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Denmark Street

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Posts posted by Denmark Street

  1. I was only seven in 1968 and it wasn't shown here in England anyway, so I 've only become familiar with it since. I like him , but wouldn't call myself a huge Elvis fan...but you can't help but love him in this show, and its easy to see what all the fuss was about back in 1958 !!

    Apparently, his manager Colonel Tom Parker wanted him to appear in a baby blue tuxedo singing Christmas Carols!!! I'm pleased Elvis decided against that!

  2. Elvis' '68 TV Special.

    Just when everyone had written him off and he seemed doomed to make bad hot rod and beach movies for the rest of eternity... he was back looking mean, moody & magnicent in black leather!

    It catches him just at the point before he became a Vegas act in sparkly jumpsuits. The 68 special is easily available on video. If you've never seen it, and think he never did anything good after he was drafted into the army, then do yourself a favour and check it out. He looks and sounds great, and is given the chance to sing the songs he really loved, those of his youth rather than dumb film tunes. Superb!

  3. The Kinks featured brothers Ray and Dave Davies sharing vocals, but I dont think they ever actually sang a proper duet on anything.

    There are numerous gospel & soul groups with relatives. The Clark Sisters, The Winnans, and The Staple Singers are obvious examples.

    In country, The Judds are a successful mother & daughter band.

    There was that strange duet between Nat and Natalie Cole, where she recorded over tapes of her dead father.

    And of course Frank and Nancy Sinatra recorded together.

  4. I love their surf music too ( who can resist snging along to Barbara-Anne ?) but you are right, the Pet Sounds and Smile era is much more sophisticated and often doesn't get as much credit because it wasn't so commercially successful.

    Brian Wilson is a neglected genius!

  5. As the only other self-confessed Elvis Costello fan on this board...I was wondering if you've heard the brand new album "Delivery Man" yet?? I haven't , but its had some very good reviews in the British press and I'm probably going to buy it soon. Just interested in what a fellow fan thought of it.

    He's also got a new classical album out, but thats been dismissed here as a bit self-indulgent and pompous.

  6. I dont think they are underrated at all! How often do you see Pet Sounds listed in those top albums of all time type lists? Its usually in the top five.

    Deservedly so, as well. Anyone who is unfamiliar with it and thinks the Beach Boys only did surf music should listen to it. Remember that "Good Vibrations" was considered not strong enough to be included! The album is brilliantly inventive and touchingly maudlin as well. The track "Caroline, No" is the best thing they ever did.

  7. Jeux Sans Frontiers made instant sense in England. It was the name of a popular TV game show in the 70s, in which teams from various European cities would represent their country in silly games that ususally involved wearing big rubber feet and throwing water at each other! There was also a purely English version called "Its a Knockout"

  8. First, forget about modern jazz.

    Woah, bad idea!

    The word 'modern' in jazz terms covers pretty much everything from the birth of be-bop onwards. Thats all jazz since the early 1940s...which is a lot of music to be ignoring!!

    Be-bop pioneers like Charlie Parker or Dizzy Gillespie would have considered older, New Orleans style musicians like Louis Armstrong or Sidney Bechet as kinda old hat, daddio. :beatnik:

  9. Miles Davies' "Kind of Blue" has already been mentioned, but although its the biggest selling modern jazz album of all time, I wouldn't necessarily say its a good place for a beginner to start. The style is is whats become called "modal jazz" , its cool but its not very representative of most modern jazz.

    Miles Davies' best album, IMO, is "Bitches Brew" which is a jazz-rock crossover and is very inventive. Also, try Herbie Hancock's "Headhunters"...very funky.

  10. If we're talking about jazz vocalists, there are some obvious choices:

    Ella Fitzgerald: The queen. A gorgeous voice that I never get tired of lstening to. There are many 'best of' collections but I would recommend one of the 'songbook ' series, where she covers the work of a number of great song-writers.

    Sarah Vaughan: Only slightly less talented than Ella, she has a powerful but relaxed voice that is unique. Best CD choice is

    'Swingin' Easy', which is everything the title says!

    Billie Holiday: Her tragic story is well known, and her voice reflected it as she slipped further. Her early recordings are the voice of a hopeful young woman, the later ones are the voice of someone who life has treated very badly. Heart-breaking and emotional, you cannot listen without being effected . My personal favourite is her late 1930s period, but there are many collections available.

    Betty Carter: not so 'mainstream', but very enjoyable. She uses the scat method of jazz singing ( lots of "oo-be-do-be-wah" ) and is wonderfully up-beat and fun.

    Of the younger, modern day singers, I'd say Cassandra Wilson is particularly good, she has a lovely, velvety voice like liquid honey

  11. Charles Mingus: "Mingus Ah Um".

    This is the ideal 'easy first step' for anyone who thinks they might like modern jazz but doesn't know where to start. The album is full of cool melodies and is adventurous without being full of weird improvised bits that can put off people who aren't used to that in jazz. Really hip and funky, but for grown-ups. :beatnik:

  12. This is confusing, but maybe it'll help.

    First, the song was definitely written by David Gates in 1972

    There is a well known reggae version of "Everything I Own", but its not by Boris Gardiner. Its by Ken Boothe, and it was very successful, becoming a number one hit in the UK in 1974.

    Boris Gardiner was the bass player in The Upsetters, an extremely famous 70s Jamaican reggae band, but he had a pretty limited solo career as a singer.

    Ronald Binge was a song writer and band leader specializing in easy listening 'muzak' and incidental tunes for movies. One of his better known pieces is called "Elizabethan Serenade"..

    I would hazard a guess that maybe the Boris Gardiner track is either incorrectly titled or credited.

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