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The Greatest Recording Organization in the World
There are 7 messages in this issue of Spectropop.
Topics in this Digest Number 402:
1. Buchanan/Miller/Ervin
From: "Alan Warner"
2. Tokens, Jeff Glenn
From: Bob Rashkow
3. Re: Merseybeats USA/UK
From: Stewart Mason
4. Re: Grass Roots
From: Will George
5. Re: Grass Roots
From: "Justin McDevitt"
6. The Golden Gate / Year One LP
From: Leonardo
7. Re: Bobby Vee
From: "Randy M. Kosht"
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Message: 1
Date: Sun, 03 Mar 2002 02:14:11 -0800
From: "Alan Warner"
Subject: Buchanan/Miller/Ervin
Re: David Young's message of 2/26 referring to covers of
Phil Spector productions, he notes that the writers of HEY
THERE MOUNTAIN, namely "B. Buchanan, H. Miller & D. Ervin"
were note 'Brill staples', but I think it worth pointing
out that they were important musical figures in their own
right.
Specifically, Bill Buchanan was the 'Buchanan' of Buchanan
& Goodman fame and as a writer, co-authored Bobby Vee's
1962 hit PLEASE DON'T ASK ABOUT BARBARA with Aldon staff
writer, Jack Keller.
Helen Miller was another regular in the Don Kirshner/Al
Nevins team of songsmiths remembered particularly for
writing the Gene Pitney smash IT HURTS TO BE IN LOVE with
Howard Greenfield; incidentally, she was interviewed in
2000 for A&E's Brill Building special but unfortunately,
her contribution didn't make the final cut.
'D. Ervin' was the great Dee Ervin alias Big Dee Irwin
whom Gerry Goffin produced on Dimension and had earlier
been lead singer of R&B group The Pastels whose immortal
BEEN SO LONG was a major doo wop hit back in early '58.
AW
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Message: 2
Date: Sat, 02 Mar 2002 22:06:58 -0000
From: Bob Rashkow
Subject: Tokens, Jeff Glenn
Thanks to Jeff Glenn for your information on the Tokens--
located my 45 of She Lets Her Hair Down and was relieved
that it WAS Siegel et al who penned Oh To Get Away. And
BTW I've checked out about 20 of the 100 volumes in the
"Lost Jukebox Tracks" file. What a treasure chest of
should-have-been-hits & should-have-been BIGGER hits &
don't get me started cause I'll probably type all night
long, but looking forward to seeing (and hearing) the rest
of 'em!!! Also thanks Rashkovsky for the welcome--the
truth is, I had heard of him long before I ever saw a
website, when I stumbled across his name on a cool little
tune called What Good Is I Love You? (Ellie Greenwich goes
solo in '73 was it?) & later on learned of his connection
with Johnny Cymbal--wow!!!!! (The rest is History, need I
say more) Catch you later! The Bobster
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Message: 3
Date: Sat, 02 Mar 2002 16:16:49 -0700
From: Stewart Mason
Subject: Re: Merseybeats USA/UK
Rachel writes viz the Merseybeats USA:
> That is a surprise to learn that a band had adopted a
> familiar band's name in that time, especially a name
> which refered to a specific time and place (The
> Merseybeats, from Merseyside, Liverpool, are named after
> the local pop newspaper with a special permition of its
> editor, Bill Harry), even though the band's singles
> usually covered American ballads.
>
> Was there any link between the bands or was it a gesture
> (to the band or to the Liverpool beat scene in general)?
> Was it common to adopt known bands name?
I have no first-hand knowledge myself, but I would be very
surprised if Steve Ferguson and Terry Adams had ever heard
of the Merseybeats UK when the Kentucky band was named: it
was very common in those days for American garage bands to
adopt "English"-sounding names. The Sir Douglas Quintet
and the Beau Brummels are two of the most well-known
examples. (My friend R. Stevie Moore did the same thing
as a teenager, naming his first band "The Marlborough"
because it sounded kinda posh.) At the time, the UK band
the Merseybeats were all but unknown in the USA, but the
term "Mersey beat" was familiar to those in the know.
I actually have never heard the Merseybeats UK, but Elvis
Costello covers their song "I Stand Accused" on his album
GET HAPPY!, and it's pretty wonderful.
Stewart
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Message: 4
Date: Sat, 02 Mar 2002 22:43:50 EST
From: Will George
Subject: Re: Grass Roots
In the Rhino liner notes, it says, "Sloan maintains that
the first officially released version of "Where Were
You..: featured Fulton's vocal in place of his, citing as
evidence the sheet music for the song, which has a picture
of Fulton and the band." I deduce from that, that the
version on this set is Sloan's vocal. I'll have to dig out
my old "Hits" cassette and compare the two.
Bill
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Message: 5
Date: Sun, 03 Mar 2002 22:30:16 -0600
From: "Justin McDevitt"
Subject: Re: Grass Roots
Hi Dan,
Wow! I haven't heard Lloyd Thaxton's name mentioned in
years. From mid 1964 to the summer of 1965, I was living
in Avalon New Jersey, a small beach resort, about two
hours from Philadelphia.
There sure wasn't much going on, particularly after
October when the summer home owners would lock up their
houses for the season and leave us "winter residents" to
tough it out until the middle of May when the summer folks
would flock back to the beach towns.
In those days, there were a few families in town, (store
owners, some store owners and real-estate agents etc.) and
some retired people and that was it. Hardly any of the
businesses were open and you had to travel to Wildwood or
Atlantic City to get a decent meal.
On weekday afternoons upon arriving home from school, I
would turn on the TV to watch the Lloyd Thaxton show which
was broadcast on the NBC Affiliate from Philadelphia.
Sometimes the reception wasn't so great and the rest of my
family would scream bloody murder when the picture became
too fuzzy. However, as a blind person, seeing the show
didn't make a difference as long as I could hear the
latest British Invasion stuff and Lloyd's patter.
When my family moved back to the Washington D.C. area in
August of 1965, I tried to find the Thaxton show on the
local NBC affiliate, but alas, it was not broadcast in
this market. Unfortunately, I never saw the Grass Roots or
the Bedouins on the Thaxton program, though I am a Grass Roots
fan, particularly their early Psyche-pop stuff;
(Everybody's got to Shine Sometimes, Things I Should Have
Said to Her, etc. From my perspective, their late 60's
early 70's stuff was too pop/commercial for my musical
tastes/preferences during that time, (Jethro Tull, Hendrix,
Blodwin Pig, Steve Miller etc) though I appreciated the
professional quality of Grass Roots recordings during this
time.
Justin
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Message: 6
Date: Sun, 03 Mar 2002 05:05:38 -0000
From: Leonardo
Subject: The Golden Gate / Year One LP
Hello,
Does anybody have more info on a record called The Golden
Gate / Year One on Audio Fidelity 6230. This record is
just amazing, sounds like late sixties East and West
Coast soft rock, I just don't believe what I'm hearing.
The songwiters are Billy Carl, Reid Whitelaw & Richard Bell.
Any more info on the group (more LPs, other groups with
those members,etc) will be greatly appreciated.
Cheers
Uplandmod
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Message: 7
Date: Sun, 03 Mar 2002 10:43:16 -0800
From: "Randy M. Kosht"
Subject: Re: Bobby Vee
This is for Ronnie Allen re: Bobby Vee. Will that show be
archived for later listening? Not sure if I can catch it
live but I'd like to. Besides his many hits, I remember
his medley of "My Girl/Hey Girl" that charted on KBOY
radio in Medford, Oregon in spring 1968. I have never
heard it anywhere else, or since, but remember it fondly.
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