Any Major Dude With Half A Heart

It might be the greatest hit machine in pop history, in the good company of Tin Pan Alley and Motown; its influence on pop music was pivotal. The Brill Building was in New York, but the songs were recorded on both sides of the US coast, and anywhere in between.

The Brill Building, at 1619 Broadway on 49th Street in Manhattan, serves as the collective term for the song factory that created an incredible string of classic pop hits in the 1960s. It was really an office block of music publishers, housing 165 of them in 1962. The songs were mostly written up the road, such as in the buildings at 1650 Broadway, HQ of Aldon Music, and at 1697 Broadway, the latter also housing the CBS TV auditorium, now known as the Ed Sullivan Theater.

The scene was a veritable hit conveyor belt, with songwriters working their 9 to 5s in cubicles, expected to turn in their masterpieces at regular intervals, often at command. Many of these songwriters, usually teams of two, have become legends in the trade:  Carole King & Gerry Goffin, Doc Pomus & Mort Shuman, Jeff Barry & Ellie Greenwich, Neil Sedaka & Howard Greenfield, Cynthia Weil & Barry Mann… Some of these were supervised by another legendary pair of writers, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, or by impresarios such as Don Kirshner, the co-owner of Aldon Music who’d later launch The Monkees. Neil Diamond launched his superstar career from the base of the Brill Buildings, were he started out as a songwriter, as did a youngster named Jerry Landis, whom you’d now address as Paul Simon, and the great, underrated Laura Nyro.

The Brill Building became a byname for a sound in the early 1960s, when producers like Phil Spector recorded them with acts like The Ronettes and The Chiffons (also receiving co-writing credits on some), and bands like the Beach Boys borrowed their songs. Many of the songs were recorded in LA with the backing of The Wrecking Crew, a group of session musicians on whom I intend to spend some time in future posts. In New York, acts like The Drifters relied on the Brill Building to supply their long string of timeless hits. British acts also recorded the Brill Sound. The Searchers did several, The Animals scored a huge hit with one, as did Manfred Mann, and The Beatles played one track, featured here, at their ill-fated Decca audition (they later recorded The Cookies’ “Chains”, written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King).

 

It is sometimes argued that the Brill Building scene tamed rock & roll. Here music was run by business people as a business. The spontaneity and rebellion of the individualistic rock & roll was now displaced by managed calculation with both eyes on the bottomline, the argument goes.

I don’t quite buy it. When RCA signed Elvis, it calculated on his image. Most labels did the same. In fact, rock & roll had been tamed by the time Phil Spector collaborated with Greenwich and Barry to create hits like “Be My Baby”. Almost concurrent with the Brill Sound, Barry Gordy in Detroit constructed another hit factory that was rooted entirely in commercial calculation. In both instances, the entrepreneurs made their money, and we received a rich legacy of astonishing music.

Rock & roll would soon reassert its rebellion anyway, with the advent of the Rolling Stones, Hendrix, The Who and so on. At the same time, the Brill Building left us with an arsenal of incredible, timeless songs. Featured here are 26 of them, mostly covers. If the mix goes down well, there’ll be a second volume to include all the songs you just cannot believe I have omitted.

As always, the mix is timed to fit on a standard CD-R, and includes home-composed covers. PW is the same as always (if you don’t know, look here)

1. The Beach Boys – I Can Hear Music (1969, Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich & Phil Spector)
2. Dion and The Belmonts – Save The Last Dance For Me (1960, Doc Pomus, Mort Shuman)
3. The Four Seasons – Breaking Up Is Hard To Do (1964, Neil Sedaka & Howard Greenfield)
4. Helen Shapiro – It Might As Well Rain Until September (1964, Carole King & Gerry Goffin)
5. Martha Reeves & The Vandellas – Then He Kissed Me (Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich & Phil Spector)
6. The Searchers – Da Doo Ron Ron (1963, Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich & Phil Spector)
7. Françoise Hardy – Will You Love Me Tomorrow (1968, Carole King & Gerry Goffin)
8. Laura Nyro – Up On The Roof (Live) (1971, Carole King & Gerry Goffin)
9. Cissy Houston – Be My Baby (1971, Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich & Phil Spector)
10. Peggy Lee – (You Made Me Feel) Like A Natural Woman (1969, Carole King & Gerry Goffin)
11. Dusty Springfield – That Old Sweet Roll (Hi-De-Ho) (1969, Carole King & Gerry Goffin)
12. Dobie Gray – River Deep, Mountain High (1973, Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich & Phil Spector)
13. The 5th Dimension – Soul And Inspiration (1974, Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil)
14. The Persuasions – Chapel Of Love (1979, Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich & Phil Spector)
15. The Beatles – Take Good Care Of My Baby (1962, Carole King & Gerry Goffin)
16. The Walflower Complextion – Hanky Panky (1966, Jeff Barry & Ellie Greenwich)
17. The Mamas and The Papas – Spanish Harlem (1966, Jerry Leiber & Phil Spector)
18. Carpenters – One Fine Day (1973, Carole King & Gerry Goffin)
19. Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway – You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’ (1972, Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil & Phil Spector)
20. Blue Öyster Cult – We Gotta Get Out Of This Place (1978, Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil)
21. Grand Funk Railroad – The Loco-Motion (1974, Carole King & Gerry Goffin)
22. Ramones – Needles And Pins (1978, Jack Nitzsche & Sonny Bono)
23. Tracey Ullman – Where The Boys Are (1984, Neil Sedaka & Howard Greenfield)
24. Dave Edmunds – Baby I Love You (1972, Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich & Phil Spector)
25. Bette Midler – Leader Of The Pack (1972, George Morton, Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich)
26. Ellie Greenwich – Wait ‘Til My Bobby Gets Home (1973, Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich & Phil Spector)

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When we think of the great producers of Philly soul, the names Gamble, Huff and Bell will readily spring to mind. Not as famous but equally influential was the producer and arranger Bobby Martin, who also was an accomplished pianist, coming from a jazz background.

Martin arranged for many Philadelphia groups, such as The O’Jays (“Love Train”, “For The Love Of Money”), Billy Paul (“Me And Mrs Jones”), Archie Bell & The Drells (“There’s Gonna Be A Showdown”), Lou Rawls (“You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine “, “Groovy People”), The Manhattans (“There’s No Me Without You”), Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes (“If You Don’t Know Me By Now”, The Love I Lost”), The Intruders (“I’ll Always Love My Mama “),The Three Degrees (“Dirty Old Man”, “When Will I See You Again”), Teddy Pendergrass (“I Don’t Love You Anymore”) and more. He also arranged Dusty Springfield’s wonderful version of Jerry Butler “Brand New Me”.

In the 1960s it was Martin who encouraged a young singer named Patti Holt to change her name to LaBelle. And it was Martin who did the arrangement for the great theme of Soul Train, which became the Three Degree’s worldwide megahit “T.S.O.P.”.

With the kind of pals he had, one might have expected English rock & soul singer Jackie Lomax to have had a great career. In the event he didn’t, though he did write, record and perform to the end. The landmark album of his career was 1969’s Is This What You Want?, which was released on Apple and featured three Beatles (though not Lennon) as well as Wrecking Crew greats Hal Blaine, Larry Knechtel and Joe Osborn. He also had Eric Clapton and Nicky Hopkin performing for him.

Lomax wrote all songs but one on the LP; maybe I’m being unfair by featuring the one track written by somebody else: George Harrison’s “Sour Milk Sea”. Harrison had previously offered Lomax his composition “Something”, which he also tried to pass on to Joe Cocker before squeezing it on to Abbey Road. Lomax, incidentally, also contributed to the backing vocals of The Beatles’ “Hey Jude” and “Dear Prudence”.

Fans of golden period Elton John will have been saddened to learn of the death of Roger Pope, the drummer on Dwight’s early albums, including Empty Sky, Tumbleweed Connection and Madman Across The Water, as well as on the Elton John-produced Long John Baldry album It Ain’t Easy. In the mid-’70s Pope returned to Elton John’s band, after the sacking of the mighty Nigel Olsson, and appeared on the Rock of the Westies and Blue Moves album, and the hit single “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart”. Pope was a member of the band Hookfoot, and also drummed for Harry Nilsson, Seals & Croft, John Kongos, Kiki Dee, Al Stewart, Hall & Oates and others.

Germany is well known for its easy listening merchants such as James Last and Bert Kaempfert. It was easy to lump in bandleader Paul Kuhn with that lot, but he had a much wider range than leading broadcast orchestras. An accomplished jazz pianist, he was also something of a performer of novelty tunes that caught the West German Zeitgeist of the late 1950s and early 1960s, making him a regular guest on prime TV shows. One of his big hits, featured here, combined the German passion for beer with the culture’s obsession for exotic travel — except in this case Kuhn advises the listener that Hawaii best be avoided for its supposed lack of brew.

For people outside Britain the name Linda Duff is probably meaningless, but for readers of Smash Hits magazine in the ’80s, the Irish journalist was an icon, with her “Get Smart” column. After leaving Smash Hits for the daily press, Duff, who has died at 52, continued a habit of promoting acts that would hit the big time soon, such as the Spice Girls and Take That.

At least until his death you probably had not heard any music by Pavlos Fyssas, unless Greek rap is your thing. And still, he merits a special mention. An anti-fascist rapper, he was stabbed to death at the age of 34 by a member of the right-wing extremist movement Golden Dawn. His death provoked protests around Greece.  Not many musicians have been martyred for the politics of their music; Fyssas thus merits a special place in the pantheon of musicians.

 

John ‘Juke’ Logan, 66, blues harmonica player, on August 30
Theme from Home Improvements (1991, on electric harmonica)

Joe Kelley, blues guitarist, member of garage band Shadows of Knight, on September 1
The Shadows of Knight – Gloria (1966, on bass)

Linda Duff, 53, Irish-born music journalist (Smash Hits), on September 3

Cosmo Cosdon, 69, member of garage rock band Soul, Inc, on September 6
Soul, Inc. – Who Do You Love (1965)

Bobby Martin, 83, soul pianist, arranger and producer, on September 6
Jerry Butler – How Can I Get In Touch With You (1968, as arranger)
Soul Survivor – City Of Brotherly Love (1974, as arranger)
Billy Paul – Let’s Make A Baby (1975, as arranger)

Fred Katz, 94, jazz cellist and composer, on September 7
Fred Katz – Theme from The Sweet Smell Of Success (1957, as composer and conductor)

Forrest, 60, US-born, Netherlands-based soul singer, on September 9
Forrest – Feel The Need In Me (1983)

Jimmy Fontana, 78, Italian singer-songwriter, on September 11
Jimmy Fontana – Che sarà (1971)

Prince Jazzbo, 62, Jamaican dancehall DJ and producer, on September 11

Joan Regan, 85, British singer, on September 12
Joan Regan – Till They’ve All Gone Home (1955)

Ray Dolby, 80, American inventor of Dolby and 5.1 surround sound, on September 12
De La Soul – Eye Know (1989)

Jackie Lomax, 69, English singer-songwriter and guitarist, on September 15
Jackie Lomax – Sour Milk Sea (1969)

Bobby Mansfield, 75, member of doo wop band The Wrens, on September 15
The Wrens – Come Back My Love (1955)

Jimmy Ponder, 67, jazz guitarist, on September 16
Jimmy Ponder – Man Ain’t Got No Thing On Me (1998)

Mac Curtis, 74, rockabilly singer, in car crash on September 16
Mac Curtis – If I Had Me A Woman (1956)

Marvin Rainwater, 88, country and rockabilly singer, on September 17
Marvin Rainwater – Whole Lotta Woman (1958)

Roger Pope, 66, British session drummer (Elton John, Nilsson, Seals & Croft), on September 17
Elton John – Tiny Dancer (1971)
John Kongos – He’s Gonna Step On You Again (1971)

Bernie McGann, 76, Australian jazz saxophonist, on September 17

Kristian Gidlund, 29, member of Swedish rock band Sugarplum Fairy, on September 17
Sugarplum Fairy – In Berlin (2008)

Johnny Laboriel, 71, Mexican rock & roll singer, on September 18
Los Rebeldes del Rock – La hierda Venenosa (1960)

Pavlos Fyssas, 34, Greek anti-fascist rapper, stabbed on September 18

Lindsay Cooper, 62, British rock/jazz bassoonist and oboist, on September 18

Gia Maione, 72, jazz singer, widow of Louis Prima, on September 23
Louis Prima & Gia Maione – Baby, I’m The Greatest (1967)

Paul Kuhn, 85, German jazz pianist, singer and bandleader, on September 23
Paul Kuhn – Es gibt kein Bier auf Hawaii (1963)
Paul Kuhn – Gateway To Crime (2002)

Tommy Wells, 62, country session drummer, on September 24
Ricky Van Shelton – Life Turned Her That Way (1987)

Allan Faull, 63, member of South African rock band Falling Mirror, on September 24

Pat Fear (Bill Bartell), 52, singer and guitarist with punk band White Flag, announced on September 24
White Flag – Face Down (1987)

Lorne Black, bassist of hard rock band Great White, on September 27
Great White – Stick It (1984)

Oscar Castro-Neves, 73, Brazilian bossa nova pioneer, on September 27
Oscar Castro-Neves – Waters Of March (2003)

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If you were to put me on the spot and demand that I choose one all-time favourite song, I suppose my default answer would be “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down”, the Kris Kristofferson version.

One may argue about whether it would feature in a shortlist of best song ever; still it resonates with me on many levels, including as a soundtrack in a particular time in my life. And it is, of course, a great song which ought to feature in a shortlist of best song ever.

Like many early Kristofferson songs, it was first recorded not by the composer but by others, because early in his career KK didn’t regard himself primarily as a singer. In fact, he thought he was a terrible singer. In the event, his limitations are also his strength, with that whisky-soaked, soulful voice giving his lyrics a sense of having been lived. But KK knew he had good tunes and that he wanted to write songs for a living.

It might have been different. The son of an army officer, Kristofferson was earmarked for a military career, and served a stint as a helicopter pilot for Uncle Sam. Before that he was a Rhodes scholar, graduating from Oxford with a degree in philosophy. He was offered a job lecturing at the military academy at West Point. Instead, he left the army, and, having been inspired by a meeting with Johnny Cash after a concert, Kristofferson moved with his family to Nashville to try his hand at the music business.

Things did not start promisingly: in 1966 he landed a job at Columbia Records — as a janitor.  But in between sweeping floors and polishing door handles, he gave Cash some of his songs, thereby violating strict company policy. Cash was encouraging but didn’t use any of the songs — in fact, according to Kristofferson, Cash said that he threw them into a lake. Still, it was the genesis of a profound friendship.

A year later, Kristofferson flew helicopters again, for an oil company. He also began a tentative recording career with Epic Records, and finally his songs were started to be recorded by other artists. One day, Kristofferson decided to try and impress Cash again, so he flew a helicopter to Cash’s house to give him some tapes. Cash wasn’t home, though that didn’t stop him from telling a great tale about Kristofferson exiting the chopper with a demo in one hand and a beer in the other.

Still, Cash started to create a buzz around KK, referring to him repeatedly on his TV show. Cash’s introduction of Kristofferson at the Newport Folk Festival especially helped kickstart KK’s recording career.

Cash, of course, recorded “Sunday Morning Coming Down” (as he corrected the title) in 1970, and won a Grammy for it. Cash resisted pressure to change the line “wishing, Lord, that I was stoned” to “…I was home” in deference to the song’s writer; he however had the kid “playing with”, not “cussing at”, the can that he was kicking.

The song was originally recorded the previous year by Ray Stevens, who had a minor hit with it. Following Cash’s hit and KK’s version, several artists tried their hand at the song, with varying degrees of accomplishment. Some are featured here, and many tend to play loose with the lyrics. Alas, the one version I’d really like to hear I don’t have, that by Hank Ballard.

So, here are 36 versions of Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down, some of them live recordings.

Ray Stevens (1969) • Johnny Cash (live • 1970) • Johnny Cash (1970) • Kris Kristofferson (1970) • Roy Clark (1970) • Freddy Weller (1970) • Lynn Anderson (1970) • Mark Lindsay (1970) • Sammi Smith (1970) • Janis Joplin (1970) • Tom Jones • Glen Campbell & Nancy Sinatra (1970) • R. Dean Taylor (1971) • Waylon Jennings (1971) • Hank Snow (1971) • Margie Brandon (1971) • Ernie Smith (1971) • John Mogensen (as Søndag morgen 1971) • Kristofferson & Friends (1973) • Pavel Bobek (as Nedělní ráno • 1973) • Frankie Laine (1978) • Johnny Cash & Kris Kristofferson (live • 1980) • Johnny Paycheck (1980) • Louis Neefs (as Zondagmiddag • 1980) • David Allan Coe (1998) • Shawn Mullins (1998) • Alvin Youngblood Hart (2003) • Kris Kristofferson & Foo Fighters (2005) • Floyd Red Crow Westerman (2006) • Jeff Walker und Die Flüffers (2006) • Me First and the Gimme Gimmes (2006) • Mark Chesnutt (2010) • Jerry Lee Lewis (2010) • Marissa Nadler (2010) • Willie Nelson (2011) • Brandi Carlile (live • 2012) • Gretchen Wilson (2012)

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More Song Swarms

The first mix of tracks featuring the great drummer Bernard Purdie concentrated on his contributions to soul and jazz; this mix is more eclectic. There is still great soul (even today, I still adore Cheryl Lynn’s “You’re The One”) and jazz (Herbie Mann, Gene Ammons), but there is also material that comes from a rock and folk tradition, by the likes of Robert Palmer, Steely Dan and Cat Stevens. And then there is a fantastic slice of gospel from Marion Williams, and a long-unreleased masterpiece by Dusty Springfield.

It’s worth mentioning that Purdie is doing drumming duties here for another fne drummer, Grady Tate, a man with a voice so wonderful that it is good that he did not limit himself to beating the skins.

Some have commented that they cautious about believing any claim Purdie makes about tracks he has played on, referring to Purdies’ reported boast about having played overdubs on early Beatles tracks. He certainly did overdub Pete Best in the sessions for the Tony Sheridan album on which the pre-Ringo Beatles played. His claim to have played on early Beatles records requires verification.

On almost all songs on the two mixes Purdie has received official credit. Where possible, I have verified these on Discogs.

As always, the mix is timed to fit on a standard CD-R, and includes home-skinned covers.

1. Cornell Dupree – Teasin’ (1974)
2. Joe Cocker – I Get Mad (1974)
3. Robert Palmer – How Much Fun (1974)
4. Steely Dan – Deacon Blues (1977)
5. Cat Stevens – 100 I Dream (1973)
6. Grady Tate – Sack Full Of Dreams (1969)
7. Dusty Springfield – In The Winter (1974)
8. Cheryl Lynn – You’re The One (1978)
9. Roy Ayers – Melody Maker (1978)
10. Herbie Mann – What’s Going On (1971)
11. Quincy Jones – Oh Happy Day (1969)
12. Letta Mbulu – Music Man (1976)
13. Joe Bataan – I’m No Stranger (1972)
14. Freddie McCoy – Funk Drops (1966)
15. Marion Williams – Wicked Messenger (1971)
16. Ronnie Foster – Sweet Revival (1973)
17. Hummingbird – Fire And Brimstone (1976)
18. Hall & Oates – I’m Just A Kid (Don’t Make Me Feel Like A Man) (1973)
19. Gene Ammons – Feeling Good (1969)
20. Mongo Santamaria – Baby What You Want Me To Do (1968)

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As we prepare to say goodbye to two of the finest shows of this new Golden Age of Television, Breaking Bad and Dexter, it seems a good thing to have a TV themes compilation.

On this mix of 84 television themes, most from the US and a few from the UK, I am giving you an overview of my television-watching habits over a lifetime. These themes were not chosen for quality (though many are very good), but because they announced the beginning of a new journey in a succession of one might call appointment TV shows — programmes which I have made it a point to watch, at least for some stages of their run.

Some I persevered with for the duration (such as Hill Street Blues, The Wonder Tears, Seinfeld, The West Wing, Sopranos, Homicide, The Shield, etc), others I followed faithfully before becoming bored with them (such as Desperate Housewives, LA Law, Mad About You and Curb Your Enthusiasm). Some I followed when I didn’t know better, until I did (Dallas, Dynasty).

The most obscure inclusion here might be Kaz, in which Ron Leibman (Rachel’s dad, Friends fans) played an ex-con lawyer. I have no idea if it actually was any good — it lasted only one season — but I watched it faithfully every Friday night when I was in my mid-teens.

Towards the end are the themes of the international shows I loved as a child in Germany in the early ’70s, most of them being shown then as re-runs. My favourite at the time was Bonanza. I’ve not included the themes of my favourite German-language shows, but I’m running them here as separate mix. It does, however, include a few themes from British TV shows. I have also omitted cartoon shows, hence the absence of The Simpsons.

The composers’ names, if I could find them, are in the ID3 Tags. The mix is timed to fit on a CD-R, so it might come in useful as an addition to a trivia night. It includes home-tuned covers. PW in comments.

L.A. Law (1986-94) • Magnum PI (1980-88) • Hill Street Blues (1981-87) • thirtysomething (1987-91) • Night Court (1984-92) •  Cheers (1982-93) • Frasier (1993-2004) • Mad About You (1992-99) • Murphy Brown (1988-98) • Spin City (1996-2002) • Seinfeld (1989-99) • Quantum Leap (1989-93) • Law & Order (1990-2010) • NYPD Blue (1993-2005) • Homicide – Life On The Street (1993-99) •  The Practice (1997-2004) • The West Wing (1999-2006) • The Sopranos (1999-2007) • Six Feet Under (2001-05) • The Shield (2002-08) • The Wire (S4) (2002-08) • Freaks & Geeks (1999) • Veronica Mars (2004-07) • Entourage (2004-11) • Arrested Development (2003-9,13) • Flight Of The Conchords (2007-08) • Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000-11) • Desperate Housewives (2004-12) • Prison Break (2005-09) • Justified (2010-  ) • True Blood (2008-  ) • Breaking Bad (2008-13) • Dexter (2006-13) • Mad Men (2007-  ) • The Walking Dead (2010- ) • Lie To Me (2009-11) • Shameless (US) (2011-  ) • Louie (2010-  ) • Everybody Hates Chris (2006-09) • The Big Bang Theory (2007-  ) • Modern Family (2009-  ) • Pushing Daisies (2007-09) • Downton Abbey (2010-  ) • The Office (UK) (2001-03) • The Inbetweeners (UK) (2008-10) • Father Ted (1995-98) • Bottom (1991-95) • Blackadder II (1986) • Blackadder The Third (1987) • Fawlty Towers (1975/79) • Three’s Company (1977-84) • Police Squad (1982) • Sledge Hammer (1986-88) • Just Shoot Me (1997-2003) • Friends (1994-2004) • Wings (1990-97) • The Wonder Years (1988-92) • Wiseguy (1987-90) • Matlock (1986-92) • Moonlighting (1985-89) • Family Ties (1982-89) • Taxi (1978-83) • Welcome Back, Kotter (1975-79) • Soap (1977-81) • Dallas (1978-91) • Dynasty (1981-89) • Family (1976-79) • Kaz (1978-79) • Petrocelli (1974-76) • Streets of San Francisco (1972-77) • The Waltons (1972-81) • The Partridge Family (1970-74) • The Brady Bunch (1969-74) • Riptide (Australia) (1969) • Star Trek (1966-69) • Gunsmoke (1955-75) • Bonanza (1959-73) • The Virginian (1962-71) • Get Smart (1965-70) • Daktari (1966-69) • Tarzan (1966-68) • Flipper (1964-67) • Skippy, The Bush Kangaroo (1966-68) • Lassie (1954-73)

And the listing for the German themes:
Der Kommissar (1968-74) • Derrick (1974-97) • Tatort (1970- ) •  Der Bastian (1973) •  ZDF Hitparade (1969-2000) •  Das aktuelle Sport-Studio (1964- ) •  Sportschau (1962- ) •  Der Grosse Preis (1974-93) •  Dalli (1971-86) •  Die Montagsmaler (1974-79) •  Aktenzeichen XY…Ungelöst (1967-  ) •  Ein Herz und eine Seele (1973-76) •  Pan Tau (1970-78) •  Die Sendung mit der Maus (1971-  ) •  Dick und Doof (1970-73) •  Percy Stuart (1969-72) •  Pippi Langstrumpf (1969-70) •  Sesamstrasse (1973-  ) •  Sandmännchen (West; 70s-80s)

Any Major TV Themes
German TV Themes

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On 4 December  1956 a Tuesday, rockabilly star Carl Perkins came to the Sun Records studios in Memphis to record a new single – a song called “Matchbox” which a few years later the Beatles would cover. Sun Records owner Sam Phillips had arranged for a new signing of his to back up Perkins on the piano, a wild man called Jerry Lewis. In the afternoon, Sun Records alumn Elvis Presley, who had just signed for RCA, popped in for a visit. Seeing that his friend Carl Perkins was in the studio, he joined him and Jerry Lee for a jam session. The producer that day had the presence of mind to record the jam, even though he knew it couldn’t be released because of the contractual problems that would arise. That producer was Cowboy Jack Clement, who died on August 8 at the age of 82.

The recording was finally released in 1981 under the moniker The Million Dollar Quartet, though it probably was just a trio. The fourth member was Johnny Cash, who also visited, posed around the piano for a photo with the other three guys, and went on his merry way for Christmas shopping.

It was Clement who had discovered Jerry Lee Lewis and recorded his breakthrough hit, “A Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On”, a couple of months after that jam session. Clement went on to produce many other legends, ranging from Charley Pride to Townes Van Zandt to U2, and wrote for many more, especially for Johnny Cash.

One of the original country outlaws departed this month. Tompall Glaser never attained the stardom of the likes of Waylon Jennings or Willie Nelson, but he was among those who paved the way for the movement. With Jennings, Nelson and Jessi Colter, Glaser appeared on the iconic 1976 compilation album Wanted! The Outlaws.

The headline death of the month, however, is that of jazz-funk keyboardist George Duke. To define Duke by his primary genre or instrument is a bit unfair. He was also a session musician who played with the likes of Frank Zappa, and he was a skilled producer and arranger. An anti-apartheid activist, Duke was the musical director of the concert for Nelson Mandela’s 70^th birthday at London’s Wembley Stadium in 1988, an event that helped solidify the international resistance to the racist regime in South Africa.

The man who brought The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Herman’s Hermits, The Kinks and other British acts to the US, Sid Bernstein, has died at 95. Obviously he was the general of the British invasion; by booking The Beatles into sports arenas he also helped invent stadium rock. Before that, he was one of the first white promoters to introduce black artists such as Ray Charles and James Brown to white audiences. Two years ago, at the age of 93, Bernstein brought out his first album.

British folkie Louis Killen, it’s fair to say, had one of the more unconventional lives. He was big name in the Newcastle folk scene and collaborator with The Clancy Brothers and Ewan MacColl, the pope of British folk. In the 1990s he moved to the US to live as a transgendered person, and in 2010 had a sex-change operation, becoming Louisa Jo Killen. She still performed, but health problems cut these engagements short.

Jazz fans will have been saddened to learn of the death of the South African vocalist Sathima Bea Benjamin, not only because of the loss of her great talent, but also in sympathy for her husband Abdullah Ibrahim, the jazz pianist who used to be Dollar Brand. The couple was based for decades in New York, having exiled themselves from apartheid in 1960. Benjamin and Ibrahim first went to Zurich, where they met Duke Ellington, who took the couple under his wing, with Benjamin eventually joining his band. After a brief return to Cape Town in the mid-‘70s the couple resettled in New York for the next quarter century, a time during which Benjamin released a string of acclaimed jazz albums, including the Grammy-nominated Dedications in 1982. She returned to South Africa in 2001.

Dutch singer Jetty Paerl probably was not known widely beyond the borders of the Netherlands. Her death is noteworthy not for her music — I have no idea about it — but because she was one of the last few anti-Nazi resistance activists left today. When the Germans occupied the Netherlands, Paerl went into exile in London, from where she broadcast on Radio Oranje, the station of the Dutch government in exile. She was known as “Jetje van Radio Oranje” and featured in episode 18 of the BBC series The World At War.

Murray Gershenz was not a pop musician, but one of (most of) us: a record collector. Gershenz, who has died at 91, will probably be best remembered as the old man who got naked in The Hangover, one of the several movies and TV shows he appeared in after taking up acting at the age of 79. The one-time opera singer was also the subject of a 2011 documentary about his record shop, Music Man Murray, also the title of the film, which covered Gershenz’s attempt to sell off his vast record collection in order to have it preserved (watch it HERE). Having begun his collection as a 16-year-old in 1938, he amassed 300,000 records. The collection is valued at $1.5 million, though Gershenz was willing to accept a million less. Considering that the lot included German records from 1895 and original Edison cylinders among its many rarities, one suspects that a buyer would have scored a bargain.

 

Sharon Mosby, 70, jazz/blues singer, on July 30

John Dengate, 74, Australian folk singer and songwriter, on August 1

Pixie Williams, 85, New Zealand singer, on August 2

Tim Wright, 61, bass guitarist for Pere Ubu, DNA, on August 4
Pere Ubu – Real World (1978)

George Duke, 67, jazz fusion keyboardist, on August 5
Frank Zappa – Road Ladies (1970)
George Duke – Just For You (1977)
Michael Jackson – Off The Wall (1979)

James Gray, 52, keyboardist for Canadian country rock band Blue Rodeo, on August 5
Blue Rodeo – Bad Timing (1992)

William Dunn, 70, Canadian folk musician, film maker and politician, on August 5
Willie Dunn – I Pity The Country (1973)

Bill Putt, member of Australian prog rock bands Spectrum, Ariel, on August 6

Marilyn King, 82, last surviving member of The King Sisters, on August 7
The King Sisters – Gobs Of Love (1943)

Nick Nixon, 74, country singer and songwriter, on August 7

Jack Clement, 82, producer, songwriter and singer, on August 8
The Million Dollar Quartet – I Shall Not Be Moved (1956)
Johnny Cash – The One On The Right Is On The Left (1966, as songwriter)
U2 – Angel of Harlem (1988, as producer)

Karen Black, 74, actress and sometime singer, on August 8
Karen Back – Memphis (1976)

Eduardo Falú, 90, Argentine folk guitarist and composer, on August 9
Eduardo Falú – No te puedo olvidar (1969)

Louis Killen, 79, British folk singer and songwriter, on August 9
Louis Killen & The Clancy Brothers – The Irish Rover (2000)

Eydie Gormé, 84, easy listening and jazz singer, on August 10
Eydie Gormé – God Bless The Child (1981)

Jody Payne, 77, country sinher and guitarist of Willie Nelson’s backing band Family, on August 10
Willie Nelson – Hands On The Wheel (1975, on guitar)

Phil Baheux, 45, drummer of Belgian heavy metal band Channel Zero, on August 10

Jason Rosenthal, 35, rock singer with rock band On the Might of Princes, on August 12

Tompall Glaser, 79, country singer and songwriter, on August 13
Tompall Glaser – When It Goes, It’s Gone Girl (1975)

Jon Brookes, 44, drummer of British indie-rock group The Charlatans, on August 13
The Charlatans – How High (1997)

Allen Lanier, 67, keyboardist and guitarist with Blue Öyster Cult, on August 14
Blue Öyster Cult – Lonely Teardrops (1979)

Jane Harvey, 88, jazz singer, on  August 15
Benny Goodman and his Orchestra feat. Jane Harvey – Close As Pages In A Book (1945)

Eyob Mekonnen, 37, Ethiopian reggae singer, on August 18

Donna Hightower, 86, soul and jazz singer, on August 19
Donna Hightower – This World Today Is A Mess (1972)

Fritz Rau, 83, legendary German concert promoter, on August 19

Cedar Walton, 79, jazz pianist, on August 19
Art Farmer & Benny Golson Jazztet – The Cool One (1960, on piano)

Marian McPartland, 95, British jazz pianist and composer, on August 20
Marian McPartland – Easy Blues (1958)

Sathima Bea Benjamin, 76, South African jazz singer, wife of Abdullah Ibrahim, on August 20
Sathima Bea Benjamin – I’ll See You Again (1990)

Gabriel Balachsan, 37, Israeli rock singer and songwriter, on August 20

Sid Bernstein, 95, American music producer and promoter, on August 21
The Beatles – Twist And Shout (Live at Shea Stadium, 1965)

Jetty Paerl, 92, Dutch singer and anti-Nazi activist, on August 22

Chris Friedrich, 33, bassist of instrumental rock band Caspian, on August 25

Murray Gershenz, 91, record collector and actor, on August 28
Ian Hunter – Old Records Never Die (1981)

GET IT (PW in comments)

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Previous In Memoriams

Keep up to date with dead pop stars on Facebook

 

 

Following on from the theme of Covered With Soul in Vol. 5 and Vol. 11, this edition comprises soul covers of other soul songs. One might quibble that “For Your Love” is not really a soul song (nor is, originally, “Try A Little Tenderness”), but it seems to me that Freddie Scott’s version was inspired by the 1967 hit version by Peaches & Herb.

The fun with this series is in wondering in what direction soul singers might take a song. Sometimes the results are quite breathtaking. One of the best examples of that is how The Temptations turn Bill Withers’ simple “Ain’t No Sunshine” into a seven-minute plus epic.

As always, this mix will fit on a standard CD-R and includes home-covered covers. PW in comments.

1. Philly Cream – Soul Man (1979)
2. Zulema – Love Train (1974)
3. The Spinners – O-o-h Child (1970)
4. Lyn Collins – Try A Little Tenderness (1975)
5. Sharon Cash – Sittin’ On The Dock Of The Bay (1970)
6. Vessie Simmons – A Change Is Gonna Come (1971)
7. Al Wilson – I Stand Accused (1968)
8. Billy Paul – Let’s Stay Together (1972)
9. Diana Ross – I Love You (Call Me) (1970)
10. Kimberley Briggs – My Whole World Ended (1972)
11. Wayne McGhie & the Sounds of Joy – Take A Letter Maria (1970)
12. Joe Simon – What A Wonderful World (1976)
13. Freddie Scott – For Your Love (1967)
14. Esther Phillips – Do Right Woman, Do Right Man (1972)
15. Cissy Houston – When Something Is Wrong With My Baby (1970)
16. Ann Peebles – Chain Of Fools (1969)
17. The Intruders – Be Thankful For What You Got (1975)
18. Tina Turner – Back Stabbers (1979)
19. The Three Degrees – Who Is She (And What Is She To You) (1975)
20. The Temptations – Ain’t No Sunshine (1972)

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Here’s a mix I have played more often than perhaps any I have ever done on this site. I dreamt it up, almost literally, when I had to drop my son at the airport for a red-eye flight. Trying to cheer myself up, I sang the “Good Morning” song from Singin’ In The Rain, “Good Day Sunshine” by The Beatles, and “It’s Four In The Morning” by Faron Young. Funny enough, none of these made it into this eclectic mix.

It kicks off with the full version of the song you’ll know as the theme to The Sopranos, by London band Alabama 3. I hope you’ll have better mornings than the subjects of the song. It’s based on the 1989 killing of English wife-beater Malcolm Thornton by his wife Sarah, who stabbed him 20 times. A trial in 1990 found her guilty of murder; a retrial in 1996 reduced the verdict to manslaughter and Sarah was set free for time served.

The version featured here of Kevin Ayer’s infectious “Religious Experience (Singing A Song In The Morning)”, the psychedelic rocker’s first single in 1970, is the longer one which remained unreleased until 2003. It has Pink Floyd legend Syd Barrett on guitar, while The Ladybirds, who are best known from The Benny Hill Show, perform the backing vocals.

Perhaps the most obscure track here is Joyce Williams’ “The First Thing I Do In The Morning”. This gospel-funk number burns it up, with its hot flutes, sizzling wah-wah guitar and incendiary bass. The only other record Williams seems to have recorded was a single titled “Dance The Wrangler Shake” (take that, Harlem) six years earlier, in 1966 — for the jeans company.

A few songs here are covers of well-known songs. Harry Nilsson covers Louis Jordan’s 1947 hit “Early In The Morning”, Paul Weller does Paul Lightfoot’s “Early Morning Rain”…

And listen to the drums on the Tim Rose. Yes, it’s our friend Bernard Purdie again.

As always, the mix is timed to fit on a standard CD-R and includes home-brewed covers.

1. Alabama 3 – Woke Up This Morning (1997)
2. Velvet Underground – Sunday Morning (1967)
3. Harry Nilsson – Early In The Morning (1971)
4. Tim Rose – Morning Dew (1967)
5. Kevin Ayers – Religious Experience (Singing A Song In The Morning) (1970)
6. The Jesus and Mary Chain – Deep One Perfect Morning (1987)
7. The Lilac Time – This Morning (2001)
8. The Pogues – Tuesday Morning (1993)
9. Paul Weller – Early Morning Rain (2004)
10. Brandi Carlile – Late Morning Lullaby (2007)
11. Lyle Lovett – Just The Morning (1994)
12. Rusty Wier – Texas Morning (1974)
13. Dolly Parton – Early Morning Breeze (1971)
14. Isaac Hayes – Early Sunday Morning (1971)
15. Joyce Williams – The First Thing I Do In The Morning (1972)
16. David Ruffin – Morning Sun Looks Blue (1979)
17. Al Jarreau – Mornin’ (1983)
18. Major Harris – Each Morning I Wake Up (1974)
19. The Temptations – Love Woke Me Up This Morning (1972)
20. Tim Buckley – Morning Glory (1967)
21. Townes Van Zandt – I’ll Be Here In The Morning (1968)
22. Bobbie Gentry – Mornin’ Glory (1968)
23. Joan Baez & Bill Wood – So Soon In The Morning (1959)

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Here is the second installment of Any Major Soul 1969, which might actually be even better than the first. Those three opening tracks alone…my, what a year for soul that was!

We previously met The Flirtations on the Christmas Soul Vol. 1 mix with their gorgeous version of “Christmas Time Is Here Again”. “Nothing But A Heartache” (which was actually first released in December 1968) was their big hit, reaching #34 on the US Billboard charts and #51 in the UK. It was revived in Britain in 2007 as part of an advertising campaign for the colonel’s fatty fried battery chicken which will give you nothing but a heart attack. The Flirtations continued releasing records into the 1980s, when they briefly became a Hi-NRG act — you might remember their 1983 song “Earthquake”.

Tina Britt released only one album, titled Blue All The Way. It’s an eclectic mix by a singer who could do the Motown thing as well as the Marlena Shaw thing. She had only one minor hit, a R&B Top 20 song titled “the Real Thing”, composed by Ashford and Simpson.

The best song title on this mix must be “Hip Old Lady On A Honda” by Rhetta Hughes, who has featured a few times (twice on Covered With Soul, the “Light My Fire” song swarm, the Amy Winehouse-inspired mix). Hughes was still a teenager when “Hip Old Lady” came out, having recorded for four years before that. The Chicago singer also has had a career as a part-time actress.

Janice Tyrone’s song here, “I’m Gonna Make It”, apparently features Aretha Franklin. Like Rhetta Hughes, Tyrone had begun as a teenage singer, going by the moniker Little Janice. By the time she was too old to be little, she released the excellent “I’m Gonna Make It”. Alas, it was her final record.

The closing track, by The Ambassadors, is another one of those productions which presaged the rise of Philly Soul, here its funkier side.  The band never had commercial success, but the musicians who played on their 1969 LP, Soul Summit, went on to be big session names in Philadelphia, from the late, great Vince Montana to saxophonist Sam Reed, trombonist Fred Joiner and drummer Earl Young.

I’m not sure whether this series has run its course; the feedback to the last couple of mixes, if measure by the volume of comments, has been unenthusiastic. I have much more soul music to share, but whether to continue I shall leave up to you.

As always the mix is timed to fit on as standard CD-R, and includes covers.

1. Sly and the Family Stone – Stand!
2. The Impressions – Mighty Mighty (Spade & Whitey)
3. The Flirtations – Nothing But A Heartache
4. The Mad Lads – Make Room (In Your Heart)
5. Sweet Inspirations – Watch The One Who Brings You The News
6. Aretha Franklin – River’s Invitation
7. Tina Britt – Who Was That
8. Clarence Carter – You’ve Been A Long Time Comin’
9. The Chambers Brothers – Girls, We Love You
10. Friends Of Distinction – I’ve Never Found A Girl (To Love Me Like You Do)
11. Barbara McNair – The Hunter Gets Captured
12. Ila Vann – Keep On Laughing Baby
13. Tony Clark – Ain’t Love Good, Ain’t Love Proud
14. Rhetta Hughes – Hip Old Lady On A Honda
15. Janice Tyrone – I’m Gonna Make It
16. Solomon Burke – What Am I Living For
17. O.V. Wright – This Hurt Is Real
18. Isaac Hayes – One Woman
19. Linda Carr – In My Life
20. Cookie V – You Got The Wrong Girl
21. Dee Dee Warwick – That’s Not Love
22. Carolyn Franklin – There I Go
23. Sonny Charles & The Checkmates – Black Pearl
24. Stevie Wonder – Angie Girl
25. The Five Stairsteps – We Must Be in Love
26. The Exciters – Fight That Feelin’
27. The Ambassadors – Music (Makes You Wanna Dance)

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Postscript: Turns out that Track 14, Rhetta Hughes’ “Hip Old Lady On A Honda” is missing from the zipped file. You can get it HERE to add to the mix.

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More Any Major Soul

The first Any Major Telephone mix attracted a nice response, in the comments here and on Facebook, with loads of suggestions, some I had already on my shortlist, some I don’t even know. I’ll see what I can find on the suggestions I don’t already have; if I can, then there will be a third volume, compiled by the readers of this blog.

In the meantime, here are 24 tracks of my choosing, all featuring or suggesting telephone calls. Two belong together: In “Woman To Woman”, Shirley Brown tells the woman her man is cheating with to lay the fuck off; in an answer record, Barbara Mason explains to Shirley exactly why her man is straying. It’s pretty brutal stuff.

The Bobby Vee track could have featured on the Bacharach: The Lesser Known Songbook mix, for it’s a David/Bacharach composition (and, yes, that’s how they used to be credited; take a look at the image in the file’s ID3 tag).

Disclaimer: Inclusion in this mix does not in itself imply my endorsement of a track. I want to make the explicitly clear and ask you to remember that when you hear track 5.

As always, the mix is timed to fit on a standard CD-R and includes covers. PW in comments.

1. Mott The Hoople – One Of The Boys (1973)
2. The Mothers of Invention – Telephone Conversation (1968)
3. Jim Croce – Operator (That’s Not The Way It Feels) (1972)
4. Little River Band – Home On Monday (1977)
5. Paul Evans – Hello, This Is Joannie (1978)
6. Love Unlimited – Walking In The Rain (1972)
7. Brenda Holloway – Operator (1965)
8. Shirley Brown – Woman To Woman (1974)
9. Barbara Mason – From His Woman to You (1974)
10. Bunny Sigler – Regina (1973)
11. Eddie Floyd – 634-5789 (1967)
12. Johnny Fallin – Party Line (1959)
13. John Lee Hooker – Just Me And My Telephone (1951)
14. Effie Smith – Dial That Telephone (1953)
15. Orville Reed – The Telephone Girl (1927)
16. Jim Reeves – He’ll Have To Go (1960)
17. Bobby Vee – Anonymous Phone Call (1963)
18. Joe South – A Million Miles Away (1969)
19. Ben Folds Five – Your Most Valuable Possession (1999)
20. Kraftwerk – Der Telefon Anruf (1986)
21. Wham! – Battlestations (1986)
22. Sheena Easton – Telephone (Long Distance Love Affair) (1983)
23. Zhané – Request Line (1997)

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