Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass - "Herb Alpert's Ninth" (1967) - A&M Records
Hello Friends,
Poor Tiki T. is feeling a little under the weather tonight so to "warm" things up we're listening to some Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass on the old turntable!
As the title implies, this is Senor Alpert's ninth record with the Brass. Unlike what the title (and cover art) implies, this is NOT a record of Latin-themed Beethoven covers! Most of the songs are pretty lively and shrill in the typical Herb Alpert-style like the top 40 hit, "A Banda", Cole Porter's "My Heart Belongs to Daddy", "The Love Nest", "The Happening", "Flea Bag" and a medley from Bizet's opera, "Carmen." There's also some more subdued tracks like the Beatles' "With a Little Help From My Friends" and Judy Garland's-on-Nyquil, "The Trolley Song". The highlight of this record, however, is Alpert's solemnly exotic tribute to songwriter & guitarist Ervan "Bud" Coleman who died earlier in the year.
Well, that blows! RATING: 3.5 rusty trumpets out of 5
Nelson Riddle & his Orchestra - "Witchcraft!" (1965) - Pickwick
Hello friends,
October's here and we're celebrating Halloween all month long here on Vinyl in the Valley! Best known for his soundtracks and famous arrangements for the likes of Sinatra, Dean Martin, Ella Fitzgerald, Linda Ronstadt, et al, Nelson Riddle actually had a pretty successful recording career himself! The highlights on this LP are his lush and jazzy instrumental versions of the title track, "It's So Nice to Have A Man Around the House", "You Fascinate Me So", "Darn That Dream", "Blue Safari" and especially, "Playboy's Theme".
The instrumentation is big in spots and sublime in others. The devil's in the details like the vibraphone in "Darn That Dream", for instance, or the background guitar on "Blue Safari". And check out this little minx on the LP's cover... nothing says dim the lights, light some candles and fire up the old Ouijia Board like a sexy brunette, a black cat, and a cigarette-smoking skull!
Rod Stewart - "The Rod Stewart Album" (1969) - Mercury Records
Hello Friends,
Rod Stewart's debut solo album hit American shores in November 1969. In England, it was released under the much-better title, An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down.
Fresh off his duties as singer in the groundbreaking Jeck Beck Group, Rod "The Mod" Stewart recruited Ronnie Wood (also from Beck's group) on guitar & bass duties, Ian "Mac" McLagen (from the Small Faces) on piano & organ, drummer Mick Waller, guitarist Martin Pugh and even future prog-rocker Keith Emerson (who lends his keyboard talents to the Stewart original "I Wouldn't Ever Change a Thing") to record an LP of 8 songs that combines rock, blues, country & folk and features Stewart's impeccable and distinctive vocal phrasings.
The album opens with a boozy, bluesy rendition of "Street Fighting Man". It actually takes the unsuspecting listener a few verses to realize that this is indeed a cover of the Stones classic. Next up is another cover song--the traditional American Folk Song, "Man of Constant Sorrow"-- that Stewart does it up in a laid-back country style. This song might be better recognized from a version in the Coen Bros' movie, O Brother Where Art Thou?
"Blind Prayer"-- a seldom-heard, sleazy, bluesy gem written by Stewart is next. Side One concludes with the melancholic ballad "Handbags and Gladrags"-- written by Manfred Mann's Mike d'Abo and more famous for its use as the theme song to the British "Office" television show!
Side Two contains three Stewart originals-- "An Old Raincoat...", "I Wouldn't Ever Change a Thing", "Cindy's Lament"-- and concludes with a slow rocking version of Ewan MacColl's folk ditty, "Dirty Old Town". Yet another example of a song on this record that is probably more famous for a version that's not Stewart's (in this case, The Dubliners or The Pogues!) Overall, its an excellent debut record even though it really didn't have any of the humongous hits Stewart would have had throughout the 70's.
"Now what'd I do with me shovel?"
Fun Fact: Hey kids... did you know that before Rod Stewart became a rock & roll icon, he worked as a gravedigger in North London's Highgate Graveyard? Spooky!
RATING: 4.5 handbags and gladrags that your Grandad had to sweat so you could buy out of 5
Frank Sinatra - "Sinatra's Swingin' Session!!!" (1961) - Capitol Records
Hello Friends,
Tonight on Vinyl in the Valley we're rocking out to some late Capitol-era Frank Sinatra. Ol' Blue Eyes is in peak form on this 1961 release covering such classics as "When You're Smiling", "Blue Moon", "Paper Moon", "September in the Rain", "My Blue Heaven" and "Always."
Backed by Nelson Riddle's fiery and upbeat orchestra, these tunes are among the fastest tunes ever recorded by Sinatra. Some tunes-- like "Paper Moon" and "My Blue Heaven"-- almost seem like they've been recorded in double-time. Hey Frank... pass those jazz salts down this way! A swingin' session indeed!
Even though its Fall outside, its the Summer of Love tonight on Vinyl in the Valley! Tonight we're cranking Cream's second (and best) LP, Disraeli Gears. Psychedelic blues at its absolute best! In 1966, Ginger Baker, Jack Bruce & Eric Clapton formed the first rock & roll supergroup; a heavy-sounding British trio with roots planted firmly in traditional blues and jazz music. Big egos would eventually win out and the band would break-up just two years later, but not before leaving a giant mark in rock & roll history! The album opens with an amazing one-two punch: "Strange Brew"-- a trippy blues tune featuring Clapton on lead vocals-- and the iconic "Sunshine of Your Love"-- featuring one of classic rock's most famous riffs. There's some great wah-wah pedal work on "World of Pain" and more great guitar-bass-drums interwining on the Bruce-helmed, "Dance the Night Away". Ginger Baker's "Blue Condition" (probably the album's weak link) finishes off Side One.
Side Two begins with the awesome "Tales of Brave Ulysses"-- a psychedelic-blues ballad based on Homer'sOdyssey with some more killer wah-wah playing. The equally excellent, "SWABLR" (aka "She Walks Like A Bearded Rainbow") follows. Not sure exactly what's going on in this song, but it may be about having sex with a transvestite! Hey, don't judge!
Next up is Jack Bruce's absolutely haunting, "We're Going Wrong". With spare, falsetto vocals and tribal drumming, its a song that would not be out of place in some 1967 teenager's Vietnam nightmare or acid flashback!
Clapton sings and arranges a version of "Outside Woman Blues"-- an obscure call-and-response blues tune written by Blind Joe Reynolds. Not to be outdone, Bruce comes back with a raucous honky-tonk blues number, "Take It Back"-- which may or may not be about kids burning their draft cards. The album concludes with the barroom diddy, "Mother's Lament"-- a perfectly silly and nostalgic conclusion to such a bold and ground-breaking album! Fun Fact: Hey kids, did you know that the title of this album is a malapropism? When Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker were talking about bicycles, a roadie chimed in with the statement that "yea, its got them disraeli gears" mistaking the 19th Century British Prime Minister for "derailleur gears". In a similar story, one time on Election day I saw two sassy ladies at Walmart discussing the possible outcome of the Presidential Election and one turned to the other and said, "It don't matter who wins the popular vote, its the electrical vote that counts!" ZAP!
Bobby Hackett - "Live at the Roosevelt Grill" (1977) - Chiaroscuro
Hello Friends, Jazz trumpeter Bobby Hackett is perhaps best known for his work with the Jackie Gleason orchestra playing atmospheric trumpet and cornet solos against a back-drop of lush string arrangements that conveyed both dreaminess and solitude. He was an accomplished jazz musician who played with Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, The Andrew Sisters, Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett and many other jazz greats. In 1970, Bobby's quintet had a regular gig at New York's Roosevelt Grill and producer Hank O'Neal had the good sense to record a number of these gigs. This album was recorded in 1970 but released posthumously in 1977 (Hackett died of a heart attack in 1976.) Unlike his "easy listening" work of the late 50's and early 60's, these live recordings are tried and true tributes to Dixieland music. The arrangements are solid and upbeat, definitely tipping a hat to the early Hot Fives' and Hot Sevens' recordings of Louis Armstrong. Some very good cornet work by Hackett and some nice trombone solos by Vic Dickenson. Perhaps the best thing about this LP are the really snarky and cantankerous liner notes written by producer, Hank O'Neal. He uses this space as his pulpit to really demolish contemporary jazz/dixieland music, musicians and audiences. For instance, he writes how contemporary musicians became "victims of their own laziness" with an "audience... so generally stupid that they couldn't tell the difference." OUCH! And how "the fault lay with the guys... that kept playing the same tunes over and over because the drunks who listened to them wanted to hear them!" YIKES! And how by giving "these tunes a listen" you'll realize "what time, tone and taste can do for a tune!" MEEEEEOWWW! RATING: 3.5 Fidgety Feet out of 5
