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Spectropop - Digest Number 2165



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               SPECTROPOP - Spectacular! Retro! Pop!
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There are 13 messages in this issue.


Topics in this digest:

      1. Re: Darlene Love on Saturday Night Live
           From: Steve Dworkin 
      2. Flip Side to "It's A Go-Go Place"
           From: David Z  
      3. Re: Ciao Baby again
           From: Lyn Nuttall 
      4. Re: Herb Bernstein -- '60s discography
           From: John H  
      5. Re: Herb Bernstein -- '60s discography
           From: Jim Allio 
      6. Darlene Love; J. J. Cale; Pipettes; Tony Meehan
           From: Country Paul 
      7. The reissue producer: part studio nerd, part Indiana Jones.
           From: Jens Koch 
      8. Christmas countdown Day 4
           From: Artie Wayne 
      9. The making of "A Christmas Gift For You"
           From: Johnny Black 
     10. Re: Jerry Lordan
           From: Wes Smith 
     11. Herb Bernstein Discography
           From: Ken Charmer 
     12. Re: Herb Bernstein (Ciao Baby connection)
           From: Lyn Nuttall 
     13. Re: Herb Bernstein -- '60s discography
           From: Peter Lerner 


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________________________________________________________________________ Message: 1 Date: Wed, 21 Dec 2005 14:55:45 EST From: Steve Dworkin Subject: Re: Darlene Love on Saturday Night Live David A Young wrote: > Happy holidays, y'all! I've uploaded Darlene's Spectoresque > recording of "Christmastime for the Jews" to musica for your > seasonal amusement. It's better with the visuals, but > enjoyable on its own nonetheless. Enjoy! John H: > You can find the video clip here: > http://www.spectropop.com/ChristmasTimefortheJews.mov > Can't believe how "real" the song sounds. Darlene sounds great! A friend of mine who works on the Letterman show asked Darlene Love at the taping Monday night, if "Christmastime For The Jews" would be made available commercially, and she said it was a one time thing for Saturday Night Live, so listen to that song on Musica, it may be your only opportunity. I understand her performance Monday Night was awsome. It airs this Friday night. -Steve Dworkin -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 2 Date: Wed, 21 Dec 2005 20:20:07 -0000 From: David Z Subject: Flip Side to "It's A Go-Go Place" Greetings. By request, I have posted to Musica the flip side to J.J. Cale's "It's A Go-Go Place"; a tribute to the finest person ever to sport a two-way wrist radio. Enjoy! Go Cat Go! David Z. -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 3 Date: Wed, 21 Dec 2005 22:12:26 -0000 From: Lyn Nuttall Subject: Re: Ciao Baby again Randy wrote: > I am now wondering whether I shouldn't be asking for the > Eternal Flame version. That seems to be the one that was > released in the US. Versions update: The Toys (US 1967, prob. original version) Lynne Randell (US 1967, Aussie artist abroad, hit in Oz) Montanas (UK 1967) Eternal Flame (US 1967, not the 90s+ rock band) Ray Rivera (US 1968, instrumental) Group Check (Netherlands 1968, charted in Netherlands)) Mel Torme (US late 60s?, prob. unreleased at the time) Long John Baldry (UK 1969?, prob. unreleased at the time ) Catherine McKinnon (Canada 1970) Craig Scott (NZ 1971, #4 NZ) Not to be confused with The Cult - Edie (Ciao Baby), 1989. www.poparchives.com.au/feature.php?id=&4 refers. I've seen Eternal Flame listed as Eternal Flames: maybe they were The Eternal Flames? Randy, thanks for alerting me to the Group Check version, and for the nice comment about the site. Lyn -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 4 Date: Thu, 22 Dec 2005 00:56:12 -0000 From: John H Subject: Re: Herb Bernstein -- '60s discography >From Davie Gordon's Herb Bernstein -- '60s discography: > 12/68 JULIE BUDD (MGM 14016) > I Wanna See Morning With Him > Child Of Plenty (Bud Rehak, Herb Bernstein) > Prod/arr: Herb Bernstein This is interesting to me, as "I Wanna See Morning" is one of my favorite Petula Clark songs. I had always thought it was original to her 1970 Memphis album! If anyone ever has the chance to play Ms. Budd's to Musica, that would be tres marvy. - John H. -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 5 Date: Wed, 21 Dec 2005 16:37:15 -0800 (PST) From: Jim Allio Subject: Re: Herb Bernstein -- '60s discography How great to see something on Herb Bernstein! I always loved his work with Laura Nyro and still listen to their album together. It has truly stood the test of time. Remember seeing a photo of Herb and Lesley Gore in the studio in Billboard in 1967. It must still be out there somewhere. In addition to "Treat Me Like A Lady" and "He Gives Me Love" which are listed in your Bernstein discography, he also did the following Gore tracks: August 8, 1966 Orchestra conducted by Herb Bernstein "Maybe Now" (B-side to "Treat Me Like A Lady") "The Bubble Broke" (LP track, and A-side of a 1967 single in the Philippines) October 14, 1966 "Im Going Out (the Same Way I Came In)" (B-side to "California Nights," got play in Chicago) May 22, 1968 Produced, arranged and conducted by Herb Bernstein "Brand New Me" (B-side of "He Gives Me Love") "I Can't Make It Without You" (A-side fall 1968 single) All info from the Bear Family box set discography. Hope this helps! Jim Allio -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 6 Date: Thu, 22 Dec 2005 01:50:24 -0500 From: Country Paul Subject: Darlene Love; J. J. Cale; Pipettes; Tony Meehan David A Young wrote: > Happy holidays, y'all! I've uploaded Darlene's Spectoresque > recording of "Christmastime for the Jews" to musica for your > seasonal amusement. It's better with the visuals, but > enjoyable on its own nonetheless. Enjoy! John: > You can find the video clip here: > http://www.spectropop.com/ChristmasTimefortheJews.mov > Can't believe how "real" the song sounds. Darlene sounds great! Unbelievable! I knew there had to be a killer holiday track out there somewhere - and it's in here! It sounds truly Spectorian, too - someone really did their homework! Thank you! Whoever is responsible for the J. J. Cale 45 from '65, thank you. It's pretty cool, although I think "Dick Tracy" was meant to be the A-side (it kinda treads a fine line, doesn't it?). Sure is different from his laid-back Shelter work! Jana: > a girl group called The Pipettes. I thought I'd share their > link with all of you.... http://www.thepipettes.co.uk Fun - "Dirty Mind" sounds like girl-group-meets-B-52s. One could do worse. Ayrton: > Here's a tribute to the late, great Shadows drummer Tony > Meehan: his own composition "See You In My Drums"...from 1961. > http://rapidshare.de/files/9504561/07_-_See_You_In_My_Drums.mp3.html Shades of Sandy Nelson; too bad this didn't have Nelson's "fatter" production. I've been away from the group for a while - not intentionally, but "real life" kept intervening. I'll be away again for a while, but hope to get back into it forthwith. Meanwhile, I wish my old friends and new the happiest of holidays; see you here again soon! Country Paul -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 7 Date: Thu, 22 Dec 2005 09:00:51 +0100 From: Jens Koch Subject: The reissue producer: part studio nerd, part Indiana Jones. A very interesting article on the work of one Andrew Sandoval and also Alec Palao was published yesterday (if this has been mentioned sorry that i missed it) http://music.eastbayexpress.com/Issues/2005-12-21/music/music.html New to You The reissue producer: part studio nerd, part Indiana Jones. By Eli Messinger Most CD reissues merely regurgitate the same old hits from the same old chart-topping artists: Elvis Costello is on his fourth catalogue reiteration, and Elvis Presley's rehashed recordings are an industry unto themselves. But don't damn the enterprise as a whole: Truly adventurous and revelatory reissue projects hover both outside the margins and within the mainstream. The best of these provide whole new chapters in the history of an artist, a studio, a producer, a geographical entity, or a whole genre, presenting songs, recordings, and even entire new albums salvaged from the commercial or artistic disinterest that greeted them the first time around. The heart and soul of any truly compelling reissue is the disc's producer, who guides an initial concept across a field of financial, organizational, geographic, social, technical, and artistic hurdles. They're project directors with a musician's ear for fidelity, an archaeologist's talent for discovery, an anthropologist's memory for context, and a diplomat's knack for negotiation. Two such multitaskers -- the East Bay's Alec Palao and Los Angeles-based Andrew Sandoval -- teamed up recently to produce Magic Hollow, a definitive four-disc box set celebrating San Francisco's Beau Brummels, early responders to the British Invasion with a harmony-laden mix of folk, rock, and country that predated better known efforts by the Byrds and others. Palao relocated from England to the Bay Area (currently, El Cerrito) in part to feed his love of Bay Area music. His early- '90s fanzine Cream Puff War led to connections with local musicians, producers, and studio owners, creating a web that resulted in the mid-'90s series of Nuggets from the Golden State releases, which documented '60s West Coast labels like Autumn, Scorpio, and Hush, and bands like the Mojo Men, Frumious Bandersnatch, and (pre-Creedence) Golliwogs, not to mention loads of rock obscurities from San Jose to Sacramento. More recently, Palao has extended the reissue kingpin Nuggets brand as coproducer of two garage-rock box sets for Rhino, 2001's Nuggets II, and this year's revivalist set, Children of Nuggets. Palao's core work for the UK-based Ace label group typically steers clear of material owned by major labels, "because straightaway, I know that it may get flagged because it's going to be too expensive," he explains. "I've always preferred to do independent stuff and often been able to do a better job; because it's cheap, we can go to town a bit more on other things." Sandoval, who's helmed projects on the Monkees, the Everly Brothers, and the Band, echoes his problems with such corporate hurdles: "You can find A&R people who just don't like a certain artist and don't want to be involved with something. It could be a big seller, but they don't even get it." Even catalogue owners who love an artist may not fully understand their modern appeal. Several years ago, Sandoval's suggestion for Everly reissues was coldly greeted with reminders of the duo's poor original album sales -- "You could say the same thing of Big Star," he retorts. But the success of his 2001 Everly twofers on a UK label begat additional reissues this year, including two seven-disc box sets out on Germany's Bear Family. Even when a major-label project is green-lighted, budget issues still impede. Sandoval often finds himself arguing with record companies to let him properly transcribe material that's been deep-sixed in a salt mine after a hasty digital transfer. The inferior copies offered are typically "made on the fly by someone who's been making hundreds of digital copies that day," Sandoval laments, without properly calibrating the tape player or searching for undocumented material at the end of a reel. On more than one occasion, Sandoval has offered up his own studio time to bring a project in: "I'm constantly buying studio equipment just so I can get certain things done." Palao's focus on independently owned material often finds him carting his transcription equipment in search of master tapes. In a sense he's a second-generation Alan Lomax, hunting master tapes rather than folk songs. "Part of the reason why I have been successful in getting rare stuff is because they say, 'Well, I'm not going to let this stuff out of here,'" he explains. "So I schlep my gear up to the Pacific Northwest, schlep it all the way out to Nashville, Memphis, many times down to LA. That's the only way. The fact that I'm able to engineer well enough to be able to do transfers is a tremendous advantage for what I want to do." Once an archive is opened, it often yields unexpected riches. Sandoval turned up an undocumented segment of mid-'60s tape of Brian Wilson running through demos of Smile-era songs at the end of a "talking session" on which Wilson and friends merely chanted and conversed. The tape's most interesting section unspooled only after ten minutes of silence. "Sometimes it's not being the most intelligent person," Sandoval muses. "It's just wasting the most time listening." Palao agrees: "It's very much archaeology. But the thing about music is it has that kind of intoxicating power that makes you want to look more. It's never dull. It can be tedious when you're looking for something and you can't find it and you have to listen to a lot of crap. But it's worth it for that moment when you find that tape of Sly's first single." Indeed, Palao found the master of the rare 1961 doo-wop side "Stop What You're Doing" by Sylvester "Sly" Stewart's Vallejo-based junior college group, the Viscaynes, in a clutch of tapes recovered from the estate of Golden State Recorders owner Leo Kulka. "Often in the process of digging, you may not even necessarily find what you were looking for, but you'll find a whole bunch of other things," Palao explains. "And then this becomes tremendously exciting, because straightaway you can envisage, 'Well, wow, I thought I was going to get a couple of CDs out of this -- I can get like eight or ten.'" Sandoval and Palao often engage their artistic subjects, seeing if they might have outtakes, demos, photos, or simply memories for the liner notes. That can backfire, though: "If you get in touch with the artist, even though you get great information, great insight into how these things were put together, you may also find that they want a little bit too much say in what goes on there," Palao admits. Sandoval found P.F. Sloan (who wrote and produced hits for the Turtles, Johnny Rivers, and Barry McGuire) resistant to having his demos released, while Palao hit paydirt after asking for Zombies demos: "They dug up a few things, and then Chris [White, the Zombies' bassist and one of two primary songwriters] found a whole bunch of tapes in his ex- wife's attic, and all of a sudden there was all this Zombies music that I hadn't heard before." After unearthing the tapes, the producer grapples with a number of technical and artistic decisions, including which material to include and how to reproduce it. "My philosophy is to try and get the original mixes," Sandoval explains. "And if there is no original mix, at least pay attention to what went before. I listen to other things recorded around the same time as a reference, to see what kind of reverb they used, and compression, and the setup of how they mixed things." Palao also does his own remixing, but often draws upon the expertise of Oakland's Wally Sound studio, where vintage analogue equipment and Wally's historically educated ears can re-create the 1960s sounds of legendary San Francisco studios like Golden State (1965-'94), Coast (1957-early '70s), and Columbus Recorders (1965-early '70s, in a building that now houses Francis Ford Coppola's American Zoetrope). Given the mid-'60s period these producers often focus on, they must also struggle with the issue of mono versus stereo. Palao's 1997 four-disc Zombies box Zombies Heaven, for example, returned the original mono mixes to print, after years of lifeless, label- created stereo versions had made the rounds after the band's demise. "It was my intention," Palao explains, "to put all the original mono mixes back out there, because they hadn't been available on the market -- even a song like 'She's Not There,' an iconic song, had a whole extra drum overdub that's only on the mono version." In contrast, his compilation for the Sonics (a 2003 reissue of Psycho-Sonic) sidestepped the oft-reissued mono masters by releasing the original two-track session tapes as is. The New Year will find Sandoval revisiting the Monkees catalogue for a series of double-disc mono/stereo releases; he'll also helm a second seven-disc Everly Brothers box. Palao, meanwhile, is currently digging through an archive of garage-rock recorded by Norman Petty in the same Clovis, New Mexico, studio where Buddy Holly helped invent rock 'n' roll. Now it's time to help document and reinvent it. Jens -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 8 Date: Thu, 22 Dec 2005 10:11:54 -0800 (PST) From: Artie Wayne Subject: Christmas countdown Day 4 How ya' doin? It's 4 days before Christmas...and I'm already opening my presents!! Every time I look at my e-mail or check the guest book on my website I open a gift. I find a reconnection, a memory long forgotten, or words of encourgement from an old friend from the past, or a new one from Spectropop. Many years ago, when my health began to fail and I could no longer work, I put all of my belongings in storage, and had to depend on the kindness of friends who let me sleep on their couches or sometimes even their floors. When I was starting to get back on my feet, and had money to retieve my belongings, I discovered that everything had been auctioned off!! What devestated me the most, was not the loss of my many gold and platinum albums, but the loss of hundreds of records, songs I had written or produced that didn't become hits. When one of my closest friends, Allan Rinde, hooked me up with Spectropop, I never expected so many of you would be familiar with my body of work, and provide me with mp3s of songs I never thought I'd hear again. Although I once turned out as many as 5 songs a week ...last year I wrote only one, "I Lose it When I Hear "White Christmas", with Toni Wine, which is on the new Tony Orlando and Dawn "Reunion CD. This year I finished another song, "I'm at My Best When I'm Down", which I started twenty five years ago. I began writing the lyric at Shel Talmy's London apartment, after spending $163,000 of Chrysalis music's money on a single that was never was released! When Ray Charles passed away, I was moved to finish the lyric and complete the melody. Although I'm getting better every day, I'm still not able to form chords on the guitar or synthesizer. I sang it accapella, over the phone, to my new Spectropop pal, Claire Francis, who's recovering from a serious illness herself. She started screaming how much she loved it...and insisted that I record it exactly the way that I did it for her! After I put my vocal down on an old Teac 4 tk cassette recorder, I transfered it to my computer and sent an mp3 to Alan O'Day for an opinion. He surprised me by putting chords behind my vocal. Still unsure that my demo had any value, I sent mp3s to some of our Spectropop pals. A few days later I got e-mails back from Al Kooper and James Holvay raving about how much they loved it! Next year, I'll be showing it to artists and producers, but I want to share it with all of you now, especially those who have encouraged me and made me feel that I'm still relevant... "I’m At My Best When I’m Down" WORDS AND MUSIC BY ARTIE WAYNE My back’s against the wall and I’m down to my last dime I swear I can’t recall when I’ve had a harder climb But like a rubber ball I’ll bounce back every time…and I’m At My Best When I’m Down. I know when I’ve been used like a steppin’ stone Battered and abused…left out here on my own But I don’t feel I’m used…I only feel I’ve grown more profound And I’m At My Best When I’m Down. I’ve had men try and break me…women try and shake me At times I let ‘em take me for a ride… But when the fantasy wears thin and reality steps in You gotta’ go within…’cause there’s nothin’ left outside. But I’ll rise above the crowds of darkness and despair And though I see dark clouds I know there’s a sun up there Drums of courage beating loud and there’s victory in the air All around…hear the sound…feel the ground…and I’m At My Best When I’m Down. (Copyright 2005- Artie Wayne-Wayne Art music [760] 329-0309) I just sent a copy of "I'm At My Best When I'm Down" to Mick Patrick which he has put up on Musica: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/spectropop/files/musica I'll be back tomorrow with Christmas countdown...Day 3. Regards, Artie Wayne P.S. There's still time to sign my 2005 guest book. It will be closed to new entries on Dec.31st, but will remain on display forever. Just click on to http://www.artiewayne.com and leave your mark for posterity. -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 9 Date: Thu, 22 Dec 2005 18:43:03 -0000 From: Johnny Black Subject: The making of "A Christmas Gift For You" Dear Spectropop, I just thought you might like to know that you'll find what I think is probably the longest eye-witness account ever of the making of "A Christmas Gift For You" in the December edition of my Back On The Tracks website. Just go to http://www.backonthetracks.com/Dpage.php?pagekey=Eyewitness%20Rock and there you have it. I hope it brightens up your Christmas a little. All the best, Johnny Black http://www.backonthetracks.com/home.php -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 10 Date: Thu, 22 Dec 2005 08:03:56 -0000 From: Wes Smith Subject: Re: Jerry Lordan Jerry Lordan surely did write some fine instrumentals for the Shadows, and also had a fine vocal on Capitol, "WHO COULD BE BLUER". Wonder how many forum members have heard this vocal? Wes Smith -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 11 Date: Thu, 22 Dec 2005 10:22:38 +0100 From: Ken Charmer Subject: Herb Bernstein Discography Just seeing the Herb Bernstein discography coincided with some info I have been gathering re Bob Crewe productions re the Distant Cousins. I don't yet have details of the rest of their tracks but maybe Herb was arranger? Great discography and very helpful to our research. The Distant Cousins Date 2-1514 "She Ain't Lovin' You" Crewe/Brown/Bloodworth Produced by Bob Crewe Arranged & conducted by Herb Bernstein "Here Today Gone Tomorrow" Written by Brown/Bloodworth/Nader Produced by Crewe Arranged/Conducted by Bernstein Ken Charmer UK Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons Collectors Group -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 12 Date: Thu, 22 Dec 2005 10:25:09 -0000 From: Lyn Nuttall Subject: Re: Herb Bernstein (Ciao Baby connection) All this posting about Ciao Baby, and I missed Davie's post on Herb Bernstein, who just happens to have been arranger and conductor for Lynne Randell's 1967 recording of 'Ciao Baby' on Epic. She was an Aussie singer recording in The States, and her record was a hit for her back home on local CBS. Lyn in Oz -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 13 Date: Thu, 22 Dec 2005 10:18:03 -0000 From: Peter Lerner Subject: Re: Herb Bernstein -- '60s discography Thanks to Davie for the superb Herb Bernstein discography. I've just got a few credits to add: On THE ROYALETTES River of Tears (Gary Knight/Barbara Banks) /Something wonderful (Rodgers/Hammerstein), Herb is credited as producer, arranger and conductor. JULIE BUDD I wanna see morning with him (Toni Wine/Irwin Levine) /Child of plenty, Herb is listed as prod / arr / cond on the A-side, but only arr & cond on the B side, whose producer is Bob Morgan TONI WINE Sisters in sorrow/Take a little time out for love: both sides written by Toni Wine and Irwin Levine TONI WINE He's not you/Let's make love tonight also both by Wine/Levine And although they may be (just) beyond the 60s, while on the subject you can add TONI WINE I want to see morning with him (Wine, Levine)/Groovy Kind of Love (Wine, Carole Bayer) Atco 6800 both sides Prod and Arr HB TONI WINE River deep mountain high (Barry, Greenwich, Spector)/ Toni's Tune (W.Farrell, H.Bernstein), both sides prod by Wes Farrell and Herb Bernstein, A side also arr and cond by HB And finally my copy of THE JANETTES We belong to each other credits the writers as Simmons-Burton-Bernstein. Happy holidays everybody! Peter -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
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