Monday is perfect for Anita O'Day. Here's an hour-long set of the hep swinger from 1986 at Ronnie Scott's in London. Backing O'Day were Tommy Whittle (ts,fl), Merrill Hoover (p), Lennie Bush (b) and John Poole (d). A big thanks to Jim Mentis for sending this one along...
Is the music industry bumming-out America? In "Emotional Cues in American Popular Music: Five Decades of the Top 40" published in the current issue of Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts, the article proposes that over the past five decades Top 40 music has become "progressively more sad-sounding and emotionally ambiguous." [Photo above: Self Portrait at 17 Years Old, Gillian Wearing, 2003]
According to the authors—psychologist E. Glenn Schellenberg and sociologist Christian von Scheve—an increasing percentage of pop songs are being written in minor keys that most listeners, young and old, associate with gloom and despair.
Hmmm. On the one hand, this is disheartening news, since music plays such a vital role in motivating listeners and stimulating feelings of happiness and optimism. Serving up supersized diets of downers risks unconsciously discouraging Americans—particularly young ones, who are likely to become more apprehensive about their future and abilities. [Photo above: Walter and I at the BIG SLIDE, Anonymous, ca. 1970]
On the other hand let's face it, the digital revolution has made the Top 40 obsolete to everyone except those in the trade. ITunes and high-speed modems upended traditional radio years ago, rendering it superfluous. Meanwhile, online CD and download stores have become electronic soda machines—dispensing music without offering much help with new and unfamiliar music short of samples. For exploration, many of us turn to YouTube.
So what's the takeaway? Blogs will only continue to replace radio jockeys and store clerks as the independent gateways to unfamiliar music. Young people may have less upbeat downloads to choose from in the "new music" sections of digital sites but they certainly have plenty of blogs today that offer up learning curves and examples of what's good and positive in almost every genre. They'll just have to do a little reading. [Polacolor ER photo above of Pia Zadora by Andy Warhol, 1983]
A special thanks to Steve Feldman for bringing the article in Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts to my attention.
Bill Evans remembered. Tickets to the "Jazz in July" series of concerts at New York's 92Y are going fast—especially Time Remembered: The Music of Bill Evans, Messengers of Jazz: The Legacy of Art Blakey and Basie Roars Again. For more information about the concerts and tickets, go here.
Happy Birthday Marty Napoleon! Marty turns 90 today. Way to go! For my JazzWax interview wtih pianist Marty Napoleon and his amazing jazz-piano career, go here.
Mel Torme. Bret Primack, the Jazz Video Guy, found the following undocumented TV pilot for a half-hour musical sitcom developed by Mel Torme. My research shows it was filmed in early 1955, and that's Al Pellegrini on piano, possibly James Dupre on bass and Dick Shanahan on drums. Torme had been playing with them at L.A.'s Crescendo Club around this time period. I'm not sure of the guitarist—or should I say "guitarists," since a careful eye will notice that there's a switch between songs.
In this clip, some will hear Torme sing Will You Still Be Mine? and realize how gifted he was as a vocalist. Others will view the hack acting job as merely another example of the singer's egotistical, cheesy overreach. Either way, there's Technicolor film of San Francisco mid-century and a walk-on by Joe Besser. Without further ado, here's Everything Happens to Mel...
Peggy Lee. Legendary Los Angeles record promoter Dick LaPalm sent along this fabulous clip of Peggy Lee absolutely acing Baubles, Bangles and Beads. Dig the Fever intro and Lee's pacing behind and ahead of the beat. And watch that right eyebrow...
Herb Snitzer photo sale! Photographer Herb Snitzer is moving studios and closing out what's there now. Which means he's selling all photographic prints—signed!—at 30 cents on the dollar. Silver gelatin prints, 11 x 14, go for $300 + shipping while 16 x 20 prints sell for $600 + shipping. We're talking Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Nina Simone, Lester Young, John Coltrane/Eric Dolphy, Sarah Vaughan, Zoot Sims, Thelonious Monk and many more.
Pick out what you like at Herb's site here (click on the "Gallery" tab in the left-hand column). To buy or for more information: 727-692-7646.
Lucky Thompson. New England Public Radio blogger Tom Reney posted another beaut this past week on Don Byas and Lucky Thompson. Go here to read it. And here's the fabulous video of Thompson that Tom featured...
Stax redux. Did you miss Chris Cowles seven hour radio broadcast last week on Stax Records? No worries. Here are links to all seven parts: Hours one, two, three, four, five, six and seven.
Best song lyrics of the week. Listen carefully to the wordplay in We Belong Together, written by Matt Dennis. That's Dennis singing and playing piano, joined by vocalist Virginia Maxey, at Hollywood's Tally-Ho club in 1954...
CD discoveries of the week. Back in 2007, drummer Steve Smith and his funk-fusion band Vital Information recorded at the Mobius in Ashland, Ore. The result is on his new release Live! One Great Night (BFM), which is being supported by a reunion tour. This is a tightly wound rhythm-and-organ-driven group that delivers hip drama on each track. Smith's drumming kicks off a big beat, but there's enormous sophistication here, with intricate cymbal patterns throughout. Sample Seven and a Half and Cat Walk. The '70s updated with unconventional originals and revamped Corea-Hancock touches. Which makes sense, since Smith played with Focus and Steps Ahead The CD version comes with a DVD of the performance.
To understand Southern rock, you have to drive the Interstates down there. Big trucks, sprawling farmland and lots of neon signs. Louisiana slide guitarist Sonny Landreth's Elemental Journey (Landfall) is evocative of the entire twangy scene. The all-instrumental album also is a showcase for his unorthodox playing style. Landreth is able to play broadly for maximum effect, but it's his tight needle work in the clinches that makes this an important work. And yes, those are strings behind his rock wailing, by members of the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra with arrangements by Sam Broussard. Dig Heavy Heart Rising and Reckless Beauty. Deep-fried original rocking with roots influences and long-hair touches.
Pianist Amina Figarova can play. And write. And arrange. On her new album, Twelve (In + Out), Figarova shows off all three gifts. What stands out most are the stewing, brooding moods that unfold on tracks like Another Side of the Ocean—with its complex, sighing orchestration and Ernie Hammes' flugelhorn. You also hear nature's patient influence on nearly every song, including Shut Eyes, Sea Waves and Morning Pace, my favorite. Figarova on this album has Bill Evans' heart, Thad Jones' whimsy and Les McCann's pacing.
Country singer-guitarist Mel McDaniel died last year. But back in the late 70s and throughout the '80s, while the rest of the country was embracing rap, British pop and Michael Jackson, McDaniel's Nashville story-tellin' sound was hot on the C&W charts. Now, McDaniel's hits for Capitol have been gathered and remastered on Baby's Got Her Blue Jeans On (Real Gone Music). McDaniel has a wonderful, working-man sound, adorned with slide guitars, a female chorus and strings. Soul of a Honky Tonk Woman, God Made Love and Big Ole Brew are irresistible, as is virtually every track on the set. Music that's perfect for a couple of cold ones on a Friday evening.
Oddball album cover of the week. There were album cover
designers in the '50s who came up with wacky or banal concepts. And there were dull designers who had almost no imagination at all. And then there were designers like this one who had no idea what he or she was doing. So the designer threw everything but the kitchen sink into the graphic concept. We know from the cover that the organ has a beat and that Don Johnson was the king of something. But from there on, we're on our own to make sense of the other elements. My favorite is the bi-toned taffy-colored keys. The lipstick kiss print is a close second. Yours?
Songwriters Mike Stoller and the late Jerry Leiber wrote Hound Dog and K.C. Lovin' (Kansas City) in Los Angeles in 1952 just as Gerry Mulligan was forming his pianoless quartet with Chet Baker a few miles away. My point is that Mike may be among the most significant living figures in the evolution of post-war R&B and early rock 'n' roll. Mike, along with Leiber, crafted musical ideas that didn't really exist yet, nor was there a large marketplace for them. Fats Domino and B.B. King were perhaps the leading exponents of the pre-rock form in '52, but their fabulous music then was largely regional and instrumental. [Pictured above: Mike Stoller and Jerry Leiber]
But as the 1950s evolved, Mike and Leiber became known for something else that today is largely overlooked—record production. When I interviewed Burt Bacharach last fall, he shook his head and remarked at how everyone in the business marveled at the way Leiber and Stoller could magically build dramatic orchestration in the studio behind R&B vocal groups and how many songwriter-producers tried to pick up tricks from them on their own records.
In Part 4 of my conversation with Mike for my Wall Street Journal profile (go here), the songwriter talks about how Stand By Me became a Top 10 hit twice (in 1961 and 1986), and the thinking behind their much-emulated approach to heavy-drama orchestration that became a staple during the pop-rock era of the 1960s:
Marc Myers: How did the movie Stand By Me come about?
Mike Stoller: Rob Reiner [pictured] called me in 1985. I had met him first at a party, when he asked me to play the piano. I’m not given to performing at parties, you know. But he insisted.
MM: Why?
MS: He wanted to sing every song Jerry and I ever wrote, and he knew the lyrics to all of them. So I did. That was our first meeting. Then several months later, he called.
MM: What did he want?
MS: He said, “I have this movie. It has the right title, but I can’t use it. It’s called The Body. The movie is based on a Steven King story, but if I use the title, people will think it’s a film based literally on the Steven King book. Then they'll assume it’s a horror film. But it’s not a horror film. It’s a coming-of-age film.”
MM: So he called you to talk about his film-naming issues?
MS: [Laughs] Rob wanted to call the film Stand By Me. He loved the song. I said, “Hey, be my guest.” Then we hung up. But I thought for a minute and called him back. I said, “Who do you think we could get to record the title song? Tina Turner or maybe someone else who’s hot now?” Rob said, “We thought about it. It’s a period piece, so we want to go with the original record.” So the movie comes out, and the original song Stand By Me almost becomes as big a hit in 1986 as the first time it was out 25 years earlier. [Note: The song peaked at No. 4 in 1961 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart and at No. 9 in 1986]
MM: In addition to desegregating R&B, you and Leiber were key to changing how records were produced and recorded in the late ‘50s.
MS: I suppose. I leave that to people like you.
MM: By adding strings and layering instruments, you created enormous drama, in effect tricking out the music and giving it much more import and appeal.
MS: The big thing people talk about with us on this topic—simply because we thought it might work—was adding strings to the orchestration for the Drifters' There Goes My Baby in March 1959. It was probably the first time strings were added to music considered R&B. [Note: Dinah Washington's What a Difference a Day Made album for Mercury was recorded later in the year.]
MM: How did adding strings to your song for the Drifters come about?
MS: When Jerry and I were working on the song, I hummed a line, and Jerry said, “Hey, that sounds like violins.” So we added them to the orchestration.
MM: R&B was like religion with you guys, wasn’t it?
MS: It was. We lived and breathed the music and loved it. R&B had been segregated in the charts for years. After There Goes My Baby, pop-rock and girl groups started becoming big along with more elaborate orchestrations. [Pictured from left: Mike Stoller, Lester Sill and Jerry Leiber. Sill first urged a young Leiber to find a pianist if he wanted to write songs, which led to a phone call to Mike]
MM: Was adding strings in 1959 a conscious decision on your part to expand R&B's appeal?
MS: No, not at all. Our decision to add strings had nothing to do with any social-consciousness. Strings just sounded good and added optimistic, cinematic drama. As it turned out, the strings also helped R&B cross over. But that was a by-product, not a motivation.
MM: Did executives at Atlantic, the record company you were writing for in the late ‘50s, love the sound in the studio when the Drifters were recording?
MS: [Laughs] Are you kidding? Jerry Wexler [pictured] hated it. He said it sounded like a radio dial picking up two stations at once.
MM: [Laughing] A simultaneous cross between easy-listening and R&B.
MS: Jerry thought we were flushing Atlantic’s money down the toilet. Ahmet Ertegun [pictured] said as much, but more diplomatically: “You know, boys, you make great records but you can’t hit a home run every time.”
MM: What did he mean?
MS: He meant, “Don’t overthink your songs.” But after we had commercial success by adding four fiddles and a cello to There Goes My Baby, everyone in the business tried to do the same thing.
MM: But your use of strings didn’t end there.
MS: That’s right. Because we had success with strings, we loved the idea of constantly experimenting with colors and percussion. We started adding bigger string sections and, on occasion, brass as well. For example, the orchestration for Spanish Harlem included a curved soprano saxophone.
MM: Why curved and not the straight-neck model?
MS: Because it has a special sound. The curved-neck one has less of a snake-charmer sound. Phil Bodner played it on Spanish Harlem.
MM: Was Stand By Me recorded at the same session as Spanish Harlem.
MS: Yes. What’s interesting is we had varied instrumentation on Spanish Harlem. Yet when it came to Stand By Me, we didn’t use the marimba, the soprano saxophone or many of the other instruments there that day.
MM: Why not?
MS: I don't fully recall, but it may have been that we started recording Stand By Me with many instruments but kept paring them back after the first few takes because they were getting in the way of something that was interesting and very simple.
MM: Where were Spanish Harlem and Stand By Me recorded?
MS: At Bell Sound at 237 W. 54th St., just off Broadway.
MM: What about your and Leiber’s studio sound in general?
MS: Jerry and I liked to create as much texture as possible.
MM: Was everything you and Leiber recorded done live?
MS: Meaning that the orchestra and singer were in the studio at the same time? Yes. Ben E. recorded with the orchestra on Spanish Harlem and Stand By Me. There was no overdubbing.
MM: So did Phil Spector, who worked for you and Leiber in 1960 under an exclusive publishing contract, model his "Wall of Sound" approach to production based on yours? You put him on sessions as a guitarist, and he observed everything you guys did first-hand. He co-wrote Spanish Harlem after all.
MS: Well, Phil’s “Wall of Sound” came a little later, in the early ‘60s, and he did something different than we did.
MM: How so?
MS: We went for a textured sound that distinguished the quality of the instruments used, to show off the differences and combinations. When we used two instruments playing the same lines, it was to get a specific timbre.
MM: And how did that differ from Spector’s approach?
MS: For the most part, he had everyone in the studio doing everything at the same time and as loud as possible. His “Wall of Sound,” at its optimum, was about power—a kind of sledgehammer sound. We went for trying to get individual textures of the instruments. And we didn’t layer all that much. [Photo of Phil Spector above by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images]
MM: Ever?
MS: The only texture with multiple parts was when we used the baion rhythm, where we’d have bass drum, conga, and African hairy drum all playing together. On occasion there would be acoustic and 12-string guitars together. But that’s it. When we used four or more guitars, one would play the chord while the other would play rhythmic "chicks" on the two and off-three beats. We liked to get multiple rhythmic things happening on songs.
MM: But didn’t other producers who followed borrow that dramatic, layered pop-rock orchestral concept from you and Leiber?
MS: I imagine so.
JazzWax tracks: Here's There Goes My Baby recorded by Ben E. King and the Drifters, produced by Leiber & Stoller...
And here's the magnificent Peggy Lee in 1969 singing Leiber & Stoller's masterpiece, Is That All There Is? Dig the genius of the words and music—and Randy Newman's orchestration...