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All posts for the month May, 2015

Gary Lewis and the Playboys – Me About You

Posted by funky16corners on May 31, 2015
Posted in: Baroque, cover versions, Culture, Iron Leg, Music, pop, Rock. Leave a comment

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Gary Lewis

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Listen/Download – Gary Lewis and the Playboys – Me About You

Greetings all.

A while back, somewhere (exactly where currently escapes me) someone dropped a list of albums that were, if not lost classics, much better than you’d think and decidedly underappreciated.

One of these records was Gary Lewis’s 1967 LP ‘New Directions’. The album proved easy (and cheap) to acquire, and once I’d gotten it under the needle and digimatized, I was very happy indeed.

Though the record is – as a whole – definitely worth hearing, and a little bit more progressive than you’d expect from Gary and the boys* (who’s better known stuff I dig all the same), the track that really drilled its way into my head was ‘Me About You’.

What I didn’t know when I heard it, is that ‘Me About You’, written by Alan Gordon and Gary Bonner (who also penned a number of other tunes on the album) , had been recorded a bunch of times by a bunch of different people, such as Bobby Darin, the Turtles, The Lovin’ Spoonful and the Lettermen.

Naturally, I set out to hear the other versions, and in the end I kept coming back to Gary Lewis.

The song itself is kind of a soft, pretty love song, but the arrangement, by Nick DeCaro is positively haunting, filled with baroque touches that creep on up to the edge of psychedelic without ever really crossing that particular line.

Lewis’s vocal conveys a mix of sadness and yearning that I’d never heard on any of his records, and it kind of blows my mind that a track this good was buried deep on the second side of a fairly obscure album.

It certainly packs enough surprise to make you look at Gary Lewis in a new light, as well as a reminder of what great songwriters Gordon and Bonner were (not that you needed a reminder, but whatever).

It is a sweet, groovy little sound, and you should pour it into your ears gently, and savor it.

I hope you dig it, and I’ll see you next week.

Peace

Larry

 

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PS Head over to Funky16Corners for some soul.

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The Lovin’ Spoonful – Six O’Clock

Posted by funky16corners on May 24, 2015
Posted in: 45s, Baroque, Beatles-esque Sounds, Culture, folk rock, Iron Leg, Music, pop, Rock. Leave a comment

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The Lovin’ Spoonful

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Listen/Download – Lovin’ Spoonful – Six O’Clock

Greetings all.

The track I bring you today is probably a familiar one for most of the folks that stop by Iron Leg on the reg, but every once in a while one needs to grab even the most obvious thing in the room, climb up on something high and sing its praises.

A substantial hit for the Lovin’ Spoonful in the Spring of 1967, ‘Six O’Clock’ is one of those treasures that for me was kind of hiding in plain sight for years.

I was only 5 when it was initially released, but from about my 12th birthday on, I was a devoted listener of ‘oldies’ radio station WCBS-FM in New York City (an ironic designation since most of the songs I was digging were less than ten years old at that point). Even then, on what was the gold standard for oldies programming (not nearly as narrow as most similar stations these days) it was unlikely to hear anything outside of the four or five biggest hits by the Spoonful. Stuff like ‘Summer In the City’, ‘Daydream’, ‘Did You Ever Have To Make Up Your Mind’ and of course ‘Do You Believe In Magic’.

I didn’t encounter my favorite Lovin’ Spoonful songs (‘Six O’Clock’, ‘Darling Be Home Soon’ and ‘Coconut Grove’) until I was an adult and picking up their records wherever I found them.

I’ve always felt that ‘Six O’Clock’ was probably the best thing the Lovin’ Spoonful ever did, for a variety of reasons.

Coming from an era where every band was trying to meet (and beat) the Beatles on their turf, I’d say that the Lovin’ Spoonful comes awfully close to doing it with ‘Six O’Clock’.

Complete with one of John Sebastian’s finest lyrics, a sophisticated melody and structure, and an arrangement that manages to rock while including baroque touches like harpsichord and pump organ, ‘Six O’Clock’ is one of the finest pop 45s of its time.

I’ve always wanted to find some account of the making of the record, especially because there’s a point where Sebastian sounds like his voice is right on the edge of giving out, as if he’d been reaching for the perfect take all night long.

As it is ‘Six O’Clock’ was their last big hit, with both Zal Yanovsky and John Sebastian leaving the band by 1968.

It’s a fantastic record, and I just thought I’d take time out of my week to remind you all.

I hope you dig it, and I’ll see you next week.

Peace

Larry

 

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PS Head over to Funky16Corners for some soul.

Iron Leg Radio Show Episode #49

Posted by funky16corners on May 17, 2015
Posted in: 45s, British Beat, Buffalo Springfield, Country Rock, cover versions, Culture, folk rock, freakbeat, Iron Leg, Iron Leg Radio Show, Laurel Canyon, Mod, Music, pop, Rock. Leave a comment

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Why hello there!

Playlist

Sharon Tandy – Hold On (Atco)
Sharon Tandy – Stay With Me (Atco)
Sharon Tandy – Our Day Will Come (Atlantic UK)
Sharon Tandy – Look and Find (Atantic UK)
Beverley – Where The Good Times Are (Deram)
Brenda Patterson –This Wheel’s On Fire (Columbia)
Cher – I Walk On Gilded Splinters (Atco)
Julie Budd – All’s Quiet On West 23rd St (MGM)

Buffalo Springfield – Burned (Atco)
Buffalo Springfield – Kind Woman (Atco)
Monkees – What Am I Doing Hangin’ Round (Colgems)
Nat Stuckey – Listen To the Band (RCA)
Buck Owens – Buckaroo (Capitol)
Gosdin Brothers – Sounds of Goodbye (Capitol)
Gene Clark & the Gosdin Brothers – So You Say You Lost Your Baby (Columbia)

Hearts and Flowers – View From Ward 3 (Capitol)
Byrds – Nashville West (Columbia)
Grateful Dead – Doin’ That Rag (alt) (WB)
Everly Brothers – T For Texas (WB)
Poco – Hurry Up (Epic)
Flying Burrito Brothers – Hot Burrito #2 (A&M)
Gram Parsons – The Streets of Baltimore (Reprise)

Rick Nelson – The Lady Stayed With Me (Decca)
Rick Nelson – Three Day Eternity (Decca)
Rick Nelson – Without Her (Decca)
Rick Nelson – I Think It’s Gonna Rain Today (Decca)
Rick Nelson – Love Story (Decca)

Listen/Download -Iron Leg Radio Show Episode #49 – 168MB/256kbps

Greetings all.

Welcome to this month’s episode of the Iron Leg Radio Show.

We get things started with a tribute to the late, great Sharon Tandy, move on to two sets from the days when people were getting country in their rock and vice versa, and then some tracks from a great, forgotten Rick Nelson LP.

Lots of cool stuff in here, and we’re almost to episode 50!

As always, I hope you dig it.

See you next week.

Peace

Larry

 

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PS Head over to Funky16Corners

The Beach Boys – Mt. Vernon and Fairway

Posted by funky16corners on May 10, 2015
Posted in: Beach Boys, Brian Wilson, Culture, Iron Leg, Music, pop. 1 Comment

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Cartoon Beach Boys

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Mt Vernon and Fairway jacket

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Listen/Download -The Beach Boys – Mt Vernon and Fairway Pt1

Listen/Download -The Beach Boys – Mt Vernon and Fairway Pt2

Greetings all.

I hope the new week finds you well.
The record I bring you today is something unusual that I happened upn whilst out on the dig last year.

You already know that I’m a big Brian Wilson fan, and thanks to a fair amount of indoctrination and a good ear, my 11 year old son is too.

Like most people, my interest in the Beach Boys started with the early stuff (via ‘Endless Summer’ when I was a kid), and then gradually being exposed to the genius of Brian Wilson as it was revealed, gradually in the band’s more sophisticated music, Pet Sounds and beyond.

When I found my copy of ‘Mt Vernon and Fairway’, I had no idea what it was, or how it fit into the Beach Boys story.

When I got it home and gave it a listen (or three, or four) it was revealed to me as something of a mini-concept album, coming in at just under twelve minutes of ambient music and storytelling (the voice of band manager/collaborator Jack Rieley, who recently passed away), relating a fairytale of a young boy being introduced to music via a Pied Piper in his transistor radio.

Apparently Brian, already in something of a tenuous position with the band, wanted to make ‘Mt Vernon and Fairway’ the centerpiece of the album that would become 1973’s ‘Holland’.

The other band members weren’t too keen on that idea, causing a rift with Brian, that would only be partially healed when Carl insisted that the piece be included with ‘Holland’ as a bonus EP.

As sympathetic as I am toward Brian and his fragile genius, I can also understand why the Beach Boys might have balked at the piece, which sounds more like children’s story record than tracks put down by a major rock band.

On the other hand, it was the early 70s, and the cocaine-soaked record industry was releasing anything and everything, in deluxe, die-cut, fold out sleeves with giant rolling papers, miniature books and what not, so the idea of including something like ‘Mt Vernon and Fairway’ on an album wasn’t entirely out of line.

That said, I enjoy ‘Mt Vernon and Fairway’ on its own merits. It’s certainly not the deepest thing to erupt from the pen of Brian Wilson, but it’s marked by a kind of sincere naivete that I dig.

I’m sure it had Mike Love rolling his eyes, but, you know, fuck him, right?

I hope you dig it, and I’ll see you all next week.

Peace

Larry

 

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PS Head over to Funky16Corners for some soul.

Shotgun Express – I Could Feel the Whole World Turn Round

Posted by funky16corners on May 3, 2015
Posted in: 45s, Culture, Iron Leg, Mod, Music, pop, Rock, Swinging London. Leave a comment

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Shotgun Express – Bardens, Marsden and Stewart

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Listen/Download -Shotgun Express – I Could Feel the Whole World Turn Round

Greetings all.

The track I bring you today is one of those records that I thought I’d never put my hands on.

I probably heard the Shotgun Express for the first time about 30 years ago, during the Mod/garage days, when it was passed to me on a tape (remember those) by my man Mr Luther.

The group was of interest for two reasons, the first being that their debut 45 included two very groovy songs (one of them a swinging Hammond instro), and second, that it was an early  home for none other than Rod Stewart.

Despite his reemergence these days as a a leathery crooner, warbling reworked standards for arenas full of old ladies, Rod the Mod was once the possessor of one of the truly great blue-eyed soul voices, which he put to work fronting the Jeff Beck Group and the Faces.

His short tenure with the Shotgun Express, the reconfigured version of Peter B’s Looners (Peter Bardens group which then featured a pre-Mac Mick Fleetwood and Peter Green) with Rod and Beryl Marsden on vocals, lasted less than a year.

The vocal side of their first 45, ‘I Could Feel the Whole World Turn Round’, written by Tony Colton and Ray Smith (who also penned Zoot Money’s ‘Big Time Operator’, and would later play in Head, Hands and Feet) is a great slice of mid-60s mod soul.

Sung in tandem by Stewart and Marsden, and featuring the pumping Hammond of Bardens, the song also features a lush string arrangement.

History seems to indicate that the band’s constituency, used to a diet of harder-edged soul reacted negatively to this stylish number, but even if that was true, it’s hard to understand why it wasn’t a hit.

I hope you dig it, and keep your eyes/ears peeled for the flipside, coming soon over at Funky16Corners.

Peace

Larry

 

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PS Head over to Funky16Corners for some soul.