A pleasant Beatlesque pop record, though only three (very good) songs stand out for me. Love the smooth slide guitar in “Day After Day” (that’s singer/songwriter Pete Ham and co-producer George Harrison; Leon Russell provides piano), bassist Tom Evans’ “Money,” and the arpeggiated riffs of Ham’s “Baby Blue”; so catchy. Yet more tragic victims of the gangster music biz; Ham and Evans both eventually took their own lives after getting fucked over by management for years.
One of my earliest Brazilian records, and one that still fascinates me. I couldn’t even figure it out for the longest time; it was in such an alien musical language, I couldn’t grok what was going on at all. Obviously bossa nova–based, it also had a classical vibe in parts, and African influences, and featured what sounded like a children’s chorus (actually the Quarteto Em Cy; more on them down the road). Even knowing a little more about Brazilian music now, there’s still an air of mystery and sophistication around this record, which certainly heightens the interest. Collecting Brazilian records is an expensive hobby, but also a load of fun, as there were so many great records that were only pressed in South America, never making it to the Anglo world until collectors got them here. For a few years in the 2000s I listened to every bossa soundclip on eBay, making for a rather large want list. But hey, this is why we get up early to make the donuts. I’ll get more into guitarist Powell in coming posts; de Moraes (1923–1980) was a famous poet and lyricist from Rio de Janeiro. He was there at the birth of bossa nova with João Gilberto and wrote a bunch of standards.
Slightly tongue-in-cheek easy listening with a Mexican flavor and slight exotica touch, but played mostly by pasty white guys. Band was led by Julius Wechter, the guy who replaced Arthur Lyman in Martin Denny’s band. He played on Herb Alpert’s Lonely Bull album, and wrote the hit “Spanish Flea” for him (as heard on The Dating Game TV show). So to help cash in on the Tijuana sound (and the bossa nova craze, à la Brasil ’66) he formed his own band for Alpert’s A&M label, accompanied by seasoned session vets like Hal Blaine and Leon Russell. This is their first album. The Chicago-born Wechter died in 1999, aged 63.
A recent one for me, has three decent tunes. By this time, Lyman had brought EZ pop hits like “Sunny” and “Goin’ Out of My Head” into his repertoire. Anyone know the name of the typeface here?
