Your chance to hear Joe Cash, George Killebrew, and Danny and Deanie. (Danny and Deanie??) I've had these Hit Records singles ready to go for a couple of weeks--they predate the present MAGIX mess, and date from the previous mess, when my earlier program was blinking out every third track. But somehow I got these done, and I've decided to put them up while I wait for MAGIX to not get back to me. I got the release years from Discogs and 45cat.
In case you're interested, of these 20 numbers, the ones I remember from back in the day are Barbara Ann (the 1966 version, of course), The Night Has a Thousand Eyes, Psychotic Reaction, Sherry, Sealed with a Kiss, Bread and Butter, House of the Rising Sun, It Hurts to Be in Love, and (Down at) Papa Joe's. I came to know, and love, No Particular Place to Go when my brother bought it as an oldie, so that's not a first-hand memory, but it's a fond one, regardless. And Telstar was on regular radio oldies rotation, so I've known it forever, though I doubt my memory is first-hand. I was a huge fan of the Four Seasons, and their Dawn and Big Girls Don't Cry were my two favorite records in the whole world--but those fakes are not in this list, unfortunately, though we do get Sherry. The tail end of 1962 seems to be the start of my first-hand pop music memories. AM radio started for me in 1962.
Quality-wise, these fakes run the gamut from adequate to excellent. As for the opening number--well, for some reason, this label could never do the Beach Boys anything close to justice, and even the basic harmonies of Barbara Ann sound pretty amateurish here. Worst of all is the attempt to mimic the midpoint patter, which here sounds like people muttering in Icelandic. That is to say, this Barbara Ann is so awful it's great. I'm very glad to have it. The label does way better on its copy of Bobby Vee's classic The Night Has a Thousand Eyes, and its faux Fab Four (the Boll Weevils!) version of My Bonnie is flat-out great. (Amazingly, I never heart the "dirty" version of this song until my Navy days.) Having a fake version of the Carole King-Gerry Goffin Steve Lawrence hit Walking Proud makes my collection happy (and proud), and there are two more King-Goffins, both classics--Don't Say Nothin' (Bad About My Baby) and I Can't Stay Mad at You, both competently copied. Carole is obviously copying Neil Sedaka like crazy on the second title, but she was the greater talent, so it's okay. She was better at his style than he was.
The two fake Elvis tracks are very good, especially Such a Night, and I thought I'd depart totally from the general mood with Love Me with All Your Heart, a cover of the Ray Charles Singers' version, which I've always regarded as an inferior Al Di La. And I have no idea what I just typed. The House of the Rising Sun is pretty downright unbelievably bad, with the singer sounding like the laughing gas hasn't quite worn off. Lousy version, but funny-lousy. I don't know who the singer thought he was imitating. Eric Burdon's vocal is a masterpiece of enunciation by comparison.
The izzzz a houz in Nuh Uh-leeeeens, they... where am I?
Listening back to Bread and Butter, it's really pretty bad. There must have been plenty of studio musicians willing to record under fake names, and at least one of those must have been able to imitate the raspy falsetto this number requires. And I'd better stop listening back to these, because I keep changing my verdict. To the tracks. Enjoy!
DOWNLOAD: Barbara Ann--and more! Hit Records singles
Barbara Ann (Beach Boys version)--The Chellows (Hit Records 237; 1966)
The "In" Crowd--Just Three (Hit Records 222; 1965)
The Night Has a Thousand Eyes--Joe Cash (Hit Records 47; 1963)
Psychotic Reaction--Jalopy Five (Hit Records 268; 1966)
Love Me with All Your Heart--The Music City Singers (Hit Records 119; 1964)
She's Not You (Pomus-Leiber-Stoller)--George Killebrew (Hit Records 27; 1962)
Sherry--The Four Chellows (Hit Records 30; 1962)
Sealed with a Kiss--Dick Swift (Hit Records 21; 1962)
Such a Night--Ed Hardin (Hit Records 138; 1964)
Don't Say Nothin' Bad (About My Baby) (King-Goffin)--Clara Wilson (Hit Records 62; 1963)
Pipeline--The Music City Five (Hit Records 62; 1963)
Bread and Butter--Danny and Deanie (Hit Records 137; 1964)
House of the Rising Sun--The Spartas (Hit Records 137; 1964)
It Hurts to Be in Love--Bobby Brooks (Hit Records 143; 1964)
My Bonnie (My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean)--The Boll Weevils (Hit Records 107; 1964)
I Can't Stay Mad at You (King-Goffin)--Kathy Taylor (Hit Records 86; 1963)
Telstar--The Tides (Hit Records 42; 1962)
Walking Proud (King-Goffin)--John Preston (Hit Records 92; 1963)
No Particular Place to Go (Berry)--Sammie Moore (Hit Records 125)
(Down At) Papa Joe's--The Tennessee and Four More (Hit Records 89; 1963)
Lee
14 comments:
Wow, Bread and Butter is dreadful. That sounds like Adam Sandler doing the falsetto!
Nice selection! I started ripping some Christmas stuff last night for the holidays. I have a long way to go. And I'm going to run out of hard drive space pretty quick. And I need a new needle. So much to do...
Looking forward to this!
You need to hear their version of "Magic Carpet Ride" (available on YouTube)----it's so hideous that it's transcendent. :)
Being older than you, I remember the originals for all these songs, with the exception of Walking Proud, which I don't recall at all for some reason. I'll have to listen to see if it jogs my memory.
Barbara Ann is a killer!
Always fond of good covers
Always love a good rendition of 'Bobber Ann' as no one in the day could sing 'Barbara' for whatever reason....
Sealed with a Kiss might be better than the original... I know.
Thanks, everyone.
Yes, that does sound like Adam Sandler in the lead. Maybe even worse!
Ernie, A blogger's work is never done. And it's never totally his or hers....
I'll have to work up the courage to listen to "Magic Carpet Ride." I can believe it's hideous. I wonder if it tops this label's massacring of "Day Tripper"?
Buster, Let me know if "Walking Proud" jogs (good pun) your memory. It certainly doesn't get a lot of attention as an oldie, but it seems to have sold a zillion copies--they show up everywhere (a special Steve L. label, and everything)--and Hit only covered stuff that was high on the charts. But it could have had a short chart stay. Boy, that's a tongue twister--"short chart stay."
Monkey D. Sound--Do you really think it's good? It's cool if you do--I ask only because I may have been too hard on it. It's that absurd patter portion that gets me. But my take is just that--my take. It IS a very fun version, for sure.
I don't know what's the thing with "Bobber Ann." I was noticing exactly the same thing. Bar-bra is not that hard to say or sing. Bobber Ann sounds like a legendary Halloween apple-bobbing champion. "Yup, we all remember the story of Bobber Ann. I reckon she was just born with that great gift. Her ma and pa were so proud...."
Larry--I'll give it another listen. Sounded perfectly good when I was ripping it. Have you heard the wonderful Four Voices original?
I listened to the Steve Lawrence version to see if it sounded familiar. It did, but then it's one of those songs that is so simple, it sounds familiar the first time you hear it.
Just listened to it on YouTube. This song has a lot more history then I was aware of. I just remember it from top 40 radio by Gary Lewis and the Playboys, and this version beats that every day of the week. That was while I was in high school I think. By the seventies I was a full time variety band musician mostly playing base guitar and singing lead. Never got around to doing this song. By the eighties God got a hold of me and I switched over to playing music in church, mostly guitar and piano and playing songs of my own composition when allowed. Retired from it now. I play twelve string guitar and finally got tired of having to restring it every year. Now I'm writing crime novels featuring a married christian detective. Only my wife has read them so far.
I'm listening more closely to the Hit Records "Sealed with a Kiss," and you're right--it's very nice. I didn't know Gary Lewis had done it--I always heard the Brian Hyland version as an oldie. The Hit version is 1962, hence a cover of Hyland. Listening to the Gary Lewis version, I'm not impressed!
Thanks for sharing your interesting history. I stared my long stint as church organist and pianist for various churches and services about the same time--c. 1980. Then the gospel songbook but bit me, and I've ended up with a few bookshelves of those! I'll keep an eye out for other version of "Sealed...," including any EZ versions. Sometimes EZ versions are surprisingly good.
Thanks. What fun. I remember the originals of all of these, was just starting high school when most came out. Never could stand Beach Boys' Ba-Ba-Ba...Ann. At least I can laugh at this version. My wife likes the original and has it on several playlists. I think she does that just to watch my head explode.
Gary
After listening, I do sort of remember "Walking Proud" ("Got my head up high-ee-yi..."). It was during Steve Lawrence's double-tracked phase.
Most of these are pretty good - with the exception of the lamentable falsettos, which may be a tautology. The Chellows manage to be even worse than Frankie Valli, which I thought impossible.
What do you suppose a "chellow" is (don't say a baritone string instrument)?
Ummmmm... a cheery fellow?
Yeah, I don't know why Hit Records didn't simply hire a decent falsetto. Or why none of their singers had one.
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