Charlie Byrd: Byrdland

Review # 67
Atist: Charlie Byrd
Title: Byrdland
Format: LP
Label: Columbia
Year: 1966
Songs: 11



Almost a year into the 30,000 Songs project, Charlie Byrd's Byrdland marks the final LP by an artist who's name begins with the letter "B."

This was a record I got from my dad and which I had never listened to prior to putting it on for review. While my copy has seen better days, I'm actually quite pleased to have this in my collection. This record is quintessential 1960s cocktail party music, without being bland or generic.

Byrd plays bossa nova influenced jazz on a classical guitar, backed by a a bass, piano, and drums. Some sparse horn work appears on some tracks, but never does it eclipse Byrd's excellent guitar playing. While I might not go so far as to use the word "virtuoso" to describe Charlie Byrd, he gets pretty close at times. His performances on this record are always precise and often innovative.

Interestingly, the music on this record manages to be a clear product of the era in which it was recorded, while also sounding fresh and interesting. It is clear that Byrd did not limit his musical intake to artists playing in the same genre as himself. Some of the songs that stand out most on this record have melodies that might be familiar to fans of other other genres of music.  One standout track is Byrd's rendition of the Beatles' "Girl" from the album Rubber Soul, which would have been released earlier the same year as Byrdland. Another interesting track is "Work Song." Drawn from the folk tradition, this is in fact an interpretation of a Mississippi cotton field song, which Simon & Garfunkel fans will note shares a melody with their "We've Got a Groovy Thing Goin,'" a song appearing on their Sounds of Silence album the same year that Byrdland was released. Sinatra fans, meanwhile, may be struck by the melody of "Manha de Carnaval," a famous bossa nova tune from the 1950s which is the basis of Frank's "A Day in the Life of a Fool." Sinatra's rendition appeared on his famous My Way album a couple of years after the release of Byrdland. Byrd makes all these songs his own, and while instrumental versions of this era often fall off the edge of the cliff between real jazz and elevator music, Charlie Byrd doesn't even approach it.

Byrdland, then, is clearly a record of it's time, drawing on a range of musical influences that were ascendant in the mid 1960s, yet does so without being derivative. Pick up a copy of this if you can, and have some friends over for martinis. You won't find many better records to listen to while you sip on a cocktail.

Here's Byrd's rendition of "Girl."
Total songs listened: 827

Alvin and the Chipmunks: Christmas with the Chipmunks

Review # 57
Artist: Alvin and the Chipmunks
Title: Christmas with the Chipmunks
Format: LP
Label: Liberty Records
Year: 1962
Songs: 12




Long before computer animated chipmunks were singing Lady Gaga songs in endless, terrible film sequels, Alvin, Simon, Theodore, and Dave Seville were already holiday favorites in America. The Chipmunks first Christmas LP was a tremendously successful record, for a novelty act. Its best known track "The Chipmunk Song" (better known in some circles as "Christmas Don't Be Late" or simply "that songs where Alvin wants a hula hoop") was the Chipmunks' only #1 single, and won three Grammy awards (best comedy record, best children's record, and best engineering on a non-classical record) in 1958. The record has sold hundreds of thousands of copies and has been reissued and repackaged numerous times in multiple formats. Beloved by many as a piece of classic kitsch and maligned by others as a shrill, corny irritation, Christmas with the Chipmunks may be the best known novelty record of all time.

Readers who have been with this blog since the beginning may have by now noted that I have an awful lot of Chipmunks LPs, so it should come as no surprise that I like this record. I love kitcshy, silly, novelty music, and if you are like me in that respect, Christmas with the Chipmunks is just ridiculous upbeat fun all the way through. As was the case in Urban Chipmunk, this record sees Dave Seville trying to make the rambunctious chipmunks toe the line as a respectable singing group, while our rodent friends (and especially Alvin) have other ideas. Alvin's penchant for turning the songs' lyrics into dramatic monologues repeatedly gets him in trouble for "over-acting," with Dave frequently admonishing Alvin and co. to "just sing!" This conflict arises right away on the song's opening number "Here Comes Santa Claus," and continues to be an issue on "Over the River and Through the Woods" and "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas." Why Dave puts up with the chipmunks is unclear. After so many conflicts like this, and given the debatable merits of the chipmunks' vocal abilities, one is left wondering why Dave carries on trying to make them a proper musical act.

Unlike other Chipmunk records, this album sees Dave playing a more active role in singing the songs himself. He takes the lead on "Silver Bells" and sings "White Christmas" entirely on his own, aside from a conversation with Alvin in which he bemoans the lack of snow this year. Rest assured, Dave's sorrow is short lived, as Alvin chimes in at the end of the song to alert him to some festive precipitation. This record also features a cameo from none other than Rudolph (the red-nosed reindeer) who sings the song about himself in the first person. The voice is a clear imitation of the Rankin & Bass Christmas special, and sounds in particular like the part of the story in which Rudolph is trying to cover his embarrassing nose with a piece of clay and constantly sounds like he has a cold.

Probably the best known track on this record is the aforementioned "Chipmunk Song." This is both the only original song on the record, and the one in which Dave (aka Ross Bagdasarian) makes the greatest effort to actually differentiate his voice as he performs each of the three chipmunk voices. My record player has a 16 rpm setting (although I've never seen a record that plays at this speed), and it's fun to play this song at that speed, because you can hear three tracks of Dave, talking and singing very slowly and trying to make his voice sound like three different voices, in combination with the "real" Dave voice, which slowed to half speed sounds like some terrible beast. My friend referred to this as the "Three Dave Seville's and a Bear" version of the song. While this song is one I like to hear at normal speed at least once every December, having the vinyl gives me the added benefit hearing what the Chipmunks' voices sounded like when Dave/Ross actually recorded them.

If by some unlikely chance you haven't heard "The Chipmunk Song" before, you can listen to it here, complete with old, cheap children's animation that shows you what shenanigans our rodent friends got up to while recording this unlikely number one hit.


Total songs listened: 719

The Beach Boys: The Beach Boys' Christmas Album

Review # 56
Artist: The Beach Boys
Title: The Beach Boys' Christmas Album
Format: LP
Label: Capitol Records
Year: 1964
Songs: 12






Happy Holidays, 30,000 Songs readers!

Sorry about the long delay since my last post. I've been travelling and otherwise very busy for a while and only today have I had enough time for it to occur to me to write a post. I'm going to try to do a couple of holiday record reviews this week, and return with some classic hardcore next week.

The Beach Boys' Christmas Album is a record that my wife and I picked up at the Fremont Sunday Market around this time last year. This record is full of the Beach Boys' distinctive harmonies as they perform original songs like "Little Saint Nick" and "The Man With All the Toys" and Christmas classics like "Santa Claus is Comin' To Town" and "Frosty the Snowman."  I'm not the biggest Beach Boys fan, truth be told, but I like them in small doses. Maybe that's part of why I really like side one of this record, but by the end of side two have had enough. Side one is full of upbeat tunes, mostly their originals, that showcase the harmony intensive take on the Chuck Berry sound that made the band famous. If you like the Beach Boys and don't hate Christmas music, there's really nothing not to like here. These are all the songs you hear on oldies radio stations in December.

Side two, aside from maybe just being more Beach Boys songs than I need in a row, is just less fun. They save all the slow numbers for this side of the record--it begins with a version of "We Three Kings" that drags so much, it feels like my record player is on the wrong speed.  It's twice as long as anything on side one and juuuuuusssst drrrraaaaaaaaags. Even the version of "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town," a song which is typically an upbeat number, on side two of this record feels sort of flat or sad or something. It's sandwiched between "Blue Christmas" and "White Christmas," and I think is meant to pick up the mood a bit between those two rather dour Christmas songs, but it doesn't really clear the bar.

The one moment on side two that really cracks me up is the very end. Like many Christmas albums, this one ends with a rendition of New Year's favorite "Auld Lang Syne." At the very end of the song, the band gets turned down in the mix and Dennis Wilson gets on the mic to wish all the listeners at home a happy holiday season. And he stumbles over his words: "we hope you will treasure it the way we do, and if you hap... happen to be listening to this album right now...." Now, this could hap... happen to anybody, but seriously, why didn't they do another take? Did they have a midnight deadline to get the record done in order to get it in stores in time from Christmas? By 1964, there really isn't an excuse for this sort of thing from a famous band on a major record label. They weren't exactly recording on wax cylinders. It just feels too sloppy for the Beach Boys, and it makes me laugh, every time.

Check it out: "Auld Lang Syne"

Total songs listened: 707

Frank Friday! Frank Sinatra Sings Rogers and Hart

Review # 49
Artist: Frank Sinatra
Title: Frank Sinatra Sings Rogers and Hart
Format: LP
Label: Capitol
Year: 1962
Songs: 12






I've liked Frank Sinatra for a long, long time. But it wasn't until my great uncle and aunt had both died, roughly ten years ago now, that I started buying his records. My Aunt Mary and Uncle Jim were both near and dear to me, and both big Sinatra fans. I remember hearing Sinatra playing at their house from back when I was a little kid, especially at Christmas time. They saw Sinatra in concert more than once. The organist even played "My Way" at my uncle's funeral. After they were gone, I started buying Sinatra LPs. I'm not sure exactly why it was, but it made me feel closer to them. And it made music I already liked feel more special. Over the years, I have developed a relationship with Sinatra's music independent of my memories of Mary and Jim, but I still think of them often when I listen to Sinatra. This is where it all started: Frank Sinatra Sings Rogers and Hart was the first Sinatra record I picked up. Not because of the songs on it or anything, but just because it was the first one I saw at a thrift store once I decided to buy some Sinatra records. For a little while, it was the only one I had. I would frequently come home late from punk rock shows, feeling perhaps a bit tipsy, and want some music to listen to that wasn't loud while I made a grilled cheese sandwich or something. So I would often give this record a play. Because this was a common occurrence, and this record had no other Sinatra competition for a time, this is probably the Sinatra record I've played most.

I've got lots of other ones now of course, but this is still one my favorites. This record is the perfect mix of classic Sinatra swing, "The Lady is Tramp" and "Blue Moon" being probably the best known songs on the record, and the more wistful and sentimental Sinatra tunes that always get me. Songs like "Spring is Here," "It Never Entered My Mind," "Glad to Be Unhappy," and "It's Easy to Remember," are perfect for late nights or Sunday mornings when you're feeling a little sad and you want to accept it with some dignity. They aren't songs for being desperate or depressed, they're songs for being sad in the mature way of someone who knows that life has it's ups and downs and sometimes when you're in one of the down periods you've just to accept that it hurts. Frank has a lot of tunes like that, but this record is nice because it mixes them up with some more upbeat numbers as well.You get the ups with the downs.

The funny thing about my love for this record is, a lot of these tunes are from musicals. I mostly hate musicals, and I mostly don't like the music from them. I've always found them unforgivably corny and annoying, which is saying something because I like a lot of corny (and some would say, annoying) stuff. But, you just can't deny that Rogers and Hart wrote some good tunes, and when they're sung by the master vocalist that was Frank Sinatra, they sound good to my ear.

Check out "Spring is Here," one of my favorites from this record.

Total songs listened: 610

Chuck Berry: Chuck Berry's Golden Hits

Review # 45
Artist: Chuck Berry
Title: Chuck Berry's Golden Hits
Format: LP
Label: Mercury
Year: 1967
Songs: 11






If you like rock music at all, it's hard to imagine not liking Chuck Berry or the songs on this record. This is a collection of classic Chuck Berry tunes, like "Memphis," "Maybellene," and of course, "Rock and Roll Music" and "Johnny B. Goode." These are classic songs by a man who deserves substantial credit as one of the creators of rock music. The fast pace, backbeat, and relentless guitar of Chuck Berry's best songs are the heart of rock and roll. It's hard to know what popular music would have become without Berry's music. There almost certainly never would never have been anything called punk rock.

All of that said (and I didn't realize this when I bought it), this record doesn't feature the original 1950s versions of these classic songs. In fact, the only song featured here in it's original version is new song Berry recorded for the record called "Club Nitty Gritty." Not coincidentally, this is the only song from this record I'd never heard before. All of these songs were re-recorded for Mercury Records in 1967 specifically for this release. The original stand-up bass has been replaced by an electric one, and they've also added some tambourine. What's missing is some of the energy. Don't get me wrong, these are still some peppy songs, and I wouldn't call the recordings bad by any means, but some of the magic that makes Berry's music so enduring is missing from these versions. I wouldn't quite say they feel forced, but I could imagine it being very hard to have the same enthusiasm for recording a song ten years or more after the original recording sessions, and I think the lower enthusiasm levels show here. The new bass lines are also more complex and a little higher in the mix, and sometimes distract from the songs.

If I'd known these weren't the original versions of this, I might not have bought this record. It's not that it's bad, but I would have rather spent the money on the originals.

I misspoke in the last review: I actually have one more record that was pushed to the back that I'll need to review before we cross back into punk rock territory after several weeks away.

Total songs listened: 574

The Melachrino Strings and Orchestra: The Ballads of Irving Berlin

Review #44
Artist: The Melachrino Strings and Orchestra
Title: The Ballads of Irving Berlin
Format: LP
Label: RCA Victor
Year: 1964
Songs: 12






Filed under "B" for Berlin (because I will never be looking for "Melachrino Strings" when I'm looking for something to listen to), this is yet another of the free records from my dad. This one I kept because I like Irving Berlin songs, even though I had no idea what the Melachrino Strings and Orchestra versions would sound like.

Turns out the answer is "sort of boring." It's all instrumental and, not surprisingly, mostly strings (although the somewhat strange cover featuring a woman in the woods surrounded mostly by wind instruments might suggest otherwise). This reminds me of a sort of nondescript score to a late 1950s or early 1960s film. Maybe something with Audrey Hepburn in it. It has that sort of feel to it. I guess it's something you might play at a certain type of cocktail party or something. Don't get me wrong, the tunes are still good (standouts are the medley featuring "I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm" and "Cheek to Cheek"), but these are just not the most compelling versions.

One thing that is pretty entertaining is the plug for "dyanagroove" records on the back of the cover, in which it is explained why dynagroove records are superior to other varieties: "highly ingenious computers--'electronic brains'--have been introduced to audio for the first time. These remarkable new electronic devices and processes grew out of an intense research program which produced notable advances in virtually every step of the recording science."

I'm sure they did. The "electronic brains" of 1964 were very sophisticated indeed, as was, I'm sure, the blurb writer's understanding of the music recording process.

Ok, just one more record before I review some punk rock again!

Total songs listened: 563

Jeff Beck: Truth

Review # 41
Artist: Jeff Beck
Title: Truth
Format: LP
Label: Epic
Year: 1968
Songs: 10






Jeff Beck's Truth is a record I got free in a big pile of LPs from my dad. I decided to keep this because I had heard the artist's name around for years and didn't really know what he was about. I didn't get around to listening to it today.

Jeff Beck, if you don't already know, was a member of the Yardbirds, and this record sounds a fair amount like some of the Yardbirds output, including a cover of "Shapes of Things," a Yardbirds song from which, I would have to conclude, the melody for Night Ranger's "Sister Christian" chorus was more of less ripped off  completely. But that's neither here nor there.

This LP features ten songs that can mostly be characterized as that late 1960s heavy blues that would provide the foundation for heavy metal rock. Along with the Yardbirds, I would compare this to some Led Zeppelin I've heard, but without so much of the screechy singing (vocals here being provided by Rod Stewart, who I must begrudgingly admit doesn't really sound too bad on this record). Jeff Beck's guitar is the centerpiece of this collection of songs, made up of both original songs and much older numbers such as "Old Man River" and even "Greensleeves." And there's no doubt that Beck is a phenomenal guitarists. I think he'd hold up fine in a three-way battle between himself, Hendrix, and Jimmy Page. The proficiency evident on this records is unquestionable if you know anything about guitar playing.

That said, this record doesn't do anything deep for me. I love classic blues, but this kind of heavy proto-metal blues has just never been something I've been able to get into. It kind of makes me feel tired. Truth avoids many of the pitfalls of music like this that I often criticize--it doesn't have the obnoxious screeching vocals of a Led Zeppelin album, and there doesn't seem to be too much of what I would describe as guitar wankery that seems to exist only for the self gratification of the guitarist (perhaps a little, though). So it doesn't irritate me like some bands from the genre often do. But it doesn't resonate with me either. At the end of the day, I guess this is just a subjective aesthetic preference, because there's nothing wrong with this record at all if you like music that sounds like this. I would go so far as to say it is one of the better ones I've heard, in the genre. But try as I might, I don't really like it very much.


Total songs listened: 531

The Beatles: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

Review: 39
Artist: The Beatles
Title: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Format: LP
Label: Capitol Records
Year: 1967
Songs: 12



What can I say about Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band that hasn't been said 50 times already? This record is regarded as one of the best rock albums of all time. It's complex, inventive, and full of memorable songs. It is arguably one of the first concept albums (although the extent to which it actually is a concept album is debated to this day). There are dozens of rumors surrounding it, some involving the conspiracy theory that Paul McCartney had died, others surrounding the Beatles' supposed intention to change their name to Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. More capable writers than I have tread all of this ground numerous times, so I will not.

Likewise, I'm sure that most (or all) potential readers of this blog have heard this record many times (who hasn't?) so there's no need for me to describe the songs themselves in detail. Again, there's nothing for me to say that the interested reader doesn't already know or couldn't find in one of the many books and documentaries about the Beatles. So, I will not do this either.

Instead, I'd like to share some thoughts about how this record came into my life and the importance it has held for me over the last 15 years.

When I was a teenager, as I've written already (see my review of Hey Jude), the Beatles were the band that made me want to listen to rock music. At first though, I really preferred their early stuff. My musical pallet was not very sophisticated yet, and the catchy pop-rock of the first five or so Beatles records made more sense to me than the complex and unusual sounds found on the later records I had heard, like Revolver and Abbey Road. Then in the summer of 1996 I was going to garage sales with my dad in Spokane, Washington, and came across a Sgt. Pepper LP in a $1 box. I had never heard this record yet up to this point in my life. I didn't even have a record player at the time, but my parents' friends did, so that evening I recorded it on to one side of a cassette tape. The sounds I heard on this LP as I lay next to the speakers on the floor of their basement blew me away. I had never heard anything like it. I was captivated. I lay giving it my full attention until it was over, then played it again. It was perfect pop, but mixed with some of the strangest sounds I had ever heard. It was only a few days later that I got Magical Mystery Tour on cd from the library. I recorded this on the other side of the cassette and for several weeks, it didn't leave my tape player. I just turned the tape over and over, soaking in these two records. They became deeply embedded in my musical psyche and also became the standard by which, for some years, all other music was judged, and none could live up to.

After I heard this record, I was forever converted to a fan of the later Beatles records, and started trying to find other things that sounded like Sgt. Pepper. It was not long after this that I figured out Bob Dylan, the Byrds, Simon and Garfunkel. These new sounds expanded my mental horizons and changed my worldview. It was a dollar well spent. I still own that same copy of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and I still hear new sounds each time I play it.

That wraps up the Beatles LPs. The rest of their catalogue I have on cds and a couple of 7 inches, so next time we'll be moving on to different musical terrain as I cross the 500 song line. But it will probably be a couple of weeks before I have time to post again. Starting in late September, look for a return to several posts a week.

Until then, I'll sign off with this clip from the Yellow Submarine film in which the Beatles win the day and defeat the Blue Meanies by singing "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band."

Total songs listened: 497

The Beatles: Rare Beatles

Review # 38
Artist: The Beatles
Title: Rare Beatles
Format: LP
Label: Phoenix Records
Year:1977
Songs: 10




Never heard of this record? Neither had I until a few months ago when I was perusing the clearance bins at Jive Time Records. This is one of several available bootlegs of the Beatles from the days when they were an unsigned band from Liverpool that traveled to Hamburg to play the seedy clubs along the Reeperbahn in hopes of making a little money. Specifically, this was recorded at live show during the Beatles' second stint in Germany. Having shed their original bass player, Stuart Sutcliffe, on their first trip to Hamburg, the band's lineup in 1961 (or 1962? I'm finding conflicting information about this) when this recording was made was John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and drummer Pete Best.

But not on the night this record was recorded.

According to the sleeve, on the night Ted Taylor decided to bring his tape recorder to a Beatles show, Pete Best was out for the night. Sitting in for him was the drummer for band called Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. His name was Richard Starkey, or as the world would come to know him, Ringo Starr. This recording, then, is of the first performance of what would become the most famous band ever.

So, you may be thinking (especially if you aren't a hardcore Beatles fan), "that's cool I guess, but how is the music?" Well, it's a live recording of very early Beatles material. It has all the strengths and weaknesses of such recordings you may have heard before--the energy is great, the performance is spot on, the recording quality leaves something to be desired. However, compared to other non-professional live recordings of the Beatles I've heard before, this one is at least as good and maybe slightly better in terms of recording quality. Later, in the cd section, I'll be reviewing the more widely known 1962 Live At the Star Club disc, and while it's been a little while since I've listened to that, I'm pretty sure Rare Beatles sounds a little better. The production is a little rough, but you could do worse.

What's cool about this disc though, aside from the historical value, is that some of the songs on here are tunes I've never heard the Beatles perform on any other release. The record includes Fats Waller's novelty tune "Your Feets Too Big" and Tommy Roe's "Sheila," as well as better known tunes that would remain in the Beatles' repertoire, such as "'Till There Was You," which would appear on the bands second LP a few years later.

There's also some fun banter between band members, and occasionally the sounds of an enthusiastic crowd, both of which make it easier to imagine that you are there watching the Beatles play this historic show.

If your a big fan of the Beatles, and you can find this record, I recommend it. The first show with Ringo is pretty cool to have on record. For casual fans, this probably isn't worth the time and cost of seeking out.
Total songs listened: 485

The Beatles: Magical Mystery Tour

Review #36
Artist: The Beatles
Title: Magical Mystery Tour
Format: LP
Label: Capitol Records
Year: 1967
Songs: 11




The Magical Mystery Tour LP is the only American Beatles release that has become the canonical version. This record, if you aren't familiar, features the music from their very unusual film of the same title, as well as a number of tracks previously released as singles. The British version of this was actually a double ep that only featured the songs from the film and excluded the singles. With every other Beatles record, when the cd versions came out, they were all the original British versions. But not Magical Mystery Tour.

Perhaps that's because this is such an excellent collection of songs. In fact, for a long time, this was my favorite Beatles record. From the infectious pop of the title track, to the strange abrasiveness of "I Am the Walrus," to basically all of the singles that make up side B, this record is both fun and interesting from beginning to end.  As a teenager, I declared Harrison's "Blue Jay Way" to be one of the Beatles' only bad songs.  But I've since warmed to it.

The absolute highlight of this record, in my view, are two songs on side B that were originally released as a single together, "Penny Lane," and "Strawberry Fields Forever." In my last post, I described the "Hey Jude/Revolution" single as the pinnacle of the Beatles' catalogue. If that is so, then this single is a close second. These songs, both about actual places from the band's history, are classics that really showcase Lennon and McCartney's differing but complimentary styles. "Penny Lane" is a pure McCartney pop gem. Catchy and fun, but also well crafted and innovative in its own way, "Penny Lane" is one of McCartney's best compositions. "Strawberry Fields Forever," by contrast, is clearly Lennon's work--slightly dark in its sound, with lyrics at once absurd and profound, and unusual instrumentation and production to give the song a surreal and slightly spooky quality. Both are fantastic in their own way and for some reason feel as if they were always destined to be paired, in spite of the their differing sounds.

"Strawberry Fields Forever" is also a crucial piece Paul is dead conspiracy lore. Near the end of the song, a muffled John Lennon can be heard saying "Cranberry Sauce." This was misheard as "I buried Paul" and taken to be yet another piece of evidence that McCartney had died and been replaced by a look alike.  But don't get me started on that.

The LP version of this record is especially worth having for Beatles enthusiasts and collectors because inside it's gatefold cover it includes an illustrated storybook of the film, complete with very 1960s artwork, and also some photographic stills from the movie. Good fun.

In short, Magical Mystery Tour is a great record. The movie is not for just anyone--it's pretty weird and also dull at times (I like it anyway) but the record is essential.

Here's the title track, with video as it appeared in the film.

Total songs listened: 467

The Beatles: Introducing the Beatles

Review # 34
Artist: The Beatles
Title: Introducing the Beatles
Format: LP
Label: Vee-Jay
Year: 1964
Songs: 12




I don't have too much to say about this one because, in some sense, I've already reviewed it. Like The Early Beatles, this is a U.S. release of the songs that appeared on the Beatles' first UK LP, Please Please Me. Released on Vee-Jay records in 1964, this record was the first release of Beatles material in the United States, preceding Meet the Beatles (the U.S. equivalent of the band's sophomore effort With the Beatles) by a few weeks. Capitol Records had initially been uninterested in releasing these songs, as the Beatles were still an unknown commodity in the U.S. a that time. Introducing the Beatles was available for a fairly short time because it soon became apparent to the folks at Capitol that they wanted these songs on their label after all. Thus, this is a highly sought after collector's item, especially if you can find a stereo version.

My copy is almost certainly a counterfeit.  This record was already a scarce and desirable commodity by the late 1960s, and bootleg versions of it were produced throughout the 60s and 70s. I did a little research on how you can tell the fakes and found 1) if it says it's stereo (mine does), it's probably a fake because so few stereo copies were made, 2) if you can't see George's shadow, it's probably a fake (you can't see it on mine, but the sleeve is so worn that it's hard to tell), and 3) if the title and the band name are on opposite sides of the spindle hole, it's probably fake (as is the case with mine). But, that's what you get for a  $1.29 at a thrift store. It's still cool to have a copy.

Interestingly, the Vee-Jay record featuring the songs from Please Please Me is actually more similar to the British release than is the Capitol version.  The songs on Introducing the Beatles are actually in the same order as on Please Please Me, however, like the Capitol release, tracks have been removed (in this case "Love Me Do" and "P.S. I Love You"). Another oddity on this record is that the songwriting credits on the original songs all go to "McCartney-Lennon" rather than "Lennon-McCartney" as they would appear on every other Beatles' album.


Total songs listened: 444

The Beatles: Hey Jude

Review # 33
Artist: The Beatles
Title: Hey Jude
Format: LP
Label: Apple Records
Year: 1970
Songs: 10





In what must have been February or early March of 1996, I was shopping for a birthday present for my dad. He had recently bought a truck that had tape deck in it, which his previous vehicle hadn't had, so I decided to get him a tape to play on his drives to and from work. At the time, all I listened to really was novelty bands and didn't really know anything about music. So I went to the music section at our local big box store and started looking for something I thought he'd like. I ended up picking up a copy of the Beatles' Hey Jude album. But before I gave it to him, I opened it up and played it myself. Life would never be the same.

I made a copy of the cassette and played it incessantly for about a week, and then set out to grow my collection at first mostly by getting stuff from the library and copying it, but eventually by buying all the Beatles' cds. By the summer of that year, I had gone from listening to nothing but novelty bands to nothing but the Beatles, who in turn opened the door to the Byrds, Bob Dylan, Simon and Garfunkle, the Doors and other contemporaries. That same summer, I found my dad's old guitar in the garage and began the process of learning to play. I quit buying comic books and stared buying cds and musical equipment. By the fall of that year, I was making my first (failed) attempt at putting together a band. And it all started with Hey Jude.

Hey Jude is mostly a compilation of Beatles singles spanning from 1966 to the band's dissolution, plus two songs from the Hard Day's Night soundtrack.  This was not really a proper Beatles' album in the sense that the band never intended it to exist as a full length collection of songs, and I don't believe it was ever available in the UK. Today it's not available at all, although most of the songs from it can be found on Past Masters Volume 2, a more comprehensive collection of singles.  Interestingly, the sleeve for this record features photographs from the Beatles' last ever photo shoot together, which took place at John's house in August of 1969.

In spite of this record's lack of cannonicity, it is in any case an excellent collection, featuring some of my all time favorite songs, including the title track and "Revolution," two songs that appeared on the same single and which John and Paul are said to have butted heads over which was to be the A-Side.  John, apparently, considered "Revolution" to be one of the best songs he'd ever written (I can't disagree), and was none too keen on it taking the back seat to a song Paul had written for his ex-wife Cynthia and son Julian, who he was at that time leaving for Yoko Ono. Paul felt very passionate about "Hey Jude" (originally "Hey Jules") as well, and understandably so.  These two songs, in many ways to me, represent the absolute peak of the Beatles. To this day I vacillate as to which I prefer. They're both A-sides, as far as I'm concerned.

Other highlights include the fast (and in some ways downright punkish) "Paperback Writer," "Lady Madonna," and the passionate "Don't Let Me Down," although it's hard to even narrow it down because to me, every song on this record is fantastic.

Two amazing tracks:

Hey Jude & Revolution

Total songs listened: 432

The Beatles: The Early Beatles

Review # 32
Artist: The Beatles
Title: The Early Beatles
Format: LP
Label: Capitol Records
Year: 1965
Songs: 11




The Beatles' first album, Please Please Me, was a big hit in the UK in 1963. But it didn't come out in the US until 1964, and even then it came out on a small label and under a different name. It was not until 1965 that the Beatles' US label, Capitol Records (a holding of EMI, the label the band recorded on in the UK) would release these songs as The Early Beatles. Following a practice I mentioned in a previous review, three songs were left off the original British album album ("Misery," "There's A Place," and "I Saw Her Standing There"), allowing them to be released on other records or as singles. The 11 remaining songs were also re-ordered. So, while the songs here are the same as on Please Please Me, this is truly a different album.

Recorded in 1962, these songs capture the Beatles as they were in the early days of their career: a good little rock band with a few new ideas and a lot of talent, but still in a nascent stage. They knew how to harmonize and how to play rock 'n roll in style that was heavily influenced by their 1950s favorites like Buddy Holly. They had written a few catchy tunes. But they were not yet legends, by any means. They were just a good band made up of four young guys from Liverpool. In the early 1960s, it was still not common practice for bands to play mostly their own material, and as such, while there are a number of Lennon-McCartney tunes on this record, there are also several covers, such as "Boys," originally performed by the Shirelles and sung here by Ringo in one of the odder moments of record. It's catchy and fun, but both lyrically and musically clearly a song written for a girl group, and the decision to record it for their first album is an interesting one. Some of the lyrics are changed to suggest a heterosexual relationship ("my GIRL says when I kiss her lips...") but it still includes a chorus in which Ringo sings about boys over and over, which you couldn't really change without it being a different song. Perhaps foreshadowing the cultural boundary pushing the Beatles would do in the years to come, they are not held back from performing this song in spite of what might be perceived by some as a trangression gender norms (or, maybe I'm reading too much into this because I'm a grad student).

Probably the best known tunes on this record are the title track, "Please Please Me," and the Beatles' cover of "Twist and Shout," originally recorded by the Isley Brothers. These songs, more than the others on the record, point to the solidifying of the Beatles' early sound and would continue to be part of their live set for years to come.

An interesting note: everyone talks about how bad the CD versions of the Beatles records sound, leading to the albums all being remastered and reissued quite recently. Having grown up largely on the cds, I could never really hear the "bad" sound, because I had little basis for comparison. But I listened closely for it as I played the LP version of The Early Beatles and there is actually quite a difference. The harmonies and backing vocals in particular stand out much more clearly on the vinyl version and the sound is just richer (although that may be partially a feature of my record player, a big wooden console unit that makes everything sound better).

Everyone's heard most of these songs I think, but here's the Beatles' version of "Boys," in case you haven't.

Total songs listened: 422

The Beatles: Alpha Omega

Review # 31
Artist: The Beatles
Title: Alpha Omega
Format: LP (X4)
Label: Audio Tape Inc.
Year: 1972
Songs: 60






Hello readers. Sorry it's been a while, but I've been very busy and took a while to get through listening to to this one. I've heard all of these songs a million times before, but in the spirit of the project, I thought I ought to play them all anyway.

I love the Beatles, always. But for whatever reason, maybe because it was the summer of my 16th year that I first got really invested in the Beatles and rock music more generally, the Beatles always sound best to me in the summer. There will be a lot of Beatles reviews on this blog before I'm done with it, but this one is by far the most expansive of the Beatles' recordings I own. This unauthorized 60 song collection spans the Beatles' entire catalogue, from their first record to their last and even a few songs recorded by Lennon, Harrison, and McCartney early on in their post-Beatle careers.

The songs on the record are thrown together in no particular order, bouncing randomly from With the Beatles era tracks to Magical Mystery Tour to Abbey Road and back again.  I wouldn't personally have put this collection together in this way, but I will say this: it really gives you a sense how incredibly diverse and inventive this band was. There will never be another band like this, a band which wins the hearts of so many while pushing a genre, and indeed, an entire culture forward. John, Paul, George, and Ringo were a magical combination that combined musical proficiency with brilliant songwriting and an ability to experiment with new sounds, and hearing so many of their songs from so many different records really highlights this. If it offered nothing else of value, rock 'n roll as a musical form would be validated by the Beatles' catalogue alone.

So that's enough of me gushing about the Beatles. You'll get more of it in the next few reviews as I go through all the Beatles vinyl I have. What about this particular release?  You may be thinking: "I have never seen/heard of this before."  Well, aside from this copy, which was given to me by a friend's parents shortly after I first discovered the Beatles and wouldn't stop talking about them, neither have I. And that's probably because, according to my internet searches, this was an unauthorized bootleg that was sold only via mail order using late-night TV ads for a brief period in the 1970s.

It's an odd little collection that no one who was actually associated with the Beatles or Apple records would have put together. Aside from the unusual ordering of the tracks and the presence of post-Beatle tunes such as "Bangladesh," recorded live at Harrison's famous benefit concert and Lennon's beautiful manifesto "Imagine," there are a couple of other strange features as well. There seems to be some reverb added to some of these recordings, and the vocals are sometimes difficult to hear. The Sergeant Pepper theme cuts off abruptly right before "Billy Shears" is sung, because the song as it appears on the album transitions immediately into "With a Little Help from My Friends," but does not do so on Alpha Omega. This choice is particularly strange given that the song does appear on a later disc, so there's no apparent reason why these tracks were broken up.

The version of "Help!" that appears on this record is also unusual, as it has an intro attached to it that sounds like James Bond Music. Apparently, this was how it appeared on the original American release of the Help! album. Capitol records in the U.S. would often shave tracks off of the Beatles' releases so they could use them to release more albums that collected these tracks. This was a practice that went on until Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band came out in 1967. Apparently (and I didn't know this because when these albums were released as CDs, they were all the original British versions), the songs removed from the Help! album were replaced with soundtrack music from the film, including the 007-ish intro to "Help!" that appears on Alpha Omega.

Oddities aside, this really is a nice snapshot of the Beatles' catalogue. Long ago, a friend and I were talking about which Beatles' albums we had.  He said he had, among others, "the Greatest Hits... whatever that means. Everything they wrote was a hit so I can't see how you'd even decide." Fair enough, but if you could make that call and weren't worried about how many songs to include, you'd probably end up with something pretty close to what appears on Alpha Omega.

I found a version of "Help!" with the spy music intro.  Check it out.

Total songs listened: 411

Bob Sharples: Battle Stereo

Review # 29
Artist: Bob Sharples
Title: Battle Stereo
Format: LP
Label: London
Year: 1964
Songs:6








Technically, this should be filed under "S" I suppose. But I file under "B" for a couple of reasons.  First, on the off chance I ever want to actually listen to this, I'm more likely to remember the title than the name Sharples. Second, Sharples is the director of this record, but there's no indication who is actually performing these songs, and when I don't know the artist, I file things by title. So filing it under "S" is probably technically correct, but I keep this in "B" so I'm reviewing it now.

I don't remember exactly how or why this record came into my possession. It might have been something I picked up with the idea of using it for samples on one of my own music projects, but I'm really not sure. It's a collection of martial music from various wars, beginning with the Revolutionary War and ending with World War II. Alongside the music, throughout the record, are battle sound effects and famous speeches pertinent to the various wars.  It's a weird record.

This would have been a good record to review a few days ago on July 4. It begins with stirring drum roll and someone pretending to be Paul Revere, shouting "The British Are Coming! The British Are Coming!" If you think too hard about this, it doesn't make such sense for Revere to be shouting this, as the colonists at this point would mostly have still considered themselves British, and indeed, historians, from what I understand, take issue with this popular depiction of Revere's famous ride. But I digress. Another odd moment for me was during the Civil War portion of the record in which the band strikes up "Camptown Races," which I know best as a song performed by the Frogtown Ramblers.  Was this really a battle song? I looked it up, and apparently it was. I have a hard time imagining men rushing into the heat of battle singing "doo dah, doo dah, oh the doo dah day," but apparently this was indeed a Civil War song.

This is a strange, war-glorifying record.  But one thing that's kind of cool about it from a conceptual perspective it is that, according the liner notes, the various songs actually transition back and forth to indicate the significant victories and defeats of each war, and sometimes actually compete directly with each other for just a few seconds as one rises and the other falls.  So, in the Civil War section of the record for example, the music alternates between "Dixie" and "Battle Hymn of the Republic" in ways that are supposed to be timed to indicate union and confederate victories, and of course concludes with a great swelling version of "The Battle Hymn."

Wars recreated on this record include the American Revolution, the Napoleonic-Russian War, the American Civil War, the Crimean War, World War I, and the World War II (specifically the Battle of Britain). Whoever put this together really knew their wars and their martial music. This includes a lot of tunes that everyone would recognize, but also less familiar ones like France's "Aupres de ma Blonde," from WWI.  It also includes "Deutschland Uber Alles," a song which, if I'm correctly informed, is still illegal to play in several European countries.

So, from a historical standpoint, this is kind of an interesting record I guess, and the concept of the record is executed well.  But it glorifies war far too much for my tastes. This is the first time I've played the whole thing and I can't imagine doing it again any time soon.

Total songs listened: 341

Barrroom Piano: Fantastic, Honky Tonk Player Barroom Piano

Review # 26
Artist: Barroom Piano
Title: Fantastic, Honky Tonk Player Barroom Piano
Format: LP
Label: Audio Fidelity Records
Year: 1963
Songs: 14


Ok punk fans.  Get ready for a long dry spell, because this is the first of a whole bunch of other types of records. It'll be a couple of weeks now probably before we hit another straight-up punk rock record. For those of you into the more eclectic reviews, now is your time.

I listed the artist on the record as "Barroom Piano," because these are literally recordings of a player-piano.  There's no person performing on these songs, and the songs themselves are credited to a number of different people, so I have deemed the piano itself to be the artist on this record. Further, I personally file this under "BA," so whether or not this is the actual artist, that's where I keep it, so this is where I'll review it.  That's going to be a common theme over several of the next few records, actually.

These recordings were made in Paul Eakins' "Gay 90s Village," a recreation of an 1890s American town located in Sikeston Missouri, which the record sleeve describes as "the Disneyland of the Midwest." It began as Eakin's collection of player pianos, calliopes, and apparently "automatic banjos," which I've never heard of before. As best as I can determine from the internet, the village is gone, but the collection still exists in St. Louis.  I'm headed there soon, actually, so I may try to check this out.  There are some pictures here.

So that's all pretty interesting, to me at least.  A weird little slice of Americana.

The piano itself, according to the record sleeve, was made in 1915 for use in the red light districts of midwest steel towns. Apparently it was used in saloons and brothels before it found its way into Eakins collection. He spent over 600 hours restoring it to its original condition.  According to the sleeve, it was deep red in color, including the keys of the piano, to match the parlors where "ladies of the evening" would entertain their guests. The things this piano must have seen...

Anyway, the songs on this record are mostly well known tunes from days gone by. There's some Tin Pan Alley stuff and some other, even older songs.  A lot of these were tunes I recognized but never knew the names of. A few you might recognize by name include "My Blue Heaven," "My Wild Irish Rose," "Meet Me Tonight In Dreamland," and "The Battle Hymn of the Republic."  Something that's cool about these tracks and adds to the sort of field-recording feel of the record is that at the beginning of each song, you can hear a nickle being dropped into the slot to the start the piano. I guess the Bay Rum Boys may have been looking back with rose-colored glasses on the merits of player pianos as compared to juke boxes.

Something else that stands out in these recordings are the rapid trills this piano is capable of.  According to the sleeve, the trill mechanism in this piano was quite special in that each hammer in the piano could strike a string as many as ten times per second. I don't know how fast a person can play a piano, but I'm guessing it's not that fast. You can really hear it, especially on the high notes.

This is probably not a record I'd play all the time.  Indeed, it's something I got free from my dad and this is the first time I've played it all the way through, but it's sort of neat slice of history to have in the collection.

I couldn't find any clips from this record on the internet, unfortunately, although it looks like you can buy this record on Amazon and a variety of other places if you just have to hear it.

I did find this clip of Paul Eakins on a game show in 1960s, in which he demonstrates the workings of one of his larger automated musical instruments.

Here's Eakins at the Gay 90s Village.

They just don't make them like they used to.
Total songs listened: 320

Louis Armstrong & Duke Ellington: The Great Reunion

Review # 18
Artist: Louis Armstrong & Duke Ellington
Title: The Great Reunion
Format: LP
Label: Emus
Year: 1961
Songs: 7







I love Duke Ellington.  He was the first jazz artist I ever got an album by. I'll be reviewing a lot more of his stuff before this project is over, especially in the cd portion of the blog.  You put him together with Louis Armstrong and you've got a combination that's hard to beat. These two men were masters of their art form and collaborate wonderfully on this record. This is one of the best jazz records in my collection, and while I'm not an expert on jazz, I'm inclined to think it's one of the best ever recorded. I just love this album.

The line-up here is Armstrong and his regular band, plus Ellington on piano. The songs are all, according to the liner notes, arranged by Ellington, and many (all?) of them are classics from the Ellington catalogue, such as "Don't Get Around Much Anymore." But the record sounds like both of these artists. Neither eclipses the other, and the unique and enjoyable styles of both artists are clearly evident on every song.  Armstrong sings on all the tracks, and, even more than usual, he sounds like he's having a great time. The songs are full of energy.  Even the slower ones like "I've Got It Bad And That Ain't Good" and "Azalea" flow so naturally and feel like they just move along under their own power.

The swinging tunes on the record are wonderful romps. For example, the record starts with "It Don't Mean a Thing," which in my book is one of the most fun jazz tunes ever recorded. The pacing on this rendition is just right--fast, but not frantic, and we get a little bit of Armstrong's famous scatting, too.
My only complaint about this record is that it's only seven songs.  I'd love another five or six.  Apparently the "reunion" in the title is a reference to the fact that this is the second collaboration between Armstrong and Ellington. I've never heard it, but I'm going to have to get my hands on the first one, one of these days, because seven songs is just not enough when it's this good.

Here's "Azalea" if you want to check it out.

Total songs listened: 227

Frank Friday! Frank Sinatra and Count Basie: It Might As Well Be Swing

Review # 12
Artist: Frank Sinatra & Count Basie
Title: It Might As Well Be Swing
Format: LP
Label: Reprise
Year: 1964
Songs: 10



This is one of my favorite Frank Sinatra records ever. In fact, as far as the swinging Sinatra material goes, this the absolute best, as far as I'm concerned. Sinatra is teamed up here with one of the true masters of jazz, Count Basie, and his orchestra. The songs are arranged and conducted by another famous name in American music, Quincy Jones. You just can't go wrong with this combination, and this record is practically flawless. Starting with "Fly Me to the Moon," the first song on side A, this record always has me snapping my fingers and singing along. It puts a spring in my step. It makes me want to get dressed up for a night on the town and drink martinis. It just feels cool and classy to listen to this record.

My favorites on this collection are "Fly Me To the Moon," "The Best Is Yet To Come," and Sinatra and Basie's rendition of "Hello, Dolly!" which features lyrics that have been altered to include a loving tribute to Louis Armstrong. There's also the touching "I Wish You Love," a song in which a lover that never was wishes the best for the object of his unrequited love. One of the great things about Sinatra is that, no matter what he's singing, you feel like he means it. Thus, even though this is a mostly upbeat song, it's a little poignant as well, as the protagonist of the lyrics gracefully lets go of the one that got away.

Throughout the record, the band swings in a way that makes you wonder how it is that big bands ever went out of style, and you can feel the energy between them and Sinatra, who, according to the liner notes, shunned the isolation booth usually used by singers so that he could see the band and they could see him. It pays off. The performances are lively and just feel incredibly natural and effortless. The only song on this record I don't dig as much is the closing tune, "Wives and Lovers," which, even for 1964, is just painfully sexist. If you aren't familiar, the song basically tells all the wives listening that they need to make themselves pretty, otherwise their husbands will cheat on them with girls at the office because, well, you know how men are. I don't fool myself to think that Sinatra was a man of enlightened feminist views, but this one just goes too far and frankly (no pun intended) makes me feel a little uncomfortable.

A cool feature of this record is that on the back of the sleeve, there's an interview with Quincy Jones (or "Q" as Sinatra apparently nicknamed him) which offers some interesting insight into the recording process and what it was like to work with Sinatra and Basie.  I particularly liked this quote:

"[Sinatra is] not constricted by the melody as it was written. He bends it so that invariably it fits flawlessly into what's going on in the background. So far as I can put the essence of Frank into words, I'd say that he just makes everything work. He makes everything fit, and that's exactly what happened on these sessions."

I can't disagree.

Fly to the moon with Frank and the Count here.
Total songs listened: 151