Brian's Weekly Sleevenotes - 28 March 15

I Wanna Love My Life Away - Gene Pitney

Gene Pitney

Gene’s first single and indeed first hit both here and in America and his only record to have been issued in the UK on the London-American label. Recorded in a small four track studio, Gene sang all the vocal parts and played al the musical instruments on the record that he actually made as a demo for just thirty dollars but his record label decided it was good enough to release in its original form.

One Monkey Don't Stop No Show - The Animals

LP’s in the mid sixties were considered by many managers to be a waste of time when their acts could be earning money on the road. Everything was geared around the three minute single so it comes as no surprise that in June, 1966, The Animals released what was to be only their third album, 'Animalisms'. Not all the original members were included as by this time the band were undergoing major upheaval with major personnel changes. Despite all the problems, it reached number four on the album charts and has now been re-issued on CD by the Repertoire label including thirteen bonus tracks.

Love Is There You Are - Rod & Carolyn

Rod and Carolyn Braddy were a brother and sister duo who recorded four singles for Pye between May 1963 and November 1964 with 'Love Is Where You Are' being their final outing for the label. They later became part of Rod & Carolyn and The Tremors before changing their name to The Martells when they were signed to Decca, releasing 'Time To Say Goodnight'. With numerous personnel changes over the years the group continued in name until they decided to call it a day in 2001 although they have since reformed as a three piece and still perform today.

This Is My Song - Petula Clark

Petula Clark

Written by Charles Chaplin for his final movie, 'A Countess In Hong Kong' that was written and directed by Chaplin and starred Marlon Brando and Sophia Loren. He was determined to have Al Jolson record 'This Is My Song' and so intent was that desire, he only accepted that Jolson had died in 1950 after he was shown a photograph of his grave. Ultimately the song was only featured as an instrumental in the movie although Petula still went ahead and recorded it ending up topping our charts, along with Harry Secombe’s rival version that reached number two.

San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Some Flowers In Your Hair) - Scott McKenzie

The song was written in 1967 by John Phillips of The Mamas And The Papas to promote the Monterey Pop Festival. The record sold in excess of seven million copies worldwide and was largely responsible for encouraging thousands of teenagers to visit San Francisco in the late sixties. Scott has dedicated every American performance of “'San Francisco' to Vietnam veterans and in 2002 sang at the 20th anniversary of the dedication of the Vietnam Memorial Wall.

High Time - Paul Jones

Soon after leaving Manfred Mann, Paul released this, his first solo single written by Mike Leander and Chas Mills. In 1962, Paul Jones was invited by a musician of no relation, Brian Jones to join a new group he was helping put together. Paul then an undergraduate of Oxford turned down the offer as he’d just auditioned for a dance band in Slough. Soon afterwards Brian hooked up with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards and the rest we know about. Paul had no regrets as he built a long and lasting career for himself.

What'd I Say - Jerry Lee Lewis

Jerry Lee Lewis

Credited on the label as Jerry Lee Lewis and his Pumping piano, this Ray Charles composition became his biggest selling single of the sixties in the UK. It has since been regarded as one of the most influential songs in R&B and Rock And Roll history, ranking number ten in the list of the '500 Greatest Songs Of All Time'.

Squeeze Her, Tease Her - The Animals

Side two of The Animals’ successful 1966 album, 'Animalisms' saw the group in a gospel mood on their cover of a 1964 single by Jackie Wilson, 'Squeeze Her, Tease Her' that he wrote with arranger Alonzo Tucker. It’s quite incredible that during their heyday, The Animals only ever released three studio albums with this being the third and appearing in June, 1966 by which time the band were undergoing a period of major upheaval and didn’t feature all the original members of the band. Alan Price had left the previous May and was replaced by Dave Rowberry and by the time the album was released, John Steele had also departed with Barry Jenkins taking his place.

Green Grow The Lilacs - The Originals

Having failed to make the American charts with Marvin Gaye’s song, 'We’ve Got A Way Out OF Love' The Originals were offered another of his songs, 'Baby I’m For Real' but Motown, the group’s record label had other ideas and were planning for them to record Ron Miller’s song 'Green Grow The Lilacs' and were determined to make it into a hit. A huge amount of money was spent on the production and the promotion but most of the black DJ’s in The States didn’t think it was the group’s right sound and refused to play it, however, they then went back and recorded 'Baby I’m For Real' gaining a top twenty hit with Marvin’s song and production.

Is It true? - Brenda Lee

Brenda Lee

Reaching the same chart position both here and in The States. The record came about when Brenda, who was still only nineteen in 1964 and was keen to reassert her presence in the changing pop market, was introduced to Mickey Most by agent Don Arden who set up a recording session to coincide with Brenda’s next visit to the UK in August of that year. It would be the first time she’d recorded outside of Nashville since 1957 when she worked in a studio in New York. Most selected a handful of songs and both he and Brenda agreed on 'Is It True?' written by John Carter and Ken Lewis that resulted in her last UK top twenty hit.

Cara-Lin - The Strangeloves

Although The Strangeloves managed to keep up the illusion for quite some time that they were a fully functional rock group, in reality they were three New York songwriter-producers, Jerry Goldstein, Bob Feldman and Ritchie Gotteher who first came to the public’s attention with the song, 'My Boyfriend’s Back', an American number one in 1963 for The Angels. In 1965, The Strangeloves made the US top twenty with 'I Want Candy', with this being the follow up and although not quite as successful, many considered it to be a better record.