Category: 60s

That Music Feeling, Again

music insane in my brain

It’s been years, maybe decades, since I have blissed out in the highest of highs while listening to music.  That zone when the music is all there is, dominating all senses, and is “really” good.

As a teen in my room, air drumming to an 80s club remix. In my 20s, dancing at a rave. 90s club remixes on a stony living room floor, or a 6 year old listening to In A Gadda Da Vida with my father. And now, from picking up treasures at thrift and other record stores.

These ultra-highs happen – maybe only happen – when listening to AAA 100% analog music.  Either turntables or live performance, but rarely if ever with digitized music.  Don’t get me wrong, I love the advantages of digital, but it took away something lovely that has now returned.  I love analog music and the tremendous feelings it inspires.

And it only costs a few dollars, and has no unpleasant side effects.  Dear government, please do not make vinyl records illegal.

 

The Johnny Mann Singers

 

johnny-mann-singers-6-covers
Man, oh Mann.

Man, I love the Johnny Mann Singers.  Ba-dum-cha!  The track “Lemon Tree” is one of the catchiest, craziest pieces of music I have ever heard.  I am so in awe of this track I am going to teach myself how to edit videos in iMovie so I can upload “Lemon Tree” to youtube for you to enjoy.  I’ve been humming, singing and thinking this song for weeks now.  In bed, in the shower, the office, etc.  You know.

You know that thing they did in the 60s, where acapella groups would sing a hip, slick, smooth, boo-boo-boo-ba-ba-ba-da… bah-bah-bah-boo-boo-ba-ba-de-dah!  You would hear it in movies like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.  That’s the sound of the Johnny Mann Singers.

I’m a fan of The Association, and my favorite track by them, “Never My Love” sounds to me like the Johnny Mann singers could be doing the backup vocals. I know I’m probably wrong, but who knows, it would be possible given the music studio structure back then. In a few days I get in the mail a vinyl of the Mann Singers album with their version of “Never My Love”, and I can’t wait to compare.  (Update: the Johnny Mann version is highly disappointing.  It sounds like a 45rpm record played at 33, really sluggish tempo.  It could be them though, bears further research).

discogs.com – Johnny Mann Singers

Love is Blue

love-is-blue-6-covers
Claudine you slay them all

I’ve loved this track my entire life.  I would probably put it in my top 5 favorite songs.  So it was a “now it all makes sense” moment when I learned recently that “Love is Blue” was #1 on the charts for five weeks leading up to my entering the world March 1968.  So I’ve loved this track for my entire life plus, and buy every record I find with it. There are more than you might think!

Good luck finding the first disc below (top left) in a thrift store.  But I’ve seen the Paul Muriat #1 version with equally lovely cheesecake cover a few times.  The 101 Strings was a great find for me, and Johnny Mann had one of his best tracks with it.  Claudine Longet’s version is nicely done, but not my favorite, which would be the 101 Strings.  An “eyes bug out” moment and a three category match: 101 Strings, Love is Blue and Cheesecake.

I’ve picked up all of these for $3 or less each, except for the first one, which I am hoping to find someday!

discogs.com – Love is Blue

Wikipedia – Love is Blue

Claudine Longet

Married to Andy Williams, backed by top LA producers and session musicians, the albums of Claudine Longet are a delight.  They are easily found alongside her hubby’s albums in thrift stores everywhere.

Claudine Longet 4 Covers

It looks as though love and life in the fast lane took it’s toll on Claudine.  The cover to We’ve Only Just Begun was taken soon after her separation (and eventual divorce) from Andy Williams, and near the end of her career.  A fascinating but sad story: she was found guilty in 1976 of negligent homicide of her boyfriend, but sentenced to only 30 days in jail, and has spent the rest of her years in relative solitude.

Sandy was the first to play her music via itunes, and I was dismissive for many years. But that was mainly because she only played the “Happy Talk” mp3 that was too happy even for me.  But a glorious $0.10 sale at Goodwill allowed me to pick up a couple of her early albums (Claudine, The Look of Love), and I was surprised to hear a few excellent tracks in the mix.

Claudine’s records fall into another collector category: they feature the Wrecking Crew.  Being married to Andy Williams gave Claudine access to the best of everything in terms of music production.  Tracks like “Sunrise Sunset”, “Man in a Raincoat”, “How Insensitive” and my favorite version of “Both Sides Now” are glorious works of music.  But each album has it’s fair share of stinkers and hits.

She is no longer a household name, though I’m guessing she would have kept a bit more in the public eye if it were not for her legal problems. We’ve all seen her on tv in the Peter Sellers movie The Party, and her album cover for Colours is iconic.  Yes, I have the hots for Claudine Longet.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudine_Longet

http://www.discogs.com/artist/Claudine-Longet

 

$0.10 for 101 Strings – part 1

101strings 1st album
These guys rocked.

I don’t know why we walked into the Goodwill store in the summer of 2014, but I remember the sale they had going on.  All used vinyl was $0.10 each.  Ten for a dollar! Nom! Nom! we went to town scarfing up the rotting old relics of bygone musical generations.  It didn’t matter if we knew the records or not, or what condition they were in – if anything seemed even remotely desirable or interesting, we added it to the stack.  This is how a new obsession began.

–to be continued…