Various Artists, Part 2, for May 2024--Red Prysock, The Regents, June Valli, Tony Bennett, and Samba Voodoo!

Today is my annual "No way I can be that old!" day (67, this time around), so I'm celebrating with more various artists.  That is to say, with another various-artists post.  "More various artists" is kind of awkward--it could suggest artists who are more various, whatever that might mean.  And, of course (and for what it's worth), variety can only exist within a group of things.  We had a manager who bragged that the company has "many diverse individuals," and I wondered if he meant people who exist simultaneously in multiple dimensions.

So... after I assembled this list, I searched for a common theme or two.  Or three.  As in, are there any?  And one theme is early rock and roll--The Dreamers' 535 (with that wonderful electric guitar distortion that graced so many blues and doo wop sides, and which Stan Freberg irreverently described as the "Howdy Doody button"); the Regents' Barbara Ann B-side, I'm So Lonely; and the honking-sax magic (always wanted to type that) of Red Prysock on the Mercury label, from the 1957 LP The Beat.  This is where rock and roll and R&B become the same thing--In fact, the honking-tenor-sax r&r of Hal Singer, Big Jay McNeely, Wild Bill Moore, and other 1940s rockers was enjoying a second wave in the wake of Elvis, or whatever I just typed.  If I'd had it handy, I would have snuck in Harry James' 1939 Back Beat Boogie, which would have fit like a glove with latter-'50s instrumental rock.  But my 45 rpm copy is stuck away someplace in my maze of 45 boxes.  In the closet.  Behind the row of records blocking the door.  In there somewhere.  Laughing at me.

And, speaking of rock and roll finding its way into the pop charts (we were?), we have some excellent examples of "pop" vocalists helping toward that objective, with both June Valli and Guy Mitchell touching on the style.  First, June (whom I've referred to at this blog as RCA's "pre-Elvis Elvis") with a rocking Strictly Sentimental and a habanera/tresillo (3-3-2 beat) Leiber-Stoller number, Will You Love Me Still, which anticipates Brill Building pop to come.  Very Under the Boardwalk-esque, even if Jerry and Mike had nothing to do with Boardwalk.  Then, Guy Mitchell plunging into rockabilly on Crazy With Love, the B-side of the magnificent 1956 Singing the Blues.  Didn't anyone notice, at the time, that Guy had taken that plunge?  Guy almost, but not quite, wandered into the same zone the next year with Hoot Owl, the flip of Rock-a-Billy.  Fourthly, Eileen Barton with a rock and roll remake of 1950's If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked a Cake.  (And that 3-3-2 beat, again.)

And there's the theme of Boomer Top 40 rendered in an EZ vein (yes, you can quote me), an area often covered here.  Namely, Paul Mauriat with a delightful beautiful-music rendition of Penny Lane (maybe the best EZ Beatles cover of all time), plus two selections which reveal the soul of Mauriat: In the Midnight Hour and I Heard It Through the Grapevine.  These can be regarded as skillfully rendered massed-strings soul, and therefore ingenious.  Or they can be regarded as skillfully rendered massed-strings soul, and therefore hilarious.  Same premise, two parametrically opposite conclusions.

In a category by itself, there's Jackie Lee's wonderful 1961 remake of Isle of Capri Boogie, with a Mysterioso organ to out-Mysterioso 96 Tears. A wonderful almost-rock-and-roll performance which ranks with the almost-rhythm-and-blues of Jimmy Dorsey's 1957 So Rare.  And I'll stand by whatever I just typed.

More mellow sounds with Engelbert Humperdinck delivering an excellent rendition of the Carole King-Gerry Goffin Yours Until Tomorrow (1967); the great Ray Charles Singers with their smash hit Al-Di-La, plus an interesting take on Do You Want to Know a Secret--one of the first adult-pop covers of the Fab Four; Freddy Martin and the terrific Artie Wayne presenting an ultra-smooth rendering of the Chopin-derived A Song to Remember (1945); and Martin's semi-mellow 1950 Misirlou, one of the very best big band/pre-surf interpretations of this Middle Eastern classic.

And three selections in a showtune vein: Don Cherry's I Don't Care If the Sun Don't Shine, Jo Stafford's If I Were a Bell (from Guys and Dolls), and a spectacular semi-Kostelanetz helping of Vincent Youman's Great Day by Russ Case and His Orchestra. Had Andre mixed swing with strings, he'd have sounded like this 1954 recording.

Carmen Cavallaro's 1951 Deep Night returns, and it's pure exotica, even if it's not from the islands.  It has that sound, nonetheless--the flute, female chorus, and the Afro-Latin rhythms do the trick.  Cavallaro, as always, is fabulous.  "Samba Voodoo With Female Sextette," explains the jacket.

Oh, and a 1959 Jean Goldkette recreation of My Pretty Girl, from the original charts (says the liner notes).  For once, a "'20s in hi-fi" attempt that sounds like the '20s in hi-fi.  To be fair, though, the Peep Hole 8 (!) deliver a not too anachronistic Diga Diga Doo from the 1958 Pickwick LP The 20's Roar Back.  So, the themes are: Retro 1920s, Samba Voodoo, showtunes, early r&r, "pop" which touches on r&r, and Jackie Lee's class-by-itself Isle of Capri Boogie.  Plus, Tony Bennett, Don Cherry, and a great 1956 rendition of Alfred Newman's 1931 Street Scene.

DOWNLOAD: Various Artists, Part 2--Red Prysock, June Valli, Guy Mitchell

I'm So Lonely--The Regents, 1961

How-Ja Do, How-Ja Do, How-Ja Do (If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked a Cake)--Eileen Barton, 1955

Strictly Sentimental--June Valli With Joe Reisman's Orch., 1957

Will You Love Me Still--Same

A Song to Remember--Freddy Martin Orch., V: Artie Wayne, 1945

Misirlou--Same, V: Stuart Wade, piano: Barclay Allen

Foot Stompin'--Red Prysock and His Orch., 1957

535--Dreamers, 1955

Crazy With Love--Guy Mitchell With Ray Conniff and His Orch., 1956

In the Midnight Hour--Paul Mauriat and His Orchestra, 1969

I Don't Care If the Sun Don't Shine--Don Cherry With Ray Conniff and His Orch., 1956

If I Were a Bell--Jo Stafford With Paul Weston and His Orch., 1953

Yours Until Tomorrow--Engelbert Humperdinck, 1967

Al-Di-La--The Ray Charles Singers, 1964

Great Day--Russ Case and His Orch. and Chorus, 1954

Street Scene--Joe Lipman and His Orchestra, 1956

Deep Night (Samba Voodoo With Female Sextette)--Carmen Cavallaro

My Pretty Girl--Jean Goldkette and His Orchestra, 1959

Penny Lane--Paul Mauriat and His Orchestra, 1967

I Heard It Through the Grapevine--Same, 1969

Isle of Capri Boogie--Jackie Lee, 1961

Happiness Street (Corner Sunshine Square)--Tony Bennett, 1956

He's a Real Gone Guy--Red Prysock and His Orch., 1957

Hoot Owl--Guy Mitchell With Jimmy Carroll, 1957

Diga Diga Doo--The Peephole 8, 1958

Lee

Continental Juke Box No. 1--Wally Stott, The Melody Sisters, Michel Legrand, Giampiero Boneschi!

 

This made-in-Holland ten-incher showed up during my latest Goodwill trip, and how could I pass up that fabulous cover?  And, it turns out, the music is terrific, too, especially if you're in the mood for a Sh-Boom cover by a popular Dutch singing duo (the Melody Sisters).  I'm giving some thought to posting Sh-Boom at Lee's Fake Hits (YouTube), except that it doesn't really qualify as such, since it's not a budget knockoff.  Still, I could stretch the rules--it's my channel, after all.  

And I just now realized I had misread "Wally Stott" as "Wally Scott," which explains why I couldn't find anything out about her, despite conducting what I thought was a thorough Google search.  Seems Stott was Angela Morley, born Walter Stott in England and working as an arranger and recording director for the Dutch Philips label.  She became a transgender woman in 1972.  Here, Stott's orchestra performs the Dave Cavanaugh number The Cat From Coos Bay.  As a composer, Stott/Morley was best known for The Goon Show, The Little Prince, and Watership Down.

And... an excellent mood music rendering of Charlie Chaplin's Smile by Orchestra Michel Legrand, as the credit reads.  Then, the internationally successful Dutch Swing College Band with Muskrat Ramble in excellent hi-fi mono.  Thus ends Side 1.

Side 2 opens with Trinidadian pianist Winifred Atwell's Let's Have a Party, featuring the 1920s hits If You Knew Susie..., The More We Are Together, and That's My Weakness Now, plus Knees up Mother Brown, a British music hall classic credited here as a folk (traditional) number.  Mother Brown was memorably recorded by Merv Griffin with Freddy Martin in 1950, most probably as a follow-up to Merv's smash hit, I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts.

Then, Danish violinist Sven Asmussen's orchestra and chorus with Do, Do, Do, Do, Do, Do, Do It Again, covering (far as I can determine) The Four Tunes.  After which, harmonicist Jean Wetzel performs The Touch (from Touches pas au Grisbi) with Jean Wiener and His Trio.  Things conclude with Giampiero Boneschi directing the Melodicon Children Chorus in Aveva un bavero, with the Children sounding more like over-18s.  Come 1970, Boneschi became known for his electronic music.  At least one of his electronic pieces (The Latest Fashion) was utilized as soundtrack music for Space: 1999.

DOWNLOAD: Continental Juke Box No. 1, 1954 (?)

The Cat From Coos Bay--The Wally Stott Orchestra

Sh-Boom (Life Could Be a Dream)--The Melody Sisters and Black and White w. Orchestral Accompaniment

Smile (From the film "Modern Times")--Orchestra Michel Legrand

Muskrat Ramble--Dutch Swing College Band

Let's Have a Party: If You Knew Susie.../The More We Are Together/That's My Weakness Now/Knees up Mother Brown--Winifred Atwell and Her "Other Piano"

Do, Do, Do, Do, Do, Do, Do It Again--Svend Asmussen and His Orch. and Chorus

The Touch--Jean Wetzel, Harmonica With Jean Wiener and His Trio

Aveva un bavero--The Melodicon Children Chorus, Dir. Giampiero Boneschi

(Philips B 10156 R)

Lee

Various Artists for May, 2024: Piano Red, Donna Lynn, The Checkers, Pat Boone, Leadbelly, Tony Bennett, more!

 

No particular theme to this VA playlist: From John D. Loudermilk to Piano Red (aka, Willie Lee Perryman, aka Dr. Feelgood), from Villa-Lobos to Julius Fucik to Carole King, and from Si Zentner to Leadbelly to Pat Boone, it's pretty much any LP track or single I've looked at recently and said, "This would make a nice post."  Or a portion thereof.  Any VA playlist featuring the Checkers, Larry Williams, and Tony Bennett is (in my utterly unbiased viewpoint) a playlist to be cherished.

In addition to Bud Shank's jazz take on I Am the Walrus, there are at least three other Beatles links: 1) Donna Lynn's version of I'd Much Rather Be With the Girls (originally Boys), a Keith Richard-Andrew Loog Oldham number slightly controversial for its day in sexual-orientation terms, with the Stones (along with the Dave Clark Five) having been maybe the Beatles' chief rivals, and with Donna Lynn's chief claim to fame her Top 100 novelty, My Boyfriend Got a Beatle Haircut, and 2) Pat Boone's 1965 Say Goodbye, penned by Burt Bacharach and Hal David--the link being the Burt song included (along with Carole King's Chains) on the Beatle's first album and 3) Larry William's 1958 classic Dizzy, Miss Lizzy, which is usually associated with the Beatles' cover from Beatles VI (U.S.) and Help! (UK).  Then, 4) the Dr. Feelgood (Piano Red) recording of Right String but the Wrong Yo-Yo, which the artist had recorded earlier (in 1950), and which dates back at least as far as 1929.  The Beatles connection?  Right String was recorded in 1958 by Carl Perkins, who played a huge role in the early sound of the Beatles.  Our four Fab Four connections.  Well, five, actually (including Shanks).  And a sixth, if we want to get technical: 6) Leadbelly's 1944 In New Orleans, a bordello ballad better known as House of the Rising Sun (often, with the female narrator switching gender). Sun, of course, was a huge hit for another major British Invasion act, The Animals.  Is there a seventh link?

Yes, a desperate one: The fact that Tony Bennett and The Beatles both abbreviate to T.B.  No, I won't go there.

The other gems: Susie's House, an excellent rockabilly number by John (Tobacco Road) Loudermilk on Columbia during Mitch Miller's reign (!), and the early (1953) doo-wop classics Without a Song and The White Cliffs of Dover (the versions, not the numbers)--a King single thrifted by me maybe 25 years ago, while the Tommy/Jimmy Dorsey Bell label Marie and Green Eyes single was originally thrifted by me about 50-plus years (!) ago.  That copy has since been replaced.  

I was a huge Tommy Dorsey fan as a kid, and I remember, when I finally thrifted an RCA Victor TD 78 set, deciding that these 1954 Bell remakes were far superior to the originals (even prior to hearing the 1941 J.D. Green Eyes).  Had I heard the originals first, maybe I'd be declaring the newer versions inferior.  We'll never know.  And my ATFV (Alternate Time Flow Viewer) is on the fritz.

The 1962 Dr. Feelgood (Piano Red) Right String... sounds very much like the same artist's 1950 rendition, the main difference being the louder dynamics here.  As for the flip--What's Up, Doc--we have some of the most blatantly suggestive lyrics since Howlin' Wolf's Mr. Highway Man.  Red's two 1957 RCA Victor sides, taken from a promo EP (with June Valli on the flip!) have Perryman's style tweaked to sound like the then-current r&r.  It didn't take much tweaking.

Don't expect an avant-garde jazz rendering of I Am the Walrus--It's nice, but more like the lite or smooth variety.  And from the Pickwick Happy Time label, and thrifted in the wrong jacket, there's Julius Fucik's classic circus march, Entry of the Gladiators (as Gladiators March) played at an amazing tempo and recorded without much treble--and I see that I ripped it under the proper title.  I'd correct this, but that would mean having to redo the mp3 tagging and image-inserting.  Ain't modern tech amazing?

Also, two cool TV spy classics, with (who else?) the Harmonicats giving us the Avengers theme and Si Zentner with a terrific rendering of Pete Rugolo's Fugitive title music.  Then, Bacharach and David in pop-folk mode with 1958's Ooooh, My Love, beautifully crooned by Vic Damone--and, for contrast, a rocking 1955 version of Bernice Petkere's 1933 Close Your Eyes by Tony Bennett.  Next, in the further service of disunity, Andre Kostelanetz with an excellent reading of Heitor Villa-Lobos's 1930 The Little Train of the Caipira, and Jan Garber's Orchestra in an outstanding 1961 rendition of the Dixieland classic, That's a Plenty, in plenty stereo from a Motorola/Decca demo LP (which hawks "the phantom third channel").  Plenty started life as a 1914 ragtime piano solo by Lew (Charmaine) Pollack.

DOWNLOAD: Various Artists for May 2024

Susie's House--John Loudermilk, 1958

Wild Fire--Piano Red, 1957

Rock, Baby--Same

Devil or Angel--The Clovers, 1965 (Lana Records remake)

Marie--Tommy Dorsey and His Orch., Feat. Jimmy Dorsey, V: Gordon Polk, 1954

Green Eyes--Same, V: Johnny Amoroso, Lynn Roberts, 1954

Ooooh, My Love--Vic Damone With Jimmy Carroll and His Orch., 1958

The Little Train of the Caipira--Andre Kostelanetz and His Orch.

Gladiators March--Unknown (Pickwick)

Say Goodbye--Pat Boone, 1965

Until Yesterday--Tony Bennett With Percy Faith and His Orch., 1953

The Fugitive Theme--Si Zentner and His Orch., 1964

Theme from The Avengers--Jerry Murad's Harmonicats, 1967

In New Orleans--Leadbelly, 1944

That's A Plenty--Jan Garber and His Orch., 1961

I'd Much Rather Be With the Girls--Donna Lynn, 1965

Without a Song--The Checkers, 1953

Dizzy, Miss Lizzy--Larry Williams, 1958

I Am the Walrus--Bud Shank, 1968

Randy--Earl-Jean, 1964

Close Your Eyes--Tony Bennett, 1955

Right String but the Wrong Yo-Yo--Dr. Feelgood and the Interns, 1962

What's Up, Doc--Same

White Cliffs of Dover--The Checkers, 1953

Lee