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Jamie LePage (1953-2002)
http://www.spectropop.com/Jamie.htm
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There are 15 messages in this issue.
Topics in this digest:
1. Re: Sun Ra
From: Phil Milstein
2. Re: Gabriel and the Angels
From: Mikey
3. Pickwick/Custom
From: Gregg Lopez
4. lou reed/ sun ra etc
From: dixigas
5. Re: Gabriel and the Angels
From: Tony Waitekus
6. Curt Boettcher site
From: Matthew Moring
7. Re: Sun Ra
From: Bryan
8. Hey Bryan...Sun Ra
From: dixigas
9. Ed Sullivan???
From: Alan Gordon
10. Re: Sun Ra
From: Rat Pfink
11. Starsailor / Phil Spector
From: Spectropop
12. Re: Pickwick/Custom
From: Dave
13. Jack Nitzsche and Al Hazan
From: Martin Roberts
14. Re: Sun Ra
From: Phil Milstein
15. Re: Pickwick/Custom
From: Stephane Rebeschini
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Message: 1
Date: Tue, 24 Sep 2002 18:12:28 +0000
From: Phil Milstein
Subject: Re: Sun Ra
Louise Posnick wrote:
> I knew SunRa quite well and the chances of him playing organ
> on a commercial album is slim.
I don't wish to contradict a fabulous Lovelite, particularly
one who has touched the hem of the garment of the great Ra!
But ...the fact of Ra's involvement on the Tifton fake Batman
soundtrack session has been confirmed several times over by all
of the world's finest Sun Ra archivists. I'm not sure what
documentation or personal testimony they used to verify this
information, but if they're convinced, I'm convinced. Ra's
connection to the world of schlock music was via his former
producer Tom Wilson (himself an otherworldly cat), who had
been contracted to pull together a combo and produce the session.
--Phil Milstein
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Message: 2
Date: Tue, 24 Sep 2002 19:39:44 -0400
From: Mikey
Subject: Re: Gabriel and the Angels
Ted L:
> A friend on another list is looking for writer(s) credits
> and publishing info for the flipside of a 45 by Gabriel
> and the Angels that appeared on the Amy label. The only
> info he has is that the A side is "Chumba." Supposedly,
> the record RnB-ish sounding and from the early '60s.
> Any info would be appreciated.
Hey Ted....
The only release I know of from Gabriel and The Angels is
"That's Life (That's Tough)" b/w "I Dont Wanna Twist No More".
Great record, tho....
Mikey
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Message: 3
Date: Tue, 24 Sep 2002 19:47:24 -0700
From: Gregg Lopez
Subject: Pickwick/Custom
While we're visiting Pickwick records I'd like to throw a
few questions out here.
These artists filled out the very common Spectrum Golden
Oldies series: Jackie McLean (I searched and found a Jazz
sax player with than name -same guy? This seems to be an
organ player) The Fabulous Cyclones - surf rock instrumentals
Margie Anderson - a great, quirky little exotica-tinged song
called "Haiti"
Over on the other coast, I found a LP called "Psychedelic
Guitars" made by Custom Records that has no credits on it
whatsoever (although it gives technical data on how it was
recorded - Ampex stereo tape recorder, Neumann lathe, Teldec
cutting head). The back cover has other Custom releases, all
of which feature a pretty girl on the cover and titles like
Spellbound, Imagination, Fascination, Music of the Golden
West and Heart of Spain. There's even an address: 5810 So.
Normandie Ave, Los Angeles (which is way down in So. Central).
My guess is the psychedelic recordings (more like Link Wray-ish
instrumentals) were actually unpaid for studio sessions that
were acquired, or maybe they were all recorded in one day on
said Ampex tape recorder by some otherwise well known names.
Anybody know?
GL
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Message: 4
Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 03:43:30 -0000
From: dixigas
Subject: lou reed/ sun ra etc
to Mick
As far as I can see...Robertha Williams might not be the
lady's real name! The flip, Maybe Tomorrow, was also released
on another Pickwick album as sung by Ronnie Dickerson. It's
the same recording! And yes..any trace of these Pickwick
Lou co workers..would be nice!! Again..I am a Velvet
Underground nutcase..pretty much anything on them would be
nice!!! I have some pretty wild stuff like single acetates...
but always need more infos records..all!! hahahah Lou Reed
love doo wop and girl sounds..so does another mad man, Kim
Fowley (who produced amongst others the girlgroup the
Murmaids!) and of course Zappa!
to Louise:
Well the Batman record is from 66 and was as far as I know
a (famous) Tom Wilson production..and more of a spoof fun
session! It is somewhat of a known fact on the internet that
this is Sun Ra on the sessions..and it is a real cool album...
Batman main theme being the only regular tune heheheh!!
Wild swirling organs and guitars otherwise!!!
xxx
dixigas
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Message: 5
Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 08:55:48 -0500
From: Tony Waitekus
Subject: Re: Gabriel and the Angels
Ted L:
> A friend on another list is looking for writer(s) credits
> and publishing info for the flipside of a 45 by Gabriel
> and the Angels that appeared on the Amy label. The only
> info he has is that the A side is "Chumba." Supposedly,
> the record RnB-ish sounding and from the early '60s.
> Any info would be appreciated.
I have a copy of Chumba at home. I'll have to look for it.
Tony Waitekus
WHTS/All Hit 98-9
Mercury Broadcasting, Inc.
http://www.allhit989.com
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Message: 6
Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 14:22:27 -0000
From: Matthew Moring
Subject: Curt Boettcher site
Hi all,
After a little tweaking & what-not, the all-new
http://curtboettcher.com is up!
Please go over & check it out...
thanks,
Matt
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Message: 7
Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 09:05:28 -0700
From: Bryan
Subject: Re: Sun Ra
Regarding the "fake Batman soundtrack session":
I used to have this album as a kid. It was credited to
The Sensational Guitars of Dan and Dale: 'Batman and Robin',
which turned out to be a non-existent group...but the studio
musicians that were put together featured members of Sun Ra's
group and the Blues Project:
Here's the lineup:
Pat Patrick - Bass
Sun Ra (Sonny Blount) - Hammond Organ
Marshall Allen - Alto Sax
Roy Blumenfeld - Drums
Danny Kalb - Lead Guitar
Steve Katz - Guitar
Andy Kulberg - Bass
Al Kooper - Organ
John Gilmore - Sax (Tenor)
It's short (about 30 minutes long), and was produced by
Tom Wilson for the Tifton toy company in Newark, NJ.
Tifton S-78002 (1966)
Years later (about '95), I tried to track down who owned
the masters so that I could license it for reissue on CD
via Del-Fi. I ended up tracking down an executive producer
named Ed Bland, who had put the project together with Wilson.
He told me that most of the tracks were arrangments based
around public domain classical themes, like Chopin's Polonaise,
part of Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony, Tchaikovsky's Romeo and
Juliet, and lots of standard surf guitar riffs. He didn't know
who owned the masters or the publishing or where the tapes were,
and I didn't pursue it much after that. It was very much a
"cult" item, and I believe it would have done well during the
mid-to-late nineties "surf" revival. I believe it's currently
available on CD, but it might be bootlegged.
Here's the review of the album on AMG:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=A0vfwxql5ldhe
Bryan
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Message: 8
Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 16:23:27 -0000
From: dixigas
Subject: Hey Bryan...Sun Ra
Hi!
I saw you tried to track down the Sun Ra tapes!
I heared that Wilson used the Velvet Underground on
another session with Dan and Dale...someone earlier said:
Blue Project..but they were used on this session already!
There is a boot of the Bartman stuff that mentions the VU
...do you know anything about this??
cheers
dixigas
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Message: 9
Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 16:32:40 -0000
From: Alan Gordon
Subject: Ed Sullivan???
dear folks:
Awright, now I'm confused. Is anyone clear on what the
differences between these two Ed Sullivan releases are?
Time-Life version:
The Best of Ed Sullivan's Rock 'N' Roll Classics - 07 Volume Special TV Offer!
http://www.timelife.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en
[search "Ed Sullivan"]
Rhino version:
Ed Sullivan's Rock 'N' Roll Classics
http://www.rhino.com/features/976082p.html
It seems there is 2 volumes out as individual discs,
and a 9 disc complete set(?)
Does anyone understand this???
Alan
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Message: 10
Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 12:43:28 -0400
From: Rat Pfink
Subject: Re: Sun Ra
Bryan:
>Regarding the "fake Batman soundtrack session":
>
>I used to have this album as a kid. It was credited to
>The Sensational Guitars of Dan and Dale: 'Batman and Robin',
>which turned out to be a non-existent group...but the studio
>musicians that were put together featured members of Sun Ra's
>group and the Blues Project:
They've got the reissue on CD and LP at Dusty Groove:
http://www.dustygroove.com/
Search for "Batman"...
RP
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Message: 11
Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 18:30:48 -0000
From: Spectropop
Subject: Starsailor / Phil Spector
(From The Spectropop Public Bulletin Board)
Hi folks.
I thought the following item from New Musical Express about
British group Starsailor's recent work with Phil Spector
might be of interest:
http://www.nme.com/news/103029.htm
Steve McClure
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Message: 12
Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 15:00:54 EDT
From: Dave
Subject: Re: Pickwick/Custom
Greg Lopez:
> Over on the other coast, I found a LP called "Psychedelic
> Guitars" made by Custom Records that has no credits on it
> whatsoever......
> My guess is the psychedelic recordings (more like Link Wray-ish
> instrumentals) were actually unpaid for studio sessions that
> were acquired, or maybe they were all recorded in one day on
> said Ampex tape recorder by some otherwise well known names.
> Anybody know?
Custom Records was Crown Records under a different name.
That record is most likely by LA session hero Jerry Cole,
who did about 75(!) albums for those guys.
-dave
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Message: 13
Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 20:03:27 +0100
From: Martin Roberts
Subject: Jack Nitzsche and Al Hazan
Latest updates to Jack Nitzsche at Spectropop include
Record of The Week - Gary Lewis & the Playboys "Happiness"
and even more additions (keep 'em coming) to the discography.
Al Hazan has updated my favourite page on the site, Early Days.
If you want to know Jack's preferred mode of dress for the
big session or Terry Day (Melcher's) favourite snack while
recording, pop over and take a look.
http://www.spectropop.com/JackNitzsche/index.htm
Martin
PS A special treat for all you sixties radio fans next week,
stay tuned and DON'T TOUCH THAT DIAL!
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 14
Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 15:48:14 +0000
From: Phil Milstein
Subject: Re: Sun Ra
Bryan wrote:
> I believe it's currently
> available on CD, but it might be bootlegged.
Bryan might know more about this than I do, but I couldn't
find any overt signs of illegitimacy within the packaging,
and a few that gave it every appearance of an officially
licensed item.
dixigas wrote:
> I heared that Wilson used the Velvet Underground on
> another session with Dan and Dale...
"The Sensational Guitars Of Dan & Dale" was, like the
101 Strings, Hollyridge Strings, and so many others,
a budget-line artist-credit franchise, used on a wide
variety of instrumental albums, and most likely embodied
by a wide variety of instrumentalists. I don't know the
story behind them -- who owned the franchise, who actually
worked the sessions, etc. -- but I sincerely doubt there
ever was a Dan or a Dale who played on them, except perhaps
coincidentally.
> There is a boot of the Bartman stuff that mentions the VU
> ...do you know anything about this??
Before any archival documentation was ever undertaken for
this session a rumor had circulated claiming it was performed
by a combination of Sun Ra and band and the Velvet Underground
-- a dream pairing that proved too good to be true. As far as
I'm aware it was Ra discographer Robert Campbell who finally
got the goods on the actual personnel, whereupon some VU
collectors (with narrow ears) began selling off their copies
(perhaps to some Blues Project collectors).
--Phil Milstein
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Message: 15
Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 23:17:02 +0200
From: Stephane Rebeschini
Subject: Re: Pickwick/Custom
Gregg Lopez a écrit :
> While we're visiting Pickwick records I'd like to throw a
> few questions out here.
> These artists filled out the very common Spectrum Golden
> Oldies series..........
> Over on the other coast, I found a LP called "Psychedelic
> Guitars" made by Custom Records that has no credits on it
> whatsoever.........
> My guess is the psychedelic recordings (more like Link Wray-ish
> instrumentals) were actually unpaid for studio sessions that
> were acquired.............
Bonjour from France
Max Waller wrote an interesting entry about these "exploito"
records for the "Fuzz, Acid & Flowers" site/book.
http://www.borderlinebooks.com/us6070s/fuzz.html
Here it is.
Stephane Rebeschini
--------------------
Associated Soul Group
Personnel:
Heaven knows, do you? A
ALBUM:
1 TOP HITS OF TODAY (Contessa CON 15012) 1968
This LP is one of the more celebrated and rated examples of a subgenre
which tends to go under the banner of 'exploito', which has gained
interest and become more collectable in the last few years. Whilst
covering many styles of music and moving into 'exotica' territory, we're
only concerned here with trying to unravel those that exploited the
psychedelic, garage or flower-power genres.
What is 'exploito' - briefly it's the cash-in on the latest musical wave
at minimal cost. Both the music and artists are exploited by covering or
reworking (and often retitling) current hits in the latest styles.
Songwriting and artist credits or identity rarely appear because the
artist was just a bunch of session musicians.
Occasionally a real group would be hired on the cheap who couldn't (and
at the time wouldn't have wanted to) reveal their true identity (not
unlike Elton John's early career as a hired hand on all those U.K. 'Top
Of The Pops' LPs). The music is frequently reused and recycled appearing
on different LPs, labels, with new arrangements and often a new title.
Mike Curb of Sidewalk was already having great success in recycling
music and groups - his 'house-band' were Davie Allan & The Arrows who
went under many assumed names. This was very effective in cutting down
on studio and artist costs, to provide cheap music for the masses and
still make big bucks.
THE LABELS: generally found on budget labels like Contessa, Crown,
Alshire, Wing, Wyncote, Custom, Design (equivalents in the U.K. would
include Music For Pleasure, Starline and Marble Arch, and Europa on the
continent).
SLEEVES/ARTWORK: It's with psych that most tried to cash in. Sleeve
designs tend to be in two camps: splashes and swirls of colour in
paisley or oil-slide style accompanied by San Francisco poster-sytle
lettering, or a semi-clad leggy chick surrounded by records (as in this
case). Even the LP artwork got recycled too - in the case of this LP the
same design was used on a Firebirds LP.
MUSIC: The music ranges from totally naff to quite awesome: fuzz-psych
extravaganzas, covering Hendrix or just trying to sound like him; fuzzy
jazz-lounge instrumentals or instrumental reworkings (and renames) of
recent hits; awful MOR pop or loungey ballad muzak. Unfortunately these
extremes can be experienced on just one platter making the notion that
it was one 'artist' unrealistic. Very few of these LPs don't have at
least a couple of barfers.
FAKE GROUPS: This is where confusion really starts - Some LPs give the
impression that it's a bona-fide group via a pic or sleeve notes but the
same music may turn up elswhere under a different artist name and
sometimes track name, e.g. Animated Egg. Also rumoured to be a bogus
group is the Purple Fox - Tribute To Jimi Hendrix LP.
NON-GROUPS: Most of these are session musicians but even then one LP
will not be by one group of sessioneers - given the reappearance of the
same tracks on other LPs and the different syles and sounds - the name
is most likely just a convenient and colourful handle for a collection
of material. Examples: Associated Soul Group, Projection Company, Rasput
& Sepoy Mutiny, T. Swift & The Electric Bag, Underground. Most of these
'names' had just the one release - one exception is the conglomeration
known as 101 Strings.
BONA-FIDE GROUPS: the Firebirds (later Electric Firebirds and 31st
Flavor) are thought to have been a genuine gorup. Another example is the
Chimps, who recorded the rather good Monkey Business LP on Wyncote ( 2
Monkees covers and some good garage sounds) - they would later be known
as the (Thomas A.) Edison Electric Band.
These LPs throw other outfits into question - the Projection Company LP
features three covers of Id Inner Sounds LP tracks - Wild Times, Don't
Think Twice and Boil The Kettle. The first 2 turn up on the Associated
Soul Group LP and are exactly the same tracks. Whilst not the same as on
the Id's LP, they sound close enough to question whether the bunch who
recorded as the Id were behind some of the material on these two LPs.
So what about the Associated Soul Group LP itself? In the main it's
above-par: five tracks recycled on the Projection Company LP; covers
include a great version of Are You Experienced (T.Swift & The Electric
Bag do this too), an awful Up Up And Away (5th Dimension), Macarthur
Park (Jim Webb/Richard Harris) and two Simon & Garfunkel numbers with
rehashed (i.e. misheard) lyrics - Sound Of Silence and Scarborough Fair.
Other tracks sound remarkably like the Animated Egg to add to the
confusion.
Any further information or unravelling of this tangled skein will be
most welcome!!
(Max Waller)
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