Toppermost of the Poppermost - UK Number Ones : part 2 - The 1960s

[daf]

Poor daf, having to squeeze a 22nd part out of the 21-part Elvis Presley story. Undeserved.

Make that 23 parts - there's another NME exclusive Elvis pinnacle platter coming up in a few years time * - which, unlike this weak piss, absolutely deserved to be a proper number one.

- - - - - - - - - - -
* no peeking!

[daf]

Wearing Red Feathers and a Huly-Huly skirt, it's . . .

126.  The Shadows - Kon Tiki



From : 1 – 7 October 1961
Weeks : 1
Flip side : 36-24-36

Following their Number one with Apache in August 1960, the Shadows reached #5 in the UK charts with the double A-side 'Man of Mystery' / 'The Stranger' in October 1960.

In December, they released the Western-themed EP "The Shadows", consisting of :
A1: Mustang  /  A2: Theme From Shane / /   B1: Shotgun  /  B2: Theme From Giant

The follow up, 'F.B.I.'  was a hit in February 1961 - spending 19 weeks in the UK Singles Chart reaching No. 6 on two separate occasions in mid-February and mid-March 1961.

"F.B.I." was written by Hank Marvin, Bruce Welch and Jet Harris. Due to complicated publishing contracts, F.B.I. was credited to their manager Peter Gormley, who was also acting as Cliff Richard's manager. The actual composers' names never appeared on the credits. It was released by EMI as a single in February 1961 on the Columbia label with "Midnight" (Marvin, Welch) as the B-side.

Their next single, 'Frightened City' - the title song to the British neo-noir gangster film about extortion rackets and gang warfare in the West End of London, starring Herbert Lom, John Gregson and a pre-Bond Sean Connery, who plays a burglar called Paddy Damion. Backed with "Back Home", it would bring them back into the Top 3 in May 1961.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

After the massive number-one selling Apache single in June 1960, the group ostensibly merited an immediate debut album but in the UK at that time albums were of secondary importance to singles and EPs. The UK's economy was still not sufficiently strong to enable the British record buying public to prioritise albums over singles in terms of purchasing choices. From the mid-1960s, the album would eventually predominate over the single in the UK. But in September 1961, they would finally release their first Album, "The Shadows".



The album was recorded at Abbey Road Studios (Studio 2) between 26 October 1960 and 21 June 1961. It was recorded on entirely analogue equipment in real time, with each track recorded on a one-track-per-day basis with no overdubs or edits on a 2 track recording machine. Rather than having a stereo mix being mixed down into a mono version, both stereo and mono mixes were recorded simultaneously but separately within the same session. Mistakes made during recording necessitated immediate retakes, and for that reason, multiple versions for most of the tracks exist in EMI's tape vaults.

All of the tracks were recorded in several sessions over an eight-month period (comprising of nine session-days), during which singles were also recorded, including "Kon-Tiki", "She Wears Red Feathers" (unissued), "The Frightened City", "Wonderful Land", "36-24-36", "March of the Shadows" (unissued), "Peace Pipe", "The Savage", "Blues From an Unfurnished Flat" (unissued), and "Happy Birthday to You".

This album is cited by many highly influential and successful British rock/metal/heavy metal guitarists (such as Brian May of Queen) as being their no.1 favorite Shadows album thus influencing them in their career first choice in music.

'Shadoogie', 'Nivram', and 'Sleepwalk' were used "live on stage" to promote this album in 1961-2. The track 'Gonzales' was played live on a radio performance (late 1960) but never on stage until belatedly included on the final tour live set in 2004.

This is the only Shadows album that features the original Shadows line up with Tony Meehan and Jet Harris. Meehan was sacked for persistent lateness in 1961 and Harris resigned in 1962. The only other early album of note featuring Harris and Meehan is the South African "Rockin Guitars" Shadows special compilation album.

The British public in 1960-61 anticipated an all instrumental debut album but the Shadows and Paramor wanted to produce an album showcasing their numerous diverse talents instead, hence the inclusion of two specialist instrumental "solos", Nivram (a bass feature) and the pun-tastic 'See You In My Drums' (an obviously drum-heavy track). The album was rounded out with three relatively unexpected vocals : "Baby My Heart"  (Vocal by Hank)  /  "All My Sorrows"  (Vocal by Jet)  / and  "That's My Desire" (Vocal by Bruce)

This album reached the number-one slot in the UK albums chart in 1961. No singles were taken from it, though two "extract" Eps were compiled from its tracks: "The Shadows No. 2" and "The Shadows No. 3" - both in mono only.

However, notwithstanding any minor criticisms, this very successful debut album features seven (out of fourteen) all new original compositions written by members of the Shadows in various permutations, thus contradicting many later British authors who erroneously claim that this period of British pop music "before the Beatles" was 100% influenced and dominated by "Tin Pan Alley" songwriters who wrote their material at offices in London's fashionable West End.

Recorded during the sessions for their debut album, "Kon-Tiki", written by Michael Carr, became a No. 1 hit in the UK Singles Chart in October 1961. It was the fifth Shadows hit and their second to reach the top of the UK chart.

Featuring Hank Marvin on lead twangin' duties, Bruce Welch on rhythm guitar, Jet Harris on bass, and Tony Meehan on drums. Meehan was replaced by Brian Bennett in the Shadows line-up whilst this single was still at No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart.

Other Versions include :   Fausto Papetti (1962)  /  The Golden Guitars (1974)  /  Bert Weedon (1976)  /  Alex Bollard (1990)  /  Lex Vandyke (1997)  /  The Locomotions (2009)  /  Marc Labarre (2011)  /  Danny McEvoy (2011)  /  CoreLoss (2012)  /  OldGuitarMonkey (2012)  /  springer16900 and the V.S.T  (2012)  /  Sergio Rafael Orchestra (2016)  /  John Alex (2017)  /  Dave Wall (2018)  /  The Noron (2019)

On This Day :

1 October : The Beach Boys record their debut single "Surfin"
1 October : US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1 October : A volcanco believed to be extinct erupts in Tristan da Cunha
5 October : "Breakfast at Tiffany's" film released, based on the novella by Truman Capote, directed by Blake Edwards and starring Audrey Hepburn.
6 October : USSR performs nuclear tests at Kapustin Yar USSR
6 October : JFK advises Americans to build fallout shelters

[The Culture Bunker]

I like the sniffy little bit at the end of the Wiki article, about the self-penned material on the debut album, which reads like it was written by one of the band or a close friend: "Actually, the Beatles weren't the first British pop stars to write their own material, I think you'll find."

[purlieu]

Nice little tune, but frankly a league below 'Man of Mystery', 'F.B.I.' and 'Frightened City', none of which hit the top. Even in 1961 the record buying public couldn't be relied on to get it right.

The debut album's alright, but their best material was all on the singles during this period.

[Satchmo Distel]

I like the sniffy little bit at the end of the Wiki article, about the self-penned material on the debut album, which reads like it was written by one of the band or a close friend: "Actually, the Beatles weren't the first British pop stars to write their own material, I think you'll find."

The Beatles wrote all the songs on A Hard Day's Night and they were all either great or pretty good. Writing seven crap album fillers is not the same thing at all, Wank Carvin.

[machotrouts]

Nondescript to the point of nonexistence. Makes 'Wild in the Country' sound like Basement Jaxx. Just played it about 10 times in a row and I can barely remember a note, even though it's still playing right now as I type this. The only thing I've noticed is there's a bit where it sounds like it's going to go into the 'Heartbeat' theme tune, which, as I only learned from this thread, is apparently a proper song independent of the existence of the television show 'Heartbeat'.

The Shadows will be all up in my Last.fm chart now too. Fuck's sake Cliff is probably there and all.

[daf]

Sta-a-a-a-a-and and Deliver!, it's . . .

127.  The Highwaymen - Michael



From : 8 – 14 October 1961
Weeks : 1
Flip side : Santiano

The Highwaymen originated at Wesleyan University in 1958 when Dave Fisher joined with four other Wesleyan freshman – Bob Burnett, Steve Butts, Chan Daniels, and Steve Trott – to form the Highwaymen. Fisher, who would graduate in 1962 with the university's first degree in ethnomusicology, was the quintet's arranger and lead singer.

In 1959, their arrangement of the African-American work song "Michael, Row the Boat Ashore", under the abbreviated title of "Michael", reached #1 on the U.S. chart in September 1961, earning the quintet a gold record. The single also reached #1 in the UK and #4 in Germany.

Their follow up single, "The Gypsy Rover" reached #41 in the UK, but the next single, "Cotton Fields" was a top 13 hit in the US. Despite the promising start, later singles, including "I'm On My Way", "Well, Well, Well"  and  "The Bird Man" (recorded with Burt Lancaster), all flopped.

The original group stopped performing in 1964 and the members, while remaining in touch, went their separate professional ways. Fisher alone stayed in the music business, and with him as musical director, the "Highwaymen" continued with Renny Temple, Roy Connors, Mose Henry, and Alan Scharf. They recorded two albums, 'Stop! Look! & Listen' and 'On a New Road', and performed concerts and appeared on many television variety shows. Their final single, "My Foolish Pride", was released in 1966.

The original Highwaymen, minus Daniels (who died in 1975), reunited in 1987 for a concert for their 25th college reunion. From that time until the death of Dave Fisher in 2010, the original band recorded several albums and performed a dozen or so concerts a year.

In 1990, the members of the original group sued country music's Highwaymen, made up of Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, and Kris Kristofferson over their use of the name, which was inspired by a Jimmy Webb ballad they had recorded. The suit was dropped and the name was licensed to them after the foursome agreed to let the members of the original group share the stage at a 1990 concert in Hollywood.

The original group last performed in August 2009 at the Guthrie Center in Massachusetts.

Daniels died of pneumonia on 2 August 1975, at the age of 36.
Fisher died on 7 May 2010, at the age of 69.
Burnett died of brain cancer on 7 December 2011, at his home in Riverside, Rhode Island. He was 71.

"Michael, Row the Boat Ashore" is an African-American spiritual song. It was first noted during the American Civil War at St. Helena Island, one of the Sea Islands of South Carolina.

It was sung by former slaves whose owners had abandoned the island before the Union navy arrived to enforce a blockade. Charles Pickard Ware was an abolitionist and Harvard graduate who had come to supervise the plantations on St. Helena Island from 1862 to 1865, and he wrote down the song in music notation as he heard the freedmen sing it. Ware's cousin William Francis Allen reported in 1863 that the former slaves sang the song as they rowed him in a boat across Station Creek.

The song was first published in 1867 in Slave Songs of the United States by Allen, Ware, and Lucy McKim Garrison.

According to William Francis Allen, the song refers to the Archangel Michael. In the Roman Catholic interpretation of Christian tradition, Michael is often regarded as a psychopomp or conductor of the souls of the dead.

The spiritual was also recorded on Johns Island during the 1960s by American folk musician and musicologist Guy Carawan and his wife, Candie Carawan. Janie Hunter, former singer of the Moving Star Hall singers, noted that her father, son of former slaves, would sing the spiritual when he rowed his boat back to the shore after catching fish.

The version of "Michael, Row the Boat Ashore" that is widely known today was adapted by Boston folksinger and teacher Tony Saletan, who taught it to Pete Seeger in 1954. Saletan, however, never recorded it. Seeger taught it to The Weavers, who performed it at their 1955 reunion concert.

The American folk quintet the Highwaymen had a #1 hit in 1961 on both the pop and easy listening charts in the U.S. with their version, under the simpler title of "Michael." This recording also went to #1 in the United Kingdom.

The recording begins and ends with one of the singers whistling the tune a cappella, later accompanied by simple instruments, in a slow, ballad style. All the Highwaymen sang and harmonized on the Michael lines but individual singers soloed for each set of additional lyrics. This version differs from the Pete Seeger version by changing "meet my mother on the other side" to "milk and honey on the other side." "Milk and honey" is a phrase used in the Book of Exodus during Moses' vision of the burning bush. The original Negro spiritual mentions the singer's mother but the hit version does not.

The song was recorded by The Beach Boys for their 1976 15 Big Ones album but was left off the final running order. Brian Wilson rearranged the song, giving it a rich arrangement with sound similar to the many other covers recorded during this period, including a complex vocal arrangement. Mike Love sang lead vocals.

Other Versions include :  Pete Seeger  (1956)  /  Bob Gibson (1957)  /  Lonnie Donegan (1961)  /  Bobby Stevens (1961)  /  Billy Vaughn (1961)  /  Harry Belafonte (1962)  /  The Lennon Sisters (1962)  /  The Lettermen (1962)  /  Bobby Darin (1963)  /  The Brothers Four (1963)  /  "¡Aleluya!" by Los Apson (1964)  /  The Smothers Brothers (1964)  /  Percy Faith & His Orchestra (1964)  /  Trini Lopez (1964)  /  Brian Poole and The Tremeloes (1965)  /  "Pour nos joies et pour nos peines" by Johnny Hallyday (1965)  /  Joe & Eddie (1965)  /  Johnny Rivers (1965)  /  The Carter Family (1965)  /  Billy Lee Riley (1968)  /  Horst Wende's Akkordeon-Band (1968)  /  Max Romeo & The Hippy Boys (1969)  /  The Bergerfolk (1974)  /  Lee Patterson Singers (1975)  /  The Cliff Adams Singers (1976)  /  Bananarama & Mike Read (1984)  /  Peter, Paul & Mary (1998)  /  Foster & Allen (2004)  /  Family Guy (2014)  / Garrett Tettemer (2019)

On This Day :

10 October : Martin Kemp, (Spandau Ballet), born in Islington, London
10 October : "Milk & Honey" opens at Martin Beck Theater NYC
11 October : "Chico" Marx, (The Marx Brothers), dies at 74
12 October : "Let It Ride" opens at Eugene O'Neill Theater NYC
14 October : How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" opens at 46th St NYC

[purlieu]

The fuck was that?

[daf]

Sunday school youth club with a trendy vicar.

[Captain Z]

Prefer the Franz Ferdinand version.

[machotrouts]

I don't have the guts to barge into the thread hollering "FUCK, THIS SLAVE SPIRITUAL IS A LOAD OF SHIT, WHAT WERE THE CUNTS THINKING".

This is a very gentle run of number ones. Some sort of post-Johnny Remember Me trauma? Or everyone just really cut up about Martin Kemp being born?

I do love the Franz Ferdinand song. Caught me right on the cusp of my horny pubescence. You'd have a hard time having a gay sexual awakening to the Highwaymen but I reluctantly concede that not all music needs to serve that specific purpose. Only 90-95% or so is fine.

[Gulftastic]

Reminds me of Fonzie railing against this kind of music; 'Michael Row The Boat Ashore......where else is he gonna row it?'

[daf]

Woop-bah, Oh-yea-yeah, it's . . .

128.  Helen Shapiro - Walkin' Back To Happiness



From : 15 October – 4 November 1961
Weeks : 3
Flip side : Kiss 'N' Run
bonus 1 : In the Recording Studio
bonus 2 : Live in Poland

In 1961, her number one hit, "You Don't Know" was followed by the greatest recording of her career - "Walking Back to Happiness" - which scaled the top of the charts with far greater total sales.

She just missed out on the Hat-trick when her next record, "Tell Me What He Said" (written by Jeff Barry) reached #2 - held off the Top spot by The Shadows in March 1962.

In April 1962, she played the lead female role in Richard Lester's movie, 'It's Trad, Dad!', (which co-starred another early 60s hitmaker Craig Douglas), but her single featured in the film -  "Let's Talk About Love" just missed the Top 20, stalling at #23.

Shapiro next turned back to the songwriting team of John Schroeder and Mike Hawker, who had written "Walking Back to Happiness" and "You Don't Know," for what proved to be her last Top Ten record - "Little Miss Lonely", which peaked at No. 8 for two weeks in 1962.

She made the charts once more with "Keep Away From Other Girls" (#40), which was the first song by Burt Bacharach to make the British Top 40. During this period, Shapiro also got the opportunity to record Neil Sedaka's "Little Devil", and the two later became friends when Sedaka toured England.

Little Devil was included on her debut LP - "Tops' with Me" - which reached number 2 in the UK Album Chart. Accompanied by Martin Slavin and his Orchestra, the album comprised cover versions of songs which had already been hit singles for other artists, including : "Will You Love Me Tomorrow"  /  "Are You Lonesome Tonight"  /  "Lipstick on Your Collar" / "You Got What It Takes" and the Cliff Chart Topper "I Love You"

After appearing in her second movie, 'Play It Cool', which starred Billy Fury, Shapiro faded from the charts, although she didn't disappear from the British musical consciousness. She still headlined tours in the United Kingdom and in early 1963, she made the acquaintance of a certain support act that had been newly signed to EMI.

The Beatles were fifth on the bill as part of her nationwide tour of the United Kingdom. Her artist and repertoire manager, Norrie Paramor, was looking for new material for a country and western album she planned to record in Nashville, Tennessee and suggested that the Beatles compose a song especially for her.

"Misery" was started backstage before The Beatles' performance at the King's Hall, Stoke-on-Trent, on 26 January 1963, and later completed at Paul McCartney's Forthlin Road home. At the time, McCartney commented: "We've called it 'Misery', but it isn't as slow as it sounds, it moves along at quite a pace, and we think Helen will make a pretty good job of it." But Paramor considered it unsuitable - the daft nellie! - and so British singer and entertainer Kenny Lynch, who was on the same tour, recorded it instead, thus becoming the first artist to cover a Lennon–McCartney composition, although he failed to enter the charts with it. In 1995, during a This Is Your Life highlighting her life and career, Shapiro revealed, "It was actually turned down on my behalf before I ever heard it, actually. I never got to hear it or give an opinion. It's a shame, really."

Shapiro had another chance at an even more promising song later in 1963 - In a session backed by Grady Martin and Boots Randolph, she cut the very first recording of "It's My Party" for her second album, 'Helen in Nashville'. Unfortunatley EMI failed to realise it's potential as a sure-fire smash hit single, sitting on its release - until a virtual unknown named Lesley Gore got her rendition out first on Mercury and topped the U.S. charts.

By the time she was in her late teens, her career as a pop singer was on the wane. With the new wave of beat music and newer female singers such as Dusty Springfield, Cilla Black, Sandie Shaw and Lulu, Shapiro appeared old-fashioned and emblematic of the pre-Beatles, "Sifties Era". Her final chart entry was in 1964 when "Fever" reached #38.

Later non-charting singles included :
1964 : "Look Over Your Shoulder"  /  "Shop Around"   /  "I Wish I'd Never Loved You"
1965 : "Tomorrow Is Another Day"  /  "Here in Your Arms"  /  "Something Wonderful"
1966 : "Forget About the Bad Things" (groovy!) /  "In My Calendar"
1967 : "Make Me Belong to You"  /  "She Needs Company"

In 1968 she switched from Columbia to Pye records with the single "You'll Get Me Loving You" (b/w Silly Boy I Love You), and the following year scored two minor hits in the Australian charts with "Today Has Been Cancelled" (#49) and "You've Guessed" (#98)

On 31 December 1969, Shapiro appeared on the BBC/ZDF co-production Pop Go The Sixties, singing "Walkin' Back to Happiness".

Her final two Pye singles - "Take Down a Note, Miss Smith" and "Waiting on the Shores of Nowhere" were released in 1970.

As her pop career declined, Shapiro turned to cabaret appearances, touring the workingmen's clubs of the North East of England. Her final cabaret show took place at Peterlee's Senate Club on 6 May 1972, where she announced she was giving up touring as she was "travel-weary" and had had enough of "living out of a suitcase". Later, after a change of mind, she branched out as a performer in stage musicals, and jazz (being her first love musically).

She played the role of Nancy in Lionel Bart's musical 'Oliver!' in London's West End and appeared in a British television soap opera, 'Albion Market', where she played one of the main characters until it was taken off air in August 1986. Shapiro also played the part of Sally Bowles in 'Cabaret' and starred in 'Seesaw' to great critical acclaim.

Between 1984 and 2001, she toured extensively with legendary British jazz trumpeter Humphrey Lyttelton and his band, whilst still performing her own jazz and pop concerts. Her one-woman show Simply Shapiro ran from 1999 to the end of 2002 when she retired from show business.

"Walkin' Back to Happiness" was written by John Schroeder and Mike Hawker in 1961, and first recorded by Helen Shapiro.

With backing orchestrations by Norrie Paramor, the song was released in the United Kingdom on the Columbia (EMI) label on 29 September 1961. It was number one in the UK for three weeks beginning 19 October, but only reached #100 on the US Billboard Hot 100 (Shapiro's only US chart appearance). Even without the cloth-eared Americans help, the single sold over a million copies and earned Helen Shapiro a golden disc.

Ironically, Shapiro never wanted to record this as she felt it sounded too corny and old-fashioned to appeal to her fans, but her singing invested the song with such depth that it transcended any limitations in the writing. Interviewed for "1000 UK #1 Hits" by Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh, she says :
"I was brought up on blues and jazz and I thought Walkin' Back To Happiness was corny - all that 'woop-bah-oh-yea-yeah.' I still don't like the song but everyone goes mad for it so I've been proved wrong. That kind of rhythm was not my scene and I didn't really want to do it. I preferred the B-side, Kiss And Run, which was written by Norrie Paramour."

Other Versions include : Jean Campbell (1961)  /  The Cliffters (1961)  /  "Kanssas onneen taas mä astelen" by Monika Aspelund (1961)  /  "Je reviens vers le bonheur" by Richard Anthony (1961)  /  "Je reviens vers le bonheur" by Gillian Hills (1962)  /  "'t Is weer aan" by Anneke Grönloh (1962)  /  The Spotnicks (1964)  /  "S nebývalou ochotou" by Marta Kubišová (1966)  /  Suzie (1969)  /  "Jeg har fundet 10 millioner" by Flemming Antony (1974)  / "Jeg har fundet 10 millioner" by Suzie (1976)   /  Maywood (1991)  /   Albert West (2009)  /  Collette (2012)  /  Anouk Horner (2014)  /  demowest (2014)  /  Mary Byrne (2017)  /  Linda Gail Lewis (2017)  /  Eric (2017)  /  threelegsoman (2018)  /

On This Day :

17 October : New York Museum of Modern Art hangs Henri Matisse's "Le Bateau" upside-down (it would be three months before anyone notices)
18 October : Wynton Marsalis, jazz trumpeter, born in New Orleans, Louisiana
18 October : "West Side Story", the film adaptation of the 1957 musical, is released
20 October : Ian Rush, Welsh footballer, born in St Asaph, Denbighshire, Clwyd
21 October : Barbra Streisand opens in "Another Evening with Harry Stones"
22 October : 75,000 Flemings demand equal rights & Flemish language in Belgium
23 October : "Kwamina" opens at 54th St Theater NYC for 32 performances
24 October : "Evening with Yves Montand" opens at John Golden Theatre, NYC for 55 performances
27 October : Outer Mongolia & Mauritania become 102nd & 103rd members of United Nations
28 October : "Fiorello!" closes at Broadhurst Theater NYC starring Tom Bosley after 796 performances and a Pulitzer Prize
29 October : US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
30 October : Soviet Party Congress unanimously approves a resolution removing Stalin's body from Lenin's tomb in Red Square
31 October : Peter Jackson, film director, born in Wellington, New Zealand
31 October : Larry Mullen Jr, (U2), born in Dublin
2 November : "Kean" opens at Broadway Theater NYC for 92 performances
2 November : k.d. lang, country singer, born Kathryn Dawn Lang in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
2 November : James Thurber, American cartoonist / humorist, dies at 66
3 November : UN General Assembly unanimously elects U Thant as acting Secretary-General after the death of Dag Hammarskjöld in a plane crash
4 November : Konstantinos Karamanlis becomes premier of Greece

[Satchmo Distel]

On 127, it is not the last #1 that partially derived from a Pete Seeger arrangement because he also brought Wimoweh to a western audience, based on Mbube by Solomon Linda.

http://performingsongwriter.com/lion-sleeps-tonight/

[daf]

On 127, it is not the last #1 that partially derived from a Pete Seeger arrangement

Just noticed on the sheet music that Dave Fisher from The Highwaymen pulled a 'Lonnie Donnegan' by claiming credit for "New Words and New Music" for that one - Bit cheeky!

I mean, Pete Seeger didn't exactly write it either *, but the music is the same as his version, with a grand total of one line changed -

This version differs from the Pete Seeger version by changing "meet my mother on the other side" to "milk and honey on the other side."

As if the slaves hadn't suffered enough - now you want to steal their song credits away from them!

(Not too far away from Kumbaya either - write that one too, did you Dave?)

* - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

In 1954, Tony Saletan was preparing to work as folksong leader at the Shaker Village Work Camp. He searched the Widener Library of Harvard University for material to teach the Villagers that summer. Out of that research, he adapted the song Michael Row the Boat Ashore from the 1867 songbook Slave Songs of the United States to create the version that is well-known today.
"I judged that the tune was very singable, added some harmony (a guitar accompaniment) and thought the one-word chorus would be an easy hit with the teens (it was). But a typical original verse consisted of one line repeated once, and I thought a rhyme would be more interesting to the teenagers at Shaker Village Work Camp, where I introduced it. So I adapted traditional African-American couplets in place of the original verses."

During the summer of 1954, Saletan taught Michael Row the Boat Ashore to Pete Seeger, who later sang it with the Weavers

[purlieu]

Well that was a considerable improvement on her last effort. Another one where you can hear strands of later '60s pop developing.

[machotrouts]

I don't like Helen Shapiro's voice and I don't like the happy little chipmunk choir. They're covering various bases with that vocal spectrum but none of them are mine.

"Keep Away From Other Girls" (#40), which was the first song by Burt Bacharach to make the British Top 40.

??

[gib]

Excellent thread.

[Satchmo Distel]

There's a new Netflix documentary on the stolen credits for The Lion Sleeps Tonight which was a US #1 in 1961 as Wimoweh

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-et-ms-lion-sleeps-tonight-netflix-documentary-20190515-story.html

[daf]

"Keep Away From Other Girls" (#40), which was the first song by Burt Bacharach to make the British Top 40.

??

Oops! Yes, that's obviously rubbish - Well Spotted!

Hang on, I'll see if I can track down what went wrong . . .

Right, I see that it's from a secondary source I used to bulk up the slightly thin Wikipedia entry - the Helen Shapiro biography page on Allmusic (written by Bruce Eder) - the Bacharach claim is in the fourth paragraph.

God knows where Bruce got that info from - maybe Shapiro got her wires crossed and mentioned it in an interview or something?

Hmm,  . .  Here's a thought - as the words were by Bob Hilliard (rather than by Hal David), maybe someone wrote that it was "the first Bacharach & Hilliard song" to make the UK top 40 - and a few chinese whispers later, it comes out as "the first Bacharach song" to make the Top 40?

Apologies for the bloomer - and to make up for it, here's a few other songs Bacharach & Hilliard wrote together :
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Three Wheels on My Wagon -  Dick Van Dyke  (1961)
Please Stay - The Drifters (1961)
You're Following Me - Jimmy Breedlove  (1961)
Any Day Now - Dee Dee Sharp (1962)
Waiting For Charlie To Come Home - Etta James  (1962)
Thirty Miles Of Railroad Track - The Hammond Brothers (1962)
Mexican Divorce - The Drifters (1962)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

[Artie Fufkin]

Excuse me, but I'd like to keep an eye on this....

[purlieu]

I swear AMG writers just make half of their stuff up from things they half remembered at the back of their mind. It's such a staggeringly inaccurate website.

Back when I used to run a label it took about 18 months for them to correct the entry for a CD I'd sent them. They'd got the artist name and album title the wrong way round.

[daf]

I went for some Candy, and along comes . . .

129.  Elvis Presley - Little Sister



From : 5 November – 2 December 1961
Weeks : 4
Double A-Side : Elvis Presley - His Latest Flame

The Story So Far :

by 1960 it had been two years since Presley had made his last film, King Creole. Despite his previous three films being mostly slammed by the critics, they warmed to King Creole and its star. Presley felt confident that he had a future in acting after this praise and he was looking forward to returning to Hollywood after his time in the army.

Eight months prior to Presley being discharged, in August 1959, producer Hal Wallis visited with him in Germany to go over the script for G.I. Blues and film some on-location scenes. Although some scenes were used in the final film, Presley did not film at any time during his time there. Elvis' double, Private First Class Tom Creel, was used for some shots.

The script was written by Edmund Beloin and Henry Garson, who had done the final revisions for Hal Wallis on Don't Give Up the Ship. In 1958 they came up with an original treatment for an Elvis Presley movie called Christmas in Berlin. It was later known as Cafe Europa before becoming GI Blues.

Presley began work on the film in late April 1960.

Hal Wallis originally wanted Michael Curtiz to direct but eventually selected Norman Taurog. Dolores Hart, Joan Blackman and Ursula Andress were all tested to play the female lead before deciding on Juliet Prowse.

The film received mixed reviews from critics. Bosley Crowther of The New York Times was noncommittal, mostly remarking on Presley's new clean-cut image: "Gone is that rock 'n' roll wriggle, that ludicrously lecherous leer, that precocious country-bumpkin image, that unruly mop of oily hair ... Elvis is now a fellow you can almost stand."

Variety remarked that the film "restores Elvis Presley to the screen in a picture that seems to have been left over from the frivolous filmusicals of World War II" and called it "rather juvenile."

John L. Scott of the Los Angeles Times wrote in a generally positive review, "I wouldn't actually call Elvis sophisticated in the picture, but he has grown up, for which we give thanks. And he's learning how to act, too, particularly in the lighter sequences. I'm certain most mature theatergoers will welcome the change in Presley. Now as for his squealing teenage fans—it is hoped they also will go along with the metamorphosis."

Richard L. Coe of The Washington Post wrote that the film "probably will satisfy the audiences for which it has been so awarely, if depressingly, created."

The Monthly Film Bulletin dismissed the picture as "a series of numbers loosely strung around a trite and thin and terribly insubstantial plot. Juliet Prowse manoeuvres her superbly engineered torso through two meagre dances with infectious exuberance, but she deserves a better rôle and a more mature leading man; certainly one with more genuine fire than Presley."

The film opened at the Victoria Theater in New York City on November 4, 1960 grossing $31,000 in its first week. It finished the year as the fourteenth biggest box office grossing film of the year generating $4.3 million.

Despite critics being dismissive of the overall plot, the film was nominated for three awards in 1961: Best Soundtrack album Grammy, Grammy for Best Vocal Performance, Album, Male, and WGA Best Written Musical. Presley's return to the screen led to a riot in a Mexico City theater showing G.I. Blues, prompting the Mexican government to ban Presley's movies.

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Recording sessions for the G.I. Blues soundtrack album took place on April 27 and 28, and May 6, 1960, at RCA Victor Studio C and Radio Recorders in Hollywood, California.



Music on this album comprised songs that had appeared in the film of the same name. The song "Wooden Heart" was released as a single in the United Kingdom, where it was number one for six weeks. In the United States, Joe Dowell recorded a cover version of "Wooden Heart" that topped the Billboard Hot 100.

Due to copyright reasons, the European version of the soundtrack album and film substitutes the opening track "Tonight Is So Right for Love" with the song "Tonight's All Right for Love", adapted from a melody by 19th century waltz-king Johann Strauss II, Tales from the Vienna Woods. The melody for "Tonight Is So Right for Love" was taken directly from a barcarolle composed by Jacques Offenbach, one of Strauss's contemporaries.

The version of "Blue Suede Shoes" used on the soundtrack is a new recording of the song Presley first recorded in 1956, and is one of only a few songs that Presley would re-record in a studio setting during his career, the others being "Love Letters", "It Hurts Me" and "A Little Less Conversation".

Released by RCA Victor in mono and stereo in October 1960, G.I. Blues was his third film soundtrack LP (and eleventh album in total). The album topped the Billboard Top Pop Album chart. It was certified Gold on March 13, 1963.

The G.I. Blues soundtrack album was nominated for two Grammy Awards in 1960 in the categories Best Sound Track Album Or Recording Of Original Cast From A Motion Picture Or Television and Best Vocal Performance Album, Male.

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In August and September, Elvis filmed his sixth movie, Flaming Star, a drama with limited music.

Flaming Star is a Western starring Elvis Presley and Barbara Eden, based on the book Flaming Lance (1958) by Clair Huffaker. Critics agreed that Presley gave one of his best acting performances as the mixed-blood "Pacer Burton", a dramatic role. The film was directed by Don Siegel and had a working title of Black Star. The movie reached No. 12 on the box office charts.

It was filmed in Utah, Los Angeles and in Wildwood Regional Park in Thousand Oaks, California. A road near Wildwood in Thousand Oaks has been named Flaming Star Avenue after the movie.

Elvis Presley plays Pacer Burton, the son of a Kiowa mother and a Texan father working as a rancher. His family, including a half-brother, Clint, live a typical life on the Texan frontier. Life becomes anything but typical when a nearby tribe of Kiowa begin raiding neighboring homesteads. Pacer soon finds himself caught between the two worlds, part of both but belonging to neither.

The film rights for Flaming Star had been circulating around Hollywood since 1958 when 20th Century Fox finally decided to cast Presley in the lead role. Originally Frank Sinatra and Marlon Brando were lined up to play the brothers.

Nunnally Johnson, who wrote the first draft, later recalled the studio "said they couldn't make it because it would cost too much for a western and a western couldn't get in as much as it would cost, something like that."

With Presley on board, the film started production under the name 'Black Star'. A song was recorded by Elvis to be used as the theme song, but was later rerecorded as "Flaming Star" using the same words and melody.

Presley's previous film, G.I. Blues, had been a success at the box office and had led to one of his best selling albums to that point. However, determined to be taken seriously as an actor, Presley asked for roles with fewer songs. Flaming Star was initially to include four songs, but after Presley demanded two be removed, it ended up with only the title song and a short number at the opening birthday party scene.

Johnson was contacted when abroad by Clair Huffaker who had written the original novel. He said Elvis Presley was going to star wanting know if Johnson objected to Huffaker having credit on the script. "I'd always objected to that, but I couldn't say no to the guy," said Johnson. "He didn't do anything, as he admitted. I was wondering what in God's name they would do with Elvis Presley In this. All they did was put in a kind of a hoedown dance and Presley sang a song at the opening and then they went right on into the picture."

Barbara Steele, originally signed to play the love interest, was replaced during filming by Barbara Eden after studio executives decided that Steele's British accent was too pronounced.

The film was released only one month after G.I. Blues but did not achieve the same degree of box office success, reaching number 12 on the Variety box office survey for the year.

The film received generally positive reviews, with a few critics lauding Presley's performance and noting his improvement as an actor. A. H. Weiler of The New York Times praised the film as "an unpretentious but sturdy Western that takes the time, the place and the people seriously." Variety called the plot "disturbingly familiar and not altogether convincing, but the film, attractively mounted and consistently diverting, will entertain and absorb the audience it is tailored for."

Charles Stinson of the Los Angeles Times appraised the film as "standard for its type — the half-breed tragedy — but done well enough to head a program double bill." and that [Presey] "seems to be improving noticeably with every film. He has, of course, rather a distance yet to go to dramatic power and polish. But 'Flaming Star' and 'G.I. Blues' are a long way up from 'Jailhouse Rock.'"

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote that although the film "never really gets beyond the comic strip weepie stage," director Siegel "has managed to communicate considerable excitement through flashes of imaginative cutting and handsome composition, notably in the first Indian attack, and in some realistically staged fight, chase and battle passages ... But Siegel's main achievement is his direction of Elvis Presley, still basically not an actor, but no longer a joke as a screen personality. Given the full, virile build-up, he plays the half-breed with a brooding presence that is surprisingly effective."

According to an Associated Press report from Johannesburg, dated May 31, 1961, South Africans were initially not able to see the movie. The government, which had strict laws to keep the races separate, banned the picture on that same day, because Presley "played the son of an American Indian woman and a white man". A day later, 20th Century-Fox appealed and as a result the South Africa Board of Censors lifted the ban, on condition that the film not be shown to the country's indiginous population. The film then opened to segregated theatres, starting in Durban in early June. However, it was permanently banned on cinemas in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, as UK colonial government officials in those territories were concerned the movie could reignite racial tensions in the aftermath of the then recent Mau Mau uprising.

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Recording sessions for the soundtrack took place on August 8 and October 7, 1960, at Radio Recorders in Hollywood. Initially, four songs were composed for the movie, but "Britches" and "Summer Kisses Winter Tears" were dropped.

The soundtrack music in the film consists of only two songs, "Flaming Star" and "A Cane and a High Starched Collar."

Two months after the film's premiere, RCA released the extended play single "Elvis By Request – Flaming Star", which peaked at #14 on the Billboard Hot 100. It contained the title track and one of the rejected songs, "Summer Kisses, Winter Tears," along with two of Presley's chart-topping 1960 singles : "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" and "It's Now or Never". It was the only Presley EP to play at 33⅓ rpm. All of his other EPs were 45 rpm.



"Summer Kisses" would later appear on the 1965 compilation album 'Elvis for Everyone', while "Flaming Star" would be the title track of "Elvis Sings Flaming Star", available at first only through select retail stores featuring products by the Singer sewing machine company as a promotional tie-in with Presley's 1968 Christmas television special, which Singer had sponsored. This album would begin the series of Presley budget releases on the RCA Camden subsidiary label.

"(Marie's the Name) His Latest Flame" was written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman and first recorded by Del Shannon on the album Runaway With Del Shannon, which was released in June 1961.

The more successful and well-known recording was by Elvis Presley who recorded it in RCA Studio B, Nashville, Tennessee on 25 June 1961. Released as a single in August 1961, the relatively intense tune, featuring a Bo Diddley beat, performed well on both pop and easy listening stations. However, the single's Hot 100 chart run was atypical of a Top Ten hit. In the autumn of 1961 it shot from 22 to 4, then dropped to 10, then 26, all within the space of four weeks. The single (a double A-side with "Little Sister") spent four weeks at No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart.

Several cover versions of this song have been recorded. These include a version by The Smiths (as part of a live medley with their song - already heavily derivative of Presley's original - "Rusholme Ruffians", which can be found on the album Rank).

Other Versions include :
Bobby Stevens (1961)  /  "Sie war all' sein Glück" by Ted Herold (1961)  /  "Sa grande passion" by Richard Anthony  (1961) /  Les Champions (1961)  / Jackie Seven (1961)  /  François Deguelt (1961)  /  Sharon (1962)  /  Boots Randolph (1966)  /  Sha Na Na (1973)  /  "(Mari naapurin) Hänen viimeisin" by Rauli Badding Somerjoki (1975)  /  "Mon vieux copain" by Johnny Farago (1976)  /  Ananda Shankar (1978)  /  Jack Jersey (1979)  /  Freddie Falcon (1979)  /  R. Stevie Moore (1983)  /  Little Bob (1985)  /  The Raymen (1986)  /  Motorcycle Boy (1987)  /  The Residents (1989)  /  El Vez (1991)  /  "Sa grande passion" by  Dalida (1991)   /  The Boppers (1992)  /  Peter Hofmann (1992)  /  "Zijn laatste vlam" by Noordkaap (1992)  /  Scorpions (1993)  /  Doyle Bramhall (1994)  /  Willie Logan (1996)  /  Tor Brynildsen (2007)  /  "Pois raiteiltaan" by Johnny & The Dodgers (2010)  /  "Mari Naapurin" by Agents (2016)  /  Cliff Richard (2016)

"Little Sister" was written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman, and recorded by Elvis Presley in RCA Studio B, Nashville, Tennessee on June 25, 1961.  A #5 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the single reached No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart as a double A-side. Lead guitar was played by Hank Garland, with backing vocals by the Jordanaires featuring the distinctive bass voice of Ray Walker.

The song lyric makes mention of "Jim Dandy" which was the title of a 1956 song "Jim Dandy" by LaVern Baker. An answer song to "Little Sister", with the same melody but different lyrics, was recorded and released under the title "Hey, Memphis" by Baker on Atlantic Records in September 1961.

Other Versions include :
Jerry Kennedy (1961)  /  "Hermanita" by Los Sleepers (1961)  /  "Little Linda" by Ted Herold (1961)  /  "Petite sœur d'amour" by Les Chaussettes Noires (1962)  /  The Nighthawks (1974)  /  Robert Plant & Rockpile  (1979)  /  Rohdes Rockers (1979)  /  Ry Cooder (1979)  /  Bad Sign (1985)  /  Teenage Head (1985)  /  Dwight Yoakam (1987)  /  The Residents (1989)  /  Herman Brood & His Wild Romance (1989)  /  "Lykkeliten" by Vazelina Bilopphøggers (1990)  /  Peter Hofmann (1992)  /  "Little Esther" by ApologetiX (1993)  /  The BellHops (1994)  /  Black Raven (1995)  /  Bill Hurley (1995)  /  Ricky Norton (1996)  /  Mr. Breathless with Topi Sorsakoski (1999)  /  Triple Dynamite (2007)  /  Asmodeus (2007)  /  Mean Gene Kelton & The Die Hards (2007)  /  Dwight Twilley (2009) /  Svenne Hedlund (2010)  /  "Little Linda" by Dirk Darmstaedter & Bernd Begemann (2010)  /  Big Fat Snake (2013)  /  Randy Williams (2015)  /  Mrs. Jones' Revenge  (2018)

On This Day :

9 November : Paddy Chayefsky's "Gideon" premieres in NYC
9 November : Jill Dando, TV presenter, born in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset
11 November : Adulterous couple ride a dung cart through Staphorst, Netherlands
11 November : Stalingrad, formerly Tsaritsyn, renamed Volgograd
11 November : "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller is published by Simon and Schuster in New York
15 November : UN bans nuclear arms
16 November : United Kingdom limits immigration from Commonwealth countries
16 November : US President JFK decides to increase military aid to South Vietnam without committing US combat troops
16 November : Frank Bruno, boxer, born in Hammersmith, London
18 November : "The Gay Life" opens at Shubert Theater NYC for 113 performances
18 November : "Kwamina" closes at 54th St Theater NYC after 32 performances
18 November : JFK sends 18,000 "military advisors" to South Vietnam
18 November : US Ranger 2 launched to Moon; after only one day and 19 orbits, it re-entered the atmosphere and burned up.
18 November : Steven Moffat, writer (Doctor Who, Sherlock), born in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland
28 November : Martin Clunes, actor, born in Wimbledon, London
29 November : Mercury-Atlas 5 carries a chimp (Enos) - it becomes the first chimpanzee to orbit the Earth. ("Chimps in Spa-a-a-a-a-a-ce!")

[Gulftastic]

I love 'His Latest Flame'. Proper chance to do your best Elvis impression.

[machotrouts]

Don't know why anyone would want a version of 'His Latest Flame' that doesn't have a Musitron sounding off all over it.

"Little Esther" by ApologetiX (1993)

I am long sick of Elvis at this point, but these "Other Versions" sections do help remind me how much worse the alternatives can be.

ApologetiX rewrites secular songs with Christian lyrics to create parodies with Christian messages, and, in the song "We're In A Parody Band," ApologetiX refers to itself as a cross between "Weird Al" Yankovic and Billy Graham.

[daf]

Elvis

You're up early!

[daf]

I love 'His Latest Flame'.

'Little Sister' for me - definitely my favourite Elvis song so far.

Jim Dandy!

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

That is a fantastic double A-side. A divine coupling of lascivious riff rock - Little Sister is almost heavy - and catchy, lovesick pop R&B. Perfect.

It's also one in the eye for all those bores who still insist on parroting the received wisdom that Elvis lost it when he returned from army service. Did he bollocks.

I am long sick of Elvis at this point

Only six more chart-toppers to go until the Beatles come along and depose the King from his perch (I deliberately avoided the word 'throne' there for obvious reasons). He'll be back for a bit in the '70s before becoming dead (see previous parenthetical aside).

[daf]

A divine coupling of lascivious riff rock - Little Sister is almost heavy - and catchy, lovesick pop R&B. Perfect.

I made sure to feature the original mono single version here - which stomps all over the stereo LP version (where is the frigging BASS!!)

MONO BALLS RULE!!

[kalowski]

Love both of these Elvis tracks. Little Sister/Get Back from the early Vegas period clearly demonstrates just how good he was in a period that idiots decry as some amorphous seventies disaster.

His Latest Flame is also great, but I think I prefer Rusholme Ruffians.