Brian's Weekly Sleevenotes - 25 April 15

Discover the stories behind the songs in today's show.

Too Busy Thinking ‘Bout My Baby - Marvin Gaye

The follow up to his International number one, “I Heard It through The Grapevine”. This song had originally been recorded by The Temptations in 1966 on their album, “Getting’ Ready”. Produced by Norman Whitfield who also wrote the song with Janie Bradford and Barrett Strong, it began life as “Stop Leading Me On” then “I Know How To Love Her” that Jimmy Ruffin recorded. Marvin at this time was still recovering from depression over the passing of Tammi Terrell but after the success of “Grapevine” and “Too Busy,” he was planning a tour of the UK, a trip he didn’t make until seven years later.

Out In The Street - The Who

“My Generation” was the debut album by The Who released on the Brunswick label in the UK in 1965. Early the following year it was issued in America by Decca with the slightly longer title, “The Who Sings My Generation” along with a different sleeve and a slightly altered running order. Produced by Shel Talmy and engineered by Glyn Johns, the opening track on side one was Pete Townshend’s song “Out On The Street” that he’d originally titled “You’re Going To Know Me.”

Sunny - Bobby Hebb

In 1955, a soul group named The Marigolds achieved a top twenty American R&B hit with a song called “Rollin’ Stone”. The group’s founder member, Hal Hebb died eight years later in a mugging and in 1966, his brother Bobby wrote a song about his murder. That song was “Sunny” reaching number two in The States. It was first recorded in 1965 for the Asian market by Meiki Hirhoto before jazz vibist, Dave Pike cut an instrumental version for Atlantic. In 1966, Hebb recorded the song himself but as an afterthought when he had a few remaining minutes of studio time remaining on one of his recording sessions.

You’re No Good - The Swinging Blue Jeans

A cover of Betty Everett’s original American single that was written by Clint Ballard Jnr although there has been some argument that the very first recording of the song was made by Dee Dee Warwick in 1963 under the supervision of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. The song provided a change of pace for The Swinging Blue Jeans and despite its success, became their final record to make the UK top twenty.

Mean Old World - Chicken Shack

Taken from their second album, “OK Ken”, and written by the legendary blues artist, Aaron ‘T-Bone’ Walker. After the success of their debut album, “Forty Blue Fingers”, producer Mike Vernon found it increasingly difficult to get the band to agree on material and back into the studio to record the follow up as the record label were demanding new product. Finally work began in June 1968 and continued in dribs and drabs until “OK Ken” was finally completed in October of that year. The album title came about through singer Christine Perfect going through a period when she decided to call everyone Ken.

Man Mountain - Joe Brown & His Bruvvers

We turn now to a thirty track CD released by Jasmine called “The Leather Boys” featuring ten songs each by Johnny Kidd & The Pirates, Vince Taylor and The Playboys and Joe Brown & His Bruvvers all of which were acts whose popularity on stage more often than not, outstripped the ability to translate into record sales. Vince Taylor never troubled our charts but both Johnny Kidd and Joe Brown had number one records. This though was first included on Joe’s 192 Decca album, “A Picture Of Joe Brown,” “Man Mountain.”

Runaround - The Regents

The Regents were an Italian-American doo-wop group from the Bronx in New York who had a US top twenty hit in 1961 with the original version of “Barbara Ann” later successfully covered by The Beach Boys. They followed it with “Runaround” that also made top thirty but the group had broken up by the time the record was released. However it’s been included on a new fifty track double CD from One Day Music, in the latest in their series that focuses on various American labels, “Ding Dong-The Gee Records Story.”

She Sang Hymns Out Of Tune - Nilsson

Written and recorded by Harry Nilsson for his second but debut RCA album, “Pandemonium Shadow Show” that he wanted to call “Something Wicked This Way Comes” after a science fiction book by Ray Bradbury but permission hadn’t been received by the time the record was ready for release so the lesser title was chosen depicting a circus sideshow that also appeared in the Bradbury novel. The album included several covers including Lennon and McCartney’s “She’s Leaving Home,” Phil Spector, Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry’s “River Deep-Mountain High” and this song by singer and guitarist Jesse Lee Kincaid, “She Sang Hymns Out Of Tune.”

I Don’t Know Why - Eden Kane

Not the same song as either the Stevie Wonder or the Clarence Frogman Henry hits, but an old standard written by Fred E Ahlert and Roy Turk first successfully recorded by Kate Smith in 1931 since when there have been dozens of other versions of the song over the years including Tommy Dorsey’s Orchestra, Nat King Cole and The Andrews Sisters. From time to time Eden makes appearances on Rock And Roll revival tours but currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Journalist Charlene Groman and family.

Speed King (Piano Version) - Deep Purple

Although “Speed King” is an original song and the first to have been written by vocalist, Ian Gillan, it includes in its lyrics, titles of a number of classic rock and roll songs that Ian wrote down in the order in which they came into his head. It was included on their 1970 album, “Deep Purple In Rock” but this earlier piano demo version was recorded towards the end of 1969 so just about falls into our remit by the skin of its teeth.