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Vocal With Instrumental Accompaniment
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There are 7 messages in this issue of Spectropop.
Topics in this Digest Number 86:
1. Various LPs (mostly Bacharach stuff)
From: "Tobias Bernsand"
2. Gale Noble of The Darlettes
From: Geri & John Clemente
3. Keith Barbour
From: Mullins Geoff
4. Phil Spector Sound-a-likes
From: "Paul Urbahns"
5. Re: lawsuits - rights - credits
From: "mikey1"
6. More on artist rights and the Beach Boys
From: Jamie LePage
7. Playlist "Casa Nostra" 1.5.01
From: "James Botticelli"
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Message: 1
Date: Mon, 08 Jan 01 21:08:32 +0900
From: "Tobias Bernsand"
Subject: Various LPs (mostly Bacharach stuff)
Some LPs I've picked up over the latest couple of months
but haven't had the time to post about:
*Aimi MacDonald and Ronnie Carroll: Promises, Promises
1969
This is not the offical Bacharach-David soundtrack but
mainly the above two people covering the soundtrack...
listened briefly to it, and it looks like it features an
English cast from a London theatre....BUT, it doesn't
include "Wanting Things" for some reason...I have never
been able to find a copy of the original Broadway
soundtrack, if such an LP exists, so I'd love if
somebody could make a CDR of it for me [no tape - my
cassette decks are both broken]. How can you resist this
young puppy's request? :-)
*Anita Kerr Singers: Reflect On The Hits Of Burt
Bacharach & Hal David
Of all the Bacharach tributes, this is among the better
ones. The question which needs to be asked is how many
versions of "Walk On By" do we need? More, if you ask me
:-) No, but this LP contains a couple of Bacharach songs
which are usually not covered: Are You There With
Another Girl, In Between The Heartaches and Whoever You
Are, I Love You.
*Billy Vaughn Singers: Up, Up & Away
Contains "Up, Up And Away" and "Cherish"...I wouldn't
say they're the best versions I've heard.
*Burt Bacharach: Woman 1979
I already had a tape copy of it, but the artwork is
pretty cool so I had to buy the album...which was very
cheap, thankfully. I like it better than Burt's other
solo album in the late seventies (Futures), but some
tracks have a sort of orchestral fusion feel --- if
there's one thing I can't stand, it's fusion :-)
*Dionne Warwick: I'll Never Fall In Love Again
This record is great because it contains three unknown
(to me atleast) Bacharach&David songs: The Wine Is Young,
Loneliness Rembers What Happiness Forgets and Let Me Go
To Him. I like Dionne's B&D albums from early Seventies
the best. B&D's songs from this era are more moody and
less upbeat than in the hit years.
[BTW, why no April Fools or Another Night on the
Bacharach box? Has anyone except for Dionne recorded
Another Night?]
*Johnny Mann Singers: We Can Fly! Up-Up And Away
A group which should not to be confused with The Johnny
*Marr* Singers :-) The music is not too bad at all -
fine covers of songs like Up-Up And Away, Go Where You
Wanna Go, Monda Monday and....Yellow Balloon! The
highlight is the soft pop version of Gershwin's "I've
Got Rhythm", which is like ten times better than
anything by, say, The Mamas & Papas. I like this record
a lot, who were Johnny Mann and his singers?
*Nick De Caro & Orchestra: Happy Heart
Features a cover of Caroline No....which is one of the
few highlights on the album. He's probably a great
arranger, but I don't care much for the other song
selections.
*Randy Newman: Little Criminals 1977
I've always wanted to own a record with a song called
"Sigmund Freud's Impersonation Of Albert Einstein In
America", so that was the reason to buy this one.
*Stephanie Mills: For The First Time 1975
...featuring 10 obscure Bacharach & David songs. They
aren't very good, BTW. They're as inventive as always,
but they don't have the energy or inspiration of the
team's 1960-73 songs. Some of the songs are even dull,
and the production has that numb cocaine feel that so
many mid/late-Seventies records have.
*Steve Douglas: Reflections In A Golden Horn 1969
I couldn't resist buying this one...it's Brian and
Phil's favorite sax player, doing instrumental covers of
Good Vibrations, God Only Knows, Caroline No, This Guy's
In Love With You, etc...backed up by people like Hal
Blaine and Larry Knechtel! As for the actual music, it's
...eh.....hmmmmm...uh.....it's *fun*.
*Sunset Festival Orchestra: Non-Stop Bacharach 1971
*Tony Dillon Orchestra and Singers: The Greatest Hit
Songs of Burt Bacharach
...both of which don't turn out to feature the greatest
cover versions of Burt Bacharach. Maybe the world
*doesn't* need yet another Burt Bacharach covers album,
at least not one like these. There's nothing wrong with
the arrangements or vocals, but it's kind of boring that
the million Bacharach covers LPs found at every record
fair feature the same songs...
Tobias
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Message: 2
Date: Mon, 08 Jan 2001 22:18:42 -0500
From: Geri & John Clemente
Subject: Gale Noble of The Darlettes
Hello,
I am saddened to report the death of Gale Noble, one
of the original Darlettes, who recorded one of Ellie
Greenwich's tough talking anthem's "Here She Comes"
for Dunes Records in 1963. Gale, Shirley Crier and
lead singer Dianne Christian formed the group in The
Bronx in 1961.
Although The Darlettes never garnered national
attention, they made a local splash in their native
New York. Originally called The Rosettes, they
recorded one single for Herald Records before
changing their name to The Darlettes. They recorded
two singles for Dunes, the most popular song being
"Here She Comes", the tune that heralded the warning
"gonna put her through the wall", forming the
blueprint for other rowdy girls' songs like Blondie's
"Rip Her To Shreads". After the breakup of The
Darlettes, Shirley got married. Dianne and Gale
continued with solo careers. Gale was featured as
one of the promising new soloists for 1968 in Cash
Box. Unfortunately, she never followed up on her
initial success and exited the music business. Gale
recounted her days as a Darlette with fondness when I
interviewed her for "Girl Groups" in 1996, surprised
that anyone remembered the group. I am sorry to say
that although we spoke on the telephone many times,
we never had the chance to meet in person. She gave
me a beautiful publicity shot of her as a soloist
that, unfortunately, did not make it into the book.
I am happy that I was able to document Gale's
contribution to pop music.
Bless you, Gale!
John Clemente
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Message: 3
Date: Mon, 08 Jan 2001 21:33:50 +1100
From: Mullins Geoff
Subject: Keith Barbour
Dear members:
Can anyone provide some info on Keith Barbour.
I have always liked his track "Echo Park' and know that
he recorded some singles for Epic, Barnaby and Private
Stock in the late 60's/early 70's.
Anything else would be appreciated.
Geoff Mullins
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Message: 4
Date: Sun, 07 Jan 2001 11:37:54 EST
From: "Paul Urbahns"
Subject: Phil Spector Sound-a-likes
The true definition of a sound-a-like is a record
which sounds like another. Some of these have become
hits over the years like Terry Stafford's Suspicion
sounds like Elvis.
But ever since records have been made there have been
sound-alikes made of the Top Hits of the day and sold
at discount prices.
For over thirty years I have been seriously collecting
Hit Records from Nashville TN which sold their
sound-a-likes of the current pop and country hits from
1962 to 1972. There isn't hardly a top 20 song they
didn't make a sound-a-like of including these Phil
Spector songs:
He's A Rebel by The Gleams
Da Doo Ron Ron by Alpha Zoe
Then He Kissed Me by The Dacrons
Second Hand Love by Connie Dee (actually Connie Landers)
Be My Baby by The Georgettes
You've Lost That Lovin'Feeling by Wayne Harris
(actually Bobby Russell)
All the Spector songs were recorded in stereo
(something Phil didn't do). The names of the groups
were made up because they were Nashville's best session
singers and musicians involved. the recordings were all
made at the time the original version was climbing the
charts and sold in places like drug stores, discount
stores, hardware etc. To people who liked the songs but
never stepped into a record store. In the early 60s a
record store was about the only place to buy a record.
What a concept!
So you don't have a complete Spector collection without
the sound-a-likes.
Paul Urbahns
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Message: 5
Date: Sun, 07 Jan 2001 09:42:15 -0500
From: "mikey1"
Subject: Re: lawsuits - rights - credits
>From: "Andrew Hickey"
> The second is that these recordings will *not* be
> 'indefinitely unavailable' - international copyright
> law as it currently stands means that the copyright to
> a recording only lasts 50 years - Elvis' recordings
> will start going out of copyright in 2004, the Beach
> Boys' in 2011, the Beatles' in 2012, and so on,
hmmm...if this is true, how is it that MCA (Decca)
still owns Bing Crosbys "White Christmas", which was
issued in 1942? It would seem that the copyright would
have expired in 1992. Perhaps copyrights are
renewable under some cirumstances?
Mike
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Message: 6
Date: Mon, 08 Jan 01 21:08:48 +0900
From: Jamie LePage
Subject: More on artist rights and the Beach Boys
Hello Andrew,
First of all, I think we are on the same page here, and
thank you for your informed and considered comments
which I found most interesting.
Andrew Hickey wrote:
>whether it is convenient for us or not, the artists
>should have the right over their own material.
Sure, ideally artists should have rights over their
creations. But typically they don't. Consider it a
necessary evil of art meeting commerce. For some
reason, we tend to think recording artists should
have some intangible right to their performances,
yet we don't believe the same of an actor in a film.
An "artist" often involves a number of people, who
sometimes fall out - who is the "artist" then? (Imagine
David Marks saying "OK, I am never going to approve
further use of MY rights in the Beach Boys records".) So
just as a group must protect ownership of their
intellectual property, the owner of the recordings must
likewise protect its right to market their recordings.
That's what the contracts are for. And if the rights
become blurred, sales of records are suspended until the
dispute is settled. The idealistic concept that artists
should have rights over their work simply doesn't factor
in this practical necessity.
If an artist pays for and makes their own recordings,
they certainly should have the rights over their
material, and in fact they do. They always have. Is that
not what Dave Clark, Apple, Brother, Bizarre etc. did?
Isn't that what the Stealth Munchkins is about?
Here's something to think about - when ARTISTS start
their own label, guess what kind of agreement they
offer to the artists THEY sign?
Brian's latest album is like that. It's his baby - he
happens to be the artist too. But if Brian (as the
owner) wants to license a track to Disney, do you
think Foskett should have the right to stop him by
claiming Brian doesn't own the master? The answer can
only be yes if that was the original agreement. As
stipulated in the contract. So yes, it would be ideal
if artists always owned their own work, though I'm
not convinced it's practical.
>...the recent change in US law to make recordings now
>count as 'works for hire', thus making the record company
>rather than the artist the legal author of the recording,
>and *any* move towards the rights of the artists as
>opposed to the record companies is, IMHO, to be welcomed.
The law you mention and the opposition to it is an
interesting issue, and it makes me wonder why anyone
even considers an artist deal where the label owns the
recordings. If you sell enough Stealth Munchkin records
on your website to attract interest from a label, you
might negotiate a straight license deal, or a P&D deal,
or maybe a joint venture. But say you can only sing
and dance a little but don't have a clue about song
writing, musicianship, arrangement, production,
manufacturing, management, touring, publicity, promotion,
marketing, business affairs or accounting. Or maybe
the front money is too good to pass up. Or maybe
you are just sick of stuffing your CDs in envelopes and
cashing $12.00 checks. Just maybe that artist deal is
worth considering after all. It must be. After all,
artists still sign 'em even today - AND with the advice
of experienced attorneys.
But thankfully now the internet has provided an
alternative to artists that don't want to record for a
label. Brian's using it. So is Jeffrey Foskett. So are
you. That's what Deck and Surf's Up intend to do, too,
and it's encouraging to fans like me to see dot-com
ventures by the self-contained indies doing well.
>These recordings will *not* be 'indefinitely unavailable'
>- international copyright law as it currently stands
>means that the copyright to a recording only lasts 50
>years.
You are absolutely right.. I should say.'indefinitely
unavailable' until expiry of copyright. I wrote
"indefinitely" rather than "permanently" for that
very reason but decided to leave the issue out of the
discussion because, after all, once recordings are in the
public domain, the whole question of ownership rights
and use of intellectual property without authority
becomes a non-issue.
But since you brought this subject up, I believe even
after recordings fall out of copyright the original
owners (or their successors) will continue to sell the
recordings as they did when copyright was still in
effect. We see that happening already. Their challenge
will be to improve the quality, or give added value with
informative liner notes, interviews, photos, unreleased
bonus tracks, etc. That certainly is what Warner did
with their cartoons that fell out of copyright. So there
may be a sub-market of stuff mastered from PD analog
copies while the majors continue marketing new,
copyrighted, enhanced versions.
Before Japan changed its copyright term from 20 to 50
years, for a time Elvis, Beatles and Stones recordings
were in the public domain. Yet, BMG, Toshiba and Polydor
never stopped marketing their official versions, and it
goes without saying they continued to pay the designated
royalty to their respective licensors (who theoretically
continued to pay the artists). I've got a few CD comps
>from Universal US comprised of Decca recordings that are
already in the public domain (Bing Crosby's White
Christmas for one). I don't think the owners will be
dissuaded from continuing to market their recordings and
paying the stipulated royalty.
But let's return to the point - the allegation that Deck
do not have the rights to the early Beach Boys recordings
and the expressed indignation of those who would use
without authority intellectual property belonging to
others.
>In fact, [if the BBs regain control of this music], this
>would make it very much in Mike Love's interests...to
>allow a well-annotated, well packaged issue of these
>recordings in the best possible quality.
Isn't that what we all expect the currently disputed Hite
Morgan set to be? But you're right about Mikey's interests
- that's what the suit is all about. The ironic thing is,
if they were to somehow get the rights and release it
themselves, guess who would be hired to do the liner
notes!!!
>Having said all this, I must reiterate that I suspect
>Brad is an entirely innocent party caught in the
>crossfire here, and I hope he does not suffer from this
>lawsuit...
As I said I believe we are on the same page here, and
regardless of any differing opinions, your comments are
most appreciated, Andrew.
Jamie
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Message: 7
Date: Sun, 07 Jan 2001 16:41:38 EST
From: "James Botticelli"
Subject: Playlist "Casa Nostra" 1.5.01
"Casa Nostra" airs on 88.1FM WMBR Cambridge MA @ MIT
>from Midnight-2 Fridays "Casa Nostra" plays loungecore,
breakbeat, e-z house, softpop & exotica from Space
Age to Bass Age "Casa Nostra" is hosted and produced by
James Botticelli (THANX FOR READING)
Cecil Holmes Soulful Sounds-2001
Les Gammas-Service Mr. Bond
Hugo Montenegro-The Shark (from Lady In Cement)
Lego-Contemplation
Stacy Kidd-Jazzy Dayz (Chicago House track)
Ted Heath-Johnny One-Note
Russ Garcia Orchestra-Lost Souls On Saturn
Cubismo Grafico-Salon Sunday
Mohawks-Soul Organ
Jacknife Lee-Sweet Potato
Brass Impact-On My Mind
Nicola Conte-Il Cerchio Rosso
Senor Coconut-Trans Europe Express
Chim Kothari-Downtown
Losfeld-20,000 Records
Men From The Nile-Watch Them Come
Neal Hefti-Here's To My Lover
(from How To Murder Your Wife)
Tipsy-Hard Petting
(version that uses Sally Go Round The Roses as sample)
The Match-Through Spray Colored Glasses
Piero Piccioni-O Rugido Do Leao (remix)
Sunny Face-late At Night
Bobby Byrne-Barbarella
Natural Calamity-That's Saying A Lot
Wei Chi-Heaven
Wondermints-Don't Go Breaking My Heart
Can 7-Cruisin' (thanks Br Cleve)
Dells-One Less Bell To Answer
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
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