A look at some of the more remarkable items found during 25 years of collecting all manner of recordings. For information on saving these files, see the top box on the right.
I thought it was high time for a little Halmark records fun, and who better to bring that fun to us then.... well his name's not on the record. But he's here to encourage the little woman into a bit of... not "lovemaking" but "Love Making Time". And with that golden voice doing the encouragement, who would have - could have - refused? Men, try this one out on Valentine's day next weekend, and thank me later!
From the same songwriter comes the echo-laden b-side, "Let Us Dream Again". Keep in mind that, like most, or perhaps all, of the known Halmark label records, this little slice of pre-rock and roll style music was recorded some time in the mid 1970's, most likely 1976, in the case of this specific disk. Imagine this one getting onto the airwaves back then, right between "Play That Funky Music" and "Muskrat Love". Sure, it would outshine those other two records in quality (it'd be hard not to do that), but can you imagine anything that would have fit in less well with the music of the day?
I've tried to avoid featuring any one label too frequently, but am making an exception today. Even though I have already featured Tin Pan Alley this month, this one just came my way, and I'm too enamored of it to wait to share it. Seeing the names of each side of this record, I knew that either one of them (or both) could be a killer of a weird, wonderful number.
What would you think, upon seeing "Tin Cans, Tin Cans, Tin Cans" and "I'm Sorry I Put on Charlie's Shoes" as the potential hit tunes on this double A-sider? Especially with the extrodinary Phil Celia doing the vocals on each? (I've featured Phil Celia a few times both here and in my WFMU posts. I encourage you to seek out those previous posts, as Celia's other offerings are also excellent, deeply weird records.)
In my opinion, the winner of the blue ribbon is "Charlie's Shoes". It's got a peppy setting, a nice combo backing, and some truly peculiar lyrics, which are fairly well locked into the 1950's setting into which they were born.
That's not to say that "Tin Cans" isn't also in the running. It's got a downright odd melodic setting (although it's also one I've had trouble getting out of my head), a jazzy feeling, and some more deeply idiosyncratic lyrics (I, for one, have never thought of tin cans as being lonely). Plus, it features a solo (a very nice one, too) played on an instrument that I'm pretty sure I've never heard given a solo on a song-poem record before. I'll let you discover the details of that magic yourself.
Here's one for the "what the hell" file. "The Real Pros" were, of course, whoever the Cinema Label people got for that particular session. No doubt there were actual pros on this session, but you'd be hard pressed to prove it based on the lifeless performances captured on this 45.
Of course, on the song "Yesterday's Love", they were working with some of the worst lyrics I've ever heard (even including songs written by Mac Davis). Upon hearing this for the first time, I stared at the speakers in disbelief. Yes, today's offering is one of those periodic "car crash" song-poem offerings, at least in my opinion. See what you think. (Apologies for the horrible condition of this record - it came to me that way.)
I actually bought this record because of the promise in the title of the flip side, "This World's Tribute to Elvis Presley" (the use of "This" instead of "The" in that title cracks me up).
Alas, although it, too, is fairly ridiculous, in the end it's just another fairly bad song-poem. Aside from more barely adequate musicianship, it's distiguished only by it's subject matter, which may cause it to be of more interest to some listeners.
While I try to deal with a sudden (and significant) computer problem which cropped up in the last couple of days, here's a nice single from the early days of the Preview label, from none other than Rodd Keith. The A-side is a nice piece of country flavored pop, titled "Tear Drops". I really like the interplay between Rodd and the backing vocalists on the bridge, particularly on the unlikely line "combing my hair".
The flip side, "Lonesome For You", is not nearly as interesting to me, sounding a bit like the bland material that Mitch Miller produced for Guy Mitchell in the early '50's. It does, however, have the benefit of having been written by one Flossie Waltz, who is (or was) the rare person whose name could also be a dance step.
Here's a nice dance record that I wished I'd thought to share before your New Year's Eve parties, because I'm sure it would have gotten everyone out there dancing the "Chicken Neck Boogie". Today's song poet went way out of his or her way to find rhyme's with "Cookie", even though the reason that word was chosen appears to be because it rhymes with "Boogie", which it clearly doesn't (rhyme, that is). Ellen Wayne's cool, smooth performance is really too good for this material:
The flip side, "Too Too Late", also by Ellen Wayne, is beat to hell, and I've tried to clean up the sound as best as I could. This is a pretty standard late '50's ballad, without too much to recommend it either way, aside from one truly sloppy note on the solo. I do wish that the composer, one Mr. or Ms. "Neckers" had been the composer of "Chicken Neck Boogie" though, but that's probably too much to have asked for.
Today, to celebrate the completion of one year of song-poem of the week posts (52 of 'em!), I'm going to do something a little different, and hope both that I will be forgiven a bit of self indulgence and also that readers of this blog will find today's extra tracks enjoyable.
On several occasions, I've been part of performances of song-poems. Mostly, these have taken part at music-and-comedy parties that my friends and I have been holding for 25 years now, but I've also done recordings of a couple of song poems in my "home studio". Today, the original versions of four of my favorite song poems, each followed by a performance of the same song that I've taken part in.
First up, the record that is quite possibly my very favorite from the extended song-poem world. I say "extended", because this is a Norridge Mayhams record in which he himself takes the lead. For that reason, this is probably more of a vanity record than a song-poem, although Mayhams was, of course, actively involved in the latter, as well. With my love of Calypso, Rhumba and other Latin rhythms from the middle of the 20th century, the lilt of this one was a natural for me to love. And Mayhams Vaudeville-type delivery gets to me, too.
This song was part of the AS/PMA download page, so I'm sure it circulates among collectors, but may be unheard by some readers. The sound quality is horrendous (the 45 copy I own appears to be a copy mastered directly from a 78), but it's one of the strangest, most amazing records I've ever been lucky enough to hear, and it's called "Mary Ann McCarthy (She Went Out to Dig Some Clams) (Yes She Went to All the Parties)".
Five years ago, at one our periodic parties, I recorded a backing track for a live performance of this song, played the lead part on the same keyboard, and two friends played guitar and uke in the live rendition that I sang. My flubbed lead keyboard playing, and the fact that we repeatedly played too loud to hear the backing track (getting woefully off beat with it at least three times), would both normally be considered significant flaws, but somehow, they seem just perfect for a performance of a song poem. I hope you find this as enjoyable as it was to take part in:
From the other side of the musical and song-poem world comes David Fox, and his arrangement and performance of the Caglar Juan Singletary's fascinating and indescribable "Non-Violent Taekwondo Troopers". Here's the original, another of my all time favorites:
And here, from the same party as that performance of "Mary Ann McCarthy", comes a rendition of "Non-Violent Taekwondo Troopers". A friend of mine and I worked out a backing track for the song, including a "cold" ending for the song (which faded on the original record). During the performance heard here, I played the lead keyboard parts over the backing track, and my friend - dressed as "Captain Bicycle" - sang the song with great verve and panache. Again, I hope this recording, with the audience comments and reactions, captures the energy of the moment:
If there is a competition for my favorite song-poem (with "Mary Ann McCarthy"), one of the few other records in the race is Norm Burns' exquisite early '60's-sounding gem "Darling, Don't Put Your Hands On Me". Everything about this record is perfect, from the overall sheen of the thing to Norm's expert reading of the lyrics to... well, I'll just say that on some days I think of this as being as good as any record ever made. This one also was on the AS/PMA website, so I'm certain it's well known in some circles, but perhaps others have not heard it. Here it is:
Now, from another one of our parties, here's my friend Stu and I, with Stu singing, on an almost impromptu version of the song. I say "almost", because we had discussed possibly performing the song, prior to the party, and I had worked out what keyboard settings to use in case we did it, but there was no rehearsal and no other preparation, which explains the many moments of poor keyboarding (a couple of flubbed moments have been edited out) and some of the alternate lyrics employed. The sparse applause indicates that this was at the tail end of the party, with most of the attendees and participants long gone.
Finally, the first Halmark record I ever heard, sent to me in trade from song-poem hero Phil Milstein way back in the late '90's, long before this song appeared on an online offering of one of the final "MSR Madness" compilations. I was immediately taken by this song, "My Hamburger Baby", and wrote, requesting an entire cassette of Halmark records, the next time we traded from our collections. It remains an all time favorite of mine, a completely ridiculous lyric married to an out of date backing track, sung with complete sincerity:
A few years ago, I set out to make a note-for-note remake of this record (or as close as possible - there are no backing vocals, for one thing). Obviously, this has all of the authenticity of a McDonald's Hamburger, due to the midi instrumental track, but I still think it was worth the effort. This will part of my self-produced CD "A Few More Plans", whenever I finish the final tracks for this ten-years-in-the-making epic.
I hope you found these cover versions (and, of course) the originals, and would welcome any feedback or other comments regarding what you thought of them. And I'm always open to any requests for more of a particular style or label. I tend to feature tracks that appeal to me, of course, but am quite willing to expand that to include requests.
A Happy New Year to all who have stopped by to read and enjoy! Much more to come!
Today, a couple of Santa songs. First up, here's one of the first song-poem 45's I ever found, probably around 1998 or so. It's Sammy Marshall, performing here as "Bob Rule" with the group The Rays. I do love the ridiculous lyrics to this one, particularly the inspired verse line: "Dancing, dancing, dancing, dancing". To be fair, there are other lines here which work really nicely, including "they condition for their mission, and especially "feel that rhythm and you're in there with 'em".
This is the only record in my collection on the Dial label, the same outfit which brought us the fascinatingly off kilter "Our Hearts Were Meant to Beat as One". In this case, much as I enjoy "The Santa Claus Polka", I do wonder if the songwriter was the least bit upset that it wasn't set to music which at least resembled a polka.
On the other hand, this is more enjoyable record, in my opinion, than anything on the Song-Poem Christmas CD that came out several years ago.
For completeness sake, here's the flip side of the record, "That's My Desire, Dear".
Along with one of my first acquisitions, here is the most recent addition to the collection, a nice Frank Perry vocal on "Santa's Making History" from the Film City label. I sure do love that Chamberlain sound. Or should I call it "New Sounds from Hollywood"?
And again, for those who like to have the complete set, here's the flip side, "His Love". This song threw me off the first time I heard it, with its lines about outer space mixing with religious thoughts throughout. The instrumental hook from the Chamberlain is especially nice here. Both of these songs come from the pen of song-poet Sandee Shoare. Come to think of it, I think I vacationed at Sandee Shoare once. Nice.
I'm a father of two teenage girls, married to an amazingly patient woman, and I work in the mental health field. I play several instruments and record my own music. I'm a long time record collector, hoarder of unusual, rare or unique recorded sound, musical, spoken word or other, and am glad to have found this outlet to share some of my favorite parts of it with others.
