Category Archives: Video

Patty Duke: The United Artists Albums

Don’t Just Stand There / Patty
The world’s most popular teenager’s first two albums

Actors crossing over to the recording arts and sciences have had a long and spotty history. For a precious few, recording was a return to an earlier music career that was subsequently given a boost by their acting fame. For many others – think William Shatner or the cast of Bonanza – records were a quick cash-in that provided new marketing opportunities and gave fans an unusual musical memento. Capitalizing on her childhood stardom in film, theater and television, United Artists launched Patty Duke into the music world with four albums and a short string of hit singles. Though Duke wasn’t as vocally refined as her chart contemporaries, her theatrical talent, confidence and professionalism proved to be valuable assets in the recording studio.

Duke’s debut was titled after the album’s first and biggest hit, “Don’t Just Stand There.” The Top 10 single is a brooding piece of orchestrated pop whose mood and double-tracked vocals closely resemble Leslie Gore’s “You Don’t OwnMe.” Duke didn’t have the vocal depth of Gore, but as an actress she imbued the lyrics with intrigue and emotion. The album’s second hit, “Say Something Funny,” is a nicely wrought song of concealed heartbreak, written by the same team (Bernice Ross and Lor Crane) that had penned “Don’t Just Stand There,” and once again providing Duke an opportunity to create pathos from the song’s emotional storyline. Ross and Crane also contributed the waltz time “Ribbons & Roses,” whose dramatic arrangement and folk-tinged melody are a good fit for Duke.

The breezy “Everything But Love,” Gary Lewis’ “Save Your Heart for Me” and Skeeter Davis’ “The End of the World” lend Duke the charm of earlier girl singers like Annette Funicello and Shelley Fabares. Less successful is an unsteady remake of Nat King Cole’s early ’50s ballad “Too Young,” and covers of then-contemporary pop hits, “Downtown,” “Danke Schoen,” “A World Without Love” and “What the World Needs Now is Love.” Stacking these covers against the originals of Petula Clark, Wayne Newton, Peter & Gordon and Jackie DeShannon, Duke’s versions sound more like novelties than artistic reconsiderations. A pair of bonuses from the film Billie includes the sweet Top 100 single “Funny Little Butterflies” and a stagier flip that reused the melody of the A-side.

Duke’s self-titled second album was released in 1966, the year after her debut, and followed a similar template of combining new material (including the minor hit “Whenever She Holds You”) that suggests earlier girl vocalists, with covers of recent pop songs. The latter, particularly the Beatles’ “Yesterday,” play well to Duke’s dramatic abilities, but aren’t always well-served by her limited vocal accuracy. Double-tracked vocals are used to agreeably sweeten several tracks, such as covers of Gary Lewis’ “Sure Gonna Miss Him” and the Everly Brothers’ “All I Have to Do is Dream.”

Valley of the Dolls / Sings Folk Songs
Third pop album and a resonant folk set

Patty Duke’s first album had yielded the Top 10 hit “Don’ t Just Stand There,” but subsequent singles charted lower and lower. By the time she released her third album, Songs From Valley of the Dolls, Duke’s television program had ended, and her acting turn in the title film had left her wholesome teenage image behind. The material for her third album reflects this transition, having moved on from teen-themed love songs to more sophisticated and theatrical compositions by Dory and Andre Previn, including the film theme from Valley of the Dolls. As on her earlier albums, Duke shined more brightly as a dramatist than a vocalist, though by this point she (or more likely, her producers) felt comfortable enough to often leave her voice undoubled, exposing some pitch problems but letting her expressiveness and emotion shine.

Unlike he crooning of her teen hits, Duke sings the Previns’ material in the muscular style of a Broadway show, and it suits her well. The wear in her delivery gives the film’s title theme a wholly different feel than Dionne Warwick’s hit (which, incredibly, reached #2 as the B-side of “I Say a Little Prayer”), one that’s clearly emblematic of Neely O’Hara’s condition at the end of the film. The second half of the album departs from the Previns’ material and returns to lighter fare produced in the pop vein of Duke’s earlier albums, including the empowered “My Own Little Place” and the fuzz-guitar, bass and horn-driven “A Million Things to Do.” In addition to the album’s eleven tracks, the previously unreleased contemporary pop “I Want Your Love” is included.

Duke’s last album for United Artists is a collection of surprisingly compelling covers of contemporary and classic folk songs. The album was left in the vault at the time of its 1968 recording, though a single of “And We Were Strangers” backed with “Dona, Dona” was released with little fanfare. The expressiveness of Duke’s voice is better served by these gentler backing arrangements, and relieved of the need to belt out teen-oriented material, she really shines. Her recitation of “The Bells of Rhymney” is a memorably original approach to a song whose association with the Byrds is nearly unseverable. United Artists apparently didn’t think the record buying public would gravitate to a post-teen TV star’s interpretations of folks songs, which is a shame, because this is Duke’s most musically satisfying of her four albums for UA.

Those who remember Duke’s singing career most likely remember her earlier records, particularly the single “Don’t Just Stand There.” Her first two albums will generate a stronger element of nostalgia, but this second pair is actually the superior musical experience. All four albums provide charming memories of Duke’s years as the world’s most famous teenager, and the immediate years thereafter. Each two-fer CD is delivered with a sixteen-page booklet that includes full-panel cover reproductions and detailed liner notes. [Â©2013 Hyperbolium]

Patty Duke’s Home Page

The Drifters: Rock

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The early and upbeat sides of the Drifters

The Drifters have one of the most complicated family trees a group has ever assembled under a single name. Over the six decades since their inception the group’s lineup has been completely replaced, cycled through nearly four dozen members and spun off several splinter groups and solo careers. Most notable among the latter is the post-Drifter success of former lead singers Clyde McPhatter and Ben E. King, each of whom were also inducted with their respective editions of the group into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame. The details of the group’s discography is as complicated as their membership, with big hits led by Clyde McPhatter, Johnny Moore, Bill Pinkney, Ben E. King, Johnny Lee Williams, Rudy Lewis and Charlie Thomas over a decade that stretched from 1953’s “Money Honey” through their last Top 10 R&B, 1965’s “At the Club.”

Like many bands of the early rock ‘n’ roll era, their catalog has been compressed by oldies radio, film soundtracks and greatest hits CDs to a handful singles that had the fortune to spring from the Brill Building and cross over to the pop charts.Â Starting with 1959’s “There Goes My Baby,” and continuing through early ’60s with “This Magic Moment,” “Save the Last Dance for Me,” “Some Kind of Wonderful,” “Up on the Roof,” “On Broadway” and “Under the Boardwalk,” the Drifters carved what would become their most long-lasting image These hits represent the tenures of Ben E. King and Rudy Lewis, and the return of Johnny Moore after his hitch in the Army; wthey don’t tell are the upbeat R&B sides that the group waxed throughout their career, and especially in their early years with Clyde McPhatter out front.

Bear Family’s 32-track lineup samples tracks from 1953’s unreleased-at-the-time “Let the Boogie Woogie Roll” through 1959’s “Hey Senorita” and “Baltimore” (the latter pair featuring the distinctive sax of King Curtis), and a pair of stereo recordings from the 62/63, “I Feel Good All Over” and “If You Don’t Come Back.” Also included are spin-offs from Bill Pinkey’s Flyers (“On Bended Knee”) and Turks (“After the Hop” and “Sally’s Got a Sister”), and alternate takes of “Bip Bam,” “Such a Night” and “Drop Drop.” None of this is likely to be new to Drifters afficionados, but those who only know the early ’60s crossover ballads will be bowled over by the incendiary power this group sustained over the half-dozen lead vocalists (and countless studio musicians) featured here.

Eleven early sides showcase how Clyde McPhatter brought his gospel fire to secular sides, starting with the group’s very first session in June, 1953. The initial lineup pulled in a quartet of singers from McPhatter’s church group, and though his lead on “Let the Boogie Woogie Roll” pays off on the promise which lead to his signing, the Mount Lebanon Singers are just a touch too smooth to really bust loose. Atlantic prevailed upon McPhatter to develop a new lineup, and the reformed quintet hit the top of the R&B chart with their very first single, “Money Honey.” The same August, 1953 session found the lineup re-recording “Let the Boogie Woogie Roll,” and the differences — a slightly faster tempo, a bigger push from the piano, harder swinging sax and a more emphatic lead vocal — add up to something big.

The core of the new lineup — McPhatter, Bill Pinkney, Andrew Thrasher and Gerhart Thrasher — defined the group’s first golden era, laying down mid-tempo tunes with Latin accents, bluesy doo-wop, upbeat R&B and proto-rock ‘n’ roll. McPhatter’s high tenor leads were filled with excitement, and the backing harmonies of his fellow Drifters were equally sophisticated and highly-charged. McPhatter’s draft notice and the lure of a solo career led to Bill Pinkney’s cool lead on 1955’s “No Sweet Lovin’,” and subsequently to a number of singles featuring Johnny Moore, including “Ruby Baby” (eight years before Dion’s bigger hit with the same title), “I Gotta Get Myself a Woman” and a bouncy cover of Terry Noland’s “Hypnotized” that actually beat the writer’s rockabilly version to market. The group’s financial structure (which rewarded their manager more than the singers) led to numerous defections, several of which resulted in singles from splinter groups such as the Flyers’ catchy “On Bended Knee,” and the Turks’ slapback-tinged sides from Sun’s Memphis studio.

After Moore was drafted, the spotlight fell to Bobby Hendricks, who helped gain the Drifters notice on the pop charts with a superb recording of Lieber & Stoller’s “Drop Drop,” offered here in its released single version and a stereo alternate take. Hendricks also sang lead on the rock ‘n’ roll “Itchy Twitchy Feeling,” borrowing members of the Coasters to fill out the vocal lineup. The group’s second golden age began with the arrival of Ben E. King and his fellow Five Crowns, and though this lineup’s crossover success was based primarily on uptown BrillBuilding ballads, King also sang grittier R&B material like “Hey Senorita” and “Baltimore.” King’s departure led to Rudy Lewis’ arrival, and continued success on the pop charts. Johnny Moore returned to the Drifters after his discharge from the services, scoring several more hits, waxing soulful sides like “If You Don’t Come Back” and leading the group through the mid-70s.

Since the end of the Drifter’s chart action, they’ve become more a catalog than a group — much like the charts of famous big bands. You can still find heritage groups touring under the Drifters and Original Drifters names, and thinly related or completely counterfeit lineups plying their trade at county fairs and in small clubs. The group’s recorded catalog has been anthologized in greatest hits discs that emphasize their crossover material of King and Moore, but their earlier material can be found on sets like Rhino’s out-of-print Rockin’ & Driftin’, a two-fer from Collectibles and Jasmine’s singles collection. Bear Family is the first to focus so sharply on the group’s lesser-heard upbeat sides, homing in on their early R&B work, sprinkling in some important splinter singles, and adding a few alternates takes. The set comes packed in a tri-fold digipack with a removable 49-page (!) booklet stuffed with pictures, lengthy liner notes by Bill Dahl and discographical detail. [Â©2013 Hyperbolium]

The Drifters’ Home Page
The Original Drifters’ Home Page

Dickey Lee: Original Greatest Hits

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Dickey Lee’s original RCA hit singles

Dickey Lee has the distinction of landing not one, not two, but three tragedy songs in the Billboard Top 20. He first rose to fame with 1962’s “Patches” (which, also somewhat incredibly, was the title of a completely different 1970 hit by Clarence Carter) and again three years later with “Laurie (Strange Things Happen).” Following these successes on the Smash and TCF Hall labels, he signed with RCA and developed a successful country music career that stretched through the 1970s. Although you can find some of Lee’s RCA recordings on the grey-market Greatest Hits Collection, and very good re-recordings of his RCA hits on a recent Varese release, his original RCA masters have gone without official reissue until now. Real Gone has finally cracked the Sony vault and rescued these twenty original RCA releases.

Gathered here are all but two of Lee’s charting singles for RCA (missing are 1974’s “Give Me One Good Reason” and 1978’s “My Heart Won’t Cry Anymore”), along with Lee’s album track of his original “She Thinks I Still Care.” The latter had been a 1962 country chart topper for George Jones, but Lee didn’t get around to releasing his own version until a decade later. Lee sang with a boyishness that occasionally suggested the tremolo of Bobby Goldsboro, adding an earnest note to the recitation “The Mahogany Pulpit” and lending a yearning quality to covers of Delaney & Bonnie’s “Never Ending Song of Love” and Johnny & Jack’s “Ashes of Love.” He completed his tragedy trifecta with 1975’s “Rocky,” his lone chart-topper and a same-year pop hit for Austin Roberts. Roberts’ release cut off any pop-crossover opportunity, but Lee’s single is distinguished by the guitar playing of Memphis legend Reggie Young.

Born in Memphis, Lee recorded a pair of late-50s doo-wop singles for his hometown Sun label before finding his way onto the pop charts. His 1970s turn to country wasn’t so much a career calculation as it was a canny choice to take advantage of the opportunity presented by RCA. Working under the auspices of Chet Atkins in Nashville, Lee’s southern background mixed easily with a country sound that was rediscovering simpler melodies and more overt twang. The productions are mostly shorn of countrypolitan’s heavy vocal choruses and string arrangements, and the spotlight is returned to fiddles and pedal steel. As the decade wore on, the productions added more crossover elements, and Lee’s last charting single for RCA, Barry Mann’s “It’s Not Easy,” is quite pop.

Despite his proven songwriting talent, Lee’s hits were mostly from the pens of others, including Don Williams, Bob McDill and a host of Nashville pros. He picked up a few country chestnuts, such as the late ’30s “Sparklin’ Brown Eyes,” and a few tunes from the pop world, including Bread’s country-tinged soft-rock “I Use the Soap.” Lee also found opportunities to reach back to his rock and soul roots with Razzy Bailey’s “9,999,999 Tears” and Rudy Clark’s “If You Gotta Make a Fool of Somebody.” The former even crossed over to the pop chart for Lee’s first Top 100 appearance in more than a decade. Real Gone’s 21-track CD was remastered from the original tapes by Mark Wilder at Sony’s Battery Studios, and the liners are by Bill Dahl. This is a long overdue treat for Lee’s fans; here’s hoping someone follows up with the original RCA albums! [Â©2013 Hyperbolium]

Dickey Lee’s Home Page

Tony Burrows – Six Time One-Hit Wonder

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British vocalist Tony Burrow was a one-hit wonder as a vocalist with six different bands!

The Flowerpot Men – Let’s Go to San Francisco

Edison Lighthouse – Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)

White Plains – My Baby Loves Love

The Pipkins – Gimme Dat Ding

Brotherhood of Man – United We Stand

The First Class – Beach Baby

Amazing Rhythm Aces: Stacked Deck / Too Stuffed to Jump

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Terrific mid-70s Memphis country, rock and soul back in print

The U.S. Top 40 is a fickle mistress that rewards one-hit wonders of many stripes. One such stripe is the talented band with a long history and deep catalog who, due to complications of label politics, promotion, distribution or simply the herd-like buying patterns of the record buying public, only manages to strike a single hot iron. Such was this superb Memphis band, whose 1975 debut single, “Third Rate Romance,” cracked the Top 20, but whose follow-ups fell shorter. They had better luck on the country charts, where their soulful sound produced two more hits, “Amazing Grace (Used to Be Her Favorite Song)” (#10 country, #72 pop) and “The End is Not in Sight (The Cowboy Tune)” (#20 country, #42 pop). All three appeared on the group’s debut and sophomore albums, which are anthologized here along with the non-LP B-side “Mystery Train.”

Despite their Knoxville roots, the Aces were a Memphis band, with southern roots stretching across country-rock, blues, soul, funk and gospel. Their debut album is filled with solid originals and a superb R&B cover of Charlie Rich’s “Who Will the Next Fool Be?” The next year’s follow-up followed a similar formula, and once again cracked the country Top 40. The band was effective in playing everything from straight country to gospel harmonies, swampy funk, southern rock and even ragtime and progressive changes. Real Gone’s reissue improves upon Collectors’ Choice’s out-of-print two-fer, with fresh remasterings, a 12-page booklet featuring full-panel album covers, lyrics, credits and new liners. If all you know is “Third Rate Romance,” this is a great opportunity to hear the fine albums behind the hit. [Â©2013 Hyperbolium]

The Amazing Rhythm Aces’ Home Page

Various Artists: The Beautiful Old – Turn-of-the-Century Songs

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Turn of the twentieth century songs revisited

The turn of the twentieth century was a tumultuous time for the music industry. The sheet music boom of the 1890s was giving way to the sale of phonograph records, and records would in turn be challenged by radio. But through these transitions, one thing remained constant: hit songs. But hit songs were becoming increasingly transitory idols, one replacing the next in a procession of quickly forgotten multi-platinum (that is, multi-million selling) favorites. A select few managed to stick in the public’s long-term memory, but many more remained extant only in printed form, waiting to be rediscovered by musical explorers. Such explorers are producers Paul Marsteller and Gabriel Rhodes, who have reanimated nineteen turn-of-the-century songs – both familiar and obscure – with a hand-picked crew of singers and instrumentalists.

Unlike a tribute that reconsiders a songwriter, performer, label or scene, this collection aims at framing an era of music making. It’s not a slavish reproduction – the vocals occasionally shade to phrasings that didn’t exist at the time these songs were written – but by limiting themselves to instruments in use at the time, the producers have created a general impression of the times in which these songs were originally heard. And by cherry-picking their vocalists, Marsteller and Rhodes have nicely matched voices to song. Richard Thompson and Christine Collister open with one of the collection’s most easily remembered tunes, “The Band Played On.” Listeners will quickly discover that while the title line flows easily from their memories, the lyrics seem brand new to their ears. Thompson’s theatrical vocal is a perfect fit for the circus-style melody, and Garth Hudson adds terrific accordion flourishes.

Other familiar songs, “The Flying Trapeze,” “Come Josephine in My Flying Machine,” “Let Me Call You Sweetheart,” “Home Sweet Home” and “I Love You Truly,” will tickle your memory with their melodies and titles, and “Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life” will be especially familiar to fans of Young Frankenstein. Kimmie Rhodes adds a whispery fragility to three numbers, Jimmy LaFave draws deeply upon the wistfulness of “Long Time Ago,” and Kim Richey sings the original, nostalgic lyrics to “Beautiful Ohio.” The themes are genteel and timeless, with love discovered, courted and lost, risky adventures, faddish technology, and the longing of those far from home. The set’s 20-page booklet includes lyrics, and the accompanying website provides song histories, original sheet music covers and more. [Â©2013 Hyperbolium]

The Beautiful Old’s Home Page

Courtney Jaye: Love and Forgiveness

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Nashville-based singer-songwriter explores her ’70s pop roots

After a short run of modern pop records for Island, singer-songwriter Courtney Jaye shucked off the major label gloss for the wonderfully quirky independent release The Exotic Sounds of Courtney Jaye. The album’s Hawaiian-tinged California canyon country was magical in its combination of island breezes, Topanga afternoons, girl-group bounce and country twang. Her second indie release tightens up the production, drops many of the island influences and homes in more directly on the sweeter side of 1970s West Coast adult pop. Those who followed Deana Carter’s career as she moved from the country success of “Strawberry Wine” to the ’70s pop-rock influences of her subsequent albums will recognize a similar turn here.

The album’s lead single, “Say Oh Say,” offers a vigorous nod to Fleetwood Mac’s mid-70s commercial peak, and the opening “One Way Conversation” has a retro chorus hook worthy of Sheryl Crow’s catchy radio hits. You can hear traces of Karla Bonoff, Jennifer Warnes and Yvonne Elliman throughout the album, and on the tropical “Summer Rain” Jaye’s country roots are underlined by Greg Leisz’s pedal steel. Having already moved away from the cool modern production of her earlier sides, Jaye’s now fully embraced her inner singer-songwriter, with lyrics of budding love, blooming romance, enduring relationships and turbulent times. Crank up the Marantz 2240 and let your Advent speakers envelop you in the warm afternoon sun of Jaye’s new old sounds. [Â©2013 Hyperbolium]

Courtney Jaye’s Home Page

Delbert & Glen: Blind, Crippled & Crazy

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Two Texas roots legends rekindle their funky-blue partnership

Delbert McClinton and Glen Clark are long time musical compadres who also happen to be Texas roots music legends. The duo recorded a pair of albums as Delbert & Glen in the early ’70s, but as their individual careers took off (McClinton as a recording artist and performer, Clark primarily as a songwriter), additional collaborations became a topic of discussion rather than a studio reality. Having rolled around the idea of a new project for more than a decade, the pieces finally came together, with McClinton’s songwriting partner Gary Nicholson helping to craft this album’s original material.

The ease with which these master musicians rekindle their rapport is nearly as breathtaking as the music that their collaboration has produced. Both players wear their maturity well, with the raspy edges of their voices adding authority to songs that retain a rye attitude. Don’t expect apologies for their seasoned points-of-view; as they sing on the album’s opener, they’re not old, they’ve just been around a long time. The experience of those years fuels both their performing and songwriting, though as they sing in “Whoever Said it Was Easy,” even the wisdom of age is powerless to unknot the eternal mysteries of relationships.

The album’s mix of blues, R&B and funk reaches back to the duo’s earlier recordings, with a vibe that’s warm and comfortable. The band slips effortlessly into the deep musical grooves, as if they’re playing the second set for an appreciative weeknight crowd. McLinton adds tasty harmonica solos on “More and More, Less and Less” and the slinky “Sure Feels Good,” and the pianos (courtesy of Bruce Katz and Kevin McKendree) add New Orleans roll on “Been Around a Long Time,” “Oughta Know” and “Good as I Feel Today.” Whether or not they’re actually blind, crippled or crazy (or lonesome, on’ry and mean, for that matter), McClinton and Glen are certainly wise, talented and in each other’s pocket. [Â©2013 Hyperbolium]

Delbert McClinton’s Home Page

LeAnn Rimes: Spitfire

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The best LeAnn Rimes album few will actually hear

LeAnn Rimes has traveled a long way from the innocent pining of “Blue,” and listeners – fans and foes alike – can’t help but hear her music through the prism (some might say “prison”) of her personal-made-public life. Her well-documented marital misdeeds weren’t scrubbed from the public’s consciousness by apology or silence, so Rimes is now embracing them in song. Those who still believe in Rimes’ humanity will hear her taking ownership of her mistakes, while those who remain unconvinced of her remorse will hear the third step in a publicist’s damage control plan. Most likely these songs (and the attendant interviews, publicity and rehab stint) split the difference, with Rimes fighting to make peace with herself more so than with the public.

The plea from Rimes (or her fans) to “just listen to the album” will go mostly unheeded, as any album – and particularly this album – doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Rimes has spotlighted the issues that cause friction with her detractors, and in doing so is likely to add gasoline to the conflagration. And it’s a shame, because if you could divorce the songs from the real-life transgressions of their author, you’d find an album of emotional performances that are more earthen and gritty than anything Rimes has recorded before. But you can’t unring a bell, and it will remain unseemly to many listeners for Rimes to take on the aggressive posture of “Spitfire,” to sing the public mea culpa of “What Have I Done?” or to lustily serenade her co-conspirator with Buddy & Julie Miller’s “Gasoline and Matches.”

Worse yet is “Borrowed.” Songs about cheating have a long and celebrated history in country music, but the first person narrative of “Borrowed” hits too close to home in a world that cycles and recycles scandal so liberally in the media. The lack of abstraction between Rimes’ lyric and the real-life immorality it chronicles is wince-worthy. When she fictionalizes, such as with the mistreatment of “You Ain’t Right,” she neatly elides adultery from the inventory of offenses, and when she sings of being wronged on “God Takes Care of Your Kind,” it’s as if she’s channeling the emotions of her first husband, as well many of her former fans.

It’s difficult to tell whether Rimes is purposely pillorying herself, or was simply unaware of how these songs play in public. She wraps rationalization around an olive branch for “Just a Girl Like You,” but in doing so only manages to suggest an absolution that’s wholly unbecoming. The album’s most lucid moment is heard on “I Do Now,” in which Rimes admits she hadn’t really understood Hank Williams’ cheating hearts until she had one of her own. But the song’s affirmation of eternal love for her new mate as “the one that matters” begs the question of whether her guilt is genuine, and the declaration “I’m alive more than I’ve ever been / Freer than I’ve ever known” plays like a protestation in place of a truth. This may all be her truth, but it’s not one her many former fans are ready to accept.

Rimes was quite canny in selecting her team for this album, pulling in talented co-writers, complementary guests Rob Thomas, Jeff Beck, Alison Krauss and Dan Tyminski, and co-producer Darrell Brown. It’s the latter who gives the album its most graceful country moments, with paired-down instrumentals and slowed tempos that force Rimes to reach for the more delicately emotional parts of her voice. Rimes’ marketing team soft-launched the album in Australia, Germany and the UK, perhaps hoping that U.S. fans would pick up the import and build positive word-of-mouth before the stateside release in June. That domestic launch now includes three different live bonus tracks, one for each of the Walmart, Amazon and iTunes editions, which might help shore up the sales lost to those who still can’t forgive or forget. [Â©2013 Hyperbolium]

LeAnn Rimes’ Home Page

Hot Club of Cowtown: Rendezvous in Rhythm

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Austin swing trio pays tribute to their gypsy-jazz roots

Austin’s Hot Club of Cowtown has been mixing Western Swing and Gypsy Jazz since their inception in 1997. This lineup solidified in 2000, and though they split briefly in 2005, their careers continued to intertwine even as they explored separate pursuits. Reuniting in 2008, the band picked up where they left off, mixing covers and originals, and continuing to grow more adept at both writing their own material and interpreting that of others. In 2011 they paid tribute to half their roots with the Bob Wills tribute, What Makes Bob Holler, and their latest follows up with a salute to the other half, Django Reinhardt and StÃ©phane Grappelli’s Quintette du Hot Club de France.

The fourteen tracks focus on popular songs, show tunes and folk melodies that became jazz standards in 1930s Paris. The selections include the evergreens “I’m in the Mood for Love,” “Crazy Rhythm,” and “If I Had You” (accidentally attributed as Irving Berlin’s like-titled composition), as well as a driving take on Reinhardt and Grappelli’s “Minor Swing” and several lesser-known tunes. The group displays their virtuosity both individually and as a trio, breaking out for solos and effortlessly weaving back together into tight improvisations. Elana James and Whit Smith each sing charmingly, Smith with more of a period style, but they also step into the spotlight with their fiddle and guitar to voice instrumental versions of “Dark Eyes,” “I’m Confessin'” and “Sunshine of Your Smile.”

The set focuses primarily on songs written in the 1920 and 30s, but reaches back to the early twentieth century for “Melancholy Baby” (reportedly first sung in public by William Frawley, later of I Love Lucy fame) and the British “Sunshine of Your Smile.” The song list also pulls in Reinhardt’s 1947 instrumental “Douce Ambiance” and Frank Loesser’s even more recent, 1948 that is, “Slow Boat to China.” It’s nice to hear the band indulge their jazz roots, particularly in this live acoustic setting; but the earthier spark of their western repertoire has always given their standards a kick, and is missed, even as their continental sounds enchant. [Â©2013 Hyperbolium]

Hot Club of Cowtown’s Home Page