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"New Orthophonic" High Fidelity
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There are 9 messages in this issue of Spectropop.
Topics in this Digest Number 164:
1. Re: Long Live The Shangri-Las!
From: "Tony Leong"
2. Re: Hal Blaine
From: Jared Martine
3. Hall of Fame
From: Will George
4. Re: Nino and April
From: Carol Kaye
5. nino and april and bagpipes
From: Alan Zweig
6. RE: Nino & April's All Strung Out
From: Alan Miller
7. Nino & April
From: "Ian Chapman"
8. Re: Nino & April's All Strung Out
From: Ron
9. Nino & April's All Strung Out
From: Doc Rock
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Message: 1
Date: Thu, 10 May 2001 03:14:06 -0000
From: "Tony Leong"
Subject: Re: Long Live The Shangri-Las!
Ron Buono wrote:
> I also was lucky enough to see the Brill
> Building doc last week. I loved the studio shots of the
> Shangs, not to mention the rare demos played throughout.
> The two-second clip of the Shangs singing "Out in the
> Streets" (on Shindig, I think) was a cruel
> teaser.....I want MORE!
>
> During the all-too-short interview with Mary Weiss, she
> mentioned that she was able to convey all that emotion
> due to the pain she was in at that time. Mary, WHAT DID
> YOU MEAN by that comment? If you are a Spectropop
> reader, can you elaborate?
Hello Ron, yes, that 2 sec. clip of the Shangs (3 of them)
was from an April'65 Shindig where "Out In The Streets"
was the "Pick Hit". How 'bout the snippet of the
interview on Lloyd Thaxton when Mary taps him on the head
and Margie gives him that look like "Whaddya talkin'
about???". I would've preferred to see the part of that
appearance where at the start of the music for "Give Him.."
the three girls turn and do a mean shake!! As for that
"pain" Mary conveyed in those songs, it was either her
adolescent emotions coming through, or the well reported
disdain that the girls had for some of the songs they had
to record. Didn't they (esp. Mary and Betty) have
screaming fights with Ellie over recording "Leader"??.
(Let me stop, I sound like a gossip now!!!). But that
emotion is what MADE those songs classic. Just listen to
how Mary's voice cracks during "Dressed In Black" as she
sings during the second chorus after the monologue
".....I long to feel HIS lips on miiiiine...." Then on "I
Can Never, ...She grew so lonely in the end, angels
picked huh for their friend.....and that's cawlled, saaad.."
If I had to sing those songs, I'd scream and plead and
cry too!!!
Tony Leong
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Message: 2
Date: Thu, 10 May 2001 14:53:45 -0700 (PDT)
From: Jared Martine
Subject: Re: Hal Blaine
Donny Hampton wrote:
> Hal Blaine was interviewed by Terri Gross on the
> radio show "Fresh Air" today. Very interesting.
<>
This interview is mounted on NPR's website.
Go to www.npr.org Search for Hal Blaine and
you will find three articles. For the recent
piece, click on "Listen to segment".
Jared
[ http://freshair.npr.org/dayFA.cfm?display=day&todayDate=05%2F09%2F2001
]
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Message: 3
Date: Thu, 10 May 2001 09:41:48 EDT
From: Will George
Subject: Hall of Fame
spectropop writes:
> Hal Blaine, by the way, is in the Rock and Roll Hall of
> Fame.
>
> Guess who ain't! A crime, isn't it?
Jackie DeShannon isn't in there either, and she should
be. There are lots of great artists who haven't been
inducted or nominated.
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Message: 4
Date: Thu, 10 May 2001 10:28:47 -0700
From: Carol Kaye
Subject: Re: Nino and April
> Deep Purple
> I'm Confessing That I Love You
> Stardust
> Whispering
Yes, we did all those at Gold Star -- and loved doing
them, the arrangements and style were something we could
live with (being jazz musicians who played those
seriously before that time). Loved working for Nino who
wanted to do those songs...
> Nino Tempo & April Stevens' All Strung Out single.
They were great to work for, Nino being a pretty fair jazz
sax man too, good brother and sister team....music was fun
to cut.
Carol Kaye
http://www.carolkaye.com/
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Message: 5
Date: Thu, 10 May 2001 14:43:02 -0400
From: Alan Zweig
Subject: nino and april and bagpipes
Steven Prazak wrote:
>I'm completely over the moon about Nino Tempo & April
>Stevens' All Strung Out single. One of my fave 45s ever!
>But how's the accompanying White Whale album which I
>believe has seen a CD re-ish recently
I can't answer that but I must comment on another cut by
Nino and April. The record is, I think, on Atco. The
tune is "I love how you love me". It starts off with
these heavy bagpipes which eventually fade out and then
return. But they totally work! I can't think of another
pop tune which incorporates bagpipes so well. Not that I
wish they'd started a trend or anything. But it was a
brilliant touch.
Destined to go on every pop compilation I make for years
to come.
AZ
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Message: 6
Date: Thu, 10 May 2001 17:40:17 -0400
From: Alan Miller
Subject: RE: Nino & April's All Strung Out
>I'm completely over the moon about Nino Tempo & April
>Stevens' All Strung Out single. One of my fave 45s ever!
>But how's the accompanying White Whale album which I
>believe has seen a CD re-ish recently. As good as the
>single or is it loaded with fillers?
I would say on the whole the album is good. if you like
the "all strung out" title you are bound to like the
similarly Spector-ish "i can't go on living (without you
baby)" (which in my opinion is better than all strung out)
and "wings of love".
Personally the stand-out tracks for me would be "you'll
be needing me" a swingin', hand clappin' piece of lost
A&M-esque soft pop and the strange Bobbie Gentry with a
twist of James Brown shuffler "Little Child". There is
also a fairly good version of Lyme & Cybelle's '65 minor
hit "follow me", a slightly disturbing "sunny" and a
rousing version of "bye, bye blues".
There are a few run-of-the-mill folk tracks that aren't
really worth mentioning but on the whole the album is
worth picking up for the good stuff that is on it. If
the price is reasonable.
Thats my view anyway.
Hush.
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Message: 7
Date: Fri, 11 May 2001 00:19:55 +0100
From: "Ian Chapman"
Subject: Nino & April
Steven Prazak said:
> I'm completely over the moon about Nino Tempo & April
> Stevens' All Strung Out single. One of my fave 45s ever!
> But how's the accompanying White Whale album which I
> believe has seen a CD re-ish recently. As good as the
> single or is it loaded with fillers? Any comments from
> the Spectropop masses?
Someone once described "All Strung Out" to me as "Phil
Spector meets the Mamas & Papas", which I think is a
pretty good observation. Steven, the album also has
another masterpiece in "The Habit Of Lovin' You Baby",
which is pretty much "All Strung Out" Pt 2, and was also
a 45. Nothing else on the album comes close to these two
cuts, but I wouldn't necessarily call the rest filler - a
particular fave of mine is their hand-clapping swinger
"You'll Be Needing Me Baby", the Dave Gates' song which
some may know by the Lettermen.
and Lindsay.....
> Does anyone else here share my weakness for these tracks?
>
> Deep Purple
> I'm Confessing That I Love You
> Stardust
> Whispering
I love all those tracks! And let's not forget "I Love
How You Love Me" (complete with bagpipes!), "Coldest
Night Of The Year" ("OK?" "Why not?"), Nino's "Boys' Town",
April's "Wanting You" and "Teach Me Tiger". No doubt
about it, they were one class act!!
Ian
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Message: 8
Date: Thu, 10 May 2001 10:53:05 EDT
From: Ron
Subject: Re: Nino & April's All Strung Out
Steven Prazak wrote:
> I'm completely over the moon about Nino Tempo & April
> Stevens' All Strung Out single. One of my fave 45s ever!
> But how's the accompanying White Whale album which I
> believe has seen a CD re-ish recently. As good as the
> single or is it loaded with fillers? Any comments from
> the Spectropop masses?
I am a big fan of April and Nino. The "All Strung Out"
album has long been a favorite. I feel it has very
little filler. "All Strung Out", "You'll Be Needing Me"
(David Gates, I believe) and "Follow Me" (Warron Zevon,
I believe) are the standouts to me. They even dip into
the standards with a similar arrangement to their Atco
hits with "Bye Bye Blues". I enjoyed then from the
time "Sweet and Lovely" was released. The bagpipes on
their Atco version of "I Love How You Love Me" were a
little over the top, but I still like it.
By the way, there are good reviews of the "All Strung
Out" CD on Amazon.com, along with some sound bites.
http://www.amazon.com
Ron
(who is still waiting for an answer to his query about
a songwriter named Craig Smith and his song "Holly" on
the Andy Williams "Love, Andy" album. What else did he
write? Was that an Andy Williams original? Was Craig
a performer? etc.)
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Message: 9
Date: Thu, 10 May 2001 10:30:04 -0400
From: Doc Rock
Subject: Nino & April's All Strung Out
Here is my review that appeared in Discoveries Magazine
in 1996 (I believe) of a Nino and April CD. Is this the
one you are thinking of? "All Strung Out" was track 13.
Doc
NINO TEMPO AND APRIL STEVENS
Sweet and Lovely the Best of Nino Tempo and April Stevens
Varese Sarabande VSD-5592
This duo was one the best sister-brother acts of the rock
and roll era. It's a shame that they are largely
forgotten today, for their music has something to offer
almost everybody. Nino plays a hot sax and sports a
perfect falsetto. April (real name Carol LoTempio) sings
sweet and sexy. While their music is definitely rock and
roll ("Deep Purple" won the Grammy for Best Rock Record
in 1963), they have a strong pop appeal. Virtually all of
their material harks back to the Big Band era (and before).
Nino played with the Glenn Miller orchestra and April
sang with Benny Goodman briefly. Later, Nino also played
sax, piano, drum, and/or guitar on most of Phil Spector's
Girl Group records. Some of their songs verged on being
novelty tunes. And their Wall-of-Sound overdubbed
harmonies with backgrounds by the Blossoms and Darlene
Love lend their music a Doo Wop/Girl Group appeal that
took them clear to #1 in 1963. Few artists straddled as
many musical styles as these two!
The song selection on the CD is quite good. The earliest
recording is April's solo hit from 1959, "Teach Me, Tiger."
It sounds as if she is imitating Marilyn Monroe. In
reality, this recording is based on a popular TV ad of
the time for hair cream. In the ad, a pre-Get Smart
Barbara Feldon rolled around on a tiger rug and growled,
"Hi, Tiger!" to the camera.
The rest of the CD skips their other solo hits and misses,
and picks up in 1962 when the two teamed up. They had six
Hot 100 records between 1962 and 1967, and all six are
included. Of their eight songs that bubbled under the top
100, one is included. The remaining 10 tracks are LP cuts,
one unreleased recording from 1985, and one new 1996
recording. The 1985 cut, "I'm Fallin' For You," is
uncharacteristically country, with Nino yodeling, and the
1996 track, "Why Don't You Do Right," updates another
pre-rock tune.
Updating pre-rock tunes was the foundation of the
Tempo-Stevens repertoire, with "Deep Purple," "Whispering,"
"Stardust," "I'm Confessin'," and more coming from the
'20s and '30s. Occasionally, Nino and April remade rock
and roll songs, such as Bruce Channel's "Hey Baby," not
on the CD unfortunately, and the Paris Sisters' "I Love
How You Love Me," which fortunately is on the CD. This
last cut has to be heard to be believed! The Paris
Sisters' barely breathed the song; Nino and April belt it
out, complete with bagpipes and electric guitar! Hey, it
worked for me when I bought the single in 1965, and it's
even greater in stereo CD sound.
Speaking of stereo, there are a few anomalies on this CD.
"Deep Purple" and "Sweet and Lovely" were both in stereo
on the original LP, but here they are inexplicably in
monaural sound. And "Stardust," one of their best sides,
is not the 45 version.
Speaking of 45s, I was disappointed that some good ones,
including "I Surrender Dear," ""Our Love," "My Old Flame,"
"Sea of Love/Dock of the Bay (medley)," and "No Hair Sam"
(a great answer record to Charlie Rich's "Mohair Sam")
weren't included. Maybe there'll be a volume two?
And finally, it's long been rumored that Phil Spector
produced "Deep Purple," but could not be credited for
legal reasons. The CD liner notes are very informative
and have lots of quotes from the duo. But they do nothing
to clear up the rumor. In fact, the liners muddy the
issue. In the paragraph that describes the recording of
"Deep Purple," Spector is mentioned, but not as a
participant. Hasn't the statute of limitations run out on
that thing yet?
These are small points. The CD, of course, sounds great,
and the Tempo-Stevens duo never disappoints.
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