“Stompin’ Room Only” by Ray Charles from Genius + Soul = Jazz [1961]

Backed by members of the Count Basie Band, Ray Charles took the lead with classic early ’60s Hammond B-3 organ solos on “Stompin’ Room Only.” The song had been arranged by none other than up-and-coming Quincy Jones, who had been a teenage friend of Charles in Seattle. With such slouch musicians, the album was of course doomed to failure. It reached *only* #4 on the US album charts.

“The Middle Class (Les bourgeois)” by Mort Shuman, Wolfgang Knittel from Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris [1968]

The music of Frenchman Jacques Brel was brought to American audiences in humorous translations in the 1968 off-broadway show Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris. For a detailed account of how and why Brel’s music ended up in a musical, read the top review on Amazon (and download the album if you want—Brel was a great songwriter). While the concept of the bourgeoise doesn’t really equate to American notions of the middle class, the song remains pretty sharp. Maybe it would have translated better in modern terms: the one percent.

“Too Young to Marry” by Summer’s Children [1966]

Belle and Sebastian self-consciously look back to the Sixties with both their name and their sound. But the resemblance of their sound to this 60s flop is uncanny.

Curt Boetcher, producer for The Association, had a knack for glittery sunshine pop. In late 1965, The Association had yet to hit it big (‘66 would be their year), so Boetcher continued experimenting. Among other things, he recorded a pair of duets with Victoria Winston under the name Summer’s Children. “Too Young to Marry” and “Milk and Honey” had to be some of the most innocent, saccharine music to come out in 1966. Recall that songs like “Eve of Destruction,” “Like a Rolling Stone” and “Satisfaction” had revolutionized the sound of pop music in the second half of ‘65. Neither song charted as they were probably just too sweet for pop radio at the time. Nevertheless, we can admire them, if only because they created a musical formula for later groups like Belle and Sebastian. 

These songs can be found on the album 2001 3-CD compilation Magic Time, which focuses mostly on Boetcher’s later work with The Millennium. It’s a must-have album for anyone interested in the sounds of the late ’60s.

“It Isn’t Nice” (live) by Judy Collins from Fifth Album [1965] 

I just finished my first semester of graduate school with a whirlwind final three weeks (I read something like 20 full books and skimmed another 10 or so, wrote 50 pages in three papers, and gave two paper presentations). Thank you for sticking around in my Tumblr absence. I’m back, at least for a few weeks.

One of the seminar papers I wrote tried to answer the question, “why the folk boom?” Why did folk music become such a popular genre between 1958 and about 1965, and not something else (say, calypso, which threatened to become massively popular in 1957)? And why then, as opposed to some other time? I won’t rehearse the paper here, but I will say that I thoroughly enjoyed reading some of the books for it. To anyone interested in this era, I highly recommend Ronald D. Cohen’s Rainbow Quest: The Folk Music Revival and American Society, 1940-1970 (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2002), an incredibly detailed chronicle of the whole revival, and Robert Cantwell’s When We Were Good: The Folk Revival (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1996), a more eloquent history of the various strands of American culture that intersected to make the folk boom what it was. 

To inspire myself in the writing process, I also listened to a lot of urban folk music from the late ’50s and early ’60s. Above all, I found a new appreciation for the songs of Malvina Reynolds.

Popular memory usually recalls the images of famous young stars like Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, and Peter, Paul & Mary. But this 60-some-year-old understood the changing world as well as any of the disaffected youngsters around her. Her songwriting captured much of the spirit and many of the concrete goals of the various freedom movements (Civil Rights, New Left, peace/anti-war, Free Speech, etc.). Like members of these related movements, Reynold’s became more upset as violence against the Civil Rights Movement escalated and as the Kennedy and Johnson administrations repeatedly failed to protect Freedom Riders and protesters in the South, and her lyrics became more acerbic and more cynical.

In 1964, Reynolds wrote “It Isn’t Nice” to explain and justify the direct action tactics of the Civil Rights Movement. In her own performance, the music is jaunty and light in contrast to the serious protest lyrics. Soon after she published the song, singer Barbara Dane changed the melody a bit, added a more consistent chorus, and overall made the song a much more direct attack on establishment policies. Judy Collins then recorded it for her creatively-titled Fifth Album, released in November of 1965. This is my favorite version and the one posted above.

It wouldn’t take too many lyrical changes, I think, for this to become an OWS anthem. The song is especially effective in its attack on lack of government action in addressing grave injustices:

You were quiet just like mice,
Now you say we aren’t nice, 
And if that is Freedom’s price, 
We don’t mind.

“I Am a Rock” by Paul Simon [1965]

Before it became a Simon and Garfunkel anthem, “I Am a Rock” was Paul Simon’s first solo single under his own name. Released to coincide with The Paul Simon Songbook—released only in the UK—the song did little to draw attention to the struggling folk singer. But when Tom Wilson turned “The Sound of Silence” into a folk-rock #1 in the US in 1965, “I Am a Rock” became a top choice for a similar reworking. The Simon and Garfunkel version climbed to #3 in the US and #17 in the UK and proved the staying power of Wilson’s new sound for the duo.

“Hunting Song” by Pentangle [1969]

We are entering the season of the Renaissance Fair. Many of these pseudo-historical fantasy lands open each fall, including many of the largest (e.g. those in Texas, Minnesota, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Maryland). To help prepare you for your noble journey back to the 1500s, here is the band Pentangle retelling an old Arthurian legend in a style that at least superficially sounds like a troubadour song. 

If you’ve never heard Pentangle, it is difficult to place the band’s style. “Hunting Song” shows only one of many sounds the group produced. I recommend checking out their first four albums. This haunting version of “Hunting Song” comes from a live session the band recorded for the BBC show Top Gear, Aug 17, 1969. If you like the studio albums, the BBC compilation The Lost Broadcasts: 1968-1972 (where this recording can be found) is also a great collection.

“Bachelor in Paradise” by Henry Mancini and His Orchestra [1961]

There were certainly some interesting moments last night, but I survived my bachelor party. As you’d expect, I heard a few stern warnings about marriage and hints that it’s not too late to turn back. The Henry Mancini song above offers one such hint: 

When she sighs 
And her baby-blue eyes 
Embrace your face 
Lies, all lies 
What the lady wants 
Is your closet space. 

Still, I think I’m still pretty set on having a wedding next weekend.

“Willie the Weeper” by Dave Van Ronk [1961]

The vocal folk sound of groups like the Kingston Trio, The Weavers, or The Journeymen came across as tame compared to the rough jazz and blues vocals of Dave Van Ronk. While other solo folkies were still quietly strumming in the coffeehouse scene (see the first records by Joan Baez, Judy Collins and even Bob Dylan), Van Ronk was shouting covers of dirty blues songs about drugs (“Willie the Weeper”), sex (“Yas, Yas, Yas”), and hard labor (“Spike Driver’s Moan”). And those are just examples from his 1961 album Dave Van Ronk Sings.

In Van Ronk’s version of “Willie the Weeper” you can hear seeds of the more aggressive style of folk protest songs that emerged a few years later, as well as one source of inspiration for idiosyncratic singers like Captain Beefheart or Tom Waits.

Lastly, yes, you will no doubt have recognized that Cab Calloway’s huge 1931 hit “Minnie the Moocher” was based on the original “Willie the Weeper.”

“Summertime USA” by The Pixies Three [1965]

The 2011 heat wave is spreading across the USA. We celebrate with this innocent summer song in a rare instance of Beach Boys-inspired surf-pop meeting the girl group sound.  

Minneapolis is forecast to reach 100 degrees today, with heat indices again near 120, but the heat should finally break tomorrow. 

“Heat Wave” by The Hot Half Dozen [1965]

The (Hot) Half Dozen was a local band that recorded a few sides on Minneapolis’ Soma Records in the mid-60s. This cover of Martha and the Vandellas’ first Motown hit was the best of the bunch and fits perfectly with yet another day of temperatures in the upper 90s and heat indices over 115 degrees here in the Twin Cities.