Any Major Dude With Half A Heart

In this second volume of Lesser-known Originals of 1960s hits (get Vol. 1 HERE), we look at the first recordings of songs made famous by the likes of The Beach Boys, Simon & Garfunkel,  The Animals, The Mamas & The Papas,  Cilla Black, The 5th Dimension,  Harry Nilson, The Byrds, and many others…

Louie Louie
There are people who like to designate The Kingsmens’ 1963 version of Louie Louie the first-ever punk song. One can see why: its production is shambolic, the drummer is rumoured to be swearing in the background, his diction is non-existent, the modified lyrics were investigated by the FBI for lewdness (the Feds found nothing incriminating, not even the line which may or may not have been changed from “it won’t be long me see me love” to “stick my finger up the hole of love”), and by the time the song became a hit — after a Boston DJ played it in a “worst songs ever” type segment — the band had broken up and toured in two incarnations.

Originally it was a regional hit in 1957 for an R&B singer named Richard Berry, who took inspiration from his namesake Chuck and West Indian music. In essence, it’s a calypso number of a sailor telling the eponymous barman about the girl he loves.

Louie Louie was originally released as a b-side, but quickly gained popularity on the West Coast. It sold 40,000 copies, but after a series of flops Berry momentarily retired from the recording business, selling the rights to Louie Louie for $750. In the meantime, bands continued to include the song in their repertoire. It was a 1961 version by Rockin’ Robin Roberts & the Fabulous Wailers which provided The Kingsmen with the prototype for their cover.

Hang On Sloopy
The McCoys hit it big in 1965 with Hang On Sloopy, a cover version, of The Vibrations’ 1964 US Top 30 hit My Girl Sloopy, written by the legendary Bert Berns and Wes Farrell. The Vibrations were a soul group from Los Angeles which kept going well into the 1970s; one of their members, Ricky Owens, even joined The Temptations very briefly. Several of their songs are Northern Soul classics (which basically means that they were so unsuccessful that their records are rare).

The McCoys version was originally intended for The Strangeloves, who did the original of the Bow Wow Wow hit I Want Candy. While on tour with their group, the producers decided that My Girl Sloopy, the backing track already recorded, should be the band’s follow-up to I Want Candy. But the Dave Clark Five, on tour with the Strangeloves, got wind of it, and said they’d record Sloopy, too.

So the trio, afraid that the Dave Clark Five might have a hit with the song before they could release theirs, acted fast to scoop the English group. They recruited an unknown group based in Dayton, Ohio, called Rick and the Raiders, renamed them The McCoys, and in quick time released the retitled Hang On Sloopy.

But it wasn’t all the McCoys playing on the single. Only singer Rick Zehringer (later Derringer) performed on it — his vocals having been overlaid on the version already recorded by the Strangeloves, and a guitar solo added to it. The single was a massive hit, reaching the US #1. In 1985 it was adopted as the official rock song of Ohio (honestly).

Dedicated To The One I Love
The “5” Royales’ name screams 1950s novelty band. But that they were not. Indeed, they were cited as influences by the likes of James Brown (who recorded their song Think), the legendary Stax musician Steve Cropper, and Eric Clapton. By the time the band from Salem, North Carolina, released Dedicated To The One I Love in 1958, their heyday was past them, and the single did not do much in two releases. It deserved better, alone for that great guitar.

Likewise, The Shirelles’ cover (with Doris, not Shirley, doing lead vocals), recorded in 1959 initially flopped. It became a hit only on its re-release in 1961 to follow up the success of Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow, reaching #3 in the US pop charts.

The Mamas and the Papas’ 1967 cover did even better, getting to #2. As on the Shirelles’ recording, the second banana took lead vocals; it was the first time Michelle Phillips, not Mama Cass, sang lead on a Mamas and Papas track.

Turn! Turn! Turn!
For all their collective songwriting genius, The Byrds were something of an über-covers band. Few acts did Dylan as well as The Byrds did. Some songs they made totally their own. One of these was Turn! Turn! Turn!, a staple of ‘60s compilation written by Pete Seeger (co-written, really: the lyrics are almost entirely lifted from the Book of Ecclesiastes).

Before Seeger got around to record it in 1962, or The Byrds were even formed, a folk outfit called The Limeliters put it out under the title To Everything There Is A Season. The first post-Seeger cover was by Marlene Dietrich as Für alles kommt die Zeit, recorded during the actress’ folk phase which also saw her record German versions of Blowin’ In The Wind and Where Have All The Flowers Gone.

The same year, 1963, Judy Collins also issued a version, arranged by Jim McGuinn, who had played on The Limelighters recording. After Collins’ version, McGuinn co-founded The Byrds, for whom Turn! Turn! Turn!, released in October 1965, became their second hit. Jim turned turned turned into Roger in 1968.

I Am A Rock
After the disappointing sales of Simon & Garfunkel’s Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. album, the dup split and Paul Simon went to England on his own. He played gigs (some with Garfunkel), made friends, fell in love, and wrote a handful of future classics, including Homeward Bound, which was first recorded by folk-duo Chad & Jeremy (but released after Simon & Garfunkel’s version).

Simon also released a solo album in Britain, The Paul Simon Songbook, which was recorded in June 1965 in Levy’s Recording Studio in London. The LP, which featured girlfriend Kathy Chitty on the cover, included three future S&G staples: I Am A Rock (which also was released as a single, to no chart action), April Come She May, Kathy’s Song, as well as A Most Peculiar Man, Patterns, A Simple Desultory Philippic, and a re-recording of The Sound Of Silence. The LP did little business, and later Simon resisted re-releases until 1981, when it came out as part of a boxed set of albums by the singer.

When a remix of The Sound Of Silence from Wednesday Morning by producer Tom Wilson became a hit, Simon abandoned his solo career and joined up with Garfunkel again.

A Different Drum
A breakthrough hit in 1967 for Linda Ronstadt as the singer of The Stone Poneys, A Different Drum was written by Mike Nesmith in 1964, before he became a fourth of The Monkees. He gave the song to his friend John Herald, singer of the folk-bluegrass band The Greenbriar Boys, who recorded it as an album track in 1966.

Once Nesmith was a Monkee, he offered the song to the group, but the producers of the TV show rejected it. Nesmith got to feature it briefly in one episode, but only for comic effect. He’d eventually record A Different Drum in 1972.

By then, The Stone Poneys had enjoyed their big hit with it. Their recording was aided by session musicians such as jazz great guitarists Al Viola and future Eagles co-founder Bernie Leadon on guitar, and the legendary Wrecking Crew drummer Jim Gordon wielding the sticks (read his bizarre story HERE and HERE)

Leaving On A Jet Plane
Recorded three times by its writer, John Denver, Leaving On A Jet Plane was still the biggest hit in the hands of another act: folk trio Peter, Paul & Mary, who had their biggest, and last, hit with it in 1969. Originally Denver recorded it as Babe I Hate To Go in 1966. Three years later he re-recorded it for his Rhymes & Reasons album, and again in 1973 for his Greatest Hits LP.

The song also earned Denver a songwriting credit on a New Order song, when he sued the English band for their use of his guitar break on Jet Plane for their 1989 track Run 2. The matter a settled out of court.

There Goes My Everything
This song is probably most famous in its incarnation as Engelbert Humperdinck’s gaudy 1967 hit, or maybe Elvis’ 1971 cover. In its original form, however, it is a country classic, written by Dallas Frazier.

It was first recorded in 1965 and released the following year by that great purveyor of unintentionally funny songs and owner of the hickiest of hick accents, Ferlin Husky. His version was an album track; fellow country singer Jack Greene turned it into a hit in 1967. Elvis’ version, which appeared on the quite excellent 1971 Elvis Country album (after being a 1970 b-side of I Really Don’t Want To Know) and was a UK top 10 hit that year, certainly draws from the song’s country origins — though surely more from Greene’s hit than from Husky’s original.

Limbo Rock
One of the most iconic songs of the early 1960s was the result of a bet, and the subject of contempt by its writer. The story goes that in 1960 the Wrecking Crew session guitarist Billy Strange and a friend heard what they thought was a particularly terrible song on the radio. Strange suggested that he could write something better than that in five minutes, whereupon the friend put on a bet, for $100, that Strange couldn’t. But Strange could and did.

Strange didn’t rate his composition: for every line, the lyric was “What a monotonous melody” for every line, and pocketed the money. Later, during a recording session, Strange was asked if he had any songs that could be used. He didn’t, other than “What A Monotonous Melody”, which he offered as a joke. Others thought more of the melody than its composer did, and in 1961 an instrumental calypso version was recorded by The Champs, of Tequila fame.

Some time later Chubby Checker’s manager, Kal Mann, asked Strange if he could add proper lyrics to the song. Permission granted, Mann wrote the lyrics (under a pseudonym), and Checker had another mega hit.

Keep On Dancing
For The Gentrys, Keep On Dancing was the one shot at having a big hit. Unusually, their hit was the same sing played twice, to make it stretch to single-length (listen out for the mid-song drum fill, which signals the repeat of the first half). Six years later the song served as the first UK hit for the pre-teenybopper Bay City Rollers.

Written by Allen Jones — the producer of Albert King and the Bar-Keys, and writer of the Sam & Dave and later Elvis Costello song I Can’t Stand Up for Falling Down — Keep On Dancing was first recorded by a soul act called The Avantis (not to be confused with the surf rock act by that name).

By The Time I Get To Phoenix
Johnny Rivers is mostly remembered as the ’60s exponent of rather good rock & roll covers, especially on his Live At The Whiskey A Go Go LP. He was also the owner of the record label which released the music of The 5th Dimension. In that capacity, Rivers gave the budding songwriter Jimmy Webb his first big break, having The 5th Dimension record Webb”s song Up, Up And Away and thereby giving Webb (and the group and the label) a first big hit in 1967.

By The Time I Get To Phoenix is another Webb composition, and this one Rivers recorded himself first for his Changes album in 1966 (when Webb was only 19!). Rivers’ version made no impact, nor did a cover by Pat Boone.

The guitarist on Boone’s version, however, picked up on the song and released it in 1967. Glen Campbell scored a massive hit with the song, even winning two Grammies for it. In quick succession, Campbell completed a trilogy of geographically-themed songs by Webb, with the gorgeous Wichita Lineman (written especially for Campbell) and the similarly wonderful Galveston (originally recorded by Don Ho).

Another seasoned session musician took Phoenix into a completely different direction (if you will pardon the unintended pun). Isaac Hayes had heard the song, and decided to perform it as the Bar-Keys’ guest performer at Memphis’ Tiki Club, a soul venue. He started with a spontaneous spoken prologue, explaining in some detail why this man is on his unlikely journey.

At first the patrons weren’t sure what Hayes was doing rapping over a repetitive chord loop. After a while, according to Hayes, they started to listen. At the end of the song, he said, there was not a dry eye in the house (“I’m gonna moan now…”). As it appeared on Ike’s 1968 Hot Buttered Soul album, the thing went on for 18 glorious minutes.

See also the Song Swarm of By The Time I Get To Phoenix.

1. Richard Berry & The Pharaohs – Louie, Louie (1957)
The Usurper: The Kingsmen (1963)

2. Chan Romero – Hippy Hippy Shake (1959)
The Usurper: The Swinging Blue Jeans (1963)

3. The Vibrations – My Girl Sloopy (1964)
The Usurper: The McCoys (as Hang On Sloopy, 1965)

4. Joe Jones – California Sun (1961)
The Usurper: The Rivieras (1963)

5. The Ronettes – I Can Hear Music (1966)
The Usurper: The Beach Boys (1969)

6. Sugar Boy Crawford & The Cane Cutters – Jock-A-Mo (1953)
The Usurpers: The Dixie Cups (as Iko Iko, 1964), Natasha England (1282), Belle Stars (1982)

7. The Tempos – See You In September (1959)
The Usurper: The Happenings (1966)

8. The Four Seasons – Silence Is Golden (1964)
The Usurper: The Tremeloes (1967)

9. The Limeliters – Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is A Season) (1962)
The Usurper: The Byrds (1965)

10. Paul Simon – I Am A Rock (1965)
The Usurper: Simon & Garfunkel (1966)

11. Greenbriar Boys – Different Drum (1966)
The Usurper: Stone Poneys (1967)

12. John D. Loudermilk – Tobacco Road (1960)
The Usurpers: The Nashville Teens (1964), The Animals (1964)

13. Ferlin Husky – There Goes My Everything (1966)
The Usurpers: Jack Greene (1966), Engelbert Humperdinck (1967), Elvis Presley (1971)

14. Johnny Rivers – By The Time I Get To Phoenix (1966)
The Usurpers: Glen Campbell (1967), Isaac Hayes (1969)

15. Fred Neil – Everybody’s Talking (1966)
The Usurper: Harry Nilsson (1969)

16. John Denver – Babe I Hate To Go (1966)
The Usurpers: Peter, Paul and Mary (as Leaving On A Jet Plane, 1969), John Denver (1969 & 1973)

17. Melina Mercouri – Ta Pedia Ton Pirea (Never On Sunday) (1960)
The Usurper: The Chordettes (1961)

18. Gilbert Bécaud – Et Maintenant (What Now My Love?) (1961)
The Usurper: Shirley Bassey (1962)

19. Patti Drew – Workin’ On A Groovy Thing (1968)
The Usurper: The 5th Dimension (1969)

20. The Ever-Green Blues – Midnight Confessions (1967)
The Usurper: The Grass Roots (1968)

21. The Avantis – Keep On Dancing (1963)
The Usurpers: The Gentrys (1965), Bay City Rollers (1971)

22. The Drifters – Sweets For My Sweet (1961)
The Usurper: The Searchers (1963)

23. Umberto Bindi – Il Mio Mondo (You’re My World) (1963)
The Usurper: Cilla Black (1964)

24. Glen Campbell – Turn Around, Look At Me (1961)
The Usurper: The Vogues (1968)

25. Johnny Smith – Walk, Don’t Run! (1954)
The Usurper: The Ventures (1960)

26. The ‘5’ Royales – Dedicated To The One I Love (1957)
The Usurpers: The Shirelles (1959), The Mamas & The Papas (1967)

27. Little Darlings – Little Bit O’Soul (1965)
The Usurper: The Music Explosion (1967)

28. Bruce Bruno – Venus In Blue Jeans (1962)
The Usurper: Mark Wynter (1962)

29. The Champs – Limbo Rock (1961)
The Usurper: Chubby Checker (1962)

30. David Dante – Speedy Gonzales (1962)
The Usurper: Pat Boone (1962)

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More Originals:
The Originals: The Classics
The Originals: Soul
The Originals: Motown
The Originals: Country
The Originals: The Rock & Roll Years
The Originals: 1960s Vol. 1
The Originals: 1970s Vol. 1
The Originals: 1970s Vol. 2
The Originals: 1980s Vol. 1
The Originals: 1990s & 2000s
The Originals: Beatles edition
The Originals: Elvis Presley Edition Vol. 1
The Originals:  Elvis Presley Edition Vol. 2
The Originals: Carpenters Edition
The Originals: Burt Bacharach Edition
The Originals: Rat Pack Edition
The Originals: Schlager Edition
The Originals: Christmas Edition

Here we reach a decade of these Not Feeling Guilty mixes of 1970s/early-’80s songs that may be labelled AOR or MOR or — that horrible cliché — “yacht rock”. The series started in 2014 (well, in 2009, but it was relaunched six years ago), opening with Kenny Loggins’ song This Is It.

Since then, Loggins has featured four more times. Also featuring five times have been Player, while Ambrosia and Bobby Caldwell have appeared four times. Paul Davis joins them on four with this mix.

The record holder is Boz Scaggs, who has been represented six times; Bill LaBounty equals that record on this mix.

And then there’s the overlord of all AOR, Michael McDonald. He has featured three times solo, twice as a Doobie Brother, and who knows how many times as a backing singer, including on the aforementioned Kenny Loggins song (which is almost a duet with McDonald).

So with so many regulars, it’s notable how much space there has been for artists whom time has largely forgotten. As it was on previous Not Feeling Guilty mixes, there are quite a few of them here.

Lani Hall isn’t exactly obscure, having released 14 solo albums, after serving as lead singer for Sérgio Mendes & Brasil ’66 on hits like Mas Que Nada and The Fool On The Hill. She also sang the theme of the 1983 Bond film Never Say Never Again.

It would also be wrong to say that Peter McCann is obscure, though he is much better known as a songwriter and producer. As a recording artist he released two LPs. As a songwriter you might know as the co-writer of Whitney Houston’s Take Good Care Of My Heart, Earl Thomas Conley’s Nobody Falls Like A Fool, or Jennifer Warnes’ Right Time Of The Night, which also features on this mix.

You also found Byrne & Barnes more behind the scenes than in front of the microphone. Together they released just one 1981 album, but they made their mark as songwriters. Robert Byrne, who died in 2005, co-wrote hits such as How Do I Turn You On for Ronnie Milsap; and Earl Thomas Conley’s string of hits:  I Can’t Win For Losin’ You, Once In A Blue Moon, That Was A Close One and What I’d Say.

For Dave Raynor, the recording career as a singer also lasted for just one album. After that he made is way as a recording engineer and occasional guitarist.

Turley Richards may be better known as a rockabilly singer, a genre in which he had a classic 1959 hit with Makin’ Love With My Baby. In the 1970s he had some success as a country-rock singer; among the songs he recorded was the original version of You Might Need Somebody, later a hit for Randy Crawford and again for Shola Ama.

After his attempts at a solo career Joseph Williams became the lead singer of Toto between 1986 and 1988. He resumed a solo recording career, but also followed in the footsteps of his father John Wiliams as a film score composer.

English singer-songwriter Ian Gomm made his name as the rhythm guitarist for Brinsley Schwarz, being named “Best Rhythm Guitarist” by the New Musical Express in 1971. He later toured with acts like Dire Straits, while also running a recording studio in Wales, and releasing his own music. In 1979 he had a Top 20 US hit with Hold On, which features here. He also co-wrote Cruel To Be Kind with former Brinsley Schwarz bandmate Nick Lowe, who had a big hit with it in the UK and US in 1979.

As ever, the mix is timed to fit on a standard CD-R and includes home-basslined covers. PW in comments. Also, all previous mixes are up.

1. Dave Mason – Let It Go, Let It Flow (1977)
2. Turley Richards – I Will (1976)
3. Ozark Mountain Daredevils – Jackie Blue (1974)
4. Atlanta Rhythm Section – I’m Not Gonna Let It Bother Me Tonight (1978)
5. Marilyn Scott – Highways Of My Life (1979)
6. Heat – Don’t You Walk Away (1980)
7. Dave Raynor – I Can’t Take It (1981)
8. Bill LaBounty – I Hope You’ll Be Very Unhappy Without Me (1975)
9. Peter McCann – Step Right Up (1979)
10. Lani Hall – Where’s Your Angel (1980)
11. Joseph Williams – That First Night (1982)
12. Brooklyn Dreams – I Won’t Let Go (1980)
13. Jennifer Warnes – Right Time Of The Night (1976)
14. Paul Davis – Sweet Life (1977)
15. Michael Johnson – Bluer Than Blue (1978)
16. Fred Knoblock – A Bigger Fool (1980)
17. Ian Matthews – Shake It (1978)
18. Greg Guidry – How Long (1982)
19. Byrne & Barnes – Love You Out Of Your Mind (1981)
20. Ian Gomm – Hold On (1978)
21. Peter Frampton – I Can’t Stand It No More (1979)
22. Stephen Bishop – It Might Be You (1982)

GET! or HERE! or HERE!

Not Feeling Guilty Mix 1
Not Feeling Guilty Mix 2
Not Feeling Guilty Mix 3
Not Feeling Guilty Mix 4
Not Feeling Guilty Mix 5
Not Feeling Guilty Vol. 6
Not Feeling Guilty Vol. 7
Not Feeling Guilty Vol. 8
Not Feeling Guilty Vol. 9

More CD-R Mixes

1970 is — gulp — 50 years ago. The 1960s hadn’t quite ended; and the 1970s were already getting underway: Creedence Clearwater Revival and T. Rex both were relevant.

The scary thing is, 1970 today is as 1920 was to 1970 then. Arguably, the world, and music, had changed much more between 1920 and 1970 than it has changed in the past 50 years. Look, there’s even still a crook in the White House (whereas, the history buff will counter in his killjoy ways, in 1920 a crook was about to be elected unto the White House).

Last year I did a mix of hits from 1944 to mark the 75^th anniversary of that year. In many ways, 1970 looks more like today than it did look like 1944, only 26 years earlier.

For many people who’ll hear this mix, I hope the songs will evoke a bit of nostalgia, with any luck of happy memories. I was just a little too young to build many memories of that year, other than two holidays, one in the snow and the other on the beach. I do recall a few of the songs specifically from that time, especially the final one, since I loved music even as a four-year-old. But to me, this mix of big smashes and rather forgotten hits sounds like 1970, which is the effect I tried to go for. Those with more mature memories will be the judges of whether I’ve succeeded in my task.

Some of these songs are, of course, from 1969, but they were hits in the UK, US and/or West-Germany in 1970.

As ever, the mix is timed to be in CD-R (or double LP) length. home-grooved covers. PW in comments.

1. Mungo Jerry – In The Summertime
2. Edison Lighthouse – Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)
3. Christie – San Bernadino
4. Creedence Clearwater Revival – Up Around The Bend
5. The Chairmen Of The Board – Give Me Just A Little More Time
6. Freda Payne – Band Of Gold
7. The Tremeloes – Me And My Life
8. Badfinger – Come And Get It
9. McGuinness Flint – When I’m Dead And Gone
10. Kenny Rogers and The First Edition – Something’s Burning
11. Chicago – 25 Or 6 To 4
12. The Ides Of March – Vehicle
13. Blues Image – Ride Captain Ride
14. T. Rex – Ride A White Swan
15. Mr. Bloe – Groovin’ With Mr. Bloe
16. Tyrone Davis – Turn Back The Hands Of Time
17. Jimmy Ruffin – It’s Wonderful (To Be Loved By You)
18. Arrival – Friends
19. White Plains – My Baby Loves Lovin’
20. Stevie Wonder – Never Had A Dream Come True
21. B.J. Thomas – Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head
22. Joe Dassin – Les Champs-Elysées
23. Elvis Presley – Kentucky Rain
24. The Beach Boys – Cotton Fields
25. Pickettywitch – That Same Old Feeling
26. Rotation – Ra-Ta-Ta
Bonus: Sugarloaf – Green-Eyed Lady

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More Mixes

At last, there was a month of some respite, at least in comparison to the past few months of carnage (though the last week was pretty brutal). Still, we lost as few legends in their field, and one singer’s assassination sparked off social unrest.

The Pointer Sister
When on 9 June I posted the Protest Soul Vol. 3 mix, featuring the Pointer Sisters song Yes We Can Can, I didn’t know that Bonnie Pointer had died the day before. Bonnie started the band with younger sister June in 1969, with Anita and then Ruth joining later. In the earlier days, the Pointer Sisters were eclectic, adopting an image based on the Andrews Sisters, and performing material that ranged from soul to funk to jazz to country. Their 1974 crossover hit Fairytale, which Bonnie co-wrote with Anita, was full-on country.

Bonnie left the group in the late 1970s to pursue a solo career, but that yielded only one hit, 1979’s disco version of The Elgins’ Heaven Must Have Sent You, which peaked at #11. After Bonnie left, the sisters carried on as a trio.

The Glam Bassist
Glam rock introduced the British public (and people beyond) to male pop stars wearing make-up, but even then, few really camped it up as heterosexually as Steve Priest, bassist of The Sweet. His interjection on the 1973 hit Block Buster “They just haven’t got a clue what to do” is the stuff of legend. So when The Sweet went square and released 1978’s Level Headed LP, it was disappointing to see Steve looking, well, like a school teacher who’ll have to take action against hell-raisers on a teenage rampage. With Priest’s death, Andy Scott is the final survivor of the classic Sweet line-up.

The Guitar Man
The Any Major Guitar Vol. 2 mix featured songs with guitar parts I particularly like. Among them was the solo on Rod Stewart’s Sailing by Pete Carr. I noted that another one of his solos, on Bob Seger’s Against The Wind might have featured instead. Carr was still a teenager when he recorded, as a bassist, an album with Duane and Gregg Allman in the band Hour Glass. That led to him to the FAME studios, where soon he became lead guitarist for the in-house band, the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. At FAME he played on most hits produced there in the 1970s, and also worked behind the scenes in production and engineering. In between, he formed a duo with Lenny LeBlanc, and had a hit with their song Falling.

Carr’s guitar can be heard on hits such as Rod Stewart’s Tonight’s The Night, Luther Ingram’s If Loving You is Wrong, Barbra Streisand’s Woman In Love (that intro!), Paul Simon’s Kodachrome and Take Me To The Mardi Gras, Mary McGregor’s Torn Between Two Lovers, Bob Seger’s Main Street, Still The Same, Hollywood Nights and practically everything else Seger did between 1972 and 1986. And, having recorded with both Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, Carr was in the backing band in their Concert In The Park reunion.

The War Singer
A few weeks ago I reposted a mix of German hits from the WW2 years, among which were subtly-spun propaganda songs exhorting the German population to keep courage while their cities were bombed and sons and husbands fell in the field. In Britain, Vera Lynn filled a similar function by singing about meeting again at an unknowable time in the future (in the 1940s hit version, backed by a choir of servicemen), how there’ll always be an England, and about how the white cliffs of Dover would greet returning soldiers.

With these songs that gave comfort and the spirit of endurance, Lynn’s name in the book of British music legends was still shone bright for the remaining 75+ years of her life. Her big hits were used a lot for jingoistic propaganda to agitate for Brexit, but if We’ll Meet Again isn’t remembered as war-time classic, it might be as the song that scores the final scene of Dr Strangelove, as the world fades away in an atomic armageddon.

The Theme Composer
The man who write the theme of M*A*S*H has died, apparently of natural causes, at 94. Johnny Mandel put the music to the lyrics by director Robert Altman’s 14-year-old son Michael, who was roped in to write the most intentionally idiotic lyrics to fit the title Suicide Is Painless. Against Mandel’s wishes, it became the movie’s theme song. As an instrumental theme for the TV series, the tune became one of the most recognisable of the 1970s.

He won Grammy awards for his songs Emily (from the 1964 comedy film The Americanization of Emily) and the much-covered The Shadow of Your Smile (from The Sandpiper), which also won the Oscar for Best Song in 1966. Films whose scores he composed included Caddyshack, Being There, The Verdict, Freaky Friday (1976 version), Agatha, Escape to Witch Mountain, Point Blank, Pretty Poison, I Want To Live! and The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming (which starred Carl Reiner, who died on the same day as Mandel).

Mandel was not only a prolific songwriter and score composer for film and TV, but was also a sought-after arranger for the likes of Hoagy Carmichael, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Mel Tormé, Anita O’Day, Buddy Rich, Quincy Jones, Peggy Lee, Diane Schuur, Diane Krall, Barbra Streisand, Lee Ritenour, James Ingram, Natalie Cole, Michael Jackson (on Will You Be There) and Steely Dan (he arranged the strings on FM).

The Reggae Pioneer
Jamaican guitarist Hux Brown played on pioneering reggae songs such as Bangarang by Lester Sterling, Rivers of Babylon by The Melodians, The Harder They Come by Jimmy Cliff Girl, I’ve Got A Date by Alton Ellis, Ba Ba Boom by the Jamaicans; and many tracks by Lee “Scratch” Perry, Bob Marley & The Wailing Wailers, and Toots And The Maytalls, whom he joined in the 1970s and stayed with for 35 years. Outside reggae, he backed Paul Simon (on Mother And Child Reunion) and Herbie Mann.

The Singing Producer
As a young folk musician in England, Rupert Hine was pals with a pre-fame Paul Simon (rough month for Paul, with three former collaborators dying this month). In the 1970s he had a Top 10 UK hit with his band Quantum Jump and recorded prolifically as a solo artist, without bothering the charts (though he sang on the Better Off Dead soundtrack in 1985).

It was as a producer Hine left a mark with acts like Yvonne Elliman, Kevin Ayers, After The Fire, Murray Head, Camel, The Members, Tina Turner (Better Be Good To Me; Break Every Rule), The Fixx, Chris De Burgh (Don’t Pay The Ferryman; High On Emotion), Jona Lewie, Howard Jones (What Is Love; Like To Get To Know You Well; Hide And Seek, Things Can Only Get Better, Life In One Day), The Waterboys (A Girl Called Johnny), Thompson Twins (The Long Goodbye; Get That Love), Bob Geldof, Rush, Stevie Nicks (Rooms On Fire), Duncan Sheik, Suzanne Vega and others.

The Last Left Banker
The Left Banke is now empty, after the death of the last surviving member of the classic line-up, bass player Tom Finn. Just over five years ago, they were all still alive. Since then, keyboardist and chief songwriter Michael Brown died in 2015; drummer George Cameron in 2018, and guitarist Steve Martin Caro in January this year.  After the band split, Finn went on to engineer at Bell Records, and then became a DJ, at the prompting of Studio 54 owner Steve Rubell. Among Finn’s clients were Bill and Hilary Clinton.

The Assassins’ Victim
It seems to become a common event that musicians are killed or otherwise persecuted for advocating social justice. In the past few months we’ve seen the death of gospel singer Kizitio Mihigo  while in police custody in Rwanda in February, and the hunger strikes deaths of Ibrahim Gökçek and Helin Bölek in Erdogan’s Turkey in April and May. On June 29, assassins’ bullets killed Ethiopian singer-songwriter Hachalu Hundessa, who was an activist for political and social reform and the rights of the Oromo ethnic group, which has been discriminated against by successive Ethiopian regimes, starting with that of Haile Selassie.

Hundessa’s murder sparked off civil unrest, with at least 11 protesters shot dead. The day after his murder, the Ethiopian government shut down the internet in much of the country.

As last month, this post is included as a PDF booklet for easy future reference, replacing the old *.txt files. It takes a bit of effort to create. Let me know in the comments if I should continue with it.

Joey Image, 63, drummer of punk rock band Misfits, on June 1
Misfits – Horror Business (1978)

Majek Fashek, 57, Nigerian reggae singer and songwriter, on June 1
Majek Fashek – Send Down The Rain (1988)

Chris Trousdale, 34, singer with boy band Dream Street, of Covid-129 on June 2

Werner ‘Gottlieb Wendehals’ Böhm, 78, German singer and musician, on June 3

Dulce Nunes, 90, Brazilian singer, composer, producer & actress, of Covid-19 on June 4
Dulce Nunes – Pobre Menina Rica (1964)

Steve Priest, 72, bassist and later singer of The Sweet, on June 4
Sweet – Wig-Wam Bam (1972)
Sweet – Block Buster (1973)
Sweet – The Six Teens (1974)
Sweet – Love Is Like Oxygen (1978)

Rupert Hine, 72, English musician, songwriter and producer, on June 5
Quantum Jump – The Lone Ranger (1976, as member on vocals and keyboard)
Howard Jones – Hide And Seek (!984, as producer)
Rupert Hine – Arrested By You (1985, also as co-writer)

Frank Bey, 74, blues singer, on June 7
Frank Bey – Idle Hands (2020)

Floyd Lee, 86, New York blues busker and musician, on June 7
Floyd Lee Band – Mean Blues (2001)

Jesse Sanders, 76, member of surf-rock band The Tornadoes, on June 7
The Tornadoes – Bustin’ Surfboards (1962)

James ‘Slim’ Hand, 67, country singer-songwriter, on June 8
James Hand – In The Corner, At The Table, By The Jukebox (2006)

Bonnie Pointer, 69, singer with The Pointer Sisters, on June 8
The Pointer Sisters – Fairytale (1974, also as co-writer)
The Pointer Sisters – Easy Days (1975, on lead vocals & as co-writer)
Bonnie Pointer – Heaven Must Have Sent You (1979)

Uta Pilling, 71, German musician, songwriter and illustrator, on June 8

Pau Donés, 53, singer-songwriter, guitarist with Spanish rock group Jarabe de Palo, on June 9
Jarabe de Palo – Agua (1998)

Paul Chapman, 66, Welsh guitarist (UFO, Lone Star), on June 9
UFO – This Fire Burns Tonight (1980, on lead guitar & as co-writer)

Ricky Valance, 84, Welsh pop singer, on June 12
Ricky Valance – Tell Laura I Love Her (1960)

Claude Ndam, 65, Cameroonian singer-songwriter, on June 12

Dodo Doris, 71, drummer of Congolese/Kenyan Orchestra Super Mazembe, on June 12
Super Mazembe Orchestra – Shauri Yako (1983)

Marc Zermati, 75, French producer and promoter, on June 13
The Flamin’ Groovies – River Deep Mountain High (1981, as co-producer)

Keith Tippett, 72, British jazz-rock pianist, on June 14
Keith Tippett Group – Black Horse (1971)

Omondi Long’lilo, 37, Kenyan Benga musician, on June 15

Nana Tuffour, 66, Ghanaian highlife singer, on June 15
Nana Tuffour – Abeiku (2002)

Yohan, 28, singer with South Korean K-pop boyband TST, on June 16

Yuji ‘You’ Adachi, 56, guitarist, songwriter of Japanese hard rock band Dead End, on June 16
Dead End – So Sweet So Lonely (1989)

Hugh Fraser, 62, Canadian jazz pianist, trombonist and composer, on June 17

Vera Lynn, 103, British singer, on June 18
Vera Lynn – We’ll Meet Again (1939, original version)
Vera Lynn – Be Like The Kettle And Sing (1944)
Vera Lynn – When You Hear Big Ben, You’re Home Again (1954)

Hux Brown, 75, Jamaican guitarist with The Maytals, on June 18
Bob Marley & The Wailing Wailers – Rocksteady (1969, on guitar)
Paul Simon – Mother And Child Reunion (1972, on guitar)
The Maytals – Give Us A Piece Of The Action (1977, on guitar as member)

Ellington ‘Fugi’ Jordan, 80, soul & blues singer, songwriter and producer, on June 18
Fugi ‎- Mary Don’t Take Me On No Bad Trip (1968, also as writer and co-producer)
Clarence Carter – I’d Rather Go Blind (1969, as writer)

Aaron Tokona, 45, New Zealand guitarist and singer, on June 20

Joan Pau Verdier, 73, French chanson singer, on June 21
Joan Pau Verdier – Vivre (1976)

Ian Stoddart, drummer and bassist of pop band Win, announced on June 22
Win – You’ve Got The Power (1985)

Margarita Pracatan, 89, Cuban novelty singer, on June 23

Claude Le Péron, 72, French bass guitarist, on June 24

Jacques Coursil, 82, French jazz trumpeter and composer, on June 25

Graeme Williamson, singer of Canadian new wave band Pukka Orchestra, on June 25
Pukka Orchestra – Cherry Beach Express (1984)

Huey, 31, rapper, shot on June 25

Charles Lawton Jiles, 90, country musician and songwriter, on June 26
Porter Wagoner – My Baby’s Not Here (In Town Tonight) (1963, as co-writer)

Sandra Feva, 73, soul singer, on June 26
Sandra Feva – Choking Kind (1979)
Sandra Feva – Leaving This Time (1981)

Mats Rådberg, 72, Swedish country singer, on June 27

Freddy Cole, 88, jazz singer and pianist, brother of Nat ‘King’ Cole, on June 27
Freddy Cole – Black Coffee (1964)
Freddy Cole – This Time I’m Gone For Good (2014)

Tom Finn, 71, bassist of pop band The Left Banke, on June 27
The Left Banke – I’ve Got Something On My Mind (1967)
The Left Banke – Nice To See You (1969, also as writer)

Pete Carr, 70, Muscle Shoals guitarist, on June 27
Hour Glass – Power Of Love (1968, as member on bass)
Sandra Wright – I’ll See You Through (I’ll Be Your Shelter) (1974, on guitar)
LeBlanc & Carr – Falling (1977)
Bob Seger – Against The Wind (1980, on lead guitar)

Simon H. Fell, 61, British free jazz bassist, on June 28

Benny Mardones, 73, soft-rock singer, on June 29
Benny Mardones – Into The Night (1989, also as writer)

Willie Wright, 80, soul singer, on June 29
Willie Wright – I’m So Happy Now (1977)

Stepa J. Groggs, 32, rapper (original member of Injury Reserve), on June 29

Johnny Mandel, 94, film composer, arranger, on June 29
Frank Sinatra – Ring-A-Ding-Ding (1960, as arranger and conductor)
Tony Bennett – The Shadow of Your Smile (1966, as co-writer and arranger)
The Mash – Suicide Is Painless (1980, as co-writer and arranger)
Quincy Jones – Velas (1980, as arranger)

Hachalu Hundessa, 34, Ethiopian singer and songwriter, assassinated on June 29
Hachalu Hundessa – Maalan Jira (2016)

Walter Nita, 69, Dutch singer, on June 30

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