Guest Post: A DOLLY-O of a Record

 I have something very special for you all today, but before I get to that, I want to return to the series that I started two posts ago, and then forgot about last time - the song-poem ads that were sent to me by a fellow named Vinnie. Here is one for the an agency called Songcrafters. The ASPMA page for this organization indicates that very little had been found out about them by the time the ASPMA website was mothballed. 

And now, I am supremely pleased to turn my site over, for the week, to my very best pal of more than 45 years - and a very frequent commenter to this site - Stu Shea. Thanks, Stu, and.... Take it away!

I happened upon this record recently in a store, and my eyes sort of popped out when I realized it was a Dolly O. Curran disc. Bob asked me to describe this record to you.

This record came out in 1973 on Mrs. Curran’s Dolly-O label, headquartered in a modest house in South Bend, Indiana. These songs were recorded by song-poem professionals in Los Angeles.

Both songs certainly have  “plain speech” lyrics. Mrs. Curran went a good distance for a rhyme, and had a habit of fitting far more words into a sentence than a professional songwriter would—but in these things rest much of her songs' charm. And in these things rest challenges to a singer.

“Write Your Congressman” is an earnest plea for citizens to get involved in their government. Dick Kent sings it, with hearty enthusiasm, as “Dick Lee,” with backing vocals that I’m sure are Bobbi Blake. The backing seems a little like a march, but then again it’s hard to know.

According to the lyrics, your congressman will be not just duty-bound, but happy to read everything you have to say, study all your plans for government, and even share his power. Because, of course, “the little guys got a right to have our say.”

The lyrics say, “Don’t tell Sweeney,” (invoking “Tell it to Sweeney,” an early 1900s version of “You’re tripping”), just get in touch with your good ol’ congressman. There’s even a talking outro.

Download: Dick Lee & the Busy Bees Orchestra - Write Your Congressman

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The flip side, “What You Wish – I’ll Try to Be” seems to concern a man hoping and striving to change himself to fit in better with the lifestyle of his extraordinarily wealthy socialite partner. (There's a situation we can certainly all relate to.)

Dick Kent duets with himself, with Bobbie in support. The strolling backing is fairly well suited to the song.

Both sides feature the wobbly, wonderful Chamberlin fun-house sounds associated with Sandy Stanton’s productions, even though Dolly O. Curran and her husband Jack are credited as producers.

Technical notes: side A’s left channel had to be boosted dramatically, as it was pressed at a far lower volume than the right. While both sides of this record appear mint, there are still a lot of pops and clicks, some of which I digitally removed.

Hope you enjoy!

—Stu Shea

Download: Dick Lee & the Busy Bees Orchestra - What You Wish -- I'll Try to Be

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A Song Poem/Vanity Record Hybrid

I've been having a hard time getting to my sites this month - it could be that there will only be two offerings this month. Just a lot going on. 

But I have a sort of weird one today, weird for a couple of different reasons, more so the second side than the first.

At first glance, the A-side of today's Preview offering looks and sounds like a typical label release of its day, Gene Marshall singing something called "Della Primavera" which my computer tells me means "Of Spring".

Like I always do, I checked first to see if either side of this record was commonly available, on YouTube or anywhere else. It is not, But upon doing that search, the annoying AI answer - which is everywhere now (and YUCK) told me about the Gene Marshall doll collection. I knew from previous searches that there is such a collection - a somewhat high end set of dolls for the collectors market. AI then told me that "Della Primavera" was a rare and very collectable Gene Marshall doll. That'd be a weird coincidence. If it was true. So far as I've been able to find, via further searches, is that AI completely made that link up. There is no Gene Marshall Della Primavera doll. 

So, as it turns out, this really IS a typical Preview label release of its day. But for a moment, I thought I had a REALLY weird coincidence to share with you. 

What was I saying.... oh, the song. Sorry about the terrible sound - I don't think the record was played to death, I just think the pressing sucks. But then, so does the song. At least it's over quickly. 

Download: Gene Marshall - Della Primavera

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The real oddity is on the flip side. It's titled "Aloha But Not Goodbye", although the torn label obscures the title a bit, and it's by The Paramours. This group does not show up on any other Preview 45's, nor does this record sound like anything produced by the label. It actually sounds more like the ridiculous, poorly arranged close harmony sing-songy tunes that showed up on William Howard Arpaia's song-poem albums and singles, for all of you who have heard those. 

What accounts for that? Well, this record wasn't made by Preview records. It was recorded for a tiny label in California called Orange Cross Records. At some point, these wily Paramours seem to have gotten the idea that maybe a label that wasn't really tiny but was completely a scam might be able to make hay with their record. THE B-SIDE of their record, to boot. And so they presumably paid Preview to put out their song again. 

I would love to hear the backstory on this one. And once again, DO NOT trust AI, which will tell you that Bobby Hatfield and Bill Medley were in this band, prior to forming the Righteous Brothers. They were not. That was a different band with the same name. 

Keep in mind - while listening to this song and imagining that The Paramours thought they might have a hit, either on a tiny label out of a suburb of Anaheim or on a label that did no promotion of its releases at any time - that this record came out around.... 1970. 

Good luck with that, men. 

Download: The Paramours - Aloha But Not Goodbye

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"Hi-Fi Baby" and Three Other Non-Hits

Howdy, folks!

Right here at the start I want to share that a new online friend of mine named Vinnie has gifted me with nearly four dozen vintage song-poems ads. I got a bunch from another person several years ago and shared them on this site, one per post, and it's possible that there is some duplication here, but that's far more work of comparison than I am up for at the moment, so I'm just going to share them over the next few months in the order they were in the file he sent to me. 

Here is the first one: 

Thanks, Vinnie. Here is some information about what else went on at that address in the top ad. Oh, and if anyone wants to try calling that number and letting us know what happens, GO FOR IT!

And now, let's walk on Air. 

Today, it's another Air compilation 45 - an EP in fact, featuring three disparate song-poem stalwarts and one complete mystery (at least to me). 

The EP opens up with what is by far the best song on the record - no surprise there, as it comes from the often-above-average song poem mill run by Lee Hudson, and featuring his frequent male go-to, Jeff Reynolds on "Hi-Fi Baby"

I bought this EP (on eBay) solely because I was almost sure that Jeff Reynolds singing for Lee Hudson on a song called "Hi-Fi Baby" would be worth hearing. I was not disappointed. While the lyrics want to be about dancing to rock and roll, it's more of a swing record, with Hudson's typical small band arrangement, fantastic and thick backing harmonies - of the sort I swoon for - and a verse sung in what seems to be triple-tracked unison. I wouldn't be surprised if that section was inspired by Jim Lowe's "The Green Door", which in my book is one of the 100 greatest tracks ever recorded. Come to think of it, perhaps the whole record owes something to "The Green Door". This one's a keeper. 

Download: Jeff Reynolds With Orch - Hi-Fi Baby

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Are you ready now to go about as far in the other direction as possible, with a bit of mystery thrown in, too? Well, let me introduce you to "My Valentine" by Leo Lebow. The mystery here is that I have absolutely NO idea what song-poem outfit put this monstrosity together, or who "Leo Lebow" might be. I guess it sounds a little like Halmark, if their backing tracks had high fidelity sound. But they didn't, and this sounds like a live track, although Leo's vocal sounds grafted on to me. The whole construction reminds me of something that Star-Crest or Noval would have done if they actually had had money. 

I suppose that there are people who like this sort of musical setting and this type of singing, and for them, I would guess they'd say Leo Lebow does an adequate job (unlike the singers on Star-Crest and Noval). But good God, I hate this sort of music. 

But anyway, if anyone reading this has an insight into what company produced this track, please offer up thoughts. 

Download: Leo Lebow With Orch - My Valentine

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The flip side is all Globe all the time. Kris Arden is up first with "Suddenly I Knew". It's got an appealing, loping beat, and a sweet, engaging vocal. But oh, those lyrics. Not only is the title phrase uttered more times than ALL of the other lines of lyric combined, those other lines hit their peak with the writer's admission.... not that she'd pledge her life to the person she just met, but that she'd GIVE HER LIFE for this person. 

I actually get much of the lyric here. As a young, young man, I once spent two hours with someone and found my world turned upside down. I'll give the lyricist that. But has any person ever had the experience of meeting another person for the first time and immediately being ready to die for him or her? I'm guessing not. 

Download: Kris Arden with Orch - Suddenly I Knew

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And that leaves us with the King of the World.... er, the king of Globe, Sammy Marshall, technically  billed Sonny Marshall for this rendition of "Just Before Day. 

As far as the musical setting, this is one of Globe's early Twist-like records, at which Sammy/Sonny excelled, and enjoyable from that perspective, but again, the lyrics let us all down. Essentially, the lyrics describe, blow-by-blow, a lovingly teasing bit of conversation that the song-poet had with his lady. Not only is the story not very long (even at 104 seconds, half the story is repeated twice), but it seems to be meant as humorous. And the biggest problem for me is, it's just not humorous. Plus, the lyricist rhymed "five" with "five". Penalize, penalize - that rhyme is null and void. 

But the sound of the track is nice. If it in a language I didn't understand, I'd probably like it quite a bit more. 

Download: Sonny Marshall With Orch - Just Before Day

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