________________________________________________________________________
SPECTROPOP - Spectacular! Retro! Pop!
________________________________________________________________________
There are 21 messages in this issue.
Topics in this digest:
1. The Breakaways
From: S'pop Projects
2. Being Blonde
From: Mick Patrick
3. Re: Terry Black
From: Margaret G Still
4. Back to Reparata
From: Ken Silverwood
5. Re: CD Reissues
From: Billy G Spradlin
6. Lugee question
From: Country Paul
7. R. B. Greaves
From: John Beland
8. Arthur Lee Harper
From: Phil X Milstein
9. Terry Melcher and Eddie Hodges; Kenny Hamber
From: Country Paul
10. Re: Wadsworth Mansion
From: Orion
11. Re: CD Reissues
From: Barry Margolis
12. Re: Alternate verses in oldies
From: Gary Myers
13. Re: CD Reissues
From: John Berg
14. Re: Re: CD Reissues
From: Lloyd Davis
15. Re: R. B. Greaves
From: Joe Nelson
16. Friar Tuck
From: Mike Dugo
17. Re: R. B. Greaves
From: Leslie Fradkin
18. Welcome John Beland
From: Clark Besch
19. Jack Nitzsche at Spectropop update
From: Martin Roberts
20. Re: Alternate verses in oldies
From: Artie Wayne
21. cases of mistaken identity?
From: Phil X Milstein
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Message: 1
Date: Tue, 29 Mar 2005 22:54:19 +0100
From: S'pop Projects
Subject: The Breakaways
New @ S'pop
The Breakaways
By Ian Chapman and Mick Patrick
Foreword by Tony Hatch
Postscript by Petula Clark
In Detroit, Michigan — at Motown Records — they had the Andantes.
Nashville, Tennessee — Music City — boasted the Anita Kerr Singers.
In Memphis, they had Jean and the Darlings at Stax, and Rhodes/
Chalmers/Rhodes at Hi Records. And out West — in Hollywood, Los
Angeles — they had the Blossoms, while New York was home to the Sweet
Inspirations and the Cookies. It seems that, in the 1960s, in every
major recording metropolis, there existed groups of studio singers
who ruled the roost, backing up all the local talent and passing
stars. London, England was no exception. Greet the Breakaways — fresh
out of Liverpool — possibly the busiest and greatest session group
the British recording scene has ever known.
For the full story, click here:
http://www.spectropop.com/Breakaways/index.htm
Enjoy,
The S'pop Team
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 2
Date: Tue, 29 Mar 2005 22:40:58 +0100
From: Mick Patrick
Subject: Being Blonde
Julio Niño - our photophobe in Madrid - mentioned:
> ... some songs that celebrate the sex appeal of paleness, like
> Mina's "Tintarella Di Luna" (dyed by the moon), ...
Aah, as covered in the UK by the very blonde Lana Sisters, featuring
a pre-fame Dusty Springfield. I don't think I've heard it, but I'd be
stunned if it's as good as the wonderful Mina.
> ... or my favorite, "Rubia" (blonde), by Spanish yeyé singer Lita
> Torrelló ... in which she sings that she wants to be blonde and
> pale, and so she only goes to the beach by night and she only
> drinks milk. Of course, coming from a racial Spanish girl, that
> wish has some hilarious connotations, just imagine let's say Diana
> Ross (or perhaps Michael Jackson) singing it, and you'll get the
> idea. I could play it in musica, if a certain magician feels like
> shaking again his magic stick.
'Tis done. Lita reminds me of Susan Maughan, only more, uh, blonde.
To hear it, proceed directly to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/spectropop/files/musica/
Details are: Lita Torrelló "Rubia, Rubia" (Spanish EP Vergara 402-XC,
1966) Written by Limiti and Martini, so probably a cover of an
Italian original, Julio informs me.
I believe consuming only pale food is one of the latest fad diets.
Wouldn't do for me, I hate white bread for starters. Or any other
course. Ha!
I have a thing about blondes myself. Back in the day, I used to edit
a fanzine, one issue of which was devoted entirely to platinum-
tressed chantoozies, an A to Z, actually. It was all very non-PC, but
who cares? I planned to do a follow-up issue on the same theme, but
never quite did. For a while afterwards, I even collected records
about being blonde - a narrow little genre to explore, I thought. My
absolute favourite is a 45 entitled "The Blonde Wig" by R&B
songstress Effie Smith. Maybe one day I'll play it to musica. In the
meantime, I need a glass of milk.
Hey la,
Mick Patrick
(quite pallid, actually)
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 3
Date: Tue, 29 Mar 2005 05:43:57 -0000
From: Margaret G Still
Subject: Re: Terry Black
James Botticelli wrote:
> Terry Black - Can We Go Somewhere? - Tollie
Hi -I love those lists of 45 "finds" so please continue.
I also have that 45, which was produced by P. F. Sloan and Steve
Barri. Both sides of that record are on Terry Black's LP's "The Black
Plague" (a singles compilation) and "Only 16." Both albums were
reissued on CD on the Canadian Unidisc label a few years ago.
I got interested in Terry Black through his P.F. Sloan connection.
For more on that, go to:
http://www2.gol.com/users/davidr/sloan/terryblack.html
I wonder whether anybody knows the story of how Terry Black met P. F.
Sloan when his family moved to L.A. in the 60's, or has any stories
about their recordings.
Best,
Margaret G. Still
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 4
Date: Tue, 29 Mar 2005 20:34:34 +0100
From: Ken Silverwood
Subject: Back to Reparata
Reading postings on S'pop quite often has me scurrying to my record
collection to play a side I havn't heard in years. I recently did
this with "I Can Hear The Rain" by Reparata & Delrons. Flipping it
over I was delighted to find their version of the Paris Sisters'
"Always Waitin'" where they are accompanied by Hash Brown & his Orch.
I then read the composer M. Curb! I have since learnt there was a U K
version of "Always Waitin'" on Parlophone by a Barry Benson in 1966
which I missed by a whisker on Ebay. Has anyone heard this one?
Ken On The West Coast
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 5
Date: Tue, 29 Mar 2005 23:57:46 -0000
From: Billy G Spradlin
Subject: Re: CD Reissues
George Schowerer wrote:
> One of the major problems with re-issues is that no thought is
> given toward having the people originally involved with the release
> and not asked to be part of the re-recording. The result so often is
> that they add equalization and stuff not of the original.
So true and sad - there's been so many classic tracks tampered with.
Some of today's remastering engineers weren't even born when these
songs were recorded. Most have no clue and wont take the time or have
the money to find out how they sounded on the orginal vinyl.
And now that record companies demand every recording has to be as LOUD
as a modern Rap or Dance record, remastering engineers are clipping
the bass and over-EQ'ing the high end on old recordings. I noticed
that on RCA's Elvis 1 & "2nd to None" collections and some of
Universal's 20th Century Remastering budget CD's. They might sound
great on a car stereo, CD Jambox or a Ipod but when you play them on a
good system.
> As for the Crewe stuff ... we would complete the mix at Allegro or
> Mirasound, and Bob would take the dam tape to Bell Sound where they
> would add everything you could think of ... sometimes echo,
> sometimes eq.
Any reccolections on a recording where Crewe really tampered with what
you did? One of my favorites is Tracey Dey's "I Can Tell" where Crewe
went crazy with the reverb, volume, compression etc. It sounded like
he added those effects in the final mastering stage.
> Even the first Simon and Garfunkel cd's suffered those problems. I
> compared the cd to my 15ips safety and got sick ... then called Roy
> Halle, their original engineer to alert him to the terrible
> transfers ... bottom line is that S & G took Roy back into the
> studio to properly transfer their material to cd ... but there have
> been even further transfers done since then that are less than
> great.
I read somewhere (maybe CD Review magazine) that the S&G masters were
in horrible shape due to them being used and re-used many times.
In the 80's record companies rushed out a truckload of reissues to
cash in on the CD boom, many times NOT from the original master tapes,
but from the hiss filled production masters. To add insult they
deleted the original liner notes, lyrics, photos, etc.
And the sad thing is many are still on the shelves after almost 20
years and still havent been redone, and these inferior masters are
still being played on oldies and classic rock stations around the
country.
> It's a sad commentary for the money hungry record associations who
> think your pockets should be picked ... continuously.
Old Wine in new bottles... they gotta find a way to resell those old
songs to a new generation. It's a constant headache to collectors.
(I made this list for another mailing list a few years ago): How many
times a song can be reissued?
Vinyl/Tape era
1) Original 45
2) Original LP featuring the hit single
3) "Greatest Hits" LP
4) Career retrospective 2-LP set
5) Various artists oldies LP
6) Movie/TV soundtrack
7) Reissue oldie 45
8) Budget reissue of the original LP
9) Another "Greatest Hits" collection 10-20 years later.
10) Vinyl box set
CD era
1) First reissue of the original LP on CD
2) First reissue of the first "Greatest Hits" LP on CD
3) 3 inch "Little bit of gold" mini-CD (Rhino)
4) Many MANY many "Hits of the 60's" various artists CD's
5) 12' Dance Remix (arrgh!)
6) Movie/TV Soundtrack
7) Career retrospective Box Set
8) Label/Genre retrospective box set
9) 6-8 song budget compilation with a few hits and strangly picked
album tracks for the $5.99 CD bins and truck stops (Sony Special Products)
10) First remaster of original album from "The original master tapes"
with comprehensive liner notes, bonus tracks, photos etc.
11) Two original LP's on one CD compilation (Motown, MCA, ACE)
12) Karakoe version with vocals mixed out (Motown)
13) Brand new 1 or 2-CD compilation, heavily advertised on late night TV.
14) $9.99 upscale "20th Century Masters" 12 song compilation.
15) Second remaster of original album LP, now with improved 24-bit
remastering with louder bass/treble, along with new "reciently
discovered" bonus tracks or remixes that proably should have stayed in
the can.
16) 5:1 Surround Sound DVD version
17) "The First Four Albums" box set
18) 180 Gram limited edition LP reissue for the vinyl fanatics
20) Online I-Tunes/Rapsody/Napster sales..
And the hits just-a keep on comin'!
Billy G. Spradlin
http://listen.to/jangleradio
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 6
Date: Tue, 29 Mar 2005 15:02:26 -0500
From: Country Paul
Subject: Lugee question
Mick Patrick wrote:
> And talking of members on display (:-0), the more investigative
> among you might have already gawped at the latest addition to
> the photos section, a carefully posed shot of Sheila's current
> heartthrob, the incredibly talented, impressively flexible and
> furry bottomed Mr Lou Christie. It's worth a glance:
> http://tinyurl.com/3p38x
Rob replied:
> I'd venture a good guess that this shot was taken as promotion
> for the "Paint America Love" LP (1971), since those very words
> are painted on his body. And, yes, QUITE an amazing pic, by the
> way.
Is that really Lou, or his head pasted on a bodybuilder's promo pic?
Country Paul
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 7
Date: Tue, 29 Mar 2005 23:43:34 -0000
From: John Beland
Subject: R. B. Greaves
John Beland here... New To Spectropop. Hey... Cool site! Glad to be
on board.
Whatever happened to R. B. Greaves? I worked with him on "Take A
Letter Maria". Always wondered what became of him.
John Beland
http://www.johnbeland.com
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 8
Date: Tue, 29 Mar 2005 20:35:39 -0500
From: Phil X Milstein
Subject: Arthur Lee Harper
What's the story with the Arthur Lee Harper song "Wintertime" currently
play at musica? It's a beautiful number! Who is he, and where can one
find more?
--Phil M.
--
please note new EMA! (replaces previous)
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 9
Date: Wed, 30 Mar 2005 00:30:59 -0500
From: Country Paul
Subject: Terry Melcher and Eddie Hodges; Kenny Hamber
Previously;
> After many months of hard toil, Martin Roberts has completed work
> on a brand new addition to his Jack Nitzsche @ Spectropop pages,
> "The Producers: Terry Melcher"....
What an impressive undertaking, Martin! It's quite the read; I'm
impressed. It's good to see the Gentle Soul get a brief but
appropriately laudatory mention, as to hear (via links) more of Eddie
Hodges work. I was just turned on to his version of "New Orleans"
(the US Bonds classic), and while Hodges' track is a bit over-
orchestrated (no Nitzsche involvement on this) he nonetheless rocks
out very credibly, and with help from a solid track actually captures
most of the feeling of the original - and in higher fidelity, too.
Me:
> Is this the same label that had Kenny Hamber (with David
> Robertson's combo) doing "Tears In My Eyes"? [...] Delightfully
> atrocious! (And oddly enough, Kenny Hamber actually recorded again
> on a real label, Kapp.)
Hasse Huss:
> A different SPAR label entirely, tiny but real, owned by Baltimore
> radio jock Bill “Sparky” Mullen (WSID). The primitive-sounding
> ‘Tears In My Eyes’ (Spar 101) was subsequently re-recorded in New
> York (with King Curtis amongst the backing musicians) and released
> on Spar’s sister label Zenette in the following year (1961)....The
> complete Kenny Hamber story may be found at Blues Art Story
> Journal’s website:
> http://www.bluesartstudio.at/NeueSeiten/07KHLB.html
I was totally unaware that Kenny Hamber had such an illustrious
history; a first release such as the Spar 45 would have doomed lesser
humans. (I'm also amazed that Spar managed two more releases after
that one; for a label owned by a DJ, I'm surprised that first one got
out. I got my copy for a penny - literally - at a massive "vinyl
dump" at the old Times Square Records.) I also didn't know that
Hamber was living in both Providence and Hartford contemporaneous
with my time in those cities. Thank you for the illuminating look.
By the way, I could have sworn I'd seen his name on a Kapp 45, Hasse,
but I could well be wrong. (It wouldn't be the first time...)
Country Paul
(imperfect, but striving)
P. S. Welcome back, Al Kooper - we missed you. How was your tour?
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 10
Date: Tue, 29 Mar 2005 18:38:19 -0600
From: Orion
Subject: Re: Wadsworth Mansion
Wadsworth Mansion, I have that LP also. I converted to a CD-R and
listen to it once in a while. It is amazing the number of decent to
good groups that never had a hit. I just converted Harper and Rowe
to CD-R this past weekend and I have listened to it many times. I
don't have any idea who these guys where but they have a few tunes on
their LP that should have been hits.
Orion
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 11
Date: Tue, 29 Mar 2005 18:28:25 -0600
From: Barry Margolis
Subject: Re: CD Reissues
George: I surely don't know what CD reissues you're referring to.
Most of the CD's I own of 1950's/1960's music is vastly superior in
sound to the original LP's. I have scads of CDs from: US Sundazed,
UK Ace/Big Beat, Ger. Repertoire and UK RPM. Most of them are just
great.
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 12
Date: Tue, 29 Mar 2005 11:33:02 -0800
From: Gary Myers
Subject: Re: Alternate verses in oldies
Artie Wayne:
> I never knew there was a second verse to Sam Cooke's "A Change is
> Gonna Come" until I heard it in the opening credits of Spike Lee's
> "Malcolm X".
IIRC, Cooke's hit single was AABA - 3 verse & bridge. We used to it
in '65-'66.
gem
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 13
Date: Wed, 30 Mar 2005 10:43:35 EST
From: John Berg
Subject: Re: CD Reissues
Barry Margolis wrote:
> Most of the CD's I own of 1950's/1960's music is vastly superior in
> sound to the original LP's. I have scads of CDs from: US Sundazed,
> UK Ace/Big Beat, Ger. Repertoire and UK RPM. Most of them are just
> great.
But Barry, you are referring to the select few labels that go against
the grain and actually care about the sound, work as much as possible
from real master tapes (especially Ace/Big Beat, usually Sundazed),
and try to add unissued material if it exists. I think the main
discussion here concerns the "major labels" and their approach to
reissues, which for the most part has been oriented to the mass
market and "the bottom line", not quality of sound and packaging.
John Berg
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 14
Date: Wed, 30 Mar 2005 11:01:55 -0500
From: Lloyd Davis
Subject: Re: Re: CD Reissues
To Billy's list of CD permutations, I can think of a few additions:
8a) All-new "Greatest Hits" CD, released after the box set and
compiled by lifting the best 20 or so tracks from it (Polydor did
this after the James Brown "Star Time" box, as did Columbia after the
Byrds box)
16a) For those without a 5.1 system, new stereo remixes assembled by
synching up tapes that had to be bounced down at the time because
there were only three or four tracks (see Beatles "Yellow Submarine
Songtrack," particularly "Eleanor Rigby) or the producer only worked
in mono (see the Pet Sounds box set)
17a) If not a "first four albums" box set, then a reworked box set --
perhaps sourced from the original multitracks (see Simon & Garfunkel)
rather than the two-track master and with a less heavy-handed
approach to hiss reduction
18a) Along with the 180-gram virgin vinyl, a two-CD set, available
only through mail order, comprising the album in mono _and_ stereo,
and with whatever might be in the can that hasn't been issued yet
(see Hip-O Select, Rhino Handmade)
-Lloyd Davis
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 15
Date: Wed, 30 Mar 2005 10:47:37 -0500
From: Joe Nelson
Subject: Re: R. B. Greaves
John Beland:
> John Beland here... New To Spectropop. Hey... Cool site! Glad to be
> on board. Whatever happened to R. B. Greaves? I worked with him on
> "Take A Letter Maria". Always wondered what became of him.
Not sure what happened to him, but his ex is a member of this list.
Claire's on sabatical due to health reasons: if I'm able to talk with
her over the next few days I'll post on her behalf.
Joe Nelson
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 16
Date: Wed, 30 Mar 2005 10:22:37 -0800 (PST)
From: Mike Dugo
Subject: Friar Tuck
Phil M:
> Any chance that's the same Friar Tuck as per the Mercury LP "Friar
> Tuck & His Psychedelic Guitar"? I imagine not, as the latter (from
> c.1967) was the brainchild of Curt Boettcher and (primarily)
> guitarist Mike Deasy, but now you've got me curious if the
> unfortunately-named Mr. Bowell wasn't also involved.
Sorry, Phil...It's a completely different act.
Mike
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 17
Date: Wed, 30 Mar 2005 10:09:45 -0700
From: Leslie Fradkin
Subject: Re: R. B. Greaves
John Beland wrote:
> Whatever happened to R. B. Greaves? I worked with him on "Take A
> Letter Maria". Always wondered what became of him.
One interesting thing that happened to R.B. is that he did a single
for Sunflowere (MGM) Records called "Margie, Who's Watching The
Baby?" I recorded for Sunflower as their first artist back in 1970
and always thought RB's disc quite cool.
Les "Fearless" Fradkin
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 18
Date: Wed, 30 Mar 2005 18:09:48 -0000
From: Clark Besch
Subject: Welcome John Beland
John Beland, so good to have you here. I emailed and talked with you
a few years ago about one of your first recordings, "Wake Up Sweet
Mary", which I recorded off Rate-a-Record on Bandstand in early
1968. Was this your first solo effort? I know you said it was never
released publicly, but an acetate got to Dick Clark. Personally, I
really liked the song and posted here on Musica for a time. You told
me about your great website and I realized I had heard you alot,
unlike what i had thought all these decades. Until I knew you had
done so much behind the scenes and group music, I had had very
sporadic memories.
First, early 68 with "Wake Up sweet mary", and then it was the GREAT
long version of "Baby You Come Rollin Cross my Mind" which showed up
as a BIG hit in Wichita in 69. Is that in stereo anywhere? Then, I
knew nothing about you till a local station played "Banjo man" in the
early 70's. After that, I knew nothing of your massive career until
I met you on the net. For those who do not know John's work, I
suggest visiting his site.
One question I wonder about nowadays. Did you know Lobo? I ask,
because he had a nice long ballad intro to his first hit "Me & You
and a Dog Named Boo" on his Lp version that is very similar to your
long intro of "Baby You Come rollin..." 2 years earlier. Another
artist in the same vein of that period was Kyle, who I believe
produces country music these days. Whatever happened to Lobo?
Anyway, welcome, John!!!
Clark
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 19
Date: Wed, 30 Mar 2005 20:25:56 +0100
From: Martin Roberts
Subject: Jack Nitzsche at Spectropop update
Celebrating the launch of Terry Melcher's pages on the Jack Nitzsche
site, guest reviewer Mick Patrick has written a piece on Terry Day's
"I Love You Betty". Despite Mick's wish to include the track on
"Hearing Is Believing - The Jack Nitzsche Story", permission from
Sony/Columbia was not forthcoming. (The CD on ACE records should be
in the shops soon.) As the next best thing, the record can be heard
(and the review read) on the Home page:
http://www.spectropop.com/JackNitzsche/index.htm
>From there you can link to The Producers Page for the Terry Melcher
feature: http://www.spectropop.com/JackNitzsche/producers.htm
Also be sure to visit On The Radio for Jack's KHJ jingle #7:
http://www.spectropop.com/JackNitzsche/radio.htm
Martin
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 20
Date: Wed, 30 Mar 2005 09:40:22 -0800 (PST)
From: Artie Wayne
Subject: Re: Alternate verses in oldies
Gary...How ya' doin'? I never had an actual copy of Sam Cooke's "A
Change is Gonna"...and all that I remember is hearing New York radio
playing it without the second verse.
Since the song was a harbinger of the Civil Rights movement, it's
possible that it was edited out because it was considered "too
controversial" at the time.
regards, Artie Wayne http://artiewayne.com/
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 21
Date: Wed, 30 Mar 2005 13:32:41 -0800
From: Phil X Milstein
Subject: cases of mistaken identity?
In the course of some recent research and collecting activities, a few
possible discrepancies of recording artist identity have come to
light. I'm wondering if anyone can help me sort out any of the
following ID tangles:
1. Is the Willie Mays of a 45 on Duke, "My Sad Heart" / "If You Love
Me" (Duke 350 on original release in 1962; Duke 418 upon 1966 re-
release), the same as the Hall of Fame centerfielder Willie Mays?
(The Treniers' 1954 record of "Say Hey (The Willie Mays Song)," in
which the ballplayer of the title (then playing in what would be his
greatest, and only World Series-winning, season) makes a cameo
appearance is self-explanatory.)
2. Is the Ronnie Burns of a 45 on Verve, "Double Date" / "Kinda Cute"
(Verve 10125, 1958) the same Ronnie Burns as the spawn of George Burns
and Gracie Allen?
3. Is the Jack Larson of a series of 45s on Fraternity and Dot in the
late 1950s and early 1960s (list below) the same Jack Larson as who
played Jimmy Olsen in the Superman series (George Reeves version)? A
singer by that name also appears in the recently-aired movie "C'mon
Let's Live A Little."
Little Miss Starry Eyes / Roaches (Fraternity 853, 1959)
Autumn Heart / Drifting Down The River (Fraternity 865, 1960)
We're Going Back / Do Yourself A Favor (Dot 16350, 1961)
Hammer Bell Song / The Way She Laughs (Fraternity 875, 1961)
Back To School Blues / Lonely Part Of Town (Fraternity 884, 1961)
The Beauty / ? (Fraternity 894, 1962)
4. And finally, is the Paul Petersen of "Donna Reed Show" and Colpix
Records fame the same as the Paul Petersen who recorded two singles
for Motown in the late 1960s (list below)?
Chained / Don't Let It Happen To You (Motown 1108, 1967)
A Little Bit For Sandy / Your Love's Got Me Burnin' Alive (Motown
1129, 1968)
Thanks for any info that might help me sort out any or all of these
cats.
Dig,
--Phil M.
--
please note new EMA! (replaces previous)
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
SPECTROPOP - Spectacular! Retro! Pop!
End
