JazzWax

Stan Freberg: Clever Comedy

Stan Freberg was many things. Dull wasn't one of them. He was an advertising copywriter and creative director, voice actor, radio personality, singer and comedian starting in the late 1940s. He also was the father of the send-up single and sardonic TV advertisement. Freberg, who died in 2015, also loved jazz, as many fans know from Three Little Bops, the 1957 Looney Toons cartoon featuring Freberg's voiceover and music by West Coast jazz musicians.

Now, many of his artifacts are going to online auction on Dec. 10 at 9 a.m. (PCT) at Heritage Auctions in Beverly Hills, Calif. (go here). Included among the items are the first-draft script for his acclaimed 1961 comedy album, Stan Freberg Presents the United States of America Volume One: The Early Years, sound-effects props and items from his memorable TV commercials. Yesterday, I received the following from Hunter, Freberg's wife (above, with Stan Freberg):

"Hello Marc,

I just finished watching one of your YouTube videos and since it is 10:30 p.m. in Los Angeles (1:30 a.m. in N.Y.) I might be one of the first emails you read tomorrow morning. Your schedule might have changed recently since I am sure you are busy promoting your new book and enjoying the great review in the New York Times. Stan and I were big fans of your work and always read everything you wrote in the Wall Street Journal. We talked about contacting you since you had featured so many of our friends in your articles. I loved it when I recently read that you were a great Stan Freberg fan (how could you not be?).

"You might not know that 'Freb' loved jazz. He worked with Quincy Jones (above with Stan Freberg) through the years and did an award winning radio campaign for the Radio Advertising Bureau with Sarah Vaughn and Quincy. He also was the man who created the word “Grammy” at one of the first NARAS meetings at the Beverly Hills Hotel. He loved all of his careers and felt very fortunate that he attained the top honor in every one of them."

Rather than use words to explain Freberg's sense of humor, here are a bunch of clips on the music and advertising fronts:

Back in the early 1950s, way before "Weird Al" Yankovic poked video fun at hit songs, Freberg invented the jape single. Here's Heartbreak Hotel (his "that's close enough for jazz" line still kills me)..

Here's Sh-Boom...

Here's Try, a twist on Johnnie Ray's Cry...

Here's C'est Si Bon...

Here's I've Got You Under My Skin...

Here's Who Listens to Radio?, featuring Sarah Vaughan with an arrangement by Quincy Jones....

As for advertising, Freberg was way out front with wry humor in TV ads. The result was always geared to generate pleasant awe, not shock, and dollars for clients. Most TV comedies in the 1960s and early '70s, including Laugh In and The Carol Burnett Show, owe Freberg a debt of gratitude. Here's one of his ads for Cheerios...

Here's his Butternut Coffee ad...

And here are a bunch of Freberg-written ads...

Sonny and Horace: 1959

On Thursday, March 5, 1959, the Sonny Rollins Trio and the Horace Silver Quintet were in Zurich on a joint European tour. Interestingly, Sonny and Silver were at different points in their careers. Silver had yet to crest and would record the fiery Blowin' the Blues Away in August before riding his funk piano style into the 1960s. Sonny, by contrast, had grown frustrated with his approach on the tenor saxophonist. He feared he was growing too conventional and staid at a time when other saxophonists such as John Coltrane and Ornette Coleman were on the cusp of a more spiritual and freer jazz form. [Photo, above, from left, Horace Silver and Sonny Rollins in 1959]

When Sonny returned to the States later that spring, he began a sabbatical in the summer that would last until late 1961. During that time, he could be found practicing tirelessly on New York's Williamsburg Bridge, finding solace and energy in the air and sky. While jazz fans would later find Sonny's mid-river retreat romantic, Sonny viewed it as a necessary and grueling pursuit, akin to an athlete attempting to develop a new level of endurance superior to that of rival players.

In fact, three days before Sonny arrived in Zurich with Silver, Miles Davis had recorded three tracks for Kind of Blue—Freddie the Freeloader, So What and Blue in Green. While Sonny could not have known what was recorded at Columbia's 30th Street Studio, Kind of Blue's release in August surely was another modernist straw that convinced Sonny an artistic hiatus was necessary. Silver, by contrast, who relied much less on songbook standards than Sonny and more on his own steady stream of hard-bop originals, was on a roll. [Photo above, from left, Miles Davis, Cannonball Adderley an John Coltrane]

That March, the two groups were together in Zurich, with Silver opening for Sonny. At some point during the 5th, the groups wound up at a radio station to use the studios. It's unclear whether this was to record or to rehearse for an upcoming concert. Fortunately, someone flipped on the tape recorder, and their sets were captured. The result was The Sonny Rollins Trio & Horace Silver Quintet: Zurich 1959, part of the Swiss Radio Days Jazz Series. This album is now available on CD thanks to the TCB label.

Sonny's set opens with I Remember You and is followed by I've Told Every Little Star, It Could Happen to You, Oleo and Will You Still Be Mine? What's fascinating here is that you can hear Sonny's frustration. While his tone is muscular and his runs on the tenor sax are fluid, he seems to be roaming around in search of himself and a groove. Joining him were Henry Grimes on bass and Pete La Roca on drums. Listening to The Bridge, his first album in early 1962 following his self-imposed exile, you hear remarkable contrasts. After his break, you hear a freer attack on Sonny's part and new level of control and originality.

Silver's set is refreshing and strong. His quintet in 1959 featured trumpeter Blue Mitchell, tenor saxophonist Junior Cook, bassist Gene Taylor and drummer Louis Hayes. This was an extraordinary group on every level. They were tight, hip, lyrical and soulful. The tracks are Nica's Dream, Cool Eyes, Shirl (just the trio), Ecaroh and Senior Blues. Nica's Dream here marks the first time Silver recorded the original as a leader. The earlier version was for Columbia while Silver was a member of the Jazz Messengers in 1956.

Perhaps the albums high points are Ecaroh, taken at a faster tempo than the earlier version, and Shirl, a ballad with the horns out. It tops Silver's earlier version in 1956 on 6 Pieces of Silver and is a reminder how sensual and moody Silver could be on original piano ballads. Shirl is matched only by Lonely Woman from Song From My Father (1964). [Photo above, from left, Louis Hayes, Gene Taylor, Horace Silver, Blue Mitchell and Junior Cook]

The CD's fidelity is crystal clear and provides us with what can only be called two studio albums recorded abroad—one by Sonny Rollins, who was winding down his 1950s phase, and another by Horace Silver, who was just getting started. A breathtaking snapshot of two of jazz's greatest artists at turning points.

JazzWax tracks: You'll find The Sonny Rollins Trio & Horace Silver Quintet: Zurich 1959 (TCB) here.

JazzWax clip: Here's Ecaroh...

Ecaroh

Note from Sonny Rollins. "While this recording is indeed legal under Swiss law, to release a broadcast such as this after the 50-year copyright period has expired, without any payment or even notification to the artists involved, is unfair. Although this may be a 'legal' release according to Swiss law, it remains, in my view, illegal and completely unauthorized. I never entered into any agreement at any time with these people or with anyone for a recording to be made of our performance or for it to be released."

Rare Hod O'Brien + Doug Raney

Recently, Joop van der Leij, a dear friend in the Netherlands, sent along a few rare tracks from his private recordings, featuring pianist Hod O'Brien (above) and guitarist Doug Raney (below). O'Brien passed away on Nov. 20 (here) and Raney on May 1. I've written about Raney several times (including here and here).

In November 1988, while O'Brien and Raney were touring in Europe (and Hod was staying with Joop), they played a series of dates in Holland and Belgium that were recorded by Joop, who gave me permission to share the three private tracks with you:

Here's Up in Quincy's Room, recorded at a radio broadcast at KRO Jazz Connection in Hilversum, Holland, featuring Raney, O'Brien, Ferdinand Povel (ts), Stefan Lievestro (b) and Max Bolleman (d)...

Up in Quincy's Room

Here's The End of a Love Affair performed at De Kikker in Amsterdam, with Doug Raney (g), Hod O'Brien (p) and Hans Mantel (b)...

The End of a Love Affair

And here's Just One of Those Things, recorded at The Cave in Lauwe, Belgium, with Raney, O'Brien, Ferdinand Povel (ts), Stefan Lievestro (b) and Max Bolleman (d)...

Just One of Those Things

Weekend Wax Bits

This Sunday, in the New York Times Sunday Book Review, rock author and critic Anthony DeCurtis writes a glowing review of Anatomy of a Song. Anthony DeCurtis, whose biography of Lou Reed is out next year, is a big deal and so is the NYT's Sunday Book Review. I was practically in tears when I read it. Something hits you when someone you respect gets what you've done. You can read his review here.

Media roundup: Here's my radio appearance on Canada's CBC this week and here's Joseph Bottum's lovely review for The Washington Free Beacon. There were about a dozen more, but you get the idea.

Still don't have your copy? Buy Anatomy of a Song for yourself or as a holiday gift by going here in the U.S., here in the U.K. or here in Canada. Thanks for your support!

Jukebox. If you want to listen for free to all 45 songs while you read Anatomy of a Song, go to my Spotify jukebox here.

This week in The Wall Street Journal, my Anatomy of a Song column on the Band's "The Weight" (go here). I interviewed songwriter Robbie Robertson (above) at length on the composing and recording of the rock and soul standard.

Also in the WSJ, I interviewed actor Michael Keaton for my "House Call" column in the Mansion section (go here). Mister Rogers played a big role in Michael's youth, as did jazz pianist Johnny Costa.

And in the WSJ's Review section, my interview with bestselling novelist Jonathan Lethem for the "Playlist" column in the Review section on his favorite song—Stevie Wonder's I Wish (go here).

Trombonist Clifton Anderson is hoping to raise $15,000 so he can record, package and market his next album. I love the sound of Clifton's horn, so I hope you'll listen to his video that explains what he's trying to do. Most of all, Clifton is a great guy and his music is important. His video follows, but please go here to donate (just click the "back it" button)...

Speaking of the Band, Chris Cowles sent along a link to rare images from The Last Waltz concert in San Francisco on Nov. 25, 1976. The concert paid tribute to the Winterland Ballroom, which was closing. The concert was filmed by Martin Scorcese for the famed The Last Waltz documentary (go here) [photo above of Joni Mitchell and Neil Young].

Sco! Ian Mackenzie sent along a link to a concert by guitarist John Scofield in Sweden with the Blue House Jazz Orchestra, the big band of the Stockholm Concert Hall...

Art's Blues. In The Fabulous Dorseys, the 1947 bio-pic of Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, musicians get together to jam on Art's Blues. And what a group of musicians it was: Ziggy Elman (tp), Tommy Dorsey (tb), Jimmy Dorsey (clar), Charlie Barnet (ts), George Van Eps (g), Art Tatum (p), Stuart Foster (bass) and Ray Bauduc (d). Here's the clip...

Photo correction. A couple of weeks ago, I featured a photo of Lester Young with Mose Allison and other musicians. I misidentified the artist on the far left. It wasn't pianist George Wallington but drummer Ronnie Free. Thanks to Bob McKeon, a Phoenix, Ariz., drummer, who set me straight:

"In reference to the photo, the musician on the far left is Ronnie Free. This photograph was taken by Dizzy Gillespie (Courtesy of Dale Coleman). I quote from the book, The Jazz Loft Project, by Sam Stephenson (photographs and tapes of W. Eugene Smith from 821 Sixth Avenue 1957-1965):

"On the afternoon of August 11, 1958, Ronnie Free received word that musicians were to congregate the next morning in front of a brownstone on 126th Street in Harlem for a historic group portrait. The photograph was to be published in an upcoming Esquire magazine issue devoted to jazz. On August 12 (Ronnie) Free rolled out of bed and headed up to 106th Street, where he met his friend and occasional bandmate pianist Mose Allison. The two men walked up the designated address, but when they arrived, photographer Art Kane had already snapped the now famous shot of 57 assembled musicians on the steps and sidewalk. As the musicians dispersed on that 'great day,' Free and Allison mingled on the sidewalk. Dizzy Gillespie took this picture."

Uh-Oh. Margy Bloom sent along the following video featuring the 1959 hit Uh-Oh by the Nutty Squirrels, a novelty vocal group five shades hipper than Alvin and the Chipmunks. The Nutty Squirrels featured Don Elliott (vocals, trumpet, vibraphone), Alexander Burland (vocals), Cannonball Adderley (alto sax), Bobby Jaspar (flute), and Sam Most (clarinet)...

What the heck. Spanky and Our Gang was a sixties doppelgänger band of the Mamas & the Papas. Here's the group in 1968 singing their hit I'd Like to Get to Know You, which, incidentally, was produced by Bob Dorough...

Oddball album cover of the week.

Wow, what to make of this one for a Quincy Jones album released in Sweden? First of all, the "boy" isn't in the tree. His head is merely glued to it.

Stanley Turrentine: 3 Videos

Stanley Turrentine (1934-2000) had a big, full, bossy sound on the tenor saxophone—less sassy than, say, Gene Ammons, but smokier with a strong, soulful attack. He was at his best when paired with pianist Horace Parlan or his wife, organist Shirley Scott. In the following three videos, we get a sense of Turrentine's soul-jazz feel and his confident articulation:

Here's Turrentine in the mid-1980s playing Stevie Wonder's Creepin'...

Here's Turrentine in 1990 performing Sugar...

And here's Turrentine in 1997 performing The Way You Look Tonight...

Sixties Euro Beat Girls

In 1961, when the girl-group era ramped up in the U.S. with the Marvelettes' Please Mister Postman, Europe and Scandinavia began producing their own female pop-rock groups and solo artists. Many were quite good, but few ever made it to the charts in the States. Instead, they developed hits and a following in their home countries. Today, most Americans are still largely unaware of the sizable foreign female pop movement in the '60s and the depth of the output. Enter Ace Records, a British re-issue label in London.

Over the past six years, Ace has released a wave of artfully packaged and relentlessly satisfying "beat girl" CDs with liner notes that feature detail-rich essays, photos and recording dates. The label's releases include eclectic compilations of singles by female pop singers from Sweden, Britain and France—the recording centers of Euro-pop in the 1960s. While most of the beat-girl singles were less soulful than those released by Motown and Stax, the quality of the pop songs, singing and orchestrations is quite good—particularly the material from Sweden and the U.K.

Two worthy CDs released by Ace this year are The Girls Want the Boys! Sweden's Beat Girls 1964-1970 and Love Hit Me! Decca Beat Girls 1962-1970. Both are superb. The Swedish collection features a fascinating mix of pop singles sung in Swedish and broken English. Some of the songs are cool covers of American hits, such as Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes) and Music to Watch Girls By—both sung in Swedish. Most are home-grown. All of the sides from Sweden have a strong beat, strong hooks and female singers with hip husky voices.

Interesting Swedish singers here include Anni-Frid Lyngstad (who would become a member of ABBA), Britt Bergström, Bella And Me, and Lill Lindfors.

Love Hit Me! features British beat girls who recorded for Decca between 1962 and 1970. On these sides, you hear an even stronger beat than the Swedish approach. Decca was in a hurry to make up for lost ground. The label had two costly misfires at the dawn of the 1960s. It had refused to release Ray Peterson's cover of Tell Laura I Love Her—a song by Jeff Barry and Ben Raleigh about the dying wish of a lovelorn drag-race crash victim that went to #1 in the U.K. when recorded by Ricky Valance at EMI. Decca also passed on signing the Beatles. The hits by non-invasionistas are superb and make you realize how many junior Petula Clarks and Dusty Springfields there were left behind in Swinging London.

Included on this album are Twinkle, Barry St. John (her Hey Boy is a killer), Marianne Faithful, the Exceptions, Lulu, Beverley, and Babbity Blue.

Ace also has released several French pop beat-girl collections. The best of the bunch is C'est Chic! French Girl Singers Of The 1960's. Many French pop-rock producers seemed satisfied to ape what was going on in Britain rather than develop a singular sound of their own. In some cases, the singers were a tad off key or worked overtime to sound 12 years old. Sometimes the yapping could be grating. Fortunately, the collection above does a good job of featuring the shrewdest material, such as Les Filles C'est Fait Pour Faire L'amour by Charlotte Leslie, A La Fin Tu Gagneras by Jocelyne, and Roller Girl by Anna Karina. Even Petula Clark turns up here on Donne Moi. Many American pop fans may be unaware that the singer of Downtown in 1965 spoke and sang in fluent French, making her a star there in the 1950s. The French material has a moody Serge Gainsbourg feel and is lush with intrigue.

If you dig '60s pop or are curious about what was going on across the Atlantic, you'll find much of this material addictive, whether you understand the language or not. And listening to the cultural contrasts in the hooks, beats and instrumentation is fascinating fun. Kudos to Ace for taking this material seriously and preserving the sound of adolescent effervescence. [Photo above of vinyl release]

JazzWax tracks: You'll find the Swedish collection here, the British Decca collection here and the French collection here.

JazzWax clips: Here Sweden's Anni-Frid Lyngstad...

Så Synd Du Måste Gå

Here's Britain's Barry St. John...

Hey Boy

And here's France's Charlotte Leslie...

Les Filles C'est Fait Pour Faire L'amour

JazzWax note: For more on Ace Records' vast catalog, including jazz, go here.