Other than this book being published there wasn’t a lot of interesting things going on this summer. USSR shot down a US aircraft, Belgium sent troops to Congo, Sputnik 5 was launched into space with two dogs onboard, and a country called Katanga was formed. Katanga only lasted for three years, so I guess that’s why I’ve never heard of it, and the rest of it isn’t really noteworthy. But one thing that did catch my interest was that in Ceylon (the country we now know as Sri Lanka) Sirimavo Bandaranaike became the world’s 1st female elected head of government. The feminist in me says «Fuck Yeah!» to that and I’m actually a bit amazed that Sri Lanka, or Ceylon if you’d like, was so far ahead of the rest of this stupid world when it comes to letting women take care of some real business.

Vince Clark, composer and songwriter in bands such as Erasure and Depeche Mode, and Chris Reece, the drummer from Social Distortion, was the only half-interesting musicians born this month.

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THE ALBUMS

FRANK SINATRA – NICE ‘N’ EASY

Sinatra is one of the best-selling artists of all time and there is no denying that he is one of the most influential singers in history. We’ve all heard of the Rat Pack and everyone sings about New York sometimes, but Frank Sinatra doesn’t really make music for the younger generation. His crooning may sweep the ladies off their feet, and his drinking and partying might leave some men envious, but I’m not a big fan of this kind of music.

Other than the obvious hits he performed (of which he wrote none) like New York, New York, My Way, That’s Life and Fly Me To The Moon I won’t find much pleasure in listening to good old Francis. «Nice ‘n’ Easy» is not an exception. The album was a hit though, and I’m not here to take that away from him. But listening to this, whether I’m cruising in a cold warehouse or laid out in front of a fireplace with my girl, gives me nothing.

This album is packed with slow, boring ballads and the only song that has a chance of getting me in some kind of mood is the title song, Nice ‘n’ Easy. And that’s actually the only song that isn’t a ballad. Just for the hell of it, I guess. But yeah, Frank Sinatra is a legend. Doesn’t really matter that this album is dull, cause his status will stay the same.

(And yeah, I know that some, or all, of the hits I mentioned have not been released yet).

MILES DAVIS – SKETCHES OF SPAIN

Aaahh, jazz. The cruel bastard that just keeps slipping past me and kicking me in the ass, this elusive bitch that keeps getting away from me. Jazz, you are my nemesis. But I’m not about to give up though. Especially not when it’s Miles Davis we’re talking about. The godfather of jazz, the heroin addict, the Julliard drop-out, the genre-defying trumpeter. I can keep going, but then that’ll just end up as a long list of sentences where I try to sound cooler and cooler. And I’m not gonna get into a cool-off with Miles anyway, so let’s just move on.

No matter how much I struggle with jazz, I’m never gonna turn down Miles Davis. So «Sketches of Spain» has been on repeat on my stereo for some time and even though I’m not a huge fan of the album, it’s still a lot easier to listen to than some of the ones I’ve skipped earlier from other jazz musicians. One of the reasons could be that this is what you could call orchestrated jazz. And there it is. As soon as this jazz thing is put in some kind of order, as soon as it follows maybe just one rule, that’s when I’m able to follow it just a little bit.

Miles Davis has already released a ton of albums. The list seems endless. But within those numerous releases, you can find at least two that should not be overlooked (at least when we’re talking about music history, cause I’m not well versed in the music but only their renown); «Kind of Blue» and «Birth of the Cool». I guess I could mention «‘Round About Midnight». The thing is though, when it comes to jazz, Miles Davis is the king. And since it would be a big task trying to go through all his material, I have so far just checked out these three albums including «Sketches of Spain». And even though I’m still on the fence about this jazz thing, Miles has at least triggered my interest.

SAMMY DAVIS JR. – I GOTTA RIGHT TO SWING

If you haven’t listened to this kind of big band music intently, and if you’re not already a fan, I don’t think you’ll ever be. Putting on this record won’t change much. It’s just not cool, you know. It’s show music for the upper-class drunks and gamblers who think/thought Las Vegas was the tits. But Sammy Davis Jr. isn’t bad, that’s not what I’m trying to say here.

Sammy does deliver in the sense that he can sing, and he is…a showman. A member of the Ratpack, once referred to as the Clan by Frank Sinatra (that name got dropped, for obvious reasons), starring in movies such as «Ocean’s 11», and from what I understand he has been in showbiz since the ripe age of three. That has to fuck a guy up! So yeah, I’m not here to rip on old Sammy. He deserves the plaudits coming at him, I’m just not gonna give it to him for this particular album.

«I Gotta Right To Swing» sounds boring right off the bat. And by that, I mean the title. I lost interest even before putting it on to be honest. But even though most of the songs are just boring covers of some well-known tunes, there is one that is worth listening to. His version of I Got a Woman, written by Ray Charles, is pretty good. I like what he does to it even though it’s nothing extravagant. It just works with the band and Jr.’s voice. Other than that there’s not much to say here really.

CHUCK BERRY – ROCKIN’ AT THE HOPS

Another one of the greats, if you can look past the shit that he’ll be imprisoned for later. More on that when that happens. But Chuck was a pioneer and probably the biggest reason we got rock and roll music in our life. Songs like Roll Over Beethoven, Maybellene, and Johnny B. Goode are staples of rock music and have been covered by such bands as The Beatles and The Beach Boys (and many more of course).

I can’t help but think that that was the peak of his career. Cause there are no new massive hits on «Rockin’ at The Hops». There is a replica of Johnny B. Goode, called Bye Bye Johhny though. It’s not an exact replica, but I had to check if it was or not. And there is a funny little thing called To Pooped To Pop. I don’t even know what that means. But it is funny. The rest of the songs are ok. Not bad at all, but there isn’t anything that makes this album pop out and lock you down. So it’s pretty easy for me to move on to the next.

BO DIDDLEY – IN THE SPOTLIGHT

And he’s back just five months after his last release. If I have got my information right, he actually released 11 albums in the span of five years in the late 50’s and early 60’s, so that shouldn’t come as a surprise. But if it’s a good idea, that’s another question. To be honest I wasn’t ready for a new one from him right now. That’s probably exemplified by the fact that it sounds pretty much the same as «Have Guitar, Will Travel». I did like that one though, and it’s not that this one is worse. It’s just that too much of something good can also turn to shit. Right?

So just because of that I’m not thrilled by this one. It has a hit song on there called Roadrunner which it’s pretty cool, but other than that I can’t really pick any favourites. Sorry, Bo, but you gotta do something more awesome to keep me interested right now. Good try though.

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THE SINGLES

The Rat Pack must be conspiring to take over the world or something. Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr. And Dean Martin releases new material in the same month. It’s almost too much if you ask me, and I sure hope I don’t have to listen to this much big band stuff in the future. Out of the three guys though, it is Dean Martin that brought home the gold in July 1960 with his single, Ain’t That a Kick in the Head. By a mile as well. Ain’t That a Kick in the Head is a classic and it really swings compared to what the other two delivered. Funny enough, Dean Martin never charted with this single. Dean Martin lived a pretty crazy life from what I understand and I can’t wait to start reading the biography «Dino: Living High in the Dirty Business of Dreams» by Nick Tosches.

Another recurring band also released some new material this month; The Shadows. But this is the first single they released as a band without Cliff Richard (since I started writing at least). The song is Apache. This is the song that you are 100% sure that you’ve heard in one of Sergio Leone’s spaghetti western movies, as was I, but it turns out we haven’t. However, this is the song that pretty much started the tiny genre. It’s a really cool surf-rock/spaghetti western instrumental tune, and that one guitar riff should be pretty famous by now.

Ferlin Husky’s Wings of A Dove spent 10 weeks at #1 on the Country charts and was his last song to hit the top. The song is not terribly bad, but the rhythm guitar, and drums just make it sound stupid in a sense. It’s both happy and sad at the same time while not understanding that it is.

Joe Jones released a song called You Talk Too Much, Brenda Lee kept recording songs that a lot of people like and I Want to Be Wanted is no exception, Connie Francis put out My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own. I’m not a big fan of any of these. So luckily Sam Cooke came and turned my frown upside-down with Chain Gang. It can keep me happy for a long time despite the fact that it’s a song about people in prison. But this song can make you want to join that gang and sing along.

And last but not least. Elvis Presley released his best-selling single of all time, It’s Now or Never. I have to admit that I had no idea that this song was based on O Sole Mio, but now that I know I feel pretty stupid for not catching that earlier. Listening to the song now it’s so goddamn obvious. I don’t have to tell you that this is a good song, but I’m still going to. It’s one of those songs that just works. This kind of pop music is not really what I usually enjoy, but Elvis makes it difficult for me to not sing along. It’s one of those things that seems impossible to explain. Why is this such a good song? Isn’t it actually kinda boring? But nah, I’m just gonna leave it that and put it on one more time.

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THE CHARTS

Two new songs entered the charts this month. Brenda Lee slowly climbed to the #1 spot with her single I’m Sorry, and Roy Orbison entered the top 3 with Only The Lonely (Know How I Feel). I’ve previously written about both these songs as they were released in May 1960.

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July delivered a lot of releases and one great book. Frank Sinatra disappoints, Bo Diddley just keeps doing the same thing, but Elvis Presley and Sam Cooke deliver. As long as there is something good that comes from listening to all this old music I’m happy, so let’s see what August has to offer.

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Petter Milde

This Band Could Be Your Life