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Other than that the novel «One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest» was published this month, written by Ken Kessey, which was adapted into a play in 1963, starring Kirk Douglas, and a 5 time Academy Award-winning movie in ‘75, starring Jack Nicholson, man orbited earth for the first time on February 20, as John Glenn went up into space and successfully got home after a quick trip around the earth.

And I feel like it’s been a while since some cool people were born, so I’m glad to announce some now. We’ve got Axl Rose, who’s gonna become the singer of Guns’n’Roses, he was born on February 6, a not-so-cool country music legend in Garth Brooks, there’s Cliff Burton, the original bass player for Metallica, and last but not necessarily least; Sheryl Crow who saw the light of day on February 11.

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THE ALBUMS

Doris Day is not giving up her music career, and she’s back with an album together with André Previn this month. It’s called «Duet», and I’m not gonna waste another breath on this woman’s musical escapades. It’s just not interesting, and the fact that she might have a good voice doesn’t help her one bit if she keeps using it to sing useless songs to soul-crushingly boring music.

So let’s just move on to something a bit more interesting…

CHUCK BERRY – TWIST

Chuck Berry was a seminal figure in the evolution of rock’n’roll, and his influence as a songwriter and guitarist is irrefutable. He started learning to play the guitar in his teens, but this was put on hold as he spent a stint of three years in a reformatory following a conviction of armed robbery. Luckily this didn’t stop him from pursuing his career. And in 1955, after playing around at different spots in St. Louis, he met Muddy Waters in Chicago who told him to go talk to Chess Records. There he impressed enough to get a recording contract with his demo of Ida May, which was retitled as Maybellene and became his debut single. Not a bad way to start your music career.

Now from there on, he kept pumping out hits, and I don’t see any reason to mention them all as I’m pretty sure most of you know which one they are. And most of them are actually on this album. Yeah, cause «Twist» is a compilation, and it has nothing to do with the twist. It’s just called «Twist» to capitalize on the dance craze, and it doesn’t even have any songs that would musically conform to the twist style.

Anyways, I don’t care for the twist revolution, so I’m glad that it has nothing to do with that shit. And considering the fact that between ‘55 and ‘60 Chuck had 17 R&B Top 20 entries, so a compilation has to be filled with a lot of great songs. But a couple of months ago, Chuck was convicted under the Mann Act of ‘transporting an underage girl across state lines for immoral purposes’. This sounds, I don’t know, vague? This law was intended as a tool for cracking down on organized prostitution, but the vague language of the Mann Act made it, from what I understand, easy to exploit (by the law). Berry said he had just offered this girl a job at his nightclub, but when she was fired some weeks later she went to the police with a different story. He was sentenced to 5 years in prison by an all-white jury, but this conviction was vacated, and he was offered a new trial due to disparaging racial comments made by the judge. He ended up spending 20 months in jail. So this album was released while Chuck served time, and that might be a good explanation for why they released a compilation.

This conviction was gonna affect his popularity of course, but since I’m not 100% sure what actually went down, I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt until new information arises.

But yeah, here we are. A compilation packed with his biggest hits. We’ve got Maybellene, Roll Over Beethoven, Johnny B. Goode, Sweet Little Sixteen, School Day (Ring Ring Goes The Bell), Rock and Roll Music, Reelin’ and Rockin’, the list just keeps going. I guess the verdict would have to be that this is a great album, but then again, how can you go wrong when releasing an album packed with tracks that are already hits?

NANCY WILSON AND CANNONBALL ADDERLEY – NANCY WILSON/CANNONBALL ADDERLEY

Cannonball Adderley was part of the classic Miles Davis Quintet from 1957-59, he played on the celebrated album «Kind Of Blue», and on his own «Somethin’ Else», Miles Davis did him the rare honor of a guest performance. He is also the one who launched the genre soul jazz in the ‘60s. Cannonball got game!

Nancy Wilson met Cannonball sometime in the late ‘50s, and he urged her to move to New York City to do some recording, and in 1959 she did. Not long after her arrival, she was booked four nights a week at The Blue Morocco, and a year later she was signed by Capitol Records. Her first single Guess Who I Saw Today was very successful, and her debut album, «Like in Love», proved that she had a talent for R&B. But Cannonball wanted her to sing jazz and ballads, and here we are.

Cause «Nancy Wilson/Cannonball Adderley» is just that. Jazz and ballads. The first part of the album is Nancy singing over Cannonball’s playing. Where he dabbles with the cornet, and of course his saxophone and the last part is instrumental. If I would divide it like that, I’d favor the last part. It’s just so much better. Nancy has a nice voice, I’m not gonna dispute that, but this kinda jazz singing is just plain dull. There’s no real melody to catch onto, which in turn makes it kinda difficult to listen to. You’ve got the song Save Your Love For Me, the hit that kinda made her a national star. I’m not in love with that one either, but it is the best song with Nancy on the album.

The instrumental part is a lot more upbeat, or maybe it just feels that way because we’re finally done with the vocal part. Songs like Teaneck, One Man’s Dream, and Unit 7 are my favorites, and this makes me think that Cannonball Adderley might be another jazz artist that I can listen to. So I guess the conclusion is that this album is 50/50. 50% boring, and 50% good.

BEN E. KING – SINGS FOR SOULFUL LOVERS

Mr. King is working hard to establish himself as a solo artist after leaving The Drifters, but his first try «Spanish Harlem» was far from good in my eyes. I was actually a bit offended at how poor some of the songs were. However, the single Stand By Me is amazing. So like I said before, he obviously has what it takes, but does he manage to get it out, or does it stop with that one?

Well, if I’m gonna judge that on this album, then no, no he doesn’t. This is not an album that he should be proud of. He sounds good, that’s not the problem. The problem is the song selection. First of all, it doesn’t make sense to me for him to release an album packed with cover songs. Especially not since he already showed the world that with a little help from his ‘’friends’’ he knows how to write a good song. But «Sings For Soulful Lovers» is nothing but half-ass re-recordings of old and new hits.

Some of them work though, like He Will Break Your Heart and Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow, but most of the tracks just don’t fit him. It’s like he’s trying his best to reach a new audience, but when I sit here and listen, it just sounds like garbage. I mean, what the fuck is with the song Because Of You? It’s just plain terrible! So no, Ben E. King has not shown me any more signs of the great artist he can be with this disappointing record.

QUINCY JONES – THE QUINTESSENCE

I can’t believe Quincy Jones’ middle name is Delight. Come on! I mean, Quincy Delight Jones? You can’t make that shit up.

Quincy began playing trumpet at an early age, and he also developed an interest in arranging while studying at the Berklee College of Music. In 1953 he began writing arrangements for other artists, including Count Basie, as a freelancer, but was hired as a musical director to Dizzy Gillespie soon after, which resulted in the album «World Statesman». Later in the ‘50s and into the ‘60s, he began writing charts, directing orchestras for concerts, and record sessions, for a lot of artists, including Frank Sinatra, Billy Eckstine, Dinah Washington, and Ray Charles (who was a childhood friend). And this tells us that he is already on his way to becoming a legend in this game called music.

And «The Quintessence» is the coolest big band album, or whatever, I’ve ever heard. And I’m not saying that’s a mean feat, cause I haven’t listened to much of this kind of music, but I’m pretty surprised at how much I liked this. I kinda figured it would be dull like Frank Sinatra or something, but this is damn entertaining at times. I mean, I’m not saying it’s a masterpiece or anything, still, it’s in a sense not far from it. If I was to compare this to everything else I’ve heard with this kind of band set-up, there is no question in my mind that this is waaaaaay better than it all.

Straight, No Chaser, written by Thelonious Monk, might be my favorite on this one, and I especially love the trumpet(?) solo at the end. The opener, and title track, Quintessence starts it all off perfectly, Robot Portrait is great, man, who would’ve thought. I mean, this is good. Really good.

I wonder if Delight is gonna keep being this cool with his orchestra. I sure hope so.

THE DRIFTERS – SAVE THE LAST DANCE FOR ME

How do The Drifters get on without Ben E. King, their lead vocalist and occasional composer, who figured that the grass would be greener on the other side?

First of all, I guess it’s important to say that it doesn’t take much to feel like you’re doing better than Ben E. at the moment. Most people are (ok, that might be a bit harsh), so I’m just gonna say it straight away: Yeah, they are getting on very well without their King. Then again, I’m not sure if this album is completely devoid of him. He did sing lead on the single Save The Last Dance For Me, which is obviously included on this album as it is the title track, but I haven’t found any information about that online. I guess I could just listen to the single version and the album version to figure it out, but for some reason, I’m not gonna do that…

The Drifters had their first hit with Money Honey, their debut single, in 1953, when Clyde McPhatter was the lead singer. He was their lead until he was drafted into the army in 1954, and opted for a solo career when relieved of his duties. The Drifters still had some hits without him, like Adorable and Fools Fall In Love, and they had a lot of different lead singers from 1954 to1957, but in ‘58 they had a falling out with their manager, George Treadwell, who ended up firing the entire group. Treadwell was the one who owned the copyright to the Drifter’s name, so he just found a new group, the Five Crowns, and gave them the Drifters name so this charade could keep going.

After another guy got drafted, Ben E. King came in, and the new Drifters hit the scene with There Goes My Baby. A song that introduced strings and Latin rhythm into R&B, a pioneering release written by Lieber and Stoller, being the first R&B song to add these embellishments to an R&B song. Some other hits ensued, and now we’re here…

The new lead singer is Rudy Lewis, and he does a very good job replacing Ben on this record. I don’t think they missed him at all, to be honest. And like I said, this is definitively better than what Ben has to offer, and even though it isn’t packed with hits they got songs like I Count The Tears, Somebody New Dancin’ With You, Nobody But Me, and When My Little Girl Is Smiling to mention a few of the better ones. But also the not-so-good ones like Mexican Divorce (whatever that is), and Please Stay which is probably the worst song on the album. I don’t know what happened there, to be honest. But all in all, it’s a great record. With all the vocal R&B groups out there right now, this one puts The Drifters at the front of the pack.

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THE SINGLES

This is quite a month for acts associated with The Drifters. Ben released an album, The Drifters did the same, and here’s Clyde McPhatter, the former/first lead singer of The Drifters with the song Lover Please. A pretty cool rockin’ R&B tune that reached #6 here in Norway, and #7 in the US. McPhatter was actually the first artist to be inducted twice into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, first as a solo artist and later as a member of The Drifters.

It’s always funny when Chubby Checker checks back in, cause you know what’s coming. Yeah, it’s another twist song. This one is called Slow Twistin’ and it features Dee Dee Sharp on vocals. I don’t know if I can express how I think about this without sounding patronizing, but this one-trick-pony career path is starting to make Chubby Checker look like a puppet. I know that a lot of artists aren’t in charge of their own careers at this point in time, but I’m pretty sure that most of them at least had a say in something. But Chubby don’t. Unless he is only in it for the money of course.

Bobby Vee bores me with a ballad called Please Don’t Ask About Barbara, and takes a step back in my eyes. Cause this song is pretty generic compared to some of the other songs he released in the ‘60s so far.

There’s a debut single called Johnny Angel released this month, by a girl named Shelley Fabares. The most interesting thing about this song is that Glen Campbell plays guitar on it. It’s a cover song recorded for Shelley’s TV show. The song is nothing more than ok, and I guess it’s more interesting that Shelley didn’t want to be a singer.

Roy Orbison is back with another international hit. Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream) did well in a lot of countries, including Norway, Australia, and the UK. The song is exactly what one would expect from Roy; quality. The way his songs build up is something else, and I’m kinda diggin’ it. But so far he’s only delivered great singles, while his albums don’t really hit the spot. We’ll see, maybe the next one will be packed with awesome tunes, and until then we can enjoy this new single.

Another recurring artist is that guy called Elvis Presley. Pretty sure he was pretty big in the ‘60s. Anyways, Good Luck Charm is a typical Elvis song, but not like the ones I enjoy. This one is a bit too slow and la-di-da-ish for my liking. It reached #1 over at Billboard of course, but what Elvis song doesn’t? It’s already stopped being a proof of quality when Elvis gets up there. He just sells, that’s just how it is.

The last single is from The Shadows. The track is Wonderful Land. It’s ok I guess. Nothing I would blast at home really, and it’s a bit more careful than some other Shadow tunes. Maybe I actually hate it. Nah, not hate…it’s just not cool. That’s it, it’s not cool. Not cool at all.

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THE CHARTS

The only new track in the charts this month is Crying In The Rain performed by The Everly Brothers. I had no idea that these guys recorded the original version of this song, and I think I’ve only heard A-ha perform it, but this is definitively not a bad version. It’s not Everly at their best, with their rock’n’roll vibe, however, it is one of their better ballads. So I guess it’s an easy conclusion about the charts this month: It’s good.

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Petter Milde

This Band Could Be Your Life