This Record Goes Round and Round

It's been a bit of a crazy month, and I've only just barely gotten two posts out, for the first time since last June. And I'm still crazy busy so I won't have a lot to say. 

BUT, I do want to think a new reader/listener/commenter who goes by the absolutely delightful posting name of "Asphalt-Type Person", who has been methodically going through a lot of my posts - primarily older ones, including from the pre-Song-Poem days - and commenting like crazy. I count 22 comments from this person since the first one, just four days ago! The posts have been very idiosyncratic and tons of fun. Well, Mr. or Ms. Person, I'm not sure you'll see this, as you were most recently looking at 2011 posts, but I'm glad you found me, and I'm glad you're enjoying the show. 

~~

Today's feature stars Cathy Mills, one of a few female vocalists who showed up on Tin Pan Alley in the mid 1960's. You could be forgiven for thinking that you were about to hear a rendition of "Twist and Shout" during the first ten seconds of this record, But no, "Everything Goes Round and Round" immediately turns into a midtempo number with a bit of a Latin beat. The song has a philosophical lyric about doing what's right and thanks God for making things spin and keeping them spinning. The guitarist clearly has an idea of what he wants to play - something perhaps approaching the solo Jimmy Page played on ":Sunshine Superman" - but his desire had a greater reach than did his talent. The note at 1:22 is particularly special. All that said, it's a peppy number and I enjoy her nearly artless vocal here and the general groove of the band. 

Download: Cathy Mills - Everything Goes Round and Round

Play: 

The flip side is a dirge titled "You Said Hello", which has nothing whatsoever to recommend it, at least not to these ears. 

Download: Cathy Mills - You Said Hello

Play:  

A Very Noval Valentine's Day

It's Valentine's Day!

There is no better way to celebrate such a day than with a dull and dreary sounding small combo, led by an unidentified singer who can barely sight read, even when the piano is playing the melody along with his vocal. 

"What is Noval Records, Alex?" DING DING DING DING DING!

Here I have that fabulously weird label, producing a typically flaccid record, in this case, a song called "The Voice of Love". I admit for having a soft spot for these records because I genuinely adore vibraphones, and that instrument is sometimes all over Noval releases, including this one. Certainly the vibraphone is the only thing stellar going on here. On the other hand, the Noval male vocalist's inadequacies continue to amaze me. 

Download: No Artist Named - The Voice of Love

Play:

~~

The flip side - a tale of lost love called "Waiting for a Dream", so still appropriate for today - features a female vocalist, one with more character in her voice and far more accuracy in her ability to find the correct notes than her male cohort. The piano is still copying her melodic line, but it's more buried in the mix and I doubt she needed to have the pianist hold her musical hand in order to perform. And your mileage may vary, but a dreamy vibraphone will make nearly any record listenable for me.  

The interestingly named Ferris Paxton wrote both of these songs. There is a self-published book out there containing the poems of someone by that name, compiled by one of his children. I wonder if that's our man. 

Download: No Artist Named - Waiting For a Dream

Play: