BEST OF LEN BARRY Solo & with THE DOVELLS, The Electric Indian, ISIS, & Slick!

THE BEST OF LEN BARRY

LEN BARRY grew up in a black neighborhood in Philly, & got slapped with the “blue-eyed soul” label early on.  He originally had aspirations to play professional basketball.  During his military service he sang with the U.S. Coast Guard band which nudged his bow toward music.    

He showed signs of greatness right out of the gate.  Barry’s debut on wax was as the lead vocalist of The Boss-Tones on their 1958 single Mope-Itty Mope.  Fame came with his next group THE DOVELLS pronounced (like Homer Simpson says “DOH!”) The DOH-vells.  

In an interview I watched, Len says they needed a B-Side for a song they'd just recorded.  Someone in the studio had been talking about a new dance that kids were doing over in Bristol PA; “The Stomp”.  Barry shared that they clipped the hook in BRISTOL STOMP from a song by The Students’ Every Day Of The Week: Listen here.

The Bristol Stomp: Len Barry with The Dovells.

With THE DOVELLS he made the above appearance in the black & white film; Don’t Knock The Twist, & toured the U.K. with The Motown Revue--even though the closest he’d come to being on Motown was dating one of THE MARVELETTES.  According to Len, it was during the early days of the label, & owner Berry Gordy wanted to stack the show.  

With the revue, he performed at The London Palladium, & The Royal Albert Hall.  He was no stranger to big stages, but in The States, he played mostly black theaters; The Apollo in Harlem, The Howard Theatre in Washington D.C., The Fox in Detroit & The Uptown back home in Philly--because people who had only heard The Dovells always assumed they were black.  

Years later, Barry was still a major singing star in The United Kingdom.  From Soulstrutter:  Revered on the Northern Soul scene for his blue-eyed soul for '1-2-3' (#3 UK 1965), 'Like A Baby' (#10 UK 1966), 'You Baby', 'It's A Crying, Shame', 'The Moving Finger Writes',  'I Struck It Rich'. I would say that he was one of the most played Blue-eyed soul artists on the scene.

(https://soulstrutter.blogspot.com/2020/12/len-barry-rip-12061942-05112020.html)

With The Dovells, Barry also toured with SAM COOKE, SMOKEY ROBINSON, MARVIN GAYE, & JAMES BROWN.They covered two songs by his idol; FRANKIE LYMON, who later became a close friend.  They also backed CHUBBY CHECKER on Let’s Twist Again, which they later recorded themselves.   

Len left the band & let them keep the name THE DOVELLS, and went solo under his stage name LEN BARRY.  His first single Lip Sync, was a bunch of tongue twisters (passed off as a song) which failed to find an audience.His second single was the frankly classic 1, 2, 3 co-written by Barry himself.  It sold 4 million copies—which lead to an album by the same name.     

By the mid-70’s, he had tired of the road, but continued to write songs, & to produce other acts.He wrote an entire album of songs for Damon Harris’ group IMPACT right after Harris left The Temptations.  He produced fellow Philadelphian (and one-time label mate) Bobby Rydell, Lola Falana, Major Harris, Blue Magic, ISIS, & Sylvester, as well.    

Alongside Tommy Sellers, he came up with one of the first disco records Keem-O-Sabe which featured a young Daryl Hall, & Gamble-Huff studio players who later rose to fame as MFSB (Mother, Father, Sister, Brother).  Sister Sledge is mentioned in some articles, & left out of others, but the point is he always had a hand in writing & recording music.

While his writing & singing was every bit as good as many of his contemporaries, Len’s stagecraft wasn’t quite on a par with his influences.  But that didn’t keep him from appearing on all the hot teen-centric TV shows, like; Bandstand, Shindig, & Hullaballo surrounded by professional dancers.

It can’t be overstated how difficult it was at this point in history to know how to “play to a camera”.  Recording a hit was just the first step—but then you had to learn what to do with your hands while you sang in front of an audience (check the clip above).

Nowadays, performers often have their first performance digitally preserved.  The first affordable video cameras were 20 years away, & performers in the early '60s had to learn what worked by trial & error.  They had to have a feel for it.  Artists might appear in a movie, & only got to watch their performance months later.  It had to be difficult to develop a sense of what you looked like onstage--or wanted to look like--& to get comfortable in front of a camera.  Most labels were run by businessmen focused on selling records, and lacking Motown’s crew of dance instructors (& clothing designers) dancing in front of a full-length mirror was your only tool.  Even acts that were know to be powerhouses live, like Gene Vincent, often seemed uncomfortable, awkward, & slightly off of their game on camera.  It was a different time.   

Len Barry left an amazing body of work, & several of my favorite songs.  He wasn't restricted to one style of music either, as this collection illustrates.  For more info, check out The Philadelphia Inquirer's nice tribute: Len Barry's Obituary

The Reinvention Of The Guitar (according to Simon Reynolds)

Simon Reynolds has published a new book called Still In A Dream: Shoegaze, Slackers And The Reinvention of Rock, 1984-1994.  Mr. Reynolds (author of books about glam, techno, post-punk, and hip hop) recently participated in the feature "Bakers Dozen" at The Quietus website, where musicians and other creatives share their thoughts about 13 records that influenced them.  

Bakers Dozen is one of my favorite online features, and it has been the source of some great music recommendations.  This particular Bakers Dozen is titled "The Reinvention Of The Guitar in 13 Albums", although some of Reynolds' choices are compilation tracks, EP's, and (in one case) a Youtube video of a live Bo Diddley performance from the 1980's.

I decided to assemble a mix from "The Reinvention Of The Guitar" (without realizing that the author had already created a Youtube playlist of his selections).  

In my defense, his playlist includes three dozen songs, whereas mine is just 13.  He shortened the Bo Diddley video that begins his Baker's Dozen, and I shortened one of the lengthy guitar pieces from the reissue of Allan Bryant's 1977 album Space Guitars.  

Here's a cool thing about Simon Reynolds (who once wrote that he will never stop blogging):  he creates a blog to organize his thoughts, links, and overflow material as he works on a new book.  You can go back to the first month of his blog for Still In A Dream to get an idea of how the ideas for the book were conceived, and how they evolved.  His comments on his Bakers Dozen choices are also worth reading.

ELSEWHERE ON THE BLOG:  three sets of instrumentals with some fiendishly inventive guitar work -- compiled by me, Richard, and readers like you! 

WILLIE NELSON IS KING with or without LUCINDA WILLIAMS, FARON YOUNG, or RAY PRICE.

Willie Nelson Is King 

Have you ever run across a CD that got tucked away by mistake?  And finding it was like running into an old friend?  That’s the way it was when I was reunited with today’s share.  I wore this huckleberry out when I first compiled it a LONG time ago.  

I considered rebranding Willie Nelson Is King as one of my IN THE MIX comps, but I have great affection for it just the way it is.

It starts with one of my favorite songs, one of the first songs John Lennon & Paul McCartney ever wrote together; One After 909.  In a feat that hasn’t been achieved very often, Willie’s version just may outshine any of their attempts to commit it to tape.

I’m a giant Willie Nelson fan, & I’m ashamed it took me this long to post some kind of proof of the fact.  The same goes for Phil Harris—and there’s a song here that was a staple of Phil’s repertoire; Smoke, Smoke, Smoke That Cigarette, & one that should have been; My Window Faces The South.

There are other old songs (like 1948’s Far Away Places) which Willie has always relished polishing up for public consumption.  It’s heavy on his Django Reinhardt-inspired jazzy fingerpicked numbers—the most surprising being Willie’s version of ZZ Top’s She Loves My Automobile.  Nelson resuscitates another song most of us have heard a thousand times; Paul Simon’s Still Crazy After All These Years.  As great a songwriter, & a guitarist as Willie is—he’s an indescribably inspired song stylist.

I’ve studied every version of his wonderfully autobiographical Me & Paul (English, not Simon).  The live version here is probably my favorite.  As usual, I obsessed, so you don’t have to.

There’s a reason The Red Headed Stranger is in demand as a duet partner, & it’s not just his world-wide fame, or fan base.  He’s one of the best there is.  I love how Willie’s craggy vocal blends with Carrie Underwood’s fresh out of the box sounding voice on Always On My Mind.

Lucinda Williams, a heavyweight singing partner in her own right, joins Willie for her song Overtime.  Like Wilco, they are clearly trying to break your heart.  So are Willie & Alison Krauss on No Mas Amore, I suspect.  There are also duets with Sheryl Crow, Rosanne Cash, Ray Price, & Faron Young—who was one of Willie’s oldest friends.

So I hope you enjoy the company of my old friend—I feel you two will get along.

A Compilation of Post-Punk Compilations

 

There's some overlap here between my Tribute To Punk Compilations and this one, as some compilation albums are the source of both punk and post-punk tracks.  Punk never ended, and there's not really a date or event that divides punk from post-punk.  If there were a dividing line, some artists would criss-cross it throughout their careers. 

There are some legendary names and tracks here, and some forgotten ones.  The last song ("Room With A View") may leave some listeners wondering.  It's included as a reminder that "low fi" and cassette releases existed long before labels like Shrimper started another musical movement.  But I chose "Room With A View" mainly because it's a song that still gets stuck in my head and tickles my ears all these years later.  It's a one-off from an unidentified LAFMS contributor to the Light Bulb Magazine #4 "Emergency Cassette" from 1981.  I bought the double tape set from LAFMS way back then, and bought it again from Tedium House decades later when it was unofficially reissued on CD-R.

Speaking of compilation albums, the Old Melodies blog has just posted the Pebbles and Ugly Things series of garage rock compilations.  If you don't have them, get over there!  And keep going back to Themes From Great Cities, where AJ is posting tons of punk and post-punk comps and classics.  Vibes is another great blog, recently posting the comps Blank Generation, Guerilla Girls, You're No Big Deal, and that most unexpected K-Tel comp -- Gimme Indie Rock!

SPECIAL GUEST Vol. 2 Jerry Lee & Mickey Gilley, CHER & BOWIE, Crystal Gayle & Donovan!

SPECIAL GUEST Vol. 2

This edition of SPECIAL GUEST includes some great pairings: David Bowie & Cher, Joe Walsh & Sheryl Crow, Donovan & Crystal Gayle, Kris Kristofferson & Brenda Lee, and Don Henley & Patty Smyth.

And we can’t overlook Kevin Ayers & Sid Barrett, John Cale & Chris Spedding, Carl Perkins & Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr & George Harrison, John Waite & Eddie Van Halen.

Some readers may not know that longtime Pat Benatar guitarist/husband/producer Neil Giraldo produced & played guitar on Rick Springfield’s biggest hit Jessie’s Girl.  That’s what landed him in the garage rehearsal space of YouTube sensations Middle Aged Dad Jam Band.  Fellow YouTube big shot Daryl Hall is joined by Cee Lo Green for a fantastic version of Daryl’s own I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do).

Nikki Sudden & Captain Sensible teamed up on Iggy’s Kill City for the Greg Shaw tribute album, and were ripe for the cherry-picking.  Mick Jagger slums with The Red Devils, & Robert Plant does the same with Lil' Band Of Gold.  Country Joe receives an upgrade from The Fish to The Bevis Frond.  And my favorite piano pounding shit-kicker Jerry Lee Lewis duets with his cousin Mickey Gilley during a show at Gilley’s!

The cherry on top is the cover art featuring RITA MORENO with ANIMAL (from an appearance on The Muppet Show).  Wearing a Halston Dress, 'natch!

 

A Tribute To Punk Compilations

Last week's Tribute To Tribute Albums got me reminiscing about making mixtapes: putting an LP on the turntable to add one perfect song to my newest compilation, then shelving it and grabbing another -- or maybe cueing up a tape-to-tape transfer.  Sharing these discoveries with friends and pen pals is kinda what Stinky and I do now in the digital age.

There was a fun discussion in the comments section here awhile back about the various artists compilation albums that had an impact on our musical tastes.  Fond memories were shared of records like IRS Greatest Hits, Urgh, The Enigma Variations, the Repo Man and Return Of The Living Dead soundtracks, the Flipside Vinyl Fanzines, The Blasting Concept, Tooth And Nail, The Wailing Ultimate, and a couple of comps that we've shared here:  Propaganda and No Wave.  

I decided to go through my own collection and pull a song (or two or three) that I would have put on a punk mixtape for a friend back then (or for my own entertainment).  Many of these songs still resonate with me all these years later.  My collection of vinyl and cassettes was mostly from the early 80's, and there were a few significant comps that I didn't own (or couldn't borrow to tape).  I tried to stick with the records I owned or had access to back then.

It's pretty heavy on US hardcore, with just a few of the first generation punk bands.  It's also skewed geographically toward Southern California and the upper Midwest.  What can I say -- in the early 80's, I was a teenager living in 'Scansin.  Most of my collection came from mail order purchases and review copies that were sent to my fanzine.  I used to write to some of these bands, and I got some cool responses from The Scapegoats, Secret Hate, Rebel Truth, and The Proletariat.  Die Kreuzen were local heroes, and I got to interview Bad Brains when they played Milwaukee.  Probably one of the greatest shows I've ever seen.  Both bands were on fire.

If you had asked me to make you a punk mixtape in 1984, most of these songs would have been on it.  Maybe with a few more tracks from Redd Kross, Secret Hate, die Kreuzen and The Sins.  Definitely more Angry Samoans and some Misfits.  Anyway, here's a 40 track compilation of tracks from punk compilations!

CALL & RESPONSE Vol. 1 - THE SONICS Ray Charles JAMES BROWN The Beatles & Many More!

CALL & RESPONSE Vol. 1

Paul McCartney & John Lennon each said in interviews that when the other would come out up with something impressive, friendly competition inspired them to do the same.  I’ve liked Jon’s last two posts so much, that I put the finishing touches a new series I’ve enjoyed “test-driving” to try to keep up.

There’s something about songs that feature CALL & RESPONSE between the lead singer & the backing vocalists that gets your blood pumping.  It seems to have come out of southern churches, & one of the masters was RAY CHARLES who reportedly wrote What'd I Say as he went along--according to SONGFACTS:

Charles improvised this onstage at a club in Brownsville, Pennsylvania in December 1958 after he played every song he knew and still had 12 minutes to fill. He simply asked his band to follow his lead... which they did. He told his backing singers (The Raeletts) to simply repeat whatever he said. The singer remembered: "I had sung everything I could think of. So I said to the guys, 'Look, I'm going to start this thing off, I don't know where I'm going, so y'all just follow me.' And I said to the girls, 'Whatever I say, just repeat after me.'"

Included here are two songs written by THE ISLEY BROTHERS (their versions show up on upcoming installments) who went as far as having the organist from their church perform on Shout! (performed here by JOAN JETT)!  Shout! came about in a similar fashion--again according to SONGFACTS:

The Isleys wrote this on the spur of the moment at a Washington, DC, concert in mid-1959. As they performed Jackie Wilson's Lonely Teardrops, Ronald Isley ad-libbed, "WELLLLLLLLLLL... you know you make me want to SHOUT" and Rudy and O'Kelly joined in on the improvisation. The audience went wild and afterwards, RCA executive Howard Bloom suggested putting it out as their first RCA single.

The Isley’s also wrote Twist & Shout—presented here in glorious mono by THE FAB FOUR.

Another artist with a long history of utilizing the approach is JAMES BROWN who really puts his band through their paces on Say It Loud, I'm Black & I'm Proud.  THE STAPLE SINGERS & GLADYS KNIGHT & THE PIPS also came out of the church, & use it to great effect.

Something tells me not everyone on Volume 1 adopted this device after hearing it during Sunday Services...  ROCK BOTTOM & THE CUTAWAYS deliver Get Up Baby (& move your funky butt) and BUCK NAKED & THE BARE BOTTOM BOYS grind out Bend Over Baby & Let Me Drive.  And I’ve never heard anything like DEVO’S Jocko Homo in the house of the Lord.  

THE SONICS inject some venom into Night Time Is The Right Time, & LINK WRAY does the same to Good Good Lovin’.  The Who’s My Generation wraps things up, and TALKING HEADS, DAVID BOWIE, & IGGY POP start things off.  

CHARLIE & INEZ FOX’s Mockingbird is one of my favorite songs, & a sterling example of how irresistible call & response can be.  WARREN ZEVON’s entry, A Certain Girl is another favorite, and I only just discovered that Waddy Wachtel, Jorge Calderon, & Don Felder all play guitar on it.

QUEEN’s Somebody To Love is so unique that it’s easy to miss it's C&R aspect, & every time I hear Come & Get Your Love by REDBONE, I'm compelled to echo their first “HEY!”