Friday, March 4, 2011

Helping Out Our Readers

re: GENE PITNEY:
Kent,
What happened with Gene Pitney and Marianne Faithfull? Some love affair that ended on a sour note, so he penned his experience with her in a "Marianne" song?
Also, I see "Pretty Annabelle" was never released as a single, but you need to tell me why it sounds so familiar to me!!! (LOL).
http://www.angelfire.com/empire/abpsp/images/annabelle.mp3
Not sure why it sounds familiar. Should have been released as a single, in my opinion.
Thanks!

Jersey John
It's a new one on me and honestly, I don't recognize anything about it ... but maybe some other readers can shed some light (???) kk

re: YELLOW RIVER:
>>>The Tremeloes recorded the very first version of "Yellow River". It was the backing track of this recording that served for Christie's hit. (John)
I had never heard this before ... nor did I see "Yellow River" listed on any of The Tremeloes' original commercial releases ... so I asked Tom Diehl if HE knew anything about the song. (kk)
Absolutely. It's a favorite of mine ... I'm attaching it.
As you listen, notice that the music sounds exactly the same as the Christie version. I'm not sure on the full details but I believe a relative of one of the Christie band members was in the Tremeloes so they got the first shot at the song -- they decided against releasing it as they wanted to go a different direction with their career, so Jeff Christie decided to add his own vocals to the Tremeloes backing track and released it himself. One thing about the Tremeloes version is that it was only made available years later, in mono only.
Tom


The backing track is, in fact, identical ... and yes, there IS a brotherly Tremeloes connection but it isn't Jeff Chrisite who is related. Christie Drummer Mike Blakely is the brother of Alan Blakely, guitarist for The Tremeloes. I like BOTH versions of this song. (Hey, a good song is a good song ... and THIS is a good song!!!) Hopefully some of our recent coverage has inspired a few of the jocks on the list to give it a spin on their programs. (kk)

re: SWEET MARY:
Kent,
Digging thru some old tapes on a cloudy Sunday afternoon, I ran across this version of Wadsworth Mansion's "Sweet Mary" - but is it a different Wadsworth Mansion mix, or a different group altogether? Wadsworth Mansion had a couple of 45 versions - one with a fade ending and the other with a cold ending - but neither sound at all like this alternate take - and those two are also mono. This was recorded off a 45 with a skip in it at :58, and I'm curious if you can shed any light on it.
Thanks,
David


This almost sounds like one of those latter-day "re-dos" for some type of compilation album ... the kind where they advertise "original artists" but all the recordings have been redone. Not that it's bad ... actually, I have been planning on featuring "Sweet Mary" for a while now in our new "Today's Forgotten Hits" feature ... but this should tide folks over till then. Thanks, David! (kk)
re: PEOPLE:
>>>Now I've got to get a good, clean copy of "I Love You" by People with the deejay edit ... it's a shorter and completely different mix than the version commercially available ever since. This is yet another case of where the song just hasn't sounded right to me for over 40 years now because this ISN'T the way we heard it on the radio. We featured it once before awhile back (FH Reader Clark Besch sent us a copy) but it wasn't a very clean version. (kk)
Here's a dub right off of my promo 45 (which is far from mint, but it plays good enough).
Tom Diehl


EXCELLENT! Thanks, Tom! I've been looking for a copy of the promo 45 for quite a while now and haven't come across one. But there is a DISTINCT difference in the vocal mix on this radio version than the commercial 45's available in the stores. (Another case where I couldn't wait to get this record home, plopped it on the turntable and then did one of those "What the heck is THIS?!?!?" spit-takes. By the way, I've probably gone through half a dozen copies of the commercial single since 1968 and every single one of them was recorded SO softly and had SO much surface noise that you literally couldn't listen to it ... add to that the remixed vocals and I pretty much put this one away for good. Thanks so much for sending! (kk)
re: TRINI LOPEZ:
Do you ever wake up in the middle of the night with an idea that suddenly comes to your mind right out of nowhere? That happened to me last night.
I don't know if you have recently posted anything about this artist but last night I woke up and was reminded about Trini Lopez. He did acting as well as singing. What is that Reprise singer doing today? I have no idea.
Larry
Actually, Trini is still performing ... and recording! A couple of years ago, our FH Buddy Ron Dante produced a brand new album of Trini Lopez material ... in fact, we featured Trini's version of "Feliz Navidad" at Christmas time this year, too! Here's ANOTHER artist who gets absolutely ZERO airplay these days, despite scoring SIX Top 50 Pop Hits back in the '60's. (kk)
re: HELPING OUT A READER ... ON THE RADIO!:
I guess one could say I'm technologically challenged. Since I'm no longer employed in radio, I no longer have access to a control board in which a mike, turntable, tapedeck, CD player and computer are hooked up to. Therefore, I have to go thru probably a lot of unnecessary steps just to record my internet show on to a cassette ... forget about transferring it to a CD. (A third party does the actual transferring, but he was of no help when I emailed him).
What I need to know, from someone who has remarkable patience, is how to integrate my computer with my audio equipment ... what do I need to download ... or is there any software I need to purchase. (I believe I've already purchased unnecessary stuff as it is).
My email address is rockandrollneverforgets@yahoo.com. Kent has my phone number, as eventually we will have to talk on the phone, or you can send me yours. I'm sure it's ridiculously simple, but I have no clue.
Thanks in advance.
Jack
With as many FH Readers as we have doing Internet Radio Shows, I'm sure a few of you can give Jack some pointers on how he can "tighten up" his system. (Drop me a note with a few suggestions ... or contact Jack direct via the email address shown above.) Let's face it ... the faster we can get this guy back on the air, the faster he can start telling everybody about Forgotten Hits! (lol) Thanks, gang! (kk)