SAMMY WALKER: Ochs Protege, Dylan Soundalike

Returning to the Illfolks reason for blogging in the first place - giving some attention to unusual folkies - we pay tribute to Sammy Walker. When Phil Ochs heard Sammy perform on Bob Fass's WBAI late night radio show, he instantly vowed to produce a record for him. That Walker was a "Dylan sound-alike" had all kinds of implications.

Following the Ochs-produced "Song For Patty" (with Hearst on the cover), Sammy was able to move from Broadside to Warners for a two-disc deal. By the second, Sammy was singing a farewell to the late Phil Ochs (on the song "Legends')...and his own major label career was at an end. He has surfaced now and then for indie releases.

Your sample comes from "Sammy Walker" his first Warners album, and his best release. The Illfolks choice is naturally the morbid "My Old Friend." The rest of the album isn't quite so emotionally rending (stand-outs being "Catcher in the Rye" and "Decoration on the Wall.")

The song is either about one woman who went through three horrid stages of life, or a trilogy; a look at three people in hellish misery:

"The rain was cold in Cedartown, the street lights hurt my eyes. The shoes were wore out on my feet, the air was stiff with lies. Not a thousand lords or prophets know the pain that's filled my head, a message come from Utah sayin' my long lost son was dead..."
The second story opens this way: "My husband left me years ago, the children they're all grown, and scars from the fire won't ever leave me alone...."
The third misery: "When I had to fight I fought, and when I had to die I died. And when I had to live without my legs oh heaven knows I tried. But what's the use, who really cares? Please tell me who's to blame. We always seem so different even though we're all the same."

The song seems be about three different people, since one person couldn't absorb so much pain, and in the first verse the singer has shoes, but in the last verse has no legs at all. Otherwise, it's one pretty star-crossed woman singing about three different stages of her life.

Each refrain is the same "...so I turn to you, old friend...with your dark and valiant magic, all the heartaches that you mend."

Just what that "dark and valiant magic" might be, who knows. Are we talkin' about a real friend? Jesus? Or is Death the old friend, come to take away the pain? Could each stanza's misery refer to a different "friend" who got the person through? No wonder Sammy was considered another Dylan...his lyrics here are slightly elusive and ambiguous.

People often ask, "Imagine what Sammy's friend and mentor Phil Ochs would be singing about if he were alive today..." Maybe the melting ice caps and the world foolishly looking to God for help rather than helping themselves. That's Sammy Walker's subject matter on "If Jesus Don't Show," on "Misfit Scarecrow," an album released last year...a rare re-emergence for this enigmatic artist.

The track sounds like a demo, with the piano a little more prominent than the vocal, but indie artists can not afford a lot of studio time or back-up musicians. If this song was more lushly arranged and better produced, and sung by Springsteen or Mellencamp, "If Jesus Don't Show" would be known around the world. Instead, here it is, on the Illfolks blog.

Remarkably, all of Mr. Walker's music is still in print, either on CD or via download on such sites as lala.com. Artists do not get to record if nobody supports them, and they aren't as likely to write new songs without encouragement. That probably explains the gaps between Walker's releases.

The comparison of Sammy Walker to Dylan can be heard in both tracks. Like Bob, Sammy started out spry and passionate, and is now often gruff and prone to dark meditation.
MY OLD FRIEND
IF JESUS DON'T SHOW
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KENNY RANKIN (1940-2009) Here's That Rainy Day

Kenny Rankin swooped the planet two days ago, June 7, 2009. He was 69. He had been diagnosed with lung cancer three weeks ago. Far from retired, he had a concert scheduled for September 20, 2009 in Norfolk, CT at a venue called Infinity Hall.
As an artist, Rankin was adept at appealing to all types of music fans. He was George Carlin's opening act for years, and Johnny Carson wrote the liner notes for Kenny's 1967 debut album "Mind Dusters." Rankin covered folk, jazz and smooth rock in the early 70's and just as easily put out an album of standards ("The Kenny Rankin Album") in 1976 with Don Costa conducting a full orchestra. He was not only a talented singer and guitarist, he wrote some classic songs. "In the Name of Love" was covered by Peggy Lee and "Haven't We Met" was memorably recorded by Carmen McRae.
Kenny also covered songs so well that he earned praise from the original composers. On his fifth album, "Silver Morning" (1975) he offered an elegant jazz-folk rendition of "Blackbird." It was so memorable that a dozen years later, Paul McCartney asked him to perform it as part of a medley at a Songwriters Hall Of Fame ceremony honoring the works of Lennon-McCartney.
"Blackbird" is a song open to many interpretations. A favorite, is the concept of resurrection and rebirth...sunken eyes once again able to see, and broken wings once again able to fly. It is quite a fitting song, in contemplating a good man and the rewards of an afterlife.
And so is "Here's That Rainy Day," which was, oddly enough, a favorite of melancholy comedian Spike Milligan and talk show host Johnny Carson. The lyric speaks in a way of that day of reckoning...when the sunshine is just a memory.
Rankin's inspiration for a musical career did, after all, have its roots in a religious moment. He recalled, ""I was in the fourth grade and sang 'O Holy Night' in a Christmas play. My teacher, Miss Isabel Pringle, came over to me and patted me on the head and said 'Kenneth, that was lovely.' She set me on the path in music..."

KENNY RANKIN - Here's That Rainy Day
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PROCOL HARUM IN HELL

September 14, 2001 concert at the Hell Blues Festival, Norway.

Only one guy remains from the original 1967 band. Singer/pianist Gary Brooker and organist Matthew Fisher split over legal dispute concerning Fisher's uncredited contribution of the famous organ solo that opens "Whiter Shade of Pale." As of this writing, Matthew's won a victory - his name is now officially on the credits. But Brooker's also won a victory - he doesn't have to split past royalties. The latter part is on appeal, with Fisher asking for royalties going back at least since the case was brought to trial, and also asking that court costs be paid by Brooker.

Without Fisher, and with an increasingly older lead singer not always in the best of voice, Procol's found fewer and fewer gigs over the years, mostly doing a few summer nights in the dark countries...Denmark, Norway or Germany. Below is a vintage concert from Norway back when it was just a pit-stop on a longer tour of Europe, and Fisher was still across the stage on his Hammond.

Procol's muscular rock music was in contrast to the ill lyrics of Keith Reid, whose Dylan-influenced words self-admittedly "wallowed in a morass" that darkly verged on pretentiousness. Their few chart hits involved a woman turning from ghostly to a "A Whiter shade of Pale" (dead) and the grim philosophizing over the corpse of a "Conquistador." Focused on destruction, torment and painful self-consciousness with mere glimpses toward nirvana, Procol's hardest rocking songs bubble in a cauldron of bile ("Piggy Pig Pig" and "Bringing Home the Bacon") and are steaming with wretched excess ("Whiskey Train") or angry angst ("Typewriter Torment"). Their prettiest songs tend to be eerie ("Salty Dog"), decadent ("Grand Hotel") or filled with semi-disguised put-downs ("Homburg"). There's not a song in this set that does not have an undercurrent of pessimism, anger or despair.

Any band critically praised for a blend of classical music, eclectic lyrics and R&B blues is bound to suffer, especially one with an intellectual name (Latin for "Beyond these Things") so Procol Harum remains beyond fame, often written off as a one-hit (or two-hit, counting "Conquistador") wonder. Concert Note: This is one of those times when The Commodore chooses to sing the "extra verse" omitted from the original "A Whiter Shade of Pale." Morbid Note: the band pronounces its last name "Horrum," closer to horror than a harem.

Procol Harum Live Concert? Go to...
OH, it's HELL, Folks!

SNOOPY & THE RED BARON - IN ITALIAN

Two reasons to be amused by "Snoopy vs the Red Baron" sung in Italian. First, that it's sung in Italian. Second, that Giorgio Gaber tosses in a fragment of "Hang On Sloopy," (which so many thought was "Hang On Snoopy" when it first crackled through bad transistor radios years ago).

Gaber (January 25, 1939-January 1, 2003) was a frolicsome fellow who gained some fame back in 1958 with a novelty tune that translates as "Don't Hog the Telephone."

He went on to appear at the San Remo Festival several times with straight songs, before returning to the novelty genre with what is technically titled, "Snoopy Contro Il Barone Rosso." A few years later he had his biggest success in Italy in 1969 with another serious tune, "How Beautiful the City Is."

The "Bloody Red Baron" Manfred Richtofen earned his nickname by downing at least three dozen planes. In 1916 he shot down his British rival Major Lanoe Hawker, and the following year was awarded "The Blue Max" for his deadly accuracy. In April of 1917, he went on a rampage, and in less than 30 days was credited with knocking 22 airmen out of the skies.

One Brit, Captain Donald Cunnell, nearly killed The Red Baron, but Richthofen managed to land his plane despite a severe head wound that grounded him for a while, leaving him battling severe headaches and nausea. During his recuperation he published his autobiography, which naturally made himself out to be even greater than he was.

He piloted an awesome Fokker (no cheap jokes, please) but, true to Snoopy's fantasies, was downed by an ace flying the unlikely-named Sopwith Camel. Almost exactly a year after his bloody success in April of 1917, The Red Baron met his end. On the morning of April 21, 1918, he was chasing down a Canadian pilot, Lieutenant "Wop" May when another plane, piloted by another Canadian, Captain Arthur Brown, came to the rescue. Richthofen was shot in the chest, but managed to safely land his plane...in enemy territory. Most reports said he died only minutes after landing. One soldier at the scene claimed The Red Baron gasped out one last word: "Kaput!"

In 1966, "Snoopy vs The Red Baron" became a Top Ten novelty single, focusing on the heroic beagle's imagined Sopwith Camel victory over that German Fokker. The single was such a hit, an entire album was quickly thrown together, and it too reached the Top Ten in January of 1967. Giorgio Gaber's Italian version arrived soon after, adding a bit of "Hang On Sloopy" (if you're keeping score, that tune by The McCoys was a Top 10 in 1965).
SNOOPY VS THE RED BARON, IN ITALIAN. Instant listen on line, or via download. No waiting time. No pop-ups.

Big Band Medley: Beatles, Searchers & Clark

Swing it! Squalkin' trumpets, bouncin' 'bones, twangy guitar, chuggin' drums...it's time for three Big Band treatments of Liverpool and Mersey faves!
Your RS download gets you all three tracks:
"Can't Buy Me Love...Needles and Pins...Glad All Over."
Back in the mid-60's, one of the comical ways in which the "British Invasion" music was accepted, was via a mainstream cover version. Like: "Really, this mop-top music isn't bad, it has some nice melodies, if only that bad singing didn't get in the way."
Not far from the rack containing Keely Smith's album of Lennon-McCartney covers (a sample is on this blog), was Buddy Morrow's "Beatlemania: The Big Hits of 1964." Which included covers of The Dave Clark Five and others.
Buddy Morrow now 90 [update...he's died since this posting], was a trombone player and band leader who had a powerful interest in the more splashy side of jazz. One of his notable instrumental hits was a version of "Night Train," and one of his best albums was "Impact," his bold collection of TV Themes, including a fierce take on "M Squad," the Count Basie classic. Along with Al Caiola, Doc Severinsen and others, Morrow's exciting work has managed to survive a period of neglect to be respected once again for cool charts performed with hot chops. There's some rockin' stuff buried in the "Big Band" part of the local record store.
Which isn't to say that Big Band is the perfect setting for "Beatlemania" songs...but you'll still have some fun with these. Pretty cool guy, Buddy Morrow...or as he was known in the old neighborhood...Moe Zudekoff
Here's a medley of "Glad All Over" and "I Saw Her Standing There."
Update: Nov, 2011. Rapidshare's annoying "30 days without a download kills it" policy killed the original links. They are back via a better company.
BIG BAND BEATLEMANIA
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JIM CROCE - The Ballad of Gunga Din

Rudyard Kipling has been banished to the tomb of the Politically Incorrect. After all, how many people are named "Rudyard" anymore?
Kipling was the first Brit to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature, but that fact seems forgotten now.
The modern British, overrun by immigrants willing to blow themselves up for Allah, know that "the white man's burden" is among them, but they dare not say it out loud. It's as if they're guilty over bring civilization to heathen areas of the Far East and Africa, and must make amends by destroying their own culture, and watch churches convert to mosques and tourists disappear because the Fish & Chip shops are no longer run by authentic Brits.
Kipling is perceived as just an embarrassing example of white people not leaving the coloreds alone. Although minorities are generally the first to start shouting that they need aid from a richer, more industrial country. Or else.
Rudyard wrote very English (usually filled with dialect) poems about common soldiers. "Tommy Atkins" is one of the best. The soldiers were also portrayed as human, and lusty ("On the Road to Mandalay" is the place to be for interracial sex). He praised the guts and skills of the opposing soldiers ("Fuzzy Wuzzy") and in 1892 used racism in "Gunga Din" the same way Charles Dickens used misanthropy in "A Chrismtas Carol," which was to set the stage for humility: "...'you're a better man than I am, Gunga Din."
All we hear now is "how dare Kipling write about other races...what a racist!" But wasn't he, in some ways, the Randy Newman of his day? Randy Newman is a smug white guy who knows he's a lot smarter than the common ethnics. Yet critics fall over themselves praising him for lyrics that often simply tell a story without judgment. "Louisiana 1927" calls poor crackers "poor crackers," "Half a Man" is about a man disgusted by his own homosexuality, and "Rednecks" doesn't exactly say anything bad about the racist Lester Maddox. "Gunga Din" written in 1892 is in many ways quite similar to a Randy Newman lyric, where the narrator is real, human, and flawed.
As for the 1939 film, this classic is almost never shown, perhaps because it was played in brown-face by a Jewish actor named Sam Jaffe. Forget that he was courageous, and "a better man" than the whites (which was the point of the story), or that the character is not any worse a stereotype than what you've been enjoying on hip late night talk shows: Jimmy Kimmel's ugly dumb Guillermo, Letterman's excitable Mujibur and Sirajul, or Leno's effeminate Ross the Intern.
The 1939 movie is especially timely in 2009, since the plot involves a religious death cult. "Kill for the love of KILLING," was the cry (from Eduardo Cianelli, an Italian in brown-face.) It seems no TV station would want to enrage any of the lethal suicide bombers from India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Afghanistan, who kill for the love of KILLING, and kill because their religious leaders tell them so.
In the 70's, at the same time John Lennon was offering "Woman is the Nigger of the World," Jim Croce decided to champion the noble "heathen" named "Gunga Din," and put that poem to music. Unable to perform in British dialect, Jim's version is slightly wan, but at least he made the attempt. It's also rather softly sung (no din in this Gunga). If Jim Croce, a minority group member himself, didn't find "Gunga Din" offensive, maybe it's time to go back and appreciate some Kipling. (It beats Twittering.)
"Gunga Din" is one of the great story poems of all time, and Kipling wrote some great things. Not too many would agree, and...that's why you're reading this at the Illfolks blog!
GUNGA DIN via RS

ALAN BOWN not Andy Bown or Andy Brown

The Illfolks coverage of ANDY Bown drew over one thousand fans of ALAN Bown asking, "What about a plug for our beloved and equally obscure ALAN?"
Would you believe one hundred?
How about one comment from some guy named Milligan complaining, "Wasn't Andy a well known typing error, and didn't you mean Alan, you swine?"
To make up for any disappointment, real or imagined, here's another dollar bin denizen who never quite got the attention he deserved.
In the USA, whether it was Andy Bown or Alan Bown, nobody was exactly bown away with the music, and radio stations weren't exactly bown' in the wind.
Alan was a trumpet player who first blew people away as a member of the John Barry Seven (yes, the guy who wrote all the James Bond themes). After that group broke up in 1964, Alan's jazz leanings led him to name his own outfit The Alan Bown Set, and as a touring band got a deal to co-release a live album with Jimmy James. Each got one side. The band scattered a half-dozen singles before breaking up.
In 1967 Alan went with the more commercial "psych" and Cream-blooze sound of the day, and the name was shortened to the hipper The Alan Bown! (that's what was happenin' baby!). Sadly, all kinds of problems beset the band, from line-up changes (let's confuse matters and have a lead vocalist named Andy Brown) to indifferent record labels, to bizarre twists of fate (like a strike at the record factory just when he was getting hot via "Top of the Pops" broadcasts).
And so by 1972, Alan decided to shift behind the scenes in the music biz, and leave the spotlight and the headaches to someone else...Like, maybe, Andy Bown, who was gaining attention with solo work, at least before he too decided to seek safety in numbers, and become a member of the Status Quo.
Three phases of Alan Bown via the early album of live tracks and singles, and two albums from the Psych era:

Early Alan Bown: Emergency 666 singles & LIVE

LISTEN

Alan Bown '69

THE PRISONER - Number Six Mix

"The Prisoner" is being updated, sans Patrick McGoohan and Portmeirion. Chances are that when this new version appears, it will stink like a skunk and sink like a stone. (Remember those movie versions of "Honeymooners," "Bewitched," "Flintstones" and "The Avengers?")
As for "modernizing" the actual Prisoner theme song...that was done in 1997. "Number Six Mix" takes fragments of the original Ron Grainer theme song, and adds an entirely fresh melody as sung by Margeaux Lampley:
"Each day they try anew to make him understand/ A certain situation;
You're a number not a man.
He's nuked the civil service, given notice that he's through/ So they take him to that Village. Gonna give him what he's due.
Number Two wants information,wants to know who's side he's on/ But he never yields to passion, never gives them what they want.
He's Number Six. Not a number but a free man with a spirit of his own. Number Six!"
This jazz-dance concoction inspired by "The Prisoner" series isn't Dr. Dre or Dr. No (that would be Dre-no), so it exists on its own as a valid if not necessary musical curio.
Your opinion is your own. And no, you will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, de-briefed or otherwise pestered into leaving a comment.
Just download...Bang Bang's "Number Six Mix" which appeared on "Serialement Votre" in 1997.
THE PRISONER NUMBER SIX MIX

JACK LAWRENCE from LINDA to BEYOND THE SEA

Best known as a lyricist, Jack Lawrence put words into the mouths of Billie Holiday, Fats Waller, Ella Fitzerald and hundreds more. Even Buddy Hackett.
While most active in the 40's and 50's with big band tunes and swingin' classics, many of his songs are known to rock fans. Fats Domino and Bobby Darin had hits with his tunes, and most everyone knows "Linda." Jack couldn't decide which girl's name to use...until he saw a girl named Linda Eastman, daughter of a friend. Yes, guys were singing about her a decade before she married Paul McCartney.
Sometimes savvy Jack discovered a foreign melody that had hit potential. One French tune that was Americanized to the top of the charts: "Beyond the Sea." OK, still better as an instrumental is "Poor People of Paris," but the words were strong enough to interest Dean Martin.
One thing Jack didn't do was write sound effects. A police siren turns up at the end of Eydie Gorme's version of his "Yes My Darling Daughter." I sent him a copy, as he hadn't heard it. No, he couldn't figure out what they were trying to infer by using that siren, either. (Type the title into the search feature...you'll find a post on Gorme's version elsewhere on the blog). That one, "Linda" and "If I Didn't Care" are all examples of Jack writing both the lyrics and music.
Born Jack Lawrence Schwartz, he was originally planning on being a podiatrist, but the same year he graduated from The First Institute of Podiatry, 1932, he had bucks coming in for his first hit song, "Play, Fiddle, Play." Thanks to healthy royalties, he could avoid unhealthy feet and keep devoting his energy to more songs. One of his first hit "classics" came when a Walter Gross melody inspired him to add lyrics. The result was "Tenderly."
Jack rarely strayed from the pop song formula, but he did join Stan Freeman to write the music for Broadway's "I Had a Ball." It's represented here by "Addie's At It Again," the sexpot highlight for gorgeous Luba Lisa (she died in a plane crash a few years later) and by "Dr. Freud," a patter song for the show's star, Buddy Hackett.
You can read more about Jack at jacklawrencesongwriter.com (not jacklawrence.com; as is sometimes the case, often an asshole or a nobody with the same name takes the dot com address first). You can even buy CDs and books there.
Jack passed away a few weeks ago after a fall in his home. When you're 96, that type of thing can get the best of you. Whether the fall led to renal failure, or renal failure caused the fall...seems the coroner just listed both as causes for his demise. The New York Times' obit mentioned that "in 1979, Mr. Lawrence adopted his partner, Richard Debnam; he is Mr. Lawrence’s only survivor."
Below, some of his best-remembered songs:


1. YES, MY DARLING DAUGHTER Glenn Miller Orchestra with Marion Hutton
2. WITH THE WIND AND RAIN IN YOUR HAIR: Kay Kyser Orchestra and Ginny Sims
3. WHAT'S YOUR STORY, MORNING GLORY? Anita O'Day with Russ Garcia's Orchestra
4. LINDA Buddy Clarke with Ray Noble's Orchestra
5. WHAT WILL I TELL MY HEART? Fats Domino
6. ALL OR NOTHING AT ALL Old Blue Eyes with Harry James and his Orchestra
7. IF I DIDN'T CARE The Ink Spots
8. SUNRISE SERENADE Connee Boswell
9. BIG BOY BLUE Ella Fitzgerald / Mills Brothers
10. HOLD MY HAND Fats Waller
11. DO ME A FAVOR Fats Waller
12. ADDIE'S AT IT AGAIN Luba Lisa
13. DR. FREUD Buddy Hackett
14. POOR PEOPLE OF PARIS Dean Martin
15. BEYOND THE SEA Bobby Darin
16. THE OTHER HALF OF ME Bobby Darin
17. IT'S FUNNY TO EVERYONE BUT ME The Ink Spots
18. CIRIBIRIBIN Ray Eberle with Glenn Miller Orchestra
19. VAGABOND DREAMS Ella Fitzgerald
20. A HANDFUL OF STARS Nat King Cole Trio
21. SYMPHONY Freddy Martin
22. FOOLIN' MYSELF Teddy Wilson and his Orchestra with Billie Holiday
23. TENDERLY Patti Page
24. YES MY DARLING DAUGHTER Adelaide Hall

If you want more background on each song, you might find it on Jack's website. For more on "Linda," the song inspired by Linda McCartney:
http://www.jacklawrencesongwriter.com/songs/linda.html
And here's a fun look at the business end of songwriting, and how his "Yes My Darling Daughter" sat around, unwanted, and how a twist of fate (Dinah Shore singing a demo) turned the tune into a sudden hit...thanks to Jack standing up for himself and forcing his publisher to give him the song back:
http://www.jacklawrencesongwriter.com/songs/yes_my_darling_daughter.html
This double dozen collection...
TRIBUTE TO JACK LAWRENCE

Susannah McCorkle - Anti-Suicide Song from a Suicide

Your download, a cheery cheeky smooth calypso "I Don't Think I'll End It All Today." But...
On May 19, 2001, Susannah McCorkle jumped from 16C, the top floor of her Manhattan apartment.
Among the things that can keep an artist alive, is being wanted. Her record label, Concord Jazz, didn't want her anymore. The market for indie jazz was, and is, a tough one, and a few thousand sales can make the difference between renewal or release.
Even without digital sales, we're told artists can make a living off live performances.
McCorkle's biggest source of revenue for over 10 years was her season at the Algonquin Hotel, but they informed her that she wasn't welcome there anymore, as there were now many other hungry artists, a bit more famous or younger, or with new CDs to promote, to fill her spot.
These things happened shortly before her death. She had tried other means of staying in the music world, and her website mentioned how she conducted musical workshops for children, and that she was available for bookings at private parties. Does that sound glamorous to you? Or lucrative?
Susannah often talked about suicide, and in your download she even sings about it. Typical of "dark humor" in cabaret, "I Don't Think I'll End It All Today" describes "so many sweet things still on my list. So many sweet lips still to be kissed. So many sweet dreams still to unfold. So many sweet lies still to be told!"
And so, "Away with the river, away with the razor, away with the pearly gates, away with barbiturates, away with the Seconal, the fall from the building tall..."
The fall from the building tall.
The chronicle of Susannah McCorkle's life and the depression that she could not shake, even by recording a light-hearted anti-suicide song, can be found in "Haunted Heart," the biography written by Linda Dahl.
Let's back up and remember Susannah McCorkle ((January 4, 1946–May 19 2001) in her prime, when she had recordings to make, concerts to give, and was able to keep her demons at bay. Here's what Stephen Holden in the New York Times said in a review of her show, June of 1998:
"(Her) sweet, smoky voice and insinuating delivery suggest Billie Holiday filtered through Julie London by way of Lee Wiley," and in covering Gershwin and Jobim, she "finds a common strain of erotic longing in both songwriters...grounding her interpretations is a sexiness that veils everything in a light mist."
Her own take: "I was once called by People magazine a 'bruised romantic.' It's a great description of me."
Susannah had a tremendous love of music and composers, and in surfing the Internet, she favored sites that shared the love. If you go over to JohnnyMercer.com, you can still see her comment in the guest book:
Name:Susannah McCorkle
Email:smccoffice@aol.com
Date: Tuesday, March 23, 1999 at 22:36:43
Congratulations on a wonderful website! It's clear that this is a real labor of love, and I'm sure I speak for many people when I tell you how much it is appreciated. I wish every great songwriter could have someone as devoted as you designing and maintaining a website...Thank you for helping to keep these marvelous songs alive, and for helping those of us who perform them to have access to information and songs it might take weeks to find without your help. Verrrrrrrrrrrrrrry sincerely yours, Susannah McCorkle
The "office" you see in Susannah McCorkle's e-mail address (smccoffice) was also her home address, a common practice for any struggling musician. With travel and hotel costs eating away at the income from live shows, and flattened music sales, a surprising number of seemingly popular artists are struggling. The downside when the office is the home, is that people can call any time. Even more of a downside is when they don't.
Maybe she could've booked herself into one-night gigs, staying in crappy lonely hotels, negotiating every concert date, making sure the locations matched up so she wouldn't be zig-zagging across country. After a show, she could sit, alone and humiliated, at a table selling autographed CDs or t-shirts after each gig instead of resting or celebrating the show by visiting with backstage friends and then going out. Oh yes, and the woman would've had to look after her wardrobe and luggage and spend hours booking costly flights...jobs an agent or manager would only do for a chunk of the profits.
No, her next flight was 16 stories down. The woman's depression had become too exruciating, the rewards too few. The answer might've been "Get a day job, like the rest of us, and give up your dream of being a professional musician." She gave up entirely. She was 55.
SUSANNAH MCCORKLE

Theme from CHECKMATE (Johnny Williams)

John Williams has won 5 Academy Awards for his movie soundtracks. His film scores include "Jaws," "Star Wars," "Raiders of the Lost Ark," "E.T. The Extra Terrestrial," Hitchcock's "Family Plot," "Towering Inferno," "Superman," "Schindler's List" and "Saving Private Ryan."
Back in the 60's when he was called "Johnny Williams," he was known for his TV themes. His trademark was throbbing brass, tense percussion and stop-start cadences, which worked especially well for sci-fi shows such as "Lost In Space," "Time Tunnel" and "Land of the Giants."
One of his first successes, in 1960, was the theme for "Checkmate," a crime melodrama starring the wooden Anthony George and his more colorful sidekicks cutie-pie Doug McClure and brainy Sebastian Cabot. This theme owes a bit to his friend Henry Mancini (they worked together on the arrangement for "Peter Gunn") with its prowling bass line.
This illfolks edition gives you the original thirty-second "Checkmate" theme as it was originally broadcast, followed by the obscure fleshed-out jazz version that appeared on the Grammy-nominated soundtrack album (he lost that year, to Henry Mancini). After only two seasons, it was checkmate for "Checkmate." But since in those days a TV series didn't re-run till the summer, those two seasons yielded an impressive total of 71 episodes.
CHECKMATE

The Flip Side for Ted Cassidy: WESLEY

Everybody knows "The Lurch," Ted Cassidy's dance single. It was hollowly growled in his Lurch voice from "The Addams Family." Though the single's now rare and expensive, the song has been anthologized, most recently on the "Hollywood Hi-Fi" CD, which includes obscurities from Jack Larson, Joe E. Ross, Dennis Weaver and Bette Davis.

The single arrived in 1965, produced and written by Gary Paxton, of "Monster Mash" fame. Taking a break from the ooky-spooky, the country flip side, "Wesley" (Scott Turner--Cliffie Stone) utilizes Cassidy's normal speaking voice, and is probably closer to his own preferences in music. After all, Cassidy (July 31, 1932 - January 16, 1979) grew up in West Virginia, and started college at West Virginia WESLEYan. He probably enjoyed C&W narration items when he worked as a disc jockey in Dallas (where he interviewed eye-witnesses to the JFK assassination). Probably his most famous film role was in a western; "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid." At memorabilia shows, when fans brought that iconic photo of Butch Cassidy kicking Ted Cassidy...he'd autograph it directly at the crotch area!

"Wesley" offers Ted's narration with honky tonk piano and some back-up singers. I'd say "distracting" back-up singers, but Wesley reminded Ted and now reminds us: "If you can't say something good about someone, don't say nothin' at all."
WESLEY - TED CASSIDY

NICOLA PAONE - Hold Your Horses & Wait For Me

If you've spent any time in the forum and blog world, you've noticed the "sayings" or "slogans" that sum up a person's philosophy of life. Everybody has words to live by. Sometimes a blog's title is a piece of good advice like:

"Ride your pony."
Or
"Never Get Out of the Boat."

In a forum, you might find, at the end of every single post a person makes, his favorite motto, "Mmmmmm, more chocolate!" Or his favorite witticism: "When things smell fishy, it may not be fish necessarily, but simply an old twat"

Seriously. All the above are real. Just ask an old twat sitting on a pony in a boat covered in chocolate.

And so in that spirit of profundity, here's Nicola Paone's most earnest advice: "Hold Your Horses and Wait For Me."

Perhaps he got this from some Persian King who wanted the perfect phrase to say on any occasion. "All Things Must Pass?" Nah, that sounds like a laxative commercial. Stick with "Hold Your Horses and Wait For Me." The song has no other lyrics, just the pithy motto...and Paone on the piffero. Yes, the piffero, a home-made flute carved out of a sugar cane stalk.

The late great Nicola ran a (high priced) Italian restaurant all through his days of churning out ethnic tunes and novelty singles ("The Telephone Song" and "Blah Blah Blah" among them). In addition to the peculiar piffero, and Mr. Paone's words to live by, there's some scat singing that falls somewhere between Spike Milligan suffering from epilepsy after a spaghetti dinner, and Danny Kaye gone berserk on Cresta Blanca.
Hey Wild Bill, Wait for Me!

Theme from RACKET SQUAD - Buddy Morrow

The only match for Raymond Burr's baleful stare came from Reed Hadley. He rarely hit anyone, almost never fired a gun, but boy, could that guy glare.

Soft of voice, mild of manner, gaunt in physique, he got confessions thanks to an unnerving set of peepers.

Here, from memory (I'd go get the "Racket Squad" DVD and look it up?), is his stern lecture often delivered at the end of the show. As Captain Braddock, he declared:

"I'm closing this case now. Or, rather, the courts will. But there'll be others. Because that's the way the world is built. Remember, there are people who can slap you on the back with one hand, and pick your pocket with the other. And it Could happen to You."

The martial theme song is rendered vividly by Buddy Morrow and his Orchestra, as part of his late 50's Living Stereo album, "Impact," a collection of cop and crime TV themes.
RACKET SQUAD

CASS ELLIOT sings RANDY NEWMAN the lost LP

It's not over; the fat lady still sings. The former Ellen Cohen had about 10 years of musical successes in her short life, and more in the nearly 35 years since her death.

And here's her obscure debut on her new label RCA, which was widely ignored in 1972.

In 1963 she was the hefty part of the isoceles triangle that was Cass Elliot, Tim Rose and James Hendricks (her husband from (1963-68). As "The Big 3," they managed to issue two albums before morphing into "Cass Elliot and The Big 3," with the addition of Denny Doherty (among other changes in personnel). When this group broke up after one single, Cass herself went single, ready to take on the world. But Denny never forgot her, and after he formed a trio with John and Michelle Phillips, he invited her to join. The Mamas and The Papas were huge between 1965-1968. In 1968 the first Cass solo album arrived, "Dream A Little Dream Of Me."

She would go on to be a variety show favorite, larger than life opposite an Andy Williams or Ed Sullivan, and though her album sales weren't so great after '68, she was still a favorite on tour, and in 1974 she flew to the London Palladium for a two-week engagement. And that's where she died of a heart attack, not surprising considering her weight. No, there was no choking, no sandwich, no fatty foods anywhere near her. There was just plenty of fat inside her. The official verdict was: "heart failure due to fatty myocardial degeneration due to obesity".

It's not surprising her 1972 "Cass Elliot" album didn't go anywhere. Following two solo albums and a disc with Dave Mason, her RCA debut contained only one familiar recent cover tune to be rendered in her now-predictable pop-nostalgia mode: the overdone "Baby I'm Yours." The rest was fairly forgettable middle-of-the-road pop anybody could've done ("I'll Be There" could've been handed to Connie Francis, "Disney Girls" to Streisand, a string-laden "It's All in the Game" to Julie London). But speckled into the bland mix are two songs by Randy Newman ("I'll Be Home" and "I Think It's Going To Rain Today"), and cult figure Judee Sill's Joni-esque "Jesus Was a Crossmaker."

As a recording artist, Cass was not in a good position. This isn't a knock on her, it's that she was a victim of the times. Sweet pop (ala her defunct "Mamas and the Papas" or "Spanky and Our Gang" and "Harper's Bizarre") was dated, and after the novelty of seeing her croon "Dream a Little Dream of Me" on TV, folks now seemed to want love ballads from a more attractive source. Her lollipop fans couldn't possibly figure out those Randy Newman songs and may have even felt "Jesus was a Crossmaker" was some kind of blasphemy. Meanwhile hipsters aware her past solo albums were somewhat kitchy, couldn't buy stark or intelligent songs coming out of Mama Cass, so they didn't.

Her next album was prophetically titled "The Road Is No Place For A Lady."
MAMA CASS 1972
Update: Nov, 2011. Rapidshare's annoying "30 days without a download kills it" policy killed the original links. "I Think It's Going to Rain Today" is back via a better company.

RAIN TODAY
Download or listen on line. No capcha codes. No porn ads. No percentage going to the blogger for his "hard work." The hard work was done by the artist.

Cover Versions of Folk Songs + TRAVIS EDMONSON

A good song is worth repeating. Again, and again, and again. That's why the girl above is a little bit bugged. She downloaded the illfolks collection of "Boll Weevil" cover versions.
It's surprising how many different ways the same song can be sung. Sometimes it's stupendous. Colossal. Even mediocre.
Just listen to various versions of:
THE BOLL WEEVIL - 7 versions
TEN versions of LILY OF THE WEST
LA BAMBA from Valens, Belle Perez, Chipmunks, Las Lobos
DRILL YE TARRIERS DRILL, and PAT WORKS ON THE RAILWAY
Most links dating back to 2006 are still active. So check through at your leisure. You'll find all kinds of oddities, like a set of songs about Jack the Ripper, ripped for a download:
JACK THE RIPPER
Or even victims of the grim reaper...including a sampling of songs from some of the greats who died in 2008, including: Jimmy Carl Black (Lonesome Cowboy Burt), Jody Reynolds (Endless Sleep), Willoughby Goddard (I Shall Scream...from the original Broadway production of Oliver), Dennis Yost of Classics IV (Spooky, Traces), Rod Allen leader of The Fortunes (You've Got Your Troubles I've Got Mine), Eddy Arnold (Mommy Please Stay Home With Me), Jerry Wallace (You're Singing Our Love Song), Charlie Walker (Honky Tonk Woman, Wild as a Wildcat), Jerry Reed (Smell the Flowers, When You're Hot You're Hot), Davy Graham (Goin' Down Slow, Leavin' Blues), Henri Salvador (La Muralle de Chine), Erik Darling, leader of the Rooftop Singers (Walk Right In), John Stewart (Lost Her in the Sun), Robert Hazard (Blood on My Hands).
DEAD POP STARS OF 2008
And here, still active even in death, songs from artists and songwriters who passed on in 2007:
SONGS BY PEOPLE WHO DIED IN 2007, part one
SONGS BY PEOPLE WHO DIED IN 2007, part two
For more information on what's in these files, just use the search feature at the top of your screen and enter a few words, like BOLL WEEVIL or LA BAMBA...

Travis Edmonson (of BUD AND TRAVIS) died today, May 9th, at 76. Both the exciting stereo version of their "Ballad of the Alamo" and a mono demo version with slightly different vocals, are in this collection of
ALAMO SONGS . It will be easy to remember Travis Edmondson...his solo work, and his legacy with BUD AND TRAVIS will never be forgotten.

KING KONG cartoon cover theme 1966

In 1966, somebody had the bright idea of turning "King Kong" into a nice guy. Or as the theme song puts it, "a friend to man." Just to make it a little creepier, the immense gorilla, "ten times as big as a man," is totally devoted to a little boy. Forget about that scene from the 1933 classic in which Kong peels away Fay Wray's garments and sniffs at them. Now he's into a little boy. What's the kid looking up to? Bollocks!

If you think it couldn't get worse, listen to the theme song, which dutifully covers the show's warped premise. This isn't the original soundtrack version of "King Kong" but a cover by Wade Denning and his Port Washingtons (guys who dress up like George Washington and get bombed on port).

Their version might be better than the cartoon soundtrack. Here, instead of a friendly chorus of moms and dads, tepid percussion and a bit of a flurry from a French horn (trying to be an elephant) we've got a suspiciously enthusiastic bunch of men, a bit of "George of the Jungle" kettle drum, a J. Arthur Rank gong, and the periodic blast of Herb Alpert-styled trumpets working in counterpoint against the trombones. Bones, not boners. Only somebody truly perverse would watch the cartoons again on DVD, with a little boy and his gorilla (one who incidentally has pretty big knockers).
PS, it should be noted that not only is it a bad idea for your boy to have a gorilla for a pet, it is not wise for you, or anyone else, to even have a pet chimp. But you can Google "Charla Nash" for yourself. We'll keep it nostalgic and ridiculous in offering you...
THE KING KONG THEME SONG COVER VERSION

Sandy Becker Theme Song: Afrikaan Beat

Someone asked if it was possible to post the theme song for "The Sandy Becker Show." Pretty easy to do: the kiddie show host used "Afrikaan Beat," and he sometimes promoted it on his show, since it was available as a single, for almost the price a kid might pay for a Duncan Yo-Yo or a Spalding pink rubber ball (yeah, ok, a "Spaldeen" everybody called it).

Becker was a different kind of kiddie host. He was a nice looking guy (a former soap opera actor) and he didn't "talk down" to his audience. He wasn't in costume at all times, like Buffalo Bob or Captain Kangaroo, he fit in somewhere between Dick Van Dyke and John F. Kennedy.

In the course of showing cartoons, exhibiting art work sent in by viewers, or doing a bit of arts and crafts, he sometimes turned up as a "character," the jovial Latino named K. Lastima (translation: What a Pity), the nerdish, Stan Laurel-esque Norton Nork, the bright-eyed and insane Hambone, or the stoic Big Professor. He also had some puppets around, including a strange old geezer named Geeba-Geeba. Mostly, he was beloved for being himself, a father figure for all the kids whose own Dads were away at work. He hosted a daily show for years, and his "Wonderama" program was literally on the air all of Sunday morning, breakfast to lunch! Sonny Fox, another "normal" kiddie host, later took it over.

No surprise that Becker's theme song is not at all zany or childlike. It reflects a different time and a different pace. Instrumental pop tunes are as rare now as intelligent and dignified hosts of kiddie shows. Here's Bert Kaempfert (the guy who brought The Beatles in to back Tony Sheridan on a German recording session, who wrote the music for Frank's "Strangers in the Night" and Al Martino's "Spanish Eyes" and Wayne Newton's "Danke Schoen" (aka Donkey Shit) providing the upbeat music that made kids sit up and smile, knowing Sandy Becker was about to arrive.

Sandy Becker Theme Song: AFRIKAAN BEAT

Happy 80th Birthday to WILL HOLT

Two of Will Holt's most famous songs are in the download below. One of them you'll recognize by title: "Lemon Tree." The other, "One of those Songs," you might remember if you hear the complete opening line and imagine Jimmy Durante singing it: "It's just one of those songs that you hear now and then..."
Will Holt hits his 80th birthday today, April 29th. Naturally, the illfolks blog salutes him for more devious achievements...being the first one to record "The M.T.A. Song" (which led to the Kingston Trio cover version), performing his Kurt Weill cabaret act with Martha Schlamme (an album was released) and teaming with Dolly Jonah for the aptly titled album "On the Brink," featuring the brilliant Weill-inspired mini-musical "The Rise and Fall of the City of Movieville." Hopefully more on all of that, some time in the future. (Parenthetical mention should be made that Holt may be better known in the Broadway world for "The Me Nobody Knows.")
Holt did record "Lemon Tree" but he was a fairly stiff performer. He put out a pair of albums for Stinson, and one album of folk and Weill for Elektra, but his lack of warmth chilled interest in him. His mainstream songs worked best when covered by sloppy, friendly types like Jimmy Durante and Trini Lopez. Durante's version of "One of Those Songs" is easy to find, so the illfolks choice is Brenda Lee. The Lopez "Lemon Tree" isn't exactly rare either, but most other versions are even more annoying. Thanks to lyricist Will Holt, a Latin tune and a French ditty became big English language hits.
Here at Illfolks, hear two Will folks:
LEMON TREE (Lopez)
ONE OF THOSE SONGS (Brenda Lee)

TOWER OF STRENGTH : ONE OF BURT'S GREATEST

If you've said "God give me strength," your prayers...have not been answered here. Closest you get is illfolks giving you "Tower of Strength." TEN VERSIONS.

This minor Burt Bacharach song is one his greatest...because it forged new territory in the lyrics, as well as having Burt's trademark musical stylings. It also had Gene McDaniels giving the performance of his life.

Burt's pioneering style of jumpy cadences and awkwardly placed sharps and flats, made some very stupid songs very popular, like the questionable question mark songs "What's New Pussycat?" or "Do You Know the Way to San Jose?" Neither question was answered in the song, nor should it have been asked.

A lot of Burt's tunes are catchy but the lyrics forgettable, as in "After the Fox," or "Casino Royale" (yes, it did have lyrics, though the wonderful Herb Alpert version didn't bother with them). Most of the Bacharach catalog is pleasant pop, much of it trifling to anyone under 60: "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head," "Baby It's You," "Only Love Can Break Your Heart," "Wishin' and Hopin'," "I Say A Little Prayer," "This Guy's In Love With You," "I'll Never Fall in Love Again," "Trains and Boats and Planes." That stuff's fluff.

When Burt got farther away from "Close to You" silly love songs, he produced some of his most enduring work. "The Look of Love" is more sensuous than his usual ditties. "Little Black Book" is a solid piece of broken hearted rock (which veers between brag and bawl, but in a different way than "Tower of Strenth.")"Anyone Who Had a Heart" is bombastic, despite drifting into waltz time with a flabby mid-section that sounds like something from the loser bin of the San Remo festival. Similarly, "God Give Me Strength" has a typically dopey brass solo that undercuts the drama in the rest of the song. Other enduring Bacharach songs include "Any Day Now" and "Don't Make Me Over," which show real emotion, even if they don't cover new ground.

"Tower of Strength" covered new ground. That's why it's championed here. Not many songs have talked of love from the point of view of being trapped in a shitty relationship. Maybe "Prisoner of Love," but that's crooning. This song is much more complex. Bacharach's eccentric rhythms and loopy arrangement underscore the unusual, confessional lyric. The words are not by Hal David, but his earlier partner, Bob Hilliard, who also wrote "Any Day Now."

Gene McDaniels was delighted with the result: "I liked "Tower of Strength' because of the humor and the trombone solo in front. You never heard a trombone intro to a song, and there it was, and it was a hit! It blew my mind."

(1) on your download is Paul Rich, apparently the first to sing this. With the grand "rags to riches" crooning style of a Buddy Greco, Merv Griffin or Regis Philbin, swingin' Paul brings nothing to the tune. He doesn't act out sobbing or holding back the tears...a few drumbeats cover the pause in "tower of strength is something...I'll never be." This is dance music.

Gene McDaniels (2) and his backing musicians made a masterpiece, a hybrid R&B, rock and pop classic. Though the studio technician calls out take "22, swingin' 22" at the start, fortunately big band takes a back seat to vivid backbeat rhumba, strong jazz and some raw rock. Gene puts vengeful anger in the line, "and I'd walk out the door," swoops into R&B falsetto, ("you'd be callin' to meeeeee") and then gives in to an inhaled sob when he confesses "a tower of strength is something...I'll never be."

Some of Burt's songs make the band co-conspirators with the singer (remember the brass joining Tom Jones for "What's new Pussycat? Woaahh Woahhhhhhh.) But here, there's some very mocking musical imitations of a grown man in tears...it helps the song's sado-masochism along. First Gene is in sadist fantasy, then masochistic reality. By the song's end, one band member is practically blowing a raspberry at the pathetic singer, the brass line mocking him as he trudges away.

Yes, an unusual topic...being too physically or emotionally needy (or as we psychiatrists say, "fucked up") to leave someone who should be left. How many songs, especially at that time, twisted between pathology and pity? Boy loses girl, sure. Boy gets girl, sure. Boy is stuck with bitch? Hmmm...

In England, Frankie Vaughan (3) did a fair job of copying Gene, but won't humiliate himself; he lets the kettle drums give a rat-a-tat-tat where he should've gulped back the tears. He does convey some of the mixed emotions here, with a throaty growl or a vague attempt at falsetto (he goes up an octave on the last note of "and I'd walk out the door.") Meanwhile, Gary Glitter, at the time called Paul Raven, hoped HIS version (4 in the download) would be the hit. It wasn't, but he gave it a shot. His somewhat chipmunky version tries to touch all the emotional bases, but instead of a McDaniel gasp, he literally gives a hoot! The song even has a false ending at 1:20 in, as the glittery one barely makes this cover last two minutes flat.

Back in the early 60's, various budget labels such as Tops and Promenade, would offer 6 cover versions on a single 45 as sung by anonymous hacks. The unknown guy (5) aping Gene McDaniels on this cover from the Gilmar label, hasn't much energy (the guy blowing trombone behind him has more wind) but he does try to issue some kind of anguished gasp over not being a tower of strength. (PS, the mp3 tagging on this download didn't quite work, hence more description so you can determine some of the songs that ended up just called "Tower of Strength." Sorry about that.)

Is it possible for a woman to sing this song? Technically yes. But Sue Richards' country arrangement (6) is merely a novelty. Nobody expects a woman to be a tower of strength, even a Girl named Sue, who could probably tell off the Harper Valley PTA. No, she doesn't even give a mock cry over her failure to be strong. This version is followed by (7) from Gloria Lynne and her answer version, "You Don't Have to Be a Tower of Strength." She actually does sound like a female match for Gene, a soulful babe who promises to be good to her man. At least till the ring is on her finger.

(8) Enoch Light's version is, as you might expect, awful. A mixed chorus of men and women warble the tune, with rinky-tink piano and a geriatric swingin' beat. There's a "boing" noise added instead of a gasp. Very "Winchester Cathedral," this one.
Your last two versions are from Gerd Bottcher and Adriano Celentano. Gerd is singing to "Carolin," and while the familiar trombone counter melody is here, it seems pretty clear that this girl is not much of a problem. Just what's going on in "STAI LONTANA DA ME" from Adriano Celentano, I have no idea, but saucy Celentano is having a great time sneering (with added "uh huh? eh eh?) and he tosses in a pungent "ewwww!" and even utters some snickering laughs. He doesn't seem to be missing the woman at all...just the bus to the asylum.

Celentano doesn't sound like the leaning tower of Pisa. Nope, the tower that is swaying is Gene McDaniel, shocked, mocked and rocked in the best of the ten versions in this file on "Tower of Strength."
TOWERS OF STRENGTH

Update November 2011: Rapidshare deletes files if they aren't uploaded often enough to suit them. Several individual songs have been re-upped individually via a better service:


TOWER OF STRENGTH Gerd Bottcher- CAROLIN CAROLIN

TOWER OF STRENGTH Frankie Vaughan

TOWER OF STRENGTH - GENE MCDANIEL

TOWER OF STRENGTH - PAUL RAVEN

TOWER OF STRENGTH - PAUL RICH

TOWER OF STRENGTH - Sue Richards

TOWER OF STRENGTH cute recent Asian version by Yeongene

YOU DON"T HAVE TO BE A TOWER OF STRENGTH - GLORIA LYNNE

TOUTE MA VIE (Tower of Strength) Audrey Arno

TOWER OF STRENGTH -Lew Davis

TOWER OF STRENGTH - DO IT YOURSELF via KARAOKE VERSION!

Download or listen on line. No pop-ups, porn ads or use of sleazy companies that pay a percentage to bloggers for their "hard work." The hard work was done not by upping files, but by the original writers and performers.

OH! OH! OHHHH! Here's...ORGASM SONGS!

Women who fake orgasms...what music they make!
In nature, a coo, croon or cry can signal that the female animal is ready for sex...and with a low growl or a high screech, enjoying it!
So it is, that we sophisticated humans get turned on by sounds in music...including nicely faked moans and groans sailing over slimy strings or hard-blowing brass.
In the shellac era, a blues moan or a Mae West "mmm" could signal rising passion. Radio tunes hinted at the Big O in subliminal ways, everything from the "music" going round and round "oh-o oh oh, oh oh...and it comes out here" to an insistent "Oh Johnny, Oh Johnny, how you can love."
Finally the rock era made it explicit.
Many consider "Little Girl" (by John and Jackie) to be the first intentional, no-doubt orgasm song.
While there were some pretty suggestive Big Band tunes, and such gruesome lounge items as "Baby, It's Cold Outside," there's no question that Jackie's "uh huh" and "ah ha" utterances were reached by pressing a certain button.
The song's airplay was limited, since rockabilly corn was rarely successful in urban markets, nobody knew who this duo was, and John's dopey singing doesn't exactly explain Jackie's enthusiastic response...unless she's showing off her combination vibrator-pogo stick for him: "Oh, oh, OHHHH!" Boing, boing...BOIINNNNG.
We'll leave you to grumble that Jayne Mansfield's 'That Makes It" was sexier, or even Stan Freberg's classic "John and Marsha," but we'll start off the phony groan festivities with "Little Girl," one of the first "Hey...she's having an orgasm or something" records to be heard on AM radio. There would be no serious competition until 1968 when a French import scorched the airwaves.
Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin were most certainly banned by some radio stations for "Je T'aime...Moi Non Plus," which loosely translates as "You came? I'm non-plussed!" No? Then I have no idea what these two Frenchies are mumbling about. And it doesn't matter; there's no denying that Jane is beginning to get an eye full of Serge's tower, which causes her to sing an octave out of her register. This leads to some ridiculous gasps and some satisfied moans.
The French knew how to gasp with class. On the muckier side of the pond, R&B and soul acts have always been more overt with grunting and suggestive lyrics. Narrowed down to three choices...you get "Love to Love You Baby" from Donna Summer, "Throb" from Janet Jackson, and "Make it Last Forever," a 1978 track by Donna McGhee. All three seem to act like they are SO in love with YOU they can't help masturbating while they sing. Is that a bad thing? You'll harden while McGhee starts melting: "Oh baby, so good...oh baby...don't ever stop...ahhhh...yes! Baby! Ohhh baby I just want you to love me..."
So far we've talked about orgasm songs that actually have lyrics. Next samples? Pure moaning!
"Please love me," a woman creaks at the start of "Please Love Me: Erotica" by the chauvinistic band Manpower (the band's original name was simply Man). She's lubed after that, and the Eurotrashy sleaze-beat instrumentals, heavy on drums and heavy-handed lead guitar, serve as backing for her soppy ocean of emotions. She exhales, grunts, moans, and generally acts like a one-woman soundtrack for some really bad Georgina Spelvin movie of the day (about 1970). It's much better than actual porn soundtracks, or such dubious porn singles as "Theme from Deep Throat" by "Linda and the Lollipops."
The Latino version of helpless groans turns up on the 1972 hit "Jungle Fever" by The Chakachas. Also clocking in at around four minutes, the music is mostly congas and a few irritatingly repetitive notes that might be the band's aural interpretation of a woman tweaking her clit. The music periodically stops so the girl can yap variations of "Ai...aii...ai...no...no..no...ah si, ah si, ah si."
Some scholars say that one reason The Chakachas's music is so much less convincing than most any track from Perez Prado or Xavier Cugat, is that they weren't Latino at all, just a bunch of Belgian bozos who went into the studio and assumed any name or identity they were given. When the song was so big that a touring band could make some money, the more authentic band Barrio was called in and told to call themselves The Chakachas. It's been said that The Chakachas are also El Chicles, the guys who gave us the incredibly stupid "La La La," which sounds like the Muppets trying to be erotic. Instead of "Mah na mah na," it's two idiots moaning, giggling, and otherwise repeating "la la la" as if they've literally gotten their knickers in a twist. Both the Chakachas and Chicles had producer Roland Kluger and arranger Willy Albimoor involved, and those ain't Latino names.
By the 70's, and most certainly into the 80's, orgasm songs had become routine and plentiful, with The Runaways offering mocking gasps, Meatloaf working a girl into gravy for "Paradise By the Dashboard Light" and any number of other rude rockers or rappers spelling it all out with cuss words. Samples of the modern era for you:
You get Major Harris singing an R&B ballad "Love Won't Let Me Wait" with increasing if incongruous interruptions from a moaning girl, the meandering mewlings of Aphex Twin's "Windowlicker" (a noisy clunk of electronics and disco), and the equally freakish moans (or stomach ache gasps and mucoid vomiting) that turn "White Christmas" gooey, as performed by The Gerogerigegege. Lastly, "Infinity," a pretty severe parody of all the "I'm Coming" gasp tunes out there, as performed by Aphrodite's Child. From the sounds of it, be glad you weren't at the recording session.
ORGASM SONGS

Update November 2011: "Please Love Me Erotica" has been re-upped individually via a better service:

PLEASE LOVE ME via MANPOWER

MARILYN CHAMBERS sings BENIHANA

On April 12th, Marilyn Chambers was found dead in a trailer park, at age 56. She was a pioneering porn star, back when a deep throat or energetic body could make up for a B-cup, horsey face or bad legs. It was also back when there was some effort to actually make a movie that had a plot, dialogue and acting.
What Marilyn had going for her was an angelic face (as you see from the much re-touched Ivory Soap box) and a lot of enthusiasm. She was arguably the most athletic of the early 70's actresses, and seemed to enjoy getting down and dirty (to the point of marrying Chuck Traynor, the guy Linda Lovelace had accused of taking advantage of her and forcing her into porn).
Marilyn, along with Linda Lovelace and Georgina Spelvin, paved the way for prettier, or more full-bodied actresses (notably Andrea True, Tina Russell, and Annette Haven). Still, those three were the ones who made the classic films ("Behind the Green Door," "Deep Throat" and "Devil In Miss Jones") and many are still more turned on by those films and actresses, than today's shaved and siliconed mannequins.
Chambers was one of the more active porn stars in defending and validating her industry. She was also one of the few to effectively appear on stage in a live sex show (one of them was filmed for posterity). She went on to a typically spotty career of comeback films, personal appearances, and behind-the-scenes (straight) jobs given to her by porn industry vets and fans, etc. etc.
But that's not why you're here...you're here to hear!
Marilyn Chambers' "Benihana" disco tune is at the same level as Andrea True's "More More More" and Xaviera Hollander's "Michelle." In other words, she's better at gasps and a cry of "Give it to me, yeah," than singing. Her singing voice is a lot like her body...thin but pretty flexible.
No, the song doesn't seem to have anything to do with the famous Japanese steakhouse chain. It most likely refers to her vaginal rosebud. "Benihana" means "red flower" in Japanese.
Don't dismiss the song after just one minute...consider it aural foreplay. The song builds some momentum as Marilyn ad-libs some lines and starts groaning. Stay for the last ridiculous minute when she starts hyper-ventillating and an echo chamber zooms her into orgasmic orbit. Chambers has swooped the planet, but her films, and perhaps even this hit single, can still bring you to a form of heaven.
BENIHANA Marilyn Chambers

"Your Mother Should Know" Phyllis Newman

Your mother should know Phyllis Newman. Or your grandmother. Phyllis Newman is best known to those who were active theatergoers in the 50's and 60's. They would've seen her in "The Apple Tree," "On the Town," and "Prisoner of Second Avenue." Granny might tell you, "Oh, yes, Phyllis Newman was married to Adolph Green. People thought Betty Comden his writing partner was, but it was Phyllis."
Kids growing up in the 60's or 70's saw Phyllis on quiz shows, her ebullient presence perking up slow-moving programs like "To Tell the Truth" and "What's My Line." Since those shows were shot in New York, it was easy for her to drop by and promote her latest Broadway production.
Did you know Phyllis Newman beat Barbra Streisand for a Tony Award? Do you care? Well, it's true. Newman's star turn in "I Can Get it For You Wholesale" was hot stuff way back when...back when the radio played songs your mother (or grandmother) would know.
She turned up on TV once in a while, too, singing satiric songs on "That Was the Week That Was," playing a Russian spy on "Amos Burke Secret Agent," etc. She capped the 70's with a one-woman show, "Madwoman of Central Park West," and still turns up on soap operas and in films, though her main interest is theater charity work, notably "The Phyllis Newman Women's Health Initiative." Talk about women's health...Newman's autobiography mainly chronicles the harrowing physical and emotional problems that came with cancer treatment and a double mastectomy. Unlike some "uplifting" tomes, this one's frank, factual, and pretty depressing, even if the "happy ending" is that she did come back and return to performing.
Like many actresses in Broadway musicals of her era, including Chita Rivera, Georgia Brown and Angela Lansbury, Phyllis Newman was on original cast album vinyl but rarely given a real shot at solo recordings. That field was dominated by the likes of Peggy Lee, Rosemary Clooney and the rest of the nightclub professionals. Still, when she did get a chance in front of a studio microphone to make an album or single, she didn't disappoint. Songs such as "Clouds" or "Those Were the Days" or "Your Mother Should Know" were easily within her range of both key and credibility. Belated Happy Birthday (March 19, 1933) to Phyllis Newman.
PHYLLIS NEWMAN Your Mother Should Know

CHARLIE CHEATED ON HIS INCOME TAX

Don't you think it's a scandal, how the people have to pay and pay?
Oh, wait a minute.
That's a line from "M.T.A." the Kingston Trio song about fair hikes.
What we've got here is a similar tune about taxes.
Both "M.T.A." and "Charlie Cheated On His Income Tax" are stories about a poor jerk named Charlie who got himself railroaded by government bureaucracy. The line "citizens...this could've been you..." echoes the opening warning from "M.T.A."
Billed as "the thinking man's hillbillies," Homer & Jethro always knew they were too corny for sophisticated people, and too sophisticated for the Hee-Haw crowd. They put a lot of musicianship and harmony into their work, and on this simple novelty track, check out the amphisbaenic use of "I've been working on the railroad" to first denote a job and later chain gang work, Jethro's judicious mandolin underscore, the gentle puff of the sax, and the easy role-interplay as the duo swap identities (Charlie, Judge, etc.) while keeping together on the chorus.
Mostly thanks to unsubtle lyrics about ugly women and rude rubes, the team found steady employment over several decades...making dozens of albums that really should be gathered up as a Bear Family boxed set.
The boys were on radio in the late 40s, honed their pone through the 50's, and won a Grammy for their parody single "Battle of Kookamonga" in 1959.
In the 60's, when "Green Acres," "Petticoat Junction," "Andy Griffith Show," "Red Skelton Hour" and "Beverly Hillbillies" were hits on American TV, Homer and Jethro thrived, averaging 2 albums a year. Those rural TV shows went out of fashion at the turn of the 70's, and it was all over for the duo in 1971. That's when Homer suffered a fatal heart attack at the age of 51.
As Benjamin Franklin said, "nothing can be said to be certain except death...and taxes."
CHARLIE CHEATED ON HIS INCOME TAX

SHATNER KNOWS WHAT A BOZO IS

Is William Shatner cool or clueless? You really can't be sure. Sometimes he's laughing with you when you're laughing at him. On some memorable talk appearances with Conan O'Brien and Jonathan Ross, he's played the fool but also gotten in some shots of his own.
Time made a cruel joke of Captain Kirk's ambitious version of "Rocket Man." Demento-heads are still laughing their asses off about his "Transformed Man" album, slapping their knees and howling "that's SO bad it's GOOD."
OK, that was decades ago. It's not THAT hilarious. There's something admirable in the attempt, too. Maybe you're shaking your head and smiling, but doubling over laughing is a sign of retardedness.
More recently, Shatner's been laughing all the way to the bank.
His album "Has Been" (with Ben Folds and Joe Jackson) has a sharp title track, a humorous dig at Two-Thumbs Don and Neverdone Jack and the rest who "laugh at others' failures while they have not done shit..."
You go, Bill. And speaking of odd shit, here's a one-off that could've appeared on "Has Been" but didn't.
On this Bozo track, he's delivering a load...and you know it and he knows it. This is most certainly a pile of Shatner. So play along with him as he tells you what a Bozo is, because (all together now) we're ALL bozos on this bus.
BOZO AS EXPLAINED BY SHATNER

SHINE ON, YOU CRAZY FRANCHI

Belated Happy Birthday to Sergio Franchi.
He was born April 6, 1926.
It's truly a belated greeting, since he died May 1, 1990.
A good reason for this late tribute and birthday greeting, is to toss "Laugh You Silly Clown" at you...which goes nicely with the William Shatner "Bozo" piece.
Franchi, was a perennial time-filler on "The Ed Sullivan Show," a dashing fellow who appealed to all the women who regularly flirted with their waiters and hairdressers. The rest of the Sullivan audience was probably waiting for a different Italian...Topo Gigio.
While he didn't have the hit singles other big-voiced singers did, from Robert Goulet to Frankie Laine, Sergio Franchi made some albums and played the nightclub circuit, right up to the disco era. Along with everyone from Cab Calloway to Ethel Merman, Sergio gave a shot at disco glory, and this is the result...a boogie-oogie take on Pagliacci.
It would be easy and unfair to comment on this particular track. Sergio was a nice guy, and he left behind a wife who keeps his memory alive and runs the non-profit "Sergio Franchi Scholarship." They gave away $35,000 last year to musicians, which is a good thing because "if you like it buy it" hasn't worked.
"Shine On, You Crazy Franchi." Come on, it's a better line than the title of his single: "Laugh You Silly Clown."
SERGIO GOES DISCO

It's Easter - TURN ON TO JESUS (City Boy)

On casual listen, the lyrics for "Turn On to Jesus" by City Boy are oddly ungodly. On the wrong side of the border, a city boy finds a house full of "ladies of the night." But what thrills are they into? One of them cries out, "HEY MAN! Turn on to JESUS!"
The inspiration? Lol Mason and Steve Broughton, the band's lead vocalists, were touring America and got stuck right in the middle of the country. Broughton:
"Lol and I spent time in a dry area of Kansas. There’s no bars, the only place you can get a drink is one of these ‘religious’ clubs, with topless waitresses with dollar bills stuffed in their G-strings, and out of the jukebox is blaring this ‘Jesus is the Saviour’-music. It was bizarre – I mean, that kind of thing just doesn’t happen in Birmingham."
Birmingham, England, not Alabama.
"Turn On to Jesus" was offed by the band's record label, over worries that the song could be interpreted as profane. New lyrics were written. The result was "5-7-0-5," the band's only hit single. God moves in mysterious ways.
In another twist, the lead vocal was not from Lol or Steve, but Roy Ward, who had been brought in by the band's producer Mutt Lange (yes, of later Shania Twain infamy) who wanted a better drummer and perhaps a new sound as well, since the band's harmonizing had been accused of sounding too much like 10CC or Queen.
In the spirit of Christian charity, two more Jesus songs are added for you, having been previously highlighted on the blog: "I Heard the Voice of Jesus" by Turley Richards and the optimistic and ominous "Jesus is Coming" from Andy Pratt.
CITY BOY- TURN ON TO JESUS
I HEARD THE VOICE OF JESUS
JESUS IS COMING

BOB ARBOGAST dies 50 Years after "CHAOS"

Born on April Fool's Day 1927, and just missing his 82nd birthday, half-shot novelty wonder Bob Arbogast died on March 21st.

Half-shot novelty wonder? Well, he wasn't a one-shot novelty wonder, because his lone achievement "Chaos" was co-authored by the late Stanley Ralph Ross. It wasn't much of a wonder at all, since it failed to make the Top 40, but it's still a favorite among fans of ill novelty singles.

Back in 1959, Arbogast & Ross tossed their noisy double-sided parody of radio station disc jockeys into a market saturated with variations on "break ins," the style popularized by Buchanan & Goodman in 1956 (and continued on and on by Dickie Goodman until his suicide).

Your download is both sides of "Chaos," the doings at K-OS Radio. Disc jockey "Speedy Clip" offers a variety of commercials interrupted by singing station identifications, and a series of droning deep-voiced parody versions of Ritchie Valens' "Donna."

Legend has it that "Chaos" failed to hit the charts because it was banned from the radio after it had sold over 10,000 copies "because radio stations suddenly realized it was a parody of radio stations." More likely, it disappeared because by definition, a "novelty" track isn't going to stay novel for very long. It may also have gotten limited airplay if station managers felt they would be offending fans of the recently mangled Ritchie Valens, whose wistful ballad "Donna" was still on the charts.

Some of the gags were pretty zany at the time. At one point "Speedy Clip" shouts, ""I see by the old clock on the wall there's a dead fly!" Later, the station's girl singers warble, "Just to prove it's real, here's the K-OS approval seal!" You guessed it: instant sound effect of a seal barking. To quote a B-side from fellow Liberty novelty act David Seville, "That's almost good." Especially at the time.

Fans who haunt comedy bins of moribund record stores might want to pick up the album "At Carnegie Hall," which Arbogast co-created with another partner, Dick Whittinghill, or perhaps the "My Son the Copycat" album that Arbogast co-wrote (with Stan Ross doing the fake Allan Sherman vocals). Mainly Bob Arbogast's credits involve bouncing around a variety of Los Angeles radio stations, writing comedy for various performers, and doing a lot of zany voiceovers for commercials and some cartoon shows (including 'Roger Ramjet' and 'Hot Wheels.')

Bob's wikipedia entry was obviously written by a relative or a fan of his, and bears some comical warnings from Wikipedia: "This article does not cite any references or sources" and "This article contains weasel words, vague phrasing that often accompanies biased or unverifiable information." Among the yet to be verified information is that "Chaos" was banned anywhere, or that Bob was kicked off radio stations for being an iconoclast. Likewise, the note that Bob "originated" the concept of "The Question Man" in 1951, and is acknowledged for it in Steve Allen's book "The Question Man" is not accurate.

"The Question Man" bit was used in various ways by a lot of comics of the day, including Ernie Kovacs (and was turned into "Karnak" by Johnny Carson). Apparently when Steve began doing it on his show, Arbogast submitted material...and some kind of grouse about having originated the idea. What Steve actually says in "The Question Man," a book compiling some of the gags used on his show, is that "a funny man by the name of Bob Arbogast not only contributed a number of jokes but also provided us with the somewhat unnerving information that he had thought of the Question Man idea itself several years before we did." That's not exactly an admission of guilt. The idea of using a question as the punchline to a joke probably goes back to Shakespeare's day. As most of you know, Steve was an extremely nice guy who never fought about "credit" and "attribution."

The name "Arbogast" was momentarily popular circa 1959-1960, at least in a mentally ill way. It was the name of Martin Balsam's character in "Psycho," as well as the name on a crazy comedy team's novelty single. Exactly 50 years after it was first alarming people on the airwaves, here's "Chaos" back at you, as a salute to the weird duo that made it, Bob Arbogast and Stan Ross.
CHAOS by Arbogast and Ross