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[Blair N. Cummings]

I seem to recall reading somewhere that "Promise Her Anything" was given that guitar riff as a wink at the Beatles` "Daytripper." Maybe a bit of a stretch but plausible, I guess.

[harrymcc]

Mama Cass Elliot—one of the greatest voices of her era—singing “The Look of Love” on the Carol Burnett Show. The staging is bizarre, but Cass is, as usual, infallible. I wish she’d done more Bacharach/David.

[Sara D]

I seem to recall reading somewhere that "Promise Her Anything" was given that guitar riff as a wink at the Beatles` "Daytripper." Maybe a bit of a stretch but plausible, I guess.

Yes, or 'I Feel Fine'.

I somehow remembered 'Fender Mender' by The Celestials from the 'On The Flip Side' soundtrack as being quite rocky, only to discover on hearing it again that it could almost be the 5th Dimension!

Brenda Marsh's 1968 UK single release of 'Cross Town Bus' has a mostly driving beat but also some pretty discordant brass chords which wouldn't have exactly helped its commercial prospects.

[pljms]

The mention here of 'Day Tripper' and 'I Feel Fine' reminded me of just how many of my favourite Beatles' tracks stem from their middle period and with John often very much to the fore.

[Blair N. Cummings]

Paul, I had that album as an import. As you doubtless know, the first few Beatles and Stones releases differed in their UK and US forms. I was never sure why. There was no exact corollary here to Beatles For Sale but I always liked it.

[pljms]

Yes, the US versions of the early albums would invariably be shorter and would also include hit singles. I believe they recorded Beatles For Sale in a state of near exhaustion after a year of trying to cope with 'Beatlemania' and that tiredness was something that was very obvious to my ears when I first heard the album. Certainly the strain of trying to come up with original material while dealing with the near hysteria their success had brought them is very evident and it would be the last time they resorted to padding out an album with several covers. However, I believe that what ever disenchantment John Lennon must have felt was starting to have a positive effect on his Muse and I think also that it takes a pretty brave man to write and sing a song with the title 'I'm A Loser'.

[grooverider]

Remembered more for his collaboration with Madonna, this is from his self titled album.

RIP, Nick Kamen:

[pljms]

One famous pop composer recording an album of his arrangements of another famous pop composer's hit songs is still a unique concept fifty years after Tony Hatch released 'What The World Needs Now', his purely instrumental collection of a dozen Bacharach classics. Being familiar with Hatch's instrumental versions of his own hits it doesn't surprise me that he takes the occasional liberty with Bacharach's chord progressions on a few of the tracks.

[blueonblue]

Thanks Paul....and here's another Hatch instrumental, co-written with his then wife Jackie Trent who had a huge hit with her version in the UK charts back in 1965...


"blue"

[Sara D]

Tony Hatch's orchestral version of his most famous song starts off quietly but it eventually captures some of the excitement of his arrangement for Petula Clark's hit recording.

[pljms]

Revolver TV have recently posted on YouTube a video of Laura Nyro's one and only TV appearance. This footage of her performing 'He's A Runner' and 'Save The Country' from January 1969 is far superior in quality to the video previously posted of this clip, both the picture and the sound. Watching this again I find it curious that she merely sings to a backing track for 'He's A Runner' while tackling 'Save The Country' alone at the piano. She's introduced on the show by Bobby Darin.

[Blair N. Cummings]

She`s lip-syncing both. Those are album tracks. Although she was clearly playing piano in the studio, that`s not what we are hearing. For some reason, this was common of television performances in the `60s.

[pljms]

Yes, there's a conspicuous lack of a microphone.

News of two new releases this year, including the demos she recorded for an audition in 1966.

[Blair N. Cummings]

I`m very happy that Laura`s demos are finally receiving a legitimate release after bubbling around on the InterNet for so long.
What I don`t understand is why this `94 concert from a tour of Japan (available as an import for years) is being hyped and available for pre-order when the far superior performance from `70 - Nights Before Christmas - wasn`t even released in the US. Yes, it was previously available as a bootleg but it outshone in quality the Spread Your Wings and Fly recording of a year later. Her latter years have been over-represented by "live" albums since her death and Trees of the Ages will add nothing to her legacy.
PS: I have just discovered yet another late-period "live" album recorded in `78 at the Bottom Line (where I last saw her). I`m assuming that the pre-order price on Amazon (US) of $264.20 is a misprint. Even in New York I didn`t have to pay that to see her in person.
I haven`t heard it but I saw her in those days. I`m sure it`s nice but skip it and buy The Nights Before Christmas...or, if you must have latter-day Laura, get a copy of the commercial bomb, Nested. It`s lovely.

[pljms]

The track list for Laura Nyro's Go Find The Moon: The Audition Tape, the demos she recorded in 1966. This is scheduled for release in September.

1/ And When I Die
2/ Lazy Susan (false start)
3/ Enough Of You
4/ In And Out
5/ Go Find The Moon
6/ Luckie/Studio Talk
7/ When Sunny Gets Blue (fragment)/Kansas City (fragment)/I Only Want To Be With You (fragment)
8/ Lazy Susan