Zero to 180 – Three Minute Magic
“After making the label an important artistic nest for major jazz artists like Nina Simone, Carmen McRae, Chris Connor and Mel Tormé,” notes Discogs in a summary overview of Bethlehem Records, its founder Gustav Wildi, in 1958, “gave the major label King Records half ownership as payment for distribution, and
The Australian All-Stars‘s 1959 album – Jazz for Beach-Niks – was originally released on Columbia Australia and picked up for US release four years later by King subsidiary label, Bethlehem (and reissued 2013 in Japan), subject of the previous history piece. One can only presume Syd Nathan was trying to capitalize
Zero to 180’s sprawling history trawl “Rare & Unreleased King” made passing reference to another surf-ploitation LP issued by King Records – 1963’s Surfin’ on Wave Nine – and even threatened to make that album the focus of a future history piece … whose time has come today. Compared to Look Who’s
In the course of sleuthing, I stumbled upon a King surf cash-in compilation from 1964 that, upon closer inspection, revealed a trio of “mystery bands” — The Surf Jumpers, The Wild Kats and The King Surfers — that are mysteriously absent from Ruppli’s otherwise fairly comprehensive 2-volume discography of King
How humorous to browse a chronological listing of Waylon Jennings albums starting in 1964 – eleven on RCA by my count, following his debut LP At JD’s – when out of nowhere, A&M suddenly decides to issue its first and only album by Jennings, long after his brief run of singles (1963-65)
In the inevitable Beatles vs. Stones (straw man) debate, I intensely resent having to pick sides, since the very idea of one without the other is laughable at best. Nevertheless, this lifelong Beatles fan takes a certain fiendish thrill in devoting an entire blog post to those albums in which
ABC once broadcast a 4-part television special in 1960 called The Frank Sinatra Timex Show: Welcome Home Elvis. This was to be the hip-swiveler’s first television appearance in three years since being discharged from military service. Poster art by Al Hirschfeld, yes? At one point, Elvis threatens to get upstaged
“Cerveza” by Boots Brown (see previous post about rock/pop’s Latin roots) was only one of the more obvious attempts to cash in on the runaway success of “Tequila” by The Champs in 1958. “Chili Beans” by Felix & His Guitar also does a great job of appropriating that familiar riff
Thanks to the research staff at Ace UK for the great story behind Bill Clifton‘s attempt to cash-in on the initial Beatles hysteria, 1963’s “Beatle Crazy” — probably the only Beatle tribute song done in a talking blues style. Clifton, who was born into a wealthy family in Baltimore County,
Upon playing the debut (and only) album by The Buggs, once discovers that the band, in their particularly mercenary bid to piggyback off The Beatles‘ success, utilized song titles as simple vessels for parking exotic English place names and popular dance moves, with no consideration whatsoever for the song’s actual
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