Just over a week ago, Anatomy of Pop: The Music Explosion was uploaded to YouTube. The rare 1966 documentary was directed by Jonathan Donald and Stephen Fleischman, and written by Fleischman, and aired on ABC TV. There are appearances by Tony Bennett, the Carter Family, Skeeter Davis, Duke Ellington, the Temptations, Bill Monroe, Cousin Brucie, Berry Gordy, the Supremes, Peter Paul & Mary, Tex Ritter, Billy Taylor and more. The footage is extraordinary, though the language is archaic in places. By the way, the conductor at the Tony Bennett session featured in several places? That's Johnny Mandel, and the Columbia album they were recording was The Movie Song Album. Tony appears at the beginning and the end recording The Trolley Song and at 41:35 recording The Days of Wine and Roses. Incredible access throughout!
I tried. I really did. Eager to interview Stephen Sondheim for my "House Call" column in The Wall Street Journal, I sent along an email to him in 2013. [Photo above of Stephen Sondheim by Jerry Jackson/Courtesy of HBO]
Here's what Stephen sent back:
Thanks for the invitation, Mr. Myers and for the compliments, but I've sworn off all extracurricular activities until I finish the show I'm writing. Please forgive me.
Stephen Sondheim
Of course, one thing led to another, as is the case in in my business, and I moved on to other well-known actors, musicians and artists. Now, given Sondheim's passing on November 26, I wish I had been a little more of a pest or circled back. But you can't get 'em all. While we're on the subject, everyone should know more about Sondheim and what made him special. He was exceptional and passionate in every way, with an impeccable wit and daring lyrical judgment.
Today, I figured I'd show you why Stephen Sondheim is considered the father of the modern American musical:
Margo Guryan, a singer-songwriter and sunshine pop pioneer whose first and only commercial album in 1968 was notable for its swinging, breathy approach and layered vocal overdubs, died on Nov. 8. She was 84.
Guryan's album, Take a Picture, for Bell Records, had a happy-go-lucky, bedroom-and-incense feel and still sounds of the era—between San Francisco's Summer of Love and before the violence at the Democratic Convention in Chicago in the summer of 1968. The album also has a distinctly young, female perspective with powdery soft vocals, light articulation and a sound that exuded sophistication and curiosity. Her biggest song was Sunday Mornin', recorded by Spanky and Our Gang and covered by other artists.
Before she recorded the album, Guryan was known to George Wein, Miles Davis and other musicians on the New York jazz scene. In fact, Dave Frishberg, a friend, converted her to sunshine pop in 1966 after playing her God Only Knows from the Beach Boys' newly released Pet Sounds album. In 2001, she released another album, 25 Demos (Franklin Castle), featuring polished vocal versions of her songs with complete arrangements recorded over the years. In many ways, the album was the second volume of the first—deliciously upbeat, flower-power free and focused on love, the sun and the rain.
To read Neil Genzlinger's terrific New York Times obit, go here. For an interview with Guryan, go here.
JazzWax tracks: You'll find Take a Picturehere and 25 Demoshere. Both are available on vinyl, with the latter featuring 29 demos.
JazzWax clips: Here'sSun (and a playlist for the rest of the album's tracks)...
And here'sWhy Do I Cry (and a playlist for the rest of the tracks on 27 Demos, a version with two more tracks than the original album)...
Guryan also recorded a playful classical piano album called The Chopsticks Variations,here...
Marc Myers writes regularly for The Wall Street Journal and is author of "Rock Concert: An Oral History" (Grove), "Anatomy of a Song" (Grove) and "Why Jazz Happened." Founded in 2007, JazzWax has won three Jazz Journalists Association awards
