Teresa Brewer - early recordings

(updated October 4, 2011)

How her recording career started.
Her birth name was Theresa Breuer, her parents being German. They lived in Toledo, Ohio, USA. Birth date May 7, 1931 (a girl:).
As I understand it, she quit school as soon as she turned the legal age of 16 in 1947, and zipped off to New York for professional singing engagements, accompanied by her aunt. She was a hit in clubs as in the Latin Quarter. Soon an agent offered his service.
At age 17 she was already married, to Bill Monahan.
In 1949 London Records, based in England, noticed and signed her.
It took two unsuccessful singles before she hit with Music Music Music. 1949 into 1950 it became a #1 international million seller, while she was 18.

Now I believe I read that she and her husband lived in England for a few years at that time, where she kept recording for London into 1951. That year she switched to the US Coral label. I assume about that time they returned to the US. This is information I can't confirm now, so this is a method to get feedback. It seems as if for publicity reasons that info is suppressed.
In the US her permanent residence was just north of New York City, and she worked out of New York.

The singles I know of on London, with Billboard US chart positions and 78 numbers, were:
1949- When the Train Came In / A Man Wrote a Song (511)
- I Beeped When I Shoulda Bopped / Old Man Mose (563)
1950- Music M.M. (#1) / Copenhagen (604)
- Choo'n Gum (#17) / Honky Tonkin' (678)
- Punky Punkin' / Cincinnatti Dancing Pig (768)
- Molasses Molasses / Grizzly Bear (794)
- You've Got Me Crying Again / He Can Come Back Any Time He Wants To .... (795)
1951- The Thing (#20) / (873)
- If You Want Some Lovin' / I've Got the Craziest Feeling (967)
- Oceana Roll / The Wang Wang Blues (1083)
- Longing For You (#23) / Jazz Me Blues (1086)

Coral early singles:
1951- 1. Sing Sing Sing / I Don't Care
1952- 2. Lovin' Machine / Noodlin' Rag
- 3. Gonna Get Along Without Ya Now (#25) / Roll Them Roly Boly Eyes
- Til I Waltz Again With You (#1)
1953 - Dancing With Someone (Longing For You) (#17)-
- Baby Baby Baby / I Guess It Was You All The Time (solo version) _ _ (from her movie Those Redheads From Seattle)

Highlighted song titles are linked to online samples.
There were also singles where she sang in duets and groups.


Musical film shorts

Teresa filmed seven numbers in 1951. The songs were Music Music Music, Ol' Man Mose, If You Want Some Lovin', I'm the Lonesomest Gal In Town, Copenhagen, I've Got the Craziest Feeling, Honky Tonkin'. They were shot on 16mm film in Los Angeles for use as filler on television stations, and many other singers did the same. They were called the Snader Telescriptions, and were backed by the Firehouse Five Plus 2 band. She was still on the London label at the time, aged 19.

------ ------

I have some questions and observations on these. It is said that these were all recorded live. However Ol' Man Mose sounds exactly like her 1949 recording. Is the personnel shown in the Craziest Feeling film really the Firehouse 5? That's Jack Pleis on piano, an arranger for record labels, not a member.


Music! Music! Music! - alternate masters:

Apparently the hit of Music was processed and mastered at the time to change the sound.
In 1976 London Records reissued 12 songs on the "World Of Teresa Brewer" LP. It has a London recording of Music that's about 15 seconds shorter with a different tone. Maybe they wanted to lower the pitch of the voice by slowing it down. I don't think they had tape at the time, so I don't know the method. The original master was obviously preserved by London and reissued here. Did they realize which edit they were reissuing? In other words the hit issue was slower and longer than what Teresa recorded.

Music! Music! Music! - original master from World LP













Child performer

Teresa first performed on a local radio show at age two, singing Take Me Out To the Ball Game. Then from age 7 to 12 she was a regular with the Major Bowes Amateur show on radio and on tour. From age twelve she was a star on the local TV show Pic and Pat. So she was no novice when she hit New York at age 16.
Press here to hear her singing on Major Bowes: Darktown Strutters' Ball
This is found on the DVD The Original Amateur Hour hosted by Pat Boone.


Teresa's high school Yearbook entry 1947-48



Performing in a club in the early years.










Teresa's home after marriage, in New Rochelle north of New York city.




Reference:
her fan site is at teresafans.org

Elvis Presley - The Rise and Decline and Comeback

(updated November 21, 2009)

In his hit period with RCA I see three phases. First before and during the army. Second from his army return to 1968. Third from his 1969 comeback til his supposed death in 1977.
What I call the decline started after 1965 and lasted til his comeback Christmas TV special in December 1968.
So there are two ways of looking at this - one by his 3 periods, and secondly by the ups and downs.

His first period 1956 - 1959 was the raucous rockabilly, using his instrumental trio as backup. When he was drafted in 1958 RCA picked as many songs as they could for him to record and release while away. These were not the best songs, but kept him afloat, and were collected on his second Golden Hits LP. They ran out of these hit singles by summer 1959 and he was not on the charts until his return in April 1960.

The second phase 1960 -1968.
In Europe he learned some classic European songs like O Sole Mio, and probably matured. On his return he asked the songwriters to adapt some of these for him. So O Sole Mio became It's Now Or Never, Torne a Sorrento became Surrender. Wooden Heart was from a German song.
No time was wasted when he returned. A couple of the songs debuted on the Top 40 immediately at #1. A couple others took a whole two weeks to reach #1.
Well the power of 1960 didn't quite continue in full force. I'd say he continued to have great original hits til the end of 1962 with "She's Not You". But even by 1961 they dropped to the level of "Feel So Bad", and people could sense this.
They were now using fuller arrangements at the Nashville scene. I suspect Boots Randolph was adding those great sax bits in the background, and maybe Floyd Cramer was in piano. These were his greatest productions, based on songs of the greatest writers like Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman.
There were four great regular albums (non-movie) between 1960 and 1965 - Elvis Is Back, Something For Everybody, Potluck, and Elvis For Everyone.
By 1963 his singles started to lack that great originality, tho they were still fine - Return To Sender, One Broken Heart For Sale, Bossa Nova Baby ...
Now they fell back on recycling some previously recorded album songs like Such An Easy Question (from Potluck).
By now his last #1 was Good Luck Charm in 1962. In 1963 he had some top 10s, in 1964 no top tens. In 1965 came his last top 10 until 1969 - Crying In the Chapel at #3 (Billboard). There would be no more #1s until Suspicious Minds in 1969.
In an interview around 1970 Elvis said there was a problem finding great new rock&roll songs by then. RCA started wasting our time with singles like Puppet On a String, Love Letters, and Indescribably Blue. So 1966 - 1968 was the decline. They tried some rockers which were not good enough: Big Boss Man, US Male, Long-Legged Girl, Guitar Man, A Little Less Conversation. They hardly made the Top 40.
But there were also some gems in that period: You'll Be Mine, Judy, Come What May, Tell Me Why ... which deserve attention.

The Comeback Special
So in 1968 Colonel Parker arranged a TV special. Instead of a Christmas theme, Elvis succeeded in making it a general rock&roll theme. He harked back to his early days, rocked in black leather, and had his original trio back.
The following singles were then geared to a new style, fitting the hippie era. There were the liberal themes decrying Negro poverty. Songs like In the Getto and Don't Cry Daddy probably caused the Detroit black riots, because they stirred up the feelings of guilt or bitterness. The music was not the same as the earlier era either.
I call this his third phase, and I relate it to the Second era of rock&roll. The first era was late 50s/early 60s. The second era being late 60s/early 70s. You know how it goes. Second era people don't recognize any music before the Beatles. Oldies start with the Beatles and Supremes, nothing earlier even exists.
So Elvis continued in this vein til 1977.
By the way I don't believe he died at that time. But it sounds like he died maybe a couple years ago. There was talk of Priscilla being left out of the inheritance.

Record-Rama Archives

(updated June 2, 2009)

Record-Rama has been a record store in Pittsburg USA for a few decades. The proprietor Paul Mawhinney has collected the largest vinyl record archive in the world. Now the store is closed and he is trying to sell that archive.
He wants to sell it as a whole collection and wants it preserved that way. His minimum price is $3 million. I say it's worth it. 1.5 million 45s dating from 1948, and a million LPs. This is not store stock, but saved copies of every record he ever dealt with. His aim was to have every single by every artist, and he published his list in his MusicMaster catalog. It probably contains every release by any favorite artist you can think of.
I think the best use would be to make the records accessible to reissue companies and to broadcasters so that anything could be made available to listeners.
He is at the same time clearing out what remains of his store stock. That is arranged thru his website and is a big-time proposition involving a minimum $5,000 purchase.
His store was a mecca for collectors of obscure rare vinyl, and I hope this music will be preserved.



A video on this can be seen at the Vimeo site:


The Archive from Sean Dunne on Vimeo.


The first edition of the MusicMaster catalog in 1982 came in two volumes, one by title and one by artist. It illustrates what he had in the archive at that time. Click to view larger.




Mawhinney's website is recordrama.com.

The Great Clyde McPhatter

(Updated January 27, 2011)

Clyde's biggest pop hits were Lover's Question and Lover Please. He started as a lead singer in The Dominoes in the early 1950s, and then had his own Drifters group in 1954-55 on the Atlantic label. That made him huge. In 1955 after an army stint he went solo and stayed that way up to the 1970s, when he died in 1972.
My interest is his solo work. He was on Atlantic in the late 50s, MGM in 59-60, Mercury 1960-65, and smaller labels after that when his success faded.
His music had a glorious joy to it, and infectious melody and beat. A high tenor, he influenced many other such negro singers like Jackie Wilson and Dee Clark.
There are some good reissue CDs now which I can recommend. For Atlantic, "Deep Sea Ball". For MGM and Mercury there is "Rockin' and Boppin'" on the Ring Of Stars label, available at Continental Records (gocontinental.com). At his wikipedia article there is an extensive list of his hits and singles.

Here is a 1962 single picture cover. It was sold recently by Times Square Records of New York and included the news clip of Clyde's death in 1972. Click the image to see it larger.


You won't find all his good stuff by any means, so here are some highlights which may be rare. Press a title to listen.

Atlantic label:
Thirty Days - 1956 - his fourth solo single, a rocker.
Come What May - 1958 - what a joyful rendition. Recorded by Elvis in 1965.
Lovey Dovey - 1959 - the Clovers song, in a definitive uptempo style, later copied by Buddy Knox.
Deep Sea Ball - 1960 - a nonhit single after he had left Atlantic. In fact recorded in 1958 obviously inspired by Rockin Robin, written by Winfield Scott.

MGM:
Think Me A Kiss - 1960 - medium hit
Whisper Softly
The Glory Of Love
This Is Not Goodbye

Mercury:
Ta Ta (Just Like a Baby) - 1960 hit. Not remembered as much, maybe because the title TaTa means little, so I add the brackets to remind of the words. Written by Clyde and not intended as the hit side, it's a winner.
I'll Love You Til the Cows Come Home -1961 nonhit. A neat R&B composition. Flip of "Tomorrow Is a-Comin", which I think was meant as the A-side.
I Never Knew - 1961 #17 R&B, #56 Pop.
Happiness - The type of song that to me defines Clyde. Flip of "I Never Knew".
Deep In the Heart Of Harlem - 1964 moderate hit.
Happy Good Times - Flip of the Harlem single.
Three Rooms With Running Water - I think the second best song on his "Songs Of the Big City" album of 1964. It would have been a good choice for a single.
Baby Baby - 1964 single, from his album Live At The Apollo. This mono sounds better than the album stereo, where his voice in the middle is overpowered by the instruments on both sides. A rare nonhit single, his second-last on Mercury.


CLYDE SOUNDALIKES

The second incarnation of The Drifters, 1955-59 without Clyde, often tried to use soundalike singers to recapture the McPhatter sound. There was David Baughn around 1955. There was Bobby Hendricks in 1958, singing on Drip Drop. In 1959 on the hit "(If You Cry) True Love True Love", everyone must have thought that lead Johnny Lee Williams was Clyde. If you can point out others make a comment. There were also separate individual singers. Listen to the comparisons:

Honey Bee - Drifters with David Baughn. Recorded ~1955 but released in 1961 on the back of Some Kind Of Wonderful.
(If You Cry) True Love True Love - Drifters with Johnny Lee Williams
Drip Drop - Drifters with Bobby Hendricks. #58 pop, uncharted R&B.
Itchy Twitchy Feeling - Bobby Hendricks 1958 solo hit after parting with The Drifters
Just Keep It Up - 1959 solo hit by Dee Clark


Brook Benton's influence
Brook wrote Lover's Question. When Clyde started with Mercury he recorded some more of Brook's compositions. Here are a couple of obscure originals by Brook that you can compare with Clyde's. I have no evidence that Brook released these, maybe he sang them as demonstration discs. Will it surprise you to hear Brook singing Lover's Question?

Lover's Question by Brook
You're For Me by Brook
You're For Me - Clyde's recording as an unsuccessful followup to Ta Ta. The flip was also written by Brook - I Just Want To Love You.

Clyde Otis was usually Brook's co-writer.
Jimmy Oliver had been the guitarist for The Drifters and Clyde for a few years. In 1960 he and Clyde collaborated writing Ta Ta and some other songs for that album.
Belford Hendricks was the arranger for many of these Mercury R&B records including Benton's. He was so good at arranging those strings, and adjusting them for an R&B sound. Check the sliding strings sound in Brook's Kiddio. In fact I've decided to give it to ya rat now, because it cries out for illustration. Blacks went crazy for it in mid-1960. It was US Billboard pop #7, and R&B #1 for nine weeks. Guess who wrote it - Benton and Otis. Check out the duet hits by Brook and Dinah Washington as other excellent examples - Baby You've Got What It Takes, and Rockin Good Way. There, that saves me from writing a separate article.

Kiddio by Brook Benton


ALBUMS

This Atlantic Hits LP was released in 1963 after his Lover Please success. One side is his Drifters songs, the other solo.



MGM tried to cash in with a "Greatest Hits" LP too, all their own recordings. I've only ever come across this one copy.

His first album on MGM in 1959 was "Let's Start Over Again", containing only ballads and no hits. (click an image to see it larger)












You'll never find it and it won't be reissued, so here's a link to the complete ALBUM.


The 1963 Mercury Greatest Hits LP contained only Mercury recordings, but some were rerecordings of his 50s hits. Not all of these were hits of course.


Following a Ta Ta album in 1960, Mercury released an album a year including Lover Please in 1962. Golden Blues Hits (1961) was full of GREAT renditions of other hits. The little known Rhythm and Soul LP of 1963 included some unsuccessful singles at the time, and had a harder edge.



Samples:
Raining In My Heart
Honest I Do

Here's a link to the complete Golden Blues album.






Sample:
Hey Love

Link to the complete ALBUM







Lover Please LP . . . . . Live At The Apollo













Songs Of The Big City - 1964

Here's a link to sample the ENTIRE ALBUM.


May I Sing For You was a 1962 Wing label LP mostly ballads.










Link to complete ALBUM





After Mercury he recorded a couple years on the Amy label, and that is on a CD titled "A Shot of Rhythm and Blues". Then he spent three years living in England, creating a following in the "northern soul" scene, which was the northeast section of England.
Returning to the US, Decca records produced an album titled "Welcome Home" and two singles, which were not successful. You may never find that so here is some material.

Samples of the singles:
I'll Belong To You
Why Can't We Get Together

Here's a link to hear the other 10 songs of the COMPLETE ALBUM.

To see an image larger click on it.


Clyde's son
Clyde had a son with Ruth Brown out of wedlock. He is now known and performing himself as Ron McPhatter. His website is at myheartentertainment.com.

Al Caiola and his Big Guitar

(Updated August 12, 2011)

Al Caiola is the pop guitarist who made hits of The Magnificent Seven and Bonanza themes in 1961. He had large orchestral backing from the United Artists label, and he adopted the style of Duane Eddy at the time - a twangy bass lead guitar sound. He was with UA thruout the 60s, releasing loads of records besides his hits. There was an import CD available from Australia at amazon titled "Bonanza - 1960-1969", which I can recommend.
It's another one of those situations where you'll never find all his good stuff reissued. Here is a complete list of his UA singles for the record. Highlighted titles have audio samples.


The Magnificent Seven / The Lonely Rebel _ _ _ 1960
Bonanza / Bounty Hunter - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- 1961
Autumn In Cheyenne / Speak Low
Rollerama / Stampede - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1962
Experiment In Terror / Sergeants 3 March
Katusha / Love Is Like Champagne
Guitar Boogie / Kalinka - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1963
Mexicali Rose
Gunsmoke / Ciao
Guns Of Navarone / James Bond Theme
Women Of The World (La Donna Nel Mondo) - - - - - - -
- - - - -/ Redigo
Burke's Law Theme / Smoke Signal
From Russia With Love / Mexican Summer - - - - - 1964
The World Of the Brothers Grimm .........................
....../ Baby Elephant Walk
On the Trail / Wheels West
Tuff Guitar / Hound Dog
Bash Brannigan / Hunky Funky ...........................1965
Ring Of Fire / Gabrielle
Glory Guys / Forget Domani
The Trials Of O'Brien / Walking Down the Line
Batman Theme / Karelia ......................................1966
Duel At Diablo / Sugar Me Sweet
Hill Country Theme .............................................
...../ Stay Awhile (Quedato Un Rato Mas0
Return Of the Seven / Rat Patrol
Eight On the Lam / Sailor From Gibraltar ...............1967
Tiny Bubbles / Stag Or Drag
Never Pick Up a Stranger / Sleepwalk
Bossa Nova Noel / Holiday On Skiis .............................
.......(with Riz Ortolani)
Here Is Where I Belong / Sound Of Music ..............1968
Scalphunters Theme / Theme For November
High Chaparral / Master Jack .................................1969
Infinity Blue / Soul American
Stiletto / Guitar Woman .........................................1969


There are some singles here that I'd still like to add to my collection.



Samples: Jezebel, Two Guitars, Big Guitar




Samples: Tall Man, Gunslinger, The Deputy



See his wikipedia article for a list of his albums.

The Diamonds - rare recordings

(Updated Dec.19, 2011)

You know The Diamonds from their 1957 hit "Little Darlin'". There are a couple of CD compilations now which present a lot more. Many of their releases of course weren't hits, and won't be found in collections. For the record here is a list..

Complete singles discography:

Black Denim Trousers and Motorcycle Boots _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _/ Nip Sip (Coral) 1955
Smooch Me / Be My Lovin Baby (Coral)
Why Do Fools Fall In Love / You Baby You .. (Mercury...) 1956
Church Bells May Ring / Little Girl Of Mine
Love Love Love / Every Night About This Time
Soft Summer Breeze / Ka-Ding-Dong
A Thousand Miles Away / Every Minute Of the Day
Little Darlin / Faithful and True ...................................1957
Words Of Love / Don't Say Goodbye
Zip Zip / Oh How I Wish
Passion Flower .. (dj only) Merc #71194 .....1957
Silhouettes / Daddy Cool
The Stroll / Land Of Beauty
Straight Skirts / Patsy (uncertain)
High Sign / Don't Let Me Down (Chic-lets) ................1958
Kathy-O / The Happy Years
Walking Along / Eternal Lovers
She Say / From the Bottom Of My Heart ....................1959
Gretchen / A Mother's Love
Sneaky Alligator / Holding Your Hand
Young In Years / The Twenty-Second Day
Batman Wolfman Frankenstein or Dracula / Walkin' the Stroll
Real True Love / Tell the Truth ..................................1960
Slave Girl / The Pencil Song
The Crumble / You'd Be Mine
You Short-Changed Me / I Sho' Lawd Will (Merc 71782) ..1961
The Munch / Woomai-Ling
One Summer Night / It's a Doggone Shame
The Horizontal Lieutenant / The Vanishing American ...1962

Highlighted titles can be heard by pressing. It's probably your only chance to hear them.


ALBUMS


Their greatest album was this 1959 Wing label compilation of 12 of their best rock&roll singles. Not fully a greatest hits album, it was very enjoyable, and features my favorite picture of them.




The Diamonds' western album

A very rare 1959 album you probably never even heard of. Twelve traditional western songs in standard arrangements with Pete Rugolo's orchestra. I found it at California Albums.
Here's a link to the complete album. Otherwise it will never be available, regardless of quality


Their first album

In 1957 following their smash Little Darlin', this album contained all original songs without any hits. The song Zip Zip was then released as a single hit.









Here is a link to the other 11 songs of the complete ALBUM.


The Diamonds Meet Pete Rugolo album can be sampled HERE.


" The Diamonds '70s " album

This is sometimes seen in their discographies. It was in 1971. I thought Dave Somerville might still be lead, but more likely none of the early members are involved. Click any picture to see it larger.











References:

The Diamonds CD that I would recommend is "The Diamonds Collection" on the Stardust label.

The official website for the original group:
.http://www.min7th.com/diamonds/

A new authorized website is at: www.thediamondsmusic.com

Nancy Sinatra and her Boots

Nancy Sinatra was one of the outstanding female singers of the late 1960s in the US, Frank's daughter of course. She's still going.
She had six Billboard US top 40 hits and more above that, plus duets with Lee Hazlewood and Frank.
These days she may sometimes be called a one-hit wonder because only Boots is remembered, but that's a typical today's error. That term is thrown around when people don't know enough, at singers who had more that one top 40. Besides, I say why does one national hit make a person a queer "wonder". It's a big accomplishment.



Here are some musical questions and comparisons. Press a selection to hear it.

These Boots Are Made For Walking - #1 1966
Arranged by Billy Strange, like all her other hits, and written by Lee Hazlewood. The descending bass intro has made it famous. Lee used to be a radio dj and had experience at mastering and processing songs to sound best on radio. I'm not saying he did this, but here's an example of what analog AM radio did for this song. The album version sounds lame in comparison. Who can comment on what radio did? Digital versions today are even more lame. It shows that mastering method is more important than bitrate. Stereo sources here have been merged to mono.

Boots - radio recording
Boots - album recording

Friday's Child - #36 1966
One of those frank anguished songs of that era like "At Seventeen" by Janis Ian. By Hazlewood again. Too depressed for me, but well arranged. However, her hits album had a version which was not the hit single version. Can Warner Brothers/ Reprise explain why? That's a strange ripoff. Was there originally a different recording on an album? The hit version is the impressive one.

Friday's Child - Greatest Hits version
Friday's Child - hit single version

You Only Live Twice - #44 1967
The James Bond movie theme. The movie music was on the United Artists label. They rerecorded it for their own Reprise label and had it on the flip of Jackson, and it charted. I think the soundtrack song turns out more impressive.

movie version
Reprise version