Lords of Lounge Volume 5

Volume 5

'Lords Have Mercy!'

Ten more gurus of the groove for your listening pleasure...

Here we go again!! Volume Five of our celebrated Lounge digest. Its been nigh-on a year since our last selection and we thought it was about time that we knuckled down and got close up with ten more top names from the Easy Beat catalogue...to know them is to love them...

Alyn Ainsworth

One of Bolton's most beloved sons, Alyn Ainsworth made his reputation with the big show bands of the 1950's, and in particular with the Northern Dance Orchestra, who he was musical director of up until 1960. In this time the NDO were ubiquitous on BBC radio and became something of a household name when the show 'Make Way For Music' switched to TV. Having shown the ease with which he could both arrange and conduct for TV broadcasts, Ainsworth was in big demand from then on, doing the honours on the likes of the Morecambe and Wise Show and for all of the other top turns at the start of the light entertainment era. As the '60's progressed, so did Alyn's profile, with TV dates for both the BBC and his own London Weekend Television Orchestra for such luminaries of light entertainment as Benny Hill, Bruce Forsyth and even, ahem 'talents' such as Paul Daniels and Michael 'heck of a party' Barrymore during the 1980's…oh well-a gig is a gig! Perhaps Ainsworth's profile was often at its highest as a result of his work on pop hits such as 'Big Spender' for Shirley Bassey and a string of chart toppers for The Brotherhood of Man, but throughout all this he kept returning to television work right up until his death in 1990.
	First up we have an ample demonstration of Ainsworth's presence in the telly world with this best of comp from The Young Generation (RCA, 1974). These frisky young things were the regular dance troupe on The Rolf Harris Show, providing light relief between bouts of wobble-board and digeridoo action on a Saturday tea-time. Ainsworth knocked out a series of albums with them covering hits of the day, with an alarmingly high David Cassidy quota, but also with a supremely fruity version of 'Dancing in the Moonlight' that really is rather excellent. There'll be an album to find on which this track was released originally, so keep 'em peeled!
	Quite probably on the back of the successes of chuff like The Young Generation and his other pop-tastic productions, Alyn was soon let lose with an album of his own. 'Big City Soul' (Pye, 1975) is chock-full of big and brassy soul covers that really cook with lashings of Fender-Rhodes and other treats; up-tempo for the most part, there is hardly a dull moment to be had. Apart from the solitary original composition 'Pete's Party', the real surprise is a super funky take on the usually dull-as-ditchwater theme to the POW drama 'Colditz', done in a Deodato stylee!!! Flippin 'eck its a good 'un!!
	There's also a second Ainsworth outing in a soulful style with 'The Entertainer' (Pye, 1976). Its a good bit more varied for the most part and in places could well draw the attentions of the Disco Police with its version of 'Salsoul Hustle', but get past that and the soppy soul ballads and things are yummy! There's a real kick-ass version of that unlikely funker 'The Entertainer' and pretty neat 'Rockford Files' for a start, but the real magic spell is cast with a couple of shots at funking up the classics; the 'Rollerball' theme, or Toccata as its known, is very classy, and top of the heap has to be 'Farandole'; big brass, wah-wah, flute and keys-yessiree! All of these cuts slip more than a little wink at the Brazilian Fender-Rhodes maestro and you know that aint no bad thing!
Check out the sleeve notes and there are some quality session men in attendance, but what is most curious is that there is one Bobby Moore on guitar...now, we know he retired from Fulham that year, but surely not! Just about coinciding with the release of this last album, Ainsworth got roped in to producing a hopeless boy-girl foursome on some tune destined for Eurovision. One worldwide smash later, and 'Save All Your Kisses For Me' seems to have put paid to any spare time Alyn might have indulged in his own releases as he was hot pop property for a good while thereafter. Damn. No good ever came of that monstrous affair!!

James Clarke

Composer of undoubtedly the most famous and instantly recognisable slice of library music around, thanks to the Gap advert, the Blow Up comp and now Vernon Kay and his tawdry humiliation-based telly show; 'Wild Elephants' must be providing James Clarke with a well-deserved retirement bonus! Clarke gained his musical education in Paris, studying composition under Rene Leibowitz, which shows through in the beautiful melodies to be found on his work. Although there are only a couple of commercial albums to be found, Clarke was very prolific in his work for film and television backgrounds, being responsible for film soundtracks such as 'The Wildcats of St. Trinians' and composing a string of library albums down the years, mostly to be found, like 'Wild Elephants', on the Amphonic label. Much of Clarke's working life during the 70's was again in the film/TV arena; he directed a string of films with incredibly dodgy titles, perhaps reflecting something of the times, such as "Got It Made", "Expose", "Hardcore", "Let's Get Laid", "Funny Money" and "Going Undercover" and also produced "The Music Machine" and the remake of "The 39 Steps". In between times he held down a regular stint as TV producer of such long running shows as 'Man Alive' and incredibly, the Sunday night talking dog and, ahem, 'odd' shaped vegetable bonanza that was 'That's Life'. Blimey! That's what you'd call a 'varied' career! There's much more info about James in a recent interview to be found on these very pages.

Of Clarke's two known commercial releases the first is 'Man of Our Times' (Fontana, 1968), recorded with a small group of some pedigree; featuring Denis Lopez, Jim Lawless, Laurie Holloway and Johnny Scott amongst others. They generate a dreamy mood of Bossa-flavoured jazz with lots of flute and vibes which is very easy on the ear. Almost quintessential batchelor-pad music, with not a funky moment in sight, but with an uncanny knack of being highly enjoyable all the same. Perfect for some Sunday morning listening and altogether beautiful.
The only other Clarke album proper we have yet located is 'Girl on a Beach' (Aristocrat, 1969). This label was a commercial offshoot for the release of KPM material, so presumably the preceding LP met with a decent amount of success, resulting in a quick follow-up. An all together more ambitious affair, Clarke now found himself at the helm of a full orchestra, and a feature of this album are the achingly beautiful string arrangements. Its not all orchestra overload though, as again a small group of players is most to the fore and there is some of the slickest bass playing you will ever hear on this platter; silky smooth runs up and down the fretboard with a smashing plonky tone-magic!
Once more the tunes are down-tempo, but again, the magician Clarke makes them all completely compelling. Top of the heap has to be 'One Morning' where the strings and flute waft through the curtains until some lovely fuzz guitar bursts in. there's also a top version of 'Fool on the Hill', but really the tracks are of such a high standard that its tricky to pick more out. What a shame that there don't seem to be any more releases to collect outside of the library realm from this fella. There should have been!

Roger Coulam

The veteran of innumerable sessions throughout the 60's and 70's across the board, from early pop artists like Helen Shapiro all the way through to supplying the keys to Serge Gainsbourg's finest hours on 'Je T'Aime…Moi Non Plus' and 'Histoire De Melody Nelson', Coulam is probably remembered most widely as being part of Blue Mink, who scored a succession of chart hits at the start of the 70's. When the session band consisting of Coulam, Herbie Flowers, Alan Parker and Barry Morgan were booked to cut the tracks that would find a home on the Ugly Custard and Hungry Wolf albums, not to mention the 'Music for a Young Generation' KPM album, they found themselves taken with a tune entitled 'Melting Pot', knocking off a version sung by the authors, Rogers Cook and Greenaway, plus fellow sessioner Madeline Bell, whereupon a successful sideline evolved. Coulam kept up his session work throughout, making appearances on easy beat albums throughout the 70's that are far too numerous to mention. Previous to that, after graduating from the Guildhall School of Music, Roger cut his teeth with the dance bands of Cyril Stapleton and Ray McVay before session work beckoned in the shape of several film scores for John Dankworth throughout the 60's, which earned enough brownie points for him to be able to release a couple of LP's under his own steam.
	Here's the first, and don't be put off because of the 'early' date; 'Organ in Orbit' (CBS, 1967) is a right little belter! Recorded with a quartet featuring Jim Lawless and Eric Ford what we have is some high-class Hammond pumping, covering all the bases from slow and soulful to fast, furious and frenetically beaty. It all has a lovely crisp sound to it and the strong backing really counts on the real groovers; 'Simba', 'The Eight-Footed Cat' and 'Polly's Mood'-all of which dear old Roger dedicates to his cat on the sleevenotes...bless!

Coulam's next outing is also formed from an intimate setting, again with a small band in attendance. Originally released as 'Blow Hot, Blow Cool' (Philips, 1970) this album nicely illustrates how the passage of a few short years just about changed everything in the Light Instrumental racks. A selection mostly consisting of hits of the day, as opposed to the previous jazz-flavoured outing, the depth of recording is greatly improved, especially the bottom end, which has some lovely liquid bass playing going down. Its full of great tracks too! 'Ode to Billie Joe', 'Time is Tight', 'Dizzy'-all top groove material. Our own favourite hereabouts is 'Let's Put Out the Lights (and go to Sleep)', being in possession of a lovely sloppy groove flavoured with Latin American percussion, and of course, Coulam's sublime Hammond.
Also, it seems someone thought that this album was worthy of a reissue just a couple of years after it first hit the streets; reappearing as 'Hammond Stereo Sounds...to Spoil You' (Contour), this version looks like it surfaced on the back of Blue Mink's chart success when Philips realised they had something on their books they could cash in on...and true to form, the mighty Contour label delivers the goods! All the tracks are as previous, so it looks like they were just too stingy to shell out for the artwork! Still, a Contour release usually means you'll see this one for dirt cheap on your travels, so gobble it up should you get the chance.

John Dankworth

For those of a certain age, John Dankworth will always be stood slightly behind the massive perm of his missus Cleo Laine, quietly huffing on his tenor sax as he accompanied her on a spot on whichever light entertainment show Brucie or Tarby were hosting that particular week; but there is far more to him than that-not least some cracking easy beat albums! A graduate of the Royal Academy of Music in the 1940's, John's modern jazz combo was the top of the pile in the UK for the whole length of the 50's and well into the next decade. When top stars like Oscar Peterson or Ella Fitzgerald visited these shores, they turned to one man for the backing, and for good reason. The later 1950's saw his first moves in scoring for film, which proved to be a popular sideline for many years and extended into the world of theater and stage shows. To offset the increasing amount of variety bookings with his wife, his own work seems to have taken a more highbrow path in the 70's with commissions from the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Royal Shakespeare Company to name but two. Awarded the OBE in the early 80's Dankworth's work subsequently took him across the globe as musical director for just about every major orchestra on the planet, and to this very day he is still very active in the field.

Here's Johnny and a nice compact band running through some very lively cheesy jazz numbers on 'Off Duty' (Fontana, 1969), and you know what, it does indeed sound as if they are larking about with some wind in their sails. Helped out by the likes of David Lindup and Laurie Holloway, there's a big brass section to savour that really cooks on the upbeat numbers and blows mellow in the downtime. Stuff like the title track itself, 'Ja-Da', 'Skyliner' and 'Basin Street Blues' really swing with a big fat groove. Yup-a real class act!
Here's the missus then! And it looks like Cleo was on the verve of doing a Judy Finigan in that dress too! Dankworth directs the band and composes the odd track on 'Portrait' (Philips, 1971) which finds Cleo Laine having a fairly straightforward bash at some standards and the odd recent hit. Its the newer stuff that saves the day of course, with a nice 'Aquarius' and a particularly storming crack at James Taylor's 'Night Owl' that is a solid gold booty shaker and no mistake. Skibbidy-doo-doo-doop indeed!!
Billed as the John Dankworth Big Band, 'Full Circle' (Philips, 1972) leaves you in no way unsure about what to expect-full on treatments featuring an array of very fine players indeed. Brit Jazz heavyweights such as Mike Gibbs, Alan Branscombe and Kenny Wheeler all have a big impact on this one; in places its a very ambitious affair and probably about as close as anyone from these shores ever got the the likes of Peter Herbolzheimer's Rhythm Combination & Brass. Kicking off with Mike Vicker's frenetic 'Eleven Plus' and then into an even more turbulent 'Academy One' , the pace is so fraught that the only place left to go is down to some smooth vibes'n'brass tunes and the odd 'interesting' time signature!
It's all quality listening though, and by the time trombonist Gibb's 'Triple Portrait' arrives on side two, you're ready for more action! In all its an excellent showcase of complex and compelling arrangements, which leave us in no doubt about Dankworth's skills.
Another offering from her indoors, and Dankworth lends his compositional, arranging and production talents once more on 'Close Up' (RCA, 1974). Full of fairly mellow, jazzy tinged offerings this isn't immediately as nice as the previous effort, but should you stumble on a copy for cheap you'll get good value from a nice little rendition of 'I Saw The Light', and you'll be right to raise in interested eyebrow when you alight upon Cleo's cut of Michel Colombier's 'We Could Be Flying', and find a version that gives Karin Krog's a run for its money...
A bit of a trip down memory lane for Johnny here, as he gathers together a selection of his own soundtrack compositions from the previous decade or so, books a cracking band of top jazz players like Don Rendell, and gets cooking good and proper on 'Movies 'n' Me' (RCA, 1974). The sound is one of sophisticated and slick brass underpinned by subtle drums and liquid bass of the very best kind, and smooth, jazzy grooves dominate proceedings in the nicest possible way. A good listen all the way through, but you'll find the needle dropping back to the feisty 'Modesty Blaise' and the very wonderful 'Return From The Ashes', which comes over like an out-take from Johnny Harris' 'Movements' album...hmmmmm...nice!