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SPECTROPOP - Spectacular! Retro! Pop!
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There are 14 messages in this issue.
Topics in this digest:
1. Re: Jim Ford
From: Bryan
2. Re: new "Smile" CD
From: Jens Koch
3. Re: New "Smile" CD
From: Bryan
4. Columbus Jones
From: Austin Roberts
5. Duh! Sunshine Company distortion "meant to be there"!!!
From: Dee
6. Benny Gordon
From: Simon White
7. Brian & Smile
From: Richard Williams
8. The Accents featuring Sandi
From: Billy G. Spreadlin
9. Hal Blaine Book Reissued
From: Greg Matecko
10. Re: New "Smile" CD
From: MJ
11. The Accents featuring Sandi
From: Davie Gordon
12. The Accents featuring Sandi / Moya Donnelly
From: Julio Niño
13. Re: Dickey's Rocky
From: Austin Roberts
14. The Clusters live this Saturday in Lodi, NJ
From: Country Paul
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Message: 1
Date: Mon, 23 Aug 2004 18:43:12 -0700
From: Bryan
Subject: Re: Jim Ford
Previously:
> 3025 -- Jim Ford : Linda Comes Running / Sing With Linda (1967)
> 3027 -- Jim Ford : Ramona / ? (1967) [Mustang's last 45]
The b-side of "Ramona (My Darlin')" (Mustang 3027) is "She Knows How
To Make Me Feel Like A Man," from March 1967. It was the last single
released on Bob Keane's Mustang label and wasn't properly promoted
(according to Keane).
Bryan
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Message: 2
Date: Tue, 24 Aug 2004 00:05:16 +0200
From: Jens Koch
Subject: Re: new "Smile" CD
Kurt Bemnbenek wrote:
> Which Smile album cover are you referring to?
The new Smile cover is previewed at http://www.brianwilson.com - it's
consistent with the merchandise sold at the concerts. I'm posting it
in the photo section as well.
Jens
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Message: 3
Date: Mon, 23 Aug 2004 18:46:50 -0700
From: Bryan
Subject: Re: New "Smile" CD
Previously:
> Sad to hear the new Smile release will be mostly new recordings. So,
> no vocals, even, will be from the original sessions?
The 'Smile' vocal tracks are owned by Capitol; the new 'Smile' album
is coming out on Warner Strategic Marketing's Rhino label -- Brian
Wilson (his management, etc.) met with several record labels to present
a package deal which would include the release of a newly-recorded
'Smile,' his new CD 'Gettin' In Over My Head,' and the Showtime cable
TV special (I'm sure there were other terms and conditions). The
Capitol vocal tracks were not made available to Darian and Brian.
Bryan
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Message: 4
Date: Mon, 23 Aug 2004 23:53:13 EDT
From: Austin Roberts
Subject: Columbus Jones
Jeff Lemlich:
> I found a 45, "Sharon Stay In Birmingham," by Columbus Jones on
> White Whale 315. Austin is credited as the writer; Tobin and Cymbal
> share producer credits. I can't place the voice, so I have to ask:
> "Who was Columbus Jones"?
I remember writing the song and Cymbal and Tobin wanting to record it
with someone, but I don't believe it was me, as I think I was with
Dunhill and the Arkade by then so they found another act. I liked the
song, but I don't remember the record and I doubt anyone else does
either. If you do have a copy I would appreciate hearing it. Just let
me know.
Best to you, Austin R.
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Message: 5
Date: Tue, 24 Aug 2004 00:42:07 -0700 (PDT)
From: Dee
Subject: Duh! Sunshine Company distortion "meant to be there"!!!
Orion wrote:
> Speaking of Rev-Ola, I purchased a CD from then by the group The
> Sunshine Company. It sounds like it was made from LPs for sure,
> as track 11 has the sound of the needle picking up and about 6
> or 7 seconds of distortion...
Joe Foster wrote:
> This one was from master tapes as supplied by EMI/Capitol, and
> was mastered a number of years ago at Sound Mastering at Ace
> Records. I take a lot of care with the stuff I put out, and I'm
> sorry you were disappointed
I've always respected Joe Foster, great musician and record label
magnate, but now even more so as he had the opportunity to point
out the mistake of the original post, but chose not to, in what I
can only imagine to be his characteristic brand of humility. What
a swell guy.
"Track 11" is the song "I, To We, And Back Again." The "sound of
the needle picking up" and subsequent distortion is *meant* to be
there - it's on the original LP, and also on the Collectors' Choice
Sunshine Company CD (they did their own comp, with a slightly
different track listing). It's meant to mimic the "drop" of a
record onto a turntable and the beginning of a song . . . it's PART
OF THE RECORD . . . conceptual musical art from the 60's!
For what it's worth, I'm only missing a few Rev-Ola releases (even
from their initial incarnation - I beamingly purchased their first
release, a Fire Engines CD, the day it became available), and I've
always found their sound quality pretty fine - sometimes quite
excellent, sometimes simply about what I'd expect from 30-40 year
old tapes, but no real disappointments at all for me. Buy with
confidence, folks!
There are some differences in mastering between the Rev-Ola and
Collectors' Choice, but I can't say one sounds better than the other
- however, the Rev-Ola version has a better track selection and one
more track, so that's the way I'd go if I were undecided.
Dee
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Message: 6
Date: Tue, 24 Aug 2004 07:46:21 +0100
From: Simon White
Subject: Benny Gordon
I'm appealing to Spectropoppers out there in the vain hope that one
of you will have some information on a gentleman called Benny
(sometimes Bennie and sometimes with "The Soul Brothers") Gordon. He
had soul and funk 45 releases on a number of labels in the sixties
including RCA, Capitol and a number of smaller labels including
Enrica and importantly Estill which seems likely to have been his own
label. I can find no releases other than those by Benny on Estill.
There is also one album release.
Does anyone have any info on him or the Estill label?
Yours in slight desperation,
Simon White
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Message: 7
Date: Tue, 24 Aug 2004 10:25:21 +0100
From: Richard Williams
Subject: Brian & Smile
Mark Wirtz wrote:
> Has anybody involved in all these lively "Smile" debates considered
> the fact that ALL classical music recordings/performances are "re-
> performances" and newly generated recordings? Does that lessen their
> substance in any way, despite their subtle, sometimes not so subtle,
> "personalised" interpretations by soloists and conductors?
This is a good and valid point, but not a definitive one. Rather than
comparing Brian with Mozart or Bach, let's make a comparison with Duke
Ellington and Charles Mingus. Their music -- which, like Brian's, is
in a sense "orchestral" -- is still performed several decades after
their deaths by ensembles bearing their names. It's always worth
hearing in that form, but it's not the same. Their presence and that
of their close collaborators (their regular soloists) was vital to the
deepest essence of their music. The work will continue to be performed,
accurately and enthusiastically, but that essence won't -- can't -- be
there. Perhaps (probably, even) in 50 years' time people will still be
performing Beach Boys tunes as a kind of classical music. But will be
it the same, when deprived of all its original performers and divorced
from its cultural context, in quite the way that a Beethoven symphony
seems to be essentially the same as it was in its composer's own
lifetime, even when subjected to the variation of a present-day
conductor's interpretation?
Richard Williams
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Message: 8
Date: Tue, 24 Aug 2004 10:29:12 -0000
From: Billy G. Spreadlin
Subject: The Accents featuring Sandi
Clark Besch wrote:
> Also, with the positive response to the P.F. Sloan demo, I've played
> to musica a 45 some of you might already know, "I've Got Better
> Things To Do", by the Accents featuring Sandi. I have no idea who
> this was, but I would guess some of you do. Unlike many Sloan covers,
> this actually had his involvement! Released on CRC (Charter Record
> Company) 1017, this dark song was not only written by Sloan and Barri,
> but arranged by them as well. Would be neat to hear a demo of this.
> The B-side was written by G. Lapano, if that gives any clues. Anyway,
> hope you enjoy these 2 sides.
I recognise the name Gene Lapano - he was one of the Cascades, who also
released a great single on CRC Charter (CR-1018) in 1965: "She Was Never
Mine (to lose) b/w "My Best Girl". The only other artist on this label I
have seen was a 45 by "The Ultra Mates".
Billy
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Message: 9
Date: Tue, 24 Aug 2004 07:43:14 -0400 (EDT)
From: Greg Matecko
Subject: Hal Blaine Book Reissued
Hiya Folks!
The Hal Blaine book has been re-released. It's a smaller version, size-
wise, and has some really strange graphics on the cover. There is one
page in the book that has a section of new type literally pasted over
the original page. I got my copy at Barnes and Noble here in Pittsburgh.
Earl Palmer, another studio vet, also has a book called "Backbeat" that
has some studio memories as well. He credits Carol Kaye for bringing
the "Motown Secret" to light.
Speaking of Motown, Dennis Coffee also has a book out called "Guitars,
Bars and The Motown Superstars" that recalls his days as an auxilliary
member of the Funk Brothers.
Greg Matecko
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Message: 10
Date: Tue, 24 Aug 2004 08:46:09 -0400
From: MJ
Subject: Re: New "Smile" CD
I, for one, have no issue with artists perfroming their inetrpertation
of SMILE. I think that a lot of people would like to have the original
works asembled as best as they could in a single place. SMILE was never
completed and therefore I can understand Brian wanting to make it
complete. The fans would have complained if he had added new songs to
the old collection to finsih it off.
I think that this is probably a biz calculation. Brian can release the
new SMILE frist and then release the original works. There will be a
vast number of people who will run out and buy Brian's new SMILE becasue
the original is not available. Once this new SMILE is out and selling,
we will then start to hear that the original will be released in 2005 in
a box set - perhaps AFTER the BRIAN performs SMILE LIVE CD.
I would also argue that most people would be drawn to buy the original
recordings of Beethoven's 9th if the great master would have been alive
in the age of recoridng studios over the Boston Pop's version. A Matisse
painted by your cousin is nice, but I would prefer the artists' original
version created in the original time and space.
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Message: 11
Date: Tue, 24 Aug 2004 11:00:21 -0000
From: Davie Gordon
Subject: The Accents featuring Sandi
Clark Besch wrote:
> Also, with the positive response to the P.F. Sloan demo, I've played
> to musica a 45 some of you might already know, "I've Got Better
> Things To Do", by the Accents featuring Sandi. I have no idea who
> this was, but I would guess some of you do. Unlike many Sloan covers,
> this actually had his involvement! Released on CRC (Charter Record
> Company) 1017, this dark song was not only written by Sloan and Barri,
> but arranged by them as well. Would be neat to hear a demo of this.
> The B-side was written by G. Lapano, if that gives any clues. Anyway,
> hope you enjoy these 2 sides.
Clark, have a look at this link to an article about the Cascades which
has some info. on Mr. Lapano and Sandi & The Accents:
http://www.benmclane.com/articles.htm
The whole site's worth a look as there's info. there on groups who are
rarely written about.
Davie
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Message: 12
Date: Tue, 24 Aug 2004 14:03:42 -0000
From: Julio Niño
Subject: The Accents featuring Sandi / Moya Donnelly
Hola Everybody.
Clark Besch writing about the songs he´s just played in musica:
> ...Anyway, hope you enjoy these 2 sides...
Hola Clark. I've liked very much both of them. Thanks.
Moya Donnelly's "Marvellous Boy" is very nice but I prefer much more
the superb "I've Got Better Things To Do" by The Accents featuring
Sandi. The main voice has the perfect blend of vulnerability and
defiance. But what I find totally irresistible is the game between
her voice and the second voice. It's a very sexy combination. By the
way, as ussually, I have a problem distinguishing if the second voice
is a boy or a girl. I would say that it's boy.
I don'´t know if Moya Donnelly's track was recorded in UK, but the
composer of the song, Harold Spiro, worked there, at least in the
final sixties and seventies. I think he was one of the composers of
Olivia Newton John's 1974 Eurovision Song Contest UK entry, "Long
Live Love".
Chao.
Julio Niño.
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Message: 13
Date: Tue, 24 Aug 2004 09:24:01 EDT
From: Austin Roberts
Subject: Re: Dickey's Rocky
Bob Rashkow:
> Question for Austin R.: Not having heard Dickey Lee's recording of
> your fabulous hit "Rocky", in 1975 did he still have that "Laurie"/
> "Patches" sweet yet sharp edge to his singing voice? I always think
> of Dickey as having a Bobby Vinton voice with about 3 times the
> insulin. Patches must have been pretty high on the Country charts
> too, but Laurie wasn't (if I had to guess)--Laurie, other than being
> one of the sickest "sickies" of the Sickie Sixties, is pure pop
> while Patches has much more of a heartland feel to it.
Dickie became more and more country during the 70's and 80's, though
he recorded very little in the 80's. His version of Rocky was country
sounding, while mine was purely pop. He still does pop shows and sings
all his old pop hits (Patches, Strange Things Happen In This World, I
Saw Linda Yesterday etc.). He has written some country hits, quite a
few,in fact, including She Thinks I Still care and lives in Nashville.
I see him quite often and he is still a very humble, very talented
friend. Hope this covers your questions.
Best, Austin
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Message: 14
Date: Tue, 24 Aug 2004 13:23:21 -0400
From: Country Paul
Subject: The Clusters live this Saturday in Lodi, NJ
A while back, I, Al Kooper and a couple of others were raving about
The Clusters' "Darling Can't You Tell" (TeeGee, 1958), my personal
favorite uptempo doo-wop song of all time. The Clusters are performing
along with the current incarnation of The Dubs ("Could This Be Magic,"
"Please Don't Ask Me To Be Lonely") this Saturday Night at the UGHA
meeting/show in scenic Lodi, NJ (John Fogerty didn't write the song
about this Lodi, but he could have).
Also on the bill: a "local" group from (I think) Philadelphia,
Cornerstone featuring "Golden Voice Harry" (I don't make these up,
friends!) and the unique ramblings of host and UGHA founder Ronnie I.
Details of the event at http://www.ugha.org click on "Upcoming Shows".
Their own website, http://www.clusters.homestead.com/ plays an excerpt
of a somewhat labored re-recording of their hit when opened. (It used
to play the original; Morris Levy's or George Goldner's ghosts must
have gotten to them!)
If anyone's going, please e-mail me off-list; perhaps we can meet and
reserve a table.
Country Paul
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