public library – Page 26 – Tech & Book Talk at SSCL

Weekly Recommended Listens: June 9, 2017

June 12, 2017 Linda Reimer

Hi everyone, this week we’re kicking off a month long look, at the American music that was influenced by, and came just after, the first British Invasion that began with The Beatles appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964.

As a reminder, our weekly music postings feature the following sections:

I. Links to AllMusic Biographies of the Artists/Groups of the Week

II. Freegal Music Recommendations Of The Week (streaming music)

III. CD Music Recommendations Of The Week

IV. Videos Of This Weeks’ Artists/Groups

V. References (for those who’d like to know a bit more about the artists of the week).

And this week we’ll check out the music of three of the most popular American bands of the mid-sixties: The Beach Boys, The Monkees and The Grass Roots.

I. Links to AllMusic Biographies of the Artists/Groups of the Week:

The Beach Boys AllMusic Biography by John Bush
https://goo.gl/AqNSLM

The Grass Roots AllMusic Biography by Bruce Elder
https://goo.gl/KT1tEj

The Monkees AllMusic Biography by Mark Deming
https://goo.gl/2Zdf5D

II. Freegal Music Recommendations Of The Week (streaming music)

The Beach Boys:

The Beach Boys originally hailed from Hawthorne, California and consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis & Mike Wilson their cousin Mike Love and mutual friend Al Jardine. Bruce Johnson joined the group in the mid-sixties after the band’s songwriter Brian Wilson retired from touring. The Beach Boys played Surf Music to begin with and then transitioned into playing great sixties era rock music until Brian Wilson, the creative genius behind the group, became ill and retired from the group for the remainder of the sixties. Brian eventually regained his health and later returned to playing music.

The early Beach Boys albums, and they released five albums in the U.S. before the arrival of The Beatles, are great Surf Rock albums. And by the time they released 1965’s Today! album they really had transformed into playing great sixties rock with Brian Wilson’s top notch songwriting as a base.

The Beach Boys by The Beach Boys

The Freegal Music Catalog doesn’t feature any original studio albums by The Beach Boys. However, they do have an interesting collection of their songs, some recorded live, on an album released by the Piros/Send label and titled simply The Beach Boys. I would describe their early music as having the combo theme of being Surf and “it’s cool to be young” style of music – and those are the types of songs that are dominant in this collection. This collection includes the songs: Surfin’ Safari, Surfer Girl, I Get Around, Wouldn’t It Be Nice, and Ride The Wild Surf.

The album also contains one song, Good Vibrations, in which you can hear the beginnings of the blossoming creativity the group found in the mid-sixties under the songwriting and musical production guidance of Brian Wilson. And as that lone song is from their more creativity period – I’ll save the suggestions for their later songs for the CD section of this posting – as we there are a variety of great Beach Boys albums available for request in StarCat.

Here’s a link to stream The Beach Boys album:
https://goo.gl/undv3M

The Monkees:

The Monkees were a band put together directly in response to The Beatles! Specifically, they were put together in response to The Beatles success with their 1964 film A Hard Days Night. The band consisted of Davy Jones, Peter Tork, Michael Nesmith and Micky Dolenz. The group had their own zany TV show, which was certainly inspired by A Hard Days Night, and released some great pop-rock music. And they actually get something of a bum rap as being nothing more than a Beatles knock off band. However, if you listen to their music it does hold up as solid upbeat pop-rock music.

The Freegal Catalog doesn’t feature any of The Monkees studio albums; however, two of their best-known songs can be found in the catalog – the Neil Diamond classic I’m A Believer and the theme from their TV Show “Hey, hey, we’re the Monkeys and people say we monkey around, but where too busy singing to put anybody down” – very catchy!

And on to the streaming suggestions!

I’m A Believer from the various artists LP Sugar Sugar
This is the original song from a various artists album with a super long title: Sugar Sugar: The Very Best Pop Golden Oldies of the 1960s by the Ronettes, Sonny & Cher, The Monkees, And More

Just a pre-listening note: This album features a few original recordings, including I’m A Believer, some re-record version of popular songs and a few songs credited simply to “Various Artists.” Nevertheless, the album contains a solid collection of upbeat pop-rock and is perfect listening to whilst sitting around the pool!

Here’s a link to stream the album:
https://goo.gl/3Q5yD8

The Monkees TV Show Theme from the various artists LP Aquellos Maravillosos Años

Here’s a link to stream the song:
https://goo.gl/c57E2R

The Grass Roots:

The Grass Roots formed in Los Angeles in the mid-sixties and consisted of Rob Grill on vocals and bass, Wayne Entner & Creed Barrington on guitars and Rick Coonce on drums. The group was guided by the classic rock songwriting team of P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri who wrote a number of their songs.

The Grass Roots recorded some great songs that complimented the mid-to late sixties era including: Where Were You When I Needed You, Let’s Live For Today, Things I Should Have Said, Temptation Eyes and Midnight Confessions.

And the Freegal Music Catalog features a number of greatest hits style collections by the band, however, they all feature re-recorded versions of their music – so I recommend you skip them, check out the YouTube videos by the band further along in this posting and request a CD by the group through StarCat!

III. CD Music Recommendations Of The Week

The Beach Boys:

Five Classic Albums:

This multi-disc set features five of the band’s early albums: Little Deuce Coupe, Surfin’ USA, All Summer Long, Summer Days (And Summer Nights) and Pet Sounds. This five album, five disc set, contains more than fifty songs. To my ears the first two albums Little Deuce Coupe and Surfin’ USA find the band playing solid Surf rock but still finding their musical footing while their songs/playing on the last three albums All Summer Long, Summer Days and Pet Sounds are really solid as if they did indeed find their footing and were beginning to creatively blossom as a band.

The songs on this set include: Surfin’ U.S.A., Shut Down, Little Deuce Coupe, I Get Around, Wendy, All Summer Long, Help me Rhonda, California Girls, Wouldn’t It Be Nice, God Only Knows and many more.

Here’s a link to request the five CD set: https://goo.gl/IXoiH9

The Smile Sessions:

In 1966 The Beach Boys, under direction of their primary songwriter and musical director Brian Wilson began working on the album SMiLE which Wilson intended to be a seminal work of progressive pop rock with psychedelic roots. Many, many hours of studio recordings were made but the album, which the rest of the band and their record label – Capital didn’t think was a commercial enough project put pressure on Wilson to finished it or abandon the project – so abandon the project they did. And in the decades that follow this unreleased album took on an almost mythical reputation as the greatest rock album never released. The album was finally released on CD in 2011 and the music is very cool! This is no Surf or youth orientated album – and if you are already a Beach Boys fan you should enjoy this set – if however, you’re new to listening the band in an in-depth way – you might want to skip this album and check out Pet Sounds or the classic greatest hits collection Endless Summer.

This collection includes the songs: Our Prayer, Heroes And Villains, I’m in Great Shape, Child is Father Of The Man, The Elements: Fire (Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow), Good Vibrations, You’re Welcome, Cool Cool Water and more – 40 songs in all.

Here’s a link to request the Smile box set in StarCat: https://goo.gl/rmydjC

The Monkees:

The Monkees Greatest Hits:

This is a 1995 album released by the great Rhino Records and it includes The Monkees (TV Theme), Last Train To Clarksville, I’m A Believer, (I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone, A Little Bit Me, A LIttle Bit You, Daydream Believer and Pleasant Valley Sunday.

Here’s a link to request the album in StarCat:

https://goo.gl/JgZpFS

The Grass Roots:

The Complete Original Dunhill/ABC Hit Singles:

Believe it or not, there isn’t a single album by The Grass Roots available through out the entire Southern Tier Library System – so we’re rectifying that musical travesty and have one on order! The LP is titled The Complete Original Dunhill/ABC Hit Singles and features all 24 of the hits they had in their mid-sixties heyday including: Mr. Jones (Ballad of a Thin Man), Where Were You When I Needed You, Let’s Live for Today (Both Censored & Uncensored Versions), Things I Should Have Said, Midnight Confessions, Temptation Eyes, Glory Bound and Anyway The Wind Blows.

The album should be available in StarCat soon!

IV. Videos Of This Weeks’ Artists/Groups:

The Beach Boys – three performances from the Ed Sullivan Show

Wendy

I Get Around

Good Vibrations

The Monkees

Last Train To Clarksville

Pleasant Valley Sunday

I’m A Believer

The first episode of Monkees TV series:

The Grass Roots:

Midnight Confessions

Temptation Eyes

Let’s Live For Today

VI. Print References:

The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits by Joel Whitburn (Billboard Books. New York. 2009.)
Sixties Rock: A Listener’s Guide by Robert Santelli (Contemporary Books. Chicago. 1985.)

Online References:

The Beach Boys AllMusic Discography by John Bush
https://goo.gl/Srpldb

The Grass Roots AllMusic Discography by Bruce Elder
https://goo.gl/KT1tEj

The Monkees AllMusic Discography by Mark Deming
https://goo.gl/PGMDhA

Have a great day!
Linda, SSCL

P.S. If you have any questions about how to download or stream free music through the Freegal Music service to a desktop or laptop computer or how to download and use the Freegal Music app let us know! Drop by the library or give us a call at: 607-936-3713.

*You must have a library card at a Southern Tier Library System member library to enjoy the Freegal Music Service. Your card can be from any library in the system, and the system includes all public libraries in Steuben, Chemung, Yates, Schuyler and Allegheny Counties and including our own Southeast Steuben Count Library in Corning, New York. Library cards are free and at our library you can obtain one by visiting the Circulation Desk and presenting staff with a form of ID that features both your name and your current address.

Weekly Recommended Listens: May 2017, Week 4: Sixties Rock: The First British Invasion Concluded

May 26, 2017May 26, 2017 Linda Reimer

Hi everyone, this week we’re concluding our cliff notes look at the first British Invasion. And in June our musical theme will be the American Response to that First British Invasion!

And as it has been super, super busy in Library Land this week this will be a cliff notes posting – as I’ve just run out of week!

But we’ll hit the high notes and you’ll be able to stream or request some great music with new CDs of the artists of the week to be available shortly.

And our artists for this week are:

The Yardbirds,

The Spencer Davis Group

The Who.

I. Links to AllMusic Artist Bios:

The Yardbirds AllMusic Biography by Richie Unterberger
https://goo.gl/SRCVGL

The Spencer Davis Group AllMusic Biography by Bill Dahl
https://goo.gl/YXHWQB

The Who AllMusic Biography
https://goo.gl/1RdCtO

Freegal Notes:

To access Freegal Music from a desktop or laptop simply click on the following link:
http://stlsny.freegalmusic.com/

The Freegal Music Catalog homepage will display — it looks like this:

The Freegal Music app can be found in your app store and it looks like this:

II. Freegal Music Recommendations Of The Week:

The Spencer Davis Group:
The Spencer Davis Group was a blue eyed soul group consisted of Steve Winwood in his pre-Traffic, Blind Faith and solo artist days, on keyboard and vocals, his brother Muff Winwood on bass, drummer Peter York and guitarist Spencer Davis. The band played organ-centric rock and their best known songs include: Keep On Running, I’m A Man and Gimme Some Lovin’.

I’m A Man

From the LP Soul Goes Psychedelic
The Freegal Music Catalog features many albums by The Spencer Davis group. However, most of them do not feature Steve Winwood on vocals.
I did manage to find a radio version of I’m A Man that features Steve Winwood on vocals – on a collection titled Soul Goes Psychedelic. The collection also features music by The Brothers Johnson, Santana, Blues Image, The Soul Survivors and Ike & Tina Turner.

Here’s a link to stream the Soul Goes Psychedelic album: https://goo.gl/ue4cWH

The Yardbirds: The Yardbirds are best known for three of the great rock guitarists that played in the band in the sixties: Eric Claption, Jeff Beck & Jimmy Page. The group played a mix of traditional rock and R&B; and the original band consisted of Keith Relf on vocals and harmonica, Chris Deja and Anthony Topham on guitars, Paul Samwell-Smith on bass and Jim McCartey on drums. Eric Clapton replaced Topham in 1963 and he was in turn replaced by Jeff Beck in 1965. Jimmy Page joined the band in 1966. The group disbanded in 1968 and Page formed a new group, original called the New Yardbirds, which shortly after forming changed their name to Led Zeppelin.

Five Live Yardbirds (with Eric Clapton on guitar)
https://goo.gl/HwpzRJ

Roger The Engineer (with Jeff Beck on guitar)
https://goo.gl/dTxNJf

The Yardbirds Story: This 89 song collection features every recording The Yardbirds made from 1963 – 1966. The set includes A Certain Girl, Heart Full of Soul, Shapes of Things, Five Long Years and more.
https://goo.gl/le9jhu

The Who:

The Who formed in London in the early sixties and consisted of Roger Daltrey on vocals, Pete Townshend on guitar, John Entwistle on bass and Keith Moon on drums. The band had, to say the least, a very energetic and flamboyant stage presence.

And for the purposes of this posting we’re only talking about their sixties music – I feel I should point that out in case you’re not familiar with their work –and also as they put out some great albums in the seventies.

Summer Time Blues & My Generation

From The Monterey Pop Festival album:
https://goo.gl/HZezhe

The Who Live from Discos Cada Record

The Freegal Music Catalog features only one album by The Who all on their own – titled The Who Live. The album was put out by Discos Cada Records in 2011. The recordings seems to be of the band playing live and the sound and editing quality is only average at best. However, if you’re a major Who fan you might want to check it out: https://goo.gl/XF0912

Freegal Wild Card Streaming Pick Of The Week:

Bob Dylan – The Complete Album Collection – The 60’s
Since Bob Dylan’s birthday was this week, May 24 to be exact, I’m going to recommend you stream at least part of the set The Complete Album Collection – The 60’s which does indeed feature all the songs on all of Dylan’s sixties albums. This is great music for a holiday weekend: https://goo.gl/wGVvOz

III. Compact Discs Recommendations:

The Spencer Davis Group:

Eight Gigs a Week: The Steve Winwood Years:

This collection features all of the 51 songs recorded by the band while Steve Winwood was with them! So you get the hits, including Keep On Running, I’m A Man & Gimme Some Lovin’ and many more songs.

Here’s a link to request the CD: https://goo.gl/EX31Q0

The Yardbirds:

Greatest Hits Volume 1:

This Rhino records collection features the band’s hits released between 1964 and 1966. Including the songs: For Your Love, Evil Hearted You, Shapes of Things and A Certain Girl: https://goo.gl/DymOl2

Also coming soon is The Yardbirds Story on CD – this the same 89 song set mentioned in the streaming section – this time in a four compact disc set.
You can’t request the set just yet – but here is the link to the request page:
https://goo.gl/MXMM1v

IV: Videos Of This Weeks’ Artists/Groups:

Spencer Davis Group:

I’m A Man

Gimme Some Lovin’

Yardbirds:

I Wish You Would (With Eric Clapton)

For Your Love (With Jeff Beck)

Heart Full of Soul (With Jimmy Page)

The Who:

Anyway Anyhow Anywhere

I Can’t Explain

VI. General References:

The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits by Joel Whitburn (Billboard Books. New York. 2009.)

Sixties Rock: A Listener’s Guide by Robert Santelli (Contemporary Books. Chicago. 1985.)

The Spencer Davis Group AllMusic Discography by Bill Dahl
https://goo.gl/V8ob6D

The Who Discography by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
https://goo.gl/1afGGS

The Yardbirds Discography by Richie Unterberger
https://goo.gl/bs90ZO

Have a great day!
Linda, SSCL

Weekly Recommended Listens: May 2017, Week 3: Sixties Rock: The First British Invasion Continued

May 21, 2017 Linda Reimer

Hi everyone, this week we’re continuing our look at the sounds of the first British Invasion that ran, roughly, from February of 1964 to May 31, 1967.

And as a reminder, each weekly recommended music posting features following sections:

I. Links To AllMusic Biographies Of The Weekly Artists/Groups

II. Freegal Music Recommendations Of The Week (streaming music)

III. CD Music Recommendations Of The Week

IV. Videos Of This Weeks’ Artists/Groups

V. Wild Card Print Book Recommendation Of The Week

VI. References (for those who’d like to know a bit more about the artists of the week).

Our artists for this week are The Rolling Stones, The Kinks & The Animals.

And just FYI as a beginning note, since we’re taking a look at the early years of The British Invasion you won’t find recommendations for any music released after the end of May 1967. We’ll take a look at the music of the second British Invasion, that ran from June 1, 1967 through the end of the sixties in July.

I. Links to AllMusic Artist Bios:

The Rolling Stones Biography by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
https://goo.gl/ESaSb4

The Kinks Biography by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
https://goo.gl/BVCC6z

The Animals Biography by Bruce Eder
https://goo.gl/CwB1bW

Freegal Notes:
To access Freegal Music from a desktop or laptop simply click on the following link:
http://stlsny.freegalmusic.com/

The Freegal Music Catalog homepage will display — it looks like this:

The Freegal Music app can be found in your app store and it looks like this:

II. Freegal Music Recommendations Of The Week:

The Rolling Stones:

Carol from the Various Artists LP Canciones Con Nombre De Mujer Vol. 2

The Rolling Stones original line-up included Mick Jagger on vocals, Keith Richards on guitar, Brian Jones on guitar, Bill Wyman on bass and Charlie Watts on drums. And the Freegal Music Catalog doesn’t contain any full-length albums by The Rolling Stones. However, I did discover the catalog features a live version of The Stones covering Chuck Berry’s Carol that offers you a good idea of their early sound.

Here’s a link to the live version of Carol is from the Various Artists LP Canciones Con Nombre De Mujer Vol. 2
https://goo.gl/fu0VTT

The Kinks:

The Kinks (1964):

This is indeed the first album released by The Kinks. The original line-up of the group included brothers Ray and Dave Davies on guitars, Mick Avery on drums and Peter Quaife on bass. And this album showcases their early, raw classic rock sound as epitomized by songs like You Really Got Me and All Day And All Of The Night. As the sixties progressed and Ray Davies songwriting skills matured the sounds of the band transformed into a smoother more polished style of rock. This collection of music though, aptly shows off the early, earthy sound of the Kinks and includes the songs: You Really Got Me, Beautiful Delilah, So Mystifying, Too Much Monkey Business, I’m A Lover Not A Fighter, Revenge and Stop Your Sobbing.
https://goo.gl/em4bPZ

The Animals:

The Animals On Their Own – The Dave Cash Collection:

If you’re wondering who on Earth Dave Cash was? You’re not alone! I’d never heard of him before I did the research for this posting. It turns out he was the British equivalent to Dave Clark — a long time D J who worked for The B.B.C. for more than fifty years.

But I digress! Back to The Animals! The Animals original line-up included Eric Burdon on vocals, John Steel on drums, Alan Price on keyboard, Chas Chandler on bass and Hilton Valentine on guitar. The group played really great traditional rhythm and blues based rock. And unlike The Stones and The Kinks who branched out stylistically by writing their own songs The Animals remained true to their traditional R&B and rock roots – and you can hear that in all their music.This collection offers a great introduction to the band including the songs: House Of The Rising Sun, Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood, Bring It On Home, When I was Young and Hard Times.

The Animals On Their Own – The Dave Cash Collection
https://goo.gl/FmMyk9

Freegal Wild Card Streaming Pick Of The Week:

Here is an interesting album featuring a mixture of fuzzy guitars and clear vocals – today I suppose you’d classify this album as Indie Rock. I like the sound of this Australian band and also, being a cat fan, I like the name of the group too!

The Summer Cats:

Songs for Tuesdays
“The Summer Cats aren’t the kind of cats who like to curl up and purr the day away, they’re more apt to chase things, run around wildly, and basically tear stuff up. The Australian quintet states their aim as clearly as possible on the first track of their first album Songs for Tuesdays. “Let’s Go” bursts out of the gate with a supercharged Flying Nun-inspired attack (the Clean especially, but also some early Chills too) built around fuzzy guitars, peppy organ, and shouted vocals. The rest of the album follows in kind with barely a break for breath. Thirteen songs in 32 minutes doesn’t leave a lot of space for meandering or epic ballads or wasting time with guitar solos; it does leave plenty of space for memorable hooks and for songs that sound like they were created just to be played loudly in the summertime. Any summer mixtape would be improved by the addition of the noisy rocker “Hey You,” the droning Stereolab-esque “Lonely Planet,” or the wildly oscillating “St. Tropez.” You could really take any song and plug it into that sentence; the record is that strong and unified. The only complaint you might have with a record as tightly constructed as this could be that the songs all run together. The group heads this off in a couple of ways. While bandleader Scott Stevens takes most of the vocals, he turns a few over to other members of the group, most notably Irene, who provides the innocent female vocals that pair up with Stevens’ slightly manic tones perfectly. Secondly, they vary the sound of each song just a little bit. Some songs are heavy; some are lighter than air. Some have distorted guitars; some have clean and jangly guitars. It’s an admirable attention to detail that does a world of good. The Summer Cats spent a few years honing their sound on singles and EPs, and it really pays off on their debut. It’s the sound of a great rock band playing and writing at the peak of their game, and Songs for Tuesdays is an album anyone with a fondness for spiky, catchy, and super fun indie pop should own.”
–AllMusic Review by Tim Sendra–

https://goo.gl/nlOy6a

III. Compact Discs Recommendations:

The Rolling Stones:

Out of Our Heads (1965):
Out of Our Heads shows the Stones at a great time in their career. The band was still playing music that mixed traditional rhythm and blues with the sounds of classic rock and they were still covering other artists songs while also branching out and writing their own songs. This great album includes some super covers songs including Don Covay’s Mercy, Mercy, Bo Diddley’s I’m Alright, Marvin Gaye’s Hitch Hike and Sam Cooke’s Good Times. The album also includes some great original songs by Jagger & Richards including: The Last Time, Play With Fire, The Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man, The Spider & The Fly and one of their all-time biggest hits — Satisfaction.

This CD isn’t quite ready to circulate but should be in the next few days – here’s a link to the request page in StarCat: https://goo.gl/9obOZz

The Kinks:

Face to Face (1966)
The Kinks were so much more than the sum of the hits they had – great songs though they were – the band was capable of producing excellent albums that flowed together as compared to simply being a group that whose albums featured hit singles.

This album received a great AllMusic review, which praises the album and notes that it is “One of the finest collections of pop songs released during the ’60s.” And I agree with that assessment!

When you listen to the early sound of The Kinks, as heard on their first album from 1964, and compare it to the sound of this album, released just a scant two years later — you can hear how the band has matured. Songs like the Dandy, Too Much on My Mind, Rainy Day in June, Sunny Afternoon and, my favorite, Party Line are really great classic rock songs that feature cool, creative lyrics.

And I do have to wonder – who out there even has a party line anymore?

But once upon time people did!

And this great album will be available in StarCat and our New CD Section shortly — it isn’t quite ready to circulate yet.

I will update this posting to include a request link for the album on CD as soon as it is ready to circulate.

The Animals:

Animalisms (1966)
The Animals, like The Rolling Stones started out playing a combination of traditional rhythm and blues and classic rock with a heavy emphasis on rhythm and blues. This is a great album! And in his review of Animalisms AllMusic editor Bruce Elder describes it nicely as “a truly transcendent collection of a dozen songs, mostly superb covers interspersed with some good originals, principally by Eric Burdon and Dave Rowberry. Burdon was never singing better and the group had developed a bold, tight sound that seemed to lift his soul shouting to ever higher levels of passion and conviction.” This album features twenty five songs including: Maudie, Sweet Little Sixteen, Gin House Blues, I Put A Spell on You, Don’t Bring Me Down and Inside Looking Out.

And this album too, is not quite ready to circulate, It will be available in StarCat and our New CD Section shortly.
I will update this posting to include a request link for the album on CD as soon as it is ready to circulate.

IV: Videos Of This Weeks’ Artists/Groups:

The Rolling Stones:

The Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man

Mercy, Mercy

The Spider and the Fly

The Kinks:

A Well Respected Man

End of the Season

Waterloo Sunset

Bonus Video:
The Big Boys by Chuck Berry – this is Berry’s first ever music video from his forthcoming album Chuck – being released posthumously in June:

V. Wild Card Print Book Recommendation Of The Week:

Talking Guitar: Conversations with Musicians Who Shaped Twentieth-Century American Music

by Jas Obrecht:

In this lively collection of interviews, storied music writer Jas Obrecht presents a celebration of the world’s most popular instrument as seen through the words, lives, and artistry of some of its most beloved players. Readers will read–and hear–accounts of the first guitarists on record, pioneering bluesmen, gospel greats, jazz innovators, country pickers, rocking rebels, psychedelic shape-shifters, singer-songwriters, and other movers and shakers. In their own words, these guitar players reveal how they found their inspirations, mastered their instruments, crafted classic songs, and created enduring solos. Also included is a CD of never-before-heard moments from Obrecht’s insightful interviews with these guitar greats.

Highlights include Nick Lucas’s recollections of waxing the first noteworthy guitar records; Ry Cooder’s exploration of prewar blues musicians; Carole Kaye and Ricky Nelson on the early years of rock and roll; Stevie Ray Vaughan on Jimi Hendrix; Gregg Allman on his brother, Duane Allman; Carlos Santana, Eric Johnson, and Pops Staples on spirituality in music; Jerry Garcia, Neil Young, and Tom Petty on songwriting and creativity; and early interviews with Eddie Van Halen, Joe Satriani, and Ben Harper.
https://goo.gl/gi71zo

VI. References:

The Animals – Animalisms AllMusic Review by Bruce Eder
https://goo.gl/MhQOmm

The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits by Joel Whitburn (Billboard Books. New York. 2009.)

DJ Dave Cash celebrates 50 years on the air
https://goo.gl/4SZMVm

The Kinks – Face to Face AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
https://goo.gl/vCJo8T

The Kinks Something Else Reviewed by Thomas Erlewine – AllMusic
https://goo.gl/oVTbaZ

The Kinks – The Kinks AllMusic Review by Richie Unterberger
https://goo.gl/uvhH9B

The Rolling Stones – Out Of Our Heads AllMusic Review by Richie Unterberger
https://goo.gl/9nxe6F

Sixties Rock: A Listener’s Guide by Robert Santelli (Contemporary Books. Chicago. 1985.)

Summer Cats Songs for Tuesday AllMusic Review by Tim Sendra
https://goo.gl/eI1iKL

Have a great day!
Linda, SSCL

P.S. If you have any questions about how to download or stream free music through the Freegal Music Catalog to a desktop or laptop computer or how to download and use the Freegal Music app let us know! Drop by the library or give us a call at: 607-936-3713

Weekly Recommended Listens: May 2017: Week 2: Sixties Rock: The First British Invasion Continued

May 12, 2017May 12, 2017 Linda Reimer

Hi everyone, this week we’re continuing our look at the sounds of the First British Invasion that roughly covered the time frame from February 1964 through May 1967.

And just as reminder, each weekly recommended music posting features the following sections:

I. Links To AllMusic Biographies Of The Weekly Artists/Groups
II. Freegal Music Recommendations Of The Week (streaming music)
III. CD Music Recommendations Of The Week
IV. Videos Of This Weeks’ Artists/Groups
V. Wild Card Print Book Recommendations Of The Week

Our artists for this week are The Dave Clark Five, The Hollies & The Zombies.

I. Links To AllMusic Biographies Of The Groups of The Week:

The Dave Clark Five Biography by Richie Unterberger
https://goo.gl/SXRJEI

The Hollies Biography by Richie Unterberger
https://goo.gl/1pE3Cs

The Zombies Biography by Richie Unterberger
https://goo.gl/NXdOrO

Freegal Notes:

To access Freegal Music from a desktop or laptop simply click on the following link: http://stlsny.freegalmusic.com/

The Freegal Music Catalog homepage will display — it looks like this:

The Freegal Music app can be found in your app store and it looks like this:

II. Freegal Music Recommendations Of The Week:

The Dave Clark Five: The Dave Clark Five hailed from the North London region of Tottenham and consisted of Dave Clark on drums, Mike Smith on vocals and keyboards, Denny Paxton on saxophone, Lenny Davidson on guitar and Rick Huxley on bass. The band came to the U.S. in early 1964, right on the heals of the Beatles, and had their first U.S. hit, Glad All Over in March. Subsequent hits included: Bits And Pieces, Do You Love Me, Can’t You See That She’s Mine, I Like It Like That, Catch Us If You Can and You Got What It Takes.

The Freegal Music catalog doesn’t feature any full-length album by The Dave Clark Five; however, I did find two songs by the group that you can stream through Freegal and they are:

One of their biggest U.S. hits, Glad All Over

From the various artists album Top 100 Hits – 1963, Vol. 1
https://goo.gl/o8X38o

And the fun instrumental Chaquita

From the various artist LP The Greatest Instrumentals 1934~1962:
https://goo.gl/ttRSuh

To request a full length Dave Clark Five album — check out the CD Recommendations section.

The Hollies: The Hollies formed in Manchester, England in 1963. The band consisted of Allan Clarke on vocals, Graham Nash on vocals and guitar, Terry Hicks on guitar and vocals, Bobby Elliott on drums and Eric Haydock on bass. Haydock was replaced by Bernie Calvert in 1966.

The Hollies U.S. hits of the sixties included Look Through Any Window, Bus Stop, Stop Stop Stop, On A Carousel, Pay You Back With Interest, Carrie-Anne and Jennifer Eccles.

Late in 1968, Nash left the band to form the seminal trio, Crosby, Stills & Nash, with David Crosby and Steven Stills.

Clarke, Hicks and Elliott continued playing with the band into the seventies; and the group had three more top ten hits: He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother, Long Cool Woman (In A Black Dress) and The Air That I Breath.

The Hollies Greatest Hits:

This album contains all the band’s U.S. hits of the sixties hits except Jennifer Eccles. And as a bonus it contains their three big seventies hits: https://goo.gl/3UtfvB

Evolution: Evolution was released in 1967 and features a cool blend of vocal harmonies, classic rock and psychedelic influences with some nice sounding acoustic guitar playing woven in for good measure. Songs on the album include Jennifer Eccles, Carrie-Anne, When Your Lights Turned On and the nostalgic Ye Olde Toffee Shop.

https://goo.gl/ksYp3u

The Zombies: The Zombies were from Hertfordshire, England and consisted of Colin Blunstone on vocals, Rod Argent on keyboards, Paul Atkinson on guitar, Hugh Grundy on drums and Chris White on bass. The group produced excellent, smooth flowing pop music rich with harmonies and organ playing. The group put out four great albums in the sixties: The Zombies, Begin Here, I Love You and Odessey and Oracle, and had three top ten hits during that era: She’s Not There, Tell Her No and Time Of The Season.

As with The Dave Clark Five, The Freegal Music Catalog does not contain a full-length Zombies albums; however, you can stream several of their hits – found on various artists compilations.

She’s Not There

From the various artists collection 60’s Top Hits, Vol. II
https://goo.gl/TZ2UHp

Tell Her No

From the various artists collection Essential in Music, Vol. 2
https://goo.gl/z0lsTm

Time of the Season

From the various artists album Grandes Éxitos 1969:
https://goo.gl/QUaozd

As with music of the Dave Clark Five, for a link to StarCat to request a full-length Zombies album on CD, check out the CD Recommendations Section.

Freegal Wild Card Streaming Pick Of The Week:

The Essential Herbie Hancock by Herbie Hancock:

I have to say, and I’m showing my vintage, I didn’t realize Herbie Hancock had been recording music for as many years as he has been. His first album, Takin’ Off, was released in 1962! Not a surprise to Jazz fans but to those listeners of pop and rock who came of age in the mid-eighties as I did – that came as a surprise. I was a young teenager when MTV launched, and I can recall his song Rockit and the stylish/bizarre companion video of the song that was shown on MTV.

And the song Rockit itself doesn’t sound like jazz to me — it has a very modern sound to it, even all those years later. And, in doing research for this posting I learned that Hancock has been very prolific both in recording music and in playing in a great variety of styles over the years including jazz, hip-hop, fusion, modern and dance.

The Essential Herbie Hancock album offers a good introduction to Hancock’s work and includes the songs: Butterfly, ‘Round Midnight, Hidden Shadows, Joanna’s Theme, People Music and of course, the MTV favorite Rockit.

Here’s a link to stream The Essential Herbie Hancock album:
https://goo.gl/H9uWGi

And if you want to know more about Herbie Hancock, here’s a link to his AllMusic biography written by Richard S. Ginell: https://goo.gl/09HJPV

III. Compact Discs Recommendations:

Dave Clark Five:

The History of the Dave Clark Five:

This fifty song double CD features the band’s greatest songs icluding: Glad All Over, Bits And Pieces, Do You Love Me, Because, Having A Wild Weekend and Catch Us If You Can.
https://goo.gl/8wO2Wk

The Hollies

The Clarke, Hicks & Nash Years: The Complete Hollies, April 1963-October 1968:

This six disc collection features all the songs The Hollies recorded between the spring of 1963 and the autumn of 1968. The music was recorded during the height of the band’s popularity and contains great songs written by Clarke, Hicks & Nash. In fact, all the singles released by the band from October of 1966 until Graham Nash left the group at the end of 1968 were co-written by Clarke, Hicks & Nash. The group produced great harmony-rich pop-rock and if you’re not familiar with their music you really should check it out.

The 158 songs on this collection include: Time For Love, Too Much Monkey Business, Honey And Wine, Look Through Any Window (both English and French versions), Hard, Hard Year, On A Carousel, Have You Ever Loved Somebody and much more.
https://goo.gl/0MuAj4

The Zombies

The Singles Collection As & Bs 1964-1969

This 28 song collection features the A and B sides of all 14 Zombies singles including: She’s Not There, Tell Her No, Beechwood Park, I’ll Call You Mine and Time of the Season.
https://goo.gl/a6Ib9h

IV: Videos Of This Weeks’ Artists/Groups:

The Dave Clark Five

Glad All Over:

Bits And Pieces:

Over And Over:

Catch Us If You Can:

The Hollies

Bus Stop:

Just One Look:

Stop Stop Stop:

The Zombies

Tell Her No:

She’s Not There:

Time Of The Season:

V. Wild Card Print Book Recommendation Of The Week:

Our suggested music read this week is the autobiography of Cream drummer Ginger Baker! And here’s the info on the book:

Ginger Baker: Hellraiser: The Autobiography of the World’s Greatest Drummer

by Ginger Baker

The music, the marriages, the polo, the drugs, the trans-Saharan trucking scheme—the drummer best-known for his work in Cream and his contributions to World Music tells his whole fascinating story.

Peter “Ginger” Baker is a legend. A pioneering drummer who has transcended genres, he did much to popularize world music with his fierce passion for the rhythms of Africa. He is that rare thing, a critically-acclaimed musician who has enjoyed global success with not one but several supergroups to his name, including Cream and Blind Faith. Here, Ginger tells his story for the first time and without any self-censorship. It’s an often harrowing, but honest journey from his humble beginnings in war-torn south London to his adopted home in South Africa’s beautiful Western Cape—complete with polo club. He tells of his life-long love of jazz, how he discovered the drums and African music, and life on the road. He also confesses to the heroin use that should have killed him in his colorful 1960s prime, working and playing with the biggest names of the time. In the 1970s, he came up with a trans-Saharan trucking scheme, was a successful rally driver, built an ill-fated recording studio, and discovered a consuming passion for playing polo. He talks candidly of the loss and recovery of his fortune, his three marriages, Cream’s 1993 induction into the rock’n’roll hall of fame, their subsequent successful reunion in 2005, and his hopes for the future. — From the publisher.

Here’s a link to request the biography:

https://goo.gl/6Dj08H

VI. General References & Artist Specific References:

General References:

The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits by Joel Whitburn (Billboard Books. New York. 2009.)

Sixties Rock: A Listener’s Guide by Robert Santelli (Contemporary Books. Chicago. 1985.)

Recommended Artists Specific References:

The Hollies Evolution AllMusic Review by Lindsay Planer
http://www.allmusic.com/album/evolution-mw0000690238

Have a great day!
Linda, SSCL

Weekly Recommended Listens: May 2017: Week 1: Sixties Rock: The First British Invasion

May 5, 2017May 5, 2017 Linda Reimer

Hi everyone, this week we’re kicking off a month long look, at the first British Invasion, the musical era that ran roughly from February of 1964, with The Beatles first appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show, through the end of May 1967.

The release of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band on June 1, 1967, ushered in the second, late sixties, British Invasion which can be said to have roughly ended when The Beatles disbanded in 1970. We’ll offer listener’s advisory suggestions of the music of the second British Invasion in July. In June, we’ll cover the American music that was influenced by, and came just after, that first British Invasion.

And in an attempt to streamline these weekly music postings, henceforth, the first section will include links to artists/group biographies found on the AllMusic site and not typed up brief bios.

And I love that word, henceforth, what a great word!

But I digress; I’ll get off my love of language soap-box now and back to our music posting of the week!

Now each weekly recommended music posting will feature the following sections:

I. Links to AllMusic Biographies of the Artists/Groups of the Week

II. Freegal Music Recommendations Of The Week (streaming music)

III. CD Recommendations Of The Week

IV. Videos Of The Artists/Groups Of The Week

VI. Wild Card Print Book Recommendation Of The Week

VI. References

And this week we’ll check out the music of three of the first British Invasion groups to hold sway over the American music scene of the early sixties: The Beatles, Gerry and the Pacemakers and The Searchers.

I. Links to AllMusic Biographies of the Artists/Groups of the Week:

The Beatles AllMusic Biography, written by Richie Unterberger:

https://goo.gl/Oaprx2

The Gerry and The Pacemakers AllMusic Biography, also written by Richie Unterberger:

https://goo.gl/W5Oh9e

The Searchers AllMusic Biography, written by Bruce Eder:

https://goo.gl/abBT4o

II. Freegal Music Recommendations Of The Week (streaming music):

The Beatles:

August 65’ Press Conference from the album Rock N’ Roll Of The ’60s:

I suspect I don’t need to say anything more about The Beatles, then that the band consisted of John, Paul, George and Ringo, so that is all I’m going to say!

If you don’t know much about The Beatles and would like to know more – drop by the library — we’ve got books on the band! And as far as their music goes, as The Beatles are one of the most critically acclaimed, most popular and bestselling bands of all time – you really can’t go wrong listening to any of their studio albums.

Unfortunately, the Freegal Music Catalog doesn’t contain any studio albums by The Beatles – so I’ll offer links to request all/any of the Beatles albums in the CD Recommendations Section:

And even though The Freegal Music Catalog doesn’t contain any Beatles studio albums, it does contain several audio interviews with the band. And I selected one of their press conferences from 1965 to recommend as it is easier to hear what the band members are saying in this recording than it is in others that feature the sounds of screaming fans in the background.

One little note, about the album this press conference comes from — it is titled Rock N’ Roll Of The ’60s and I recommend you listen to the fourteen minute Beatles press conference and ignore the rest of the album! Truly, because all the songs featured on the LP are re-recordings by the original artists and, to say the least, those re-recorded tunes cannot hold a candle to the original songs.

Having said that, here’s a link to the August 65′ Beatles press conference:
https://goo.gl/MN8K3k

Gerry & The Pacemakers:

Super Hits Live!

Gerry & The Pacemakers, like The Beatles, hailed from Liverpool, England. The original group featured lead singer-songwriter and guitarist Gerry Marsden, Gerry’s brother, Freddie Marsden on drums, John Chadwick on bass and Leslie Maguire on piano.

The Freegal Music Catalog does not contain any of the original sixties recordings by Gerry & The Pacemakers.

However, the catalog does contain a solidly listenable album by the band titled Super Hits Live! This LP features Gerry Marsden singing and playing with a later group of Pacemakers. The album offers a glimpse into the classic sound of the band. And despite the title, the three big hits it contains: Ferry Cross The Mersey, How Do You Do It? and I’m The One were actually recorded in the studio. The other songs were indeed, recorded live. And these newer recordings all feature a slightly older Marsden singing with a smoother, more mature sounding voice, that rather reminds me of the difference between the two versions of Breaking Up Is Hard To Do that Neil Sedaka recorded — the earlier version has the upbeat energy you’d expect of a young singer new to recording to have, and the second version is a ballad that is sung with a smoother depth, as if the singer has been around the block a few more times before he re-recorded the song.

And as with The Beatles, if you’d like to hear the original recordings of the band I recommend you skip down to the CD Recommendations section and place a request for the CD The Very Best of Gerry & The Pacemakers.

And here’s the link to stream Super Hits Live!:
https://goo.gl/rehlmU

The Searchers:

Needles and Pins:
The Searchers, like The Beatles & Gerry & The Pacemakers were from Liverpool, England and were a part of the Merseybeat scene that evolved there in the early sixties. The band featured John McNally and Mike Pender on guitars and vocals, Chris Curtis on drums and Tony Jackson on bass. The Searchers were another of the first wave of British Invasion groups that became popular in the U. S. in the early sixties and their hits included: Needles and Pins, Don’t Throw Your Love Away, When You Walk In The Room and the smash hit Love Potion No. 9.

This collection features 30 of the songs they recorded for Pye Records between 1963 and 1969 – and contains almost all of their hits, sans their cool version of Sugar And Spice. And the original un-re-recorded version of Sugar And Spice doesn’t appear to be available in the Freegal Music Catalog; however, it is available on the Searchers Greatest Hits album listed in the CD Recommendations section.

Here’s a link to stream the excellent Searchers Needles and Pins collection:

https://goo.gl/STBjja

III. CD Music Recommendations Of The Week

You can request all the Beatles albums through StarCat.

Following is a list of the original British releases.

The Early Albums:

Please Please Me (1963):

https://goo.gl/HH7r1V

With The Beatles (1963):

https://goo.gl/UjTIMW

A Hard Day’s Night (1964):

https://goo.gl/GThs9R

And we also have the movie A Hard Day’s Night on DVD:

https://goo.gl/hm1Q2K

Beatles For Sale (1964):

In doing the research for this posting, I discovered our copy of this album is assumed lost, which means it was checked out more than three months ago and has not been returned, a replacement copy has been ordered and it will appear in the StarCat soon.

The Middle Years Albums:

Help! (1965)

https://goo.gl/oGKg4G

The movie Help! is available too:

https://goo.gl/oGKg4G

Rubber Soul (1965)

https://goo.gl/EffAi1

Revolver (1966)

https://goo.gl/Y6u8VI

The Later Albums:

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)

https://goo.gl/3uCJu0

Magical Mystery Tour (1967)

https://goo.gl/XtPaKc

The Beatles (The White Album) (1968)

https://goo.gl/7EewpV

Yellow Submarine (1969):

https://goo.gl/7KoDmo

Also found in our collection is the movie Yellow Submarine:

https://goo.gl/vKLv1G

Abbey Road (1969):

https://goo.gl/g4P7Fe

Let It Be (1970):

https://goo.gl/gAafg7

And the documentary/movie Let It Be is available too:

https://goo.gl/8jgFrk

Bonus Beatles Songbook Recommendations!

Also of note, the library owns several Beatles song books and I’m listing a few of them them here in case you’d like to play along with the songs on some of their albums!

The Beatles: The First Four Albums: (Please Please Me, With The Beatles, A Hard Day’s Night & Beatles For Sale)

https://goo.gl/kh1Cn9

The Beatles: The Next Three Albums (Help! Rubber Soul & Revolver):

https://goo.gl/5awaoA

Magical Mystery Tour, Abbey Road & Let It Be:

https://goo.gl/vbT9ep

And now, without further ado, back to the suggested CDs of the week!

Gerry & The Pacemakers:

Very Best of Gerry & The Pacemakers:

A CD version of the Very Best of Gerry & The Pacemakers CD is about to be added to our collection!

This CD brings together all the ‘A’ sides from Gerry’s EMI singles from 1963 to 1966plus a selection of other recordings from the mid-Sixties and seven titles that showcase Gerry Marsden’s talents as a songwriter. It’s an infectious, good-humoured sound, a fitting reminder of one of Liverpool’s finest talents and greatest bands. The set includes 27 songs and all of the band’s most popular songs including: Ferry Cross The Mersey, You’ll Never Walk Alone, How Do You Do It? I Like It, Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying and I’m The One. — Description from the record label.

I’ll update this posting to include the request link for the album as soon as it is listed in StarCat.

And in the meantime if you’d like to request the CD, when it becomes available – you can send an email request to me at: reimerl@stls.org

British Invasion: Gerry & The Pacemakers –

It’s Gonna Be All Right, 1963-1965:

With the exception of the Beatles themselves, no other group dominated the early years of the British Invasion like Gerry & The Pacemakers. They were the first artists to have their first three singles top the British charts, and many of their songs are now beloved classics. Gerry & The Pacemakers: It’s Gonna Be All Right 1963-1965 features 17 complete songs filmed between 1963 and 1965 and is the group’s first official DVD release. Included are the classic ‘How Do You Do It’, ‘I Like It’ and ‘I’m The One’, timeless masterpieces ‘Ferry Cross The Mersey’ and ‘Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying’ In between the performances Gerry Marsden talks about the songs and tells the band s history in a new interview filmed at the Cavern Club in Liverpool exclusively for the DVD. Also telling the story is Bill Harry, the founder of the original Mersey Beat newspaper in Liverpool that reported the birth of British rock as it was happening. The DVD bonus section includes a new solo rendition of ‘Ferry Cross The Mersey’ filmed at the Cavern Club as well as a history of Liverpool’s Mersey Beat scene as told by Bill Harry. Description from the publisher.

Here’s a link to request the British Invasion: Gerry & The Pacemakers DVD:
https://goo.gl/eLyzYI

The Searchers:

Greatest Hits:

The Searcher’s Greatest Hits is an older, but excellent, collection put out by the great oldies label Rhino Records. This 18 song set features all the Searchers hits and most of their best songs including: Sweets for My Sweet, Love Potion No. 9, Sugar and Spice, Needles and Pins, Don’t Throw Your Love Away and When You Walk in the Room.

Here’s a link to request Searchers Greatest Hits CD:
https://goo.gl/tlYI07

IV. Videos Of The Artists/Groups Of The Week:

The Beatles:

The Early Years:

I Wanna Hold Your Hand: The Beatles as they appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, February 9, 1964:

Twist & Shout: From their second appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, February 23, 1964:

And one last video from their early years – the opening scene and a bit more from the film A Hard Day’s Night which gives those of us who came of age after the sixties a little taste of what Beatlemania was like:

The Middle Years:

Help! Recorded for British TV in 1965:

Rock N’ Roll Music, Baby’s In Black, I Feel Fine, Yesterday, Nowhere Man and I’m Down recorded before a studio audience in Germany in 1966:

The Later Years:

Revolution

Hey Jude

Get Back from the famous Rooftop Gig the band played in 1969:

Gerry & The Pacemakers:

Ferry Cross The Mersey – from the TV show Top of The Pops:

How Do You Do It?

The Searchers:

Needles & Pins from The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964:

Love Potion No, 9

Bonus First British Invasion Videos:

And by the way, YouTube has hundreds if not thousands of videos by British Invasions artists/groups – you could spend all day watching them!

Here are just a few of the video gems I found while doing research for this posting:

A Summer Song by Chad & Jeremy as introduced by Dick Clark

Just One Look by The Hollies

Bits & Pieces by The Dave Clark Five

Here Comes My Baby by the Tremeloes

V. Wild Card Music Book Recommendation Of The Week

Love in Vain: Robert Johnson 1911-1938, the Graphic Novel by Jim Dickinson:

This is indeed a graphic novel style biography of the legendary Blues guitarist who, the myth says, sold his soul to the devil to be able to play incredible blues. This is a cool read!

From ‘Crossroads Blues’ to ‘Sweet Home Chicago’, ‘Hellhound on My Trail’ to ‘Come On In My Kitchen’, Robert Johnson wrote some of the most enduring and formative songs of the original blues era, songs that would go on to help shape the birth of rock ‘n’ roll in the 1960s. Beloved of Clapton, Dylan and the Stones, Robert Johnson remains one of the most iconic and mythologized figures in popular music (and the first of many to die at the age of 27). Born in the in the South in Mississippi, Johnson made his way to the urban North as a traveling musician, but it was only when he returned to the South that he recorded the twenty-nine songs, in two sessions, which would create his legacy.

Exploring the stories and legends that surround his life and death — his childhood, his womanizing, his pact with the devil at the crossroads — Mezzo and DuPont have produced a fittingly creative and beautiful depiction of this most extraordinary life. — from the publisher

Here’s a link to request the book:

https://goo.gl/Iz0phN

VI. Print References:

The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits by Joel Whitburn (Billboard Books. New York. 2009.)

Sixties Rock: A Listener’s Guide by Robert Santelli (Contemporary Books. Chicago. 1985.)

Online References:

The Beatles (official website)
http://www.thebeatles.com/

The Beatles AllMusic Discography, written by Richie Unterberger
https://goo.gl/0sfb5m

George Harrison, ‘Quiet Beatle’ And Lead Guitarist, Dies at 58, written by Allan Koxinn published in The New York Times December 1, 2001.
https://goo.gl/bsPeLs

Gerry & the Pacemakers AllMusic Discography, written by Richie Unterberger
https://goo.gl/IWGr6P

John Lennon Bio – Rolling Stone
https://goo.gl/5RCp5b

Needles and Pins Album Review & Searchers Biography – iTunes
https://goo.gl/FP9UWd

The Searchers AllMusic Discography, written by Bruce Eder
https://goo.gl/6kn8e2

Have a great day!
Linda, SSCL

Weekly Recommended Listens: April 2017: Week 4: Sixties Rock: Soul Music Concluded

April 29, 2017 Linda Reimer

Hi everyone, this week we’re concluding our cliff notes look at Early Sixties Soul Music.

Just as a reminder, each weekly recommended music posting features the following sections:

I. Very Brief Artist Bios

II. Freegal Music Recommendations (streaming music)

III. CD Music Recommendations Of The Week

IV. Videos Of This Week

V. Wild Card Print Book Recommendation Of The Week

VI. References (for those who’d like to know a bit more about the artists of the week).

This week we’ll we’ll check out the music of Gene Chandler, Major Lance and a selection of some of the great artists that recorded for the legendary label Stax Records during the sixties and seventies. And next week we’ll kick off a month long look at the artists and groups of the first British Invasion – the one that started with The Beatles performances on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, and was succeeded by a second British Invasion of more experimental sixties rock, that roughly began with the release of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club band in June of 1967.

I. Very Brief Artist Bios

Gene Chandler: Gene Chandler was born Eugene Dixon on July 6, 1940 in Chicago, Illinois. Chandler began his singing career in Chicago in the late fifties singing a mixture of traditional rock n’ roll and R&B as a member of the group The Du-Kays, also seen spelled The Dukays.

The Dukays recorded several cool albums which wove sounds of traditional R&B and rock with doo-wop and, you can hear the emerging sound of Soul music in their early sixties hits. The band had two minor charting singles during the early sixties: The Girl is Evil and Owl Night, and actually recorded a version of the soul classic Duke of Earl. Just after the band recorded their version of Duke of Earl, Gene Dixon decided to go solo and he re-recorded Duke of Earl on a new label and with a new stage name – Gene Chandler. And the song went all the way to the top of the pop charts in 1962. Duke of Earl became Chandler’s signature song and he even went on to perform concerts wearing long robes and a crown as if he truly was an earl.

As a solo artist Chandler stepped away from the Doo Wop style and began singing music that combined the musical elements of Soul Music – traditional Rock N’ Roll and R&B. He never again had a huge cross over hit. However, he continued to hit the R&B charts during the sixties era with several other cool songs including: Just Be True, Bless Our Love and Groovy Situation.

And although the sixties were Chandler’s charting heyday, he continued recording through the seventies and had several more hits including Get Down and Does She Have A Friend.

Today, Chandler lives in Chicago and continues to play concerts.

Major Lance: Major Lance was born in Winterville, Mississippi on April 4, 1939 and moved to Chicago as a youth. Lance sang Gospel music as a child and attended Chicago’s Wells High School where he met two other future Soul & R&B greats, Impressions co-founders Curtis Mayfield and Jerry Butler. Early in his career Lance sang with the Five Gospel Harmonaires and with Otis Leavill and his Floats. And it was Lance’s connection with Leavill, who like Mayfield and Butler was a childhood friend, that landed him his first recording contract with Okeh Records in 1962. Lance’s first single, the Mayfield written tune Delilah, was not a hit; however, his second single, The Monkeytime, was a major league smash. The Monekytime brought Lance to the front and center of attention of pop and R&B fans. The song was a huge crossover hit, cracking the top ten on both the R&B and Pop charts and establishing Lance as a solid member of the new Soul Music scene. Lance had a number of other hits in the sixties including: Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, The Matador, Come And See, Hey Little Girl, Think Nothing About It, Rhythm, Ain’t No Soul (In These Rock ‘N’ Roll Shoes) & Too Hold To Hold.

Lance’s musical heyday was in the sixties, and he sporadically recorded in the seventies and eighties and played concerts until his health failed in the nineties.

Major Lance died in 1994 at the young age of 55 leaving behind some great soul music.

Stax Records: Stax Records was founded in Memphis in 1959 as Volt Records by siblings Jim Stewart and Estelle Stewart Axton. Stewart and Axton changed the name of the label in 1961 by combining the first two letters of their last names.

And many, many artists recorded for Stax and, became well known to music fans as a result, including their house band Booker T. & The MG’s, Otis Redding, Sam and Dave, Albert King, Johnnie Taylor, Delaney & Bonnie, Eddie Floyd, Isaac Hayes, Little Milton, Mavis Staples, The Bar-Kays, The Dells, The Mar-Keys, William Bell, The Staple Singers and Rufus and Carla Thomas.

During the sixties and early seventies Stax recording artists had a whopping 410 singles hit the charts!

Stax music, collectively, sits at the crossroads of soul, traditional rhythm and blues and traditional rock music; you can hear the elements of all three styles woven into the music of Stax artists. And even though we’re now decades away from the years that saw those charting singles recorded, somehow they still sound as fresh and vibrant today as if they were recorded yesterday.

II. Freegal Music Recommendations (streaming music):

Gene Chandler:

The Very Best of Gene Chandler:

This album contains a selection of Chandler’s sixties hits including: Duke of Earl, Night Owl, You Threw A Lucky Punch, Just Be True, What Now? and more.

Here’s a link to stream The Very Best of Gene Chandler album:
https://goo.gl/PfTuC1

Gene Chandler’s Greatest:

The music on this album falls outside the genre of sixties soul instead offering the great sounds of seventies soul with elements of funk woven in — but it is a great album so I thought I’d include it!

Songs on this album include: Get Down, Does She Have a Friend (For Me?) and When You’re # 1.

Here’s a link to stream Gene Chandler’s Greatest Hits (of the seventies):
https://goo.gl/wWBAA0

Major Lance:

The Very Best Of Major Lance:

This best of collection features sixteen songs including: The Monekytime, Mama Didn’t Know, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Too Hot To Hold and more – here’s a link to stream the Very Best of Major Lance album:

https://goo.gl/2BD4cT

The Essential Major Lance:

And if you find you love the music of Gene Chandler here ‘s a link to stream a 40 song double album put out by Epic Records simply titled The Essential Major Lance:

https://goo.gl/qEEsxh

Stax Artists/Groups:

Live: 1989 Memphis Music & Heritage Festival by Carla Thomas:

This is short album by Carla Thomas featuring just six songs: Let Me Be Good To You, Stand By Me-Chain Gang Medley, Neither One Of Us, The Birth of the Blues, Little Red Rooster and Gee Whiz. If you haven’t heard Carla Thomas’s music before this is a good introduction that will leave you wanting to hear more!

Here’s a link to stream the album Live: 1989 Memphis Music & Heritage Festival:
https://goo.gl/2sUlF3

The RZA Presents Shaolin Soul Selection: Vol. 1 by Various Artists:

This collection features songs by Stax artists including William Bell, Isaac Hayes, Johnnie Taylor, Booker T. & The MG’s, Little Milton & Albert King as well some other great artists/groups including The Sweet Inspirations with Cissy Houston.

Here’s a link to stream The RZA Presents Shaolin Soul Selection: Vol. 1 album:
https://goo.gl/SzOV0R

Former Stax Artists Collection:

926 East McLemore – A Reunion of Former Stax Artists, Vol. 1

This set features a number of great artists that recorded for Stax including: Rufus Thomas, The Bar-Kays, Ollie Nightingale & The Mad Lads.

Here’s a ink to stream the album:
https://goo.gl/JAKSgh

III. CD Music Recommendations Of The Week

Gene Chandler:

The Girl Don’t Care:
One of Chandler’s best, chock full of midtempo grooves, succulent ballads and jump tunes like “Good Times.” Curtis Mayfield’s “Nothing Can Stop Me” is spiced with punchy horns and choral backing vocals for Gene to play his cool, swaggering tenor against. The pain in his voice is undeniable on “Here Come the Tears,” where he literally cries the agonizing lyrics. He gets philosophical on “The Girl Don’t Care,” an intense ballad that always seems too short. This could almost pass for a greatest-hits LP, since at least six of the selections were released as A-sides. “Fool for You,” as well as the others mentioned above, got their share of plays on soul stations, and all should have been bigger hits. The B-sides occupy most of side two and are just a couple of notches below the plug sides. It’s amazing how overlooked and underappreciated these gems were.

–AllMusic Review by Andrew Hamilton–

Here’s a link to request the CD Girl Don’t Care:

https://goo.gl/XE5sFN

Major Lance:

Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um:
Sales didn’t reflect it, but this is probably Curtis Mayfield’s best production, and Lance’s best album: every track is a winner. “Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um,” “Hey Little Girl,” and “The Monkey Time” were major busters for Major Lance; all had a mock cha-cha beat. And the unheralded tracks are just as good: Lance’s “Gypsy Woman” is as haunting as the Impressions’ original; “Think Nothing About It” is endearing and marvelously simplistic, one of Mayfield’s best compositions (Gene Chandler recorded it later). If Okeh had released “That’s What Mama Say” as a single, it would have done some damage (both the Impressions and Walter Jackson recorded the tender mama-done-told-me song, and although Jackson’s version scored an R&B hit, it lacks the bite of Lance’s version). “You’ll Want Me Back” is serene and beautiful; it was also done by the Impressions, but Lance’s rendition stirs the pot. Lance had a more dynamic voice than Mayfield, his childhood friend — it was heavier and had more teeth than Mayfield’s light tenor — yet Mayfield had more all-around skills and became far more successful. The Impressions sing background on most of the tracks, and you can hear the rainbowing of voices with Lance’s cutting through and dominating like a dictator. Take “Little Young Lover,” a good song by the Impressions, but a candidate for hitsville when Lance does it. He does an excellent job on “It’s All Right,” “I’m the One Who Loves You,” and “Gotta Right to Cry”; the latter sounds like a group recording with Lance leading, and the Impressions — Mayfield (first tenor), Fred Cash (baritone), and Sam Gooden (tenor) — trying to win a harmony contest. One listen to this LP, and you’ll be a Major Lance (and Curtis Mayfield) fan for life.

–AllMusic Review by Andrew Hamilton–

Here’s a link to request the CD Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um:

https://goo.gl/FEJM3n

Stax 50th Anniversary Collection by various artists:

When Concord Music purchased Fantasy Records in 2006, the bulging Stax catalog came along for the ride. Not a bad deal, especially since Stax remains one of the richest and most vital sources of ’60s and ’70s soul, blues, and R&B. The newly reactivated label’s debut release is a lavishly boxed double-disc set of 50 highlights–as opposed to hits–from the Memphis label’s voluminous vaults to celebrate its 50th anniversary. All the usual suspects appear, including Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Isaac Hayes, Johnnie Taylor, Eddie Floyd, Albert King, and the Staple Singers. But the compilers deliver a well-rounded, even eclectic collection by including tracks from such relatively obscure acts as the Astors, Ollie & the Nightingales, the Mad Lads, Linda Lyndell, and Mable John, whose “Your Good Thing (Is About to End)” is one of the great lost soul treasures. Propelled in large part by house band Booker T. & the MGs, the majority of these songs have become integral threads in the fabric of American soul. Even at two and a half hours, there’s not a dull moment here. That is a testament not just to the Stax musicians, but to a label whose artists defined a classic sound that remains as timeless, relevant, influential, and electrifying as when it was recorded.

–Hal Horowitz, Amazon Review–

Here’s a link to request the CD Stax 50th Anniversary Collection:

https://goo.gl/2iWMQk

IV. Videos Of This Weeks’ Artists/Groups

Gene Chandler – Duke of Earl

Gene Chandler – Nothing Can Stop Me

Major Lance – The Monkey Time

Major Lance – Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um

Stax Artists:

Carla Thomas – Gee Whiz

Albert King – Born Under a Bad Sign

Sam & Dave – Hold On I’m Comin’ (Live in 1967)

Eddie Floyd-Knock On Wood

Otis Redding “Try A Little Tenderness” Live 1967

V. Wild Card Print Book Recommendation Of The Week:

Respect Yourself: Stax Records and the Soul Explosion by Robert Gordon

This week I’m going to stay with the monthly musical subject of Sixties Soul and suggest you check out a book and DVD with the same name on that very subject!

The book and DVD are both titled Respect Yourself: Stax Records and the Soul Explosion. The book was written by Robert Gordon and here is the starred review from Publishers Weekly: In the late 1950s, Jim Stewart, and his sister, Estelle Axton, moved their little fledgling recording studio into the defunct Capitol Theater in Memphis, Tenn., opening their doors and establishing the record label that gave birth to gritty, funky soul music. A masterful storyteller, music historian Gordon (It Came from Memphis) artfully chronicles the rise and fall of one of America’s greatest music studios, situating the story of Stax within the cultural history of the 1960s in the South. Stewart, a fiddle player who knew he’d never make it in the music business himself, one day overheard a friend talking about producing music; he soon gave it a try, and eventually he was supervising the acclaimed producer Chips Moman in the studio as well as creating a business plan for the label; Estelle Axton set up a record shop in the lobby of the theater, selling the latest discs but also spinning music just recorded in the studio and gauging its market appeal. Gordon deftly narrates the stories of the many musicians who called Stax home, from Rufus Thomas, Carla Thomas, and Otis Redding to Isaac Hayes, Sam and Dave, and the Staples Singers, as well as the creative marketing and promotional strategies—the Stax-Volt Revue and Wattstax. By the early 1970s, bad business decisions and mangled personal relationships shuttered the doors of Stax. Today, the Stax sound permeates our lives and, in Gordon’s words, became the soundtrack for liberation, the song of triumph, the sound of the path toward freedom.

–Publishers Weekly Review–

The DVD is a documentary based upon Gordon’s book and it can be found in our Non-Fiction DVD Section:

Here’s a link to request the bookRespect Yourself: Stax Records and the Soul Explosion :

https://goo.gl/mWWbQH

And here’s a link to request the documentary DVDRespect Yourself: Stax Records and the Soul Explosion:

https://goo.gl/XXz2C2

VI. General References & Artist Specific References:

General References:
All Music Guide to Soul: The Definitive Guide To R&B And Soul. (Backbeat Books. Fresno. 2003.)

The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits by Joel Whitburn (Billboard Books. New York. 2009.)

Dreams To Remember: Otis Redding, Stax Records And The Transformation of Southern Soul by Mark Ribowsky. Published by Liveright. 2015.

The Dukays Biography by Andrew Hamilton
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-dukays-mn0000785533

Estelle Axton Biography by Jason Ankeny
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/estelle-axton-mn0000805122

Um, um, um, um, um, um AllMusic Review by Andrew Hamilton https://goo.gl/jj8AMw

Girl Don’t Care AllMusic Review by Andrew Hamilton
http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-girl-dont-care-mw0000226045

Otis Leavill Biography by Andrew Hamilton
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/otis-leavill-mn0000894018/biography

Respect Yourself Stax Records and the Soul Explosion by Robert Gordon. Published by Bloomsburg. New York. 2013.

Sixties Rock: A Listener’s Guide by Robert Santelli (Contemporary Books. Chicago. 1985.)

Recommended Artists Specific References:

The Official Gene Chandler Website:
http://www.genechandler.com/index2.html

Gene Chandler “The Duke Of Earl” POSTED 12:38 AM, DECEMBER 10, 2013, Interview BY MICHAEL HEIDEMANN WWGN Radio.
http://wgnradio.com/2013/12/10/gene-chandler-the-duke-of-earl/

Major Lance Bio
http://www.oldies.com/artist-view/Major-Lance.html

Major Lance, 55, Soul Singer in 60’s Published: September 5, 1994. New York Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/05/obituaries/major-lance-55-soul-singer-in-60-s.html

Stax homepage
https://www.staxrecords.com/

Stax History
https://www.staxrecords.com/pages/history

Have a great day!
Linda, SSCL

Newly Added E-Books, Digital Audiobooks & Streaming Videos

April 28, 2017 Linda Reimer

Happy Friday everyone!

Here is a list of the new e-books, digital audiobooks (AKA downloadable audiobooks) and streaming videos just added to the Digital Catalog!

For more information click on the PDF link at the end of the list.

Audiobooks:

Title

Before I Fall

House of Shattered Wings: Dominion of the Fallen Series, Book 1

In Bed with a Highlander: Highlander Series, Book 1

Luna: New Moon: Luna Series, Book 1

Royally Screwed: Royals Trilogy, Book 1

The American Spirit

The Hope Chest

E-Books:

Accidentally on Purpose: A Heartbreaker Bay Novel

Against the Tide of Years: Emberverse: Island in the Sea of Time Series, Book 2

Bella Poldark: Poldark Series, Book 12

Carniepunk: Parlor Tricks

Dereliction of Duty: Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Lies that Led to Vietnam

Disobedience: A Novel

First Rider’s Call: Green Rider Series, Book 2

Food Freedom Forever: Letting Go of Bad Habits, Guilt, and Anxiety Around Food by the Co-Creator of the Whole30

Glow of Death: Josie Prescott Antiques Mystery Series, Book 11

Midnight Taxi Tango–A Bone Street Rumba Novel: Bone Street Rumba Series, Book 2

Off Rock

On the Oceans of Eternity: Emberverse: Island in the Sea of Time Series, Book 3

One Christmas Wish: Heart of the Rockies Series, Book 3

Parable of the Sower: Parable Series, Book 1

Prince Charles: The Passions and Paradoxes of an Improbable Life

Redefining Black Power: Reflections on the State of Black America

Rocky Mountain Wedding: Heart of the Rockies Series, Book 5

Seduced

Six Impossible Things

Sleeping Giant: How the New Working Class Will Transform America

Snared

Song of the Lion: Leaphorn, Chee and Manuelito Series, Book 3

Spider’s Bite: Elemental Assassin Series, Book 1

Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right

The Amazing Power of Deliberate Intent

The American Spirit: Who We Are and What We Stand For

The Angry Tide: Poldark Series, Book 7

The Birthday of the World and Other Stories

The Bones of Paradise: A Novel

The Book of Harlan

The Burial Hour: Lincoln Rhyme Series, Book 13

The Calling

The Chemist

The Choosing: Seer Series, Book 1

The Chosen: Black Dagger Brotherhood Series, Book 15

The Law of Attraction

The Loving Cup: Poldark Series, Book 10

The Miller’s Dance: Poldark Series, Book 9

The Motivation Breakthrough: 6 Secrets to Turning On the Tuned-Out Child

The Progeny: A Novel

The Psychology of Democracy

The Psychology of Dictatorship

The Relic Master: A Novel

The Return: Fathers, Sons and the Land in Between

The Returning: Seer Series, Book 3

The Seven Realms: The Complete Series: The Demon King; The Exiled Queen…

The Stranger from the Sea: Poldark Series, Book 8

The Twisted Sword: Poldark Series, Book 11

Web of Lies: Elemental Assassin Series, Book 2

What Angels Fear: Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery Series, Book 1

When Gods Die: Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery Series, Book 2

Where Serpents Sleep: Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery Series, Book 4

Where Shadows Dance: Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery Series, Book 6

Why Mermaids Sing: Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery Series, Book 3

Streaming Videos:

Friends: Presented in American Sign Language

Mystery Science Theater 3000: Invasion, U.S.A.

New OverDrive Titles April 28, 2017

Weekly Recommended Listens: April 2017: Week 3: Sixties Rock: Soul Music Continued

April 21, 2017April 21, 2017 Linda Reimer

Hi everyone, this week we’re continuing our month-long look at Early Sixties Soul music this week focusing on the music of Gary U. S. Bonds, The Impressions & Jerry Butler.

Just as a reminder, each weekly recommended music posting features the following sections:

I. Brief Artist Bios

II. Freegal Music Recommendations

III. CD Music Recommendations Of The Week

IV. Videos Of This Weeks’ Artists/Groups

V. Wild Recommendations of the Week

VI. References

And on to our Soul artists of the week!

I. Brief Artist Bios:

Gary U.S. Bonds: Gary U.S. Bonds was born Gary Anderson in Jacksonville, Florida in 1939 and grew up in Norfolk, Virginia. Gary sang Gospel as a child, started singing professionally in his teens and was signed to Legrand Records by Producer Frank Guida when he was only nineteen. And Guida is the one who suggested to the young Gary Anderson that he use the professional name Gary U. S. Bonds, figuring that radio DJs would mistake Bond’s music for public service announcements and play more of his songs on the radio. The strategy worked and Bond’s career caught fire! His first hit was the classic song New Orleans. Bond’s music has that upbeat youthful vibe to it which reminds you of fun summer vacations during high school – no matter what year you graduated! And his music, which features the early classic rock instruments of guitar, bass, drums and horns, can be thought of as both early Classic Rock and Soul and is perfect for parties – especially in the summer when you can get out on the patio, with your Bluetooth speaker, and dance! Bond hits include the previously mentioned New Orleans, Quarter To Three, School Is Out, Dear Lady Twist and Twist, Twist Senior.

Today Gary U.S. Bonds lives on Long Island continue to perform and record.

The Impressions: The Impressions were the premier soul group of the early sixties. The band launched the career of three great soul artists who all became even better known in the seventies as solo artists: singer-songwriter Jerry Butler, singer-songwriter/guitarist Curtis Mayfield and singer, multi-instrumentalist and producer Leroy Hutson. The Impressions formed in 1958, had the peak of their success in the late fifties and early sixties and disbanded in 1975. The group had seventeen singles hit the top ten on the R&B charts during their career. And their sound really epitomizes the sound of Soul Music as it was forming and evolving – the sound of their singing was light and airy and featured something that was unusual in popular music at that time – three singers trading lead vocals within the same song. The band was also known as being very socially conscious – something that Curtis Mayfield became even better known for in the nineteen seventies.

The Impressions hits include: It’s All Right, Amen, Keep On Pushing, Talking About My Baby, We’re A Winner, People Get Ready, I’m So Proud, Gypsy Woman, Fool For You, and Woman’s Got Soul.

The Impressions After The Impressions:

Curtis Mayfield left The Impressions in 1970. And in his post-Impressions career Mayfield music was a bit rougher and veneered off onto the path of seventies Funk Music. His solo hits of the period include: the classic Superfly, (Don’t Worry) If There’s A Hell Bellow We’re All Gonna Go, Billy Jack and Freddie’s Dead.

Mayfield continued to perform and record until 1990 when he was injured in a freak accident which ended his career, when a lighting rig fell on him at a concert in Brooklyn, New York. The accident left Mayfield paralyzed from the neck down and he never recovered from his paralysis. Mayfield died in 1999.

Leroy Hutson took over singing the main lead vocals for The Impressions when Mayfield left the group in 1970 and continued to do so until he left the band himself in 1973. During the seventies Hutson released a number of popular solo albums and worked behind the scene at Curtom Records writings songs and producing albums for other artists. His seventies solo albums include: Love Oh, Love, The Man!, Hutson, Feel The Spirit and Hutson II.

Although Hutson no longer records, he continues to perform and is scheduled to appear at the annual Blackpool Soul Festival, being held in Blackpool, England, U.K. June 16-18, 2017.

And as Jerry Butler was both a member of The Impressions, and is featured as our third Soul artist/group for this week, here’s a single posting on the great artist Jerry Butler.

Jerry Butler first met Curtis Mayfield when both youths were singing in the same church choir. Butler was an original member of The Impressions and wrote their first hit Your Precious Love; Butler was also the first member of the group to leave and launch a solo career which he did in 1958. Butler recorded numerous hit singles in the sixties and seventies including: Lost, He Will Break Your Heart, Find Another Girl, I’m a Telling You, Never Give You Up, and Hey, Western Union Man.

In the nineties, Butler launched a new career when he ran for and won a seat on the Chicago City Council – a position he still holds today.

II. Freegal Music Recommendations:

Gary U.S. Bonds:

Dance ‘Til Quarter to Three + Twist up Calypso:

This collection features Bond’s two sixties albums and offers a great collection of early sixties rocking soul songs! Songs in the collection include: Quarter To Three, A Trip To The Moon, That’s All Right, New Orleans and School Is Out.

Here’s a link to stream the Dance ‘Til Quarter to Three album:
https://goo.gl/XmXRiA

The Impressions:

The Impressions Debut Album (feat. Curtis Mayfield):

This album, from 1963, features six of their highest charting hits: It’s All Right, Gypsy Woman, Little Young Lover, Minstrel And Queen, Grow Closer Together and I’m The One Who Loves You and other great, fun songs including the Doo-Wop-centric Never Let Me Go and the swinging Twist & Limbo. This album is a sixties soul classic!

Here’s a link to stream The Impressions Debut Album:
https://goo.gl/fK2xdG

Jerry Butler:

He Will Break Your Heart + Jerry Butler, Esq.: This classic collection contains Butler’s first two albums: Jerry Butler, Esq. and He Will Break Your Heart. The two album set contains more than 25 songs including: The Gift of Love, Sweet Was The Wine, Have A Good Time and Come Back My Love.

Here is a link to stream the Butler double album:
https://goo.gl/f3aX5z

III. CD Music Recommendations Of The Week

The Impressions:

The Impressions Debut Album:
This is the exact same classic sixties soul album I recommended you stream through The Freegal Music catalog – this time in CD format!

Here’s a link to request the The Impressions Debut Album on CD:
https://goo.gl/G9WHnt

Gary U. S. Bonds:

The Very Best Of Gary U.S. Bonds by Gary U. S. Bonds:
This album features Bond’s best songs, recorded between 1960 – 1966. The Songs include: New Orleans, School is Out, Quarter To Three, Dear Lady Twist, Seven Day Weekend and more.

Here’s a link to request the Bond’s album on CD:
https://goo.gl/tgQw4w

Jerry Butler:

He Will Break Your Heart:

This album is actually a greatest hits collection and not the second album released by Butler in 1960. The album features his greatest songs including: Aware of Love, Find Another Girl, He Will Break Your Heart, For Your Precious Love, Where Do I Turn, Let It Be Me and A Lonely Soldier.

Here’s a link to request the Butler CD through StarCat:
https://goo.gl/R0xPQL

IV. Videos Of This Weeks’ Artists/Groups:

Gary U. S. Bonds:

Quarter to Three

https://goo.gl/iYn0LN

This Little Girl
And here is a second Gary U. S. Bonds video I couldn’t resist sharing, even though it falls outside our sixties time-frame. It features Bond and Bruce Springing singing, This Little Girl, a song Springsteen wrote for Bond’s 1981 album Dedication. The video recorded at the MetLife Stadium in 2012.

Here’s the link to the video This Little Girl:

https://goo.gl/PrqT3j

The Impressions:

It’s All Right recorded from a 1965 television broadcast

of Hollywood A Go-Go:

https://goo.gl/EzUi22

Curtis Mayfield:

Superfly

https://goo.gl/pVs5ea

Jerry Butler:

Hey, Western Union Man

https://goo.gl/hKxV3T

V. Wild Card Recommendations of the Week:

This section includes three suggestions of music items found in the library’s collection that you might enjoy – that fall outside our monthly musical category.

Freegal Streaming Recommendation:

Joshua Bell – The Best of Joshua Bell:

Violinist Joshua Bell is from Bloomington, Indiana and plays classical and easy listening music.

Here’s a link to stream Bell’s Best of album via Freegal:
https://goo.gl/wdDGE7

DVD Recommendation:

Pete Seeger: The Power Of Song:

This documentary was released in 2007 and chronicles the life and music of the great American folk singer/songwriter and human rights activist Pete Seeger (1919-2014). Some of Seeger’s best known songs include: If I Had A Hammer, Where Have All The Flowers Gone and Turn, Turn, Turn. Guest musicians who discuss Seeger’s impact on their music include: Bob Dylan, Brice Springsteen, Bonnie Raitt, Joan Baez, Arlo Guthrie and Peter, Paul & Mary.

Here’s a link to request The Power of Song DVD:
https://goo.gl/XnBvrE

And speaking of music and concert DVDs – did you know…

The library has a whole bunch of music DVDs?

Including concerts, documentaries and instructional videos for those wanting to learn how to play an instrument?

We do!

The music DVDs are actually shelved by that sneaky culprit of confusion, The Dewey Decimal System!

Most books that focus on music are found in the library under Dewey numbers in the 780s. And so are most of the library’s music DVDs…

In other words, if you’re just browsing through the library’s collection of movies and TV shows, which are arraigned alphabetically by title, you’re missing seeing our non-fiction DVDs including all our cool music related DVDs!

So the next time you’re in the library looking for DVDs – ask the staff to show you where the music DVDs are!

Print Book Recommendation:

Change of Seasons: A Memoir by John Oates:

This is indeed the John Oates of the popular seventies and eights duo Hall and Oates. Change of Seasons is his brand new memoir!

You can request Change of Seasons click on the following link:
https://goo.gl/mtkuLo

VI. General References & Artist Specific References:

General References:

All Music Guide to Soul: The Definitive Guide To R&B And Soul. (Backbeat Books. Fresno. 2003.)

12 Best Springsteen Albums (Not Made by Bruce)
https://goo.gl/S7DZzc

The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits by Joel Whitburn (Billboard Books. New York. 2009.)

The Blackpool Soul Festival
http://www.blackpoolsoulfestival.co.uk/

Sixties Rock: A Listener’s Guide by Robert Santelli (Contemporary Books. Chicago. 1985.)

Recommended Artists Specific References:

Curtis Mayfield Biography by Richie Unterberger
https://goo.gl/po8EtR

Curtis Mayfield, Conscience-Driven Soul Singer, Dies at 57 By NEIL STRAUSS. DEC. 27, 1999. Accessed April 15, 2017.
https://goo.gl/4li5BX

DANCING ALL OVER THE ROOM: GARY U.S. BONDS AT SEVENTY-FIVE By Sarah Larson. June 11, 2014. Accessed April 17, 2017.
https://goo.gl/M0NRGc

Gary US Bonds (Official Website)
http://www.garyusbonds.com/

Gary “U.S.” Bonds Biography by Cub Koda
https://goo.gl/E59wa3

The Impressions Biography by Steve Huey
https://goo.gl/MeOMbQ

The Impressions – Chart History
https://goo.gl/SXwo3Y

Jerry Butler Biography by Craig Lytle
https://goo.gl/D2ApUz
Jerry Butler
County Board Commissioner, 3rd District
https://www.cookcountyil.gov/person/jerry-butler

Leroy Hutson Biography by Rob Theakston
https://goo.gl/rzb3DG

Have a great day!
Linda, SSCL

Weekly Recommended Listens: April 2017: Week 2: Sixties Rock: Early Sixties Soul Music Continued

April 13, 2017 Linda Reimer

Hi everyone, this week we’re continuing our month-long look at Early Sixties Soul music.

Our artists for this week are Jackie Wilson, Solomon Burke & Little Willie John.

And our weekly recommended music posting features the following sections:

I. Brief Artist Bios

II. Freegal Music Recommendations Of The Week (streaming music*)

III. CD Music Recommendations Of The Week

IV. Videos Of This Weeks’ Artists/Groups

V. Wild Card Print Book Recommendation Of The Week

VI. References (for those who’d like to know a bit more about the artists of the week).

I. Brief Artist Bios:

Jackie Wilson: Wilson was born in Detroit in 1934. And like all the other musicians who helped create the new musical genre of Soul, he started out singing Gospel, then incorporated traditional Rhythm & Blues and Pop influences into his music to produce a classic early sixties Soul sound.

Wilson initially sang as a solo artist before joining Billy Ward’s band, the Dominos in 1953. He took over the singing duties from the great Clyde McPatter who left Ward’s band to form The Drifters. During Wilson’s tenure with The Dominos they had one hit Reet Petite (The Finest Girl You Ever Want To Meet) in which you can clearly hear the styles of Rhythm and Blues, Pop and Swing being woven together.

In 1957, Wilson left Ward’s band and launched his second solo career. He scored numerous hits in the next ten years starting with 1958’s To Be Loved. Other Wilson hits of the era include: Lonely Teardrops, I’ll Be Satisfied, Doggin’ Around, A Woman, A Lover, A Friend, Alone At Last, My Empty Arms, Baby Workout, (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher And Higher, and I Get The Sweetest Feeling. Wilson’s was a very energetic singer and a great performer. He was also a consistent hitmaker during the 1960s. However, it is notable that when Wilson recorded albums he focused on creating hits and so sometimes the depth and energy of his singing wasn’t captured in his studio recordings.

All in all though, Wilson richly deserves his place in music history as one of the founder of Soul Music – few singers of the era sang more energetically, and his rich tones when complimented by the right songs/song arraignments are wonderful to hear.

Wilson continued to perform into the nineteen seventies but, unfortunately, suffered a stroke while performing in Cherry Hill, New Jersey in 1975, at the very young age of 41, and was never able to perform again. Wilson died in 1984.

Solomon Burke: Burke was born on March 21, 1940 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Both his mother and his grandmother were preachers so he grew up with the sounds of Gospel woven into his life. And as a young man, Burke worked as a preacher and mortician before turning his launching a singing career.

Burke never had a pop hit, although he had many R&B hits, but he had a huge impact on the genres of Pop and Rock Music and was another founding pillar of the genre of Soul Music. Burke started out singing Gospel in his family’s church and went on to sing music that mixed Rhythm and Blues and Country Music with Pop overtones, polishing and transitioning that music into Soul Music as he went.

In the mid-sixties a radio show host referred to Burke as “The King Of Rock and Soul” and Burke loved the description and went with it, creating a stage persona that showed him larger than life, decked out like a king and sitting on a throne while he sang.

Burke recorded for Atlantic Records during its sixties heyday. And with his smooth vocals, flamboyant style and knack for storytelling, influenced a whole host of subsequent artists and groups including the Rolling Stones who covered two of his songs in their early years– Everybody Needs Somebody To Love (Rolling Stones No. 2), and Cry To Me (Out Of Our Heads). Burke’s R&B hits of the sixties included: Cry To Me, Just Out of Reach, Tonight’s The Night, Got To Get You Off My Mind, If You Need Me and Goodbye Baby (Baby Goodbye).

Post sixties, Burke continued to record and perform and actually died in an airport in Amsterdam while on tour in 2010. He was seventy years old, and according to his New York Times obituary, he was survived by 21 children, 90 grandchildren and 19 great grandchildren.

Little Willie John: John was born in Cullendale, Arkansas on November 15, 1937. He grew up in Detroit and his first hit was 1955’s All Around the World.

John’s vocals had great emotional depth and his voice was youthful in tone giving his music a very vibrant feeling.

John recorded for King Records, a lesser known label that the great sixties R&B/Soul labels Atlantic and Stax, and, was cited as a musical inspiration by many other performers including B.B. King, Al Green, Clyde McPhatter, James Brown, Jackie Wilson and Sam Cooke.

John was a passionate individual and hot tempered when it came to slights – particularly those based on his lack of height – he was five feet, four inches tall. And in 1964 he stabbed a man and as a result, was sent to The Washington State Penitentiary. He died there under suspicious circumstances in 1968. Some sources say John died of a heart attack, others that he died of pneumonia and several contemporaries interviewed for his 2011 biography, Fever: Little Willie John A Fast Life, Mysterious Death and The Birth of Soul by Susan Whitall, claim that he was murdered. Whatever the cause of his John’s death, he died at the very young age of 30 leaving behind some great music. His hits include: Are You Ever Coming Back, Fever, Heartbreak, Home At Last, I Need Your Love So Bad, I’m Shakin’ and Let’s Rock While The Rockin’s Good.

Freegal Notes:

To access Freegal Music from a desktop or laptop simply click on the following link:

http://stlsny.freegalmusic.com/

The Freegal Music Catalog homepage will display — it looks like this:

The Freegal Music app can be found in your app store and it looks like this:

II. Freegal Music Recommendations Of The Week:

Jackie Wilson:Archive ’57-’61:

This album contains a number of Wilson’s best songs including: Reet Petite, To Be Loved, Lonely Teardrops, I’ll Be Satisfied, Doggin’ Around, Night and more!

Here’s a link to stream the album Archive ’57 – ’61:
https://goo.gl/nTDFPN

Solomon Burke: Proud Mary with Bonus Tracks

The songs on this collection include: These Arms Of Mine, I’ll Be Doggone, Please Send Me Someone To Love, The Generation Of Revelations, In The Ghetto and more.

Here’s link to stream the Proud Mary album:
https://goo.gl/YHQPkO

Little Willie John:

All Around The World by Little Willie John from the Various Artists collection All Star Rock & Roll Revue:

In addition to Little Willie John, this album features a swinging version of Oh Babe by Lucky Millinder, a bouncy Voo-Vee-Ah-Bee by The Platters and Sixty Minute Man by Billy Ward & His Dominoes featuring Clyde McPhatter on vocals.

Here’s a link to stream the All Star Rock & Roll Revue album:
https://goo.gl/iqT7rV

Fever by Little Willie John from the Various Artists collection 20 Soul Rarities:

Other musicians features on the album include: Big Joe Turner, Dinah Washington, Ruth Brown, Eugene Church and more.

Here’s a link to stream the album 20 Soul Rarities:
https://goo.gl/Hw3rII

Freegal Wild Card Streaming Pick Of The Week:

The Complete Sessions with Bobby Hackett by Jackie Gleason:

If you’re only familiar with Jackie Gleason as portraying the everyday common man Ralph Kramden on the classic TV show the Honeymooners, than you are in for a treat! Jackie Gleason also had a musical career! In the fifties, he said that he thought there was a need to create smooth, romantic, easy listening instrumental music like the kind he saw, during romantic scenes in the movies, while he was growing up – and boy did he! Jackie Gleason’s albums feature rich, horn based instrumentals that are perfect to play as back ground music while reading, relaxing, unwinding while working out or even just de-stressing, wine glass in hand, after a hectic day.

If you go to the Freegal checkout page to stream the set you’ll notice Freegal has the musical category listed as Jazz. However, Jackie Gleason’s music really isn’t Jazz – it is the soft background music that later became known as lounge music and it is perfect music to play when you just want to shut your eyes and relax!

Freegal has several different Jackie Gleason albums in its catalog, including this set of Gleason’s featuring albums released between 1953 and 1960 which feature trumpeter Bobby Hackett. This collection features more than 100 songs – so stream away!

Here’s a link to stream the Jackie Gleason Sessions:
https://goo.gl/7JYQ19

III. Compact Discs Recommendations:

Jackie Wilson:

Jackie Wilson 7 Classic Albums Plus Bonus Singles And Live Tracks:

This multi disc collection includes seven albums originally released between 1958 and 1961 including his first three albums: He’s So Fine, So Much & Lonely Teardrops. Also included are the albums Jackie Sings the Blues and A Woman, A Lover, A Friend both released in 1960 and 1961’s You Ain’t Heard Nothin Yet and By Special Request. Since that is seven albums worth of material to listen to and not everyone has that much free time, I’ll note that the AllMusic site gives the highest ratings to the albums Lonely Teardrops and Jackie Sings The Blues.

Here’s a link to request the Jackie Wilson 7 Classic Albums set via StarCat: https://goo.gl/kQwm8r

Solomon Burke

The Very Best of Solomon Burke:

This album, unlike the mega Jackie Wilson set, features one single-album of music; sixteen of Solomon’s best songs including: Just Out Of My Reach, Cry To Me, Everybody Needs Somebody To Love and Tonight’s The Night.

Here’s a link to request the Very Best of Solomon Burke CD via StarCat: https://goo.gl/X0MA3U

Little Willie John:

Little Willie John: All 15 Of His chart Hits From 1953 To 1962:

This album is a solid greatest hits collection featuring, as the title says, all of Little Willie John’s hits from the fifties and early sixties. The album includes the songs: All Around The World, Need your Love So Bad, Cottage For Sale, Fever and more.

Here’s a link to request the Little Willie John CD via StarCat: https://goo.gl/pCKUk9

Wild Card CD & DVD Picks Of The Week:

Lost and Found: American Treasures from the New Zealand Film Archive (Silent):

This collection of silent American films is a great find! The set includes early movies, previously unavailable on video, by John Ford, Alfred Hitchcock and other early American cinematic favorites. The films and were found in a New Zealand archive where they had been carefully stored for over a century – and they are a great find because they are the only known versions of these videos.

The 3-1/4 hour DVD set contains the following short films and film shorts:

John Ford’s Upstream (1927) and a preview for his lost feature Strong Boy (1929)

The White Shadow (1924), 3 reels from the first surviving feature credited to Alfred Hitchcock, the assistant director, art director, writer, and editor

Won in a Cupboard (1914), the first surviving film directed by and starring Mabel Normand

Lyman H. Howe’s Famous Ride on a Runaway Train (1921), reunited with its sound-effects disc for the first time in decades

Stetson’s Birth of a Hat (ca. 1920)

The Love Charm (1928), a South Seas romance filmed in two-color Technicolor by Ray Rennahan and written by Duncan Renaldo (the “Cisco Kid”)

Andy’s Stump Speech (1924), directed by Norman Taurog, following funny-paper favorite Andy Gump (played by Joe Murphy) on the campaign trail

The cartoon Happy-Go-Luckies (1923), 5 newsreel stories, and an episode from Dolly of the Dailies (1914) in which the unstoppable newspaperwoman saves the day and gets the scoop.

Here’s a link to request the Lost and Found DVD set via StarCat:
https://goo.gl/wD2iFZ

IV: Videos Of This Weeks’ Artists/Groups:

Jackie Wilson:

That’s Why (I Love You So) – from The Ed Sullivan Show

https://goo.gl/B3RGNR

Lonely Teardrops – from an unnamed TV show:

https://goo.gl/8oIcfc

Solomon Burke:

Cry To Me – studio recording with a montage of photos of Burke from the era and, at the end of the clip, much later in his career

https://goo.gl/T2XM9v

A Picture of You – another studio recording with featuring only a single, vintage, lonely photo of Solomon Burke – but it is great song!

https://goo.gl/fpmjRz

Little Willie John:
Two studio recordings featuring vintage photos of John:

Need Your Love So Bad

https://goo.gl/tfqsKx

I’m Shakin’

https://goo.gl/aGg5cS

V. Wild Card Print Book Recommendation Of The Week:

Fever: Little Willie John, A Fast Life, Mysterious Death and the Birth of Soul by Susan Whitall with a forward by Stevie Wonder

This week I’m not going to divert from the Soul Music category and go off on a different music path, instead, I’m going to recommend Little Willie John’s biography titled:

Here’s a solid description of the book provided by the Publisher – Titan Books:

Little Willie John lived for a fleeting 30 years, but his dynamic and daring sound left an indelible mark on the history of music. His deep blues, rollicking rock ‘n’ roll and swinging ballads inspired a generation of musicians, forming the basis for what we now know as soul music.

Born in Arkansas in 1937, William Edward John found his voice in the church halls, rec centers and nightclubs of Detroit, a fertile proving ground that produced the likes of Levi Stubbs and the Four Tops, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross and the Supremes, Smokey Robinson and Hank Ballard and the Midnighters. One voice rose above the rest in those formative years of the 1950s, and Little Willie John went on to have 15 hit singles in the American rhythm & blues chart, with considerable cross-over success in pop. Some of his songs might be best known by their cover versions (“Fever” by Peggy Lee, “Need Your Love So Bad” by Fleetwood Mac and “Leave My Kitten Alone” by The Beatles) but Little Willie John’s original recording of these and other songs are widely considered to be definitive, and it is this sound that is credited with ushering in a new age in American music as the 1950s turned into the 60s and rock ‘n’ roll took its place in popular culture.

The soaring heights of Little Willie John’s career are matched only by the tragic events of his death, cutting short a life so full of promise. Charged with a violent crime in the late 1960s, an abbreviated trial saw Willie convicted and incarcerated in Walla Walla Washington, where he died under mysterious circumstances in 1968.

In this, the first official biography of one of the most important figures in rhythm & blues history, author Susan Whitall, with the help of Little Willie John’s eldest son Kevin John, has interviewed some of the biggest names in the music industry and delved into the personal archive of the John family to produce an unprecedented account of the man who invented soul music.

And here’s a link to request Little Willie John bio via StarCat:

https://goo.gl/5uX2JY

VI. General References & Artist Specific References:

General References:
All Music Guide to Soul: The Definitive Guide To R&B And Soul. (Backbeat Books. Fresno. 2003.)

The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits by Joel Whitburn (Billboard Books. New York. 2009.)
Clyde McPhatter Biography by Bruce Eder
https://goo.gl/B3Cm7A

Sixties Rock: A Listener’s Guide by Robert Santelli (Contemporary Books. Chicago. 1985.)

Recommended Artists Specific References:

Jackie Wilson Biography by Richie Unterberger
https://goo.gl/XjFlFS

JACKIE WILSON, ROCK SINGER; RECORDS INCLUDED ‘TEARDROPS’ Published: January 23, 1984. New York Times.
https://goo.gl/G6ZR6t

Little Willie John Biography by John Floyd
https://goo.gl/3jkj8Z

Solomon Burke Biography by Richie Unterberger
https://goo.gl/6hZyRX

Solomon Burke, Influential Soul Singer, Dies at 70 By BEN SISARIO. OCT. 11, 2010. New York Times.
https://goo.gl/MMf1Rr

Have a great day!
Linda, SSCL

Weekly Recommended Listens: April 2017: Week 1: Sixties Rock: Soul Music

April 7, 2017 Linda Reimer

Hi everyone, this week we’re kicking off a month long look at sixties Soul Music.

And just to refresh our memories, each weekly recommended music posting features the following sections:

I. Brief Artist Bios
II. Freegal Music Recommendations Of The Week (streaming music)
III. CD Music Recommendations Of The Week
IV. Videos Of This Weeks’ Artists/Groups
V. Wild Card Print Book Recommendation Of The Week
VI. References (for those who’d like to know a bit more about the artists of the week).

Our spotlighted artists for this week are Sam Cooke, Ray Charles & James Brown.

I. Brief Artist Bios:

Sam Cooke: Cooke was born in Clarksdale, Mississippi on January 22, 1931. He was one of eight children born to a Baptist minister and his wife and grew up in Chicago. Cooke showed exceptional singing talent as a boy and began his singing career by singing in the choir at his father’s church. As a youth Cooke sang with the Gospel group The Soul Stirrers before kicking off a solo career in the late nineteen fifties.

Cooke had a very smooth voice, a smart pop songwriting style and blended traditional Rhythm and Blues and the power of Gospel with Pop Music to help create a new sound, which has since become known as “Soul Music.” Those us of who came of age after the nineteen sixties don’t remember an era without Soul Music. However, in the early sixties this was a new style of music lighter than traditional Rhythm & Blues and yet, a bit heavier and more substantial than most of the pop music of the day.

Cooke’s first solo hit was You Send Me released in 1957. The record sold more than two million copies which was a huge number for the time. By the dawn of the sixties, Cooke was just hitting his musical stride! He released a number of great soul songs in the early sixties including: Everybody Likes To Cha Cha Cha, Only Sixteen, Chain Gang, Twistin’ the Night Away, Having A Party, Another Saturday Night and the posthumously released A Change Is Gonna Come.

And no doubt, Cooke would have become an even more prominent figure of sixties Soul Music if not for his untimely death. Cooke was shot to death in a suspicious incident at the Hacienda Motel in Los Angeles in 1964. He was only 33 years old.

Ray Charles: Charles was born in Georgia in 1930 and grew up in Florida. He was born with sight but lost his sight as a child. Charles was musical from an early age. He studied piano at The St. Augustine School for the Deaf and the Blind, moved to Seattle in 1948 and formed his first band in 1954. Like Cook, Charles blended traditional Rhythm & Blues, mixing it with Gospel and Pop to become another founder of the new music genre – Soul.

Charles started his recording career in the nineteen fifties and began to cement his role as a founding pillar of soul when his 1959 hit What I’d Say broke through to the mainstream American audience hitting number 1 on the R&B Chart. Charles’s sixties hits include: Georgia On My Mind, One Mint Julep, Hit The Road Jack, Unchain My Heart, I Can’t Stop Loving You, You Don’t Know Me, Busted, Crying Time and In The Heat of the Night.

By the end of the sixties this new genre of music – Soul – was a bona fide genre in its own right, thanks in no small part to Ray Charles. Charles continued to record and perform until his death in 2004 and was the subject of a biographic movie released that same year and simply titled Ray.

James Brown: Brown was born in South Carolina in 1933. Brown, like Sam Cooke and Ray Charles, started out singing Gospel music. And Brown, again, like Cooke and Charles, became a founding pillar of the new musical genre of Soul Music by blending traditional Rhythm and Blues music with Pop and Gospel. However, Brown, with his flamboyant style and passionate singing, took it a step further and also set down a couple of foundation stones for a musical genre that came of age in the nineteen seventies – Funk. And as the musical style of Funk falls outside our discussion of sixties Soul Music I’ll just provide a link to an AllMusic overview of Funk music – you can access the overview by clicking on the following link: https://goo.gl/mwEJaF

Getting back to James Brown, his sixties hits include: Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag (Part 1), I Got You (I Feel Good), Cold Sweat, I Got The Feeling and Say It Loud – I’m Black And I’m Proud (Part 1).

The sixties were Brown’s most prolific era as far as mainstream popularity goes. Brown continued to tour and record during the seventies and eighties, during which time he had a series of minor hits and one last big hit, the top ten hit Living In America, which was released in 1986. He died in 2004

Freegal Notes:

To access Freegal Music from a desktop or laptop simply click on the following link: http://stlsny.freegalmusic.com/

The Freegal Music Catalog homepage will display — it looks like this:

The Freegal Music app can be found in your app store and it looks like this:

II. Freegal Music Recommendations Of The Week:

1. Sam Cooke The Best of Sam Cooke:

This greatest hits collection contains Cooke’s best known songs including: You Send Me, Only Sixteen, (What A) Wonderful World, Chain Gang, Twistin’ The Night Away, Having A Party and Everybody Loves to Cha Cha Cha.

Here’s a link to stream The Best Of Sam Cooke album:
https://goo.gl/E6KtWr

Also by Sam Cooke – Night Beat:

For those who want to dig a bit deeper into the music of Sam Cooke, whose music is, unfortunately, less well known to those of us who came of age after the sixties than the music of Ray Charles and James Brown, this is a great album to check out! Night Beat was released in 1963 and has Cooke being backed by a small band that sets down a great foundation to show off his stunning vocals. The album includes the songs: Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen, Mean Old World, Please Don’t Drive Me Away, Get Yourself Another Fool, You Gotta Move and a super cool version of the classic blues song Little Red Rooster which features a neat organ compliment to Cooke’s vocals.

Here’s a link to stream the Night Beat album: https://goo.gl/zTA6MA

Ray Charles, Jazz Masters Deluxe Collection:

None of Ray Charles’s sixties studio albums are available in the Freegal Music Catalog. However, there are several greatest hits/best of collections that give you a good idea of what Charles’s music sounds like.

And despite the fact that we’re talking about Soul Music in this posting, and that the title of the album I’m about to recommend has the word “Jazz” in it – it is notable, that Ray Charles played and recorded all kinds of music including R&B, Pop, Country and Jazz – basically, he was a great musician who could play any style of music. And this album, despite the title, really features more of Charles playing and singing a mixture of the foundation styles of Soul Music: Rhythm and Blues, with Big Band and Pop Music influences mixed in for good measure.

The album includes several of his best known songs including: I Got A Woman, Hit The Road Jack, Georgia on My Mind, Ruby, Mess Around and a neat version of the song Blues Is My Middle Name that lets you hear what a big fan Charles was of the great Nat King Cole!

Here’s a link to stream the album Ray Charles, Jazz Masters Deluxe Collection:
https://goo.gl/KZyj9d

James Brown – 16 Original Hits:

This album is a great place to start to hear Brown’s sixties releases. The album includes the songs: Give It Up Or Turn It Loose, It’s Too Funky In Here, Doing It To Death, Try Me, Get Up Offa That Thing, Hot Pants, I Got The Feelin’, Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag, Please, Please, Please, I Got You (I Feel Good) and more! Check it out!

Here’s a link to stream the album 16 Original Hits:
https://goo.gl/mvgkMI

Bonus Freegal Suggestion:

Ain’t No Sunshine: Classic Soul and R&B, Vol. 1 by various artists:

I stumbled across this album while researching Soul albums in the Freegal Music Catalog. This is a festive collection of vintage R&B and Soul songs by Al Jarreau, Carla and Rufus Thomas, The Drifters, Ray Charles, Little Joe Curtis, Sam & Dave, Cissy Houston and more. Check it out!

Here’s a link to stream the album Ain’t No Sunshine:
https://goo.gl/1Melct

Freegal Wild Card Streaming Pick Of The Week:

Funk Nights by various artists

This various artist collection features a slice of seventies Funk Music! Included in this collection are the songs Ladies Night by Kool & the Gang, Dance Your Pants Off by Sly Stone & The Mojo Men, Crazy About You by Edwin Starr, Do the Funky Chicken by Rufus Thomas, Brick House by Clarence Carter and more!

Here’s a link to stream the album Funk Nights: https://goo.gl/gKVTyy

III. Compact Discs Recommendations:

Sam Cooke – Sam Cooke Forever:

This European import set features 72 of Cooke’s best songs including the popular Soul hits You Send Me, Twistin’ the Night Away, Wonderful World, Cupid and Chain Gang. Additionally included are a number of the Gospel songs he recorded with The Soul Stirrers including: Peace in the Valley, Nearer To Thee, Were You There and Come And Go To That Land – this is a great collection check it out!

Here’s a link to request the CD set Sam Cooke Forever via StarCat: https://goo.gl/CfYTri

Ray Charles – Ray Original Soundtrack:

This album offers a great overview of Charles’s work and is a good place to start listening to Charles’s music if you’re not familiar with it. And if you are familiar with Charles’s work – this is still a great album to listen to!

The soundtrack includes the original recordings of 17 of Charles’s early hits including: Mess Around, I Got a Woman, Hallelujah I Love Her So, Drown in My Own Tears, (Night Time Is) The Right Time, Hard Times, What’d I Say, Georgia on My Mind, Hit the Road Jack, Unchain My Heart, I Can’t Stop Loving You, Bye Bye Love and more!

Here’s a link to request the Ray soundtrack on CD via StarCat: https://goo.gl/gErSSr

Live At The Apollo by James Brown

And I can’t say it better than Rob Bowman did in his AllMusic review – so here is his review of the James Brown album Live At The Apollo: “An astonishing record of James and the Flames tearing the roof off the sucker at the mecca of R&B theatres, New York’s Apollo. When King Records owner Syd Nathan refused to fund the recording, thinking it commercial folly, Brown single-mindedly proceeded anyway, paying for it out of his own pocket. He had been out on the road night after night for a while, and he knew that the magic that was part and parcel of a James Brown show was something no record had ever caught. Hit follows hit without a pause — “I’ll Go Crazy,” “Try Me,” “Think,” “Please Please Please,” “I Don’t Mind,” “Night Train,” and more. The affirmative screams and cries of the audience are something you’ve never experienced unless you’ve seen the Brown Revue in a Black theater. If you have, I need not say more; if you haven’t, suffice to say that this should be one of the very first records you ever own.”

Just a little StarCat note: The StarCat record for this album lists the title as “The Apollo Theater presents, in person, the James Brown show.” However, the album is usually referred to by music fans as simply Live At The Apollo.

Here’s a link to request CD Live At The Apollo via StarCat:
https://goo.gl/jOH6hJ

Wild Card CD & DVD Picks Of The Week:

Ella Fitzgerald – Best of the Songbooks

This CD collection by Ella Fitzgerald, an extraordinary Jazz vocalist with the nick name The First Lady of Song. contains three albums: The Best of the Songs Books, The Best of the Song Books: The Ballads and Love Songs and The Best of the Verve Song Books.

Songs in this collection include: Something’s Gotta Give, Love Is Here To Stay, Bewitched, Bothered And Bewildered, Oh, Lady Be Good!, It Was Written In The Stars, I’m Beginning To See The Light, The Man I Love, Prelude To A Kiss and more!

Here’s a link to request the Best of Songs Books CD set:
https://goo.gl/rbDGJi

IV: Videos Of This Weeks’ Artists/Groups:

Sam Cooke

Sam Cooke Live Twistin’ the Night Away 1963

Sam Cooke – A Change Is Gonna Come (1964) HD

Ray Charles:

Ray Charles – Hit The Road Jack

Ray Charles – What’d I Say LIVE

James Brown:

James Brown – Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag – I Feel Good

James Brown – I Got The Feelin’

Bonus YouTube Video Clip Suggestion: Cream Members Hanging In 1993
This video clip has nothing whatsoever to do with Soul Music – just the fact that I didn’t clear out my browsing history since the last time I went to YouTube! And that was last week, when I went to look for video clips for the final Blues Rock posting in our 2017 series! So today, I went to YouTube and was treated to a bunch of suggested videos that all relate to Blues or Blues Rock. And one of those videos is a fun 8 minute clip of the members of Cream rehearing a bit and just hanging out prior to the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in 1993 – when they were inducted in to the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame – here’s a link to that clip which is titled Cream reunites at a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame rehearsal – 1993:

V. Wild Card Print Book Recommendation Of The Week:

Hard Hitting Songs For Hard-Hit People Compiled by Alan Lomax, Notes On The Songs by Woody Guthrie, Music Transcribed & Edited & With An Afterward By Pete Seeger.

And wow, what a long title for a great book! As you might expect this book is a folk fan’s favorite! It features many historical protest songs from the early twentieth century, with an emphasis on songs of the nineteen thirties, including several written by Guthrie himself. And the songs chronicle the hard times of the working class experienced during that era. The book was put together by the great musicologist Alan Lomax. The book even has a preface written by Woody’s daughter Nora so if you like folk music and folk songs this is a great book to peruse as it offers a bit of history interspersed with dozens of classic folks songs that Lomax helpfully put into categories. The categories include: Hard Luck On the Farm, You’re Dead Broke, So You’ve Got To Hit The Road, And You Land In Jail, Old Time Songs From All Over and more! Selected songs from the collection include: The Boll Weevil, The Farmer Is The Man, Seven Cent Cotton And Forty Cent Meat, Collector Man Blues, No Job Blues, Starvation Blues, The Old Chain Gang and 66 Highway Blues.

Here’s a link to request the Hard Hitting book:

https://goo.gl/8GEY28

VI. General References & Artist Specific References:

General References:
Ella Fitzgerald Artist Biography by Scott Yanow
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/ella-fitzgerald-mn0000184502/biography

The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits by Joel Whitburn (Billboard Books. New York. 2009.)

Sixties Rock: A Listener’s Guide by Robert Santelli (Contemporary Books. Chicago. 1985.)

Recommended Artists Specific References:

James Brown & His Famous Flames / James Brown
https://goo.gl/d3RH7l

James Brown Artist Biography by Richie Unterberger
https://goo.gl/v5Yg80

James Brown, the ‘Godfather of Soul,’ Dies at 73 By JON PARELES. DEC. 26, 2006. Accessed April 4, 2017.
https://goo.gl/oaGsk6

Ray (Original Soundtrack) AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
https://goo.gl/zdqyP7

Ray Charles Biography by Richie Unterberger
https://goo.gl/WPbl1E

Ray Charles, Bluesy Essence of Soul, Is Dead at 73 By JON PARELES and BERNARD WEINRAUB. JUNE 11, 2004. Accessed April 4, 2017.
https://goo.gl/xAiFQ1

Sam Cooke Biography by Bruce Eder
https://goo.gl/VpM3fJ

Sam Cooke’s Family Approves Biopic Focusing on Singer’s Murder
https://goo.gl/rh10kp

Sam Cooke Biography Songwriter, Singer (1931–1964)
https://goo.gl/Q6rwO

Music: 1964: Sam Cooke dies under suspicious circumstances in LA
https://goo.gl/v4dgCr

SAM COOKE SLAIN IN COAST MOTEL New York Times – December 12, 1964. Accessed April 4, 2017.
https://goo.gl/gvnBpJ

Have a great day!
Linda, SSCL

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