SHG: The Lovin' Spoonful: "Daydream"

The Lovin’ Spoonful: “Daydream”
Entered the chart on: 3/12/66
Peaked on: 4/9/66
Weeks at #2: 2
Song at #1: “(You’re My) Soul & Inspiration” by the Righteous Brothers

The Lovin’ Spoonful get my vote as one of the more underrated 60s “classic rock” acts. Their rootsy sound was sort of the lost, missing link between the Young Rascals and Creedence Clearwater Revival. And I rather prefer them to either of the aforementioned (though I like the Rascals fine, and rather regret that I won’t be reviewing any of their tunes). Unfortunately, in these “90% of acts from the past are reduced to one-hit wonder status” days of oldies radio programming, “Summer in the City” is the only tune of theirs that seems to get any airplay these days.

Not that it’s a bad song, but they have a lot more to recommend than just that. I imagine it gets a lot of love because it’s their “edgiest” song. In general, they were a bit laid-back and good-natured, which I guess doesn’t play as well in a world gone hard and cynical. I, for one, have a soft spot for this element of their sound, fondly remembering my mom’s copy of “Nashville Cats*.”

So...clearly these guys need a second appraisal. Let’s examine the first (of two) of the songs that brought them here to Second Hand Goods:



Wow, talk about stripped-down! All you hear at first accompanying John Sebastian’s voice is a banjo-sounding guitar. Eventually we get a full band of sorts, with some light, very legato guitar injections, saloon piano and bass. And is it my imagination, or are there no drums on this track? All I’m hearing are spoons! So that’s where Split Enz got it from!

Despite the country-fied sound, lyrically this comes across as very suburban. A song about the simple domestic pleasures of a day off from work, with his best lady. “Bundle of joy” suggests that she’s just given birth, too...or maybe that’s his pet name for her. In any case, in spite of the late winter release date, this conjures up images of lazy summer afternoons, sipping a cold drink while swinging in a hammock with one of your feet dangling over the side.

Really not much more to say about this. A modest pleasure, but one I sure wouldn’t want to be without.

Rating: 5

*on the Kama Sutra label, fact fans. I admired the label design, and because my age was still in single digits, the “suggestive” nature of the label’s name flew right over my innocent head. Incidentally, one of the first records I ever owned, which I’ll be reviewing some time in the future, was also released on Kama Sutra. I’ll let you ponder what that might be.

SHG: Len Barry: "1-2-3"

Len Barry: “1-2-3”
Entered the chart on: 10/23/65
Peaked on: 11/20/65
Weeks at #2: 1
Song at #1: “I Hear a Symphony” by the Supremes

We have reached the end of 1965 and with it, the end of “short” years of the 60s. The reason 1965 seems to have generated few #2 hits looks like it’s because most songs didn’t seem to be spending much time at #2; that is, most songs that made it to #2 eventually peaked at #1. We’ll see the opposite over the ensuing years of the 60s, which are choked with songs that stalled at #2 behind long-runners in the top spot.

Having said that, let’s examine the case of Len Barry, probably the first alumnus of Second Hand Goods to chart with two different acts: first as the lead singer of the Dovells (remember “Bristol Stomp”?) and now as a solo act. This is another one of those songs where I kind of remember the main hook, but I don’t have a clear picture of the entire song. Methinks I need to refresh my memory...



Appropriately, starting off with someone counting in the song, a la “Wooly Bully.” Appropriate also that this should come second to the Supremes, as the arrangement here is so very Motown. The horns on this really sparkle, piano and guitar handle the rhythm with those slamming drums, and there’s even some vibes for color.

This one’s coming back to me now. I think Len’s voice has improved a good deal from the uncontrolled wail on “Bristol Stomp.” He has learned a lot more technique in the interim, and puts in a very impassioned performance here, reaching its peak with the “It’s easy, like taking candy from a baby” climax.

Better than I had remembered. A total production with an excellent vocal. Ending ’65 in style.

Rating: 4

SHG: Gary Lewis & the Playboys: "Count Me In"

Gary Lewis & the Playboys: “Count Me In”
Entered the chart on: 4/17/65
Peaked on: 5/8/65
Weeks at #2: 2
Song at #1: “Mrs. Brown You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter” by Herman’s Hermits

Not to celebrate meaningless milestones, but we’ve hit Review #100 in the Second Hand Goods series. If I’ve learned anything in doing a hundred entries in this series, it’s that the pop charts are a horrible indicator of musical quality. It seems like half the reviews have me wondering why the song I’m reviewing only hit #2, when it seems more deserving than what was #1 that week. The rest have me wondering what the general public must have been thinking, voting with their dollars to have such a song rise as high as #2.

All that said, let’s talk about nepotism. The Playboys were a Disneyland house band discovered by talent agent Snuff Garrett. Someone at Liberty Records “discovered” their drummer was the son of famous comic actor/movie director Jerry Lewis and thrust him into the spotlight (I’m certain Jerry Lewis had nothing to do with this, hence the quotes). The younger Lewis wasn’t exactly comfortable with this decision, by his own admission not the best singer in the band. I understand “studio trickery” was involved in their records when recording his vocals. I’m guessing they used the same technique they used with the likes of Fabian and Shelly Fabares; i.e.: a harried studio engineer sat there “punching” in notes on the multitrack tape as Lewis sang the same note over and over until he got it right.

Nonetheless, Gary and the boys managed to shoot to the top of the charts with their debut hit, “This Diamond Ring.” Part of this was due to the built-in name recognition, part of this was due to the quality of the songwriting. Reportedly, co-writer Al Kooper was none too thrilled with what they did to his song, envisioning it as an R&B song suitable for the likes of the Temptations. He described Gary’s rendition as “bubblegum [expletive]” (wow, two songs in a row?).

I remembered this song as being similar; a song with potential let down by poor singing. Let’s see if it holds up:



Well, that’s some kind of amazing intro! I like how the piano and celeste kind of syncopate, offering counterpoint to one another. The celeste glissandos add a nice hook to the tune. The keyboard playing altogether is excellent. I assume that’s band member John West providing the proto-Benny Andersson-style piano playing on this (and there’s a little organ in the background near the end). Actually, it might be multi-instrumentalist Leon Russell, who arranged this.

I do remember this being a good song and it definitely is. I can’t rate it too highly, though, because it has one drawback, and predictably that’s Lewis’ voice. To be fair, he’s not awful, just thin and lacking in range. It’s just disappointing that for all the brilliant production that was lavished on this record, it just could have been so much better with a stronger singer to sell it.

So...yes, something of a wasted opportunity, sadly.

Rating: 3

SHG: J.Frank Wilson: "Last Kiss"

J. Frank Wilson & the Cavaliers: “Last Kiss”
Entered the chart on: 9/26/64
Peaked on: 11/7/64
Weeks at #2: 1
Song at #1: “Baby Love” by the Supremes

Sigh.

Just when I think I’m in the clear, I get blind-sided. For example, once 1959 rolled over into 1960, I thought I was home free, and wouldn’t have to worry about being troubled by Andy Williams songs. And then “Can’t Get Used to Losing You” pops up in 1963 like a coconut falling from a tree onto my head.

Likewise, I thought the fad for “death songs” had long passed. And now here’s “Last Kiss,” taunting me like a bully on a playground. For those who don’t know, the “death song” was a fad from roughly 1959-1963 for melodramatic songs portraying the tragic death of a teenager. Such hits as Pat Boone’s “Moody River,” Ray Peterson’s “Tell Laura I Love Her,” Dickey Lee’s “Patches” and Mark Dinning’s much-mocked “Teen Angel” all exemplify the style, and are all various degrees of execrable.

It got so out of control that the trend generated an answer song, “Let’s Think About Living” by Bob Luman, which is oddly not as well-remembered as the songs it’s referencing. The final nail in the coffin was “I Want My Baby Back” by Jimmy Cross, a macabre parody song in which the protagonist’s girlfriend dies in a car accident, and he misses her so much he digs up her grave and crawls into her coffin to be by her side. It was not a hit, but its egregious poor taste extrapolated the general tackiness of the style to absurd degrees, and it went on to become a favorite on Dr. Demento’s radio show.

If “Last Kiss” seems a bit dated in a post-Beatles world, that’s because it’s a cover version. Wayne Cochran & the C. C. Riders originally recorded it in 1961, but failed to have a hit with it. For some reason, J. Frank Wilson’s remake struck a chord with record buyers whereas the original did not. I suppose that [sigh, again] this means I need to listen to the original as well.

Embarrassingly, I must admit I have a history with this song. My cousins owned the 1970s CanCon cover by Wednesday* and I, for some reason, loved it and played it all the time. Eventually they wound up just giving me the record.



OK, the best thing about Wayne Cochran’s original has nothing to do with the song, and everything to do with Cochran’s outrageous platinum blond pompadour. Thought it was only women who teased their hair into the stratosphere? Unh-unh!

Cochran’s original is more “rockabilly,” but both lay it on awful thick, what with the wailing female backing vocals on loan from Paul Anka. I’d swear that was Anka laying down the overdone, Liberace-like piano track on this, which sounds oddly ornate (and out of place) for this type of song.

Wilson’s voice is a lot more overwrought than Cochran’s. He never goes into Paul Anka-like histrionic fits, but he has this weepy tone that lets you know he’s trying to manipulate you into crying over this terrible tragedy. He also has kind of a pinched, nasal tone that’s none too appealing.

I can’t let Wilson shoulder all the blame for this. Cochran, who wrote it, is fully responsible for the monotonous see-saw vocal line, to say nothing of the stomach-turning lyrics. Really, the entire song makes me cringe, but perhaps never more so than the “She’s gone to heaven so I’ve got to be good, etc.” bit. Apart from the nauseating Christian ideation implied, let’s just say I don’t believe that the teenaged protagonist intends to remain faithful to his late sweetheart for the rest of his life.

Call me a cynic, but there you have it.

Rating: 0

*they lost the original record sleeve, so they made a hand-made one out of construction paper, including painstakingly-rendered hand-written Sussex label logo in Magic Marker. I think that was the best part of the deal.

SHG: Martha & the Vandellas: "Dancing in the Street"

Martha & the Vandellas: “Dancing in the Street” Entered the chart on: 9/5/64 Peaked on: 10/17/64 Weeks at #2: 2 Song at #1: “Doo Wah Diddy Diddy” by Manfred Mann

Is this really our first Motown hit? Seems like it but, no, the Miracles’ “Shop Around” already made an appearance here. Actually, though, it makes a lot of sense: everyone remembers Beatlemania, but the other thing that happened in 1964 was that Motown broke through. After Phil Spector set a new standard with pop music production with the Ronnettes’ “Be My Baby,” lots of folks took the ball and ran with it, including the explosion of performing, songwriting and producing talent at Motown. This song was co-written by someone you might know, future Second Hand Goods featured artist Marvin Gaye. I’ll let you figure out which song he’ll be appearing with*.

Martha Reeves may not have been a “face” like Mary Wells or Diana Ross, but I think she and her Vandellas are underrated. “Heat Wave” is one of my most beloved Motown hits and this one has had a long life as well. An amusing review over at RateYourMusic goes: “In case anybody was wondering how Bowie and Jagger did not get better reviews for their version of this song, you may not have heard the original. It is more than somewhat better.”



“More than somewhat better.” That’s an understatement!

Songs like this make me yearn for the days of real instruments on records. That horn section, oh my! And it sounds like there’s a baritone sax honking away in the background the whole time. There’s lots of background touches that are so nice on this one, the piano, the Vandellas’ backing harmonies, and so forth. Supposedly someone was banging a chain on the floor to amplify that monster beat. I can believe it!

But really, it’s Martha’s lead voice that makes this one so special. She has such a wonderful tone and it’s just a joy to listen to her, the way she she sings “Everywhere around the world” the second time gets me every time. So splendid, hardly anyone could touch her in her prime.

I think this might be the first time we get “mention as many localities in the major radio markets so we can be sure this gets airplay” kind of lyrics. Later on, this would come across as blatant pandering** (“The Heart of Rock & Roll” by Huey Lewis & the News, anyone?) but I’ll grade this on a curve due to the quality of everything else. And at least it’s not a dance craze record, just a song that celebrates the simple joy of dancing itself.

It’s songs like this that display the superiority of the Motown era to the Cameo-Parkway era, as if there were any doubt.

Rating: 5

*I know I keep acting like this is some kind of arcane knowledge of which I am the only wizened overseer, but it really isn’t. This information is out there for anyone to seek out.
**Not just “later on,” actually. Anyone else remember Tommy Facenda’s “High School U.S.A.”? “Hey, he mentioned my high school! I feel so special!”

SHG: Lesley Gore: "You Don't Own Me"

Lesley Gore: “You Don’t Own Me”
Entered the chart on: 1/11/1964
Peaked on: 2/1/1964
Weeks at #2: 3
Song at #1: “I Want to Hold Your Hand” by the Beatles

I really don’t think you could ask for a more symbolic representation of Pop Music’s Changing of the Guard than just a glance of that top 2. Lesley Gore basically handed the baton to the Beatles, allowing them to lead the charge for the rest of the decade.

Not that Lesley Gore had trouble racking up hits after this. The likes of Connie Francis and Frankie Avalon would never visit the charts again, but Lesley was still a star on the rise.

The “girl group” sound was still big business in early ’64. Lesley was sort of a one-girl reduction of the style, only instead of the Angels’ tales of being in love with the “bad boy,” her early singles were all mini-dramas on teenage romance.

And then there’s this, her fourth single and second biggest hit, the one where she asked producer Quincy Jones (yes, that Quincy Jones!) to provide her with something she could sink her teeth into. And damn if he didn’t come up with the goods!



Much has been made of the lyrics of this song, a powerful statement of female independence. I could point out that two men wrote it but I really don’t want to burst your bubble. Besides, this is really good! It drags you in immediately with the dramatic three-note guitar hook laid over the staccato piano chord pattern.

Really, this is all about Lesley. She really proves she’s no lightweight here, singing-wise. There’s no less than two key changes, and she really goes for the jugular with her vocal in the refrain. And did I mention she was only seventeen when she sang this? Wow!

It’s easy with the benefit of hindsight to say something like this was inevitable from the future hostess of PBS’ LGBT affairs program In the Life but at the time, this must have had jaws on the floor. Who would have guessed that the cute girl next door who sang about who had who’s class ring had hidden depths? Speaking of hidden depths, there’s some Lesley Gore albums that collectors know about that the general public don’t: 1972’s Someplace Else Now (her stab at the nascent “singer-songwriter” genre) and 1976’s Love Me by Name (her reunion with Quincy Jones, a very sophisticated adult pop-soul album).

In the meantime, there’s this, perhaps the shiniest gold nugget in her 60s discography.

Rating: 5

SHG: The Village Stompers: "Washington Square"

Village Stompers: “Washington Square”
Entered the chart on: 10/5/63
Peaked on: 11/23/63
Weeks at #2: 1
Song at #1: “I’m Leaving It Up to You” by Dale & Grace

So...it seems that we here in the States weren’t completely barren of Dixieland jazz in the 60s. Here we have a homegrown group; though as you can tell from their name and the title of their one big hit, they hail from New York and not N’awlins. They’re considered to be adjacent to the folk boom we’ve already been examining with some earlier hits this year, and called their style “folk jazz.”

There’s a check-mark next to this entry in my copy of Joel Whitburn’s Top 40 Hits, but I can’t say I remember what this sounds like. Time to give myself a little reminder...



Starting with a ragged, almost out-of-tune electric guitar part, we get the lead played on a banjo. This is not what I expected at all! It’s almost like something out of an Ennio Morricone western soundtrack! It doesn’t really start sounding Dixieland until two-thirds of the way through, when the piano and drums finally join in, and the horns, which had been softly crescendoing in the background for a while, finally start blasting fortissimo notes.

I don’t know what it is about these 60s instrumentals, but they have something that really appeals to me. I get the feeling that if I was alive in 1963, I would have owned this record. Simple, yet highly appealing.

Rating: 5

SHG: The Jaynetts: "Sally Go Round the Roses"

The Jaynetts: “Sally Go Round the Roses”
Entered the chart on: 9/7/63
Peaked on: 9/28/63
Weeks at #2: 2
Song at #1: “Blue Velvet” by Bobby Vinton

So...we’ve had folk revival. We haven’t had “girl group” yet, but that’s about to change, and how! Here we have girl group in the guise of folk revival. Or is it the other way round? In any case, this was not an adaptation of an old folk song, but it was made to sound like one, done in the then-popular “girl group” style. They must have had some measure of success in that regard, as folk artists such as Pentangle, Judy Collins, Joan Baez and Tim Buckley adopted the song as their own.

The more I read up on this, the more I am fascinated by it. The Wikipedia article on the song makes producer Artie Butler out to be a sort of Brian Wilson-esque pop genius, with “Sally...” as his personal “Good Vibrations.” Reportedly, $60,000 was lavished onto the production, and no less than twenty singers performed on the disc. Staggering if true.

This is what I like about this feature. It gets me not only to listen to songs I never would have listened to before (hello, “A Blossom Fell”) but also to sit down and really listen to songs I’d heretofore neglected. Is it shameful that I am actually more familiar with Fanny’s 1975 remake than the original tune? Well, only one way to find out.



This one starts with a piano-led instrumental track, with the voices emanating out of what sounds like a long tunnel. Listening to this, I can believe twenty girls sang on it! This probably has the most striking use of dynamics I’ve heard in any song on Second Hand Goods thus far. No idea who it is singing lead but she sure does a good job of belting out at just the right point (“No, the roses won’t tell your secrets!”)

The backing track is almost hypnotic, raga-like. Is that a harmonium I hear adding accents? Some kind of crude electronic organ? In any case, that $60,000 shows in the striking production on this one. This is a lot more enigmatic and atmospheric than I am used to from records of this era, especially those aimed at the audience this is aiming for (i.e.: twist-crazed teenagers).

Really a gem of 60s pop. I am flabbergasted.

Rating: 5

SHG: Skeeter Davis: "The End of the World"

Skeeter Davis: “The End of the World”
Entered the chart on: 2/16/63
Peaked on: 3/23/63
Weeks at #2: 1
Song at #1: “Our Day Will Come” by Ruby & the Romantics

Mary Francis Pennick, known professionally as Skeeter Davis, has already had a bit of a hand in Second Hand Goods, having written lyrics for Floyd Cramer’s “Last Date,” which she sang the first vocal version of. Another SHG alumna, Joni James, also covered the Davis version and had her last Top 40 chart entry with it.

This is a very incestuous entry, speaking in #2 hits terms.

Anyway, I remember this song as being very overwrought. Let’s see if it lives up to my memory of it.



Well, her voice is less whiny than I recall. This song lays it on pretty thick, though. Lyricist Sylvia Dee reportedly drew on sorrow from the death of her father for inspiration. Which comes across as a bit heavy for a song about heartbreak. I mean, as a poor, lonely soul who’s never known love (see the “You Don’t Know Me” review), I imagine being dumped can feel pretty apocalyptic, but still, the glurge-y string orchestration (Chet Atkins again) and see-saw piano arpeggios (almost certainly Floyd Cramer yet again) make this feel awfully manipulative.

And let’s not even get into the spoken word couplet someone insisted on talking Skeeter into putting in there. The whole thing comes across as a cake made entirely of icing, and that’s just not a dish I want to devour.

I feel like someone’s trying too hard to make me feel a certain way, and I hate that!

Rating: 2

SHG: The Orlons: "The Wah-Watusi"

The Orlons: “The Wah-Watusi”
Entered the chart on: 6/23/62
Peaked on: 7/21/62
Weeks at #2: 2
Song at #1: “Roses Are Red” by Bobby Vinton

Well, I expected I’d need to go back to the Cameo-Parkway dance-craze well eventually, but so soon? And from a group named for a synthetic fabric, no less! The Orlons are actually historically important, not for this song, but for a 1963 follow-up single called “South Street,” which was the first chart hit to use the term “hippies.”

As I’ve already made abundantly clear in my Dee Dee Sharp review, these 60s dance fads are an utter cipher to me. How is the Watusi any different from the Frug? This is all cultural knowledge that hasn’t been passed on to my generation, and has been swept away like thistledown in the wind. I think all this would have been utterly forgotten if there weren’t people like me to chronicle such things.



And again, I’m focusing on the instrumental track. I love the way the piano part bounces around and ties the whole thing together. And whoever the drummer is that played on this is amazing! Some of the fills he lays down here are just too tasty to be believed. Simon Phillips, eat your heart out.

The male Orlon, Stephen Caldwell, gets some cute little solo interjections, but really this is all about lead singer Rosetta Hightower. As much as I liked Dee Dee Sharp’s voice in the last edition, I love Rosetta’s here! She’s both clear and oh so full of soul. Even more than the good things I already mentioned, she makes this worth listening to.

The lyrics? Bah! Your usual dance fad inanity. It doesn’t warrant deep analysis. Nor should it. This should be enjoyed in the spirit it was intended: ephemeral fun.

Rating: 4

SHG: Elvis Presley: "Can't Help Falling in Love"

Elvis Presley: “Can’t Help Falling in Love”
Entered the chart on: 12/18/61
Peaked on: 2/3/62
Weeks at #2: 1
Song at #1: “Peppermint Twist” by Joey Dee and the Starliters

We’ve entered 1962, and I can’t help but notice that Elvis has completed his final metamorphosis into Tame Elvis. You’ll notice this was from Blue Hawaii, one in a long line of cheesy Elvis flicks, and the same one that featured the much-mocked “Ito Eats.”

You know, when I was a kid, I really disliked Elvis. Probably a bit of mild rebellion, as Elvis was Mom’s favorite. Then again, it might be me associating him with tunes like this, which I’ve never really liked. I distinctly remember the Blue Hawaii soundtrack in a stack of Mom’s records.



I was going to say “Elvis is the best part of this,” but while Elvis usually is the best part of any Elvis record, there’s other stuff of worth here. The up-down piano arpeggio that weaves through the entire track does a good job of tying it all together (is that Floyd Cramer? Possibly Elvis himself?). The Jordanaires are back and wonderful as usual on backing vocals. There’s also a sweet, slinky guitar hook during the B verse that grabs the listener. And do I detect a ukulele in the background? It’s from Blue Hawaii after all.

A lesser producer would have just swamped the whole thing in a treacly string orchestration, but fortunately that doesn’t happen. The production on this record is flawless, as is, typically, Elvis’ singing performance. The problem with this is the song itself. I’ve always found it to be bland, sentimental mush designed to appeal to weepy teenaged girls. Yuck.

At least it’s well-done, and Elvis gives it his all as usual, but that can’t save the song from the junk pile.

Rating: 2

SHG: Chris Kenner: "I Like It Like That"

Chris Kenner: “I Like It Like That, Part 1”
Entered the chart on: 7/3/1961
Peaked on: 7/31/1961
Weeks at #2: 3
Song at #1: “Tossin’ and Turnin’” by Bobby Lewis

So, after two very “meh” R&B tunes and a talented artist at his worst*, I’m ready to be entertained again. Can Chris Kenner turn that around?

I will tell you this, it probably helps not to know about this guy going in. His life would make the most depressing Todd in the Shadows episode ever. “He died of a heart-attack at the age of 46 while serving his prison sentence for statutory rape” doesn’t exactly cast sunbeams on your day.

So...not exactly the nicest guy in the world. But we’re not here to censure people for their moral standing, we’re here to review songs. After all, if people only listened to music produced by people of high moral values and good character, nobody would ever listen to Richard Wagner. Last I checked, they were still producing festivals in the guy’s honor.

Back on the subject of Chris Kenner...there’s a part 2? Hell, I’m listening to both parts! I don’t want to suffer that “Honky Tonk” disappointment all over again! Which won’t happen, because I’ve already heard this song before.



Right, this song has always confused me. “The name of the place is ‘I Like It Like That’?” Is that the actual name of a club in New Orleans or something? I’ve said before that I don’t really care for spoken word stuff before, but the refrain is so infectious and Kenner’s performance is so involving, I’m willing to cut him some slack. Plus this tune hooked me from the start with that rousing piano intro.

Speaking of “rousing piano intros,” is that Allen Freaking Toussaint? I think it is! Allow me to add that I am so glad I chose to listen to Part 2 as well. First off, as with “Honky Tonk,” Part 1 cuts off abruptly...at a paltry one minute and 55 seconds. Second, we’re offered splendid sax and piano solos on the flip. It’s functionally an instrumental, with just the backing vocalists doing their thing (Chris must have gone outside for a smoke break) as Allen and the mysterious sax player wail away.

Have I mentioned that I could just listen to Allen Toussaint’s piano playing all day?

A good selection to get your party jumping.

Rating: 4

*Suit at Mercury Records circa 1961: “Say, Brook, did you see Calvin and the Colonel last night? Funny stuff! You ought to write a song like that!”

SHG: Brook Benton: "The Boll Weevil Song"

Brook Benton: “The Boll Weevil Song”
Entered the chart on: 6/5/1961
Peaked on: 7/10/1961
Weeks at #2: 3
Song at #1: “Tossin’ and Turnin’ by Bobby Lewis

Allow me to preface this by saying that Bobby Lewis’ “Tossin’ and Turnin’” is one of the most underrated rock & roll records of the early 60s.

Speaking of underrated, here’s Brook Benton. He charted an amazing 22 hits on the top 40 between 1959 and 1970 and virtually nobody ever talks about him anymore. Even more than Sam Cooke, he is the true inheritor of Nat “King” Cole’s crown; his early singles could practically be clones of Cole ballads. He didn’t do as much uptempo material as Sam, but he could excel when called on to do so (see “Hotel Happiness”). And he even did a series of duets with jazz legend Dinah Washington.

If anyone talks about him anymore, it’s usually in regards to his last hit: a rendition of Tony Joe White’s “Rainy Night in Georgia” which hit the top 5 in early 1970. But his highest charting hit was this. And it’s a freaking novelty song! That’s just typical of our luck here at Second Hand Goods.



So, we start off with what sounds like a country song, with some very Floyd Cramer-ish piano. And then...ugh! This is a spoken-word number, isn’t it? Yep, the only Brook Benton song I’ll be covering won’t even feature Brook Benton doing what he does best. Well, we get the “Gotta have a home” refrain but that’s, like, 5% of the “song.” The rest is Brook just narrating this whimsical story about a boll weevil moving into a cotton farm, bringing his whole family along and basically making a nuisance of himself for the poor farmer.

As near as I can tell, this was loved by the same people that loved Disney’s Song of the South. It features the same Southern dialect storytelling style and, frankly, comes across as a bit stereotypical and embarrassing today.

Oh well, Brook Benton has 21 other hits to choose from. I’d rather be listening to any of them.

Rating: 1

SHG: Ferrante & Teicher: "Exodus"

Ferrante & Teicher: “Exodus”
Entered the chart on: 11/28/1960
Peaked on: 1/23/1961
Weeks at #2: 1
Song at #1: “Wonderland by Night” by Bert Kämpfert

Here’s proof that instrumentals were the flavor of the month: both of the top 2 are instrumentals! I’m pretty sure I’ve never actually heard “Wonderland by Night” and if I have, I wouldn’t know it by name. I suppose that’s the peril of instrumental songs; how do you know what you’re listening to without the DJ to tell you what it is? Nowadays, with Shazam and its ilk, we’re pretty spoiled in that regard.

When I was very wee, I was actually a Ferrante & Teicher fan, thrilling to their extravagant twin-piano pyrotechnics on TV appearances and listening to their Greatest Hits on albums my parents owned. Even at the age of eight, I rather knew there was something deeply un-cool about liking them, and hid my fandom from my friends.

Little did I know they’d receive a hipster re-appraisal during the “lounge-core” era of the 1990s. Mind you, that was for their very early sides at Westminster, when they were doing Space Age prepared piano music, such fans considered them to have “jumped the shark” once they became Liberace-esque superstars at United Artists. Though even with the very early “prepared piano” stuff, we’re not exactly talking John Cage and David Tudor here. Even there, they were offering up renditions of the likes of “Tico Tico” and “Tea for Two.”

So, here we have a movie theme, which is what all their chart hits were (this is the follow-up to their two-pianos version of the theme from The Apartment). Exodus was a film by Otto Preminger, back when he was still a respected filmmaker, before the likes of Hurry Sundown, Skidoo and [shudder] Rosebud turned him into a laughingstock. So it pays to check out the original Ernest Gold orchestration before I listen to the Ferrante & Teicher arrangement. Which I shall now do.



Hmm...sounds like Ferrante & Teicher cloned Ernest Gold’s original arrangement of the intro, all big brass and strings, then shook things up in the rest of the track to spotlight their flashy piano playing. The original was bombastic movie music, spirited and very loud. Ferrante & Teicher’s rendition captures the feel of the original, just alters the arrangement to fit their pianos in and make it front and center. Hands down, this is the loudest orchestration we’ve had since “Don’t You Know.” Of course, for the big finale, they do that tinkly, descending semi-glissando thing (well, what would you call it?) which was their trademark.

People will argue until they’re blue in the face over which version is better, but it’s “push” as far as I’m concerned. As with Floyd Cramer’s tune, this one is just fine.

Rating: 4

SHG: Floyd Cramer: "Last Date"

Floyd Cramer: “Last Date”
Entered the chart on: 10/24/1960
Peaked on: 11/28/1960
Weeks at #2: 4
Song at #1: “Are You Lonesome To-Night” by Elvis Presley

A little warning, this is the first of a big chunk of instrumental songs that hit the charts in 1961. Actually, I gave you a heads-up on that during the Ventures review. Here’s the first one and it’s from pianist Floyd Cramer, who’s been on hundreds of country hits. In fact, he played on the Johnny Tillotson song I just reviewed. Is that the first time that’s happened on Second Hand Goods, where a session musician on one hit winds up as the soloist on the next one?

Anyway, Cramer earned a reputation for a technique he called “slide piano,” using a lot of grace notes to make it sound as though the notes are gliding into one another. Oh, you’ll hear what I mean when you listen to it.



It’s hard to explain the appeal of this one. Floyd Cramer has had more exciting tunes than this one (listen to the follow-up, “On the Rebound”), but there’s something about the lazy afternoon feel of this one. It’s a slow tempo but it doesn’t drag. I suppose you could call this a “ballad” if it had words to it. It’s rather “sitting on a porch swing sipping a mint julep” music to my ears.

It’s not drowning in the string arrangement, which is a relief. The strings come in and enhance the melody without swamping it, which they totally could if left to their own devices. Unsurprisingly, this is, like “He’ll Have to Go,” another “Countrypolitan” Chet Atkins production.

Obviously, this tune resonated with lots of people, since cover versions of it proliferated, including one by SHG veterans the Ventures*. Another SHG veteran, Joni James, did a vocal interpretation saddled with the cumbersome alternate title “(My) Last Date (With You).” It was her last entry into the Billboard Top 40.

For an easy-listening instrumental, it’s actually pretty easy to listen to. Sometimes, that’s all I ask.

Rating: 4

*my parents owned the album that had their cover on it, Another Smash! I’ve always wondered what silent movie the cover still came from. For some reason, I remembered it as being from a Three Stooges short, but it seems I was mistaken.

SHG: Roy Orbison: "Only the Lonely"

Roy Orbison: “Only the Lonely (Know the Way I Feel)” Entered the chart on: 7/25/1960 Peaked on: 7/25/1960 Weeks at #2: 1 Song at #1: “I’m Sorry” by Brenda Lee

Up until 1964, the 60s has this reputation for being a vast wasteland, a barren boneyard populated by anti-rock teen idols, dumb dance fads and toxic novelty songs. That reputation isn’t entirely without some basis in fact, the one-two punch of Bobby Rydell and [shudder] Paul Anka should be proof enough of that, but it doesn’t tell the entire story. There was some real, enduring talent born in this period. Enter Roy Orbison.

Orbison, like Elvis Presley and Carl Perkins before him, gestated at Sun Records as a would-be rockabilly star. Those early sides have their critical admirers but they didn’t earn him much in the way of commercial success. My guess is someone at Monument Records said, “a kid with this vocal range is wasted on this uptempo stuff. Give him some ballads to sing, something that shows off that golden voice of his!” Which begat his first foray into the Billboard Top 40: “Only the Lonely.”

Slight aside, this is another one from my parents’ record collection. So let’s re-visit this golden oldie:



Starts off fairly typical intro, plinky piano with some of those syllabic male backing vocals that were so popular at the time. And then Roy starts singing. I ask you, is there a singer out there who is as immediately compelling as Roy Orbison? Once he opens his voice to sing, “Only the lonely know the way I feel tonight,” I sit up at rapt attention. I mean, we’ve had good, even great, singers on Second Hand Goods, but Roy just has this magical combination of tone, phrasing, range, precision and emotional connection that has me saying, “I want to hear where he’s going with this.”

Heartbreak must have been the flavor of the month. Right after “Greenfields” we immediately get another, “I’m blue because my woman left me” song. But the way this was constructed, all around Roy’s silver-plated vocal cords, makes it a monument of pop mastery. Bob Moore’s orchestration deserves a bit of credit here, the way the strings add pounding accents in the “There goes my baby...” verse is nice touch. And when he returns to that verse a second time, and hits those high notes in the line “That’s the chance you’ve got to take,” it’s one of those “icy chills up and down my spine” moments that’s all too rare in popular music.

Well, only two reviews after “Puppy Love,” and I think I’ve broken the scale in the other direction. I don’t know if there’s a rating high enough for this. Stunning beauty; it demands to be heard.

Rating: 5

SHG: Paul Anka: "Put Your Head on My Shoulder"

Paul Anka: “Put Your Head on My Shoulder”
Entered the chart on: 9/14/1959
Peaked on: 10/5/1959
Weeks at #2: 3
Song at #1: “Mack the Knife” by Bobby Darin

I’ve been dealing out a lot of fours and fives in this series of late. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Ladies and gentlemen, that day has arrived.

You see, I knew I’d have to talk about the “teen idols” sooner or later. Tommy Sands was just the tip of the iceberg. That Frankie Avalon tune sitting in the top spot during the Coasters’ entry was the sword of Damocles hanging over this feature until now. 1959 was the year the dam burst and the opportunists flooded the market with a bunch of non-threatening pretty boys designed to make teen girls swoon. In general, they had nothing to do with rock & roll; more a throwback to the old crooner days, minus the quality control. Many of them (I’m looking at you, Fabian) couldn’t even sing; it was all faked by a laborious technique of “punching” in every note and hoping he’d hit it right eventually. Being the producer and/or engineer of one of these sessions must have been a thankless task.

And then we have Canadian import Paul Anka. Paul had a leg-up on the competition in that he could play the piano and wrote his own material. Mind you, that didn’t mean that material was any good. This was the man, after all, that would bring us “You’re Having My Baby,” one of the most cringe-worthy MOR horrors the 70s ever wrought. And yes, that song hit #1. The man has a lot to answer for.



O sweet Zeus, make it stop! The tremolo guitar, the angelic female backing vocals, Anka’s overwrought voice, the cheesy punching of the word “baby,” it’s all too much. He’s certainly no Fats Domino at the ivories, either, his playing, apart from a flamboyant glissando leading into the Eurovision-style key-change at the end, it’s all steady “plink plink plink” with no variation from beginning to end. Before, I was thinking, “well, at least it’s one of his more tolerable songs.” I was wrong. This is worse than I had remembered. Don’t make yourself suffer like I did. Rating: 0

SHG: Phil Phillips: "Sea of Love"

Phil Phillips: “Sea of Love”
Entered the chart on: 7/20/1959
Peaked on: 8/24/1959
Weeks at #2: 2
Song at #1: “The Three Bells” by the Browns

I don’t recognize the song at #1. Should I even bother to listen to it? For context, you understand.

I definitely recognize “Sea of Love,” which is another one-hit wonder, alongside the Impalas in the Class of ’59. Lots of these short-run artists struggle for years to have a second hit (see: Cathy Carr) without success, but Phil only had a couple of other singles to his credit. Not sure what’s happening there, but let’s examine the case of “Sea of Love” just the same...

Ooh...Phil’s voice is like honey! I could listen to a voice like that every day. The backing vocals are by a vocal group by the Twilights and they’re nice, as is the seesaw piano part which forms the base of the instrumental backing. This sounds like it came from earlier on in the 50s, based on the very stripped-down arrangement compared to the last few tunes I reviewed. It’s piano, vocals, and not much else.

Lyrically, it isn’t anything super spectacular. “La la la, I love you,” that sort of thing. But the piano arrangement is memorable and...damn! I could listen to Phil’s voice all day long.

Again, I’m regretting that he was only a one-hit wonder. What a voice!

Rating: 5

SHG: Connie Francis: "My Happiness"

Connie Francis “My Happiness” Entered the chart on: 12/15/1958 Peaked on: 1/19/1959 Weeks at #2: 2 weeks Song at #1: “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” by the Platters

Ah yes, Connie Francis. Until the 1990s, she was the most successful female soloist of the rock era. Bigger than Diana Ross. Bigger than Barbara Streisand. Bigger than Donna Summer. Bigger than Madonna.

By 1979, she was represented in the Rolling Stone Record Guide by a dismissive two-sentence review for a single greatest-hits package which received a rating of a bullet (zero stars). What happened for her to suddenly deserve such scorn?

Well, I suppose one thing might be Rolling Stones’ rock & roll attitude. Anything that smacked of artificiality, commerciality or bandwagon-jumping had them turning up their noses. The key to Connie Francis’ smash success was only partly due to her phenomenal, sorrow-laden singing voice.

Here lies the difference between her and the likes of Cathy Carr. While Cathy was struggling at Fraternity and a succession of other small, regional labels without the budget for A&R, Connie was being aggressively marketed to any potential artist willing to listen at MGM, who threw a ton of money at their investment.

Part of the result of this was that Connie was incredibly overworked. All her 50s and 60s hits were produced at mammoth days-long recording sessions. So the sorrow in her voice was probably not an act. I think it may have partly been fatigue*, which is why she sounded sad even on songs that didn’t call for it (Andrea Martin spoofed this on the fake record ad for 20 Depressing Hits by Connie Franklin [sic]). And MGM’s marketing towards all ages and ethnicities bordered on the crass (a sampling of Connie’s discography: Christmas With Connie, Rock ‘n’ Roll Million Sellers, Connie Francis Sings Jewish Favorites, Country Music Connie Style, Sings “Never On Sunday” and Other Title Songs From Motion Pictures, etc.).

While it’s true that commercial success is not a guarantee of artistic quality, especially considering the incredible volume of material that was churned out in such a short space of time, it’s obvious Connie could sing. She didn’t always get the grade A material her voice deserved, but then, that’s true of the 90s female soloists that supplanted her (believe me, we’ll get to them in time).

Enough stalling, let’s review this thing:



Good call on orchestrator David Rose (later of “The Stripper” fame) for knowing his bread-and-butter, giving Connie an a’cappella intro for her to sing. They’re also taking a a tip from Les Paul & Mary Ford, stunningly double-tracking her voice.

I’m really struck how wonderfully this is arranged. It builds to a crescendo, plinking piano and subtle saxophone rising out of the a’cappella intro, with the strings coming in very gradually and the choir only entering during the final verse. And none of it competes with Connie’s voice. Rose really knew his stuff!

What I was talking about earlier about Connie taking a happy song and making it sad kind of applies here, but there’s more to it than that. Unlike a lot of her later material, I think this song was selected specifically because it spotlighted her voice, and her personality, very well. The title is ironic, the narrator is actually sad because her lover is gone, and wants “[her] happiness” to return. Connie is a natural for this kind of tune.

Really, much, much better than I was expecting.

Rating: 4

*it’s since come out of the woodwork that Connie was suffering from bipolar disorder, which further explains this tendency, and suddenly turns that SCTV skit into a bit of a Funny Aneurysm Moment.

SHG: Chuck Berry: "Sweet Little Sixteen"

Chuck Berry: “Sweet Little Sixteen”
Entered the chart on: 2/24/58
Peaked on: 3/17/1958
Weeks at #2: 3 weeks
Song at #1: “Tequila” by the Champs

I’m just going to bask in the Golden Age of Rock & Roll while it still lasts. Because, blessed/cursed with the gift of foresight, I know what happens in 1959.

Chuck Berry, for me, is rock & roll. When I think the early days of rock, I think of Chuck strumming his guitar and doing his duck-walk. He is the quintessence of the early rock & roll sound. And this was his biggest hit (Yes, I know, fourteen years later, he went all the way to #1 with a crummy live recording of a hideous novelty number that’s little more than a litany of crude penis jokes. Leave me my illusions.).



My God, this song has been imitated so many times, and almost never has anyone come close to touching the original. The song isn’t super-complex, which means it was pretty easy to imitate. Berry gets the easy part on guitar, but since he has to accompany himself while singing I’ll let it slide. The piano player gets the juicy part. I’m not sure who played piano on this, but man, that cat is wild. For a rocker, Berry has a lighter, thinner voice than I remember, but it works for some reason. Probably as it reminds me of later vocalists that followed in his wake that I also like (Prince, for example).

This might be the first song that seeks airplay by name-dropping US locales (and he even gets in a mention of American Bandstand in there). The song is the tale of a teenaged girl who’s obsessed with rock & roll and wants to go to a show. Actually, it might be the most complex and intricate lyric to a rock song I’ve covered thus far, since it tells a story with a beginning, middle and end (by the end, our nameless female protagonist has to sleep off her partying weekend lifestyle and get back to the dull grind of high school). Maybe not as poetic a story as “Blueberry Hill,” but I was nonetheless entertained and compelled by it.

In short, it’s as good as you remember it being, and is still worth a listen after all these years.

Rating: 5