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Jamie LePage (1953-2002)
http://www.spectropop.com/Jamie.htm
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There are 13 messages in this issue.
Topics in this digest:
1. Re: Kalin Twins
From: Frank
2. Re: Another Ricky Nelson Q, ++
From: Peter Lerner
3. Stars in the sky
From: J H Ket
4. Re: Jackie DeShannon demos
From: Peter Lerner
5. Re: Darlene/Moose & The Pelicans
From: Jeffrey Glenn
7. Standing In The Shadows of Motown/When
From: Warren Cosford
8. Motown musicians
From: Richard Williams
9. IMPRTY Review
From: Doc Rock
10. dual tracking
From: David Bell
11. Kenny Laguna
From: Phil Milstein
12. Re: Kalin Twins/Diane Renay/Pandoras/Dream Babes
From: Mark Frumento
13. Death By Chocolate
From: Stewart Mason
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Message: 1
Date: Sat, 25 May 2002 08:05:27 +0200
From: Frank
Subject: Re: Kalin Twins
Mark Wirtz:
> Do the other tracks on the CD measure up to "When"?
Definitely not. "When" remains their major work... On second
thought I have to check it again, it's been a long time since
I listened to it now...
Frank
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Message: 2
Date: Sat, 25 May 2002 10:29:49 +0100
From: Peter Lerner
Subject: Re: Another Ricky Nelson Q, ++
Mark Wirtz:
> While still curious to learn who the back-up vocalists on the early
> Ricky Nelson recordings were, another (obvious) question comes to mind:
> Who produced those early recordings? I am particularly curious as it
> raises a technical issue: While Snuff Garrett is commonly credited as
> the first producer to have a vocalist double-track/self-harmonize with
> Bobby Vee (double tracking, essentially, was surely originated by
> guitarist Les Paul), shouldn't that honor go to whoever produced "Hello
> Mary Lou"?
I must admit I thought it was Connie Francis (the first self-duettiste
that is). Robot Man anyone?
Peter
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Message: 3
Date: Sat, 25 May 2002 12:34:39 +0200
From: J H Ket
Subject: Stars in the sky
I recently listened to a tape of "the Phil Spector Story" broadcast
in 1987 for Belgian radio. They played a track "Love What A Feeling"
of the "Stars in the sky" (in the late seventies?). The story behind
it: It's the "b"-side of a (late seventies?) 45, recorded by the
Kessel Twins under the name "Stars in the sky". (2 sons of Phil's
longtime guitarist/friend Barney Kessel). Phil Spector was to have
produced this track as a service to an old friend, but wasn't credited
for it on label. (which I've never seen)
I remember in the mag "Philately" the same kind of rumours about Phil
who's working with the Kessel Twins & Paley Brothers.
Can anyone shine some light on the subject??
For auditive appraisal I've uploaded the track on Musica.
Hans
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Message: 4
Date: Sat, 25 May 2002 10:35:40 +0100
From: Peter Lerner
Subject: Re: Jackie DeShannon demos
Original message from Phil Milstein:
> I've been thoroughly enjoying volume 1 (or whichever vol. includes
> Jimmy Baby and I Shook The World) of the demos collection put out
> by the Jackie DeShannon Appreciation Society. Can anyone suggest
> whether or not another $20 invested in the remaining volume would
> be equally well-spent?
Yes Phil; if you buy volume 2 you'll get a fab unheard "Breakaway",
the original original "He's the great impostor", originals of Brenda
Lee's "He's so heavenly" and "So deep" (see how Brenda carefully
followed Jackie's demos), real teen stuff "Harbor High" and "My
birthday party" and much, much more. Buy - I think you'll like it.
Peter
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Message: 5
Date: Sat, 25 May 2002 04:16:13 -0700
From: Jeffrey Glenn
Subject: Re: Darlene/Moose & The Pelicans
"This was a BIG Spectropop edition, so I hope I'm not repeating
anyone's info: apparently Moose & The Pelicans were Darlene Love,
some Blossoms... and I don't know who else.
Anyone know... ?"
Jimmy, this is Kenny Laguna quoted from the liners of the LAGUNA TUNES V/A
CD (containing tracks with his involvement) released on Blackheart/Mercury
483 371 821-2 in 2000:
"It was 1969 and I was living in a duplex on 15th Street with singer-writer
Bobby Bloom ('Montego Bay'). One night we got this idea to get together a
bunch of us tin pan alley cats in a late-model stand-up singing group called
Moose and The Pelicans.
"Moose and The Pelicans was a five-part harmony a cappella group with the
permutations of Bobby, Paul Naumann (guitar player and singer for
Tradewinds), Terry Marzano, wife of our bass player Norman Marzano, Sissy
Spacek and me.
"We spent endless hours practicing our vocal harmonies in subways and under
the pedestrian tunnel on West 72nd Street. We worked up some very excellent
vintage macho dance steps reminiscent of the doo-wop groups of the late
'50s.
"There is nothing so exhilarating as hearing natural echo enhance a
five-part a cappella group. "We Rockin'" actually got to #105 in Record
World. But by then Bobby was off to his new career working with Jeff Barry,
which yielded him a Top 10 with 'Montego Bay'. I have always thought we
would have all been bigger if we stayed with the vocal group.
"..Davey Crockett", the B-side is off-the-wall, but I love it. It is so
American."
The CD contains both sides of that 45 "We Rockin'"/"The Ballad Of Davey
Crockett" (though it lists it as being from 1968, not 1969).
The CD DOES contain an unreleased 1970 recording by Darlene Love and The
Blossoms called "Make A Change" (Anders/Poncia alert - they wrote this!) and
"Good Music" by Joan Jett and The Blackhearts (1986) featuring Darlene Love
and The Beach Boys on bv's.
It also is the only place to get Wind's "Make Believe" on CD.
Oh, and how could I forget this. The CD is worth the price just to have on
CD Little Roger and The Goosebumps' brilliant "Gilligan's Island
(Stairway)" - though it's listed here as "Stairway To Gilligan's Island" -
from 1978. If you haven't heard this before I'll give you a hint: the
writing credits are R. Plant, J. Page/S. Schwartz, G. Wyle. 'Nuff said. :-)
Hope this helps!
Jeff
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Limited availability of 'Laguna Tunes' at
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000457GF/qid=1022326113/sr=1-4/ref=sr_1_4/104-3016105-4507926 ]
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Message: 7
Date: Sat, 25 May 2002 07:41:13 -0400
From: Warren Cosford
Subject: Standing In The Shadows of Motown/When
Nick Archer wrote.......
> Standing In The Shadows of Motown is an incredible book, and
> I've seen later editions that include a CD with split music
> tracks of Jamerson songs that > have been re-recorded by famous
> present day bass players to allow you isolate the original
> Jamerson bass line, or play along.
> The book I have is ISBN 0-88188-852-4.
> http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0881888826/qid=1022248077/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/104-3016105-4507926
Standing In The Shadows of Motown is now a Documentary. More here:
http://www.elliottscottproductions.com/index.htm
"When" by The Kalin Twins was written by Paul Evans who was also a very
successful singer. Paul is a great guy. Check him out at:
http://www.paulevans.com/ I'm sure he'll be happy to hear from you.
Warren Cosford
Radiopro (TM)
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Message: 8
Date: Sat, 25 May 2002 12:24:21 -0000
From: Richard Williams
Subject: Motown musicians
Re Mark Wirtz's queries:
1. The principal Hitsville USA drummer was Benny Benjamin,
James Jamerson's greatest partner and the inventor of most
of the famous licks, but others were Uriel Jones and Richard
"Pistol" Allen. It's worth getting a fine new American book
called Before Motown, which fills in the details of the Detroit
jazz scene that produced Jamerson, Benjamin, Earl Van Dyke
(the main keyboards player) and the rest.
And Dave Marsh edited a book of interviews with Motown women singers
not long ago which had fascinating stuff on the move from Detroit
to LA and how it broke a lot of hearts. Being jazz musicians,
and having grown up in the 1950s when the first heroin epidemic was
at its height, several members of the Funk Brothers (as the rhythm
section called themselves) acquired unhealthy habits. Some of them
didn't want to move to the West Coast, and Berry Gordy probably
didn't
want to take them anyway. Benjamin was already dead by the time by the
time it all happened. Jamerson went to Califonia for a while, but he
was unreliable by that time and was eventually written off. He does
play on Robert Palmer's great "Which Of Us Is The Fool?" from the
Pressure Drop album, though, reprising his "Love Is Here And Now
You're Gone" riff in partnership with Ed Greene, who drummed on a
lot of Motown's LA sessions.
Re Mark's reminiscence of a Motown LA session -- he should speak to
Mickey Most, who recorded Jeff beck in Detroit just before the move
and had some interesting things to say about how they got the sound
in that tiny studio when I talked to him soon afterwards. Anyone who
has been to the little house on West Grand Blvd will know how
difficult
it is to believe that all those majestic records came out of such a
modest building. And that's where the magic resided. It wasn't
transferrable.
2. Does Mark remember which Lamont Dozier session he worked on?
Some of those mid-'70s things -- "All Cried Out", "Fish Ain't
Bitin'",
"Trying To Hold On To My Woman" -- are classics.
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Message: 9
Date: Sat, 25 May 2002 10:49:45 -0400
From: Doc Rock
Subject: IMPRTY Review
[Discoveries Magazine - 2001]
Can I Get To Know You Better
It's My Party
Mister Cat Records 1201
By Doc Rock
The Rockabilly revival of a few years ago and the current Swing revival
have produced some fine music. But few of these movements' revival tunes
could be mistaken for vintage originals. But the retro Girl Group,
cleverly names It's My Party after the 1963 Lesley Gore #1 hit, has a
sound that is 99 and 44/100s% pure and might easily be (mis)taken for the
real thing.
The group consists of three girls who embody the look of the early '60s,
with a ton of hairspray, matching sweaters and blouses, and poses that
recreate the old photos of the Angels, the Pixies Three, and the Secrets.
Aubrey, 16, and identical twins Cara and Rhian, especially bring to mind
the spirit of the Shangri-Las.
In fact, cut eight of the 12 on this CD is a faithful and powerful
recreation of the Shangri-Las' "Give Him A Great Big Kiss."
Other recreations include the Sloan-Barri composition, "Can I Get To
Know You Better" and an incredible re-production (sic) of a song Bob Crewe
wrote and recorded with the Rag Dolls in 1964, "Dusty." The other cuts
blend so well it's hard to believe Mister Cat didn't find some old '60s
tapes in a vault somewhere. And there are no repeats of the five tracks
on the group's previous two CD-single releases. The girls take turns on
lead, and the sound from cut to cut is as fresh as it is retro.
As with all '60s-style Girl Groups, no review is complete without a nod
to the male producer. John Giotto is the creator/mastermind/composer/
engineer/drummer/keyboardist/arranger behind It's My Party. His dedication
to period and attention to detail provide a treat for any fan of the old
Girl Group sound. The only thing that keeps It's My Party from sounding
100% pure is the recording quality. No '60s LP ever sounded THIS good!
It's My Party is available from Mister Cat Records, Box 25622, Rochester,
NY 14625 or at http://www.itsmypartyonline.com.
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Message: 10
Date: Sat, 25 May 2002 16:40:42 +0100
From: David Bell
Subject: dual tracking
Yes, please, Peter, Robot Man will do just nicely. I didn't
particularly like the dual tracking on those lachrymose ballads
that did so well for Connie both here and in the States and this
is the view of a life-long Connie fanatic! I prefer the rockier
sounding stuff.
It's ironic that Connie would put out just the single track version
of so many of her hit songs in England as she thought that that was
what we preferred. Somewhere in a dusty old scrapbook in the garage
loft there's an article with Connie saying just that. I think that
it dates from about 1962/63.
Of course, this meant that we in Britain missed out on the dual
tracked version of "Don't Ever Leave Me" on 45 release, which is one
of the gems of her recording career. Other countries of the world got
to hear the Ellie Greenwich harmony vocal initially, although we did
eventually catch up with that omission.
Connie must have thought that "Don't Ever Leave Me" had a lot of hit
making potential as she recorded the song in English, Japanese, French,
German, Italian and Spanish. In fact, it was supposed to have marked
the return to high chart placings but somehow didn't quite reach its
full potential. A shame as it's such a great recording.
David B.
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Message: 11
Date: Sat, 25 May 2002 09:02:18 +0000
From: Phil Milstein
Subject: Kenny Laguna
Jeffrey Glenn wrote:
> Oh, and how could I forget this. The CD is worth the price
> just to have on CD Little Roger and The Goosebumps' brilliant
> "Gilligan's Island (Stairway)" - though it's listed here as
> "Stairway To Gilligan's Island"
What was Laguna's involvement with that track? I thought it
came out of San Francisco, and that he worked mostly in New
York. But then again I believe he did some production for
Beserkley in the late '70s, and they were located in the Bay
Area, which would seem to place the perp at the time and
location in question.
--Phil M.
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Message: 12
Date: Sat, 25 May 2002 13:44:34 -0400
From: Mark Frumento
Subject: Re: Kalin Twins/Diane Renay/Pandoras/Dream Babes
> Definitely not. "When" remains their major work... On second
> thought I have to check it again.
Hope you listened again. I actually like "It's Only the Beginning"
better. They seem to have several Everly like tracks.
Some Girl Questions:
1. I really like the Diane Renay track posted to musica which promted
me to look into more of her music (beside the smattering I have on
several compilation). I found that there is a 2 CD set out of old and
new stuff. Anyone heard this yet? Any comments? Any other recommendations?
2. Did the group The Pandoras release anything else besides "About My
Baby (I Could Write A Book)". I love that song, its one of my favorite
girl tracks and I'd love to hear other tracks by the group. I always
wondered if Elvis Costello knew how close his "Everyday I Write The Book"
was to the Pandoras.
3. Has anyone else picked up the Dream Babes comps on RPM? I got volume
three and love it. "Come Tomorrow" by Peanut is worth the price of the
whole CD. Other great tracks by Twinkle, Perpetual Langley too. Are the
other sets as good?
[Admin note: The Dream Babes CD set and, more recently, Diane Renay,
have been discussed previously. Try searching the Forum Archives
from the link on the sidebar menu http://www.spectropop.com/archive/
- or take a look at http://www.spectropop.com/archive/digest/m727.html
- and http://www.spectropop.com/archive/digest/d477.htm ]
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Message: 13
Date: Sat, 25 May 2002 14:13:55 -0400
From: Stewart Mason
Subject: Death By Chocolate
Kingsley Abbott writes:
>Lastly, the eclectic el label (Part of Cherry Red) where
>again you'll find the lovely Louis and many sunshiney
>collections like "Sunshine Pop 99" (El acme 28).
The impresario of el, Mike Alway, also had a hand in the
creation of a current band on the Jetset label called Death By
Chocolate, whose upcoming second album (due July 9) ZAP THE WORLD
I find irresistably charming. Three producer/musicians (including
Matty Green, whom some folks might remember as the guitarist in
'90s UK indie-noisesters Boyracer) and a vocalist, Angie Tillett,
who occasionally sings but more often recites her own
stream-of-pop-culture ruminations over instrumentals that tend
towards dead-on recreations of the more twinkly-cute side of '60s
film soundtracks. (The group have claimed that their initial goal
was to sound like the soundtrack to WILLIE WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE
FACTORY.)
The originals are delightful, but the covers might be of more interest
to some: the first album included versions of Peter Cook and Dudley
Moore's "The LS Bumblebee", The Smoke's "My Friend Jack" and Cat Stevens'
"If You Want To Sing Out, Sing Out". ZAP THE WORLD includes an original
that incorporates dialogue from Cook and Moore's BEDAZZLED (to tie in
another thread), plus Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel's "Zap the World"
from the apparently drug-inspired kiddie TV show HR PUFNSTUF (it was
"Witchiepoo's theme song), and Lynn Redgrave's "While I'm Still Young"
from SMASHING TIME.
My favorite part, though, is the opening: an utterly deadpan and spot-on
recreation of the Electric Prunes' 1967 commercial for the Vox wah-wah
pedal, with their band name substituted for the Prunes'. There's something
so admirably and bravely total-record-store-geek about that choice...
The whole thing might be a little bit too cute for some, but it's certain
to appeal to at least a certain subset of Spectropoppers.
Stewart
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