Brian's Weekly Sleevenotes - 27 December 14

Bread And Butter - The Newbeats

Long John Baldry

The Newbeats first single for the Hickory label, was 'Tough Little Buggy' that gained a luke warm response. Fortunately, at the personal whim of a Detroit promotion man who took a fancy to the ‘B’ side, 'Bread And Butter', convincing one of his local stations to make it their Pick Of The Week. The single became the highest new entry on the American Hot 100 during the second week of August and six weeks later had climbed to its peak of number two where it remained for two weeks.

New York Is A Lonely Town - The Trade Winds

Singer, song writing and production duo Pete Anders and Vinnie Poncia had worked with Phil Spector providing The Ronettes with a number of songs before recording this Beach Boys meets The Four Seasons styled track with a bunch of studio musicians whilst moonlighting during the period they were still under contract to Spector. Releasing 'New York Is A Lonely Town' under the maddest name they could think of, the record climbed to number thirty-two in America in February, 1965.

Let The Heartaches Begin - Long John Baldry

Producers, Tony Macaulay and John McLeod were enjoying their hit 'Baby Now That I’ve Found You' with The Foundations when the boss of Pye Records called them into his office and told them they were to find a hit for the label’s new signing, Long John Baldry who had released a number of records on United Artists without any success and was desperate for a hit. 'Let The Heartaches Begin' was one of the first songs the pair had written together and it was decided to try it out with Long John resulting in a number one hit.

Stop And You'll Become Aware - Helen Shapiro

Helen Shapiro

The song was originally released as the ‘B’ side to Helen’s 1967 single, 'She Needs Company', a song written and recorded by Paul Jones, however, it was 'Stop And You’ll Become Aware' that caught the attention of the DJ’s at the Wigan Casino and Cleethorpes Pier nightclubs who turned it into a Northern soul collectable. Written by Roger E Okin who later released his own version, the record was produced by Norman "Hurricane" Smith and arranged by Zack Lawrence.

Jimmy Mack - Martha & The Vandellas

Martha & The Vandellas recorded 'Jimmy Mack' in 1964 but was shelved because not only did the quality control folk at Motown Records think it sounded too similar to recent releases by The Supremes but also because it was around the time of the Vietnam war and was thought to have connotations about soldiers going to fight and might upset the wives and loved ones. The record was finally issued in 1967 and it was reported that company boss Berry Gordy finally got to hear the track and started shouting, "get this thing ready to go out right away, this is a damn hit record".

Consequently, So Long - Poco

This was the closing track from Poco’s debut album, 'Pickin’ Up The Pieces' and features lead vocals by Richie Furay who had been in Buffalo Springfield with Neil Young. He then formed Poco with Jim Messina, the original thought was to call the group Pogo but that had been registered by a magazine and the threat of legal action caused them to amend the spelling. In 1968 they were signed to Epic Records and this first album was released in the summer of 1969.

Mozart Vs The Rest - Episode Six

Status Quo

Just before Christmas 1969, the group were booked for a Radio 1 Club session and the producer asked them to come up with a couple of lively numbers which they responded with 'Mozart Vs The Rest' a tune based on Mozart’s 'Rondo A La Turk' arranged by guitarist Tony Lander. After the show the BBC were swamped with requests for the track so Episode Six rushed into the studio and recorded it in double quick time which may account for the sound of Ian Gillan surfacing for breath half way through what would become their final single release.

Ice In The Sun - Status Quo

After the success of 'Pictures Of Matchstick Men', their next release, 'Black Veils Of Melancholy' failed to chart, but they were soon back in the top ten with this Marty Wilde and Ronnie Scott song. Produced by John Schroeder, the track was recorded in 1968 and was included on an album they recorded that year under the title of 'Picturesque Matchstickable Messages From Status Quo' that also included their first hit from which it was named.

No One To Love - Charlie Phillips

A few weeks ago we played you 'I’ll Guess I’ll Never Learn' by West Texas born country and western singer Charlie Phillips, who in 1960 replaced Roger Miller as a DJ on the Texas Radio station KZIP working his way up to general manager. In the early sixties he signed to Columbia Records where he was considered one of their most under rated artists as everything he recorded was only released as singles and none of his material was compiled into an album. In 2011, The Bear Family label put things to right by issuing a thirty-five track collection called 'Sugartime' from which this track has been taken.

Jam Up Twist - Tommy Ridgley

Poco

Pianist Tommy Ridgley honed his musical style whilst working a residency at the famous Dew Drop Inn in New Orleans with both The Bama Band and Earl Anderson’s Band before joining forces with Dave Bartholomew and releasing his first record in 1949, 'Shrewsbury Blues'. He then formed his own group, The Untouchables with whom he released material on a variety of labels including Atlantic for whom he recorded his own 'Jam Up' in 1953 that proved so popular in its day that it was reissued and repackaged with over-dubbed lyrics and an alternate sax solo in 1962 as 'Jam Up Twist', in an effort to cash in on the "Twist" dance craze.

Bo Street Runner -The Bow Street Runners

The Bo Street Runners were a mid sixties British cult R&B group who issued a string of collectable records including their privately pressed four track EP on the Oak label of which only forty-nine copies were produced and now exchange hands for over £1000. Fortunately RPM Records have just released a seventeen track CD containing all the group’s material under the title of 'Never Say Goodbye-The Complete Recordings 1964-1966' and includes three versions of their most famous song, 'Bo Street Runner', the version they released on Decca, a version they recorded for Radio and the most authentic, the original they cut for that rare EP.

I Understand - The G-Clefs

The G-Clefs were a quintet of three brothers, Teddy, Chris and Tim Scott and friends Joe Jordan and Ray Gibson who began singing gospel songs in their hometown of Roxbury, Massachusetts where in 1956 local DJ Jack McDermott helped them gain a recording deal with the small Pilgrim label resulting in the release of the novelty song, 'Ka-Ding-Dong' with a young Freddy Cannon playing rhythm guitar. It became a local hit but the group had to wait until 1961 until they finally made the national charts with 'I Understand' incorporating as a counterpart melody the chorus of 'Auld Lang Syne'.