“Dry Bones Twist” would be among the last songs written by Toombs, however, as 45Cat contributor mickey rat notes darkly:
R-T Pub. Co. (BMI) was one of the many publishing imprints that Syd Nathan at King shared with his favoured producers and songwriters. Rudy Toombs in New York had a share in R-T which was officially located at 1540 Brewster Avenue, Cincinnati along with all Nathan’s other ventures. Rudy Toombs was brutally murdered [by robbers in his Harlem apartment house] in November 1962 just a few months after this record was released and I guess R-T was folded into King’s flagship publishing imprint Lois.
Note misspelling of Windsor King’s name in copyright registration.
Both tracks recorded in Cincinnati April 12 1962.
This 1962 single would also signal, coincidentally perhaps, the end of The Drivers’ recording career, whose first recordings for King were on its DeLuxe subsidiary label.
Would You Believe?
Someone paid $271 in 2014 for a copy of The Drivers’ King 45.
Rudy Toombs Fun Fact
In 1974, Mike Lookinland (TV’s “Bobby Brady”) laid down his version of “Gum Drop” — a Rudy Toombs song that would be designated the B-side of his one and only record release. Initially recorded by Otis Williams and the Charms, “Gum Drop” would appear to have served as the launching pad for fellow King artists, The Gum Drops.
Check it out: 1956 Otis Williams & the Charms “Gum Drop” EP sold for $209 in 2016.
Extra Credit: Library Assignment
Check out the “Publication Timeline” in OCLC’s fabulous WorldCat database (combined holdings of member libraries worldwide) for Toombs, Rudolph which utilizes a color-coded bar graph to illustrate the extent of publishing activity during the artist’s lifetime, as well as after.
I met John Simson around the time Zero to 180 had first hung out a shingle and was grappling with its mission and scope. After explaining the website’s concept to Simson, I remember asking if he might suggest any overlooked songs worthy of celebration. Much later, I would learn the depth of Simson’s involvement in DC’s multi-faceted music scene over the last few decades, in the course of pulling together first one and then another long-form tribute to Silver Spring recording studio, Track Recorders. It’s probably a good thing that I waited until I had more experience under my belt before following up on Simson’s recommendation, though a part of me still needs to ask: What took me so long to examine the back story behind “Desiree” by The Left Banke?
For one thing, digitization efforts in recent years have increased access to music industry publications, such as Billboard and Cashbox, making it easier to piece together history from primary sources. Thanks to a tip from 45Cat contributor davie gordon, anyone with web access can read Claude Hall‘s original front page story from the September 2, 1967 edition of Billboard, “Long Sessions Required for ‘Serious’ Pop,” in which we learn that “the Left Banke just spent more than 30 hours in planning and producing their new single – ‘Desiree’ – for Mercury Records.”
“Desiree” The Left Banke 1967
“Charlie Fach, director of record product for the label,” notes Hall (who coined the term, easy listening), “thought this set a record for the firm, but considers the group ‘the most creative act in our corporate history.”
Given the considerable time and expense that went into this song, 45Cat contributor RecordDragon rightly asks, “Does a true stereo version of the A-side exist?” Sadly, that does not appear to be the case, at least judging from streaming audio available on YouTube, not to mention the LP label itself [see image further down the page].
Rear text of 45 picture sleeve:
“Putting it rather mildly, you are about to listen to a major achievement. The Left Banke (and this is the same Left Banke that gave you “Walk Away Renee” and “Pretty Ballerina“) has created a masterpiece. Dozens of hours in the recording studio have resulted in this, their greatest creation — “Desiree.” Since their first record, the avowed policy of the Banke has been that each successive record must be better than the last. A lofty goal, yes; but one that they definitely have reached. Much of the success lies with Michael Brown, who has quit performing with the group to devote his full energies to composing-producing-arranging for the Left Banke. The other reasons are Steve Martin, Rick Brand, Tom Finn, and George Cameron. Listen carefully. You’ll begin to wonder how they’ll outdo themselves the next time.”
Music historian (and member of St. Etienne) Bob Stanley, in his appreciation of the Left Banke’s recorded legacy for the 20 March 2015 edition of The Guardian, bitterly notes the group’s cleaving into two factions (“one of the most pointless and depressing scraps in pop history”) that resulted in the simultaneous release of two singles in 1967 [“Ivy Ivy” vs. “She May Call You Up Tonight“], both bearing the name, Left Banke. By the time Michael Brown had rejoined the group in late 1967, “the momentum was lost.” Futhermore —
The real tragedy of this was that the Left Banke then released arguably their greatest single, Desiree. Urgent strings played “Eleanor Rigby” line at double speed, a bassoon was used as percussive counterpoint. There was a booming brass bridge – or is it a first chorus? – of Wagnerian import before massed harmonies sang out the title. “Desiree” was a masterpiece; it dared radio not to play it, laughed at contemporaneous efforts like the Stones’ Satanic Majestiesand the Beatles’ lightweight “Hello Goodbye“, urged other groups to follow its lead, and then peaked at No 98 in November 1967.
Oh, dear: Label says, “Electronically re-recorded to simulate stereo”
Simson himself — in a Zero to 180 exclusive — provides additional historical context:
One of my band mates from my high school band, the Valhalla Chemists, was a member of Stories, a great early 70’s band that Mike Brown started with Ian Lloyd, my good friend, Steve Love and drummer Brian Madey (Brian and Steve were my rhythm section when I opened for Jethro Tull in 1971 [debut album released]). Their first record had a Beatlesque single, “I’m Coming Home” that did fair, but the follow up album had some amazing tracks on it and was not doing well so the label forced them to cover a big hit in England by Hot Chocolate called “Brother Louie” and it was a number 1 smash. Mike Brown hated it and left the band.
Mike then produced another version of ‘Desiree’ in 1976 (I think) with a group called Montage, and it was a pretty faithful version to the original Left Banke. The Banke played my High School in 1967 and did a great version of “A Day in the Life” in addition to their repertoire.
44 years after the song bubbled under the Top 100, “Desiree” would finally receive proper recognition when performed by The Left Banke, with NYU’s All University Choir, Drama Cantorum, on December 10, 2011 (thanks to Music Director, Ralph Affoumado, for uploading this video):
“Desiree” The Left Banke + NYU’s All University Choir, Drama Cantorum 2011
Pop Music Time Capsule
Excerpt from Billboard‘s Sept. 2, 1967 “Serious Pop” feature article
The talk of the industry is the amount of time spent in the studio — and the astronomical studio costs that have resulted — by the Beatles and the Beach Boys. But other long hours inside studio walls have been chalked up by such artists as Oscar Toney Jr., Aretha Franklin, The Youngbloods, Eric Burdon and the Animals, The Music Explosion, the Mothers of Invention, and Simon and Garfunkel, just to name a few …
The first Aretha Franklin hit — “I Never Loved a Man the Way I Loved You” — took almost three days of work in a Muscle Shoals, Ala., studio. Papa Don Schroeder, independent producer, said it took 23 hours in a studio to come up with “I’m Your Puppet” by James and Bobby Purify and 27 hours for “Shake a Tail Feather.” Felix Pappalardi, who produced an album by the Cream recently in New York for Atlantic Records, said it took six hours to do “Strange Brew,” a big British hit.
The reason that it is taking longer to produce records, according to MGM Records producer Tom Wilson is that the record business today is an “intensely creative business.” Songwriters are trying to say more and the producers and performers are trying to say more in their records. Any record by the Mothers of Invention takes two weeks to record and two weeks to edit, he said. And this occurs in spite of the fact that Frank Zappa, leader of the group, sometimes writes out a full script to an album, so the group knows exactly what it’s doing.
At the Monterey Pop Festival, Simon and Garfunkel said they’d been working 51 hours on their current single — “Fakin’ It.” At that point, they had not finished the record.
The Beatles freed everybody, Wilson said. “And many people don’t realize what fantastic musical growth there has been in a group like the Beach Boys. Motown product never stays the same, each new record is a little different, a little more sophisticated.”
Innovation is the key element. Bo Gentry and Richie Cordell taped the sound of a kettle drum backward to get a unique sound on their production of a recent Tommy James and the Shondells hit. And this is one of the reasons, Wilson felt, why Bob Crewe is such a great producer. “If he hears a bluebird flying by the window, he’ll stick a microphone out and record it and use it on a record if he likes the sound.”
Records are becoming more and more an art form, says Pappalardi, who has produced records by the Cream, the Youngbloods, the Vagrants and others. “There’s a great deal of thought put into a record before ever going into a studio, then you’re constantly fighting in the studio to reach your ideal. I try to get the absolutely best production every time and expect the B side to be as good as the A side. The time for throwing away the B side is past.” He said he already spent six hours in the studio with “Sparrow Tune” by Bo Grumpus and hasn’t finished the session yet.
While studio costs have gone up, because many groups do their experimenting in front of a mike, recording costs as a whole have not gone any higher than in previous years, said Wilson. The reason is that most of the music is made by a small group today; whereas in the old days a record company had to hire 30-35 musicians for a session.
1967: Year of the Guitar-Phonograph Combo
Just below the fold in that same September 2, 1967 issue of Billboard is an oddball item that almost escaped unnoticed: “Phono-Guitar Combo Hits.” Ray Brack reports:
“The hottest phonograph promotional gimmick to emerge with the 1968 lines is the offering of low-priced portable phonograph-guitar combinations. Three companies are making available this package, guitar and phonograph included, for about $100. Several other phonograph manufacturers have models with jacks capable of accepting amplified guitar input.”
What prompted this innovation is “the realization that the millions of guitar players in the U.S. do most of their learning by listening to records.”
I was delighted to learn that the father of a childhood friend from Cincinnati was once a professional musician, whose chosen instrument was the saxophone. Milton Ostrow, in fact, was captured in a live performance with Tony Pastor and His Orchestra, accompanied by Dolores Martel, in a “Snader Telescription” short film from 1951 entitled, “Your Red Wagon” — Ostrow is standing behind Pastor (far right), the lone member of the horn section playing baritone sax:
“Your Red Wagon” Tony Pastor & His Orchestra (feat. Milton Ostrow) 1951
WeirdWildRealm serves up a little history about Snader films, in general, and this one, in particular:
The Snader Telescriptions were filmed in black & white, but someone, Turner Broadcasting probably, colorized a [boat]load of them, including Your Red Wagon (1950) with Tony Pastore & His Orchestra.
Tony was a top sax man shown wearing black in the opening scene, sharing a sax duet with a bandmember. It’s his sideman playing the lead though, so that Tony can sing to the jazzy beat:
“If you wanna go crazy & act the clown/ Be the laughingstock all over town/ That’s your red wagon / That’s your red wagon / That’s your red wagon so just keep draggin’ your red red wagon around…”
Your Red Wagon quite a delightful & amusing number, with some call & response from the band. After Tony sings the second verse, Dolores Martel squeezes up close to the microphone & takes over the vocal for a few lines, then it’s back to Tony. Very nice.
Milton Ostrow with Tony Pastor (Behind, Right) & Dolores Martel (Ditto)
Several years earlier, Pastor had recorded this same song on top label, Columbia, in 1947 as the B-side of “Gonna Get a Girl” (a song that featured The Clooney Sisters – Rosemary & Betty – from the Greater Cincinnati area by way of Maysville, Kentucky). Zero to 180’s big question: Did Milton Ostrow play on this recording (which has not yet been uploaded on YouTube) or any other?
In the days of 78s, pretty much every song was a “fox trot” – right?
The 1940 Census (thanks to Ancestory.com) notes the following facts about the Ostrow family, who lived on Prospect Place in Cincinnati:
Head Isaac Ostrow 40
Wife Sophie Ostrow 40
Son Alfred 17
Son Milton 12
Milton served a stint in the Army (and The U.S. Army Band, it is believed), prior to his work with the Tony Pastor Orchestra.
Milton & Sandra Ostrow
Music would eventually give way to more traditional methods of generating an income, when marriage and family entered the picture. Covington, Kentucky served as the base of operations for A & M Furniture, a store jointly owned by brothers, Alfred and Milton, during the years 1961-1979, possibly 1980.
Billy Nicholls, staff writer for Andrew Loog Oldham’s Immediate Records, would pen three songs for Del Shannon‘s album, Home & Away, 11 tracks that were recorded in February of 1967 at London’s Olympic Studio but shelved until the release of 1978’s … And the Music Plays On, an LP released only in the UK and Australia. Here in the US, Liberty ended up releasing from these sessions (“the best album Marianne Faithfull never made,” according to the aforementionedRob Chapman) a total of just three tracks across a pair of 45s (“Led Along” b/w “I Can’t Be True” plus “Runaway ’67” b/w “He Cheated“) issued in 1967.
What a loss for radio in pop’s peak year of 1967, as today’s featured song “My Love Has Gone” somehow got overlooked by Immediate and Liberty as an obvious A-side:
“My Love Has Gone” Del Shannon 1967
Nicholls would join Shannon’s heavyweight backing band for these sessions, along with Steve Marriott, John Paul Jones, Nicky Hopkins, Andy White, Twice as Much, and Pat Cole “P.P.” Arnold, (who was featured last year by Zero to 180 on the cusp of her first ever Australian tour).
Discogs includes a catalog record for a single-sided 7-track acetate on which “My Love Is Gone” serves, fittingly, as the final track:
“One-sided, 7-song Demo Acetate test pressing for Del Shannon’s unreleased 1967 album Home & Away, recorded for Immediate in the UK with a stellar backing line-up (Billy Nicholls, etc.). This was likely Del Shannon’s personal copy because at the end of Track 3, “Cut And Come Again,” an engineer adds a joking voice-over “Hey, Del – you blew the words!,” which is missing on the later re-released versions of the album. This appears to be the only actual pressing of the album (actually, half the album) from when it was recorded in 1967. No label or trail-off markings, but acetate is clearly seven songs from Home & Away when listened to.”
Rumor has it this was the original LP cover
American fans finally got their chance to obtain Home & Away (whether or not they realized it), when all 11 songs ended up sandwiched in the sequencing (tracks 12-22) for 1991 compilation Del Shannon: The Liberty Years — with all recordings mixed in stereo and “mastered from the original 4- and 8-track master session tapes.” In 2012, Home & Away finally enjoyed a proper release on compact disc – though only in the UK – supplemented by mono singles mixes of five tracks.
Known to his mum as Charles Weedon Westover (born in Grand Rapids, Michigan), Del Shannon – as Discogs contributor RoryHoy would have you know – is “one of the most seriously underrated talents in Pop Music history.” And furthermore —
While most 1960’s boffins know his song “Runaway”, there’s a whole 30 years worth of amazing music from this man. With his incredible voice complete with trademark falsetto and of course his fantastic songwriting, what is there not to like with this guy. If you like Elvis, Buddy Holly, The Beatles etc — Del is much recommended!
“My Love Has Gone” (composed, not by Nicholls but rather, by Ross Watson, the songwriter’s sole contribution to pop music, possibly) – enjoyed a new lease on life in 2014, thanks to a 7-inch winner of a release by Miriam, i.e., Miriam Linna, founder – along with Billy Miller – of Norton Records, as well as the original drummer for The Cramps.
Miriam Speaks With Zero to 180:
“My Love Has Gone” 45
Miriam Linna was kind enough to chat with Zero to 180, who called to inquire the reason for choosing this particular song from Shannon’s Home and Away as the A-side of her debut 45 (not to mention kick-off track for 2014’s Nobody’s Baby), a recording session that began as a special offer to work with Sam Elwitt, Nutley Brass producer [who can ever forget his fun and imaginative arrangements of “Beat On the Brat” and other Ramones classics?], as well as musician.
Linna, who rates Shannon as the most “charismatic” performer in her estimation, identifies Shannon’s 1967 Home and Away sessions as one of her all-time favorite albums — a “complex” set of songs, in terms of composition, artistry, and production. Elwitt, who was hoping to evoke the sound of Hollywood’s legendary Gold Star studio (Pet Sounds, et al) with this project, invited Linna to choose the songs. Miriam’s husband, Billy Miller, was ill at the time she had selected “My Love Has Gone,” though Linna fully believed he would pull through. However, when Miller unexpectedly passed in 2016, the song suddenly took on an unintended poignancy.
“My Love Has Gone” Miriam Linna 2014
Linna, in fact, had listened to the Home and Away album two days prior to my phone call from start to finish — a moving experience. In terms of emotional directness to the listener through “the magic of records,” Shannon possesses a gift that brings to Linna’s mind one other artist — Bobby Jameson (featured by Zero to 180 in 2014). And the “common thread” linking these two artists, Linna points out, is the A&R visionary Andrew Loog Oldham, whose ability to “match songs with artists” was a big part of his genius.
Rhino Records co-founder and one-time Del Shannon manager, Dan Bourgoise, was immediately smitten by Linna and Elwitt’s rendition and urged her to cover “another Del Shannon song.” Miriam and Sam would collaborate on another Norton 45 the following year, this time breathing new life in “The Hand Don’t Fit the Glove,” a great UK 45 by Terry Reid (with Peter Jay’s Jaywalkers) from 1967. Both singles from 2014 and 2015 are still available at Norton’s website, along with lots of other cool vinyl.
Billy Nicholls Debut Album: Limited Issue Yields IMPRE$$IVE Auction Prices Decades Later
One year after the Del Shannon sessions, Immediate, sadly, “left in the can” Nicholls’s grand opus, Would You Believe, an album highly prized by collectors though essentially unreleased “save for a few promo copies” (according to The MOJO Collection). Note the four and five figures paid for a UK 1st edition mint condition — as high as £8,000 (i.e., over $11,000).
In 2017, Discogs contributor Grippo would remark on the artistic merits of Would You Believe – “the third most expensive record that’s ever been sold in the Discogs marketplace” – for a piece entitled Top 30 Most Expensive Records Sold in April Topped by Billy Nicholls (I happened to enjoy the tuba/banjo bit myself).
How tragically odd that not one but two LP-length responses to Pet Sounds from the same label would be kept under wraps for years before eventually finding acclaim.
[Note: Piece updated on February 15, 2019 – see special coda at the tail end]
Zero to 180 is intrigued to discover that today’s featured song is the sole composition attributed to Vic Coppersmith-Heaven [whose impressive audio engineering CV includes Cat Stevens, The Rolling Stones, Billy Preston, and even Stanley Kubrick] on Discogs. This entrancing and otherworldly (near) instrumental can only be found on the 1982 double LP anthology Music and Rhythm that features artists who performed in the first World of Music and Dance (WOMAD) festivals in the UK organized by Peter Gabriel, with help from heavy friends. For the 1980s college crowd, Music and Rhythm served as a gateway album of sorts into “Worldbeat” (i.e., music from outside Europe & the US).
The early-to-mid 1980s would find this idealistic, clueless college student in thrall to a cassette mix of The Jam‘s brilliant run of singles (compiled in chronological fashion by Tom Newbold), culminating in their double-A side masterwork “Going Underground” paired with “Dreams of Children.” The single-sentence summary blurb below from Wikipedia very much captures the extent of my knowledge at that time about the engineer/producer with the distinctive name:
Vic Coppersmith-Heaven (born Victor Smith in England) is an English sound engineer and record producer best known for his production work with The Jam.
Those of us who were initially surprised to see the producer behind The Jam’s finest 45 included in the track listing of Music and Rhythm wondered, therefore, to what degree his preceding work might have informed his musical sensibilities. As it turns out — not in the slightest:
“Pensgosekan” Vic Coppersmith-Heaven 1982
Preston Hayman: Percussion & Gamelan Vic Smith: Guitars & Gamelan Tony Levin: Bass Paddy Bush: Gengong Johnny Warman: Voice
Composed & produced by Vic Coppersmith-Heaven.
Recorded at Eel Pie Studios & The Manor – Spring 1982.
Engineered by Richard Manwaring & remixed at Crescent Studios. Note: “Pengosekan” fades into a short excerpt from The Ramayana Monkey Chant recorded by Vic Coppersmith-Heaven in Bali — February, 1982
Music and Rhythm‘s liner notes, for one thing, were a tip-off that something more “avant-pop” was afoot on this exclusive recording:
“Vic is best known as a record producer, and over the last five years he has been associated with some of Britain’s most contemporary and successful groups, notably The Jam.
Besides his production work, Vic spends much time pursuing his passion for Bali and its culture. He visits the country frequently, and has made many field recordings of music traditions in that region. In ‘Pengosekan’, especially recorded for this LP, he uses Balinese orchestral percussion — gamelan — instruments to embellish the rhythm track, and overlays this further with vocal improvisations derived from the Balinese Ketjak[or Kecak] or Monkey chant.
We would like to thank Vic for his enthusiasm and faith in this album project as a whole, and we are also indebted to the Indonesian Embassy, Mr. Suparmin and Mr. Abidin in particular, for their kind co-operation and loan of the gamelan instruments used on this track.
We would like to thank [Pete Townshend-owned] Eel Pie Studios for their kind co-operation in the recording of this track. We would also like to thank the Virgin Manor Studio, and Richard Branson in particular, for their kind donation of free time in completing this track; and for their first-class attention and co-operation on this project.”
UbuWeb helpfully elaborates on the history behind this ancient tradition, with this explanatory text that accompanies their streaming audio of a 20-minute field recording from Bali:
“Performed by more than 200 men seated in tight concentric circles around a small central space reserved for the chief protagonists,” the ketjak (loosely called “Monkey Chant”) was first recorded in Bali by David Lewiston and released by Nonesuch Records in 1969. As a spectacular and alternative performance mode, it has had a germinal influence on western performance and poetics since then.
David Lewiston’s original comments follow:
‘While the ketjak is a creation of this century, it is descended from something much more ancient — the trance dance, the dance of exorcism called sanghjang; its ancestry is clear. Ostensibly, the ketjak is a reenactment of the battle described in the Ramayana epic — in which the monkey hordes came to the aid of Prince Rama in his battle with the evil King Ravana — complete with a chorus imitating monkeys, as they chant the syllable tjak.
But as perceptive observers have noted, the ketjak is primarily a dance of exorcism. Its connection with the sanghjang remains unbroken. As pointed out by Walter Spies and Beryl de Zoete in Dance and Drama in Bali, “Most of the movements are exorcistic in origin and contribute together to produce a tremendous unity of mood … to drive out evil as by an incantation. The cries, the crowding, lifted hands, the devouring of single figures, the broken lines of melody bewildering to butas [demons], who can only move straight ahead, all enhance the exorcistic effect.”‘
Glenn Kotche at University of Maryland — sans crickets
Imagine Zero to 180’s surprise 20+ years later during 2009’s Bang on a Can Festival at University of Maryland’s Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center when [Wilco drummer] Glenn Kotche performed his own interpretation of the Balinese “Monkey Chant,” a composition that not only was included on 2006 solo album, Mobile. but also served as the subject of a 15-minute film by Brendan Canty of DC’s legendary Fugazi [and currently The Messthetics, with bassist Joe Lally and guitarist Anthony Pirog {also of Janel and Anthony}]:
Glenn Kotche – “Monkey Chant”: A Movie by Brendan Canty
In an exclusive exchange facilitated by the filmmaker himself (thank you, Brendan!), Glenn Kotche had this to say in response to Zero to 180’s basic query:
Q: Had you been aware of “Pengosekan” by Vic Coppersmith-Heaven prior to composing “Monkey Chant”?
A: I’m surprised, but I’ve never heard that song before – just heard it for the first time after getting this email! The crickets don’t surprise me though. I included those since all of the recordings that I based my version of the Monkey Chant (Ketjak) on, were recorded outdoors in Bali – so the insect sounds are prevalent and add a really nice atmosphere. Most of those recordings were from the Nonesuch Explorer Series btw. I assume Coppersmith-Heaven noticed that while experiencing it live or was inspired by similar recordings.
2006’s Mobile released on Nonesuch – is that ironic?
Coda: Who Is Walter Spies and Why Are We Talking About Him?
Zero to 180’s eyebrows went up upon receiving this email from Steve Feigenbaum of Cuneiform Records — Silver Spring-based independent label [last celebrated here] that released Janel and Anthony’s Where Is Home in 2012:
I own that Music and Rhythm album and it was a great revelation to me when I first got it when it was released in 1981 or so?
Really like it and really like Vic’s track.
The monkey chant was invented as a tourist kinda thing from ancient, borrowed elements of traditional culture by a German!
Steve’s Wikipedia link immediately brought me to a “Russian-born German primitivist painter” named Walter Spies, who is a “person of interest” in Michael B. Bakan‘s article published in the June, 2009 edition of Ethnomusicology Forum entitled “The Abduction of the Signifying Monkey Chant: Schizophrenic Transmogrifications of Balinese Kecak in Fellini’s Satyricon and the Coen Brothers’ Blood Simple,” a scholarly piece that “begins with a historical overview that situates kecak’s own history as a Balinese cultural phenomenon within broader frameworks of hybridity, schizophonic and appropriative processes, and international filmmaking, devoting special attention to the contributions of Walter Spies.”
Walter Spies with Ketut the Cockatoo and Ida Bagus, the Monkey c. 1935
Further sleuthing would reveal that — “according to the standard English leaflet text used by many groups all over Bali” (so says Kendra Stepputat in her research piece entitled, “The Genesis of a Dance-Genre: Walter Spies and the Kecak“) —
“Contrary to popular belief the Kecak dance is not particularly old. It was probably first performed in 1930, although the chorus had its origins in a very ancient ritual of the Sanghyang (trance) Dance, which is still performed sometimes in the village.”
“Kecak is one of the most popular dramatic dance forms performed for tourists on Bali. It has been developed cooperatively by Balinese artists and Western expatriates, most prominently I Wayan Limbak and Walter Spies, living on Bali in the 1930s, with the explicit purpose of meeting the tastes and expectations of a Western audience. Driven by economic considerations, in the late 1960s kecak was standardized into the kecak ramayana known today.”
Feigenbaum gets the last word:
That Music and Rhythm record holds up really well, I think. It never came out fully on CD. I still have my truncated CD AND the original vinyl.
I liked it because it cast a very wide net from The Specials to Peter Hammill!
My children’s violin instructor, Ken Giles, I was delighted to discover, had once been part of a contemporary folk ensemble that, as Stephen Holden of the New York Times noted, embraced “the left-wing populism of Pete Seeger,” as it also incorporated “comedy and theatrical horseplay” into its performances. Formed in 1978 and named for an old Appalachian hymn, Bright Morning Star (“a lively and engaging fixture in the peace and antinuclear movement,” according to The Washington Post‘s Richard Harrington) once toured with Odetta and Pete Seeger, having also previously shared the stage with Holly Near, Ronnie Gilbert, John Hall, and Gil Scott-Heron.
Photos courtesy of Ken Giles
Often appearing at rallies and public events that promoted peace and safe energy, Bright Morning Star — Charlie King, Court Dorsey, Cheryl Fox, George Fulginiti–Shakar, Marcia Taylor, Laura Kolb, and Giles — would travel with over two dozen instruments, including harmonica, guitar, autoharp, stand-up bass, electric bass, piano, drums, 5-string viola/violin, banjo, recorder, and various percussion. Kolb served a special role within the group as artistic interpreter for the deaf and hearing-impaired during live performance.
In the musical tradition of The Weavers and The Freedom Singers, the ensemble’s satirical sensibilities and “cabaret folk” approach hewed closer to Tom Lehrer, perhaps (Washington Post‘s Geoffrey Himes) or the San Franciso Mime Troupe (Boston Globe‘s Jeff McLaughlin). Nevertheless, Pete Seeger himself gave the group his seal of approval, having once asserted, “I’m so proud — this whole wonderful group Bright Morning Star – they’re doing just exactly what Woody Guthrie and I tried to do 40 years ago.”
Founding member Charlie King would tell The Boston Globe in 1988:
“What I think Pete meant is Woody and I got on the union bandwagon and the Henry Wallace bandwagon; we went out into the communities and brought people together; we gave energizing concerts and we sang about the issues. And we presented good music. Bright Morning Star is doing that 40 years later with different issues, certainly a different crowd, different generation, different songs. But there’s that continuity.”
Noting how the group leans toward celebration and humor rather than dark political commentary, King also shares this bit of wisdom gleaned from front-line experience:
“I think the political song at its worst says that things are really bad, probably hopeless, but at least you can feel self-righteous and get a cynical laugh during the last days of the empire. There are a lot of songs written in that vein, I’m sure I’ve written a few. But at its best, the political song builds a sense of possibility and humor.
I think political music records our history from the bottom up, from the grass roots, the stories of every day people; not just individuals, but also of popular struggles. Within that historical context, it seems to energize and reinforce people and movements. It pokes fun at the powerful, reminds us that the emperor is naked. I’ve always liked the quote – I’m not sure of the source, but I got it from Dorothy Day – that it comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable.”
The group’s three long-playing releases include two for Rainbow Snake Records — Arisin’ in 1981 (which includes women trucker anthem “Truck Drivin’ Woman”) and Live in the US in 1984 — plus one for noted Chicago blues & country indie label, Flying Fish, 1988’s Sweet and Sour. Rob Okun would pen a mission statement for the group’s debut album:
“They pollinate the grass roots. They bang away at the walls of indifference. They celebrate humanity.
The six members of Bright Morning Star do a better job educating people to what’s right and what’s wrong on this crazy planet than a half dozen politicians, teachers, or preachers.
They take their music to big city auditoriums and down-home coffee houses, to college towns and union halls, to demonstrations and celebrations. They put melodies to our brightest visions and lyrics to our darkest mornings. On stage, and on this record, they lead odysseys into the worlds of personal and social change. And they do it all with lightness, laughter, and love.”
Image of ‘Man with tricycle’ by Karl Valentin – University of Cologne
Steve Snyder’s “They Ought to Put It On the Radio” from Sweet and Sour prods the nation’s news media to rely less on sensationalism and, instead, report on a broader (and healthier) array of human activity, so as to foster a more compassionate world in which all human life is valued:
[Psst: Click on triangle for “They Ought To Put It On the Radio” by Bright Morning Star]
A retired music teacher with DC Public Schools and a violin teacher with the DC Youth Orchestra Program, whose 35 years of working for health and safety programs was inspired by the social activism spirit of the 1960s, Ken Giles also enjoys singing with the DC Labor Chorus.
Zero to 180 is thrilled to learn that two titans of funk who both recorded for King – Bernard ‘Pretty‘ Purdie and William ‘Bootsy‘ Collins – are teaming up for a set of new recordings. In accordance with this event’s historical significance, the Mayor of Cincinnati, John Cranley, recently paid tribute to Purdie’s King drumming legacy by proclaiming January 5, 2019 to be “Bernard Purdie Day“! Zero to 180 is honored to have provided the King Records Building Non-Profit Steering Committee with background research in preparation for this proclamation.
Purdie’s first King sessions for Mickey and Sylvia, actually, precede his work for James Brown and yet, nevertheless, connect him once more to hip hop history, as vocalist, Sylvia Robinson (née Vanterpool) – “the Mother of Hip Hop” – would go on to found Sugar Hill Records! Ruppli’s King Labels recording sessionography lists Bernard Purdie as the drummer on Mickey and Sylvia’s big hit, “Love Is Strange” — not the original 1956 recording but a “redo” of the song several years later for the tiny Willow label, as Purdie recounted for Drum Magazine in their January 16, 2013 edition, .
But wait! As Ruppli reveals, Willow was, in fact, a label distributed by King Records. Furthermore, Discogs asserts Willow to have been a subsidiary label “created in 1961 by Mickey [i.e., Baker, long-time King session guitarist] and Sylvia.” Purdie’s name is listed as drummer for Mickey and Sylvia on at least 4 sessions for Willow in 1961 that produced six songs [click on all song titles below for streaming audio]:
Check out Mickey Baker’s searing guitar work on “Darling (I Miss You So)” – a fantastic 45 waiting to be rediscovered:
“Darling (I Miss You So)” Mickey & Sylvia & Bernard 1961
Five years later, Purdie would lay down drums on the first of six recording sessions for James Brown between the years 1966-1968, according to Ruppli’s session notes:
According to musician credits posted on Discogs, Bernard Purdie also played drums on James Brown B-side “I Know It’s True” [1972], as well as “Woman (Pts. 1& 2)” [1973] — both songs arranged by Sammy Lowe (though, “Woman (Part 2)” appears not to have been issued in the US market, curiously).
[L to R] Philip Paul; Bernard Purdie; Celia Purdie; Otis Williams; Bootsy Collins; Anzora Adkins
Photo by Elliott V. Ruther
According to Herzog Music, “The City of Cincinnati now owns the King Records buildings on Brewster Avenue in Evanston. The King buildings are being stabilized with $700,000 of city and Evanston funds, thanks to a united City Council.”
“CMHF will acknowledge the tax deductible donations and share with each Steering Committee organization as it works to formalize the non-profit arrangement with the City. CMHF is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization — donors may deduct contributions as provided in IRC 170(c)(3) of the U.S. Tax Code.”
You can be part of the King Records revitalization success story — please consider a donation to the King Building Fund.
Johnny Nash‘s 1969 Christmas album Prince of Peace would turn up recently in Suburban DC’s Value Village thrift shop. Initially captivated by the groovy 3-D cover, I was even more enthralled, once I returned home with the LP and cued up the 41-second opening track — a fresh pop arrangement of “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” that stands apart, musically speaking, from the other more devotional songs on the album:
“We Wish You a Merry Christmas” Johnny Nash 1969
[Pssst: Click triangle above to play “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” as arranged and produced by Johnny Nash and Arthur Jenkins]
This JAD (J for Johnny Nash; A for Arthur Jenkins; D for Danny Sims) release would be produced, not surprisingly, in Jamaica, although is not a ‘reggae’ album as such.
Pretend the red dots vibrate in 3-D pop art fashion
This 41-second offering joins Zero to 180’s official list of short songs.
Third appearance of Johnny Nash, by the way, on this music history website.
For the sixth year in a row – on its December 12th anniversary date – Zero to 180 has once again made the dubious and (it needs to be said) rather contemptible decision to post one of its own homemade recordings, under the laughable supposition that the “composition” in question is somehow deserving of a worldwide audience. It’s not — let’s be clear. This is the musical equivalent of a vanity license plate that serves, awkwardly, to salute another year’s efforts by Zero to 180 in its pursuit of the preservation of cultural memories in danger of being lost.
Those who have stumbled upon this post are invited to ignore this annual exercise in self-indulgence — a pathetic attempt to conflate my “work” (to the extent that it exists) with the greats who have come before. Let’s not kid ourselves that anyone, beyond family and close friends, might possibly be interested to learn that this year’s recording is not of the usual ancient vintage but something organized very recently in a makeshift recording studio in Silver Spring, Maryland.
“MRS. FLETCHER” (DUB MIX A) DUB-BLE TRUBBLE 2018
“MRS. FLETCHER” (DUB MIX B) DUB-BLE TRUBBLE 2018
Not much is not known about these recordings other than the fact that one musician (yours truly) laid down the guitar and bass lines, while another musician, who served as producer and mixmaster, provided all other sounds.
In its way, “Mrs. Fletcher” extends the ‘pop dub’ aspirations expressed twenty years earlier in “One (Love),” Zero to 180’s final four-track home recording in Cincinnati before the big move 500 miles eastward — ten years or so before the first appearance of the Rocksteady Kid.
Zero to 180 Milestones: Let the School-Age Years Commence
1st anniversary piece that featured an exclusive “Howard Dean” remix of a delightful Sesame Street song about anger management (with a special rant about how WordPress’s peculiarities made me homicidal the moment I launched this blog).
2nd anniversary piece that refused to acknowledge the milestone but instead celebrated the under-sung legacy of songwriter and session musician, Joe South – with a link to South’s first 45, a novelty tune that playfully laments Texas’s change in status as the nation’s largest state upon Alaska’s entry into the Union.
3rd anniversary piece that revealed the depths to which Zero to 180 will sink in order to foist his own amateur recordings onto an unsuspecting and trusting populace.
4th anniversary piece that formalized – as a public service – musical chord changes for an old (and tuneless) “hot potato” playground game called ‘The Wonderball.’
5th anniversary piece that paid tribute to the Buchanan & Goodman “break-in” records that helped fuel (along with Mad Magazine) this young music fanatic’s appetite for satire.
Jamaican DJ Dillinger toasts each of the winners to date of the Independence Festival Song Competition in “Festival Rock,” his entry for the 8th annual event in 1973:
Lee ‘Scratch‘ Perry produced the original recording – Max Romeo‘s “Ginal Ship” – that would serve as the backing track (sans vocals) for “Festival Rock.”
And yet, oddly, most of the references to “Festival Rock” that I see online and in print declare Max Romeo to be the producer — how can this be?
In Jamaica, “Festival Rock” would be issued on a white/blank label release as the B-side of “Cocky Bully” — both considered “DJ” cuts of the “Ginal Ship” single originally released on Lee Perry’s Upsetter label in 1971.
Which song emerged victorious in the 1973 Independence Festival Song Competition, you ask? Envelope, please:
Did you know? There are other Zero to 180 stories tagged as Musical Roll Calls
⇐ ⇑ ⇒
Bonus Bass Bonanza! Did Paul McCartney Hand the Hofner Torch … to Robbie Shakespeare?
According to Vivien Goldman‘s riveting historical examination of the recording of the Exodus album in London, where Bob Marley and his crew were, literally, on the run following the 1976 assassination attempt at Marley’s compound on 56 Hope Road in Kingston:
Fams [i.e., Aston ‘Family Man‘ Barrett] finally got his own instrument when one of his main clients, a jovial producer called Bunny ‘Striker‘ Lee, brought a short-necked, violin-shaped Hofner bass back from the U.K. He’d purchased it from one Lee Gopthal, boss of the reggae label Trojan, who’d bought it from the Beatles‘ manager, Brian Epstein. So the previous owner of the bass on which Fams played those catchy Upsetters instrumental hits that both mods and skinheads partied to in England, such as “The Return of Django,” was once Paul McCartney[!]
The Upsetters at Randy’s in Kingston circa 1969/70
Aston ‘Family Man’ Barrett (bass); Carlton ‘Carly’ Barrett (drums); Alva ‘Reggie’ Lewis (guitar) Glen Adams (organ)
Lunging across the stage, Tosh’s bass player, Robbie Shakespeare, brandished his instrument like a lance—the very same little Hofner that Paul McCartney used to play. Shakespeare’s mentor, Family Man, had passed it on to his protege.
But wait – Paul McCartney himself displayed his famous Hofner “Beatle bass” in the June 15, 1989 edition of Rolling Stone. Perhaps Paul owned more than one Hofner?
Photo courtesy of Brandon Wu Photography
