Gettin' Down and Dirty With.... The MSR Band?

 With today's post, I have completed the corrections to another month, and with that month, January of 2011, another year of the broken post project is finished. I now have only to get to 2010 and 2009 to complete the vast majority of posts at this blog, and virtually all of the song-poem posts, which began in earnest in January of 2009. 

Today's corrected posts (one of which contains references to a then-current project of also correcting old, broken links) include a whopping twelve tracks, including a two record posting of Bobbi Blake on MSR, a very late record from Norm Burns on Sterling, an EP featuring the great Rod Barton along with Sammy Marshall, and one of the best 45's ever released by Halmark, with some truly ridiculous lyrics, sung ridiculously by the inimitable Bob Storm. Even if you ignore the other links, I strongly suggest you give that Bob Storm number a try. 

Now that that's taken care of, we have this: 

I do not often share MSR releases here - I honestly don't understand how their product became the shorthand name for "song-poem" amongst so many aficionados (i.e. "MSR Madness). I think that generally - and absolutely, after Rodd Keith's death - the backing bands feature what were apparently top of the line studio musicians playing like hacks, with no attempt to hide their disinterest in the material. This doesn't come out as car-crash fascinating or "bad" funny, but simply tedious. 

I did, however, get a kick out of "To Prove It To You", by Bill Joy. Bill Joy is the singer on the very first record I ever heard that was identified beforehand as a song-poem (I owned two others, which I one at a record booth at a school fair, all the way back in 1975). That song was "How Long Are You Staying?", and it remains the high point for a singer who otherwise doesn't interest me at all - not at all good, but not entertainingly bad, either. 

But I knew this was something special as soon as the song started. For rather than being Bill Joy's typical soulless disco, this is a "bump-and-grind" record, something I thought would have been far beyond the ability of Mr. Joy, or the interest of the MSR band. Right on both counts. This is a entertainingly awful stuff. Whatever the opposite is of "giving it their all".... well, that's what the band is doing - they effectively give the impression of not only never having seen a stripper, but not having any idea of what a stripper might be. And Bill Joy.... well, he wasn't capable of doing anything well, musically, so  he's right at home. The lyrics are nicely, and appropriately vapid to match the music and singing. 

Enjoy!

Download: Bill Joy - To Prove It To You

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On the flip side is the aforementioned Bobbi Blake, a much, much better singer, trapped here in a deadly dull - and therefore much worse - flipside song, titled "It's All Over". 

As with the A-side, and as with most MSR product of this era, this record is poorly recorded and pressed, leading to terrible sound quality, and the song is innocuous and bland, they seemingly made no attempt to fit the words to a memorable, or at times, even singable melody. 

I honestly wish Bobbi Blake had worked with a different crew and company. 

Download: Bobbie Blake - It's All Over

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Sammy Rocks Again!

Happy Snow-Covered Presidents' Day!

I have, as usual, updated another month's worth of posts, in today's case, those from TEN YEARS AGO, February of 2011. Time flies. You can't, they go too quickly. 

Anyway, those posts I have corrected today include a dreamy Cara Stewart number, a nice, really heartfelt offering from Gene Marshall, a goofy late era Tin Pan Alley record, and another Vietnam-related number from Rodd Keith, a sequel of sorts to "The Ballad of the Green Berets". 

And now, for your dining and dancing pleasure.....

I don't have a lot of time to write today, but I will say that I didn't have a lot of hope for the Sammy Marshall record, "Just Like a Jet Plane", on the tiny Brosh label (which released both song-poem and non-song-poem material). Neither title on this 45 suggested that it would be anything special. But I was delighted to find that the record was actually one of Sammy's fairly rare and always entertaining early '60's style rockers, bouncy and fun from start to finish. 

I hope you think so, too! 

Download: Sammy Marshall and Band - Just Like a Jet Plane

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The flip side, "Yellow Gold" is bouncy in its own way, a loping ballad of the 49ers. I'm not sure any of those folks "garnered fame". It's a bit too slick for my tastes, in the direction that the Globe factory would move ever further towards in the years after this release, but still has some appeal. 

All in all, a fun pair of songs from Sammy's early days. 

Download: Sammy Marshall and Band - Yellow Gold

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Okay, Then, Which Eyes Would You Like Me to Use?

It's February!!!

When I woke up this morning, it was five below zero. If it's anything like that where you are, it's a good day to stay inside and listen to some song-poems. After all, I'm sure nothing else is happening today. 

As (almost) always, I have fixed yet another month's worth of old posts, in this case, those from March, 2011. In that month, I presented a mover and groover from Sammy Marshall, a touching Vietnam related ode from Rodd Keith, a ridiculous very early Cinema label release from The Real Pros, and an offering from a personal favorite Norridge Mayhams as Norris the Troubadour.

~~

Ellen Wayne's name turns up on barely a dozen Tin Pan Alley releases, all from roughly 1962 to 1964, but every one of them that I've heard contains at least one keeper, and in many cases, something really special on at least one side (that link will take you to all of my Ellen Wayne postings, including this one). While today's 45 doesn't contain anything nearly as wonderful as "Don't Touch Me There" (not yet repaired), "Moaning and Groaning Blues" or "Go Not Yet, Oh Go Not Yet", it does feature one cute early '60's style pop song on each of its sides. 

First up, "Don't Look At Me With Those Eyes, Darlin'", a mouthful of a title, and a song with a curious opening and closing. AS/PMA would have it that this release dates solidly in 1963, and yet the opening/closing musical quote is clearly meant to put the listener (and perhaps the lyricist) in the mind of the early 1964 Al Hirt hit instrumental record "Java". There was a minor hit version of "Java" in 1963, by Floyd Cramer, so perhaps this is what this arrangement was based on, or maybe AS/PMA is wrong, and this was recorded just as Al Hirt's record was hitting it big. But there's no way that opening piano figure is a coincidence - it doesn't even really match the song in any way - it can only have been included as a musical message to the lyricist: "Hey, it even SOUNDS like a hit record". 

The song itself actually seems structured closer to "When the Saints Go Marching In" of all things. It's peppy and bouncy, with a minimalist backing, and is over in a brisk 118 seconds, even with the presence of a piano solo. 

Download: Ellen Wayne - Don't Look at Me With Those Eyes, Darlin'

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So let's flip the platter over. And here we find "Oh, Dear Daddy", and it's a supper-clubby jazzy sort of number with a story to tell, and Ellen tells it with a swing feel in her voice. The one thing I love about this side (which is one second longer than the flip) is everything that the pianist does during the last 10 seconds of the record, which I will not to describe here, aside from suggesting that you listen carefully in the last moment for the final, low bass note, which is out of tune. 

Download: Ellen Wayne - Oh, Dear Daddy!

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