Brian's Weekly Sleevenotes - 7 March 15

The Carnival Is Over - The Seekers

The Seekers

Tom Springfield wrote the song after a trip to Brazil, where he witnessed the Carnival in Rio. The tune is based on a Russian folk song 'Stenka Razin' that became popular in Russia in the early 1890s. It was performed by the Osipov State Russian Folk Orchestra (balalaikas and domras) during their 1967 tour of Australia and the tune is also used in a Dutch hymn 'Vol Verwachting Blijf Ik Uitzien'. This became The Seekers best selling single in the UK, selling almost a million and a half copies and has become an Australian tradition for them to sing it at the close of major sporting events. Unfortunately they were unable to do so at the end of the closing ceremony for the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, as Judith Durham had broken her hip and was not able to appear.

Big City Lights - The Shevells

After releasing four unsuccessful singles on the United Artists label, the group switched to Polydor where they turned out this powerful track written and produced by Tony Colton and Ray Smith that, although not a hit, received an enormous amount of airplay. Formed in Wales, The Shevells backed several American blues artists on their United Kingdom tours and the band also performed under the name of the Welsh Conquerors.

Mother's Little Helper - The Rolling Stones

'Mother’s Little Helper' was the fourth album release by The Rolling Stones and was the first to contain all songs written by the group. The opening track, 'Mother’s Little Helper' was at one time considered for release as a UK single between 'Paint it Black' and 'Have You Seen Your Mother Baby Standing In The Shadow' as was the case in America where it reached number eight. The album, 'Aftermath' spent eight weeks at the top of our album charts.

Love Me Two Times - The Doors

The Doors

The legend goes that Jim Morrison bumped into Ray Manzarek at Venice Beach in 1965. Jim sat down with Ray and sang him a song he’d been working on called 'Moonlight Drive'. When he had finished, Manzarek said nothing for a few moments then told Jim that they were the greatest song lyrics he’d ever heard and suggested they start a rock and roll band and make a million dollars. Jim then replied, “that’s exactly what I had in mind”.

Who's That Lady - The Isley Brothers

In 1963, after releasing four singles for the Wand label, The Isley Brothers signed a deal with United Artists and recorded several rock and roll standards including, 'Long Tall Sally', 'Stagger Lee' and 'Please, Please, Please'. However one of the more interesting sides they recorded in 1964 was the original version of 'Who's That Lady', it was released as a single to very little interest, however, nine years later in 1973 they contemporised the song, giving it a more soulful feel and calling it simply 'That Lady' earning them their first UK hit for over four years.

Heaven Only Knows - The Shangri-Las

This was released as the 'B' side of their American top forty hit, 'Give Us Your Blessings' that like their previous hit, 'Leader Of The Pack' was another song about death and gained little interest in the UK They might have been well advised to have flipped the record for our market and gone with the more pop orientated Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich song, 'Heaven Only Knows', but who knows?

Bob Stanley takes a a deeper look at the highs and lows of the Shangri-Las recording career, here.

You Ain't Livin' 'Till You're Lovin' - Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell

Marvin Gaye

In America the song was released on the "B" side of a track called 'Keep On Lovin’ Me Baby' that reached number twenty-four in their Hot 100. In the UK, Motown found a completely different "B" side with 'Oh How I Missed You'. Both Diana Ross & The Supremes and The Marvelettes later covered this Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson composed song. At the time of release, Tammi was seriously ill in hospital so Motown decided to lift the track from the duo’s album, 'You’re All I Need' and had originally been recorded by her as a solo track with Marvin’s vocals added a few months later.

Open The Door To Your Heart - Darrell Banks

The record gained such a high price because when it was first released in 1966, both EMI and Decca thought they owned the rights for the UK release and both decided to release the record at the same time. EMI pressed up promotion copies to send out to the media on their Stateside label whist Decca did likewise on the London label. Soon after copies were received, it came to light that Decca didn’t have the rights after all and had to withdraw their version, requesting their promos to be returned. Although they managed to retrieve the vast majority, a few remained with the recipients and became the real collectables.

Marrakesh Express - Crosby, Stills & Nash

Graham Nash came up with the idea for the song during a train journey on his way to Marrakesh and had intended to record it whilst he was still with The Hollies but the rest of the group were less enthusiastic about the song and although they made an attempt at recording it, the result was unsatisfactory and their track still remains in the record company’s vault to this day. When Nash formed Crosby, Stills and Nash, they recorded the song for inclusion on their self titled debut album that also ended up being their first single.

Dutchman's Gold - Walter Brennan

Walter Brennan was one of a short list of American actors to win three Oscars, and the only one for Best Supporting roles in 1936, 1938 and 1940. In his lifetime he appeared in over 230 movie and television roles in a career spanning almost five decades. In 1962, he made our top forty with his narration of 'Old Rivers' but two years prior to that, released this single, 'Dutchman’s Gold' written by Jerry Capehart who had previously co-written amongst many others, 'Summertime Blues' and 'C’Mon Everybody'.