Arif Mardin is a renowned producer, arranger, and music executive who also – surprisingly enough – recorded a couple solo albums for Atlantic. This hard-hitting instrumental arrangement of Lennon’s “Glass Onion” (from the Beatles’ “White Album“) would be used as the (1) kick-off tune, (2) title track, and (3) debut single for Arif Mardin as a solo artist:
“Glass Onion“
Arif Mardin (1969)
Wait a minute, it’s 1969: wasn’t Arif Mardin legally obligated to record this album in Muscle Shoals using local musicians? Billboard confirmed this to be true in its August 9, 1969 edition:
Five musicians — Jimmy Johnson, guitarist; Eddie Hinton, guitarist; David Hood, bassist; Roger Hawkins, drummer; Barry Beckett, keyboards — have grouped to open the new Muscle Shoals Sound Studios at 3614 Jackson Highway. They have already backed up Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, King Curtis, and Sam & Dave, as well as Arif Mardin’s Glass Onion album for Atlantic.
The Guardian ‘s Garth Cartwright points out the album’s ageless appeal in his 2006 obituary for Mardin:
In 1969 he released the first of two solo albums, Glass Onion, whose relaxed jazz flavours found British popularity in 1996 when the song ‘How Can I Be Sure?’ became a UK lounge hit in clubs.
In 1974 Mardin was paired with a struggling Scottish soul group, the Average White Band. His production emphasised their bright brass and dynamic rhythms, taking them to the top of the US album and singles charts.
*
*
History Bonus!
Beatles 1967 Trivia Funfest
It only occurred to me recently that legendary 1967 Beatles album, Sgt. Pepper’s, did not yield a single 45 – the only (legitimate) Beatles album to do so. The greater truth, however, is that (1) “Strawberry Fields” b/w “Penny Lane” [i.e., Sgt. Pepper‘s sole 45, effectively] would have been included on the album had the band not have felt pressured to release these two tracks as a single to maintain their standing in the marketplace; and (2) Italy, of all places, just might be the one and only country to issue a single in 1967 using Sgt. Pepper material — the title track as the A-side with “A Day in the Life” (naturally) as the flip side [45Cat contributor informs us: “juke box promo with unique edit of title track”].
Only 7-inch Sgt. Pepper single release from 1967?
Italian juke box promo 45
*
Other fun and interesting Beatle-related moments from 1967 would likely include —
This whimsical German 45 picture sleeve, whose design gets high marks for creativity:
This Italian 45, whose picture sleeve is likewise imaginative and befitting of the music:
This South African 45 picture sleeve, conversely, whose depicted moptop is easily (and hysterically) two years behind the beat:
These two other German singles, whose photos are strangely and humorously out of sync with the song titles listed on the picture sleeves:
This Norwegian single, whose playful design features Beatle Sgt. Pepper heads cut by hand using pre-digital technology:
This Argentinian single, whose “Penny Lane” would require no translation, while its flip side – “Strawberry Fields Forever” – would find itself re-titled, amusingly, as “Frutillas“!
This picture sleeve for the “Hello Goodbye” / “I Am the Walrus” single that was issued, fascinatingly, in The Democratic Republic of Congo:
This Yugoslavian 45 picture sleeve, whose design accurately conveys the historic importance of “Our World” – the first live international satellite television production, for which The Beatles performed “All You Need Is Love” – albeit in an oddly quaint Soviet style:
This Bolivian EP for “Penny Lane” and “Frutillas”, whose sleeve wins (by a whisker) the award for least accurately depicting the artists themselves at the time of release:
Sadly, no one told Austria that “go go” was out, and “hippie” was now officially in:
