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SPECTROPOP - Spectacular! Retro! Pop!
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There are 18 messages in this issue.
Topics in this digest:
1. Re: The Raspberries Live
From: Cynthia Santiglia
2. Re: The Raspberries Live
From: Dave Marheine
3. John Carter and Ken Lewis
From: Jack Russell
4. Al Hazan & the Beau Brummels
From: S'pop Projects
5. Re: The Raspberries Live
From: James Botticelli
6. Re: John Carter and Ken Lewis
From: Mark Frumento
7. Re: Carole King
From: George Schowerer
8. Re: John Carter and Ken Lewis
From: Mike Page
9. Re: Long John Baldry, R.I.P.
From: Phil X Milstein
10. Re: John Carter and Ken Lewis
From: Rob Pingel
11. John Carter
From: Michael
12. A&E Bee Gees
From: Phil X Milstein
13. Re: The Raspberries / The Choir
From: Bill Mulvy
14. Nicholas Lampe (aka Nick)
From: Lyn Nuttall
15. "I Touched Sonny Bono's Fur Vest"
From: Phil X Milstein
16. Re: Carole King demos
From: Nick Archer
17. Re: Jackie, starring in "The Queen"
From: Karl Ikola
18. [HOLD FOR COMP] Re: "Gloria"
From: Various
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Message: 1
Date: Fri, 29 Jul 2005 08:33:03 -0400
From: Cynthia Santiglia
Subject: Re: The Raspberries Live
Karl said:
> My complaints about the mix (primarily the vocals being too low -
> especially Dave Smalley's) were echoed by friends who sat or stood
> in different parts of the house. It did seem to get a bit better
> later in the set, though. I will not go there unless absolutely
> necessary.
I am guessing you are talking about the Saturday show. I saw Sunday's
performance. I think they tweaked the mix - several people I spoke to
were at both shows. Consensus is it did sound better on Sunday. What
a really fantastic show. At the top of their game, and so tasteful
and genuine. Go see them if you have the opportunity!
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Message: 2
Date: Fri, 29 Jul 2005 14:24:53 -0000
From: Dave Marheine
Subject: Re: The Raspberries Live
Karl Baker wrote:
> Saturday's set list was:
> 13. It's Cold Outside
I thought their inclusion of "It's Cold Outside" from Dave, Wally &
Jim's prior band, The Choir, was the biggest pleasant surprise when I
saw them earlier this summer. A very fine show, and it was nice to
hear so many tracks from their 4 LP's that were never "hits", too.
Dave
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Message: 3
Date: Fri, 29 Jul 2005 15:29:05 +0100
From: Jack Russell
Subject: John Carter and Ken Lewis
Does anyone know what became of John Carter and Ken Lewis? I worked
with The Ivy League after John Carter had been replaced by Tony
Burrows. Perry Ford was still in charge. He died some years ago. Ken
Lewis was a really nice bloke but was diabetic and not at all well,
even then in 1966. So where are they now if they survived. And if
they didn't, when did they pass on. Sadly Perry Ford was not a nice
man but since he is dead we won't go there.
Jack Russell
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Message: 4
Date: Fri, 29 Jul 2005 15:18:02 +0100
From: S'pop Projects
Subject: Al Hazan & the Beau Brummels
New at S'pop
Three Hours At Gold Star
Recording The Beau Brummels
by Al Hazan
The liner notes accompanying "Magic Hollow", the 2005 4CD box set by
the Beau Brummels, refer to their recordings produced at Gold Star
Studios in 1964 as "the band's holy grail". Until then those tracks
had only ever been rumoured to exist. Now's your chance to read a
first hand account of the session by the actual producer, Al Hazan:
http://www.spectropop.com/BeauBrummels/index.htm
Enjoy,
The S'pop Team
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Message: 5
Date: Fri, 29 Jul 2005 11:17:10 -0400
From: James Botticelli
Subject: Re: The Raspberries Live
Dave Marheine on the Raspberries live:
> I thought their inclusion of "It's Cold Outside" from Dave, Wally &
> Jim's prior band, The Choir, was the biggest pleasant surprise when
> I saw them earlier this summer. A very fine show, and it was nice
> to hear so many tracks from their 4 LP's that were never "hits",
> too.
Wait a minute. You mean a guy from The Raspberries was in The Choir?
JB
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Message: 6
Date: Fri, 29 Jul 2005 17:25:55 -0000
From: Mark Frumento
Subject: Re: John Carter and Ken Lewis
Jack Russell wrote:
> Does anyone know what became of John Carter and Ken Lewis?
John's alive and well and seeing to his incredible song catalog (both
his own and those of other artists he published). I was lucky enough
to meet him through Kingsley Abbott and even luckier to have had
lunch with him when I was in London last year. Though I have to admit
that I was too star struck to say much of anything except how much I
loved his song "Mythological Sunday." Fortunately he's such a nice
guy that he has forgiven me for not paying my portion of the bill! He
doesn't generally perform or place songs any more but he does play
solo from time to time at local pubs near where he lives in London.
Ken Lewis is still alive but he and John don't see each other. In
fact I'm not sure many people know Ken's whereabouts. He left the
music business in the 70s and I don't think he ever returned. I
recently spoke to Russ Alquist who was one of John Carter's
songwriting partners and I got the impression that Russ still
occasionally speaks to Ken.
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Message: 7
Date: Fri, 29 Jul 2005 11:11:23 -0700 (PDT)
From: George Schowerer
Subject: Re: Carole King
Anita wrote:
> Hi-- I'm a big fan of Carole King, and I am really surprised that
> there appear to be no biographies out there--either authorized or
> not--about her. I was thrilled to see the feature on her last
> Sunday on the CBS morning show! I know that she's a really private
> person, but I think that her story would be fascinating. Anyone
> know of any books I may not have heard of before? Thanks!
Anita: As one of the engineers that did many of her demo records at
Allegro studios in New York, I can tell you that she is, however, an
extremely talented woman and literally played virtually all the drums
and instruments on those demos. I've often wondered to myself...as to
what has become of those demos...because I would love to add strings,
etc. to some of them...they are treasures beyond your imagination. I
will never forget those sessions...I wish all of us could hear them
again.
Regards, George Schowerer
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Message: 8
Date: Fri, 29 Jul 2005 16:23:34 +0100
From: Mike Page
Subject: Re: John Carter and Ken Lewis
Jack Russell wrote:
> Does anyone know what became of John Carter and Ken Lewis?
John Carter enjoyed a varied career as a writer and singer. He played
with many groups under many pseudonyms. There have been a couple of
compilations in the UK in the last couple of years. If you are
interested, I'll post details of these.
Mike Page
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Message: 9
Date: Fri, 29 Jul 2005 16:44:30 -0400
From: Phil X Milstein
Subject: Re: Long John Baldry, R.I.P.
Jens Koch wrote:
> The album was in truth unfindable for many years, but after
> incessant mails from LJB fans, it finally found release this year.
> Details are > at the Long John Baldry site at:
> http://www.longjohnbaldry.com/recordings/everythingstopsfortea.asp
"Everything Stops For Tea" repeated the gimmick of an Elton John-
produced side and a Rod Stewart-produced side from Baldry's previous
(1971) LP, "It Ain't Easy." Highlights of the latter included "Don't
Try To Lay No Boogie Woogie ...," Randy Newman's "Let's Burn Down The
Cornfield," Elton & Bernie's "Rock Me When He's Gone," the Faces'
"Flying," Leadbelly's "Black Girl" (in a duet with Maggie Bell), and
Tuli Kupferberg's "Morning Morning." This album too was issued on CD
this year, with bonus cuts including Robert Johnson's "Love In Vain."
Further details and direct purchase can be essayed via Baldry's site:
http://www.longjohnbaldry.com/recordings/itainteasy.asp
--Phil M.
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Message: 10
Date: Fri, 29 Jul 2005 20:17:57 -0000
From: Rob Pingel
Subject: Re: John Carter and Ken Lewis
Who are these gentlemen, and what is their place in the realm of
Spectropop music discussion? Their names sound familiar, but I can't
seem to place which songs they are associated with.
Rob Pingel
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Message: 11
Date: Fri, 29 Jul 2005 19:55:02 -0000
From: Michael
Subject: John Carter
I used to write regularly to John Carter after a friend helped get me
in touch with him (we had stumbled onto a whole bunch of John Carter
acetates from the 1960s...incredible stuff...and I helped transfer
them to CD, and we sent him a copy, and from there we stayed in semi
regular contact for a while...discussing songwriting and things like
that (since I write songs myself). John Carter was very friendly,
happy to share tips and stories. This was about 2001, and after a
while, for no praticular reason, we just stopped writing to each
other... But earlier this year I wrote him for the first time in a
while, and he said he was doing well, and that he had recently taken
some guitar classes and learned new chordal techniques that he found
fascinating and that he was looking forward to incorporating into the
music he was currently writing.
So in short, John Carter is doing fine and still making/writing music
and enjoying it. (He also told me he didn't think much of that recent
hit record in England that sampled "My World Fell Down," I forget who
that was, but that he sure didn't mind the royalties. :>)
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Message: 12
Date: Fri, 29 Jul 2005 17:51:29 -0400
From: Phil X Milstein
Subject: A&E Bee Gees
Tonight's A&E Biography covers The Bee Gees. Check your local etc.
--Phil M.
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Message: 13
Date: Fri, 29 Jul 2005 20:30:05 -0500
From: Bill Mulvy
Subject: Re: The Raspberries / The Choir
JB:
> Wait a minute. You mean a guy from The Raspberries was in The Choir?
Two guys.
Bill Mulvy
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Message: 14
Date: Sat, 30 Jul 2005 00:12:12 -0000
From: Lyn Nuttall
Subject: Nicholas Lampe (aka Nick)
Does anyone have any information, just one or two teensy-weensy
snippets, about this singer-songwriter-guitarist? He must be one of
the most undocumented artists I've ever come across.
He recorded an album ("It Happened Long Ago", released early '71) at
Muscle Shoals, produced by Armet Ertegun and Jackson Howe. The single
"Flower Garden" was a minor hit in Melbourne, Australia. No news of
him since, as far as I can see.
I've searched high and low for any biographical or career information
about him. What I have found I've detailed here, at my blog, but it's
not much: http://tinyurl.com/b7th2
After I posted to the blog, a guy in Melbourne contacted me: he's been
trying to research Nicholas Lampe for ages and has emailed anyone he
can find who is listed in the album liner notes, but they all say they
haven't seen him since the 70s. One suggested he was a social worker
on the East Coast in the 70s, but that's all.
Other clues? The LP liner notes cite David Astor, Frank Bongiorno,
Kenny Rankin and Dion (THE Dion?) as 'spiritual advisors', and gives
'special thanks' to Mary & Joseph Lampariello. The personnel are
Muscle Shoals people, with Nicholas Lampe on guitar, string
arrangements by Arif Mardin. All of the songs are written by Nicholas
Lampe.
Lyn
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Message: 15
Date: Fri, 29 Jul 2005 18:32:12 -0400
From: Phil X Milstein
Subject: "I Touched Sonny Bono's Fur Vest"
Now at eBay, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to buy Sonny Bono's fur
vest! And priced to move, at a mere $1600. eBay item number 4732675298
I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried.
--Phil M.
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Message: 16
Date: Fri, 29 Jul 2005 16:28:29 -0500
From: Nick Archer
Subject: Re: Carole King demos
George Schowerer wrote:
> I've often wondered to myself...as to what has become of those
> (Carole King) demos...because I would love to add strings
Ed Salamon purchased a few of them at the Skeeter Davis estate sale,
along with demos from Barry Mann and Paul Evans. Maybe he'll let us
post them to musica.
Nick Archer
Franklin, TN
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Message: 17
Date: Fri, 29 Jul 2005 16:46:58 -0700
From: Karl Ikola
Subject: Re: Jackie, starring in "The Queen"
Phil X Milstein wrote:
> Another Jackie song, one in which the character appears in the lyric
> but not the title, is the Rip Chords' 1963 raver "The Queen." ...
> Interestingly, the name "Jackie" never appears again after the
> song's first word, although certainly her regal attitude exerts its
> haughty presence throughout. I hope it isn't true, but when the
> song came my way it was accompanied by a rumor that the reference
> was to de lovely Miss DeShannon; perhaps Mr. Lerner or Mr. George
> know more about that.
Hi Phil: I rang Mr. Bringas himself to get the scoop on "The Queen",
and he said it's Melcher on lead vocals, and to the best of his
knowledge, the "Jackie" referenced in the song was in fact Jackie
DeShannon. KI
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Message: 18
Date: Fri, 29 Jul 2005 13:33:12 -0000
From: Various
Subject: [HOLD FOR COMP] Re: "Gloria"
A selection of posts on the same subject:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Jim, Growing up in Chicago, I respectfully disagree with your
opinion, as do, I suspect, most people who grew up around here! The
only reason that it is remembered now is because Morrison became
famous as a solo act. Most people would be hard pressed to remember
that version as opposed to the "garage rock" classic version done by
the Shadows of Knight. What was the name of that group again? Oh,
Them.
Bill Mulvy
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Dave O'Gara wrote:
> Why does Van Morrison's version of Gloria get so much airplay? He
> never reached the Billboard Hot 100 with his version.
Dan Hughes:
> Actually the Morrison version of Gloria peaked at #71 in Billboard
> (by Them, not Morrison). Most people who heard both versions in
> 1965 felt the Them version was infinitely better, both vocally and
> musicianally (there must be a word but that probably ain't it), but
> US radio wouldn't play it because Van sang the line "She come in my
> room." The Shadows of Knight sang it "She call out my name" and
> got past the censors and had the American hit (it peaked at #10).
> To put it mildly, standards have changed and Morrison's version no
> longer offends. So it gets the airplay it was denied forty years
> ago.
So I guess this means that on the few oldies station that still
survive in the United States, we should perpetuate this 'revisionist
oldies' format that plays Them's version of Gloria because it's
'superior' to the Shadows of Knight version, even though the SoK
version was THE version that got top 40 AM radio play in most of the
the US AM markets in the 60s?
These are the same stations that never play the authentic 60s US(MGM)
edit of the Animal's House of the Rising Sun (without the "With one
foot on the platform" verse).
Anyway, I have to agree with Dave that, for most people (including
Dave and me), the Shadows of Knight version was the version that
played on the soundtrack of our lives. That's the version that should
play on oldies stations.
Bob
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Good catch Dan. I looked at my Whitburn Top Forty book instead of the
Hot 100 book when I referenced the Billboard chart position. But my
basic question still remains. When oldies stations claim to bring
back the "good times and great oldies" I still think it should be the
songs that most of us were exposed to at the time. As for the lyric
change you cited, that makes for a good story but I can't believe
that's the reason the song didn't do better. Sometimes songs, or
versions of songs, just don't grab the public's fancy. Again, don't
get me wrong, I like the Them version. My problem is that, to me, it
doesn't fit on oldies radio because it wasn't a hit by that artist
during the era. To suggest Morrison and Them's version is better and
that's why the Shadows of Knight version is getting squeezed out of
airtime is not the argument. The debate is not over whose version was
better, it's whose version was actually a "hit" during the era
featured by oldies radio stations. Consult any oldies program
director and you'll find the instances of a song they play that
didn't make the national top 40 very rare; with possible exception of
regional hits.
Dave 0'Gara
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The original was so much better than the cover version.
Denis Gagnon
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Shadows of Knight also had the requisite sneer that Van lacked.
That sneer is part of the foundation of punk. Do't get me wrong,
sneer-free is good in pop, but Gloria was a sneering garage number
and the Shadows of Knight really got the job done in '66....But
that's just me.
James Boticelli
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I guess it depends on where you lived. In Phoenix, the THEM version of
Gloria was the hit. Most of us growing up in music there considered
the Shadows Of Knight version highly inferior. All anyone has to do
is play the two versions side by side to hear the vast difference in
the quality of the two. Morrison's single is a polished professional
production, the Shadows Of Knight an obvious garage band cover. Don't
get me wrong, 'garage' is great, just not in the same league :)
John Hesterman
----------------------------------------------------------------------
And also because Them's version was THE hit version in certain areas.
In Los Angeles, Them's version was the big hit; I don't recall the
Shadows of Knight version ever being played.
Richard Fannan
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Words cannot describe how big a hit Them's "Gloria" was in Los
Angeles. It hit #1 on KHJ and KRLA (for several weeks, as I remember)
and I remember being bitterly disappointed when Satisfaction beat it
out for the top single of the year. Every year, KHJ would do a Top
500 songs of all time, based on a write-in listener survey, and
"Gloria" would consistently land in the top 10 for years after.
Dave Feldman
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Dave O'Gara writes:
> Why does Van Morrison's version of Gloria get so much airplay?
I can think of several factors:
1. Van Morrison wrote the song.
2. Van Morrison became a major star and still has a LOT of name
recognition.
3. Them's version WAS a Billboard hit (albeit a minor one).
4. This wasn't a situation where multiple artists recorded a
relatively obscure songwriter's demo (think: Bacharach, Carole King,
Randy Newman, etc.). This was a simply the Shadows Of Knight hearing
Them's version on the radio, and covering it. So in that sense their
version should be considered no different than Beatles or Stones
covers that happened to out-chart the originals.
5. Them's version is superior. :)
Later, Scott Swanson
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The SoK version was somehow a hit east of the Rockies, and virtually
unheard here on the West Coast -- THANK GOD! I grew up in the LA area
and we heard plenty of THEM on the radio, including Mystic Eyes, Here
Comes The Night and Gloria. I got to see them twice live at the
Whisky in the spring of 1966, once with Captain Beefheart opening and
the other time with the Doors as the house band of the week. To me
the SoK version is virtually unlistenable, the reedy singing being
the main fault (and the SoK drummer does not reach the same intensity
as Pat McCauley did on the Them original). But "each his own" I guess!
John Berg, Seattle area
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Actually, here on the left coast, Them's version was the hit version.
The first time I heard the SoK version, I thought it sounded thin and
weak compared to Them. I've grown to like it, though, for its garage-
like sound.
Joe Rickstone
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I like Them's version better. I think the S.O.K. version has been too
overplayed or at least that's my experience.
Mike Bennidict
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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