...to the Sublime

Six Degrees of Everyone

Sorry for the radio silence from Sublime HQ. That pesky little thing called "making a living" has interceded. To make it up to you, here's a doubleheader of delights from the wild, weird world of pop music. And the common thread is...Herman's Hermits!

So, I was recently shuffling through one of the many stacks of CDs on the premises and came across a compilation CD that included a song by Earl-Jean, who I had never heard of. The song: "I'm Into Something Good." Wait...the Herman's Hermits song?! Yes, and there's quite a backstory.

Earl-Jean McCrea was a member of the girl group The Cookies. In the early '60s, the group was signed to Gerry Goffin and Carole King's label, Dimension, where they had a couple of hits penned by the husband-wife team, including "Don't Say Nothin' Bad (About My Baby)" and "Chains." In 1964, Earl-Jean recorded another Goffin-King song, "I'm Into Something Good." (Oh, and she also had a baby by Goffin; guess I buried the lead.) And then later that year, Herman's Hermits took it to the top of the charts. Which brings us to...

Bob Crewe died this week at the age of 83. His name only rang a bell for me because of that catchy, kitschy 1966 instrumental, "Music to Watch Girls By" (written by someone else as a Pepsi commercial). But it turns out Crewe had one of the most eclectic music careers I've ever come across. He wrote, co-wrote and/or produced just about every hit by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. He started a record label, DynoVoice, which had hits with Eddie Rambeau (the original version of "Concrete and Clay"), The Toys ("A Lover's Concerto"), and a band first called Billy Lee & The Rivieras, which Crewe renamed as Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels. Crewe would later produce songs for the British singer Oliver ("Jean" and "Good Morning Starshine"). Then in the '70s, he got funky: he formed Disco Tex & the Sex-o-Lettes ("Get Dancin'"), and the co-wrote "Lady Marmalade," which was a huge hit for Labelle.

But way back at the beginning of his career, in 1957, Crewe co-wrote a song called "Silhouettes," which was a hit for the doo-wop group, The Rays (and which I remember my oldest brother, Willie, singing around the house when I was just a pup). Years later, in 1965, "Silhouettes" became a hit again. For Herman's Hermits.

And there you have it.

Download 09 I'm Into Somethin' Good (Single Version)

Download 01 Silhouettes

 

 

 

The James Brown Movie: Doin' It to Death

I saw the James Brown biopic, "Get On Up," at a screening just before it opened to the public. I've read many reviews and commentaries since, and I'm finally getting around to putting down some thoughts. First of all, Chadwick Boseman is amazing as The Godfather of Soul. He brings JB's moxie and moves to the role. He could very well get an Academy Award nomination for his performance. Initially, the biggest thing that bothered me is that the primary white characters — Brown's recording label boss Syd Nathan (played by Fred Melamed), and his manager Ben Bart (Dan Aykroyd) — are caricatures. It's a bad sign whenever Aykroyd is in a movie. I would much rather have seen, well, an actor. Any actor. The drama of the script would have been sharper with those characters more fully realized. And this wasn't a case of black filmmakers getting it wrong: the director and the writers are all white (as this writer noted). 

And then I began re-reading my friend RJ Smith's excellent JB biography, "The One" (2012), and realized how many shortcuts the filmmakers took. Hollywood strikes again. But the film is worth seeing, solely for Boseman's performance and the many well-staged and edited concert scenes. (Brown's original recordings were used, though cleaned up and, in some instances, enhanced.)

The film depicts Brown's decision to record a live album at the Apollo Theater in 1962, though strongly opposed by Nathan. Brown financed the recording himself and it turned out to be a huge success. Released in May of 1963, the album spent 66 weeks on Billboard's Top Pop Albums chart peaking at #2. I was just a tyke, but I knew the album well because my older brother, Rudy, played it repeatedly. The introduction, by Fats Gonder, is classic. (What's the deal with that surf guitar sound?) And then it leads right into the dynamic "I'll Go Crazy."

Download 01 Introduction

Download 02 I'll Go Crazy

And here's a litle bonus: a rudimentary mashup I made years ago (on cassette!), featuring JB's true heir, Prince. (Takes a few seconds to start.)

Download JB edit

 

 

RIP, Bobby Womack

Gotta admit that I gasped when I read the news this afternoon: Bobby Womack, dead at 70. I'll skip the bio and just give you a sampling of songs he wrote and some of the artists who covered them: "It's All Over Now" (Rolling Stones); "Lookin' For a Love" (J. Geils Band); "Trust Me" (Janis Joplin); "You're Welcome/Stop On By" (Rufus); "Breezin' " (George Benson); "That's the Way I Feel About 'Cha"; and "Across 110th Street."

Womack was also a great guitarist who played on Aretha Franklin's "Lady Soul" album and on Sly Stone's "There's a Riot Goin' On."

He was also adventuresome, recording "For the Want of a Nail" on Todd Rundgren's 1989 album "Nearly Human" and, late in his career, performing on the Damon Albarn/Gorillaz' "Plastic Beach" album, which led to Albarn producing Womack's 2012 album, "The Bravest Man In the Universe." 

Here are a couple of cuts — one classic and one from the Gorillaz album:

Download 2-10 You're Welcome, Stop On By

Download 02 Stylo

 

RIP, Teenie Hodges & Horace Silver

There's no connection between these two artists, other than it's a damn shame that they're both gone. I knew Teenie Hodges (above) as the great guitarist who played on all those fantastic Al Green records produced by Willie Mitchell for Hi Records in Memphis. But I didn't know Hodges co-wrote many of those songs, including the classic "Love and Happiness." When you hear that slinky intro, listen for Teenie counting the band in by tapping his foot on a wooden crate. Hodges died Sunday at the age of 68.

Download 03 Love And Happiness

 

Horace Silver was a jazz pianist and composer whose father was from Cape Verde. Along the way, he developed an affinity for Latin music, as best evidenced by "Señor Blues," which Taj Mahal memorably covered. This song is from his 1966 album, "The Jody Grind." Silver died on June 18 at the age of 85.

Download 03 Mexican Hip Dance

 

Soundtrack for the World Cup (part 2)

 

 

The World Cup, with its 12 locales, is providing a nice geography lesson about the massive country of Brazil. It's so big that only two countries in South America — Chile and Ecuador — do not share its borders. One of the tournament cities is Recife, in the Northeast state of Pernambuco, which reminded me that David Byrne's Luaka Bop label had issued a compilation of music from that region. I know nothing about the artist, Nacao Zumbi. But this is a great sounding song.

 

Download 09 Carimbaeo

 

Classic Samba for a World Cup Soundtrack

"Aquarela do Brasil" is the original title of the song commonly known as "Brazil." Written in 1939 by Ary Barroso, it was voted in 1997 as Best Brazilian Song of the Century by a jury of experts assembled by the Brazilian Academy of Letters. This is one of my favorite versions, from Jobim's 1970 album, "Stone Flower." The musicians include Eumir Deodato, Joe Farrell, Hubie Laws, Ron Carter and Airto Moreira. (By the way, Aquarela is Portuguese for watercolor.)

Download 04 Brazil

A Real Blast From the Past

 

This is one of those oldies you don't hear enough on oldies radio. I was reminded of it recently when I caught a kitschy 1965 film called "Go Go Mania," featuring a bunch of Brit bands. The Honeycombs were a bit of a one-hit wonder, but what a hit it was! Three minutes of pure pop pleasure. But how could they not have been a bigger deal with a female drummer named Honey Lantree! When I went to iTunes to buy the song I noticed there's a cover version by Vampire Weekend, which you can hear below. But, I gotta say, the hipsters kind of sucked the life out of it.

(By the way, the host of the film, seen in the intro above, is Jimmy Saville, who ruled over England's pop scene in the '60s. A year after his death in 2011, he was revelaed to be a serial child molester.) 

Download 04 Have I the Right (iTunes Session)

 

Soul for a Sultry Spring Afternoon

 

I guess I haven't been paying attention: Not only had I missed that this duet between British soulstress Alice Walker and soul singer Darondo was the soundtrack to this season's "Mad Men" trailer, but I also missed that Darondo — somewhat of a cult figure — died about a year ago. Anyway, I heard this fabulous track on the radio today. Thought you should hear it too.

Download 15 Breakdown (feat. Darondo)

 

 

 

'Porgy and Bess' Minus the Voices

I recently had the pleasure of seeing the Tony Award-winning production of "Porgy and Bess" at the Ahmanson Theater. Unfortunately, without Audra McDonald reprising her Broadway role as Bess (and without David Alan Grier as Sportin' Life). Nevertheless, it's a lovely show with great voices throughout the cast. But there are many fantastic instrumental versions of the show's songs, including this one by Keith Jarrett.

Download 01 I Loves You, Porgy

 

 

Cumbia Time in San Antonio

It's Fiesta Week in San Antonio — my hometown's somewhat tamer version of Mardi Gras. Fiesta was created to celebrate the decisive victory of the Texas Revolution — the defeat of Santa Anna's Mexican army by the Texan forces in 1836. I've always loved the irony of Mexican-Americans in San Antonio embracing Fiesta since they're essentially celebrating our ancestors having gotten their asses kicked (though some Tejanos also fought with the Texans against their primos). Anyway, Fiesta is great fun, filled with parties, parades, food and music. This new album by Tex-Mex accordion legend Flaco Jimenez and bajo sexto master Max Baca, is the perfect soundtrack, especially this cumbia — the kind of music that fills the air throughout the city this week.

Download 06 La Múcura