Fusion 45

Does anyone remember the Tenants? According to All Music Guide “songwriters Andy McLean and Gary Brown formed the Tenants with keyboard player Fraser MacDougall, drummer Derek Gassyt and bassist Lewis Mele. The group signed with CBS and released a self-titled album in 1983; they broke up a year later.”

That one album (CBS 25541) doesn’t appear to be available on CD. Anybody got the vinyl? Wanna post a few songs?

A little more memorable to most people are Hothouse Flowers. I saw them in 1990 at a little club in Syracuse, NY; as I recall it was on the corner of Erie Boulevard and Thompson Road but the name escapes me. HHF played in front of about 50 people and they were smokin’.

They did four terrific records on London/Polygram, including Songs From The Rain, which contained these three tunes:

Hothouse Flowers - An Emotional Time

Hothouse Flowers - Be Good

Hothouse Flowers - One Tongue

These are copied from cassette; get a better copy at Amazon.

…we’re blessed with a tremendous library system (courtesy of those crunchy-granola liberal thinkers in nearby Portland, who consider books and music to be an important resource for a strong community). So, in the spirit of turning you on to new grooves, here’s the first of (still) another new (occasional) series from Fusion 45: I Found It At The Library.

George Harrison - You - A semi-hit, I guess, from dear old George but highly underrated. An ass-kicking studio team, including our hero, Jim Keltner.
The Fall Call- The Walls Came Down - Fans of The Fall Call will likely scoff — this is the only one that non-Fall Call fans know — but any band that can get Charlton Heston to play keyboard in their video is OK with me.
The Fiery Furnances - The Philadelphia Grand Jury - The Furnaces are a band I really like but haven’t gotten to spend much time with. One of the few groups I’ve read about in The Wire that I actually understand.
Big Star - Take Care - Magazines love to write about Big Star…fallen idols, band that never quite cracked the glass ceiling of stardom. But, if they had, no one would be so intrigued, would they?
James Blackshaw - Stained Glass Windows - Remember when records were cheap enough that you could take the chance and buy one because it had a cool cover? Well, I borrowed this one for the same reason. Reminds me of Adrian Legg.
Kasey Chambers - sign On The Door - Kasey Chambers’ voice is a little thin for my tastes but her material equalizes that complaint. This is actually a pretty inventive album (Carnival)
Mark Knopfler - Secondary Waltz - Knopfler is one of those guys you can’t help but respect and I always enjoy his solo stuff. But I’m never quite as satisfied as I am when I listen to the first Dire Straits record.
Rickie Lee Jones - Road To Emmaus - I like the broad guitar sound in this tune. The good thing is that there are even better tunes on this album (The Sermon on Exposition Boulevard).
Stephen Malkmus - Phantasies - Don’t know his stuff well enough to know if this is typical but, either way, he owes Lou Reed a commission on this one.
Black Sabbath - Iron Man - I borrowed this one because one of my 10 year old’s friends has been singing it in the back of the car on the way to soccer practice. I’ve never gotten Black Sabbath and probably never will. Lame songs, bad production, marginal musicianship. This song is so bad it’s good (for a laugh, anyway).
Arcade Fire - Intervention - Another band for whom I’ve never understood the hype…but anything with a pump organ deserves at least a listen.
Peter Himmelman - Impermanent Things - This is from Strength to Strength, which I bought on cassette years ago. I think he’s brilliant and wish I had time to dig deeper into his stuff.
R. Crumb And The Cheap Suit Serenaders - I Want A little Girl - There’s really no comment necessary.
The Delgados - Friendly Conventions - Variety is the spice of life, a little noise is good for the soul.
Joan Armatrading - A Woman in Love - From her recent Into The Blues album, which was highly praised. She seems to nail every genre she touches.

Not to be confused with the famed American Recording Studios in Memphis, the North Hollywood-based American Recorders was on the cutting edge of technology, circa 1960, home to a broad range of Ampex and telefunken gear.

Mistakenly identified on the back of some records as American Recording Company, it was also the frequent home of producer Richard Podolor. As “Richie” Podolor, he was credited as “chief electrical engineer” on the Electric Prunes‘ I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night). Later, as “Richard” Podolor, he produced one of the most talented bands of the 1970’s, Three Dog Night.

The Electric Prunes - I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night)

I had no idea before today that Sylvia Robinson was such a pioneer in the world of soul music.

As Sylvia Vanderpool she was one half of the famed duo, Mickey And Sylvia, who scored a Top 10 hit in 1957 with their cover of Bo Diddley’s Love Is Strange.

In 1964, Vanderpool married Joe Robinson and together they launched All Platinum Soul Sound Studios as well as the All Platinum, Stacy and Vibration labels.

In 1973, Robinson pitched a new song to Al Green, but the risque content didn’t fit Green’s style. So Robinson recorded the track herself and Pillow Talk became a huge hit. Known as a precursor to the disco movement, Pillow Talk’s sly groove and cooing vocals set the table for many that followed (not the least of which was Donna Summer’s Love To Love You Baby).

Were that not enough, Robinson is widely considered the Godmother of Rap Music. It was her label, Sugar Hill Records, and her discovery, The Sugar Hill Gang, that essentially launched the commercial viability of rap music with their massive 1979 hit, Rapper’s Delight.

Hotel…Motel…Holiday Innnnnnn!

Mickey And Sylvia - Love Is Strange

Sylvia - Pillow Talk

The Sugar Hill Gang - Rapper’s Delight

A few more gems cut at the “Brill Building North”:

1910 Fruitgum Company - 1,2,3 Red Light

1910 Fruitgum Company - Simon Says

1910 Fruitgum Company - Indian Giver

Tommy James And The Shondells - I Think We’re Alone Now

Tommy James And The Shondells - Mirage

Tommy James And The Shondells - Sweet Cherry Wine

Tommy James And The Shondells - Mony Mony

Tommy James And The Shondells - Draggin’ The Line

Photo Credit: kpsp.podomatic.com/rss2.xml

While the Brill Building (at 1619 Broadway) is known worldwide as the place where 1960’s pop music was born (or least written down with pencil and paper), up the street at 1650 Broadway there was plenty of action to be found, as well. By some accounts, 1650 was more the epicenter of pop music than its famous cousin a few blocks south.

1650 was the location of Aldon Music, the music company founded by Don Kirschner and Al Nevins, the publishing home to many of the great “Brill Building” songwriters, including Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman, Lieber and Stoller, Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield and Gerry Goffin and Carole King.

Also housed AT 1650 was Allegro Recording Studios, “a singles recording center for some of New York’s hottest independent songwriters” [Too Hot To Handle; Randy McNutt]. Jeff Katz and Jerry Kasenetz, whose Super K Productions turned out some serious sugar through the 1960’s, called Allegro home, as did Tommy James‘ main songwriters, Richie Cordell and  Bo Gentry.

But it wasn’t just the location that made Allegro popular. Technology-wise, it was the smooth echo you hear on Crystal Blue Persuasion, the roomy studios and the custom-made equipment designed by Allegro’s engineers that kept people coming back.

Though it’s a less than glamorous building today, it’s rich in history. Here’s Part One of a tasty research list of key tracks cut at Allegro before its demise in the 1970’s. On Abraham, Martin And John and Worst That Could Happen, especially, you can hear a trademark sound.

The Tradewinds - New York Is A Lonely Town
Dion - Abraham, Martin And John
Brooklyn Bridge - Worst That Could Happen
The Ohio Express - Yummy Yummy Yummy
The Ohio Express - Chewy Chewy
The Four Seasons - Rag Doll
Alive And Kickin’ - Tighter And Tighter
Tommy James And The Shondells - Crystal Blue Persuasion

BONUS ROUND: The singer of Yummy Yummy Yummy provided lead vocals for several other “bands” that recorded hit singles for Super K. Can you name one of the bands?

According to a short blurb in Mojo magazine on songwriter Chip Taylor, Angel of the Morning is actually Wild Thing slowed down with different lyrics. Think that’s true?

The Troggs - Wild Thing
Merrilee Rush - Angel of the Morning

Don’t let the pedal steel fool you…these guys can rock.

I hear Buck, the Byrds, a touch of Doobies here and there, a whole lot of New Riders of the Purple Sage, some Los Lobos (and I’m only halfway through the record).

LOVE IT!

Downloaded Hallowed Ground from eMusic last night. Please take a listen and then go buy it, too.

I See Hawks In L.A. - Carbon Dated Love

I See Hawks In L.A. - Yolo County Airport

There were actually two recording studios that went by the name Ace during the 1950’s.

In Boston, there was Ace Recording Studios, the place where producers Bob Crewe and Frank Slay cut Freddy Cannon’s Tallahassee Lassie (a studio date that cost Cannon a whole $35).

Several hundred miles away in Jackson, Mississippi, there was Ace Recording Studio (sans the “s”), an all-purpose demo studio used by Ace Records. Though many of the label’s biggest hits were recorded in Cosimo Mantassa’s studio in New Orleans, a fair amount of stuff came out of Jackson, as well.

The studio reopened in the 1990’s and much of the Ace catalog is available through Ace Records UK

Freddy Cannon - Tallahassee Lassie

Deep in the heart of San Angelo, Texas, there once was a place called Accurate Sound Studio. In the history of recording studios, this one would have long been forgotten if not for J. Frank Wilson.

He started singing with The Cavaliers in the early 60’s while stationed at nearby Goodfellow Air Base. Once he was discharged from the service, he and the band went looking for fame full-time. In 1964, producer Sonley Roush took them into the studio where they recorded Last Kiss.

By today’s standards, the word “studio” was a stretch. Accurate Sound Studios was more like a warehouse, a 5,000 square foot room in a building made of concrete blocks with nothing but an Ampex 351 two-track and a four-channel mixer. It was stifling hot, according to one band member, and the song needed to be cut 10 or 15 times, vocals on one track and instruments on another.

In spite of the circumstances, Last Kiss went gold, reaching #2 on the Billboard charts in September 1964. A short time later, while driving the band to an out-of-state gig, Roush fell asleep at the wheel and crash into a tree. Roush was killed and Wilson was severely injured such that he career never recovered.

Makes the subject matter all that more poignant, doesn’t it?

J. Frank Wilson And The Cavaliers - Last Kiss

Founded in Houston in 1948, ACA Recording Studios was first known for its R&B recordings, a place where Johnny Ace and Lightnin’ Hopkins cut a number of their sides along side lesser known artists who appeared on the Peacock and Duke labels.

Within 10 years, Ray Doggett, Royce Porter and assorted country and rockabilly artists began to cut their records on ACA’s Ampex mono recorder. The studio’s founder, Bill Holford, continued to work into his seventies, mastering records on a home four-track long after ACA closed.

Here’s a sampling of some of the artists who recorded at ACA (though many of these songs certainly weren’t laid down at ACA):

Lefty Frizzell - Saginaw, Michigan

Jimmy McCracklin - Everybody Rock

Big Mama Thornton - Hound Dog

Bobby Bland - Farther Up The Road

Five Blind Boys of Alabama - Deep River

Johnny Ace - Pledging My Love

Junior Parker - Tomorrow Never Knows

Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown - Goin’ Back To Louisiana

The Dixie Hummingbirds - I’ll Never Forget

Rosco Gordon - Jelly, Jelly

Memphis Slim - Messin’ Around With The Blues

Columbia. Warner Brothers. RCA.

We all know the names of the great major labels of the 1970’s.

But there were plenty of “smaller” labels turning out great music, too. One of them, ABC Records (which was later sold to MCA, which was later sold to Universal) produced much of their best stuff at 8255 Beverly Boulevard, address for ABC Recording Studios.

Records as opposite in style as Steely Dan’s Katy Lied and Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods‘ Billy, Don’t Be A Hero were laid down on ABC’s 3M 16-track, processed with dbx equipment and played back through JBL speakers. It was originally intended to be a demo studio but, instead became a hit machine.

Four Tops - Ain’t No Woman (Like The One I Got)

Whenever I hear this song, I can’t help but think about my wife (made worse by the fact that, today, I’m on a business trip and I haven’t see her for days).

Grass Roots - Temptation Eyes

Hamilton, Joe Frank and Reynolds - Don’t Pull Your Love

Somewhere in my collection, I have one of those Top 40 compilations that all the radio stations put out in the 1970’s. The outside covers were all the same (as were the songs) but the inside covers had pictures of the local DJs. Mine, from the WENY Good Guys, has this song.

John Sebastian - Welcome Back

Oh. Oh oh oh…

Rhythm Heritage - Theme from S.W.A.T.

Just borrowed a book from the library that’s going to be hard to give back: Too Hot to Handle: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of American Recording Studios of the 20th Century by Randy McNutt.

McNutt is a 21st century renaissance man, award-winning journalist and author of interesting books about unusual places as well as a musician and record-producer. In Too Hot To Handle he offers brief profiles of over 300 recording studios, some classic, some obscure, others well-known.

The first that he profiles is A-1 Sound Studios, famous for being part of the “settlement” that went to Atlantic Records founder Herb Abramson when he left the label. Located in New York on West 56th Street until it was closed in the 1970’s, it was where Tommy Tucker recorded Hi-Heel Sneakers.

Tommy Tucker - Hi-Heel Sneakers

By popular demand, I’ve dropped the ZIP’s and added MP3s for the Jim Keltner post I did a few months back.

My set of tunes featuring Steve Gadd was so well received I thought I’d dive into a series of posts featuring great session drummers. Here’s a (short) dozen from Jim Keltner.

Steely Dan – Josie (Aja, MCA, 1977)

This should probably be the finale in this set, not the opener. Notoriously finicky, Becker and Fagen put Keltner to the test on this one and he scored an “A”. Block out everything and listen to the high hat work – he mixes eighths and sixteenths from measure to measure with the grace of a Jack DeJohnette.

Leon Russell – Lay Right Here In Heaven (Will O’ The Wisp, Shelter, 1975)

This copy is a little too dirty to hear the nuances but it’s still a great groove: “Sometimes I feel like bitin’ your toes, heaven knows, anything goes”. Keltner actually shares the drum credit with two others on this tune.

Jackson Browne – Red Neck Friend (For Everyman, Elektra, 1975)

Eight bars of guitar and then it’s straight rock and roll right to the last drum beat. Decidedly un-Jackson Browne, in my book, and no doubt covered by a few million bar bands since the 1970’s. Great piano, too.

James Taylor – How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) (Gorilla, Warner Brothers, 1975)

The credits say Keltner shared the drum duties with Jim Gordon but it’s hard to hear exactly how that happens. Maybe there’s one of them on tambourine? Even so, it’s a tasty shuffle with Carly doing background vocals and Sanborn on sax. Reminds me of summertime…

Carly Simon and James Taylor – Mockingbird (Hotcakes, Elektra, 1974)

A case of the remake beating the original with Carly and James reversing roles on this one (it appears on Carly’s album with James credited as the background singer). Just like Steve Gadd’s four-on-the-floor in “Danny’s All-Star Joint,” this proves that a funky drummer doesn’t have to show off…just a clean funky beat, cowbell in hand, thank you.

Seals and Crofts – Yellow Dirt (Summer Breeze, Warner Brothers, 1971)

Seals and Crofts have been much-maligned for being too soft to be called rock and roll but, in fact, they could get a little funky. The drums and pianos work together nicely here as Keltner lays down a slow groove. I love the group picture of all the happy hippies on the inside cover of the album.

John Lennon – I Don’t Want To Be A Soldier (Imagine, Apple, 1971)

Most bios of Keltner immediately refer to his work with three of the four Beatles (sans McCartney) and it’s true. He was a favorite of that gang (and their accessories like Harry Nilsson) for his diversity and ability to adapt to any style. Dirty groove is the best way to describe this one.

George Harrison – Give Me Love (Living In The Material World, Apple, 1973)

Having heard this song a billion times, I’ve never once paid attention to the drum part until today. And, truth be told, it’s one of the more complicated and tasty in Keltner’s repertoire. Funky but delicate and light of touch, this really is a masterpiece. (And there’s a “Jim Keltner Fan Club” logo on the back!)

Nilsson – Daylight Has Caught Me (That’s The Way It Is, RCA, 1976

This is another deceptively intricate drum part that doesn’t stand out against the vocals and piano. But, give this a listen with your ears focused on the drumming and you’ll him changes styles a couple of times during the song: from straight funk to reggae to rock and roll and back again. Once more, great hi-hat work.

Elliman – Sally Go ‘Round The Roses (Night Flight, RSO, 1978)

OK, this one’s a little off the beaten path. Who’d have thought Keltner would be in the company of a pop star like Yvonne Elliman? But, then again, she’s not so far afield. She sang with Clapton and hung with Delaney and Bonnie, all part of Keltner’s circle. But, stylistically, it’s definitely a stretch.

Joe Cocker – The Letter (Mad Dogs and Englishmen, A and M, 1970)

I freely admit this is a guess: Jim Gordon and Jim Keltner are credited equally for drumming on this record without pointing to specific songs. But this sounds an awful like Keltner’s style…if not, does it really matter?

All these cuts come from my well-worn record collection. Want cleaner copies? Buy the CD’s or download the tracks at Amazon.

It is the 25th 35th anniversary of the Summer of 1973. I was 10-years old during that particular summer.

I have a 10-year old of my own today. He’s sometimes sweet, often petulant, always inquisitive. In short, he’s a lot like his father.

I’ve been thinking a lot about that summer over the past several months, how much the music will always be a soundtrack to that time.

I was going to write a week long series of posts about my summer as a 10-year old, riding our banana-seated bikes around the lake where we camped (predecessors to the mountain bikers of today), catching crayfish in the creek, fishing for blue gills in the lake, burning piles of wood in the fireplace (because we could), singeing marshmallows and eyebrows over the campfire and listening to the jukebox in the campground rec room. Especially the jukebox in the rec room, where we dropped quarters on the pool table and the pinball machine in a freshly built space that smelled forever like concrete and sawdust.

But, I’m off on a business trip tomorrow (a few hours after school starts) and, like the summer of 1973, the opportunity for a long list of reminisces has largely passed.

I did get as far as making a CD of these songs for car listening. Grandmom immediately identified them as “songs from the lake” and my kids immediately wanted to hear Smoke On The Water several hundred times (which they promptly renamed Barbeque On The River).

In a way, I managed to pull my summer and his summer as 10-year olds together. Briefly, which is always the way life is…

And say goodbye to summer…one more time.

The Carpenters - Yesterday Once More

Not written by Paul Williams, but should’ve been.

Seals And Crofts - Diamond Girl

Great piano part.

McCartney And Wings - Live And Let Die

Maureen McGovern - The Morning After

Shelly Winters. Need I say more?

Mac Davis Clint Holmes - Playground In My Mind
Jim Croce - Bad, Bad Leroy Brown
Helen Reddy - Delta Dawn

Dr. John - Right Place, Wrong Time

Spent the entire summer of 1983 learning these lyrics.

Deep Purple - Smoke On The Water
BW Stevenson - My Maria

Like Croce, we wonder what would have been if he’d stuck around.

Paul Simon - Loves Me Like A Rock

Bette Midler - Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy

Stories - Brother Louie

CDB - Uneasy Rider

Doobie Brothers - Long Train Runnin’

Paul Simon - Kodachrome

I had yet to have my first schoolboy crush (Stephanie Turk, 7th grade math class) but I got it.

Indeed…

Loose As A Goose With The Horn Playin’ Juice

My ex-brother-in-law Steve was a  pretty fair horn player back in the late 60’s and early 70’s. That paid me some benefits in my musical education: I impressed my 7th grade music teacher quite readily with the knowledge of Bill Chase and Blood, Sweat And Tears I’d acquired through him.

Surprisingly, Sons of Champlin escaped Steve so it wasn’t until Bill Champlin scored a marginally successful single in the 1980’s that I heard him, though my good friend and fellow youthful DJ Phil LoCascio was all over that noise. (LoCascio is, by the way, the real original Dr. Phil, named as such long before that quack started beating up on people with Oprah. He’s still a radio guy, interviewing the stars at a station in Jersey.)

At any rate, I don’t usually drop more than 50 cents or a buck on a used album but, in this case, I dropped a whole $2 on Sons of Champlin’s Loosen Up Naturally.

Sons of Champlin - The Thing To Do

Sons of Champlin - Misery Isn’t Free

Sons of Champlin - Rooftop

What about the idea of putting kids on a separate plane?

A poll on Air Fare Watch Dog says 85 percent of flying public wants to see children in a separate section of plane. According to their press release, when asked “Should airlines have a section of the plane reserved for parents with babies and smaller children?” 10,170 or 58 percent of respondents answered, “Yes, they should have done this long ago,” while 27 percent answered, “Yes, but they never will and it’ll never work.” Only 15 percent answered, “No, this is a bad idea.”

The Box Tops - Trains And Boats And Planes

They should’ve used Air Supply.

From his public relations agency: renowned songwriter and liberal political activist Jackson Browne has filed a lawsuit against Senator John McCain and the Republican National Committee in the United States District Court in Los Angeles, California. The lawsuit stems from a recent television commercial for Senator McCain’s presidential bid that incorporates the song Running On Empty, a song written by and famously associated with Mr. Browne. The suit alleges that Senator McCain and the Republican Party failed to obtain a license for the use of Mr. Browne’s song in the television commercial. In the commercial, Senator McCain and the Republicans mock Democratic candidate for President Barack Obama for suggesting that the country conserve gas through proper tire inflation.

Jackson Browne - Runnin’ On Empty

As chosen by the kids…

10. Grandmom’s World-Famous Oregon Grape Jelly

William Clarke - Must Be Jelly

9. Playing Baseball Monopoly On The Back Porch

John Fogerty - Centerfield

8. Dinner (Twice!) At IKEA

ABBA - Waterloo

7. Hugs

Johnny Nash - Hold me Tight

6. Bugging Her To Come Back In November

J. Geils Band - Come Back

5. Playing Monkey In The Middle In The Living Room (with Grandmom making some mean throws)

The Cyrkle - Red Rubber Ball

4. Reading Books On The Couch

Tammy Wynette - Bedtime Story

3. Walking Through The Community Garden

Bruce Springsteen - Secret Garden

2. Going To The Beach

First Class - Beach Baby

1. Cherry Pie

Marvin And Johnny - Cherry Pie

How cool is it that my 82-year old Mom will travel across the country to spend a month with me and my wife and my three crazy kids? It’s totally cool. She heads back east tomorrow and the star fish is waving goodbye. (BTW: She digs all this stuff…tapping her toes to Social D. on the way to buy school supplies…you rock, Mom!)

Bob Dylan - Bye and Bye
Bay City Rollers - Bye Bye Baby
Bert Kaempfert - Bye Bye Blues
Mary Wells - Bye Bye Baby
G. Love And Special Sauce - Bye Bye Baby
Social Distortion - Bye Bye Baby
Ray Charles - Bye Bye Love
Thelonius Monk - Bye-Ya

Hey…been away for a little vacation. Came home to find the latest copy of Blues Revue in my mailbox. The review of Elvin Bishop’s The Blues Rolls On was written by yours truly. Here’s a cut from the album (a remake of Struttin’ My Stuff that features Derek Trucks and Warren Haynes) along with a few other Elvin’s:

Elvin Bishop - Fannie Mae
Elvin Bishop - Struttin’ My Stuff
Elvin Bishop - Fooled Around And Fell In Love
Paul Butterfield Blues Band f. Elvin Bishop - Our Love Is Drifting