Tag Archives: Cover Songs

Frankie Avalon: Muscle Beach Party – The United Artist Sessions

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Frankie Avalon’s mid-60s sides for United Artists

Along with Bobby Rydell and Fabian, Frankie Avalon was one of the “Golden Boys of Bandstand” – handsome, talented teen idols whose appearances on the original Philadelphia-based American Bandstand provided a ticket to pop crooning stardom. Avalon’s biggest hits (including two chart-toppers, “Venus” and “Why”) were recorded for the Chancellor label from 1958 through 1960, but in that latter year he began an acting career that led to starring roles in a string of beach party movies, including 1964’s Muscle Beach Party. The beach party films innovated on the surf-theme of the Gidget series by adding original music, including songs by Avalon, his co-star Annette Funicello and guest stars that included Donna Loren.

Unlike today’s consolidated marketing, in which soundtracks are developed in parallel with a film’s marketing plan, actual soundtracks to the beach party films weren’t typically issued at the time. The only full soundtrack was Wand’s issue of How to Stuff a Wild Bikini, and a few film tracks turned up on Annette Funicello’s solo albums. Instead, Avalon, Funicello and Loren re-recorded songs from the films for their respective labels (Avalon for United Artists, to which he’d signed after leaving Chancellor, Funicello for Disney’s Buena Vista and Loren for Capitol), often in very different arrangements. Most notably, several songs sung as duets in the films were re-sung as solos on the artists’ respective albums.

In the case of Avalon’s 1964 Muscle Beach Party (Funicello released an album under the same title that year), the first side was dedicated to remakes of songs from Beach Party and Muscle Beach Party, while side two featured six additional film-related titles. Avalon’s remakes of the beach party music weren’t typically as interesting as the film originals; having developed himself into a nightclub singer, he was miscast singing ‘60s pop-rock, and it’s even more evident without Funicello to sweeten the up-tempo numbers. The remakes often had minimal arrangements, such as these title themes, in which Avalon croons to raucous rock ‘n’ roll guitar offset by nagging yeah-yeah-yeah background singers. The best fit from the film sessions is the ballad “A Boy Needs a Girl,” which points to the success of the album’s second side.

The album’s flip gives Avalon a chance to show what he does best: croon orchestrated pop ballads. With the tempos slowed and the arrangements given a bit of sophistication, you can hear Avalon relax into his Perry Como-influenced balladeering, and his sensitivity as an interpreter and the deeper qualities of his voice both become evident. This may not have been what the films’ teen fans were looking for, but they remain the productions most worth hearing. Highlights include a tender reading of “Days of Wine and Roses,” an intimate, melancholy take on “Moon River” and a dreamy version of “Again.”

Real Gone’s CD reissue augments the album’s original dozen tracks with eight bonuses culled from additional United Artists releases. Avalon’s post-beach party singles failed to crack the charts but included some fine songs and performances, with the Brill Building-flavored “Don’t Make Fun of Me” chief among them. A shoulda-been-a-hit written by Neil Sedaka’s partner Howard Greenfield with his sometime collaborator Helen Miller, the song finds Avalon playing a wounded ex-boyfriend with a melody and arrangement that bring to mind dramatic hits by the Shangri-Las, Leslie Gore and Gary Lewis. Avalon’s four tracks from the soundtrack of I’ll Take Sweden, including the film’s title theme, are lightweight but charming, and the B-side “New-Fangled, Jingle-Jangle Swimming Suit from Paris” provides a cute take-off on “Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini.”

All tracks are listed as stereo, though “Every Girl Should Get Married” is indistinguishable from mono. Many are mixed in a super-wide soundstage that has instruments or vocals panned hard-left and -right. The disc is delivered in a two-panel cardboard sleeve with an eight-page booklet that includes liner notes from Tom Pickles, a reproduction of the Muscle Beach Party back cover and the front cover from I’ll Take Sweden. Also reproduced is the Muscle Beach Party cover photo without the credit overlay. If you haven’t heard Avalon’s Chancellor hits, start with Varese’s 25 All Time Greatest Hits, but if you’re already a fan, this is a most welcome look at his post-Chancellor recordings for United Artists. [©2012 hyperbolium dot com]

Frankie Avalon’s Home Page

Amy Francis: Balladacious

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Ten country classics in classic Nashville style

Numerous country stars, including Mandy Barnett and Sara Evans, have used Patsy Cline as a navigational north star. Newcomer Amy Francis follows the tradition with a full-blown countrypolitan cover of Jeannie Seely’s “Don’t Touch Me.” The music swells, the piano slips, and Francis hangs onto each note as if its end will break her heart into ever smaller pieces. Producer Tommy Delamore echoes the original Nashville sound of “Sweet Dreams” and “Fool Number One” without mimicking the original arrangements, and Francis is stalwart and convincing as she sings George Jones’ “Picture of Me Without You.” The ten selections combine classic ‘60s country tunes with a few contemporary selections, including Vince Gill’s “When I Call Your Name.” Francis is a talented singer with an ear for material that resonates with her voice, and she has a talented producer behind the board. This all makes for entertaining covers, but none stray far enough from the source material to reveal the depth of Francis’ own interpretive style or the unique charms of her voice. [©2012 hyperbolium dot com]

Amy Francis’ Home Page

 

Carole King: Pearls – Songs of Goffin and King

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Legendary singer-songwriter revisits her catalog

Originally released in 1980, the last of four long-players King recorded for Capitol, this album is a hit-and-miss affair touched in several places by the slick studio sound of its era. The idea of having King revisit pearls in her songwriting catalog was a good one, but unlike Tapestry’s emotional reclaiming of “Will You Love Me Tomorrow?,” few of these renditions vastly improve on the earlier, better-known hits or provide revelatory insight into Goffin & King’s intentions. The album’s greatest commercial distinction was its single, a cover of the Chiffons’ “One Fine Day,” which gave King her last Top 40 hit, but the earthy power of her voice is compromised in several spots by smooth keyboards, studio-tuned tom-toms and bar band blues arrangements. Still, King gives emotionally fulfilling performances of Freddie Scott’s “Hey Girl,” Maxine Brown’s “Oh No, Not My Baby” and Blood, Sweat & Tears’ “Hi-De-Ho,” and thrives in a version of “Snow Queen” that weds The City’s original jazz groove to the Association’s vocal thickness. The closing cover of the Byrds’ “Goin’ Back” is truly superb, and shows just how easily King could reclaim her songs, as she’d done in bits and pieces on earlier records (e.g., “I Wasn’t Born to Follow” from Now That Everything’s Been Said, “Up on the Roof” from Writer and “Some Kind of Wonderful” from Music). Her first attempt to do so at album length pays some dividends, but isn’t the artistic triumph one might have hoped for. Rockingale Records (the label King founded in 2006) has returned this album to print in 2012 sans bonus tracks, and added an eight-page booklet that includes song lyrics and album artwork. [©2012 hyperbolium dot com]

Carole King’s Home Page

Tony Rice: The Bill Monroe Collection

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An anthology of Tony Rice’s recordings of Bill Monroe’s songs

The centennial anniversary of Bill Monroe’s birth has produced an outpouring of tributes (e.g., 1 2 3 4 5) from many of the musicians who’ve descended from the master’s vision. Each of the disciples has played Monroe’s tunes on stage and recorded them sporadically, but with these tributes they’ve made album length statements about their relationship to the music and the man. Tony Rice has also played and recorded Monroe’s music, but instead of recording a purpose-built tribute, his label has cherry-picked fourteen tracks from nine albums released between 1981 and 2000. This includes solo titles and sessions with David Grisman, the Tony Rice Unit, the Rice Bothers and the Bluegrass Album Band.

Fans may already have many of these tracks on original albums or previous collections (Lonesome Moonlight: Bluegrass Songs of Bill Monroe and The Bluegrass Guitar Collection), but for those not steeped in the Tony Rice catalog, this is a fine anthology. Not only is Rice a preeminent bluegrass guitarist and singer, but twenty years of recordings say as much about Rice’s evolving relationship to Monroe as they do about Monroe himself. The set mixes vocal and instrumental tracks, and ranges from traditional playing to styles influenced by jazz and swing. Marian Levy’s liners fill out Rice’s view of Monroe, though the ink she spends on ponderous philosophizing would have been better spent discussing the songs, performances and settings. Chuck the liner notes and you’ll find all you need to know in the grooves. [©2012 hyperbolium dot com]

Tony Rice’s Home Page

Frank Sinatra: The Concert Sinatra

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Disconcerting 2012 remaster of Sinatra’s 1963 stage songbook

As has been noted widely, Concord’s 2012 reissue of this Sinatra title has provoked strong reactions among the vocalist’s knowledgeable fans. Originally recorded and released in 1963, this remastered edition remixes and rebalances the multitrack masters, and sharpens the individual tracks to the point of distraction. It’s interesting to hear the elements rendered so crisply, especially Sinatra’s vocals, but the separation, particularly between the voice and instruments, is unsettling. A great recording has an instrumental pocket into which the vocal fits, hand-in-glove, and earlier editions of this title show the pocket exists; this mix pushes Sinatra’s vocal forward, to the point at which the overall result is not cohesive. At times Sinatra sounds as if he’s overdubbed on top of the music, rather than the key player within it.

There’s no fault in Sinatra’s choice of material, which leans heavily on the Broadway stage compositions of Richard Rodgers, nor is there any problem with the arranging and conducting of Nelson Riddle, the enormous orchestra assembled on a Hollywood scoring stage, or the recording technology. Earlier editions of this title showed how Sinatra’s fluent interpretations and Riddle’s sympathetic backings worked in concert to create grandly emotional renderings of these songs. This re-master still contains each artist’s masterful work, but woven less tightly into a coherent whole. Lawrence Stewart’s original liners are augmented by new notes from Frank Sinatra Jr., and the original ten tracks are extended by a pair of bonuses that include the Van Heusen-Cahn “California,” originally commissioned by the state’s then-governor, Pat Brown.  [©2012 hyperbolium dot com]

Frank Sinatra’s Home Page

Tony Bennett: Isn’t it Romantic

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A fine sampling of romance-themed mid-70s sides

Tony Bennett has sustained his vocal artistry for more than sixty years. He’s gone in and out of commercial favor several times, but the singularity of his voice, musicality and taste have repeatedly lured new generations to his work. His vocal talent measures up to that of Sinatra, but his feel for blue jazz notes adds a unique touch to every recording. This set collects recordings from four mid-70s albums (Sings the Rodgers & Hart Songbook, Life is Beautiful, The Tony Bennett/Bill Evans Album and Together Again), showcasing Bennett in duets with Bill Evans’ piano, as well as trio, quartet and orchestral settings. The songbook favors American classics from the pens of Rodgers & Hart, Mercer & Mancini, Cole Porter and others, all of which Bennett sings with inimitable ease and class. [©2012 hyperbolium dot com]

Tony Bennett Home Page

The Tymes: So Much in Love

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Smooth and soulful mid-60s Philly vocal sounds

The Tymes were a Philadelphia vocal group originally incorporated as the Latineers. By the time they signed with the powerhouse Cameo-Parkway label, they’d honed their vocal arrangements into a sophisticated sound that was as much supper club soul as street corner doo-wop. Their first recording and first single for Cameo, “So Much in Love,” was also their biggest hit, topping the chart in 1963. They’d land two more singles in the top-twenty, including the terrific cover of “Wonderful! Wonderful!” heard on this 1963 LP. The album was filled out with compelling takes on standards (“That Old Black Magic” and “Autumn Leaves”), ‘50s hits (“Goodnight My Love” and “My Summer Love”), and ensemble-sung originals from the team of Straigis, Jackson and Williams. The wonder-struck spoken introductions that adorn the tracks grow gimmicky by album’s end, which make the single edits of “So Much in Love” and “Wonderful! Wonderful!” terrific bonuses alongside the Coasters-styled “Roscoe James McClain” and a spirited 1963 take on Jan & Dean’s “Surf City.” Twelve of these eighteen tracks (the eighteenth being an unlisted Italian-language version of “So Much in Love”) do not appear on The Best of the Tymes 1963-1964, making this a wonderful complement to the earlier anthology. All tracks are remastered in their original AM-ready mono, and the set includes an eight-page booklet with liner notes by Gene Sculatti and full-panel reproductions of the album’s two different covers. [©2012 hyperbolium dot com]

Finding New Artists via Cover Songs

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Image Courtesy of 45cat.com

Perhaps this is obvious, but artists who cover songs you like have a good chance of writing songs that you’d also like. With the huge, searchable, hyperlinked, on-demand catalogs of Rdio, MOG, Spotify and Rhapsody at your fingertips, this pivot has never been easier to execute. Search for a favorite song, say the Beach Boys‘ “Girl Don’t Tell Me,” see who’s covered it, and then take a stroll through their original album. In this case you’ll find that Heartworms‘ album Space Escapade leads you to an album of indie pop by Velocity Girl’s Archie Moore, you’ll find a period cover by ’60s UK singer Tony Rivers nestled among 58 singles released by Immediate, and a Dutch band called The Hik whose four tracks are featured on the compilation Kruup 6×4 alongside the surf sounds of Los Tiki Boys and the Herb Alpert pastiche of The Herb Spectacles. There’s also tuneful indie/punk rock from Amy Miles and Joe Jitsu, and a few faceless studio bands covering the Beach Boys and other surf bands. This still leaves out great versions by the Smithereens, Vivian Girls, The Shins, and many others. Next time we’ll try the Shangri-La’s “Train From Kansas City.”

Bill Medley: Bill Medley 100% / Soft and Soulful

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Righteous Brother goes solo in 1968 and 1969

Following his 1968 break with fellow Righteous Brother Bobby Hatfield, Bill Medley kicked off a solo career with this pair of releases for MGM. Both albums grazed the bottom of the Billboard 200, and three singles (“I Can’t Make it Alone” and “Brown Eyed Woman” from the first album, “Peace Brother Peace” from the second) charted short of the Top 40. It would be Medley’s last solo chart action for more than a decade, as he’d reteam with Hatfield in 1974 and forgo solo releases for several years afterwards. By the time he re-engaged his solo career in 1981, the music world and his place in it had changed, leaving this pair of albums the best evidence of the solo sound grown from his first run with the Righteous Brothers.

Following the Righteous Brothers’ falling out with Phil Spector (who had produced three Philles albums and four hit singles for them), Medley assumed the producer’s seat for the duo’s last #1, “(You’re My) Soul and Inspiration.” In conjuring a convincing imitation of Spector’s Wall of Sound, Medley showed himself to have ambition and talent that was larger than the role of featured vocalist. As he took the producer’s chair for his solo records he leaned heavily on big band arrangements of blues, soul and stage standards that suggested he’d been listening to Ray Charles and other blues and soul singers. He creates a Spectorian crescendo for “The Impossible Dream,” shouts his way through “That’s Life,” sings at the ragged edge of his husky voice on “Run to My Loving Arms,” and chews the scenery with the Neil Diamond-meets-Blood, Sweat & Tears gospel-soul of “Peace Brother Peace.”

Soft and Soulful dials down the volume of 100% to provide more nuanced and soulful vocals, including tender covers of Jerry Butler’s “For Your Precious Love” and Joanie Sommers “Softly,” an intense performance of the title song from the 1969 prison film Riot, “100 Years,” and a version of Burt Bacharach’s “Any Day Now” that winningly slows the tempo of Chuck Jackson’s original and Elvis Presley’s contemporaneous cover. Medley wrote or co-wrote four of the album’s tracks, including the period proclamation of personal freedom “I’m Gonna Die Me.” Real Gone delivers the disc and six-panel booklet (featuring liner notes by Richie Unterberger and reproductions of the back album covers) in a folding cardboard sleeve that includes both front album covers. [©2012 hyperbolium dot com]

Bill Medley’s Home Page

Jody Miller: Complete Epic Hits

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Country-charting 1970s Nashville pop

Jody Miller’s recording catalog is often abbreviated to her first hit, the Grammy-winning “Queen of the House,” and though its novelty answer to Roger Miller’s “King of the Road” may get the most spins on nostalgia radio, it’s hardly representative of her lengthy hit-making career. Her personal appearances on teen shows Hollywood-A-Go-Go and Shindig positioned her for pop success, but her follow-up singles found only middling results and failed to cross back over to the country chart. She had only one other hit for Capitol (the terrific protest song “Home of the Brave”) before moving to Epic, where Billy Sherrill was ready to leverage her pop abilities in countrypolitan arrangements.

With a zippy horn chart, fast-shuffling drums and tightly arranged choral backing, Miller’s Epic debut “Look at Mine” just missed the country Top 20. Ironically, the chorus sounds just like the country-rock Linda Ronstadt was beginning to record at Miller’s previous label, Capitol. Her next single, “If You Think I Love You” is a torchy ballad in the Patsy Cline vein, with crying steel and cooing background singers giving it a decided Nashville edge. Her catalog features a generous helping of girl group songs, including “He’s So Fine,” “Be My Baby” and “Will You Love Me Tomorrow.” She also covered Barbara Lewis’ “Baby I’m Yours,” Phil Spector’s “To Know Him is to Love Him,” the Animals’ “House of the Rising Sun,” and Aretha Franklin’s “Natural Woman,” all with polite, mainstream arrangements that kept country touches on their edges.

Sherrill was a canny producer who crafted the arrangements to highlight his singers. He adds a church-style chorus behind the Johnny Paycheck duet “Let’s All Go Down to the River,” drops the instruments for the sotto voce passages of “There’s a Party Going On” and crafts a soulful backing for the emotional monologues in “Don’t Take it Away.” Real Gone’s collection pulls together all twenty-five of Miller’s Epic A-sides (all stereo except “Soft Lights and Slow Sexy Music,” “(I Wanna) Love My Life Way” and “Kiss Away,” which were accidentally in mono on the first run of the CDs), concluding with the singer’s farewell to the charts with an excellent 1979 cover of Robin McNamara’s “Lay a Little Lovin’ on Me.” At that point Miller retired to raise a family, leaving behind this decade-long legacy of hit-making. The CD and eight-page booklet (with liner notes by Bill Dahl) are delivered in a two-panel cardboard folder. [©2012 hyperbolium dot com]

Jody Miller’s Home Page