Utterly classic cover. From 1964, and another gift from Diane (thanks, Diane!)--this time, from a discount box in a record store, if my memory isn't malfunctioning. And what a subtle Fab Four cash-in, no? Big white-against-brown font: "Featuring 'I Want to Hold Your Hand.'" To the left of the track titles, a generic Beatle. Clearly, a rush-job cash-in.
Classic liner text: "It seems that not one single soul in the country, or for that matter the world, could possibly be oblivious to the fact that I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND is the hit record of the year. It's a product of the beatle haircut and a strange new disease that has swept England and is now hitting our country, known as 'beatleism' or 'beatlemania.' Not since the early days of Elvis Presley has there been a hit song that has generated as much excitement as I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND. Man, if you're alive and under a 105, and this song doesn't move you something is wrong! This recording alone is worth the whole price of the album. Don't be the last to know, pick it up, pay the man, and take it home--now!" Now--not tomorrow, not next week, not sometime next month. NOW!
Someone skipped high school English, I think. Anyway, none of the punctuation or (lack of) capitalization is mine--why "beatleism" and "beatlemania"? And who the heck ever heard of "beatleism," anyway? But, there we have it--the notes telling us to buy this LP so we can get our copy of I Want to Hold Your Hand. Which is actually their copy of the song, literally. How masterfully Hit Records obscures the distinction between the actual recording and their knock-off thereof.
I love the last-minute-cash-in nature of this release. We can only imagine that this was going to be just another Current Hits collection--but then, the Beatles seized the charts. Panic time! And we have some typical budget-label inconsistency here, with the reverse jacket saying "Current Hits--Volume 12," while the front portion announces, "Current Hits--Volume No. 12." Anyway, I can imagine someone saying, "Quick! Make this all about 'beatleism," and put one of those long-haired guys on the cover--over here on the left, where there's room." Beatleism. Sounds like a philosophy. ("All you need is love." "Hey, you sound like a beatlist.")
Too bad this version of Hand (credited to "The Doodles" on the 45 release) isn't very good. Now, it is delightful in its amateurishness--almost like a group of singers imitating the New Seekers (exhausted after a two-week tour) badly imitating the Beatles--but it can only be described as lame. I've had it on 45 forever, and I've always liked it, in the way that one likes a nice-try-but-keep-your-day-job fake hit, but it's hilarious to see it serving as the LP headliner. The other eleven tracks, which run the gamut from "ouch!" to highly competent, are actually more fun.
And, almost hilariously, the LP line-up corresponds to the release schedule of the 45s--and I've placed the 45 rpm credits on the mp3 ID tags (the LP forgoes artist credits). Forget Him, a hit for Bobby Rydell, is adequately sung by... Bobby Russell, maybe?... and Jan and Dean's Drag City is only moderately botched by The Jalopy Five. For some reason, I like the Hit Records attempts at the surf and hot rod genre, despite the fact they never did them very well. As Usual is Betty Williams imitating Brenda Lee out of key, and I somehow knew this had to be a Lee hit, even though I don't remember it from bitd (back in the day). And, though The Boy Next Door has nothing to do with the Meet Me in St. Louis classic, it's an excellent girl-group side and pretty expertly covered by the Belles (and originally done by The Secrets). It's cowritten by John L. Medora (aka Johnny Madara), a songwriter maybe best known for At the Hop. Medora also cowrote the classic Lesley Gore hit, You Don't Own Me, done here by Bill Austin (!!), according to the single release. But it's clearly a female vocalist, and the Hit Records Project reports that the vocalist is, in real life, Connie Dee (real name: Connie Sue Landers). She does a fine, get-it-done-quick job. The two soul sides--Um Um Um Um Um Um and Talking About My Baby--are solid covers, too, whereas Rick Nelson's For You is... not so fine. Covering Rick is Ed Hardin (Bobby Russell?) who can't seem to get the notes right on the bridge of this 1930 classic by Joe Burke and Al Dubin (which was memorably recorded by the Ravens in 1947). Hey Little Cobra is another badly done but infectious and charming cover (this time, by the Roamers, copying the Rip Chords), with the group at least properly negotiating the key changes. Daisy Petal Picking is nicely done, though this Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs hit doesn't really do much for me. Then we have an Andy Williams hit, A Fool Never Learns, sung in Elvis style by Fred York, and I have no idea why. (Though, actually, it would have made a nice Elvis single.) My first reaction was, "Is this an Elvis hit I didn't know about?" Answer: no.
And all of this has something to do with "beatleism" taking over the world. A classic, "Quick! Change the cover!" fake-hits collection. Thanks again to Diane for finding this--I had been wanting to have it.
And I forgot to note--Elvis lead guitarist Scotty Moore was one of the engineers on this release!
DOWNLOAD: Current Hits--Volume No. 12 (Hit Records HLP 412; 1964)
Forget Him--Wayne Harris
Drag City--The Jalopy Five
As Usual--Betty Williams
The Boy Next Door (Madara-White)--The Belles
Hey Little Cobra--The Roamers
Daisy Petal Picking (sic)--Ricky Dickens
For You (incorrectly credited to "J. Bert" and "A. Bubin")--Ed Hardin
Um Um Um Um Um Um--Thomas Henry
A Fool Never Learns--Fred York
I Want to Hold Your Hand--The Doodles
You Don't Own Me--Conne Dee (Connie Sue Landers)
Talking About My Baby--Harvey Frolic
Current Hits--Volume No. 12 (Hit Records HLP 412; 1964)
Lee
13 comments:
"A Fool Never Learns" was written by Sonny Curtis of the Crickets, who recorded it. I only vaguely remember the song, and couldn't say if the knockoff is patterned after the Crickets' version.
I never thought much of Rick Nelson's "For You," which he must have plucked from his father's band book. "J. Bert" and "A. Bubin" - I love that.
One of my many musical prejudices is an antipathy to the early-60s girl groups, including the Secrets, even though they hailed from Cleveland. "Dump-dee-dump-dee-dump / The Boy Next Door." Yikes.
Buster,
Thanks--I'll have to check out the Crickets version. And I somehow thought Sonny Curtis was someone else. Anyway, this is certainly not an imitation of Andy Williams! Btw, I always thought Williams was a terrific singer who caught a lot of grief for... not being rock, maybe?
I can't agree on the girl groups--I think they were a vital part of rock evolution. I mean, both the Beatles and Beach Boys imitated the style and sound of the girl-group productions to more than a small extent. Just my take. And I found "the Belles," whoever they were, to be surprisingly tight on this cover. I had never heard of the Secrets and was expecting the originals to be someone more familiar. Oh, well.
Oh, and I never know whether or not to apostrophize in situations like "the Crickets version." I imagine it's correct either way. Sort of like "Boys Club" vs. "Boys' Club."
And I listened to a bit (but only a bit) of Rick's "For You," and I think it gave new meaning to "drab." One way to ruin the song is to do it with that particular beat (kind of a Bacharach-esque baion) and with Nelson's droning delivery.
Beatleism forever! And that's my favorite Beatle right there on the cover, though I forget which one he is. Stig, perhaps...
He looks more like Leonard Nimoy.
Lee - Yeah, that version of "For You" is not for me. As for the girl groups, I think the attraction for the Beach Boys and Beatles was more the Spector wall of sound than the singing.
Hey Lee, Thanks to Diane for the find. Thanks, Lee for the posting. I played it several times today in between Alshire label cover versions of country artists/hits. Sorry, Buster, one of my favorites is "The Boy Next Door", although I prefer the original which I only heard a few years ago. Another favorite today was "Forget Him". I remember hearing it on oldies radio. Always a favorite. Over all a nice collection to clean house by. Bryan
Ernie,
I'm sure it was "Oh, my God--get a Beatle on the cover!" at Hit Records. And beatleism (uncapitalized, remember) is the only way to go for the gear and groovy among us.
Buster,
Yes, Wilson certainly helped himself to Phil's sound. I think Brian did it better, as I've never been a particular fan of the original "wall of sound" sound. To me, it's just a bunch of reverb plus too many musicians. And I love the opportunity to type "wall of sound' sound." Oh, and Brian kept everyone in key, unlike Phil.
Bryan,
Glad you enjoyed it! Much to love here, from the least to the best. And house-cleaning is something I should be doing right now, at this very moment. However, I'm afraid of kicking up dust at a time when my allergies are at their worst. I'm on any number of allergy meds, yet the ragweed pollen has me down for the count! Hope the pollen count is more reasonable where you are.
Ernie--
Of course, you had to capitalize "beatleism," since it started the sentence. I was just explaining my own use of a lower-case b. I like to stick to the letter of fall-down-hilarious liner notes.
Lee - Yeah, I'm not much of a Spector fan myself.
Hi Lee,
A couple of thoughts...
This version of "A Fool Never Learns" does seem to be patterned after the Andy Williams version, although "Fred York" doesn't seem to be channeling Andy at all.
Sonny Curtis did record a version with the Crickets, but that's also a cover of the Andy Williams version and is included on an album of all covers by the Crickets with the unwieldy title of "California Sun/She Loves You/A Fool Never Learns/Come On" (or at least I *think* that's the title!).
The liner notes of the album refer to Sonny having written the “current Andy Williams smash.”
So, that's an unusual case of the writer of a song covering someone else's version of their song!
I think Ricky Nelson was great, but I don’t care for “For You” at all and I’ve never understood why it was so popular, except that perhaps it had a more contemporary sound for the times.
That’s my least favorite most popular record of his, if you know what I’m saying!
Keep up the good work!
Johnny,
Thanks! Totally agreed about Ricky, and thanks for the info on the Crickets LP! As you note, a fascinating case of a writer covering someone else's version of his own song. This stuff just gets weirder all the time! Thanks for chiming in.
Johnny,
This is to say, I usually like Ricky/Rick, but "For You" is one giant exception!
You are probably right about Bobby Russell in your comments about this record; next to Connie Sue Landers, he recorded so prolifically for the company that Buzz Cason later reported that Mr. Russell had a whole desk drawer of uncashed Hit Records checks! You can hear him on such soundalikes as "Blue Velvet", "Still", "Little Band of Gold", "Time Won't Let Me" (as the Chellows), and "Sukiyaki", to name just a few. If you really listen closely, you know it's him. He also covered the two Paul & Paula biggies, "Hey Paula" and "Young Lovers" as duets with Connie Landers for the company. (the latter can be found on Volume 5 in this series.)I personally think that he did better on these soundalikes than on some of his own hits on major labels.
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