Sammy Rocks Again!

Two Sammy Marshall songs and two cut-ups! What more could you ask for?!?!?!

It's Rockin' Sammy Time! Although Sammy Marshall's career in the song-poem world was dominated by ballads, I think he really shines on upbeat tunes, and most of the relatively few early '60's rockers he sang on I find very enjoyable. 

This one is no exception. It's called "See Watcha Do To Me", and definitely shows a twist influence, as do many of Sammy's rock-and-roll numbers. I also discern the influence of the earliest soul records on the introductory instrumental, although this doesn't last. (Billboard magazine gave this record three stars (under the heading "moderate sales potential") in November of 1962, nicely dating this release for us.)

I really dig Sammy's vocal performance here, and on similar releases. He had a deeply appealing pleading tone, which he put to excellent use in singing these lyrics, attaining that quality of sounding like he was fully experiencing the feelings of the fabulously named song-poet, Dusty Tribble (as seen here, his name was actually Fredric Tribble, and he composed the song "Hoop Tee Doopsie", which I desperately want to hear).

This is a really fun one...

Download: Sammy Marshall - See Watcha Do To Me

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(Please also note the two songs in that copyright book just after "Hoop Tee Doopsie", a double entry for something called "HOOPA LOOPA HOOPA LOOPA DOOPA". I'd pay to hear that song.)

The flip side is Sammy and the Globe band (for that is where the tracks on this Roxie release came from) in bland ballad titled "My House is Your House". Sammy offers a typically strong vocal, but there is not much here for him (or the rest of the band) to hang his hat on, just a sentimental love song, again offered up by that most Dusty of Tribbles. 

Download: Sammy Marshall - My House is Your House

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It's cut-up time again, and today I have a very brief appetizer and then a mangling of one of my favorite tracks ever. 

First, a tiny little bit of fun with the Bee Gees song "Spirits (Having Flown)", the title track of their 1979 hit album. I don't think it's necessary to know this song to enjoy the brief joke that I played with it, but I will encourage anyone who hasn't heard it to go to YouTube (or whatever) and listen, as I consider it far and away the best track they ever recorded. Gorgeous nearly beyond belief. 

Here's that 10 second cut-up. 

Download: The Bee Gees - Spirits (Having Flown) (cut-up)

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Now for the main course (see what I did there, Bee Gees fans?). The Limeliters released an album in 1962, containing a concert that they did with a chorus of junior high kids, titled "Through Children's Eyes". I consider it to be one of the three best albums ever made, by anyone. My favorite track from the album - and, in fact, one of my half-dozen favorite individual tracks ever, is on that album, a version of Malvina Reynolds' "Morningtown Ride". The simple chorus of that song may be my favorite melody ever written. Nearly 60 years since I first heard it as a preschooler, the track still usually makes me a bit teary. 

Anyway, it was only a matter of time before I chopped that recording up. You should really hear this song, anyway, but it probably is also helpful to hear it before listening to the cut-up. You can find a posting of the track here. 

And here is what I did with it (this is a composite of two cut-ups I did with the track, circa 1984 or so). This has a single four letter word in there somewhere, and a body part reference, so perhaps it's not safe for work. 

Download: The Limeliters - Morningtown Ride (cut-up)

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