"Twisters in the Night" is not a reference to tornado activity: It's just terrible word play on my part. For you see, Charlie (Don't Forbid Me) "Hoss" Singleton wrote the words to Frank Sinatra's best-selling single. It's not every day that I get to present a twist LP by the lyricist of Strangers in the Night. And I imagine this will be my one and only opportunity.
Be sure to check Discogs, Wikipedia, etc. for Singleton's many other accomplishments in the music biz, but for the purposes of this post, we simply need to know that between Charlie and RCA Camden's Living Stereo, we have one of the very best of the (approximately infinite number of) budget twist-ploitation LPs. Fantastic sound, terrific performances--though only one Singleton-penned title: Ukie Dukie (The Twistin' Boy). And, needless to say, Singleton's covers of The Twist, Peppermint Twist, and Let's Twist Again are exemplary. And does Charlie sing on these tracks? I wish I knew. So far, no info on the vocalists.
The other "authentic" twist numbers are Dear Lady Twist (orig. Gary [U.S.] Bonds), Twist-Her (orig. Bill Black's Combo), and The Continental Twist (from the 1961 movie). But my favorite track is the twist-ified Night Train. The highlight of the set, in your blogger's opinion.
For this LP, at least, the twist can be defined as marcato 8-to-the-bar boogie, with an accent on each eighth note. Otherwise, there was nothing new about the twist, which made things very convenient for the rack-jobber labels--they could market plenty of pre-twist material as the real thing. And who would know? Just grab a blues instrumental and tack on a new title.
Only ten tracks--RCA's policy for its budget line (and Columbia's, too, I believe)--but one of the finest twist-ploitation efforts of them all--again, with marvelous fidelity. So, let's twist the night/day/afternoon/morning/late evening away! Mid-a.m.; whatever. Guys, get out your jackets and ties and join the young folks on the cover.
DOWNLOAD: The Big Twist Hits--Charlie "Hoss" Singleton (RCA Camden CAS-713; 1962)
Dear Lady Twist
Twist-Her
The Continental Twist
The Twist
Peppermint Twist
The Big Twist
Little Brown Jug--Twist (Arr: Singleton)
Let's Twist Again
Night Train
Ukie Dukie (The Twistin' Boy)
Lee
8 comments:
A good one, Lee! Thanks for twisting this one up!
This is probably one of the better twist-ploitation albums you have posted on this blog in quite a while. In my book, it ranks up there with Tubby Chess and his Candy Stripe Twisters, which you posted on this blog almost a year ago.
I actually prefer this version of "Peppermint Twist" over the original by Joey Dee and the Starliters. It actually has more drive and energy than that two part #1 original smash.
"The Continental Twist" is actually a re-write of "The Continental Walk". Louis Prima recorded it for Dot probably around the time that this album came out. However, I can say with great assurance that Louis Prima did a better job with the tune than Charles Singleton. It just doesn't quite have the drive and energy that Prima brought to the table.
The twist version of "Little Brown Jug" is pretty good, yet there are some elements that they went overboard on that they could have used once.
Great version of "Let's Twist Again"! Great driving sax solo. This version actually has more drive and energy than the original Chubby Checker version. And some of the people saying "No" even sound like the former Ernest Evans.
Not often you hear a harmonica on a twist recording, yet you get it on "Night Train." This take on Buddy Morrow's signature hit almost has got the flavor of selections from that infamous Original Twisters album on Mercury/Wing. Again, great beat, and an excellent saxophone-harmonica exchage in the middle. If Boots Randolph and Charlie McCoy decided to cut this tune with a twist beat, this is probably what it would have sounded like.
"Twist-Her" on the other hand, sounds like a twist version of Floyd Cramer's "Flip Flop and Bop", with the saxophonist soloing in the Boots Randolph style. The pianists style alternates between the styles of Cramer and Fats Domino. Great ending!
"Twistin' Boy" has got the musical sound of the recordings Fats Domino made in Nashville with Felton Jarvis, Elvis' longtime producer behind the boards for ABC-Paramount. Even Mr. Singleton's vocals (??) have got a Fats Domino flavor.
The singer does a good job aping Chubby's vocal style on "The Twist" yet doesn't quite have the drive and excitement of the genuine article. Almost sounds as if it was recorded in Nashville.
Excellent quickie Twist collection! Four out of five stars from me.
FYI: the "Pop" RCA Camden albums, the early ones from the mid-to-late-'50's, did have 12 tracks, alternated between 10 and 12 between '58 and '59, and then mostly had 10 for the bulk of the '60's. By the late-'60's, they cut back to 9 tracks per LP.
Really good one! And I thought you had invented a new word, too -- "twist-politation." Until you wrote "twist-ploitation" later in the post.
Thanks also go to musicman1979. Between those comments and what Lee writes, we are the best informed music blog readers in the universe!
Diane,
Oops! In my defense, my spell-checker doesn't distinguish between "-politation" and "-ploitation." So we can blame it on AI! Thanks for the very nice words, and... I forgot to note that this was a thrift gift from you. I had meant to, but forgot. Forgive me!
Maybe I can help you out. ‘Ban Com ‘ is short for ‘Band Company’ and MMI stands for Millersburg Military Institute of Millersburg, KY (no longer functioning). Actually, two 45 rpm records were recorded at the King(?) recording company in Cincinnati, OH in spring 1962 and sold for a dollar each to finance our 6 wk tour of the US from June -Aug that summer. We sold 38,000 to finance our tour. My question: Why do you refer to my version if White Sport Coat and a Pink Carnation as a “weird” version? Clovis Gentilhomme🤠
Hi, Clovis.
I think you meant this for my Aug. 14, 2020 post? And maybe I should have opted for "atypical" over "weird." That's probably too harsh a verdict! Thanks very much for the information, which I'd add to that post at first opportunity. I'll include your info in my write-up.
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