Liverpool Five: The Best Of

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LiverpoolFive_BestOfMid-60s Northwest R’n’R’n’B from ex-pat British Invasion band

The most honest part of this group’s name is “Five,” as they were indeed a quintet. The “Liverpool” part, however, seems to have been stuck on them by a manager in an effort to ride the Beatles’ coattails. All five members were from England, but apparently none from Liverpool, and their greatest success came after relocating to Spokane, Washington. The band toured the country as an opening act for U.S. hit makers and visiting British musical royalty, appeared on teen television shows, and recorded a pair of albums for RCA. There are remnants of the British Invasion to be heard in their RCA sides, but more on the London R&B side than Liverpool Merseybeat. More deeply the band was informed by the hearty sounds of Northwest rock and touched by the buzz of the American garage. Sundazed’s 18-track collection (originally issued on CD in 2008 and reissued for digital download by RCA/Legacy) cherry-picks from the group’s RCA recordings, sprinkling a couple of band originals among a wealth of well-selected, interestingly arranged and often wonderfully rare covers. Oddly, the group’s one brush with the charts, a cover of Chip Taylor’s “Any Way That You Want Me,” is omitted. Still, Sundazed’s done a wonderful job of resurrecting the core catalog of this undeservedly obscure transatlantic British Invasion transplant. [©2014 Hyperbolium]

The Brook Brothers: Warpaint – The Pye Anthology

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BrookBrothers_WarpaintThe Everly Brothers of England!

As much as the Hollies or Peter & Gordon might have traded on the “Everly Brothers of England” tag early in their careers, no British act so fully embraced the famous American duo’s harmonies as did the Brook Brothers. Graduating from skiffle music in the late ‘50s, the brothers (Geoff and Ricky) refashioned themselves in the image of the Everlys and scored a minor off-shore hit with a cover of the Brothers Four’s “Greenfields.” They subsequently signed with Pye, scored a top 5 with the Brill Building “Warpaint,” recorded an album, toured with pre-Beatle crooners, appeared in a teen film and recorded sessions with Tony Hatch before fading into obscurity amidst the British Invasion. This 42-track set collects the brothers’ output on Pye, including follow-up UK hits “Ain’t Gonna Wash for a Week,” “He’s Old Enough to Know Better,” “Welcome Home Baby” and “Trouble is My Middle Name,” and a wealth of B-sides and album tracks that are incredibly charming. Yes, it’s heavily derivative of the Everlys, but it’s written, sung and played so well, you’ll be swept away. [©2014 Hyperbolium]

Doris Troy: Sings Just One Look & Other Memorable Selections

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DorisTroy_JustOneLookThe album behind Doris Troy’s 1963 title hit

Doris Troy is locked into the Groundhog’s Day repetition of oldies radio with her 1963 Top 10 hit “Just One Look.” But there was more to her career than is encapsulated in that (albeit, superb) two-minute and thirty-one seconds. The daughter of a Pentecostal minister, she sang in her father’s church choir before being discovered by James Brown at the church of R&B, the Apollo Theater. Her signature “Just One Look” was released by Atlantic and led to this 1963 album, combining well-selected covers (including a gospel-powered take on “Stormy Weather”) with eight originals from Troy and her co-writer Gregory Carol. Troy smolders with anticipation on “Lazy Days (When Are You Coming Home),” grooves to the Latin-inflected “Bossa Nova Blues,” bends blue notes for “Draw Me Closer,” reads her mistreating mate the riot act on “Someone Ain’t Right,” and closes the album with the dramatic Ben E. King-styled “Time.” Troy went on to back the Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin, sign to Apple for an album in 1969, and mount a musical theatrical production of her life story (which was subsequently turned into the film Mama, I Want to Sing!), but she never again found the commercial success of her very first single. Luckily, the Atlantic archives testify to the breadth of singing and songwriting talent that took root in 1963. [©2014 Hyperbolium]

Doris Troy Tribute Page

Sarah Vaughan: Sophisticated Lady – The Duke Ellington Songbook Collection

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SarahVaughn_Sophisticated Lady1979-80 sessions with six previously unreleased tracks

This 2-CD set collects the twenty-one tracks originally released in 1979/80 on the Duke Ellington Song Book One and Two, and adds six contemporaneous masters that are now being released for the first time. The track list has been reordered to follow the chronological progress of the underlying recording sessions, with the six unreleased arrangements by Benny Carter kicking off the set. All six were re-recorded with new Billy Byers arrangements for the released albums, giving listeners a rare opportunity to hear how an arrangement affects a vocalist’s choices, and how the vocal and backing can form very different conversations on the same material. The sessions feature fine performances from a number of jazz luminaries, including J.J. Johnson, Zoot Sims, JoePass, Grady Tate, Bucky Pizzarelli, PeeWee Crayton and Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson, but the light shone most brightly on a resurgent Sarah Vaughan, whose run in the ’70s had led her to Pablo and a series of superb late-career releases. Vaughan’s performances are thoughtful and controlled, hanging emotion on every syllable. The musicians take their cues from Vaughan, adding tasteful accompaniment and fluid solos that echo her mood. This set is a great way to hear Vaughan at the height of her late-career powers, as well as a superb take on the Ellington catalog. [©2014 Hyperbolium]

The Band: The Book

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Photographer Elliott Landy has a Kickstarter campaign (fully funded in five days, but still running) to fund the production of a book of photographs he made of The Band for their first two albums, Music From Big Pink and The Band. Only 30 of the 8000 frames that he produced have been widely published before, with many great pictures having sat in Landy’s fire-proof file cabinet for forty-five years. The Kickstarter campaign offers both a regular and deluxe edition of the forthcoming book, as well as numerous other items.

Hypercast #2: In Memoriam 2013

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A collection of music from some of the artists who passed away in 2013.

Ray Price Heartaches by the Number
Tompall Glaser Drinking Them Beers
Richie Havens High Flyin’ Bird
The Standells (Dick Dodd) Dirty Water
Game Theory (Scott Miller) Jimmy Still Comes Around
Ten Years After (Alvin Lee) I’d Love to Change the World
Sammy Johns Chevy Van
Junior Murvin Police and Thieves
Bobby “Blue” Bland Cry Cry Cry
Jewel Akins The Birds and the Bees
Eydie Gormé Blame it on the Bossa Nova
Bob Brozman Stack O Lee Aloha
Bob Thompson Mmm Nice!
Divinyls (Chrissy Amphlett) I Touch Myself
Annette Funicello California Sun
The Doors (Ray Manzarek) Light My Fire
Slim Whitman I Remember You
Noel Harrison Suzanne
The Velvet Underground (Lou Reed) Pale Blue Eyes
George Jones I’ve Aged Twenty Years in Five
Patti Page Tennessee Waltz
Cowboy Jack Clement I Guess Things Happen That Way
JJ Cale After Midnight
Ray Price For the Good Times

In Memoriam: 2013

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January
Patti Page, vocalist
Sammy Johns, singer-songwriter
Tandyn Almer, songwriter
Raymond Franklin “Frank” Page, broadcaster
John Wilkinson, guitarist (Elvis Presley’s TCB Band)
Jimmy O’Neill, DJ, owner of Pandora’s Box and host of Shindig!
Leroy “Sugarfoot” Bonner, guitarist and vocalist (Ohio Players)
Patty Andrews, vocalist (The Andrews Sisters)

February
Donald Byrd, trumpeter
Reg Presley, vocalist and songwriter (The Troggs)
Darlene McCrea, vocalist (The Cookies, The Raelettes)
Shadow Morton, producer and songwriter
Tony Sheridan, vocalist and guitarist
Mindy McCready, vocalist
Kevin Ayers, vocalist, guitarist and bassist (The Soft Machine)
Magic Slim, vocalist and guitarist
Cleotha Staples, vocalist
Larry Marks, producer and vocalist
Van Cliburn, pianist

March
Jewel Akins, vocalist
Alvin Lee, guitarist, vocalist and songwriter
Claude King, vocalist and guitarist
Peter Banks, guitarist (Yes)
Bobby Smith, vocalist (The Spinners)
Deke Richards, producer and songwriter
Gordon Stoker, vocalist (The Jordanaires)
Paul Williams, critic and author (Crawdaddy!)
Robert Zildjian, cymbal maker (Zildjian, Sabian)
Phil Ramone, producer and engineer

April
Andy Johns, producer and engineer
Annette Funicello, mouseketeer, vocalist and actress
Vincent Montana, Jr., bandleader (The Salsoul Orchestra)
Scott Miller, vocalist, songwriter and guitarist (Game Theory, The Loud Family)
Storm Thorgerson, graphic artist (Hipgnosis)
Chrissy Amphlett, vocalist and songwriter (The Divinyls)
Richie Havens, vocalist and guitarist
Bob Brozman, vocalist and guitarist
George Jones, vocalist

May
Alan O’Day, vocalist
Ray Manzarek, keyboardist and songwriter
Bob Thompson, composer, arranger and orchestra leader
Ed Shaughnessy, drummer
Marshall Lytle, bassist (Bill Haley & His Comets)
Marvin Junior, vocalist and songwriter (The Dells)
Clarence Burke, Jr., vocalist (The Five Stairsteps)

June
Joey Covington, drummer (Jefferson Airplane, Hot Tuna)
Arturo Vega, graphic designer (The Ramones)
Chet Flippo, music journalist
Slim Whitman, vocalist and yodeler
Bobby Blue Bland, vocalist
Alan Myers, drummer (Devo)

July
Jim Foglesong, record producer and label executive
Cory Monteith, actor and vocalist
Curly Lewis, fiddler
T-Model Ford, vocalist and guitarist
Faye Hunter, bassist and vocalist (Let’s Active)
JJ Cale, vocalist, songwriter and guitarist
Mike Shipley, producer and recording engineer
Mick Farren, vocalist and author

August
George Duke, keyboardist
Marilyn King, vocalist
Cowboy Jack Clement, producer and songwriter
Jody Payne, guitarist (Willie Nelson’s Family)
Karen Black, actress and vocalist
Eydie Gorme, vocalist
Tompall Glaser, vocalist and songwriter
Marian McPartland, pianist and songwriter
Sid Bernstein, concert promoter

September
Fred Katz, cellist
Ray Dolby, sound pioneer
Jackie Lomax, vocalist, songwriter and guitarist
Marvin Rainwater, vocalist and songwriter
Billy Mure, guitarist

October
Larry Verne, vocalist
Noel Harrison, actor and vocalist
Lou Reed, vocalist, songwriter and guitarist

November
Chico Hamilton, drummer
Dick Dodd, mouseketeer, vocalist and drummer (The Standells)

December
Junior Murvin, vocalist
Larry McKinley, label founder (Minit), DJ and producer
Jim Hall, guitarist
Ray Price, vocalist, songwriter and bandleader
Larry Lujack, DJ
Yusef Lateef, multi-instrumentalist
Ricky Lawson, drummer

The Coasters: Coast Along with the Coasters

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Coasters_CoastAlongWithThe Coasters return to what they do best in 1962

Much like their self-titled 1958 debut, this 1962 long-player collects a number of A- and B-sides and adds a few album-only tracks. After their diversion into standards with 1960’s One by One, the group returned to Leiber & Stoller’s songbook and a driving R&B production style for the sides collected here. The hits are “What About Us” and “Little Egypt,” but there’s a lot more to recommend this album. The nursery rhyme “(Ain’t That) Just Like Me” opens the album with a luscious stereo production that spreads out the quartet’s vocals, and their early version of “Girls Girls Girls” is more laid-back than Elvis’ take, with a limbo bass line and vocal punctuations that mimic a train whistle. The album-only tracks include the mismatched lovers of Pomus & Shuman’s “The Snake and the Bookworm” and a swinging cover of Willie Dixon’s “My Babe.” Most imaginative of all is the retribution of Leiber & Stoller’s beer-drinking, poker-playing monkey in “Run Red Run.” Everything here is in true stereo except for “Wait a Minute,” which is mono. The jokiness of the earlier Coasters records is lessened, but the interplay of their vocals will always make you smile. To get a broader look at their hits, try The Very Best of the Coasters; to go deep check out Rhino Handmade’s There’s a Riot Goin’ On: The Coasters on Atco. [©2013 Hyperbolium]

The Coasters: The Coasters

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Coasters_CoastersThe Coasters’ 1958 debut LP

The Coasters first full-length LP is more an anthology than a purpose-built album, collecting half its fourteen songs from the pre-Coasters lineup of the Robins, and adding seven more by the first lineup to record under the Coasters name. Though the group changed more than half its members between the Robins and Coasters, the songs and production of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller provide a through line that gives the album an impressive consistency. The song list includes the group’s first four hit singles, “Down in Mexico,” “One Kiss Led to Another,” “Young Blood,” and “Searchin’,” alongside favorites “Smokey Joe’s Café” and “Framed,” and terrific, lesser-known sides “Wrap it Up” and the energetic “I Must Be Dreamin’.” The Coasters deftly combined deep R&B roots with a comedic approach that made their songs fun without turning them into novelties. You’ll smile every time you hear the Coasters, but you’ll never think of them as anything less than a consummate vocal group. To get a broader look at their hits, try The Very Best of the Coasters; to go deep check out Rhino Handmade’s There’s a Riot Goin’ On: The Coasters on Atco. [©2013 Hyperbolium]