously heard, rock and roll at Columbia ran the gamut from mild and/or semi-r&r like White Sport Coat, Cry, and Miracle of Love to all-out examples like Susie's House, Bop-a-Lena, and the Stroll rip-off, The Glide--those, along with many in-between efforts, including any number of upbeat country performances, teen-style pop sides, and efforts that majorly anticipate the so-called Brill Building Sound. Today, all-out examples only, from the scream-in-the-mic rockabilly of Bop-a-Lena (did the mic survive?) to some light but solid rockabilly efforts by Guy Mitchell. Today's playlist should blow the no-rock-at-Columbia myth out of the water for all time. It won't, but it should.

Which brings us back to today's photo, that of Mitch watching the aforementioned myth as it's blasted out of the river. A beautiful, direct hit--and all for nothing, because the myth promptly reassembled itself and returned to its usual spot before anyone could say, "Rock and roll was born in Memphis." Pop myths are indestructible. You can fight them with facts, with appeals to reason, with gentle sarcasm, and so on, but you still get, "RING AROUND THE...." Oops. Wrong ad.

Beverly Ross, by the way, co-wrote Lollipop and Judy's Turn to Cry, and Moonsick is a Felice and Boudleaux (Bye Bye Love) Bryant effort. A number of today's tracks were gotten from YouTube (eight, to be exact), and I've credited the YouTubers at the end of this post. To the music:

Mitch, Part 10--Rock Along with Mitch, Part 4


SUSIE'S HOUSE--John D. Loudermilk, 1958.
NO MORE, NO MORE, NO MORE--Bobby Lord, 1955.
BOP-A-LENA--Ronnie Self, 1958.
GUITAR ROCK AND ROLL--Joe Maphis, 1956.
WHAT A NIGHT--Lee Emerson, 1958.
MOONSICK (F. and B. Bryant)--Don Estes, 1958.
GONNA SHAKE THIS SHACK TONIGHT--Sid King and the Five Strings, 1956.
SAG, DRAG AND FALL--Same, 1955.
MY LOVE FOR YOU (Thomas-Biggs)--Larry Darnell, 1955. (Okeh)
NOTIFY THE F.B.I. (Jack Keller-Noel Sherman)--Arena Twins, 1960.
OH, WHAT A SHAME--Same.
POINTED TOE SHOES--Carl Perkins, 1959.
STOP LAUGHING AT ME (B. Ross)--Beverly Ross, 1958.
HEADLIGHTS (B. Ross-L. Ross)--Same.
BIG BAD WOLF--Don Cherry, Ray Conniff, 1958.
TAKE ME BACK BABY--Guy Mitchell w. Ray Conniff, 1956.
CRAZY WITH LOVE--Same, 1956.
SWEET STUFF--Guy Mitchell w. Jimmy Carroll, 1957.



Thanks to:

John1948Seven
MrSerbilly
johnnyrazor60
Fredy83210
pvrocker56
50sRocKabilly

Lee

Sunday morning gospel: The Millie Pace Trio

Making their third (or maybe fourth?) appearance on this blog, the Millie Pace Trio with Bob Summers on guitar. It's been the same album each time, but what an album! If I didn't keep this on annual rotation, I'd be committing a cyber-sin.

If the singers sound like Mary Ford in overdubbed-trio form, keep in mind that two members of the trio--Eve and Carol Summers--were sisters of Mary. Guitarist Bob Summers was her brother, which may or not explain why he sounds like Les Paul.

Okay, now that I've cleared that up, let's enjoy these remarkably Les-and-Mary-sounding gospel tracks recorded in 1965 or 1966 for Christian Faith Recordings (actually Alma Records, Inc.).

(Ah, the convenience of repeating previously-posted texts!)

Click here to reach zip file: Millie Pace Trio



PLAYLIST

LEAD ME BACK TO CALVARY
DOWN THE SAWDUST TRAIL
IT'S NOT THE FIRST MILE
WHEN GOD DIPS HIS LOVE IN MY HEART
HEAR THEM BELLS
WE'LL UNDERSTAND IT BETTER
DO LORD
MOM, GOD HEARD MY PRAYER
SERVE HIM WITH ALL OF YOUR HEART
JESUS THE MASTER
WHEN WE GET HOME
STANDING IN THE NEED OF PRAYER

(Christian Faith Recordings 1371; 1965 or 1966)


Lee