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THE ALBUMS

The soundtrack «Breakfast At Tiffany’s» by Henry Mancini was released this month, and as one would think, an album consisting of music from a movie, a score, isn’t very exciting. But the album sold really fucking well for some reason. It stayed on the album charts for over 90 weeks(!), which is nothing short of crazy. The song Moon River became a hit as well, and it actually won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. It was written for Audrey Hepburn to sing in the movie, but on this album, there’s a choir that does the singing. It’s a terribly dull song by the way.

Another one that should be passed by in silence is Cliff Richards‘ «21 Today» (it was actually released on his 21st birthday). He is at this point UK’s most popular solo pop artist, so the album sold well, but he sounds like an old man already and it’s obvious that he needs to change it up a bit if he wants to compete with what’s coming. He does a pretty good version of Ronnie Hawkins’ Forty Days, the songs Tough Enough and Without You are cool enough, but that’s mostly because of his backing band The Shadows, and the last one on the record, Shame On You, is also worth mentioning. And Frank Sinatra is back. Still not doing anything for me. But at least he has some good intentions. «I Remember Tommy» is a tribute to the bandleader Tommy Dorsey, and consists of re-recorded versions of songs he performed or recorded with said bandleader. That’s all I got to say about this one.

And the last one I’m not gonna put much effort into is The Ventures’ «The Colorful Ventures». It’s a concept album of sorts where all the tracks have a color in the title. It opens with Blue Moon, but the best one is probably Yellow Jacket. I think I’ve made my feelings toward these instrumental albums pretty clear earlier, and this one doesn’t change that. But The Ventures does have some great songs here and there, don’t get me wrong.

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ELVIS PRESLEY – BLUE HAWAII

Elvis’ descent into Hollywood is rapidly advancing as he keeps on focusing more and more on movies and soundtracks. «Blue Hawaii» is his fourth soundtrack so far, but from what I understand there will be a lot more through the ‘60s. The success of this one (it sold to gold quickly and spent 20 weeks at #1) , and G.I. Blues, makes Colonel Tom Parker and Elvis go all in when it comes to soundtracks.

Now, I understand that they wanna make money. Especially the Colonel needs to milk his cow however he can, but this just proves to me that Elvis isn’t as awesome as I thought. He has been this legendary guy that never did anything but record, and release, timeless hits. But when I listen to his records, he just keeps on disappointing me. I’m gonna bring it up again; all the Elvis albums I’ve listened to since the start of the ‘60s has been mediocre at best. And this one follows suit without hesitation.

«Blue Hawaii» has maybe two good songs. Can’t Help Falling In Love and Beach Boy Blues. I might be able to let Slicin’ Sand slip through the cracks, but that’s me being lenient. No, the image that I had of Elvis, which has been built on the fact that he is called the King, is definitively starting to crack. I’m not saying that the songs that actually are amazing are something else, but to be the king of something I would say that you need to have some sort of continuous awesomeness. And Elvis only shines every now and then.

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Another soundtrack released this month is «West Side Story». Probably the single most famous soundtrack ever released. But this theatre musical thing is not for everyone. Personally, I don’t understand how anyone can listen to this shit other than as some sort of mockery. Cause this is more annoying than anything else. But it spent 54 weeks at #1, so from that fact alone it might seem that I’m alone in this view. Maybe the Broadway show is cool, but to listen to this at home is just crazy.

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RAY CHARLES – THE GENIUS SINGS THE BLUES

This is Ray’s last album on Atlantic Records, a compilation of songs he recorded during his time at the label. It was probably just released by Atlantic to get in some cash before he left, but it became one of Ray’s most famous compilations. As I’ve mentioned before; Ray is a master of genres. He can do it all with such conviction that all you can do is bow your head in respect. And this blues compilation does not put that statement to shame. He is magnificent.

Now I’m not a big blues fan, but Ray Charles does this a lot better than most of the other blues artists I’ve listened to in this decade. First of all the opening track, Early In the Morning, a song I know better recorded by someone else much later, is fucking amazing. It was originally recorded by Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five way back in 1947, and that one is also great. So I guess the bottom line is that this is a great song, period.

Other definitive gems on the album are The Right Time, I Believe To My Soul, and I’m Movin’ On. In general, though this is a great album all the way through. You can feel the emotions on some of these songs, and you won’t be able to sit still on others. I’m very fucking happy that I got to listen to this one today. Superb!

Oh, and Hard Times (No One Knows Better Than I) is also one of the better ones.

BILL HALEY & HIS COMETS – TWIST

I think this is the third time I’ve tried to write about Bill and his band. The two other albums were nowhere to be found, and I couldn’t really find any information about them either. Finally, the album «Twist» is available at Tidal.

Now from what I’ve read Bill Haley is past his prime already, but some years ago he was one of the biggest rock’n’roll stars on the planet. He started out as a country artist back in the ‘40s and cut his first record Candy Kisses at the tender age of eighteen. In 1951 he covered an old R&B hit I’ve written about earlier called Rocket 88 (by Jackie Brenston or Ike Turner) and that’s when he realised that the kids wanted energetic music they could dance to. So that’s when he formed Bill Haley & His Comets. In 1954 he released Rock Around The Clock to moderate success, but the follow-up Shake, Rattle and Roll, a Joe Turner cover, hit the Top 10 in both the UK and the US. And when Rock Around The Clock was re-released in ‘55 it rose to #1.

After that song was included on the soundtrack of the movie «Blackboard Jungle», a movie about juvenile delinquents, the balding Haley was identified as a young, fresh, and cool rebel. So for the next two years, he was one of the most (if not the most) popular rock’n’roll artists in the world. He had twelve Top 40 singles in the US during those years, including See You Later Alligator, Razzle-Dazzle, and R-O-C-K. He was definitively bigger in the UK though, because in America he had starred in a couple of movies and therefore showed them that he was actually a fat, boring, family man, and not the rebel they thought he was. So his last Top 40 hit was Skinny Minnie in 1958.

Europe likes this guy still though, and he never stopped doing what he loved even though a lot of people threw him to the curb because of the way he looked. So here he is in 1961, delivering a record that is quite alright. Bear in mind that I have not actually looked at too many pictures of this guy, so it might be that I hate his music once I see him. But for now, he’s off the hook. This to me seems like straightforward rockabilly, danceable and swinging, with a lot of Latin influences. It’s not the kinda stuff that would rock your world, but it’s a fun listen if you’re in the right mood.

SAM COOKE – MY KIND OF BLUES

Sam Cooke, like a lot of others, started out singing gospel. He was the lead singer in a soul/gospel group called Soul Stirrers from ‘51 through ‘56, and it was when he was recording with them for Specialty Records that a producer, after seeing his popularity grow, started to provide Sam with some pop material. In 1957 he released Loveable/Forever under the pseudonym Dale Cook. The pseudonym was used so as not to offend(!) the gospel audience, cause I guess pop was the devil’s work or something.

The next single he released, You Send Me, was too much for Specialty’s owner, so he released Sam from his deal. It was released on Keen Records and became a hit. It sold over 2 million copies and was at #1 for three weeks. So the god-fearing men did not do smart business right there. He had some other hits in the late-‘50s with songs like Only Sixteen and Wonderful World, and before he left Keen Records for RCA he also set up his own publishing company. Right in time for some original compositions like Chain Gang and Cupid. At least Sam Cooke was a smart guy.

But this album isn’t all that. First of all; his kind of blues is very different from my kind of blues. Or blues in general to be completely honest. His blues is more like big band music. And the songs aren’t very strong on their own either. The only thing he has going for him on this record is his voice. It’s smooth as butter. And just that alone makes this album easy to listen to. But it’s not very good. If you want to listen to Sam Cooke sing I’d recommend any other album he has released before this one.

THE STAPLE SINGERS – SWING LOW SWEET CHARIOT

By the mid-‘50s The Staple Singers were considered one of the finest vocal groups in their field. Their field was gospel. Now that might sound incredibly boring, but they do got soul, and at some point, this family band will become a lot bigger than what they are right now in 1961. The first recording they made was released on Pop Staples’ record label, and they sold the single These Are They/Faith and Grace at their shows.

They were signed to bigger labels pretty quickly in the late-‘50s and early-‘60s, but never really had any success. «Swing Low Sweet Chariot» was one of those albums that, I don’t really know if it flopped, but it didn’t become a huge success. The album is their second one, it was released on Vee-Jay Records, and even though the commercial success wasn’t there doesn’t mean the album is bad.

Cause there are some good songs here. Like the opening track I’m So Glad, with a great, fast guitar riff, turns gospel into something worth checking out. You’ve got Swing Down, Chariot, Each Day, Let’s Go Home, and Don’t Knock amongst the best songs on the record, and the so-called fillers aren’t that bad either. Now I get why gospel music didn’t become a commercial success, but it feels a bit overlooked in a sense. The guitar of Pops is definitively a mood setter here, and that is one of the main reasons this sounds as cool as it does.

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THE SINGLES

Elvis Presley released a single from «Blue Hawaii» this month. With the songs Can’t Help Falling In Love and Rock-A-Hula-Baby. I guess I said what needed to be said when writing about the album further up.

Run To Him by Bobby Vee did well on the charts, reaching #2 at some point, but it’s not very exciting. Brenda Lee is back with Fool #1, a ballad that doesn’t do much to my musical heart. James Darren brings circus sounds into popular music with Goodbye Cruel World, and believe me when I say that it doesn’t work. It sounds misplaced, stupid, and whatnot. The circus music is supposedly a woman’s voice according to Wikipedia.

Patsy Cline though, shows up with a classic this month, and one of her biggest hits. Crazy was written by none other than Willie Nelson, and it’s easy to think that anyone would want to record songs that were written by him, but at the time he hadn’t had a significant recording of his own. And Patsy Cline didn’t even want to record this song at first, but I’m guessing she’s happy she did. The ballad is a great one, it’s full of emotion and suits her perfectly. Rolling Stone Magazine places the song at #85 on their ‘The 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time-list.

Johnny Burnette gives us God, Country and My Baby, a song that was originally released by another artist just last month. I didn’t listen to the first version, so I don’t know if that one is any good. If it’s not, then I wouldn’t check out Johnny Burnette’s version either. Howlin’ Wolf delivers a great blues song with The Red Rooster. His vocals are damn good, exactly like blues should sound like, and his guitar playing is on point. But the Cliff Richard song When The Girl In Your Arms Is The Girl In Your Heart is a definite waste of time.

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THE CHARTS

Bobby Darin revives an old classic with his version of You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby. The song is quite alright, but it didn’t become a bigger hit than Bing Crosby’s version from 1938-ish. Even though it’s not at all one of the best songs I’ve heard, it is the best new song in the Top 10 this month. But that says a lot more about the other songs than this one.

Hayley Mills peaks at #8 with Let’s Get Together, a song from the Disney Movie «The Parent Trap». It’s not great, but I’ll mention it because it’s from a Disney Movie I thought was from the ‘90s starring Lindsay Lohan. And Lee Dorsey’s Ya Ya is the last notable song hitting the charts this month. It has a pretty good feel to it and has a rhythm that would make some people dance at least.

The rest is Bob Moore’s Mexico, Sad Movies Make Me Cry by Sue Thompson, and Troy Shondell’s This Time, which I wrote about back in March, 1961.

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Petter Milde

This Band Could Be Your Life