I have most of these "Loss-Leader" albums myself, getting into buying them from the start. I have read somewhere that Barry Hansen(Dr. Demento) was asked to put these together. I know that he did the liner notes on the first few atleast. There were very few hits on these albums, but, like "progressive" radio at the time, it seemed as if they were including the flip sides of the hits. There was obviously intelligence involved in putting these albums together and into arranging track order. In the mid-70's, when I was in radio, I thought about doing a radio show series playing each of the albums but I never followed through. Having only one copy of each album, it would be hard to segue one song into the next without recording each album side to tape and using the tape as a second copy. Too much trouble. We had great Ampex r2r decks running at 7.5ips or 15ips, so sound quality would not have been the issue. It just came down to time.
Whole Burbank Catalog and Hot Platters are two of the first ones that I ever had. Love them both to this day.
The 1969 Warner/Reprise Songbook (PRO331 - 1969) Notes: Album artwork by Hy Fujita Released in a gatefold cover with an attached 4 page booklet offering information about the artists and tracks. Scans here: http://www.willardswormholes.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/SBPage3.jpg Discs are auto-coupled for automatic changers. Disc 1 = Sides A & D and Disc 2 = Side B & C. Side C label states: Not For Air Play The women featured on the front and back cover are the members of the G.T.O.'s Tracks: A1 –Wild Man Fischer Songs For Sale 0:29 A2 –Jethro Tull My Sunday Feeling 3:38 A3 –The Pentangle Sweet Child 5:10 A4 –Van Morrison Slim Slow Slider 3:20 A5 –Family Second Generation Woman 3:19 A6 –Neil Young I've Been Waiting For You 2:30 A7 –Tom Northcott Sunny Goodge Street 3:15 B1 –Wild Man Fischer Songs For Sale 0:15 B2 –The Everly Brothers T For Texas 3:25 B3 –The Everly Brothers Lord Of The Manor 4:45 B4 –Van Dyke Parks The All Golden 3:12 B5 –Van Dyke Parks Music For Datsun TV Commercial 0:58 B6 –Sal Valentino Alligator Man 2:37 B7 –The Beau Brummels Deep Water 2:29 B8 –Randy Newman Davy The Fat Boy 2:50 C1 –Tiny Tim Mr. Tim Laughs 0:25 C2 – The Mothers Of Invention Medley (4:13) C2-1 –The Mothers Of Invention The Voice Of Cheese C2-2 –The Mothers Of Invention The Mothers Play "Louie Louie" At The Royal Albert Hall In London C2-3 –The Mothers Of Invention Our Bizarre Relationship C3 –The Mothers Of Invention The Air 2:57 C4 – The Fugs Medley (3:02) C4-1 –The Fugs The Divine Toe (Part I) C4-2 –The Fugs Grope Need (Part I) C4-3 –The Fugs Tuli, Visited By The Ghost Of Plontinus C4-4 –The Fugs More Grope Need (Grope Need - Part II) C4-5 –The Fugs Robinson Crusoe C4-6 –The Fugs The National Haiku Contest C4-7 –The Fugs The Divine Toe (Part II) C5 –The Fugs Wide, Wide River 2:47 C6 –Arlo Guthrie The Pause Of Mr. Claus 7:50 D1 –Sweetwater Why Oh Why 3:00 D2 –Joni Mitchell Nathan La Franeer 3:13 D3 –Eric Andersen So Good To Be With You 3:08 D4 –The Electric Prunes Finders Keepers 3:00 D5 –The Kinks Picture Book 2:34 D6 –Jimi Hendrix Red House 3:45 D7 –Miriam Makeba I Shall Be Released 2:55 Song Commentary: A1 –Wild Man Fischer Songs For Sale 0:29: Really just a snippet, it isn't a song but a pitch: "Sir, would you like to hear an original song for a dime?" Fischer was a bi-polar schizophrenic street singer who Frank Zappa signed for his Bizarre label (distributed by Warner Brothers) Zappa and Fischer eventually had a falling out when Fischer became violent in close proximity to Zappa's family during a manic episode. We'll discuss Wild Man a bit more when we get to his actual songs on later releases. This track is an excerpt from "New Kinds of Songs for Sale" on the 1968 Bizarre release, An Evening with Wild Man Fischer. A2 –Jethro Tull My Sunday Feeling 3:38: A solid and propulsive blues rocker from Jethro Tull's debut album, which features the guitar work of Mick Abrahams. Abrahams departed Tull after this album after his bluesy direction began to clash with Ian Anderson's more jazzy, proggy direction. A3 –The Pentangle Sweet Child 5:10: This is a studio track from the half-live, half-studio Sweet Child double album. It is an atmospheric cut that straddles the line between folk-rock and raga rock, featuring a very tasty Eastern influenced acoustic guitar and male-female harmony vocals. Pentangle never manged to break through in America, where they have a small cult audience. In the UK, they managed one top-10 album, but only three of their twelve original albums made the charts at all there. A4 –Van Morrison Slim Slow Slider 3:20: The moody, atmospheric closing track from Astral Weeks. Notable for John Payne's muted soprano saxophone, which is as integral as Morrison's cryptic lyric, which references death and junkiedom, it ends with Morrison abruptly slapping his guitar in an edgy fashion, suggesting tremors. Astral Weeks is a notoriously tough nut to crack, but this song is a stark, sad triumph. A5 –Family Second Generation Woman 3:19: Rick Grech-composed mid-tempo rocker with an almost 70's swagger and hooky vocals. Grech also supplies the memorable violin licks on it. A propulsive hard rock song from the band's 1969 sophomore effort, Family Entertainment. A6 –Neil Young I've Been Waiting For You 2:30: This is a relatively minor ditty from Neil Young's solo debut; it starts off slow and spare before we get some wailing guitar over a post-psychedelic organ. This song is perhaps more notable for having been covered several times, first by Wild Butter in 1970 and later by David Bowie, Pixies, and Dinosaur Jr. A7 –Tom Northcott Sunny Goodge Street 3:15: This is the first artist that was unknown to me (before Warners introduced us). It's light pop-psych song that reminds me vaguely of a cross between "Mr. Bojangles" and "Feelin' Groovy" The Canadian singer/songwriter Northcott actually opened for the Who, the Doors, and Jefferson Airplane before he got his Warners contract. He was a Larry Waronker project, and had a lot of big names backing him, but never really found an audience. He retired from music in the early 70's and became an attorney. B1 –Wild Man Fischer Songs For Sale 0:15: Fifteen more seconds of Wild Man hawking songs. B2 –The Everly Brothers T For Texas 3:25: This is from the brothers' 1968 country-rock album, Roots. Not dissimilar from the country-rock offerings of the Flying Burrito Brothers or the early Eagles. Written by Jimmy Rodgers, the T is also for Tennessee and Thelma, the gal who made a wreck outta him... Perhaps most surprising about this cut are the aggressive guitars that start out chiming and end distorted. B3 –The Everly Brothers Lord Of The Manor 4:45: At the time, this was a relatively obscure B-side (to "Milk Train"). Waddy Wachtel points to it as one of his favorite songs. Eerie and creepy, it tells the story of an affair between the master and his servant girl, which the singer witnesses with regret. Vaguely psychedelic, with some remarkably atmospheric percussion and slide guitar. B4 –Van Dyke Parks The All Golden 3:12: From Park's 1968 Song Cycle, this song makes use of the "Farkle effect", a clever echo effect made possible by actually folding the tape. The effect is very Sgt. Pepper-ish, although Parks has always maintained that the bulk of this album was recorded before Pepper was released. Whimsical and silly psychedelia, it nonetheless has charm. And layers and layers of sound. B5 –Van Dyke Parks Music For Datsun TV Commercial 0:58: Mostly a disembodied female vocal singing "Datsun" in different melodies over an abstract soundscape. Very far-out and psychedelic. I have no idea if Datsun actually used it for anything. B6 –Sal Valentino Alligator Man 2:37: Sal Valentino was lead singer of the recently broken-up Beau Brummels. A somewhat woozy sounding quasi-swamp-rock tune with cajun and zydeco influences, this fun little song was arranged by Van Dyke Parks. Valentino eventually was a founding member of Stoneground (one of the very last Haight-Ashbury hippie groups), but has not done much beyond occasional Beau Brummel reunions since the early 70's. B7 –The Beau Brummels Deep Water 2:29: The Beau Brummels had been reduced to a duo by the time Bradley's Barn, their final album of their initial run, was released in 1968. Bradley's Barn was another proto-country rock album, with some psychedelic residue. A loser's anthem, this is a fairly fiery, guitar-centric track with some exotic percussion thrown into the mix, more psych than country but definitely both. B8 –Randy Newman Davy The Fat Boy 2:50: This opens as grimly, dirgelike, and disturbed before switching to a demented carnival theme. It is also the closing number to Newman's 1968 self-titled debut. One of Newman's early put-down songs with a twist, how good it is depends on how funny fat jokes are to you. Me, I find it amusing and get off on the very peculiar arrangement and changes in tempo, which make is seem a lot more epic than it really is. C1 –Tiny Tim Mr. Tim Laughs 0:25: That is exactly what he does, with increasing hysteria, for twenty five seconds. Probably the best way to start a side that will feature both the Mothers of Invention and The Fugs... C2 – The Mothers Of Invention Medley 4:13: This is an edited creation, unique to this album. The first and last segments are from Uncle Meat, and the middle from the Albert Hall performance. Suzy Creamcheese is the "Voice of Cheese", "Louie Louie" is really an extended joke, and "Our Bizarre Relationship" is a spoken piece by Ian Underwood ("the straight member of the group") and is really just another joke. Frankly, this is kind of a weirdly edited piece, but it kind of fits the mood nonetheless. C3 –The Mothers Of Invention The Air 2:57: "The Air" is a more conventional song from Uncle Meat, one of Zappa's trademark wacked-out doo wop numbers. Its homely arrangement and vocals makes a nice segue into the Fugs' mini-opus that follows. Roy Estrada, who is currently serving time in prison, provides the falsetto pachuco-style vocals. C4 – The Fugs Medley 3:02: This is another specially edited medley created for this album. Basically omitting "Claude Pelieu and J.J. Lebel Discuss the Early Verlaine Bread Crust Fragments", which would have added 4:41 to the track's length, it is a collage of satirical song fragments and spoken word clips full of dope and sex references. It is about as authentically 1969-ish as Easy Rider. From the Fugs' 1968 album, It Crawled into My Hand, Honest. C5 –The Fugs Wide, Wide River 2:47: Another song from It Crawled into My Hand, Honest. It sounds like a demented devotional, until you realize the river is one of...er, excrement. Taken from the same cloth as much of the Mothers' work, it is puerile but not exactly juvenile. C6 –Arlo Guthrie The Pause Of Mr. Claus 7:50: Taken from the 1968 live album Arlo, most of this nearly 8-minute track is a long-winded but funny shaggy dog tale about the FBI. The actual song, which he calls "a Christmas carol" is under two minutes long. It's amusing too, but the stand up routine that preceded it was better. Still, a fitting closing to an album side that focused on the weird. D1 –Sweetwater Why Oh Why 3:00: Sweetwater was scheduled to be the first performer at Woodstock, but a hassle with police slowed them down, prompting Richie Havens to go first. Sweetwater was the second act and first group to take the stage. "Why Oh Why" was part of the setlist. It's a mid-tempo rocker that resembles Signe Toly-era Jefferson Airplane with a horn section. Lead singer Nansi Nevins was severely injured in a car accident only four months later, essentially ending the band. D2 –Joni Mitchell Nathan La Franeer 3:13: Spare and lovely acoustic number (with a bit of dissonance) from Mitchell's 1968 debut, Songs to a Seagull. D3 –Eric Andersen So Good To Be With You 3:08: Another rustic-sounding country rock number with prominent pedal steel guitar and a jaunty little rhythm. Reminds me a bit of the Youngbloods' more countrified offerings. Anderson was once looked upon as a serious up-and-comer, but he is another artist who never seemed to fulfill a commercial destiny a lot of label execs had expected. From his 1968 album Avalanche, where it is just called "Good To Be With You" D4 –The Electric Prunes Finders Keepers 3:00: This is the bogus Electric Prunes; the entire band had been fired by Warner Brothers producer David Hassinger following Release of an Oath (so much for the 'nurturing' label, but never mind...). This track is from the one 1969 album that featured the scab band, Just Good Old Rock and Roll. An organ-driven, somewhat funky psychedelia number with soulful vocals, it sounds nothing like the original band at all, although there's nothing wrong with the song itself. D5 –The Kinks Picture Book 2:34: Probably familiar to most on this forum, this fun little pop tune is taken from Village Green Preservation Society. Never a hit in America (until 2004, when it was featured in a popular Canon commercial), it nonetheless has the catchiness of a familiar hit, and represents the Kinks at a peak. D6 –Jimi Hendrix Red House 3:45 You didn't think we were gonna get through this album without running into Jimi Hendrix, did you? This is actually the oldest thing on the record, reaching back to December, 1966. The song itself was part of Jimi's repertoire before the Experience was formed, and as such it is a longer, more stretched out blues than he ordinarily would play with that group. D7 –Miriam Makeba I Shall Be Released 2:55 Miriam Makeba deserves credit for being the first African to popularize African music in the West. She also lived in exile, as the South African government had revoked her passport and citizenship during the Apartheid regime. This, of course, is a Bob Dylan classic. It is sweetly sung here, perhaps a little too sweetly to be poignant. It was released as an A-side single on Reprise in 1969. Launch: The closest thing to an official launch to the series was this advertisement that appeared in Rolling Stone on May 31, 1969 (note the $1.98 price tag, which would be amended to an even two bucks in subsequent ads): Additional thoughts: There have been claims that this is the best-selling album in the series, although I have no way to confirm that without seeing sales figures, which I assume are not public. It definitely is the standard bearer; it established the basic template that sustained the series through the decade (although to cut on costs, late-era Loss Leaders were much less elaborately packaged) As a listening experience, it is quite enjoyable. The roughest part is side C, more so for the edits than the material. The mix of songs works well throughout, despite some wildly dissimilar artists. Frankly, this is a perfect album to put on in the background if you want to hear a cross-section of the late 60's that hasn't been overplayed to death. I haven't heard all the others yet, so I have nothing to compare it to. However, the breadth of this collection, and the way it still holds together and flows, is pretty remarkable. For fun, I am going to keep a little running tally of which artists landed the most tracks on Loss Leaders albums. This may offer some insight into who Warner Brothers was really trying to push. Through album #1: The Mothers of Invention - 2 The Everly Brothers - 2 Van Dyke Parks - 2 Wild Man Fischer - 2 Next up: The 1969 Warner/Reprise Record Show (PRO 336-1969), sometime tomorrow.
It'd also be cool to hear from folks who actually got their Loss Leaders by mail order when these were originally released. Did you cut out the mailing forms from Rolling Stone magazine or Warner/Reprise album sleeves and send them away? Check or cash? Did the albums arrive in a record mailer, cardboard envelope, etc? Were they shrink wrapped?
I'll second the request for any stories. Getting them in the mail was part of the whole experience that I missed.
The singer is the ghost of the girl's former lover. ("The lord and my lady are upstairs alone/ The one who could stop them is physically gone"). Eerie indeed, but a great song.
I missed that part, thanks. It was my first exposure to the song, and I'm not great on lyrics the first time. I thought is was beautiful, though. Got me curious to check out more of the Everlys' late-60's era. Guess the Loss Leaders still work...
This one and the next are the only albums in this series that I have. These aren't very common over here, for understandable reasons. I sometimes get the thought to look for them when in record stores, but the problem is where, in what section of the store, to search. Often the people running the places don't know themselves where to put them... Many of my favourite artists are included on these, and and I will be following this thread with interest, especially to find out about what tracks are exclusive versions, in one way or other. Could this have been the first US release of "Red House"? The US Smash Hits was released in July '69, was this out before that? It seems like it from the liner notes, which call it a "collector's item" from the UK Are You Experienced, but doesn't mention Smash Hits being available (the version included is however the same previously unavailable alternate take that would be on Smash Hits). Edit: Well, my copy doesn't mention Smash Hits, but the one pictured in this link does: http://www.willardswormholes.com/archives/27999 So that would suggest the sampler did come out first and they then later amended the liner notes for subsequent pressings.
Yeh, Van Dyke Parks: The Sound Move........ The late Wild Man Fischer was a regular who used to hang out at the Rhino Brothers Record Store. This was the start of Rhino Records, which ended with the sell-out to WEA. As it is said, "Another One Bites The Dust".
I know nothing at all about this series but am keen to learn so will watch with interest. Good work, Seederman.
It's from 1977, 2 LP's of R&B stuff as early as the late '60s to the late '70s and features Paul Kelly, Ashford and Simpson, Mystique among others. The only glaring omission: No Tower of Power....
Very fond memories of this one. Wait! I still have it! Its always been my favorite Loss Leader. Reading the booklet while the sides play. It really does have that vibe of FM radio at the time. Originally I got it because I saw Beau Brummels on it. On a plane trip sometime about 1968-69 I was listening to the in-flight 'In' Sound channel and one of the tracks that struck me was Deep Water. It took one maybe two years to track the darn song down, and there it was, on the Songbook. I bought it in a store, thats all I remember. From this I 'discovered' the Every Brothers Roots album, to become of my favorite albums....so Loss Leaders did its job.
I used the coupon from the LP inner sleeve and paid by check (my parents account). I believe the came in card board mailers and we're not shrink wrapped .
Right. In fact for the first three double albums (Songbook, Record Show, The Big Ball) there are two versions of the liner notes, the originals, and versions revised around 1970 to reflect news updates since the original release.
GREAT idea for a thread. I think I have around 10 of these (although now I'll have to check if any are the faux releases). I'll be following this closely.
A few comments on Seederman's excellent comments. From when Astral Weeks was new. They would comment in several future Loss Leaders liner notes on how great this album is. Great song. I like the comment in the liner notes about how no one except Neil liked the cover art he picked for his debut. I think Songbook uses the original mix, before Neil redid it to remove Haeco-CSG. Worth the price of admission by itself. IMO the target in the song isn't the fat boy as much as the narrator, who promised the boy's family he would take care of him and then ended up exploiting him. They mixed up the titles in this edit, since the Underwood part is from the track "Ian Underwood Whips It Out" rather than "Our Bizarre Relationship."
This is a great thread. I've collected many of these over the years, hoping that they might contain an alternate take, best sounding version, etc. There are some exclusive tracks on them, but I don't remember any alternate takes I found.
Seederman-really have me looking forward to the upcomings reviews. great way to do it! looking forward to a long thread-thanks
Unfortunately I doubt there are any best sounding versions, since they usually had long sides and the early albums have evidence of rushed tape copying jobs on some songs. There are a few unique songs and different mixes that people will probably mention later in the thread.
The 1969 Warner/Reprise Record Show (PRO 336-1969) Notes: The full title (only printed inside the gatefold) is "The 1969 Warner/Reprise Record Show or Son of Songbook" (Songbook being the first in the "Loss Leaders" series). Album artwork by Theresa Woodward Tracks A4, D6 & D7 are mono, all others are stereo. Each side has been given its own title Scans of booklet can be found here: http://www.willardswormholes.com/archives/27970 Tracks: Side 1: Warner Reprise’s Country & Western, Cowboy Provincial, and Twangy Americana Side; or Jumpin’ On The Country Bandwagon With Warner Reprise A1 -Neil Young (with Crazy Horse) Cinnamon Girl (2:59) A2 -The Grateful Dead Doin’ That Rag (abridged) (2:22) A3 -Geoff & Maria Muldaur All Bowed Down (2:47) A4 -The Everly Brothers Empty Boxes (mono) (2:46) A5 -Doug Kershaw Son Of A Louisiana Man (2:16) A6 -David Blue Atlanta Farewell (abridged) (1:48) A7 -Arlo Guthrie Every Hand In The Land (2:21) A8 -The Blue Velvet Band Weary Blues From Waitin’ (3:07) Side 2: Warner Reprise’s Soft Arty Underbelly Side: A Collection Of Unamplified and Other Delights B1 -Theo Bikel Piggies (3:13) B2 -Joni Mitchell “My American Skirt” (0:35) B3 -Joni Mitchell The Fiddle And The Drum (2:47) B4 -John Renbourn Transfusion (1:58) B5 -Bert Jansch Poison (3:11) B6 -The Pentangle Once I Had A Sweetheart (4:41) B7 -Joni Mitchell “Spoony’s Wonderful Adventure” (0:38) B8 -Peter, Paul & Mary Going To The Zoo (3:16) Side 3: The Many Faces of Pop C1 -Sweetwater Day Song (1:46) C2 -Louie Shelton A Walk In The Country (1:59) C3 -Lorraine Ellison Stay With Me (3:35) C4 -Van Dyke Parks Music For Ice Capades TV Commercials (1:49) C5 -Randy Newman Yellow Man (2:15) C6 -Pearls Before Swine These Things Too (3:24) C7 -Hamilton Camp Star Spangled Bus (2:44) C8 -Ella Fitzgerald The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game (3:01) Side 4: The Irreverent Hippie-Creep and Rock ‘n’ Roll Side D1 -The Fugs Yodelin’ Yippie (2:17) D2 -The Mothers Of Invention Electric Aunt Jemima (1:41) D3 -Jethro Tull Fat Man (2:45) D4 -Mephistopheles Take A Jet (2:33) D5 -The Jimi Hendrix Experience Stone Free (3:37) D6 -The Kinks Nothing To Say (mono) (3:15) D7 -Fats Domino Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey (mono)(2:44) Song Commentary: Side 1: Warner Reprise’s Country & Western, Cowboy Provincial, and Twangy Americana Side; or Jumpin’ On The Country Bandwagon With Warner Reprise A1 -Neil Young (with Crazy Horse) Cinnamon Girl (2:59) Not much to say about one of Young's best-known songs except that it was still brand-new and was still months away from reaching its chart peak (which was only #55) From Everybody Knows this is Nowhere, which had been issued about a month prior to this collection's release. A2 -The Grateful Dead Doin’ That Rag (abridged) (2:22) This is fairly severe edit of the Aoxomoxoa track which runs 4:41 on its home album. By Dead standards, this isn't an especially epic track with or without the edit, but it is a good one (even with the edit). Pigpen's keyboards are most prominent, while Garcia's vocal sounds filtered. Hunter's lyrics seem to tell a tale, but they are fragmented images more than a narrative, alluding to gambling, nursery rhymes, dance steps, delivered in a rush of words. An artifact of the Dead's most psychedelic era. A3 -Geoff & Maria Muldaur All Bowed Down (2:47) Geoff & Maria Muldaur had been in Jim Kweskin's Jug Band until that band imploded. As a duo, they cut two well-regarded albums for Reprise, Pottery Pie and Sweet Potatoes. "All Bowed Down" appears on neither album; I confess that I'm not really sure where it comes from, but perhaps this collection was its first appearance. It is atypical of their sound, featuring a full and busy horn section and psychedelic organ on top of a more conventional but spirited blues-rock song, sung by both. A little cluttered in places, but it has a likable bop to it. A4 -The Everly Brothers Empty Boxes (mono) (2:46) This is a somewhat haunting, forlorn acoustic number that sounds a lot like mid-period Simon & Garfunkel. Apparently, it did not make an appearance on an Everly Brothers album until The New Album in 1977, although it did appear as a flop single in 1968. Phil Everly has called it one of his favorites, a "pure" one guitar-two vocal recording. A5 -Doug Kershaw Son Of A Louisiana Man (2:16) This autobiographical song (usually just called "Louisiana Man") is something of a standard bearer for modern Cajun music, having been covered literally hundreds of times since Kershaw first wrote it in 1961. This version is from Kershaw's own debut album, The Cajun Way, from 1968. Instantly likable and catchy, the song features a warm Kershaw vocal and some virtuoso playing. A6 -David Blue Atlanta Farewell (abridged) (1:48) I was unfamiliar with Blue, who is best known for writing the Eagles' "Outlaw Man", but he had been around since the Greenwich Village folk days. He also worked as an actor in the 1970's. "Atlanta Farewell", a moody folk/country-ish lament reminiscent of Fred Neil, had not actually been released yet when it appeared here in edited form. It appeared on his 1970 album Me, which he inexplicably released under his real name, David S. Cohen, and which went nowhere. Lovely song; I wish the whole thing were here. He passed away in 1982 from a heart attack while jogging. A7 -Arlo Guthrie Every Hand In The Land (2:21) Guthrie was probably approaching the zenith of his popularity in 1969 (although his biggest hit would not be for a few more years). "Every Hand in the Land" is taken from his second studio album, Running Down the Road (1968) It's a sprightly folk-rock number with country shading and Dylanesque vocal delivery, one of his better 60's tunes. A8 -The Blue Velvet Band Weary Blues From Waitin’ (3:07) Here, we encounter the most obscure artist we've met so far. The Blue Velvet Band only released one single album, Sweet Moments With The Blue Velvet Band, in 1969. Michael Nesmith was apparently a fan, and the song does have that kind of zonked Texas country swing flavor that Nesmith favored; the singer could almost pass for him. Nice fiddle and pedal steel, too. Bill Keith (Bill Monroe & His Bluegrass Boys, Ian and Sylvia, Jim Kweskin Jug Band) was a member. Very little has been written about this band on the web. Side 2: Warner Reprise’s Soft Arty Underbelly Side: A Collection Of Unamplified and Other Delights B1 -Theo Bikel Piggies (3:13) Okay, here's the first Beatles reference in this thread, and it won't be the only one in this post. Obviously, the Beatles didn't record for Warner Brothers, but that didn't mean Loss Leaders was devoid of Beatles songs. Austrian-American folk singer Bikel gamely turns in a somewhat pompous but also humorous reading of "Piggies", one of three Beatles songs he covered on his 1969 Reprise album A New Day, which primarily featured covers of then-current pop songs. A Moog synthesizer features prominently throughout, especially on the instrumental breaks. If Walter Carlos could sing, it might sound like this. B2 -Joni Mitchell “My American Skirt” (0:35) This track and "Spoony's Wonderful Adventure" were not released on any of Mitchell's albums and were exclusive to this compilation. This one isn't a song, but a bit of onstage banter on how Canadians aren't political. It's a charming little clip, not sure where it is from. B3 -Joni Mitchell The Fiddle And The Drum (2:47) The onstage lead-in brings us to the a capella song from Mitchell's sophomore album, Clouds, from 1969. This is an ironic choice, because this is probably one of Mitchell's most political songs, and a fairly direct one at that. She also performed this song live on the Dick Cavett Show on its special "Woodstock" episode. The song had a brief rediscovery in 2004, during the Iraq war, with a cover by A Perfect Circle. B4 -John Renbourn Transfusion (1:58) Renbourn, who just passed away this year, was a member of Scottish folk-rock band The Pentangle, which also featured Bert Jansch (appearing next), and which also had a song itself on both of the first two Loss Leaders. This is a breezy, jazzy acoustic guitar instrumental, accompanied by busy percussion. Tasty licks abound. B5 -Bert Jansch Poison (3:11) Taken from Jansch's sixth solo album, Birthday Blues (1969), this is a dark, ominous-sounding folk rocker, with a full rock band and some searing, rhythmic harmonica. The lyrics are a bit on the cryptic side, but they hang on the intriguing question "don't you know that your creator is a'running out of ideas?" This might be the sleeper on the album for me. B6 -The Pentangle Once I Had A Sweetheart (4:41) Taken from the then-current album Basket of Life (1969), a Shel Talmy production, which proved to be the group's best seller in the UK. This one is a dreamy, delicate traditional ballad sung by a double-tracked Jacqui McShee, who harmonizes with herself. A sitar is prominent in the arrangement, putting this somewhere on the edge of British Isles folk and raga rock. B7 -Joni Mitchell “Spoony’s Wonderful Adventure” (0:38) Another chat from the stage from Mitchell. This one involves a funny story about Ian and Sylvia. B8 -Peter, Paul & Mary Going To The Zoo (3:16) Mitchell's intro abruptly shifts to this children's song, written by Tom Paxton. Taken from the children-oriented Peter, Paul, and Mommy album from 1969. The album picked up a Grammy, but it was also the trio's last until 1978. As far as children's songs go, it's okay. It sounds like the kind of thing you might sing on a school bus on the way to summer camp. A children's chorus provides a lot of the vocal muscle. Side 3: The Many Faces of Pop C1 -Sweetwater Day Song (1:46) We met Sweetwater in the last volume; this time the song is from their then still unreleased 1970 sophomore album, Just for You. This version is 26 seconds shorter than the one that would appear the following year. A pretty ballad sung by Nansi Nevins, this has less of a Jefferson Airplane feel and more of a Joni Mitchell vibe. It's a pity the band met with tragedy, because there are hints of unrealized potential on their first two albums. C2 -Louie Shelton A Walk In The Country (1:59) This is a funky horn-dominated instrumental with country-rock elements, kind of a very white version of Memphis soul, you might say. Taken from Touch Me, Shelton's only album until an indie release in 1995. Shelton is probably best known for producing and playing guitar on many Seals & Crofts hits, and he also produced Art Garfunkel and England Dan & John Ford Coley. This track is nothing special; well played, but the kind of track you'd expect a producer to make. C3 -Lorraine Ellison Stay With Me (3:35) One thing we haven't heard much of so far has been actual soul music, and Lorraine Ellison is only the second African-American artist we've encountered (Jimi Hendrix was the first). "Stay with Me" was a fairly old recording at the time, dating to 1966, but it remained popular through a lengthy series of cover versions that continue to this day. The circumstances behind this recording are fairly remarkable. Frank Sinatra had abruptly cancelled a recording session, and a 46-piece orchestra was sitting around with nothing to do. Jerry Ragovoy was called in to save the session, and worked up an orchestral arrangement for Ellison, who was called in at the last minute. It is a very affecting piece, in which singer, orchestra, and arranger all triumph. From the album Heart and Soul. The single peaked at #64 (#11 on the R&B charts). Ellison died in 1983 from ovarian cancer. This is another one of my favorites on the album. C4 -Van Dyke Parks Music For Ice Capades TV Commercials (1:49) Parks' Datsun commercial seemed to be one of the forum favorites from the last volume, and he's back with another, for Ice Capades. If Datsun was eerie and trippy, this one is more of a disjointed Moog piece, running through brief scales and melodic motifs and assorted blips and beeps. This one has no vocals. C5 -Randy Newman Yellow Man (2:15) Nobody has ever accused Randy Newman of having the most delicate ways of phrasing things, but despite the title, the lyrics are more of a plea for understanding, pointing out the "yellow man and yellow woman" is no different from "you and me". The music accompaniment is a kind of swampy, jazzy shuffle with some humorous musical allusions and some heavy hitters helping out. What perhaps has kept Newman from getting punched out through the years is his ability to find the humanity in even crude stereotypes. From his breakthrough album 12 Songs, which would not be released until early 1970. C6 -Pearls Before Swine These Things Too (3:24) The 1969 album, These Things Too, represented a point where Pearls Before Swine started to splinter and fade. Tom Rapp blames it on drugs, which had largely not been present for the recording of the band's two "classic" psychedelic albums. The title track hovers somewhere between dreamy and weary, and its clumsy, wordy lyrics give hippie haters some ammunition. However, to my ears, there isn't a whole lot of difference here from their earlier work. The arrangement is the most interesting part of it. C7 -Hamilton Camp Star Spangled Bus (2:44) I must confess that I had never heard of Hamilton Camp, which is a person not a band. He was a British-born, American-raised folkie who wrote "Pride of Man", which was covered by Quicksilver Messenger Service. He also did a lot of work in the 70's and 80's as an actor. "Star Spangled Bus" did not appear on either of his Warner/Seven Arts albums, and makes its debut here. It was covered by Longbranch Pennywhistle. Not unlike Arlo Guthrie with a stings section helping out. C8 -Ella Fitzgerald The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game (3:01) Written by Smokey Robinson, this song appeared on the album Ella in 1969. An agreeable bit of inconsequential jazz-pop, it has an ambitious arrangement and a husky vocal from Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald was a new arrival at Warners, and only stuck around for two albums. Side 4: The Irreverent Hippie-Creep and Rock ‘n’ Roll Side D1 -The Fugs Yodelin’ Yippie (2:17) The title pretty much tells the story. Another funny, topical cut from the Fugs, taken from The Belle of Avenue A (1969). An acoustic folk ditty with plenty of yodeling, it's the type of song you'll like if you like the group, and you'll be annoyed by if you aren't. The Fugs were nearing the end of the line at this point. They had one more album left in them after this one until the 1980's. D2 -The Mothers Of Invention Electric Aunt Jemima (1:41) Warners dips into Uncle Meat for a third time and comes up with "Electric Aunt Jemima" This is yet another bizarre doo wop flavored song, with sped up vocals and some weird electronic effects. Not unlike some of the work Zappa would do in the 70's. The Fugs and the Mothers are the only two really experimental groups we've seen so far, and Warners has been leaning heavily on them for the first two installments of Loss Leaders. D3 -Jethro Tull Fat Man (2:45) This sounds a lot more like the familiar Jethro Tull than did the song included on the first album. This is taken from Tull's second album Stand Up, which made it all the way to #1 in the UK. This was also the first album with Michael Barre. Most noteworthy on this track is the crazed mandolin playing which gives the track its primary sound; mandolins were not used in rock music much (at all?) prior to this recording. More psychedelic than progressive, but pointing in the direction that Tull would travel for many years to come. D4 -Mephistopheles Take A Jet (2:33) Mephistopheles was an American psychedelic band that only lasted for one album, In Frustration I Hear Singing, from 1969. I could find almost nothing else about this band. "Take a Jet" is a hard rock/psychedelic number with fuzzed out guitar, a little funkier than Blue Cheer and a little less muddy than Frijid Pink, but otherwise in the same general vicinity. D5 -The Jimi Hendrix Experience Stone Free (3:37) Hendrix returns with a cut from the Are You Experienced? era, the UK B-side to "Hey Joe" This was the second song recorded by the Jimi Hendrix Experience, in December 1966. He recorded a new version of the song in 1969, but Reprise decided to issue the old version as an A-side in September 1969, and this is the version we have here. D6 -The Kinks Nothing To Say (mono) (3:15) A little slice of life tune from Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire), from 1969. This is a good rock tune with horns and fuzzed guitar, typical of the band's evolving sound. D7 -Fats Domino Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey (mono) (2:44) The second Beatles song of the collection, this was a stand-alone single in 1969. You might not expect this song to be a particularly good match for Fats, but he handles it with aplomb, giving it a somewhat more laid-back reading than the frantic original. Good piano (naturally) and lead guitar. Domino had recorded a string of Beatles songs around this time, "Lady Madonna" and "Lovely Rita" being two more. Advertisement: Additional Thoughts: Warners was still fine-tuning their approach to the series, adding titles to each side to inject a little more of that homespun hippie humor. The titles also help to give the listener some context. The material on this album is sequenced a little better than the previous album, and doesn't feature the Frankenstein edit jobs of its predecessor. Generally, the overall sound of this album is not very different from the first one. Folk-rock, country-rock, psychedelic rock, and the Fugs' and Mothers' weirdnesses make up the lion's share of the cuts, as on the first album. The appearance of Moogs on a few cuts is new, a sign of the times. Not sure which album is better; they both are similar listening experiences, but I found two great songs today that I had never heard before (Bert Jansch's "Poison" and Lorraine Ellison's "Stay with Me") so maybe I lean more toward this one. Most Appearances So Far: Joni Mitchell, 4 (but only two songs) The Fugs, 3 The Mothers of Invention, 3 Van Dyke Parks, 3 The Everly Brothers, 3 Next up: October 10, 1969 (PRO 351 - 1969) (the first single-disc album of the series) Sometime tomorrow, unless I get to busy at work...
Note that it was written and arranged by Ron Elliot of the Beau Brummels (who never recorded it). Thanks for a fun thread.
