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SPECTROPOP - Spectacular! Retro! Pop!
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There are 13 messages in this issue.
Topics in this digest:
1. Re: Darlene Love on Saturday Night Live
From: Steve Dworkin
2. Flip Side to "It's A Go-Go Place"
From: David Z
3. Re: Ciao Baby again
From: Lyn Nuttall
4. Re: Herb Bernstein -- '60s discography
From: John H
5. Re: Herb Bernstein -- '60s discography
From: Jim Allio
6. Darlene Love; J. J. Cale; Pipettes; Tony Meehan
From: Country Paul
7. The reissue producer: part studio nerd, part Indiana Jones.
From: Jens Koch
8. Christmas countdown Day 4
From: Artie Wayne
9. The making of "A Christmas Gift For You"
From: Johnny Black
10. Re: Jerry Lordan
From: Wes Smith
11. Herb Bernstein Discography
From: Ken Charmer
12. Re: Herb Bernstein (Ciao Baby connection)
From: Lyn Nuttall
13. Re: Herb Bernstein -- '60s discography
From: Peter Lerner
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Message: 1
Date: Wed, 21 Dec 2005 14:55:45 EST
From: Steve Dworkin
Subject: Re: Darlene Love on Saturday Night Live
David A Young wrote:
> Happy holidays, y'all! I've uploaded Darlene's Spectoresque
> recording of "Christmastime for the Jews" to musica for your
> seasonal amusement. It's better with the visuals, but
> enjoyable on its own nonetheless. Enjoy!
John H:
> You can find the video clip here:
> http://www.spectropop.com/ChristmasTimefortheJews.mov
> Can't believe how "real" the song sounds. Darlene sounds great!
A friend of mine who works on the Letterman show asked Darlene
Love at the taping Monday night, if "Christmastime For The Jews"
would be made available commercially, and she said it was a one
time thing for Saturday Night Live, so listen to that song on
Musica, it may be your only opportunity. I understand her
performance Monday Night was awsome. It airs this Friday night.
-Steve Dworkin
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Message: 2
Date: Wed, 21 Dec 2005 20:20:07 -0000
From: David Z
Subject: Flip Side to "It's A Go-Go Place"
Greetings.
By request, I have posted to Musica the flip side to J.J.
Cale's "It's A Go-Go Place"; a tribute to the finest person
ever to sport a two-way wrist radio. Enjoy!
Go Cat Go!
David Z.
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Message: 3
Date: Wed, 21 Dec 2005 22:12:26 -0000
From: Lyn Nuttall
Subject: Re: Ciao Baby again
Randy wrote:
> I am now wondering whether I shouldn't be asking for the
> Eternal Flame version. That seems to be the one that was
> released in the US.
Versions update:
The Toys (US 1967, prob. original version)
Lynne Randell (US 1967, Aussie artist abroad, hit in Oz)
Montanas (UK 1967)
Eternal Flame (US 1967, not the 90s+ rock band)
Ray Rivera (US 1968, instrumental)
Group Check (Netherlands 1968, charted in Netherlands))
Mel Torme (US late 60s?, prob. unreleased at the time)
Long John Baldry (UK 1969?, prob. unreleased at the time )
Catherine McKinnon (Canada 1970)
Craig Scott (NZ 1971, #4 NZ)
Not to be confused with The Cult - Edie (Ciao Baby), 1989.
www.poparchives.com.au/feature.php?id=&4 refers.
I've seen Eternal Flame listed as Eternal Flames: maybe they
were The Eternal Flames?
Randy, thanks for alerting me to the Group Check version,
and for the nice comment about the site.
Lyn
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Message: 4
Date: Thu, 22 Dec 2005 00:56:12 -0000
From: John H
Subject: Re: Herb Bernstein -- '60s discography
>From Davie Gordon's Herb Bernstein -- '60s discography:
> 12/68 JULIE BUDD (MGM 14016)
> I Wanna See Morning With Him
> Child Of Plenty (Bud Rehak, Herb Bernstein)
> Prod/arr: Herb Bernstein
This is interesting to me, as "I Wanna See Morning" is one of
my favorite Petula Clark songs. I had always thought it was
original to her 1970 Memphis album! If anyone ever has the
chance to play Ms. Budd's to Musica, that would be tres marvy.
- John H.
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Message: 5
Date: Wed, 21 Dec 2005 16:37:15 -0800 (PST)
From: Jim Allio
Subject: Re: Herb Bernstein -- '60s discography
How great to see something on Herb Bernstein! I always loved
his work with Laura Nyro and still listen to their album
together. It has truly stood the test of time. Remember
seeing a photo of Herb and Lesley Gore in the studio in
Billboard in 1967. It must still be out there somewhere. In
addition to "Treat Me Like A Lady" and "He Gives Me Love"
which are listed in your Bernstein discography, he also did
the following Gore tracks:
August 8, 1966
Orchestra conducted by Herb Bernstein
"Maybe Now" (B-side to "Treat Me Like A Lady")
"The Bubble Broke" (LP track, and A-side of a 1967 single in
the Philippines)
October 14, 1966
"Im Going Out (the Same Way I Came In)" (B-side to "California
Nights," got play in Chicago)
May 22, 1968
Produced, arranged and conducted by Herb Bernstein
"Brand New Me" (B-side of "He Gives Me Love")
"I Can't Make It Without You" (A-side fall 1968 single)
All info from the Bear Family box set discography. Hope this
helps!
Jim Allio
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Message: 6
Date: Thu, 22 Dec 2005 01:50:24 -0500
From: Country Paul
Subject: Darlene Love; J. J. Cale; Pipettes; Tony Meehan
David A Young wrote:
> Happy holidays, y'all! I've uploaded Darlene's Spectoresque
> recording of "Christmastime for the Jews" to musica for your
> seasonal amusement. It's better with the visuals, but
> enjoyable on its own nonetheless. Enjoy!
John:
> You can find the video clip here:
> http://www.spectropop.com/ChristmasTimefortheJews.mov
> Can't believe how "real" the song sounds. Darlene sounds great!
Unbelievable! I knew there had to be a killer holiday track out
there somewhere - and it's in here! It sounds truly Spectorian,
too - someone really did their homework! Thank you!
Whoever is responsible for the J. J. Cale 45 from '65, thank you.
It's pretty cool, although I think "Dick Tracy" was meant to be
the A-side (it kinda treads a fine line, doesn't it?). Sure is
different from his laid-back Shelter work!
Jana:
> a girl group called The Pipettes. I thought I'd share their
> link with all of you.... http://www.thepipettes.co.uk
Fun - "Dirty Mind" sounds like girl-group-meets-B-52s. One could
do worse.
Ayrton:
> Here's a tribute to the late, great Shadows drummer Tony
> Meehan: his own composition "See You In My Drums"...from 1961.
> http://rapidshare.de/files/9504561/07_-_See_You_In_My_Drums.mp3.html
Shades of Sandy Nelson; too bad this didn't have Nelson's "fatter"
production.
I've been away from the group for a while - not intentionally,
but "real life" kept intervening. I'll be away again for a while,
but hope to get back into it forthwith. Meanwhile, I wish my old
friends and new the happiest of holidays; see you here again soon!
Country Paul
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Message: 7
Date: Thu, 22 Dec 2005 09:00:51 +0100
From: Jens Koch
Subject: The reissue producer: part studio nerd, part Indiana Jones.
A very interesting article on the work of one Andrew Sandoval
and also Alec Palao was published yesterday (if this has been
mentioned sorry that i missed it)
http://music.eastbayexpress.com/Issues/2005-12-21/music/music.html
New to You
The reissue producer: part studio nerd, part Indiana Jones.
By Eli Messinger
Most CD reissues merely regurgitate the same old hits from the
same old chart-topping artists: Elvis Costello is on his fourth
catalogue reiteration, and Elvis Presley's rehashed recordings
are an industry unto themselves. But don't damn the enterprise
as a whole: Truly adventurous and revelatory reissue projects
hover both outside the margins and within the mainstream. The
best of these provide whole new chapters in the history of an
artist, a studio, a producer, a geographical entity, or a whole
genre, presenting songs, recordings, and even entire new albums
salvaged from the commercial or artistic disinterest that
greeted them the first time around.
The heart and soul of any truly compelling reissue is the
disc's producer, who guides an initial concept across a field
of financial, organizational, geographic, social, technical,
and artistic hurdles. They're project directors with a
musician's ear for fidelity, an archaeologist's talent for
discovery, an anthropologist's memory for context, and a
diplomat's knack for negotiation.
Two such multitaskers -- the East Bay's Alec Palao and Los
Angeles-based Andrew Sandoval -- teamed up recently to produce
Magic Hollow, a definitive four-disc box set celebrating San
Francisco's Beau Brummels, early responders to the British
Invasion with a harmony-laden mix of folk, rock, and country
that predated better known efforts by the Byrds and others.
Palao relocated from England to the Bay Area (currently, El
Cerrito) in part to feed his love of Bay Area music. His early-
'90s fanzine Cream Puff War led to connections with local
musicians, producers, and studio owners, creating a web that
resulted in the mid-'90s series of Nuggets from the Golden
State releases, which documented '60s West Coast labels like
Autumn, Scorpio, and Hush, and bands like the Mojo Men,
Frumious Bandersnatch, and (pre-Creedence) Golliwogs, not to
mention loads of rock obscurities from San Jose to Sacramento.
More recently, Palao has extended the reissue kingpin Nuggets
brand as coproducer of two garage-rock box sets for Rhino,
2001's Nuggets II, and this year's revivalist set, Children of
Nuggets.
Palao's core work for the UK-based Ace label group typically
steers clear of material owned by major labels, "because
straightaway, I know that it may get flagged because it's going
to be too expensive," he explains. "I've always preferred to do
independent stuff and often been able to do a better job;
because it's cheap, we can go to town a bit more on other
things."
Sandoval, who's helmed projects on the Monkees, the Everly
Brothers, and the Band, echoes his problems with such corporate
hurdles: "You can find A&R people who just don't like a certain
artist and don't want to be involved with something. It could
be a big seller, but they don't even get it." Even catalogue
owners who love an artist may not fully understand their modern
appeal. Several years ago, Sandoval's suggestion for Everly
reissues was coldly greeted with reminders of the duo's poor
original album sales -- "You could say the same thing of Big
Star," he retorts. But the success of his 2001 Everly twofers
on a UK label begat additional reissues this year, including two
seven-disc box sets out on Germany's Bear Family.
Even when a major-label project is green-lighted, budget issues
still impede. Sandoval often finds himself arguing with record
companies to let him properly transcribe material that's been
deep-sixed in a salt mine after a hasty digital transfer. The
inferior copies offered are typically "made on the fly by
someone who's been making hundreds of digital copies that day,"
Sandoval laments, without properly calibrating the tape player
or searching for undocumented material at the end of a reel. On
more than one occasion, Sandoval has offered up his own studio
time to bring a project in: "I'm constantly buying studio
equipment just so I can get certain things done."
Palao's focus on independently owned material often finds him
carting his transcription equipment in search of master tapes.
In a sense he's a second-generation Alan Lomax, hunting master
tapes rather than folk songs. "Part of the reason why I have
been successful in getting rare stuff is because they say,
'Well, I'm not going to let this stuff out of here,'" he
explains. "So I schlep my gear up to the Pacific Northwest,
schlep it all the way out to Nashville, Memphis, many times
down to LA. That's the only way. The fact that I'm able to
engineer well enough to be able to do transfers is a tremendous
advantage for what I want to do."
Once an archive is opened, it often yields unexpected riches.
Sandoval turned up an undocumented segment of mid-'60s tape of
Brian Wilson running through demos of Smile-era songs at the
end of a "talking session" on which Wilson and friends merely
chanted and conversed. The tape's most interesting section
unspooled only after ten minutes of silence. "Sometimes it's
not being the most intelligent person," Sandoval muses. "It's
just wasting the most time listening." Palao agrees: "It's very
much archaeology. But the thing about music is it has that kind
of intoxicating power that makes you want to look more. It's
never dull. It can be tedious when you're looking for something
and you can't find it and you have to listen to a lot of crap.
But it's worth it for that moment when you find that tape of
Sly's first single." Indeed, Palao found the master of the rare
1961 doo-wop side "Stop What You're Doing" by Sylvester "Sly"
Stewart's Vallejo-based junior college group, the Viscaynes, in
a clutch of tapes recovered from the estate of Golden State
Recorders owner Leo Kulka.
"Often in the process of digging, you may not even necessarily
find what you were looking for, but you'll find a whole bunch
of other things," Palao explains. "And then this becomes
tremendously exciting, because straightaway you can envisage,
'Well, wow, I thought I was going to get a couple of CDs out of
this -- I can get like eight or ten.'"
Sandoval and Palao often engage their artistic subjects, seeing
if they might have outtakes, demos, photos, or simply memories
for the liner notes. That can backfire, though: "If you get in
touch with the artist, even though you get great information,
great insight into how these things were put together, you may
also find that they want a little bit too much say in what goes
on there," Palao admits. Sandoval found P.F. Sloan (who wrote
and produced hits for the Turtles, Johnny Rivers, and Barry
McGuire) resistant to having his demos released, while Palao hit
paydirt after asking for Zombies demos: "They dug up a few
things, and then Chris [White, the Zombies' bassist and one of
two primary songwriters] found a whole bunch of tapes in his ex-
wife's attic, and all of a sudden there was all this Zombies
music that I hadn't heard before."
After unearthing the tapes, the producer grapples with a number
of technical and artistic decisions, including which material
to include and how to reproduce it. "My philosophy is to try
and get the original mixes," Sandoval explains. "And if there
is no original mix, at least pay attention to what went before.
I listen to other things recorded around the same time as a
reference, to see what kind of reverb they used, and compression,
and the setup of how they mixed things." Palao also does his own
remixing, but often draws upon the expertise of Oakland's Wally
Sound studio, where vintage analogue equipment and Wally's
historically educated ears can re-create the 1960s sounds of
legendary San Francisco studios like Golden State (1965-'94),
Coast (1957-early '70s), and Columbus Recorders (1965-early '70s,
in a building that now houses Francis Ford Coppola's American
Zoetrope).
Given the mid-'60s period these producers often focus on, they
must also struggle with the issue of mono versus stereo. Palao's
1997 four-disc Zombies box Zombies Heaven, for example, returned
the original mono mixes to print, after years of lifeless, label-
created stereo versions had made the rounds after the band's
demise. "It was my intention," Palao explains, "to put all the
original mono mixes back out there, because they hadn't been
available on the market -- even a song like 'She's Not There,'
an iconic song, had a whole extra drum overdub that's only on
the mono version." In contrast, his compilation for the Sonics
(a 2003 reissue of Psycho-Sonic) sidestepped the oft-reissued
mono masters by releasing the original two-track session tapes
as is.
The New Year will find Sandoval revisiting the Monkees catalogue
for a series of double-disc mono/stereo releases; he'll also
helm a second seven-disc Everly Brothers box. Palao, meanwhile,
is currently digging through an archive of garage-rock recorded
by Norman Petty in the same Clovis, New Mexico, studio where
Buddy Holly helped invent rock 'n' roll. Now it's time to help
document and reinvent it.
Jens
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Message: 8
Date: Thu, 22 Dec 2005 10:11:54 -0800 (PST)
From: Artie Wayne
Subject: Christmas countdown Day 4
How ya' doin? It's 4 days before Christmas...and I'm
already opening my presents!! Every time I look at my
e-mail or check the guest book on my website I open a
gift. I find a reconnection, a memory long forgotten,
or words of encourgement from an old friend from the
past, or a new one from Spectropop.
Many years ago, when my health began to fail and I
could no longer work, I put all of my belongings in
storage, and had to depend on the kindness of friends
who let me sleep on their couches or sometimes even
their floors. When I was starting to get back on my
feet, and had money to retieve my belongings, I
discovered that everything had been auctioned off!!
What devestated me the most, was not the loss of my
many gold and platinum albums, but the loss of
hundreds of records, songs I had written or produced
that didn't become hits. When one of my closest
friends, Allan Rinde, hooked me up with Spectropop, I
never expected so many of you would be familiar with
my body of work, and provide me with mp3s of songs I
never thought I'd hear again.
Although I once turned out as many as 5 songs a week
...last year I wrote only one, "I Lose it When I Hear
"White Christmas", with Toni Wine, which is on the
new Tony Orlando and Dawn "Reunion CD.
This year I finished another song, "I'm at My Best
When I'm Down", which I started twenty five years ago.
I began writing the lyric at Shel Talmy's London
apartment, after spending $163,000 of Chrysalis
music's money on a single that was never was released!
When Ray Charles passed away, I was moved to finish
the lyric and complete the melody. Although I'm
getting better every day, I'm still not able to form
chords on the guitar or synthesizer. I sang it
accapella, over the phone, to my new Spectropop pal,
Claire Francis, who's recovering from a serious
illness herself. She started screaming how much she
loved it...and insisted that I record it exactly the
way that I did it for her!
After I put my vocal down on an old Teac 4 tk cassette
recorder, I transfered it to my computer and sent an
mp3 to Alan O'Day for an opinion. He surprised me by
putting chords behind my vocal. Still unsure that my
demo had any value, I sent mp3s to some of our
Spectropop pals. A few days later I got e-mails back
from Al Kooper and James Holvay raving about how much
they loved it!
Next year, I'll be showing it to artists and producers,
but I want to share it with all of you now, especially
those who have encouraged me and made me feel that
I'm still relevant...
"I’m At My Best When I’m Down"
WORDS AND MUSIC BY ARTIE WAYNE
My back’s against the wall and I’m down to my last dime
I swear I can’t recall when I’ve had a harder climb
But like a rubber ball I’ll bounce back every time…and
I’m At My Best When I’m Down.
I know when I’ve been used like a steppin’ stone
Battered and abused…left out here on my own
But I don’t feel I’m used…I only feel I’ve grown more profound
And I’m At My Best When I’m Down.
I’ve had men try and break me…women try and shake me
At times I let ‘em take me for a ride…
But when the fantasy wears thin and reality steps in
You gotta’ go within…’cause there’s nothin’ left outside.
But I’ll rise above the crowds of darkness and despair
And though I see dark clouds I know there’s a sun up there
Drums of courage beating loud and there’s victory in the air
All around…hear the sound…feel the ground…and
I’m At My Best When I’m Down.
(Copyright 2005- Artie Wayne-Wayne Art music [760] 329-0309)
I just sent a copy of "I'm At My Best When I'm Down"
to Mick Patrick which he has put up on Musica:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/spectropop/files/musica
I'll be back tomorrow with Christmas countdown...Day 3.
Regards, Artie Wayne
P.S. There's still time to sign my 2005 guest book.
It will be closed to new entries on Dec.31st, but
will remain on display forever. Just click on to
http://www.artiewayne.com and leave your mark for
posterity.
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Message: 9
Date: Thu, 22 Dec 2005 18:43:03 -0000
From: Johnny Black
Subject: The making of "A Christmas Gift For You"
Dear Spectropop,
I just thought you might like to know that you'll find what
I think is probably the longest eye-witness account ever of
the making of "A Christmas Gift For You" in the December
edition of my Back On The Tracks website. Just go to
http://www.backonthetracks.com/Dpage.php?pagekey=Eyewitness%20Rock
and there you have it. I hope it brightens up your Christmas
a little.
All the best,
Johnny Black
http://www.backonthetracks.com/home.php
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Message: 10
Date: Thu, 22 Dec 2005 08:03:56 -0000
From: Wes Smith
Subject: Re: Jerry Lordan
Jerry Lordan surely did write some fine instrumentals for the
Shadows, and also had a fine vocal on Capitol, "WHO COULD BE
BLUER". Wonder how many forum members have heard this vocal?
Wes Smith
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Message: 11
Date: Thu, 22 Dec 2005 10:22:38 +0100
From: Ken Charmer
Subject: Herb Bernstein Discography
Just seeing the Herb Bernstein discography coincided with some
info I have been gathering re Bob Crewe productions re the
Distant Cousins. I don't yet have details of the rest of their
tracks but maybe Herb was arranger?
Great discography and very helpful to our research.
The Distant Cousins
Date 2-1514
"She Ain't Lovin' You"
Crewe/Brown/Bloodworth
Produced by Bob Crewe
Arranged & conducted by Herb Bernstein
"Here Today Gone Tomorrow"
Written by Brown/Bloodworth/Nader
Produced by Crewe
Arranged/Conducted by Bernstein
Ken Charmer
UK Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons Collectors Group
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Message: 12
Date: Thu, 22 Dec 2005 10:25:09 -0000
From: Lyn Nuttall
Subject: Re: Herb Bernstein (Ciao Baby connection)
All this posting about Ciao Baby, and I missed Davie's post on
Herb Bernstein, who just happens to have been arranger and
conductor for Lynne Randell's 1967 recording of 'Ciao Baby' on
Epic.
She was an Aussie singer recording in The States, and her record
was a hit for her back home on local CBS.
Lyn
in Oz
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Message: 13
Date: Thu, 22 Dec 2005 10:18:03 -0000
From: Peter Lerner
Subject: Re: Herb Bernstein -- '60s discography
Thanks to Davie for the superb Herb Bernstein discography.
I've just got a few credits to add:
On THE ROYALETTES River of Tears (Gary Knight/Barbara Banks)
/Something wonderful (Rodgers/Hammerstein),
Herb is credited as producer, arranger and conductor.
JULIE BUDD I wanna see morning with him (Toni Wine/Irwin Levine)
/Child of plenty,
Herb is listed as prod / arr / cond on the A-side, but only arr
& cond on the B side, whose producer is Bob Morgan
TONI WINE Sisters in sorrow/Take a little time out for love:
both sides written by Toni Wine and Irwin Levine
TONI WINE He's not you/Let's make love tonight
also both by Wine/Levine
And although they may be (just) beyond the 60s, while on the
subject you can add
TONI WINE I want to see morning with him (Wine, Levine)/Groovy
Kind of Love (Wine, Carole Bayer)
Atco 6800
both sides Prod and Arr HB
TONI WINE River deep mountain high (Barry, Greenwich, Spector)/
Toni's Tune (W.Farrell, H.Bernstein),
both sides prod by Wes Farrell and Herb Bernstein,
A side also arr and cond by HB
And finally my copy of
THE JANETTES We belong to each other credits the writers as
Simmons-Burton-Bernstein.
Happy holidays everybody!
Peter
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