With summer time just around the corner (don't forget to change your clocks on Saturday night...or technically, at 1am on Sunday morning.....forward 1 hour, btw), welcome one, welcome all to the RPM Seven Day Soundtrack, week ending Friday 26th March. Let's get going; over to.............

Jackie -

"Front Row on Radio 4 featured an item on the new Tina Turner documentary, so here's the best songs........"

Tony -

"Here's my 3, not leaving it until after the deadline this time! So, the clocks go forward this weekend and from Monday we can legally go see a couple of friends or relatives (outside in whatever the elements throw at us of course) without getting clapped in irons. Whoopee! "

Jayne -

"Good wishes to RPM collaborators and thank you for your brilliant choices. With you all in mind, this week I’ve focused on banjo-based lifeforms…."

Jean -

"This week I’m remembering the musical talent of Dudley Moore as it’s the anniversary of his death on the 27th. Keep well everyone."

Alan -

"Three-ish versions of the same song this week. It's a classic in the hands of Jimi Hendrix.............. less so perhaps with the three versions here, but interesting nonetheless. The song? 'Hey Joe' of course. Early covers of the song credit Dino Valenti (aka Chet Powers) as composer but the song was actually written (and copyrighted) by Billy Roberts in 1962 whilst he was a member of the supper/folk club group The Driftwood Singers. Even that is disputed by both Robert's girlfriend of the time, Niella Halleck, who says she composed it in early '65 as 'Baby, please don't go to town' and, on occasion, by Tim Rose (generally acknowledged for recording the first recorded 'slowed down' version in 1966) who claimed the song was a traditional blues number he had known since childhood. However, Roberts is now acknowledged as the composer, especially since Valenti confirmed he had heard The Driftwood Singers perform the song in San Quentin State Prison whilst he was serving a short drugs related sentence. South California band The Leaves issued a speedy version for the Mira label in early 1966 and were rewarded with a Top 40 single in the US but, even here there's a story to tell. Their original November 1965 recording was deemed unsatisfactory and was deleted soon after release. A second version was laid down and, once again, failed to make headway. Back to the studio they trooped and added a fuzz guitar to the new recording which, when released, immediately began to march up the charts. The Leaves had replaced The Byrds as resident band at LA's Ciro's nightclub in 1965 where the song had been a regular item in the Byrds live set. The Byrds recorded their version in April 1966, around the same time as The Leaves later versions and these were accompanied by further covers by Sammy Lee and the Summits in February 1966 and Love in March. Even 'Wipe Out'-ers the Surfaris churned out a version in May 1966 and that was only the tip of a veritable iceberg of covers. It would be December of that year, however, before a version was recorded on this side of the pond, Kenny Bernard's rewrite 'Hey Woman' (see my 'Jazz, RnB and Soul side of Mod' article), which was soon followed byThe Creation and, eventually, Marmalade. And that's where this weeks selection starts......"

Hey Joe performed by Marmalade ('There's a lot of it about' LP and 'Lovin' Things' single b-side released late 1968, CBS label) - "The band's fifth CBS single, and their first chart entry, reached number 6 in most listings but, as that small phrase proves, the band were hardly an overnight success. Morphing from the Gaylords (ohhh, the innocence of those days!!) to Dean Ford and the Gaylords when new lead vocalist Thomas McAleese (aka Dean Ford) joined the band in 1963, the band were signed by Columbia after an audition at Glasgow's Barrowlands Ballroom in front of Norrie Paramour. Four singles followed before the band decamped to Germany for a long stint in Cologne and Duisburg but, despite their reputation in Scotland, the band decided to try to break nationally in the UK by relocating to London on their return in early 1965. They were signed to the Tremeloes management team following a support gig in Glasgow and, after developing into a tight harmony act, they took two important decisions. Firstly, they dropped the rhythm guitar from the line up and, in addition to a 'normal' four string bass, they introduced a six string bass, giving them an almost unique sound for the time.Secondly, on the advice of their new manager, they changed their name to The Marmalade.and were quickly signed to the Tremeloes label, CBS, in mid 1966. Their first brace of singles failed miserably whilst their third, 'I see the rain', became a turntable hit (and a number one in Holland) and was mentioned by Jimi Hendrix as the best cut he had heard in 1967. The 19th January 1967 saw the band begin a long running residency at the Marquee, initially supporting Pink Floyd, then The Action before headlining at the club for eighteen months through to autumn 1968! There were also additional tours with Joe Cocker, The Who and Traffic as well as appearances at the Windsor Festival and Woburn Abbeys Festival of the Flower Children. Of course, nowadays it's difficult to believe that they were a respected 'underground band' but, with Hendrix's ringing praise and the type of gigs and audiences they were playing for, they were certainly showing themselves as being an integral part of the then current hip scene. So what changed? Following another miss, CBS threatened to end their contract unless they recouped some of their considerable investment. Into the studio they trooped and, after turning down Robert Knights 'Everlasting Love' they were 'offered' a new song by American jingle writer Artie Schroeck, 'Lovin' Things', which was also under consideration by US charter Bobby Rydell. With a brassy arrangement by Mike Mansfield the single began an inexorable rise up the charts, peaking at number 6 in June 1968. Tucked away on the flip was a fairly faithful cover of Hendrix's treatment of 'Hey Joe' which probably came as something of a surprise to the bands new 'teenybopper' audience. And that's the rub really. Here was a band which had spent around two years appealing to a more 'discerning' audience suddenly finding themselves playing to sell out crowds of screaming teenagers. Despite their debut album featuring (perhaps over reverential) covers of Dylan, Vanda and Young, John Sebastian and Berns and Ragovoy songs alongside several worthy in-house compositions, they fell between two stools..... their old audience was put off buying the album because of their new found fame and their younger fans would generally only purchase singles, with the inevitable result that the album sold poorly. Of course, any remaining credibility was lost when their next Blaikley/Howard concoption (they of Dave Dee etc fame) flopped and they followed up with a cover of 'Ob La Di, Ob La Da'. The Tony McAuley ballad 'Baby make it soon' restored them to the charts and some respectability was regained with the Gibb Brothers 'Butterfly' (a miss) before a final run of charters commenced with the, errr, reflective 'Reflections of my life', a number three here and a respectable number 10 in the US.. By 1971, however, the band had started 'falling apart at the seams' (pun intended) and, to all intents and purposes, ceased to exist in 1975."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOJS6i-tZqM

Hey Joe performed by Kasenetz Katz Singing Orchestral Circus- (from 'Kasenetz Katz Singing Orchestral Orchestra' album, released June 1968. Buddah label) - "What purports to be a 'live' album featuring a plethora of bands, fire eating elephants and all sorts of associated weirdness is, obviously, a load of bunkum. Here's an album by some of NYC's finest sessioneers, generally with Joey Levine on vocal duties, but just occasionally allowing one of the 'featured' groups' singers to show his prowess. Jerry and Jeff (the two K's) met at Arizona University and, upon leaving, decamped to NYC where they began a management business signing up groups playing the club circuit. Moving in to production they released Christine Coopers 'S.O.S.(Heart in distress)' on Cameo which brought them to the attention of Neil Bogart, then in the process of setting up Buddah Records. Prior to joining the label K&K released the proto bubblegum 'Little bit 'o soul' by The Music Explosion which hit the US top five in mid '67. Signing to Buddah, the pair began to flood the US charts with sound-a-like, super catchy ditties with the now familiar titles such as 'Yummy,Yummy, Yummy', 'Chewy, Chewy', 'Simon Says' and 'Gimme gimme good lovin''. Of course, as with most children when faced with yet another box of chocolates on Christmas Day, their young teen audience began to tire of the output and the label began to move away from this particular sound. But, in the meantime, a grand scheme was hatched to foist the Singing Orchestral Orchestra on the public with an album taking 'Sgt Peppers......' quasi live show to its ultimate zenith.... but without the experimentation of course. There's some 'original' songs by those taking part (or Joey and the guys most probably) plus a plethora of covers including 'You've lost that lovin' feeling', 'Yesterday' and this version of 'Hey Joe'. I'll leave you to judge the results......"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujrOpTPtzJ4

Now for the "-ish2 version:

Wanted dead or alive by The Rogues - (7" single released on Living Legend label, recorded November 1965, released in US early 1966) -"Super rarity alert!!! WCPAEB* members Shaun Harris and Michael Lloyd first paired up to form the Rogues after being members of surf groups The Snowmen and The Alley Kats. Hollywood legend (well, that's what he said) Kim Fowley had produced the super rare Snowmen single 'Ski Storm' (a strange title for a surfing song?) and, sticking with the new lineup, they retired to Fowleys bedroom to record the bands rewrite of 'Hey Joe' which features a great guitar solo (probably by Shaun's brother Danny), an unexpected (!) change of tempo and proto WCPAEB harmonies. Fowley stuck with the new line up long enough to record some of WCPAEB's earliest demos for the FIFO label in conjunction with visiting Europe to record material with Soft Machine, (Ambrose) Slade and others. It's probably whilst here in Europe that he negotiated a release for the Rogues single in Germany, thus creating another rarity for WCPAEB fans to try to track down. As this was recorded in November 1965 this is possibly the earliest 'slow' version."

* West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeQUdSspcQE

"As usual............... keep the good stuff flowing and, especially, take care."

Morra -

"I’ve realised there is a distinct lack of 1950’s music on the radio in recent times so here’s 3 greats from that era."

Nina -

"Hiya Everyone............Here's my 3, random choice & apologies for the 3rd track, from a brief exchange with Morra......"

Piers -

"Since the death of Lawrence Ferlinghetti I’ve been a bit bookish, and as I still have all of these on vinyl, and in paperback and hard back too………."

Dave -

"Hi ya all, hope you are all well . Here’s my 3 picks . Cheers."

John -

"Hi All, Checking out the current edition of the RPM 7 Day Soundtrack takes priority on Saturday mornings (yes, even before I've made the coffee...). Last Saturday, after an hour or so with your excellent selections and the coffee freshly brewed, I finished off the last two chapters of Julian Cope's excellent novel, 'One Three One'. I immediately started the next book on the 'to be read' shelf, 'Electric Eden' by Rob Young (sub-titled 'Unearthing Britain's Visionary Music'). I first read it about ten years ago, not long after it was published, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Just a cursory glance through the index has prompted me to revisit a number of albums in my collection: Comus, Mr Fox, John Martyn, Trees, Gnidrolog and even the classical composer E.J. Moeran, plus those listed below and many more.... There is even reference to a number of films including 'Witchfinder General' and 'The Wicker Man', both of which I have watched recently. My choices this week are tracks inspired by Electric Eden"

("How strange....as I was unpacking books and getting them back onto shelves in the new house this week, I came across my copy of Electric Eden and made a mental note to re-read it again soon." - Tim.)

Philip -

"I'm thinking that over the next few weeks I might have a trawl through the '70s, trying to select numbers by artists that I have not chosen before... of course I reserve the right to get fed up with this idea before I get to 1979, but here goes, starting with 3 songs from 1970. Best wishes to one and all."

Tim

"No themes this time, just three from the mix of music I've listened to this week............"