P.S. Correction, clarification or embellishment is welcome.
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Subject: Bill Justis
Sent: 01/08/99 9:25 pm
Received: 01/09/99 9:05 am
From: Paul Urbahns, PaulurXXXXXXXXom
To: Spectropop List, spectrXXXXXXXXties.com
In a message dated 1/7/99 1:02:02 PM Eastern Standard Time,
spectrXXXXXXXXties.com writes:
> Herb Alpert and Martin Denny had something in common. Researching
> Liberty Records, I learned that Martin did not play on most of his
> own records. Wasn't good enough.
Bill Justis is normally thought of as a sax player, because of
his hit Raunchy. But he played trumpet more. And on the Bill
Justis albums on Smash Boots randolph plays the sax. Justis a
first class producer and arranger realized his own limits.
Paul Urbahns
paulurXXXXXXXXom
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Subject: Various
Sent: 01/04/99 3:43 am
Received: 01/08/99 7:25 am
From: Carol Kaye, carolXXXXXXXXlink.net
To: Spectropop List, spectrXXXXXXXXties.com
I didn't mean to sound kind of angry about the Allsup post, it's
just that I've seen a few who would love to take "credit" for
work they didn't do at all -- most of us studio pros try to lean
over backward to "get it right" to make sure the right person
gets their credits. Unfortunately, there are a few (mostly
outside of our group) that don't feel that way.
Earl Palmer's great book "Backbeat" out on Smithsonian Press
March 1 1999, will go into his work too at great depth, is a
biography and there will be a lot in there about his famous
recording career too. He wants everyone to know that there is
going to be a book-signing party when he comes down there to the
Jazz Festival in New Orleans April 29th too, (as well as
book-signings before that here in LA, and elsewhere).
I am now writing my book about studio work, etc. as some others
are too. Hal Blaine did write a book some years ago, called
"Wrecking Crew" which is his pet name, I think he got that from
the name of the band that backed up Darlene Love in NYC mid 80s.
Just for historical fact here, we NEVER heard of that term
before he brought his book out abut 1991. If the select group of
our 50-60 or so hot record date studio musicians did have a "name",
we were simply called the "clique".
A few are sort of upset that Hal implies that we were all known
as "the wrecking crew" rhythm section back then (not true, that
term was never heard of back then), and while I don't begrudge
Hal for promoting his book, it's interesting, just want to set
the record straight, that's all.
Some others are writing their books too now, and the Russ
Wapensky studio credits book will be out about late spring in
1999. That one will have the correct track dates in it (not the
dates that might be listed on album jackets, taken from the
singers' overdub dates).
We were all independent free-lance studio musicians, and as such
we were in the Union, highly professional from years of lots of
playing before studio work, and were totally inter-changeable in
all the studio work we did. There was NEVER "one" or "two" rhythm
sections, everyone worked with everyone else.
Once in awhile, someone was nice enough to put our names on the
back of a record album, but this was very rare. The Union didn't
require that until 1973. My name was put on the Joe Cocker
"Feelin' Alright" hit which helped people to know more about me,
but aside from a film credit Quincy Jones put on a film "Hot
Rock" and a few others, we were totally unknown. So that's why
it's news to the public about us, but they're learning.
Doc, am sure that Herb Alpert and Martin Denny were players
(I even played a bar mitzvah "jazz" gig w/Herb about 1958 --
well....), but just that the studio people could do it that much
better -- to get a hit was the most important thing. There's a
few others that hired the studio musicians to do their playing
for them too, wasn't uncommon back then and was part of the job.
Claudia, I took lessons from Howard Roberts' teacher, Horace
Hatchett in Long Beach in 1949 for about 3-4 mos. then, he hired
me to help him teach his big load of students, and about that
same time, I began to play some casual semi-jazz (Benny Goodman
style music) gigs on guitar, and kept up as a professional
musician all my life. Been a professional musician now for 50
years this June.
It was easy for me, both my parents were pros for all their
lives, and I heard music all the time as a kid (altho' it was a
rough early life growing up). There were many fine women jazz
musicians in the 40s-50s (and earlier) so it was no big deal as
to be able to play jazz, you have to be a fine musician, and the
men admired you, easy to work with, etc., just "don't fall in
love" that's all.
By the late 50s, I had 2 kids and a mother to take care of, so I
also had a day-job for a few years (accountant, then tech typist)
1956-1960 while I was playing live jazz nightly most every day of
the week with musicians like Billy Higgins, Teddy Edwards, Jack
Sheldon (played in the jazz combo in back of Lenny Bruce etc.)
and saw some of the drugs being used, but I was one of several
who chose not to use drugs, I thought it was stupid but
understood why others did use them.
It was only because I had a family to support and didn't want to
work days anymore why I accepted my record dates (was asked by
the producer of Sam Cooke, Bumps Blackwell, and the music wasn't
bad late 1957), as all the fine jazz musicians knew that once you
start working studios, you'd "never come back" to the low-paying
but great-music in the jazz clubs.
I kept up the jazz gigs for awhile, playing with Page
Cavanaugh's group, other fine groups like Paul Horn, etc. but
the studio work got more and more intense, was a popular
recording guitar player, but as soon as I picked up that bass,
it got ridiculously busy -- and being born very poor, and
struggling for years (by that time 3 kids, threw out the 2nd
husband), I didn't want my kids to struggle like I did, so rock
and roll it was, and I stayed in studio work.
No, I didn't play bass on Superstition, I believe that's a
keyboard bass. I had quit recording on purpose for Motown in
1969, but accidently got on a Motown date around 1970 and told
the contractor never to call me again for them.
Most of the fine studio musicians have a deep jazz or big-band
background, if you're lucky, and work hard, you have both. And
you know and can play all styles of music required to work in
the studios. You did have to "create" a lot of your own parts,
and then reading later on became quite necessary (which made
Glen Campbell and Leon Russell into "stars" :-) )
The early rock was kind of fun, it felt like Latin to us mostly
(well to me especially, if you listen to my 16th note basslines,
there's a lot of congas and timbale beat influences as well as
the overall feel of a song that really stems from all the jazz
improvising), and this music being "new" was sort of a challenge.
But it got "old" to keep playing "rock" licks on the various
guitars (12-string guitars, acoustic, elec. etc.) on that. So in
1965, I cut a commercial multi-guitar album (to try to get out of
the studios and back into the live scene, this time "w/money" and
a good-selling record album), with Earl Palmer the rest of our
hot gang on it:
Bill Green, Rene Hall, Gary Coleman, Jim Horn, etc., on it and
it's been re-issued now with my additional interview and
demonstration playing on it, plus a later-overdubbed jazz guitar
solo on two cuts too -- known now as "California Creamin'" on my
website (not my title, it was named in Germany) as well as my
bass CD "First Lady On Bass" (some funky duets with Ray Brown,
some cuts with my bands, all kinds of stuff on it, funk and jazz).
But the wrong tune "Ice Cream Rock" hit the charts in 1965-66,
the corniest tune on the album (was constantly being played on
the radio around LA and elsewhere), and I couldn't see myself
playing that thing the rest of my life, money-fame or no, so I
stayed in the studios, playing bass, and told them to stop the
record, to take it off the market.
My attempt at the commercial album to get back into jazz playing
....and....support my kids didn't work. Just as well, I didn't
want to travel anyway.
And then I wrote all the successful educational books/tapes/
videos on my instrument, and renamed the "Fender Bass" to
"Electric Bass" with my first book (of 25 or so) in 1969 "How To
Play The Electric Bass", taught many fine bassists out there,
like Dave Hungate, John Clayton, Bill Laymon, etc. and even
Sting was kind of enough to say he learned so much from my books
on the Arsenio Hall TV show one time. I am currently the educator
associated with the Henry Mancini Institute at UCLA this summer.
Lots of interviews, lots of filmings, my own personal
documentary being shot, another interview on A&E coming out,
right now, some recording, some playing live jazz concerts, some
teaching too right now etc. So aside from all that, it's been
kind of "slow" :-)
Marty hi. Don't know when I'll be done with my book, looking for
an editor in the LA area right now, about 1/3 through with the
book.
Carol Kaye http://www.carolkaye.com/
PO Box 2122, Canyon Country CA
91386-2122
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Subject: Dave Clark
Sent: 01/09/99 2:25 am
Received: 01/09/99 9:05 am
From: Paul Urbahns, PaulurXXXXXXXXom
To: Spectropop List, spectrXXXXXXXXties.com
In a message dated 1/7/99 1:02:02 PM Eastern Standard Time,
spectrXXXXXXXXties.com writes:
> Dave Clark, like Allen Klein and Don Kirshner, seems to me to be
> one of those people who possesses the fascinating combination of
> business acumen and arrested development. These gentlemen strike
> me as being similar to ultra intellegent, spoiled children, who
> say "It's mine and you can't have it", and then go out and make a
> brilliant investment.
I have to disagree with you David. Dave Clark has more business
sense than either of the two people you try to associate him with.
What do you want issued? He owned the rights to Ready Steady Go
and compiled several nice videos (something like 25 songs each)
not the shabby stuff Rhino Video puts out. I know I have two of
the prerecorded ones, that was enough for me. He aired the Ready
Steady Go shows on Disney Channel several years ago. He was
critized heavily for inserting dave Clark Five material in the
shows even though the group never appeared on the series. But
those that complained didn't look at what they were seeing. The
DC5 numbers are inserted like commerical breaks, not actually in
the context of the show. I have the whole Disney run on video
tape which includes a dynamite Motown show done in England. The
Dave Clark 5 songs were slow to come to CD but they have been out
on albums (imports) for years. The American releases haven't been
available (I read somewhere) because the US market felt they
were't marketable. Now the DC5 stuff is out on 45 rpms, and a 2
CD set (I didn't buy it because I have the Stereo Eureopean album).
I really don't understand what the beef is... let's hear it..
what is he holding back on? I don't see the DC5 rerecording their
hits like the Cameo Parkway artists. There is no comparison in my
mind between Dave Clark and Allen Klein. Even though he (Dave
Clark) didn't read your message, you owe him a big apology.
Paul Urbahns
paulurXXXXXXXXom
PS didn't mean to unload but are you in left field.
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Subject: Dave on Dave
Sent: 01/12/99 2:23 am
Received: 01/08/99 7:25 am
From: Greg Matecko, motXXXXXXXXlm.com
To: Spectropop List, spectrXXXXXXXXties.com
Greetings!
I think Mr. Bash hit the nail on the head when he proposed that
Dave Clark may be waiting for the "right time financially" to
release more DC5 stuff to the public. Unfortunately, I think that
time is past.
While pop music fans like us would be willing to welcome any DC5
product, I think the general public is getting ready to move full
speed ahead into the "80's revival," and could care less about Mr.
Clark.
Music was probably never a priority to Dave. Just bringing in the
green. He had Mike Smith to write the music, and I recall some
comment Mike let slip in an interview that basically said that
Dave's name had no business being on any songwriting credits.
Some years back, there was an interview in Discoveries magazine
with Andy White, who played drums on the Beatles' "Love Me Do,"
and he mentioned another drummer whom he said "played on all the
DC5 stuff." The writer didn't follow up on this comment! Arrgh!
I wonder what "financial consideration" kept stereo mixes off the
CD release? On one of the last DC5 comps that Epic released, I
think it was called "The Dave Clark Five," there are some
beautiful stereo mixes. In a Goldmine article around the time of
the CD release, Dave tried to pull a George Martin and claim that
there weren't supposed to be any stereo versions of these songs.
Whereas the early Beatles twin-track recordings weren't meant to
be stereo (but we liked to listen to 'em anyway!), Dave had some
stuff that was definitely mixed for true stereo.
If he's waiting for some huge financial commitment to cut this
stuff loose, I hope he has a nice library at home. It's gonna be
a long wait, and he'll have plenty of time to read.
Greg Matecko
http://www.telerama.com/~moteeko
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