Listen: Please Stay / The Cryin’ Shames
Please Stay / The Cryin' Shames

The Cryin’ Shames ‘Please Stay’ was also from the haul that brought the Marsha Gee record into my collection. Unlike hers, this song I knew about and had a UK copy of. But finding a US pressing was quite an event.

The Drifters had a hit with ‘Please Stay’ in ’61, and their version of this Burt Bacharach classic is indeed great. This one however, has the added ambience of Joe Meek’s production.

Much has been deservedly written about Joe Meek, one of England’s first independent producers. In those days, late 50′s / early 60′s, all the producers were on the label staff. They did their job, and got their pay check. But it all began to change around ’63 and Joe Meek was a catalyst. This of course meant that, because he had built his own studio, he would not only produce the records but own the masters too. The labels didn’t like not owning their catalog, as Joe Meek and the other independent producers would license titles to the majors for a certain time period only. So he was always given terrible treatment.

Get one of the books about him. He was fascinating. And he had a real thing about other worlds. His huge international hit, ‘Telstar’ by The Tornadoes had his signature, haunting extra-terrestrial, almost frightening sound to it. Pretty much all his other recordings did too. You can certainly hear it on ‘Please Stay’, his last ever UK chart entry. Lead vocalist, Charlie Crane, had an amazing voice. One quite perfect for his Meeksville sound as well as this track.

For some time the Dick Clark footage had been embeddable via youtube. Now disabled, but still there. Go direct.

Listen: Nobody Waved Goodbye / The Cryin’ Shames
Nobody Waved Goodbye / The Cryin' Shames

Joe Meek claimed to be possessed by the ghost of Buddy Holly, and on the anniversary of his death, February 3, 1967, he took his own life, along with his landlady’s. Horribly demonized by a lawsuit that left him penniless, his Tornadoes royalties tied up in litigation, one of the last records he made was by this same band: The Cryin’ Shames, titled ‘Nobody Waved Goodbye’. Yikes.

Listen: Baby I Need You / Marsha Gee
Baby

I know very little about Marsha Gee. Actually, I know nothing about her. I got this record from a radio station PD in ’79. The said station, WSAY, had an extensive record library that was simply off limits to everyone but employees from the ’60′s onwards.

When the original owner decided to sell and leave the staff high and dry, that music director decided to take care of a few of the nice promotion people he had dealt with over the years. Luckily I was one and he brought round two huge burlap bags full of 7″ singles to my place one spring day.

It was a selection never to forget. And this record by Marsha Gee was one of them. I always loved it, little did I know it was Northern Soul waiting to be. To be honest, I truly always had a hunch it was valuable and now, if and when it goes up for sale, the ticket clocks in around $300. But as Duane has told me many times, that doesn’t mean any money in the bank for me. You see, I can’t part with a thing, making all this stuff basically worthles until I croak of course, which I have no plans on doing for another hundred years.