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June 1964 (side C)
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Our first months of four sides. The first week of June 1964 on the Billboard Charts. Irma Thomas (The Soul Queen of New Orleans!), The Girl from Ipanema, the Impressions, Sam Cooke and Johnny Rivers (who might have sold more records than Elvis and the Beatles over some period of time, along with a Bobby Vee song we'd rather forget. #MadeonZencastr.
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Transcript
Motivation and Mantras of The Beatles
00:00:00
Speaker
the Beatles had this chant John Paul and George and probably then Stuart and Pete had this chant when things weren't going well which in their world wasn't very often because mostly it was an upward trajectory but nonetheless sometimes you know a bad night or the gig we you know didn't work properly or the amps broke or whatever I say where are we going fellas and they'd go to the top Johnny and I say where's that fellas and they say to the top of most of the papa most I said right and we'd also Cheer up. I'd say, where are we going, fellas? And they go to the top, Johnny. I'd say, where's that, fellas? And they say, to the top of most of the papamos. And I'd say, right. And we'd all sort of cheer up.
Exploring June 1964 American Charts
00:00:57
Speaker
Welcome to June of 1964. Side C, but we're just now starting the American Charts. i'med chan I'm I'm Kid O'Toole. And I'm Martin Quibbell. This is brand new territory for us. Yes, doing this many sides, just getting to the American Charts this late, but we have a wealth of material here. So is this our White Album or our um Saturday Night Fever?
00:01:27
Speaker
beggar's banquet There you go. So we start with the week of June 6th on the Billboard charts. At number one is Chapel of Love by the Dixie Cups, which was also on the British charts. It's something that we've commented on a little bit. The charts seem to be syncing up much more than they had in the past. Yeah, yeah we're definitely seeing more of the same records on both charts. And of course, as we've talked about, this is probably one of Phil Spector's greatest regrets. Cast over this song. Great song. We are all really fond of this song. Beatlemania is still going strong, although the US charts do seem to be finally passing everything out. As we mentioned, there's not going to be another number one from the Beatles for a whole month from here. Oh my goodness. Two months from here, is not till August. Well, two months. Cool. Yeah. Although we will say Peter and Gordon song approached those heights.
00:02:26
Speaker
so at number two is love me do
00:02:51
Speaker
So at number two is Love Me Do.
00:03:04
Speaker
at number 10 is PS I Love You, the two sides of the single. It's really kind of amazing. This is a single that's been around for a while, and as we noted, Canadian copies had made their way into the American charts, and it's the one that's still here.
Celebrating Irma Thomas: The Soul Queen
00:03:22
Speaker
Wow. Still hanging on. he love
00:03:32
Speaker
At number 32, wish someone would care by Irma Thomas. Irma Thomas was a contemporary of Aretha Franklin and Etta James, but she never managed to be quite as popular or as commercially successful. However, she is still big in the New Orleans R and&B scene and is recognized as the sole queen of New Orleans. Absolutely. Still an icon there. My name is Bill Wax and I have to say in my wildest dreams,
00:04:05
Speaker
I never figured I would share the stage with Irma Thomas and Alan Toussaint and thank you God that I get this opportunity. She really started when she signed with Minute Records in New Orleans. The audition session, the way I understood it, you were just hired to play behind the people. You weren't working for them at that point, right? The Minute Record folks. Absolutely. They just brought you in to play behind all these people that were coming in. And Irma happened to be one of them. Do you remember the tune you sang? a Teenage Love by Miss Lavelle.
00:04:40
Speaker
Ms. LaValle White, who's still with us today. It's my understanding she's still around. Does she know that that you started? Oh, I've told her that many times. Oh, good. yeah
00:04:52
Speaker
Did you recognize, I mean, you as the piano player because you weren't in charge, you weren't the producer at that point, but did you recognize when Irma came in for her audition that this was special talent and this was... Yes, we all knew that, well, those of us on the side, because the I was just as new to the people who we were auditioning for as Irma was. But yes, I knew, like some others knew, that armor had that stuff. She teamed up with the great Alan Toussaint, who provided her with a bunch of songs that he wrote, including, It's Raining, Ruler of My Heart, She then moved on to a larger label, Imperial Records, and that's where she started recording some bigger hits, including this one that we're just about to discuss, Wish Someone Would Care.
00:06:15
Speaker
She has incredible blues voice, a bit reminiscent of Etta James. And this is kind of a slow burner. I thought the drumming was a bit overdone on this track, but I love her passionate performance on this. I mean, she's not called the soul queen for nothing. Let's put it that way. Her vocal is just tremendous. It's an amazing, amazing vocal. Absolutely. She's singing her own song. She could write her own stuff. And as I said, other than the drumming being a little overdone, it's a good record. And there is a Beatles connection way back during the Covid era. We got a chance to see Paul McCartney ah trying to play the trumpet. He did it OK. He's a bit out of practice.
00:07:03
Speaker
It's amateurish, but it's good for being amateurish. Yes. He closed out a show which was called Preservation Hall presents Preservation Hall is ah one of the great music venues in New Orleans. And back during the COVID area, there was a real chance that we would have lost it. And fortunately, they raised enough money to keep it going. And it is still with us to this day. Cool. We get Paul going into the studio and he doesn't say he plays the trumpet and he starts off when the saints and then he's joined by some actual New Orleans jazz musicians. Irma Thomas is singing the lead vocal and and then later on when Paul puts down the trumpet, they do sing a little bit of a duet together. A lot of fun actually. Yeah.
00:07:50
Speaker
te Please stand up and give a big round of applause. This is Mr. Paul McCartney and Mr. Irma Thomas with When the Saints Go Marching In. Let's go. Ready, Louis Armstrong is dropping. Woo!
Johnny Rivers and the Legacy of Memphis
00:08:53
Speaker
When the saints go marching in the morning When the saints go marching in the morning When the saints go marching in the morning When the saints go marching in the morning When the saints go
00:09:18
Speaker
At number 63, a cover of Memphis by Johnny Rivers. Johnny Rivers is almost always associated with the Beatles. Because of his song, Summer Rain, a couple of years later, which includes the line, everybody kept on playing Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Now this cover, I like it a little bit more than Martin does, but sure it's not terrible. Giant Rivers has a very smooth vocal style.
00:09:54
Speaker
Let me find a party and try to get in touch with me. She could not leave a number, but I know who placed the call. Cause Bonco took the message and they wrote it on the wall. I've always liked this cover, I guess, because I kind of grew up on it. This was also played a lot on right here in Chicago, Magic 104, Dick Biondi. It honors the original, but Johnny Rivers puts, well, I thought it was his own spin on it, but I'll share something I learned about it. I like the guitar in his lead vocal. I always like when he put his own spin on the line where he says, Marie is only six years old. Information, please.
00:10:38
Speaker
It's like when he kind of did that. But I found out that that according to ah Elvis Presley's friend and employee, Alan Fortas, Elvis played a test pressing of his version of Memphis that he had made but not released. And Johnny Rivers was so impressed that he went ahead and recorded his own version copying Elvis's arrangement and released it. So ah supposedly this was Johnny just copied Elvis's take on the song and then released it before Elvis could.
00:11:35
Speaker
Last time I saw Marie, she was waving me goodbye With her rehomed lips on her cheeks that trickled from her eye Marie is only six years old Information please, try to put me through to her and win for Tennessee
00:12:08
Speaker
I thought this was kind of a fun version. I don't like the hand claps. Really? I listened and I thought, oh, hand claps, you know, from the beginning, I thought, oh, we're going to get some Cheryl style backing somewhere in the background to give it a bit of a different vibe. And then they weren't there. And so I think it was too much. I was assuming what I was going to get and then didn't get that and just got to me. Oh, it's another version of Memphis. And it's like the fourth or fifth version that we've done on top of most.
00:12:40
Speaker
Yeah, that's true. He had a bunch of hits. Secret Agent Man and Secret Agent Man had the hand claps, come to think of it. no I have memories of Secret Agent Man being played on the radio in the 70s. So I was obviously before 10 years old, I must have been seven or eight. Right. And that was on while I was playing with this secret agent set that I'd been given for Christmas. So I'd play that a lot and have the Peter Gunn theme in the background a lot while I'm pretending to be secret agent man with these little like tiny magnifying glass that you get there in a pretend good when you can't sell them nowadays because you're not allowed.
00:13:23
Speaker
you know, and and all these things. So I have this sort of memory of that, because you mentioned that somebody that reminded me that that was really young Marv doing that sort of thing with like pretending to be like, you know, secret agent looking him for clues. That's so cute. Johnny Rivers actually had a number of top 40 hits. So in addition to Memphis, he had a cover of Maybelline, which went to number 12 in August. ah He had a cover of Midnight Special, which went to number 20 in February of 65. I thought he had another cover. He had a cover of Seventh Son, which went to... That's the one I was trying to think of. That's it. Seventh Son.
00:14:05
Speaker
Yep. In June of 65, secret agent man was in March of 66, poor side of town, which would be a number one hit. Uh, maybe I need your loving in 67 tracks of my tears, summer rain all in 67. And then in the 70s, Rockin' Ammonia and the Boogie Woogie flew. He did have a good number of hits. And, you know, we talked about the album sold on television. In addition to the Jim Reeves collection, there was always the Johnny Rivers collection, which included that byline. For a time, he sold more records in the States than Elvis and the Beatles combined, which... Wow.
00:14:45
Speaker
I don't know if I believe that. Depending upon how you do your calculation, it wasn't quite a lie, but it wasn't quite the truth either. Yes, that commercial. That was on quite a bit. So Johnny Rivers describes actually meeting the Beatles in a 64. What he says is that when we toured Europe, we were doing a set at the ad lib club in London, and all four of them just came in. I was talking to George Harrison because he knew I had worked with Carl Perkins, and he was a big fan of Carl's. Producer Lou Adler was with us and he headed off with John Lennon. Paul McCartney was talking to Joe Osborne, my bass player, and Mickey Jones, my drummer, was talking to Ringo Starr, of course. It was one of those things, just a bunch of musicians sitting around talking. We all liked the same kind of blues guys, John Lee Hooker and all that.
00:15:33
Speaker
So Mickey Jones, the drummer who went from Trenny to Dylan, apparently stopped off with Johnny Rivers for a while. Interesting. Yeah, you know, it's not a bad version. I don't mind the hand claps, but it's not an essential cover, but it's not a bad cover by any means. No, I guess for me, it just has more sentimental value because I remember, you know, listening to this in high school, growing up on that station. So I've always kind of liked it. Oh, young buddy.
00:16:14
Speaker
Long distance information, got me in Memphis, Tennessee. If we fight a party to try to get in touch with me, She did not leave a number, but I know who placed the car. Cos my uncle took the message and he wrote it on the wall. There's a fantastic live performance by him of this song, Memphis, from 2011. We'll check it out.
00:16:48
Speaker
At number 77, Good Times by Sam Cooke.
The Gospel Influence in Sam Cooke's Music
00:16:53
Speaker
It's a great song. There's a great vocal from Sam Cooke, of course. Is he capable of giving you a bad vocal? The backing is good, and I really like the drums. The clock on the wall says time to go. I got my plans, I don't know about you. I'll tell you exactly what I'm gonna do. Get in the groove and let the good time roll I won't stay until I soothe my soul If they take all my love, yeah Everybody let the good time roll
00:17:30
Speaker
great vocal here. With Sam Cooke, you always have that gospel-infused sound, and boy, you get it here in stereo. It's kind of a nice dance sort of record. It doesn't really compare, in my opinion, to twisting the night away or even something like another Saturday night. But it's still a good record. Interestingly, one of the backup vocalists here is Johnny Taylor, who would go on to even bigger success. He went on to Stacks and he had the number one R and&B hit, which was quite scandalous for its era. Who's Making Love from 1968. And then of course in 1976, he had a big hit, in the disco era with Disco Lady.
00:18:15
Speaker
great, great singer in his own right. But here he's on backing vocals. This is a personal favorite of mine in Sam Cooke songs. I'll put it in my probably top 10 of Sam Cooke songs, maybe. I've always loved this song. It sounds like a good time song to me, which which is good because it's called Good Times. So it hits the mark. Written by Sam himself. But the producers of it, Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creator, who very often did productions for Sam Cooke, they're the ones who wrote and produced I Can't Help Falling in Love by Elvis Presley as well. Wow. All right. And so we will mention it here. Kit and I were talking off mic. What has just started playing and streaming on Max is the Stax documentary, Soulsville USA. It is a
00:19:05
Speaker
Great documentary we've discussed stacks several times throughout the course of going through the charts this really tells you a whole lot about who are these guys how did the stacks organization start and what type of musicians were attracted to stacks. but I've been to the Saks Museum and way overdue for an extensive documentary. So yep, streaming on Max now, go check it out. The other thing you should be aware of when you're looking for this song for Good Times from Sam Cooke, the single version is different from the much more common album version from the Ain't That Good News album. The guitar work on the single is not entirely there on the album version and the backing vocals are
00:19:52
Speaker
reduced, which is normally a good thing, but probably not here. I really like those backing vocals. and Absolutely. and in cooling As I said, Johnny Taylor also should be mentioned. This has been covered many times, including by Dan Seals in the 70s and Aretha Franklin in 1967. Great question. We move on to number 80, a world without love. No, not by Peter and Gordon. This is the cover by Bobby Rydell. Uh, now we've told this story before, but we will mention it again here. And now Bobby Rydell, courtesy of being in the States, got his appearance on Sullivan first. He did.
00:20:39
Speaker
His version of the song and a couple weeks later as the actual version the Peter and Gordon version was rising the charts Sullivan said no we had a kid play that just a couple weeks ago you do something else so they were not able to play their hit song on the Ed Sullivan show and that is a crime because good god this version It is dreadful. It is awful.
00:21:35
Speaker
I hate the drum beats on every word of I don't care what they say. Why did they do that? I mean, that just sounds ridiculous. I don't like the drum rolls. I'm not sure if that's how you say it. You know, on the bridge, way too much. I miss the harmonies of Peter and Gordon. I think that robs the song of its charm and its Englishness. I mean, I don't know how else to put it. The female backing singers.
00:22:06
Speaker
dreadful. I mean, why? That's why. The whole song is just why. Someone should have locked him away for doing this. Yes. All right. Your turn. Then the song doesn't even start that way. now Who told Bobby Rydell that it was a good idea to start the song with that? I don't care what they say. I won't stay in a world without love. That's no way to begin the song. I don't care for this.
00:22:37
Speaker
o cheeesy If I was Paul McCartney, I would have got on a plane and I made my way over to the recording studio, walked in there and slapped Bobby Rydell saying to him, no.
00:22:55
Speaker
Just know no, no. When we were going through the list of songs to talk about, and I saw the name Bobby Rydell in front of the title, I thought, oh no, oh no. I hate to admit that I'd actually heard this version before. Oh really? I heard this version before because years and years ago, I saw it on on a really obscure compilation that I found in a library. And I thought, Bobby Rydell, A World Without Love. Stupidly enough, I thought, oh, it might work in a fifties style. I suppose I'll have a listen to this.
00:23:36
Speaker
um I wished I'd not heard it then and I really wished I didn't have to hear it again. And I did for this and I'm like, oh God, it's like double punishment. Now Peter and Gordon do have something to say about this. Gordon Waller said that Paul had never written anything for anyone else before. I don't know if that's quite true, but he continues, we made a verbal deal that if we recorded any of his songs, we didn't want the Beatles to record the same song. Well, that makes sense. However, that didn't stop anybody else from recording it. Bobby Rydell had a track of A World Without Love, and if my memory serves me well, I remember giving a guy at the publishing company some static about it. Rydell then continues, I was coming off of Forget Him.
00:24:20
Speaker
yeah Which was a big million seller for me in 1963, Rydell said. Then I had put out a song called Make Me Forget. Make Me Forget was early 1964 because it was Make You Forget The Beatles. And we were looking for a follow-up record. I guess this was early in 1964. I honestly don't know where A World Without Love came from. I was recording for Cameo Parkway. Our good friend Alan Klein. And I recorded quite a few songs at that time and that was one of them. I don't know how the record company acquired it. All I did was go in and sing it.
00:24:55
Speaker
I remember driving to New York with my first manager, Frankie Day. And when we got into the New York area, we picked up WCBS radio. All of a sudden we heard the Peter and Gordon version of World Without Love. My manager went ballistic. He was more upset about it than I was. So just because you offered something doesn't always mean that you have to take him. That's right. And the conclusion of this quote, Bobby was real big back then, and I told Epstein that I would have Bobby record World Without Love if Epstein would guarantee me that he wouldn't offer it to anybody else. I don't know who else he might have offered it to, but at that time he said it was clean, which in the record business means that nobody else had recorded it.
00:25:39
Speaker
Nobody else in America, maybe. So the one who is upset about the other version is Rydell and his manager. But I mean, you know, we know that's fake because we know the story. We know how Peter and Gordon got the song. Peter was there at the beginning. Right. Peter was there while it was being written. I guess Rydell got his revenge with the Sullivan thing, but awful version of the tune. Yes. Speaking of awful. ah Yeah, we move on to the next song from our other friend, Bobby V. Another Bobby at number 81. The name of the song is Hickory Dickory and Doc. Gee, pop song cliches.
00:26:33
Speaker
Somebody thought this was worthwhile. drugs your badbe who good There's a strumming acoustic guitar which goes all the way through, which he is really annoying very quickly. The strings are maybe recorded okay, but they're poorly played. Yeah. It's getting an F from me.
00:26:57
Speaker
And then the lyrics. Small town hit my best friend named Dick. She called him Doc. That's me. Oh, yeah awful, awful, awful. So a couple of things here. First of all, believe it or not, the same guy who wrote this, Dwayne Blackwell, who is a renowned songwriter, same guy who wrote this, wrote Friends in Low Places for Garth Brooks. That's a great song. He wrote this. Do you believe it? Oh. Yeah, we're friends in a lot of places. This was a low place to start. Yeah, exactly. The bar started low.
00:27:37
Speaker
That's right. And secondly, I have to bring in another Betty ism here because this was great. I was listening to this and mom was in the same room. She said after hearing this, I'd like to go to every record store, get this record and break it. Every one of those records should be broken and tossed in the trash can.
00:28:03
Speaker
and I can't disagree. and It's awful. And this was in the charts in 1964. Yep. Oh. I couldn't believe bringing in the three blind mice, as you said, all the cliches. I guess he learned from his mistakes because he went on to write friends in low places. Let's move on to a better song. At number 84, Yesterday's Gone by the Overlanders. The Overlanders. Yeah. Well, this is a good version of the song. It's not great, but it's pretty good. It's a minor hit in the States.
00:28:36
Speaker
the guitar is really nice here.
00:29:02
Speaker
It's kind of a cross between a Mersey B kind of sound and a twangy vocal sound. I thought the arrangement was a little busy. Could have pared back on that a bit, but it was all right. I didn't love it. But interestingly, their song before this, Don't It Make You Feel Good, which was a cover of The Shadows, became a regional hit in Australia. And according to what I found, and I couldn't find any more information about it. It said it became a regional hit in the Chicago area. I've been trying to find more information about that and could not. Hmm. Interesting. And of course this song is the Chad Jeremy song. Mm-hmm. Yeah.
00:29:42
Speaker
So the Overlanders would release 12 singles on the Pi label between 1963 and 1966. And as we will discover, they will have a hit with a cover of Michelle. Yes. I don't mind this song. Like Kit said, though, I think there's a bit too much arrangement going on, getting in the way of what is a really nice vocal melody. who Exactly. I like the Chad and Jeremy version better, but you yeah it this is a decent enough alternative, I think. And the Overlanders were talented, although they didn't really have the staying power. Right. They were the proverbial in and out pop group.
00:30:27
Speaker
So the thing about their version of Michelle, it would be out the David and Jonathan version, which was produced by George Martin. So ah it will become another instance, as we'll see in two years time of two versions of the same song being in the charts and one being more successful than the other. Between the two, I think I prefer the David and Jonathan version. A complete collection of the Overlanders recordings entitled, Michelle the Pie Anthology, would be released on Castle Records in 2001. At number 85, a song which I'm sure Kit and Marv are gonna have.
00:31:06
Speaker
quite a bit to say about keep on pushing by the
The Political Soul of Curtis Mayfield
00:31:10
Speaker
impressions. It's not really my favorite, but I do like the changes. It's got a good beat to it. You can really feel the influence from the spirituals and how they will then lead into future Curtis Mayfield works. You could tell this is a Curtis Mayfield song straight away. Oh yeah, absolutely. However, really the song matters less than the message. This was a political song in an era where you just didn't see that many of those songs. Yep.
00:32:16
Speaker
I love strikes again. You can tell right away. I love the uplifting lyrics, stunning harmonies, the gospel influence. This became one of the anthems of the civil rights movement. I just love the lyrics. I've got to keep on pushing. I can't stop now, move up a little higher some way somehow because I got my strength and it don't make sense not to keep on pushing. And I loved, you know, as you go on,
00:32:49
Speaker
ah Now look, a look, a look, a yonder, what's that I see? A great big stone wall stands there ahead of me, but I've got my pride and I'll move on aside and keep on pushing. Curtis was a genius. I love his lyrics. I love his melodies, the harmonies. This is a classic. What can you say? And as you said, Ed, I mean, not many songs of this era were that straightforward in their message like this. And no wonder it became a civil rights anthem. And it still resonates today. Before his lead vocal comes in, as soon as the music started, I didn't even need to look it up. I knew straight away this is a Curtis written song because it's got all the hallmarks of a Curtis Mayfield song. It's got that smooth
00:33:37
Speaker
soulfulness in there that's got a bit of grime in it as well, that works with a lot of Curtis's more politically tinged songs. Soulful is right. He is like the epitome of soul. You're absolutely right. And it's not the last time we're going to be talking about Curtis Mayfield's voice either, I don't think. And his songwriting. And the song would come back. It's been seen several times in recent years in the political arena. You know, it's back to what I was saying that it's almost more about the lyrics than it is a song, as great a song as it actually is. Then Illinois Senator Barack Obama would endorse John Kerry for president and
00:34:22
Speaker
This song will be used at the 2004 Democratic National Convention keynote address while that was going on. And then in the 2020 presidential campaign of Joe Biden, he would also use this song. Now, whether that was an homage to Obama and Kerry or something else, to a certain extent, it doesn't matter. Yeah, it's got a bigger meaning. Interesting stuff. We move on to number 87. A great record of record, I'm sure you
Bossa Nova's Impact with The Girl From Ipanema
00:34:51
Speaker
know. The Girl From Ipanema, written by Antonio Carlos Jobim, performed by Stan Getz and Astrud Gilberto. One of the greatest songs ever.
00:35:02
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. What an iconic song. I know iconic is an overused term, but it fits here. When you think of Bossa Nova, this is it. This is the epitome of Bossa Nova, and also the work of ah Antonio Carlos Jobin. He was just ah an incredible composer. And Estrid Gilberto, I mean, she had such a unique voice.
00:35:33
Speaker
And when she passes, she smiles But she doesn't see She just doesn't see No, she doesn't see But she doesn't see
00:35:51
Speaker
You could say it wasn't technically perfect, but so sensual and cool. And I say cool, again, that's an overused term, but it's cool in a way that it just has that certain tone, that it's it's kind of minimalistic. I'm trying to think of a way to describe it. For me, i I don't know if this makes any sense, but it sounds like a rainy night. It evokes certain images. And of course, Stan gets sacks. the solos he does on the record. I mean, they're just sexy. And the whole song was hip in many ways, impeccably produced and arranged. We say over and over again on the show about overdone arrangements. This was not. This is the way you arrange. Absolutely.
00:36:37
Speaker
This is believed to be the second most ever recorded pop song after yesterday, which does surprise me a little bit. It's certainly a great song. It's a poppy song. It's a happy song, but it is so tied to the original version. Well, it kind of doesn't surprise me. A lot of artists have covered this. It's such a classic and of course, It's also not just bossa nova, but it's jazz. you know So jazz artists have recorded it. popper When I say pop, I mean like Sinatra and that kind of pop. Vocalists have covered it. So it kind of doesn't surprise me. Well, and Joe Bean would go on to work with Sinatra. Great album. Oh, I love that song.
00:37:23
Speaker
That's the sound that right now is making it all over the United States. as one of the biggest songs of the year. It's called The Girl from Ipanema.
00:37:37
Speaker
Now, Carlos, you wrote that, I know, so what does it really mean, The Girl from Ipanema?
00:37:45
Speaker
by name my age andma garuttamintubuni text eanary was this was say kalu tod moon vitoma beima ye tound kama schoolit
00:37:58
Speaker
Good. You want to do it? Tall and tender, young and lovely, the girl from Ipanema goes walking When she passes, each one she passes Cuz that will lead you down When she was just like a thumb A swing so cool and sway so gentle
00:39:03
Speaker
Tall and tan and young and lovely The girl from evening goes walking in the wind She passes, I smile, but she doesn't see
00:40:01
Speaker
And young and handsome, the boy from Ebenebo goes walking. And when he passes, I smile. He doesn't see. No, he doesn't see.
00:40:38
Speaker
Paul McCartney himself would name-check Joe Beam in his demo for Step Inside Love. Joe Beam was a genius. It really was. So you listen to this mod that's Paul McCartney and foreign artists. Yes. Second time we mentioned a non-English singing act which got name-checked by Paul McCartney. That's right. I'm going to do one of my other suggestions for people. The album that this comes from that's just basically called Getz Gilberto and by Gilberto it's actually on about Zhao Gilberto who was a guitarist from Brazil who was related to Astrud. The album that it's from Getz Gilberto is an incredible album completely and she features on this and another song on vocals but the musicianship on it
00:41:23
Speaker
and everything about the album is just perfection. I've actually got a really good version of it on vinyl over there. Nice. I agree. She was an amazing singer too. I love Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars and oh, it's just too many songs to mention here. Now, I will argue this one. This record would beat out the following for Record of the Year in the 1965 Grammys. Number one, I want to hold your hand. Number two, Barbara Streisand's People. Number three, Downtown. And number four, Louis Armstrong's Hello, Dolly. I really like this record. I like Girl From Ipanema, but between those five songs, I, at best, I'll put it at number three. That was a tough competition year. Wow. Yes. yeah why I mean, you know, I want to hold your hand and downtown are both stone cold classics, not the girl from Ipanema isn't, but I don't think I would put it with those two. I might put it against Hello Dolly and people. Again, all five of those songs are really tremendous songs, but I don't think I would quite give it that prize. But remember, this is the Grammys we're talking about.
00:42:42
Speaker
They don't tend to go with the, shall we say, the most modern songs. It's the Grammys, not the Eddies. That's right. Well, ah well, but given that you would think that Hello Dahlia people might be more likely to be chosen for a record of the year. Yeah. True. Again, there's nothing it's nothing is girl from Ipanema. We all agree. It is a tremendous record. It's also not House of the Rising Sun, but it is one that I'm very glad to have here in the charts, but saying it's a better record than those others. And I'm not sure.
00:43:18
Speaker
now we move on to number 89 it ain't no use by our good friend major lance it's a nice funky little record it's got a cool beat however the percussion just isn't recorded all that well it's a bit similar to but it's only a little bit similar to it Hmm. Yep. Written by Curtis Mayfield. Yes. Yeah, as soon as I started listening to it, I'm like, wow, this kind of sounds like an impression song. And sure enough, written by Curtis Mayfield. Is that the impressions in the background? I'm not sure. Could be. I can hear Curtis. Could very well be.
00:44:23
Speaker
Interesting that you mentioned about the percussion, Ed, because I thought the percussion on this was really odd. Maybe it is just the way it was recorded, because it almost sounded like a rattling noise in the background. I couldn't figure out what that was. It was very distracting. I did not like it. I thought the arrangement busy. That could have been better. Not one of Curtis's better compositions. It was okay. I like, I'm not going to go through all the but not as good as that one. Yeah, I like Major Lance's voice on this a heck of a lot. I like the backing vocals. I think they're fantastic. The music, yeah. There's a decent groove there in the song for sure. There's a hell of a funky groove in there. Yeah. But it's just
00:45:11
Speaker
too much and it needs to be pulled back and almost be a bit more than it is to allow that role group to just kicking in the background to allow the voices to be more upfront essentially rather than pulling away from the voices exactly too busy yeah i like that needs to be a raw i agree. We move on to number 92. That's really some good by Rufus and Karla Thomas. Again, we talked about the three blind mice. This tune starts out with a little bit of Yankee Doodle Dandy. The backing is the Stax Houseman. The bass line is tremendous and really that's the thing which makes the record work as well as it does. Not one of my favorites, but it's okay. Dukdun on the bass.
00:46:27
Speaker
And Al Jackson on the drum, he was killing it. But the lyrics were pretty weak. The title phrase was repeated way, way, way, way too many times. And of course, this is Rufus Thomas and his daughter, Carla, met Rufus many times on this show. And of course, they're both great singers. You know, I just think yeah you know this could have been a much better song. I mean, I would have loved a better showcase for the two of them. But obviously Booker T and the MG is one of the best house bands you could ask for. And they were playing this very well. But I just thought it could have been a stronger song lyrically. It's a great song looking for some great lyrics.
00:47:07
Speaker
Yes. At number 96, My Dreams by Brenda Lee. This is a great vocal. Again, it's a Brenda Lee vocal. The backing is good. I like the effect they get where the backing singers sometimes blend into the horns. The backing strings are not recorded tremendously well, but they're recorded well enough, I think. This was written by Dan Penn, who is known as the country soul pioneer and master of the slow pocket. he would become one of the crucial pieces of the Muscle Shoals sound. Muscle Shoals, the Muscle Shoals horns in particular, would play with Elton John, and they are behind Elton and John Lennon on the live recordings from Thanksgiving Day. Boy, I think you guys liked this track a lot better than I did. In my dreams I love Is as it used to be
00:48:09
Speaker
There's no doubt in my mind That you really care for me Then empty arms tell me That we are really through My dreams don't ever, ever come true
00:48:34
Speaker
You know me, Brenda Louise, my girl, I love Brenda, love her voice. I just felt this track didn't do a lot for her voice. I did not like that organ. You know, it sounded like a roller rink kind of organ to me. yeah I didn't like the backing singers. I thought, you know, the bit Lawrence Welkish didn't think it showcased that and incredible voice of hers that well. I just felt like she was kind of fighting with the song the entire time. I mean, I just felt it just wasn't a good showcase for her. I mean, I like that it was kind of changing up her sound.
00:49:11
Speaker
Yeah, a bit. I like that. But I just didn't think it was a great fit for her. I mean, you know, Bravo for trying a different genre, but just didn't love the song. So sorry, guys. This did not connect with me. I think I'm between the two of you. I could see the problems in there with it, but I also see the fact that it showcases a part of her voice that you don't get all the time. And I'm not sure if this is what Kit might have a problem with is the fact that it shows ah a more delicate side to Brenda's voice, which is then playing with the range and trying to show that as well as the fact that she's a real firecracker and she can get up there.
00:49:55
Speaker
and it's trying to actually show that she's got a range that goes lower as well i can see what we're trying to do there with showing that she's got variation and scoped play with. but That could be irritate the people that have got so used to all the songs that have come out so far which is just like firecracker boys firecracker boys constantly like that and then suddenly after about five or six songs like that you get this one that's completely contrast. to what you've had it before compared to a more recent artist. If Lenny Kravitz had only released, say, are you going to go my way? My mama said, and those rockier songs that he did and that, and then all of a sudden, the sixth single or seventh single, it released like a believe or one of those softer songs, it ain't over like it's over. It's a complete contrast from those rockier songs to that. It's sort of almost a similar sort of thing that way.
00:50:52
Speaker
And then it'd be fine. I mean, I'm totally fine with her showing a different side of her voice. And again, changing up the tempo or feel and that's fine. I just didn't think this was the right vehicle to do that. For some reason, it just really didn't connect with me and I felt it it just wasn't a great fit for her. yeah Yeah. It's not an all time great, but you know, there there's some interesting things in there to listen to. Split decision. We're not gonna disagree on this one at number 97. Lazy Elsie Molly by Chubby Checker. Oh, another one from the Chubby Folk album. um Nothing worked on that album, did it? you know no We could almost say there's a record which deserves not to exist.
00:52:08
Speaker
Clearly he was trying to show his versatility away from the twist, but good Lord. Um, this was written by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, and it was based on a children's nursery rhyme as a few sounds like it. This comes as no shock. They looked through a volume of Mother Goose for inspiration and came across the tale of Lazy Elsie Marley. A girl loved to stay in late and sleep, and so they set the poem to music and changed the girl's name to Molly, embellished the story, and there you have this song.
00:52:43
Speaker
I found this irritating, repetitive, get-the-sing-along aspect, trying to pop on the hoot-nanny trend, but I just did not find this enjoyable to listen to. I was glad when it ended. Yeah, you say that he's trying to escape the twist, but there's a little twisty thing going on in the rhythm here. Yeah, a little bit. That's true. But I think he was also trying to latch on to the folky Hootenanny trend, but maybe not completely alienate the twist fan base. The Hootenanny twist. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. With a bit of country.
00:53:17
Speaker
It's a standard chubby vocal. It's okay. Nothing special. It's really not quite a ripoff of anything, but ultimately all of the pieces are mediocre. I kind of liked the guitar ever so slightly, but it's just simple and dead repetitive. The drums. Well, okay. That's good. Yeah. I'm going to make a suggestion now. You ready? Ready. I've got Chubby doing a Boyce and Heart song that they could have left for another two or three years and thrown onto a monkey's b-side, right? So this is my idea. The monkeys do a version of this country and western style with Mike Nesmith as the lead vocalist and Peter Tork doing the Arminies in a country version.
00:54:06
Speaker
That could be interesting. And then Jack good could make a video for it and put it on 33 and third revolutions, right? There you go. Yep. There you go. But it'd go on a B site because it's my compete. Right. yeah The monkeys were recording cuddly toy and things like that at the time too. So it might've worked. yeah who knows okay another questionable song at number 98 alone by the four seasons a 1957 shepherd systems hit that was actually recorded as an album track painful
00:54:42
Speaker
As we have mentioned the four seasons or the four seasons featuring the Frankie Valley sound had left VJ so VJ as we know from what they did to the Beatles they excelled in scraping the bottom of the barrel
00:55:34
Speaker
Not a good song. It almost feels like the Four Seasons are doing the Looney Tunes thing. but That's all the folks.
00:55:47
Speaker
Other than that, it's a bad copy of Blue Moon. Yeah, this was a hot mess, let me tell you. It's still not the worst of those four season songs. I mean, we've we've had worse four season songs, but this is definitely down on the lower end. Even as an album track, it's who? ah Really? This is probably one that you do lift up the needle and skip over. Yeah. But the sweet innocence of the original has been replaced with a scary paranoia in this version.
00:56:17
Speaker
There's just something kind of insane about it. You know, I don't know if it's the tempo. I mean, it is like a typical duop arrangement. But yeah, that yeah, yeah, yeah, that Frankie Valli sings at the beginning gets really annoying. And then yeah, very similar to Blue Moon. And toward the end, the whistling, switching between the whistling and then the doo-wop, it was like there weren't enough lyrics. So they're like, OK, we've got to end this. We've got to fill this to three minutes or whatever the length is. So like, all right, more whistling. All right. We'll switch to more. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And switch, you know, doo-wop. OK, not enough time. All right. Let's go back to the whistling. I mean, it just went on and on. And I just thought, oh, my God, just end this. It just went way too long. At least it just felt that way. Yeah. And you didn't mention the organ. I thought the organ would for sure annoy you. Oh my god, the organ. How could I forget? That just added to the insanity of the record and just thought, oh, how did they get stuck doing this? Is this kit going in a rage for one of the checkpoints?
00:57:25
Speaker
Yeah, because you just think, this is Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. This is just garbage. How could they do this? I mean, they probably were given this to record, but I mean, they're so capable of doing, you know, ragdoll and, you know, so many others that we've covered on this show. I mean, this is just insanity, chaos. I'm calm now. Well, I mean, as we have discovered, when the four seasons go off the rails, they really go off the rails. They produce just terrible stuff when things aren't right. That's for sure. yeah You know, we need don't yeah or probably don't need someone to AI Frankie Valley in the four seasons doing like dreamers do with the II's. Now that'd be funny.
00:58:12
Speaker
ah okay At number 99, Trouble I've Had by Clarence Ash. It's a Northern soul tune. It tries. I really liked the guitar in there, but the guitar is buried. But my question is, when does the song start? And the answer is never. You know, it starts off, you got the guitar, you got some backing. yeah yeah You got typical, here's the backing singer, a girl, you know, doing a little chant, a little rap about her man or something. And you know,
00:59:01
Speaker
Normally you expect that to go on 10, 20 seconds and then move into the song proper. It just goes that way through the entire song here. All the way.
00:59:26
Speaker
We start singing about 40 seconds before the end. Really? This sounds like something that was written as an SNL skit. It never manages to get going. I don't know what the bloke's name is, but I'm now imagining the bloke who because does the What's Up With That doing this.
00:59:46
Speaker
What's up with that? Here's the interesting ah little backstory here. So Zoma Zell Sanders was a woman who worked through most of the 50s and through the 60s as a security guard in New York during the day. But in the evening, she ran her own music business, including a record label. She actually ran two record labels, J and S, and Zels. One of them, J and S, was the label for her key artist, Clarence Ash. She was one of, I would think, very few
01:00:25
Speaker
of any African-American women who owned her own record label. I can't imagine many. And so he put out a series of singles in the 60s, which was this sound of him singing and talking over R and&B and soul backings. And he would do this rap, which was almost like a preacher. I kind of liked the rap he was doing the beginning of calling the listeners children and needing the money and saying all this stuff and even calling out some of the other soul singers of the time, like, you know, name checking them.
01:01:03
Speaker
saying you know before um i get children i guess i would have sang a song that never sang before my whole life i guess i would have sang part-time love of johnny taylor hadn't recorded at the time but i guess i would have sang i need to belong to someone but jerry butler recorded I mean, yeah, I love that. And then he finally gets the song. So I wouldn't say this is right up there with some of the best soul records I've ever seen. But yeah, I wish he had gotten to his voice, which is good. You know, it's a good soulful voice. We don't get a taste of it until toward the end. That's true, Ed. But but it's kind of a curiosity of the time and the fact that ah an African-American woman ran the record label that he was on. Interesting.
01:01:47
Speaker
it would become a very popular song in the UK, in the clubs. It's another one of those northern soul. Okay, so what happened was that it's another one of those where a DJ in the north of England where they've got lots of discos and things and people would dance in the 70s is another one of those where a DJ is looking for a sort of like something underground that nobody would have heard. And they're looking for a song that's perfect for that sort of like slow down section of a disco, you know, what because they try to create mood to bring people up and then bring people a bit lower so they can have like the close dancing and that. And this
01:02:28
Speaker
was a huge song for that section where they'd slow it down and just have it in the background. They're playing a way to have the couples just getting close to each other, and then they'll bring it back up again after that with like you know ah one of these other songs that we've talked about, but this was huge in the Northern England clubs. So it was really more of a groove than anything else that they were looking for. Yeah, it's the groove that got them in. It's the music in the background because the music has got a really good slow groove to it. Wow. Well, I wish I could go back in time and go to some of those clubs in the 70s. I mean, they just played some of the really coolest music. That's really great stuff. Again, I just wish there were a little bit more to the song.
01:03:15
Speaker
The song is a little bit lost, but all right. So we close out the first week in June of 1964. Hey, we got three weeks. Are we going to be able to squeeze all of them into side D? We're not going into a side E. I refuse.
01:03:33
Speaker
ah but
01:03:35
Speaker
You never know. All right, at number 100 is Try It Baby by Marvin Gaye.
Marvin Gaye and Gordy's Production Mastery
01:03:42
Speaker
Not quite classic Marvin Gaye. This is still kind of early for him, but it's a good record and his voice is what carries this song. Oh, for sure. I'm on a ride, honey Oh, try it, baby Try it, sweetheart Try it, baby You'll see But nobody loves you but me I just want you to Try it, baby Try it, baby Try it, sweetheart Try it, honey You'll see
01:04:23
Speaker
That nobody loves you, but I need you to ride on me I want you to die, if you think I'm lying
01:04:37
Speaker
classic Marvin Gaye kind of vocal, reminded me a bit of pride and joy in its sound. Backing, of course, it's incredible. I like the trumpet solo. That was a nice surprise to have a trumpet solo. Written by Barry Gordy. And lyrics are rather interesting, though. Let's just say kind of typical of the period. I just find it amusing, just, you know, the lyrics from the man's perspective saying, oh, you've gone on and now you're moving up, pretty baby, you're leaving me behind. you know but take away your your good looks and all your fancy clothes why don't you just try baby you'll see that nobody loves you but me you've moved on with your fancy friends and all night just kind of like yeah maybe she's going on to a better job a better wife maybe shouldn't be so threatening with her
01:05:24
Speaker
yeah Well, it's interesting because the Supremes would later cover this song. Yeah. I mean, that's kind of funny. Yeah. The lyrics are a little updated, but other than that, I do like the backing. And as I said, that trumpet soul is great. Marvin Gaye's voice. I mean, it's Marvin Gaye. What do you want? And one of the great singers, but yeah, definitely lower tier Marvin Gaye. Temptations in the background, by the way, doing the backing vocals. Oh, okay. Well, not just the Temptations. Paul Williams, Eddie Kendricks, David Ruffin, Melvin Franklin and Otis Williams as well. Ooh, nice. I thought as soon as the trumpet solo came, I thought that was really unexpected, but it works perfectly.
01:06:05
Speaker
It does. um Yeah, it was really nice to hear the trumpet on there. You don't hear that very often. I think it shows something that I've thought a few times with Gordy when he writes. He's kind of here for a good melody, Barry has, and a nice arrangement because the production's beautiful that he's done as well because it's Gordy producing. sure But I've always had a problem with Barry, or not all the time, but sometimes he'll write lyrics or write a song on his own and I'll think, you know, if you just got a lyricist to tidy up some of your words, that'd be perfect. I have a lot of problems with various lyrics where I'll think that's a great song, but it needs to tidy up on the lyrics.
01:06:46
Speaker
Yeah, he needs a co-writer, definitely. Alright, so Cashbox described it at the time as being a tantalizing chorus-backed rhythm shuffler that Marvin does up in winning style. Agreed, he wins at it with his vocal for sure. Yeah, he saves the song. Marvin Gaye would come out on Ready Steady Go and sing Can I Get a Witness, and the MC says even the Beatles think that he's marvelous.
01:07:17
Speaker
But here's someone I've been thinking's absolutely great for months. Even the Beatles think he's absolutely marvellous. So here with Can I Get a Witness is the fantastic Marvin Gaye.
01:07:43
Speaker
That's a weird compliment. Even the Beatles like that's interesting. It's just Marvin the whole thing. You know, I just love it. All right. So that is the first week in June of 1964 and we bring side C to a close. Tune in next time to see if we can get the three remaining weeks of the billboard chart for June of 1964 into side D. See you then. Take care.
01:08:34
Speaker
There was a piece in the NME, a news piece, that said that Top Rank Records, remember when Top Rank had a record label? and They introduced an LP series next week that will be called Toppermost, and it's coinciding with their current advertising slogan, Toppermost of the Poppermost. Yes, and thought, they got it from someone. They saw that. They must have seen that in either the NMA or record mirror or disc, record and show mirror as it was then. And they've taken it from there. They've obviously thought how stupid that is. How stupid is, it's one of those phrases that someone, an older person who doesn't understand teenagers comes up with a slogan that they think is going to be the hip slogan of the month. Topper most of the popper most.