Stuart Sutcliffe did not travel with the band back to Liverpool as he stayed in Hamburg to pursue a career in the arts. Paintings I think. So that led Paul to his beloved bass guitar, and while we’re waiting for Ringo Starr to complete the line-up we can find Pete Best behind the drums. The Beatles will go on to make more than 300 shows at The Cavern Club over the next few years, so I guess it’s fair to say that this place deserves its place in history as a legendary concert arena. While they were doing their thing in Liverpool they did make some trips back to Germany where they played the Top Ten Club, and before they unleashed their first single onto the world, they recorded something with Tony Sheridan. I’ll get back to that in due time.

I don’t know how much I’ll write about The Beatles before their debut single in ‘62, but I’m happy that they’ve surfaced now. I’ve listened to this band my entire life as my dad was a huge fan of everything they did, and to be able to follow them from the start is making me pretty excited! I guess it’s important to mention that we’re a McCartney family, so I’m probably gonna be pretty biased toward him when shit hits the fan at some point. That’s just how it is.

In other news; Reprise Records started up this month. I had no idea that it was Frank Sinatra who started this, and I think that’s pretty cool. There’s gonna be a lot of great music released on this label over the years, and even though he supposedly started it to release his own and his friends’ music, I’m glad it turned out to something bigger.

And last, but not least, Henry Rollins was born on February the 13th. A legend in the making right there.

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THE ALBUMS

Out of the seven albums I’ve picked this month, there are three I don’t know the exact date on. I’ve mentioned this matter before and I’m starting to realize that this will be a recurring problem. So I’ll just have to live with it.

Bo Diddley is one of them. And I’m kinda losing track of this guy as well. He’s a god damn record making machine. This is his fourth album since I started writing, and that’s just a bit too much if you ask me. Anyway, his album was recorded in February, and that’s all I know. Ella Fitzgerald recorded her album in January, and Dion probably didn’t release his album at this time. Maybe not even close. But fuck it. I’ve already spent a lot of time listening to it so I’m not gonna back out now.

And let’s just get Bo Diddley out of the way, shall we? The album is called «Bo Diddley is a…Lover», or just «…is a Lover» if you’d like, and it picks up right where he left off. That doesn’t surprise me at all. Cause if it’s one thing I’ve learned about B-Diddy is that he likes to play shit safe. Don’t mess around with what you know. Of course, it’s not that he is bad at what he does either, it’s just that it’s starting to become a drag. Fucking boring to be frank. We’ve gotten to a point where you know you won’t be surprised in one way or another. It’s just gonna be the same thing you heard last time with just some small adjustments. And I’m kinda done with it. It could work if he kept putting out hit after hit, but right now it’s just songs. Sorry, Bo, but you need to step shit up a bit. I’m gonna try to end this on a happier note by saying that Hong Kong, Mississippi is probably the best song on the record, but if you’re not into standard rock’n’blues, this probably isn’t for you.

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ARETHA FRANKLIN – ARETHA

Here it is, Aretha Franklin’s debut album. She isn’t completely soul just yet, but there is nothing on this record that tells you that she’s not gonna be a star. She’s only 18 years old here, and her voice is already magnificent.

The opening track is Won’t Be Long (which I had as the 2nd best song of last year) and by that she kinda sets the standard for this one. The songs on this debut are a collection of jazz standards, and where I know her best as the «Queen of Soul», she’s wading in the waters between jazz and R&B. She is the daughter of Rev. C.L. Franklin who was a well-respected man known for his fiery sermons and magnetic public appearances. He also knew the major gospel stars Mahalia Jackson and Clara Ward, from whom Aretha probably picked up some pointers. This obviously gives her a great foundation to get to where we know she’s going, but it doesn’t seem that anyone understood her potential yet on «Aretha».

Don’t worry though. There are a few songs on here that really let her shine. Are You Sure?, Who Needs You?, and the opening track Won’t Be Long is probably the best tracks on this LP. Now, this isn’t an amazing album, but there are things on here that hint towards what will be, and her voice is definitely the main attraction. But the choice of songs and genre is just not on point. So let’s just look at it like she’s keeping us on our toes until she really hits her stride.

ELLA FITZGERALD – SINGS THE HAROLD ARLEN SONG BOOK

This is Ella’s sixth album with songs from «The Great American Songbook» or American Standards. This is what they call popular songs that were written mainly for Broadway, Hollywood or Tin Pan Alley. It seems to be a really popular thing to do at this point in time…singing them that is. And it’s been done later as well, of course, but not as much as in the first half of this century. But Harry Nilsson has done it, as has Ringo Starr and Linda Ronstadt to name a few.

Ella’s career goes all the way back to 1935, and that’s too much info for me to dive into. But she started singing at talent shows in Harlem and was eventually discovered at one of these. She had her ups and downs during her career, with success in the ‘30s and a down period in the early ‘40s. After she met Norman Granz in 1949 though, things really started to look up. He was her manager, and A&R director and managed to get her on the right track with song choices and all that.

I wouldn’t necessarily sit down any given night and listen to this album. But I’m not gonna dispute that it’s quality either. And more than a few people would say that a record collection is not complete without an Elle Fitzgerald record. That might be true. But if this album is the one you should get…I don’t know. She has an enormous catalogue and I’ve only just started listening to it. However, there’s no shame in playing it loud in your living room. But it is a bit embarrassing to know so little about Ella Fitzgerald.

DION – RUNAROUND SUE

Like I said earlier, I’m not sure when this album was released. Considering the fact that Runaround Sue was released as a single in September, I would guess that this one wasn’t released now. But here we are…

Dion has left The Belmonts behind and is going solo. If he managed to rid himself of his drug problem at the same time is unknown, but he doesn’t sound like a junkie, so I guess that’s something. He didn’t sound like one last year either, so who knows. But it’s always good to talk about drugs. Drugs are bad. Or are they good? I guess that depends on who’s talking. If Dion goes home to shoot some smack in his arm at the end of the day, who am I to say anything. But drugs usually make for an interesting story, so I’d be more than happy to figure out that he did that and fucked up in one way or another. But this is getting out of hand as I have no idea what he does in his spare time. I don’t even know when this album was released…

There are some pretty good songs here though. The title track and hit song Runaround Sue, Dream Lover, and The Wanderer are the best ones on the album. The Majestic grew on me more and more, and Kansas City moved into my subconsciousness. And it’s also a bit funny that the recipe here is: Slow song, fast song, slow song, fast song. And I only really like the fast ones. In the end, it is a pretty good album though.

IKE & TINA TURNER – THE SOUL OF IKE & TINA TURNER

I’ve heard so much about the relationship between Ike and Tina Turner that I can almost say that it has made me into the man I am today. And before any conclusions are drawn; this has been like a cautionary tale. DON’T END UP LIKE IKE! Don’t hit your girlfriend, treat people with respect, and so on. This shit has also kept me from really checking out their music. Which might have been a mistake.

Ike has been making music for a while already. In 1951 he recorded a song called Rocket 88 at the legendary Sun Studio with his band Kings of Rhythm and Jackie Brenston. And this song is said to be one of the first rock’n’roll songs ever made. But Jackie Brenston ended up with the credits and started a solo career on the back of its success. Ike kept it going as a session musician, talent scout, and producer and worked with acts such as B.B. King and Bobby «Blue» Bland.

Tina, or Annie May Bullock, took a spot in the band (after being promised again and again that she would be able to sing with the band) when she grabbed the mic and just started singing at a show. And here’s the debut album. «The Soul of Ike & Tina Turner» has a pretty cool sound. It’s a great mix of R&B and rock’n’roll, and Tina’s amazing voice gets to roam freely on every track. But there are no immediate hits here other than A Fool In Love and I Idolize You. Both did pretty well on the charts without breaking into the Top 10. I’m also a fan of I’m Jealous and The Way You Love Me.

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THE SINGLES

I’m gonna write about a runner-up from Eurovision this month. That doesn’t sit right with me. But it got me thinking about what Eurovision was 60 years ago. Is it anything like it now? I mean, was the music terrible back then as well? Maybe it just got worse as the years passed. As more people understood that this kind of competition doesn’t work well with music. In 2021 a guy named TiX is gonna represent Norway. And that’s pretty fucking awful. What’s worse though, is that he won «Årets Spellemann» (artist of the year at the Norwegian Grammys) this year as well.

THE ALLISONS – ARE YOU SURE

The British duo, The Allisons, was the runners-up at Eurovision 1961. The winner was Jean-Claude Pascal from Luxembourg with his song Nous Les Amoureux, and the 3rd spot was given to the German Lale Andersen and her song Einmal sehen wir uns wieder. The Norwegian contribution was the song Sommer i Palma by Nora Brockstedt. None of these are awesome at all, but at least they’re not as dumb as the ones that enter now. I’m gonna check in every year to see where it all went straight to hell.

The Allisons has actually made an ok song here, and it sold over a million copies in Europe. It even almost entered the Billboard Top 100 (102nd) which is quite a feat considering that British and European acts rarely did so. Their manager was hoping that this band would become the new Everly Brothers, but they never did amount to anything more than this. They had some minor after Are You Sure, and called it quits in 1963.

Fun fact for Norwegians: C.C. Bøyesen, som debuterte med å skrive russelåter i 1935 (TIX!), lagde visstnok en norsk versjon av denne låten. Men jeg finner ikke Er du sikker? på noen streamingplattformer.

CHRIS KENNER – I LIKE IT LIKE THAT

I don’t know who Chris Kenner is, but he was quite the character it seems like. He was pretty fond of his booze, arrived late to his own shows, and tended to forget the lyrics when he was performing. No wonder he didn’t make it. But he did write a couple of good songs. I Like It Like That was his first hit, and it was written with Allen Toussaint.

This is a decent pop song, and Chris won’t be doing much better than this from what I understand. He’s gonna spend three years i jail for rape at some point, and in 1976 he’ll die from an alcohol-triggered heart attack. Rest in Peace, Chris Kenner.

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Gene McDaniels has worked and toured with big names like John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, and Dizzy Gilespie. A Hundred Pounds of Clay is the first of a couple songs that will end up on the charts from this guy. The Marcels scores an international hit with the song Blue Moon. I guess everyone has heard that one before. It was written in 1934 and has been released by a shitload of artists over the years. The Marcel’s version is pretty good, but if it’s the best is beyond me. For a second there I was thinking about ranking all the versions, but to listen to this song over and over would be the death of me.

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THE SHADOWS – F.B.I.

The Shadows picks up where they left up with their new single F.B.I.. Instrumental, the same style, the same thing, and still pretty good. No life changer, but it reaches #6 on the charts pretty quickly.

It’s their (and Cliff Richard’s) manager who ends up with the credits on this song for some reason.

DEL SHANNON – RUNAWAY

Del Shannon is one of the few doo-wop artists that actually has some musical credibility after their brush with stardom in the early ‘60s. Even though he mentions Hank Williams as one of his first inspirations, his debut single is something completely different. Runaway is a straight-up pop song and the melody was supposedly written by accident at a rehearsal with Max Crook, his keyboard player.

This song is just…really good. Catchy as hell, impossible not to sing along to, and yeah, you name it. I was wondering what kind of instrument played the solo on this one, and it turns out to be an instrument called Musitron that Crook actually invented himself.

The song was a big international hit (didn’t go higher than 4th on the Norwegian charts), and Rolling Stone Magazine ranked it as the 472nd best song of all time at some point. I don’t know what the 471 others are, but I’m not gonna argue with that.

This might be the best song of the year.

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THE CHARTS

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The Miracles enter the Top 3 with their song Shop Around. I’ve written about that one earlier, but there are two new songs here as well. The doo-wop song There’s a Moon Out Tonight by The Capris is probably doing well because everyone is still stuck in the ‘50s. It’s a pretty boring tune. It was originally released in 1958, but no one seemed to give a shit back then, so they gave it another shot now. Not a bad decision as it spent 14 weeks on the charts. It’s pretty boring though. Did I mention that?

Chubby Checker is the last new guy in the Top 3 this month. And you know what? It’s another song about some kind of dance! First the Twist, now the Pony. Haha. It just makes me laugh. Is Chubby only gonna sing about dances? Like forever? And Pony Time sounds just like The Twist! I mean, it’s so goddamn similar.

Jackie Wilson’s My Empty Arms enters the Top 10 even though it’s boring as hell. His nickname is supposed to be ‘’Mr. Excitement’’ but there is nothing here that warrants that name at all. During February The Shirelles will, at some point, have two songs in the Top 10. That’s quite the feat. Dedicated To The One I Love is the new one this month.

The String-A-Longs enter with their biggest hit, Wheels. It’s an instrumental track that doesn’t impress much, Elvis Presley is back with his song Surrender, Marty Robbins is here with Don’t Worry, and The Everly Brothers disappoint with Ebony Eyes.

The charts are not doing what I hoped they would do for me, so I might change how I write about those soon.

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Petter Milde

This Band Could Be Your Life