Category Archives: Reissue

The Premiers: Farmer John Live

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Garage rock from the East Side

It may be true that the Premiers recorded this live, but in the studio, rather than at the Fullerton club originally claimed to be the venue. The crowd sounds may well have been dubbed in afterward, but they still create the atmosphere of a loose, enthusiastic club gig. The album’s title track (originally waxed by Don & Dewey as ‘50s R&B) was included on Lenny Kaye’s seminal Nuggets, and the rest of the tracks follow in the same vein, with unison vocals from guitarists John Perez and George Delgato, and female fans shrieking and singing along. The rave-ups feel like a Saturday night in East L.A., and the ballads, including covers of the Moonglows’ “We Go Together,” Johnnie and Joe’s “Over the Mountain, Across the Sea,” and Johnny Ace’s “Anymore” provide slow dances to hold your partner tight. Notable East Side producer, musician and songwriter Max Uballez is represented by the originals “Annie Oakley” and “Feel Like Dancing” (the latter of which mentions his classic “Slauson Shuffle”). The Premiers weren’t accomplished musicians, but that’s part of their charm; they played with the foot-stomping verve that kept the party going. The two- or three-track stereo sounds like an early Beatles record, with vocals on one side, instruments on the other, and crowd chatter on both. Switch your set to mono and have yourself a dance party! [©2011 hyperbolium dot com]

Jerry Reed: Explores Guitar Country

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Early Jerry Reed album explores country, soul, jazz, blues and folk

Long before Jerry Reed became a music star, breaking through with 1970’s “Amos Moses” and 1971’s “When You’re hot, You’re Hot,” and before he became a television and film actor,  he was an in-demand A-list Nashville guitar player and struggling solo star. No less than Chet Atkins felt that Reed was a major talent as a picker, encouraging him to add instrumentals and solos to his albums, and bestowing upon him the title “Certified Guitar Player.” This 1969 collection shows off the tension between Reed’s incredible talent as a guitarist and his self-image as a singer. Together with Atkins as producer, Reed creates modern-pop arrangements of standards and traditional folk, country and bluegrass tunes, adding original twists (such as jazz-inflected blues-funk on Bill Monroe’s “Blue Moon of Kentucky”) and leaving plenty of room for his finger picking. This is a thoughtful and at times deeply contemplative album, surprisingly experimental and forward-thinking for a Nashville artist who’d yet to fully establish himself with country music fans. Those who know Reed’s later hits will enjoy this earlier work, and those who aren’t fond of Nashville’s ‘70s sounds (and perhaps favor Willie Nelson’s Stardust era interpretations of standards) will be impressed at the soul, jazz, blues, and folk flavors woven into the country base. [©2011 hyperbolium dot com]

Johnny Mathis: Those Were the Days

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Terrific easy listening vocal pop from 1968

After an underwhelming run on Mercury, Johnny Mathis returned to Columbia in 1967 to begin a string of fine albums with arranger/producer Robert Mersey. His second album back at Columbia provided Mathis an opportunity to rework 1960s pop, folk and adult contemporary hits in his own style; chief among the covers is his romantic treatment of the title tune. Reclaiming the song from Hopkins’ dance hall hit single, Mathis and arranger Robert Mersey give the song a romantic treatment that adds Latin touches to a vocal whose cadences suggest “If I Were a Rich Man” from Fiddler on the Roof. Mersey leaves Mathis a great deal of room to stretch out, claiming a number of MOR classics with his trademark vocal waver, and adding a nice twist to Jose Feliciano’s interpretation of the Doors’ “Light My Fire.” The album included two adult contemporary chart hits, “You Make Me Think About You” (from the soundtrack to With Six You Get Eggroll), and a cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s “The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy).” There’s nothing truly startling here, in fact the album’s craft is finely understated, but Mathis’ subtle reinvention of these hits shows the magic of his style. [©2011 hyperbolium dot com]

Johnny Mathis’ Home Page

Jan and Dean: Surf City and Other Swingin’ Cities

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Take a road trip with Jan & Dean

As great as are the singles (1963’s “Surf City” and “Honolulu Lulu”), Jan & Dean’s first concept album doesn’t always represent their most interesting or inventive work. Heavy on covers that pale in comparison to the originals, the duo’s nasally voices weren’t well-suited to Rodgers & Hart’s “Manhattan” or Tony Bennett’s classic “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.” Still, Jan Berry’s true stereo production is excellent, and there are some unusual touches in his arrangements – like fuzz guitar played against violins – that are oddly compelling. They manage to rock Freddy Cannon’s “Tallahassee Lassie” in a sun-bleached West Coast sort of way, and fare nicely with the nostalgic novelty “Philadelphia, PA” the swinging cha cha of Chuck Berry’s “You Came a Long Way from St. Louis,” and the go-go closer “Soul City.” [©2011 hyperbolium dot com]

Various Artists: San Francisco Roots

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Mid-60s San Francisco rock and pop from the Autumn label

This is a reissue of a 1968 Vault Records LP that anthologized mid-60s tracks from San Francisco’s Autumn Records. The Beau Brummels, the label’s biggest stars, sing four tracks, including the stellar “Don’t Talk to Strangers” and “Sad Little Girl.” Superstar-in-waiting Grace Slick sings lead on the Great Society’s pre-Jefferson Airplane version of “Somebody to Love” and provides background wails on “Free Advice.” The Mojo Men, Vejtables and Tikis offer up great pop-rock tracks, but the set’s gem is the Knight Riders garage-rock “I.” This collection doesn’t match the depth of Big Beat’s out-of-print Dance With Me: The Autumn Teen Sound, but it’s a good start for those who want a taste of San Francisco’s mid-60s teen scene. [©2011 hyperbolium dot com]

The Earls: Remember Then

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Fine sides from doo-wop’s later years

The Earls were a doo-wop group formed in the Bronx in the late ‘50s. They’re most fondly remembered for this set’s title track, released in 1962 and peaking at #24 the following year. The group’s first four A-sides are included here, starting with 1961’s “Life is But a Dream” and its follow-up “Looking for My Baby,” 1962’s “Remember Then” (presented here in a stereo mix that doesn’t have the same punch as the original mono) and 1963’s “Never.” Their 1963 demo of “I Believe” and 1964 single “Cry Cry Cry” are also treats. The odd-bodkin in the lot is a suitably overwrought cover of “I Who Have Nothing” that seems to be from a later, non-doo wop period in the group’s history. The Earls stayed together in various lineups for quite a few years, which means this collection is missing numerous B-sides and additional singles. The Earls were a terrific example of the artistry that could still be found in doo wop’s waning days, with Larry Chance’s strong lead vocals backed up by sharp harmonies. This selection of their early A-sides is a good taste, but for the whole story you’ll need to track down out-of-print collections released by Collectables, Emor and Ace. [©2011 hyperbolium dot com]

Larry Chance and the Earls’ Home Page

Bobbie Gentry: Ode to Billy Joe

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A strong debut album overshadowed by its title hit

The raw, bluesy edge in Gentry’s voice as she spells out “M-I-Double S-I-Double S-I-Double P-I” sounds as if she’s still clearing her throat from the previous night’s bourbons and Marlboros. The album’s title hit doesn’t really prepare you for the hard soul guitar, funky drumming and swampy horns of the opening track. That same vocal edginess also works well on the album’s ballads, combining folk, country, soul and jazz notes with textural orchestrations. The album’s few pop tracks, including “Sunday Best” and “Hurry, Tuesday Child,” don’t play to Gentry’s strengths and are outclassed by the funkier, bluesier, country-folk. Gentry wrote ten of the album’s eleven cuts, but she didn’t have ten fully original arrangements, as the acoustic guitar and bass hooks of “Ode to Billy Joe” are repeated on nearly every track, blunting the punch of “Ode to Billy Joe” by the time you get to the hit at album’s end. Her lyrics sketch the Delta’s poverty, fauna (“Bugs”), commerce, characters, and gothic secrets. This is a strong debut, though it doesn’t fully live up to its original single (“Mississippi Delta”), nor the flip-side (“Ode to Billy Joe”) that shot Gentry to stardom. [©2011 hyperbolium dot com]

The Seekers: A World of Our Own

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The Seekers stretch the folk revival into 1965

Though the Seekers sound like many other American folk groups of the early ‘60s, they formed in their native Australia, relocated to London, and came to the US on the tide of the British Invasion. They outlasted both the folk revival and the first flush of UK hit-makers, crowning their U.S. chart success with 1967’s “Georgy Girl.” This 1965 album is a warm collection of folk standards, then-contemporary compositions by Bob Dylan, Ian Tyson and Bob Gibson, and original hits by the group’s manager (and former leader of the Springfields), Tom Springfield. At the time of its release, the album’s combination of double-bass, mandolin and twelve-string guitar was a throwback to the non-rock folk revivalism of a few years earlier. Springfield’s “A World of Our Own,” anchors the album with a sound akin to that of the Rooftop Singers, Kingston Trio, Limeliters and even the Weavers. Recorded and released in mono, with Judith Durham’s stirring lead vocals out front, this is a nice reminder of the optimism and sense of empowerment that preceded the darker events of the ‘60s. [©2011 hyperbolium dot com]

The Ramsey Lewis Trio: Never on Sunday

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The Ramsey Lewis trio swings standards and pop hits

When this 1961 album was recorded, the classic lineup of the Ramsey Lewis Trio (featuring bassist Eldee Young and drummer Red Holt, who later formed Young-Holt Unlimited) was still developing the highly accessible jazz style they’d created in the late ‘50s. More importantly, the trio was still a few years shy of their 1965 breakthrough with “The In Crowd.” Here they combine pop hits, such as the title track, with tin-pan alley standards (the Gershwins’ “I Got Plenty O’ Nuttin’”), folk tunes (“Water Boy”) and the Academy Award winning (and Bob Hope theme song) “Thanks for the Memory.” The playing is soulful, with Lewis fingering his usual bluesy twists, Young playing wonderfully musical solos on bass, and Holt complementing the beat with terrific accents. It’s a brief album, but the trio’s style is buoyant and refreshing. [©2011 hyperbolium dot com]

Wanda Jackson: In Person

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Wanda Jackson graces the stage in 1969

By 1969 Wanda Jackson had long since transitioned from her early, incendiary rockabilly days to straight-ahead country sides. But, as this live album shows, she still displayed plenty of spark and twang on stage. Performing at Mr. Lucky’s in Phoenix, Jackson and harmony vocalist Mike Post mix her own records (“Let’s Have a Party,” “Right or Wrong” and “Silver Threads and Golden Needles”) with country hits (“Jackson,” “Release Me” and “D-I-V-O-R-C-E”) and recent pop tunes, including a terrific country two-step harmony arrangement of Johnny Nash’s 1968 rocksteady hit “Hold Me Tight.” She sings Joe South’s “Games People Play” with deep conviction, and Post’s duet and harmony vocals are superb. Jackson was a country hit maker into the mid-70s, but her stage act retained all the energy of her earliest rock ‘n’ roll records. She was a gracious stage performer who generously credited her band and worked hard to satisfy her audience, closing out the evening with a cowboy yodel for her Southwest fans. [©2011 hyperbolium dot com]