Where was the original "The Locomotion" recorded?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by John DeAngelis, Feb 13, 2018.

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  1. John DeAngelis

    John DeAngelis Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    New York, NY
    As I understand it, Little Eva's version of "The Locomotion" was originally recorded as a demo by Carole King, and then Little Eva's vocals were added with a few other overdubs and that became the actual record. So I'm guessing that Carole King used a different, less expensive studio for the demo than where she would have recorded something that was intended to be an actual record. Does anybody know for sure which studio she used?
     
  2. bobc

    bobc Bluesman

    Location:
    France
    It would be interesting to know where it was recorded.

    I thought that the demo singer was Eva, whose vocal was used after the song was rejected by Dee Dee Sharp.

    I don't want to get difficult about this, but I feel that Gerry Goffin seems to be being wiped out of history as everyone concentrates totally on the, admittedly extremely talented Carole King. I think that back in the day of The Loco-Motion Gerry and Carole were very much a writing and producing duo. Even the story that Eva was Carole's nanny tends to make us forget that she was Carole & Gerry's nanny. Let's not forget Gerry, please.
     
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  3. davmar77

    davmar77 I'd rather be drummin'...

    Location:
    clifton park,ny
    Actually the whole brill building writing staff are worth mentioning. A lot of talented folks there.
     
  4. Cheepnik

    Cheepnik Overfed long-haired leaping gnome

  5. majorlance

    majorlance Forum Resident

    Location:
    PATCO Speedline
    You beat me to it — curse my stubby little fingers! :doh:

    The above mentions Dick Charles Recording, which was located at either 729 Seventh Ave. or 130 W. 42nd St. in Manhattan.
     
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  6. Arnold Grove

    Arnold Grove Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
    I know that Carole King was young when she entered the music business, but I don't think Carole needed a nanny. ;)

    Of course, it was Carole and Gerry's daughter, Louise Goffin, who had a nanny. Eva was Louise's nanny.
     
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  7. John DeAngelis

    John DeAngelis Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    New York, NY
    Good point, but Carole King and the rest of Don Kirshner's crew didn't work out of the Brill Building. They were a few blocks farther north at 1650 Broadway. (I believe Neil Sedaka still has an office at 1650.) Bacharach/David and Lieber/Stoller were in the Brill Building. See below:

    Brill Building - Wikipedia
     
    Last edited: Feb 13, 2018
  8. John DeAngelis

    John DeAngelis Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    New York, NY
  9. Twodawgzz

    Twodawgzz But why do you ask such questions...

    I completely agree. Gerry wrote the lyrics for crying out loud. They are what make Goffin-King songs memorable... more than the melodies.

    Plus, if Gerry had had any kind of decent singing voice (which he didn't), he could have been a star as a performer. King only became famous (to those not paying attention to song writing credits) after Tapestry came out. And actually, she's not that great of a singer.
     
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  10. Peachy

    Peachy Forum Resident

    What?
     
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  11. Grand_Ennui

    Grand_Ennui Forum Resident

    Location:
    WI
    I agree with the both of you regarding Goffin-Not mentioning him would be like not mentioning Bernie Taupin when talking about Elton John's writing...
     
    showtaper likes this.
  12. dance_hall_keeper

    dance_hall_keeper Forum Resident

  13. Fender Relic

    Fender Relic Forum Resident

    Location:
    PennsylBama
    Good read...good song. I love Dee-Dee Sharp too and always wish we could have heard more from Alpha Zoe beyond her Hit label covers from that same era.
     
  14. O Don Piano

    O Don Piano Senior Member

    What does this mean? You’re all over the place!
     
  15. W.B.

    W.B. The Collector's Collector

    Location:
    New York, NY, USA
    The Brill Building was also home to the Coed label of Crests, Adam Wade and Duprees fame.
     
  16. Twodawgzz

    Twodawgzz But why do you ask such questions...

    I mean:

    1) Popular songs, and in this case those written by Goffin-King, are more often (but not always) remembered more for their lyrics than the music. And many song writing teams, such as Goffin-King, have one person writing the lyrics and the other the music. With all the attention today on Carole King, Gerry Goffin largely gets short shrift, because a large percentage of people think she wrote the lyrics and music to their hits. The reasons King is in the spotlight is because she did write the music to huge hits with Gerry (who deceased, cannot appear himself), she had a monster solo album in Tapestry followed by a decent solo career, the play "Beautiful" about her life (mostly while with Goffin) recently toured several major U.S. cities, and she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom (which never would have happened without Goffin's lyrics).

    2) Gerry Goffin made attempts to be a successful singer. If you go on Spotify, you'll see two Gerry Goffin albums. Unfortunately, he sounded like a rhythmically challenged bad imitation of Bob Dylan (who wrote and co-produced some of Gerry's material).

    3) Carole had a small hit with "It Might As Well Rain Until September" back in 1962, which had a double tracked vocal, I imagine to strengthen her performance and keep it more on pitch. Then nothing, until after her marriage to Goffin she recorded Tapestry in 1971. I would argue that none of the songs on that album not written by Goffin-King are nearly as memorable as their biggest hits.
    1. I Feel the Earth Move
    2. So Far Away
    3. It's Too Late
    4. Home Again
    5. Beautiful
    6. Way over Yonder
    7. You've Got a Friend
    8. Where You Lead
    9. Will You Love Me Tomorrow?
    10. Smackwater Jack
    11. Tapestry
    12. (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman
    13. Out in the Cold
    14. Smackwater Jack

    Some of the biggest hits by Goffin-King:
    1. Up On The Roof
    2. Will You Love Me Tomorrow
    3. (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman
    4. Locomotion
    5. Chains
    6. Go Away Little Girl
     
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  17. John DeAngelis

    John DeAngelis Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    New York, NY
    And Jay & the Americans had an office for their publishing company, which is where Donald Fagan and Walter Becker signed their first songwriting contract.
     
  18. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA
    Goffin was an excellent pop lyricicist and an inspiring collaborative partner to a variety of composers.

    Unfortunately, he was also a depressive, and could be quite difficult--his own worst enemy and incapable of properly playing the game for any extended period of time, which rendered the kind of pop success that King eventually found difficult or impossible, regardless of his own performing talents.
     
  19. radiomd2000

    radiomd2000 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Santa Rosa, CA USA
    I don't know how to measure memorability other than to say that "You've Got A Friend" and "I Feel the Earth Move" — and also the Stern-King song "It's Too Late" — are as easily accessible to the playback machine in my head as the Goffin-King tunes you listed.
     
  20. marmil

    marmil It's such a long story...

    Buddy Saltzman sounds like he's playing with baseball bats on the drum intro. What a great drummer - he did most of The Four Seasons' stuff & possibly played in the pit band on the Ed Sullivan Show (looking for definite attribution on that).
     
  21. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    There’s drums on the Ed Sullivan Show?
     
  22. marmil

    marmil It's such a long story...

    Well, I hear them...
     
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