Label / Cat. No: Topic 12T150
First Released: 1966

What The Album Blurb Says…

Fred Jordan was born on January 5, 1922, at Ludlow, Shropshire. He is a farm labourer, living in the village of Aston Munslow, about seven miles from Ludlow. His house has a view of Corve Dale and the distant Clee Hills.

In 1952 Peter Kennedy, then working for the British Broadcasting Corporation, visited the area, and being told by the local blacksmith that Fred Jordan was a good singer, he recorded him for the BBC’s folk song archive. In the autumn of 1959, Fred attracted the attention of participants in the folk song revival when he appeared at the English Folk Dance and Song society’s festival wearing his everyday clothes - heavy boots, leggings and weather-defying hat. His singing drew immediate acclaim. Since then he has appeared with increasing regularity at concerts and clubs, with other country singers and also with revival performances. He enjoys concert and club work, where he sings with the straightforward ‘professionalism’ and unselfconsciousness common to most country singers.

As a folk singer he may be classed with the best - and that best includes Harry Cox, George Maynard and Phil Tanner. Though he is still a young man he has the essential style of this older generation. His musical sense is very highly developed; his ability to make small rhythmical changes to suit the words of songs is marked and his use of melodic ornament is subtle and skilful. the quality of his voice may seem strange at first hearing, but it is not unique, and there is nothing here of an old man’s quaver, for Fred Jordan is in his prime.

In performance, he inclines to let his personality retire behind the song, in the true manner of traditional singers. He sings without change of facial expression, without physical mannerism. He performs Barbara Allen and The Old Armchair in precisely the same manner, in the straight-faced almost deadpan way that amateur singers still adopt in town pubs where they stand up to give out with I’ll Take You home Again, Kathleen.

Fred Jordan acknowledges three main sources for his songs: first his parents (his mother came from Warwickshire, his father comes from Leeds); second the travellers and gypsies who frequent the district; last, his acquaintances in the countryside. In his own mind he distinguishes between what he now calls ‘proper folk songs’, music-hall songs, and the arranged versions of folk songs that he learned at school.

All the songs on this record are found up and down the country in one version or another. Many are to be found in the classic folk song collections. Others, of known authorship, the pops of yesteryear, have taken their place alongside traditional songs in the folk singers’ repertoire on their merits of narrative and melody. Some of these are American in origin. The music-hall and touring show all played their part in widening the popular repertoire, and radio and gramophone records have also had their effect. This record shows the mixture of song types in the repertoire of a country singer in the 1960’s.

What I Say

Some of you will have seen ‘The Green Green Grass’, the spin-off series from ‘Only Fools & Horses’. If you have caught this show, then you have my deepest sympathy. Really. The premise, for those of you who haven’t seen it, is that Boycie, a second-hand car salesman from Peckham in South London, moves to the Shropshire countryside to avoid some shady underworld types, and what follows is a fish-out-of-water “comedy”. For anyone who lives within 100 miles of Shropshire, the biggest mystery is why do all the Shropshire characters dress like they live in the 1930s and speak with yokel Somerset accents. I mean, just look…

…and listen

Sorry to have to put you through that, but it just isn’t Shropshire. But Fred Jordan, now he’s the real deal…

What an unexpected gem we have here. I chose this album from my pending pile because I have spent the last week working on a farm not 10 miles from the Shropshire border - barn building, labouring and general jobbing. I believe this makes me supremely qualified to look at an album by a fellow man of the soil. Well, to be fair, I didn’t get that close to any actual soil, but still, Fred Jordan must be singing the songs that speak to my heart, mustn’t he?

Well, yes and no…. the title is a touch misleading - these aren’t songs about Shropshire farm workers, or even songs that Shropshire farm workers in general would sing. Instead, it’s a collection of songs sung by one Shropshire farm worker, namely Mr Jordan. I won’t go into details of Fred’s life here, because there are some excellent biographies around - try here for starters if you want to know more about the Fredster.

The songs aren’t even all about farming or the bucolic life. At least two of them are nautical in flavour, and Shropshire’s pretty far from the sea at the best of times.

But that’s of not matter. I can honestly say that this is unique in all the albums I’ve listened to - what we have is Fred Jordan. Nothing more, nothing less. No musicians, no backing singers, no accompaniment whatsoever. This album stands or falls on Fred Jordan’s voice, and it stands.

It stands as a period piece, it stands as a collection of English folk tunes sung by someone steeped in the folk tradition, and it stands as a collection of tunes by an accomplished singer. True, there are some vocal mannerisms which sound curious to our pop-soaked ears, and the starkness of hearing a single voice cut the silence takes some getting used to. But that also summarises the character of this album. It is raw, stripped back, nothing but the singer and the song, and to my jaded ears it made a very refreshing change. I can’t say that this is going to be a recurrent favourite on my playlists, but unlike a lot of what I plough through (see what I did there?), I’m more than happy to give this a second listen. Maybe even a third.

In looking for details of this album on this wonderful internet of ours, I was amazed to find that the Topic record label not only still exists, but is a beacon of independent labels, having been releasing albums now for 69 years. Go and have a look at their site to find out more, but any label that boasted John Peel as a fan must have something going for it.

Lovely jubbly.

Sorry.

Tracks

Side 1

1. We Shepherds Are The Best Of Men
2. The ship That Never Returned
3. Down the Road
4. We’re All Jolly Fellows that Follow The Plough
5. The Watery Grave
6. The Dark-Eyed Sailor
7. Three Old Crows

Side 2

1. John Barleycorn
2. The Banks Of Sweet Primroses
3. The Bonny Boy
4. Polly’s Father Lived In Lincolnshire
5. The Royal Albert
6. Down The Green Groves
7. The Farmer’s Boy

Final score:

8 out of 10

Label / Cat. No: Stereo Gold Award MER 336
First Released: 1971

What The Album Blurb Says…

Here’s a dance party with two favourite ingredients - the great, nostalgic sounds of Glenn Miller and hit songs by The Beatles.

These sweet and swinging arrangements were written by Bill Holcombe (an old T. Dorsey sideman), who has taken these British bred hits and written the inimitable Glenn Miller style around them.

The Hiltonaires under the baton of Stan Reynolds are joined by the vocal stylings (a la Modernaires) of Tony Mansell and his group.

Here’s big band at its best - with familiar hit songs.

What I Say

I apologise for going highbrow for a moment, but Samuel Johnson once wrote of women preachers, “Sir, a woman’s preaching is like a dog’s walking on his hinder legs. It is not done well; but you are surprised to find it done at all.” If the great Dr. Johnson were alive today, I am convinced that he would have felt the same way about this album. Well, maybe ‘convinced’ is putting it a bit strongly, but I can understand this attitude entirely when applied to ‘the big band beat of the Hiltonaires’.

Come with me for a moment into the future. The year is 2013, and someone decides to release an album of Coldplay songs performed in the Mel & Kim style. There’d be uproar, rioting in the streets and possibly the end of civilization as we know it. But back in 1971 this kind of evil alchemy was not just thinkable, it was actually happening.

It’s of little surprise then that this was released on the ‘Stereo Gold Award’ label. To be fair, I was as much drawn to this album by the very fact that it was a Stereo Gold Award offering as I was by the fine bevy of 1970s lovelies on the cover. You may recall that Stereo Gold Award have already given us Big Dave who I exposed as a fraud and a charlatan. It seems that the label was owned by a chancer who just made cheap, cash-in rubbish, and this album certainly fits into that category.

There’s just so much wrong with this album it’s difficult to know where to begin. Well, for a start I’m confused as to why they actually included some Glenn Miller / Big Band tunes. After all, the album’s called ‘Dance to the Beatles Hits…) Does that mean you have to stop dancing when Moonlight Serenade comes on? It’s preposterous I tell you. Is this a Beatles album? Is this a Glenn Miller album? Frankly I’m confused, and I suspect it shows.

And then there’s the fact that these are two entirely different genres of music that simply do not fuse well together. I accept wholeheartedly the fact that the Beatles, and in particular Lennon & McCartney wrote classic, timeless songs which can withstand reinterpretation and have been covered, reasonably successfully many thousands of times. Which then begs the question how did they make these Beatles songs sound so crap.

I think the answer lies in the fact that the Hiltonaires (or at least Bill Holcombe’s arrangements) concentrate on the style rather than the substance of the song. There is no sensitivity to the mood or the lyrics of the Beatles numbers, it seems to have been rattled off a checklist of Big Band stylistic hooks regardless of the order or original speed of the songs.

The very worst culprit (if you can get past ‘Hey Jude’ without waves of nausea welling up) is the butchering of ‘Let It Be’. Not only does this start with the most awful Barbershop Quartet style prologue, but is the possessor of possibly the worst guitar solo ever, both in tone and tune. Really, it’s that bad. Just listen. See? There’s 20 seconds you’re never having back.

I didn’t expect to enjoy this album, and I wasn’t disappointed. In the past I’ve commented that the brevity of an album often makes up for its awfulness. Not in this case. It may only be 24 minutes long, but you try sticking cocktail sticks in your thighs for 24 minutes, and believe me, it will seem like an eternity. This is the aural equivalent.

The good news however is that this isn’t the last Stereo Gold Award album in my collection. Let joy be unconfined!

Tracks

Side 1

1. Moonlight Serenade
2. Something
3. I Want To Hold Your Hand
4. Michelle
5. Bird Cage Walk
6. Londonderry Air

Side 2

1. Hey Jude
2. Let It Be
3. Yesterday
4. Diamond Rock
5. A Hard Day’s Night

Final score:

1 out of 10 - for using the term ‘vocal stylings’ unselfconsciously.

Label / Cat. No: Sacred SAC 5061
First Released: 1972

What The Album Blurb Says…

For a number of years now Jim Roberts and Norma Zimmer have provided moments of unusual enjoyment for millions of Americans. In the world of pure entertainment, longevity is synonymous with popular response. Norma and Jim have been premier performers for many years now courtesy of us, the American people, and Lawrence Welk. Mr. Welk ultimately decides who the performers will be; we feel his choice is just right!

This is the third album by Norma and Jim. Their style of singing seems perfectly matched - it’s as comfortable as a pair of gloves. they blend beautifully singing some of the most popular gospel songs of the day - and some songs that are ageless. HIS NAME IS WONDERFUL is a favourite and is performed by mass choirs around the world. thank you Audrey Mieir, for the inspiration with which you’ve graced the world! I wonder how often BEYOND THE SUNSET has been sung, played, whistled, and used as a source of comfort since Virgil Brock first penned the lovely lyric some years ago. You will enjoy having this recording in your home.

The performances of hymns on TV by Jim and Norma have opened a door that has given many additional thousands an opportunity to hear them in person; in hymn festivals, in concerts, as solo performers in Billy Graham Crusades, and in churches everywhere.

the creative arrangements on this album are by Buryl Red. Mr. Red is gifted in many areas of music, one of which is the art of arranging. you will also hear his lovely song entitled HIS GENTLE LOOK.

KURT KAISER

What I Say

I know, I know. When I bought this album I had a tiny sliver of hope that this was going to actually be about somebody called ‘Wonderful’. You know, in the same vein as ‘A boy named Sue’. I mean, there are some unusual names about. I once knew someone called Zachariah Puddlechuck, and that would make a great name for an album - ‘His Name Is Zachariah Puddlechuck’. But no, with crushing inevitability, this turned out to be an album of Christian songs, extolling the virtue of some chap name of Jesus. Or Wonderful. I’m still not sure which.

The sleeve notes warrant a bit of a further look. Firstly, longevity is apparently synonymous with popular response, apparently. Well look at Cliff Richard for a start. He’s been around since the Pilgrim Fathers, and who wants to listen to his records? Oh yes, my Mother-in-Law. Alright then, maybe Jonathan King would be a better example. There’s a man who is pretty much universally unpopular but who won’t stop making his bloody songs.

Also, who is the Lawrence Welk character who stands head and shoulders above the American People then? Well, you can see for yourself, but seeing as this was released by London label, and I’ve managed to go 37 years without ever hearing his name even casually mentioned before, I’m prepared to stick my neck out and say that that’s going to be pretty meaningless to a lot of Brits. Apologies of course to all those people better informed and educated than I…

However, I am most concerned by the line ‘You will enjoy having this recording in your home’. Is it me, or does that sound more like a command than a recommendation. Maybe it’s the Teutonic tone of Kurt Kaiser’s comment that scare the living bewonderful out me, but I’m scared. I’m scared because I have that album in my home, and I didn’t (and don’t) enjoy it. Will Mr. Kaiser come round in the dead of night, drag me off, and leave me bound and gagged and listening to his sacred music compositions. I sincerely hope not.

The music sounds like a grown-up Elaine & Derek - a collection of sweet Christian tunes which all merge into one. I’ve always found that Christian music tends to err on the side of dull. Actually, there’s a challenge for you - are there any Christian music albums that won’t bore me to tears? A prize for anyone who can find one. Anyway, as I was saying, this album features 9 samey songs.

Ah, but I hear you cry, “but there are 10 songs on this album, surely”. Well, yes there are. Just as you think you can’t take any more sweetness, side two starts with ‘Sweet, Sweet Spirit’. This song has A COUNTRY TWANG. Not enough to be exciting or offensive, of course, but just enough to lift the tedium. It was at this point that I thought that this might yet have some saving grace - a sub-Carpenters kitsch that might just make this album worth something to me.

But it wasn’t to be.

All too quickly it sank back into the banal. I mean, yes, their voices are fine, the arrangements are a bit saccharine for my tastes and seem to my untrained ears to be somewhere between Andrew Lloyd Webber and Disney soundtracks. But it’s all soooooo bland.

There is however one very positive point about this album. It clocks in at just under 28 minutes. I tell you, I’ll never have that half hour back again, but I was far more in the mood after it to thank Wonderful, if only for not having made the album a double.

Tracks

Side 1

1. His Name Is Wonderful
2. Every Moment Of Every Day
3. He Lifted Me
4. When I Kneel Down To Pray
5. I Would Be Like Jesus

Side 2

1. Sweet, Sweet Spirit
2. His Gentle Look
3. Take Up Thy Cross
4. He Touched Me
5. Beyond The Sunset

Final score:

2 out of 10

Label / Cat. No: BBC Records & Tapes REC 284
First Released: 1977

What The Album Blurb Says…

I say “enjoy your slimming” because it is much more successful if you do. It is a bore to be forever worrying about strict diets and complicated calorie counting. It can be just a simple “way of life”. Regular exercise and sensible eating will keep your weight where you want it. It works for both men and women, as my husband could tell you. Cut down on fats, starches and sugars, exercise regularly and you are on the way. To help you to select the non-fattening foods there are two lists. Plan your meals around the first and try to avoid the second. Don’t deny yourself all the foods you really like even if they are on the fattening list because this way leads to tension and you won’t enjoy your slimming. Just reduce the quantities and include small amounts in a balanced eating programme.

For a really spectacular loss of weight, say six to seven stone, then I would suggest group therapy - Silhouette Slimming Club have wonderful results, which I have seen for myself, that is why I sought their advice with this album for those of us who wish to lose a lesser amount and to stay slim throughout our lives.

Don’t forget the bathroom scales, these play a major part in our slimming plan. Decide on a reasonably weight for you height and work for that. I find at 5ft 2 1/2ins, eight and a half stone is about right and easy to hold, but bone structure can make a difference of several pounds. Weigh yourself once a week minus clothes and look for a gradual but steady weight loss - 2lbs a week adds up to nearly four stone in six months. Don’t be disappointed if after losing weight at first - nothing happens for a time. This is quite normal while the body adjust to its new exercise and sensible eating pattern. But watch that fattening list! My own personal best hints are these: BUY THE RIGHT FOODS. If you have got them in the house you will eat them. If you haven’t you will eat what is there, and they may be on the wrong list!

Finally, get out and walk. Carry nothing but yourself but carry yourself well - and don’t worry. If you slip up today, there is always tomorrow.

Best Wishes,

Eileen Fowler

SLIMMING FROM THE MAN’S POINT OF VIEW

In a man’s world a light-hearted approach to slimming is more likely to be successful than serious denial, as sensible eating and exercise are not usually his favourite subjects. he will joke about being overweight while fully realising the importance of keeping it down. Long hours spent sitting in an office chair or other sedentary occupations tend to tire the brain and exhaust the body, leaving him disinclined to take kindly to anything but the food and drink he likes in order to relax.

The pace of life today with its attendant stresses and strains can have a lasting effect on the way we look and feel and it’s essential to counteract this in the best way we can. If overweight and the ensuing lack of vitality and energy is a problem , what better way than to Enjoy Your Slimming. Near starvation and tiring work-outs are out of date, and the more relaxed and healthy way to combat spreading and tension is in. It’s a question of application. When eating out, study the menu carefully and choose as far as possible according to the suggestions given on List 1. If you really want Ma’s apple pie, have it - not too much and not too often, and you won’t feel deprived. of course you will want a drink, but the odd tomato juice can be useful. Drink, if and when you need it - or the occasion demands.

Figurewise - take a look at these diagrams and cut this exercise bogey down to size. concentrate on two areas - chest/shoulders and back for good posture, and you will never walk head first, but stay straight and tall. Work on the tummy muscles for control and you will look and feel better. try the following three exercises - Side 1. The Wall Game, Hairpin Bend and Arm Circling, Touch Toe. With a bit of help from the family regarding food, you will be slimmer and fitter and it’s quite painless.

What I Say

I have this indistinct memory of seeing black and white footage from the early 50s of pert young girls in pointy bras and gym knickers doing healthy, wholesome exercises - presumably to keep them sound of morals and fit for whichever young buck they might marry, settle down with and make a home for. Assuming that this isn’t just some figment of my fevered imagination, the work presented here by Eileen Fowler would be the perfect soundtrack to such a film.

Eileen is a no-nonsense woman. Oh, she seems friendly enough with her occasional chuckles and chummy manner, but the authority in her voice commands you to follow her instructions immediately and to the letter. There’s a schoolma’am quality that marks her out for an ideal P.E. teacher in Malory Towers.

It turns out though that Eileen was a very sensible woman who spent her life crusading to get people fitter and eating more healthily. Perhaps it is this campaigning zest which fires the authority I mentioned. Yet that is forgiveable when you realise that what she’s trying to do is improve people’s lives. If there had been more people spreading Eileen’s message a bit earlier, we might not be facing the supposed ‘obesity crisis’. What’s more important is that we might have been spared endless fitness DVDs of pneumatic ‘lovelies’ in lycra.

This album clearly focuses on the exercises - simple things that you can do at home. No equipment is needed, just a willingness to obey Eileen’s commands at a moments notice. She whizzes through the exercises, and leaves it a bit late with the instructions. I have to admit, I haven’t actually tried any of the exercises, not least because I know that a combination of my unco-ordinatedness and her late instructions would lead to an unsightly tangle. However, this isn’t just about exercise. We are handily presented with two lists in the sleeve notes - food to eat lots of and food to avoid where possible. Unsurprisingly, the former is full of fruit, vegetables, fish and Ryvita whole-grain (OK, that last bit’s a lie, but you get the picture), and the latter list seems to be a foretelling of my diet - chocolate, fried foods, biscuits, alcohol, and really anything that makes life worth living.

I would have assumed that this was common knowledge, even in 1977, but I really don’t know. But that’s the main feature of this record - it seems anachronistic, even for such unenlightened times as the late seventies. If this album had been produced in 1954 it would seem perfectly natural, but to think that it was produced in my lifetime makes it seem alien. To be fair, this record was a tie-in with Eileen’s series of the same name on Radio 4’s “Today” programme. I suspect that those listening to Radio 4 in 1977 thought it was still 1954.

As with that Peter Powell exercise album, it’s hard to pick out any individual tracks, so instead I’ve compiled just a few of my favourite soundclips. I’m very pleased to know how to avoid a ‘Dowager’s Hump’ thanks to Eileen’s sound advice. Now, can anyone tell me what a Dowager’s Hump actually is?

Tracks

Side 1

1. The “Wall Game” For A Slimming Stretch
2. “Hairpin Bend” For Tummy Muscles
3. “Circle Touch Toe” For Arms, Chest, Shoulders and Back.
4. Sequence - Repeat all three exercises linking them together

Side 2

1. See Saw Stretch For Waistline And Knees
2. “Roll And Reach” For Tummy, Seat And Hips
3. “Rolling Pin Roll” To Fine Down Your Figure (sic)
4. Sequence - Repeat all three exercises linking them together and improvising to the extra music

Sound Clips

Welcome
March
Is Your Right Knee Ready?
That’s What I’m After
Dowager’s Hump
Do What Now?

Final score:

1954 out of 10

Label / Cat. No: HIRA HL 8536
First Released: 1972

What The Album Blurb Says…

In the grooves of the record contained within this sleeve is a wealth of talent performed by one family of four people - mother, father, daughter and son.

Don’t run away with the idea tha this highly popular family foursome became a versatile show overnight. What they are today is the product of many years experience in the world of entertainment. The mother and father, Ellen and Eddy, were both playing individually in concert parties when they met and married in their early 20’s. Ellen is an organist and vocalist and Eddy is an organist, accordionist and pianist.

The musical twosome continued for a number of years but it was a forgone conclusion tha their two children, Sharron and Adrian, would follow in their parents’ footsteps.

Sharron had just reached the age of 10 when she was considered proficient as an alto saxophonist and was introduced into her parents’ well-presented show. As years went by, she added clarinet, soprano and tenor saxophones, bass guitar, vibraphone and her contralto voice and is now a very accomplished young lady - a versatile musician with a charming personality.

Adrian was introduced into the show two years later at the age of eight and his terrific personality showed through in his ability as a percussionist and guitarist. Now he is a young man with a wealth of experience behind him and is a very polished performer.

It was at this point that “The Kaye Family” was born and Sharron and Adrian soon proved their worth by helping to obtain rave notices in “The Stage” and other newspaper media.

The family went on to appear at many top venues throughout the country in every field of the variety entertainment industry - theatres, halls, commercial studios, clubs, cabaret, restaurants and the like.

success followed success and now HIRA RECORDS place The Kaye Family before you to perform at your command in your own home. This high quality long-playing record shows clearly some of the many facets of this fascinating family.

Sit back and relax and dwell in the wonderland of sound that the Kaye Family presents to you - and you alone!

Drift along on clouds of romance, feel philosophical, hear the swirling colours of sun-drenched Spain, linger upon lonely seashores, fly amongst the stellar constellations, go for a trolley ride, swing with the up-tempo big band style beat.

yes, all this comes to you everytime you fall under the magical spell of the sound of The Kaye Family.

Happy listening!

Martin Philips

What I Say

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand we’re back. Hello. Sorry for the delay…. The real world took over for a while. I’ll try not to let it happen again.

And what a way to come back, a return visit to The Kaye Family everyone’s favourite family musical combo.

After hearing the ‘Live!’ album, I just had to go back to the charity shop where I’d bought it to see if there were any others there, and Bingo!, this little beauty was in my hands in a matter of moments.

Pre-dating ‘Live!’ by a couple of couple of years, this album is so much more fulfilling. The production values here are vastly superior, and we have a clear sound rather than the somewhat muddy live recording. Having said that, I’m not sure if that’s entirely a good thing. After all, you can actually hear Sharron (note, two ‘r’s - very showbiz) and Ellen’s arch vocals, combining to provide a sound that I find slightly scary. Listen to ‘You’re Just In Love’ and tell me you haven’t been even slightly traumatised.

The album is of course worth every penny, if only for the sleeve notes. At last I get to know all their names. Ellen and Eddy - what a pairing. A partnership made in the stars, names that chime together. And let’s not forget the second generation, Adrian and Sharrrrrron, virtuoso musicians in their own right. And please note, I’ve been very realistic here, and made sure that I didn’t run away with the idea tha this highly popular family foursome became a versatile show overnight. Only a fool would do such a thing.

Musically there’s not much of a surprise - I can’t see that they took any major direction changes between this and ‘live’. I mean, I would love to have found that this was their forgotten psychedelic masterpiece, or they’d made an experimental jazz album. But this is again simply a series of standards set to a bontempi bossa nova beat.

Which takes me back to Adrian. I may have suggested in my last review that he was conceived just because Ellen and Eddy needed a drummer for the band. I take it back of course. After all, he’s not exactly prominent - throughout the whole of side one I couldn’t tell if it was Ade or the organ’s built in rhythms that were providing the percussion - some of the fancier fills during Telstar testify to a human hand. His playing is subdued, almost unnoticeable. If only Keith Moon had been more like Adrian Kaye, things would be very different today. Ah, the benefit of hindsight.

The choice of songs seems to show their club roots - a couple of ‘modern’ tracks, and plenty of old favourites for the mums and dads. Of course, with Sharrrrrrrrrrrrrrrron being a clarinettist, ‘Stranger on the Shore’ was a given - I suspect she’d just taken her Grade 5 exam, and that was one of the set pieces, so the family recycled it into their set, chuck in a bit of an inappropriate fancy rhythm and Bob’s your uncle. You know, Bob Kaye. Everyone knows Bob.

So, er…. yes. This was pretty much as I’d expected. I’m glad I revisited this fine family. I can’t decide if it’s a good or a bad thing that this kind of act isn’t around any more. Or maybe it is - maybe I should’ve been watching ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ to discover the 21st Century’s ‘Kaye Family’ rather than listening to 35 year old oddities. All I know is that my world is marginally richer thanks to Ellen, Eddy, Sharrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrron and Adrian. Thanks guys, you’ve been great.

As a special treat, you too can listen to ‘The Kaye Family Album’. I’ve stuck the whole thing up HERE though you may have to endure some scantily clad girls in your area to download the file. Sorry. Just scroll down a bit, wait for the counter to hit zero (it’s only a few seconds delay), type in the code, and there you have it, The Kaye Family Album in all its glory. I’m good to you people, I really am. Oh, and you can see the full size cover by clicking on the image at the top of the entry. Really, I should stop being this good. It hurts.

Tracks

Side 1

1. The Wonder Of You
2. Blowin’ In The Wind
3. Stranger On The Shore
4. You’re Just In Love
5. Telstar

Side 2

1. Trolley Song
2. You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me
3. Espana
4. The Wedding
5. Ticket To Ride / ‘A’ Train / Chattanooga Choo-Choo

Final score:

7 out of 10

Hello Forgottenalbumers.

Never did get round to trying to find a better name for you collectively…. Anyway, just to let you know I haven’t abandoned you. A combination of poorly computer and poorlier daughter led to an unexpected hiatus, but all will be kicked back into action very soon.

Just to tide you over, here’s a tune that makes you feel glad to be alive. It’s our old friend Mrs Mills, with ‘The Lambeth Walk’. Watch out for those spoons…

Label / Cat. No: D&M Sound DML 1
First Released: 1976

What The Album Blurb Says…

As one Disc Jockey Said - “The Vast Majority is not just wall to wall sound; it is city block to city block sound - and babe, it’s all disco heat and color!”

That’s where T.V.M. is at! Sixty of the greatest players and down home singers that ever hit a speaker system. They start by working out driving funky rhythm charts and tracks - add strings, brass, reeds and then finally their great blues and salsa vocalists. You name it! From funky blues to symphonic jazz - sensuous salsas to hard rock. The vast majority has it covered.

What I Say

I believe that there is a transatlantic and generational gap in understanding of the word ‘Disco’. Clearly for our American cousins in the 70s, Disco was an exciting, energetic movement. It was a scene, with its own rules, its own dress code, its own moves and its own drugs of choice. It was cutting edge, it was, frankly, funky.

For me, hitting my teens in the early 80s, the word ‘Disco’ means a school organised event once a term, where teenage boys fuelled on Mars Bars and Coca-Cola would act like pillocks on the dance floor until the slow set started, when they suddenly became stuck to the walls.

American 70s Disco had Studio 54, Tavares and Shep Pettibone. English 80’s Disco had middle-class white guys called Tim who’d play a selection from that weeks Top 40, plus ‘The Birdy Song’ and ‘The Can Can’.

I can still clearly remember my first Disco, in the main hall of Causton Junior School, Felixstowe in July 1982. It was still light outside, and all the P.E. equipment had been moved to the side of the hall to make room for a dance floor. I even recall that two of the songs that were played were ‘Green Door’ by Shakin’ Stevens (who, I’m sure I needn’t remind you, was dubbed ‘The Welsh Elvis’…. hah!), and ‘The Hucklebuck’ by ‘Coast to Coast’. A happening scene, it was not.

And all this background flavour is only to point out that I am the last person who should try to review a Disco album. I am thoroughly unqualified to make any assessment as to what’s good and what’s not. To be fair, I know that’s never stopped me before in my reviews.

I’ve spent some time trying to find out if this is a proper, genuine Disco album, or some cheap cash-in. I started with the assumption that it was probably the latter, not least because it has the words ‘Disco Dynamite!’ plastered across the back of the sleeve. I thought that a genuine part of the Disco movement wouldn’t need to state it so boldly. I then discovered that the scores were by Colin Fretcher and Roy Budd. Now, Roy Budd may be a respected film score arranger, but he’s also from South Norwood, which is just round the corner from where I was born, and most definitely not Disco Central. The other chap, Colin Fretcher, is credited as producer on this album which is hardly going to do his credibility any good.

But the producers, Dave Miller and Marty Wilson seem to have a good enough reputation, and know what they’re doing. The catalog number of DML 1 made me think this might be some fly-by-night outfit, but D & M records were set up in 1975, just in time to get in on the early days of Disco, and according to some sources, they invented the concept of the 12″ single. Yikes!

So, I’m prepared to accept that this is the genuine article - an album from the early days of Disco. But is it any good? Well…. I enjoyed it well enough. It didn’t make me want to get up and dance, though very little does these days. You know, what with my aging bones and everything. But what really struck me was the slightly unpolished nature of the songs. They seemed slightly plodding, pedestrian almost. None of the high polish and perfect production that marks the later Disco sound. I suppose for me that that’s what gives this its authenticity. It’s a snapshot during the development of Disco. It’s not the finished article, but a work in progress. All the elements are there, but it would take a while for this professional shine to be applied.

And that’s about it. It’s OK. Actually, it’s quite good. But of course, Disco gave rise to Disco Dancing, which was always a challenge. Until now….

And those tracks from my first school Disco…

Tracks

Side 1

1. Love For Sale
2. Move It!
3. Pain Dealin’ Woman

Side 2

1. Muddy Sneakers
2. Salsa Woman
3. Take It!
4. Oceans Apart

Final score:

6.5 out of 10

Label / Cat. No: Ebony Records - ERC1
First Released: 1978

What The Album Blurb Says…

Carl Gibson, being of Cherokee Indian descent, is one of the most fiercely independent men I know, (this being a typical Indian trait). He created this record almost entirely alone and unaided. It has been my privilege to witness a great talent at work. His “Sessions” in the studio would make good writing for a “Best Seller” alone. His moods during the recording, the anguish when he fell short of his aims, his great elation when “things” went right. He is voted by Opinion Poll as one of the World’s leading “Country Fingerstyle Guitarists”, to me, after watching him, this is an understatement!!! His Vocal Range is second to none. To see him “LIVE” is sensational, but it’s impossible to appreciate his great talent by just one or even two performances. He created this Album with just his voice, one electric guitar, one acoustic guitar, bass and a tambourine, and his deep determination to ‘achieve’. Well, he certainly has achieved, in this case, a more beautiful portrayal of Vocal and Instrumental talent than I’ve ever heard in this field before. His outstanding arrangements of ‘Ghost Riders’ and ‘Skip-a-Rope” are, I’m sure, going to be among the biggest hits in the field of Country, since they were first written two decades ago. I may add at this stage, that he puts great store by his choice of sound engineer Des Bennett, the only other person to work with Carl on the Album. He acknowledges Des to be certainly one of the best in Britain today…

Carl has just one particular life-long friend who has recently become his co-producer and adviser, Jeff Purnell. In General Production, Research, Publicity Promotions and the fiercely competitive field of Marketing, Jeff has no equal! He handles all of these with a quiet but extremely powerful driving force, as well as being an influence on Carl, which proves a steadying effect. Every decade carries a provincial “Star Maker”. I believe Jeff Purnell to be in this category.

“Chapter One” can only pave the way to Chapter Two, Chapter Th…..

WATCH FOR THEM….

PATTI NOBLE

What I Say

I would have thought it a pretty basic requirement that the person writing your sleeve notes should probably like you. It can only help to sell your record if you get a kind word or two extolling your virtues, and saying what a great singer / musician / human being you are. At first glance, it seems that Patti Noble is doing a fantastic job at selling Carl Gibson - if you take the gushing prose at face value, you’d think that here was a talent unparalleled in the Country Music field, that Patti had discovered a new Dylan or McCartney.

But look a bit closer. He’s described variously as ‘fiercely independent’ (read: stubborn, awkward and impossible to work with), has only one life-long friend (is anti-social), and needs a ’steadying effect’ (is difficult to manage). Underneath the high praise, I think that Patti’s had just about all she can of Carl’s artistic temperament, and this is her chance to let the world know what he’s really like. She’d have been more honest if she’d just scrawled ‘I think this man is an absolute shit’ across the back of the album.

Oh well, I can’t vouch for his character, but I hardly think it’s surprising that a Cherokee might harbour a tendency towards fierce independence. You can hardly blame them.

Of course, talk about Native American musicians, and thoughts turn immediately to Jimmy Carl Black. What do you mean who? Jimmy Carl Black was a member of Frank Zappa’s original ‘Mother’s of Invention’ which in my eyes elevates him to hero status without question. Oops - I’ve given to much away. Anyway, my mate Shaun, through a series of ‘too complicated to go into now circumstances’ once let Jimmy sleep in his bed. Jimmy duly thanked Shaun by autographing his toilet door. When Shaun then moved house from Haringey to Lewes, the door moved with them. Some poor sod bought a nice house in London without a toilet door all because of Frank Zappa’s drummer.

Well, it’s not much of an anecdote, but at least it’s 100% true. And besides, it’s curious to notice that Carl and Jimmy share a moustache. Well, I don’t mean they have one between them, but they both wear the same style. I am ignorant of Indian ways, so I can’t venture an opinion as to whether it’s part of their cultural heritage, but personally I think it’s probably just a coincidence.

Anyway, back to the album. I think it was a brave assertion of Patti Noble’s that this ‘Chapter One’ would pave the way for future Chapters. I have to say, I’ve scoured the internet, and I can’t find any mention of Carl, let alone of Chapter’s Two, Three or beyond. I assume it’s safe to say that this was pretty much it, and that it failed to live up to the high ambitions that Carl held. It also strikes me that this being record catalog number ERC1 that this was probably something of a vanity project, and that Ebony Records didn’t survive (in this incarnation at least) very much after this album was released.

I mean, Carl has an OK voice - he can hold a tune which is more than I can. He seems to have quite a range, demonstrated in ‘Ghost Riders’ and ‘Rose Marie’ where the high notes are frankly scary. His guitar picking is fine. What more can I say? It’s fine.

But this album doesn’t make any kind of statement. It’s a competent musician playing it safe with a pile of standards. There’s no individuality, nothing to make this stand out against the other countless covers of ‘Ruby’ (Don’t Take Your Love To Town) or ‘Rose Marie’. I’m not searching for endless novelty, and there’s no point in change for the sake of it, but I think it goes some way to explaining why Carl Gibson isn’t remembered as an outstanding international artist. There is no character or personality in this album. It’s just those same old songs. Again.

If there is anything that marks this album out, it’s that Carl has a tendency to sound anguished. Yes, he does anguished very well. The cries of ‘Johnny , remember me’ closing the song of the same name takes that 60s schlock to a whole new level. But this anguish is best demonstrated on ‘Scarborough Fair’, my favourite track from this album. The ‘remember me to one who lives there’ no longer sounds like a request to send your best wishes, but an animal response to being forgotten by your true love. It actually made me stop in my tracks and listen, which was a nice contrast to the rest of the album.

If only he hadn’t followed it by an overly jangly and jolly version of ‘Ring of Fire’. The fool.

No Carl Gibson, I’m afraid, so here’s the original JCB instead…

Tracks

Side 1

1. Ghost Riders
2. Okie From Muskogee
3. Fight’n Side Of Me
4. Scarborough Fair
5. Ring Of Fire
6. Johnny Remember Me
7. Bobbie Magee

Side 2

1. Skip-a-Rope
2. There’ll Never Be
3. Rose Marie
4. Ruby
5. Lonesome Me
6. Spanish Eyes
7. Phoenix Arizona

Final score:

3 out of 10, (2 points for Scarborough Fair, 1 for Johnny Remember Me)

Label / Cat. No: A&M Records SP-4775
First Released: 1979

What The Album Blurb Says…

Special thanks to Kip for having such a good idea; to Kip and Herb for bringing me into it; to Juliea for all the help along the way; to everyone at A&M for keeping it such a good place to work/play; and a very special thanks to Ms. Merman. If it weren t for her great talent, dedication to “the work to be done,” sense of humor, love of life, generosity and the ability to give of herself…well then, most of us wouldn’t want to do another hundred records, T.V. shows, state fairs, etc… with her.

Thanks, Ethel, for the continuing reminders of what it’s all about…

Love, Peter Matz

“For decades Ethel Merman has been the heart and soul of the American Musical Theatre. Hearing this album, I’m convinced that this Disco Diva may be taking a whole new career! Not only are these songs among the world’s favorites, but the sheer joy of Merman’s voice makes me want to get up and dance. Bless you for boogeying, Ethel, you’re hot as a pistol!”

Paul Jabara

“P.S. When are you going to sing one of my tunes?!”

What I Say

Back in the late 80s I was a big fan of Whose Line Is It Anyway, the ‘comedy’ improvisation show. (I put ‘comedy’ in speech marks because, seeing it again recently on re-runs, I realised just how pedestrian it really was). Often the show would end with a game called ‘Party Quirks’ - one of the ensemble would play the part of a party host, and his guests all had idiosyncrasies which the host had to guess. The guests of course couldn’t just walk in and say ‘I’m a Mexican Astronaut’ because that would just be too easy, and not make for very interesting television. Despite having been quite a big fan, the only thing I remember is one round of party quirks where someone had to demonstrate that they communicated with the dead. At one point he sang ‘I hear voices and there’s no-one there’, to which the host (on that occasion Tony Slattery) replied, “Oh! He thinks he’s Ethel Merman”. e.t.a. - I’ve since been informed that Tony Slattery was quoting ‘Airplane!’, which makes sense.

And that, gentle reader, was the sum total of my knowledge of Ethel Merman until now. Or at least, I thought it was. Having listened to this album, I realise that although I may never have seen or heard Ethel directly (see, we’re on first name terms already), I have heard her parodied a thousand times. On all those American sit-coms when somebody ‘amusingly’ bursts into song, or takes on a big dramatic number, the voice that they’re impersonating is Ethel’s. You don’t believe me? Just listen to the how she pronounces ‘know’ in ‘like no-business I know’, and you will have an instant pang of recognition.

It seems that our Ethel is a comedic cliché, the distinctive voice of American Musical Theatre, a vocal shorthand to all that is glamorous and over-the-top in Broadway. I’d say she was the American Elaine Paige but that seems unfair. At least Ethel seems to have some charisma…

But if Ethel herself is a cliché, then what can I say about this album? In 1979 when Disco still seemed newish and exciting, this may have been a truly revolutionary album. When worlds collide. The old and the new. But now it just seems like a bunch of old standards with an uninspired disco backing added on afterwards. It’s kind of telling that Ethel came into the studio and did her normal renditions of the songs in a single take. There’s no integration or fusion here, and the two layers seem to operate independently of each other. You have some lively old songs, and some non-descript Disco instrumentals, but the total is substantially less than the sum of its parts.

Ethel’s voice sounds… strong for a 71 year old, but I can’t say it’s exactly to my tastes. There’s nothing fundamentally wrong with this album, other than it should never have been made. Ethel worked in Musical Theatre, not Studio 54, and it just seems to tarnish what was otherwise a pretty heady career. I say shame on the producers who clearly wanted to make a fast buck on the back of the Disco phenomena by trying to appeal to two separate markets to try and double their profits. The cads.

It’s worth reading the ‘About This Video’ section on this YouTube offering to give another insight into opinions of this album. Unapologetic. Shocking. But honest about this album’s place in the Disco pantheon.

As a final point, I should probably point out that this barely falls into the category of ‘Forgotten Albums’. After all, this was rereleased as a CD, and apparently has quite a cult following. It even has its own Wikipedia Page. So, can I call it a Forgotten Album? Well, it was in a cardboard box, under a table, in a corner of a charity shop sited in a Livestock Market in Hereford. I’d therefore say pretty much, Yes. I also think, having forced myself to listen to the whole bloody thing that it really should have stayed forgotten.

Doing it right:-

Tracks

Side 1

1. There’s No Business Like Show Business
2. Everything’s Coming Up Roses
3. I Get A Kick Out Of You

Side 2

1. Something For The Boys
2. Some People
3. Alexander’s Ragtime Band
4. I Got Rhythm

Final score:

2 out of 10

Label / Cat. No: Starline SRS 5134
First Released: Unknown - possibly early 70s

What The Album Blurb Says…

Robert Wilson was born in a Glasgow suburb in 1909 and from a very early age had the burning ambition to become a singer.

He first broke into the entertainment world when he bacame a memeber of a concert party at Rothsay, on the Isle of Bute. While savouring the applause that these rather small beginnings brought him, he had the good sense to realise that he needed years of study and hard work to reach the top of his chosen profession. To this end he joined and stayed with the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company for several years, touring America, Canada and Great Britiain, and from this he gained vast experience which was most valuable to his future career. In 1939 he decided that the time had come for him to enter the Variety scene as a solo artist - and how right his judgement proved to be. What with his magnificent voice, charming personality and superb stage presentation his success was almost immediate, and he soon became ‘top of the bill’ wherever he appeared. Not only was he starred in every medium of the entertainment world, but he was particularly acclaimed by exiled Scots both near and far who, like those in the Homeland, saw in his grand voice and fine physique the very embodiment of a true son of Scotland. No one wore the Kilt more proudly or better than he.

Much to the regret of all who heard him, Bob Wilson, as he was affectionately known to his many friends, died in 1964, but there remains a wealth of those great Scottish songs which he recorded during his lifetime and for which we have received many requests. The fourteen songs presented in this album illustrate why his was generally acclaimed to be “The voice of Scotland”.

T.D.

What I Say

There’s one thing that the Scots are very good at. Actually, before I get myself into trouble, I should point out that I’m sure that there are lots of things that Scots are good at. Lots and lots. Really. But one area in which they excel is being Scottish. I mean proper, professionally Scottish. How many ‘professional’ Welsh or Irish people can you think of? Max Boyce, Daniel O’Donnel, Terry Wogan maybe… People for whom one of their distinguishing features is their nationality. OK, now think of professional English people. I’ll give you Steven Fry, and I’ll accept David Niven, even though he’s dead. Any more…? No, see. And yet without putting any real effort into it, the Scots can proudly boast The Proclaimers, Billy Connolly, Moira Anderson, Harry Lauder, Sean Connery, Carol Smillie, and of course, the Krankies. OK, that may be stretching the definition of ‘proudly boast’, but I hope you get my point.

They say that the most Scottish part of Scotland is just over the border from England, where the difference between countries is clearly marked. Tartan and Saltires everywhere. It seems that the Scots have a very clear cultural identity, and the business nous to translate that into profitable entertainment. Our Robert Wilson (or Bob, as we must call him) falls strictly into this ‘Professionally Scottish’ category. You only have to look at the album cover to know what you’re getting. A burly man in a skirt, sorry, a kilt, his face red from the harsh highland wind rolling off the moors and the whisky he has on his porridge. His pose is also extremely Scottish, though I can’t quite figure out why. I assume it’s meant to reflect Bob about to launch into a Highland Fling - right hand tucked in his belt, left knee slightly raised. Tunic and tie making him look like a policeman about to knee some poor suspect in the knackers. Delightful.

And the songs don’t disappoint. Well, they do if you don’t like maudlin songs about your wet, dour homeland, but let’s assume for a moment that they’re the very reason you bought this album. The choice of songs is absolutely perfect. It’s ‘The Greatest Scottish Songs In The Whole World Ever’ for our parent’s generation. Some of the arrangements however are… well, on the camp side of traditional, shall we say. When I first listened to ‘Scotland The Brave’ (which you’d expect to be the standout track here), I was transported back to a Saturday evening in the 70s, with the Two Ronnies about to do their musical number dressed as a pair of Highland Infantrymen making suggestive songs about Gay Gordons. The arrangement is pure Ronnie Hazlehurst. Actaully, it is the standout track on the album, because it’s the only one that sounds vaguely happy or interesting. The rest conjure up a wet Wednesday in Aberdeen with incredibly clarity.

The problem is that I don’t think Bob sings very well. His voice, described elsewhere on this internet of ours as a ‘rich baritone’ sounds to my uneducated ears as a thin, weedy and reedy baritone. That doesn’t even always hold the tune particularly well. This album was released after he’d died. I have to wonder if it was also recorded then too….

This man was called ‘The Voice Of Scotland’ which is a bit worrying. I could accept ‘The Voice of Arbroath’ which would allow for bigger and better voices to represent the nation. So don’t judge the Scots too harshly. Though I do wonder who’s the ‘Ears of Scotland’.

However, I do have one small niggle. From 1997 to 1999 I lived in Galway, and I’m sure, absolutely positive that it was on the West Coast of Ireland, and not in Scotland. It seems therefore that this song is an IMPOSTER, and should be removed immediately. Unless they’re playing the Celtic card, in which case of course, everything is fair game.

By the way, our Bob Wilson, is not this Bob Wilson, one time goalie for Arsenal…

Nor is he this Bob Wilson, who’s an English Lecturer, and posessor of one of the finest hair confections known to man…

And this is the Krankies. I think the Scottish Government should apologies immediately.

Tracks

Side 1

1. Westering Home
2. Scotland The Brave
4. Down In The Glen
5. Bonnie Mary Of Argyle
6. Marchin’ Thru’ The Glen
7. The Black Watch

Side 2

1. The Gay Gordons
2. The Road To The Isles
3. Hills O’ The Clyde
4. Galway Bay
5. My Love Is Like A Red, Red Rose
6. The Gathering Of The Clans
7. My Scottish Homeland.

Final score:

4 out of 10