Brian's Weekly Sleevenotes - 11 October 14

It's Getting Better - Mama Cass

Written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, the song was first recorded in 1968 by Bobby Rydell, the same year The Will-O-Bees, a New York based trio also brought out a version as a single. 'It’s Getting Better' was recorded by Cass Elliott for her album, 'Bubblegum, Lemonade and Something For Mama', and was produced by Steve Barri with an arrangement by Jimmie Haskell.

David Watts - The Kinks

Written by Ray Davies, the song first appeared on The Kinks 1967 album, 'Something Else' and was also the ‘B’ side to both the American and European release of their hit, 'Autumn Almanac' whereas the UK release featured the song 'Mr Pleasant'. It’s understood that David Watts was a fellow schoolboy of the composer and led a charmed life but other reports state that he was a concert promoter in Rutland. The song was later covered successfully in 1978 by The Jam.

I Wish It Would Rain - The Temptations

The last Temptations release to feature David Ruffin and it just missed out on our top forty when it peaked at number forty-five in 1968, the song was written by Barrett Strong, Rodger Penzabene and producer Norman Whitfield who played the piano intro on an instrument in the studio that only had ten working notes. Penzabene who wrote the lyrics had just found out his wife was having an affair with another man and expressed his pain in the song. Sadly, he continued to write about the affair on The Temptations’ follow up, 'I Could Never Love Another (After Loving You)' and tragically the distraught composer took his own life on New Year’s Eve, 1967, a week after the release of the single.

Goodbye Joe - Laura Nyro

Laura Nyro is probably best known as a songwriter whose work includes 'Wedding Bell Blues' and 'Stoned Soul Picnic' for The Fifth Dimension, 'Stoney End' for Barbra Streisand and 'Eli’s Coming for Three Dog Night'. However, she has released a constant flow of her own albums since 1967 when her debut was titled 'More Than A New Discovery' from which this song, 'Goodbye Joe' was the opening track. sadly She died of ovarian cancer in Danbury, Connecticut, in April, 1997, at the age of forty-nine, the same age at which the disease had claimed the life of her mother. Check out Bob Stanley's article on Laura Nyro, here.

Something Stupid - Frank & Nancy Sinatra

Topped the American charts for four weeks whilst in the UK it remained at number one for just two. The record was a joint effort between Frank’s record producer at the time, Jimmy Bowen and Lee Hazlewood who had been responsible for Nancy’s previous hits. Lee discovered the original version of the song that had been recorded by its composer, Carson Parks, the older brother of Van Dyke Parks with folk singer Gaile Foot. Frank and Nancy became the first father and daughter duet to top the charts.

Breakin' Down the Walls Of Heartache - The Bandwagon

The debut hit for the group became one of the first Northern Soul crossover hits when it reached number four on the UK charts for the group that went on to have further success in the seventies as Johnny Johnson and The Bandwagon . The song was written by Sandy Linzer and Denny Randell who were responsible for dozens of hits by acts that included The Four Seasons, Limmie & Family Cookin’ and The Toys.

Freedom Train - James Carr

James Carr is regarded by many soul and R&B fans as one of the greatest singers of all time in his field of music and two of his records, 'The Dark End Of The Street' in 1967 and 'Pouring Water On A Drowning Man' from the previous year, are still considered two of the finest soul records of the sixties. His 1968 release of 'Freedom Train' was issued at a time when many American record companies were nervous about issuing records which could be deemed political as the USA was still a deeply conservative territory. The song is a celebration of the momentum for change for the black community and the train reference would have evoked historic memories of the "Underground Railroad" and the purpose it served as a vehicle of freed

The Doolang - Andrea Carroll

Andrea made her first public appearance at the age of three and six years later won a talent competition sponsored by Walt Disney. In 1960 she was signed to Epic where she released four singles before joining The Tokens production company, Bright Tunes who set up a deal with Big Top where she achieved two minor American hits with 'It Hurts To Be Sixteen' and 'Please Don’t Talk To The Lifeguard', the same label that released this 1964 recording of 'The Doolang' on which she was backed by The Chiffons.

Dig That Rock and Roll - Riff Ruffin

The Fury label was founded in America by record producer, Bobby Robinson who only had a two year wait before his company registered a number one with Wilbert Harrison’s 'Kansas City' that proved to be by far and away their greatest commercial success. However, One Day Records have recently released a fifty track double CD, 'Let’s Stick Together-The Fury Records Story' that opens with that Harrison track along with titles by artists that include Gladys Knight & The Pips, Lee Dorsey, The Velvets and this 1961 rocker from Riff Ruffin whose real name was Nehemiah Ruffin and was responsible for the arrangement of Buster Brown’s fifties classic, 'Fannie Mae'.