From: owner-exotica-digest@lists.xmission.com (exotica-digest) To: exotica-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: exotica-digest V2 #111 Reply-To: exotica-digest Sender: owner-exotica-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-exotica-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk X-No-Archive: yes exotica-digest Monday, May 18 1998 Volume 02 : Number 111 In This Digest: (exotica) Frank Sinatra (exotica) FWD: <> (exotica) Re: big 10-inch Re: (exotica) Frank Sinatra Re: (exotica) Sizes and speeds Re: (exotica) If I knew Nat was coming, I'd have baked a cake... (exotica) Re: big 10-inch Re: (exotica) Mike Love Not War Re: (exotica) Frank Sinatra Re: (exotica) James Bond Theme (exotica) FRANK SINATRA - RIP Re: (exotica) Mike Love Not War (exotica) All things to all people (exotica) Playlist for The Single Eye, May 17 (exotica) and those drinks are nice too! (exotica) Cook Laboratories (exotica) Test Exotica-mail Re: (exotica) Tretchikoff Styling... (exotica) Tiki (exotica) track list for John Zacherle: "Dinner With Drac" (bootleg CD) (exotica) New to Exotica mailing list: My Vinyl Recliner (exotica) Frankie's blues Re: (exotica) Frankie's blues Re: (exotica) Frankie's blues Re: (exotica) Frankie's blues Re: (exotica) Frankie's blues Re: (exotica) Frankie's blues Re: (exotica) Frankie's blues Re: (exotica) Frankie's blues ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 15 May 1998 19:59:30 EDT From: DJJimmyBee Subject: (exotica) Frank Sinatra Last year I read in a real black 'zine that Frank Sinatra used to walk from gigs that made his black players and roadies enter clubs from the rear..The brothers quoted said Frank was The Man when it came to racial fairness....they said he took NO shit from NO body on NO level. I only wish I could remember the (glossy) 'zine from which it came...It made me think of him on a new plane and I only hope that when I play his songs from his 50's and early-mid 6T's LPs tomorrow on the radio that it does him justice.....Jimmy/live from Bill Marlowe's Sinatra Site # Need help using (or leaving) this mailing list? # Send the command "info exotica" to majordomo@lists.xmission.com. # To post, email exotica@lists.xmission.com; replies go to original sender. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 15 May 1998 16:19:25 -1000 From: sfunk@pop.adn.com (Stephen Funk) Subject: (exotica) FWD: <> >Here's a mild flirtation with whimsy, if it might be allowed on a >sorrowful day. > >****** > >Frank: How did all these people get into my room? > >Dino: This ain't yer room, pallie, this is the afterlife...heaven...the whole >pearly-gates thing...you know, "The Apple." > >Frank: "...and all that mother jazz!" > >Dino: Hey, you ain't lost your step, daddy. > >Frank: Where the hell is Sam? > >Dino: You got that right. > >Sammy: Hey! Hey! Talking about me as if I was sent to that "devil" >hangout. That >ain't right. > >Frank: (goosing Sammy) Sure, it ain't right, booby, but what can a person do >around these parts to raise fun? You remember _fun_, right, Sam? Hell, you >done wrote the book.... > >Sammy: By the way, Frank, forget about that "devil worship" thing... > >Dino: "Devil worship?" Youse means dat dose dere fingernails ain't real? I >suppose you wears "Nair" hosery, too (and, I thought it was leotards). Hey, >Frank-baby, check this-here guy's papers... > >Frank: "Frank-baby?" > >Sammy: Now, stop that! > >Frank: Boy. I sure have missed you guys. > >------------------------- >Jay Hopkins *** *** *** Steve Funk (sfunk@pop.adn.com) Anchorage, AK USA # Need help using (or leaving) this mailing list? # Send the command "info exotica" to majordomo@lists.xmission.com. # To post, email exotica@lists.xmission.com; replies go to original sender. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 15 May 1998 17:47:06 -0700 From: Eb Subject: (exotica) Re: big 10-inch I own two 10-inches released in recent times: a feces-brown promotional Butthole Surfers 10-inch (released in 1993) and Beck's oh-so-collectable "A Western Harvest Field by Moonlight" 10-inch (released in 1994). Eb # Need help using (or leaving) this mailing list? # Send the command "info exotica" to majordomo@lists.xmission.com. # To post, email exotica@lists.xmission.com; replies go to original sender. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 15 May 1998 20:28:44 -0500 From: grinderman@juno.com (Hess Jeffery) Subject: Re: (exotica) Frank Sinatra I always sing along with Frank in my car to warm up my voice before every gig in my non-exotica band. His range is "somewhat" close to mine and his songs are always easy to remember. "Old Devil Moon" is by far my ultimate-most high-fave Frank song ever!!!! Seeya Blue Eyes, Jeff Hess they put coffee in the coffee in brazil _____________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] # Need help using (or leaving) this mailing list? # Send the command "info exotica" to majordomo@lists.xmission.com. # To post, email exotica@lists.xmission.com; replies go to original sender. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 15 May 1998 23:22:18 -0400 From: "m.ace" Subject: Re: (exotica) Sizes and speeds > I have a boxed set of 6 7" 16 2/3 RPMs. It was manufactured by a > company called Highway Hi-Fi expressly for the Chrysler Corporation. Okay, I guess I'll descend into plug-ola after all. The "Highway Hi-Fi" article at my site (URL below) covers Chrysler's whole experiment with in-car turntables in detail, both the turntables (there were two generations -- one by CBS (16 2/3 rpm), one by RCA (45 rpm)) and a listing of the "Highway Hi-Fi" label records (manufactured by Columbia). Plenty of period illustrations also. m.ace ecam@voicenet.com OOK http://www.voicenet.com/~ecam/ # Need help using (or leaving) this mailing list? # Send the command "info exotica" to majordomo@lists.xmission.com. # To post, email exotica@lists.xmission.com; replies go to original sender. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 15 May 1998 19:27:40 PDT From: "Jordana Robinson" Subject: Re: (exotica) If I knew Nat was coming, I'd have baked a cake... >What is the hippest record that you found in your parent's collection, >exotica-wise? For me, it would be "Le Sacre du Savage" de Les Baxter, a 10" >LP. I wanted to reply to this before, but forgot. My mom loved to play Yma Sumac's "Voice of the Xtabay" when I was little, and seeing that in Incredibly Strange Music was what got me actively looking for exotica records. I didn't find anything too crazy in my parents' records (did find Gabor Szabo's "Jazz Raga" in my grandmother's records, later) but they do have a _lot_ of Sergio Mendes (which I love) and Herb Alpert (which I'm indifferent about) which is probably why I lean towards the ez stuff. Wait, I did find an Arthur Lyman "Taboo" and Martin Denny "Quiet Village," which I don't listen to very often, but it's nice to have them in almost mint condition (my parents are very good about that sort of thing). Jordana Robinson eero67@geocities.com www.geocities.com/SoHo/2157 ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com # Need help using (or leaving) this mailing list? # Send the command "info exotica" to majordomo@lists.xmission.com. # To post, email exotica@lists.xmission.com; replies go to original sender. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 15 May 1998 19:35:54 PDT From: "Jordana Robinson" Subject: (exotica) Re: big 10-inch I took a triple 10-inch from the radio station while I worked there. It was by someone called Triplefastaction, I think. Boring alternative-type stuff, and not exotic at all, but someone asked about "clever" 10-inch sets... ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com # Need help using (or leaving) this mailing list? # Send the command "info exotica" to majordomo@lists.xmission.com. # To post, email exotica@lists.xmission.com; replies go to original sender. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 16 May 1998 12:13:51 +0100 From: MUV96TBD@Student2.lu.se (Kenny Brockelstein) Subject: Re: (exotica) Mike Love Not War >The Beach Boys have certainly done their share of exotica, a great >example is Diamond Head on the Friends album. They have some *very* weiiiird Hawaiian stuff on Smiley Smile as well - a lot of the marimba stuff from Smile sounds suspiciously inspired by Martin Denny and Les Baxter, and the "doing doing doing" vocals on Cabin Essence must be a tribute to Esquivel! A lot of the percussion tracks are remarkably Quiet Village-ish too. I think what people consider to be BB's best music *is* very very exotica-ish. Sure, they didn't go with the exotica 'image' but the actual music is true exotica IMO. >Is any one here on the Beach Boy mailing list. If so what is it like? As if by some bizarre cosmical coincidence, I signed on to the Pet Sounds mailinglist yesterday! Actually, there's two lists, one 'closed' and one 'open' and I joined the latter one. For every BB-fan, the list is a must although there's some (it's inevitable I suppose) messages along the lines of "Mike is and stupid egominded idiot" which frankly can be quite tireing to read after a while. Those posts are thankfully in a minority, though. It's a pretty serious list. There's A LOT of messages/day (a lot more than on this list) so I recommend people to subscribe to the digest as opposed to getting the messages one by one. Fellow exotica-listee Gloria has signed on now too I believe, haven't heard from her yet but I gave her the sub-info atleast which is: A message to: Majordomo@landlocked.wcbe.org Write in the body: subscribe petsounds-digest Alright, I'll see atleast you there, Chuck! Kenny Brockelstein # Need help using (or leaving) this mailing list? # Send the command "info exotica" to majordomo@lists.xmission.com. # To post, email exotica@lists.xmission.com; replies go to original sender. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 16 May 1998 09:50:58 -0400 From: itsvern@ibm.net Subject: Re: (exotica) Frank Sinatra >=20 > Last year I read in a real black 'zine that Frank Sinatra used to walk = from > gigs that made his black players and roadies enter clubs from the rear.= .The > brothers quoted said Frank was The Man when it came to racial fairness.= ...they > said he took NO shit from NO body on NO level.=20 Here are two excerpts from various Washington Post articles "There were more serious controversies. In 1981 and 1983, in defiance of a United Nations cultural boycott protesting South Africa's apartheid policies, Sinatra gave several concerts in Sun City in the black homeland of Bophuthatswana. He was criticized for insensitivity to the aspirations of oppressed blacks, a curious turnabout for someone who had championed Nat King=20 Cole's and Sammy Davis's right to have homes in white Hollywood neighborhoods =96=20 and who once slugged a Southerner for refusing to serve a black musician." and fnally this one "Sinatra believed in God. But death, which he called the Big Casino, left him speechless. For days, Sinatra couldn't talk after the death of his mother, killed when the plane he hired for her crashed into a mountain. On the phone with a dying Sammy Davis Jr., the two old friends simply held onto their receivers, grieving beyond words.=20 He thought you should live every moment as it if were your last, that too much thinking wasn't good for a man. He fought, really fought, for his privacy, but he hated being alone. Anything but boredom, especially after hours.=20 ``You only live once,'' he liked to say, ``and the way I live once is enough.'' # Need help using (or leaving) this mailing list? # Send the command "info exotica" to majordomo@lists.xmission.com. # To post, email exotica@lists.xmission.com; replies go to original sender. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 16 May 1998 11:32:04 EDT From: LTepedino Subject: Re: (exotica) James Bond Theme In a message dated 98-05-06 09:24:48 EDT, peter_risser@cinfin.com writes: << There's been some debate over on the Zorn list about who wrote the James Bond theme. Barry claims it's his, but it seems it was credited to some other guy (I forget the name). Does anyone here know the real deal? >> Sorry for the delayed response I haven't been checking my e mail over thelast couple of weeks! The "James Bond Theme" was actually written by John Barry. The story goes that Monty Norman was hired to do the soundtrack to "Dr. No" and the producers asked him to write a secret agent theme for the opening credits. Norman basically expanded upon his already written "Underneath The Mango Tree" which the producers found supremely underwhelming. The producers had taken quick a liking to records by the John Barry Seven and they enlisted Barry to come up with the theme (the track that drew their attention was "Bees Knees" which appears on the CD John Barry The EMI Years Vol 1 - and they asked Barry to write something similar to that composition). As Monty Norman was contractually the composer for the film Barry was hired under a "work for hire arrangement" (i.e. a flat fee) and was told he would not be credited as per the producers contract with Monty Norman. What was Barry paid? Approximately $300!!!! That song has earned millions in royalties for Monty Norman throughout the years. It is more out of stubborn embarrassment that Norman insists that he wrote it. Barry naturally regards this as perhaps the best abnd the worst business decision of his career - the worst for the payment arrangement, the best - because of the career in film music that it lead to, which he always wanted. Perhaps the best answer to the argument comes form Barry who said that if Monty Norman did write the theme as he said he did why didn't the producers ask Norman to compose the subsaquent James Bond films!! By the way you can hear the original (in stereo) John Barry Seven's pre-Dr, No soundtrack version of "The James Bond Theme" on the CD John Barry The EMI Years Vol 3 - which many consider to be the best version of the composition ever recorded. Ashley # Need help using (or leaving) this mailing list? # Send the command "info exotica" to majordomo@lists.xmission.com. # To post, email exotica@lists.xmission.com; replies go to original sender. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 16 May 1998 10:39:39 +0000 From: the_curator Subject: (exotica) FRANK SINATRA - RIP =46olks some of you will be interested in this, i imagine >X-Sender: number9@pop3.demon.co.uk >Mime-Version: 1.0 >Date: Fri, 15 May 1998 20:52:01 +0100 >To: frank@number9.demon.co.uk >From: Tony Morley >Subject: FRANK SINATRA - RIP > > You are invited to join us at: > > > DONE SWINGIN' > ^^^^^^^^^^^^ > > A wake for the 20th Century's greatest vocalist and > legendary rabble rouser. How He would have wanted it. > > An appreciation of the life and work of: > > > FRANCIS ALBERT SINATRA > 1916 - 1998 > > > music film liquor > > > your hosts: Tony Morley, Simon Hopkins, Niall McGinley > > date: FRIDAY MAY 22nd > venue: ICA Bar, The Mall, London, SW1 > doors: 9pm - 1am > entry: =A34/=A33 concs. > dress code: rat pack/black tie > drink code: scotch straight up/vodka martini > more info: 0171 228 6616 > > > PLEASE CIRCULATE THIS E-MAIL TO ANYONE THAT CARES... > # Need help using (or leaving) this mailing list? # Send the command "info exotica" to majordomo@lists.xmission.com. # To post, email exotica@lists.xmission.com; replies go to original sender. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 16 May 1998 10:39:27 EDT From: Stilgloria Subject: Re: (exotica) Mike Love Not War In a message dated 5/16/98 2:15:02 AM, MUV96TBD@Student2.lu.se writes: <> Yes, I signed on and you hear instantly if you succeeded. I have gotten three digests already. I've been a Beach Boy fan since 1962. Gloria # Need help using (or leaving) this mailing list? # Send the command "info exotica" to majordomo@lists.xmission.com. # To post, email exotica@lists.xmission.com; replies go to original sender. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 16 May 1998 15:57:30 -0400 From: Nat Kone Subject: (exotica) All things to all people So let me get this straight. He WAS music. He embodied ALL music. People could never say NO to him. Especially the little people. If he said "dance", you'd dance. Four hours later, you'd still be dancing, too afraid to stop. He was the MOST important, the GREATEST. He was EVERYTHING. He was the 20th Century. "Duets" beat out Pearl Jam on the charts. He still had it, baby. He never recorded "Something Stupid". He never recorded anything stupid. Okay, just checking. Nat # Need help using (or leaving) this mailing list? # Send the command "info exotica" to majordomo@lists.xmission.com. # To post, email exotica@lists.xmission.com; replies go to original sender. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 May 1998 02:10:48 -0400 From: cheryls Subject: (exotica) Playlist for The Single Eye, May 17 "The Single Eye" can be heard every Sunday at 4pm on CKUT 90.3 FM in Montreal, Canada, and is hosted by Brian and Cheryl. Comments & questions welcome. May 17 - Part 2 of our feature on the 15th International Festival Musique Actuelle at Victoriaville (FIMAV) - acts we'd like to see at the Festival - some will be appearing, some have appeared, and some...? Sukia: Dream Machine "Contacto Espacial con el Tercer Sexo" Holger Hiller: Abacus; Koniginnen "As Is" The Ex and Tom Cora: Hidegen Fujnak A Szelek "Scrabbling At The Lock" Lounge Lizards: No Pain For Cakes "Live In Berlin 1991 Volume 1" The Bad Examples: Krimi "The River The Night The Moon Temptation And You" Stock, Hausen and Walkman: Soil; Birthday Suit "Dummy Run" Solid Eye: Flu Season Waltz "Electromagnetic Field And Stream Of Consciousness" Laurent Pernice: Le Cheval De Mer "Sept Autres Creatures" Negativland: Pip Digs Pep "Free" Durutti Column: Sketch for Dawn "Domo Arigato" cheryls@dsuper.net brian@phyres.lan.mcgill.ca # Need help using (or leaving) this mailing list? # Send the command "info exotica" to majordomo@lists.xmission.com. # To post, email exotica@lists.xmission.com; replies go to original sender. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 May 1998 03:20:40 PDT From: "Magnus Sandberg" Subject: (exotica) and those drinks are nice too! I have Robert Drasnins "Voodoo!" at work and listen to it often, without getting tired of it. Lovely exotica.. Today I found an interview with Drasnin at the Dionysus homepage. It may have been up a long time, and maybe you all know about it... I dont know... but here is the URL: http://www.indieweb.com/dionysus/bacchus/drasnin.html - -- Drasnin on the current exotica revival: "I have nothing against it. I guess it's just a natural response to these hectic times. You know, just kick-back, relax, and put on a Hawaiian shirt." Drasnin is also quick to add "and those drinks are nice too!" - --- And you must all buy Dionysios Chaino CD. (Even if your fortunate to have the original LPs.) The tracks from Africana is amazing! Ama-a-a-a-z-z-z-ing! - -- Magnus ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com # Need help using (or leaving) this mailing list? # Send the command "info exotica" to majordomo@lists.xmission.com. # To post, email exotica@lists.xmission.com; replies go to original sender. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 May 1998 06:49:27 -0500 (CDT) From: mimim@texas.net (Mimi Mayer) Subject: (exotica) Cook Laboratories Mark Renwick wrote: >Emory Cook produced some of the first LPs with very wide frequency >response in the early fifties. Most of his catalog was classical music. > So were the cat fights he captured on "Cook's Tour of Stereo" Cook's salute to Stockhausen and the 12-tone boys? Thanks for the info, Mark. Love the idea of Emory Cook as mad scientist of stereo. Mimi # Need help using (or leaving) this mailing list? # Send the command "info exotica" to majordomo@lists.xmission.com. # To post, email exotica@lists.xmission.com; replies go to original sender. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 17 May 1998 09:38:09 -0400 From: Kerry Byrnes Subject: (exotica) Test Exotica-mail Test to see if messages to Exotica discussion group going through. Thankss, Kerry # Need help using (or leaving) this mailing list? # Send the command "info exotica" to majordomo@lists.xmission.com. # To post, email exotica@lists.xmission.com; replies go to original sender. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 May 1998 08:20:53 -0700 From: "Carl Russo" Subject: Re: (exotica) Tretchikoff Styling... - -----Original Message----- From: Peter Hipwell To: exotica@xmission.com Date: Thursday, May 14, 1998 5:13 AM Subject: (exotica) Tretchikoff Styling... Re that ubiquitous painting: >> I happened to flip past the terrible Joe Pesci >> film "Jimmy Hollywood" the other night, and what was hanging on his >> apartment wall...? Yup, the one from the first Sound Gallery CD, I >> think. >Dozens of people will be thrilled to know that you can also see it in >the background in the models' flat in "Carry On Loving", in its native >context and era. It also pops up in the Peter Cooke/Dudley Moore comedy BEDAZZLED and an episode of MONTY PYTHON. C. "Ratso" Russo # Need help using (or leaving) this mailing list? # Send the command "info exotica" to majordomo@lists.xmission.com. # To post, email exotica@lists.xmission.com; replies go to original sender. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 May 1998 14:09:01 -0400 From: "Rajnai, Charles, NPG NNAD" Subject: (exotica) Tiki in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.... Another tasty LA location was the evocative Bahooka Ribs & Grog in the San Gabriel Valley town of Rosemead, featuring classic, extraordinary "tiki bar" decor that was little altered for the film. surfing the chaos, Charlieman # Need help using (or leaving) this mailing list? # Send the command "info exotica" to majordomo@lists.xmission.com. # To post, email exotica@lists.xmission.com; replies go to original sender. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 May 1998 16:19:38 +0200 From: Johan Dada Vis Subject: (exotica) track list for John Zacherle: "Dinner With Drac" (bootleg CD) John Zacherle: "Dinner With Drac" CD, Transylvania 6-5000 (bootleg), USA, 1997, available from Norton: "http://members.aol.com/nortonrec/norton.html" Dinner with Drac Come with me to Transylvania Pistol Stomp Ghoul view commercial Dummy Doll Happy Halloween Let's twist again I was a teenage Caveman Hello Dolly A tisket, a casket Surfboard 109 Coolest little monster Clementine Hurry, Bury Baby Zacherie for president Little red Riding Hood Limb from Limbo Rock The spider and the fly A wicked thought Igor Spiderman Lullabye # Need help using (or leaving) this mailing list? # Send the command "info exotica" to majordomo@lists.xmission.com. # To post, email exotica@lists.xmission.com; replies go to original sender. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 May 98 15:39:54 -0500 From: recliner Subject: (exotica) New to Exotica mailing list: My Vinyl Recliner Hello there, I've just recently signed up to this mailing list and I'd like to take this opportunity to introduce myself. Although I'm a newbie to the Internet I am just the opposite in the Exotica/Lounge/Easy Listening world. I've been a 50's and 60's easy listening LP collector for about ten years now and for about eight of those years I've had the pleasure of doing a weekly radio program centered around this music. My program is called My Vinyl Recliner. If you ever find yourself in the greater Portland, Maine area on a Tuesday night be sure to tune into WMPG 90.9fm Most weeks I'll feature some special topic, for instance last week I did a Burt Bacharach Birthday tribute (featuring 10 versions of the Look of Love). and tomorrow night, 5/19, I'll be doing a show called My Vinyl T-Bone featuring Buddy Morrow, Si Zentner, Kai Winding and other trombonists from the Vinyl Recliner library of almost 2,000 lps. Also,I usually prepare my schedule months in advance so, if there is any interest in this shedule let me know and I will post it. I pride myself on coining the term Vinyl Recliner Music (or just recliner music for short) to describe this kind of music and I encourage others to use it to as well as another term of mine "in-seam" music, which I will describe in detail in a future posting. If any one would like to read a history of My Vinyl Recliner and its origins from a booklet I published last fall please e-mail and I'll send an e-mail version of it to you. Any questions? Finally let me say that I look forward to all of your enthusiastic postings and letters. Frank MY VINYL RECLINER---MUSIC FROM THE IN-SEAM OF THE 50'S AND 60'S # Need help using (or leaving) this mailing list? # Send the command "info exotica" to majordomo@lists.xmission.com. # To post, email exotica@lists.xmission.com; replies go to original sender. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 May 1998 16:13:08 -0400 From: Nat Kone Subject: (exotica) Frankie's blues I don't quite how to ask this but I've been thinking about something ever since the tributes starting pouring in for the Chairman of the Board. When I was younger, I could never associate "the blues" - as I was introduced to it - with a lot of other music that people called blues. I couldn't make a connection between the Chicago blues, delta blues, country blues that seemed to influence the Stones, Yardbirds, Mayall, Canned Heat etc with this more sophisticated thing that people also called blues. I'm sure somebody this past weekend must have reiterated this idea that Sinatra was also a "blues singer". After all, if he embodied all American music, he must have been a blues singer. And I guess I can sort of see a connection between him and Billie Holiday. And maybe she was a JAZZ singer but wouldn't somebody call her a blues singer too? On the other hand, there's the Sinatra that I grew up with, the one who railed against rock music, and who when he did start to "cover" rock songs, chose the LEAST bluesy material. Then there's the idea that rock music was an extension of the blues. And I don't think anyone ever called Frank a "RHYTHM and blues" singer. Then also somewhere there in my thought process are those stories about Frank, the anti-racist, the friend to the black man, who broke the color barrier here and there, most notably in Las Vegas. On the other hand, if you were going to see a black singer in Vegas, it wasn't going to be Muddy Waters or Lonnie Johnson. I can't quite connect these thoughts but I think there is a connection. When I was a teenager in the sixties, I remember one friend who hated rock music and loved Sinatra. I just thought he was hopeless. Fairly recently I started hearing Frank's 50's material and I was surprised that there was ANYTHING there to love. I even started to like it and to let some of that deep anti-Frank prejudice to slip. Now I give him his due or what I think is due him but I still have this nagging "rock is blues and he hated rock" thing to contend with. Anyone? Nat # Need help using (or leaving) this mailing list? # Send the command "info exotica" to majordomo@lists.xmission.com. # To post, email exotica@lists.xmission.com; replies go to original sender. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 May 1998 12:43:38 -1000 From: sfunk@pop.adn.com (Stephen Funk) Subject: Re: (exotica) Frankie's blues >I don't quite how to ask this but I've been thinking about something ever >since the tributes starting pouring in for the Chairman of the Board. >I can't quite connect these thoughts but I think there is a connection. >When I was a teenager in the sixties, I remember one friend who hated rock >music and loved Sinatra. I just thought he was hopeless. >Fairly recently I started hearing Frank's 50's material and I was surprised >that there was ANYTHING there to love. I even started to like it and to >let some of that deep anti-Frank prejudice to slip. >Now I give him his due or what I think is due him but I still have this >nagging "rock is blues and he hated rock" thing to contend with. Anyone? > >Nat The Frank Sinatra vs. Rock Music question is a tricky one, there don't seem to be any clear-cut answers. Sinatra hated rock music? He made some statements to this effect, like "Whatever it is I hope they find a cure for it", and so forth. Yet, listen to "That's Life"... if that ain't blues, I don't know what is. Then you have the 1968 TV special, "F.A.S. Does His Thing" where he features and even sings along with The Fifth Dimension. A few of his singles from the Capitol years (the more forgettable ones) are clearly aimed at the "twisin'" pop jukebox market. And of course, the controversial but undeniably chart-topping Duets projects where Frank gave the go-ahead to having rockers overdub their parts over his aging voice. Personally, I think Sinatra was conflicted between the "Great American Songbook" that he truly loved and could sell records with up to the 60s (Porter, Berlin, Cahn/VanHeusen, etc.) and wanting to stay current and popular with the young, record-buying public from the mid 60s on. Sometimes the results could be disasterous (the "Night & Day" disco single from 1977, for example. Or "Bad, Bad LeRoy Brown", "Mrs. Robinson", etc.) Sometimes he'd score a cross-over hit ("Strangers In The Night", "That's Life", "Somethin' Stupid" w/Nancy). Some of the new stuff he truly seemed to adore... he was clearly infatuated with the song "Goin' Out of My Head" throughout the late 60s. He was enamored with George Harrison's "Something" to the point of recording several different arrangements and performing it countless number of times live from 1970 throughout the 80s, referring to it as "one of the greatest love songs ever written" and so forth. Like you mentioned, he also tried to find new songwriters outside the "rock" world for new material (John Denver, Paul Anka, Joe Raposo, Michel Legrand) that he could relate to. He didn't seem content to simply rest on his laurels by becoming the "Grand Old Statesman of Classic American Song". Whatever the case, at least throughout the 70s, he'd always throw in some of those "contemporary hits" in his concerts "for the kids", as he put it. Anyway, I sure haven't answered the question but those are some of my own rambling thoughts on the subject. *** *** *** Steve Funk (sfunk@pop.adn.com) Anchorage, AK USA # Need help using (or leaving) this mailing list? # Send the command "info exotica" to majordomo@lists.xmission.com. # To post, email exotica@lists.xmission.com; replies go to original sender. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 May 1998 14:30:55 +0000 From: Ron Grandia Subject: Re: (exotica) Frankie's blues > >Now I give him his due or what I think is due him but I still have this > >nagging "rock is blues and he hated rock" thing to contend with. Anyone? > > No conclusions here, but I will add that the film snippet of Elvis singing with Frank on one of his TV specials was interesting to watch. There was tension AND admiration between the two behemoth egocentrists/entertainers. It was a fascinating interplay wherein Frank would sing a piece of one of Elvis's hits, and Elvis would answer back with a chunk of a Sinatra standard (I remember Presley interpreting "Witchcraft.") The arrangement (Billy May?) was pretty cool in itself. They worked off of each other amazingly well and both had a sense of the irony of the situation and had a great time with it...It seems as both were suprised that they were actually enjoying themselves. # Need help using (or leaving) this mailing list? # Send the command "info exotica" to majordomo@lists.xmission.com. # To post, email exotica@lists.xmission.com; replies go to original sender. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 May 1998 23:36:55 +0200 From: Nicolas Reichelt Subject: Re: (exotica) Frankie's blues Until I became rather old myself the music of Frank Sinatra and the like always was just "old people's music" to me. And I think I shouldn't consider him important only because he is so famous. Did he write his own songs at all? Did he at least write the lyrics? I don't think he's very exotic despite the fact he had some very few exotica related songs. Actually I read a lot of ugly Mafia-stories about him, but I can't tell wether they are true or not. But the thing I hate the most is when somebody else sings "I did it myself" (except of Sid Vicious). But I must say, when I heard him playing live in Hamburg some 7 or so years ago, he had a damn good sound. The 21 members orchestra he had was conducted by his brother and they were really good. A woman came to the front of the stage and gave a bouquet of flowers to Sinatra. He drew a handkerchief from his pocket and gave it to her in return. Later another woman came with flowers and he had another handkerchief. And so on. In the end he had given away about 10 handkerchiefs. That was really professional. MO # Need help using (or leaving) this mailing list? # Send the command "info exotica" to majordomo@lists.xmission.com. # To post, email exotica@lists.xmission.com; replies go to original sender. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 May 1998 23:49:25 +0200 From: Nicolas Reichelt Subject: Re: (exotica) Frankie's blues THIS IS THE RIGHT VERSION OF THIS MESSAGE. DELETE THE OTHER ONE. Until I became rather old myself the music of Frank Sinatra and the like always was just "old people's music" to me. And I think I shouldn't consider him important only because he is so famous. Did he write his own songs at all? Did he at least write the lyrics? I don't think he's very exotic despite the fact he had some very few exotica related songs. Actually I read a lot of ugly Mafia-stories about him, but I can't tell wether they are true or not. But the thing I hate the most is when somebody else sings "I did it my way" (except of Sid Vicious). But I must say, when I heard him playing live in Hamburg some 7 or so years ago, he had a damn good sound. The 21 members orchestra he had was conducted by his brother and they were really good. A woman came to the front of the stage and gave a bouquet of flowers to Sinatra. He drew a handkerchief from his pocket and gave it to her in return. Later another woman came with flowers and he had another handkerchief. And so on. In the end he had given away about 10 handkerchiefs. That was really professional. MO # Need help using (or leaving) this mailing list? # Send the command "info exotica" to majordomo@lists.xmission.com. # To post, email exotica@lists.xmission.com; replies go to original sender. # Need help using (or leaving) this mailing list? # Send the command "info exotica" to majordomo@lists.xmission.com. # To post, email exotica@lists.xmission.com; replies go to original sender. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 May 1998 15:55:39 -0700 (PDT) From: tosh@loop.com (Tosh) Subject: Re: (exotica) Frankie's blues Sinatra was a product of his generation. Which mostly hated rock - especially in the Sixties. He probably felt threatened by Elvis, and totally couldn't get into someone like Johnnie Ray - who replaced him as a teen idol. Sinatra was a great POP singer. He sort of took a little bit of the blues, a little bit of jazz, and actually his recordings (especially his ballads) were very bluesy. His talent was to 'characterize' the song. He sort of filtered this great material (Porter, Berlin, etc.) and rearranged it to suit his purpose or style. I don't know if he was a bop fan or not. I think he liked Charlie Parker, but I could be wrong. Also he may have been the first one to make an album that is a concept record. The Capital sides were very much 'novel' like than 'short story.' Meaning the record was meant to be played as a whole and not just a bunch of singles stuck together as an album. I think he was the first great 'album' artist. Paul Moshay (who is on the list) probably can explain the essence of Sinatra's art. - ----------------- Tosh Berman TamTam Books - ---------------- # Need help using (or leaving) this mailing list? # Send the command "info exotica" to majordomo@lists.xmission.com. # To post, email exotica@lists.xmission.com; replies go to original sender. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 May 1998 16:19:32 -0800 From: "mighty recording corp." Subject: Re: (exotica) Frankie's blues >Paul Moshay (who is on the list) probably can explain the essence of >Sinatra's art. =============== i believe you provided us with a fine start, tosh. thank you for the compliment. as for the essence of his art, well that seems a topic larger than i can tackle now. wish i were able to though. i will share though, that i did drive over to the Sinatra residence in beverly hills on friday evening... and lingered about the sidewalk with the other mourners for a couple hours. i didnt feel any better about Frank's passing for it, but i'm somehow i'm glad i went. this world feels much smaller now, without Frank in it. paul moshay mighty recording corp. p.o. bx. 1833 los angeles, calif. 90078 (213) 851-5557, (213) 851-1551 fx new 'reply to' email now: mighty65@pacbell.net coming soon: http://www.mightyrecords.com # Need help using (or leaving) this mailing list? # Send the command "info exotica" to majordomo@lists.xmission.com. # To post, email exotica@lists.xmission.com; replies go to original sender. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 May 1998 23:54:55 EDT From: Jbtwist Subject: Re: (exotica) Frankie's blues His nick says it all - "The Voice" And till i read all the recent tributes, I'd never consciously noticed his poifect diction, that made the words of so many the century's great songwriters flow so seamlessly over the sounds of so many great arrangers and musicians in the wee small hours of the morning...... So many legends are flawed: Babe Ruth, Elvis, Marilyn, Hendrix, Janis, Jerry........aren't we all human ? Is there anything more hauntingly, achingly sad and beautiful than the sound of a breaking heart ? Has anyone ever sung this sound to more people and with more meaning than Francis Albert ? JB # Need help using (or leaving) this mailing list? # Send the command "info exotica" to majordomo@lists.xmission.com. # To post, email exotica@lists.xmission.com; replies go to original sender. ------------------------------ End of exotica-digest V2 #111 *****************************