Last Song You Listened To

[Domino]

Hoagy Carmichael - The Old Music Master

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Howard Hoagland Carmichael was born in Bloomington, Indiana, USA in 1899. He qualified as a lawyer, but abandoned the law in favour of music. He became friends with Bix Beiderbecke (who died aged 28 in 1931). He started composing and wrote some of the greatest songs of the 20th. Century, including 'Stardust', one of the most recorded tunes of all time. He died in 1981.

Dave

[walter raleigh]

Great song Dave, thanks for posting it. I also listened to a couple of other songs you've uploaded there, and really enjoyed "Little Red Monkey". I must have missed it when you posted it before. It's hilarious!

I've been listening to one of Steeleye Span's early albums today, and this is one of my favourite songs of theirs off of it:

Steeleye Span - Female Drummer

[Anita Bensoussane]

Ah yes, I know the folk-song Female Drummer but I'm not sure whether I've heard Steeleye Span's version before. It's a great rendition!

I also like The Old Music Master. Catchy tune and rhythm, and what clever lyrics. I love the lines:

"He hit a chord that rocked the spinet
And disappeared into the infinite."

[Domino]

Glad you liked The Old Music Master, Walter and Anita; it's long been a favourite of mine too. I agree about the clever lyrics. They were written by Johnny Mercer. He also collaborated with Hoagy on Skylark and In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening. (He was also a good vocalist.)

Dave

[Farwa]

Tell me When - Applejacks.
I love this song more and more each time I listen to it!

[Domino]

You're right, Farwa - it is a good song. [Pete has mentioned it previously.] They came from Solihull. It was a
UK #7 in 1964. Their next record was the Lennon and McCartney number Like Dreamers Do. That got to #20. This was followed by Three Little Words which made #23. After that, they never had another hit. As one book I have puts it:
Their management's attempt to promote them as the leaders of 'The Solihull Sound' was singularly unconvincing (though it is true that Don Gould's organ did at times sound like the two-tone doorbell of a Solihull bijoux residence).
Their bass player was a girl, Megan Davies, which was quite unusual at the time. Many years ago, I bought a book purporting to be a history of British beat groups. In it, it was claimed that Megan was the sister of Ray and Dave Davies of The Kinks. Complete nonsense. She was not connected to them at all. We are often told to beware of false information on the internet, but books can sometimes be just as bad.
Eddie will probably know that Tell Me When was also recorded by Freddie and the Dreamers, but only as an album track.

Dave

[Farwa]

Wow - thank you very much for the information, Domino!
Where do you get so much information?

[Eddie Muir]

Eddie will probably know that Tell Me When was also recorded by Freddie and the Dreamers, but only as an album track.

Dave

I have both versions on CDs, Dave and I really like both superb recordings. I have always been a big fan of Freddie Garrity who had a great singing voice in my opinion.

[Domino]

Johnnie Ray - Just Walkin' in the Rain (1956 US #2; UK #1)

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Before Elvis, Johnnie Ray was the big teenage heart-throb in the USA, UK and Australia. Whilst not a Rock'n'Roller, he was one of the first white singers to sing in a black style. In 1951, he had a huge million-selling hit with 'Cry', originally recorded by The Drifters (when Clyde McPhatter was their lead singer).
Johnnie was born in Oregon in 1927. He was seriously (though not completely) deaf since childhood. He always wore a hearing aid, which was quite visible (hidden ones hadn't been invented in those days).
'Just Walkin' in the Rain' was originally recorded in 1953 by The Prisonaires, a black group of convicts who were incarcerated in the Tennessee State Penitentiary at the time. They were escorted to the Sun Record Studios by armed guards!
Johnnie Ray died from liver failure in 1990.

Dave

[Eddie Muir]

I was a Johnnie Ray fan before I was a rock 'n' roll fan, Dave and Just Walkin' in the Rain is a great record. I remember being very impressed with his performance in the 1954 film, There's No Business Like Show Business, in which he starred alongside Marilyn Monroe, Ethel Merman, Donald O'Connor, Mitzi Gaynor and Dan Dailey.

[walter raleigh]

Another great 1970''s number:

Dave Edmunds - I Hear You Knocking

[Domino]

Where do you get so much information?

To answer your question, Farwa, I have always been interested in the history of popular music, so over the years I've read lots of books, magazines, sleeve notes etc., most of which I still have. Among the books I have
are 'The Penguin Encyclopaedia of Popular Music', 'A Guide to Popular Music', 'The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles', 'The Illustrated History of Pop', 'British Beat', 'First Hits', 'The Big Bands', 'The Billboard Book of Pop Memories', 'The Billboard Book of US Top 40 Hits', 'The Book of Gold Discs', and 'Music on Record: The Big Bands'.
Like Eddie, I would say that a lot of it just gets stored in your brain (not always for instant recall - but it's there).

Dave

[Domino]

Eddie, I also thought that Freddie Garrity had a good voice. It was a pity that his juvenile antics on stage undermined his performances. It has to be said that he was incredibly fit. In the NME Poll Winners Concert 1964, at one point he jumped off the three foot high stage, then immediately jumped back up again. Not easy.
I have his first album, 'Freddie and the Dreamers', as a reel-to-reel tape and a later 'Greatest Hits' album on vinyl. The latter has 'Tell Me When' on it.
As for Johnnie Ray, I never liked 'Cry', but liked all his others. I don't like The Drifters' version either. It all comes over as a bit false.

Dave

[Stephen]

The first time I heard of Freddie and the Dreamers was when they appeared on an episode of Dear John. As I remember, one of the regulars (played by Kevin Lloyd) had been in the music business and was about to go on stage dressed in a full Glam Rock costume, but then Freddie said hello to his old friend and went on himself.

Speaking of unusual dancing, I quite liked the Dave Clark Five!

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[Eddie Muir]

Eddie, I also thought that Freddie Garrity had a good voice. It was a pity that his juvenile antics on stage undermined his performances.
Dave

I agree entirely, Dave. In fact I almost added something on similar lines to my post about Freddie. I don't have any vinyl, but I have got four CD collections of Freddie and the Dreamers: The EP Collection; The Two Faces Of Freddie, with the same 14 songs in both mono and stereo, and includes Freddie's super version of Somebody Else's Girl, which is every bit as good as Billy Fury's hit version; The Best Of The EMI Years and The Ultimate Collection-2 CD.

I am also in complete agreement with you about Johnnie Ray's recordings.