In The Wall Street Journal this week, I interviewed Petula Clark on growing up in London and Wales (go here). Most people are unaware that Petula was a child singer and actor in the U.K. during World War II. She also was a singing sensation in France in the late 1950s. By the time she recorded Downtown in 1965 and invaded America, she was 32. This interview was deeply personal. The Beatles meant very little to me from 1964 to 1966. They were marketed to screaming girls, who fueled Beatlemania. My lights went on when I first heard Petula sing Downtown on the radio, along with My Love, A Sign of the Times, Don't Sleep in the Subway and her other hits. Only then was I smitten. I couldn't wait to visit London and assumed that all of the girls and women there shared Pet's joyous, optimistic voice. And when I did get over there with my artist parents in '68, they were! [Photo of Petula Clark for The Wall Street Journal by Brad Trent, my favorite celebrity photographer]
Here's Petula singing Downtown in 1965 (she told me the shiny black vinyl trench coat in the video was hers)...
And here's a strange British ad for stuffed bears sold at Heathrow Airport (set in 1967), with Petula singing I Couldn't Live Without Your Love. If you look carefully, 40 seconds in, you'll see Petula seated across the aisle in a cameo appearance...
Also in the WSJ, I interviewed author and Georgetown University professor Abigail Marsh on the Black Eyed Peas' Where Is the Love? (go here). Abigail's latest book is The Fear Factor: How One Emotion Connects Altruists, Psychopaths, and Everyone In-Between (Basic Books). Here's Abigail giving a TED talk on why some people are more altruistic than others...
And finally, the WSJ's Mansion editors and I picked our 12 favorite "House Call" columns of 2017 for a post that provides links to each one (go here).
SiriusXM and me. During the blizzard in New York last week, I made my way to the Midtown studios of SiriusXM to talk with Feedback hosts Nik Carter and Lori Majewski (above) about my recent "Anatomy of a Song" column for the WSJ on Spandau Ballet's True. Nik and Lori are wonderful, and they're so good to me. To hear the show, go here.
Spotted in Boston. I took some time off last week in Boston. At the Barnes & Noble in the Prudential Center, I noticed that my book, Anatomy of a Song, was in good company. Buy the book here. Also available in the U.K.
Spotted in New York. At the Port Authority Bus Terminal, singer Tessa Souter snapped this one of my book cozying up to a member of the British royal family.
Sonny Rollins. Following my post last week on Sonny Rollins and the Contemporary Leaders (1958), produced by Lester Koenig, I heard from his son John Koenig:
"This album has long been one of my favorites in our Contemporary catalog. It was so overshadowed by Way Out West that many people dismissed it. I remember a conversation I had with [Riverside producer] Orrin Keepnews, to whom I was extolling the virtues of the Contemporary Leaders album. Orrin said, "But Way Out West is a superior album." Even though Orrin was a friend, as a younger colleague, I was not prepared to belabor the point. After all, Way Out West is one of Sonny's most iconic albums.
But for me, Contemporary Leaders has an infectious vitality that is an extraordinary showcase for Sonny's signature inventiveness. It's a post-graduate course in making great art with popular songs one wouldn't normally think of as likely vehicles for great jazz improvisation. It's virtuosic in every way.
One thing that always bothered me was that the critical reception for Contemporary Leaders was mixed. Sonny was excoriated by certain critics for his solo on my favorite track, I've Found a New Baby. He was accused of not taking the idiom seriously; of putting listeners on. From our vantage point today, it's inane criticism. But the stain imposed on the record by those national critics seems to have persisted.
A large portion of that solo consists of Sonny playing completely captivating rhythmic phrases. For me, it's one of the great solos, but it largely fell on deaf ears back then. It was those critics' loss. Thanks, Marc, for picking up on what I regard as one of Sonny's—and my father's—masterpieces."
Billy Collins, a former U.S. Poet Laureate and my favorite poet, sent along the following note after my post on Cannonball Adderley...
"Marc, thanks for Cannonball. I always admired how he could step up from his funkiness to playing with Miles. And back again. Years ago, a friend from Florida State was driving me back to the airport in Tallahassee after my book reading. As we passed a cemetery, he mentioned that the Adderley Brothers were buried there. We turned around. And there they were, together, with a shared headstone that said "Adderley." Inscribed on Nat's stone was a staff and a riff of notes. I couldn't read them, but I wrote down the notes. When I got home, I played them on my piano. They were the opening to Work Song. Happy New Year! With ongoing appreciation."
Two albums I dig. Pianist Gap Mangione sent along his album Live in Toronto (Josh), featuring his quintet with Pat LaBarbera and Andy Weinzier on saxes (and Neil Swainson on bass and Steve Curry on drums). Gap is a terrific pianist and arranger, and this album really cooks. Dig Serenata...
Legendary Canadian guitarist Ron Halldorson sent along his CD Happy Talk, a duet album with bassist Julian Bradford. An album with seriously tasty string work that's a solid swinger. You'll find yourself listening to this one over and over again. I did. Here's Ron's Emma...
Admiral William H. McRaven. Last week, I mentioned I had interivewed Admiral McRaven for my "Playlist" column. Many of you emailed to remind of his powerful speech at the University of Texas at Austin on May 17, 2014. For those of you unfamiliar with the admiral's talk, here it is...
Holli Ross. Last year, singer Holli Ross performed at the Old Bridge Public Library in Old Bridge, N.J., backed by pianist Joel Zelnik, bassist Brian Glassman and drummer David Cox. Her rendition of Come Rain or Come Shine here is wonderful...
Max Roach radio. WKCR-FM in New York will present its annual "Max Roach Birthday Broadcast" on Wednesday, January 10. It will last 24 hours starting next Tuesday night at 11:59 p.m. (EST). You can listen from anywhere in the world on your computer or phone by going here.
Peter Pan. If you love mischievous, dry British humor, you'll dig the BBC's Peter Pan Goes Wrong. A colleague sent it along. Go here...
What the heck. Here's Alton Ellis, a rocksteady superstar in Jamaica, singing his sensational 1970 cover of Blood, Sweat & Tears' You Made Me So Very Happy...
Oddball album covers of the week.
While listening to a few hours of Jamaican rocksteady on Friday, I came across a cover that reminded me of another...