Frank (Ebb Tide) Chacksfield and His Orch., performing The First Hits of 1965 in, of course, 1965. And by "faithful," I of course mean faithful to the source, even as Chacksfield's arranger (very possibly, Frank himself) keeps everything in an excellent easy-listening vein. A well-done balancing act, stylistically. One less faithful take, however, is Dear Heart, that fine Henry Mancini tune for the equally fine movie (one of my all-time favorites), which is rendered here in a country style, and for unknown reasons. It works well enough, but it departs from the feel of Andy Williams' hit. Then again, nobody was harmed in the process.
But Frank does total justice to the Beatles classics I Feel Fine and She's a Woman--and I'd have expected nothing less, because for some time I've owned a 7" Chacksfield LP containing other 1960s r&r hits, and they are presented quite effectively, too.
The Fab Four attribution reads "McCartney-Lennon," and we've encountered this credit reversal before on pop instrumental efforts like this. Of course, I Feel Fine was primarily a John song, and the latter a mostly Paul number, so we can't conclude that Decca/London had gotten any inside song info. Too bad, because that would have been intriguing.
And we get equally dynamic versions of Downtown (love the original!), Hawaii Tattoo (a hit for the Waikikis), and especially Goldfinger--all benefiting from the outstandingly crisp and very stereo-sounding Decca/London stereo. (It's great whenever stereo sounds especially stereo.) And the original moods of the hit singles are superbly recreated for The Wedding (Julie Rogers), Mr. Lonely (Bobby Vinton), Willow Weep for Me (Chad and Jeremy). and Have You Looked Into Your Heart (Jerry Vale). Exceptions are I'll be There (Gerry and the Pacemakers), which lacks the drive of the Pacemakers single, and Walk Away (Matt Monroe), which steps up the tempo and thus shaves some of the sadness from the tune--but Chacksfield does such a terrific job as a whole, we can allow him some license.
I'd have preferred a greater number of rock and roll numbers, but the Beatles and Petula Clark covers, not to mention the forceful rendering of Goldfinger, leave this blogger with no complaints. Five stars. Enjoy!
DOWNLOAD: The First Hits of 1965--Frank Chacksfield and His Orchestra (London PS 316; 1965)
I Feel Fine
The Wedding
Downtown
I'll Be There
Mr. Lonely
Goldfinger
Willow Weep for Me
She's a Woman
Dear Heart
Hawaii Tattoo
Have You Looked Into Your Heart
Walk Away
Lee
14 comments:
Thanks a lot. Good quality.
I will enjoy; perhaps not the modifications to "Dear Heart" and "Walk Away," two favorites of mine. But then I could listen to the originals, I suppose!
I can say for a fact that I have NEVER encountered this album in my record hunts before; the tracklist includes several tunes that were never covered by other traditional pop artists, like "Hawaii Tattoo" by the Waikikis and "Have You Looked Into Your Heart" by Jerry Vale, and especially "She's A Woman" by the Beatles (that, plus it's A-Side, "I Feel Fine", is one of my favorite Beatles 45s, two driving Pop-Rock tunes). Looking forward to checking out this record. Have a wonderful and enjoyable Easter weekend!
musicman1979,
Then I'm glad to bring it to you! I think you'll appreciate "She's a Woman"--it captures much of the feel of the original even while "easy-izing" the proceedings. Great Easter to you, too!
Some real good stuff so far on this record! The Beatles covers are the real surprise--they sound more like a Big Band doing them than an Easy Listening outfit. "Have You Looked Into Your Heart' is more in the pocket of Frank's typical Easy Listening style, yet very well done. "Downtown" is pretty much a faithful interpretation of Petula Clark's breakout hit in the U.S.--very true to the original. Of course, she was one of the few British Invasion acts who appealed to both parents and kids of the '60's. Next to the Beatles cuts, the biggest surprise so far is "Hawaii Tattoo" done in an Easy Listening-Dixieland Jazz hybrid; they tone down the Hawaiian elements quite a bit and make the song a little better in my opinion. This version of "Mr. Lonely" is really good: the trumpet player does a great job aping the trumpet style of Herb Alpert and is now my second favorite version of the tune next to Buddy Greco's; not a fan of the Bobby Vinton original. The take on "I'll Be There" is more in the vein of Bobby Darin's original version than the hit remake by Gerry and the Pacemakers, yet very well done.
Thanks, Lee. Your (fake) hits are a'poppin' these days!
Hello, I hope that all is great with you and your family. Happy Easter.
Stan S.,
Happy Easter to you, too!
Hoppy Easter Lee! Thanks for the tunes!
Ernie,
A hoppy Easter back atcha! (Hm. Does anyone use "back atcha" anymore?) And I just read that the Monday after Easter is a public holiday in most countries, but not the U.S. I had to look it up, because I had forgotten...
Many of my customers and vendors were closed for the Good Friday before Easter, but not after. I worked my way right through...
Thanx............ Good gardening background music.
Timmy,
That'll work! You're very welcome.
"Gardening Background Music" -- Lee, you MUST release some music under this title! I mean, I have LPs for reading by, eating by, even music to write letters by. This is clearly an oversight by the "Music To" people, and you should jump in, pronto!
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