Has anything ever suited Scott's delivery more? I don't think so
― Doctor Nu (Noodle Vague), Friday, 17 May 2019 15:29 (five years ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/3hE8Le6.jpg
7. Baby It's You — 642 Points, 14 VotesLyric: Mack David, "Barney Williams" (Luther Dixon)The Shirelles, 1961 single, 439 points — https://youtu.be/CRrxjk3qgRcThe Beatles, from Please Please Me (1963), 179 points — https://youtu.be/WEvrCiQ0doQSmith, 1969 single, 24 points — https://youtu.be/IuWsRkF5SIo
Fun fact: the Smith version (#5) outperformed the Shirelles (#8) and the Beatles (1995 reissue, #67) on the Billboard Hot 100.
― WmC, Friday, 17 May 2019 15:36 (five years ago) link
too low
― budo jeru, Friday, 17 May 2019 15:37 (five years ago) link
Burt:
Luther Dixon loved the song but he wanted Mack to rewrite the lyrics to make it darker. Luther came up with the "cheat, cheat" part and took a co-songwriting credit for himself under the name Barney Williams. I think he was the one who changed the title to "Baby, It's You."
When we recorded the song, Luther had Shirley Owens, the lead singer of the Shirelles, come into the studio by herself to put a new lead vocal on the track. In every other way, the finished record is exactly the same as my demo, with everything I put on it still there. If you listen carefully right before she starts her lead vocal on the intro and the "sha-la-la-las" come up in the background, you can hear me shouting them out and sounding so bad and really loud.
― WmC, Friday, 17 May 2019 15:39 (five years ago) link
― Careless Love Battery (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 17 May 2019 15:41 (five years ago) link
hal david's nickname was mack ? lol
― budo jeru, Friday, 17 May 2019 15:43 (five years ago) link
No, Mack David was Hal's brother!
― WmC, Friday, 17 May 2019 15:45 (five years ago) link
intriguing
― budo jeru, Friday, 17 May 2019 15:45 (five years ago) link
mack's writing credits go back to the '30s,like chick webb and stuff
― budo jeru, Friday, 17 May 2019 15:49 (five years ago) link
[Mack] David had a varied interest in musical composition. In 1975, according to the New York Times in David's obituary: "Mr. David was granted a patent for inventing an electronic system for composing songs from fractional recordings. The system, which included playback units, stored records of lyrics and melodies. The operator selected words and music that fit together and recorded the combination."[1]
Dang!
― WmC, Friday, 17 May 2019 15:49 (five years ago) link
I had forgotten about Mack, despite having read and reread The Beatles: An Illustrated Record dozens of times.
― Careless Love Battery (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 17 May 2019 15:50 (five years ago) link
the "sha-la-la-las" come up in the background, you can hear me shouting them out and sounding so bad and really loud./
― Careless Love Battery (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 17 May 2019 15:51 (five years ago) link
^ lol yup
xp also the original lyrics to "la vie en rose" -- which are in english and were translated into french for edith piaf. i never knew this.
― budo jeru, Friday, 17 May 2019 15:52 (five years ago) link
I never noticed it before until I listened for it specifically -- pretty funny. xp
― WmC, Friday, 17 May 2019 15:53 (five years ago) link
my post about "la vie en rose" was wrong nvm
― budo jeru, Friday, 17 May 2019 15:54 (five years ago) link
I thought maybe that “sha-la-la” was The Beatles leaking into the track through a short time travel hop.I even like the John Sayles film of the same name, which features the Shirelles version of the song, even though he disowned it, I believe. Although I think they monkeyed with the soundtrack after the original release because of rights, substituting “Shout” with “Surfin’ Bird,” for example.
― Careless Love Battery (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 17 May 2019 15:55 (five years ago) link
actually i can’t figure out the truth about “la vie en rose” but i will stop talking about it.
― budo jeru, Friday, 17 May 2019 16:06 (five years ago) link
“Smith”? Is the artist name really just Smith? Weird.
Not a fan of this song tbh but the Elvis Costello version is OK
― Jeff W, Friday, 17 May 2019 16:09 (five years ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/Fz1U6zH.jpg
6. Anyone Who Had a Heart — 654 Points, 12 Votes, 1 first-place voteLyric: Hal DavidDionne Warwick, 1963 single, 654 points — https://youtu.be/qMsiGMKHJ8k
― WmC, Friday, 17 May 2019 16:10 (five years ago) link
"baby it's you" would have been my #1, if i knew enough bacharach songs to vote. (but then again, if i knew more songs, maybe it wouldn't be...nm. love this song so much)
― these are not all of the possible side effects (Karl Malone), Friday, 17 May 2019 16:10 (five years ago) link
― Careless Love Battery (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 17 May 2019 16:12 (five years ago) link
Okay here is the later version, missing “Shout” and “A Lover’s Concerto” and I can’t remember what else:https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0085208/soundtrack?ref_=ho_web
― Careless Love Battery (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 17 May 2019 16:20 (five years ago) link
#6 my #1
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Friday, 17 May 2019 16:21 (five years ago) link
Yup. They were a California bar band made good. Their debut album was titled A Group Called Smith. My parents saw them live in 70-71, with an up and coming combo called ZZ Top opening.
― a large tuna called “Justice” (C. Grisso/McCain), Friday, 17 May 2019 16:27 (five years ago) link
You sure that opening act wasn’t called The Zombies?
― Careless Love Battery (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 17 May 2019 16:28 (five years ago) link
A funny thing about clips of Smith is that their guitar player is almost a dead ringer for Noddy Holder, down to the big hat.
― a large tuna called “Justice” (C. Grisso/McCain), Friday, 17 May 2019 16:31 (five years ago) link
XP Naw, this was the Top. Dad claimed he bought their first album at the merch stand.
― a large tuna called “Justice” (C. Grisso/McCain), Friday, 17 May 2019 16:32 (five years ago) link
The Smith vote was from me, a nostalgic vote from my Orange County days. Gayle McCormick really delivers on that one.
― WmC, Friday, 17 May 2019 16:33 (five years ago) link
did Warwick's sister record any BB tunes?
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Friday, 17 May 2019 16:36 (five years ago) link
Didn't vote Anyone Who Had a Heart cos of Cilla ambivalence, but then nobody voted for hwr version so
― Doctor Nu (Noodle Vague), Friday, 17 May 2019 16:39 (five years ago) link
There’s a lot more consensus than I expected on which is the definitive version with regard to the Top 20 placers.
Or maybe it’s just hard to look past Dionne a lot of the time.
― Jeff W, Friday, 17 May 2019 16:47 (five years ago) link
Morbs, I'm not seeing any in Discogs. She recorded the original "You're No Good," which Linda Ronstadt had a big hit with.
― WmC, Friday, 17 May 2019 16:49 (five years ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/uRvFNxt.jpg
5. This Guy's/Girl's In Love With You — 680 Points, 13 Voteslyric: Hal DavidHerb Alpert, 1968 single, 595 points — https://youtu.be/GWjbUAYcxIIBobbie Gentry, from The Girl from Chickasaw County box set (2018), 55 points — https://youtu.be/5E11C6xNKaUAretha Franklin, 1970 single, 30 points — https://youtu.be/45cydmpmPNo
Herb Alpert:
Burt wrote the arrangement for "This Guy's in Love with You" and he was in the studio when we cut it at Gold Star Recording. In the studio, I'm the opposite of Burt. He is a perfectionist who likes everything to sound exactly the way he hears it in his hear. I close my eyes and I'm from the feel-it school. Obviously, Burt feels it as well but I take a different approach. If it feels right, I stop.
So we had the track and I wanted to see whether my voice would sound good on it. A bunch of the singers and Burt and a couple of musicians were in the control room while was doing a demo of the vocal. I did one take and went back into the control room and they all looked at me and said, "Don't touch it." I said, "What do you mean, don't touch it? That's just the demo." Burt said, "Don't touch it, man. It sounds great." I touched up a couple of things here and there but that was the take.
― WmC, Friday, 17 May 2019 16:52 (five years ago) link
Really loving these biography snippets today btw Wm
― Doctor Nu (Noodle Vague), Friday, 17 May 2019 17:01 (five years ago) link
Alpert is so endearingly dorky on it.
Great Picture Sleeve:
https://static.stereogum.com/uploads/2018/11/Herb-Alpert-This-Guys-In-Love-With-You-1541434972-compressed.jpg
― a large tuna called “Justice” (C. Grisso/McCain), Friday, 17 May 2019 17:02 (five years ago) link
Thanks, I renewed Burt's book from the library and am taking them all from that. I decided against the Noel Gallagher parts on this song. xp
― WmC, Friday, 17 May 2019 17:04 (five years ago) link
It's hard for me to separate out pure childhood nostalgia from the jazz craft of a lot of these tunes but i assume that the craft is explaining a lot of the permanent love, for me, anyway
― Doctor Nu (Noodle Vague), Friday, 17 May 2019 17:05 (five years ago) link
not surprised at consensus, but maybe bcz the greatest seem obvious to me
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Friday, 17 May 2019 17:06 (five years ago) link
I mean this stuff remains classic and evocative for a bunch of reasons i hadn't thought through until we did this
― Doctor Nu (Noodle Vague), Friday, 17 May 2019 17:07 (five years ago) link
some dickhole on wikipedia described Guy Klucevsek's version as a "dirge" and I just want to punch 'em so bad
xps -- mmmmmaybe? But I find the songs so amazing I even like "bad" versions, and craft can't explain that for me.
― WmC, Friday, 17 May 2019 17:08 (five years ago) link
Also yes what Morbs said
― Doctor Nu (Noodle Vague), Friday, 17 May 2019 17:09 (five years ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/7V3kpxA.jpg
4. I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself — 751 Points, 15 Votes, 1 first-place voteLyric: Hal DavidDusty Springfield, 1964 single, 572 points — https://youtu.be/xpsDE6KCY9sThe White Stripes, 2003 single, 84 points — https://youtu.be/jpZjuvI-s8YLinda Ronstadt, from Winter Light (1993), 65 points — https://youtu.be/CfC_Ngtdj8IIsaac Hayes, from The Isaac Hayes Movement (1970), 30 points — https://youtu.be/L_Mtumgu5yM
― WmC, Friday, 17 May 2019 17:19 (five years ago) link
Burt
Tommy Hunt, the former lead singer of the Flamingos, a really terrific doo-wop group, had just had a big hit on Scepter with "Human," so the label decided to let him cut this as a follow-up. I did the arrangement and conducted the orchestra, and Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller produced the session.
I thought it was a terrific record, but because Florence Greenberg didn't like the fact that Tommy Hunt was dating one of the Shirelles while also being kept by some other woman, she did nothing to promote it and the song went nowhere. It didn't become a hit until Dusty Springfield covered it two years later.
― WmC, Friday, 17 May 2019 17:22 (five years ago) link
Tommy Hunt original — https://youtu.be/7It1ATSCRxM
― WmC, Friday, 17 May 2019 17:23 (five years ago) link
Dusty my number 1,totally personal, totally perfect, can't think of another pop song that nails that feeling so well
― Doctor Nu (Noodle Vague), Friday, 17 May 2019 17:47 (five years ago) link
― Careless Love Battery (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 17 May 2019 18:08 (five years ago) link
― Careless Love Battery (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 17 May 2019 18:09 (five years ago) link
XP I figured you were referencing that.
― a large tuna called “Justice” (C. Grisso/McCain), Friday, 17 May 2019 18:10 (five years ago) link
i think it's WmC's coffee break time
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Friday, 17 May 2019 18:19 (five years ago) link