Sing along with 1964! I had meant to have this up two days ago, but things don't always happen as planned. (Ever notice that in your life?) And, off topic, I'm not going to believe the reports of a "mothership" in our solar system until a mainstream news outlet confirms such an unlikely event. People predisposed to believe that we're being "visited" will jump on the news without questioning it. I strongly suspect that some genuine astronomical observation has been considerably "tweaked" to fit a popular narrative/trope. By now, we have a public convinced that any unidentified light in the sky somehow satisfies the burden of proof for ET visitation.
Anyway, as musicman1979 aptly predicted, this 1964 Capitol LP is indeed a "1960's version of Karaoke." In fact, Wikipedia has Karaoke (technically) beginning in Japan in 1967, though in the sense of pre-taped band backings. In that sense, it goes back to the early days of rock and roll and lip-synching! As always, the question is, How broadly do we wish do define a piece of technology?
And I haven't fully decided what I think of this album. It's certainly interesting, but it's also odd. Sort of like it's missing something. Wait, I know! Lead vocals! That's it.
And we have to wonder how many purchasers actually sang along with this. For sing-along purposes, Capitol inserted a lyrics sheet, and my copy actually has it, and it's pretty amusing. But scanning the four-sheet insert would require sixteen scanning angles for "stitching," and I just wasn't in the mood.
However, if there's a popular demand for a scan (demand for a scan?), I might relent. Might.
Interestingly, these tracks are sometimes purely instrumental, while others have backing vocals. The reason is fairly obvious: the Beatles numbers (including the Lennon/McCartney Bad to Me) feature unison (same note) lead vocals, along with duets. No way to reduce those schemes to a lead vocal/backing vocal presentation. And I feel the need to define "unison" in music, because the word is so frequently misused: Unison means the same note, typically in the interval of a prime (e.g., Middle C and Middle C) or octave (e.g., C4 and C5). It does not refer to harmony singing which happens on the same beats or syllables, but a person might not know this, given the widespread misuse of the concept. When in doubt, think Gregorian Chant.
So, it's natural that those numbers would be purely instrumental. For tracks which have vocal-harmony backing (Surf City, Bits and Pieces, It's All Right, Heat Wave, It's My Party), we hear those backings. And we are to sing the melody on top of them. Which, with a voice whose resting point lies between baritone and bass, is a chore for me. But I expect the rest of you to sing along. To get the full experience, if for no other reason.
And Capitol pulled a budget label-style bit by promising "the original instrumental arrangements," because this is easily misinterpreted as "the original backing tracks." As in, Capitol licensing and presenting same. Sorry--not the case. Yes, Capitol specifies "arrangements," but a quick read can be deceptive. Meanwhile, the back cover offers a second LP title: Sing the Top-40 Hits, which is a standard budget-label stunt. And, instead of "original" backgrounds, suddenly were dealing with "famous" ones. See? Such behavior wasn't unique to SPC or Big 4 Hits. It leaves us with a fascinating philosophical dilemma: Did the budgets copy "legit" label practices, or vice versa?
"Produced by Dave Axelrod" is all we get in the way of clues, performance-wise--we're hearing whatever studio pros he assembled for this project. Axelrod, of course, was Capitol's A&R man, and Wikipedia tells us that his 1968 Song of Innocence led a contemporary critic to coin the term "jazz fusion." Wow!
Notwithstanding the somewhat fuzzy jacket claims, the tracks are expertly done--arrangement, production, and performance are top-notch, even if I seem to be making fun of things. As pre-Karaoke Karaoke backings, these are pretty amazing. And, best of all, this record "cannot become obsolete." The back jacket says so. This is good, because I worry about vinyl becoming obsolete--I have nightmares about it. Still, I handled this carefully and used the proper tracking force, etc. No point in taking chances.
DOWNLOAD: The Top-40 Song Book (Capitol T-2126; 1964)
Love Me Do, in the style of The Beatles
It's My Party, in the style of Lesley Gore
Bad to Me, in the style of Billy J. Kramer
Bits and Pieces, in the style of The Dave Clark Five
It's in His Kiss (Shoop Shoop Song), in the style of Betty Everett
I Want to Hold Your Hand, in the style of The Beatles
Heat Wave, in the style of Martha and the Vandellas
Surf City, in the style of Jan and Dean
Louie, Louie, In the style of The Kingsmen
It's All Right, in the style of The Impressions
Lee
7 comments:
Thanks for posting this! I have a couple of similar Capitol LPs, one of which features songs by The Beach Boys. I'll have to pull it out and see if it's original backings or "in the style of." These seem to have been A Big Thing at the time.
With David Axelrod behind the boards, this should be good. Probably several of the Wrecking Crew musicians played on this, being that most Capitol albums were cut in Hollywood/Los Angeles at the famous Capitol tower.
So far, it doesn't look like vinyl is becoming obsolete anytime soon. Record sales overtook CD sales for the first time since 1987! Many legacy acts like the Beatles and Fleetwood Mac contributed to the sales, but so did the Taylor Swift fans who bought her latest album "Midnights", according to the news report I heard on the radio a few days ago.
Looking forward to plunging into this! So glad that you are back.
Diane and musicman,
You're very welcome! And it's nice to be back. This was meant to go up a few days earlier, but somehow it got delayed. And it's cool that vinyl sales have overtaken CD sales, though aren't CDs becoming less of a thing, now that streaming options are available?
It was strange to hear "Love Me Do" as an instrumental backing track. The Claivietta (an instrument which I have heard only on Ray Conniff albums played by Ray himself) is kind of a nice touch.
"Bits And Pieces" is the one that sounds the most like a genuine instrumental. And "Bad To Me" my favorite Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas hit, gets a whole new different musical sheen in this context. It almost sounds like background music on a '60's TV show. And I am pretty sure that's Hal Blaine playing the drums on that recording. Really good, plus some great guitar solos.
Those LA session cats really nail down the Motown sound pretty good on their take of "Heat Wave". It sounds like Darlene Love and the Blossoms have been added to give this song a real authentic Motown touch. Really good backing track that cooks! The vocal group is one of the real stars of this cut.
Axelrod's touch is especially on "Louie Louie", a driving cut with a different flavor that would have been a huge dance floor cut in discotheques of the day, with a great electric guitar solo.
More comments coming soon. So far, with the exception of "Love Me Do", I like what I have heard. Different shadings on some of the biggest hits of the '60's. Thanks for posting.
musicman1979,
That's interesting, because "Love Me Do" was the letdown track for me, too, but I left that fact out of my essay. I think that the song simply has no chance of working without the melody and the harmony voice. It's a three-chord song (G/C/D), with only two chords (G,C) for the A portion. But the vocals give it some intensity. Lennon and McCartney mostly harmonize in perfect fifths, which is cool. In the "plea-ea-ea-ease" part, the perfect fifth becomes a triad. Minimalist stuff, to say the least.
And I totally agree on "Bits and Pieces"!
Really good rest of the album! I actually seem to prefer this version of "It's My Party" a little more than the original from Lesley Gore. It seems to have something that her recording just doesn't seem to have. I like a lot of her stuff, yet this take on her biggest (and my least favorite) hit is a really unique listening experience.
I was glad that they kept the "Two Girls For Every Boy" line in this take on "Surf City". This instrumental backing track by (probably) The Wrecking Crew has a bit more musical drive than the one on the Jan and Dean original, however, they could have picked a better set of singers to sing the words in my book. Like the driving guitar solo, though.
The "backing track" version of "I Want to Hold Your Hand" is great, showing off a slightly different side of the music. it is proably a lot better than some of the fakes of this tune you have uploaded earlier on this blog. The guitars even have a touch of a Jazzy element to them.
For the most part, this is a solid album, recommended for those who like to hear a slightly different take on these classics, in addition to singing along with the tunes in the privacy of your own home or a party. Great prouduction effore from Mr. Axelrod here.
Post a Comment