The Shaggs: The Best Worst Band You Never Heard

If you are searching for new books to supplment your reading list here are five novels which everybody should read. I drive across the block – twice. That somebody appreciates the efforts you’ve been making.

Did You Enjoy My Lens?. DVD guitar lessons provide us with the opportunity to see professional guitar players show us how it’s done plus many DVD lessons feature extreme close-ups of the teacher’s right and left hands so we could get every little movement involved in picking, hammering and chord changing. Both of these DVDs impart information and instruction that could not be passed on through the written word alone. Dick – This dystopian novel is set in Orange County, California and describes the drug culture and life of your group of drug users. In other words, 48Kbps AAC+ is add up to 80 Kbps MP.

Sliders, knobs furthermore to buttons though crowded are inside a position. People that always follow this particular guideline, will easily learn that they develop an even more satisfying artistic sense by doing this. The particular BCD3000’s primary bad thing is actually it’s little size however , one genuinely can’t assume perfection.

Here we have the first of three collections of videos focused about the Spider Jam Guitar Amp use as a Practice Amp, each collection focused on a particular style of Guitaring. Many critics are not afraid to say that a vinyl gets the type of rich and full sound that no laser read disc could ever compete with. However, a quantity of the charm was gone.

It is definitely important to take into account that a person should do not be afraid to obtain up and dance when they are enjoying a song. Both of these DVDs impart information and instruction that cannot be passed on from the written word alone. Some critics the same about cassettes.

Beginner acoustic guitar playing isn’t easiest thing to learn but tend to be immensely rewarding. Hopefully, with this particular article, I’ve managed to give some useful information to anyone considering learning the guitar, or picking up again. Hopefully, using this article, I’ve was able to give some useful information to anyone considering learning the guitar, or picking it again. It was heavy, substantial and moulded out of creative endeavour and artistic insight. ——————————————————.

Why I Swapped My Ipad for A Painting

Learn how To Mix for Beginner DJs. I, Robot by Isaac Asimov – The first collection of Asimov’s fantastic robot short stories which are all tied together using a common theme. A guitar tutor book contains lessons but it can’t show you how you can support the guitar or how you can move your hand and arm to produce a challenging chord fingering. Please take into consideration that music is really a extremely important section of any gathering because of it’s enhancing effect.

56Kbps= AAC+ Peforms better than AAC. There are well-known guitar courses that include DVDs along with printed books. Many critics are not afraid to state that a vinyl has got the type of rich and full sound that no laser read disc could ever compete with. Responsive itching control, respectable performing Midi, impressive defeat jumping as well as convenient hook-up in your turntables (for simultaneous mp3/vinyl mixing) are relative. Are you having problems with finger placement or strumming technique? One of their online instructors, many of whom are featured in the videos, are available to aid you.

A DVD contains video of your guitarist showing his hands playing the scale, chord or song he is teaching. People that always follow this particular guideline, will easily learn they develop a far more satisfying artistic sense by doing this. Guitar lessons in books can’t give you that sort of encouragement but they are packed with additional information than any one guitar teacher can teach.

Let’s take a examine the Number 1 Combo Amp for under $500 : Line 6 Spider Jam Guitar Amplifier. At 64Kbps quality is near-CD although not CD quality! it is clear that AAC+ is perfect for limited bitrate are excellent quality can compare to every other format. And furthermore, sound is transmitted nearly instantaneously through needles whereas there’s commonly a lag with computers, particularly old computers with small rams.

The DIY spirit of The Shaggs is exactly what most indie and alternative musicians took to heart. He had arranged a second recording session, and they was able to get several songs recorded on tape. It may be 64, 96, or 128 beats long. An exploration team is distributed to Saturn but the crew soon realizes that the ship’s computer is trying to kill them. Your music will undergo analog tape mastering, CD text coding, UPC and ISRC.

The story then jumps forward to the year 1999 in which a similar device can be found about the moon, which leads to the discovery of intelligent extraterrestrial life. DVD guitar lessons give to us the opportunity see professional guitar players show us how it’s done plus many DVD lessons feature extreme close-ups of the teacher’s left and right hands so we can get every little movement involved with picking, hammering and chord changing. As you progress in your rhythm guitar playing you might test out muting strings together with your left or right hand or both, and also you might benefit by not strumming all six strings, leaving some of the music towards the lead and bass player. As you progress inside your rhythm guitar playing you might experiment with muting strings with your left or right hand or both, and also you may benefit by not strumming all six strings, leaving some of the music to the lead and bass player. ——————————————————.

AAC Vs AAC+?

Learn how To Mix for Beginner DJs. One thing that lessons having a guitar teacher can give you is the feeling that you have done a good job. In this collection we are first brought to Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics: 1 – Don’t kill people, 2 – Do what people let you know (except kill them), and 3 – Don’t destroy yourself (unless it’s to save someone). Over the past handful of years more and more DJs have converted to using computers to blend with.

The particular Traktor 3 THE software combines nicely through iTunes playlists and additionally greatly promotes stability. Dreams had become reality. “Philosophy of The World” investigates “grass-is-greener-ism” in lines such as, “And the skinny people want / What body fat people’s got / And the fat people want / What the skinny people’s got…” They sing about mom-n-dad (“Who Are Parents”); a runaway cat (“My Pal Foot Foot”); and introspection (“Why Will I Feel?”). Dorothy Wiggin, the de facto leader of the band, later asserted neither she nor her sisters ever wished to take music. I have no idea about you, but I’ve never been offered 2 weeks of free lessons with a guitar studio!.

Beginner acoustic guitar playing isn’t the easiest thing to find out but tend to be immensely rewarding. We walked through the town and back again, attempting to talk ourselves into a purchase we’re able to ill afford. It’s window dressing.

In justness, running ‘any’ equipment without looking at it’s compatibility criteria first is unquestionably frankly. *The Lead, Metal and Joe Satriani Signature Vox amPlugs all featured in the original Top List, before I removed these to provide the maximum amount of variety inside the list as possible. Many encoders for AAC will provide bitrate options from 16Kbps – 320Kbps.

The charges of mastering depend from studio to studio and also the popularity of the studio. Together they start a journey with the assistance of The Hitchhiker’s Guide. Some critics say the same about cassettes.

Delight within the disaster — listen for the title track, “Philosophy of The World”Philosophy of the World (title track from LP)The Shaggs. No doubt it will take some time prior to deciding to can achieve some level of competence to experience more songs but all you need is a strong foundation within the basics. DVD guitar lessons provide us with the chance to see professional guitar players show us how it’s done plus many DVD lessons feature extreme close-ups of the teacher’s left and right hands so we can get every little movement involved with picking, hammering and chord changing. It’s just that, on balance, I prefer the weight of the real.

Easy Guitar Lesson – 3 Easy Guitar Songs For Beginners

If you have been wondering what rhythm guitar is and the way it fits in to a band, then this informative article should help you. I drive around the block – twice. They will remove all of the pops, clicks, hiss and other noises that come in throughout the recording studios process.

In 2005, Annie Wiggin, the mother, died. The computer programs have beat counters, analytics as well as beat matching to complete all of the hard work for your DJ. Dorothy Wiggin, the de facto leader of the band, later asserted neither she nor her sisters ever wished to take music. Dorothy Wiggin, the de facto leader of the band, later declared neither she nor her sisters ever desired to be in music. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never been offered 2 weeks of free lessons with a guitar studio!.

Depending around the studio, you decide on you might have to attend the mastering session or they can even perform the mastering without your presence. Amazing Guitar Secrets has two DVDs, a CD and ten books. Most DJ music tracks also have a “break” and/or an “outro” as well.

Sliders, knobs additionally to buttons though crowded are inside a position. For an example, that’s like a 120 BPM track plus a 125 BPM track. 16Kbps = AAC+ Peforms a lot better than AAC.

Finally we possess a collection of video demos featuring the Spider Jam Guitar Amp being used for Metal Guitaring. People that always follow this particular guideline, will easily learn they develop a far more satisfying artistic sense by doing this. The Primary Mini Amp for under $50 : Danelectro N10B Honey Tone Mini Amp.

——————————————————. Hopefully, using this article, I’ve managed to give some useful information to anyone considering learning the guitar, or picking it again. The ipad by contrast was, despite its brilliance, one dimensional. The ipad in comparison was, despite its brilliance, one dimensional. The lead guitarist usually plays solo breaks or extended solos within a song and it is not bound to follow the fundamental rhythm of the song if he finds it more interesting to maneuver in and out of the rhythm.

Sing Loffe, Sing!

Mattias Svensson lets us in to the strange world of Swedish comedy-funk!

Janne ‘Loffe’ Carlsson was the drumming part of the Swedish prog-duo Hansson & Karlsson, together with Bo Hansson on organ. He decided to spell his last name with a ‘K’ probably because in his native tongue, ‘K’, ‘H’ and the common Swedish abbreviation of ‘and’ all rhyme (this should sound something like ’haw aw kaw’ if you want to try saying it yourself). At the time Loffe was considered to be one of the best drummers in Sweden and apart from being a pioneer on the Swedish progressive scene he laid down some of the funkiest drums ever recorded in Sweden on, for example, albums by Pugh and Doris. Jimi Hendrix was a big H&K fan and he recorded a cover of their song ‘Taxfree’ and well as jammed with them on his early tour of Sweden.

Today however, not many Swedes are aware of this side of Loffe – for while Bo Hansson continued on the progressive path with albums such as ‘Lord of the Rings’ and ‘Magicians Hat’, Loffe’s career would take a completely different path – one which would make him very famous in Sweden– yes, perhaps infamous even.

It all started with an acting career propelled by the rise of the world famous ‘Swedish Sin’. One of his earliest roles was in Exponerad (a.k.a Exposed, a.k.a. The Depraved) – an exploitation movie where he starred alongside world famous Swedish pinup girl (and nowadays fungi expert) Christina Lindberg. In the 70s and 80s he mainly appeared in family friendly comedies about such things as doing national service in the army or having a boat race. While Loffe got the occasional part in more serious dramas, proving he is indeed an excellent actor, he was mostly hopelessly typecast as the silly comic relief – often portraying a prankster bachelor with an anarchic disposition, bending the rules to get opportunities to indulge in parties with booze and girls.

This typecasting continued throughout his career in the 90s as he then for many years hosted Swedish televisions’ answer to You’ve Been Framed. Loffe’s career nose-dive seemed to have culminated with him doing an awful rap at the opening some big ice hockey event in Sweden’s biggest arena Globen. Now that his career had reached it lowest mark, reduced as he was as just some kind of silly national clown, Loffe did the decent thing and withdrew from the public eye and moved out to the countryside in the south of Sweden. Nowadays he spends his time painting and drumming in a small and pretty insignificant jazz and blues band, playing the occasional gig.

There was a time however when his drumming and trombone skills merged with his comedy talents. In 1975 no less than four albums with Loffes Storband (Space-Crystal-Sound) were released, apparently at the same time as they all have consecutive catalogue numbers. On these records he blended his own kind of jazz-funk with comedy songs, sometimes with funky results, sometimes with very funny results and sometimes with embarrassingly silly results. These albums were all produced by the mysterious Sandy Alexander, who also played piano and wrote several of the tracks. Apparently Canadian by origin, he got involved in this project so he could earn enough money to take him back to his native country. These albums have little in common with Hansson & Karlsson but are nevertheless an interesting part of Swedish culture in the 70s, and also have some tracks that should be of interest to Vinyl Vultures everywhere, so let’s take a look at what they have to offer.

’Loffe’s Dance Party and Fun’ (TONITON 5503)

This record is full of fake audience sounds and has Loffe shouting silly jokes between, and sometimes even during songs to the screaming and applauding delight of the audience. However, it does start off with a really good big band jazz funk original called ’Tatty Bowow’ that’s almost a bit boogalooey, and thankfully it’s free from all the interrupting and shouting too. Next up though things get worse, unless you enjoy stupid vocal comedy songs sung in Swedish – which I kind of happen to do in small doses – but most of you reading this probably won’t. Oh yeah, there’s an uninteresting tango too before the first side finishes off with a nice straight jazz version of Ellington’s ’I’m Beginning To See The Light’, which Loffe introduces by screaming that he’s been a sinner but now he’s seen the light. The flip side starts with a pretty nice and swinging jazzy instrumental version of the theme from ’Sesame Street’ and then we’re overwhelmed with vocal comedy again. On one song, during a jazz piano solo, Loffe claims that it’s Hugo Blanco playing, which is not true but it’s a nice inside joke which we Vultures probably appreciate more than the original target group for these records. For a Swedish audience, one of the comedy songs that follow is actually the most famous and well liked on this album – it’s a nice jazz funk version of the country song ’Okie from Muskogee’ with cleverly adapted lyrics to fit the more stuck up conservative side of Swedish society, obviously in an ironic way since it’s no big secret that Loffe has done his fair share of pot smoking, and still uses the herb according to the latest rumours I’ve heard. Anyway, as with the first side there’s a straight jazz song finishing off the second side too – this time the Hefti penned ’Splanky’. If you’re not from Sweden though I’d say this album is pretty much a one-tracker, that track being ’Tatty Bowow’, but well worth picking up for cheap for that reason alone.

’Loffe Goes Latin America’ (TONITON 5504)

This one has a more serious approach with no fake audience or jokes between songs and just three silly vocal numbers, the rest being instrumentals, and even those are made in a decidedly more sophisticated and jazzy style. It starts out with a good version of ’Summer Samba’ – soft, nice and with a touch of jazz, which are words that can be used to describe most of this album, which is clearly more e-z than funky but mostly very enjoyable. However, this makes the comedy numbers seem even more out of place and annoying or perhaps hilarious, depending on the listeners disposition. In fact the only funky track is one of the comedy songs, and that funk is absolutely destroyed by Loffes decision to sing a kind of duet with himself in both a deep silly voice and a high-pitched silly voice as well as laughing manically over the groove. The second comedy track is a calypso where Loffe sings and makes monkey sounds for no apparent reason, and the third one is a pretty forgettable ballad which finishes off the whole album. There’s nothing on this album that’s worth spending a lot of money on, but it’s worth picking up for cheap to hear Loffe tango, mambo and samba his way through covers such as ’Jealousy’, ’Killing Me Softly’ and ’Music to Watch Girls By’ as well as some originals with stupid titles such as ’How Mucho Hotto’. And if you understand Swedish or you’re just healthily demented, you might even like the comedy numbers – I usually burst out laughing every time I hear the song where he sings in silly voices anyway. And I haven’t even ever paid attention to the words he’s singing – his voice is too crazy for me to concentrate!

’Loffe Plays Pop and Party Hits’ (TONITON 5505)

The fake audience and silly jokes are back on this one. For example, he introduces a song about constipation by loudly telling us it’s something fun for everybody that’s had an enema, and the crowd cheers. After the song he lets us know it’s also called the ‘Fart Song’, and goes on to tell us about a guy who farted so much it created such a powerful storm at sea that they had to build a bridge over the waves. And the next tune is? A pretty standard instrumental e-z jazz version of ’Bridge Over Troubled Water’, of course. Other tracks, apart from the comedy songs, include quite faithful (though big band) versions of ’Alley Cat’ and ’Yellow Submarine’. There are two really good tracks though – one is a pretty groovy and fast-paced instrumental version of ’Sunny’, and the other is a funked up version of ’2001’, here called ’2222’ for some hilarious reason. Unless you enjoy silly dirty jokes this last track is really the main reason to pick this one up (for cheap as always, remember) as it’s really quite good with some wah-wah guitar, a funky bassline, an electric piano jazz solo and lots of horns with neatly done echo effects that makes it sound a bit trippy.

’Loffe Plays Glenn Miller’ (TONITON 5506)

This final album in the series is surprisingly entirely composed of standard versions of Glenn Miller songs. While I love Glenn Miller I prefer his original recordings so I will leave this with no further description.

There you go – a small insight into the dual personality of Janne “Loffe” Carlsson aimed at the international Vinyl Vulture who may be aware of DJ Shadow sampling his drumming on Pughs “Love Love Love” or admire his own work in H&K, but had no idea that he’s a big celebrity in Sweden for completely different reasons. Over here, it’s all about telling folk that while you like the mainstream comedy aspect what you really love about him is the serious musicianship, which usually evolves into attempts to convince your workmates or the people at that party that he really did drum behind Jimi Hendrix. I have taken for granted that’s a well known fact for most record collectors and wanted to broaden the picture a bit. Hope you liked it and can appreciate the lighter side of his career too.

Finally: Big up to M. Thunberg who used his contacts to get the info on Sandy Alexander straight from the mouth of Loffe!

The Lords of Lounge – Volume 3

Here we go again – ten new generous portions of the finest fromage for your enjoyment, fresh from the deli-counter of grooviness that is the world of lounge…

Enjoy!

Brian Bennett

For the best part of 30 years Brian Bennett lived a secret double life…in the public eye as the drummer with the balls-achingly tedious combo The Shadows, hiding behind Cliff & Hank’s perma-grins…and then afterwards retreating to the darkened corners of London’s recording studios where he metamorphosised into the composer of hundreds of hours’ worth of jazzy soundtrack and library material. A major session face with the likes of Joe Meek through the early rock years, Bennett later took the reigns as not only Cliff Richard’s musical director in his solo years, but also trudging around with the likes of Tom Jones and, God save us, Denis ‘Minder’ Waterman. Bennett’s library work is virtually unknown to the popular consciousness, yet also instantly familiar to almost everyone and eagerly sought by the determined few. See our guide to collecting British library albums for more..

His first release, which highlighted his jazzy tendencies, was ‘Change Of Direction’ (EMI, 1967). Working with his session right-hand-man Alan Hawkshaw, the album shows the depth of the work he could produce – from beaty cover-versions like ‘Sunshine Superman’ and ‘On Broadway’ to organ-driven originals ‘Slippery Jim Grize’ and ‘Tricycle’. Much of the album features the oh-so-sweet flute of Alan Skidmore and was produced by Shads Svengali Norrie Paramour.

The most desirable of Bennett’s solo releases has to be ‘The Illustrated London Noise’ (Studio2Stereo, 1969). This is no different to the other Bennett solo albums; a few great tracks, a few okay tracks and some you’d rather not play again! Top of the pile is the well-known ‘Soul Mission’ with it’s thumpin’ drums and catchy organ groove. Other Bennett originals include ‘Chameleon’ – great track… and ‘General Mojo’s Well-Laid Plan’ is a great version, worth your time. Add to this a couple of Beatles tunes performed in a swingin’ fashion and we’re home and dry.

There’s no escaping the past, and Bennett’s involvement in The Shadows has recently lead to certain titles from their voluminous back catalogue being bigged-up something rotten on dealer lists and of course, the dreaded Ebay, primarily due to the involvement of Brian’s pal Alan Hawkshaw on the organ. The first of these is ‘Shades Of Rock’ (EMI, 1970), where the band soldier on grimly through an album full of cover versions; some good, some bad, some awful, rather depending on how stupid Hank wanted to make his axe sound that day, bless him. ‘Proud Mary’ is none too bad and ‘Satisfaction’ just about emerges intact, but that’s about yer lot!

Since it has recently been reissued on CD billed as ‘Brian Bennett’s Collage’, we had better include ‘Misty’ (Studio2Stereo, 1973). By-and-large its a sedate affair, with one nice moody groover in the shape of ‘Madrid’ that dealers will have you pay well over the odds for.

More Shads action, but no Hawkshaw involvement on this one, and more’s the pity. However you might well see ‘Specs Appeal’ (EMI, 1975) going for far too much money in trendy stores due to the presence of the very pedestrian drum intro to ‘Spider Juice’. Actually, the track itself isn’t so bad really, with dear old Hank giving his axe some stick for once on a track you could easily mistake for something off a later Bennett library album…trouble is, it was Hank wot rote it!

The final bit of worthwhile Shads is with ‘Rarities’ (EMI, 1978), a compilation issued as a companion to the demise of their latest incarnation at the time…but they’d be back, and it would be even more twangy! Ooof! Let’s not dwell on those horrors, but instead focus on the pair of rather nice tracks here. The amusingly titled ‘Scotch On The Socks’ is pretty rousing stuff, with Hank coming over all Jeff Beck (60’s version). Elsewhere, you’ll also find ‘Boogatoo'; funky, yet tinged with a little too much shrill twanging for comfort…

Back to Mr. Bennett’s own stuff, and an album well worth investing in, despite its title is ‘Voyage, A Journey Into Discoid Funk’, (DJM, 1978). On the whole it’s a bit slap-bass-tastic and features Francis Monkman on synthesiser – the man who graced John Keatings’ ‘Space Experience’ albums. The exception is the majestic ‘Solstice’, which has been deservedly pillaged by samplers down the years. A slow-paced number that moves along in a very Bob James kinda way, incorporating smooth space-age synths. Unfortunately someone bought the bass player a flanger for Christmas, so throughout the rest of the tracks we are ‘treated’ to a bit too much of that new toy for anyone’s liking, thank you very much.

One Bennett album to give the body-swerve to has to be the awful ‘Rock Dreams’ (DJM, 1977): proper Shads style songs throughout we are very much afraid to say…nasty !

Claude Denjean

After studying classical music in Paris as a teenager, Denjean felt the lure of more contemporary things and he formed his own dance band and accompanied several popular French singers of the day, performers with names that mean nothing to us Brits. However, soon he struck paydirt on an international scale by arranging for Charles Aznavour. Denjean clearly built up a nice little nest-egg from all of this, as he later quit France and relocated to Canada. With the newfound freedom of not having to provide syrupy backing for tired old cabaret acts he dived headlong into the world of electronic music when he discovered the Moog synthesiser. We might not know much about the man, but his legacy is a fine one.

In fact ‘Moog’ (Phase 4, 1971) must be one of the most essential Moog-ified albums there are. The song choices look lame at first glance, but it’s the extensive use of the wibble button that really bigs this one up. Many Moog albums were produced during the 70’s with some dude just going through the motions with lackluster pop melodies. Not so here. Bright invention springs forth with great regularity and the up-tempo numbers are simply stunning. In the world of Moog, it’s really difficult to beat his takes on ‘Venus’ and ‘Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye’…They are just steaming! Easily picked up wherever cheese is sold, so shame on you if you haven’t got a copy already.

There are a couple more Moog-styled offerings from Denjean to check out, and the follow up ‘Open Circuit’ (Phase 4, 1973) is worth a dabble, though strangely commanding a higher price, yet offering substantially less. A decent run through of ‘Let’s Stay Together’ is the only highlight apart from the very, very wonderfully ‘Kiss This’, on which a mucky-sounding French bird occasionally makes just that very reasonable invitation over a big beaty backing that really cooks. Rude not to!

A few years pass before the next release, and it is clear that these were the disco years, as ‘Moods’ (Phase 4, 1977) is more than a bit ‘Fifth Of Beethoven’ in places, as a few stuffy perennial themes are approached, such as ‘My Way’ and ‘Moon River’ All is not lost, as the Moog is retained throughout, and works best on the up-tempo Latin numbers ‘Desormais’ and ‘El Cumbanchero’. Also, there is a slightly disturbing Moody Blues connection, with Denjean’s own personal homage ‘Memories Of The Moody Blues’, churning up ‘Nights In White Satin’ in epic style. Couple this with the similarity throughout with the style of Jeff Wayne’s ‘War Of The Worlds’, released the following year, which of course had Justin Hayward all over it, and you start to see the bigger picture!

Johnny Harris

Johnny Harris was a very big player in the world of Lounge, and yet all too often remained behind the scenes, but who would really want to take the blame for the likes of Englebert Humperdinck? Harris started out tooting away as a trumpeter after graduating from the Guildhall School of Music and gradually made his way up the musical ranks to that of band leader and arranger. As well as the albums featured here, you’ll find his work peppered over many TV and film soundtracks of American origin during the late 70’s and early 80’s, when Harris relocated to Hollywood, most notably perhaps being his background music for Wonder Woman! Blimey!

An early effort that will reward your bravery is the Guitar Workshop album, ‘Pop go the Classics’ (Pye, 1966). Harris takes the majority of the arrangement credits and Tony Hatch chips in with a couple of his own, as some jazzy session men like Ronnie Verrell are let lose on a few classical tunes. It works a whole lot better than you’d think, with at least a couple of beaty movers to enjoy and the odd cracking drum break hiding away in there too…G’wan, give it a whirl!

Its back to earth with a bump on ‘Plays Lionel Bart’ (UA, 1966), unless your longings for bright and breezy trots of stuff from Oliver! are overly large. The one pictured here is a 70’s reissue on the cheapie Sunset label, but we don’t advise that you lose any beauty sleep trying to track down the original…

The year 1970 was a very good ‘un for Johnny Harris. For a start he was brought in to conduct and arrange the sessions for ‘Something’ (UA, 1970) which at the time probably seemed little more than yet another Shirley Bassey album. But Harris had a plan…

He brought in a tiny combo named Heads, Hands And Feet to provide the backing, instead of the pearl-dripping orchestral extravaganza that old Dame Shirl usually busted her nuts over. This new setting did the stuff all right. The old gal belts out ‘Light My Fire’ like few others before or since, over a funky little backdrop brushed with flute and brassy stabs. Magic! Same goes for the take on ‘Spinning Wheel’. Shame is that all the other numbers, while all maintaining the same small-scale basic tracks, are smothered in a hundred million bloody violins in the prescribed manner and are thus rendered entirely useless as a result.I’ll bet this was done at record company insistence or after Mr. Harris was finished with the sessions. Bastards!

The evidence of this is contained within the grooves of Harris’ own ‘Movements’ (Warner Bros, 1970).Here we have for all to see, the very same backing tracks for ‘Light My Fire’ and ‘Something’, plus a whole albums’ worth of top groovers. Wow, you don’t see this for cheap, and rightly so. This whole album must have been laid down during the studio downtime for ‘Something’. It’s the same band all right, but boy are they let loose here. No longer tied into stodgy standards they let rip at Harris’ originals for the soundtrack of the David Hemmings movie ‘Fragments of Fear’. That number is something special indeed – slow and moody with acres of flute, keys and wah-wah guitar that stretch out for ever and ever.

It’s followed up by the most frenetic drum & bass workout there is, bar none. ‘Stepping Stones’ just rattles along for ages as instruments compete for speed and endurance. It’s like nothing else you ever did hear. This spirit is echoed over on side two where there are possibly the strangest and strongest interpretations of ‘Give Peace A Chance’ and ‘Paint It Black’ that are inexistence. This is one killer of an album. Gawd bless you Mr. Harris!

A hard act to follow indeed, but after a couple of years of so-so film themes like ‘Man In The Wilderness’ Harris returned with a very grand statement in the shape of ‘All To Bring You Morning’ (Warner Bros, 1973). The album is a tad more orchestral than its predecessor, with a couple more of his favoured Beatles-related covers that aren’t anything to write home about. The monolith around which the rest of the tracks congregate is the 14-minute title track. Blimey! It’s BIG! Split into four distinct passages, in turn gentle and fiercely beaty, it delivers in the most majestic fashion, going through everything from cop show wah guitar to laid-back funk and a rather disturbing, yet thankfully brief passage where the unmistakably shrill and whining vocals of Jon Anderson are to be heard. The Y*s connection is indeed heavy as both Steve Howe and Alan White appear throughout. Bit of a puzzle that, as they certainly didn’t need the session fee at the time. Unfortunately for us, they were probably down the corridor struggling with ‘Tales Of Topographic Oceans’, and therefore were in dire need of a bit of light relief. Bastards!

Francis Lai

Lai, poor fella, started out as Edith Piaf’s accompanist in her last days in Paris. Before long, he was moving with the French movie set and won an Oscar for the soundtrack to Claude Lelouch’s ‘A Man and A Woman’. Such luminaries as Roger Vadim and Jean-Luc Goddard were soon swarming like bees round a honey pot trying to squeeze another soundtrack smash out of him. In the end, Lai composed the music for more than one hundred films, from the saucy (‘Emmanuelle II’) to the stultifying (‘International Velvet’), but is perhaps most famous for his nauseating theme for “‘Love Story’, although these days everyone this side of the pond will recognise his sparkling Eurotrash theme ‘Saint Tropez’.

Let’s kick things off with a Lai soundtrack that delivers a lot more than you’d think. Everyone will be familiar with the breezy title theme for ‘Live For Life (UA, 1967), of which there are numerous versions here, the best being saved until the end and possessing much ooh-la-la! There’s also the beaty vocal track ‘All At Once Its Love’ that really is rather excellent and then the smashing la-la pop of ‘Zoom’ with some sweet organ and banging drums for your money. Its a happy accident that the trio of tracks that you’ll keep returning to are sequenced at the end of the LP, which saves on track skipping. Most considerate!

The hit rate rises substantially on ‘I’ll Never Forget What’s’isname’ (Decca, 1968), as it is laced with a good half-dozen little belters for your money. There’s a couple falling into each of three categories; beaty pop vocal groovers, like ‘Party Music-Show Out’ and ‘Keep it Cool'; smooth seductive slow instrumentals like ‘Boutique Music’ and ‘Meeting Susannah’, and then the real money shots; a pair of great funky numbers with ‘Radio Music’ and ‘Party Music’, which are both utterly excellent!!!

Hmmm…not exactly a great many opportunities to slip cheesy groovers into the soundtrack for a thriller that used the winter Olympics as a backdrop, but Lai still delivers an interesting, if not funky score for ‘Thirteen Days in France’ (Sonet, 1969). A good half of the cuts are ballads sung in French…not really an enticing prospect…but there are a couple of jazzy orchestral numbers to enjoy, especially the frenetic and pacey ‘Descente’. One for confirmed Lai-lovers to be honest.

As if the Olympics wasn’t bad enough, ‘Hannibal Brooks’ (UA, 1969) is a war film about an elephant…any funk to find then? You Betcha!!! Admittedly, most of the tracks have a decidedly military feel to them, but persevere and you will come across a pair of cracking beaty groovers; ‘Elephant Shake’ and ‘Lucy’s Theme’. Both have the requisite elephantine brass, but matched up with urgent drums they really do the biz!

Hello-Goodbye’ (20th Century, 1970) was one of those cheeky pan-European movies of the day, with stars from all corners being groovy on the Riviera. Inexplicably the romantic lead appears to be Michael Crawford, who shall forever remain as Frank Spencer round these parts, no matter how hard he tries to forget. Never mind, for there are a good few spanking tunes to enjoy. ‘Journey To Marseilles’ starts off slowly then fills up with Gallic funk and ‘Destination Le Havre’ is splendidly dramatic and very Roy Budd. Top of the heap has to be ‘No Need To Cry’, with a decent vocal version and a blinding instrumental take both full of freaky fuzz guitars and swinging Mademoiselles. Magnifique!

Rider in the Rain

Here’s one for the Lai connoisseur; ‘Rider on the Rain’ (Somethin’ Else, 1970) is often a very ponderous and dark offering, most likely in keeping with the film itself. Its enjoyable listening, right enough, with lost of minute-long tracks that you wish were longer, like the sitar and vibes cut ‘Theme des Voitures’ and a clutch of nice jazzy tunes too numerous to mention. There is one solitary beaty groover to be had; ‘Theme Bestial’, which again is criminally short at just over a minute…

Oh dear. Just when Lai was on a roll, he goes and coughs up a couple of duffers. Despite what you’ll be thinking, ‘Love Story’ (Paramount, 1970) does have a couple of nice tunes on it; the wistful ‘Snow Frolic’ and the equally pleasing ‘I Love You Phil’…sentiments that sound a bit ‘Eastenders’ in this day and age. Another one you’ll only want to grab for pence if you can is ‘The Legend Of Frenchie King’ (MFP, 1972), although it usually books for stupid money with the Bardot-factor weighing a heavy toll. There is only one decent track really, as you can imagine being a western its banjo-packed, but ‘Attack On The Train’ gives up the goods on its all too brief appearance.

Next up is a UK-only compilation ‘The Man & His Music’ (MFP, 1974). This serves as a showcase for an awful lot of movie theme schlock, but tips us the wink to look out for his soundtrack to ‘African Summer’ as the title track presented here is a stormer, full of saucy sax and piano.

Here we are then! At the height of her fame at the turn of the 70’s, monsieur Lai had the odious task of writing some tunes for Brigitte Bardot’s regular TV specials…poor chap! You’ll find them, along with some smashing Gainsbourg tracks and some other rather limp gear on ‘Brigitte Bardot’ (AZ, 1974). Arranged by Christian Gaubert in the most cheesy fashion, ‘Marseillaise Generique’ and ‘Saint Tropez’ are of course fantastic in ways only French la-la pop can be…nuff said!

Again featuring arrangements by Christian Gaubert, ‘The Baby Sitter’ (RCA, 1975) is something of a departure in style for Lai, as he takes on board a good dose of that ‘discoid-funk’ thing for the best tracks. Most of the tracks are drama-building orchestral pieces, but with the two tracks entitled ‘Ann’s Theme’ the Fender-Rhodes is wheeled out and the band get down and groove for a good long stretch, making this one very desirable album that doesn’t grow on trees!

Oooh La La! Naughty Sylvia Kristel sings for us on ‘Emmanuelle 2′ (WIP, 1975). Not the height of her, ahem, talents, its fair to say! This soundtrack is not one of your sleazy, funky porno efforts, oh no: it’s an altogether classier affair. Shame really. For the most part it’s a bit on the sedate side, with lingering strings and so forth. Just about the only highlight is the Moog-laden ‘Les Fantasmes D’Emmanuelle’, which is very reminiscent of one of the slower tracks from any of the John Keating ‘Space Experience’ albums. Think of space stations in docking procedure, hmmm, that must be it…

Finally, ‘Bilitis’ (Warners, 1977) is one that is most regularly seen priced up in shops with a massive ‘BREAK’ sticker on it, but can be regularly spotted for pence. Never seen the film, but from the sleeve we can take a wild guess that it concerns certain young nymphets and their ‘sexual awakenings’! Nice! There are a couple of extended late period funky cheese workouts that are up to muster, namely ‘I Need A Man’ (bet she got one !) and ‘Rainbow’ (containing the aforementioned two seconds of drums).

British Big Band Funk

The great British Big Bands of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s served as the breeding ground for many of the UK’s finest arrangers and composers. Alan Moorhouse, Johnny Keating, Laurie Johnson and Pete Moore, to name a few, all contributed arrangements to the libraries of the major British Big Bands early in their careers. Laurie Johnson started arranging for the famous Ted Heath band at the tender age of 19, trumpeter Alan Moorhouse’s work in the 1950s included playing and arranging for the Eric Winstone band, while Pete Moore started out arranging for the Ken Mackintosh band. During the 1970s, they composed some of the most outstanding and memorable examples of funk-orientated Big Band music.

(Click here to Skip to the Album list)

(Click here to Skip to the Interview with Don Lusher)

Many of the most gifted British jazz musicians also passed through the ranks of the Big Bands. Men such as Don Lusher, Duncan Lamont, Johnny Hawksworth and Kenny Baker all became key members of the major bands of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. They went on to carve out highly successful careers as world-class studio musicians, bandleaders and star soloists in their own right. Trumpeter Kenny Baker went on to lead his Baker’s Dozen group , and Don Lusher has led the Don Lusher Big Band since its inception in 1980.

The consummate professionalism and virtuoso instrumental abilities of the musicians who had honed and perfected these skills during their tenures with the Big Bands, found their services in demand throughout the world. They formed an ‘elite’ of first-call session musicians; their names turned up time and again on album sleeves that bothered to credit the members of a band or orchestra. From the 1950s onwards, they played in concerts and on recording sessions for the leading musical directors and artists from the UK and abroad. Their talents have graced the music of Henry Mancini, Roy Budd, Nelson Riddle and Lalo Schifrin, among many others.

Musicians and arrangers who had paid their dues with the Big Bands became part of the backbone of the British music industry. Their work, in one form or another, could be heard everywhere. Many of them were prolific writers of ‘library’ music. Ted Heath’s bassist, Johnny Hawksworth, contributed lots of compositions to the KPM and De Wolfe music libraries. David Lindup, who arranged for Johnny Dankworth’s band in the 1950s and 1960s, also wrote profusely for the British music libraries. These pieces were regularly used on TV, radio and in films. If you went to the cinema in the 1960s or 1970s, you would have also heard Pete Moore’s famous Pearl and Dean jingle.

A lucrative sideline for arrangers was working with popular singers of the time. Johnny Keating, (who recorded the Space Experience albums for EMI in the 1970s) was behind the short-lived career of pop singer Eden Kane in the early 1960s. Brian Fahey, who had arranged for the Eric Winstone band in the 1950s, (and wrote At The Sign Of The Swingin’ Cymbal , famously used as the signature tune for the BBC’s Pick Of The Pops show ) became Shirley Bassey’s musical director in the 1960s. He subsequently accompanied the singer on one of her world tours. Alan Moorhouse wrote Lulu’s 1969 Eurovision Song Contest entry Boom Bang-a-Bang . Arrangers were also commissioned to score films, TV series and commercials. Laurie Johnson’s scores for 1970s TV shows The New Avengers and ~QThe Professionals reveal strong traces of his roots in Big Band arranging. His music for both series expertly welds driving, brassy arrangements to the funky rhythms of that decade.

The Big Bands led by Ambrose, Geraldo, Jack Parnell and Ted Heath were among the most popular in Britain during the 1950s and 1960s. The line-ups of these bands fluctuated, tending to be interchangeable; a circle of musicians played for the various bands at different times. The bands contrasting styles also helped to distinguish the leaders from one another. Geraldo and Ambrose were known for playing music of a warm and gentle disposition, whilst the Ted Heath band favoured a more vigorous and swinging sound.

It was Heath’s band that attracted the lion’s share of the UK’s top arrangers and musicians. This, of course, played its part in making his the most famous and successful British Big Band of them all. His list of personnel from the mid 1940s to the late 1960s reads like a who’s-who of some of Britain’s finest musical talent. Among these names were – Alan Branscombe, Bill Geldard, Don Lusher, Don Rendell, George Shearing (arranger), Harry Roche, Johnny Hawksworth, Johnny Keating (arranger), Kenny Baker, Laurie Johnson (arranger), Pete Moore (arranger), Ronnie Ross, Ronnie Scott, Ronnie Verrell, Jack Parnell and Stan Tracey. All of them became major session players, bandleaders, soloists, composers and arrangers, often encompassing more than one of these roles in their careers.

While many of its arrangers composed for the music libraries, the Heath band itself recorded for the KPM music library, appearing on the company’s pre-1000 series brown-sleeved releases. Towards the end of the 1960s, the band did not record or perform as much as it had done previously. This was due in part to the failing health of its leader, and to the dominance of Rock and Roll. Sadly, this music had all but overshadowed the Big Bands in the UK and elsewhere. The arrival of television also hastened their demise. They had been very popular in ballrooms, hotels and clubs, providing a ‘golden-era’ of live entertainment. With TV sets installed in many households across the nation, people could now be entertained in their homes without the need to go out, and Big Bands suffered because of this. In 1969, Ted Heath passed away and the band ceased playing concerts all together.

During the 1970s and 1980s the majority of musicians from the Heath band played in the orchestras of conductors and arrangers like Alyn Ainsworth, Ronnie Hazlehurst and Jack Parnell’s ATV band. They were the ‘pit’ orchestras that provided the music for TV shows such as Sunday Night At The Palladium and The Royal Television Variety Show (trombonist and composer Derek Wadsworth used Jack Parnell’s ATV band in 1976 to record his scores for the Space:1999 TV series).

Many of them played on, or composed some of the best funky music to come out of the UK in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s, whether it was for library records, commercially released albums, or film and TV soundtracks. Any British film or TV score from this period that incorporated jazz elements would almost always feature the playing of ex-Ted Heath members. Ronnie Scott, for example, played the dynamic sax solo for the car chase sequence on Roy Budd’s scintillating, funky score for the 1972 UK film Fear Is The Key.

When it comes to funky Big Band music, some of them have composed classics in the genre. Pete Moore is responsible for Spiral , the funky 10-minute opus from the 1973 Pye LP of the same name by The Harry Roche Constellation, as well as the equally funky Solid Rockin’ Brass LP, recorded under his own name in 1974. A number of Pete’s funky compositions, often with a Big Band edge, were written as library music for companies like Boosey and Hawkes, De Wolfe and Rediffusion. Alongside Spiral , The Harry Roche Constellation released other funk influenced Big Band LPs during the 1970s, including Spindrift and ~QSometimes.

They all featured the talents of leading UK musicians and arrangers, such as Stan Tracey and Bill Geldard. The bands that got together to record LPs like the ones mentioned were not dedicated units that performed or toured regularly; this would more likely have been the case in previous decades. Instead, they consisted of session men who were specifically assembled to play on recording dates that would form the material for an album.

Arrangers augmented their Big Band scores in the 1970s with not only the rhythms from the funk idiom, but also the instruments. Fender Rhodes electric pianos replaced their acoustic counterparts and guitars were played through wah-wah effects pedals. The bass guitar was used instead of the double bass, while rhythm sections were expanded to feature various Latin American percussion instruments. These additions helped to keep Big Band music alive and in step with the times. They also increased the palette of sounds available to arrangers and composers.

Albums:

The following is a selection of five albums, which feature (in the opinion of this author) excellent examples of British funky Big Band music of the 1970s:

The Barry Forgie Orchestra

Artist: The Barry Forgie Orchestra

LP Title: Combustion/Big Band Sound

Label: Peer International Library

Limited Year: 1971

Track Title: Declamation

Biography: Barry Forgie worked in the 1970s as a composer and arranger. After gaining a Bachelor of Music Degree from the University of Wales he gave regular broadcasts with his own Big Band for the BBC. He wrote library music, and in this area his name is closely associated with the Peer International label. Peer LPs that feature his compositions include Combustion, Gemini, Mindbender and Zenith. He provided the arrangements for fellow Peer composer Peter Dennis?s commercially released LPs Back To The Bands and Big Band Boogie Woogie , from 1974 and 1975 respectively.

During the 1970s his other activities included being a musical associate on various Hollywood films. He has also composed a symphony based on the music of The Beatles. Barry became the conductor of the BBC Big Band in 1977, a position he holds to this day. He toured America with this band in the 1990s, participating in concerts featuring artists such as George Shearing. Through his jazz arranging and conducting he has been associated with projects involving artists such as Clark Terry and Cleo Laine.

Comments: Declamation opens with strident brass fanfares punctuated by tight drum fills, and then develops into an aggressive and funky up-tempo groove. The first part of the tune helps to set the tone for the rest of the piece, with the brass fanfares re-stated over a pounding rhythm section. An exciting and furious sax solo follows, backed up by punchy brass interjections, the groove underneath having become more fluid with the drummer now really driving the piece along. Everything comes full circle when the brass fanfares and drum fills from the beginning return to complete the piece. Barry Forgie?s Thames Eight , on the same LP, was re-recorded under the title of Big Band Extra by arranger Peter Dennis, for his commercially released Back To The Bands LP . Peter Dennis was an alias used by Dennis Berry (who founded the Berry Music and Conroy music libraries) to compose under.

Brass And Rhythms

Artist: Cy Payne / Johnny Hawksworth

LP Title: Brass And Rhythms

Label: Chappell Recorded Music Library

Year: 1974

Track Titles: Checkpoint / The Brass Funk

Biography: Cy Payne scored various British films including Murder On The Campus (1962), Crocodile Safari (1968) and I?m Not Feeling Myself Tonight (1976) alongside his work writing library music. Among his commercial LP releases is an album of children?s TV themes he recorded for the Contour label in the early 1970s. As a commercial arranger he has worked for many popular singers, doing some of the arrangements for Elton John?s 1980 Lady Samantha album. He also arranged for the 1960s/1970s Canadian rock band The Guess Who. He has written songs, sometimes collaborating with fellow composers Richard Harvey and Reg Guest. He is currently the Honorary President and musical director of the Norfolk-based Downham Market Swing band.

Comments: It sounds as if Checkpoint was written to be used as the title theme for a thriller or detective-style film of the period, featuring a memorable melody and a dramatic edge. In this respect it is quite similar to Doug Gamley?s funky title music for the 1974 British film The Beast Must Die . In spite of only lasting for 2 minutes and 46 seconds, there are plenty of excellent musical ideas packed into this short of space of time. A light, propulsive groove underpins atmospheric solos from flute and trumpet; the rich, thick chords played by the brass section further enhancing these elements. The low, ominous notes from the trombones and saxes during the introduction help to add an air of suspense and tension to the piece. Checkpoint is scored for a large band, lending the tune an expansive feel, suggesting its suitability for use as a dramatic title theme.

Biography: As a bassist, Johnny Hawksworth was a mainstay of the Ted Heath Big Band. As well as playing in the Geraldo band, he also played with smaller groups in the 1950s, notably pianist Stan Tracey?s quartet. In 1953 and 1954 he was voted best bass player by the readers of the NME. As well as his duties as a staff arranger at ABC television, he played in the backing bands for 1960s TV shows such as 6-5 Special . He was particularly active as a composer of library music, his compositions appearing on many of the early KPM 1000 series LPs. Other music libraries he has composed for include Chappell, De Wolfe and Parry. His tune Up To Date, from a 1969 De Wolfe LP, was used as the title theme for the popular 1970s TV sitcom Man About The House . Other TV themes he has written include the second theme for Thank Your Lucky Stars and the theme for the animated children?s series Roobarb And Custard . He provided the music for the first season of the classic comedy series George and Mildred and scored the British films The Penthouse (1967) and Zeta One (1969). He is also responsible for composing Thames Television?s famous Salute To Thames station ident, which was in use between 1968 and 1988. Johnny now lives In Australia, where he continues to write library music and leads a band at the Australian jazz restaurant Soup Plus.

Comments: The Brass Funk is an apt title for this piece as that is exactly what it is: a brilliantly funky, brassy piece of music. It is written in a flamboyant manner and could easily be imagined turning up as background music in a nightclub scene from a British or European movie from the 1970s. Starting with a simple bass line and some percussion, they are joined by huge, overblown brass chords and over-the-top funky drums. The incessant rhythm guitar and punchy brass accents add to the piece?s relentless, extroverted groove

The Don Lusher Collection

Artist: Don Lusher

LP Title: The Don Lusher Collection

Label: EMI (One Up)

Year: 1976

Track Title: Carnaby Chick ~CBiography: Don Lusher is a world-class trombonist and one of the most in demand and respected names on the session scene in Britain and abroad. He was born in Peterborough and began to play the trombone at the age of six, playing in his home town?s Salvation Army Band. After serving in the Army during the war he played in various Big Bands, including those of Geraldo, The Squadronaires and Jack Parnell. He then joined the Ted Heath band where he played lead trombone for nine years. Don has played for many of the worlds leading musical directors, and in the 1970s wrote library music for companies including Syd Dale?s Amphonic label. He was also chosen to front the Ted Heath Big Band when it reformed, some years after its leader?s death. He was awarded the BBC Jazz Society Musician of the Year prize in 1976. In 1980, he formed the Don Lusher Big Band, which has recorded several successful albums. During 1997 he became Professor of Trombone at the Royal Marines School of Music in Portsmouth. He currently plays lead trombone with Laurie Johnson?s London Big Band, as well as giving concerts with his own Big Band.

Comments: Carnaby Chick originally appeared on the 1971 Amphonic Big Band Sounds Of Today LP . Don also recorded it with The Harry Roche Constellation on their 1973 Sometimes LP. The version on The Don Lusher Collection is taken from his 1972 EMI LP Lusher, Lusher, Lusher . This version is funkier than the Amphonic recording featuring some lovely, fluent drumming from Alf Bigden and an agile, intricate bass line. Don initially plays the catchy melody and contributes a short, but typically excellent solo. The tempo is also faster than on the Amphonic and Harry Roche versions, creating a more buoyant feel aided by the colourful punctuations from the combination of brass and reed instruments.

Dick Doerschuck – metropolis

Artist: Dick Doerschuck

LP Title: Metropolis

Label: KPM Recorded Music Library

Year: 1975

Track Title: Grand Central

Biography: Dick Doerschuck has a degree from The American Conservatory of Music in Chicago. He lived in London in the 1970s and during this time composed for the KPM and Amphonic music libraries. His compositions for Amphonic include Nevada Sunset and Moment Of Time . He also contributed several compositions to the Flamboyant Themes Vol.5, Happy Hearts and Metropolis KPM LPs. Where The Girls Are (which he composed for the ~QHappy Hearts LP) was used as an underscore in the 1977 British film ~QAre You Being Served? – a spin-off from the popular TV series. His arrangements and music were also used in TV shows such as The Two Ronnies and Opportunity Knocks.

When the expiry of a contract he had making documentary films coincided with the end of his marriage, Dick started a new life on his own in West Hampstead. After recording seven original compositions, he sold them to Robin Phillips of KPM who published them in the company?s library. A year later Dick met Syd Dale, who invited him to contribute some scores to the Amphonic library. Dick now lives in America, in Silicon Valley, California.

Comments: Grand Central is written in a dramatic vein, and like Cy Payne?s Checkpoint , was obviously intended to be used as an underscore or theme for some type of thriller or spy film/TV series. Instead of featuring full-blown funky drums, Dick opts to use a simple, ticking hi-hat rhythm with explosive drum fills inserted in suitable places for maximum effect. Grand Central has a colourful, thrilling arrangement making great use of wah-wah guitars and a large brass section playing some exotic harmonies. There is also a marked difference in dynamics; the piece constantly alternates between sections that are light and heavy/soft and loud, making for constantly exciting listening. A powerful bass line and the panache associated with a Doerschuck arrangement helps make this a fine example of the integration of funk into the Big Band style.

Eric Winstone – ‘Plays 007′

Artist: Eric Winstone

LP Title: Eric Winstone Plays 007

Label: Avenue International

Year: 1973

Track Title: The Man With The Golden Gun

Biography: Born in 1915, Eric led a Big Band that was very popular in the 1940s and 1950s. His band featured players and arrangers such as pianist Ralph Dollimore (who also played with the Ted Heath Big Band) and Alan Moorhouse, who wrote for some of the major British music libraries during the 1970s. As well as a bandleader, Eric was also a virtuoso piano-accordionist. He was the featured artist in two half-hour musical features made by the Hammer studios in the mid 1950s – namely The Eric Winstone Band Show (1955) and Eric Winstone?s Stagecoach (1956). He also served as Southern Television?s musical director in the 1950s. In 1964 he recorded the Dr Who theme, released as a single on the Pye label with an arrangement by Syd Dale.

During the 1970s Eric recorded various LPs for the Avenue International label, some of which included arrangements and compositions by composers who worked for the Amphonic library. His Eric Winstone Plays 007 LP from 1973 was co-produced and co-arranged by Syd Dale. Eric co-wrote Opus 88 that was included on the first Amphonic library LP, also composing for the Conroy and Francis Day and Hunter recorded music libraries. Eric died in 1974.

Comments: Eric co-wrote The Man With The Golden Gun with Syd Dale to showcase how they thought the theme for this particular Bond film should sound. Syd re-recorded it and released it again a year later on the Amphonic Super Sounds Unlimited LP. A driving, funky bass line played in unison with a Fender Rhodes piano and distorted electric guitar combines with drums that play an unusual pattern. This creates a throbbing rhythmic basis for the searing melody played by the trumpet section. The dramatic arrangement is complimented by the inclusion of John Barry-style staccato brass phrases, instantly recognisable from so many of his Bond scores.

An Interview with Don Lusher

A major name within the world of Big Bands and session recording for the last five decades, Don is the ideal person to offer some fascinating insights into the UK music scene of the 1970s. During this period he composed for various recorded music libraries.

“Around this time, I also did some things for companies like Boosey and Hawkes and Josef Weinberger, but in this field, Amphonic Music was the biggest company I worked for,” he said. “One of the places Carnaby Chick was used was in a TV advert for the Sprite soft drink. The library music I wrote then is still used all over the world today and I’m still collecting royalties on it, though it was really only a small part of what I was doing at the time. I didn’t, however, get as much chance as I would have liked to compose – my work as a session musician kept me very busy”.

I asked Don if he had played on library music sessions for other composers, in addition to his own? “Oh yes, certainly. As well as Amphonic, I played on sessions for companies like KPM and Bruton. Musical directors and session men are a close-knit circle and we are all good friends, so it’s only natural that we end up playing on each other’s recordings”. On the subject of musical directors, I mentioned to Don how much I enjoyed his solos on Dutch arranger Rogier Van Otterloo’s 1976 album The French Collection, recorded in London.

“Rogier was very polite and business-like, not to mention an extremely gifted musician, and this made the sessions that produced the album a pleasure to play on,” he said.

Continuing the thread, Don added he has been a guest player with the prestigious Dutch Skymasters radio orchestra, whose repertoire includes several Van Otterloo compositions.

I told Don one of my favourite funky Big Band numbers is Pete Moore’s Spiral, written for The Harry Roche Constellation. “Pete Moore is one of those guys who knows exactly what he wants when he gets up in front of a band, and because he is so talented always achieves the results he’s after,” Don said. “Pete is still going and still writing excellent arrangements. He’s also one of the nicest guys you could wish to meet and a true gentleman”. Don played on the Harry Roche sessions that produced both the Sometimes and Spiral albums. “Doing those sessions led to me playing on a recording date with the great Johnny Mercer, as Harry’s Constellation band did an LP where we provided the musical backing for Johnny to sing some of his own songs”.

What was life like as a session musician in the 1970s?

“One time I remember I was at Chappell’s studios doing a session from 2 till 5 in the afternoon, then by 6 I was over at EMI playing on a session conducted by the musical director Johnnie Spence, for Ella Fitzgerald,” said Don. “As the musicians arrived, the studio was being re-arranged to suit a Big Band recording, as previously it had been set up for an orchestral recording. That session lasted for four hours and we were finished and out of the studio by 10pm. The session scene was in good shape at that time, and there was plenty of work to go round”.

During the same decade, Britain had an international reputation as one of the best places to record film and TV scores, owing to its wealth of gifted musicians and first class studios and engineers. As one of the country’s top instrumentalists, Don was the first choice to lead the trombone section whenever a composer came to London from overseas to record.

“I’ve played for all the major film composers that have come to the UK. Guys like Bill Conti, Henry Mancini and Michel Legrand,” he said. “Apart from their musical skill, the things they all have in common are their professional attitude, organisation and efficiency. This meant that recording sessions with them always went smoothly, and excellent results were always achieved very quickly”.

I told Don besides Mancini and Conti, Lalo Schifrin is a favourite US composer of mine, having written some superb examples of funky Big Band music. Don recalled: “The first session I played on in the states was for Lalo Schifrin, an occasion made even more memorable by the fact that I was surrounded by so many star US instrumentalists, who I of course have great admiration and respect for”.

In 1979 Don worked with the legendary Nelson Riddle on Don Lusher’s World Of Music, his hour-long spectacular for BBC television. Nelson wrote an arrangement of Here’s That Rainy Day and conducted the orchestra with Don as the featured soloist. “When I first spoke to Nelson during rehearsals about the piece, I was surprised to find that he hadn’t yet written my part! He told me not to worry and that he would write it out that night. He did so, we rehearsed it the next day, and everything turned out wonderfully”. Don added: “I think it’s pretty unlikely that you would see a music special like that on TV nowadays, because of the way television has changed over the years”.

Don told me about his approach to Big Band music in the 1970s.

“In the early 1970s I started to add the funky rhythms that had become popular to my scores. This gave the music more of a backbeat, with the accents on the second and fourth beats, rather than using the ‘swinging’ jazz rhythms that had gone before”. This highlights the forward thinking musical attitudes of Don and many of his fellow arrangers. “Ted Heath was always of the opinion that Big Band music should move with the times and stay as up to date as possible. British composers like Laurie Johnson are helping to keep the tradition going, but he also writes very modern Big Band music”.

Finally, I asked Don what his thoughts were on the future of Big Band music.

“Even though the Big Band scene has changed over the years, there are still plenty of composers coming up who are writing excellent scores for the bands,” he said. “Having said that, guys in their senior years, like Quincy Jones and Sammy Nestico, are also still writing vibrant, exciting and contemporary Big Band music”. “When I give concerts with my own band, I always make sure we offer a balanced programme. We play the standards by people such as Glen Miller, but include modern pieces with a contemporary rhythmic feel. This way, both the past and the present are included and it helps to keep the music alive”.

I would like to thank Don for generously giving of his time and knowledge by participating in this interview

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It is currently hoped that the reader can better understand some of the guidelines that will help him or her to higher enjoy music with family and friends. No doubt it will try taking a little time prior to deciding to can achieve some amount of competence to play more songs but all you could need is a strong foundation inside the basics. DVD guitar lessons provide us with the opportunity to see professional guitar players show us how it’s done plus many DVD lessons feature extreme close-ups of the teacher’s nearly everywhere hands so we can get every little movement associated with picking, hammering and chord changing. It’s just that, on balance, I prefer the weight of the real.

The Shaggs: The Best Worst Band You Never Heard

If you’ve been wondering what rhythm guitar is and how it fits into a band, then this informative article should help you. These novels are classics which have really pushed the boundaries for the science fiction genre. They will remove all the pops, clicks, hiss and other noises that can be found in through the recording studios process.

If there’s every other guitar sound in the song, strictly speaking, oahu is the lead guitar. Even if the guests will all be of adult age, it is the best idea to only play songs that have appropriate lyrics. Except with online guitar lessons, there is certainly no grading, you just work at your own personal pace, and also the programs are set-up so every can pass. The story is all about Paul Atreides, heir to among the three Houses fighting for power. Guitar lessons on DVD give an extra dimension to information we get in books.

Sliders, knobs in addition to buttons though crowded are in the position. As you progress in your rhythm guitar playing you could test out muting strings with your left or right hand or both, and also you might benefit by not strumming all six strings, leaving some of the background music to the lead and bass player. However, it is usually better and can be a continuing practice for artists and musicians to become present during the mastering.

In justness, running ‘any’ equipment without considering it’s compatibility criteria first is obviously frankly. Many critics usually are not afraid to claim that a vinyl gets the type of rich and full sound that no laser read disc could ever compete with. However, a number of the charm was gone.

Many encoders fro AAC+ will provide bitrate options from 16Kbps – 96Kbps. This is such a neat device that anyone can use. Some critics the same about cassettes.

Beginner acoustic guitar playing is not the easiest thing to understand but can be immensely rewarding. DVD guitar lessons provide us with the opportunity to see professional guitar players show us how it’s done plus many DVD lessons feature extreme close-ups of the teacher’s left and right hands so we are able to get every little movement involved with picking, hammering and chord changing. No doubt it will try taking a little time prior to deciding to can achieve some degree of competence to experience more songs but all you need is a strong foundation in the basics. It’s just that, on balance, I prefer the load of the real.

DJs: How You Can Mix

So there I am, driving passed PC World about the day of the Ipad launch, and thinking to myself, ‘Can I really get away with buying certainly one of these?’ The kids need new school shoes, one child wants guitar lessons, the other wants to start tennis in a local club. One thing that lessons with a guitar teacher can offer you may be the feeling that you have done a good job. If you’ve been wondering what rhythm guitar is and the actual way it fits right into a band, then this informative article should help you.

It was there on the Normandy coast, in a little seaside retreat called, ‘Val Des Roses’ that an English couple had set up shop, paining breathtaking aqua marine seascapes bathed in Turneresque light. Dreams had become reality. Except with online guitar lessons, there is no grading, you work on your personal pace, and also the programs are set-up so every can pass. Dorothy Wiggin, the de facto leader of the band, later asserted neither she nor her sisters ever desired to be in music. Guitar lessons on DVD give an extra dimension to information we get in books.

Beginner acoustic guitar playing is not the easiest thing to understand but could be immensely rewarding. These construction and material factors determine how the Speaker(s) / cabinet broadcasts the Guitar Signal. A collection of demos for the Vox amPlug AC30, including it’s clean to overdrive tone.

80Kbps= AAC Peforms a lot better than AAC+. There’s no denying the technological achievement embodied by the Ipad. There’s no denying the technological achievement embodied from the Ipad. The computer programs have beat counters, analytics and also beat matching to accomplish all the hard work for the DJ. After your music has undergone this mastering, it is planning to be ready for playback anywhere on any platform by any means.

You can note that AAC performs better than AAC+ if you use a bitrate greater than 64 Kbps. He had arranged a second recording session, and they managed to get several songs upon tape. An exploration team is distributed to Saturn however the crew soon realizes that the ship’s computer is wanting to kill them. An exploration team is distributed to Saturn but the crew soon realizes that the ship’s computer is attempting to kill them. When his father loses power over the planet, Paul is instructed to flee to the desert and it is taken in by the Freman individuals who live there.

Conclusion: if you are planning to broadcast in CD quality either use AAC at 128Kbps or MP3 at 192Kbps or better! AAC+ is ideal for movies and near-CD quality at 48Kbps-64Kbps using any bitrate higher than this and AAC will perfomr better and AAC+. No doubt it will try taking some time before you can achieve some amount of competence to play more songs but all you need is a strong foundation in the basics. No doubt it’ll take some time before you can achieve some level of competence to experience more songs but all you could need can be a strong foundation within the basics. Delight within the disaster — listen to the title track, “Philosophy of The World”Philosophy of The Planet (title track from LP)The Shaggs.

The Curious Recording Career of Janne Carlsson