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highbrow studio cats
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There are 9 messages in this issue #39.
Topics in this digest:
1. Orchids
From: "Ian Chapman"
2. Jackie Ward & Jacky Ward
From: "Ian Chapman"
3. Perry Botkin, arranger for "Robin" Ward
From: Carol Kaye
4. Robin Ward Redux
From:
5. It's My Party
From: Doc Rock
6. Re: Jackie (?) Ward
From: Jeffrey Thames
7. The Orchids // Erect-A-Spectors
From: Jim Crescitelli
8. Cascades/Thundernotes query
From: "Bryan Thomas"
9. "Rhythm Of The Rain", Perry Botkin arranger
From: Carol Kaye
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Message: 1
Date: Sat, 16 Sep 2000 11:42:47 +0100
From: "Ian Chapman"
Subject: Orchids
Mike C. asked:-
>
> "The Harlem Tango" written by Goffin and King with the
> flip side "That Boy Is Messing Up My MInd" by Jeff and
> Ellie is pure delight. I'm wondering who The Orchids are?
> This certainly sounds a lot like Darlene Love to me and on
> "The Harlem Tango" it certainly sounds like Carole King
> banging away at the keys. Any info would be greatly
> appreciated. Has this 45 been compilied anywhere on cd? A
> real fine gem for us Brill collectors.
Hi Mike,
Yes, a great record, and "That Boy.." just has the edge
over Jeff & Ellie's Raindrops version for me. No, not
Darlene on that one. The Orchids were a "real" group (as
opposed to a session group), who, besides "That Boy...",
had two other singles on Columbia, including the seasonal
"Christmas Is The Time To Be With Your Baby". Any
"Blossoms in disguise" records are more likely to be found
on west coast recordings.
Ian
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Message: 2
Date: Sat, 16 Sep 2000 11:27:22 +0100
From: "Ian Chapman"
Subject: Jackie Ward & Jacky Ward
Michael wrote:-
> A number of years ago, I heard a rock historian on Radio
> Luxembourg say that Jackie Ward did the original version
> of the Cascades "Rhythm of the Rain". I never read this
> anywhere else. Was it a demo? Does anyone have it?
Hi Michael,
That was a male country singer called Jacky (with a 'y')
Ward on Mercury.
Ian
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Message: 3
Date: Sat, 16 Sep 2000 00:41:36 -0700
From: Carol Kaye
Subject: Perry Botkin, arranger for "Robin" Ward
I let Perry know a little bit about what was being said
about our Jackie Ward, and lo and behold, he was her sole
arranger for her dates, we discovered while chatting about
this. Here is what he had to say about those dates, tho't
you'd all be interested:
>Carol-
>
>I love the "Wonderful Summer" Robin (Jackie) Ward posts on
>Spectropop. It represents the same studio musician/singer
>stuff you've been talking about for years. I co-wrote,
>co-produced and arranged almost all of the songs (except
>the standards of course) on Jackie's (Robin's) singles and
>album. Jackie, as many have mentioned, was a top session
>singer.
>
>Gil Garfield and I wrote "Wonderful Summer" and needed to
>cut a demo. Dear Jackie said she'd do the vocal for us and
>off to Gold Star we went. I Played piano and Jackie sang
>the song. We were so knocked out with her vocal that we
>decided to cut a master.
>
>We hired a basic rhythm section of studio players and a
>week later cut the basic track. We overdubbed Jackie (who
>was eight months pregnant with her fourth child),
>overdubbed background singers, and overdubbed 3 violins
>(more highbrow studio cats). Jackie, Carol Lombard,
>andJackie Allen (studio singers all) were the background
>group). We borrowed a surf and birds sound effect record
>from Gold star and dropped that into the intro and ending.
>The final trick was to make Jackie sound very young. We
>sped up the whole mix one quarter tone by wrapping
>splicing tape around the capstan of the multi-track master
>tape recorder. (Probably 3 track at that time).
>
>After cutting an acetate (the demo cassette of its time)
>we hopped over to Tom Mack at DOT records. He listened to
>the record and bought it on the spot. Three weeks later it
>was on the radio and...well...Ya'll know the rest.
>
>Ah, we had a lot of fun in those days didn't we Carol.
>
>Love,
>
>Perry
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Also (Carol again here), we all just had an interesting
night here in LA, going down to listen to an ol' studio
buddy, Lyle Ritz, who was here in town to do some
appearances on Jazz Ukulele....he was terrific as usual,
and his daughter Emily (17) also played some good jazz uke
with her Dad, it was really something. Perry Botkin and his
wife Liza were there -- Perry and Lyle were old room-mates
say 45 years ago, good friends, and was Lyle shocked...and
happy to see him, then Chuck Berghofer came by and Lyle was
even more happy, and later, Earl Palmer dropped by.....I'll
tell you, Lyle had the biggest glow to see us all.....you
see, Lyle is a great guy, wonderful talent (fine jazz
bassist too! played with the great Paul Horn group in the
late 50s etc.) and is now a sort of a jazz uke star
"internationally".....we all just love him and it was so
great to see Lyle....the string bassist of the Beach Boys
hits btw (Pet Sounds etc.), as well as the elec. bassist
on Herb Alpert's "Taste Of Honey", and other recordings...
.he did not only string bass, but some on elec. bass too..
.....was a happy night tonight.
Carol Kaye http://www.carolkaye.com/
PS. Earl is online now, but is still new on the computer,
he'll be posting more at my Message Board soon....is very
new, so don't swamp him with a lot of mail yet, thanks.
PPS. FYI, Chuck Berghofer is the touring/concert bassist
for Barbra Streisand...he also spoke about the excellent
band he was in (w/Peter Erskine and Herbie Hancock) behind
Joannie Mitchell lately....go Chuck!!). Lyle Ritz was so
happy to see us all there to see him, us too! He's one
helluva a great guy, and fine talent....he makes the uke
sing with fine jazz chordal solos, and take-off.
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Message: 4
Date: Sat, 16 Sep 00 22:55:35 +0900
From: LePageWeb
Subject: Robin Ward Redux
With all this talk about Robin Ward, I did a little
digging into past issues. I guess there's a lot more
than I quote below, but it's interesting to see a sample
of what's been written over these last few years...
No extra comment, except that Robin Ward's recordings are
among the very best of the Gold Star golden years. "Winter's
Here" kills me every time...
Enjoy!
Jamie
Jack Madani wrote:
>>perhaps the greatest *lost* Wall of Sound tune of all time is
>>"New Love," performed in Beach Blanket Bingo...
Brad replies:
>The vocal really was by Jackie (aka Robin) Ward (yes, she of
>"Wonderful Summer" fame), with backing by Darlene Love and the
>Blossoms! Production was by Jerry Styner and Guy Hemric, who
>wrote the song.
Brad, you have no idea how delighted I was to read this! Jack
Madani must be grinning from ear to ear! Robin Ward, is she the
greatest or what? Does anyone have a discography on her? I put
together a little Robin Ward compilation that included the
Wonderful Summer album and a track called In His Car. It's all
wonderful Botkin, Jr./Garfield Gold Star stuff. Top class Girl
Group production. Now we just HAVE to get "New Love" from
somewhere, right Jack? :-)
On 06/29/98 3:01 am Jack Madani wrote
On page 27 of the June 19th issue of Goldmine (#467) there is an
ad for Music By Mail Inc. (www.musicbyemail.com)
And this is listed in the ad:
Robin Ward: All The Hits And More (MISS 002) Price: $18.95
25 Tracks:
Teach Me Tonight
Today I Feel In Love
My Foolish Heart
Dream Boy
Johnny Come and Get Me
I Will Love You
Wonderful Summer
Moon River
I Could Have Danced All Night
Why Don't You Believe Me
Winter's Here
For All We Know
Where The Blue of the Night (Meets the Gold of the Day)
Bobby
In His Car
Young Lovers After Midnight (with Dale Ward)
Crying For Laura (with Dale Ward)
Born Too Late (with Wink Martindale)
Hey Girl, Hey boy (with Wink Martindale)
Letter From Sherry (with Dale Ward)
I've Got A Girlfriend (with Dale Ward)
Lonely Marry Ann (with Dale Ward)
Oh Julie (with Dale Ward)
I'll Never Love Again (with Dale Ward)
One Last Kiss Cherie (with Dale Ward)
There's even a picture of the album cover, which has a picture of
Robin from the [barenaked] shoulders up, with close-cut pageboy
haircut with spitcurls, and sparkly dangly diamond earrings. Very
Klasssy, and Tasty too, with the moist glistening lipstick.
I know the first thirteen numbers from the Wonderful Summer CD,
but what about those duets?
Anyone?
jack
On 02/08/99 8:43 am Doc Rock wrote
The classic girl record that was speeded up was Robin Ward's
(real name Jackie) "Wonderful Summer." Since she was a
full-grown woman with a daughter (named Robin, btw), to make her
sound like a teen, her voice was speeded up
Doc
On 02/11/99 Paul Urbahns wrote
There're differences in the mix between the stereo album version
(commonly on reissues) and the hit 45 version. Hint. Listen to
the surf and when it enters.
Paul Urbahns
On 02/13/99 12:00 pm MFW wrote
Paul, would you happen to know where this song is available
in mono on CD? As far as I know, "Wonderful Summer" is out
on a half-dozen CDs, only in stereo.
On 05/16/99 WILLIAM STOS wrote
I recently listened to the Caravelles "You Are Here," and
finally put my finger on where I had heard that song
before, Robin Ward's "Winter's Here."
Jack Madani wrote
>Phil Crosby - Where The Blue Of The Night Meets the Gold
>Of The Day - Reprise (probably not as old as he sounds,
>but yep, it's Bing's tune, only a Jack Nitzsche-produced
>stomper version with a killer sax break - has to be Steve
>Douglas. Carole, I'd bet you were on this, from '63?)
>
Didn't Robin Ward do this number also?
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Message: 5
Date: Sat, 16 Sep 2000 10:11:34 -0400
From: Doc Rock
Subject: It's My Party
Here's what Fanita James told me about the hit of Lesley's:
"The follow-up to 'He's a Rebel' was supposed to be 'It's
My Party.' Darlene sang lead, it was to be released under
the Blossoms' name. We learned it and we were doing it
slow, we would drag it. But Phil never put it out! Then
here comes Lesley and, boy, was that a big record. Isn't
that something?"
Doc
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Message: 6
Date: Sat, 16 Sep 2000 09:47:08 -0500
From: Jeffrey Thames
Subject: Re: Jackie (?) Ward
At 08:29 AM 9/16/00 +0000, Michael Gessner wrote:
>A number of years ago, I heard a rock historian on Radio
>Luxembourg say that Jackie Ward did the original version
>of the Cascades "Rhythm of the Rain". I never read this
>anywhere else. Was it a demo? Does anyone have it? Any
>info?
Hey, Mike! There was a country singer in the 70's named
Jacky Ward (I believe that's the proper spelling) who
covered "Rhythm of the Rain" around 1978. Whether it was a
re-recording of a previous hit or demo is unknown to me.
Hope you can use this info!
Cheers,
Jeff
http://www.soundawake.com
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Message: 7
Date: Sat, 16 Sep 2000 10:19:13 EDT
From: Jim Crescitelli
Subject: The Orchids // Erect-A-Spectors
I too wish everyone in this field could hear those rare
Erect-A-Spectors... the Orchids' "Ooh Chang-A-Lang" comes
to mind as one of the best in my book: absolutely storming
and fantastic. They, of course, were the English Orchids; I
believe there is even a pic of them in an old issue of
Philately. Those mags, along with Alan Betrock's Rock
Marketplace and Phil Spector Appreciation Society
bulletins are invaluable for anyone interested in
girl-groups. Also... has anyone seen the new girl-group
book yet by John Clemente? I see it for sale on Amazon but
haven't gotten around to ordering it yet. I assume it's
ready to be released... ? They say something about a
September release.
Keep twisting,
Jim Crescitelli
THE ORCHIDS AT SPECTROPOP
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Message: 8
Date: Sat, 16 Sep 2000 11:00:45 -0700
From: "Bryan Thomas"
Subject: Cascades/Thundernotes query
I've never heard that Jackie Ward did the original version
of the Cascades' " Rhythm of the Rain," but to me it's
possible that the song was shopped around a bit by their
label Valiant. I'm sure that sort of thing happened a lot.
AMG's Cub Koda (R.I.P.) wrote, in the summer of 1962, that
when the Cascades were recording the song at Gold Star,
Spector happened to be in the studio at the same time and
asked them if they were recording a demo for Ricky Nelson!
I have another question, and maybe someone out there knows
the answer to this:
First, some background: John Gummoe wrote "Rhythm of the
Rain" while on watch one night during a thunderstorm while
aboard the U.S.S. Jason, which was stationed somewhere near
the Aleutians. After leaving the Navy, Gummoe, guitarist
Lenny Green and drummer Dave Wilson, continued to stay in
the San Diego area, and were joined by guitarist Eddie
Snyder, keyboardist Dave Zabo, and bassist Dave Stevens.
They began calling themselves the Thundernotes.....
Here's where it gets fuzzy: they may have recorded a
single (which is still unreleased) in April 1961 for
Del-Fi Records's Donna subsidiary; that 45, "Thunder
Rhythm" b/w "Payday," is possibly one of their very first
recordings...I know that both songs were written by a
"Leonard Elroy Green" (the guitarist)...they were published
by (though doubtfully still) the same New York-based
publishing company that ended up with much of the Del-Fi
catalog of songs (Golden World Unlimited), though 98% of
the GWU songs are now in public domain because the
copyrights weren't renewed.
I think that they then took their Del-Fi demos to Don
Blocker at Liberty, who referred them to Andy DiMartino,
who in turn secured a contract for them with Valiant
Records. Soon thereafter Green left the group, and the
remaining members changed their name to The Cascades,
(drawing their inspiration from a box of dishwashing
detergent).
Does anyone know -- or can anyone confirm -- if the Lenny
Green who wrote these songs is the same Lenny Green?; the
white label promo lists the band as the Thundernotes. I'd
be interested to find out if there's a connection....seems
like there is....
Bryan Thomas
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Message: 9
Date: Sat, 16 Sep 2000 12:12:15 -0700
From: Carol Kaye
Subject: "Rhythm Of The Rain", Perry Botkin arranger
Here's what Perry Botkin says about Jackie Ward and
"Rhythm Of The Rain" recording (we were together for dinner
last night and down to see the fine Lyle Ritz play jazz
ukulele locally, Chuck Berghofer came down as did Earl
Palmer too.....we're all buddies, and we were all
extremely happy to see Lyle who lives in Hawaii, but maybe
he'll be moving back to LA soon, would be terrific. Here's
what Perry said about that:
>>>>Tell this gentleman that Jackie had no connection to
"Rhythm of the Rain". The only connection between Jackie
Ward (Wonderful Summer") and the Cascades "Rhythm of the
Rain" is that I arranged both records.<<<
>From the horse's mouth.
Best,
Carol Kaye
http://www.carolkaye.com/
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