Here’s a wonderful little oddity I found on eBay recently
and felt compelled to share with you.
There’s something wonderfully engaging about Ellen Marty’s recordings: she doesn’t
have a great voice (well, not by classical standards), and often sounds as if
she’s about to slit her wrists. Her lyrics are, at times, distinctly peculiar,
but I actually find her rather charming. I’m almost loath to include her here
at the World’s Worst Records, but if
I didn’t how would you get to discover her charms for yourselves?
Ellen recorded intermittently, both under her own name
and as Buttons, the nom de plume she
affects here. There are at least three Buttons 45s on the Rain Coat label and several others under Ellen’s own name on Raincoat; Rain Coat and Raincoat are
the same company, owned by Joe Leahy. Leahy, a bandleader, arranger, writer and
producer, had previously headed Unique Records (later known as RKO/Unique, the
same outfit that put out Leona Anderson’s
mighty Music to Suffer By) where he
had produced 14 year-old Priscilla Wright’s first hit The Man in the Raincoat…hence the name he chose for his company.
Ellen also recorded an album, Mixing and
Making, for her own Marty Records. That album included a cover of the Man in the Raincoat (retitled Man in a
Raincoat), which was later issued as a 45 (catalogue 601) on both Raincoat and
Marty records under its correct title. Confused? Ellen issued the 45 Bobby Died Today which, unsurprisingly,
has nothing to do with the death of Bobby
Kennedy. There are no dates on any of these releases, but most appear to have been issued in the early 60s.
The 45 I’ve chosen here – A Petal a Day/Baby Blue Eyes – is a fine example of her slightly
off-kilter world. I love the B-side, with its wailing police sirens and jaunty
tack piano accompaniment, and the little giggle in Ellen’s voice towards the
end is a real winner. The more subdued plug side, A Petal a Day, is a miserable little ditty about unrequited love whose
lyrics clash ridiculously with the jolly backing track. It’s downright odd, and
much more worthy of inclusion here: it’s just not as much fun as side two.
Enjoy!
Thanks Darryl.
ReplyDeleteFor a pic of charming and leggy Ellen, see my blog here:
http://oldwax.blogspot.fr/2013/01/xmas-gift.html
Thanks Bob. I had intended to include a link to your site, but the download for Ellen's Xmas track seemed to be dead. It would only be fair to point out that Dead Wax was instrumental in helping me find out more about the marvellous Ms Marty.
DeleteWonderful! Especially Blue Eyes!
ReplyDeleteIsn't she great? I'm going to post more by Ellen Marty soon
Delete