I believe that there is a special place in hell for
crooners, jazzers and the terminally unhip with the temerity to attempt ‘smooth’
covers of pop and rock songs, especially those from the flower power or
psychedelia years. Last week’s post, with the Lettermen butchering the Doors,
is a prime example.
As is this.
One track each today from the brace of lounge albums Mel
Tormé
released on Capitol in 1969 and 1970, A Time For Us and Raindrops
Keep Fallin' On My Head. For some peculiar reason the singer John Lennon
used to call Mel Torment would not issue a studio album of new material again for eight years, I wonder why?
In all fairness, most of the covers on the first of the two
albums are reasonably palatable. I had intended to include his version of the
Turtles Happy Together, but I found
myself quite enjoying that. Instead, from A
Time For Us I’ve chosen Mel’s version of the Beatles’ She’s Leaving Home, a
recording that although poppy enough, drains all of the emotion and longing
form the original. From Raindrops Keep
Fallin' On My Head comes the criminally awful Sunshine Superman, Donovan’s summer of ‘66 US Number One.
By the way, here in the UK the two albums were mashed together. Both US releases feature 10 tracks apiece: A Time For Us was not issued here, but both of today's tracks appear on the UK-only 14-track version of Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head.
There’s nothing wrong with The Velvet Fog’s vocals: he’s a consummate
performer and there’s a campy, lounge-y charm to these albums. I can’t fault
the band either, it’s red hot. It’s just the choice of material. I feel exactly
the same about opera singers attempting pop songs: just because you can sing
doesn’t mean you should sing… as anyone who has heard Pavarotti duet with Barry
White (or Brian May, for that matter) will attest.
Enjoy!
Er, what about:
ReplyDelete1971 - Whose Garden Was This for Flamingo Records
1974 - At The Maisonette for Atlantic Records
1977 - All In Love Is Fair with Chris Gunning Orch for Gryphon Records
1978 - Mel Torme and Buddy Rich for Century Records
Sorry, I could have been clearer. I should have said 'record a new studio album': aren't these all live or archive releases?
DeleteGuess that's your opinion, but the fact is that many of these "covers'sold mightily. That tells us a lot of people probably don't agree with you!
ReplyDeleteLots of people voted for Trump too...
DeleteMy comments don't seem to be getting through to you.
ReplyDeleteI'll try again:
The Flamingo, Gryphon and Century recordings were all new (not archive) recordings; only the Atlantic was a "live" recording.
And the fact of the matter is that during this period Torme, at the peak of his musical career, was very busy with personal performances, which netted him very much more money than records were ever able to.
I rest my case...
I'd pick your case up if I were you, Mel. According to Wikipedia, Discogs and 45Cat, Whose Garden Is This was only issued as a 45. According to the book Mel Tormé: A Chronicle of His Recordings, Books and Films, Mel only attended two recording sessions between his final one for Capitol (in 1969) and June 1977 - in 1971 for the 45 mentioned, and in 1974 for the live Maisonette album. The Gunning/Gryphon sessions were, outside of that 45, the first studio album sessions in eight years.
DeleteDarryl, you appear to have riled up the worldwide network of Mel Torme fans --both of them!
ReplyDeleteI never cared much for She's Leaving Home in any version. Sunshine Superman is kind of cool, though. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteMore annoyed by rock and pop twerps who think they can toss off an album of big band or Songbook covers - and that includes the likes of Ferry, Rod Stewpid and that imbecile Robbie Wiliams
ReplyDelete