indy mike sez: New pick ONE tune per hour topic - BIG PRODUCTIONS!!!!

Hello from the extra sunny state of Indiana, home of RAB howler Tex Neighbors! Nope, it's not time for my often thought about, never posted RAB thread, but pretty much it's polar opposite - tunes with BIG PRODUCTION at work... Pile on the instruments, overdub another voice, run it through that Gold Star echo chamber just one more time - think big, think over the top (heck, I'll give you a clue - think Uncle Phil - check yer feelings about the recent shenanigans involving PS into a different thread about him, ok???)... Remember my selfish, control freak rules, especially appropriate for this overwrought thread topic - pick ONE tune, yak about why it's the greatest thing since sliced bread, tell us about a great sounding source, and most importantly - only one tune per post, per hour (right now it's about 8:20 - I'll post my choice, then wait until the next hour comes along, which is 9:00 - then, post another one and wait til the next hour)...

I'll start with the always amazing, often imitated, never duplicated Be My Baby, sung by The Ronettes, masterfully manipulated by the Wizard of the Wall of Sound, Mr. Phil Spector. Hal Blaine thumps us in with some propulsive percussive pops, the plinking pianos start tinkling away, clickin' castanets start a'shakin', the strum of strings ominously wallows around in the background, and THEN that fragile little girl vocal starts in - talk about "I can name that tune in one note" sorta stuff - this is the real s**t, cats and kittens....

 

Gotta go with Ike and Tina's "River Deep, Mountain High"

The Wrecking Crew just shimmers, and I can feel Hal Blaine's kick drum in my chest before every verse, just before Tina sings as though her life depended on it.

 

You don't know what "Big Production™" is until you've heard one of Alec R Costandinos' epic disco productions, which were released under several different monikers on Casablanca . Recorded at Trident Studios, most of them 48-track recordings, I think the last couple might have even been 72-track. Featuring a full orchestra, armies of studio musicians, every instrument known to the western world, all in songs that ran over 16 minutes long. These are about as over-the-top as you can get, and could only have been made possible by the existence of a label without an iota of business sense. I love these records, but there's no way they could have possibly recovered even half the money that it cost to make them.

My specific vote will go to "How Much, How Much I Love You", released under the group name of "Love and Kisses".

 

I plead complete and utter ignorance to those tunes - perhaps our pal Grant might have some thoughts - he's our R&B/disco go to guy!

 

Since we veered to the 70's, I'll pick up the ball and run with it - Bob Ezrin teamed up with the Hottest Band in the World - KISS!!!! - for the very surprising Destroyer lp; tough to pick one song, but I'll go with the leadoff tune Detroit Rock City - Peter Criss smacked the skins with a mighty tricky beat, the guitars are buzzy/fuzzy/gutter scuzzy, Paul Stanley howls the lyrics, and Mr. Gene Simmons plucks a more melodic than usual bass line (I think Mean Gene gets no respect, no respect for his very tuneful bass lines)...

 

Good Vibrations - The Beach Boys; Brian Wilson went all out on this single, and it sounds like no other BB tune; lotta Spector influenece, lotta sounds swirling around, just an amazing piece - folks clamor for Smile to appear, but it all got wrapped up into one magnificent tune in Good Vibrations...

 

Here's one out of left field: The Beach Boys' "Be With Me" from 20/20. Dennis Wilson nearly outdoes his brother with a lovely song, and production that wouldn't have sounded out of place on Pet Sounds. A real spine tingler.

 

"River Deep, Mountain High" - Ike & Tina Turner

Of course, in this Phil Spector production Ike watched from the control room, as legend has it!

I would love to hear the multi-tracks!

Bob

 

You're All I've Got Tonight - The Cars/Roy Thomas Baker at the controls (Steve's DCC for best sound, natch) - whooooo, those Boston boys got a whale of a rocker that builds and builds until it explodes in a sledgehammer of sound - gotta get the DCC to hear this one right...

 

Enya, "Orinoco Flow(Sail Away)"

Recorded in glorious Googlephonic Sound ....a real gutcruncher, would be nice to hear this in 5.1.

ED

 

Hmmmmmmm, no beatlemaniax have jumped in yet??? Meatloaf's Paradise by the Dashboard Light certainly has Jim Steinman desperately trying to catch some Spector Wall O' Sound magic (sorta there, but not really)... Enya??? Ed??? I'm starting to worry here...

 

I got it on the box set, and on the A&M stereo version, but the 45 still rules.

 

Wanna hear a phil spector record that goes BEYOND even Phil Spector?

"Stay Awhile" by Dusty Springfield. Its like they studied every Phil Spector record and crammed everything he ever used into one record!!

Absolutely fantastic, and if someone asked you to pick the most prototypical Girl Group record, it would have to be this one.

Mikey

 

I've been listening to an album I used to think sucked - The Millenium on Columbia Records. I'm still not crazy about the material itself, but the production is amazing! It was a early use of eight track recording equipment, and they did stuff they didn't know they couldn't do.
It was supposedly one of the most expensive albums done at the time, and was a complete commercial dud. When I first heard a bargain bin copy in the late seventies, I thought it was a wimped out piece o' crap, but I rushed to judgement.

If Pets Sounds had been a huge hit, it would have led to more albums of this sort.

 

And, no, Spector did not produce
Stay Awhile", sorry if my message was confusing...

 

How about Gary Usher's BW inspired "My World Fell Down" by Sagittarius (mono 45 version)? With Glen Campbell and Bruce Johnston on vocals, you couldn't get more 66-era Beach Boys unless you had a Wilson Brother added.

I never quite figured out what the idea behind the bullfight sounds was, though...

 

"Telstar"--Tornadoes

Courtesy of Joe Meek, a BIG, BIG sound.

ED

 

Born to Run - Brooooce Springsteen; Uncle Phil came into listen during the sessions and basically said - "you shoulda called me" - dense, basically mono mountain of mud - I wonder how it woulda faired under Phil's p.roduction???.....

 

Friends,

"All Strung Out" - Nino Tempo & April Stevens (1966)

Sounds like a Spector production. It was even recorded at Gold Star with it's legendary echo chamber.

Now, if we can get the MONO mix on CD that would be great!

Bob

 

Well, Nino was parta the Spector gang...

 

Well, we can, because it is....the HAPPY TOGETHER comp, once again. Nino also prefers the mono mixes of his hits, I understand.

This hour's big production:

"The Big Hurt"--Miss Toni Fisher

With that odd flanging effect and her arch vocal, this is a really cool 'big production' kind of Spectorish before Spector became Spectorish, if you know what I mean...

ED

 

We aim to please.

A Day in The Life. Huge production with a large orchestra overdubbed four times for the momentous finale.

 

Simple Minds - Street Fighting Years - one big sounding record

All the best - Andrew