The Surfaris - Hit City '65

The Surfaris were well past the heady days of their big instrumental hit Wipe Out, which reached No. 2 on the Billboard chart in 1963, by the time this album came out two years later.

Wipe Out's flip side Surfer Joe, a vocal, also was a chart single, but the Surfaris never had another. The two tracks were recorded for Dot Records, but the band never actually had a full album on the label. Ten of the 12 tracks on the Wipe Out album were by another group, The Challengers, although contemporary issues of the LP failed to note that fact.

The Surfaris began recording for Decca in '63 and the majority of their songs were now vocals, strange for a band whose biggest success was an instrumental.

Hit City '65 is certainly aptly named as almost all of the tracks are cover versions of recent hits. It contains but one instrumental, Beat '65, written by Los Angeles producer and session guitarist Richard Podolor, who recorded under the name Richie Allen for Imperial.

Beat '65



Beat '65 was included on a 1995 Varese Sarabande CD compilation, Wipe Out! The Best of the Surfaris. It's out of print of course, but copies turn do up on line at widely varying prices. The California-based dealer Amoeba Music lists two copies for sale at a fair price.

What appears to be the same album, with a shortened title, The Best of the Surfaris, and different, cheap looking cover art, is all over the place, including on iTunes, as a download. I'd advise auditioning this before buying.

Beat '65 was also issued as a single. On the other side was this vocal, Black Denim. Sounds very Beach Boy-ish.

Dino, Desi & Billy - Desi's Drums (track)

The pre-bubblegum pop trio of Dino, Desi & Billy got into the Top 30 twice in 1965 (I'm a Fool and Not the Lovin' Kind) on very little talent and lots of connections. Dino was the son of Dean Martin and Desi the son of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez. Billy Hinsche completed the trio, who had just entered their teens when they began recording for Frank Sinatra's Reprise label.

All three supposedly played instruments, but almost without exception the band on their recordings was made up of top Los Angeles session men like guitarist James Burton, pianist Don Randi and drummer Hal Blaine. Notice I said "almost without exception." Desi, the "drummer" of the group, apparently did the honours on Desi's Drums, which I believe is the group's only instrumental and appeared on their second album, Our Time's Coming (1966). When you hear it, you'll realize why producer Lee Hazelwood chose to use Blaine on the rest of the tracks. Burton does his best to cover the holes with some hot guitar licks, but it's all for naught. The kindest way to describe this would be chaotic but energetic. For diehard instrumental collectors and Dino, Desi & Billy fans only.

Desi's Drums



Dino, Desi & Billy never entered the Top 40 again after 1965 and their career was finished by the end of the decade.

For those of you who must have some of their bland vocal pop the Collectables label combined Our Time's Coming with the trio's first album I'm a Fool on a single CD in 2005. It's still available, as is a download version.

Here's a sample of what you'll hear if you buy this album.

Bill Justis - More Instrumental Hits

After saxophonist, arranger and producer Bill Justis's heady days at Sun Records, where he recorded the hit Raunchy and produced sessions by the likes of Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash, he moved on to the Mercury subsidiary Smash Records. There Justis recorded a series of instrumental cover albums that began in 1962 with Bill Justis Plays 12 Big Instrumental Hits. (For more info on that LP and a few details of Justis's career take a look at this previous post.)

These albums, featuring versions of the top pop and rock instrumentals of the day, were designed to compete with similar LPs being put out by The Ventures. Most of Justis's arrangements followed those of the original hits pretty closely, as is the case in the cover of Al Hirt's chart success, Java. This comes from More Instrumental Hits (1965), not the second in the series as one might surmise from the title, but the seventh (there were at least eight).

Java



Most of Bill Justis's Sun recordings have made their way into the digital domain, on CD and as downloads. But none of his Smash albums appear to be legally available. Still, used copies of the LPs turn up frequently online and somewhat less often in thrift store bins.

Justis did have a No. 1 hit while with Smash, but in Australia, not in the U.S. Tamouré, with a pseudo-Tahitian flavour to it, was also a Top 10 record on WLS in Chicago, but nationally it just bubbled under the Hot 100 in 1963. Strangely the song was never included on a Justis LP.

Johnny "Hammond" Smith - Ebb Tide (single)

Kentucky-born John Robert Smith (1933-1997) was one of a handful of jazz musicians who was nicknamed after his instrument -- in this case the Hammond organ. Smith chose the moniker to distinguish himself from jazz guitarist Johnny Smith and the more well-known organist Jimmy Smith.

Johnny "Hammond Smith" recorded a mittful of well-received soul-jazz albums for Prestige between 1959 and 1970, including a 1967 release that was originally titled Gettin' Up.

When a track from it, Ebb Tide, started getting DJ and jukebox play the title of the LP was changed to match the single.

The MP3 is taken from the 45.

Ebb Tide



Accompanying Smith on Ebb Tide are trumpeter Virgil Jones, saxophonist Houston Person, guitarist Thornel Schwartz (who played on many of Jimmy Smith's Blue Note recordings), Jimmy Lewis on bass guitar and John Harris on drums.

In 2000, the Ebb Tide LP was combined with a 1968 date, Nasty, on a Prestige CD called The Soulful Blues.

This album is easily obtainable either on disc or as a download. A used CD can be had for as little as $6.00.

Here's another track from the Gettin' Up/Ebb Tide LP, Stand By Me. This was also the flip side of the Ebb Tide single. Thanks to Groove Addict for the YouTube video.

Tony Pastor & His Orchestra - Two-Fer (track)

I don't know why I always thought of Tony Pastor as a leader whose orchestra was akin to that of Guy Lombardo. That's certainly not the case. He played swing tenor and sang with a number of bands, including that of Artie Shaw, before forming his own outfit in 1939. It lasted for 20 years so he must have been doing something right.

It's true the Pastor band had a number of pop confections in its repertoire, including the first recordings by the Clooney Sisters, Rosemary and Betty, in the late 1940s. But the band could really swing too, as evidenced by something called Two-Fer. I took this selection from a five-LP set issued by the budget label Parliament sometime in the 1960s. Of course there's the usual hissy sound from the cheap vinyl used by these labels, but the quality of the recording itself is pretty decent.

This track apparently comes from the vaults of Roulette Records, which issued it on this 1958 LP.

Two-Fer



Two-Fer is among a plethora of selections by the Pastor Orchestra available on CD and as downloads. On CD Two-Fer is on the 2011 release Let's Do It, along with 23 other selections by a late 1950s edition of Pastor's band.

As a download Two-Fer is on the album The Best of Tony Pastor & His Orchestra, obtainable from most of the major sources.

Here's a rare look at a later version of the Pastor orchestra, in colour yet. Sound and video quality is above average for this vintage.

Freddie McCoy - Beans & Greens

Vibraphonist Freddie McCoy was firmly in the soul-jazz camp in the handful of recordings he made for Prestige and Cobblestone between 1963 and 1971. McCoy disappeared from the music scene after the latter label folded and he passed away in 2009.

The LP Beans & Greens was recorded in 1967 and below you can listen to the title track Beans 'N Greens. And yes there is a difference in the spelling of the album and track titles. Note the addition of crowd noise, perhaps hoping to duplicate the success of Ramsey Lewis (The In Crowd, 1965), who recorded in a similar vein.

Beans 'N Greens



Personnel on the track besides McCoy included pianist Joanne Brackeen, Dave Blume on organ, Don Payne, bass guitar and Ray Lucas, drums. A couple of horn players and a guitarist were added on some of the other selections.

None of McCoy's recordings under his own name are available as downloads and only one album, Spider Man, has been released on CD -- and that's an expensive Japanese import.

Some of Freddie McCoy's work as a sideman with organist Johnny (Hammond) Smith is available as a download album, Jazz Essentials.

Here's another sample from the Beans & Greens album.

Tito Puente & His Orchestra - Bossa Nova by Puente

No one seemed to be immune when the bossa nova craze struck in the early 1960s, least of all the leading Latin bandleader of the day, Tito Puente (1923-2000).

Puente, who is said to have recorded more than 100 albums, gained wide fame in the early 1950s when the cha-cha and the mambo became extremely popular. In the 60s Puente expanded into big band jazz, Broadway tunes, pop music, and in the above case, bossa nova.

Bossa Nova by Puente came out in 1962 on Roulette. And of course it included a version of Antonio Carlos Jobim's Desafinado, which Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd had turned into a huge hit earlier in the year.

Desafinado



Bossa Nova by Puente was re-released on vinyl in 1988 and on CD several years later by the Spanish label Palladium. However, neither seems to be widely available.

The album is more easily obtained via download from eMusic and others. Quality is very good judging from the samples.

From YouTube here's another track from Bossa Nova by Puente.

James Bond Movie Themes, Vol. 2 (2nd post)

I first wrote about this uncredited European cassette release in November 2012. You can read what meagre details I was able to gather on the album in the previous post.

This dubbed-from-LP cassette contains some sparkling arrangements, which makes the substandard audio quality all the more regrettable.

The James Bond Theme



The James Bond Theme, written by Monty Norman with an arrangement by John Barry, was first heard during the opening credits of Dr. No (1962) as performed by guitarist Vic Flick with the John Barry Orchestra. Flick recreated the theme in a live performance during The Music of Bond: The First 50 Years, an Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences event on Oct. 5, 2012, at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Los Angeles.

On Hold

Guitars & All That Jazz is on hold for yet another road trip, this time to Kentucky. Posting will resume June 15.

Junior Mance - Down on the Floor (single)

Although the single Down on the Floor (b/w Stormy Weather) is not dated, Chicago-born (1928) pianist Junior Mance recorded it sometime in the early 1960s before he began his stint at Capitol Records.

Strangely Down on the Floor doesn't appear to have made it onto any of Mance's Jazzland or Riverside LPs and is currently unavailable in any form. That's too bad because this is a pleasant bluesy little tune with string accompaniment that was composed by Mance and arranger Fred Norman. So grab this baby while you can.

Down on the Floor



At age 84 Junior Mance is still out there performing and recording. He has a regular Sunday night gig at Cafe Loup in New York. Visit the cafe's website for further information. Mance has his own website as well and it's well worth visiting for news, videos, CDs and further tour dates.

Here's Mance performing in New York in August 2011.