Posted on 09/05/2006 11:21:33 AM PDT by freepatriot32
This Old Heart of Mine is from the Motown album that was severely critisized for not showing the group on the album cover but instead showing a young white couple at the beach.
Gordy later said he thought that showing the Isley Brothers on the cover might inhibit crossover sales.
Kind of sad thinking,really.
Lots of record companies used to do stuff like that, if I recall, Riverman. I remember buying albums by Bobby Hebb and The Marvellettes that did the same thing. In fact, ironically enough, it seems to me that Arthur Conley's "Sweet Soul Music" album managed to avoid having a picture of him. Jeez, imagine our surprise upon finding out that he did not look like Johnny Tillotson!
Hey,I remember that Marvelettes,Please Mr. Postman album.It had this picture of a mailbox with a spider web on it.No picture of the group anywhere.
Bobby Hebb!Now THATS a good singer who never got his props.His follow up to Sunny,Love Me,sounded exactly like the hit but his next single,Satisfied Mind,is one of my all time favorites lyrically.
Never went anywhere on the charts,tho!
Riverman -- you've got it with The Marvellettes album with the cartoon cover. I also recall a Shirelles album where there were just drawn silhouettes of four women sitting on swings. Pretty lame.
I agree Bobby Hebb never went as far as he should have. Glad to run into another person who appreciates "Satisfied Mind." He had one called "Bread" that I liked at the time -- I think it was the flipside of "Sunny." I never saw anyone bring a house down more than Hebb did during a performance of "Sunny" on "The Tonight Show." He did an incredibly dramatic crescendo upon crescendo and practically tore the place apart. I had no idea he had it in him.
Garnett Mimms should have been a superstar too!
Garnett Mims.Cry,Baby,right?1963?
I may have asked you this before but do you recall a version of Que Sera Sera that came out in the Summer of 1963?It was by black R and B group,something like the Five Keyes or five something?Man,it was dynamic.
You are the oldies Man of the Hour,speedy, and it is great to waddle in obscure but brilliant tunes with you.
Absolutely. A great year for music -- "Hey Girl" by Freddy Scott and "Monkey Time" by Major Lance and "That's How Heartaches Are Made" by Baby Washington and "I Know, I Know" by former Spaniels lead Pooky Hudson.
Not to mention all those Spector songs ("Da Doo Ron Ron" and "Be My Baby" etc.) and even "Denise" by Randy and the Rainbows. Oh yeah, and two of my favorite cha-cha songs, "Easier Said Than Done" and "A Walking Miracle" by The Essex. Three, if you count "Theme From Mondo Cane (More)" by Kai Winding and his Orchestra. "Memphis" by Lonnie Mack. "If You Wanna Be Happy" and "One Fine Day" and "Since I Fell For You." A great interlude between Elvis and The Beatles.
Yes, I do recall the "Que Sera Sera" version you are talking about -- may very well have been The Five Keys. Maybe The Five Royales? Nah. You could beat me any day of the week on obscure oldies, Riverman. But we do share some in common. Wasn't "Groovy Baby" by Billy Abbott on your list?
Yes,I have the 45 of Groovy Baby by Billy Abbott and I must agre that 1963 was a dynamite year for pop music.
Some of my favorites from that year you didn't mention-Hello Stranger by Barbara Lewis,Daughter by the Blendells,Mama Didn't Lie by Jan Bradley,Donna The Prima Donna by Dion,The Bounce by the Olympics,Hot Pastrami by the Dartells and Drag City by Jan and Dean.
The Essex were real smooth.Were'nt they USAF personnel stationed in England at the time?Maybe they could say they were on the first wave of the British Invasion.
OH,and 1963.Lets not forget Sally Go Round the Roses.
Now just WHAT was that song about?
So many other great tunes from that year -- "This Is My Prayer" by Theola Kilgore; "Just One Look" by Doris Troy; "I'll Take You Home" by The Drifters; "Talk To Me" by Sonny and the Sunglows; "You Can't Sit Down" by The Dovells.
There were the early strains of Motown -- "Pride And Joy" and "Come And Get These Memories" and "Fingertips" and "Mickey's Monkey." Some of the prominent male soloists had hits like "Blue Bayou" by Roy Orbison and "True Love Never Runs Smooth" by Gene Pitney and "Two Faces Have I" by Lou Christie and the pre-bubble gum Tommy Roe with a strong blue eyed soul effort in "Everbody."
The same station that might play Theola Kilgore or Maxine Brown would also play country crossovers like "Detroit City" by Bobby Bare or "Six Days On The Road" by Dave Dudley or "Ring Of Fire" by Johnny Cash or "I Can't Stay Mad At You" by Skeeter Davis.
A few guilty pleasures for me from that year included Barry and the Tamerlanes "I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight" and the melodramatic "Hello Heartache, Goodbye Love" from Little Peggy March. Remember "He's Mine" by Alice Wonderland? Or the Big Dee Erwin rendition of "Swingin' On A Star"?
The market had not yet fragmented and hardened into inviolable genres. And in that year, before we had the British Invasion, we had already been invaded by Japan ("Sukiyaki"), Belgium ("Dominique"), Australia ("Tie Me Kangaroo Down") and Brazil ("Maria Elena"), plus wherever it was Ray Baretto was from ("El Watusi.") Wonderful stuff.
One last note from that year, a song that always reminds me of the JFK assassination because I remember hearing it on the only station that I could get that was still playing its regular programming during those three or four days -- the treacly "Wonderful Summer" by Robin Ward. She is better known as the vocalist on those Rice-A-Roni commercials!
Que Sera Sera
The High Keyes
ATCO Records
= Great song; hard to find on CD
Another great song from around then that is also very hard to find on CD:
Shake Shake Sherry
The Edsels
Capitol Records
I am looking for the name and group who did a real slow, funky instrumental in the early 60's with Spanish language "call outs" during the tune. I think it charted, but cannot find the name.
The HIGH Keyes!Thank you,raldon.
I remember Shake Sherry shake by the Edsels.I never get tired of Rama Lama Ding Dong either!
Could the Spanish language song be done by Thee Midnighters of Whittier Boulevard fame?
Just a wild guess.
Riverman: Shake Sherry (Shake) was by the Contours - it also is a great song that came out about the same time as Shake Shake Sherry and was more popular. The Edsels only big hit was Rama Lama Ding Dong, which I agree is a rock classic. Raldon
Riverman: Thanks for the tip - I will check it out and let you know. Raldon
And Bubba said "shake it up baby, twist and shout, work it on out now twist and shout".
And was not Dennis Edwards,later with the Temptations,once a member of the Contours?
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