A Missing Link? One That No One Was Looking For?

 Greetings, song-poem fans. 

Today, I'm going to take a deep dive into a couple of the dustiest corners of the song-poem world, so if you're not well versed in the minutiae of the subject, this may be Greek to you, and it may or may not be interesting. 

Anyway, the story starts with what has to be the most mysterious of all the known song-poem labels, Noval. I've featured the label from time to time, most recently just a few weeks ago, and you can find all of the posts about Noval, including this one, in backward chronological order here. If you want to hear Noval's two greatest hits, which were on the same 45, and one of which ("Rock, Rocking All the Time") is in my all time top 25 song poem list) that posting is here. 

Anyway, even the great song-poem detective skills of those who put together the AS/PMA website couldn't find out anything about Noval - not an address, not a related label, not a time frame, nothing. The page for Noval is one of the most sparse on the site. Their records listed the songwriter, an arranger (usually "Jay" or "Fred"), and no artist, their numbering system seemed virtually random, and their records typically involved a piano, a drummer, sometimes a guitarist, and, rather bizarrely (although very appealingly to my ears), a vibraphone. 

So when this record popped up on eBay a few weeks ago I was certainly intrigued: 

Now, this looks nothing like the other Noval records, in any way, so clearly, the label name might just be a coincidence. After all, the songwriter's listed name is Cy Novak, meaning it could just be a vanity label. And yet, the record is "Arranged by Fred", who in this case has acquired a last name, "Holovnia".  And while the record sounds nothing like anything that was released on the familiar Noval label, it does contain a musical sound that is equally out of time and space with the music of the '60's and '70's, much as Noval's music did, just in a different way. 

In fact, I'd venture to say it sounds quite a bit like what the Halmark label was doing, by the late 1960's. It's got the echoey production, the stale, even moldy sounding canned backing track, and the general feel of a Halmark release, even if the vocalist herself is different than those heard on Halmark. Here's one of the sidees, "Willow Tree", sung by Arlene Martel. Have a listen and see if you share that observation. 

 

Download: Arlene Martel - Willow Tree

Play:

Okay, so maybe it's just a coincidence. But maybe not. Assuming this is the same company, this is the first Noval release to bear an address, and that address is in.... Boston, just ten short miles from the home of Halmark, in Quincy, MA. 

None of this proves anything, and I am sure that if someone has competing information, I'll eventually hear about it. And if so, you all will be the third to know (after me and my correspondent). But the trail here suggests to me that maybe Noval morphed into Halmark (or perhaps into Chapel, which preceded Halmark in the development of that label). Or perhaps the person behind Noval (Cy Novak, presumably) worked with Ted Rosen of Halmark on this release. 

But I'm now betting that there was some link between these labels and companies. And I will forgive you for thinking I'm strange, when I tell you that I find this discovery sort of exhilarating.

Here's the flip side, "Easter Time", which amuses me in a couple of lyrical turns of phrase, the first being when we're told that, during Easter Time, it's "almost spring" (huh?) , and the second being when  the writer observes that "Easter Time is Here to Stay" (again, huh?). 

Download: Arlene Martel - Easter Time

Play:  

I welcome anyone who'd like to weigh in on this. 

She BEGGED Me!

Before I offer up today's record, I want to make sure you have a chance to view this eBay auction. It may not be there for long, so have a look soon. The asking price, if you ask me, is ridiculous, but the item is quite worth perusing. 

For here we have Sandy Stanton's own Film City flyer - the document he sent to potential customers, to sell them on the product - and the quality thereof - that he was offering. 

Please be sure to note the different price ranges and the various combinations of instruments and styles that he was offering, anywhere from a piano or organ with no vocal, up to a 20 piece orchestra. While you're reading that, keep in mind that virtually EVERY record that came out on Film City actually featured one musician playing an early sampling keyboard called a Chamberlin, and one vocalist, possibly the same musician playing the keyboard, and possibly with overdubbed vocals. There was not orchestra. There wasn't even a choice between a one, a few or many musicians. 

Also please note that these prices are for demonstration records - Acetates. If you liked the sound of your record, then you could probably buy 25, 50 or 100 of them, for considerably more. Also please note the promise to have your record played on the air, and that the station was in Mexico. My guess was that Stanton bought airtime at 3 AM on Sundays, and played all of that week's compositions. 

A fine document which explains the scam extraordinarily well, for those in the know. 

I'm featuring Norm Burns today, for the first time in six months, which is far too long. My stash of unshared Norm Records, though, is getting thinner and thinner, so that explains it. 

Today, we have a tale of a lover swept from her home in the far east after insisting that her lover do just that. In fact, as Norm tells us, "She Begged Me". Lyricist Olive La Grow spends the first few bars sharing three stereotypes about Japan which were particularly common to those who had not been there, without actually saying anything about what drew our protagonist to his lady, aside, perhaps, for a potentially scandalous reference to things going on behind "A Japanese Door". 

But then we settle into a sort of slow, supper club version of a Cha-Cha groove, the likes of which I'm sure was massively popular in East Asia in 1966, and Norman (as he's billed here) proceeds to tell us... the rest of the story. 

Download: Lew Tobin's Orchestra, Vocal, Norman Burns - She Begged Me

Play:

On the flip side, Norm takes the role of a man who has cheated on his lady most fair, and asks if she will "Just Give Me One More Chance". With musically challenging lines such as "don't let us separate too long" and "our love used to be grand" alternating with cookie cutter rhyming lines, this is not much of a lyric or a song, and no one sounds terribly engaged. And then Norm starts talking, which is the death knell of many a song poem, this one included. 

Download: Lew Tobin's Orchestra, Vocal, Norman Burns - Just Give Me One More Chance

Play:

 

Couldn't Get Away

It's been many more days than I planned since I last updated the site, and I'll get right to it without a whole lot of words. I've just taken possession of two Rodd Keith preview 45's, both of which have fairly horribly damaged labels, yet each plays quite nicely. 

On this record, the clear winner of the two is the very hard to read "I Couldn't Get Away From Love", a mid-tempo lounge-ish number. The words are much, but some nice chords, really nice piano, a cool organ solo, and a winning vocal make up for any deficiencies in other areas. . 

Download: Rodd Keith - I Couldn't Get Away From Love

Play:

As for the other side, "I Left My Heart in Prayer", well..... "I Couldn't Get Away From Love" is nice. Seriously, this is as unctuous and bland as some Halmark releases I could name, and the backing track even resembles a Halmark track, to my ears, anyway. 

And I'm pretty sure that either "I Left My Heart in Prayer" is a typo, or the lyricist didn't know the difference between the spelling of "Left" and "Lift", as the title, as written, doesn't make any sense AND doesn't appear in the lyric. 

Download: Rodd Keith - I Left My Heart in Prayer

Play: