Welcome to the RPM Record Club Seven Day Soundtrack, week ending Friday 9th June 2023...still coming to you from the land of the summer sun...over to..
"This week Jayne and I took off for a short break in Buxton in Derbyshire and on Sunday we took the opportunity to climb up ‘Mow Cop’ a conical granite outcrop where, to improve the view from their mansion some few miles away, the toffs had a folly, (a ruined castle) built on the top, 1,100 feet above the summit of Gedney hill! It had astounding views out over the flat lands of Cheshire and Staffordshire. So from there we took a trip over to Cheshire to visit another ‘old boy’ (a few weeks older than me in fact) who lives nearby. Chris and I fell to chatting about the albums which had the most influence on us. He came up with an album containing two cover versions of songs which we decided might seem incongruous on the same album if not for the artists involved. From them, some of you might be able to work out which album Chris chose. My quick quiz question (answer at the end of my submission); Which album contained covers of these two originals?"
It's All Over Now, Baby Blue by Bob Dylan -
Go To Sea No More by The Dubliners -
"And this track is just a gem which also sort of gives a rather obscure clue to the band in my quick quiz question..."
Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight by Emmylou Harris and the Hot Band -
"Chris admitted that more than fifty years after he made his first attempts to do so, from time to time, at a club, or an open mic, he still performs those songs, and always 'back to back'!. The album that Chris cited as his greatest influence? ‘The Ballad of Easy Rider’ by The Byrds. My choice was ‘Sweetheart of the Rodeo’."
"Hi everyone, hope all is good with you. Here’s 3 tunes I have played this week."
Waiting Around to Die by The Be Good Tanyas -
Out of Time Man by Mick Harvey -
Grassman by Dodgy -
"Hi RPMers, I hope all is well with you and your world. Here are three tracks I've listened to during the past week."
Interview With The Angel by Ghostland -
Modern Alchemist by Blodwyn Pig -
Undrentide/Blow Northern Wind (Live) by Mediaeval Baebes -
"With best wishes to the RPM collective..."
Windrush Baby by Hak Baker -
Drug Train by The Cramps -
Te Amo España by Eduardo Maldonado Castellano De La Cruz (aka Neil Hannon) -
The Swimming Song performed by The Earl Scruggs Review - "Visiting Penzance this week, I've done a lot of swimming..."
Wildflowers by Tom Petty - "..and before I went away, I had a lovely walk at Bransdale amongst the wild flowers."
I Love My Dog by Cat Stevens - "...but being on my hols meant being away from Tessy Collie."
"Hi folks. Hope all's good. Lovely to see & swim with Jackie in Cornwall during her visit to Penzance. Nice to host a dinner party for her + pals too.
My 3 are all acts I saw at the Great Estate festival last weekend.
Take care all. Cheers!"
Any Other Way by Freshly Squeezed -
More Than Just A Rave by Eskimo Nebula - "Phenomenal Dub duo from Bristol (I think)."
Come Together by Primal Scream (Andy Weatherall remix) - "Headliners on Saturday night. Bobby's voice + general energy were lacking; 'power cut' during their set.. really?? Suspect he just needed a nap. Fab performance from gospel choir backing singers & musicians."
"As I shall be viewing the delights of country gardens around the Dieppe area this coming week, I thought a French theme was called for."
Ma Premiere Guitare by Sacha Distel -
"Sacha was a jazz guitarist before he became a pin up pop singer."
Chanson D'Amour by Manhatten Transfer - "Quite a surprise hit at the time."
Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien by Edith Piaf - "The best French artiste."
"Have a good week everyone. Au Revoir."
Now, two RPMers with similar thoughts this week....
"Back in the late fifties and early sixties the US seemed to have a proliferation of talented duo's capable of composing songs of such simplistic brilliance that they could be covered by artists of a variety of styles. In the mid to late fifties there were Leiber and Stoller, Pomus and Shuman, Felice and Boudleaux Bryant and Marascalco and Blackwell amongst others. As the new decade dawned a new generation of young songwriters emerged, many based in NYC's Brill Building including Goffin and King, Greenwich and Barry and Bacharach and David. And then there was the seemingly Tamla Motown team of Holland, Dozier and Holland who seemed able to produce classic songs almost at will. However, before groups became 'self sufficient' by writing their own material from around 1962/3, there was another pair of Brill Building songwriters responsible for some of the greatest 'pop' songs ever recorded. That couple were Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil and this week, as a tribute to Cynthia who passed away last Friday, it's gonna be three of their finest songs from my collection, but not always the version you may be familiar with.
Cynthia was born in NYC in 1940 and after training as an actor and dancer developed a unique style of pop songwriting, alongside her husband Barry Mann, which would include protest songs ('We've gotta get out of this place'), social commentary ('Kick's'), 'pure pop' ('Make your own kind of music'), novelty songs ('Blame it on the Bossa Nova'), 'uptown soul' ('On Broadway' and 'Come on over to my place') and, especially, emotional ballads. Gene Pitney benefitted from 'I'm gonna be strong' and 'Looking through the eyes of love', Tony Christie hit with 'Bless You', the Righteous Brothers scored with '(You're my) Soul and Inspiration', plus the duo's greatest ever song 'You've lost that loving feeling' (with Phil Spector copping a cheeky co-composer credit for its closing 'Whoa a whoa oh' apparently). And then there's the plethora of 'girl group' classics including 'Walking in the rain' for the Ronettes and 'He's sure the boy I love' for the Crystals.
So, here's my three picks."
Crystals- 'Uptown' (this from 'Twist Uptown' US LP released mid 1962. Philles label)
"Written originally for Tony Christie, the song was 'gifted' to Phil Spector (at his request) for the Crystals second single. Spector bought in Eva Boyd (AKA Little Eva) for the lead vocals but his insistence on a multiplicity of retakes saw Eva leave the studio and Spector rearrange the song to suit the Crystals new lead singer La La Brooks. Spector also carried out a small rewrite of the lyrics to relate the song to African Americans matters as opposed to its original inflection towards the Latino audience. The songs lyrics deal with the problems of minorities living in the city and, hence, this becomes one of the earliest 'protest songs' to hit the US charts reaching number 13 on the Billboard chart."
Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood- 'You've lost that loving feeling' (from 'Nancy and Lee' LP released 1968. Reprise label)
"Quite possibly the greatest ever 'pop' song ever recorded, well, maybe!!! I was going to include a version by the Kasenetz Katz Singing Orchestral Circus but it doesn't look like there's a video for that goodie so here's Nancy and Lee giving the song a new twist, viewing it from a male/female angle instead of the 'usual' male only aspect. And a great track it is too. As an aside, cop the LP if you see it as it includes several classic Lee 'n Nancy tracks."
Ronettes- 'You Baby' (from 'Presenting The Fabulous Ronettes, featuring Veronica' LP released 1964. London label)
"Couldn't resist including one by the Ronettes and this one's a doozy............... one of their sexiest vocals and, unlike several of their other tracks, this one seems less 'doomy'. (ooooerrr, almost poetry there, or is it almost alliteration?!!)
Enjoy!!! "
Bonus Track: 51st Anniversary by Jimi Hendrix -
"And a bonus please, Tim. (Totally fine, congrats, Tim.) Today (Saturday) is our 51st anniversary and, although the lyrics ain't exactly appropriate here's Jimi: Pity Sue rarely looks at the site 😍 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeoofZswajI
"This week I'd like to pay tribute to the late Cynthia Weil who passed away on1st June.
She was half of one of the famous partnerships of writers working out of the Brill Building and 1650 Broadway, New York. Together with her writing partner (later her husband) Barry Mann and others, she was responsible for many of the greatest hits of the late 50's and early 60's to emanate from there and was certainly responsible for many popular hits of that era that caught my imagination and which I still get a lot of pleasure from hearing today. She continued to have success through to the end of last century. being inducted into several notable and prestigious Halls of Fame in the process. Here are just 3..."
Somewhere Out There performed by Linda Rondstadt and James Ingram -
We Gotta Get Out of This Place performed by The Animals -
On Broadway performed by The Drifters -
However, I did come across one item of interest: a cassette tape I compiled about a quarter of a century ago that I had entitled "The Eighties." I remember that I made up 4 C90 tapes, the others being "The Fifties," "The Sixties," and "The Seventies." The concept was to have no artist or band represented more than once. I have no idea what happened to these other tapes, but I remember for example that The Beatles' song on "The Sixties" was "I Feel Fine" and the Dylan number was "Subterranean Homesick Blues" ("Like A Rolling Stone" was too long).
To my surprise, the surviving tape still plays perfectly. Here are performances of the first three songs on that tape."
Games Without Frontiers by Peter Gabriel - "Funny how he made better records without Genesis, and they made better ones without him."
Hungry Heart by Bruce Springsteen -
The Waiting by Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers -
"Best wishes as always."
"Here's three that I thought made a particularly glorious sound this week..."
303 by Kula Shaker - "K is the car CD at the moment and even though my route to Taunton last week didn't follow the A303, it in fact ran parallel to it through the land of the summer sun, past Glastonbury Tor and through the Somerset Levels which were indeed bathed in a late afternoon golden haze; a beautiful journey."
Yew Piney Mountain performed by Jeff Norman - "This is from the same album from which I have learnt last weeks banjo tune, 'Spotted Pony'. Who says banjo can't be atmospheric?!"
The Wake by IQ - "And still digging through my 80s neo-prog. IQ's first two albums, Tales From The Lush Attic and The Wake, have been given a thorough going over this week. Here are the lads performing live and proving you can indeed clap along to prog rock."
'Til Next Time...