| Harry Stoneham was what
you might call 'a regular session face', with his album credits
running well into double figures. Funny then how he'll be best
remembered as Michael Parkinson's house band leader or as "Ard
'Earted 'Arry", the rubbish collector who dumped all of the rubbish
in Jumbleland on "Anita In Jumbleland" with Anita Harris! |
|
The earliest of Stoneham's
LP's we own is 'Two Fellas To Follow', (Tepee, 1967). Harry
takes the Lowrey Heritage De-Luxe organ though its paces, with
one standout track 'Comin' Home Baby' really worth checkin'
this album out for. The LP has started appearing on dealer lists
for this very reason - great track!
|
|
 |
 |
| Of a similar style
is 'At Your Request' (Tepee, 1968), where we find Harry at the
head of his own combo, the Harry Stoneham Sound! Nice one! You'd
think that things would start getting a bit more frantic with
a full band comprising Vic Flick, Jim Lawless and Dave Richmond,
but alas, most of this is composed of pretty sedate meanders through
standards. The best cu is probably Stoneham's own 'Clearway' and
there are a couple of nicely jazzed up Beatles tunes to keep it
company. Another Tepee release is 'Lowrey Organ Dynamics' (Tepee,
1969) which is, unfortunately, anything but dynamic...but, do
look out for an LP in a similar sleeve entitled 'Lowrey Organ
Superb', as you'll find 'Comin' Home Baby' on there too, it being
a compilation of his Teepee stuff. |
|
There are, to our
existing knowledge, six Hammond-medley albums by Harry on the
Studio2Stereo label, 'High Powered Hammond' (1970), 'Solid Gold
Hammond' (1971), 'Hammond Hits The Highway' (1972), 'Hammond
Hits The Continent' (1973), 'High, Wide & Hammond' (1974)
and 'Hammond Heatwave' (1975). You'll find a digest of them
all on the Studio2Stereo page in our Labels of Love section.
|
|
 |
|
|
To be very honest,
they're medley albums, and subsequently of not a great deal
of interest unless you are sent into raptures with anything
that contains that cheesy Hammond sound, even old standards
and the worst of the then-current hit parade. The last album
in this list does have a good 'Kojak / Ironside' medley that
works well, so that's the one to plump for, if you simply must.
All the album covers are excellent, typical of the sleeves being
used by this label in the early 1970's, with lush burds draped
over mopeds and the like. If only the same qualities were to
be found on the wax itself...
|
|
 |
|
|
One album of this
time that isn't strictly all medleys is 'Latin Lowrey' (Studio2Stereo,
1972). There's a good version of 'Mas Que Nada', but we haven't
much time for the rest of it, as it is rather cheesy, and therefore
has much in common with the earlier 'Late Night Lowrey' (Polydor,
1970), that is only saved by the ooh-la-la offered in the shape
of 'Je T'aime Moi Non Plus'.
|
 |
|
| One definite winner
though is 'Hammond My Way' (Contour, 1971). This is quite a common
album and easy to find for pence. First of all, it has a classic
cover with an Elton John-alike cutting some rug with a groovy-looking
chick who's sporting a ciggie whilst dancing! You just don't see
sleeves like this any more! As for the album itself, there are
a number of original compositions, including the fabulous 'Move
In'. Five minutes of very funky Hammond, Bass and drums interplay
that you'll be glad you found. |
|
 |
|
| As we move further into
the 70's, old Harry's work starts getting pretty yukky...there
are more than a few too dire even to feature here and 'This is...'
(DJM, 1976) just scrapes in by virtue of a pleasant enough bash
at the groovin' jazz standard 'Swinging Shepherd Blues'. Harry
seems to have mutated into Alan Haven on this one as its stripped
down to just him and his skinsman jazzing away like the good old
days...hmm...decidedly so-so. One with much more going for it,
not least the dolly with the quite marvelous jublies pictured
on the sleeve, is 'Love's Themes' (One-Up, 1975). Stoneham comes
over all Philly with the usual Gamble & Huff culprits, but
also two nice surprises; the title track itself, which he just
about pulls off, and amazingly a crack a Schiffrin's 'Theme from
the Fox', on which he most definitely triumphs. The entirety of
the sleevenotes are taken up with explaining how Harry splashed
out 35 grand on a brand new organ...it would probably have been
better spent on a few extra session players to be honest. |
 |
|
| Then its back to the
Studio2Stereo label for this next pair and 'It All Happens On
Saturday' (Studio2Stereo, 1973) really shows off Harry's Parky
connections to full effect. Not only is he pictured swiging a
large one with Stoneham on the cover, but also supplies the sleeve
notes detailing how the tracks connect with his chat show guests.
Its a good job then that all this mutual back-scratching results
in a few decent tunes, and here we go with Stoneham's own very
groovy 'Micheal's Theme' which we all know and love from the aforementioned
chat show, and then finishes up with the title track that starts
off all moody and slow but really gets going thereafter with Harry
really getting the funk out of his organ! Phew! Calming down a
little, we have a collection of Stoneham's work for the label
to date on 'The Very Best Of...' (Studio2Stereo, 1976). Remembering
that most of Harry's LP's for them were a bit duff didn't seem
to put off the label bosses at all and the result is a lot of
lame medleys...but there's 'Michael's Theme' again to save the
day, alongside a very excellent take on 'Wade In The Water' from
the following LP... |
|
Now then, all of the
above are but an aperitif compared to the main course of funk
served up by Harry on 'I Feel Good, I Feel Funky' (One-Up, 1976).
No cheesy standards or medley tracks in sight, just honest to
goodness wall-to-wall Hammond classics! Highly recommended and
utterly essential! Highlights include 'Wade In The Water', 'Watermelon
Man" and an updated bash at 'Coming Home baby' and not one,
but two James Brown covers - 'I Feel Good' - indeed!!
|
|
|
| It might well be true
to say that John Schroeder invented cool easy-listening music,
among his many other achievements in the music scene of the 60's
and 70's. Most famously the discoverer and producer of Status
Quo and the twiddler of many a button during the Freakbeat boom
on a range of utterly timeless classic tracks of all types. He
wrote 'Walking Back To Happiness' in a lunch hour and supposedly
introduced Motown into swinging London. Some of you might also
be aware of his work with Johnny Pearson as Sounds Orchestral
and these are now featured separately elsewhere in this digest. |
|
The utterly essential
Schroeder album has to be "Working In The Soul Mine" (Piccadilly,
1966) - it's simply years ahead of it's time; 'Soul For Sale'
is an original piece by Schroeder and Alan Tew and of course
is rather lovely, then there's 'Papa's Got A Brand New Bag',
'Working In A Coal Mine' and the fattest version of 'Get Out
My Life Woman' you're ever likely to hear. Overall, some of
the Motown covers are a little bit ropey if you want to be picky,
but its 1966 for Gawd's sake!
|
|
 |
 |
| The original
itself is a very rare item indeed and seldom seen, but you might
be able to grab the vintage cheapie reissue
(Marble Arch, 1968) if you get lucky. But as even finding copies
of that one is becoming very difficult these days a
quick and easy way to lay your hands on the goodies featured here
is to plump for the recent 'Space Age Soul' (Sequel, 1996) where
you'll also find a decent bunch of bonus tracks like the fabby
'Agent Double-O-Soul' single. |
| Another slice of Schroeder
that doesn't grow on trees is 'The Dolly Catcher' (Piccadilly,
1967). Again, it's an utterly fantastic outing, arranged by John
Cameron this time, with the focus more on the quirky side of things
and the Summer of Love vibes in the air. Apart from the obvious
pop covers there is a great selection of original cuts; the title
track and it's sequel 'Softly Softly Catchee Dolly' full of brass
and cheese, 'Explosive Corrosive Joseph' exploiting the freakbeat
angle with some ace fuzz guitar, and 'Epistle to Dippy' containing
some sweet flutes. Yup, some real quality here! |
 |
| The players on 'Witchi-Tai-To'
(Pye, 1969) read like a true who's-who of British sessioners of
the late 60's. Where do you start - Alan Parker, Alan Hawkshaw,
Harry Stoneham, Clem Cattini, Jim Lawless, Ray Davies....they're
all here. Featuring both vocal and instrumental tracks, this album
peaks with the opening 'Grow Your Own' which really blends these
fine musicians with Schroeder's arrangement and production skills.
Quality production is definitely the order across the whole of
the album...mixing original compositions with covers, drizzled
with a slightly mystical-hippy feel, to great effect. |
|
 |
 |
| Throughout
the late 60's and on into the 70's, Schroeder was also dabbling
with all things Latin with the assistance of arranger Lew Warberton,
in the form of The City of Westminster String Band. There's at
least four of 'em to be had and here's a couple; 'The Look of
Latin' (Pye, 1969) is fairly standard stuff with all the regulars
like 'Patricia' and 'Mas Que Nada' calling by. Ho-hum. Alan Tew's
'Zoo Bee Zoo Bee Zoo' just about clocks in as the best track,
but that's not saying much really. Much more worthwhile is 'Home
Lovin' Hits' (Pye, 1971), with a couple of cracking originals;
'A Picture of You' and 'Split Level'. These find Schroeder on
top cheesy form, full of parping brass, fruity flute and with
a groovy old beat! |
|
Schroeder then released
a series of easy-tinted albums under the banner of the 'Vibrations'
series for Polydor Records, all of which are now gathering serious
attention, some for better reasons than others it has to be
said. The first, 'Latin Vibrations' (1971, VIBE 1) is well worth
picking up for the splendid version of Keith Mansfield's 'Moanin'.
'Dylan Vibrations' (1971, VIBE 2) followed soon after with a
couple of interesting moments, but to be frank it's a bit of
a struggle to make grumpy old Zimm into anything of a groovy
proposition.
|
|
 |
|
| No rest for the wicked,
and its straight on with 'Piano Vibrations' (VIBE 3, 1971). There's
more than a few quality moments to be had here, with a revisitation
of 'A Picture of You' being the highspot along with 'Classical
Gas' and 'Delta Lady'. That these tracks are those which feature
organ as well as Rick Wakeman banging away at the old joanna is
no coincidence! 'Party Dance Vibrations' (VIBE 4, 1971) is an
album full of medleys performed by The Breakdowns and produced
by Schroeder. Not recommended. |
 |
| The most easily obtained
is 'TV Vibrations' (VIBE 5, 1972), although prices seem to be
going loopy for this too. Why? It is, after all, distinctly average,
and boasts a pretty neat run through of 'The Persuaders' but not
much else of note. The least interesting in the series is 'Classical
Vibrations' (1972, VIBE 6), for obvious reasons: Switched-Off
Bach, more like. The last propper Vibrations release is 'Love
Vibrations' (1972, VIBE 7), that is just too slushy for words
really, bridging the gap between this series and Sounds Orchestral. |
|
 |
|
| Now then, 'Gangster Movie
Vibrations' (Polydor, 1972) doesn't have a VIBE number, but we'll
let it in, as John finds the funk in spades with tunes from 'Heist',
'The Italian Job', 'Shaft's Big Score' and 'Shaft' amongst others.
'The Money Runner' is the equal of the Quince original and 'Blowin'
Your Mind' is possibly better than the source material. 'Cafe
Reggio' (from 'Shaft') is a very cool take indeed and sound not
unlike prime Bob James. Add to this a smooth 'Diamonds are Forever'
and a much better than it should be 'South American Getaway' (from
'Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid') - real quality and damned
hard to find too...definitely the best in the series. |
 |
| One album also billed
as a John Schroeder Vibrations production is 'War & Peace' (Polydor,
1973), although the arrangements are taken care of by Scott Walker
stalwarts Harry Robinson and John Scott, and as a result the album
isn't as groovy as you would expect to be delivered from the man
himself. One or two decent tracks do creep in, with the jaunty
'The Good Word', which we know as the theme to the 'Nationwide'
teatime news show of the 70's, the equally cheesy 'Midweek' and
the quite wonderful 'Cheeky Bird'. Nice title ! Like it ! |
|
|
