A Giant Crab Comes Forth - Giant Crab

A Giant Crab Comes Forth

Giant Crab

UNI 73037

1968

When I was in college I thought I knew everything I needed to know about 1960s rock after I read a bunch of rock encyclopedias and histories of the era.  How many good records could have come out in the decade?  I figured I could get them all.  I was wrong.  40 years later and I am still working on it.  By the time I was in my thirties I assumed I had all the essential classics but then the internet came along and I found out there were a lot more worthwhile records out there that I had never heard of.  The Santa Barbara based band Giant Crab was not in any of the books I read as a youth.  I first heard them on a specialty program on my favorite college radio station KXLU.  I loved the song I heard and checked out the band on the internet.  Eventually I was able to find their two albums.  This is their excellent debut album.  It begins with a spoken intro by Johnny Fairchild who was a Santa Barbara disc jockey who helped the band get on the radio.  It simulates a dramatic news flash although its impact is diminished by an attempt to work all the song titles from the album into the intro which makes it sound contrived.  Most of the album was written by the band's talented leader Ernie Orosco with occasional help from his band mate and brother Ruben (or maybe his other brother Raymond - it is not clear on the song credits) as well as the album's producer Bill Holmes.  Most of the songs are catchy sunshine pop like "It Started with a Little Kiss," "Groovy Towne," "Thru the Fields," "Believe It or Not" and "The Answer is No."  These songs feature charming vocal harmonies and elaborate arrangements often bolstered by punchy horn support from band members Dennis and Kenny Fricia.  "Directions," "Intensify Your Soul" and "The Chance You Take" are harder in sound with a soulful flavor and heavier instrumentation.  They remind me of the Rascals.  "Watch Your Step" is pop-psych with hypnotic keyboard riffs driving it.  "Hot Line Conversation" is also pop-psych and the heaviest song on the album.  Its lumbering riff and organ washes make me think of early Iron Butterfly.  The album closer is a slow and majestic ballad called "Why Am I So Proud?" that gives the record an emotional finish.  There are also four covers on the album.  "Enjoy It" was written by Scott English and Claus Ogerman and it plays to the bands' sunshine pop strengths.  English also wrote "Hi Ho Silver Lining" with Larry Weiss and it was a British hit for Jeff Beck and I think it should have been one here as well.  The cover version doesn't stray too far from the Beck version.  The Beck version is more energetic and I miss his guitar solo but since singing was hardly Beck's strength, I welcome Ernie Orosco taking a crack at the song.  Both versions are worthwhile.  "I Enjoy Being the Boy" was written by Marc Bellack and bubblegum stalwart Joey Levine.  It is less inane than a lot of Levine's stuff and features a lovely arrangement that makes it seem less lightweight than the lyrics would suggest.  My favorite of the covers and my favorite track overall is "Lydia Purple" by Don Dunn and Tony McCashen.  It appeared on the debut album by the Collectors earlier in the year.  Giant Crab's version is heavier and more propulsive which I appreciate but I think the song's moodiness and portrayal of alienation was better served by the Collectors' chamber pop arrangement.  I still love the Giant Crab version though.  This is such a good album that I'm surprised it is not better known.  It deserved a better fate.  I was already middle-aged when I finally got a copy which I regret.  I would have eaten this up back when I was a teenager worshipping the Turtles and the Hollies.  Even in my dotage it still is immensely appealing to me.  It is records like this that humble me and keep me from getting too cocky about my knowledge of rock history.  If you dig pop-psych or sunshine pop this album is essential.  I've played it a bunch of times in recent years and it still makes me happy whenever I give it a spin.  Recommended to fans of the Strawberry Alarm Clock.

Peter and Sophia - Peter Sellers and Sophia Loren

Peter and Sophia

Peter Sellers and Sophia Loren

Parlophone  PMC 1131

1960

I first heard the song "Goodness Gracious Me!" when some joker on KXLU played it.  Even though the song is racist and inane, it stuck in my head and led me to purchase this record although I was certain it would be awful.  I was largely correct about that but I have no regrets.  Sophia Loren was my first movie star crush as a child and I'm still fond of her.  I also was a big fan of Peter Sellers as a child, but that has not lasted.  I find him tedious and annoying now.  The record was produced by the great George Martin probably one of the least distinguished albums in his discography.  He had a long association with Sellers producing his comedy records in the 1950s.  The album is a mix of music and comedy bits.  I like Loren's two solo numbers which are the beguiling and silly "Zoo Be Zoo Be Zoo" and Rodgers and Hart's "To Keep My Love Alive" which chronicles the various ways that a woman murders her many husbands.  Loren is not a strong singer but her voice is pleasant and warm.  I find her engaging.  I think her best performance comes in Leslie Bricusse's "I Fell in Love with an Englishman" in which she breathily croons and then speaks of her love for the title character who is voiced by Sellers as an upper class twit in one of his typically exaggerated caricatures.  There are three more duets with Sellers and Loren which I find simultaneously appealing and annoying.  The best is easily "Goodness Gracious Me!" which describes an Indian doctor fending off an amorous patient's advances.  George Martin commissioned the song for inclusion in the film "The Millionairess" which has a similar plot.  It was rejected but a photograph from the film was still used for the cover of this album.  Sellers' caricature of an Indian is blatantly racist and unfunny but Loren's ardent wooing of him is genuinely sexy.  The song is mercilessly catchy and whenever I hear it, it sticks in my head for awhile.  It was a hit in England and inspired a follow-up "Bangers and Mash" in which Sellers portrays a Cockney who marries an Italian woman during World War II and finds himself missing English food because his wife only serves him Italian food.  It is as stupid as it sounds.  Sellers can't resist showing off, adopting an American accent for the middle section and then an Italian accent for the final verse.  I can barely stand his clowning but Loren is charming.  The final duet is the swinging "Fare Thee Well" which Sellers starts singing in his normal voice which is too weak for the demands of the song.  Of course Sellers being Sellers that does not last long as he quickly breaks into his bag of accents to muck up the song.  Loren struggles with the song as well which is beyond her skills but unlike Sellers she gamely sticks with it to the end.  Sellers has three musical numbers of his own.  In Gershwin's "Oh! Lady Be Good" he thankfully does not sing.  It is an up-tempo jazz number performed by Ron Goodwin and his orchestra in which Sellers uses his voice to sound like a piccolo although I think he sounds more like a clarinet or a saxophone.  If I am to believe his dumb patter at the end of the song he apparently recorded his voice at a slower speed and then they speeded up the tape for the record.  It sounds like a George Martin type thing to do.  If nothing else the song does cook and it is neither offensive nor tedious unlike most of Sellers' other tracks.  He poorly impersonates an old timey crooner for "Ukelele Lady" which dates back to 1925.  He is accompanied by the faux 1920's jazz band "The Temperance Seven" who later had a hit with "You're Driving Me Crazy."  The song is tiresome and pointless to me.  The worst of the three is "Grandpa's Grave" in which Sellers portrays a cockney singer named Eugene Squills regaling the audience with a ditty about moving grandpa's grave to the sewer.  It is moronic but still better than Sellers' comedy bits which comprise the rest of the album.  I find them all painful and unfunny.  In "'Smith'" he portrays a pompous thespian describing his latest play in mind-numbing detail.  "Setting Fire to the Policeman" finds him nostalgically recalling his favorite childhood prank of setting policemen on fire.  "Why Worry?" employs a man in the street interview approach to allow Sellers to show off a variety of English accents as he trivializes the arms race and the nuclear bomb.  The worst track is easily "Africa Today" in which Sellers portrays the savagely racist Brigadier Sir John Hanley-Adamant droning on and on about abusing his African servants.  I know he is mocking him but it is still hard to listen to.  I find it mind-boggling that anyone ever thought this was funny.  If Sophia Loren were not on this record, I would have discarded it long ago.  Her charisma and allure are enough to get me to endure Sellers' contributions.  I could just record her bits and listen to them without Sellers, but I have to admit that terrible though they may, I do find Sellers' tracks fascinating in their awfulness.  I can't recommend this record, but if you like Sophia Loren as much as I do you might want to seek it out.

For Christmas With Love - Judith Durham

For Christmas With Love

Judith Durham

Columbia SX 6374

1968

This is a mono pressing of the British version of Judith Durham's Christmas record.  It differs from the Australian version by having one additional track "Just a Closer Walk With Thee."  Curiously the song features a 1965 copyright on the inner label which is also the date that the song appeared on The Seekers' album "A World of Our Own" but it is not that version.  I believe it is the version she released on a 1967 single in Australia.  I prefer The Seekers' version which features harmonies from the boys and a folk style arrangement to this version with its gospel organ and piano accompaniment although she sings both great.  Although this album was recorded at Capitol Records studio in Los Angeles I don't believe it was ever released here.  This was her first solo album after leaving The Seekers and being a big fan of that group I have long coveted it.  I finally found a copy last year but I was disappointed when I played it.  Arguably it is more of a gospel record than a Christmas record.  Every song is religious aside from "White Christmas," "Lullaby for Christmas Eve" and "The Christmas Song."  "The Lord's Prayer," "My Faith" and "Come On Children, Let's Sing" are not Christmas songs at all.  Her piety is obviously sincere and her singing is heartfelt, but this is not my cup of tea and it sounds nothing like The Seekers so I shelved it after a couple of spins.  I brought it back out at Christmas and played it while trimming the tree and I liked it better probably because my expectations were different.  "White Christmas" opens the album in an orchestrated easy listening style version.  Durham delivers a pleasant vocal but the track is otherwise unremarkable.  "Mary's Boy Child" was written by Jester Hairston and was released as a single by Harry Belafonte in 1956.  His version had a slight calypso flavor to it which is not present in this stiff orchestrated version.  The song lacks the warmth of the Belafonte recording even though Durham sings it impeccably.  The album finally comes to life with a jumping gospel style performance of "Go Tell It On a Mountain" driven by piano and organ.  Durham showed an interest in gospel with The Seekers but really shows her affinity for it here and I love the way she hits the high notes at the end.  This is one of my favorite tracks.  The record loses this energy with the heavily orchestrated "Lullaby for Christmas Eve" which had been a single for Jack Jones in 1964.  Nonetheless it is a sweet song and at least it isn't religious.  Durham's soaring vocal on "The Lord's Prayer" impresses me but I dislike the song and the heavy inspirational arrangement.  "My Faith" is even worse.  Durham sings it like she means it, but the song is just too sappy for me to tolerate.  The record picks up with the lively gospel song "Come On Children, Let's Sing" which was recorded by Mahalia Jackson in 1960.  I love Durham's voice and she sings it well but she can't compete with Jackson.  She sounds stilted by comparison.  I wish there were more songs like "The Christmas Song" on the record.  She seems more inspired by the religious stuff, but she still sings this well and it is a much more appealing song to me.  "Just a Closer Walk with Thee" fits well with the rest of the album both in terms of sound and content even though it was recorded earlier.  As I said before I prefer The Seekers' version but this is still pretty compelling.  Most of the arrangements on this album are stodgy and conservative, so it is surprising that "Silent Night" is given an up-tempo treatment including drums, probably the most dynamic version of the song that I have ever heard.  I'm not sure that the song is well-served by such treatment but I like it anyway especially with Durham's exquisite vocal.   The album concludes strongly with a kinetic gospel arrangement of "Joy to the World" that inspires Durham to loosen up and have some fun.  It is my other favorite track on the album.  Although there are parts of this album that I enjoy, I have to admit there is no way I would keep it if Durham was not singing on it.  I like her voice so much I would listen to her sing just about anything even a bunch of hymns, but I'm not going to listen to it very much.  I'm alienated by religion and I prefer folk arrangements to easy listening ones so I'll just stick with my Seekers albums.  Recommended to religious Judy Collins fans who dislike folk music.

Bad Rice - Ron Nagle

Bad Rice

Ron Nagle

Warner Bros. WS 1902

1970

My obsession with the San Francisco Sound led me to Ron Nagle's mid-1960s group the Mystery Trend.  For many years they were a mystery to me, a trippy name I encountered on old concert posters or histories of the San Francisco rock scene.  Eventually I heard their excellent 1967 single "Johnny Was a Good Boy" which whetted my appetite to hear more.  Finally I got the Big Beat CD compilation of their unreleased recordings and was enormously impressed.  Their music was of astonishingly high quality and deserved an actual album back when they were still active.  Unfortunately they were totally out of touch with the hippie zeitgeist of that era with their commitment to well-crafted songs and chamber pop along with their total disdain for the psychedelic scene.  I figured I had satisfied my curiosity about the Mystery Trend but then several years ago I came across this album while flipping through a record bin.  I had no idea what it was, I was just struck by how weird and ugly it was.  As I examined it I remembered who Nagle was and eagerly bought it.  It sounds nothing like the Mystery Trend but I was not disappointed I bought it.  The album gets off to an exciting start with "61 Clay" which is a Chuck Berry style rocker that reminds me that Nagle was an rhythm and blues/rock and roll fanatic when he first got into music.  There is a smoking guitar solo from Ry Cooder that kicks out the jams and puts the song over the top.  The lyrics are pure teen rebellion with a little matricide thrown in.  It is easily my favorite track on the album.  The record's momentum continues with the rollicking boogie "Marijuana Hell" which Nagle co-wrote with John Blakeley.  The song outlines the evils of marijuana with all the fervor of "Reefer Madness."  I assume it is a joke although Nagle's drug of choice was alcohol and he never hid his contempt for hippie culture so who knows.  The album abruptly shifts direction with the melancholy "Frank's Store" which is driven by Nagle on piano and a poignant string arrangement by the album's producer Jack Nitzsche.  Nagle's vocal is full of emotion and puts across the sadness in the lyrics very effectively.  The album returns to boogie with "Party in L.A." although this is not an ode to partying down with some Angelenos.  The party of the title is the Communist Party (or some like-minded variant) and the song describes a child custody dispute between a leftist activist mom and a centrist father.  Just your typical pop song.  Side one concludes with "That's What Friends Are For" which returns to singer-songwriter melancholy.  Nagle croons the lyrics about the nature of a relationship while accompanying himself on piano.  Side two starts with "Dolores" which is lushly orchestrated by Nitzsche.  It sounds like something by Nagle's idol Burt Bacharach until I listen to the lyrics which I interpret as an older woman teaching a boy the ways of love.  "Capricorn Queen" is a  raucous rocker about Nagle's addiction to alcohol.   It features a frenetic rockabilly style vocal from Nagle and is another one of my favorite tracks.  "Sister Cora" is a wonderful riff-driven banger about the title character's ability to cure folks' ills and solve their problems.  The album settles down with "Somethin's Gotta Give Now" which has a country feel to it and displays some of the pop craftsmanship Nagle exhibited with the Mystery Trend.  The country sound continues with the lumbering "Family Style" which features mildly vulgar and humorous lyrics about a disorderly family.  The record concludes with "House of Mandia" which manages to combine the two musical directions on the album.  The verses are powered by a heavy riff over which Nagle bellows about a working class man's misery while the choruses are silky smooth pop with Nagle crooning a description of a tropical paradise supported by Nitzsche's sugary string arrangement.  Normally I would have a problem with such a schizophrenic record.  The abrupt shifts between rock and singer/songwriter pop are definitely jarring to me, but the consistency of tone and overall intelligence of the record smooth it over somewhat.  I definitely prefer the rock side though.  Nagle's career was primarily teaching art and creating ceramic art with a lot more success than he had as a musician.  However he was no dilettante, he had genuine chops and great integrity as a musical artist and certainly deserved a better fate.  He is often compared to Randy Newman because they both value musical craftsmanship and display a dark sense of humor.  Nagle is far less cynical than Newman though and he likes rock a lot more than him as well.  He is also a better singer.  This album is well worth seeking out.  You rarely find such a stimulating combination of intelligence and sincere love of rock and roll.  Recommended to people who think it would be cool if Randy Newman jammed with Creedence Clearwater Revival.

How Do You Do? - Mouth and MacNeal

How Do You Do?

Mouth and MacNeal

Philips PHS 700-000

1971

As I get older my memories of my youth are getting fuzzier which I am not happy about although there is plenty of stuff from back then I wish I could forget.  For some reason I still remember 1972 quite well.  That was the year that I consider my first year as a fan of pop music.  I have liked music as long as I can remember but that was the year it became important to me.  It began that summer when my family rented a vacation cabin at Lake Tahoe that had no television.  It did have a radio that was tuned to a top 40 station all day long.  In retrospect the summer of 1972 was not a particularly good year for music, but back then I loved what I heard.  I remember singing along to Sammy Davis Jr.'s "Candy Man,"  Gallery's "Nice to Be with You," Elton John's "Rocket Man," Gilbert O'Sullivan's "Alone Again (Naturally)," Bill Withers' "Lean On Me," and my two favorites "Brandy" by Looking Glass and "How Do You Do?" by this band.  When we came back home I convinced my mom to give me an old clock radio she was not using much and with access to my own radio I was hooked.  My tastes rapidly evolved once I discovered the oldies stations (and later AOR when I got a radio with FM) and soon I did not listen much to top 40 radio at all.  The Beatles obliterated any interest I had in collecting popular music from the 1970s on vinyl although I did eventually come to like and buy Elton John and Bill Withers albums.  I also bought the Looking Glass album many years ago.  This record I bought last year online mostly out of nostalgia.  As usual with childhood memories, "How Do You Do?" is not as good as I remembered but I am not sorry about the album which is better than I expected.  This is the 1972 American release of this Dutch duo's 1971 debut album which features an identical track selection and running order but different cover art.  The duo consisted of a male singer named Willem Duyn who performed under the apt pseudonym Big Mouth shortened to Mouth here.  He has the kind of loud gravelly voice that people seemed to dig back then.  He sounds like a cross between John Fogerty and David Clayton-Thomas.  His partner was Sjoukje van't Spijker who performed under the name Maggie MacNeal.  She has a smoother, sweeter voice that acts as a refined counterpoint to Mouth's growling.  The album opens with "A.B.C" which was written by Andreas Holten and the album's producer Hans van Hemert.  The song has a spoken (or shouted in Mouth's case) intro before it gets down to its pounding riff.  The dynamic between Mouth's bellowing and MacNeal's silky crooning is displayed to impressive effect.  It gives the record a strong start that is largely dissipated by a lumbering and lethargic cover of Ivory Joe Hunter's "I Almost Lost My Mind." "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" was lifted from MacNeal's 1971 solo debut single.  It follows the familiar arrangement of the Marvin Gaye classic and MacNeal delivers a robust vocal which with her heavily accented English reminds me of Mariska Veres of Shocking Blue.  This cover is pointless but I enjoy it.  "Hey, You Love" was written by van Hemert and the album's arranger Harry van Hoof.  Much of the tune is stolen from "Rule Britannia" and is largely pedestrian although I like the interplay between MacNeal and Mouth.  "Remember (Walking in the Sand)" was taken from the debut Big Mouth single from 1971.  Somehow the song is even more melodramatic than the Shangri-Las' classic original with Mouth's histrionic yowling suggesting he's auditioning for a Joe Cocker cover band.  Side one closes with "Rosianna" which was written by the Manhattan Transfer's Gene Pistilli along with Terry Cashman and Tommy West and was featured on the Transfer's debut album.  It is a rollicking country style song that does not play to the duo's strengths but it is still engaging.  Side two opens with van Hemert's "Why Did You, Why?" which is a slow soulful song beautifully sung by MacNeal supplemented by some subdued roars from Mouth.  "How Do You Do?" was written by van Hemert and van Hoof.  When I bought this album I don't think I had heard the song for at least 40 years.  I remembered it as a boisterous rocker which it definitely is not, although I was so naïve back then maybe it really did sound rocking to me.  Once I got over my initial disappointment that it was not like I remembered, I started to like the song again.  It is charming with a touch of bubblegum and to my great surprise an appealing string arrangement.  I like the shifts in tone and the contrast between the rowdy sections featuring Mouth and the softer sections with MacNeal although she cuts loose in a few places to show off her own ability to bring the noise.  The song is extremely catchy and sticks in my head all day whenever I play it just like it did when I was kid.  "Land of Milk and Honey" is another Holten/van Hemert collaboration.  It sounds very Europop with a bit of a Mediterranean flavor.  Mouth reins in his vocal and listening to him I can easily imagine someone like Tom Jones performing it.  Jones could also cover van Hemert and van Hoof's "Tell Me World" which is more bouncy Europop that reminds me of ABBA.  "It Happened Long Ago" was written by Leo Bennink and Rudy Bennett and was the b-side of the first Big Mouth single.  It has a dramatic arrangement that almost achieves the impossible task of overwhelming Mouth's emoting.  The album ends with John Lennon's "Isolation" which was the b-side of MacNeal's debut single.  It lacks the intensity of Lennon's version but MacNeal sings it with feeling and I am grateful that Mouth is not around to muck it up.  This is definitely a minor record, but I find it mostly entertaining.  Mouth and MacNeal work well together.  On his own I would find Mouth hard to listen to since he is so intense and overbearing and the material is not strong enough to contain him.  MacNeal is more my style and I think she is a good singer, but she isn't good enough to stand out with such ordinary material.  Mouth brings the energy and intensity that she lacks.  This is exemplified by "How Do You Do?" which probably would have been a hit for anyone, but is made more memorable by their chemistry.  I expect some of my fondness for this record is nostalgia and objectively I can't deny that most of the songs are mediocre, so I am hesitant to fully endorse it.  I enjoy it but I know I am not going to play it much.  Nonetheless if you like the music of this era (I have mixed feelings about it) you will likely find stuff on here that will appeal to you.  You could definitely do worse.  Recommended to Sonny and Cher fans who dig ABBA.

Folksingers 'Round Harvard Square - Joan Baez, Bill Wood and Ted Alevizos

 

Folksingers 'Round Harvard Square

Joan Baez, Bill Wood and Ted Alevizos

Veritas Records 1

1960

This is easily the most collectible of Joan Baez's officially released records, I sometimes see it priced over $100 which I think is ridiculous if you are going to value it on the basis of quality.  I like Joanie and have most of her Vanguard albums all of which are much better than this and a whole lot cheaper as well.  I paid about fifteen bucks for my copy which I think is still a bit high but I am glad I have it.  Of course the record is collectible because of its rarity much more than the music.  It was recorded in Boston in 1959 when Baez was beginning her rise to stardom and prior to her signing with Vanguard.  She shares the bill with two other Boston area folk singers, Bill Wood and Ted Alevizos both of whom retreated into academia after this record although Alevizos recorded some albums of Greek folk music as well.  Baez dominates the record appearing on ten of the eighteen cuts including six solo performances.  She also dominates talent-wise.  Wood is a competent singer with a pleasant voice and a good guitar player but his music is completely ordinary.  Alevizos has a wonderful voice but his style is old-fashioned.  Even on the tentative performances she offers on this record, Baez's charisma and expressiveness are impactful.  The record opens with the traditional murder ballad "On the Banks of the Ohio" which Baez recorded again in a superior version on "Joan Baez, Vol. 2."  She sings it prettily but without much feeling which is fine with me since I dislike this genre of folk song anyway.  She perks up on the spiritual "O What a Beautiful City" which gives her an opportunity to display the electifying power of her voice when she chooses to unleash it full force.  My favorite of the six solo performances is her version of the old folk song "Sail Away Ladies."  I'd prefer a rawer country arrangement but there is no denying the appeal of Baez voice in full flight.  "Black is the Color" is not my type of song but I can't fault the beauty of Baez's interpretation although she gives a stronger performance of the song on "Joan Baez In Concert Part 1."  I think anyone who heard her perform this would know she was going to be a star.  "Lowlands" is an old sea shanty that she sings in a far too subdued manner for my liking. "What You Gonna Call Your Pretty Little Baby" is a religious song about the birth of Jesus also known as "Mary Mary" and "Virgin Mary."  I don't like the song but Baez's strong vocal makes it tolerable to me.  "Kitty" is a duet between Baez and Wood.  She sings harmony for the most part but has a verse for herself.  Needless to say I find myself focusing entirely on Baez although I like the vigor of Wood's guitar work.  It was originally recorded by the ballad duo Marais and Miranda.  "So Soon in the Morning" is an uptempo spiritual driven by Wood's dynamic guitar.  Baez does not have much space to do her thing but it is an engaging track.  The country flavored "Careless Love" is my favorite track on the record.  Baez mostly sings harmony but I find her loose and playful performance charming, even a little bit sexy.  The song is about the consequences of premarital sex.  Bill Wood kicks off side one with his solo performance of "Le cheval dans la baignoire" (misspelled "beignoire" on the cover) which was written by the French singer Stéphane Golmann (also misspelled on the cover.)   Wood starts the song by reciting the story of the song in English and then he sings the song in French.  It is an energetic performance mostly played for humor.  "John Henry" is such a familiar song I don't see the point of covering it.  I like Wood's energetic fast-paced guitar work but his vocal is not up to the task of making his cover interesting.  "Travelin' Shoes" is a nice I-gotta-ramble type song that needs more grit than Wood can provide.  "The Bold Soldier" is an old fashioned style performance akin to the likes of Burl Ives who recorded the song himself.   Ted Alevizos takes his turn with the mournful "Walie Walie" which is also known as "When Cockle Shells Turn Silver Bells."  He sings the song beautifully but his performance could have been recorded in the 1920s, he makes Baez seem even more utterly contemporary by comparison.  This is also the case with the glacially slow "Rejected Lover." "Astrapsen" is a Greek song that inspires Alevizos to deliver his most animated performance.  I like it so much that I'd probably be tempted to buy one of his Greek records if I came across a cheap one in the bins.  Unfortunately the energy of this song dissipates with the dreary "Lass From the Low Country" which puts me to sleep.  The album ends on a high note with a stirring performance by the trio on the spiritual "Don't Weep After Me."  Alevizos is a strong singer but Baez cuts right through him with her soaring soprano but she is nice enough not to overwhelm her partners too often although it obvious she could blow them off the stage.  I don't encourage anyone to run out and grab this record unless you are a Joan Baez completist with deep pockets.  I like parts of it but there aren't enough of those parts to get me to sit through the whole thing very often.  Side one is all Baez and I imagine most owners of this record just play that side but I would rather just listen to one of her early Vanguard albums.  If you are a fan of commercial folk music from the 1940s and 1950s and you come across a reasonably priced copy of this, you probably won't regret buying it.  It is too genteel for me but I appreciate its merits.  Recommended to fans of the Weavers.

Joy - Apollo 100

Joy

Apollo 100

Mega Records M31-1010

1972

I have a long history with this ridiculous record.  When I was a kid my sister took ballet classes and my mother would force me to go to her dance recitals which I regarded as torture.  At one of them however the girls danced to the title track of this album, "Joy" which is a rock version of J. S. Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring."  I was not into music back then but the song absolutely enthralled me.  The song was a top ten hit in the U.S. so I began to hear it occasionally on the radio although I failed to catch the artist.  You couldn't just whip out your phone and ask it what you were hearing back then, you couldn't even whip out your phone since it was hard wired into the wall of your home.  The years went by and I became obsessed with the Beatles and other 1960s bands and I lost interest in tracking down this record.  By the time I was in college I was into Bach and had acquired multiple copies of his arrangement of the song.  I didn't think I needed this version but occasionally I would hear it on the radio and realize that it still appealed to me.  Eventually more than thirty years after I first heard the song as a child I finally bought this album.  I have to admit that even now when I put it on the turntable and hear the harpsichord riff for "Joy" fading up, I still get a little excited.  The song is so kinetic and engaging I can't resist its allure.  Unfortunately that is not true for the rest of the album, in fact none of it even comes close.  Apollo 100 was a bunch of studio musicians led by keyboardist Tom Parker who seems to have specialized in instrumentals and pop arrangements of classical music.  "Mad Mountain King" is a stiff arrangement of Grieg's "Hall of the Mountain King" which is in total contrast to the effervescence of "Joy."  The song picks up steam in the end but I've heard symphony orchestras rock more convincingly than this.  "Mendelssohn's 4th" is taken from the second movement of his "Symphony No. 4 in A Major."  It is a ludicrously jaunty arrangement that is a vulgar travesty of the original work which I suppose you could argue is the most rock and roll approach one could take to this but I still don't like it.  "Evil Midnight" is an arrangement of Saint-Saëns' "Danse Macabre" that sacrifices much of the mood and atmosphere of the original for energy.  It sounds like something you would hear in Disneyland aside from the dumb drum solo.  Parker returns to Bach for "Air for the G String" which was adapted from the second movement of his "Orchestral Suite in D Major."  The beginning of the song follows the Bach model but then Parker takes it in a jazzier direction complete with a sax solo and vibes.  My fondness for the Bach original prevents me from endorsing this, but I give Parker points for trying something different.  He also has an arrangement from a more modern composer namely Leroy Anderson and his "Jazz Pizzicato" although that piece is already so pop music oriented that Apollo 100 essentially plays it as written.  Parker contributed a few of his own songs to the record.  I think the most interesting one is "Tamara" which he co-wrote with Brian Hunter and Tony Ritchie.  For the most part it sheds the classical pretentions for a pop melody and a heavy section in the middle.  Its chamber pop style suits Parker extremely well and I wish more of the record sounded like this.  His other songs are less successful.  "Exercise in A Minor" sounds like a classical pianist jamming with a samba band.  The pretty but vapid "Classical Wind" could be the soundtrack to a TV commercial.  There are two other original songs on the album not written by Parker.  "Reach for the Sky" was written by Tony Ritchie and Del Spence.  It comes closest to replicating the euphoric sound of "Joy" although it is too derivative to be truly memorable.   "Libido" was written by Apollo 100 guitarist Vic Flick and Reg Leonard and it features a pleasant melody with catchy guitar lines and a tasteful string arrangement.  It sounds like a cross between a European film soundtrack and a Belle and Sebastian outtake.  I have no regrets about buying this album but I wish more of it sounded like "Libido" and "Tamara" and less of it featured "rock" versions of the classics.  When I was younger I was into prog-rock and appreciated the idea of classical-rock fusion.  I have less tolerance for it now, but even back then I think I would have found Parker's style to be insipid.  I prefer the audacious vulgarity that Emerson, Lake and Palmer brought to their heavy interpretation of "Pictures at an Exhibition" which seems like an experiment worth trying.  Parker's approach just sounds like he is dumbing down the music to me.  The exception of course is "Joy" which does fuse the dynamic quality of rock with Bach's original music.  Bach has always been the exception that proves the rule.  From Paul Simon to Procol Harum to the Toys to the New York Rock and Roll Ensemble, Bach's music has frequently been successfully transposed to rock probably because the strength of his musical motifs lends itself to rock melodies.  I can't unconditionally recommend such a silly record especially since you can just buy the single of "Joy" and likely have all the Apollo 100 you will ever need.  However if you love "Joy" as much as I do and you come across this album (which is generally pretty cheap), you will probably find stuff you like on it if you buy it.  I don't play it much but I enjoy it when I do.  Recommended to fans of Focus.