News for April 2014

Song Of the Day by Eric Berman – Album Review: “The Cautionary Tales Of Mark Oliver Everett” by Eels

Song Of the Day by Eric Berman – Album Review: The Cautionary Tales Of Mark Oliver Everett by Eels

I love Eels. Mark Oliver Everett (aka “E” aka “Eels”) is a terrific songwriter with an interesting back story which has become the basis for subject matter on his finest albums including Hombre Lobo, Blinking Lights And Other Revelations, Daisies In The Galaxy, Electro-Shock Blues and Souljacker.

However, Everett has been making essentially the same record now for the last few years, and as a fan of the man and the band, most of the records have much to offer especially upon repeated spins. Yet this year’s model, The Cautionary Tales Of Mark Oliver Everett is a ballad-laden entity, totally bereft of the gnarly rockers that many have come to love Eels for.

Eels have been very prolific over the last few years and what initially seemed like a boom for fans several years ago when they released three records in the span of 12 months has now begun to weigh heavily on the quality of their output which is getting a little tiresome. The suite of three albums from 2011-12 focused on three different aspects of Everett’s life: lust (Hombre Lobo), middle age (End Times) and optimism (Tomorrow Morning). Unfortunately, on Cautionary Tales, we get to reexamine the very same relationship territory in a musically much less interesting manner.

Don’t get me wrong, E is always good for a few classic Eels songs per record, and this one is no different with tracks like “Parallels,” “Where I’m From,” “Answers,” “Series Of Misunderstandings” and “Mistakes Of My Youth,” all early contenders for a coveted place high within the Eels canon. But there’s a sameness to the new Eels material that’s hard to shake making it also very hard to get through. (C’mon E! Eels records shouldn’t be and never were a chore to listen to!)

Gone are the hummable melodies, ecstatic outbursts of pure abandon and wiggy instrumentation that has traditionally made most of Eels output a joy to listen to. In its place is a collection of mostly acoustic based songs that don’t change that dynamically from one to the other. Add to that, E’s growl of a voice has gotten rougher and less emotional which also weighs down this collection of stylistically very heavy and downtrodden songs.

The album is framed by three tracks, the superfluous opening instrumental “Where I’m At,” “Where I’m From” in the center of the record, and “Where I’m Going” at the end, however the feeling one gets from listening to the whole record is “I’ve been here before and I’m still in the same place.”

Adding to the album’s thirteen track tune stack is an additional seven new tracks (plus six live songs from their Wonderful Glorious tour) on the bonus addition. That’s twenty new songs adding up to some serious (and I mean very serious) material to sift through.

The Cautionary Tales Of Mark Oliver Everett is the opposite of Eels last wonderful and glorious outing Wonderful Glorious. It would be great if the upcoming Eels tour featured a solo acoustic segment where many of the new songs would benefit from an intimate presentation, however as the latest chapter in the Eels story, you should proceed with caution with Cautionary Tales.

Edited: April 29th, 2014

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – The Jukebox Series #99 – The Hollies: “Long Cool Woman (In A Black Dress)” b/w “Look What We’ve Got” Epic 5-10871

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – The Jukebox Series #99 – The Hollies: “Long Cool Woman (In A Black Dress)” b/w “Look What We’ve Got” Epic 5-10871

By the time today’s jukebox classic hit the charts in 1972, The Hollies were already on their second career having survived the setback of having two key members leave the group. Throughout the sixties, they released indelible singles like “Bus Stop,” “Stop Stop Stop,” “Look Through Any Window,” “Carrie Anne” and “Jennifer Eccles” before original member Graham Nash left to join David Crosby and Stephen Stills to form CSN.

By the time of this #2 single in 1972, the band changed record labels (from Epic to Polydor) after original member Allan Clarke left. In fact, today’s single lacks The Hollies’ patented harmonies because the track was originally intended to be a Clarke solo recording. The rest of the band gave Clarke an ultimatum that he could either remain a member of the Hollies or have a solo career, but not both.

Clarke: “I think with me the band feared that if I got a hit I’d leave. How can you stop destiny? Now, if they originally agreed, I might not even have left. ‘Long Cool Woman’ would have been released a year earlier, and we’d have done a few tours of the States and maybe would have been really big.” (Rolling Stone via Songfacts.com)

The song was written in about five minutes time by Clarke with Roger Cooke and Roger Greenway who both also wrote The Seekers’ hit “I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing.” The group was intentionally paying homage to Creedence Clearwater Revival who had disbanded around the time of the recording session, and Clarke based his vocals on CCR’s recording of “Green River.”

Clarke ultimately opted to leave the band and go solo, and as was standard practice back then, their old record label dug up “Long Cool Woman” from the Distant Light album which had been out almost a year in the UK but was not released in the US until after Clarke’s departure. The song was released to compete with the Hollies’ first release for Polydor Records featuring Clarke’s replacement Mikael Rickfors.

“Long Cool Woman” climbed all the way to the #2 position on the charts selling over two million copies worldwide making it the group’s best showing in the US. Personnel on the album included Allan Clarke on lead vocals and guitar, Tony Hicks on guitar and vocals, Terry Sylvester on guitar and vocals, Bernie Calvert on bass and Bobby Elliot on drums. The album shot up to the #21 position on the charts based on the performance of today’s jukebox classic and its follow-up single “Long Dark Road,” which charted at #26.

The band were able to participate in yet another chart renaissance with hits like “The Air That I Breathe” (featuring Elton John on piano) after the group’s two Polydor albums sank without a trace here in the states, and Allan Clarke rejoined the group in 1973 (forcing Rickfors out).

The group recorded and released their last album for Epic Records in the US in 1975 featuring a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “4^th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)” which went nowhere as a single. Shortly thereafter, Epic Records gave up on the band in the US, although they continued to release material in the UK and tour. They were inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall Of Fame in 2010 and the current line-up of Tony Hicks, Bobby Elliott, Ray Stiles, Ian Parker, Peter Howarth and Steve Lauri continue to record and tour today.

“The Jukebox Series” focused on the 80 records that currently inhabit my 1963 Seeburg LPC1 jukebox. I’ve had my jukebox (or as I like to call it “the prehistoric iPod”) for a little over twelve years and in that time I’d like to think that I’ve perfected the mix of 45s within. Over the years, records have come and gone out of the ranks of the juke, but they were all at one time juke-worthy. I’ve decided to expand “The Jukebox Series” to include many of the “juke-worthy” records that are no longer currently in the mix, but at one time inhabited a coveted slot.

Edited: April 21st, 2014

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Slow Down, Love” by Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Slow Down, Love” by Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings

I got dap dipped several years ago. What’s that? You say you don’t know what it is to be dap dipped? Well, I’ll tell you…

The moment you first lay your lucky ears onto the retro-soul sound of Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings is when you’ve been dap dipped. It’s kind of a “daptism” of sorts.

Jones and her band have been releasing records over the last fifteen years that sound like they were recorded in the late 1960s…and that’s not just a good thing, it’s a great thing! So convincing is their sound and presentation, that many people think Sharon Jones has been in the public eye for many more years than she really has.

Jones was a soul singer since she was a child in Georgia, singing in church and local talent shows while also backing local soul bands in the 1970s and taking on any kind of recording session work she could get. Without a recording contract of her own, she became a corrections officer at Riker’s Island and an armored car guard for Wells Fargo before receiving her big break in 1996 while singing background vocals for soul legend Lee Fields.

That session was organized by owners of Pure Records, a French record label owned by Gabriel Roth (aka Bosco Mann) and Philip Lehman. Jones was the only one of three background vocalists booked to show up for the session, so she recorded all of the backing vocals herself which impressed Roth and Lehman. At the end of the session, they recorded her first single “Switchblade” (b/w “The Landlord”) backed by members of the Brooklyn, New York bands Antibalas and The Mighty Imperials who later became her backing band The Dap-Kings. The song was released on the compilation album The Soul Providers in 1996.

Lehman and Roth formed the new Desco record label out of Brooklyn specializing in retro soul and funk releases that many fans believed to be original recordings from the late 60s and early 70s. Jones recorded three more singles for the label. After releasing records by Lee Fields, The Sugarman 3 and The Daktaris, Lehman and Roth parted ways in 2000 over creative differences paving the way for Roth to start a new label with Neal Sugarman (of Sugarman 3) called Daptone Records. The label has been Sharon Jones’ musical home ever since and all of her recordings have been under the direction and production of Bosco Mann.

Each record Jones & the Dap-Kings released for the label has garnered more fans than the one before. There was Dap Dippin’ With Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings (2002), Naturally (2005), 100 days, 100 Nights (2007), I Learned The Hard Way (2010), the Soul Time compilation (2011) and her most recent album where today’s Song Of The Day comes from Give The People What They Want.

While Jones’ rise to dominance in the retro soul world may seem somewhat effortless once she met Roth, it hasn’t been without its trials and tribulations beginning during the summer of 2013. With a tour to promote a new album set to release during the summer of 2013, it was announced that Jones had been diagnosed with bile duct cancer which was later changed to stage two pancreatic cancer. As a result, Jones underwent surgery and chemotherapy cancelling the release of her fifth album and the tour.

On the mend, Jones returned to the stage in November 2013 and her Give The People What They Want album was released to positive reviews in January 2014. She will bring her tour to Chicago tomorrow night. One of the songs on the album is called “People Don’t Get What They Deserve” and in light of Jones’ health issues, the song should probably take on a whole new meaning tomorrow night.

Today’s Song Of The Day was the first single released from her latest album which was given away with pre-orders for the album when Jones’ announced her illness last summer. The track has an “end of the party” kind of groove that is chock full of ennui. Unfortunately, the song is not available on its own on Youtube; however I’ve uploaded a link to the whole album. While brief at only 33 minutes, the album comes chock full of great tunes that will surely be exciting to see her bring to the concert stage tomorrow night. It’s certainly worth a spin while you’re online reading this piece.

Edited: April 10th, 2014

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – The Jukebox Series #98 – Sly & The Family Stone: “Hot Fun In The Summertime” b/w “Fun” – Epic 5-10497

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – The Jukebox Series #98 – Sly & The Family Stone: “Hot Fun In The Summertime” b/w “Fun” – Epic 5-10497

It doesn’t matter what time of year you hear today’s jukebox classic, it still has the power to put you back into the long hot days of summertime when you used to go out first thing in the morning to hang with your friends and not return until food was up for offering at lunch and then dinner time. And as you got older, the song conjured the feeling of freedom felt on the even longer summer nights that made life living for.

The piano introduction wouldn’t have been out of place on a 1950s doo wop recording and the pastoral string arrangement on this Sly & The Family Stone classic captures the heat and the wide open spaces of those hazy crazy days of summer innocence like no other song could.

While it perfectly encapsulates that carefree summer feeling, there’s an undercurrent of melancholy that runs throughout the song. The simple explanation is hinted at in the lyrics “First of the fall and then she goes back / bye, bye, bye, bye there.” with the coming of the end of summer. However, many others thought the song was also a comment on race riots that were in the new headlines throughout the summer of ’69.

The single’s release came hot on the heels of the group’s landmark performance at Woodstock resulting in it climbing to the #2 position on the pop charts and #3 on the soul charts in spite of Epic Records’ initial reluctance towards release a summer single at the end of August.

It was recorded along with “Everybody Is A Star” and “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)” for an in-progress album that was never completed in the wake of the demands put on Sly and the group in the wake of Woodstcok. As a result, the song debuted on the group’s 1970 Greatest Hits album which was Epic Records’ attempt to keep the band’s name in the marketplace while they were out on the road touring. The record ultimately sold over five millions copies (their biggest selling album) and climbed to the #2 position on the album charts.

Sly Stone never got around to making stereo mixes for the three new songs on Greatest Hits and until the group’s catalog was remastered in the late 1990s, the songs never existed in true stereo. The personnel on the single consisted of Sly Stone on piano and vocals, Freddie Stone on guitar and vocals, Larry Graham on bass and vocals, Greg Errico on drums, Cynthia Robins on trumpet and Jerry Martini on tenor sax.

The song was covered by The Beach Boys and Manhattan Transfer, and it provided inspiration to Phil Collins for his song “Misunderstanding” and the group Toto for their hit single “Hold The Line.” On the flip of today’s single is “Fun” which is the best track from the group’s third album Life, and also appears on the Greatest Hits album.

Sly & The Family Stone went on to follow the success of their Greatest Hits album with a record that focused on the bummer side of the era called There’s A Riot Going On. Several hit singles would follow including “Family Affair” and “If You Want Me To Stay,” but for all intents and purposes, the group’s run on the charts and in the public eye never burned as bright as in the summer of 1969.

Edited: April 9th, 2014

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – The Jukebox Series #97 – America: “I Need You” b/w “Riverside” – Warner Bros. 7580

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – The Jukebox Series #97 – America: “I Need You” b/w “Riverside” – Warner Bros. 7580

Like most of my contemporaries, the first time I heard the group America it was from their chart-topping single “A Horse With No Name” as it came pouring out of the AM radio. And like most people, I thought the single was the latest release from Neil Young.

Here’s what the song’s composer, Dewey Bunnell had to say about it: “I know that virtually everyone, on first hearing, assumed it was Neil. I never fully shied away from the fact that I was inspired by him. I think it’s in the structure of the song as much as in the tone of his voice. It did hurt a little, because we got some pretty bad backlash. I’ve always attributed it more to people protecting their own heroes more than attacking me.” (“Wikipedia”) Adding insult to injury, “A Horse With No Name” replaced Neil Young’s “Heart Of Gold” at the top spot on the charts as well in 1972.

The song was America’s calling card and it introduced fans around the world to their acoustic three part harmony sound. But the song wasn’t even on their debut album when it was initially released in Europe. After the album came out and didn’t sell well, the group reconvened in the home studio of Arthur Brown (of “Fire” fame) and began to work on a Dewey Bunnell song that had been kicking around since he was 19 years old called “Desert Song” which ultimately morphed into “A Horse With No Name.”

America consisted of Dewey Bunnell and Gerry Beckley on guitar and Dan Peek on bass, and contrary to what you may think, the group didn’t form in America at all. Each member of the group came from a military family and they met each other and formed the group in London where they all lived and attended London Central Elementary High School. Their debut album wasn’t recorded in America either; it was recorded at Trident Studios in London. For their debut album, the group was augmented by the likes of Ray Cooper on percussion and David Lindley on electric guitar. The album topped the charts and spawned two hit singles; the aforementioned “A Horse With No Name” and “I Need You” which climbed to the #9 position on the charts.

But it was the album’s opening track (and flip of today’s jukebox single) that was the real stunner on the record. With its lengthy jovial fireside acoustic guitar intro and plush three-part CSN-inspired harmonies, the song set the stage for the sound that America would take to the top of the charts over and over again during the first four years of the group’s existence. The Dewey Bunnell-penned song wasn’t the A-side of the single it appeared on, but it’s the reason I purchased it for the jukebox. “Riverside” was released as the flip side of the group’s second single “I Need You.”

“I Need You” was composed by Gerry Beckley and while it was one of the big hit singles from their debut album, it’s not one of the album’s best tracks with its trite lyrics (“I need you / like the flowers needs the rain…”) and ultra-repetitious chorus. That said, the group can be forgiven since the album does include great songs like “Three Roses,” “Sandman” and the plush “Here,” making it their very best release.

America would go on to team up with producer George Martin and score numerous hits including “Ventura Highway,” “Tin Man,” “Lonely People,” “Sister Golden Hair” and “Daisy Jane” before the hits began to dry up. Peek left the group in 1977 to become a contemporary Christian recording artist leaving the remaining members to carry on as a duo. He died in July of 2011 of a heart disease, and the group continues to tour as a duo to this day.

Edited: April 8th, 2014

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – The Jukebox Series #96 – Oliver: “Good Morning Starshine” b/w “Jean” – CEMA/American Pie 9057

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – The Jukebox Series #96 – Oliver: “Good Morning Starshine” b/w “Jean” – CEMA/American Pie 9057

North Carolina born William Oliver Swofford got his start in the band The Good Earth when he traded under the name Bill Swofford. But it wasn’t until 1968 when he teamed up with producer Bob Crewe and recorded “Good Morning Starshine” from the then brand new Broadway musical Hair, that he quickly shot to stardom and became a household name.

Written by Gerome Ragni and James Rado on the lyrics and hipster musician Galt MacDermot on the music, the Broadway musical Hair was originally billed as “The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical.” It was responsible for generating several pop chart hits including “Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In” by The 5^th Dimension, “Easy To Be Hard” by Three Dog Night and “Hair” by The Cowsills. MacDermot also wrote the music to the 1971 musical Two Gentlemen Of Verona and released several influential funk and instrumental jazz albums that are currently the rage amongst those “in the know” of the hipster cognoscenti.

The original Broadway cast album to Hair has managed to stand the test of time and the musical has enjoyed numerous successful revivals and tours around the world over the years. I’ve been listening to the record since I was seven years old…way before I knew the meaning of “Sodomy,” “Hashish,” “Colored Spade,” “Walking In Space” and the many other titillating-for-their-time songs in this musical. It is indeed part of my musical DNA.

Oliver’s signature version of the song featuring a cosmic instrumental intro, a soaring Nilsson-esque vocal and a dynamic arrangement to match climbed to #3 on the charts in 1969 selling well over a million copies.

The flip of today’s jukebox classic, his cover of the Rod McKuen classic “Jean” was an even bigger hit for Oliver. The song was originally from the film The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. McKuen was best known as a poet and an easy listening recording artist who garnered an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song even though it didn’t chart. Oliver’s version climbed to #2 on the pop charts and topped the easy listening charts. The song has been covered by dozens of easy listening stars during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Most recently it was covered by Aaron Freeman who is better known as Gene Ween from the now defunct dada-esque rock group Ween.

Oliver became such a huge pop phenomenon at the time that he performed both sides of today’s Jukebox single on The Ed Sullivan Show in January of 1970, along with the song “Sunday Morning” which climbed to #35 on the charts.

All three songs were featured on Oliver’s Good Morning Starshine album that featured his covers of The Rolling Stones’ “Ruby Tuesday,” The Beatles’ “In My Life” and Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now,” along with three classics from the Broadway musical Oliver including “Who Will Buy,” “Where Is Love” and the title song. The album was produced by Bob Crewe who along with Bob Gaudio co-wrote many hits for The Four Seasons, and also produced artists like Bobby Darin, Roberta Flack, Freddy Cannon, Michael Jackson, Peabo Bryson, Patti LaBelle and many others. It reached #19 on the charts in 1969.

After his meteoric rise to the top with his first two singles, it was unfortunately all downhill from there. Oliver would go on to score several more minor hits including “Sunday Mornin’” (#35), “I Can Remember” (#25 Easy Listening) and “Early Morning Rain” (#38 Easy Listening) before the hits totally dried up. He split from working with Bob Crewe in 1971 over the direction of his career. Crewe saw Oliver as an easy listening artist while Oliver saw himself as a folkie.

During the 1970s, Oliver toured college campuses under the name Bill Swofford before leaving the music industry entirely. During his later life, Swofford sold real estate and managed a pharmaceutical company. He died of cancer on February 12, 2000 at the age of 54.

Edited: April 3rd, 2014

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – The Jukebox Series #95 – Len Barry: “1-2-3” b/w “Bullseye” – Decca 31827

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – The Jukebox Series #95 – Len Barry: “1-2-3” b/w “Bullseye” – Decca 31827

Not only was today’s song in my jukebox, but it also held a coveted slot in the jukebox of John Lennon as well.

After singing during his military career for a few years, Leonard Borisoff changed his name to Len Barry and joined Philadelphia vocal group The Dovells in 1958 singing lead vocals on their million selling hit “Bristol Stomp,” plus “You Can’t Sit Down,” “The Continental” and “Hully Gully Baby.” Even better, Len Barry was also the voice on one of my all-time favorite doo-wop hits, “Mope Itty Mope” by The Bosstones (which if you’ve never heard, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oo2Xj44U3o ).

After leaving The Dovells, Barry struck out on his own and within a short time struck gold with this classic AM radio staple from 1965 that went all the way up to number two on the charts. The song was written by Len Barry with John Madara (Medora) and David White who also wrote the hits “You Don’t Own Me” and “At The Hop.”

Soon after the record hit big, Motown Records’ lawyers came knocking on Madara and White’s door, suing them both for plagiarizing the Holland-Dozier-Holland hit “Ask Any Girl” that was recorded by The Supremes.

Madara: “In 1965, with ’1-2-3′ being the #1 record in the country, we were sued by Motown during the period when Berry Gordy was suing anyone whose records sounded like a Motown record. We were sued, saying that ’1-2-3′ was taken from a B-Side of a Supremes record called ‘Ask Any Girl.’ The only similarity between the two songs are the first three notes where the Supremes sang ‘Ask Any Girl’ and Lenny sang ’1-2-3.’ After that, there were no similarities, but their lawsuit said that our goal was to copy the Motown sound. Well, needless to say, Motown kept us in court, tying up all of our writers’ royalties, production royalties and publishing royalties, and threatened to sue us on the follow-up to ’1-2-3,’ which was ‘Like A Baby.’ So after battling with them for two years and having a ton of legal bills, we made a settlement with Motown, giving them 15% of the writers’ and publishers’ share.

We never heard ‘Ask Any Girl.’ The only influence for making ’1-2-3′ was to make a ballad with a beat. And the sound of ’1-2-3′ was definitely the sound of the era. Listen to ‘The In-Crowd’ – that’s not the Motown Sound, that’s the sound of the era – and ’1-2-3′ definitely had a beat! Motown was suing a lot of people at the time.” (Forgotten Hits via Songfacts.com) As a result, Holland-Dozier-Holland received a writing credit for the song which went on to sell close to two million copies.

Musicians on the track include Vinnie Bell, Bobby Eli and Sal Ditroia on guitar, Joe Macho on Bass, Artie Butler on Percussion, Leon Huff (of Gamble and Huff fame) on piano, Artie Kaplan on sax, and Bobby Gregg on drums.

The song was covered by middle-of-the-road pop vocalist Jane Morgan who brought the song to #16 on the Easy Listening charts in 1966, plus there were also covers by Jan & Dean, The Vogues, Jack Jones, David McCallum, P.J. Proby, The Incredible Jimmy Smith, Ramsey Lewis, Sarah Vaughan, Cilla Black, Wayne Newton, Al Stewart and Roy Wood. In fact, for a while during the mid-1960s, it was the go-to song for easy listening singers to sink their teeth into.

I’m surprised the Motown lawyers didn’t come knocking again at Barry’s door with the B-side of today’s jukebox gem. “Bullseye” was written by John Madara, David White, Len Barry and Leon Huff, and it is a dead ringer for Junior Walker’s Motown classic, “Shotgun.”

After the hits began to dry up, Barry worked on a few projects with a local up-and-coming R’n’B group from Philadelphia called Gulliver that featured Daryl Hall in its ranks. Today, Len Barry is primarily known as a writer whose 2008 novel Black Like Me was well received by the public.

Edited: April 2nd, 2014

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