Label / Cat. No: PYE – NSPL41005 First Released: 1971
What The Album Blurb Says…
Every now and again in show-business an exciting piece of talent comes to the surface – it happened with Tom Jones and Barbra Streisand, but it doesn’t happen often.
Stars are not made by managers or impresarios, they are made by the public – sure, managers or agents recognise a star quality and then groom it, but most stars are there because of that contact with an audience, because they are selling the goods the public wants and because that public wants them as people.
I first saw Rostal and Schaefer perform to a live audience in Johannesburg; they were closing the first half of a bill I was appearing on. From my dressing-room I heard shouts from the auditorium of ‘encore!’ and ‘more!’ – it sounded sweeter than the music they had been playing. On this night I witnessed not one but two stars being born and to watch them blossom over the past twelve months has pleased me more than I can say.
No wonder they have been booked for television shows, concerts, and asked to record sounds like you have here on their first major disc.
Although in their early twenties, they have somehow packed twenty-odd years between them in practising at the keyboard – no wonder the powers that be decided to include them in the 1970 Royal Variety Show, some entertainers work a life time for this honour – they achieved it in twelve short months.
Fly away Peter, fly away Paul and keep delighting us with your magic. It is a privilege to have this record, almost a first edition, I shall treasure it.
Most sincerely, Max Bygraves.
What I Say
I bet that Paul Schaefer rues the day he met Peter Rostal. Fine, they share interests, they work together well, and conveniently enough, they both play the piano. But in the wake of ‘Peter, Paul and Mary’, Paul was only ever going to get second billing. ‘Paul, Peter & Pianos’ just sounds wrong, even though it’s in lovely alphabetical order. I bet Paul is still kicking himself that he didn’t change his name to something with three syllables – Francisco, maybe. Anything to make him stand out head and shoulders above Peter.
Yet it wasn’t to be. I notice that in later years they became known as ‘Rostal and Schaefer’ which is infinitely more exotic than ‘Peter & Paul’, but it means that Peter still gets top billing. The swine.
Max Bygraves seems to be pretty taken with these two young men. And who wouldn’t be? Look at the pair of them with their sensible haircuts and dinner jackets. Fashionable pink shirts, and bow-ties that you just know, you just know are made of velvet. The wry smile on Paul’s face, the confident ‘trust me’ grin on Peter’s. yes, these are clearly the kind of young men that you could take home to mother. And even when they’re not in their concert finest, they clearly know how to dress to impress.
Why, just look at them in their casual fineries. Cravats, Crew-necks and Crimplene trousers. What more could a girl ask for!
But I’m being unfair. Those were wonderful clothes in 1971 and I’m judging them harshly purely because fashions have changed. This is supposed to be all about the music. Ah! The music. I have a small confession to make – I recorded this album to review ages ago – months and months, and had the file kicking around. On listening to it this week, I loved the frantic, furious opening number – only to hear my past self go back and switch the album from 45 back to 33 1/3. It didn’t seem quite so lively after that. Bum. But still and excellent opener showing these two lively guys at their best. It has a bit of an Eastern European feel, Balkan possibly…. though of course, I could be talking out of the back of my head.
The rest of side one is an odd mix. Popular standards, arranged to show off the pianists virtuosity make this album the audio equivalent of a doily – all frills and fluff, but with little obvious purpose. I mean, you could put a cake on it I suppose, but what’s the point of that? And it would leave crumbs in the grooves.
Anyway…. I digress. Despite the knockabout between the two pianists, there’s no killer punch. The version of ‘Tonight’ from ‘West Side Story’ is actually an arrangement of the quintet (For once I know what I’m talking about – I was two (count ‘em, two) of the Jets in an amateur production in 1989, so I’m completely qualified and everything….) is artfully done, but has none of the aggression that the song should have.
Maybe that’s the point though – Paul and Peter (as I shall refer to them in an effort to restore the balance) aren’t in show-business to break new territory, or to threaten the Status Quo. Though that’s a fight I’d pay to see – Rostal & Schaefer vs Rossi & Parfitt. Hmmm… I feel a celebrity tag boxing blog coming on… where was I? Oh yes, they don’t offer anything new, but why should they. Like Max says, they give the public what they want.
And sometimes the public don’t know what they want. I went into this album thinking I was going to hate it. Pre-packaged, bland cover-versions, I thought. But if you don’t expect anything more from this album than a few nice tunes, then you won’t be disappointed. I mean, I doubt this is going to make it onto any playlist, but it’s pleasant enough. And for today (and probably only today), I’ll settle for ‘pleasant enough’.
This is someone called Jo Ann Castle playing Hejre Katy. It doesn’t get going until 1:47, but then…. blimey!
Label / Cat. No: Topic 12T150 First Released: 1966
What The Album Blurb Says…
Fred Jordan was born on January 5, 1922, at Ludlow, Shropshire. He is a farm labourer, living in the village of Aston Munslow, about seven miles from Ludlow. His house has a view of Corve Dale and the distant Clee Hills.
In 1952 Peter Kennedy, then working for the British Broadcasting Corporation, visited the area, and being told by the local blacksmith that Fred Jordan was a good singer, he recorded him for the BBC’s folk song archive. In the autumn of 1959, Fred attracted the attention of participants in the folk song revival when he appeared at the English Folk Dance and Song society’s festival wearing his everyday clothes – heavy boots, leggings and weather-defying hat. His singing drew immediate acclaim. Since then he has appeared with increasing regularity at concerts and clubs, with other country singers and also with revival performances. He enjoys concert and club work, where he sings with the straightforward ‘professionalism’ and unselfconsciousness common to most country singers.
As a folk singer he may be classed with the best – and that best includes Harry Cox, George Maynard and Phil Tanner. Though he is still a young man he has the essential style of this older generation. His musical sense is very highly developed; his ability to make small rhythmical changes to suit the words of songs is marked and his use of melodic ornament is subtle and skilful. the quality of his voice may seem strange at first hearing, but it is not unique, and there is nothing here of an old man’s quaver, for Fred Jordan is in his prime.
In performance, he inclines to let his personality retire behind the song, in the true manner of traditional singers. He sings without change of facial expression, without physical mannerism. He performs Barbara Allen and The Old Armchair in precisely the same manner, in the straight-faced almost deadpan way that amateur singers still adopt in town pubs where they stand up to give out with I’ll Take You home Again, Kathleen.
Fred Jordan acknowledges three main sources for his songs: first his parents (his mother came from Warwickshire, his father comes from Leeds); second the travellers and gypsies who frequent the district; last, his acquaintances in the countryside. In his own mind he distinguishes between what he now calls ‘proper folk songs’, music-hall songs, and the arranged versions of folk songs that he learned at school.
All the songs on this record are found up and down the country in one version or another. Many are to be found in the classic folk song collections. Others, of known authorship, the pops of yesteryear, have taken their place alongside traditional songs in the folk singers’ repertoire on their merits of narrative and melody. Some of these are American in origin. The music-hall and touring show all played their part in widening the popular repertoire, and radio and gramophone records have also had their effect. This record shows the mixture of song types in the repertoire of a country singer in the 1960’s.
What I Say
Some of you will have seen ‘The Green Green Grass’, the spin-off series from ‘Only Fools & Horses’. If you have caught this show, then you have my deepest sympathy. Really. The premise, for those of you who haven’t seen it, is that Boycie, a second-hand car salesman from Peckham in South London, moves to the Shropshire countryside to avoid some shady underworld types, and what follows is a fish-out-of-water “comedy”. For anyone who lives within 100 miles of Shropshire, the biggest mystery is why do all the Shropshire characters dress like they live in the 1930s and speak with yokel Somerset accents. I mean, just look…
…and listen
Sorry to have to put you through that, but it just isn’t Shropshire. But Fred Jordan, now he’s the real deal…
What an unexpected gem we have here. I chose this album from my pending pile because I have spent the last week working on a farm not 10 miles from the Shropshire border – barn building, labouring and general jobbing. I believe this makes me supremely qualified to look at an album by a fellow man of the soil. Well, to be fair, I didn’t get that close to any actual soil, but still, Fred Jordan must be singing the songs that speak to my heart, mustn’t he?
Well, yes and no…. the title is a touch misleading – these aren’t songs about Shropshire farm workers, or even songs that Shropshire farm workers in general would sing. Instead, it’s a collection of songs sung by one Shropshire farm worker, namely Mr Jordan. I won’t go into details of Fred’s life here, because there are some excellent biographies around – try here for starters if you want to know more about the Fredster.
The songs aren’t even all about farming or the bucolic life. At least two of them are nautical in flavour, and Shropshire’s pretty far from the sea at the best of times.
But that’s of not matter. I can honestly say that this is unique in all the albums I’ve listened to – what we have is Fred Jordan. Nothing more, nothing less. No musicians, no backing singers, no accompaniment whatsoever. This album stands or falls on Fred Jordan’s voice, and it stands.
It stands as a period piece, it stands as a collection of English folk tunes sung by someone steeped in the folk tradition, and it stands as a collection of tunes by an accomplished singer. True, there are some vocal mannerisms which sound curious to our pop-soaked ears, and the starkness of hearing a single voice cut the silence takes some getting used to. But that also summarises the character of this album. It is raw, stripped back, nothing but the singer and the song, and to my jaded ears it made a very refreshing change. I can’t say that this is going to be a recurrent favourite on my playlists, but unlike a lot of what I plough through (see what I did there?), I’m more than happy to give this a second listen. Maybe even a third.
In looking for details of this album on this wonderful internet of ours, I was amazed to find that the Topic record label not only still exists, but is a beacon of independent labels, having been releasing albums now for 69 years. Go and have a look at their site to find out more, but any label that boasted John Peel as a fan must have something going for it.
Lovely jubbly.
Sorry.
Tracks
Side 1
1. We Shepherds Are The Best Of Men
2. The ship That Never Returned
3. Down the Road
4. We’re All Jolly Fellows that Follow The Plough
5. The Watery Grave
6. The Dark-Eyed Sailor
7. Three Old Crows
Label / Cat. No: Stereo Gold Award MER 336 First Released: 1971
What The Album Blurb Says…
Here’s a dance party with two favourite ingredients – the great, nostalgic sounds of Glenn Miller and hit songs by The Beatles.
These sweet and swinging arrangements were written by Bill Holcombe (an old T. Dorsey sideman), who has taken these British bred hits and written the inimitable Glenn Miller style around them.
The Hiltonaires under the baton of Stan Reynolds are joined by the vocal stylings (a la Modernaires) of Tony Mansell and his group.
Here’s big band at its best – with familiar hit songs.
What I Say
I apologise for going highbrow for a moment, but Samuel Johnson once wrote of women preachers, “Sir, a woman’s preaching is like a dog’s walking on his hinder legs. It is not done well; but you are surprised to find it done at all.” If the great Dr. Johnson were alive today, I am convinced that he would have felt the same way about this album. Well, maybe ‘convinced’ is putting it a bit strongly, but I can understand this attitude entirely when applied to ‘the big band beat of the Hiltonaires’.
Come with me for a moment into the future. The year is 2013, and someone decides to release an album of Coldplay songs performed in the Mel & Kim style. There’d be uproar, rioting in the streets and possibly the end of civilization as we know it. But back in 1971 this kind of evil alchemy was not just thinkable, it was actually happening.
It’s of little surprise then that this was released on the ‘Stereo Gold Award’ label. To be fair, I was as much drawn to this album by the very fact that it was a Stereo Gold Award offering as I was by the fine bevy of 1970s lovelies on the cover. You may recall that Stereo Gold Award have already given us Big Dave who I exposed as a fraud and a charlatan. It seems that the label was owned by a chancer who just made cheap, cash-in rubbish, and this album certainly fits into that category.
There’s just so much wrong with this album it’s difficult to know where to begin. Well, for a start I’m confused as to why they actually included some Glenn Miller / Big Band tunes. After all, the album’s called ‘Dance to the Beatles Hits…) Does that mean you have to stop dancing when Moonlight Serenade comes on? It’s preposterous I tell you. Is this a Beatles album? Is this a Glenn Miller album? Frankly I’m confused, and I suspect it shows.
And then there’s the fact that these are two entirely different genres of music that simply do not fuse well together. I accept wholeheartedly the fact that the Beatles, and in particular Lennon & McCartney wrote classic, timeless songs which can withstand reinterpretation and have been covered, reasonably successfully many thousands of times. Which then begs the question how did they make these Beatles songs sound so crap.
I think the answer lies in the fact that the Hiltonaires (or at least Bill Holcombe’s arrangements) concentrate on the style rather than the substance of the song. There is no sensitivity to the mood or the lyrics of the Beatles numbers, it seems to have been rattled off a checklist of Big Band stylistic hooks regardless of the order or original speed of the songs.
The very worst culprit (if you can get past ‘Hey Jude’ without waves of nausea welling up) is the butchering of ‘Let It Be’. Not only does this start with the most awful Barbershop Quartet style prologue, but is the possessor of possibly the worst guitar solo ever, both in tone and tune. Really, it’s that bad. Just listen. See? There’s 20 seconds you’re never having back.
I didn’t expect to enjoy this album, and I wasn’t disappointed. In the past I’ve commented that the brevity of an album often makes up for its awfulness. Not in this case. It may only be 24 minutes long, but you try sticking cocktail sticks in your thighs for 24 minutes, and believe me, it will seem like an eternity. This is the aural equivalent.
The good news however is that this isn’t the last Stereo Gold Award album in my collection. Let joy be unconfined!
Tracks
Side 1
1. Moonlight Serenade
2. Something
3. I Want To Hold Your Hand
4. Michelle
5. Bird Cage Walk
6. Londonderry Air
Side 2
1. Hey Jude
2. Let It Be
3. Yesterday
4. Diamond Rock
5. A Hard Day’s Night
Final score:
1 out of 10 – for using the term ‘vocal stylings’ unselfconsciously.
Label / Cat. No: BBC Records & Tapes REC 284 First Released: 1977
What The Album Blurb Says…
I say “enjoy your slimming” because it is much more successful if you do. It is a bore to be forever worrying about strict diets and complicated calorie counting. It can be just a simple “way of life”. Regular exercise and sensible eating will keep your weight where you want it. It works for both men and women, as my husband could tell you. Cut down on fats, starches and sugars, exercise regularly and you are on the way. To help you to select the non-fattening foods there are two lists. Plan your meals around the first and try to avoid the second. Don’t deny yourself all the foods you really like even if they are on the fattening list because this way leads to tension and you won’t enjoy your slimming. Just reduce the quantities and include small amounts in a balanced eating programme.
For a really spectacular loss of weight, say six to seven stone, then I would suggest group therapy – Silhouette Slimming Club have wonderful results, which I have seen for myself, that is why I sought their advice with this album for those of us who wish to lose a lesser amount and to stay slim throughout our lives.
Don’t forget the bathroom scales, these play a major part in our slimming plan. Decide on a reasonably weight for you height and work for that. I find at 5ft 2 1/2ins, eight and a half stone is about right and easy to hold, but bone structure can make a difference of several pounds. Weigh yourself once a week minus clothes and look for a gradual but steady weight loss – 2lbs a week adds up to nearly four stone in six months. Don’t be disappointed if after losing weight at first – nothing happens for a time. This is quite normal while the body adjust to its new exercise and sensible eating pattern. But watch that fattening list! My own personal best hints are these: BUY THE RIGHT FOODS. If you have got them in the house you will eat them. If you haven’t you will eat what is there, and they may be on the wrong list!
Finally, get out and walk. Carry nothing but yourself but carry yourself well – and don’t worry. If you slip up today, there is always tomorrow.
Best Wishes,
Eileen Fowler
SLIMMING FROM THE MAN’S POINT OF VIEW
In a man’s world a light-hearted approach to slimming is more likely to be successful than serious denial, as sensible eating and exercise are not usually his favourite subjects. he will joke about being overweight while fully realising the importance of keeping it down. Long hours spent sitting in an office chair or other sedentary occupations tend to tire the brain and exhaust the body, leaving him disinclined to take kindly to anything but the food and drink he likes in order to relax.
The pace of life today with its attendant stresses and strains can have a lasting effect on the way we look and feel and it’s essential to counteract this in the best way we can. If overweight and the ensuing lack of vitality and energy is a problem , what better way than to Enjoy Your Slimming. Near starvation and tiring work-outs are out of date, and the more relaxed and healthy way to combat spreading and tension is in. It’s a question of application. When eating out, study the menu carefully and choose as far as possible according to the suggestions given on List 1. If you really want Ma’s apple pie, have it – not too much and not too often, and you won’t feel deprived. of course you will want a drink, but the odd tomato juice can be useful. Drink, if and when you need it – or the occasion demands.
Figurewise – take a look at these diagrams and cut this exercise bogey down to size. concentrate on two areas – chest/shoulders and back for good posture, and you will never walk head first, but stay straight and tall. Work on the tummy muscles for control and you will look and feel better. try the following three exercises – Side 1. The Wall Game, Hairpin Bend and Arm Circling, Touch Toe. With a bit of help from the family regarding food, you will be slimmer and fitter and it’s quite painless.
What I Say
I have this indistinct memory of seeing black and white footage from the early 50s of pert young girls in pointy bras and gym knickers doing healthy, wholesome exercises – presumably to keep them sound of morals and fit for whichever young buck they might marry, settle down with and make a home for. Assuming that this isn’t just some figment of my fevered imagination, the work presented here by Eileen Fowler would be the perfect soundtrack to such a film.
Eileen is a no-nonsense woman. Oh, she seems friendly enough with her occasional chuckles and chummy manner, but the authority in her voice commands you to follow her instructions immediately and to the letter. There’s a schoolma’am quality that marks her out for an ideal P.E. teacher in Malory Towers.
It turns out though that Eileen was a very sensible woman who spent her life crusading to get people fitter and eating more healthily. Perhaps it is this campaigning zest which fires the authority I mentioned. Yet that is forgiveable when you realise that what she’s trying to do is improve people’s lives. If there had been more people spreading Eileen’s message a bit earlier, we might not be facing the supposed ‘obesity crisis’. What’s more important is that we might have been spared endless fitness DVDs of pneumatic ‘lovelies’ in lycra.
This album clearly focuses on the exercises – simple things that you can do at home. No equipment is needed, just a willingness to obey Eileen’s commands at a moments notice. She whizzes through the exercises, and leaves it a bit late with the instructions. I have to admit, I haven’t actually tried any of the exercises, not least because I know that a combination of my unco-ordinatedness and her late instructions would lead to an unsightly tangle. However, this isn’t just about exercise. We are handily presented with two lists in the sleeve notes – food to eat lots of and food to avoid where possible. Unsurprisingly, the former is full of fruit, vegetables, fish and Ryvita whole-grain (OK, that last bit’s a lie, but you get the picture), and the latter list seems to be a foretelling of my diet – chocolate, fried foods, biscuits, alcohol, and really anything that makes life worth living.
I would have assumed that this was common knowledge, even in 1977, but I really don’t know. But that’s the main feature of this record – it seems anachronistic, even for such unenlightened times as the late seventies. If this album had been produced in 1954 it would seem perfectly natural, but to think that it was produced in my lifetime makes it seem alien. To be fair, this record was a tie-in with Eileen’s series of the same name on Radio 4’s “Today” programme. I suspect that those listening to Radio 4 in 1977 thought it was still 1954.
As with that Peter Powell exercise album, it’s hard to pick out any individual tracks, so instead I’ve compiled just a few of my favourite soundclips. I’m very pleased to know how to avoid a ‘Dowager’s Hump’ thanks to Eileen’s sound advice. Now, can anyone tell me what a Dowager’s Hump actually is?
Tracks
Side 1
1. The “Wall Game” For A Slimming Stretch
2. “Hairpin Bend” For Tummy Muscles
3. “Circle Touch Toe” For Arms, Chest, Shoulders and Back.
4. Sequence – Repeat all three exercises linking them together
Side 2
1. See Saw Stretch For Waistline And Knees
2. “Roll And Reach” For Tummy, Seat And Hips
3. “Rolling Pin Roll” To Fine Down Your Figure (sic)
4. Sequence – Repeat all three exercises linking them together and improvising to the extra music
Label / Cat. No: HIRA HL 8536 First Released: 1972
What The Album Blurb Says…
In the grooves of the record contained within this sleeve is a wealth of talent performed by one family of four people – mother, father, daughter and son.
Don’t run away with the idea tha this highly popular family foursome became a versatile show overnight. What they are today is the product of many years experience in the world of entertainment. The mother and father, Ellen and Eddy, were both playing individually in concert parties when they met and married in their early 20’s. Ellen is an organist and vocalist and Eddy is an organist, accordionist and pianist.
The musical twosome continued for a number of years but it was a forgone conclusion tha their two children, Sharron and Adrian, would follow in their parents’ footsteps.
Sharron had just reached the age of 10 when she was considered proficient as an alto saxophonist and was introduced into her parents’ well-presented show. As years went by, she added clarinet, soprano and tenor saxophones, bass guitar, vibraphone and her contralto voice and is now a very accomplished young lady – a versatile musician with a charming personality.
Adrian was introduced into the show two years later at the age of eight and his terrific personality showed through in his ability as a percussionist and guitarist. Now he is a young man with a wealth of experience behind him and is a very polished performer.
It was at this point that “The Kaye Family” was born and Sharron and Adrian soon proved their worth by helping to obtain rave notices in “The Stage” and other newspaper media.
The family went on to appear at many top venues throughout the country in every field of the variety entertainment industry – theatres, halls, commercial studios, clubs, cabaret, restaurants and the like.
success followed success and now HIRA RECORDS place The Kaye Family before you to perform at your command in your own home. This high quality long-playing record shows clearly some of the many facets of this fascinating family.
Sit back and relax and dwell in the wonderland of sound that the Kaye Family presents to you – and you alone!
Drift along on clouds of romance, feel philosophical, hear the swirling colours of sun-drenched Spain, linger upon lonely seashores, fly amongst the stellar constellations, go for a trolley ride, swing with the up-tempo big band style beat.
yes, all this comes to you everytime you fall under the magical spell of the sound of The Kaye Family.
Happy listening!
Martin Philips
What I Say
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand we’re back. Hello. Sorry for the delay…. The real world took over for a while. I’ll try not to let it happen again.
And what a way to come back, a return visit to The Kaye Family everyone’s favourite family musical combo.
After hearing the ‘Live!’ album, I just had to go back to the charity shop where I’d bought it to see if there were any others there, and Bingo!, this little beauty was in my hands in a matter of moments.
Pre-dating ‘Live!’ by a couple of couple of years, this album is so much more fulfilling. The production values here are vastly superior, and we have a clear sound rather than the somewhat muddy live recording. Having said that, I’m not sure if that’s entirely a good thing. After all, you can actually hear Sharron (note, two ‘r’s – very showbiz) and Ellen’s arch vocals, combining to provide a sound that I find slightly scary. Listen to ‘You’re Just In Love’ and tell me you haven’t been even slightly traumatised.
The album is of course worth every penny, if only for the sleeve notes. At last I get to know all their names. Ellen and Eddy – what a pairing. A partnership made in the stars, names that chime together. And let’s not forget the second generation, Adrian and Sharrrrrron, virtuoso musicians in their own right. And please note, I’ve been very realistic here, and made sure that I didn’t run away with the idea tha this highly popular family foursome became a versatile show overnight. Only a fool would do such a thing.
Musically there’s not much of a surprise – I can’t see that they took any major direction changes between this and ‘live’. I mean, I would love to have found that this was their forgotten psychedelic masterpiece, or they’d made an experimental jazz album. But this is again simply a series of standards set to a bontempi bossa nova beat.
Which takes me back to Adrian. I may have suggested in my last review that he was conceived just because Ellen and Eddy needed a drummer for the band. I take it back of course. After all, he’s not exactly prominent – throughout the whole of side one I couldn’t tell if it was Ade or the organ’s built in rhythms that were providing the percussion – some of the fancier fills during Telstar testify to a human hand. His playing is subdued, almost unnoticeable. If only Keith Moon had been more like Adrian Kaye, things would be very different today. Ah, the benefit of hindsight.
The choice of songs seems to show their club roots – a couple of ‘modern’ tracks, and plenty of old favourites for the mums and dads. Of course, with Sharrrrrrrrrrrrrrrron being a clarinettist, ‘Stranger on the Shore’ was a given – I suspect she’d just taken her Grade 5 exam, and that was one of the set pieces, so the family recycled it into their set, chuck in a bit of an inappropriate fancy rhythm and Bob’s your uncle. You know, Bob Kaye. Everyone knows Bob.
So, er…. yes. This was pretty much as I’d expected. I’m glad I revisited this fine family. I can’t decide if it’s a good or a bad thing that this kind of act isn’t around any more. Or maybe it is – maybe I should’ve been watching ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ to discover the 21st Century’s ‘Kaye Family’ rather than listening to 35 year old oddities. All I know is that my world is marginally richer thanks to Ellen, Eddy, Sharrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrron and Adrian. Thanks guys, you’ve been great.
As a special treat, you too can listen to ‘The Kaye Family Album’. I’ve stuck the whole thing up HERE though you may have to endure some scantily clad girls in your area to download the file. Sorry. Just scroll down a bit, wait for the counter to hit zero (it’s only a few seconds delay), type in the code, and there you have it, The Kaye Family Album in all its glory. I’m good to you people, I really am. Oh, and you can see the full size cover by clicking on the image at the top of the entry. Really, I should stop being this good. It hurts.
Never did get round to trying to find a better name for you collectively…. Anyway, just to let you know I haven’t abandoned you. A combination of poorly computer and poorlier daughter led to an unexpected hiatus, but all will be kicked back into action very soon.
Just to tide you over, here’s a tune that makes you feel glad to be alive. It’s our old friend Mrs Mills, with ‘The Lambeth Walk’. Watch out for those spoons…
Label / Cat. No: EMI DUO130 First Released: This Compilation 1981
What The Album Blurb Says…
HARRY MORTIMER’S name is synonymous with brass bands. He is the outstanding figure of the brass band world and surely its most devoted servant. Universally known as “the man of brass”.
His long career as soloist, teacher, adjudicator, administrator and conductor is one of the outstanding chapters in the story of brass band music in our time.
They start young in the brass band movement and Harry Mortimer’s career began at the tender age of eight when he learned to play the cornet in the Yorkshire town of Hebden Bridge where his father, the redoubtable Fred Mortimer, was the conductor of the local band.
He won his first medal at the age of 9 and soon became recognised as something of an infant prodigy on the cornet, collecting, so it is said, some 350 medals and cups before he reached his teens.
He was only 14 when he became the conductor of a junior band, leading them to the 3rd prize in a local contest at his first entry into the competition field.
When the family moved south to Luton, Harry found himself playing in the Luton Red Cross Band of which his father had just become conductor. As a very small boy he played with them in the national brass band championship and made up for his lack of inches by standing on a ginger beer box! Later he was to become the band’s solo cornet.
it was at Luton that the young Harry Mortimer, while still a schoolboy, had his first experience of another side of the world of music…playing in the orchestra of the local theatre.
In 1924 Harry joined the ranks of Foden’s Motor Works Band as solo cornet when his father took over the direction of that already noted band whose name he was to make world famous. He stayed with Foden’s until 1942.
The opening of “the Mortimer years” at Foden’s marked the beginning of a new era in brass band history and technique. It also marked the effective opening of Harry Mortimer’s long and distinguished career in the world of music and that of the brass band in particular. What had gone before had been but prelude to his later career and achievements.
It was then that he began to gain experience in a wider sphere of music making. For some years he led a “double life” playing in both brass bands and symphony orchestras. He was principal trumpet of the Halle and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestras from 1930 to 1941, holding a similar position for some years with the B.B.C. Northern Orchestra, and somehow contriving to find time to fill the position of Professor of Trumpet at the Royal Manchester College of Music from 1936 to 1940.
Further opportunities presented themselves when, in 1942, he joined the B.B.C. as brass and military band supervisor, a post which he held until his retirement from the B.B.C. some twenty years later.
It was a period in which, thanks to Harry’s drive and flair, brass and military band music acquired a new significance in broadcasting programmes, coupled with a great increase in the weekly output of band broadcasts. As someone said at the time Harry Mortimer achieved more for the band movement in ten years than others had contrived throughout the history of broadcasting.
It was then that he sought to forge links between the world of brass bands and “the musical establishment”, attracting the interest of conductors like Sir Malcolm Sargent and Sir Adrian Boult and of composers like Granville Bantock and Sir Arthur Bliss. Some notable original compositions resulted.
During those years at the B.B.C. Harry Mortimer began to organise concerts by massed bands, brass orchestras in effect, which were the forerunners of his celebrated “Men O’Brass”, securing the interest and co-operation of celebrated conductors amongst them Boult, Sargent and Wood.
He also embarked upon a further and brilliantly successful phase of his career at that time as a conductor in the highly competitive sphere of brass band contests. In this he was destined to surpass even his father’s remarkable earlier achievement, securing no less than nine victories in the National Band Championship at the Royal Albert Hall and another nine victories in the famous Open British Band Championship at Belle Vue, Manchester.
Crowned with success he gave up contesting in 1956 and went off to Australia as Adjudicator of an important series of brass band contests there.
Speaking of his decision to retire from the field of brass band contests he once said “it was rather like being a jockey with five horses”. He still continued until 1970 as Musical Director of the Fairey Band which he had led to so many successes and continues his direction of the Morris Concert Band which he has now conducted since its inception more than 30 years ago.
In the post war years Harry Mortiner (sic) emerged as a national figure, rewarded with the O.B.E. for his services to music and acclaimed for his success as a conductor, in the concert hall, on records or in broadcast brass band programmes and in particular for his direction of that most successful band combination, the “Men O’Brass”.
Behind the skill and the flair which mark his performances lies the evidence of years of experience, the autumnal flowering of musicianship and of artistic experiences gleaned in during early days in the band room, on the concert platform and at the feet of some of the world’s most famous conductors.
“I shall never retire,” Harry Mortimer once said and today, as he nears his eightieth year, he is still active, conducting, recording, broadcasting; prominent in administrative problems of the brass band world fulfilling a busy round of engagements here or abroad with time in seemingly ineffectual pursuit. Long may he continue.
HARRY MORTIMER – CORNET VIRTUOSO
Harry Mortimer’s almost legendary reputation as a virtuoso performer upon the cornet rests not simply upon his surpassing technique but also upon the distinctive quality of singing tone which he commanded and the sensitivity and artistry which marked his playing. His influence was widely felt and extended into the playing of a new generation of performers.
The quality of his tone excited critical comment, sometimes from critics who made no secret of their lack of interest in the brass band and its music but were quick to recognise the unique quality of tone and expression which he brought to solos and solo passages alike.
“Harry does not play, he sings! We hear sometimes of persons making an instrument talk, that is just what Harry does”, a critic of much experience asserted.
While a respected Northern critic wrote – “Harry Mortimer playing the solo with a beauty and steadiness of tone which most singers might envy” and another performance drew the comment “then there was Mr Harry Mortimer performing incredible feats of agility in “Il Bacio”, a coloratura soprano song which no coloratura soprano sings with such smoothness, brilliance or firmness of tone and accuracy of intonation”, adding “she may give us one or even two of these qualities but not all four at once!”
Harry’s playing, captured in all its brilliance and beguiling tone quality on EMI records, is recalled for us in an historical sequence of performances of justly famous cornet solos on the two sides of the first of the two records in this album.
If there really are only six cornet solos as someone once facetiously suggested (an opinion calculated to provoke discussion in band room or bar) then the half-dozen indisputable classic solos for the cornet must surely appear amongst the near definitive performance on this record of original pieces or arrangements which every aspiring cornet soloist must command.
ALPINE ECHOES by Basil Windsor (pseudonym of Eli Smith, music teacher and a noted figure in band circles in the North) with Harry using his echo cornet adding to the effects of an incredibly taxing but colourful piece.
Thomas Lear’s brilliant SHYLOCK with its polka rhythm and Percy Code’s ZELDA together with one of the earliest of the enduring classics for the cornet in HAILSTORM by William Rimmer, one of the key figures in brass band history and friend and mentor of Harry Mortimer as he was of Harry’s father. Its effect upon an audience at the hands of an accomplished performer is easily predictable, the result certain. “What’s the encore, Charlie?”, asked a once famous player before rising to perform “Hailstorm”.
No less irresistible in its seemingly timeless appeal is Arditi’s evergreen IL BACIO in Arban’s effective arrangement. Another attractive arrangement of a familiar melody is that by Henry Gheel of RICHMOND HILL, one of the earliest recordings in this collection which has, unusually, an accompaniment by a recording studio orchestra.
Cornet duets have always featured in brass band programmes and Harry is joined by Jack Mackintosh, a noted contemporary of his early days. in MAC AND MORT which Harry composed for the duo to play, and the well loved THE SWALLOW’S SERENADE.
The second side of the record contains two further examples of Harry Mortimer’s versatility in the strains of the post horn heard in the course of a Hunting Medley played by Foden’s Band and, of more artistic significance, an impressive performance of the solo role in Haydn’s TRUMPET CONCERTO in E flat with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by the late George Weldon. The record also provides a fascinating reminder of the unique quality of tone, clarity of detail and the wonderful ensemble, rich in individual talent, which characterised the playing of Foden’s Band in its heyday under Fred Mortimer.
HARRY MORTIMER – CONDUCTOR
Harry Mortimer’s transition from instrumentalist to conductor was possibly less a conscious decision than a gradual and inevitable progress.
It began with those ‘prentice efforts as a teenager conducting a junior band and continued throughout the years of his brilliant career as a soloist. His services were always in demand by ambitious or struggling bands anxiously seeking specialist training or a “polish” upon their performance of a test piece for some local contest.
Further experience came in his role as Bandmaster of Foden’s, occasionally deputising for his father.
When he finally relinquished the cornet for the baton he was superbly equipped by training and experience for his new role.
His unequalled succession of contest successes with famous bands, like Black Dyke, Fairey and others, proclaimed his mastery of the medium.
To his undoubted flair as a conductor, his authority and wide musicianship which no doubt owed something to his orchestral experiences, was added that indefinable “star quality” which had always been apparent in his performances as a soloist.
His career was soon to take a new course with his promotion and direction of an expanding series of massed band concerts.
It arose from his recognition that a wider range of music and higher standards of presentation were necessary if the brass band movement was to meet the challenge presented by the great changes which had come about in public entertainment in the early post war years and in particular the growth of competition from radio and television.
His experience in the organisation and direction of performances by massed bands for broadcasting or public concerts in the later years of the war and early post war years, often featuring guest conductors of distinction, convinced him of the possibility as an entertainment medium of such a combination.
In 1952 he launched the now celebrated ALL-STAR BRASS some 50 strong with personnel specially chosen from the principal brass bands in this country. It was an immediate success. It was in a effect (sic) a “brass orchestra” of highly talented instrumentalists, intensively rehearsed by Harry Mortimer and utilising a number of specially commissioned arrangements.
It was featured in a notable series of EMI records and a taste of the superb quality of the band is provided by their performance of the suite KENILWORTH by Sir Arthur Bliss, one of the classics of brass band literature, recorded in 1960 which appears on side 2 of the second record of this album.
Practical considerations precluded an expansion of the concert activities of the ALL-STAR BRASS, and to meet the demand which had arisen from concert promoters and audiences alike Harry Mortimer established the famous MEN O’BRASS with the combined bands of Fairey, Foden’s and Morris Motors who, with occasional variations in the combination, achieved a wide popularity on the concert platform and on records in the years that followed their inaugural appearance in 1953.
A representative selection of recordings made by MEN O’BRASS and other massed band combinations directed by Harry Mortimer featured in the second record provides an impressive demonstration of the unsurpassable brilliance of the playing and the wide range of sonorities lavished upon music stirring, solemn or beguiling, from the OPENING FANFARE by George Hespe which Men O’Brass, adopted as their signature tune for recording and broadcasting, to the crescendo of excitement provided by the GALOP & FINALE from the WILLIAM TELL OVERTURE.
Amongst the wide range of music featured is arresting sound of BLAZON with Gilbert Vinter’s highly original writing for brass in this musical evocation of the sound of Biblical trumpets as prelude to his cantata for brass and voices. Wagner’s RIDE OF THE VALKYRIES acquires added power in the arrangement for brass bands, and the precision and phrasing which marks the performance of Rossini’s BARBER OF SEVILLE OVERTURE is contrasted by the refinement of tone and expression brought to MacDowell’s TO A WIDE ROSE and Grieg’s elegiac SPRING, while Bach’s JESU JOY OF MAN’S DESIRING in which the bands are joined by the organ splendidly captures the devotional atmosphere of a great Cathedral.
A taste of the quality of some of the soloists of the bands is provided by the performance by PHILIP McCANN, then with the Fairey Band of the well known solo JENNY WREN and that by GWYN DAVIES of the Morris Band of the popular “THE SHEPHERD’S SONG”.
This unique compilation of EMI recordings will provide a lasting reminder of the achievements of Harry Mortimer as the outstanding cornet and trumpet soloist of his generation and pre-eminent conductor of some of the famous bands with which he has been associated during his long and distinguished career of service to music and the brass band movement.
Jack Oliver
Harry Mortimer On Brass published by Alphabooks, Sherborne, Dorset.
What I Say
I think we need to talk about the blurb for a bit. Did you read all of it? No? I’m not surprised. Bit much really. I think it’s fair to say that the author, Jack Oliver was given a brief to fill out the inner sleeve of a gatefold album, and he has done so. However, apart from the tedious repetition of how great Harry was and how fantastic the EMI recordings of his work are, one thing becomes painfully obvious. As we go on and on, the grammar becomes more and more tortured. Allow me to give you an example from the final quarter of the blurb:-
It was featured in a notable series of EMI records and a taste of the superb quality of the band is provided by their performance of the suite KENILWORTH by Sir Arthur Bliss, one of the classics of brass band literature, recorded in 1960 which appears on side 2 of the second record of this album.
I suspect that the deadline came round a bit quick for Mr Oliver, and he found himself the night before, hunched over his typewriter, desperate to fill the blank page before him. It started well enough, but as the night wore on, and our Jack started to tire, the language got more and more tortured.
But, bless him, he managed it, and he even used the UNEXPECTED CAPITALS trick that I’m so fond of. It works particularly well when confronted with things like “ALL-STAR BRASS”, making it seem exotic, exciting and mysterious…!
But we can easily sum up this massive amount of blurb in the following way.
Harry Mortimer played the cornet. He started playing in his Dad’s band, and continued to play in his Dad’s band in an example of crass nepotism. He could hold a tune, better than most, and played in both brass bands and orchestras. He kept busy, had a job with the BBC for a while, and helped to popularise brass band music in the post war years. He organised the odd extravaganza like “MEN O’BRASS” where his maxim was clearly more is more, and he chucked together all the bands he worked with so that there was a big crowd of blokes playing brass instruments instead of a small crowd. Here are some recordings. They were made by EMI. Enjoy. Oh, and he also did a bit of conducting on the side.
See. That wasn’t too hard was it. But no, instead we had to have Jack Bloody Oliver going on and on about ‘Harry Mortimer’ always bloody ‘Harry Mortimer’, never just Harry, or Mr Mortimer, or even Hazza. No. I shan’t let it get to me. But really…
So, where was I? Oh yes, Brass Band music. It seems, as it goes, Harry Mortimer was a bit of a fan, and that’s fair enough. But I’m not. I’m afraid I was put off by my next door neighbour, James Hearn. When we were children, he would practise his bloody trumpet every Saturday morning, without fail, starting at 9 o’clock and going on for a couple of hours. Yes, exactly. Prime Tiswas time, ruined by a trumpet. To be fair, it wasn’t his fault, and he was very good at it (or at least, he became very good at it, though not as good as Hazza, of course…), but that put me off brass as a whole.
Therefore, I’m not really in a very good position to tell you whether this is a good brass album or not. It certainly seems very… professional. There’s lots of brass, a few tunes we know, and plenty we don’t. So I’m going to have to take the middle ground here and just say it’s OK.
And what have we learnt?
Well….. firstly, that Brass Bands all appear to have double entendre names like ‘Black Dyke’ and ‘Fairey’.
Secondly, there is (or at least was) a whole thriving brass band community, one that probably was damaged irrevocably by the closure of the mines in the 80s. Which reminds me – if anyone out there hasn’t seen Brassed Off, they probably should.
Thirdly, there was a composer called ‘Granville Bantock’. I wish I’d called my child Granville Bantock. I promise that if I ever get a dog, that’s what I shall call it. And he was a fine looking fellow too. Proper beard – the works…
Fourthly, you can go a long way if your Dad’s leader of the band.
And finally, Harry Mortimer, the ‘Man Of Brass’ himself does indeed look like a cleaned up version of Father Jack Hackett
Oh, and of course, I couldn’t leave an entry on Brass Bands without this now, could I….?
Tracks
Side 1
1. Overture: ZAMPA
2. MAC AND MORT
3. RICHMOND HILL
4. Polka Brillante: SHYLOCK
5. ALPINE ECHOES
6. IL BACIO
7. CHAMPION MEDLEY MARCH No. 3
Side 2
1. TRUMPET CONCERTO IN E FLAT
2. ZELDA
3. HAILSTORM
4. THE SWALLOWS SERENADE
5. A HUNTING MEDLEY
Side 3
1. OPENING FANFARE
2. THE THREE TRUMPETERS
3. Suite: KENILWORTH
4. JENNY WREN
5. THE SHEPHERD’S SONG
6. THE LOST CHORD
7. RADETSKY MARCH
Label / Cat. No: Parlophone PMC 1160 First Released: 1961
What The Album Blurb Says…
Fairly bursting with confidence and talent are Elaine and Derek Thompson, the thirteen-year-old twins from Belfast, who have been busy lately making a name for themselves with their records and television appearances.
Born on October 23, 1948, Derek is ten minutes older than Elaine – “and very proud of the fact,” says his mother. They both attend Belfast Modern School where everyone is very excited about their popularity and success: it appears that the only two calm people in the school are Elaine and Derek themselves!
“We’ve been singing since we were six years old,” says Elaine, who always takes charge of the situation, “at socials, parties and charity concerts, so I think this is why we don’t feel nervous about singing before large audiences and in recording studios. It’s Mum and Dad who suffer for us while we just get very excited. We don’t sing rock ‘n’ roll, but we enjoy listening to it – it amuses us. Gene Vincent is one of our favourite performers; we like the way he flings himself around the microphone on stage!”
At school the twins’ favourite subjects are French and algebra. They are not madly keen on sport, and all their spare time is taken up with singing. In fact they allow themselves little or no time to enjoy the hobbies and amusements that children usually like.
The twins were introduced to promoter Phil Raymond by a friend, when they were singing at a party one evening,. Raymond liked their voices and within a short time he booked them to appear at the Belfast Opera House with Gene Vincent and Emile Ford.
Recording manager Norman Newell was told about tht twins and flew to Belfast to hear them, with the result that they travelled to London and the E.M.I. studios to record their first disc for Parlophone Records – One Little Robin and Brahms’ Lullaby (45-R4783). This proved so popular that before long they returned to cut another single – Bluebird, coupled with Wooden Heart (45-R4829) – and this delightful LP of twelve children’s hymns, to the sensitive accompaniment of Michael Collins and his Orchestra.
What I Say
Hmmmm…. this album is rather like an onion. It has so many layers, and there’s something new to discover underneath, but all the layers are really the same, and it makes me cry when you cut it up, and it makes a delicious base for most savoury meals. OK, so I didn’t think out my metaphor very well before I started, but this album holds a few surprises, which aren’t at first apparent.
For example, as is my practice, I chose the album on the qualities of its cover alone. Although first released in 1961, the influence of the 50s is still clear to see, from the typeface used on their names, to the formal outfits and hairdos of the twins. Dereks frilly fronted shirt and hand-made slacks (see, always the slacks) provide a formal accompaniment to his sisters frilly, fussy party dress with faux-pearl buttons and sewn on corsage.
What I didn’t know when I picked up the album is that this is full of Children’s hymns. Twelve songs that are supposed to uplift and convince children of the glory of god. But is it really aimed for children? I have a sneaking suspicion that the market for this kind of album is the grannies of this world. I have a clear image of a grey haired granny settling down in her favourite armchair to listen to ‘those wonderful Irish children’ sing about Jesus. And it must’ve been a comfort, for in 1961 when this record was released, rock ‘n’ roll was shaking the foundations, but just so long as teenagers were singing about Jesus and not girls and cars, then there was hope for the future.
And this album has been well loved. Unlike most of the records that I pick up which are in pristine condition, this is worn and scratched, with jumps, pops and hisses all over it. Someone has played this album over and over again. Either that, or they hated it so much they’ve used it as a dinner plate…. but I’m sticking with my doting Granny theory.
I’m also surprised at how happy they both seem to be. If you’d asked me at thirteen to stand next to my sister to have my photo taken, let alone smile, or – horror of horrors – touch her, I would have sulked and made the most unattractive of photographs. But here we have true professionals. They both look happy, relaxed, almost like they like each other. That’s not normal in a teenager, is it?
Now, I know in my review of The Kaye Family that I suggested that there was something weird about families playing together, (although I did qualify that about it being weird across the generations), but there is one clear benefit of families singing together. I’ve heard it suggested that the reason why the Beach Boys, the Proclaimers and the Bee Gees do harmony so well, is because that they have similar physical vocal structures, as well as similar accents and similar tonality to their voices. Because they’ve grown up in the same environment, their voices sound very similar, and you end up with harmony not just of notes, but also of tone. (I am of course bluffing here, but don’t tell anyone…) The same applies here – the songs sound sweet because the two voices compliment each other very well.
That’s another thing. In a world where we are so used to our child stars being brash to the point of obnoxious, precocious and schmaltzy, the gentle sweetness of these two is quite refreshing. It’s not my kind of music at all, either in subject matter or musical style, but there is something very calming and gentle about the way they sing together which is unexpectedly lovely.
Derek tends to sing the lower parts (unsurprisingly) with a fairly linear melody, while Elaine tackles the more complex melody lines. It’s a traditional arrangement, but it works here. The songs I’ve picked for the clips are all much of a much – I just chose the ones I knew – there isn’t a great amount of variety in this album, it must be said.
I wonder how annoyed Derek was though, that although he is chronologically and alphabetically first, that his name came second in the billing. That must’ve hurt, though it does say clearly on the sleeve notes that Elaine is in charge. I wonder if she made that business decision.
But who’s laughing now, eh? For while Elaine has subsided into obscurity (I say that like I know – for all I know, Elaine could be a major star under another name….) Derek, the mighty Derek of Elaine and Derek grew up to be one of England’s favourite TV stars.
Yes, this was the biggest surprise that this album yielded for me. When I started doing my ‘research’ (assuming a bit of googling can be counted as research) for this album, I discovered that this album’s Derek is none other than…..
1. There’s A Friend For Little Children
2. O What Can Little Hands Do
3. When Mother Of Salem
4.How Great Thou Art
5. Standing Somewhere In Life’s Shadows
6.Jesus Loves Me
Label / Cat. No: Hirra HLS 207831 First Released: 1974
What The Album Blurb Says…
The Kaye Family must surely rank as unique among musical entertainers. Mother, Father, Daughter and Son, whilst each projecting strong individual qualities in their respective talents, merge into a blendship of melodic unity, which is smoothly maintained throughout a warm and appealing performance.
Audience attention is commanded by supreme musicianship, smack on timing that would do justice to a space shot and a superb arranging ability. Deeply insighted into people’s requirement in entertainment, they have the happy gift of presenting the very best material covering a spectrum from light to popular music.
This intimate family unit, small as it is, nevertheless produces the big sound.
The skilful change of immaculate gowns, by the ladies who supply the vocals, compliments their splendid harmony.
There is nothing magical in their success, just hard unrelenting work, dedication to their art and that impelling desire in all true professionals to bring and give only of the best to the people.
Ringing the curtain down on The Kaye Family is a difficult task, the clamour is always for more.
Call your own family together, set the turntable to 33 1/3 r.p.m. and be assured that you too will spin this disc many times.
DICK DOYLE
Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen
South Wales
What I Say
Can I get this out of the way first. Musical family groups are creepy. From the Von Trapp singers to The Jackson Five, there is something just so…. wrong about large members of the same family performing together. I think the optimum level is two brothers – just look at Oasis, Spacehog or The Black Crowes. Two brothers bring the necessary friction, the dynamic which pushes both to outperform and out achieve the other.
But just look at the Kaye Family. You know behind the bearded face at the keyboard lies a tartar. A man who has marshalled his wife and children into his dreams of stardom. “Sharon darling, we need another baby. We don’t have a drummer. Brace yourself…”.
And this is the result…. I’m saying nothing.
To be fair, the family are all talented musicians (in their own way), but how many teenagers would a) voluntarily practice their musical instruments, b) want to spend large amounts of their free time rehearsing with their parents, and c) appearing in public, not only with your parents, but wearing the same clothes as them. I can only imagine the number would be very small, which means that either the Kaye Family are one in a milllion, or Old Man Kaye beats his children in time to the ‘Rumba’ setting on his organ.
Of course he doesn’t. I think legally I need to make it clear that I do not believe that Mr Kaye in any way mistreats his family. Though of course, he does mistreat the audience with his organ led arrangements. The Rumba is his favourite setting (NOT for beating his family, NOT for beating his family – I can’t stress that enough), as everything has that very 1970s latin arrangement to try and make them sound exotic and mysterious. I’m not sure how exotic and mysterious the Canton Liberal Club, Cardiff on a June night in 1974 really was, but I’m sure the Kaye Family helped the atmosphere along enormously.
These are clearly a band who’ve done the club circuit. They belt out the numbers double fast, not giving the audience the chance to catch their breath, throw missiles or shout insults. Just listen to the introduction and see how long it takes them to launch into the fastest version of ‘Cabaret’ that you will ever, ever hear. And ‘Aquarius’ gets the same treatment. Be still my racing heart, it’s all that I can do to keep my breath.
I’ve often found that if you listen carefully to a lot of these old albums I find, you can often find one of the musicians, there in the background, just itching to be allowed a chance to break free and really show what he can do. You don’t have to look too hard on this album to find that member of the group. The son (let’s call him Jim. I have no idea what his name is, but Jim seems as good as any) clearly toes the party line on the drums. His father’s arrangements are strictly adhered to. But there seems to be a pay off. Maybe Jim’s got something on his old man… some indiscretion maybe, or knowledge of a dark family secret. But clearly there is a deal been struck here. Jim plays his old man’s parts to the letter, but he’s allowed to let rip at the end of the songs. And by Jove does this boy let rip! Think Animal from The Muppets on steroids. Jim is up for some serious thrashing of those skins. So the gentle folk rhythms of ‘Where Have All The Flowers Gone’ end with Jim rockin’ the house. And good on him I say.
Dad demands his moment in the spotlight, and gets a solo spot with his ‘Short Selection of Famous Overtures’, which I will just say is possibly the most tedious thing I have ever had to listen to. Although Jim livens it up a bit at the end in his own inimitable style. And then Jim gets to lead on ‘Midnight In Moscow’, and things start to go crazy. Seven Russian Themed songs in a medley with drums as lead instrument all the way. Magic in a tin it is, magic in a tin.
Ultimately, I can’t blame them for the way they look, because it was 1974 so this was what was expected (even the silver capes, I suspect). I can’t blame them for providing populist entertainment because they’re doing the club circuit, and that’s what’s needed. I can’t even blame them for being slightly creepy because they’re a family, and unlike a lot of families, at least they’re spending a lot of time together and doing something creative.
What I can blame them for is getting Dick Doyle to write their album blurb, and for using a word as obscene as ‘blendship’. Eurghhh. What were they thinking?
Oh, and it turns out his name’s not Jim. It’s Adrian. I should have guessed. He looks like an Adrian.
Tracks
Side 1
Cabaret
Put On A Happy Face
Something’s Going To Happen Tonight
Love Me With All Your Heart
Quando Quando
Never Ending Song Of Love
Everybody Loves A Lover
High On A Hill Where Have All The Flowers Gone?
Too Young
Side 2
Granada
White Rose Of Athens
A Short Selection Of Famous Overtures Aquarius Midnight In Moscow
Volga Boat Song
Gopak
Black Eyes
From Russia With Love
Kalinka
Final score:
6.5 out of 10 but only because I’m strangely drawn to their bass playing daughter…
Label / Cat. No: EMI Music For Pleasure MFP 1276 First Released: This compilation 1968
What The Album Blurb Says…
Paddy Roberts is a large man with a quiet voice and a gentle manner that belie his ironic but dangerously sharp sense of humour. In his time he’s been a divorce lawyer, a club pianist, an airline pilot and a ’song plugger’, but we all know him now as the singer, in a voice with an appealing tendency to go off-key, or some of the wittiest and wickedest songs ever to entrench themselves in the hit parade.
Born in a remote part of South Africa in the year the King Edwared VII died, Paddy was sent to England for his schooling, but returned to South Africa where after graduating he took up a law practice, “making a speciality of undefended divoce cases”. But he had started to write songs at university, and when the opportunity arose he worked his passage on a sailing ketch to Britain, where he landed with 30/- in his pocket. Taking on odd jobs to keep himself, he began his assault on the British song industry. He was first heard on the BBC in a series called ‘Songs You Might Never Have Heard’. As a member of a vocal group featured on the show, the ‘Tin Pan Alley Trio’, he was beginning to make finacial progress when war broke out.
During the war, Paddy flew with the R.A.F. across the Atlantic. to Russia, in the Western Desert and with Coastal Command, and when peace came he became a transatlantic pilot for B.O.A.C. But in 1950 he returned to song writing, and reached the number on spot in 1954 with ‘Softly, Softly’, which was recorded by Ruby Murray. Then he made the first of the records featuring his own singing of his more saucy songs which were to keep him at the top of the charts for months on end, and he rapidly became a top cabaret star. Since then he has been very busy with appearances throughout Britain, and he has been back to sing in South Africa, but he has also found time to work as vice-chairman of the Performing Rights Society and Chairman of the Song Writer’s Guild.
Here on a newly-recorded L.P., Paddy Roberts sings again the songs, spicy, sophisticated, some the slightest shade of blue, which have made his name a byword for wit and entertainment. Starting with that classic tale of our time, ‘The Ballad of Bethnal Green’, these songs will stimulate the most jaded spirits, and bring a wry smile to the most world-weary lips.
What I Say
This album came as a complete surprise, and a pleasant one at that. Judging by the cover (as I always do), I’d assumed that the lewdly winking totty and the ‘For Adults Only’ subtitle would have put it in the same category as this half remembered album from my childhood…
But no! Not even close. Paddy Roberts provides us with lyrically dense songs, in a traditionally Britishly witty manner that can only really be described as whimsical, or perhaps quaint. No, I’ll stick with whimsical.
This is curiously British stuff in the arrangements and delivery, even if Paddy is himself a South African. After all, if that all-English icon Sid James can be South African, so can Paddy.
I can still remember the day when I first heard Tom Lehrer. Actually that’s a bit of a lie, because I couldn’t give you an exact date if you were to get aggressive and press me for one. But it must’ve been late 1987 or early 1988. I was given a third or fourth generation copy of ‘An Evening Wasted’ and ‘That Was The Year That Was’ by a much older colleague, and it opened my eyes to how ‘unfashionable’ music could really tickle my fancy. We had intelligent lyrics, pastiche tunes and unashamedly bad puns. It was wonderful. My mother certainly approved, and even asked for her own copies….
…which makes me wonder why she waited a further 17 years to tell me about Jake Thackray. If ever there was a direct line between styles, then this was it. OK, so Jake was steeped in the French ‘chanson’ tradition, and didn’t have the sharp political / satirical edge of Tom Lehrer, but there was the same tunefulness, lyrical dexterity and humour in both.
Paddy Roberts reminds me a great deal of Jake Thackray, both in the structure of his songs, lyrical content and style. I can see a musical family tree that descends from Gilbert and Sullivan’s ‘Patter’ songs, through Noel Coward, Paddy, Tom and Jake through to Benny Hill, back into rock sensibility with Ian Dury and finally someone like Eminem. Fine, call me pretensious if you like but a) I bet nobody else has compared Eminem to Gilbert and Sullivan, and b) the volume of lyrics crammed into song, the humour, the wordplay the linguistic dexterity are all comparable. Remember, you heard it here first.
The suggestion that this album is in any way rude or ‘for adults only’ is laughable today. I’m not sure that even when this compilation was released in 1968 his work would have been considered risque. It’s definitely from a different era, and there is one repeated ‘bloody’ in ‘L’anglais Avec Son Sang Froid’ which would have shocked my Grandfather, so maybe he was considered a bit wild. But the adult themes are so gently alluded to that unless you’ve got a filthy mind, I’m sure you could have played these to your maiden aunt with the minimum of censorship. For example, allow me to present to you the lyrics to ‘Love In A Mist’:-
When I was a little wolf cub and you were a brownie,
We always remembered our good turn each day.
First it was your turn, and then it was my turn,
And life was so wonderful and carefree and gay.
Follow me, follow me,
Tonight is the night of the Jamboree.
When I was a little wolf cub and you were a brownie,
We learned all the regulations of which there were lots.
We wandered into the clover, and tried them all over,
And you did your semaphore and I did my knots.
Follow me, follow me,
Tonight is the night of the Jamboree.
When I was a little wolf cub and you were a brownie,
We did everything a wolf cub and brownie should do.
I wanted to be a boy scout so I could salute you
With three fingers vertical instead of just two.
Follow me, follow me,
We’ll go to the grotto, and get slightly blotto.
To hell with the motto! Just fo-o-ollow me.
See, not exactly hardcore now, is it. Obviously some of the stuff reflects the era in which it was recorded, and the gentle mockery of homosexuality in ‘The Lavender Cowboy’ seems out of place now, but I suppose you have to look at the album in the context of the era in which the songs were written. It seems odd now, but I’m sure modern life would’ve seemed odd to Paddy.
My only real complaint about this album is that ‘The Belle of Barking Creek’ is almost identical to his most famous number ‘The Ballad of Bethnal Green’ – check out the soundclips below to see what I mean. He’s not doing anything that countless others have done since in terms of finding a formula that works and sticking to it, but coming to his music fresh and hearing the two side by side, it just seems… lazy I suppose.
But I can’t possibly hold it against a man who released an album called ‘Songs For Gay Dogs’. What, you don’t believe me?
