Chapter 1 1950s and early 1960s

CHAPTER 1

THE 1950s



THE G CLEFS














Chapter 1
The G Clefs
Disc Jockey Little Walter DeVenne
Herb Reed & The Platters
Little Joe Cook
Bobby Hebb
Moulty & The Barbarians
The Fifth Estate




http://www.djangomusic.com/artist_bio.asp?pid=P+++186911&morebio=1

In September of 1956, the first rock & roll hit record from the city that would launch Aerosmith, Boston, The Cars, and J. Geils Band, hit the Top 30 — The G Clefs' "Ka-Ding-Dong" on Pilgrim Records. With a career spanning close to 50 years, the hard working Scott brothers created a body of work which deserves recognition. The ambiance of the final track in this collection, "To the Winner Goes the Prize," is a dramatic departure from the novelty sound of the title track — a taste of how this collection crosses genres from the doo wop of "Love Her in the Mornin'" to the Platters style "Symbol of Love." It's interesting that in the year 2000 Herb Reed of The Platters lives walking distance from Teddy Scott of The G Clefs in Arlington, MA. Although The Platters hit first in 1955, they were based in Los Angeles. Like other now Bostonians, Bobby Hebb and Little Joe Cook, those hit artists moved there after the fact and contribute to the scene mightily, but the G Clefs were an integral part of the foundation of the vibrant music community that spawned Freddy Cannon, The Modern Lovers, and even latter day teeny-boppers New Kids on the Block. Like New Kids masterminds Maurice Starr and Michael Jonzun of The Jonzun Crew, the G Clefs are brothers and friends from Roxbury, and the unity can be heard on songs like "Is This the Way," with its multitude of voices, to their biggest smash, the Top 10 "I Understand Just How You Feel" from 1961. This is a cover of a hit from 1954, incorporating "Auld Lang Syne" and "Bring It on Home to Me," the Sam Cooke/Animals/Eddie Floyd hit, but those artists hit with "Bring It On Home" in 1962, 1965, and 1968, respectively, and the Clefs remake of "I Understand" struck in October of 1961. "I Believe in All I Feel" is an amazing production and song. The Arnold Scott original has complex backing vocals, a bridge that is stunning, and displays the strengths of the G Clefs. Ka-Ding-Dong is a textbook of Boston music that is a delight to listen to decades after the hit song of the same name helped launch the vital area these gentlemen still call home.

The above is a review of a 1995 compilation album entitled "Ka-Ding-Dong" released by
The G Clefs. The review can be found on AllMusic.com here:

http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:0cfixqqhldfe

In 2000 The G Clefs released a second compilation "Then & Now" on the G Clefs label. The AMG link to the review follows its inclusion here.

Then & Now is a collection of 15 songs by the five musicians who were the first Boston rock & roll band to have a national and international hit with "Ka Ding Dong" in 1956. Then & Now is the follow-up disc to the album Ka Ding Dong featuring the four Scott brothers, Teddy, Llanga, Chris, and Timothy aka Tim "Payme" as in "pay me," and their friend Ray Gipson, collectively, the G Clefts. The vocals are impeccable — be it "Lucky Old Sun," a remake of a tune by Frankie Laine circa 1947, or the final track "This Time," an authentic period piece with Drifters/Lieber/Stoller-style strings and backing vocals. Written by Otis Blackwell, the legendary Blackwell is also on piano. Producer John Vincent Hooley wrote the liner notes in March of 1999, and what is perhaps the major flaw of this package is that there is not enough information on the recording. Even the songwriting and publishing is missing. Hooley states " the G-Clefs approached me to produce some new material that was written by Tim Payme Scott." Hooley also gives some Boston history — that Bruce Patch co-owned G-Clefs Records with Teddy Scott. Patch would form his own label — Spoonfed — in the '70s, before moving out of Boston and relocating to Hawaii. The producer also notes that the band was formed in 1952, "are still together, and sound as amazing today as they did when I first heard them perform live back in 1964." "Is This a Dream" has a great pop hook and sterling performance. It is one of the five titles recorded by John Vincent Hooley in 1998, the others being "The Note," "Why Can't We All Get Along," "Won't You Tell Me Where You Stand," and "Zoom Gale Gale." It is followed by two versions of "The Whirlwind," a dance where you "put your arms in a circular motion" whenever you get the notion. Both were recorded at the legendary Fleetwood Sound in Revere in the 1960s, and according to Teddy Scott, teen star Ricky Nelson plays tambourine on both versions of "Whirlwind" included on this disc. The Clefs climb vocal heights on Little Lonely Boy which Scott says was written by Terry Phillips, producer for Jay & the Americans. There's an almost Lettermen feel to "On the Other Side of Town" — The Lettermen with Gene Pitney strings perhaps, right out of a Western movie; it should come as no surprise the arranger for the Drifters was involved. The reggae/jungle beat of "Zoom — Gali — Gali" is a good change of pace — the theme song to "love and laughter." The song was inspired by an Egyptian act the Scott brothers and sisters charged a penny to see when they were kids, performing in a fenced-off alley in Boston where they would do shows. The opening track, "I Shall Sing," was written by Miriam Makeba, and re-recorded in 1972 at Intermedia Studios which the band co-owned and was later sold to the Cars who turned it into Syncro Sound. Not to get mired in too much history — this record is truly "Then" and "Now," and is highly entertaining. The G-Clefs can do amazing things with their voices, evident on Then & Now — -a good document of their decades of hard work.

http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:jjfyxqrkldae


The Biography of THE G CLEFS

Thanks to Little Walter DeVenne for helping me fact-check this G Clef bio after my interview with Teddy Scott.

http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:dnfqxqtgldte~T1

Biography	by Joe Viglione
The G-Clefs is a highly flamboyant, well choreographed pop/soul vocal group which has the distinction of having the first Boston area rock & roll record to chart nationally, their 1956 hit "Ka Ding Dong". Consisting of four brothers, Teddy Scott (b 2/29/36), Chris Scott (b 2/14/37), guitarist Tim "Payme" Scott (8/23/38), and Ilanga Scott (b 7/22/40), along with their friend and neighbor Ray Gibson (b 9/24/37), the band formed in Roxbury, Massachusetts, an area similar to New York's Harlem, thirty years before New Edition would bring Maurice Starr and Michael Jonzun's music to the world, The G-Clefs were the original pioneers from New England's soon to be important music scene. The Scott's gang, "The Band Of Angels", ruled in what was known to the police as "Scotty's Alley" with the warning "pass at your own risk", but the gang of "bad boys" had their giving side donating monies to charity. The Scott brother's parents "adopted everyone" singer Teddy Scott told AMG in a August 2000 interview. Songs like the moody and intriguing "Zoom Gali Gali" and "Why Can't We All Get Along" on the Then & Now CD contain biographical bits, "Zoom" was written by Tim "Payme" Scott about when they were kids and their homes had fenced off back yards with alleys. The band would hold little shows charging a penny for people to see, and with their sisters and friends they would perform an Egyptian act. The band's first "official" show was circa 1952/1953 at the Rollerway, a roller skating rink which converted to a dance hall on Fridays, located in Revere, Massachusetts. Revere Beach in the 50's and 60's was Boston's answer to Palisades Park, the group playing hundreds and hundreds of shows before they made it into the charts. They recorded "Mary Lee" at Ace Recording Studios in Boston in the 1950's, a cover of the tune recorded in 1955 by The Rainbows. That 45 was brought to the band by Ted's girlfriend Audrey Fortune. The G-Clefs then came up with "Ka Ding Dong" "in eight minutes!" according to Teddy. Ted Scott considers Revere "home", and at a special show on May 18, 1996 with Moulty & The Barbarians and The Pixies Three at The Wonderland Ballroom Teddy reminisced about the early days. When contacted to perform at The Apollo Theater he said the band couldn't sing for four days they were so frightened "for four days, swear to God", The band did so well they played that Harlem theater over a dozen times. The group purchased The Peppermint Lounge in Revere and turned it into The Pied Piper. There were twenty or so clubs on the strip along with the rides and amusements, but the three performance venues were Hurley's, The Ebb Tide and their own Pied Piper. A 1968 release on Spotlight Records, The G Clefs Live At The Ebb Tide, is a good document of the time. The group polished its flashy stage show doing five shows a night during the week, and ten on Sundays when they did matinees as well. In 1997 filmmaker Abby Freedman's Redhead Productions initiated a 90 minute documentary film titled Ka Ding Dong after the group's first hit record. Projected to be released in 2003, there is footage from shows taped at The Hatch Shell on Boston's Charles River and Symphony Hall as well as rare 1963-1964 home movie footage from Hurley's nightclub on Revere Beach. Freedman told AMG that this is one of the few groups in the USA with the original five vocalists all still in the band giving a "sense of continuous history". Backing musicians which include keyboards, guitar, sax, bass and drums, have changed over the years, saxophonist Dick Lourie being the veteran - having joined the group 1992/1993, with guitarist Danny Gioioso joining circa 1998. Ka Ding Dong influenced many, songwriter Buzzy Linhart raves how important the Top 25 tune on Pilgrim Records was to his musical development. It would be five years after the initial hit that the band would go further up the charts, reaching the Top 10 with "I Understand (How You Feel)" on the Terrace label, a cover of a 1954 hit by The Four Tunes with "Auld Lang Syne" added into the mix. The band has surprisingly few albums for having stayed together through six decades, which makes their bio film and story all the more vital.

LITTLE WALTER

I've written a number of stories on Walter and he's appeared on Visual Radio at least three times, we have about four hours of documentary footage on Walter in his studio and in the clubs spinning discs.


Credits on AMG

AMG has "Little Walter DeVanne" which is, of course, a mis-spelling. AMG takes the information directly from the LP or CD. We hope to correct the AMG site at some point in the future.
http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:wvfuxq85ldde~T4

Here is their four page credit list for Walter DeVenne:
http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:jvfexqtaldhe~T4

First there was an article in Medialine, the former "Replication News".

Radio DJ Remasters Vintage Vee Jay, Sun Catalogs
http://www.medialinenews.com/issues/2000/preparation/0606/0606.2.shtml

that is followed by an article I wrote for THE MEDFORD TRANSCRIPT in September of 2006 which a radio chatboard absconded with http://www.websitetoolbox.com/tool/post/bsnpubs/vpost?id=1406752
(the story follows the Medialine story).





Radioworld has picked up the story and we've revamped it with more biographical information. It is very thorough and will be published in August of 2007, so keep watching this site.


Radio DJ Remasters Vintage Vee Jay, Sun Catalogs
by Joe Viglione

When you walk into Walter DeVenne's office/recording studio, you have literally walked into a time machine. And "Little Walter's Time Machine" is the name of his show when he's on the road, or at WODS-FM in Boston, MA.

On his desk is an order to re-master the entire Vee Jay catalog for the Collectables label, as well as an urgent call to put together Sun Records: The Definitive Hits.

DeVenne doesn't just master these records.

"It's going to sound the way the record sounded. I want it to sound the way I heard it when I dropped the needle on it (the record), not the way it was in the studio. There were probably only 12 people in the studio!"

What DeVenne does is make the records "right," the way people heard them on the radio, or the way the original mastering engineer put the material out to the world.

"I was doing some Chuck Berry stuff for the radio, putting masters together for radio broadcast--not CD release," he notes. DeVenne's stereo mix of "Mony Mony" by Tommy James & The Shondells delights listeners of Oldies 103 in Boston. The rest of the world has to hear the mono version on Roulette. DeVenne, who incidentally has the entire Roulette catalog in his vaults, opines that Chuck Berry's original records "exploded off the turntable. The CDs didn't explode. It's the person doing the mastering that's the key to it. It's not going to sound the same (if the person mastering tries to go for a 'clean' re-master as opposed to making it sound like the record sounded)...I want to hear it (with) the impact that it had. Authenticity!"

Generally, DeVenne prefers stereo mixes when they're available, but still wants the record to sound as close as it originally sounded on the radio. The worst-case scenario, the mastering engineer points out, is RCA's reissue of the Sun Records masters by Elvis Presley: "Scratches in glorious stereo...that don't correspond" (from speaker to speaker because a stereo needle was used from the mono acetate source).

When I walked in, he was playing a hideous source tape from a client--a cassette made from a rare record. The song was "I Love You" by The Shadows. Walter heard a "tick" between second 2:17 and 2:18. He removed the tick and the hiss. He uses his pre-sets with different filters; he seeks the best source tapes. "They haven't invented anything to take distortion out. You can hide it a little, [but] when they say 'the distortion is gone' they've found a better source (tape)."

The Doo Wop Box

(Rhino) went gold selling 500,000 units to everyone's surprise. Everyone but Little Walter.

Of the Vee Jay project featuring early bluesmen, DeVenne comments, "I was in heaven doing the Jimmy Reed stuff. Peter Wolf (lead singer of the former J. Geils Band) was recently in the studio and said, 'I have these records at home and they just don't sound like that.'" Wolf was talking about the John Lee Hooker Boom Boom

album from 1959. It will be out in stereo for the first time on the Collectables label through a deal with Vee Jay and Rhino. "Gene Chandler was the last thing I did last week," says DeVenne, of remixing "Duke Of Earl" in stereo from a better source for the Vee Jay project. DeVenne's impressive credits include the German label Bear Family Records, for whom he has put together box sets of Little Richard, Fats Domino and The Platters.

The studio's wall is adorned by record covers. The vibe is further enhanced by the numerous stored CDs, DATs, and master tapes, housed securely in a facility a little north of Boston, and lovingly protected and put "right" by a legendary DJ of Boston radio. When you see "A&R/Mastering by Little Walter DeVenne," you'll know you've got the right thing.

http://www.websitetoolbox.com/tool/post/bsnpubs/vpost?id=1406752

it is also on Walter's own site http://www.littlewalter.com

Time Machine comes back to the future
By Joe Viglione/ Correspondent
Medford (MA) Transcript
Thursday, September 21, 2006

For many years Little Walter DeVenne - legendary Boston disc jockey whose broadcasting creds include WBCN, WROR, WFNX, WMEX, WODS/Oldies 103.3 and Medford’s WXKS-AM 1430, before it turned into Boston’s Progressive Talk - did his mastering from a studio outside of Medford Square. These days, DeVenne and his family are living in Derry, N.H., but he continues to master CDs and create his radio show, "Little Walter’s Time Machine." Today you can hear Little Walter’s Time Machine Sunday nights on North Shore 104.9 FM WBOQ, from 8 p.m.-12 a.m., on the same station as the Red Sox. The program is syndicated nationally.

DeVenne recently spoke about the radio show, his mastering work for a variety of record labels and his recent (and successful) battle against throat cancer. "We’re on in Chicago, we’re on in Cincinnati, we’re on in Hawaii, we’re all over the place," the Boston area icon noted, adding he’s also excited about returning to the club scene this Friday and Saturday night at the Terra Marra, near the Outback Steakhouse, off of Route 93 (at exit 47) in Methuen. "I worked on Route 1 for 20 years at a variety of venues. I’ve been doing clubs for 40 years, starting out at the Beach Ball in Revere, opening for Aerosmith."

DeVenne’s spinning creates an amazing vibe wherever he brings his extensive collection of music. With hip-hop and house music permeating the in-town clubs, the members of the Masspool DJ Association, Disc Jockeys Latinos Record Pool and other collaboratives would be wise to study at the feet of the master. DeVenne was mixing and scratching (well, literally scratching a record that need not be played) before most of the current jocks were even born.

Battle with cancer
Though ever-present on radio, DeVenne was conspicuous in his absence on the club circuit. He was candid about what happened. "I noticed a couple of lumps in my neck and had my first operation in October. Like Dion (DiMucci of "The Wanderer" fame) said, ’If I didn’t have a wife or a mother, I would never have sought medical advice because it didn’t hurt!’" he said. "It was just a couple of lumps in my neck. You gotta have someone to care for you to get these things looked at. It wasn’t going away so my (very worried) wife brought me over to the doctors.

"I went through cat scans and pet scans - none of it said it was cancer, it just said there were a couple of lumps in my throat," he continued. "They were going to stick a needle in my neck so I told them to operate on me." DeVenne started doing chemo and radiation, something he still recalls vividly. "They make a form-fitting face mask with netting so you can see through, (and) they screw it down. [That way I got] the radiation treatment in the same place on my neck," he said. "The chemo is what I really had a reaction to and that’s what put me in the hospital for a couple of weeks. I begged them to let me out, so my wife learned how to give me the IV. At 9 a.m., I’d have to get up, take the IV - they left it in my arm for the two weeks with what looked like an RCA plug."

Still able to maintain his humor through what he termed a horrific experience, the radio legend declared of his therapy, " I only fell down a couple of times!" "When they put that radiation on the throat, it is like getting a super duper sunburn. The definitive sore throat, not being able to taste anything" DeVenne said. "It took about six months after the radiation for me to get my taste buds back and be able to swallow. (Though I hear) it’s different for different people.

But now Little Walter is back - on the air, in the clubs and at work with other music acts. "I did a Spike Jones package for Capitol Records which was funny, but not my usual kind of thing," he said. "Today (Sept. 13), they are going to reissue ’The Knockouts meet the Genies.’" On Sept. 17, DeVenne went to work on a Bobby Darin "two album on one" CD piece, as well as a similar Irma Thomas package for Liberty/Capitol. "It’ll be out soon," he said of the mastering work. "Irma features ’Time Is On My Side,’ she did the original that the Rolling Stones ripped off from her. She was so mad at them, she didn’t sing the song for years. Note for note identical! She went on that soulful tour that Peter Wolf emceed seven or eight years ago with Chuck Jackson, Percy Sledge, Ben E. King and others." Obscure music from groups like The Knockouts and The Genies are for collectors, for sure - and DeVenne knows how to put the music back together so that it sounds as authentic as it did when fans originally bought the tunes on vinyl.

"That was fun," he said in his always uptempo and highly recognizable radio voice. "I did that today, there was only about 14 tracks on the CD. This was for Collectibles." Collectibles Records is a respected label which reissues music, with DeVenne usually overseeing that reproduction work. "I’m real proud of some work I did with Dion," he notes. "Collectibles came out with ’Dion & Friends Live In New York.’ This thing could’ve been a one man Broadway show if he had decided to perform more than just the two nights. The new CD’s got all his hits, all his new stuff, a couple of gospel tracks that are very palatable. It was an absolute magic night! You should see his face when he sings ’Teenager in Love.’ I gave him the line, ’If I live to be 200 I’m always going to be a teenager in love.’ He uses that line in concert."

In DeVenne’s studio, the phone always rings with someone famous on the other line. Nino Tempo of the song, "Deep Purple," fame was on the phone at one point. Because of this, DeVenne is known worldwide, having done not only exhaustive radio work, but television appearances as well as a long resume of mastered recordings which can be found on Allmusic.com.

The treasures in DeVenne’s archives include dozens of live shows by Little Richard, including the only known live tape of Jimi Hendrix performing with Richard Penniman, Don & Dewey and Maxine Brown (although there is a studio 45 RPM of Jimi with Little Richard that was recorded around this period). Recorded way back when by DeVenne at the Back Bay Theater in Boston, the tape was mentioned when DeVenne was being interviewed for Visual Radio sometime in the 1990s. After the discovery, Experience Hendrix, Jimi Hendrix’s family-owned company, heard the tape as re-played from the original broadcast tape from WTBS (now WMBR), the information landing in Steve Roby’s Hendrix book, "Black Gold." DeVenne’s work with the PBS Doo Wop shows and the four CD sets of Doo Wop music on Rhino also needs to be mentioned.

When asked who got him back into circulation after the hospitalization, it turns out to be his old friend Dion. "He’s the first one to get me out of my house last month, he was over at the Mohegan Sun in August," DeVenne said.

On the air...
Looking to listen to Little Walter’s Time Machine? You can log on to find information on affiliated stations on http://www.littlewalter.com Check that site for online streaming to hear the show.
For fans interested in sending their best wishes to the radio icon,

More of my writings regarding these icons can be found in the book
THE ALL MUSIC GUIDE TO THE BLUES
http://books.google.com/books?id=qYtz7kEHegEC&pg=PT152&lpg=PT152&dq=little+walter+joe+viglione&source=web&ots=AL9Mt02vd_&sig=CfFlio9WO_lJwbNAIf8MLFOBOWQ



===============================================================
LITTLE JOE COOK, BOBBY HEBB, HERB REED

These great R & B artists migrated to the Boston area and call it their home.


LITTLE JOE COOK

A compilation on vinyl (later to be released on CD, perhaps slightly altered),
A BLAST FROM THE PAST is an important starting point for the music of
Little Joe Cook

http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:hzfrxql0ld0e

Review

by Joe Viglione

The Top 25 song from 1957, "Peanuts," leads off this majestic 32-song compilation released by Little Joe Cook's own Beantown International in 1997. This generous disc is a very easy listen for fans of rock & roll, rhythm and blues, pop, and American music. The falsetto on "Peanuts" inspired Frankie Valli; in fact, the Four Seasons recorded the tune, although it was credited to another songwriter on their disc (and other covers as well, for a very long time). After a lengthy battle, Cook has set the record straight. A true pioneer, the 14-page booklet that comes with the CD is chock full of photos and information. Alternate takes of "Cherry," "This I Know," "Please Don't Go," and "Peanuts" are here, along with the "Peanuts" sequel, "The Echoes Keep Calling Me," Cook's rendition of "For Sentimental Reasons," and his classic version of "Stay." Although Cook did not enjoy the recognition of a record based on his style, "Stay" has been a staple in his live show for four decades. Everything on this collection has vintage sound, and really on-target performances. Cook's voice and songs deserved a wider audience over the years — his influence on the Sherrys, his student Tammi Montgomery (who became Marvin Gaye's partner, Tammi Terrell), and Garnet Mimms & the Enchanters can be heard throughout these mostly two-minute songs. And that's part of the fun of this disc. "Let's Do the Slop," not the latter-day song by Moogy Klingman, with its jungle beat, and "Public Opinion"'s soulful preaching help make A Blast From the Past a textbook that is as much fun as it is informative. There were 16 titles on the vinyl released 17 years prior to this, all included here, with 16 different titles and alternate takes. Both the vinyl and CD were re-mastered by famous Boston disc jockey Little Walter DeVenne; the vinyl also includes Allen Day liner notes absent from the CD, which is a good reason to seek out both.

In God We Trust

Review

by Joe Viglione

Developed in August of 2002 and released some months later in 2003, Little Joe Cook's 80th year, In God We Trust combines new renditions of previously written songs as well as material culled from 45s, much of it never before available on an album or CD. "Mr. Bush in the White House Chair" was actually written while Jimmy Carter was in office, and re-recorded with new lyrics at Cook's home studio after the tragedy that was 9/11/2001. The liner notes refer to this as gospel with "a touch of patriotism," an accurate description. "Say a Prayer (For Our Troops Over There)" is an update of a song Cook did in 1951 with his Evening Star Quartet, formerly "Say a Prayer for Our Boys in Korea," the original recording found on his compilation A Blast from the Past. "Lady from the Beauty Shop" is a dancey update of the title track from a previous Cook album and written for his wife, who the singer met at the Cantab club more than two decades previously.

full review here:
http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:gxfexqqaldfe



Lady From The Beauty Shop

Review

by Joe Viglione

This 1996 album comes almost 40 years after his Top 25 hit "Peanuts." There are six studio tracks, beginning with the title tune, and five live performances from the Boston club the Cantab, ending with "Lady From the Beauty Shop." In between is classic rock & roll fused with R&B. "Give It to Me," despite the barroom recording, is tremendous. Hearing this record is evidence of why college kids year after year get turned on to Little Joe Cook and his following continues to expand. Cook is as serious an artist as you will find. "Give It to Me" is powerful R&B, not the reggae J. Geils song of the same name. "King of Rock & Roll" is Cook's tribute to Elvis Presley. It works on many levels by a gentleman who was a contemporary of Presley's. The live version of "Hold Up, Stickem Up," another title also represented here by a studio version, simply rocks. This would be great for Jay Proctor of Jay & the Techniques as it has that "Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie" vibe. As Willie Alexander immortalized Boston's Rathskellar on the Live at the Rat album with a song called "At the Rat," Cook pens "Down at the Cantab." It's an anthem that could fit nicely into a film of this important artist's life, which should center on his extraordinary nightclub run. Some of the album is disco, which may seem out of place in 1996, but Cook knows his audience. "Can't Get Enough" is pure Little Joe Cook & the Thrillers: earthy vocals, commanding bass, and the performance honed night after night in this intimate arena. It's classic Cook, and one of the highlights of this disc. "Lady From the Beauty Shop" is a song for Cook's wife — and a trip to the Cantab brings you into his family. At his seventy-eighth birthday party in March 2001, Shirley Lewis, Weeping Willie, members of the Platters and Harold Melvin's the Blue Notes showed up to pay their respect. Lady From the Beauty Shop is an accurate picture of an important R&B figure, and is a fun listening experience.

http://www.answers.com/topic/lady-from-the-beauty-shop?cat=entertainment

http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:apftxq80ld6e


HERB REED AND THE PLATTERS

Herb Reed, like Little Joe, moved to the Boston area. He has played around New England for decades now. Here is a review of one of the group's discs that I wrote for AMG:


The New Golden Hits of THE PLATTERS

http://www.icebergradio.com/album/15376/review



ew Golden Hits Of The Platters was the fourth album and first compilation on the Musicor label which garnered the last two of 23 Top 40 hits for the reconstituted group after they left Mercury. Those new songs, "I Love You 1,000 Times" from 1966 and 1967's gem "With This Ring," are included here, along with "Washed Ashore (On a Lonely Island in the Sea)." Those are the three original titles as recorded by the revamped Platters. Like Kenny Rogers' Ten Years Of Gold album on United Artists Records where he re-recorded five of his hits with The First Edition for his new label, The Platters used that same formula ten years before Rogers' 1977 release. It is interesting hearing Sonny Turner with his take on some of the original hits, 1957's "I'm Sorry" ten years after the fact, along with "Only You," "The Great Pretender," "You've Got The Magic Touch," "My Prayer," "Heaven on Earth," "Twilight Time," and "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes," among others. There are so many albums by The Platters on the market that it gets more than confusing for the consumer. Musicor later released 22 Platters songs on a similarly titled collection, A Golden Hour of the Platters: One Hour of Entertainment, cramming 22 tracks on one vinyl LP, 11 titles per side. Still, "With This Ring" is a delight, is the real thing, and was The Platters with a sound much like The Four Tops and The Spinners when they were at Motown. For those who like to hear a band reworking their classic music -- and some people do -- this album will work. As long as you keep in mind that the majority of the renditions are NOT the original hits. Thanks to mastering engineer Walter Devenne for some information utilized in this review. ~ Joe Viglione, All Music Guide


http://www.answers.com/topic/the-new-golden-hits-of-the-platters?cat=entertainment

http://music.yahoo.com/read/review/21708627

1967
http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:k9fuxqr5ldke


BOBBY HEBB
http://www.djangomusic.com/artist_bio.asp?pid=P++++30356&morebio=1

When I found a copy of "Judy", a 45 RPM on Crystal Ball Records (probably purchasing it in Central Square at Cheapo Records in the mid 1980s) I wrote to Bobby Hebb at the address on the disc. He wrote me a very nice letter back.

Fast forward to 1995. After Marty Balin helped me launch Visual Radio as my first guest, Bobby Hebb agreed to appear on show #3. Joe Tortelli wrote a piece in Goldmine Magazine after Bobby appeared on the show while the reviews of his recordings I began writing for AllMusic.com around 2000.

Bobby Hebb bio

http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:kzftxq95ldke~T1

There is a ton of information, of course, as I am helping Mr. Tortelli compile the official biography of Bobby Hebb. Go to the above link to read the entire bio:

Biography

by Joe Viglione

Bobby Hebb made his stage debut on his third birthday, July 26, 1941, when tap dancer Hal Hebb introduced his little brother to show business at The Bijou Theater. This was an appearance on The Jerry Jackson Revue of 1942 even though it was 1941, "that was how Jerry, a big man in vaudeville in the '30s, '40s, and '50s, did things" noted the singer. Harold Hebb was nine years of age at the time and the young brothers worked quite a few nightclubs before Bobby Hebb entered first grade. Nashville establishments like The Hollywood Palm, Eva Thompson Jones Dance Studio, The Paradise Club, and the basement bar in Prentice Alley as well as the aforementioned Bijou Theater found Bobby and Hal dancing and singing tunes like "Lady B. Good," "Let's Do the Boogie Woogie," "Lay That Pistol Down Babe," and other titles that were popular at that time. Hebb's father, William Hebb, played trombone and guitar, his mother, Ovalla Hebb, played piano and guitar, while his grandfather was a chef/cook on the Dixie Flyer, an express train on the L&N — Louisville & Nashville railroad. Brother Harold Hebb would eventually join Excello recording artists the Marigolds, documented in Jay Warner's biography of singer Johnny Bragg, the book Just Walkin' in the Rain

SUNNY
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Review

by Joe Viglione

Produced by Jerry Ross and arranged by Joe Renzetti, "Sunny" emerged from a twelve-song disc released on the Phillips label, a division of Mercury records. Although Bobby Hebb is known as "the song a day man," he only composed three of the dozen titles included on this collection. The title track, of course, which was the song of the summer of 1966, "Yes or No or Maybe Not," and "Crazy Baby." The follow-up, "A Satisfied Mind," was also a Top 40 hit that year, but it wasn't until 1971, when Lou Rawls had a Top 20 hit with "Natural Man," did Hebb get another smash. A pity, and a definite statement about the music industry when a man as prolific and talented as Robert Von Hebb constructs and delivers pop tunes with a voice and feeling that crosses genres and ethnic boundaries.

LOVE GAMES
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Review

by Joe Viglione

The voice and pen that crafted the multi-format standard "Sunny" took four years to create as exquisite an album of adult contemporary R&B as you'll find. This was recorded a full year before Lou Rawls would hit with the Bobby Hebb/Sandy Baron composition "A Natural Man," three years before Barry White would begin his reign of chart success, and two years before the O'Jays would help bring the Gamble and Huff sound to the masses.

THAT'S ALL I WANNA KNOW

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Review

by Joe Viglione

For Bobby Hebb's first album of the new millennium, executive producer Rüdiger Ladwig wanted to create something that would be unique and new to the veteran's dedicated worldwide fan base — an overview of the songwriter/performer's career, generating a different sound with European musicians. It's an effective move similar to Gordon Haskell's reinvention on the Road to Harry's Bar live DVD. Recorded in Germany the week that the Iraq War began in March of 2003, and originally titled Midnight Adventures by Hebb, the music sounds like an antidote to the troubling situation that was brewing just a few countries away. But that's the positive attribute of the masterpiece that is "Sunny," here in duet form with vocalist Astrid North, one of two duets tracked at the sessions (the second is available only on the CD single, with Pat Appleton singing in French). Producer Ladwig keeps a very controlled sound throughout the disc, his ingenuity coming from the song selection and his history as a Hebb fan. There's a remake of the lost Philips single "Bound by Love," one of the many follow-ups to the original "Sunny" (which stays close to the original), and a quite wonderful cover of the G. Love & Special Sauce nugget

MOULTY & THE BARBARIANS

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by Joe Viglione

Victor Moulton, better-known in rock circles and to record collectors as the legendary Moulty of the Barbarians, is an enigmatic figure whose appearance on the Nuggets vinyl and CD compilations only added to his mystique. The Barbarians formed on Cape Cod, MA, in the early '60s, were touted as America's Rolling Stones, and with appearances on TV's Shindig, as well as in the film The T.A.M.I. Show with the Stones, the Supremes, Lesley Gore, Chuck Berry, James Brown, and others, they could have been just that. Under the aegis of record producer/music executive Doug Morris, the band had a couple of songs to go along with their image and sound. After their 1965 release on Laurie, the album originally entitled The Barbarians (now on CD as Are You a Boy or Are You a Girl?), along with the follow-up autobiographical hit "Moulty" (included on the CD re-releases of the album debut), the group switched to Mercury to record a still unreleased album and then disbanded. The single "Moulty" was essentially Moulton in New York with members of Bob Dylan's band the Hawks, and Doug Morris at the helm again. The song was written by Morris, Eliot Greenberg, Barbara Baer, and Robert Schwartz, and was released without the consent of the band, a fact that may have led to the defection to Mercury. The Nuggets compilation hinted that it may have been some of the musicians from Levon & the Hawks performing with Moulty and, indeed, Moulton verified this in 1995 on the Boston-area program Visual Radio-Television, show number 18. The rumors of business conflict and allegations of battles with the record executive(s) over the release of the single "Moulty" only added to the legend, especially after the single charted and met with great audience response. The song was about the loss of Moulton's hand through an accident with a pipe bomb in 1959 at the age of 14, which resulted in a prosthetic hand. The metallic claw resembling Captain Hook from Peter Pan was certainly a striking image for a rebellious rock and roller, and the fact that Moulty is a truly great drummer and front man brought punk credibility to the group years after their initial fame. What was missing on the first album, though, was solid original music beyond the singles, something that changed when Moulton brought a new version of the Barbarians into Intermedia Studios on Boylston Street in Boston, circa 1973. This is the facility where Aerosmith cut "Dream On" with producer Adrian Barber and where Jonathan Edwards' "Sunshine (Go Away)" was recorded, and the five-song tape showed something that was missing on the original collector's item vinyl LP: a depth in the songwriting department. Moulton's second wife, Chris Moulton, performs piano with him on the tracks, which include a cover of Gary "U.S." Bonds' "Seven Day Weekend," as well as originals"Boogie Rock," "Only in My World," "Rock and Roll Man," and a fifth title that Moulton refuses to release for personal reasons, "Three Strange Men." "Rock and Roll Man" and "Only in My World" were released on U.S. Anthology 2/Boston Rock & Roll Anthology, Vol. 20, along with music by Harriet Schock, Third Rail, and Jonzun Crew guitarist Tony "Rock" Cownas. In 2002, Moulty has added the four above referenced tracks to his own personal copies of the Are You a Boy or Are You a Girl? album. After the early '70s recordings, sightings of Moulton and the other Barbarians were rare. During the new wave of the mid-'70s, Moulton wrote the A-side of a single for the band Cat's Ass. In an exclusive interview on March 20, 2002, Moulton told All Media Guide "The song "Mexico" was written for my friend Bruce Silver (to perform)." Silver passed away in 1999 in a freak boating accident while on vacation with his wife, and the single was one of the few appearances of a new Moulty song on record during the '70s. In the 1990s, a new version of the Barbarians began performing in New England, son Tory Moulton from his first marriage, and Eric Moulton, his son by Chris, are joined on-stage by twin brothers Ken Olson and Karl Olson. They performed at the Cape Cod Melody Tent in Hyannis in 1995, as well as at the Wonderland Ballroom in Revere, MA, circa 1996. The Wonderland Ballroom show was videotaped for Visual Radio-Television, as was the re-mastering session of the 1973 demo tape. The final gig of the reconstituted Barbarians was at the end of the '90s on the Waterfront of Plymouth, MA. Searches on the Internet bring up different compilations, including a Time/Life 20 Great Hits of the 60s package and the Rhino four-CD Nuggets box, along with the re-release of the first album on One Way and Sundazed. Interesting articles, like Jan Hoiberg's Norwegian website for the Band, can also be found, that site referencing the information regarding the "Moulty" single, the transcript of his 1995 television interview first published in the July 1998 issue of Discoveries Magazine, and other information gathered by fans. "Are You a Boy or Are You a Girl" remains influential throughout the years, whether Flo & Eddie, the former Turtles, would go into a quick rendition during their opening for Alice Cooper on the Billion Dollar Babies '70s tour or transsexual Jayne County deciding to release it on her 1995 album Let Your Backbone Flip with the Electric Chairs, giving the title question new meaning. Bands such as the Dogs have also given it a whirl, as well as Peter Wolf of the J. Geils Band in the sessions for his early-'90s third solo CD, his first on MCA, Up to No Good. That came out as the B-side of his CD single and is now highly collectible itself, more poignant when the world is reminded that the Hallucinations, Wolf's group prior to the J. Geils Band, used to open for the Barbarians. The fact that Aerosmith guitarist Brad Whitford roadied for the Barbarians just to be able to get in to see them play should say it all. On March 21, 2002, Moulton laughingly told AMG that he is "too old" to perform, but that's never true for an eternal teenager and Boston rock & roll pioneer. He drops in frequently on Ed Bowen and George Denham's Yesterday's Memories Saturday night radio program, broadcast on WATD FM in Marshfield, MA, and simulcast on the Internet at www.rockingoldies.com, and those veteran jocks, no doubt, will bring him out of retirement to add to the legend when the time is right. Victor Moulton is a rock & roll pioneer whose efforts paved the way for New England artists like the J. Geils Band, Aerosmith, the Cars, and so many others. The respect for his work among musicians is great. THE FIFTH ESTATE Wayne Wadhams biography http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:wzfpxqrgldke~T1 http://www.mp3.com/albums/30631/summary.html Review by Joe Viglione In the mid-'60s, Wayne Wadhams performed in a band called the D-Men that evolved into the Fifth Estate. They went Top 15 in 1967 with a novelty remake of the Wizard of Oz tune "Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead!." Their only hit on Jubilee Records is very misleading. This group should be as sought after as Moulty & the Barbarians. This is a very generous collection of demos: songs they wrote for the Righteous Brothers and Cilla Black, and covers of Buddy Holly's "It's So Easy''" and John Lee Hooker's "Boom Boom." This album really goes across the '60s spectrum, which makes it so fun and so unique. The rhythm tracks to "I Wanna Shout/Tomorrow Is My Turn" sound like the Ventures performing in your living room; the second portion of the song descends into a dirty "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida"-type riff. With all the cult fascination for Roky Erickson and the Chocolate Watchband, it is amazing what the 64-plus minutes on this disc reveal, and even more amazing that this music isn't as sought after as so many other bands from that era. A novelty hit, after all, hardly has the lustre of a Standells riff or ? & the Mysterians' organ passages. The unreleased 1966 single "How Can I Find the Way" sounds like Barbara Harris of the Toys. The liner notes on the back of the CD call this "A real first: the complete recorded output and memoirs of a group who recorded for four labels between 1964 and 1967." The demo for their breakthrough hit, the cover from The Wizard of Oz (as well as the hit version) is here, and when you play that next to "Love Isn't Tears Only," their demo for the Righteous Brothers, the abilities of these New Englanders comes totally into focus. It would've been perfect for the Walker Brothers or Tom Jones. The McGregor Clothes jingle is lifted carefully from Chad & Jeremy's 1964 hit "Yesterday's Gone." Murray the K even makes an appearance — a tape from his WINS-AM show recorded in 1964 appears in between songs four and six. Early work by future producers Bill Szymczyk and Phil Ramone are also included; the liner notes by Joe Tortelli are as thorough as his lengthy essay in the Delaney & Bonnie package for Rhino. The 28 tracks, featuring 26 songs, the Murray the K bit, and the clothing jingle would be a good study course in the life of a rock band who hit it big, and all their work that went in between. Wayne Wadhams is a major producer who has worked with jazz act Full Circle on Columbia, among many others. As producer David Foster emerged from the Canadian band Skylark, the history of producer Wadhams compiled here with his Fifth Estate is more than just a good study. As stated, this is a real period piece for collectors of vintage '60s music.