Brian's Weekly Sleevenotes - 09 January 16

The stories and facts behind some of the tracks played in this week’s show...

Monday Monday - The Mamas & The Papas (1966)

The group were formed in Los Angeles in 1965 where they met producer Lou Adler through Barry McGuire, a mutual acquaintance who they’d helped out by singing backing vocals on his second album which in turn inspired the then unnamed group’s career. Their debut single, ‘California Dreamin’’ was originally recorded by McGuire whose voice was simply removed from the track and replaced by the group. ‘Monday Monday’, written by Papa John Phillips was the follow up and gave them their only American number one.

Summer Rain - Johnny Rivers (1968)

By the time Johnny Rivers’ album ‘Realization’ was released in 1968, he was a big star in America and had formed a collaboration with singer and songwriter, James Hendricks, no relation to Jimi Hendrix and the fact the opening track on the album is ‘Hey Joe’ was just a coincidence. James began singing with Canadian group The Halifax Three which included Denny Doherty, then he became part of The Big Three with Cass Elliott after which Doherty and Cass joined John and Michelle Phillips in The Mamas and The Papas. ‘Summer Rain’ was a Hendricks composition and became the final Johnny Rivers top twenty hit of the sixties.

Three Steps To Heaven - Eddie Cochran (1960)

The ironic song title was released just a few weeks after Eddie Cochran was killed in a car crash in England giving him his only UK number one and featured members of Buddy Holly’s group The Crickets playing on the backing track. Surprisingly though, the record didn’t even manage to break through into the Hot 100 in America. In 1975, the group Showaddywaddy took the song back into our top ten reaching number two.

Take Good Care Of My Baby - Bobby Vee (1961)

Bobby Vee was a huge Buddy Holly fan, in fact the day Holly was killed in a plane crash on his way to play a concert in Minnesota, Bobby quickly put together a band of musicians and called them ‘The Shadows’ then volunteered to fill in for Holly at the venue leading to his successful career as a singer. As a tribute to Holly, ‘Take Good Care Of My Baby’ is a cover of Holly’s hit ‘Raining In My Heart’. ‘Take Good Care Of My Baby’ the 1961 American number one and UK number three became the opening track of Bobby Vee’s debut album for Liberty and was written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin. The song has had many covers since Bobby’s original including a version recorded by The Beatles for their Decca audition tapes. And indeed Vee himself re-recorded it as a ballad on his 1973 eponymous album ‘Robert Thomas Velline.

Keep On Running - The Spencer Davis Group (1965)

This is the first of our new feature where we look at acts that have brothers or sisters in their original line up. We begin with The Spencer Davis Group whose lead singer was Steve Winwood and his brother Muff who played bass. After several minor hits they finally broke through into the top forty with a song that had been written by one of Chris Blackwell’s reggae acts, Jackie Edwards. He had written and performed it himself with a Ska beat but The Spencer Davis Group turned it into a pounding rocker and it became the first new number one in 1966.

Hole In My Shoe - Traffic (1967)

Written by Dave Mason and issued as a single much against the wishes of lead singer, Steve Winwood and the rest of the band who felt the song was unrepresentative of the direction they were hoping to take Traffic. Mason quit the group soon after the release of the record and they began to develop a less commercial approach to their recordings that within a few months ended their run of hit singles in the UK but proved to be more popular with the rock radio stations in America.

Getting Mighty Crowded - Betty Everett (1964)

Time to introduce a new weekly feature into ‘Sounds of the 60s’ as each week we’ll be playing two classic tracks in our ‘Northern Soul Season’. We begin today with a 1964 recording by Betty Everett with a song that was a firm favourite of visitors to ‘The Twisted Wheel Club’ in Manchester, ‘Getting Mighty Crowded’. Produced by Van McCoy and although overlooked by American music fans in America at its time of release in 1964, reached number 29 in the UK.

Wasn’t It Good While It Lasted - Barry Lee Show (1968)

Beginning life as Barry Lee & The Planets, they soon became The Barry Lee Show and were introduced to Norman Smith who was working at the time with Pink Floyd and The Beatles. Norman secured a contract for them with EMI’s Columbia label and took them into the Abbey Road studios to produce their first of three singles, none of which made the charts. They then switched to Parlophone for this, their final outing ironically titled ‘Wasn’t It Good While It Lasted’ before turning out minus Barry, a couple of comedy records as The Performing Lees.

Princess In Rags - Gene Pitney (1965)

As 1964 drew to a close so did Gene Pitney’s run of top twenty hits in America, ending with ‘I’m Gonna Be Strong’, but back here in the UK, his popularity was stronger than ever with ‘Princess In Rags’ becoming his fourth in a run of seven consecutive top ten chart entries. The song was written by Helen Miller who also co-wrote ‘It Hurts To Be In Love’ with Howard Greenfield for Pitney, and Roger Atkins who co-wrote The Animals hit, ‘It’s My Life’.

Seven Little Girls Sitting In The Back Seat - The Avons (1960)

Released at the end of 1959 achieving its highest chart placing in 1960, thus just qualifies for a play on ‘Sounds of the 60s’. A cover of an American top ten hit for composer and performer, Paul Evans & The Curls, who in fact didn’t write this song. It was the work of Lee Pockriss and Bob Hilliard and became the first release for The Avons who were discovered by Norrie Paramor who heard them perform at the BBC’s stand at the Radio Show, in the Olympia Exhibition Halls at Earls Court, London in 1958 and signed them to EMI’s Columbia Records label.

Jimmy Mack - Martha & The Vandellas (1967)

The idea for the song came from a music industry awards dinner attended by Lamont Dozier where the mother of songwriter Ronnie Mack accepted an award for her son’s song, ‘He’s So Fine’, a big hit for The Chiffons. Mack had recently passed away and at the time, Holland-Dozier and Holland were under extreme pressure from Motown to come up with a hit for Martha & The Vandellas, they wrote the song as a tribute to Ronnie. It was recorded 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.

Brother Love’s Travelling Salvation Show - Neil Diamond (1969)

This is the title track of Neil Diamond’s fourth album, and he wrote it on a plane trip to record for the first time in Memphis. In fact he just wrote new words to a song that he’d already composed. Some evangelical groups in the American South originally boycotted of this song as they thought that it denigrated and insulted evangelists and the evangelical movement. When Diamond explained in an interview that it was, contrary to their understanding, a celebration of Gospel music and the evangelical style of preaching and worship, after which the controversy subsided.