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Volume #0249 March 31, 1999
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Always First with the Good Gear
Subject: I Want A Boy?
Received: 03/31/99 12:41 am
From: Brian, LesToilXXXXXXXXom
To: Spectropop List, spectroXXXXXXXXties.com
Regarding Will Stos's comments about the song Home of The
Brave; are we talking about that masterfully-produced song
from the mid-sixties with the chorus "Home of the brave,
land of the free, why won't they let him be what he wants
to be"? Well the version I have is by a British black girl
named Peanut on Here Come The Girls Vol 8. It WAS written
by Mann/Weil so I suppose there must have been someone
here in the States that recorded it. I wasn't sure if you
said it was the Treasures or Bonnie that recorded the
version you (Will) were familiar with. Needless to say
this girl Peanut sounds NOTHING like Ronnie Spector (does
ANYone?).
And speaking of Ronnie, could someone give me a bit of
history on a song supposedly recorded by The Ronettes
called I Want A Boy? I have this cut on a comp from last
year called Marginal's Soul Females. This song is absolute
candy to my ears! It moves like a locomotive engine! But
it's extrememly difficult to believe Ronnie was
responsible for the lead vocal! Was she? That distinctive
voice is nowhere to be found on this track. There ARE
those "wo-oh-oh's", but the voice sounds--excuse me for
saying this, Ronnie--much more trained and controlled. I
read in her autobio' that, before Phil got hold of them,
the Ronettes recorded a bunch of stuff on a label that
was never released. Is this cut one of them? And if so
where oh where can I get that entire library of songs from
that period?
Brian
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Subject: Bonnie & the Treasures
Received: 03/31/99 12:42 am
From: john rausch, jXXXXXXXXnet
To: Spectropop List, spectroXXXXXXXXties.com
Will
Bonnie is Charlotte Methany and was nicknamed Charlotte
O`Hara by Stan Ross, and Home Of The Brave was recorded by
Jerry Riopell on Spector`s offshoot label Phi-Dan. Written
by Mann-Weil. I agree, Bonnie and Ronnie sound nothing
alike. I do like Close Your Eyes much more than Home Of The
Brave, though. Charlotte died of breast cancer in the early
70s.
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Subject: Bonnie & the Treasures
Received: 03/31/99 12:42 am
From: Ian Chapman, iandXXXXXXXXlnet.co.uk
To: Spectropop List, spectroXXXXXXXXties.com
Will Stos wrote:
>"Home Of The Brave," is one of the greatest songs I've
>ever heard. It definitely sounds like Phil
>produced it, but some people claim it's actually the
>Ronettes. Well, the Treasures sound like them, but not
>Bonnie. How she could possibly be Ronnie is beyond me, and
>her high pitched voice doesn't sound like any other Ronette,
>does it? She released a solo single, "Close Your Eyes,"
>too. Who was she? Who were the Treasures? Why wasn't it a
>big hit? Who wrote it?
Hi Will,
Okay.....first, the lady herself. Bonnie was Charlotte
O'Hara (real name Charlotte Matheny), a young white girl
with long red hair who lived a couple of blocks from
Goldstar with her 2-year old daughter. She knew the studio
owners and would hang out there, often doing demos or
back-ups, and occasionally, cutting records. It was
actually Jerry Riopelle who produced Mann/Weil's "Home of
the Brave", although Charlotte said that Spector was
around the studio at the time. Jerry also produced the
follow-up, "Close Your Eyes", plus an even better couple
of tracks that remain issued only in acetate form - "Tell
Me In The Sunlight"/"I'm Your Girl". Both are great
Spector soundalikes. Some readers may know the Margie Day
version of "Sunlight" on Martay - well, both her version
and Bonnie's use the same instrumental backing track. Go
figure that one. "I'm Your Girl" also has a very full
sound, with a phased intro and very Nitzsche-sounding
strings. Charlotte made other records, too. As Bonnie &
the Treasures, there was the squeaky "Davey, I'm So Glad
it Rained" on Pablo; as Charlotte O' Hara, there was "What
About You" on Ava. She also co-wrote "Love Bells" for the
Galens on Challenge. If you can find a copy, the UK's
"Philately" #7 (1990) featured an article (with pic) on
Charlotte by Peter Canvel, a friend of hers who also
worked at Goldstar. Sad to report she passed away from
breast cancer in the late 70s.
Jerry Riopelle was interviewed in "Philately" #3 (1984).
When asked if he worked with Phil on "Home of the Brave",
he replied, "No I did that one myself. When the record
came out it was covered by Jody Miller. We didn't expect
their record, they didn't expect ours. It was published by
Screen Gems, and no-one expected that this was going to
happen. When the record came out and the big battle
started, Philip took control of the battle. It became like
his record instead of mine. He became so busy calling up
the trades and doing interviews, saying how his new record
.....was being covered, and that he had the original. I
was the producer, but he became so busy supporting the
record that it became to him like his own record. Of
course, it was - he owned it & it was put out by his own
record company - but I in fact was producer of it."
Ian
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Subject: Greenwich-Barry Questions
Received: 03/31/99 12:42 am
From: Scott Bauman, ScottBauXXXXXXXX.msn.com
To: Spectropop List, spectroXXXXXXXXties.com
I'd like to draw upon your collective wisdom, if I may.
Recently, I received a CD-R of recordings of numerous
Greenwich-Barry compositions. Although many of the
recordings appear on "The Red Bird Story" boxset, there
are several songs and recordings that I had never heard (
or even heard of) before. Does anyone know anything about
the following recordings (i.e., Who are Tony Pass, Beverly
Jones and Mike Berry? Were the Neil Diamond and Otis
Redding tracks commercially released?)?
1. It's So Strange (The Way Love Works) -- Neil Diamond
2. How Fine Can One Guy Be -- The Dixie Cups
3. Nobody But You -- The Tokens
4. Spring Fever -- Tony Pass
5. True True Love -- Tony Pass
6. The Swim -- The Butterflies
7. Wait Till My Bobby Gets Home -- Beverly Jones
8. That's All I Ever Want From You Baby -- Mike Berry
9. I Got To Go Back (And Watch That Little Girl Dance) -- Otis Redding
10. Da Doo Ron Ron -- Andrew Oldham Orchestra (with Mick Jagger)
-- Scott
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Subject: Mally or Tammy?
Received: 03/31/99 12:42 am
From: Francesc Sole, fsXXXXXXXXes
To: Spectropop, spectroXXXXXXXXties.com
Hi friends,
I'm sorry if this has been answered before, but I was
listening to Here Come The Girls Vol. 6 on Sequel, and I
think I spotted a mistake in the liners OR in the track
listing on the back inlay... The mistake is between songs
# 2 and 3. Who is who? Can anyone shed some light?
The liners go like this:
"As far as we know, there are no such rockist credentials
for Hornchurch born Tammy St. John (real name Judith
Coster). Au contraire, her big sister Janet was an opera
singer! We wonder what Janet thought of Tammy's
catchy-as-hell- I'm Tired Just Looking At You"
"Talking of big sisters, Mally (Melinda) Page's elder
sibling was none other than Jackie Trent, Pye staff
producer Tony 'The Hatchet' Hatch's better half. Life And
Soul Of The Party (better known as Pet Clark album track)
was the flip of Mally's only solo 45 recorded with the
pre-Abba-esque group the Two Of Each."
But on the track listing on the back inlay, we see:
2. I'm Tired Just Looking At You - Mally Page
3. Life And Soul Of The Party - Tammy St. John.
So, what's right?
thanks!
Francesc
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Subject: Sax Players
Received: 03/31/99 12:41 am
From: Warren Cosford, raXXXXXXXXNet
To: Spectropop, SpectroXXXXXXXXties.com
Hi Folks:
CLAUDIA CUNNINGHAM wrote....
>I would have to say that my own opinion for top sax
>players would include Boots Randolph who's in a league of
>his own, Paul Desmond of the Dave Brubeck Quartet and
>let's not forget - for honorable mention - Autry DeWalt,
>Jr., otherwise known as Junior Walker (of the Allstars),
>the Motown tenor sax player who had the legendary "Shotgun"
>superhit and "What Does It Take (to Win Your Love)" and
>"Do the Boomerang" on the charts, to name a few.
Following my first Bruce Springsteen concert in the late
70's I was invited to a party thrown by the record company.
I struck up a conversation with Bruce's sax player
Clarence Clemons....by saying "Love your style, it reminds
me a little of Daddy G." Clarence got this big smile on his
face, grabbed me by the shoulder and said "Daddy G was my
hero".
Of course, I'd figured as much. Daddy G was the sax player
on those wonderful Gary US Bonds records. Check out "Havin'
So Much Fun", the flip (I think) of "Twist, Twist Senora"
and also on the "Best of" LP. Also noteworthy for me was
George Kazakas on the early Jack Scott records and, of
course, whoever played the solo on Duane Eddy's "Rebel
Rouser". Then, there was Johnny Paris of Johnny and The
Hurricanes....but those records don't hold up quite as
well for me.
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Subject: Sax Players / HCTG 8
Received: 03/31/99 12:41 am
From: Jamie LePage, le_page_XXXXXXXXties.com
To: Spectropop, SpectroXXXXXXXXties.com
I don't want to get in the middle of a debate on who is
the best rock saxophonist, but, since the subject has
come up...
I just gotta chime in with a big, big endorsement of
Teenage Steve Douglas. His signature solos adorn so many
of the LA singles of the mid-sixties that he certainly
deserves a mention here even though other sax players may
have been funkier, or had more success as "artists". Steve
Douglas may not be a household name, but he is so
closely linked with Spector, the Beach Boys, Jan & Dean,
etc. that his sound defines rock and roll sax for many who
are familiar with this era of music. Other sax players
should aspire to reach the level of his achievements.
---
Much of what I listen to is influenced by what we talk
about here on Spectropop, and recent on-list discussion
about Brit Girls has prompted me to dig out the HCTG
series CDs. A couple of comments on HCTG 8:
Having simply put the CD on without paying much attention,
I was struck at the opening track, Pet Clark's "Fancy
Dancin' Man". I listened assuming this was a Tony Hatch/UK
production, and I noticed how similar the "sound" was
to mid-period Spector. First, the picked bass sounded just
like Carol Kaye. I noticed the drum fills had similar feel
to many of Brian Wilson and Phil Spector records a la Hal
Blaine. Then, the droning left hand keyboards and the
strings sounded so much like Nitzsche and Gold Star. Later,
I was reading the liners only to discover it WAS Nitzsche
(and undoubtedly Kaye and Blaine) on this LA recording.
Wow!
Another track that is simply delightful is Val McKenna's
cover of Patty & the Emblems' "Mixed Up, Shook-Up Girl".
The photo of her on the sheet music printed in the booklet
is really fab, and I dare say I prefer her treatment of the
song to the original. By the way, Will Stos, there is a
cover of Home of the Brave (Mann/Weil) by Peanut on HCTG
8, although in the case of this song, I think Bonnie & the
Treasures win hands down over Peanut (and Jody Miller).
The only two Bonnie sides I know of are this and Close
Your Eyes, both of which I still contend are Philles
masters produced by Phil although credited to Riopell and,
in the case of Close Your Eyes, released on a non-Spector
label. I keep waiting for someone to blow a hole in my
theory...
Anyway, both of these Bonnie tracks are absolutely
brilliant examples of great songwriting, with skilled
arrangements, and executed in classic style for the genre;
perfect girl group records.
Jamie
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Subject: BOUNCE spectroXXXXXXXXties.com: Non-member submi
Received: 03/31/99 12:41 am
To: Spectropop List, spectroXXXXXXXXties.com
========= Start of forwarded message =========
For educational and research purposes only, to follow is
a news story.
Buddy Holly's Widow Says Suing MCA Last Resort
03:00 a.m. Mar 26, 1999 Eastern by Marcus Kabel
DALLAS (Reuters) - Buddy Holly's widow urged MCA Records
for decades to raise royalty payments from her husband's
pioneering rock songs before resorting to a lawsuit this
month seeking millions for alleged underpayment.
Maria Elena Holly and her lawyer told a news conference
Wednesday she was stonewalled by the record company for
most of the 40 years since Holly died in a 1959 plane
crash at age 22.
Mrs. Holly joined the rock pioneer's sister and two
brothers in filing the suit last week in Holly's hometown
of Lubbock, Texas. MCA Records is a unit of Universal
Music Group, which owned by Seagram Co Ltd.
"I have never given up, I have always had different
lawyers approaching MCA... This is like David and Goliath.
MCA laughs in everybody's face," said Mrs. Holly, now in
her late 50s.
"They knew they were doing the wrong thing the whole time,"
she said.
Holly recorded for just two years but was a major
influence in history of rock, especially on Bob Dylan and
the Beatles. Songs such as "Rave On" and "That'll Be the
Day" are still recorded with regularity and Dylan closed
his shows during his latest U.S. tour with Holly's "Not
Fade Away."
The lawsuit alleges that MCA underpaid royalties, used
invalid or faked contracts from the 1950s, sold music
without legal authority and failed to pay after reaching a
negotiated settlement with the Holly survivors in January
1996.
Universal Music Group has declined to comment on the legal
action, saying it does not discuss pending suits in public.
Mrs. Holly said MCA has continued paying the Holly
survivors royalties at just 3 percent, far below today's
rates.
She said she asked MCA again and again to see the
contracts it based its music rights on and has sought an
accounting of where the company got material unreleased
while Holly was alive and supposedly stored with Holly's
parents.
"She was stonewalled and lied to again and again and
meanwhile things were happening and she couldn't keep up
with them, " said her attorney, Kevin Glasheen.
Holly and his band the Crickets had a No. 1 hit with
"That'll Be the Day" in 1957 and made the charts with
"Peggy Sue," " Oh Boy," "Maybe Baby" and several others
that year.
He toured England in 1958 and moved from Texas to New York
in 1958, where he married Maria Elena. He died Feb. 3, 1959,
in Clear Lake, Iowa, while on tour.
He was one of the first inductees into the Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame and has been the subject of movies and plays.
Glasheen said the lawsuit includes allegations that MCA
sold recordings that a fired manager borrowed from Holly's
parents after the singer's death and made unauthorized
copies of.
The collection of material was then sold over the years by
ex-manager Norman Petty to MCA, which released the music
without a legal basis, the lawsuit contends.
After Petty's death in 1984, an agent from MCA obtained
still more recordings from his estate, according to the
suit.
Glasheen charged MCA is unable to provide an accounting of
how it calculated royalties and whether it paid royalties
for all the music obtained through Petty.
"They ultimately sent us a contract that had the signature
part torn off. We asked them what happened and they said,
well, some autograph seeker came into our files and took
the signature," Glasheen said.
Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
========== End of forwarded message ==========
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