re: THIS AND THAT:
"We got involved with Sandy Knox and Katie Gillon, and this great company they have in Wrinkled Records," he said of his new musical partners. "We were so excited because they are such great music people that when they suggested we do the hits unplugged, e thought it's a great way to re-introduce ourselves. I've always been kind of a low-key guy. If I don't have a record out, I'm pretty quiet. There are also some plans to do some other music in the future. It was a very relaxed, stress free setting, and I hope people will feel good when they hear it."
One cut that brings those feel-good vibes is the classic "(Hey Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song," a No. 1 hit for Thomas from 1975 on the country charts as well as the Hot 100. For the new version, Thomas was joined by Richard Marx.
"He brought so much to the track. I think it was a song that meant something to him back when it was a hit. We told him to pick what he wanted to do, and that was his choice."
Another treat for Thomas was pairing up with Lyle Lovett for his 1969 signature song "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head." Thomas said the song really fit Lovett's style.
"I've known Lyle for years, and he's such an iconic figure in music, and also as a person. He's from Texas, and I am too. I think Sandy asked me if I would be interested in him singing on this project, and I said I would love for him to. I spoke to him on the phone, and he said he had done some music with Burt Bacharach, and I said ‘Why don't you do ‘Raindrops?' I think he brought a lot to it. He's a cool guy to work with. I hope we do some performances in the future."
The impact of "Raindrops" - originally from "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" is one that the singer still feels over four decades later – though it almost didn't happen.
"That was a life-changing record for me. I look it as a privilege to have been able to do it. We cut it in September 1969. There were a lot of problems surrounding the song, and some of the producers and actors in the movie didn't want a song in it. Robert Redford was one of them. They meant for it to be an Avant garde art film, which it was different for its' time. For whatever reasons – probably Burt Bacharach being such a great composer and Hal David being an equally great lyricist, it worked, and it became a very big record."
Each cut brought back a wave of memories for Thomas, especially 1970's "Most Of All," which features the vocal stylings of Keb' Mo'.
"I cut that with Buddy Buie and Steve Tyrell in Georgia. The studio group that was on the original was the Atlanta Rhythm Section, just a great band. They played it for me, and then they turned on the machines, and I got it on the first take. It was like a song I already knew. We had sense to stop after that. It's a song about a guy who is away from home, and he realizes who he loves the most. I identify with it very personally. Keb' Mo' must have been the same way. He came in the studio, and stayed about five hours. He invested so much time in internalizing the song, ad-libbed a few things, and did such a great job."
All in all, Thomas told Billboard it felt great going back in time, yet adding a new wrinkle to his past hits. "It's been unbelievable. I don't spend a lot of time thinking ‘Oh, these guys like my music,' but everyone that is on here, I so admire them as musicians and singers. It's very rewarding."
BEHIND THE SCENES VIDEO:
http://vimeo.com/53929218
Now this sounds absolutely AWESOME!!! Check out this musical line-up!!!
Congratulations are in order ... just got this notice from FH
Reader Tom Cuddy ...
The double-disc compilation The Very Best Of Chicago,
Only the Beginning is number-one this week on Billboard magazine's Catalog Chart and Digital Catalog chart. More impressively,
it's number-20 overall, on the Billboard Hot 200 chart. That makes Chicago the first American
band to chart Top 40 albums in six consecutive decades.
Petula
Clark has a brand new album coming out ... and on it she
does a new, slowed down version of her biggest hit "Downtown". (She also does
what Collectors' Choice Music describes as a pretty "creepy version" of the
Gnarls Barkley song "Crazy".) Great to see that she's still making music at the
ripe old age of 80!!! You can check it out here: Click
here: Petula Clark - Downtown (New Version) 2013 -
YouTube (I wonder what Tony Hatch thinks of
this version??? Good review on YouTube) kk
A few
months back we told you about B.J. Thomas' new album, "The
Living Room Sessions", a series of duet remakes of his best known
hits.
FH
Reader Tom Cuddy just sent us this new interview with B.J.
running in Billboard Magazine ... sounds like this one may be worth picking up
... some interesting pairings here! (kk)
It goes
without saying that B.J. Thomas is one of music's most versatile voices of all
time. He's had success with pop, gospel, A/C, and country over the years. So,
it's no surprise that his influence has cut a wide path over each of those
formats. His new disc, "The Living Room Sessions," features duet performances
with artists from many different genres. Thomas told Billboard that the idea to
re-record his hits was something that he has long
resisted."We got involved with Sandy Knox and Katie Gillon, and this great company they have in Wrinkled Records," he said of his new musical partners. "We were so excited because they are such great music people that when they suggested we do the hits unplugged, e thought it's a great way to re-introduce ourselves. I've always been kind of a low-key guy. If I don't have a record out, I'm pretty quiet. There are also some plans to do some other music in the future. It was a very relaxed, stress free setting, and I hope people will feel good when they hear it."
One cut that brings those feel-good vibes is the classic "(Hey Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song," a No. 1 hit for Thomas from 1975 on the country charts as well as the Hot 100. For the new version, Thomas was joined by Richard Marx.
"He brought so much to the track. I think it was a song that meant something to him back when it was a hit. We told him to pick what he wanted to do, and that was his choice."
Another treat for Thomas was pairing up with Lyle Lovett for his 1969 signature song "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head." Thomas said the song really fit Lovett's style.
"I've known Lyle for years, and he's such an iconic figure in music, and also as a person. He's from Texas, and I am too. I think Sandy asked me if I would be interested in him singing on this project, and I said I would love for him to. I spoke to him on the phone, and he said he had done some music with Burt Bacharach, and I said ‘Why don't you do ‘Raindrops?' I think he brought a lot to it. He's a cool guy to work with. I hope we do some performances in the future."
The impact of "Raindrops" - originally from "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" is one that the singer still feels over four decades later – though it almost didn't happen.
"That was a life-changing record for me. I look it as a privilege to have been able to do it. We cut it in September 1969. There were a lot of problems surrounding the song, and some of the producers and actors in the movie didn't want a song in it. Robert Redford was one of them. They meant for it to be an Avant garde art film, which it was different for its' time. For whatever reasons – probably Burt Bacharach being such a great composer and Hal David being an equally great lyricist, it worked, and it became a very big record."
Each cut brought back a wave of memories for Thomas, especially 1970's "Most Of All," which features the vocal stylings of Keb' Mo'.
"I cut that with Buddy Buie and Steve Tyrell in Georgia. The studio group that was on the original was the Atlanta Rhythm Section, just a great band. They played it for me, and then they turned on the machines, and I got it on the first take. It was like a song I already knew. We had sense to stop after that. It's a song about a guy who is away from home, and he realizes who he loves the most. I identify with it very personally. Keb' Mo' must have been the same way. He came in the studio, and stayed about five hours. He invested so much time in internalizing the song, ad-libbed a few things, and did such a great job."
All in all, Thomas told Billboard it felt great going back in time, yet adding a new wrinkle to his past hits. "It's been unbelievable. I don't spend a lot of time thinking ‘Oh, these guys like my music,' but everyone that is on here, I so admire them as musicians and singers. It's very rewarding."
BEHIND THE SCENES VIDEO:
Now this sounds absolutely AWESOME!!! Check out this musical line-up!!!
REELIN’ IN THE YEARS SETS FOOTAGE LICENSING DEAL
FOR
THE RED SKELTON HOUR MUSIC FOOTAGE
Rolling Stones,
Beach Boys, Kinks, Hollies and Iron Butterfly on The Red Skelton
Hour
Reelin’ In The Years Productions (RITY), the world’s largest music
footage library, has announced an agreement to exclusively represent for
licensing all of the music footage from the classic television program The
Red Skelton Hour, which aired on CBS from 1962 - 1971. This footage is unique
in that the music performances haven’t been seen since the program was
originally broadcast.
Red Skelton is widely considered to be one of the
greatest entertainers of all time, and his television program, The Red
Skelton Hour, is acknowledged as one of America’s finest
TV variety shows. Throughout the program’s ten year history, many of the top
musical artists of the day appeared, including the Rolling Stones, Simon &
Garfunkel, The Animals, The Kinks, The Fifth Dimension, Jan & Dean and
Dionne Warwick. Reelin’ In The Years Productions will be bringing its vast
experience in the field of licensing to market the music footage from the show.
The company has already begun the process of meticulously cataloging the
library, and has started making footage available for clips to be used in
various documentary productions.
The Red Skelton Hour archive contains a “who’s who" of
notable guests including some of the greatest musical icons of the era. The
Rolling Stones made one of their earliest national TV appearances on the
program -- two months before their first time on The Ed Sullivan
Show -- performing three songs including their first American single, “Tell
Me.” The Beach Boys appeared twice on the show: once in 1963 (their second time
ever on national TV, and with original member David Marks still in the band)
and, again, in 1964 performing “In My Room” and “I Get Around.” Other gems in
the archive include Three Dog Night performing their smash hit “Easy To Be
Hard,” The Four Seasons singing their #1 hit “Sherry,” three appearances by
Johnny Rivers including renditions of “Secret Agent Man,” “Memphis,” and his
chart-topping hit “Poor Side Of Town” and The Association performing their #1
hit “Windy.” Possibly the rarest musical guest on the show was Iron Butterfly,
who performed their classic
“In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida.”
One of the
greatest strengths of The Red Skelton Hour archive is the exceptional
collection of “British Invasion” performances; virtually every major UK act,
save the Beatles, appeared on the program. In addition to The Rolling Stones,
other artists include The Kinks, The Animals, The Hollies, Manfred Mann, The
Searchers, Billy J. Kramer & The Dakotas, Dusty Springfield, Peter &
Gordon, The Honeycombs, Chad & Jeremy, and Freddie & The Dreamers. To
view a sampling of the unique content from The Red Skelton Hour that is
now represented by RITY please visit http://youtu.be/pXXZsvDZlMc
for a 9-minute trailer.
Commenting on the The Red Skelton Hour archive, Reelin’ In
The Years founder and president David Peck stated, “Representing the
performances and interviews from the musical guests on The Red Skelton
Hour is truly a great honor. The holdings are incredible, featuring many
unique and one-of-a-kind performances. In addition, since the music performances
haven’t been utilized in any form since the early 1970’s, it’s the rediscovery
of a great American treasure.”
More
details as they become available ... man, it's about time somebody went into the
vaults and started releasing some of this stuff again. Kudos to Reeling In The
Years ... and may this just be the beginning of many more such releases to
come. (kk)
UPDATE: Just
checked out the YouTube Link ...
Click here: Red Skelton Hour- Rock-N-Roll Guests
1962-1970 (Reelin' In The Years Archives) - YouTube
These
are GREAT clips ... and in pristine condition!!! But apparently I am mistaken ... these are NOT being
released for home purchase, strictly for licensing purposes ... which is great
... except anybody who does that is going to chop these up into 10-20 second
bits and pieces, meaning these beautiful, historic performances STILL won't be
seen and enjoyed by the people to whom they would mean the
most.
I would
hope that Reeling In The Years would put together some type of compilation (or
series of dvds) for home purchase ... get these into the hands of the fans who
would enjoy them the most ... and NOT let them sit in a vault somewhere for
another 50 years, by which time all of us will be dead and
gone.
There
is a market for this material ... Red Skelton, Jack Benny, Danny Kaye, The
Hollywood Palace, The Kraft Music Hour ... ALL of these programs regularly
featured the hit music and artists of the day. Throw in Mike Douglas, The
Tonight Show and others and there is a goldmine full of classic videos waiting
to be seen. The Lloyd Thaxton Show ... American Bandstand ... Shivaree ...
Upbeat ... the Shindig and Hullabaloo stuff ... Ready Steady Go ... man, the
list goes on and on. We were SO fortunate to grow up at a time when this music
was presented regularly in our homes ... and these Red Skelton tapes look
pristine. Give the fans what they want ... make this music available again for
our enjoyment!
(kk)
This is
to alert your readers about two great books. Shout Sister Shout is about Sister
Rosetta Tharpe. Sister Rosetta is the subject of an American Masters episode
that may be viewed on demand. Gayle Wald wrote the first biography of her and
she had a lot of great sources still around to tell the details first hand.
Sister Rosetta's story is fascinating! I am also crazy about the Aretha chapter
in Anthony Heilbut's book The Fan Who Knew Too Much. It shines light on her
personal history and her days at Columbia Records. Many people dismiss Aretha's
Columbia years but this is when she was closest to her gospel roots and much
that she did with that company is quite outstanding.
Charlie
Miller, aka Autumn King,
KPOO fm and KPOO.com
Speaking of new books, FH Reader Bob Merlis
tells us that Eric Burdon has just signed a new book deal ... this in addition
to releasing his brand new solo album "'Til Your River Runs Dry", reviewed here
recently in Forgotten Hits.
