Carl Perkins - Born to Rock

Born to Rock (Universal, 1989) came late in the career of quintessential rockabilly performer Carl Perkins (1932-1998). Although the music on this album can't be compared with his ground-breaking performances in the 1950s it's not an embarrassment either.

In fact Perkins seems rejuvenated on the 10 tracks that range from bluesy country to out-and-out rockers. The album was produced by two gentlemen associated with The Judds -- producer Brent Maher and bandleader Don Potter. Below is the title track from Born to Rock.

Born to Rock



Born to Rock was issued in all three formats -- CD, cassette and vinyl (at least in some countries) -- but has long been deleted and has not been reissued. A legal download version doesn't exist, either. But there are numerous cheap used copies available on Amazon. It's well worth picking up.

Here's Carl Perkins performing Born to Rock on Austin City Limits (PBS) in 1990.

George Fischoff - Pretty Kitty

Indiana-born pianist and composer George Fischoff has the distinction of writing two big hits of the 1960s -- Lazy Day for Spanky and Our Gang and 98.6 for Keith.

Fischoff also composed the music, with lyrics by Carole Bayer, for the 1970 Broadway show Georgy, a musical based on the novel and subsequent film Georgy Girl. It closed after just four performances, although it did garner Tony nominations for actresses Dilys Watling and Melissa Hart.

As a recording artist, Fischoff had a number of hits on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart (meaning he got lots of airplay on easy listening stations), beginning in 1974 with Georgia Porcupine and ending in 1983 with several tunes off his album Pretty Kitty (Moss Music Group, 1982). This was by far his most popular release. A sample track, taken from a cassette copy of the album, is below.

Rhapsody in Ivory



No less than four tracks from Pretty Kitty -- Carnival Island, Piano Power, Summer Love and the title tune -- got enough radio exposure to make the Adult Contemporary chart.

Pretty Kitty apparently did not receive a CD release, but the album is available as a download from all the major sources.

Here's George Fischoff first airplay hit from 1974.

Hank Jacobs - Heide (45 single)

Hank Jacobs made some pretty interesting organ and piano instrumental sides, mainly for Sue Records, in the 1960s. Jacobs managed only one chart single under his own name, So Far Away (b/w Monkey Hips and Rice), which was a minor hit in early 1964.

Subsequent singles on Sue followed a similar style, one that might best be described as subdued funk. Heide (b/w Playboy's Penthouse) was issued later in '64.

Heide



Many of his Sue singles, including both sides of the So Far Away and Heide 45s, were on a So Far Away LP issued in late '64.

Jacobs later played with a studio band called the T-K-O's, who scored an R&B hit in 1966 with The Fat Man on the Ten-Star label. The following year he backed singer Bettye Swann on her chart-topping R&B hit Make Me Yours.

Only three or four of Jacobs's tracks are available on various compilations from iTunes and other download sources. His hit So Far Away has also turned up on several CD collections. Other than that he's not represented in the digital format.

Here's Jacobs's hit.

Ray Martin's Piccadilly Strings - International Vibrations

British orchestra leader Ray Martin (1918-1988) was at the forefront of easy listening, or what the British preferred to call "light music," in the 1950s.

He held a high position with EMI Music in the U.K., enabling him to become an influential producer. But he often worked under pseudonyms, making some of his career difficult to track.

Martin was born Kurt Kohn in Vienna and changed his name after emigrating to the U.K. in 1937. On top of his recording career as arranger, producer and artist, he composed scores for movies and T.V. Martin worked in the U.S. from 1957 to 1972, then returned to Britain. He lived in South Africa for the final years of his life.

International Vibrations (1957) was one of the half dozen albums Martin recorded for Capitol under the Piccadilly Strings moniker. The LP cover promised "Lush Listening Inspired by the Most Glamorous Girls in the World." Here's a sample.

To Jean



None of the Piccadilly Strings albums are being sold as downloads. But International Vibrations was coupled with another Ray Martin LP, Million Dollar Melodies, on a Vocalion CD in 2005. Strangely the "international" vanished from the title as did the Piccadilly Strings name.

You can buy a used copy on Amazon for a reasonable price.

To finish up YouTube provides another track from International Vibrations.

Hank Marvin - Hank Marvin

Hank Marvin is well-known as the lead guitarist for Britain's No. 1 instrumental group, The Shadows, who also served as the backing group for Cliff Richard.

The Shadows disbanded after the hits stopped in the late 1960s, although the group remained active off and on until what was billed as the Final Reunion Tour in 2009-10.

Marvin also had a fairly busy recording career outside The Shadows, beginning his solo output in 1969, during that first Shadows' hiatus, with the self-titled LP pictured above. It went to No. 14 on the U.K. chart.

The music on Hank Marvin is easy listening for the most part, with covers of recent hits like Aquarius, Lara's Theme and This Guy's in Love With You interspersed with a few originals. Here's Marvin's take on a familiar movie theme.

Born Free



The Hank Marvin LP has received two releases on CD, both of which are out of print. The first, in 1994, came from the See For Miles label and had eight bonus tracks.

Four years later EMI came out with its own version with the original cover art and 10 bonus tracks. Both CDs are hard to come by, with the See For Miles release (shown above) commanding ridiculously high prices.

However, the EMI version is available as a download and used copies of the original vinyl LP appear to be plentiful and cheap.

This is one of the bonus tracks that's included on both CD reissues:

Tommy Wills - Funky Sax (45 single)

Saxophonist Tommy Wills had been recording in the Cincinnati area as far back as 1955. Think Ace Cannon and Boots Randolph and you'll have a pretty good idea of Wills's sound.

Wills always recorded on his own labels, beginning with Club Miami (the night spot in Hamilton, Ohio, where the sax man first gained notice), Big Bang and Terry in the 1950s. The records themselves were pressed by other companies, usually in Cincinnati. In the '60s and '70s Wills formed at least five other labels, including Airtown, which started around 1965 in Dayton, Ohio, and later moved to Richmond, Ind., still within easy driving distance of Cincinnati.

Funky Sax, a Wills original, graced the "B" side of a single that came out in 1967 or '68. The "A" side, billed as a tribute to Ray Charles, was a medley of Born to Lose and I Can't Stop Loving You, two songs that were on Charles's groundbreaking 1962 album Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music.

For my money, however, Funky Sax is the tune to listen to.

Funky Sax



As late as 2010 Wills -- who was well into his 80s -- was still performing the occasional gig in the Indianapolis area.

Here's a sampling of the ballad style of Tommy Wills. I'm not certain of the date of this recording.

Milt Buckner - Rockin' Again

This is one of a series of Milt Buckner albums released in France on the Black & Blue label after the organist moved to Europe in 1966. (For more on Buckner read this earlier post.) But the session for this LP took place in Philadelphia in 1972, five years before Buckner died at age 62.

The record was released in the U.S. on the Jazz Man label (pictured above). Buckner was accompanied by guitarist Thornel Schwartz, who made many recordings with Jimmy Smith, Bob Blackwell on bass and Harry (Skeets) Marsh on drums. The sample track is taken from a cassette version of the album.

Question Mark Blues



Rockin' Again does not appear to have had a digital release. Still, vinyl copies of this LP are fairly easy to come by and are reasonably priced. The French Black & Blue pressing appears to be more common than the U.S. release.

The following performance by Milt Buckner and drummer Jo Jones was recorded in France, probably around the same time as the Rockin' Again album was released, although no date is specified.

Georgie Auld - Manhattan with Strings

Toronto-born tenor saxophonist Georgie Auld (1919-1990) spent most of his working life in the United States. He was a product of the big bands, playing with the likes of Bunny Berigan, Artie Shaw and Benny Goodman.

The content of the LP is exactly what you might expect -- one dozen ballad standards, including Earle Hagen's Harlem Nocturne. The MP3 is taken from a 45 rpm DJ single.

Harlem Nocturne



(For a sample of Auld's R&B-tinged playing, read this earlier post.)

Manhattan with Strings has never received a digital release. A few of the same tunes are on a download album, The Very Best of Georgie Auld, available from iTunes and other sources. This appears to be of somewhat dubious origin and it's not clear to me whether these tunes are the Manhattan with Strings tracks as the running times vary by up to 10 seconds. Buy with caution.

Here's another slice of Mr. Auld. They Can't Take That Away from Me comes from the LP In the Land of Hi-Fi with Georgie Auld and His Orchestra (EmArcy, 1955).

Mountain Dew Brass - Instrumental Hits of Country Girls

There's really not much you can say about an LP that has zero recording information -- no credits, not even a recording date.

It appears that there were two releases under the Mountain Dew Brass moniker -- Instrumental Hits of Country Girls and Johnny's Cash and Charley's Pride. The ensemble name comes from the bargain basement label on which they were released -- Mountain Dew Records. The company was based not in Nashville but in Newark, N.J. Their products were sold in discount stores and truck stops.

The two LPs were issued with consecutive catalog numbers, probably somewhere around 1975. Both albums were issued with similar cover photos and exactly the same black-and-white sketch on the back.

The Mountain Dew Brass was an obvious attempt to cash in on the success of Danny Davis and the Nashville Brass. Still, the music is listenable instrumental pop and the sound quality is quite good for cheap vinyl.

The content of Instrumental Hits of Country Girls was pretty obvious -- brass versions of songs made famous by top female country singers. Among them was Loretta Lynn's To Make a Man.

To Make a Man



None of the Mountain Dew Brass material has made it to a digital format. However, the LPs are frequent visitors to the thrift store bins.

Paul Smith - The Good Life

Pianist Paul Smith, who died on June 30, 2013, at age 91, kind of flew under the radar on the jazz scene, perhaps because he worked so often outside that genre.

Smith was a first-rate accompanist and music director who worked with artists as diverse as Ella Fitzgerald, Doris Day, the Andrews Sisters, Bing Crosby, Pat Boone and Nat (King) Cole. He was also the pianist and music director on The Steve Allen Comedy Hour on television for more than 25 years.

Smith also was also active in the recording studios, performing and arranging for film and TV scores and appearing on a wide range of recordings.

But let's not forget that he was also a prodigious jazz talent, which brings us to The Good Life (Discwasher, 1979), one of the first digitally recorded albums, and THE first digital release for the Discwasher label. It was issued only on vinyl. Smith was accompanied by Barney Kessel on guitar, Monty Budwig on bass and Frank Capp, drums.

The album was reissued in 1988 on the Voss label in LP, cassette and CD versions, but with a far more pedestrian cover.

Eight of the 10 tracks are standards, with one original each from Smith and Kessel. You can listen to Smith's composition below. The track is taken from the reissue.

Boppo for J.J.



The Good Life has occasionally changed hands at pretty high prices online, but used copies of both the original and reissue can be had on Amazon for about $10. The LP seems to be more common than the CD. The album isn't being sold as a download.

Liquid Sounds (Capitol, 1954) was an early release for Paul Smith and was issued on both a 10-inch LP and two 45 r.p.m. EPs. The session included Abe Most on clarinet, Julius Kinsler on flute and alto sax, Tony Rizzi on guitar, Sam Chieftz on bass and either Alvin Stoller or Irv Cottler, drums.

When Liquid Sounds was reissued on a Japanese CD in 2007 there were four bonus tracks, including What Is This Thing Called Love.

Meirelles e os Copa 7 - Tropical

The cover art indicates that this might be one of those Latin easy listening albums that jammed LP bins in the 1960s and '70s. But the Brazilian release Tropical by Meireles e os Copa 7 (Meireles and the Copa 7) (London, 1969) is one of the finest examples of samba-jazz you'll find anywhere.

The leader of the group is flutist J.T. Meirelles (his name is apparently misspelled on the album), a leading figure in Brazilian jazz and one of the key exponents of bop in that country. He frequently led groups in the clubs lining Beco das Garrafas, an alley in Copacabana.

Here are the musicians on Tropical:

J.T. Meirelles (flute)
Juarez Araùjo (tenor sax)
Maurillio Santos (trumpet)
Dom Salvador (piano)
Pedro Barroso (bass)
Robertinho Silva (drums)
Chico Batera, Helcio Milito, Jorge Arena, Luna & Pedro dos Santos (percussion)

Rather than basing Tropical on bossa nova standards Meirelles mainly chose tunes by U.S. jazz musicians and gave them a Brazilian twist. Among them was Fuego by trumpeter Donald Byrd.

Fuego



Tropical is said to be one of the rarest of all Brazilian LPs. A copy sold for north of $300 on eBay several years ago.

There was a brief re-release on CD and LP by the British label Whatmusic in 2005, but the reissues also now command premium prices. Whatmusic has made Tropical available as a download, but apparently only in the U.K. iTunes appears to be one of the few sources.

Here's another track from Tropical.

Latin Dance Party (uncredited release on Gateway Records)

Latin Dance Party was an uncredited collection of Latin standards released by the Pittsburgh-based independent label Gateway Records. The album's first release came on LP and cassette in the late 1970s. It was reissued on CD in 2000.

Gateway was founded in 1961 by Robert Schachner, releasing jazz, folk, rock, polka, world and strict tempo dance recordings. Gateway's best-selling artist in the 1960s was jazz trombonist Harold Betters, who played at the Encore night club in Pittsburgh for 17 years.

Gateway's last releases from Pittsburgh were in 1967. Schachner moved to New York and later to Florida, where he continued releasing records on Gateway. In 1980, he scored a major success by producing and releasing an instruction record, Barbara Ann Auer's Aerobic Dancing. It was reputed to have sold one million copies.

The tracks on Latin Dance Party were likely leased or bought outright from another company. There are no credits on the album. Here's a sample track.

Perfidia



Latin Dance Party on CD is available for literally pennies in the Amazon Marketplace and elsewhere. A download version, using the same cover art as the CD but credited to the Latin Dance Blasters (perhaps to appeal to a younger audience), is for sale almost everywhere on the web.

Footnote: Gateway's first success came in the jazz field when trombonist Betters had a regional hit in 1962 with a version of Stand By Me. Here it is.