Voice recording #217, Dec. 29, plus recordings from Dec. 30. This was after I'd returned from 5 days in Pittsburgh.
Righteous Brothers, "Little Latin Lupe Lu", 1963. Hard to believe this is the Righteous Brothers in this rockin' performance. There's someone, probably one of the brothers, in a deep-voiced section. This is out of character. 4,700.
Steam, "Na Na Hey Hey", 1969. This has become famous at sporting events when the home team's PA system and fans will taunt the visiting team when it's about to lose. The Chicago White Sox are recognized as the first to do that. The song has lived on beyond that single use. I did hear it misused at a high school basketball game a few days ago, when the visiting fans were singing "na na na na." Dudes, you're the ones who are leaving. If I gave this song a rating, I couldn't hear it on the recording.
Elvis Presley, "If I Could Dream", 1968. Not his best. 4,200.
Mary Wells, "My Guy" from '64. I saw her in concert when I was in college. She was past her prime, which really was with this song. 2,300.
Gary Lewis and the Playboys, "This Diamond Ring", '64 or '65. Gary was Jerry Lewis' son. This song seems to be calling for a list of which children of stars became successful singer. There were Dino, Desi and Billy, sons of Dean Martin, Desi Arnaz Sr. and somebody else; Julian Lennon, Nancy Sinatra, Hank Williams Jr., if you want to go hungry. 3,950.
Scott McKenzie, "San Francisco", 1967. Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair. This song is pretty folky. I first made it to San Francisco in 1973 when I was across the bay for the World Series. 3,800.
Left Banke, "Walk Away Renee", 1976. This is not the best version of the song, but it's still 2,900.
Blues Magoos, "(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet". Quintessential '60s rock, by a quintessentially named '60s rock group. And it turns out that two of the Magoos are hosting this segment of "My Favorite 45s" on Sirius XM Channel 6. I've done this one before, and I think it's 3,300. I said 3,600 on Dec. 22, so I'll settle on 3,450.
Ides of March, "Vehicle", it doesn't give the year, but I'm thinking 1969 or even '70. This song is similar to something Chicago or Earth, Wind & Fire would do. It was pretty good at the time, but I don't think it has held up over time. 4,050.
Blues Magoos, "Pipe Dreams", no year given. I don't think many people would put it on their list of favorite 45s. 4,800 might be a stretch.
Shirley Ellis, "The Name Game", 1965. I'm a little surprised it was that late and was able to become a hit at that time, but it was pretty big. You still can hear people playing the name game occasionally: "Billy, Billy, bo Illy, banana fana fo Filly." On the strength of that lasting recognition, 2,800.
Beach Boys, "California Girls", 1965. This about as Beach Boys as it gets. It was one of their biggest hits, and it spawned other songs, such as "Back in the U.S.S. R". There's a little more daring instrumentation. And you've got Tupac with a different "California Girls" song. 800.
Simon and Garfunkel, "Hazy Shade of Winter", no year given. Simon and Garfunkel produced songs with way-above-average lyrics, and also instrumentation and harmonies that went well with the lyrics. This one is straightforward, with guitar and drums, and has a great drop-off at the end: "There's a patch of snow on theground." Period. 900.
The Beatles, "Devil in a Heart", a little known early song, '63 or '64 maybe, or even earlier in the UK or Germany. It's not especially good. Ringo or whoever was the drums just about wore out the cymbals. 4,650.
The Happenings, "I Got Rhythm" from '67. This is a really good take on an older song, maybe even a George and Ira Gershwin song. They do a lot with the music on this. There's falsetto, changing tempos, different things overlaid on the music. The instrumentation is sparse, certainly in the background; it's mostly the singing and the change of pace. I checked, and the Gershwins did write this, in 1930. Their chord progression of "rhythm changes" became a staple of jazz. 2,300.
Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", '67, I believe. This was the original version of a song frequent remade. In one of their many collaborations, they did a good job on it. 3,450.
The Monkees, "Daydream Believer", I think '66 or '67. This is one of their best. 3,200.
Lesley Gore, "Look of Love", '65. This is not "The Look of Love" of Sergio Mendes, and it's not very good. 4,650.
Sly and the Family Stone, "Dance to the Music", 1968. This is good soul music that really brings out the orchestra going along with it. 3,400.
Steppenwolf, "Magic Carpet Ride", also from '68. This is a much different genre, looking ahead to a more metallic future rather than back at '60s dance music. I really like Steppenwolf, and this is one of their best. The group also got me, and probable plenty of others, reading Hermann Hesse, which is a good experience. The Hesse books I read were very helpful in finding alternate ways of thinking about things. We're not all good, we're not all bad. This song is not all good, but it's pretty doggone good and not very bad. 600.
Gary Puckett and the Union Gap, "Over You" is a third type of music from '68: the soft-rock ballad. 3,900.
Lou Christie, "I'm Gonna Make You Mine" from '69. This one combines a little bit of Four Seasons and Cowsills. It's a transitional period for Lou Christie, but he held up pretty well. He was not a one-trick pony; he had a number of hits. 3,550.
Classics IV, "Traces", 1969. The Classics IV were like balladeers from an earlier time. Their songs have a nostalgic feel, with muted horns, which are very un-late '60s. 4,300.
Dixie Cups, "Chapel of Love", maybe '64. This song fits its time. Even though the British invasion had arrived, it was still a pretty innocent time -- for me especially. The Dixie Cups could sing plausible lyrics such as "I'll never be lonely anymore" when they went to the chapel to get married. Those of us who married a few years later were more likely to realize that you could be lonely in marriage and that marriage wasn't permanent. There are good harmonies in this, evocative of the times. 1,600.
Rolling Stones, "Let's Spend the Night Together", 1967. 1,250.
Voice recording #219 next.
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