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Something a lot more interesting is the fact that Dick Rowe, the guy who turned down The Beatles at Decca Records, will make his amends this May by signing The Rolling Stones. What’s curious though, is the fact that it was supposedly George Harrison who recommended him to go watch the band. So in a sense, it was The Beatles that got The Rolling Stones signed to said label. 

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Bob Dylan is standing his ground and showing the world what kind of man/artist he is when he walked out on a booking at the Ed Sullivan Show this month. Bob wanted to perform his song Talkin’ John Birch Paranoid Blues, or Talkin’ John Birch Society Blues and Talkin’ John Birch Blues as it is also known, but an executive at CBS was worried that they could be sued for defamation if they let him perform this song, but Bob politely rejected the offer of performing another song and walked out. The act of rejecting the offers from the Ed Sullivan Show probably ended up being a better decision than Bob could have hoped for as it got shitloads of attention from the media and even had Ed Sullivan denounce the network’s decision in published interviews. So here’s Bob Dylan, an artist with one album on his back, getting ready to release his second album, walking off the set of the country’s highest-rated variety show because they tried to censor his song. How can anyone not love this? 

The song was rejected because Bob Dylan was making fun of the John Birch Society, an American right-wing political advocacy group associated with ultraconservative, radical right, far-right, or libertarian ideas. In the lyrics, he is particularly making fun of the fact that the group had a tendency to see covert members of an international Communist conspiracy behind every corner. The song was originally included on his second album, «The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan», released this month, but it and four other tracks were removed and can only be found on a few, very rare, first pressings. The other tracks were Let Me Die In My Footsteps, Rambling Gambling Willie, and Rocks And Gravel. 

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In other non-musical events, I could mention that the Coca-Cola Company introduced their first diet soda called Tab, that AC Milan beat Benfica 2-1 to take home the European Cup trophy, that Tottenham crushed Atletico Madrid 5-1 to bring home the European Cup Winners Cup, and the birth of actor Mike Myers.

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THE ALBUMS

The first album I sunk my teeth into this month is Kenny Burrell’s «Midnight Blue». And yeah, I do believe this is a great jazz album. It’s been hailed by more than one reputable site for its awesomeness, but I’m at a place in my writing where I can’t get myself to say a whole lot about jazz. At least about jazz albums from jazz artists that I don’t already love. But yeah, this shit sounds good. ‘’Jazz Improv’’, a magazine that survived for around twelve years, lists this album as one of Burrell’s five best albums, and NPR, a national public radio in the US, described this as a great jazz album. I’m gonna let them do the talking on this one, and end it with a ‘’I do like it’’ (even though I kinda ripped Kenny apart last month).

The Dave Brubeck Quartet «At Carnegie Hall» is recorded at Carnegie Hall in New York. If that wasn’t obvious, I can’t help you. This album has been hailed by critics as well, and is by some guy called Thom Jurek called ‘’one of the great jazz live albums of the 1960s’’. Allmusic.com even goes as far as saying that all of those who believe that this quartet only got their fame because they’re white, should just listen to this amazing album (paraphrasing). While I ain’t got shit to say on that, I gotta say that it’s a pretty great jazz album as well. But I’ll point my fingers back to what I said about Kenny Burrell and stand my ground. But hell, I like this shit as well.

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THE SENTINALS – BIG SURF

Now don’t get me wrong. Just because I’m skipping some great jazz albums and devoting my time to some random surf rock album doesn’t mean I’m biased toward anything, alright?! It’s just that I’d rather spend my time on something other than jazz at this particular moment. And I believe that this is my right as this is my fucking site.

This band was signed to the main surf label, Del-Fi Records, after some local fame and the single Latin‘ia (which is a part of this album). They were signed in 1963, which would make me guess that this is their debut album, but according to Allmusic.com their first album was called «Surfer Girl». I haven’t checked that one out yet, and I probably won’t cause I haven’t got time for that at this moment. And this album isn’t quite awesome enough for me to check out their back catalog.

In the case of surf music though, I would say that this album is pretty good. At least the first four tracks (Big Surf, Latin’ia, Exotic, and Tuff Soul) are pretty awesome. After that, I kinda lose interest. However, the track they call Pismo Beach, which is really just an instrumental version of the song Hound Dog, caught my eye because of the title of the track. Cause I’ve actually been to Pismo Beach, California, a couple of times. I’ve eaten clam chowder at a supposedly famous restaurant, my friend surfed for the first time there, we had an awesome barbeque at some random motel, and I’ve created some kind of fond memory of this place in my heart. But yeah, this song hasn’t got shit to do with Pismo Beach, so I kinda just brought it up because I wanted to say what I did there. They also do an ok version of Shout by the Isley Brothers.

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Willie Bobo doesn’t make a fool of himself with his album «Bobo! Do That Thing», but he doesn’t make me wanna spend a lot of time on it either. He has a Latin/jazz thing going on, and it’s not painful at all. The title track Bobo! Do That Thing is quite alright.

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THE MIRACLES – THE FABULOUS MIRACLES

John Lennon has, according to Wikipedia, said that his favorite Miracles song is I’ve Been Good To You, the second track on this album, and that is kinda enough to check this one out. John Lennon doesn’t mean shit when it comes to The Miracles though, and they can definitively take care of themselves, which they prove without a doubt on «The Fabulous Miracles».

Smokey Robinson is once again the primary songwriter, but Ronnie White and Bobby Rogers co-wrote a lot of them. The album contains one of The Miracles’ most popular singles, You’ve Really Got A Hold On Me, released November last year, but that is just one of the highlights of this album. Both tracks already mentioned are awesome, but they also have I Can Take A Hint, A Love That She Can Count On, and Happy Landing. Eight of the songs from this album were released as a single, either as an A-side or a B-side. The two left are actually taken from their first album.

The Miracles show no sign of slowing down and offer up another great album. Their leading star, Smokey Robinson, is proving once again that he’s a premiere songwriter, and who knows what this band would be without him.

DEL SHANNON – LITTLE TOWN FLIRT

This guy has done pretty damn well for himself since his great debut single Runaway back in 1961. He’s hit the charts a lot, and he’s writing a lot of songs himself. The title track is the latest single I wrote about, and Little Town Flirt is probably my favorite Del Shannon song.

This album isn’t amazing in the sense that Del gets to show off his writing skills though. We get a replay of his debut single, and some other Shannon tracks like Hey Little Girl, and Hat’s Off To Larry, but the album feels like a cover album as there are a lot of covers of songs from the ‘60s. And while most of them are great songs, Del doesn’t make them any more interesting than they already were. Runaround Sue, Hey Baby, and Dream Baby are good examples of kinda half-ass covers of great songs.

Even though I’ve grown fond of Del Shannon he doesn’t really live up to any expectations with his latest album and I would rather listen to a collection of his singles so far. But there are some highlights here, so it’s not a total waste of time. From what I understand, Del is gonna struggle a bit from now on, but hopefully, I’ll manage to find some more great songs from this guy in the future.

JAMES BROWN – LIVE AT THE APOLLO, 1962

James Brown, ‘’The Hardest Working Man In Showbusiness’’, has finally gotten his live show on record. And while it might not be as awesome as actually being there in person, this is a pretty good alternative. ‘’Soul Brother Number One’’ has broken through in the charts these last couple of years, and while he’s still working on breaking into the ‘’white’’ market, he’s selling records head over heels to everyone else. And his live shows are still some of the more spectacular stuff you can experience in America at the moment.

So the fact that he wanted to put that shit on record makes sense, but his record label didn’t agree. They thought it would be a waste of time, so apparently ‘’Mr. Dynamite’’ paid for this record out of his own pocket. This, him ignoring his record company and treading his own path, is another reason James Brown became as loved as he is. And he didn’t mess up either, cause «Live At The Apollo, 1962» reached #2 on the album chart, and that was kinda crazy for a hardcore R&B LP at this point in time.

His mix of soul, R&B, and rock’n’roll is infatuating, and you can easily hear that the audience agrees with that statement when listening to their screams of joy and excitement through the entire record. The album/show is curated to perfection with both his one-of-a-kind ballads and pure energy up-tempo tunes. We’re offered up amazing songs like Please Please Please, Think, I’ll Go Crazy, Night Train, and the hits kinda just keep on coming.

This album proves to the world what James Brown and his Famous Flames have to offer, and it can’t be long until the world is truly at their feet.

BRIAN POOLE & THE TREMELOES – BIG BIG HITS OF ‘62

The band that Decca chose to sign instead of The Beatles is ready with their debut album, and it’s an all-out cover album with as many as 22 songs covered. They’ve struggled since the start of their career back in 1958, and since they signed with Decca there hasn’t been a lot to write home about. Their singles haven’t really found an audience, and they might be better known as the backing band for other artists. But the band doesn’t quit at the sight of failure and is determined to get to the top of the charts, even if they’re not gonna write a lot of songs themselves.

This album, however, is not the one that will spearhead their career. It’s a pretty mediocre album even though it’s packed with great songs. Return To Sender, Twisting The Night Away, Hey Baby, Sherry, Sheila, and the list goes on, but there’s no real effort to any of them. It’s like they just went into the studio, quickly recorded the songs they knew how to play, and then just left after one take.

It feels rushed, and completely devoid of any imagination or will to experiment with the songs. A lot of the tunes are even cut short or mixed into each other, and that just makes it feel even more rushed. The Tremeloes will get their time to shine at some point, but this album won’t help them go anywhere. They can play alright, but that’s about it.

BOB DYLAN – THE FREEWHEELIN’ BOB DYLAN

It took Bob Dylan a little over a year to release his second album after his debut didn’t amount to much. In fact «Bob Dylan» only sold 5000 copies in its first year out, and the record company actually wanted to drop him. John Hammond, however, had complete faith in Dylan and was not gonna give up on this guy just yet. 

We all know that was a good piece of judgment now, but you gotta give that man some credit for his beliefs in this young man. Anyway, Bob released his debut album with just two songs written by himself, and while I’m still in love with that album, I do find it invigorating that he has written all but two on his second album. Dylan’s songwriting revolves mostly around politics, but he dabbles in some love songs and humor as well. There’s no doubt that he gets to show off his skills on this album with tracks like Blowin’ In The Wind, Masters Of War, A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall, Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right, and The Girl From The North Country, but even the lesser songs are great compared to a lot of what is out there right now.

Bob Dylan has taken massive strides from his debut album and proves that he will be a force to reckon with in the coming years. Just the development in his songwriting this last year is nothing more than astounding, and to not sit after listening to this album thinking that this guy is gonna live forever is just plain stupid. Bob Dylan has arrived, and it will take decades for him to leave. Behold, god dammit, behold!

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THE RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS – RIGHT NOW

(unknown release date)

The brothers that make up this duo aren’t related but are made up by Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield who met in 1962 performing with a group called the Paramours. «Right Now» is their debut album, and did pretty well on both the Hot 100 and R&B album charts. 

The duo managed to create a somewhat distinctive sound given the different vocal ranges they acquired. Hatfield with his tenor voice took care of the higher notes, while Medley took care of the lower notes with his baritone. I would describe the style of music as a mix of rock’n’roll and R&B, done with great conviction. 

They’ve also written six out of twelve songs themselves, so they should get some credit for that as well. Of course, that’s only because they don’t suck. I wouldn’t be crediting them for writing shit songs themselves, you know. But then again, it isn’t groundbreaking, the songs, but their voices are pretty damn good. And the way they work together is nothing short of awesome. Which I would say is pretty obvious on the opening track Let The Good Times Roll. On B-Flat Blues I was 100% sure that I was listening to Ray Charles, but it turned out to be Medley showing off what a great voice he has. 

Little Latin Lupe Lu and My Babe became minor hits, but their career did not reach its high point with any of these, or the album for that sake. But this is a decent album from two guys with pretty great voices. They do a pretty good version of Georgia On My Mind as well, but that might be because Medley sounds a lot like Ray Charles again.

LAVERN BAKER – SEE SEE RIDER

(unknown release date)

See See Rider was the first single from LaVern Baker that I heard, and wrote about. It was released not long ago, and now she’s back with an album bearing the same title (as is pretty standard nowadays). 

LaVern was a pioneer when it came to mixing R&B and rock’n’roll in the 50s, and while she enjoyed most of her success in that decade she still had some tricks up her sleeve. Baker, also known as ‘’Little Miss Sharecropper’’, signed a deal with Atlantic Records in 1953 after a short while with Okeh Records and released hits like Tweedle Dee, Jim Dandy, and I Cried A Tear among others. She remained one of black music’s leading performers throughout the decade.

In the 60s she would fall short of the new acts emerging, but she did score a hit with the song Saved in 1961, and of course See See Rider. And her newest album, «See See Rider» is a pretty decent one. I wasn’t able to find out if this album received any accolades, but it has some good tracks on it and is more than good enough in my opinion. Tracks like See See Rider, He’s A Real Gone Guy, You Said, and I’m Leavin’ You are some of the better tracks here. 

So while LaVern might struggle a bit from here on out, this album proves that she still knows how to perform some good tunes. And considering her pioneer status, I would say that checking out her back catalog is a must.

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THE SINGLES

For some reason, I just realized why this band is called The Shadows. I’m sitting at Aker Brygge in Oslo waiting for the ferry to take me home to the peninsula of Nesodden, and all of a sudden it dawned on me that these boys are in the shadow of Cliff Richard. That epiphany sounds stupid in so many ways, and I realize that. First of all, they are the backing band of this supposedly superstar, they release music ‘’behind his back’’ without vocals (cause they’re missing the one guy that usually sings) and they will forever (probably) struggle to surpass the success that Cliff has received. Anyway, Atlantis, is a pretty meek example of a rock’n’roll tune. It does sound great if you believe hard enough that it is a composition by Henry Mancini, but it’s just The Shadows trying to break out of whatever shadow they have perceived themselves to be in. The B-side however, I Want You To Want Me, is probably the best effort they’ve offered up so far. First of all, it’s not an instrumental, and second they prove that staying silent isn’t a necessity at all. «Atlantis» did however spend 17 weeks on the UK charts, and went as high as #2.

Cliff Richard also released a single this month (with The Shadows of course), but this time The Shadows went higher on the UK charts than Cliff managed. Cliff’s new tune, Lucky Lips stopped at #4 while The Shadows went all the way to #2. All in all, though, Cliff walks away as the chart winner reaching #1 in countries like Norway, Denmark, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, Netherlands, South Africa, and Sweden. I hate the song, obviously, but I can’t argue with success.

Gerry and the Pacemakers follow up their debut hit, How Do You Do It?, with another UK #1 (written by the same dude) called I Like It. These won’t be Mitch Murray’s (the songwriter) only hits as he’ll keep on writing some good tunes for other bands, but his contributions to Gerry and the Pacemakers won’t be remembered as anything other than the first two tracks from a band that held a record of #1’s for more than 20 years, as Gerry and his friends will release some more iconic tracks in the near future that will carry a legacy that is unparalleled in so many ways.

Surf City by Jan & Dean does sound a lot like the Beach Boys, and if you didn’t know that Brian Wilson wrote it, you would think that Jan & Dean were some kind of music pirates, as Brian’s father supposedly called them (he was annoyed that Brian had given them the song) after this song became the first surf track to reach #1 in the US. As the story goes, Brian was getting tired of the song and offered it to Jan & Dean for them to finish and release. Jan Berry contributed some writing to the track. Surf City is Jan & Dean’s biggest hit so far, and I can easily say that I like it. 

George Hamilton IV started out as a teen idol in the ‘50s but switched to country in the early ‘60s. He had his first hit as a 19-year-old student with the song A Rose And A Baby Ruth, which eventually sold enough copies to earn a gold record. He scored some more pop hits after that and joined the Rockabilly Tour with artists like Buddy Holly, The Everly Brothers, and Little Richard, where he got to travel the US and perform in front of bigger crowds. After moving his family to Nashville he became a member of the Grand Ole Opry, and his switch to country music was done. Abilene is Hamilton’s biggest hit, and is a sweet country tune about the city of Abilene, Kansas, written by Bob Gibson, Lester Brown, and John D. Loudermilk.

One Fine Day was written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King and was initially intended for Little Eva. It was, however, The Chiffons that ended up releasing it and scored a hit on the Hot 100 chart, R&B chart, and internationally. The most distinctive part of the song is the piano riff, composed by King, as it is both catchy and confusing at the same time, sounding like it’s missing some chords or maybe skipping a beat. Anyway, One Fine Day is a fine song.

The Hollies make their debut with a cover of the Coasters’ (Ain’t That) Just Like Me, and even though this one didn’t chart, I gotta say that it is a strong first single. The Hollies formed in 1962 and originated from a duo formed by best friends Graham Nash and Allan Clarke, calling themselves Ricky and Dane Young, they eventually modeled their duo to sound like the Everly Brothers. This duo went on to become a band called The Deltas, but in December 1962 they changed it to The Hollies for a gig in Manchester. In January 1963, they performed at The Cavern Club in Liverpool and were subsequently signed by producer Ron Richards for Parlophone Records. And so the story begins…

The Essex, an active Marine Corps band at the time, released their biggest hit Easier Said Than Done this month. The song is written by fellow Marine, William Linton, and the group didn’t really like it much to begin with, but decided to add it as the B-side to their debut single Are You Going My Way. It was the B-side, however, which got the attention of the public and eventually topped both the pop chart and the R&B chart.

Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of Summer was originally released in 1962 with the title Du spielst ‘ne tolle Rolle by Austrian artist Willy Hagara, but the one I’m focusing on is Nat King Cole’s English version. It’s a song about nostalgia and it reached #6 on the Hot 100 chart. I haven’t been very excited by what Nat has offered up so far, but I like this one. It has some charm to it, and it does make me long for summer.

Doris Troy, also known as ‘’Mama Soul’’, released her biggest hit this month, the great song Just One Look. The track was also her only one to hit the Hot 100 chart, and she is what we call a one-hit-wonder. Just One Look will be recorded by artists such as The Hollies, and Linda Ronstadt, and as one-hit-wonders go, Doris should be pretty proud of this one.

Last year Billy Grammer released a song called I Wanna Go Home, and it probably hit the Country chart early this year making it to #18. But I guess Bobby Bare thought it had more potential, cause he’s releasing it again now under the title Detroit City. Bobby’s version, sure enough, did better. It reached all the way to #6 on the Country chart, #4 on Adult Contemporary, #16 on Hot 100, and went all the way to #1 here in Norway, and in Sweden. So I guess it did have more potential. It is a good song though, so there’s no real surprise there, but it’s still funny how they recycle songs so quickly. Bobby has had two charting singles before this one. His first came back in 1958, with the song The All American Boy, and the last came right after he signed with RCA Victor, Shame On Me, which he released last year.

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UNKNOWN RELEASE DATE

Buddy Holly recorded a version of Bo Diddley’s Bo Diddley in 1956, but it wasn’t finished until 1962 when Norman Petty and The Fireballs did some overdubbing. It was released as part of the album «Reminiscing», which I wrote about in February earlier this year, and is now issued as a single, and will become Buddy Holly’s highest charting single in the UK, landing at #4 and spending a total of 12 weeks on the chart. It was not as successful in the US.

Ragnar Asbjørnsen was a Norwegian artist who called himself Ray Adams, and now he’s out with a song called De Tusen sjöars land, which is sung in Swedish. I know this is confusing, but that’s just how it is. The single rose to #2 on the Norwegian chart.

When Jimmy Cliff was just 14 years old he scored his first hit with the song Hurricane Hattie. This happened because little James Chambers (his real name) convinced Leslie Kong to go into the music business, starting with himself. Jimmy Cliff’s latest release, King of Kings, became a local hit and I guess one could say that his career is off to a good start.

Tamouré is a song based on the dance from the island of Tahiti. You know, the one with the girls in the grass skirts swaying their hips. The song is a version of a song by Terorotua and His Tahitians, called Vini Vini, and was originally adapted to Tamouré by some Germans, and now Bill Justis has adapted it for the English-speaking audience. Bill Justis got his breakthrough in 1957 with his song Raunchy, which became the first instrumental rock’n’roll tune to top the pop charts.

James Brown scores a hit with his version of These Foolish Things (Remind Me Of You). The song was originally published in 1935, but it wasn’t an immediate hit. Over the years though, it has been recorded by numerous artists and is now considered a standard. James Brown took it to #25 on the R&B chart, and #50 on the Hot 100 chart.

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THE CHARTS

The Kingston Trio gets a Top 10 hit with the song Reverend Mr. Black, and Brenda Lee gets another one with Losing You.

Luigi Alfredo Giovanni Sacco, better known as Lou Christie, got his first Top 10 entry with his second single, Two Faces Have I. He has one of those crazy falsetto voices that has become popular because of Frankie Valli and The 4 Seasons, which I find incredibly annoying. Anyway, Luigi gets off on the right track with this one, and it’s definitively a good start to his career.

The last one to enter the Too 10 this month is Ray Charles with his Take These Chains From My Heart. It was originally released by Hank Williams in 1953 and is considered one of the best songs ever presented to Hank. Ray does it justice of course.

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COUNTRY CHART

Skeeter Davis follows up her amazing last single, The End Of The World, with another Top 10 hit called I’m Saving My Love. It doesn’t even come close to being as good as The End Of The World, but it’s a decent tune. It also charted on the Hot 100 at #41 and on the Adult Contemporary chart at #13.

Stonewall Jackson entered the Top 10 with a nice little country tune called Old Showboat. I couldn’t find a lot of information about this one, but Stonewall has charted on the Country chart with every single song he has released as a single since 1958, including one #1 called Waterloo, his debut Life To Go at #2, and A Wound Time Can’t Erase at #3.

Roll Muddy River is a catchy country tune performed by The Wilburn Brothers, and it reached #4 on the Country chart this month. Teddy and Doyle Wilburn have performed together since they were kids, and had their first hit back in 1954 after signing with Decca Records, backing Webb Pierce on Sparkling Brown Eyes. They also turned down the opportunity to record Heartbreak Hotel, as they supposedly thought it was strange and morbid, so I guess Elvis got lucky there. The brothers did have some other hits up to this point as well, most notably Which One Is To Blame and Trouble’s Back In Town, both making it to #4 on the Country Chart. They are also credited with launching the career of Loretta Lynn through their Sure-Fire Publishing Company.

Sweet Dreams was originally released, and written, by Don Gibson in 1955. It hit the Top 10 on the Country chart back then but was surpassed by Faron Young’s version a year later. Don gave it another go in 1960, when he had become a country superstar, and took it to the Country Top 10 another time, and also crossed over to the Hot 100. This time it’s the late Patsy Cline who’s gonna give Sweet Dreams a go. She does a fine version in her usual way, and this one went to #5 and crossed over to the Hot 100 as well. I guess one could say that this is a verified hit song.

The last one to make it into the Top 10 in the Country chart this month is Flatt and Scruggs with Pearl, Pearl, Pearl.

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R&B CHART

James Brown has revived the song Prisoner Of Love and brought it into the Top 10 of the R&B chart this month. The song was written in 1931 and was very popular in 1932. A little over a decade later, in 1946, the song became a major hit for Billy Ecstine, Perry Como, and The Ink Spots. James Brown’s version ended at #6 on the R&B chart and #18 on the pop chart.

Wilson Pickett originally released If You Need Me sometime this year, but it was Solomon Burke who turned If You Need Me into the biggest hit. Solomon was more popular and had a better distribution through Atlantic. Solomon took this one to #2 on the R&B chart and #37 on the Hot 100. Wilson Pickett wrote the song though, so I guess he won some way or another. Still though, feels a bit unfair. It’s a great song, however, and Solomon really does crush it.

Etta James is the one who gets the honor of ending this month with her Top 10 entry, Pushover. It’s a lot more pop than I would have expected from Jamesetta, but I still like this one a lot. 

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Petter Milde

This Band Could Be Your Life