Notice

 

 Notice : There is a glitch somewhere. I can't use this blog properly anymore, responding to comments & other problems

All future posts from me will be found at my new blog : 

https://oldwaxxiv.blogspot.com/

Thank you all for your interest

Tommy Clayton

 

Tommy Clayton
pic is from Pacific EP 90100 (France)

Tommy Clayton has covered the hits of the day for Eli Oberstein's various budget labels. Some twenty Varsity tracks can be heard at Internet Archive here; unfortunately the sound clips are of very low quality.

Apart Varsity, his records are found on W&G (Australia & New Zealand), Pacific (France), Royale (USA) and World Record Club (UK), all either way related to Eli Oberstein. He recorded budget albums too for Acorn (Tommy Clayton and his Polkateers, Tommy Clayton -Square Dance Band)), for Choo Choo (Tommy Clayton Singers).

At least several covers were recorded in Europe by Pacific, a french label (in Paris or Brussels?) by Philippe-Gérard while Tommy Clayton was in the US Army, stationed in Belgium.

4 by Tommy

Cindy Oh Cindy (W&G 345, Pacific EP45.104)
Rock Around the Clock (Pacific EP 90.100)
See You Later Alligator (World Record Club 18)
Tennessee Saturday Night  (Varsity 8016)
 
Tracks perhaps never issued in the USA, except Tennessee Saturday Night.

 

Boom Boom Boom Boom

 

Boom Boom Boom Boom

Sakura Teng aka Ying Hua was one of the more popular female Mandarin song singers from the 60s era. She sang in a variety of languages, from Mandarin to Bahasa Malaysia, English and even Japanese. Many of her recordings were accompanied by The Quests. A household name in RTS' Chinese Variety Show in the evenings.

"Boom Boom" was issued on Columbia Records (Singapore)

Bellena

 

Calvin Prine & The Rebels

Bellena 

P.E.P. 102
1975

From Mississippi. Calvin Prine had also records on Rebel States, Hope, Singing River and probably more.

Calvin Earl "Singing River" Prine, 75, of, Richland, left his earthly body on August 30, 2011. Service will be at 3 p.m., Saturday, September 3, 2011 at Moore Funeral Chapel in Petal followed by burial in George Street Cemetery.

Mr. Prine served in the U.S. Navy and was a member of Oak Hill Apostolic Church and Jesus Name Tabernacle. He was a local country singer with the band, Calvin and the Rebels and a song writer for approximately 50 years; he also enjoyed hunting. In his later years, he enjoyed attending church and continued his passion for music by writing gospel songs.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Vickey Gail Prine. He is survived by 15 children.

For his obituary above, we can deduce that music, hunting and gospel weren't the only things he enjoyed. Let's have a moving thought for Vickey Gail Prine ....

Moldy Goldies: Colonel Jubilation B. Johnston And His Mystic Knights Band And Street Singers Attack The Hits

 

Full album on request

tracklist

1 - Bang Bang
2 - Monday, Monday
3 - How Does That Grab You, Darlin'
4 - Good Lovin'
5 - Leaning On The Lamp Post
6 - Daydream
7 - Rainy Day Women # 12 & 35
8 - Secret Agent Man
9 - (You're My) Soul And Inspiration
10 - Hang On Sloopy
11 - The Name Game

From Allmusic's review: "A dazzling anti-masterpiece if there ever was such a thing, Moldy Goldies may be the most engagingly off-putting album ever released by a major record label, capturing a number of gifted musicians sabotaging their own performances for a hearty laugh."

No Money Down

 

Bertha Breadsacker

No Money Down
(C. Berry, Isalee Publishing Co.)

Wholewheat Records
A division of Norm Vincent Associates, Jacksonville, Florida
1967

This is DJ Mike Reineri

Bertha Breadsacker was one of characters played on his shows by Mike Reineri, a popular South Florida DJ.

 

Dime Store Boogie

To follow up my I Hear You Knocking post and the two Artie Malvin compilations.

Despite some errors (for instance, the budget Broadway label wasn't owned by Pinkard in New-York City) and despite its limitations (rock'n roll and pop albums are not listed), I thought it would be interesting to share an article published long time ago by Blues & Rhythm No 155 (Christmas 2000),  as the documentation on these budget records are relatively rare or non-existent. 

"This listing of thrift store albums covering budget or dime store albums featuring Rhythm and Blues, Blues, Gospel, Doo Wop, 60’s and other albums we though B&R readers would be interested."

Dime Store Boogie (high res) (63 Mo)

Dime Store Boogie (low res, but readable)  (1,6 Mo)

 

Women of Music: Beyond Age

 

18 Karat Canaries, Thrushes, Warblers, Songstresses

volume 1 (I think)

Note : United Women Of The World, please don't file a complaint, that was the fluent language commonly used by the music magazines of the past to which I belong.....

tracklist

Anita LaFleur  - Worried All The Time  - Goldband (unissued)
Betty Logan  - I Got My Hot Pants On  - Falcon 1001
Betty Smith  - Yeah- Baby  - Echo 584
Carolyn Duncan  - Mama Pinch A Penny  - Ev-Mer 301
cathy saunders  - Making Believe  - Edit 2000
Ellen Brunner - Shadow of your smile  - Eagle 3001
Gina Lowrey  - Baby Blue  - Avenue South 512
Hannelore Cremer  - Kuba Rock  - Decca, Germany
Lynn Gibson  - In The Back Seat of My '57 Chevy  - Vetco 518
Mae West  - Treat Him Right  - Tower 200
Marcella Kern  - -Seven Best Years  - Karen 1006
Marga Benitez with The Mello Tones - Wino’s On Parade - Decca 43318
Mary Price  - Go Go Girl  - Horizon SO 12575
Yolanda Robinson  - Little Puss Sally  - Liberty 45619

I Hear You Knocking

 

I Hear You Knocking (as recorded by popular artists on various budget labels)

First recorded by Smiley Lewis for Imperial Records in 1954, but it was Gale Storm who got the hit in 1955 (Dot Records). 

 

tracklist 

Beryl Templeman  (Embassy, UK)                       
Ceci Julian (Broadway)                               
Dolly Nunn (Super-Value)                             
Eileen Scott (Big 4 Hits)                            
Laura Leslie (Prom)                                  
Royale Dance Orchestra and Singers (Royale LP)

The Bell Ringers (Bell)                              
The Solitaire Orchestra (Top Hits Of The Month, UK)
no artist listed (Broadway LP)
no artist listed (Popular)

Note : The second cover version on the album Juke Box Classics--Vocals and Orch. by Popular Radio and TV Artists (Broadway 1037) issued, oddly enough, in the sixties is the one previously issued as Royale Dance Orchestra and Singers on Eli Oberstein's Royale LP "One Hour of Tops In Pops" (1955)

The Swamp Women

Colonel Jubilation B. Johnston and his Mystic Knights Band
and Street Singers Attack The Hits
Columbia, 1966

"enigmatic" credits from the back cover

Nashville, 1966.  After so many recording sessions for the Bob Dylan’s album "Blonde On Blonde » Bob Johnston, the producer and the musicians led by Charlie McCoy needed some relaxation, and also perhaps some kind of revenge.  That’s understantable. That’s why they recorded in the process Moldy Goodies as by Colonel Jubilation B. Johnston and his Mystic Knights Band and Street Singers Attack The Hits. 

It’s not easy to know exactly who's playing and singing what on the record, there is no detailed credits for each songs.

 

 I've selected from that album three tracks sung by The Swamp Women, Norma Jean Owen's Bang Bang &  How Does That Grab You, Darlin'  and  Arlene Harden (as The Incomparable R. Lean) (Rainy Day Women # 12 & 35)

Ava "Arlene" Harden (born March 1, 1945) is a country music singer. Between 1966 and 1968, she was one-third of The Harden Trio, which comprised her brother, Bobby and sister, Robbie. Arlene recorded for Columbia Records as a solo artist between 1967 and 1973, charting fifteen times on the Hot Country Songs charts. Her most successful release was a cover of Roy Orbison's "Oh, Pretty Woman", titled "Lovin' Man (Oh Pretty Woman)". She later recorded for Capitol and Elektra as Arleen Harden. [Wikipedia] 

 

Norma Jean Owen (Luscious Norma Jean Owen) was receptionist at the Columbia Records Studios in Nashville. That was the first job right after her graduation in 1965. Later promoted director of A&R Administration at Capitol Records, Nashville, she didn't record anything else (I think)

 

Corki Ray

 

If you are into rockabilly music, you have already heard Corki Ray, without perhaps knowing it. She played bass guitar alongside her then-husband, Al Casey on numerous Phoenix, Arizona recording sessions such as The Fool (Sandford Clark), Cool Cat (Joe Montgomery), I’m Gone Mama (Jim Murphy) or Long John’s Flagpole Rock ( Lonesome Long John Roller).

Born Vivian J. Ray in 1936, Corki Ray rose to fame in the 1950s as the only female in a group of rising rockers in Phoenix, Arizona. She worked with songwriter and producer Lee Hazelwood and in 1957, began collaborating with Duane Eddy, playing on songs like Rebel Rouser and Ramrod, before joining his band the Rebels.

She recorded a solo single, 1963's "Whirlwind" backed with "Once It Was Mine," as Corki Ray. That same year, she and Eddy's first wife, Carol Roberts, had a doo-wop-flavored girl-group single out as Sugar & the Spices, the contagious "Bye Bye Baby."

Corki Ray, by all accounts, a nice person, died in 2017.

Further reading here

Her vocal recordings (1963-1964) are on this compilation.

1 - Corki Ray - Whirlwind (Brent 7044)                             
2 - Corki Ray - Once It Was Mine (Brent 7044)                       
3 - Sugar & The Spices - Do The Dog (Stacy 968)                     
4 - Sugar & The Spices- Bye Bye Baby (Stacy 968)                    
5 - Sugar And The Spices - Boys Can Be Mean (Vee-Jay 607)            
6 - Sugar And The Spices - Come On Over To My House (Vee-Jay 607)   
7 - The Raintree County Singers  - Long Black Trains (Time LP)

Note 1 : "Long Black Trains" is apparently the only Corki Ray vocals on the Raintree County Singers album,  [Corki Ray's timbre is husky,and her voice is an excellent contrast to Carol's](Carol Roberts).

Note 2 : The Sugar and Spices on Swan is a different group.

 

I'm A Big Girl Now

 

Elsie Dickson

I'm A Big Girl Now
Phil Medley-Joe Bollon, Starflower Productions

Arranged and conducted by Phil Medley

Domino D 200
1973

Female artist, or male, or both ? Awfully bad anyway. May appeal in certain circles.

Elsie Dickson

Phil Medley, still amused years after ......

Artie Malvin Rocks Again !

 

 Artie Malvin Rocks Again !

25 more top hits by Artie from Bell, 18 Top Hits, Waldorf & Prom Records

1   -  See You Later, Alligator  ( Waldorf 149/Waldorf BU 2  )
2   -  After The Lights Go Down Low  (  18 Top Hits 198 A  )
3   -  Lotta Lovin'  ( Bell 57 )
4   -  Memories Are Made Of This  ( 18 top hits 164  )
5   -  Dim, Dim The Lights  (Waldorf BU 2 Waldorf 149 )
6   -  Rock Your Little Baby To Sleep  (  Waldorf BU 2  )
7   - R O C K  ( 18 Top Hits 189  )
8   - Ninety Nine Ways  ( 18 Top Hits TH-12-2a  )
9   - The Green Door  ( Bell 11  )
10   - Sittin' In The Balcony  (  Bell 36  )
11   - Catch A Falling Star  ( Top Hit Tunes (TH-16-3-B)  )
12   -  Tina Marie  (  18 Top Hits 159  )
13   - Hambone  ( Prom 1011  )
14   - That'll Be The Day  (  Waldorf BU 2  )
15   - Razzle Dazzle  ( Waldorf 149  )
16   - Going Steady  (  18 Top Hits TH-13-3-A  )
17   - Mambo Rock  ( 18 Top Hits 150 B  )
18   -  Since I Met You Baby  (  Waldorf BU 2  )
19   - Happiness Street  ( Waldorf Music Hall  MH 3331  )
20   - Rock A Billy  (  18 Top Hits TH-12-3  )
21   - There’ll Be No Teardrops Tonight  ( Prom 1077-B  )
22   - Jailhouse Rock  (  Bell 61  )
23   - Searchin’  ( Waldorf BU 2  )
24   -  Rock Around The Clock  (  Waldorf BU 2/Waldorf 149  )
25   - Ling Ting Tong  ( 18 Top Hits 142-A  )
 

 

Artie Malvin Rocks!

 

Artie Malvin part 1

1  - Juke Box Baby ( 18 top hits 175 )
2 -  All Shook Up ( Waldorf BU 2 )
3 -  Butterfly ( Bell  29 )
4 - The Darktown Strutter’s Ball ( Prom 1077 )
5  - Hound Dog ( 18 top hits 197 )
6 -  InThe Middle Of An Island ( Bell 49 )
7 - The Saints Rock And Roll  ( Waldorf 165 )
8 -  Yes Tonight Josephine ( 18 top hits TH 12-3 )
9  -  Green Door ( Waldorf )
10 -  Rock Around The Clock ( Waldorf 149/ Waldorf BU 2 )
11 -  Black Denim Trousers ( 18 top hits 161 b )
12 -  I Beg Of You ( Bell 70 )
13 - The House Of Blue Lights ( 18 top hits 155 b )
14 - Come Go With Me  ( 18 top hits TH 12-1a )
15 - The Garden Of Eden ( Bell 17 )
16 - I'm Stickin' With You   ( 18 top hits TH 12-1b )
17 - At My Front Door (see note)
18 - Short Fat Fanny  ( Waldorf CA-3-aa)
19 - Shake Rattle And Roll ( Waldorf BU 2, Waldorf 149)
20 - The Gandy Dancer's Ball ( Prom 1011 )
21 - Party Doll - ( Waldorf BU 2 )
22 - Blueberry Hill ( 18 Top Hits 203, Waldorf BU 2 )
23 - Don't Knock The Rock ( Waldorf Music Hall MHK 33-1211, 18 Top Hits – 207 )
24 - Fabulous ( Bell 42 )
25 -  Sh-Boom ( Waldorf 3304LP )

note: track 17 :  as The Brigadiers Quartet on Waldorf/Waldorf Music Hall and as Artie Malvin With The Brigadiers Quartet on Sparton (Canada)

Tracks recorded for 18 Top Hits, Waldorf, Waldorf Music Hall, Bell and Prom.

Of all the artists who recorded copies of hits for budget labels, Artie Malvin certainly had the most recognizable voice. An artist from the big band era, he was over thirty years old at the time of rock and roll.  His covers are sometimes  far enough from the real rock and roll, but  are neither bad and for a man who did what he can to rock AND not hiding behind a pseudonym like so many others, we can only feel respect ...

"He wasn't a name, but he was a voice that everyone knew," Janet Malvin, his daughter, said.

Arthur Malvin was born July 7, 1922, in New York City, the youngest of five children of Bernard and Sophie Malvin, Jewish immigrants who had left czarist Russia. His father ran a small hand laundry.

After securing his first singing gig at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel, a teenage Malvin got through his first performance by hiding in his hand a 5-cent song sheet with lyrics to the popular songs of the day.

In 1942, he joined the Claude Thornhill Orchestra, a big band known for its innovative arrangements. Later that year, Malvin organized a vocal group called the Crew Chiefs that sang with Maj. Glenn Miller's Army Air Forces Orchestra.

After World War II, Malvin toured as a soloist with the Glenn Miller Orchestra that was led by Tex Beneke.

He also sang on children's records and recorded advertising jingles for Sominex, Blue Bonnet margarine, Tang drink mix and many others.

Malvin died in his sleep at his Century City home June 16, 2006 after a long illness,

The Jokers with Lynda Mitchell

We’re Gonna  Hate Ourselves In The Morning


Strange

Cullman County, Alabama band fronted on vocals by Lynda Mitchell, a University of Alabama graduate in 1965 . Soon after Lynda Mitchell took part in several beauty pageants. Crowned Cullman Fair Queen in September of 1966. She performed locally with the Jokers in 1966-1968 at various musical programs. Later a math teacher.

Recorded at Bill Lowery's Master Sound Studios, Atlanta, Georgia in 1967.

Side 1 is a cover of a song composed by Dale Ward, and Arthur Alexander, first issued on Elf Records by Clifford Curry. Also recorded by Arthur Alexander but unissued at the time.

Side 2 is also a cover. Written by Tillis & Burch was first sung by Patsy Cline (Decca, 1962)

Lynda Mitchell

Wayne Cochran (Sundazed album)

 

Wayne Cochran (Sundazed) album

Sundazed re-issue of the Chess album 1519 produced by Abner Spector
Recorded July and September 1967 at Criteria Studios, Miami and Fame Studios, Muscle Shoals, Alabama
Issued in 1968

The album featured the blue-eyed soul and rhythm and blues style he had perfected on the road with his revue, but backed by session musicians for most of the cuts instead of his touring band.  Wikipedia