GERRY AND THE PACEMAKERS: EP "How Do You Do It? / I Like It"

Released on EP PATHÉ ESDF 1490 (FRANCE, 1963)

EP CBS 5930 (FRANCE, 1965)

PAUL REVERE AND THE RAIDERS: "STEPPIN' OUT"

EP FESTIVAL IMPACT 200.012 (FRANCE, 1966)

THE SMOKE: "IF THE WEATHER IS SUNNY"

EP FONTANA 465 321 (FRANCE, 1966)

THE TROGGS: "WITH A GIRL LIKE YOU"

EP EMI ODEON DSOE 16.705 (SPAIN, 1966)

THE BEATLES: "HERE, THERE AND EVERYWHERE"

EP PARLOPHONE LMEP 1314 (PT, 1968)

THE HOLLIES: "JENNIFER ECCLES"

EP EMI 7EPL 14.175 (SPAIN, 1965)

PETER & GORDON: "IN TOUCH WITH"

EP UNIT ARTISTS 36.112 UAE (FRANCE, 1967)

THE EASYBEATS: "WHO'LL BE THE ONE"

EP BRUNSWICK OE 9488 (UK, 1962)

BRENDA LEE: "SPEAK TO ME PRETTY"

EP RIVIERA 231 074 M (FRANCE, 1964)

YARDBIRDS: "FOR YOUR LOVE"

EP VOGUE INT 18 135 (FRANCE, 1966)

THEM: "PORTLAND TOWN"

EP VOGUE-PYE PNV 24 170 (FRANCE, 1965)

DONOVAN: "THE SUMMER DAY REFLECTION SONG"

(Thanks to Joski, who provided me the sleeves)

EP COLUMBIA SLEM 2292 (PT, 1967)

LULU: "TO SIR WITH LOVE"

Title song from James Clavell's movie, based on E.R. Braithwaite's novel. A story as fresh as the girls in their minis... and as tough as the kids from London's East End. With Sidney Poitier as Mark Thackeray, a cool teacher from the Sixties who arrives to teach a totally undisciplined class.

GRANNY TAKES A TRIP

Granny Takes A Trip was an iconic store in King’s Road, London, opened in early 1966 by young londoners Nigel Waymouth and Sheila Cohen. The shop brought a radical, iconoclastic approach to the fashion and style of the time, and paved the way for many of the designer boutique outlets that followed in the 1960's and afterwards.

The shop also became famous for its constantly changing façade. At one time the entire front was painted with a giant pop-art face of Jean Harlow (see picture below). Overnight, that was replaced by an actual 1948 Dodge saloon car which appeared to crash out from the window and onto the forecourt. Over the next three years contrasting changes such as this took place at regular intervals.

Granny Takes A Trip remained open during eight years, until 1973. Now, 35 years later, it has opened again last spring.

This album, compiled by owner Nigel Waymouth, is called Conversation's Dead Man (named after a comment from one of the store staff) and pulls together 18 tracks covering jazz, soul, blues and some contemporary rock of the time. It's perhaps not as experimental or cutting edge as you might think, but as Weymouth says: «You have to remember that 1966 was before rock as we know it - we didn't have that library of music - black American music was our music. We were of the same generation as the Beatles and the Stones, and we were listening to the same records.»

O SOM DOS BEATLES

“… The world is ours to tear apart

But what if it's too late to start again?

Don't let it die…”

Lembram-se desta canção de 1971? Chamava-se precisamente “Don’t Let It Die” e era já, naquela altura, uma canção com preocupações ecológicas. Independentemente disso, sempre gostei de a ouvir, apesar dela me lembrar um bêbado a cantar encostado a uma qualquer esquina perdida. Mas aquele som tinha qualquer coisa que me atraía.
O intérprete dessa canção faleceu na passada terça-feira, dia 4, aos 85 anos, vítima de cancro. Chamava-se Norman “Hurricane” Smith. Talvez o nome não diga nada à grande maioria das pessoas mas ele foi um dos responsáveis pela descoberta de um som que hoje, mais de quatro décadas volvidas, ainda nos seduz a todos: o som dos Beatles.

Engenheiro de som, músico e produtor britânico, Norman Smith tinha já 36 anos quando começou a trabalhar nos estúdios EMI em Abbey Road, subindo na hierarquia enquanto instrumentista e arranjador. Era ele que estava de serviço quando os Beatles foram à EMI fazer o teste de gravação para o George Martin; e, tal como este, também na altura não ficou lá muito impressionado com o que ouviu. Mas isso, como se costuma dizer, é outra história.

Mais tarde, já com o quarteto contratado pela discográfica, Norman foi encarregado de escolher o equipamento e as técnicas necessárias à transposição dos sons originais captados em estúdio para as fitas de gravação. Apesar de na altura estar muito em moda a reverberação e outros ornamentos na música pop, Norman achou que o som que os Beatles debitavam na sala era bom demais para lhe acrescentar qualquer efeito e por isso procurou preservá-lo tal e qual.

Malcolm Addey, antigo colega de Smith, afirmou que ele era capaz de grandes proezas musicais porque conhecia tudo de trás para diante e sempre esteve mais interessado em captar interpretações do que em andar a fazer experiências com o material.
Norman Smith deixou a sua marca em toda a discografia inicial dos Beatles, de 1963 a 1966, incentivando sempre a tendência crescentemente experimental da banda. O último album em que trabalhou do princípio ao fim com os Beatles foi o Rubber Soul, sendo responsável pela utilização da cítara na canção “Norwegian Wood”.

No decorrer desses anos, Norman desenvolveu uma profunda relação de amizade com os quatro Beatles, e John Lennon, sempre expedito em distribuir alcunhas, resolveu apelidá-lo de “Norman Normal”, por ele andar sempre impecavelmente vestido, de fato e gravata. Indumentária que abandonaria na segunda metade dos anos 60, quando o boom hippie eclodiu, contagiando tudo e todos.

Em 1967, já como produtor principal da EMI, descobre os Pink Floyd e produz integralmente os dois primeiros albuns, ainda com Syd Barret: “The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn” e “A Saucerful Of Secrets”, vindo ainda a fazer uma perninha no "Ummagumma" de 69. Mais tarde viria a ser também o produtor dos Pretty Things.

Já nos começos dos anos 70 inicia uma breve carreira a solo, sob o nome artístico de Hurricane Smith, e na qual consegue dois grandes sucessos: o já citado “Don’t Let It Die” que chegaria ao TOP 3 das tabelas inglesas em Julho de 1971; e ainda “Oh Babe, What Would You Say”, também um TOP 3, mas nas tabelas americanas, em 1972.

A MESSAGE FROM SIR PAUL McCARTNEY:

To speak of Norman "Hurricane" Smith brings memories flooding back because he was the first sound engineer that we got to know in the early days of the Beatles. We liked him because not only was he an excellent engineer at the time but one who always had a great sense of humour and a twinkle in his eye. We made a lot of great music together and were part of the birth of what to be an explosion in British popular music.

When later he became a recording artist in his own right I was pleased to hear his funky sound and gravely voice, which at Beatles sessions he had managed to keep well under his hat. I wish him the best of luck always and will never forget the exciting moments we shared.

WELCOME TO THE CANTEEN

Original Released on LP Island ILPS 9166 (1971/09)

SOME REVIEWS:

How you react to this album will probably have more than a little to do with just how much of an original Traffic freak you are. And if you loved the Spencer Davis Group during its mid-Sixties coming-to-be, then you may also have your reservations. Oh, all the right personnel are on hand - Stevie Winwood, Jim Capaldi, Dave Mason and Chris Wood - but it's pretty hard to improve on perfection. So it sounds strangely hollow to hear these four, buttressed by the addition of Rick Grech (Family, Blind Faith), Kwaku Baah and Jim Gordon, serving up still another helping of "Medicated Goo," "40,000 Headmen," "Dear Mr. Fantasy" and "Gimme Some Lovin'." The whole thing was recorded at a live concert in Croydon and at the Oz Benefit Concert in London. Certainly the Oz fund could be considered a worthy cause, but since the profits from this record are going elsewhere, there's an element of rip-off to the proceedings. Still, if you're into nostalgia, or if you want to hear some fair to good live versions of what have already become rock classics, you might want to tune in on these tracks. But for the real thing, you still can't beat the originals!
(Circus, 1/72)

Former Traffic members get together for this live recording which shows off the tremendous instrumental and songwriting talents of the group. The band jams on a 14-minute "Dear Mr. Fantasy" and an extended version of the famous "Gimme Some Lovin'," Also included are Dave Mason songs, "Shouldn't Have Took More Than You Gave" and "Sad and Deep as You."
(Billboard, 1972)

Following the success of John Barleycorn Must Die, Traffic planned a concert album for the fall of 1970, and it got as far as a test pressing before being canceled. A recording was necessary to satisfy the terms of British label Island records' licensing deal with American label United Artists, which had provided for five albums, of which four had been delivered. With Island starting to release its own albums in the U.S., the UA contract had to be completed, and hopefully not with the potentially lucrative studio follow-up to John Barleycorn Must Die. Thus, Traffic tried again to come up with a live album by recording shows on a British tour in July 1971. Joining for six dates of the tour was twice-dismissed Traffic singer/guitarist Dave Mason, who had subsequently scored a solo success with his Alone Together album. The resulting collection, Welcome to the Canteen (which was technically credited to the seven individual musicians, not to Traffic), proved how good a contractual obligation album could be. Sound quality was not the best (and it still isn't on the 2002 remastered CD reissue, though it's better), with the vocals under-recorded and stray sounds honing in, but the playing was exemplary, and the set list was an excellent mixture of old Traffic songs and recent Mason favorites. Dear Mr. Fantasy got an extended workout, and the capper was a rearranged version of Steve Winwood's old Spencer Davis Group hit "Gimme Some Lovin'"

(All Music)

JANUARY '68: THE BEST SELLING ALBUMS

Forty years ago the best selling albums in both sides of the Atlantic were:

UK

1. "Val Doonican Rocks But Gently" (Val Doonican)

2. "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (Beatles)

3. "The Sound of Music" (OST)

4. "British Motown Chartbusters" (Various)

5. "Reach Out" (Four Tops)
6. "Their Satanic Majesties Request" (Rolling Stones)

7. "The Last Waltz" (Engelbert Humperdinck)

8. "Axis: Bold As Love" (Jimi Hendrix Experience)

9. "13 Smash Hits" (Tom Jones)

10. "Breakthrough (Various)

US

1. "Magical Mystery Tour" (Beatles)

2. "Their Satanic Majesties Request" (Rolling Stones)

3. "Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Lda" (Monkees)

4. "Greatest Hits" (Diana Ross & The Supremes)

5. "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (Beatles)

6. "Herb Alpert's Ninth" (Herb Alpert & Tijuana Brass)

7. "Doctor Zhivago" (OST)

8. "Farewell To The First Golden Era" (Mamas & Papas)

9. "The Sound of Music" (OST)

10. "Disraeli Gears" (Cream)

DOIS ARTIGOS DA "ANTENA" DE JANEIRO (1968)

I WAS LORD KITCHENER'S VALET

Another famous London's pshychedelic boutique

CARNABY ST: CENTRE OF FASHION