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January 1965 (side B)
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January of 1965 continues. Chubby Checker battled Dobie Gray, while the Beau Brummels try and convince us that they are more than "that band starting with B-E-A" that follows the Beatles in the record bins. Support this podcast at the $6/month level on patreon to get extra content! Create your podcast today! #madeonzencastr
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Transcript
The Beatles' Mantra for Tough Times
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 bit of a bad night or the gig would 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. And I say, right. Then we'd all sort of cheer up. Now then, boys, where are we going? To the top, right? Where's that? To the top of most of the papa most.
Introduction to the American Charts
00:00:47
Speaker
Welcome to topper most of the power most side be, but we're starting in on the American charts. This is going to be a four sided month because well, this January flip of the new year flip of lots and lots of new songs. Yeah, this is really another jam packed episode. So had to expand it. Yeah. But just because there's more songs there doesn't mean that they're all good. I've had chin. I'm kiddo tool.
00:01:17
Speaker
And I'm Mounting Quibbell. All right. So we are doing a billboard month. We are doing a cash box month next month. Isn't that right, Kit? That's right. I'm preparing it as we speak. So it'll be a little different in February. And we're going to miss out on some songs, including yet another version of Hello, Dolly, which made the billboard charts, but not the cash box charts.
00:01:39
Speaker
That's right. So no, sorry, Dolly. No up songs next month. Well, we will mention it next month when we get to it, but we're not to next month.
Number One Hits: 'I Feel Fine'
00:01:47
Speaker
So we start the week of January the 2nd, 1965 at number one is I Feel Fine. Whoo. Great. Cool. I'm in love with her and I feel fine.
00:02:02
Speaker
I'm so glad that she's my little girl.
Analyzing Chubby Checker's Attempts at Versatility
00:02:26
Speaker
So we jump down to number 78, Paper Tiger by Sue Thompson, which we covered on the UK side. Oh, that classic.
00:02:37
Speaker
At number 82, Lovely Lovely, also known as Loverly Loverly, in parentheses, by Chubby Checker. This is more of Chubby not knowing what to do. It kind of reminds me of a sideways version of Lion Sleeps Tonight. The percussion is annoying. And it sounds like someone playing the spoons.
00:03:00
Speaker
Chubby's vocal is okay. It's actually mostly good, but in places it just goes all terrible, particularly that gotta-be-mind bit. And there's actually a pretty nice guitar, but it's so far in the background as to be almost inconsequential with the rest of the backing even more far in the background. Take it off. Right.
00:03:22
Speaker
You know, it was so funny, I wrote, well, this sounds like the lion sleeps tonight.
00:03:32
Speaker
And then you said, a sideways lion sleeps tonight. Like, wow, we're on the same page.
00:04:11
Speaker
This is just another example and I understand that obviously Chubby Checker wanted to show that he was more than just the twist guy and I get it he wanted to show his versatility and Yeah, this isn't it. It just kind of goes nowhere. And as you said, it's not that his voice isn't solid. I mean, his voice is fine, but it's just a nothing song. And as we've said, it just sounds like a knockoff. The line sleeps tonight. As you said, take it off. I will amend that. His voice is mostly fine. That bit in there, it's just awful. That Gotta Be Mine thing just nails on a chalkboard. Yeah, that's true. That part is not good. That's for sure.
00:05:13
Speaker
Another mess. It's just a whim away from the line sleeps tonight. The production is so lo-fi, it would have been better if they'd just got rid of the instrumentation altogether. The voices are good for the most part, except for that bit that you highlighted.
Soulful Sounds of Little Milton
00:05:31
Speaker
The solo sounds like it's performed on either a really cheap, nasty organ or really cheap, nasty guitar. Lacklustre production highlights the fact that it's a song, but not much of one.
00:05:44
Speaker
here at number 88 blind man by little milton we weren't going to include this but this is actually such a good song that I wanted to have it in there if no Beatles connection but the tune is really pretty good nice horns which range from slightly too exceedingly too high in the mix, but there's a nice soulful lead vocal, which goes into a great groove. The tune itself, the record itself is not much more than that groove, but that's enough to make it ah at least middling hit.
00:06:20
Speaker
People tried to tell me to stop crying.
00:06:39
Speaker
don't you know He made two I love his voice. He has that classic blues. with the gospel sound mixed in, love the piano, straight out of the church, but needed a bit of a better mix, maybe a less busy arrangement. The horns in particular, a little too high in the mix, almost drown them out at times. Overall, I mean, yeah, it's a nice groove, as you said, but otherwise, would have like maybe some blues guitar in there, maybe
00:07:10
Speaker
a little bit less of the horns being so dominant, and I love horns, but maybe a blues guitar solo in there. But otherwise, it's a nice record. Lil' Milton was a native of the Mississippi Delta and was discovered by Ike Turner. Ike Turner? Yeah, back when he was a scout for Sam Phillips. It's on records. Very cool. Ike's home is about 65 or 70 miles north of my home, which Ike's home is Clarksdale, Mississippi.
00:07:41
Speaker
and mine being Leland Greenville. area you know And we got together and my very first recording was done with Ike's band so at this particular time BB was really going strong and you know it's it's just a thing like even now if some guy comes out with a thing that's really burning everybody up somebody's gonna try and capitalize on it you know so Ike thought that I could really sound a lot like Bebe, so me being a little young, and and it this helped me too now, you know, it really did. But we did this thing. I think Ike did some of his record producing for Little Melter back then as well. Well, did you work with Sam Phillips on these? Yeah, but it was mostly Ike Turner and myself, you know. Ike was, he had done some recordings before, and I trusted his judgment, you know, and
00:08:38
Speaker
I wrote all the tunes, but he would get all of the arrangements, you know, together. We'd sit there in the studio. yeah You did them all at Sun Studio in Memphis. Right. Yeah. Right. um Sun Studio. A funky little play. It was something else then, man. Is that the same one where Elvis and Jerry... Right. This is where I first met Elvis. The voice is incredible and the music is jumping. It's just fantastic. It doesn't matter that the lyrics aren't much to write home about. It's about the vibe and it's a darn good vibe.
00:09:08
Speaker
I agree. And we have our first cash box review of the month. What it says is, Little Milton seems sure to pull loads of loot with his new checker entry. The already happening side to watch here is Blind Man, a dramatic full orc based. Now, this seems to have been something that has come up in the last month or two. They have decided to abbreviate Orchestra O.R.
00:09:34
Speaker
Okay. Okay. NANU-NANU? Yeah, that's exactly what I thought. We're true Gen Xers. Yeah. Come in, Allison. Orc-backed, rhythmic blues tearjerker about a fellow who is so involved with his gal that he can't see her cheatating ways cheating Cheatin' without the G. Of course. There's no cha-cha in this one. At number 90, Use Your Head by Mary Wells. It's actually a pretty good tune but it's very much a second rate Motown copy. It's kind of a sideways my guy actually. The lyrics are overly verbose and would
Critique of Motown Copies: Mary Wells
00:10:10
Speaker
have made singing along a near impossibility. He's only jealous can't you read between the lines every time you turn your back he's trying to break your time oh oh boy use your head oh oh boy use your head.
00:10:24
Speaker
Yeah, there's no actual meat to there, is there? It's words which fit the rhythm of the tune, and that's about it. This was our 20th century Fox ears. and they just could not find good songs for
00:11:08
Speaker
This is Lesser Motown, as you said. The backing can't compare to the punch of the Funk Brothers. I felt like her vocals on this kind of lacking in energy. It's okay, Pop Soul, but it's, as I said, a Motown wannabe. Interestingly, Barrett Strong co-wrote this. This is the same man that wrote Money. Can't compare to the songs for Motown. I'll just say in passing, the arrangement is done by Riley Hampton, who we're going to mention later. Musically, it's okay.
00:11:39
Speaker
trying to emulate the Funk brothers but it's not up to that sort of standard. Yeah and Mary does the best that she can with a set of lyrics that jumped out to me because there's just no meter to the lyrics whatsoever, it just doesn't follow a set lyrical pattern at all. It's odd that it's Barrett Strong, that just surprised me when he said that kit.
00:11:59
Speaker
isn't that crazy and we also have a cash box review which is a slightly livelier cashbox review for this tune mary wells who hit last time out where a twentieth century fox bow of ain't it the truth is a sense to repeat that success with his potent follow-up stanza tagged Use Your Head. The tune is a rollicking, course-backed, pop, R and&B romancer with a winning, multi-dance, teen-angled beat. Multi-dance, teen-angled beat. Who wrote this stuff? Are they being paid by Fox? Yeah! This smells of cashola to me.
00:12:37
Speaker
Maybe. We have yet to have any reviews in Cashbox which are negative. At the most they kind of go neutral. It's like, it's a song. There are people playing on it. That's great. yeah Okay. When they don't go all hyperbolic is when you know they don't love a song. Exactly.
00:12:55
Speaker
At number 95, a little bit of soap by Garnet Mims. A really nice cover of the 1961 Burt Burns song by the Jarmels. Burt Burns, one of the writers of Twist and Shout. This would be the chart peak at number 95 for this version. The Jarmels version is livelier and better, but it's also more gimmicky. The backing is very close to the original. I like this version of the tune.
00:13:18
Speaker
I agree. I like the Jamell's version better. It's a little more soulful with the doo-wop. The Garnet Mims one is nice too. I'd say he does a smoother version.
Cover Comparisons: 'A Little Bit of Soap'
00:13:27
Speaker
It's a little more on the Sam Cooke kind of side, though it's not super different from the original, particularly in the backing. but It's really the vocal approach that's different. It's a nice cover, and you know, we love Garnet Mims here, and so it's not surprising that he would do a nice smooth cover.
00:14:13
Speaker
It's a nice record. It's not my favorite song of all time, but Garnet does a nice cover. As I said, I'd give the slight edge to the Jamels, even though it's maybe a little on the corny side, but I still like the duop take on it. But this is nice.
00:14:27
Speaker
Yeah, it's nice to make that slight change of the style. His vocal is great. that Really good musicianship. And I'd say it's sort of decent upper middling song for Garnet, really. Agreed. At number 96, Laugh, Laugh by the Bo Brummels. We'll start off by dispelling a rumor the name of the band B-E-A-U. Everyone thought, oh, they named themselves so they would follow the Beatles in the record bin. That is not the case. No, no.
00:15:04
Speaker
The Bulb Brummels took their name from George Bryan Brummel, a figure in the 19th century English court and a friend and confidant of future King George IV. The Bulb Brummels hailed from San Francisco and formed in 1964. Now, as to the song itself, I like this track. I like this track a lot. It was clearly written as an homage to be polite.
00:15:28
Speaker
to the post Hard Day's Night Beatles, harmonica guitar, and a Lennon-style vocal with tight harmonies, more than a touch of Beatle 65 elements of I'm a Loser, I'll Be Back, and I Feel Fine, and the slight country tinge of a Carl Perkins cover.
00:16:22
Speaker
I like this track. I do too. Some people say, oh, you know, they're ripping off the Beatles. Well, as you said, to put it politely, it's an homage, but that's not a bad thing. I like this track a lot too. And it was produced by Sylvester Stewart, later known as Sly Stone. Sly Stone.
00:16:41
Speaker
ah Yes. We'll talk a little bit about that at the very end before we move on. so Yes, but just shows you what a great producer he was even back then. And also, amazingly, you can also call this group the Bo Brummelstones. They performed this, quotes performed this in cartoon and form on the Flintstones. Yeah, I remember seeing that, not, of course, when it first aired, but it didn't rerun. I love this song. I just think it's a great slice of 60s pop. I love the Cole's harmonies. And I like the minor chords. They give it kind of a melancholy sound, the catchy chorus, the harmonica. It just says everything you want. It's as good, if not better, than what the Monkees would do in a year's time.
00:17:23
Speaker
Exactly.
Influences in The Bo Brummels' Music
00:17:24
Speaker
And so, yeah, it's more than a little influenced by the Beatles, but in a great way. Hmm. Hey, baby, sounding harmonica. The music is good. The vocal is good. The harmonizing. But I did not like the lyrics. I don't know why. I'm being negative about a song. Oh, no.
00:17:44
Speaker
I can actually kind of see that about the lyrics. The lyrics are a little bit on the stupid side. They're not I'm a loser in terms of lyricism, but okay. Oh yeah, I agree. I mean, I'm not saying they're on the level of one in McCartney in terms of lyrics. No a comparison there. Because when Ed mentioned the monkeys, I was thinking, hold on a minute, suddenly last train to Clarksville came to mind and I thought, this is no last train to Clarksville.
00:18:09
Speaker
ah
00:18:11
Speaker
Yeah, I'm not saying the lyrics are poetry or anything like that, but it's a pop song. You know, it's just a fun pop song. I've always liked it, particularly the chord changes. So the Bob Rummels came to be when San Francisco disc jockeys Tom Donahue and Bobby Mitchell founded the record label Autumn Records, and they started looking for acts to be on the label. The reason they formed this label Donahue and Mitchell wanted to capitalize on the Beatlemania craze that had originated the previous year in the UK. So this was just as it was starting to rise in the US. The Bo Brummels signed with Autumn, whose house producer was Sylvester Stewart, as you said. Yep. Later known as Sly Stone of Sly and the Family Stone. And he also produced the early recordings of the Bo Brummels.
00:19:04
Speaker
Tom Donahue would have a number of Beatles connections. Tom Donahue would go on to produce the last public performance of the Beatles. 1966, Candlestick Park. Then he would go back to radio and Tom Donahue would have an extended interview with John Lennon on September the 21st, 1974. And you can find that on YouTube. Oh, wow. Very cool. I like the cash box review. You want to read it, Marv?
00:19:34
Speaker
I so do. Is the return of one of our favourites? Oh no! This automatic that bows the Bow Brummels is already kicking up a fuss in the San Francisco area. Oh yes, Lie in the Family Stone, of course, San Francisco. It's a captivating shufflebeat cha-cha affair, labelled laf-laf, as opposed to cha-cha, that sports an intriguing, low-keyed, Liverpool sound. Oh right, so it sounds like the Beatles then.
00:20:04
Speaker
Yeah. Fair enough. It does. We can't go one month without having at least one cha-cha in there. We'll see when that streak ends.
00:20:15
Speaker
At number 98, Ode to the Little Brown Shack Outback by Billy Ed Wheeler. This is a stock standard folk song.
00:20:27
Speaker
who
00:20:36
Speaker
They passed an ordinance in the town. They said we'd have to tear it down. That little old shack out back so dear to me.
00:20:48
Speaker
Though the health department said its day was over and dead, it will stand forever in my memory. Simple guitar and lead vocal. I guess it's in front of a live audience. It's not a funny song and the audience is laughing throughout it. Presumably something funny is happening on stage. It's not bad, but I don't get it.
00:21:09
Speaker
Yeah, I looked it up. He's singing about an outhouse. That's the joke. Is he really? Yes. Okay. I thought he was talking about an outside toilet. Yeah, that's an outhouse. Right. Okay. Yeah, yeah that's it because yeah he's singing about ah sitting on a throne and calling it a palace. ha Get it?
00:21:33
Speaker
Now, I didn't think it was nearly as funny as that audience did. He must have been making facial expressions and all that stuff, but okay. Whatever. Hmm. A tribute to an outside toilet. How lovely. Exactly. boy I'm really glad that those things don't exist anymore because I hated them.
00:21:54
Speaker
Yes, I only went in one once and that was enough. Yep. This was very much a hillbilly thing. Yeah, exactly. I think you had to be there in the audience and maybe had to have used one. One of Billy Ed's proteges was his version of Minnie Pearl, an older lady named Aunt Jenny Wilson. And she had some things to say about the Beatles.
00:22:23
Speaker
Oh, this ought to be good. Here we go. So, Billie Edd Wheeler described Aunt Jenny. She was like a little wren. She was perky, soft spoken. Her voice had polka dots in it. Ragged, she would come out with some zingers sometimes, like when she talked about the Beatles. Billie Edd, I'd like to get my fingers wound in their hair and pull ever higher in their heads out, cause it's a disgrace what has happened to our young people on account of them Beatles.
00:22:54
Speaker
Okay.
00:23:04
Speaker
Bug music! We can't stand bug music! That bug music drives us plumb loco! Now, I'd like to point something else out. Maybe Paul read this, because notice that the name is Aunt Jenny, and Billy Ed referred to her and said she was like a little wren. Jenny Wren. Oh, Jenny Wren, there you go. Yeah! So Jenny Wren, this song is not named after the Beatrix Potter character.
00:23:32
Speaker
That's right. It all goes back to Billy Ed Wheeler. I see it now. At number 99, Black Knight by Bobby Blue Bland, vocal sax and guitar.
Bobby Blue Bland's Standout Blues
00:23:43
Speaker
The piano forms the backbone of the recording, a nice pleading vocal, a nice solo. It's a good song. I like it. I don't love it. Low hit. Bobby Blue Bland had such a great voice.
00:23:55
Speaker
What a great blues singer he was. It's not one of my favorites of his. I would have liked some stronger drums on here. Good blues guitar. And I love the piano. There's some sizzling piano on here.
00:24:37
Speaker
This was the B-side to Blind Man. It belongs as a B-side. So not one of his stronger songs, but good. When this came on, Louisa's first words were, ooh, that's a bit of sexy saxophone there. And now another day gets gone.
00:24:58
Speaker
Goodnight, darling, wherever you are.
00:25:07
Speaker
She liked this song. ah Nice soulful song with a great vocal. I liked the instrumentation and I thought the production was good. I'm not saying that it's a top rated um soulful song, but I'd probably give it like a seven and a half out of 10 maybe.
00:25:25
Speaker
Maybe slightly higher than I rated it. Me too. But yeah, it's close, I would say in there. Certainly above a five. Yes. I love his voice. He had a great voice. And so opening up right around this time were all these new clubs in London for all these ah members of bands who were recording into the early evening and playing gigs and had to go find someplace to go and entertain themselves after 9 or 10 o'clock.
The Rise of London Music Clubs
00:25:53
Speaker
Amongst them was the ad lib which opened up right around this time. Ah yes, we know the ad lib. So if you read about the ad lib we will get a description. This is the nightclub but where the good music was played.
00:26:06
Speaker
Mainly Black Americans, said Paul McCartney. The highlights of the early p playlists included Otis Redding, James Brown, Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin, and Bobby Blubland. Almost certainly this record. and so whole name checked bobby did he Paul didn't. Miles probably did. I think the direct quote just ended with the Black American part.
00:26:29
Speaker
Okay. But again, that information probably would have come from Paul. Yeah. So very cool. Very interesting. ah The ad lib, we will discuss more in the future. If you are not sure about it, John Lennon and not only, but also did the attendance sketch at the ad lab since we're talking toilets this week.
00:26:49
Speaker
Yes. Oh, please. Sinking there. Which was a parody of the ad lib. Yes. At number 100, Swine Time by Alvin Cash and the Crawlers. It's a mostly instrumental dance song. Good Organ. Yep. Good Organ. This is another Chicago song that would go on to dominate in Northern Soul. Danceable, but it's really not much more than a jam and something to sit and listen to.
00:27:19
Speaker
Yeah, this is a dance record. and The twine was ah a dance out of Chicago. Yeah. And we will see it again this month. Yes, we will. Absolutely. It has kind of a Stax Booker T, the MG's quality to it, which is not a bad thing. Good organ, bass and drums. It was funky, soulful, nice sax solo. Not much in the way of lyrics, just exclamation to go, have mercy, baby, let's twine. That kind of stuff.
00:27:45
Speaker
It's definitely not something you would just sit and listen to. It's a dance record, but it's effective. I enjoyed it for what it is, which is just to get up and move and do the twine. However you do that, I'm still not really sure. It's Twine Dance!
00:28:28
Speaker
I thought it was a fun, funky record. And it's a Chicago record. Damn straight. Of course I'm going to like it. But seriously, on this record, the opening, which is that ooh ah um opening, was edited out on some radio stations because they thought it was too suggestive for some of the audience. So I just think it's hilarious. A little too naughty. I saw the title and I thought,
00:28:57
Speaker
Well, this is going to be new to me. And then when it started, I know this. Yeah, it's a Northern Soul Classic, apparently. And the twine was a dance that was all the rage on the south side of Chicago in late 1963. You know, as I said, I'm still not sure how to do it. Yep, it's a Northern Soul classic, ah so I'm going to like it more than you two do probably. I thought it was a really cool instrumental vibe that hit big in the Northern Soul scene in in England, and it still gets played in clubs to this day when they have Northern Soul get-togethers. It fills the floor. People don't dance the twine to it though, so I've got no idea what that is. I have to say, the English have excellent taste. You really do with the northern soul scene. Very good taste. Thank you. On behalf of all the English northern soul people, shout out to my cousin Karl, who is a DJ, who DJs northern soul get togethers. No kidding!
00:30:09
Speaker
I love the guitar on this. Really nice Hammond organ on this. Funnily enough, Andre Williams, who's the ah house producer for wonderful records, he saw them performing as the Crawlers and had them record the song, but only Alvin actually appears on the song because none of the brothers were asked to attend and they were replaced by a band from Louisville, Kentucky called the Nightlighters.
00:30:35
Speaker
Hmm. Interesting. All right. We move on to the second week of January, the week of January 9th. I feel fine is still at number one. It's doing fine. Yep.
00:31:06
Speaker
She's in love with me and I feel fine. At number 73, Shake by Sam
00:31:42
Speaker
Smooth, really great horns. This is the way to do soul pop, a great beat, an amazing lead vocal. This would be the last single that Sam Cooke worked on his version of walking on thin ice. The disc was ready, but it was not released until after he passed.
00:32:00
Speaker
Yeah, this is a strong soul pop track, impeccably arranged. I love when he gets that raspy vocal in at the right time. What a singer he was. Love the punchy horns that come in that just punctuate that sound. The drums.
00:32:17
Speaker
never ever overpowers his vocal. I mean, this is just an impeccable arrangement, great mix. ah But of course, Sam's the star of the show here. and His voice was just one of a kind. Otis Redding would of course later do a cover of this, which was also excellent. But he had a very different voice. It worked for us too, but what a song. And just sad that this was his last. And of course, the B side was just as good, which we'll get to later. A soulfully cool, a song that's made to get you on the dance floor. It's not Shakespeare lyrically, but it's a song that's made for you to shake your whole entire body. That's a pun on the Shakespearean. Shake your whole body. great vocals, arrangement and production. And interestingly, those punctuations of the horns were making me think of when, you know, when you do a dance and then suddenly you'll do like a dip of the hip while you do the dance. And it's almost like the horns are made to punctuate where you do that dip. To me, it just feels like it's purposely there in the beat to do that.
00:33:21
Speaker
Oh, nicely put. So we're going to take a little bit of time here to talk about the passing of Sam Cooke. Sam Cooke was shot and killed on December 11th, 1964 at the Hacienda Motel at 91st and South Figueroa Streets in South Central Los
The Controversy of Sam Cooke's Death
00:33:40
Speaker
Angeles. That's a little bit too close to, well, and MLK in years to come. And I mean, even to a certain extent, John Lennon, 16 years later.
00:33:49
Speaker
Yeah. Answering separate reports of a shooting and a kidnapping at the motel, police found Cook's body. He had sustained a gunshot wound to the chest, which was later determined to have pierced his heart. The motel's manager, Bertha Franklin, said she shot Cook in self-defense. Now, oh well, the only problem with that is this motel was kind of a dive and Sam Cook throughout his life was known to have not been one to partake in such places. Yeah. There are a number of documentaries, a couple of good documentaries on this, and a lot of questions have been raised over the years about this. A terrible thing to have happened. And he was only in his mid-20s when he died. He left us behind the lovely family as well with some really big talented children.
00:34:40
Speaker
Yes. Now, this is not a Morris Levy situation, but as Kit mentioned, there are a number of documentaries and the prevailing thought, what likely is, is that Sam Cooke was ah entertaining himself with a, well, a lady of the evening, shall we say? Yes. And that explains most of it, but some people believe that Alan Klein was responsible for it. Alan Klein was the manager of Sam Cooke, and he repeatedly said that he wanted to rest control of Cooke's catalog.
00:35:16
Speaker
Yeah. And Klein owned Tracy Limited, which would ultimately come to own all of Sam Cooke's recordings. However, no evidence supporting a criminal conspiracy has ever been presented. And I would agree Alan Klein was distasteful and was crooked, but he was not Morris Levy. Yeah. No.
00:35:37
Speaker
But to support that thought, the week before Sam Cooke died, he was planning to confront Klein over some paperwork. Could Cooke's willingness to stand up to powerful vested interests have been a factor in his murder? Back then, the LAPD felt Cooke's black life, in quotes, didn't matter enough to warrant a full investigation. Cooke's good friend Muhammad Ali said,
00:36:02
Speaker
Well, if Cook had been Frank Sinatra, the Beatles or the Ricky Nelson, the FBI would be investigating. Well, I'm sorry, Muhammad. The FBI didn't really investigate John's murder 16 years later, did they? you no No. But it's worth a thought. And if you're one who has a tendency to believe conspiracy theories, is watch some of those documentaries. I could see a person like Klein being involved in it, although I don't believe it.
00:36:32
Speaker
I believe that Klein wanted to take over and would do anything he could do to obtain all of those royalties and those masters. But I don't really believe that he was part of what ended up happening to Sam Cooke.
00:36:47
Speaker
Yeah. yeah but Check it out. We move on to number 77, Heart of Stone by the Rolling Stones, a Jagger Richards
Growth in Rolling Stones' Songwriting
00:36:56
Speaker
tune. This is a step forward in the Stone songwriting. I mean, we had that terrible Jagger Richards song last month over on the UK side, but the performance from the Stones is better than the song itself.
00:37:09
Speaker
Brilliant guitar. Good but not absolutely top notch lead vocal from Mick. Somewhat poppy backing vocals. This was recorded in LA and it sounds different from either their chest recordings or the recordings they were doing in the UK. And that's our buddy Jack Nishi playing the tambourine.
00:37:27
Speaker
This is an interesting song in terms of chronicling Mick Jagger and Keith Richards' growth as songwriters. It's interesting to hear them experimenting with different genres. Keith Richards' guitar on here is interesting in that it definitely has a twangy sound. It gives this mid-tempo song a country wilt. So it gives the song, it's sort of a blues rock country fusion. And definitely using their blues background to formulate their sound in lyrics, but then bringing in this country sound. The song itself, I don't think is that great, lyrically, but they're growing and they're trying to experiment and they're trying to broaden their sound. And I think that's interesting. They're getting better as songwriters. And so I think the song is interesting on that level. I think we mostly agree. The performance is great. yeah I like Keith's guitar on this particularly. I like the twanginess.
00:38:53
Speaker
Can't I would definitely not rate this among their best, but they're getting there. We've all picked up on this being a sign of their songwriting growing. So the Lewicks are more thoughtful, even if they're not up to even silver medal standards yet. The playing with structure as well of songs, which is interesting. It's alright. I'd probably say lower middle tier stones. But that's only because they've been going for, you know, all these years. So there's all that material to put it up against. Exactly.
00:39:25
Speaker
Because that's the thing. You're kind of comparing it to Jump Jack Flash or I can't get no satisfaction. You're like, yeah, this isn't on that level. Although we're not that far from satisfaction at this point. True. Then we'll be Sassy Charlotte.
00:39:37
Speaker
yeah so Now, Marv, do you know what exactly is the deal with the version that can be found on the Stones Metamorphosis LP? It's sometimes identified as a demo, but it really sounds like a finished record to me. What's odd about it is it doesn't feature all of the Stones playing on it. It's a slightly longer version. It's more poppy. And on the record are Jimmy Page and k Clem Katini.
00:40:34
Speaker
I don't know for certain but I'll listen to that and my personal assumption would be that they tried to do a recording earlier with them and then for some reason they thought that it doesn't sound like the Stones because it wasn't essentially and they just thought let's try it again and this is what we got released was the second attempt at it. It sounds too polished to even be a run through quick demo I don't quite get it. But why would they even do that? The Stones were a self-contained unit at this point. Yeah, not a clue. I mean, I don't know. It's also too polished to just be, oh, you know, it's after a session and, oh, gee, Jimmy Page and Clement Coutini are wearing another session and they got done early. It's too finished to just be a jam of that sort, too. Were they trying for a bit of a harder edge sound with Jimmy and k Clem that was closer to the kinks, perhaps?
00:41:32
Speaker
Kit, what do you think? I guess the other possibility is this is another song that they, well this isn't quite a stone song, we'll give it to somebody. Yeah, that could be it. I don't know. The demos that the Beatles did to give away were pretty finished as well. Yeah. Maybe, and what we've essentially got there is a scratch vocal by Mick. Yeah, that's what I'm wondering. That could be for somebody else.
00:41:54
Speaker
If anybody out there knows, if someone who is more versed in Stones than any of the three of us, we're all Stones fans, but I wouldn't call any of us experts on the Stones, let us know. Yeah, because that's the thing. I'm not like a hardcore Stones fan, so yes, I'm sure there are experts out there who could tell us. If Mick and Keith want to contact us, please. Yes, exactly. Baby B on our show.
00:42:20
Speaker
At number 79, the N-Crowd by Dobie Gray.
Motown Influences in Dobie Gray's 'The In Crowd'
00:42:25
Speaker
This is a copy of the Motown style, but it's not ripping it off. The drums and the brass are the strength of this disc. I like it a whole lot.
00:42:34
Speaker
I do too. We've heard Ramsey Lewis' version. This sounds so completely different. Love the Motownish backing and, of course, Joby Gray, great vocalists and would have a big hit in the 70s with Drift Away.
00:43:14
Speaker
I think this is nicely arranged. The backing beat is infectious, makes you want to get up and dance, and I love this version. Nicely produced, nicely arranged, and really nice, smooth vocal. As I agree, I like this a lot. Am I going to shock people when I say that I haven't heard this version before now?
00:43:34
Speaker
Oh, really? No. I've heard other versions of it, like the one you mentioned, the original. I've heard the Brian Ferry version, the Coasters, I've heard their version. Georgie Fame. Oh, Georgie Fame's version is fabulous.
00:43:46
Speaker
Don't go too far because we are going to have a supercut and we'll read some of the other versions. Alright, shut up, Martin. It's a really good, soulful reinterpretation of the place. Obviously quite a standard of a song. Great vocals, love the instrumentation, and I think the production is top-rate as well. I didn't know Brian Ferry did it, so I'll be anxious to hear that. Yes.
00:44:07
Speaker
Okay, we've got a Cashbox review and we've got Adobe Grey Beetle's connection. And then we've also got a Supercut. The Cashbox review, Adobe Grey has a swinging and hip rhythm ballad with widespread appeal. Toon has both OP and R and&B possibilities. Ork, again, ORK, setting is powerful. Brisk sails an airplay on the horizon. Well, for once I agree with them.
00:44:34
Speaker
A lot of the times we don't disagree with cash loss, we don't disagree with their language. Yeah, that's actually pretty accurate, except for the Ork thing, but other than that.
00:44:45
Speaker
but So, Dobie Gray was interviewed and asked about the time he met the Beatles, so he did indeed meet the Beatles. What British groups did you meet or work with during the British invasion of music in 1965? Answer. Well, I met all the Beatles more than once. I met them once at the Whiskey of Go-Go when I was working there with Johnny Rivers. I did work with Freddie and the Dreamers, the Hullabaloos, Herman's Hermits, and the Dave Clark Five.
00:45:11
Speaker
I worked with the Rolling Stones on a TV show in London in 1978. They did the show along with me, the Pointer Sisters, Phoebe Snow, and a bunch of other English people. Kiki Dee is a good friend of mine. good shout kiki d yeah Did you get any insight into the Beatles personalities when you met them? Answer. Well, you know that kind of thing is hard to get into any kind of depth with another artist when you're meeting them in the presence of other people.
00:45:36
Speaker
The Beatles were never for a moment alone anywhere. On the surface they all seemed like pretty regular guys to me. A bit different because they were British. In those days we didn't have quite as much British influence as we do now.
00:45:50
Speaker
yeah A number of people who we've talked about ah recently, I mean, Freddie and the Dreamers of the Stones, the Dave Clark Five and Herman's Hermits, they all show up, if not this month, certainly in the last few months. you know And so we do indeed have a supercut of this track. Some of the versions that you will hear, although you won't hear all these versions in the supercut, Tula Clark did this song. The Foremost covered this song.
00:46:17
Speaker
Alvin, Simon, and Theodore with Dave Seville covered this song. Oh, I bet they killed it. oh The Knickerbockers covered this tune. one The Mamas and the Papas, I've always liked that version. Ian and the Zodiacs. The Coasters. Brian Ferry. Jimmy Ruffin did a cover of it. Oh, interesting. I don't know if I did that. Cheap Trick did a great version of it. Oh, cool. Wow.
00:46:47
Speaker
And to have a couple of, and his orchestras, Quincy Jones, Lawrence Welk, and Percy Faith, all with their orchestras, each did separate covers of this song. Oh, wow. so They're very orky. They are Orson, aren't they? Yeah. And then as mentioned, Georgie fame, the blue flames and the Ramsey Lewis version. And then Billy Preston also did a version. Oh, cool.
00:49:43
Speaker
you a real good time, but what would be your trouble?
00:51:07
Speaker
Moving on, at number 81, tell or no by the zombies.
The Zombies' Sophisticated Arrangements
00:51:12
Speaker
Interesting that it shows up on the US charts before the British charts. A Rod Arjun song, great lead vocals, great backing vocals. It's sparse, but that's really all they needed in the backing. Be the less, but not at all a ripoff. Less of a ripoff than laugh laugh, actually. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. For sure. Well, what can you say? I mean, the zombies, they just could do no wrong at this point.
00:52:04
Speaker
Rod Argent said that this was influenced by Burt Backrock and Hal David. And I could kind of see that, some of the chord changes they use, and also the time signatures that they use. And that melody that Colin's singing. Yes, exactly. I mean, you can really hear it. One of the things I think I've mentioned before is Love the Zombies 2 for their clear jazz influence. And you can hear it here.
00:52:30
Speaker
sophisticated polyrhythms, lots of twists and turns to the song, the keyboard parts from Rod Argent here, and of course, Colin Blunson's lead vocal. I love how it changes in tone and emotion, starting with a gentle tone and then the chorus. The teller no, how he just belts it out with such intensity and then can go back with a parent ease back into the verses with the more gentle emotion. What a song. I've always loved this track. The zombies just use these
00:53:08
Speaker
chord changes and jazz chords and all like no other groups were doing at the time. Love this band. Love it. ah Good lyrics, great organ, other instrumentation, even down to the bass, picking out notes that are of the chord but not going root and putting in fifths in there to it, which is a very jazz trick in itself. Colin's lead vocal is flawless That melody is without it being a rip-off of Backracking David melodically. It does verge on that with some of the notes that it's pulling out of the chords and the backing vocals is are so rich, as they always were. I always thought the zombies were underrated for their harmonies.
00:53:52
Speaker
When you get to later periods, when you get to like Odyssey and Oracle, the harmony vocals are among the greatest of that era, in my opinion. Great song. Love it. As we continue, this was actually a really pretty good week, wasn't it? So far, The Loser is Hardest Done and we all liked the tune. Yeah. Don't get used to that.
00:54:13
Speaker
I hope we liked the next one as well. Yes, I agree.
Harmonies and Emotions in Peter and Gordon's Music
00:54:17
Speaker
I go to pieces by Peter and Gordon. I like this tune a lot. This is right up there with the McCartney written compositions and for Peter and Gordon. Although the arrangement does make it feel ever so slightly like some of these songs that Paul had written for Peter and Gordon, but lyrically it's closer to Lennon and no reply.
00:55:14
Speaker
A great opening guitar lick, which leads into a driving ballad with sad lyrics. Peter described the song thusly, I just heard the melody and thought it sounded great, but it's a very sad song. What's interesting is it's not just an I've lost her song, it's an I've lost her, I can't get her back and I can't get over her. It's really kind of grim.
00:55:38
Speaker
However, it's a bouncy sort of record. I just thought it was a cool song. I would agree. The harmonies cut the sour taste a bit and lead it just a little bit away from the melancholy. Yeah, I like the song a lot. This is one of those songs that as soon as it started, I thought, oh my gosh, this is one of those songs I hadn't heard in a little bit. Just a perfect vehicle for them. You know, their harmonies are just gorgeous on this track. Just tight, beautiful, effective, perfect arrangement and production by John Burgess, who had produced hit records throughout the 60s for Adam Faith, Freddie and the Dreamers, Manford Man, a number of the British Invasion acts. And Del Shannon wrote this well-written song, memorable,
00:56:28
Speaker
catchy chorus, nice chord changes, just a memorable song. And Peter and Gordon just took this to another place with those harmonies. And as you said, it's a sad song for sure, but it isn't Maudlin. It could very easily be Maudlin. Exactly. It could easily be Maudlin, but the way this is produced and arranged and those beautiful harmonies, it isn't.
00:56:52
Speaker
isn't depressing. It's catchy enough. It just avoids that. Gorgeous. Love this song. We're all in in agreement. Great vocals. Really nice instrumentation. Love the production on this. On a song that Del Shannon wrote originally for an artist named Lloyd Brown.
00:57:10
Speaker
who Shannon had discovered in a nightclub in Michigan. They recorded it for the artist but no record label took the record unfortunately or signed the artist off the back of that. And then Shannon tried to do a version of it himself but that didn't work out either. He he thought there was something that didn't quite work with it.
00:57:29
Speaker
So then somehow or another he got the song to the attention of. Well, we've got that story Marv. I find it kind of fascinating because it's a story we've heard in other forms for other artists. So it was during the 1964 Starlifts 64 tour of Australia, Del Shannon pitched, I go to pieces to the searchers. Okay.
00:57:51
Speaker
Dell got out his guitar, he sang it for the searchers in their dressing room. Peter and Gordon were in the dressing room next to them and overheard Shannon singing it. The searchers weren't interested in the tune, but they did recognize that this had the potential to be a Mersey Beat style hit. Peter and Gordon came over and said, can we record that? Good call.
00:58:12
Speaker
But the interesting thing then after that is, they recorded it, and Del realised that that's exactly the approach that it needed, because they changed the arrangement of it to what it is now. And then Mandel would then, I think a year later or later that year, record a version himself. A March or 65, just a few months later, actually. Yeah. He used the exact same arrangement himself on his version. Wow. And I think the same arrangement is on the Nils Lofgren version from 82 as well, isn't it? That's got Del Shannon on it.
00:58:42
Speaker
Uh, yeah, the wonderfully titled 1661 seconds with Del Shannon yeah is the name of the album. right And then Del Shannon would eventually record it yet again on the album rock on produced by Jeff Lynn.
00:58:57
Speaker
ah Wow. That arrangement is a little bit different. It's a bit leaner. ah Dell's not harmonizing with himself. They took the reverb off the drums. The strings were replaced by synthesizer. And it basically sounds like a Jeff Lynn production. The interesting thing about that version, there were also backing vocals by Mike Campbell and Tom Petty. Oh, wow.
00:59:20
Speaker
It sounds a bit like E. Delo then. Exactly. Around the time that he was working with Jeff Lynn, he would do this live in a slightly more country style. And Del Shannon was frequently asked which of his songs did he like the best, and he answered his favorite composition was, I Go to Pieces. Wow. Very cool. Cool.
00:59:43
Speaker
At number 86, Blind Man by Bobby Blubland. We've talked about both the song and the artist earlier this month. This is a nice jazz blues backing on the track. There may be just slightly too much of the horns. It's a good lead vocal. And once you get past the opening, it goes all slinky in pleading. It sounds to me like it's almost taking a cue from the Pink Panther theme, but it's got that voice on top of it. The outro goes on just a touch too long, low level hit.
01:00:45
Speaker
I didn't think this was bun Bobby Blubland's best because I felt like they were trying to make him a bit too much like Ray Charles here. Almost felt like he was trying to imitate him here, even in his voice. A little bit too much with the horns. It's good, but he just sounds almost a little restrained here. And I just thought, let Bobby be Bobby and do his own thing. And I just felt like this was just trying to force him into another box and don't do that. Let him be him.
01:01:14
Speaker
It's difficult because we've already had a superb version of this in the same month, the the version we spoke about earlier with Little Milton, which was an absolute banger of a song. yeah And this one is, I don't want to say cheap copy, but it is a copy or it's another version of it that's just not quite up to the muster of the earlier version.
01:01:35
Speaker
And it's just not something that they should be given to Bobby to have done, really. right We all agree, at best, a lower medium meh, or I'll give it a low hit, you know but so that's about as far as I'll go with it. so Yep. At number 89, our buddies, the Kingsmen, who as we know are not the same Kingsmen, oh with the track, the Jolly Green Giant.
Novelty and Garage Sounds of The Kingsmen
01:01:59
Speaker
The Jolly Green Giant character was created in 1928, if you were wondering. So even by 1965, it had been around for 40 years. This tune starts with the jingle. It is just stock standard garage rock.
01:02:15
Speaker
The backing is okay, except for the fact that one of the members of the band keep shouting out names of canned vegetables. Yeah. The lyrics include my favorite line, there's no women his size. So that's why the cat's so mean, which to me brings to mind the late seventies, the original SNL cast with the skit about the late president, Jimmy Carter, Dan Aykroyd playing Jimmy Carter in the Pepsi syndrome skit. You guys remember that?
01:02:46
Speaker
I don't know if I remember that one. It was basically a three-mile island parody. Jimmy Carter goes in and, well, manages the solution. I was surprised to learn in the recent news stories that Jimmy Carter actually did have a background in nuclear physics. Oh, wow. I didn't know that. Wow. So anyway, Jimmy Carter went in, stopped the shutdown, but it caused him to grow into jolly green giant sized.
01:03:14
Speaker
I don't remember that. Wow. And so at the very end of the skit, Dan Aykroyd's Jimmy Carter is looking through the window because of course that's the only way they could do special effects. Yes. And he goes, well, you know, I can still be your president, but I'm going to have to divorce Rosalind because well, obvious reasons. And I do have a new woman who's going to be my wife, Garrett Morrison, a wig, a cleaning woman who just happened to be in there when the nuclear reactor went off. Oh.
01:03:45
Speaker
Oh man. So yeah, to finish the lyrics thing, the cat was colorblind. I don't get that. No.
01:04:19
Speaker
Well, one thing I can say is from now on, I'm just going to walk around and randomly shout, potatoes, artichoke hearts, Brussels sprouts, spinach, and see what happens. And I'll see how long it it it will take before I'm arrested or taken away.
01:04:42
Speaker
That is one of the most random parts of the song. I just love that when they're just randomly shouting that stuff. And I love the thing about not being able to find women his size. He looked at her and she looked at him and she almost passed out from fright. He looked at her and thought, what a dilly. He touched her once, she slapped him silly.
01:05:05
Speaker
I think this is my WTF song. Oh, no, no, no. The next one is the WTF song. Yes, it is. Oh, yes, that's right. This is the runner up WTF song. For sure. Yeah, this is definitely garage rock sounding. The backing is. But yeah, what the heck? But this song ranked at number 39 on Billboard's top 100 singles of 1965. What?
01:05:35
Speaker
That's WTF. What? Yeah. I guess in sales, I don't know. But what? Well, I think they were smoking something that was green and made them jolly.
01:05:47
Speaker
yeah
01:05:50
Speaker
Broccoli. Yeah, broccoli, of course. Yeah, broccoli. Or artichoke. Or something that looked like a artichoke. Yeah. If the idea with the Kingsmen was to make the song sound like they're in fun party mode, then they've got that down to a T.
01:06:07
Speaker
Once again, it's a song that is not clever in any way lyrically. None of their songs really are, to be honest. Because with these guys, it's about a vibe. The sound of the record is messy as every single one of their records is. Take away the vocal musically. There's something strangely cool about it. You're smoking eggplant? No.
01:06:33
Speaker
No, but I've got some tomatoes or tomatoes, if you want one. Well, and we have more to say about this record. First off, we've got a cash box review. Now, the interesting thing is Time has made Jolly Green Giant the A side, but the cash box review said that it was the B side. Okay. The review. Look for the Kingsman to head into 65 with another sales giant in the Louis-Louis vein.
01:07:00
Speaker
This one's about that hard fought for cash long green and it's pounded out with money making glee by the artists. The other end, a driving rhythmic novelty tribute to the jolly green giant can also step way out. Watch them both. It's a Jordan production.
01:07:18
Speaker
Okay, so you can tell that they only think it's a so-so record because they're not going hugely hyperbolic here. Yeah, true. Well, there's no charger in there in any shape. Exactly. Now we do have a couple of Beatles references and quasi references. First off, you remember Wayne's world. Of course. Yeah.
01:07:37
Speaker
Now, this is not a reference to the record, but to the character. In the first Wayne's world, they're going out to see some artists and the dialogue goes, well, who's playing tonight? Well, the headliner is the Jolly Green Giants and under them is the, uh, Spitty Beetle, shall we say. Okay.
01:07:58
Speaker
Well, are they any good? No, they suck. Oh, so it's not just a clever name. Again, not really a reference, but I kind of like that. the up And then for the actual Beatles reference. I thought that was a showinga from you there.
01:08:13
Speaker
but The actual Beatles reference, the 1966 Seattle press conference. I don't know if you've ever seen this video. Don't know. As usual, the Beatles are behind a table and there is a gentleman dressed as the jolly green giant in the audience asking questions. One of the reporters. I don't think I noticed that. Well, as you do, why wouldn't you? Of course. And he's not even American. Some of our friends will love this. He is Canadian.
01:08:41
Speaker
Oh wow. Nice. So what he says is, well, I don't know if there's a jolly green giant in England fellows, but I come with good wishes for you from Vancouver. You played there a short while ago and we were wondering whether you are coming back to Vancouver.
01:08:58
Speaker
Okay. Okay. Paul completely ignores the way he's dressed. Well, maybe. Brian decides where we go, so maybe. Then he follows up. All the people in Vancouver wanted to wish John a happy fourth anniversary a few days ago, John. John just sort of looks at him and goes, well, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Jolly Green Giant.
01:09:21
Speaker
So, Mark, do you have the Jolly Green Giant in England? Ho, ho, ho, we do. Okay. We do indeed. At number 92, definitely the WTF of the month. The Crusher by the Novas.
Precursor to Heavy Metal: The Novas
01:09:38
Speaker
It turns out I actually was slightly familiar with this song. Dave Letterman in and around 2008 became slightly obsessed with it. And, well, he would include drops of it in there for no reason. It's like, I've heard this song, I've heard this song, and then I went and started looking things up. It was like, oh, that's where I've heard this song from. So, well, Where do we begin? The backing is actually pretty good. Yep. It's amateurish, but the guitar is fun. The tune itself is serviceable. The lead vocal, it predicts Oscar the Grouch and the lyrics are a dance tune as applied to wrestling moves. Do the eye gouge, do the eye gouge. It turns out that the Crusher was actually a wrestler from the Minnesota area. The song was written in 1964 as a tribute to wrestling great Reginald Leisowski, also known as the Crusher. The lead singer of the Novas, Bob Nolan, does a great job of imitating the Crusher's gravelly voice, calling on all you turkey necks to do the hammer lock and the eye gouge because, after all, everybody's doing it. Okay.
01:11:21
Speaker
I thought the lead vocal sounds more like death metal. People have made the Pantera connection. You can find the Crusher, the actual Crusher online, and and I agree. He is doing a passably decent impersonation of the wrestler. It's amazing. This is metal.
01:11:42
Speaker
um Wow, I think we all found a website that gives the whole story behind this. This is by ah writer Steve Prescott, and I love the description of this. It says, there have been a lot of great dance songs written in the last hundred years. We've got the Twist, the Locomotion, Twist and Shout, and if that wasn't enough twisting, we got Let's Twist again.
01:12:04
Speaker
The Crusher by the Novas was written with the same feeling as all those great old dance songs, except if you tried these moves with your girl, there's a good chance you'd never see her again.
01:12:17
Speaker
do the eye gouge, do turkey necks, do the hammer lock. It's a novelty song, obviously, paying tribute to Crusher Lazowski. It's the craziest song you'll ever hear. And, you know, it is kind of a precursor to metal in a way. And I don't know what else to say. Holy cow. It's like, you feel like you've been beaten up after listening to this song. I mean, it was quite an experience. Okay, before Marv,
01:12:47
Speaker
Do the hammer lock! There's my version of it. Yep, exactly. Barf, what's your take on this? After that from end, I wish I'd have my volume down. Thanks. Now you're awake. yep He needs to contact Pantera, Anthrax, and White Zombie for stealing his shtick. Yes. The lead singer.
01:13:10
Speaker
Yeah, he should sue. I agree. He needs to sue. 30 years too early to do either, you know, thrash metal or these other versions of metal and crikey. It's really weird because musically, it's a 12 bar repeated section all the way through, isn't it? And then he's singing that over the top. So he's he's yeah it's the weirdest thing this month among some songs that don't even reach weirdness. But that yeah, it's just odd Again, I can see why when Letterman heard it, it's like, well, that's funny. yeah And of course, Letterman's thing at the time was you find something funny, you run it in the ground until it no longer becomes funny, and then you stop playing it. yep And that was exactly what he did.
01:13:53
Speaker
The weird thing is, you could imagine this as a Saturday Night Live number in the 70s, where they'd be doing this to parody the metal scene of the time. Yeah, that's true. And the only eye gouge, baby. And I just think what record company thought, oh, this is a hit. Let's release this as a single. This is a surefire hit. Do we know which record company this was on?
01:14:23
Speaker
This was released as a local song in Minnesota, and it caught on for whatever reason. How it caught on enough to actually get in the Billboard charts is a little bit beyond me, but the charts were open to some strange things. Yeah.
01:14:39
Speaker
Yep. Okay, Turkey Neck, what's next? At number 94, The Crying Game by Brenda Lee. Kits Gal, Brenda Lee. Yep. This is a ah country version of the Jeff Stevens song, which we had earlier.
Brenda Lee's Vocal Maturity Critique
01:14:53
Speaker
Brenda Lee's vocal is the star of this record. The orchestration and backing singers are a bit heavy handed. I missed the bendy slide stuff from the original.
01:15:03
Speaker
But I do like this backing a little bit more than the Dave Berry version we had on the UK side. And as we mentioned, Boy George would later cover the song very well and that would become the theme to the film. You know, I love my girl, but I didn't think her voice really suited the crying game only because she was so young and I feel like a more mature voice.
01:15:26
Speaker
best suits the crying game. You know, with lyrics like, I know all there is to know about the crying game, I've had my share of the crying game. To have a younger girl singing lines like that, it's just not convincing. I think you need an older sounding voice to convincingly deliver lines like that. So it's not her fault. She's doing the best she can, but I just feel like it just doesn't suit her.
01:16:20
Speaker
I agree with the backing. The backing's fine, but I just feel like this needs a more mature sounding singer with a deeper sound. I mean, she just sounds, she was like a teenager here. It was arranged by Owen Bradley, who of course was part of the Nashville Sound, Nashville Sound Architect along with Chet Atkins. And I just felt like this just wasn't the right showcase for her, but not her fault. She needed different material. This just wasn't the right song for her.
01:16:49
Speaker
she needed backing singers that weren't working for Andy Williams as well. Yeah, that's true as well. I didn't like the backing singers on this. Also, the instrumental break was weird because it wasn't an instrumental break, it was just the backing vocalist doing something really odd.
01:17:28
Speaker
it missed an instrument solo but Brenda does okay it's all right I suppose I just yeah I didn't like the instrumental break I don't like the backing singers so it doesn't sound like I liked it that much at all really doesn't Yeah. I guess not. Weird. Martin, it turns out we have a brand new Beatles connection to Brenda Lee. ah That's right. Ringo is doing a CBS special, Ringo and Friends at the Ryman, with special guests, including my girl, Brenda Lee, as well as Jack White, Cheryl Crow, and Rodney Crow. Rodney Crow from Houston, Texas. There's our Houston connection. Hey, ding, ding, ding. And many, many others.
01:18:07
Speaker
The air date has not been announced, but it is expected soon. Proceeds benefit the American Red Cross and victims of the California wildfires. Alright, a couple songs we're going to go through pretty quickly here. At number 95, It's Better to Have It by Barbara Lynn. I like the guitar and the lead vocal, but I don't like that faux choir backing from the backing singers. And then that, you know, Have It, Love It and the Yeah Yeah bits. Hi, meh.
01:19:10
Speaker
hated the backing singer parts. Very annoying, very distracting. And I wish she had played more guitar because I really like her guitar playing. Other than that, I just thought it was kind of a nothing ballad. Barbara Winston, much better songs than this. Barbara's voice is good. The production is terrible. And you can't really discern sometimes what the lyrics are through what is a really lacking mix. Agreed.
01:19:35
Speaker
at number 97 whenever a teenager cries by Reparta and the Delrons. And if you're wondering where the name comes from, she was a very Catholic girl and went to a Catholic high school at the time. And that was the name that she was given. Yes. That was, ah I think her confirmation name, Catholic high school graduate here. ah Nothing special. Stock standard generic girl group song. Catchy enough, but very unmemorable. C level girl group. Ugh.
01:20:05
Speaker
This was just awful. I couldn't stand this. No offense against the group, but I just thought this was just awful, average girl group kind of song and the lyrics just made me cringe.
01:20:51
Speaker
Basic, bland, and forgettable. Yep. Now the only reason we really mentioned this song, the group would go on to Open for the Stones in 1965, and while it is unconfirmed it is widely reported that they appear as the backing singers on Hockey Talk Women. Hello! you go.
01:21:14
Speaker
Wow. Wow. Interesting. At number 98, Finders, Keepers, Losers, Weepers by Nella Dodds. You remember Nella Dodds? We talked about her and how Barry Gordy ruined her career. This song, good vocal once again in the Diana Ross mode. Good backing once again to the Motown mode, particularly those horns, but the song is weak. I'm sorry and it's a shame.
01:21:57
Speaker
Hi miss or lo meh Yep, and it was written by Kenny Gamble. Of course, the future architect of the Philly soul sound. It needed a more interesting bridge. It was kind of repetitive. I like the horns, but Kenny Gamble definitely had more growing to do with songwriting. The title phrase was repeated way too much. Definitely was a kind of a Motown ripoff trying to sound like that.
01:22:25
Speaker
Nella Dobbs' voice sounded very nice, I like her voice, but if the lyrics had been improved and maybe also the production and on maybe not trying to sound like a Motown song, it could have been a decent song but needed a lot more work. Yep, it was okay but that's as much as I'll say it was sort of middle, maybe lower middling soul song for me. I do like her voice a lot but it needed some tidying up to make it better.
01:22:50
Speaker
At number 99, no faith, no love by Mitty Collier. We're mentioning it because while there's a Chicago reference and Kit demanded that we include it. Indeed there is.
Gospel Influence in Mitty Collier's Performance
01:23:01
Speaker
That and the fact that this is a very good record, actually. It's very well recorded. Mitty's lead vocal is amazingly deep. It's got some great soul going on. Piano strings, the drums, they all work well. This is a repurposed gospel song. No cross, no crown. So the vocal and arrangement were familiar to her.
01:23:20
Speaker
but it works.
01:23:54
Speaker
What a singer. Pure gospel. Piano is incredible too. I mean, that piano is right out of the church. And yes, this was a reworking of a gospel legend. James Cleveland song, No Cross, No Crown.
01:24:07
Speaker
and just an amazing, amazing singer. She left secular music not too long after this and I can kind of see why because clearly gospel was her wheelhouse. You can just tell after the 60s I think she left just secular music like and you can tell why and she recorded for the chess label. So real Chicago in here. And she actually opened for BB King and Etta James after winning a prize at DJ Al Benson's talent show at the Regal Theater in Chicago in 1959.
01:24:44
Speaker
boom Yes and indeed, Regal Theatre was a legendary theatre here in Chicago. Sorry but I'm going to go even more informative on this. This is a really great chess records production, great lead vocal, lovely piano, the orchestration is recorded and arranged beautifully. The arrangement by Riley Ampton, who I'm going to go into in a bit, bass playing his gorgeous and the drums, nice laid back unassuming piano solo.
01:25:10
Speaker
So it's written by and arranged by Riley Ampton, who was the announcer ranger for Chess Records, who was born in 1918, was a reed player and a band leader back then until he became ah an arranger for higher wealth for Chess Records mainly.
01:25:27
Speaker
who worked on arrangements for artists such as Etta James, Curtis Mayfield, Barbara Lewis, Mary Wells and many others. He was behind the iconic arrangement of At Last by Etta James, and he also co-wrote Deep Dive Here for those interested. He co-wrote We're All Going to Go with Curtis Mayfield, which is a superb song.
01:25:50
Speaker
Nice. Alright, so we close out Side B at number 100. Hello, Pretty Girl by Ronnie Dove. If you go, where have I heard that name, Ronnie Dove? In February, there was a wonderful ad where a caricature of Ronnie Dove was boxing a caricature of all four Beatles. That was February 64. Wow.
01:26:12
Speaker
As to this song, it's a nice country vocal with decent strings. I like the drums. The horns are maybe borrowed ever so slightly from Bacharach, David. It's a few years off, but this chorus actually brings to mind the chorus and put your hand in the hand that we're going to get all about 1970.
01:26:50
Speaker
As I was listening to this, I thought, boy, this sounds a little bit like Save the Last Dance for me, or even come a little bit closer, particularly come a little bit closer. Slightly Latin, which was sort of hot at the time, and a little bit like J in the Americans. And it turns out, of course, this was co-written by Tommy Boyce and Wes Farrell.
01:27:12
Speaker
and they were behind some of J and the Americans stuff. So I thought, okay, that makes sense. You know, it's average pop and offensive. I do like the country. I like the country. Yeah, the country's okay. But I just thought it was okay. And it's not something I would go back and listen to repeatedly. I just thought it was okay. Again, low hit, maybe for both of us. Yeah. Ordinary and doesn't stand out to me. Yeah, exactly. That's my very quick review.
01:27:40
Speaker
Alright, so that is the first two weeks on the Billboard charts, and it's going to take us two shows to cover the final three weeks of January 1965. Tune back in real soon. See you then. Take care.
01:28:15
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 somewhere. They saw that, they must have seen that in either the NME or record mirror or disc.
01:28:41
Speaker
record in show mirror as it was then and they've taken it from there they've obviously thought how stupid that is how stupid is is 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