Archive for the ‘The Pretty Things’ Category
Tuesday, August 17th, 2010
Listen: I’m Gonna Love You Too / The Hullaballoos
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Do not mistake this British band as the resident pop group on the US HULLABALOO show from ‘65 – ‘66. They did appear, six times to be exact, but were only coincidentally sharing a similar name. Admittedly their second album, THE HULLABALLOOS ON HULLABALOO would confuse even the most attentive. Alas, the band’s name was indeed spelled differently than the program’s. So no – they were not the house band.
As with just about every group in those days, we saw their pictures way before getting to hear the music. I was too young to be aware of all the Buddy Holly similarities they shared, so to me, they were completely original. I vividly remember seeing the sleeve to ‘I’m Gonna Love You Too’ in a local shop and being instantly smitten. Bleach blond, all four – this was even more radical than The Pretty Things, who had the longest hair yet. Hullaballoos’ drummer Harry rivaled any member of The Pretty Things to date, not only in hair length but color too, hence out doing them in my book. My parents were aghast to find I planned to bleach my hair as well. It never happened – not yet that is.
Despite endless stories of infamous thievery directed toward Roulette Records, they did get their singles distributed and heard. ‘I’m Gonna Love You Too’ got played a bunch initially.
Listen: Did You Ever / The Hullaballoos
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The followup, ‘Did You Ever’ was played slightly less, but performed more than any other song on US television.
Listen: Learning The Game / The Hullaballoos
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Unfortunately, ‘Learning The Game’, my favorite of the four, was not played at all in my hometown. The single made it to the Bubbling Under Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at #121 during a short two week run, so some play obviously was achieved. Once I got my copy, I cherished it all the more.
Listen: I Won’t Turn Away Now / The Hullaballoos
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The very hard to get fourth single and sleeve, ‘I Won’t Turn Away Now’ is classic British beat. Little Steven played The Hullaballoos recently. I was in the car and thought, justice after all these years. God bless Sirius.
In the early 80’s, when I started working at Elektra, the lure of free phone calls to the UK were too much to pass up. I called Hull directory information, and secured two of the four Hullaballoos’ phone numbers. Ultimately, I only spoke with Andrew Woonton. Initially our conversation proceeded as follows:
“Hi is this Andrew Woonton?”
“Yes, who’s calling?”
“My name is Kevin, from Elektra Records in New York and I was wondering, were you once a member of The Hullaballoos?”
“Uuuuuum, aaaaah, yes why?”
I launched into being a fan, but later in the conversation he revealed his initial hesitation. Turns out he was still getting calls from creditors wanting payment for hotels, vehicles and other expenses obligated some 20 years prior by Roulette on behalf of The Hullaballoos.
Did this band get what they deserved in any way. No. In fact, their youtube footage recently had the audio removed, apparently by the song publishers. Come on, cut these guys a break.
And I’m still miffed at not seeing the shows they shared with The Zombies and The Nashville Teens back in ‘65 at the Brooklyn Paramount.
Below my postcard from their fan club:
Posted in Andrew Woonton, Bubbling Under The Hot 100, Columbia, Elektra, Hullabaloo, Roulette, The Hullaballoos, The Nashville Teens, The Pretty Things, The Zombies | No Comments »
Friday, July 23rd, 2010
Listen: The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game / The Marvelletes
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I loved The Supremes, who didn’t? But there’s something about the underdogs that make them even more appealing to me. Happens every time.
I guess The Rolling Stones (who I always preferred) were considered second to The Beatles for a while there; and then The Pretty Things to The Stones. Or as I mentioned in an earlier post, Inez & Charlie Foxx to Ike & Tina Turner.
Like Martha & The Vandellas, The Marvelettes were certainly playing second fiddle, at best, to The Supremes over at Motown. There’s a terrific book CALLING OUT AROUND THE WORLD / A MOTOWN READER by Kingsley Abbott, detailing (and I mean detailing) those heydays of Motown. It describes the songwriting rivalries, struggles for priorities, everything. It’s a fascinating read. According to Kingsley, William Robinson, or Smokey as we know him, was always under appreciated by Berry Gordy. Even when coming off of a hit, Smokey’d be starting over. Marvin Gaye too. The girl groups were in a constant struggle to get first dibs on the strongest new songs. It’s why Mary Wells left the fold – well at least according to this book.
In the case of The Marvelettes, there were few occasions when they got those gems. Like ‘The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game’ (another Smokey composition), many of The Marvelettes releases had a slight darkness to them – not quite as glistening with all the pop flash that those Supremes singles packed, hence their cult appeal? Probably.
Listen: I’ll Keep Holding On / The Marvelletes
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Let’s face it – The Marvelettes were hip. Hats off to The Action for the brave and triumphant cover of ‘I’ll Keep Holding On’
Listen: My Baby Must Be A Magician / The Marvelettes
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And thank you to Tony King for generously giving me the UK promocopy of ‘My Baby Must Be A Magician’ pictured above.
Posted in Berry Gordy, Inez & Charlie Foxx, Kingsley Abbott, Marvin Gaye, Mary Wells, Motown, Smokey Robinson, The Action, The Marvelettes, The Pretty Things, The Rolling Stones, The Supremes, Tony King | No Comments »
Wednesday, July 7th, 2010
Listen: Get Down With It / Little Richard
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It has been written, by Charles White, that this is the greatest rock and roll record ever recorded in England. Who is Charles White? Good question.
The answer: he’s aka Dr Rock, is the official biographer to Little Richard and author of the books ‘The Life And Times Of Little Richard’ and ‘Killer – The Jerry Lee Lewis Biography’. All of the preceding info I lifted from the liner notes of the cd reissue GET DOWN WITH IT – THE OKEH SESSIONS. But beware.
I was well excited when I saw this one on the Sony release schedule back in 2004. The packaging turned out great. The detail being particularly good. Unfortunately, it’s all the stereo versions which have been restored, remastered, cleaned, polished, shined with every bit of dirt, grime, filth and slime removed. Little Richard without the dirt, grime, filth and slime is just not…very appealing. Try finding the vinyl singles (especially ‘Poor Dog’ and ‘I Don’t Wanna Discuss’) and the LP, THE EXPLOSIVE LITTLE RICHARD, all on the Okeh label instead. If you do buy this cd, keep the booklet but toss the disc.
Even if you accomplish all the above, you won’t be done – because during Little Richard’s tenure with Okeh, he recorded that aforementioned ‘greatest rock and roll record’ in London, December ‘66. It was called ‘Get Down With It’ (the cd was quite rightly titled after it) and that single was only ever released in the UK on Columbia (Okeh’s British distributor). God knows why. So basically to really complete your journey, you’ll need to own this UK 7″. Good luck – I do wish you it, but don’t wait up. It’s a pretty hard one to locate.
Unexpectedly, ‘Get Down With It’ was produced by EMI’s Norman Smith, who also took on said chore for both The Pink Floyd’s PIPER AT THE GATES OF DAWN and The Pretty Things’ SF SORROW albums. This track perfectly documents that intoxicating and lost in history delta, chitlin’ circuit, sweat and liquor drenched roadhouse sound. To think, this studio version never saw the light of day in the US until the cd came out in ‘04. I wonder why they didn’t issue this at the time, and why the mono version of ‘Get Down With It’ wasn’t included as a cd bonus track at least?
As for Charles White’s statement that this is the greatest rock and roll record ever recorded in England – he just might be right.
Tags: Columbia UK, Little Richard, Norman Smith, Okeh, The Pink Floyd, The Pretty Things
Posted in Columbia UK, Little Richard, Norman Smith, Okeh, The Pink Floyd, The Pretty Things | No Comments »
Monday, July 5th, 2010
Listen: You Can Make It If You Try / Solomon Burke
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A Philadelphia native, and trained in gospel, Solomon Burke had his biggest success during the ’60’s in the south, where they coined his sound ‘river deep country fried buttercream soul’. Who on earth would not want to hear this guy after a description like that?
I found out about Solomon Burke like every other white kid in the day, through the English groups covering all the classic blues and RnB hits. Yes, the originals were right here in my own back yard. Occasionally one of these would slip into the pop stations’ playlists, but not near enough. At the time, I would have probably dismissed the original anyways, preferring all the hepped up excitement of the British Invasion version and how that movement was changing my culture, my haircut and my clothes.
But on further investigation in the early 70’s, it was fantastic to find a whole world of great records yet to own and cherish. The Rolling Stones were clearly Solomon Burke fans, covering a bunch of the songs he had RnB success with. Those covers were spread out over the first 5 US albums including this one ‘You Can Make It If You Try’ (on their debut, ENGLAND’S NEWEST HIT MAKERS). So really, it’s through The Rolling Stones that I discovered him. The flip side of this single is equally great: ‘If You Need Me’, also recorded by them and included on 12 X 5 (as is his ‘Everybody Needs Somebody To Love’). OUT OF OUR HEADS included ‘Cry To Me’, although The Pretty Things’ version is true to Solomon’s exactly.
Listen: The Price / Solomon Burke
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The covers of Solomon Burke’s catalog are many, from Dr. Feelgood’s ‘Stupidity’ to The Herd’s ‘Goodbye Baby (Baby Goodbye)’. So fierce was his vocal bite, that certain songs were just not even tried by others. One such favorite of mine, ‘The Price’, arranged by Northern Soul great Teacho Wilshire and produced by Bert Berns, could certainly have been served well at that time by Janis Joplin or maybe Chris Farlowe, but no other white voices that I know of. Great news: Solomon Burke is still alive. Go see him sing and get ready to lose it.
Tags: Atlantic, Bert Berns, Chris Farlowe, Dr. Feelgood, Janis Joplin, Solomon Burke, Teacho Wilshire, The Herd, The Pretty Things, The Rolling Stones
Posted in Atlantic, Bert Berns, Chris Farlowe, Dr. Feelgood, Janis Joplin, Northern Soul, Solomon Burke, Teacho Wilshire, The Herd, The Pretty Things, The Rolling Stones | No Comments »
Monday, June 28th, 2010
Listen: The Tracker / The Sir Douglas Quintet
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Like so many bands popping up around the country circa ‘64 – ‘65, all imitating Britain’s Invasion, The Sir Douglas Quintet appeared. Unlike those others, they had a recognizable sound (perfectly part Bo Diddley, part Pretty Things) and could both write and find great songs. The band never released a bad single on London Records’ imprint Tribe. They eventually moved to Smash/Philips where their greatness, and the occasional hit single, continued.
‘The Tracker’, followup to their debut smash ‘She’s About A Mover’, was a real favorite despite it’s national stall at #105 in July ‘65 on Billboard’s Bubbling Under The Hot 100 chart.
I recall seeing them on SHINDIG, Doug Sahm (Sir Douglas) doing a mean Phil May imitation vocal on ‘The Tracker’ while holding an oversized magnifying glass, kind of roaming around the stage as though following footsteps visible when enlarged, Sherlock Holmes style. Not only did they have the sound down, but the look as well.
Listen: Blue Norther / The Sir Douglas Quintet
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‘Blue Norther’, the B side, with it’s rather haunting patent Sir Douglas Quintet formula (not to be taken as bad), I like to think is about the train line and totally conjured up nighttime images of a freight winding it’s way through some dark mountain woods or the Texas desert, assuming there is one there.
Listen: In Time / The Sir Douglas Quintet
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Quickly released that September, no doubt in hopes of refuelling interest after their huge debut, ‘In Time’ stiffed completely. Shame, just listen to it’s perfection. No other US band quite captured their flawless mixture of Texas and England, a recipe that should’ve easily worked. To my knowledge, only KNAC in Salt Lake City charted it for a week in October at #63 – otherwise, klunk
Listen: The Story Of John Hardy / The Sir Douglas Quintet
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For the flipside of ‘In Time’, as with Manfred Mann’s rendition of the Lomax/Lomax written ‘John Hardy’ (it too a B side of ‘Sha La La’), the ever present influence of The Pretty Things, marraccas particularly. prevailed. The band’s more folk blues ‘version’, retitled ‘The Story Of John Hardy’, songwriting mischievously credited to Doug Sahm, succeeded in establishing yet again that sound so unique to this band.
Many years later, Doug Sahm formed The Texas Tornadoes and signed to Warner Brothers. I saw him in the office one day (my company, The Medicine Label, was a WB label) and he graciously filled out a jukebox tab for me. It was a chance meeting, so I wasn’t prepared with B side info. I couldn’t remember it, neither could he.
Above: Jukebox Tab filled out by Doug Sahm.
Tags: Doug Sahm, Jukebox Tab, London, Texas Tornadoes, The Sir Douglas Quintet, Tribe
Posted in Billboard, Bo Diddley, Bubbling Under The Hot 100, Doug Sahm, Elektra, Jukebox Tab, KNAC, London, Phil May, Philips, Shindig, Smash, Texas Tornadoes, The Medicine Label, The Pretty Things, The Sir Douglas Quintet, Tribe, Warner Brothers | No Comments »
Sunday, June 27th, 2010
Listen: Down Home Girl / Alvin Robinson
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I saw The Rolling Stones for the first time on October 30, 1965 at the Syracuse War Memorial. I had forged a press pass, a typed note actually, on letterhead from a weekly paper in my little hometown. My Dad had set me up with the pompous owner of it, as I wanted to interview the band for a feature.
Looking back it was quite a good idea on my part, but this self celebrating fellow was nasty and dismissive. Even though I ended up meeting the band, I still loathe him for his attitude, not towards me, but towards my Father. He was so busy being busy, running in and out of his pathetic office, that I just reached over and grabbed a few pages of letterhead when he wasn’t looking. I shook with fear at what I’d done (I was still a good Catholic boy), but too late, I’d done it. So he tells me, “We don’t need a piece on this dirty English combo”, and that was that – or so he thought. Indeed, they didn’t need a a kid in his late single digits writing a review.
To be exact, this was the Canastota Bee Journal, as close as you can get to Mayberry. He and the paper, I’m guessing, are long gone. Still, I composed this laughable letter, claiming to be a writer on assignment – and needing to interview the band.
In those days, arenas were filled with hysterical, screaming kids – so how I managed to slide backstage so easily still baffles. An usher fell for that forged letter, and brought me back, where Bill Wyman was wrapping up his cords. Bill reads it, stares me straight in the eye and says (in hindsight with a knowing smirk), “Come on and we’ll meet the rest”.
Holy shit. Is this really happening? It was the first time I nearly blacked out. I seriously remember that vividly. We are suddenly walking up the steps to the dressing room, knees weak, where in years to follow, I would meet, more like pester, (here goes – I know this is all a bit name droppy, but it really, really happened. I met all these bands and I’m proud of it): The Mindbenders, Them, The Moody Blues, The Nashville Teens, The Yardbirds, The Ikettes, The Who, The Pretty Things, Manfred Mann, The Kinks, Humble Pie, Heads Hands & Feet, Fairport Convention, Free, John Martyn, Steppenwolf, Canned Heat, Caravan, Curved Air, Toe Fat, Derek & The Dominoes, Jethro Tull, The Jeff Beck Group, Grand Funk Railroad, Frampton’s Camel, Family, Wild Turkey, Blodwyn Pig, The Faces, T. Rex, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, Mother Earth, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, The Chambers Brothers, Sly & The Family Stone, Savoy Brown, Ten Years After, Iron Butterfly, Emerson Lake & Palmer, Big Brother & The Holding Company, The Jimi Hendrix Experience – even Vivian Green, who I work with now, was in that very room when on tour with Maxwell. Talk about coming full circle.
The management knew me and my friends well early on, they must’ve gotten a kick out of these crazy little kids, who’s Mom’s & Dad’s would wait patiently for until the shows ended. Our parents befriended the office staff, and in turn, those nice ladies always let us backstage.
The Rolling Stones were great, so nice. No one was in their dressing room except the band, and one other guy, I guess the tour manager. No food, nothing but bottles of Coca Cola. They signed my copy of 12 X 5, it probably lasted all of a minute – but I still can relive it to this day. Here I was, with this exotic band from England that changed my life, which prior I could only see on TV every 3-4 months tops. I thought at that very moment, “This is the life for me”. I’m completely convinced it led to my career in music – no question.
One of their current album at the time, THE ROLLING STONES NOW, was not a real album at all. In those days, the English labels released singles and EPs, in addition to albums. Not only were the EP tracks not on the LPs, but the singles weren’t either. So the US companies were always dropping off intended LP tracks to make room for the singles and sometimes strong ones from those EPs. For this particular release, London Records basically cobbled together some singles and EP songs, as well as unused UK LP tracks (the UK LPs were 14 songs compared to our 10-12, thereby creating even more choices). Probably by coincidence more than design, THE ROLLING STONES NOW actually works as a proper LP. It was certainly a big success – slowly but very solidly scaling the US LP charts and staying Top 10 for ages, as it deserved to. The record’s filled with dark, minor key classics (‘Heart Of Stone’, ‘Little Red Rooster’ and ‘Pain In My Heart’ – which they played on that night, Brian sitting at a huge B3 organ, wailing away).
It’s ok if you’re getting tingles. Take your time. You’ll need it. They were back, nine months later, during the AFTERMATH tour, and that’s whole ‘nother post waiting to be written.
This all leads us to ‘Down Home Girl’, a song on THE ROLLING STONES NOW. Little did I know then that it was a cover. I don’t even think I knew what that meant. They were all Rolling Stones songs to us. Years and years later I wised up, seeked out the original, and became a dangerous Alvin Robinson fanatic.
Here’s his version. Get any of his other releases – all of them actually.
Tags: Big Brother & The Holding Company, Bill Wyman, Blodwyn Pig, Canastota Bee Journal, Canned Heat, Caravan, Curved Air, Derek & The Dominoes, Fairport Convention, Family, Frampton's Camel, Free, Grand Funk Railroad, Heads Hands & Feet, Humble Pie, Iron Butterfly, Jethro Tull, John Martyn, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Julie Driscoll/Brian Auger & The Trinity, London Records, Manfred Mann, Mother Earth, Savoy Brown, Sly & The Family Stone, Steppenwolf, Syracuse War Memorial, T. Rex, Ten Years After, The Chambers Brothers, The Faces, The Ikettes, The Jeff Beck Group, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Kinks, The McCoys, The Mindbenders, The Moody Blues, The Nashville Teens, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, The Pretty Things, The Rolling Stones, The Standells, The Who, The Yardbirds, Them, Toe Fat, Wild Turkey
Posted in Alvin Robinson, Big Brother & The Holding Company, Bill Wyman, Blodwyn Pig, Canastota Bee Journal, Canned Heat, Caravan, Curved Air, Derek & The Dominoes, Emerson Lake & Palmer, Fairport Convention, Family, Frampton's Camel, Free, Grand Funk Railroad, Heads Hands & Feet, Iron Butterfly, Jethro Tull, John Martyn, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, London, Manfred Mann, Maxwell, Mother Earth, Red Bird, Savoy Brown, Sly & The Family Stone, Steppenwolf, Syracuse War Memorial, T. Rex, Ten Years After, The Chambers Brothers, The Faces, The Ikettes, The Jeff Beck Group, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Kinks, The Mindbenders, The Moody Blues, The Nashville Teens, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, The Pretty Things, The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Yardbirds, Them, Toe Fat, Vivian Green, Wild Turkey | No Comments »
Tuesday, June 8th, 2010
Listen: Happy Jack / The Who
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Pull this out and give it a spin. You’re bound to say, “Man I have not heard this in ages”. Well, my guess is you’ll say that. I loved all the singles up through and including ‘Pictures Of Lily’. Then came ‘I Can See For Miles’. Something about that one, it was good but didn’t hit dead center. Was a first real understanding of my body’s reaction to music. ‘I Can See For Miles’ may have been the record that set the template for an A&R career years later: if I didn’t love it – chances were good it’d be a huge hit. Hey, as long as you know how to read the indicators, that’s all that really matters. ‘I Can See For Miles’ was in fact their only ever US Top 10. Hard to believe I know.
Back then, The Who weren’t much different than The Small Faces or The Move when it came to US radio. You never heard them. Yeah radio was much better in the 60’s, but still fairly narrow. These bands just didn’t get national airplay – if they were lucky, regional exposure was usually the extent of it and then maybe a crossover….leads me to an interesting memory about The Who.
I and my Anglophile friends religiously bought every single by The Who. My teenage girlfriend and I missed our junior prom the night I got ‘Substitute’ it was so good – we just played it over and over and fiddled about, as someone once coined. It was the plan anyways.
There were a few shops around town that would get two to five copies of the non hits, or hopeful to be hits – like Walt’s Records or Smith’s Records or that huge record department in WT Grant’s on Salina Street in Syracuse. So starting with ‘I Can’t Explain’, we bought ‘Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere’, every single right through and including the immaculate ‘Substitute’, ‘I’m A Boy’, ‘The Kids Are Alright’ and this one, the psychedelic ‘Happy Jack’, which actually did crack the Billboard chart peaking at #24 in ‘67. A few years later when TOMMY was released, everyone noticed a rock opera similarity between that and it’s predecessor, The Pretty Things S.F. SORROW, still we listened to them both regularly during several weekend Parcheesi matches. The Who finally made a return visit after opening for Herman’s Hermits a few years earlier. Even though in my opinion the glow of those earlier singles had dimmed down noticeably, of course I went along. TOMMY admittedly wasn’t bad.
After the show, a few of us waited around for autographs, brought albums, singles, the works. I wasn’t quite as fussed and brought nothing, but seriously, was there something better to do in Syracuse as a teenager than possibly say hello to The Who? When my best friend Denny went up to Pete Townshend proudly with his MY GENERATION album to get signed, the guy turned his nose away, dismissiveley refusing to sign anything. He proceeded to make his way toward their station wagon with band members including Keith Moon and Roger Daltry already inside waiting. Even Keith Moon jumped out of the car to oblige, looking at Pete with a ‘you asshole’ glare, I couldn’t resist. So I spoke up.
“Pete, you know those few copies of the older singles you used to sell in towns like this prior to your hits, we were were the kids that bought them.” As the car pulled away, plain as day, I recall him hanging out the window, wearing a coat that looked like a piece of ghastly ornate drapery, middle finger on both hands projecting at me and shouting “you got a show for your $6 prick”.
Hmm. Not really, you didn’t play any of the aforementioned songs I came to hear. Not one. Still it was rude, certainly embarrassing and I never bought another record by The Who. Big deal, basically my bitterness toward he and unfairly the other guys in The Who went unnoticed and I’m sure Pete Towshend never lost a wink of sleep because of me.
About 30 years later, he and then manager were doing the rounds of labels trying to hawk a new, not very good Pete Townshend album. We sat in my office and had a lovely conversation about The Marquee, The Creation, Track Records, Kit Lambert. I did not recap the story. Why bother? We were both kids then. Still, interestingly, Pete Townshend was kissing my ass. I was getting a second show, and this one didn’t cost me $6.
But guess what, I passed on the album and him, his talent to write those gems long ago withered in my opinion. Besides, I’d already experienced his temper. And I finally felt that injustice had come full circle.
Lesson learned: You meet the same people on the way up as you do on the way down. No one is immune. Be careful.
‘Happy Jack’ really is a terrific single.
Tags: Billboard, Decca, Herman's Hermits, Kit Lambert, Pete Townshend, Smith's Records, The Creation, The Marquee, The Move, The Pretty Things, The Small Faces, The Who, Track Records, Walt's Records, WT Grants
Posted in Decca, Herman's Hermits, Kit Lambert, Marquee, Pete Townshend, Smith's Records, The Creation, The Move, The Pretty Things, The Small Faces, The Who, Track, WT Grants, Walt's Records | No Comments »
Sunday, March 21st, 2010
Listen: The Cisco Kid / War
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Today is the first full day of spring, according to my neighbor who knows all these things. Actually it started yesterday at around 1:15, so that didn’t count. Whatever. When it’s about 70°, no humidity with clear blue skies, and I find myself digging through boxes of doubles stockpiled for some 15 years back out in the garage, I know it’s spring. It’s the first thing I do, having itched to get at something or other all winter – and that’s exactly how yesterday was spent. The place is actually a scene from that new TV show about hoarding, the latest condition a doctor will give you tablets for. Corinne went in to get something, and being her first time for a couple of years, and just flipped out on me. So I needed to do some shuffling around anyways.
Brought one of those portable suitcase record players out with me. I bought this one for a steep $20 sometime in the late 80’s when those two parking lots on 6th Ave and 26th St had the weekly junk sales, dealers of everything covering the two spaces. I got into a habit of getting there at dawn, and found records even I can’t believe. One time, I got it into my head I needed a wlp of The Faces debut on Warner Brothers, and found it that very day. Like I willed it to be there. True story.
The player still works, perfectly in fact. It’s one of my favorite pieces, complete with interchangeable 45 adapter spindle. So off I go to the garage to dig and spin. First box, first handful, I find a copy of ‘Cisco Kid’. I’d forgotten Island UK licensed their catalog off Jerry Goldstein around ‘75, and proceeded to be his English outlet for War, although quite why United Artists there didn’t hold on to his Far Out Productions was probably a mistake in hindsight.
I freaking love ‘Cisco Kid’. It reminds me of April ‘73, when I took my pal and college radio rep for United Artisits in LA, Rich Fazekas, up on his offer to come on out and visit Easter week. The Pretty Things were making their US debut at the Whisky Au Go Go. Did I need more reason? We tooled around non-stop. He turned me on to Mexican food – there was no Mexican food in my college town of Rochester. I’d never had a taco, and given Rich is Mexican, he knew the real deal places to go.
‘Cisco Kid’ was easily the soundtrack to the trip. It was being played everywhere, you remember how hits used to be unavoidable. By early summer when I went to London, it had migrated to their airwaves, and I heard it constantly all over again.
So this time of year brings that all back, and to find a copy in that first handful I grabbed does make me feel frighteningly connected to my records. I love those records.
Tags: Island, The Faces, United Artists, War
Posted in Island, Rich Fazekas, The Faces, The Pretty Things, United Artists, War, Whisky A Go Go | No Comments »
Saturday, March 20th, 2010
Listen: Who Are The Mystery Girls? / New York Dolls
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It shouldn’t have been possible – that being when The Dolls reformed a few years back, they’d be any good. Let’s face it, only two of them were left by the time the reunion gained any momentum, and the whole point in ‘74 was being young and outrageous. But surprise surprise, I saw them at Randells’ Island with a slew of bands (Iggy & The Stooges, The Strokes, The Pretty Things, The Electric Prunes, Bo Diddley, The Creation) all presented in a one day festival setting by Little Steven, and they tore it up.
Seriously, David Johansen, so thin he made an Olympic runner look heavy, but with absolutely no muscle tone, a skirt type pant combination, pearls, red nails and long hair not unlike Harry Dunn out of The Hullaballoos. What more could you ask for? Now, just as in ‘74, when they were sandwiched between Mott The Hoople and 3rd on the bill, Aerosmith, opening the show with ‘Who Are The Mystery Girls?’ nearly caused a riot – it was so powerful. On that day, August 14, 2004, The New York Dolls unquestionably put on one of the best live shows I’d ever seen.
Tags: Aerosmith, Bo Diddley, Iggy & The Stooges, Little Steven, Mercury, Mott The Hoople, New York Dolls, Shadow Morton, The Creation, The Electric Prunes, The Hullaballoos, The Pretty Things, The Strokes
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Saturday, February 6th, 2010
God knows where I got this – probably wrote away for it being the record collector I was at 8 years old. Still have a few Fontana 7″ mailers from that time period as well. I would write to this person, Claranelle Morris, at Fontana’s main office in Chicago back then, pestering her about The Herd and Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich. She’d send photos, bios, sometimes even a single. I guess she figured you couldn’t hear or buy them in the sticks of the Syracuse suburbs, so give the kid the record already. We’re going to toss them anyways. Thank you Claranelle. To go back and police the Fontana dumpsters – if only.
It was years later, when I finally got a break to get into the business (Howard Thompson gave me my 1st A&R job at Elektra – without him, I’d still be struggling), that I discovered as soon as a record isn’t current, being worked at radio or believed in (at Columbia, my last label job, this often happened within a few weeks: Charlie Walk in particular convinced many he was quite good at A&R, he’s now unemployed) – off to the dumpster went the product, and many times off to the scrapheap went the act’s career.
But let’s not lose focus……so I found this catalog in one of the many trunks of ’stuff’ I’ve saved over the years. It’s just like new, man, I wouldn’t mind a box lot of many of the titles here. Of course, I loved the English groups back then, but also had a jones for Gloria Lynne. It wasn’t only because she was on Fontana (which was always a favorite label – Suzanne King made me a great Fontana T Shirt for my birthday one year. She lives in Chicago now – visit the Fontana building Suzanne. It was at 35 E. Wacker Drive.). Gloria Lynne had a bunch of records on Everest prior. I had a copy of ‘Indian Love Call’ from that period, given to me in one of the Saturday morning piles of singles my uncle, a jukebox operator, would drop off instead of trashing when I was very young, about 5-6. It’s probably the reason the record collecting gene was dangerously awakened in my DNA.
I paid attention to Gloria Lynne singles. I often heard them on the radio playing in the local barber shop where I’d get my haircut as a little boy. Must have been an AC station of it’s day, way before it’s then output turned into bachelor pad, lounge, hipster stuff decades later.
And check out some of the soundtracks too.
Tags: Claranelle Morris, Columbia, Dave Dee Dozy Beaky Mick & Tich, Elektra, Fontana, Gloria Lynne, Howard Thompson, Smash, The Herd, The Pretty Things, The Troggs
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Sunday, December 27th, 2009
Listen: Pain In My Heart / Otis Redding
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Leave it to The Rolling Stones, they turned all us really young white kids on to the great RnB and Soul that was right here at home. Yeah it’s the oldest story in the book, but 100% true. I for one, was completely oblivious to Otis Redding until they came along. And so I started to ask for his records at WMCR, the little adult station near my parent’s house that gave me all their unusable Rock and RnB singles. Unfortunately, most of the labels only serviced them with non-RnB stuff, logically as they were playing Eydie Gorme, Dean Martin and such. Atlantic was an example – so I had to buy the occasional one, if I’d find it that is.
The first time I saw The Rolling Stones (see my Alvin Robinson post), they played this. Can remember it like yesterday. I needed this original and within days….it was mine.
Listen: Direct Me / Otis Redding
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His last known TV performance was on Cleveland’s UPBEAT, a weekly pop show that rivaled any national counterpart, in fact preceeded both SHINDIG and HULLABALOO as well as outlasting them (‘64 – ‘71). Seems everyone passed through town, probably intentionally to get the coverage. I’ve mentioned the show in previous posts, and without question, even a partial list of performers is pretty impressive.
Well it’s hard to forget seeing that episode, watching Otis Redding, knowing what had just happened (it was never broadcast live). Otis is endlessly respected, always name checked but seldom heard. Oldies radio overplaying ‘(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay’ is almost an injustice. Despite all his classics, ‘Direct Me’ comes in as my favorite. Co-written with Steve Cropper, it may have been a castoff, but I don’t care. Got it in one of those ten for a dollar boxes. Despite the B side status (‘Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag’ was the A), the single just holds a memorable place in time for me. Woolworths, summer ‘69.
There wasn’t a bad record in that box, which also included The Pretty Things ‘Cry To Me’.
Tags: Atco, Atlantic, Dean Martin, Eydie Gorme, Hullabaloo, Shindig, Steve Cropper, The Pretty Things, The Rolling Stones, Upbeat, Volt, WMCR
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Monday, October 26th, 2009
Listen: October 26 / The Pretty Things
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I’ve been unable to even write an entry these past few days due to my loss on eBay. I desperately wanted to win the US Fontana stock copy of The Pretty Things ‘Midnight To Six Man’, which finally appeared for sale last week. In fact, I’ve wanted one my whole life. I have the US wlp, the UK copy etc – but not a US store pressing. Somehow eBay is claiming my user name/password didn’t match – mind you I’ve not changed them in probably ten years since joining. Therefore my $200.00 bid went unplaced, and a lucky fellow in Europe grabbed it for $31.00. I’ve tried emailing him, offering to buy it – but no reply. Not even a sympathy condolence. So I’ve been literally shattered. Anyone know of a copy I could buy? Name your price.
I always sent off to England for their singles starting around ‘68. Lucky for me, I have nice copies of every release. I was a bit disappointed in ‘October 26′ upon arrival. It was tired sounding, and by far their weakest track of the period, logically not finding a place on their PARACHUTE materpiece. I figured just to be clever, I’d post it today, due to it’s namesake.
Listen: Cold Stone / The Pretty Things
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However, the B side ‘Cold Stone’ was a whole other story. It made up for the A side’s wimp. Phil May’s addictive vocal in full frontal attack, it couldn’t hide their RnB baby steps. Who the fuck was picking the A sides at Harvest then is what I’d like to know. Peter Jenner….can you answer that question?
Tags: Fontana, Harvest, Peter Jenner, Phil May, The Pretty Things
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Thursday, October 15th, 2009
Listen: Benedictus /The Strawbs
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I heard ‘Benedictus’ on my local Top 40 station, once, in the middle of the afternoon. It was WNDR, the tight playlisted one as well. Huh? It sounded so out of place – and indeed pretty great. In the mix of then current nastiness, like Three Dog Night and Jim Croce, it made me believe there might be hope for the radio again, for a good couple of months even. Not so. As much as I tried to catch it once more at least, I never did. And I could not find the single – no surprise. I’d seen The Strawbs’ albums in stores, and despite my then soft spot for English folk, I never did spring for one, until now. I had to have this song. Years later I found the above promo. Probably not all that rare, so if you see one, get it.
Listen: Lay Down / The Strawbs
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‘Lay Down’ was starting to indicate these guys just might be churning out some great 7’s consistantly. By now I was nicely ensconced at my college radio station, where everyone only wanted to play, and steal, albums, so the singles were a free for all. A&M would send out stock copies often instead of promos, and I was so happy when one arrived. Released simultaneously in the UK, where it reached #12, meant I had it before I even had to worry about getting it. I was jonesing to live in England by this point. To walk around the house or drive in the car and be able to hear this stuff on the radio – enough reason to figure out a way to get there. That was around the corner.
Listen: Part Of The Union / The Strawbs
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“Part Of The Union’ might be one of those songs that folks in the UK still cringe at, simply because it was played everywhere, forever. A #2 in early ‘73, it was still a pub singalong by that summer, when I finally made my way to London. Like Jeff Beck’s ‘Hi Ho Silver Lining’, I never did tire of it.
Just a few months prior, in April, I had to make a torturous decision. The Pretty Things and The Strawbs were playing the same night, at different venues. How fucked up was this? I chose The Pretty Things. Til this day, I have never seen The Strawbs.
Tags: A&M, Jeff Beck, Jim Croce, The Pretty Things, The Strawbs, Three Dog Night, WNDR
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Sunday, October 11th, 2009
Listen: Havana Anna / The Crocheted Doughnut Ring
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Listen: Happy Castle / The Crocheted Doughnut Ring
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Sometimes the great thing about a truly obscure band, one where none of the members went on to bigger fame and success, is just that. You get to keep them as a limited edition, private pleasure. Having changed their name and label in ‘67 to fit in with the currant craze, psychedelia, I’m glad to report – or sadly for the fellows I suppose – they kept their obscurity intact despite a nice production from Peter Eden. Sounding similar to Decca’s Toby Twirl (that’s a good thing), they’re honorary members of CHOCOLATE SOUP type collections these days.
Listen: Gee Too Tiger / The Force Five
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Before their new found sound, label and name, most of them soldiered forward initially as The Force Five, recording five echo drenched RnB styled singles, this one actually getting a US release. A must for every decent collection, it clearly had high hopes of sitting beside singles from The Yardbirds and The Pretty Things, I’m guessing.
Tags: Ascot, Decca, Deram, Peter Eden, The Crocheted Doughnut Ring, The Force Five, The Pretty Things, The Yardbirds, Toby Twirl
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Friday, June 19th, 2009
Listen: Cry To Me / Betty Harris
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Listen: I’ll Be A Liar / Betty Harris
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Bert Berns’ classic ‘Cry To Me’ had the luxury of being recorded by some truly seminal acts: Solomon Burke (who cut the classic original RnB chart entry), The Rolling Stones and The Pretty Things (see previous post). Often criminally overlooked when sighting legendary versions, Betty Harris not only belts out a rip roar performance for this A side, but actually out does herself on the flip ‘I’ll Be A Liar’. Also written by Burns, and as with it’s top side, produced by Leiber & Stoller, I’d bet this is the hotter of the two. The sparsity of the arrangement leaves plenty of space for her to shred the lead – pretty much scaring off any female competition. I don’t know of another version.
Betty went on from Jubilee to the Sansu label, recording ten singles there with Allen Toussaint. Although most of her work is collectable to both Deep Soul and Northern fans, my money’s on this essential double sider as the Betty Harris desert island choice.
Tags: Allen Tousssaint, Bert Berns, Betty Harris, Jubilee, Leiber & Stoller, Sansu, Solomon Burke, The Pretty Things, The Rolling Stones
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Thursday, June 18th, 2009
Listen: Cry To Me / The Pretty Things
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I don’t need much prompting to give The Pretty Things a shout out. Phil May is one of music’s greatest vocalists. When I was running The Medicine Label at Warner Brothers in the 90’s, I asked then chairman Mo Ostin, during casual hallway conversation, if he’d let me reissue their 1973 FREEWAY MADNESS album, which was ripe for CD format. No problem.
Mo was the ultimate executive, they literally don’t make them that way any more. Prior to getting the green light to set up Medicine, I had a memorable meeting/job interview with him. I wanted details of when he signed both The Kinks and Family, which he ever so graciously recounted. And that was only the beginning of the many fascinating stories.
FREEWAY MADNESS, one of those Mo signings, holds some serious sentimental placemarks. Plus it afforded the band their first US tour. How insane is that? Despite their legendary status almost instantly, it wasn’t until spring ‘73 that The Pretty Things played their initial US show, at LA’s Whisky A Go Go. I up and flew to California in April, like the senseless Anglophile that I was. Turned into a fantastic trip. Rich Fazekas, then part of United Artists hip college radio department, put me up for the week and introduced me to old Hollywood. UA had Family, Hawkwind, Ian Whitcomb, Man, The Move, Wizzard, endless Blue Note acts. It was the place to be. We raided, with Greg Shaw, UA’s publishing office, then anxious to dispose of their 7″ library. Talk about timing. We saw Tim Buckley at The Troubadour and of course The Pretty Things at The Whisky several nights straight. One month later, I booked them back at my college. May 19, 1973 to be exact.
Fast forward to last night. At a friend’s for dinner, I became engrossed in THE ROLLING STONES ALBUM FILE & COMPLETE DISCOGRAPHY, by Alan Clayson, that was meant to be casual coffee table glancing. I intended taking a quick look, then couldn’t put it down. Learn something every day – and with this book you’ll learn many somethings. For instance, March 7, 1965. Manchester. Following a stopped Rolling Stones show at The Palace Theater, Keith and Mick taxied across town to leap onstage with The Pretty Things (Brian Jones was a room mate of The Pretty Things at the time) at The Manchester Cavern that evening. Among the songs that Mick duetted with Phil May: ‘Cry To Me’.
Tags: Alan Clayson, Family, Fontana, Greg Shaw, Hawkwind, Ian Whitcomb, Mo Ostin, Phil May, Rich Fazekas, The Medicine Label, The Move, The Pretty Things, The Rolling Stones Album File & Complete Discography, Tim Buckley, Troubadour, Whisky A Go Go, Wizzard
Posted in Adam Clayson, Fontana, Greg Shaw, Hawkwind, Phil May, Rich Fazekas, The Move, The Pretty Things, The Rolling Stones Album File & Complete Discography, Tim Buckley, Troubadour, United Artists, Whisky A Go Go, Wizzard | No Comments »
Wednesday, April 1st, 2009
Listen: Poetry Man / Phoebe Snow
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The nice thing about double A promo singles, up until the late 70’s, was you got an otherwise unobtainable mono mix on one side. Being a mono collector, these are now coveted.
I hated Phoebe Snow when this single was current. I went to see The Pretty Things in Niagara Falls during their SILK TORPEDO tour, and Carol Hardy, who worked promotion for Atlantic at the time, took me backstage to meet the band. I’d already booked them two years earlier at my college (in ‘73), which unbelievably was during their first ever US tour. Can you believe this seminal band didn’t tour here until ‘73! Still I was well up for hanging out with them. John Povey, Phil May and I got to talking about current favorites, and they proclaimed their love of ‘Poetry Man’ and Phoebe, who they’d not heard until arriving Stateside. I was mortified. How could The Pretty Things liked this record? Didn’t change my mind. I proceeded with nose in the air towards her for years.
But my tastes changed and one day, I just had to hear Phoebe Snow. Just like that. Snap.
Now I worship her voice, it’s huge and thunderous. I love all her Shelter Records releases. Leave it to Denny Cordell, bless him.
Posted in Carol Hardy, Denny Cordell, Elektra, John Povey, Phil May, Phoebe Snow, Shelter, The Pretty Things | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 24th, 2009
Listen: Beeside / Tintern Abbey
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Listen: Vacuum Cleaner / Tintern Abbey
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Many years back, in the late 80’s, a friend John Stainze had stumbled on a bunch of Deram singles. I seem to recall them being from a UK Mom & Pop record shop or something. He called asking if I wanted him to pick any up, running a bunch of titles past me. They were around $5 each so I said yes to a few including The 23rd Turnoff 7″. Amongst their stock was this lone Tintern Abbey single, of which they had 5 copies. I took them all, even though they were $20 a piece back then. When the box arrived, I was bragging to Corinne that I’d gotten 5 copies of this, and she berated me for wasting money on more useless records, not to mention multiple copies. One recently sold for $1135 on ebay but she remains unimpressed. Now I just need to unearth the remaining 4 somewhere in the black hole of extras.
The record is often sighted as classic British psych, to these ears not unlike Love in parts. It’s truly up there with The Creation, The Smoke, Tomorrow and The Pretty Things ‘Defecting Grey’ – but that’s just one useless opinion.
For the record, drummer John Dalton is not the same John Dalton who played bass with The Kinks for centuries.
Posted in Deram, John Dalton, John Stainze, Love, The 23rd Turnoff, The Creation, The Kinks, The Pretty Things, The Smoke, Tintern Abbey, Tomorrow | No Comments »
Saturday, February 28th, 2009
Listen: Tongue Tied Blues / Jack Dupree
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This was a bizarre discovery from that very first pile of singles I blagged off WMCR, claiming to be from the local Children’s Hospital and needing donations. There were many greats in that stack of about 50 (The Others, The Pretty Things, Inez & Charlie Foxx, The Mickey Finn, The Hullaballoos, Ike & Tina Turner, Jimmy Reed), but this earned an immediate spot. I played it for everyone – all as baffled as myself on first listen. We were feeling confidently hip to this blues music The Rolling Stones and The Kinks claimed as their influences, even though we simply were not. A true and pure slice had yet to be served up until that very first spin of ‘Tongue Tied Blues’. Just listen and you’ll understand.
Tags: Jack Dupree
Posted in Ike & Tina Turner, Inez & Charlie Foxx, Jack Dupree, Jimmy Reed, King, The Hullaballoos, The Kinks, The Others, The Pretty Things, The Rolling Stones, WMCR | No Comments »
Monday, February 16th, 2009
Listen: I'm Bored / Iggy Pop” title=”I'm Bored / Iggy Pop
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Iggy’s been on more labels than Sparks, and has had more career comebacks than Cher. And just like those two examples, he’s one of the greats. What can I tell you about Iggy except for: if you’ve never seen him live, it is not too late. He’s the real deal, and still can wipe the floor with 99% of the competition – the other 1% he equals.
This single had an important moment. When Ric Ocasek hosted The Midnight Special in the early 80’s, his guests were Suicide and Iggy. Both were way too much for bad rock radio controlled America, but The Cars were huge and Ric had the clout to bring real art to late night viewers. It was one of the songs he performed, and has yet to make it on to you tube.
I never much cared about The Stooges – I’m sorry, forgive me. My first experience with Iggy was at LA’s Whisky A Go Go, in May ‘73. I flew out, all on my own, to see The Pretty Things first ever US show. How crazy is that? I did have a friend to stay with at least. Iggy turned up in a blue mini skirt and white fur jacket – dressed identical to his girlfriend, both sporting bleached yellow hair. It was cool.
Posted in Arista, Cher, Iggy Pop, Midnight Special, Ric Ocasek, Sparks, Suicide, The Cars, The Pretty Things, The Stooges, Whisky A Go Go | No Comments »
