COOL THAT MOTOR DOWN!

I'm ending the year with a fairly wonderful release on the Fable label (a label which had a much higher percentage of wonderful to other-than-wonderful releases than virtually any other song-poem label). And the A-side of this one gives me pause, in describing it as a song poem, because a.) it's so strong a song, arrangement and performance and b.) not all of Fable's releases were song-poems, although a good majority of them were song-poems or vanity releases.

But a little digging found that the author of the song, one Jack Jaquay, had a minimal background as a writer, at least based on the Catalog of Copyright Entries. Add that to the dismal quality of the material on the B-side, and I'm pretty sure this is either a song-poem or a vanity release.

The inspiration for 1959's "Cool Cool That Motor Down" (sung by the previously unknown Mickey Frey) is likely the songs "Hot Rod Race" and its sequel, "Hot Rod Lincoln", at least in the arrangement and structure of the song, and its automotive subject (for the first two verses, anyway), if not the specifics of the story told.

And to these ears, it sounds mighty good, complete with sound effects, peppy guitar and drums, and an effective lead vocal. See if you don't end up singing the chorus after the record's over.

Download: Mickey Frey with Sandy Stanton's Panics - Cool Cool That Motor Down
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As alluded to above, the overall quality of the flip side, "Just For You", leaves little doubt in my mind that this side, at least, is a song-poem. No effort appears to have gone into making this into a good record. The pianist makes multiple errors, the singer sounds like he's seeing the words for the first time, and the entire band sounds like they are on autopilot. Then there are the words, which suggest a first attempt at writing a love poem. Well, at least it's sort of bouncy.

Download: Mickey Frey with Sandy Stanton's Panics - Just For You

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