I Like It Like That

 

For a good overview of Dora Hall musical career, see The World's Worst Records.  Not all her records are bad, as Darryl Bullock readily admits : 

The difference between Dora and other similar artists is that Dora could actually sing. When she sings kid-friendly songs such as Tony the Pony she’s actually quite charming. Her failings, if you will, become most apparent when she tries to sing pop songs; her vaudeville-trained voice just isn’t right for contemporary music and it’s here she starts to sound ridiculous.

For a Dora Hall enthusiast's point of view, it is better to go to hallofdora blogspot :

Dora created a body of work that is diverse, entertaining, and sometimes questionable [...] The work of Dora Hall is flawed, but it's very entertaining.  The fact that she was shooting to become a pop star when she was well past the average age for such pursuits is questionable, but it's made all the more fascinating because her husband (the founder of the Solo Cup company) freely gave her the financial backing to make her dreams come true.  Her singing abilities have been widely criticized and dismissed, and yet she's often backed by amazing session musicians.  For many people, the draw of Dora Hall is that her song choices and abilities are often just plain bad.  If they can get beyond that, however, they'll find a body of work that is charming, enthusiastic, and entertaining in ways that they might never have expected.

Another opinion is expressed by the Left and to the back blog :

There appear to be two popular views on Hall's output. The first is that the woman was dire, couldn't sing or perform very well, and wasted her life pursuing a ridiculous fantasy. The second is that actually some of her output is pretty good with superb production values and some of the best session musicians available (The Wrecking Crew were known to be involved with some Dora Hall sessions). 

In this 1966 cover of  "I Like It Like That" (Chris Kenner, 1961) Dora Hall, in my opinion, sounds good and absolutely charming.

 download link

 

 

Don'a Wan'a

 

Wanda Jackson

Don'a Wan'a
(Boudleaux Bryant, Acuff-Rose BMI)

Capitol F3863
1957

The song that Wanda doesn't want you to listen ! According to her autobiography "Every Night Is Saturday Night" :

When I got into recording rock and roll, I never abandoned country. I thought of them as different branches of the same tree, and Capitol really latched onto the practice of releasing one of my rockabilly songs on one side of a single and a country song on the other. I give Ken a lot of credit in being open minded to let me try different things. Because of that I was usually willing to try things that he brought to me, even if I was a bit skeptical. Sometimes, however, there were some things I was really unsure about.

One of those songs was «Don’a Wan’a,» which honestly, I «don’a wan’a» anyone to ever hear again. There was a small window of time when calypso music was very popular, thanks to the success of Harry Belafonte. He scored some big hits in the ’50s with songs like «Jamaica Farewell» and «Day-O.» And, of course, whenever one artist gets a hit with something unique, everybody else then tries to do the same kind of song. «Don’a Wan’a» was written by Boudleaux Bryant, who was one of the greatest country songwriters of all time. This is probably proof that even the great ones have an off day. I don’t know how Ken Nelson got the song, but he wanted me to record it to try to get in on the Calypso craze. He suggested I adopt an islander accent, but it sounded like I was mocking that kind of music. I didn’t want to do it at all. I said, «Ken, I feel silly, so it’s bound to sound silly.’ I was horrified by the whole thing. Capitol wasn’t great at rushing to get releases out, and by the time they did, the record got no attention. I’m not kidding you, it was almost like the day that song was released was the day calypso died. I don’t know for sure, but I may have been the one who killed it!

Actually, I like that song. Wanda sounds to me a little bit Japanese . . .

Somethin' Else

 

It's hard to do it better than Eddie Cochran. Quite a few have tried. Some have managed to do good, but not all. 

On above picture is Scott Kernaghan from a video recorded, it seems to me, in a church. Perhaps he’s a pastor ? I’ve not included his Cochran cover in my playlist, but his video is here. As Pierre de Coubertin said: the most important thing is to participate.

18 covers, the original and a tutorial are included in this file. All taken from this YT playlist

10 City Run - Somethin' Else                                                                             
April Mae & The June Bugs - Somethin' Else                                                           
Done Again - Somethin' Else
Eddie Cochran - Somethin' Else                                                                           
Gavin Stanley - Somethin' Else                                                                           
Hector & Mediators - Something Else (french?)                                                                  
Jez Quayle - How to Play 'Somethin' Else' (tutorial)                                                     
Joe Eddie -Somethin' Else                                                                                
Johnny Hallyday - Elle est terrible (french)                                                                     
Kathi McDonald - Somethin' Else - 1974                                                                   
Kazu, Iishi & Chuck - Somethin' Else                                                                     
Keith Richards - Something Else - Live '93 Boston                                                        
Little Richard & Tanya Tucker (1994) (live)                                                                   
PJ. Proby - Somethin' Else                                                                               
Rummagin' Ray - Something Else                                                                           
Sex Pistols - Something Else                                                                             
Sylvie Vartan - Elle est terrible (french)                                                                       
The Head Cat - Somethin' Else (Bass Cover With Vocal)                                                    
The King - Something Else                                                                                
Trophies - Somethin' Else                                                                                
 

Nine Pound Hammer

 

Carroll Arnold

Nine Pound Hammer (re-up)
(Merle Travis)

Munited Records
A Music-United Production
1965

Most probably a Nashville recording, perhaps related to Canary Records in the same town.  Carroll Arnold recorded several singles in the early seventies for the American Radio Artist label.

No further info, alas.....

Some Sad Day

 

Ronnie Patton

Some Sad Day
(Louise Shields & Wayne Vitatoe, Tiki Music BMI)

Moon Lover
(Ronnie Patton, Nubia Music BMI)

Coaster Records #248
1964

Ronnie Patton ((Ronald Wayne Patton, b. 10 Dec 1943 Kerrville , Texas), was a Stephen F. Austin High senior when he was signed to Kool Records on his 18th birthday (You Made Me Cry/You're An Angel, Kool 1017) before trying his luck in Nashville.

Traveling between Nashville, Hollywood, and Austin, gathering wives, divorces, fans and addictions, he left the music business, managed a pizza restaurant in San Antonio. 

He came back to Nashville in the seventies, married Deborah Irene Brown, who as Debbie Luv recorded with Ronnie Patton several singles and one album on their own Jade Records.
He was now Jade Stone.

Subliminal Sounds (of Sweden) re-issued their album "Mosaics Pieces Of Stone" in 2008, adding eleven bonus tracks (live and rehearsals.)

 

Ride Little Renee Ride
(a bonus track from their Subliminal Sounds CD)

That's All Right

 

Sonja and Smoke Band

That's All Right
(Arthur Crudup)


Weller And Water
(Richard Pike, Pikea Music BMI)

Rickin label
Produced by Richard Pike

Recorded at Hendersonville, Fort Worth, Texas

Sonja Jean (Mann) Toten (1953-1988)

Sonja was a licensed nursing home administrator for 7 years, having run the Brookhaven Rest Home. When she started singing professionaly, she left Brookhaven to dedicate all her time to singing.

Going Down To Bloomfield Center

 

Komik-Kazee

Going Down To Bloomfield Center

Going Down To Bloomfield Center (instrumental)

Stardust Records SR-8301
1983


Vocalists (pictured on the sleeve) were Elizabeth Kast, Jack Keller, Thomas Gilpin, Kevin Reid, Sallie Schoneboom, Lisa Siccone, Ken Schwartz

The band :
 Jeff Hays, bass
Bob Marino, guitar
  Jim Thomas, drums
Ken Schwartz, piano
plus
Nantara, synthetiser
Joe Passaro, percussion

This is  the second record engineered and produced by George Louvis for his own Stardust label, located on Valley Road in Upper Montclair, New Jersey.

Komik-Kazee was a group of comedians. Ken Schwartz was the guy who put the group together and wrote this song and did most of the writing for a lot of the skits that they did.

Kevin Reed, one of the members of the group, happened to work at George Louvis dad's restaurant. So Kevin told they were going to be doing a show at Rascals and he invited everybody from the restaurant to come see him.  So they all ran up to Rascals in West Orange to watch them and one of the things they did was this song, Going Down To Bloomfield Center.

George Louvis :

And when the show ended, I talked to Ken and I was like, that's a great song, you know, what are you doing with it?  And he didn't have anything to do with it. So we got to talking, we negotiated a deal. I signed him to Stardust and we put the record out. Yeah, it was a lot of fun. They only had one song, so for the B-side, we did an instrumental version, like a dub version

Tree Of Life

 

Phebe Scoggins
Age 13

Tree Of Life
Daddy Was A Ole Time Preacher

H & S Music, BMI
Dobie Record Co.

1975

Reverse of this EP on a Rome, Georgia label is by her parents, Hoyt and Mae Scoggins. Another Phebe 45 on the same label was While I've Got The Chance" b/w The Last Altar Call, also issued with a picture sleeve.

Phebe (detail from the sleeve)

No Particular Place To Go

 

Carrol Bateman & The Untouchables
(Carrol on labels, Carroll on cover)

No Particular Place To Go

From the album "Songs from Last Night"

Smigar Records, 1966

Carroll Bateman, lead singer & guitarist and The Untouchables (Ted LeMire, sax, Tom Vanyo, bass & singer, Richie Pommer, drums).

Carroll Bateman recorded previously (in 1964) as Evans Carroll And The Tempos ("The  Monster", Bangar Records) and, with The Untouchables, had a single on Twin Town (1967)

David Carroll, nee Carroll Bernard Bateman, was born in East Grand Forks, Minnesota in 1938.  Bateman saw Elvis’s 1956 show, and started playing rock ‘n’ roll in 1962 with local bands such as the Wanderers and the Untouchables.  He developed his Elvis Presley stage act in 1970 and had maintained the same band since 1971.  

Elvis Presley stage act filmed in Las Vegas 

 

Nineteen Years

 

Nineteen Years

Acetate supposed cut by one Johnny Gentry in the new Sam Philips studio at Madison Avenue in 1960. Found on "Desperate Rock'N'Roll Volume 20" issued in UK on the Flame label.

There was a Johnny Gentry release on Style Records, a Memphis label operated by Style Wooten. And in 1974 on another label from the same owner there was a song titled Nineteen Years, composed and sung by one A.C. Martin (Camaro 3536)

A real find or a real fake? ? I am a little skeptical about the authenticity of this acetate. Opinion anyone ?

You're Mine, You

 

Bill Marshall
with The Sig Galloway Orchestra

You're Mine, You
(J. Green-E. Heyman, Famous Music Corp. ASCAP)

R-Dell Records 108
1958

Not listed at 45cat, and at Discogs neither. The R-Dell label (ex-Aardell) was founded by Bob Ross in 1955 and established at Selma Avenue in Hollywood.

Big-band trumpeter turned would-be record exec , Bob Ross founded the Harmony Recorders recording studio in the Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Owned or co-owned numerous record labels: Rosco Records, Aardell, R-Dell, Chartmaker and publishing companies: Teresa Music Co. aka Teresa Music and Teresa, Cadenza Music Co., Bob Ross Music Service, Chartmaker Productions, Inc etc.

"You're Mine, You" was first recorded by Guy Lombardo & His Royal Canadians in 1933. For a list of cover versions, see the useful SecondHandSongs here

Bill Marshall was probably the vocalist with the Raymond Joe Sanns Orchestra featured on four sides issued on the Bel-Tone label in 1945 or 1946. These 4 sides can be heard HERE

Giver Her A Whirl

 

The Ole Stragler
Irvin M. Privett

Giver Her A Whirl

Red Bug Records 100

Jacksonville, Florida

A Norm Vincent Associates Custom Record

Irvin M. Privett (1913-1992), that's all I know. Recorded by Norm Vincent Associates.

Boston-born, Norm Vincent arrived in Jacksonville, Florida in 1956 where he hosted a top-rated radio morning drive show before moving into sales. In 1962, he assumed management of WZOK, before leaving in 1966 to operate the Norm Vincent Recording Studios. 

Norm Vincent passed away in 2014.

Hanky Panky

 

The Walflower Complextion (on cover)
The Wall Flower Complexion (on labels)

Hanky Panky 

From their first album (of two) on Daro International issued in late 1966.

The members of The Walflower Complextion were American teenagers, children of US Government staff, attending high school in Bogotá, Colombia. The record was distributed in Columbia only, though there were rumors that the album was seen in Panamanian record stores.

Their two albums are re-issued on CD by Shadoks Music. Boooklet with photos and detailed info available at Discogs

 

Repressed Hostility Blues

 

Katie Lee, The Grand Dame of Dam Busting, in 1957

 Katie Lee - Repressed Hostility Blues

From her album Katie Lee sings Songs Of Couch and Consultation issued by Commentary Records, a small company formed by Bud Freeman and his colllaborator Leon Pober in Hollywood .

Kathryn Louise Lee (1919–2017) was an American folk singer, actress, writer, photographer and environmental activist.

From the 1950s, Lee often sang about rivers and white water rafting. She was a vocal opponent of Glen Canyon Dam, which closed its gates in 1963, and called for the canyon to be returned to its natural state.
 

Allmusic:

Jazz saxophonist Bud Freeman came up with the idea for Songs of Couch & Consultation, a cult classic comedy album that pokes fun at psychoanalysis and psychiatric jargon. Freeman wrote a dozen songs' worth of lyrics, which Leon Pober set to music and Bob Thompson arranged. Katie Lee, an extraordinarily pretty folk singer who previously recorded an album for Specialty called Spicy Songs for Cool Knights, was brought in to sing and pose for the cheesecake album cover. The songs describe an assortment of neuroses and psychiatric conditions in a variety of musical styles, delivered with a heavy dose of hand-wringing self-scrutiny. There's ragtime, big-band blues, and even cowboy music as Lee coos her way through topics such as schizophrenia, repressed hostility, and maladjustment. "Hush Little Sibling" lampoons parenting manuals and the venerated Dr. Spock, and "The Will to Fail" identifies a drive Nietzsche missed. The irony is that the sophisticated humor targets an educated audience that is also the group most likely to embrace psychiatric jargon and theories. Reprise reissued the album with a less striking cover, so the original Commentary Records pressing is the one to find.

 

Alligator Wine

 

The Dynamic Kapers

Alligator Wine
(Leiber & Stoller, Quintet Music, BMI)

JED International Records
[Jim E. Denny]

1964

 The Kapers on Bragg are probably the same band as the Bragg label was owned by Neil Wilburn who co-produced these JED sides.
 
Very little info about that band on internet. But I found this at nashvillescene.com  : 

Although many local bands at the time were based in, or at least played gigs around, West Nashville, groups popped up all over town. And, according to [Pat] Patrick, the sound changed depending on the area. For instance, south of town, in Franklin and Columbia, bands like the Fairlaines played straight rhythm and blues. Near Charlotte Avenue, Howard Hudgins formed a band with a bluesier, more harmonica-driven sound. Meanwhile, in East Nashville, combos like the Kapers blended the rawness of rock ’n’ roll with the horn-driven verve of R&B. The Fairlaines might play a James Brown song, Patrick explains, but the Kapers “would play a white version of an obscure James Brown song. So you wouldn’t know if it was their original, or if they pulled it off an R&B album and just whitened it up a little.”

Sturdivant, who eventually joined the Kapers after his stint in the Escorts, isn’t so sure that a combo’s sound was strictly defined by its home turf. Since all the bands were basically playing the same material, he explains, each one had to find its own sound. Nevertheless, there’s always been an undeniable split between East and West Nashville—and it isn’t just the Cumberland River.

John Edward Sturdivant. Age 66, of Madison, died Saturday, March 7, 2009 at his home. He was preceded in death by parents, Lathan and Elizabeth Sturdivant. Survived by wife, Sue Wright Sturdivant; sons, John, Jr., and David (Dianne); daughter, Stephanie; brothers, L.A. and Tom; grandchildren, Angeleah Rose, Daniel, Kristen, John Edward, III, Elijah Moon; devoted son-in-law to Johnnie Wright and Kitty Wells. Mr. Sturdivant was a retired music industry executive. He began his music career in high school playing baritone saxophone in Top 40 rock bands- The Monarchs, Charlie McCoy and the Escorts, The Kapers, and The Nocturnes. Served as Vice President/ Southeastern Manager of Record World magazine. Also held positions with; Gibson Guitar; Music City News; ASCAP; RUBOCA Records; Tree International. Involvements and board memberships included the Country Music Association, Academy of Country Music, Nashville Chapter of NARAS and Past National Vice Chairman of NARAS,  [John Sturdivant obituary]