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Visit the THINGS ARE CHANGING page at SPECTROPOP!
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There are 7 messages in this issue of Spectropop.
Topics in this Digest Number 219:
1. PF Sloan / Sandy Salisbury
From: Brian Chidester
2. P.F. Sloan/Red Bird
From: "David Ponak"
3. Re: Two from Varese
From: "Donny Hampton"
4. The Sisters- Gee Baby Gee: Del-Fi Girl Groups
From: Steve Stanley
5. Re: Del-Fi's Sisters
From: bryan
6. Things Are Changing
From: Ben
7. More Things R Changing info
From: Mark Landwehr
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Message: 1
Date: Wed, 01 Aug 2001 12:17:16 EDT
From: Brian Chidester
Subject: PF Sloan / Sandy Salisbury
> The PF Sloan release looks really interesting.
It is worth getting. P.F.'s voice can be annoying
sometimes, but the songwriting is always enjoyable and
you get an interesting glimpse at this artist in
transition. Not that there is a mix of Fantastic Baggies
and Grass Roots demos or anything. I just mean that this
was the time he made the transition. Not an essential
disc, though. Sloan essentials, as far as I'm concerned,
include the Fantastic Baggies compilation on Sundazed,
the Rhino solo "Anthology" and the 2CD Grass Roots
"Anthology."
> I quite enjoy other songwriter "demo" releases that
> have come out these last few years - John Carter
> Denmark Street demos are wonderful and the Second Sandy
> Salisbury album, Falling to Pieces, despite the
> rudimentary production value, may be better than his
> actual studio album - the material is that strong.
That was a studio album? I thought that the Sandy
Salisbury disc "SANDY" was just a collection of 45
releases and some extra tracks? I never knew that it was
supposed to be an album. It wasn't released in 1969.
Did Sandy say that Curt had wanted to release an album,
but it never came out?
Whatever the case, I do agree that "Falling To Pieces" is
a much better listen than "SANDY."
Best,
Brian
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Message: 2
Date: Wed, 01 Aug 2001 12:45:58 -0400
From: "David Ponak"
Subject: P.F. Sloan/Red Bird
I highly reccomend the P.F. Sloan "Child Of Our Times"
demo collection. Though these are termed "demos," most
of the tracks are very much arranged and produced.
(Ala the Roger Nichols/Paul Williams demos from the
late 60's) It's great to hear the demos of familiar
songs such as "You Baby" and "Another Day, Another
Heartache," and there's many great songs I've never
heard before.
As for the Red Bird compilation, the sound quality is
quite good (much better than the UK 4 disc box), but
aside from that, I'm don't have the expertise to
dissect it. If you don't already have the tracks, it's
well worth having.
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Message: 3
Date: Wed, 01 Aug 2001 17:18:39 +0000
From: "Donny Hampton"
Subject: Re: Two from Varese
I agree that the Varese compilation is conservative.
The Taragon Red-Bird compilation of a few years back
covered much of the same territory, but it sold
practically zilch. Cary Mansfield at Varese wanted to
give the concept another chance. He felt it needed to
concentrate exclusively on girl group material in order
to be marketable. Hence, The Girl-Group Sound. I fear
Jamie has judged it a bit hastily, though. There are
some unique points of interest. The Dixie Cups' "Gee,
The Moon Is Shining Bright" is presented in its remixed
single version on CD for the first time I'm aware of.
Also, Roddie Joy's R & B charter "Come Back, Baby" is
included, as well as her cult hit "He's So Easy To Love."
None of the British compilations I know about have
Roddie Joy's Red-Bird tracks. Finally, there are two
hidden bonus selections by Ellie Greenwich and The
Jellybeans at the end of the CD, both previously
unissued in the United States. If it sounds like I'm
touting this release, I have to plead guilty. You see,
I wrote the liner notes! Wanna know the real story
about those seagulls on The Shangri-Las' "Remember
(Walkin' In The Sand)?" Buy it.
Don Charles
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Message: 4
Date: Wed, 01 Aug 2001 09:59:46 -0800
From: Steve Stanley
Subject: The Sisters- Gee Baby Gee: Del-Fi Girl Groups
> Subject: Del-Fi's Sisters
>
> Hey group, can anybody shed some light on this?? On the
> Del-Fi CD, there are several tracks by an Hispanic
> girl-group called the Sisters. The majority of their
> vocals were done in a pleasant 3-part harmony unison. But,
> they had 1 BEAUTIFUL unreleased tune called "His Name Was
> John". Actually, only 1 of the girls is singing (there
> are no background vocals at all). Does anybody know
> which member is singing that great song? Was it Ersi
> Arvisu who later went on to sing for a spell with El
> Chicano (I've never heard their material, but in a book,
> I did see a photo of her performing with them at the
> Apollo in NYC). And can anybody tell me what the members
> of the Sisters are doing now?
>
> Tony Leong
Hi Tony,
I'm the guy that wrote the liner notes for "Gee Baby Gee:
Del-Fi Girl Groups" and unfortunately, we weren't able to
locate Ersi or any of the other Sisters. At last I heard,
she lived in Arizona.
The previously unreleased "His Name Was John" is a
perfect example of the unexpected thrill that can be
found working on reissues. You just never know what pops
up on tapes as you research for a project. I couldn't
believe how cool that track was when I heard it.
Fortunately, "Gee Baby Gee" compiles all of their known
studio output.
The next reissue from the vaults is the long awaited
"Tripping on the Sunset Strip." This release comprises
mid-sixties (mostly pre-psychedelic) Mustang Records
sides, including a previously-unreleased-on-CD Bobby
Fuller production. Basically the last stuff Bob Keane
worked on before folding Stereo-Fi in 1968.
On another subject, has anyone seen the new Evie Sands
"Anyway that You Want Me" Japanese CD reissue around?
Steve Stanley
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Message: 5
Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001 23:03:51 -0700
From: bryan
Subject: Re: Del-Fi's Sisters
I've actually written to Tony Leong off-list, but thought
some other folks on this list may like to read about
Del-Fi's group The Sisters. Steve Stanley, who I believe
is also on this list, wrote the liner notes and was the
person hugely responsible for Del-Fi's Gee Baby Gee
compilation coming out in the first place. Steve and I
used to work at Del-Fi.
Below I've pasted into text a rough draft of the chapter
on The Sisters, written by Bob Keane for his book The
Oracle Of Del-Fi: The Bob Keane Story, which he's still
working on (and I hear he's doing a complete overhaul, so
this rough draft may be substantially different when it
comes out).
Bryan
THE SISTERS
Del-Fi 4300 "All Grown Up"/ "Gee Baby Gee" September 1964
Del-Fi 4302 "Happy New Year Baby"/ "Ooh Poo Pa Doo" December 1964
Del-Fi 4306 "For Sentimental Reasons"/ "Wait Till My Baby Comes Home"
September 1965
Unreleased "His Name Was John" September 1965
Although we had many Latin groups on our labels in the
early 60s, I signed only one Latin rock 'n roll Girl
Group.
The Sisters were an all-Chicano girl group, and had been
discovered by producer Billy Cardenas, my contact man on
the East Side. They were sisters - Rosella, Ersi and Mary
Arvizu - and had been raised in a musical family and
encouraged to sing by their parents. They grew up adoring
the music of Mexico: mariachis, rancheras, and boleros.
By their high school years, like many other American
teenagers, they were ultimately consumed by the
exhilarating sound of rock 'n roll, especially recordings
by girl groups. Using Motown's Supremes as their main
source of inspiration, the Sisters wore matching outfits
(designed by their aunt) and performed meticulously
choreographed routines (primarily developed by fourteen
year old Ersi).
The Sisters are perhaps best known for their version of
"Gee Baby Gee," which, in my opinion, was far and above
superior to The Dixie Cups (who had recorded the song
first), The Butterflies and countless other girl bands of
the day who also took a stab at this blissful little
shuffle.
Cardenas - once interviewed about the Sisters - recalled
there was something special about the Sisters version:
"I heard that song on the Dixie Cups album, and I knew
the girls could do a great job with it. I took the group
to Bob and he liked them so much that he booked time at
Gold Star Studios. That's where we cut "Gee Baby, Gee."
So good, in fact, was their version of "Gee Baby Gee"
that KRLA DJ Charlie O'Donnel soon caught the Sisters bug
and made it a "Pick Hit."
Unfortunately the action was short lived as Cardenas
recalls:
"By this point, I had left my production job at Rampart
Records where I had some hits and made a name for myself.
My business partner there, Ed Davis, thought that I was
taking my sound to another label (Del-Fi) and was very
mad about this. Because he was a close friend of (KRLA
Program Director) Dick Moreland, he made sure we got off
the air. He had the record killed on radio."
The Sisters version of "Gee Baby Gee," however, did enjoy
mild success in East LA where my old friend DJ Dick
"Huggy Boy" Hugg also took a liking to the cut and played
it on his late night radio show at KRLA, his new home.
The recording session was a fascinating scene. We brought
a full orchestra onboard including a very young Arthur
Lee and Johnny Echols, both later from the seminal,
psychedelic L.A. rock band, Love. "Gee Baby's" flipside,
"All Grown Up," was a superb Spector/Greenwich/Barry
composition that had been performed by the classic
Crystals on Spector's Philles label.
Three months later, we released the Sisters' second
single: "Ooh Poo Pah Doo," written by Jessie Hill, which
revealed a raw, R&B soulful side of the girls that seemed
well beyond their teenage years. According to Cardenas,
Ersi was on lead vocals for this song, which was unusual
considering that Rosella was the main lead vocalist. This
side seemed like a winner to me but it never got a chance
on radio, because three Latin girls singing R&B was just
too new for L.A.'s R&B radio audience. Besides, they were
Latin and not black, and urban radio wouldn't give them a
shot.
"Ooh Poo Pah's" b-side, "Happy New Year, Baby," was
written by Paul Politi who, you'll recall, also wrote the
Little Caesar & the Romans top ten hit "Those Oldies But
Goodies (Reminds Me of You)," and some stuff for
Valentino & the Lovers, as well as hits with Barry White.
Their next single was the Sam Cooke hit, "I Love You (For
Sentimental Reasons)" b/w "Wait 'Till My Bobby Gets Home"
(another Spector/Barry/Greenwich tune and a #26 Billboard
hit in 1963 for the one and only Darlene Love).
This was in fact, the very last release on the Del-Fi
Records label October 1965. By this time, I had
completely switched over to putting out singles on my
newly-formed Stereo-Fi Corp labels, Mustang, and Bronco.
Erci's musical career certainly didn't end along with the
"last Del-Fi release." She went on to fame as a member of
the Latino rock act El Chicano, who scored a #28
Billboard hit in the Spring of 1970 with the ultimate
low-rider instrumental, "Viva Tirado."
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Message: 6
Date: Wed, 01 Aug 2001 18:29:11 EDT
From: Ben
Subject: Things Are Changing
"Things are Changing (for the better) " was originally
written as "Don't Hurt My Little Sister" by Brian
Wilson, but Spector passed on using it for the
Ronettes, who Brian wrote it for, and instead recorded
it with new lyrics under this title, and it was used
for a public service announcement/ad .
Ben
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Message: 7
Date: Wed, 01 Aug 2001 07:43:56 -0400
From: Mark Landwehr
Subject: More Things R Changing info
> Does anyone have any info on a Supremes song called
> "Things Are Changing" written by Phil Spector? It sounds
> very much like he produced it, but did he? Anyone know
> what year that was recorded? The Supremes also did a
> version of "River Deep, Mountain High" which I don't think
> he showed up for.
>
> Skip
The original instrumental track was completed in March,
1965, quite a bit before the EEOC recordings were put
together...For a look at all 3 EEOC labels & the sleeves
for the Blossoms & the Supremes releases, check my website.
Mark Landwehr
Phil Spector Record Label Gallery (updated) @
http://home.tbbs.net/~msland/Spector
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