2003 Vinyl Thoughts

I've been debating—with myself, mostly—about what to end the year with. So much has happened. I've put the final touches on my "Let's Live For Today" saga, while the Lion saga continues to manifest itself. But just when I think I'm close to wrapping it up, another lion enters the building. What's my goal with that? As of this point, I'm not really sure. My original intention was to gather as many versions as I possibly could and in their original issue form. I'm still doing that and I may possibly assemble a CD box set. Hey, I'm a record collector. I admit it. And the Internet has helped to make that a reality. Not just in finding the records, but the people from around the world who have contributed their input along the way. Even though I may not have thanked you all personally, please believe me that I truly appreciate the input and feedback. Thanks!

One question, passed along to me from Bob Shannon back in January, involved a version of a recording that inspired a former Beatle. E-mailer Jeffrey wanted  to know who had recorded the first version of "I've Got My Mind Set On You", which he'd heard a long gospel sounding version of on CBS-FM some 10 years ago. He said it sounded to have a banjo involved (an early Folk song?). He was also convinced it wasn't by James Ray, who was always credited as the originator (he did recall hearing Ray's version at one time)—and that it may have originated in the 1950's.

Having never actually heard the version myself (I'd heard of it), this required some digging. On the Internet, I was able to find out that George Harrison had come to New York, prior to the Beatles arrival, sometime in 1963. While here, he picked up the self-titled James Ray LP on Caprice Records, which happened to include the song "I've Got My Mind Set On You". George was inspired to record  his own version, but not until 1987. The James Ray song was released as a single on the Dynamic Sound label in 1962. More investigation resulted in finding out that the song was written by Rudy Clark in 1961, so that ruled out any 1950s release. I was first able to acquire the original single 1962 release, which did have a gospel flavor to it in part, but not enough to qualify it as gospel. And this was hardly any long version, as it clocked in well under two minutes (1:49). So was there an earlier longer release, possibly by someone else? The album was up next. I was able to find a mention of the album that included a track listing. There it was, but it was listed as "I've Got My Mind Set On You, Parts 1 & 2". Could this be the long version in question? Only one way to find out.

A search for the original Caprice album (my preference) proved fruitless, as it is a rare puppy even in collectors' circles. So a CD search was in order. As luck would have it, the album was available on a Collectables CD. When I finally got it and played it, I realized this had to be what Jeffrey had heard. This was a re-recording of the tune, with a greater amount of the gospel flavor that Jeffrey had mentioned, and included the banjo accompaniment. The CD was actually a pleasant surprise for me. I actually could listen to it all the way through and thoroughly enjoy every song, a rare occurance for me by any artist of any era! Of course there were favorite tracks. Aside from "...Got My Mind..." and Ray's biggest hit, "If You Gotta Make A Fool Of Somebody", one song stood out that I could listen to over and over: "Without A Song". Surpisingly, this track never made it to single release, as I'm sure it would have sold well if it had. But, as it turns out, the album was released just prior to James Ray's passing from a drug overdose (from what I understand). And with the British Invasion on the horizon, a posthumous release of the song would not have been a priority (my guess). And I did eventually find and purchase the original Caprice album.

In February, I was contacted by Joe Baiardi, who runs the Official Rokes Site. The Rokes recorded the original Italian-language version of the later Grassroots' hit "Let's Live For Today". Joe had discovered an earlier take of the song in English but with a different title and lyrics, which prompted a total re-write of my saga on the song from a couple of years back. It was done and posted two months later.

In June, I got a message from Maxine Margo, Phil and Mitch's (of the Tokens) little sister. It turns out that Phil wanted to talk to me. I eventually made the call, and learned much about the group and the goings on when they recorded "The Lion Sleeps Tonight". I also shared with him some background on some of the versions he'd never heard before. Some interesting trivia: did you know that the song has been the most successful by a variety of artists around the world? Yes, other songs have been recorded by more different artists, but none of them stand out by more than one or two artists each worldwide. The "Lion" tune, in any of it's monikers, has survived a successful retelling in almost every decade (I can't account for any 1940's issue) since it's original 1939 release in South Africa as "Mbube", by a different artist in each instance.

In October, I finally got to meet someone special in person, who I'd only known from her records from 1964, and then a telephone interview in 1999. That person is Miss Diane Renay. I'd first had contact with Diane in the latter part of 1998 on a music message board, where she dropped in to see if anyone remembered her record hit, "Navy Blue". Inquisitive as I am, I e-mailed her back, first to see if she was indeed Diane Renay. From what she told me, and what she didn't say, I was convinced it was her. We kept in touch to a point where Bob was going to try to interview her on the air at CBS-FM. But those plans proved short-lived as the station's policy at the time prohibited it. So Bob suggested that I do it myself for his website. Although I was not all that sure I was up to the task, I said I'd give it a shot.

I tried to gather as many facts as I could about her from around the 'Net and other sources, as well as some of her other records (I only had three or four at the time).  Searching Ebay, I ran across some sheet music for "Navy Blue", which I thought would add some spice to the collection. But there was already a bidder, so I'd have to be careful if I wanted to win it. I put in a bid the day before the auction ended. I then got an e-mail from the other bidder. She said she'd had a copy of it years ago, but lent it out and it was never returned. She was now seeking to replace it. It turned out to be Diane Renay, herself! I told her that if I won it, I would give it to her. Since I wasn't going to be able to be there when the auction ended, I could only hope my reserve bid was high enough. When I checked back later, I found I was outbid! (Don't you just hate when that happens?) Anyway, as it turns out, Diane and I were both e-mailed by someone who had been monitoring the auction. He made us both the offer to buy copies of the original sheet music for the price that I'd lost it for. Not only that, but he also had copies of the sheet music for another Diane hit, "Kiss Me Sailor", for a modest additional sum. After checking the guy out through a variety of e-mail exchanges to different addresses, I was convinced the deal was on the level. He was a bona fide Ebayer, but the initial contact was made from an address other than registered on Ebay. I simply asked him to make the same deal via his registered Ebay e-mail address. In the end, we were both happy campers.

The phone interview finally went down on Superbowl Sunday (January 1999) in the afternoon. I called her. We spoke for nearly 90 minutes; click here to listen to a portion of the interview. Meeting Diane in October was a dream finally realized. She was as pleasant in person as she was when I first spoke with her. Thank you, Diane!

November proved to be a personal triumph for me in the collector category. Back in 1996 I'd learned for the first time that Bob Shannon had recorded a song in 1970 during his Don Bombard days at WOLF in Syracuse, N.Y. It was called "Satisfaction Is Guaranteed" as by Don Bombard and Headstone II.  He played it once as a "Lost Hit" on his CBS-FM show and I managed to tape most of it. I met Bob soon afterwards, when he informed me that it was issued on the Eceip label, and was the flip of a thing called "Speed" by the Ron Wray Light Show. Determined and self-challenged as I was, I told Bob I could find a copy of his record within a year. Well a year passed and...nothing! I'd come up with a couple of leads at record conventions, yet still nothing. Keep in mind that this was before my Internet association. When my Internet days came to be in late 1998, I found I was having no further luck with it. Everyone I asked never heard of it. But then, they weren't from Syracuse, where it made the Top 10. Then, in October of 2001, Bob filled me in on more backound of his record. It turns out that the song was originally recorded by Van Trevor in 1964. Not only that, Don's record was originally on the Piece label and was changed due to sexual implications (Eceip is simply Piece spelled backwards). Now the hunt was on for more records! I managed to find the Trevor version within a few months. First I found the Canadian-American issue, and then the Corsican original, which is the release Bob remembered. But still no Don Bombard record!

Earlier this year, I learned of an album that Don/Bob had put together in his days at 13Q radio, called Don Bombard Presents Pittsburgh's Hall of Fame, Vol. 1. -- a collection of songs (like the Luvs' "We Kiss In The Shadows") that were popular only in the Pittsburgh area. This LP was picked by Peter Gibbon of Ace Records in England as one of the Top 10 of All Time!  So now I had yet another record to add to the list. Finally, in November, the album showed up on Ebay. Long story short: I got it! Within a week, Don's record on the Piece label showed up on Ebay (what are the odds?) Again, long story short: I got it! Would you believe that before that auction ended, his Eceip release also showed up on Ebay? Believe it! And, you guessed it: I got it!

I've also been helping Bob with finding stuff for the stories he's been updating lately, including new info about and an LP by Anita Darian (the high soprano voice on the Tokens' "...Lion Sleeps...".) 

When Bob began work on the lyrics to Lou Monte's "Lazy Mary", and began digging into the song's roots as "Luna Mezzo Mare", he invited me to help with some of the digging. Easily challenged that I am, I started some searching.First up was the original 1938 sheet music for the Rudy Vallee version known as "Oh! Ma-Ma! (The Butcher Boy)". I attained a copy of it from the UK. A US copy I saw featured Vallee's mug on the bottom right corner. This one didn't. It also featured additional new lyrics from the Andrews Sisters version, which was released not too far behind the Vallee version.

Next found was the Andrews Sisters recording. This was readily available on CD, so I settled for that in lieu of the actual record (usually my first choice). The Vallee recording was a different story. It seems to be unavailable on CD, and the original 78 took some patience. But eventually a copy did turn up, and I was there to grab it. The playing of the 78 proved to be something of an obstacle, however. I have an old (60s?) Sylvania brand console, with a Garrard turntable. The good news was that it had RCA outputs that I could run to the mixer going to my computer. The bad news was that only one channel output was working (I had thought the problem was exclusive to the console speakers themselves). The one channel really wasn't that much of an obstacle; since it wasn't a stereo recording, I shouldn't lose any audio, even if it was one-sided. When I played the 78 initially, I thought there may have been a problem with the record itself. Then I remembered 78's don't play too well using a 45-33 1/3 cartridge. Fortunately, this machine had a flip 78 cartridge, and I played it again. This time there was a marked improvement. But the sound would fluctuate erratically. In parts, the sound would drop away and then come back to good fidelity. At first I thought the record wasn't as clean as it looked. But then I realized, after a few plays, that the fluctuation would be different with each play. My guess then was that the needle wasn't the right cut for the grooves in the old record. I had some other (more recent) 78's lying around and tried them, and they seemed to play well. For the time being, at least, this recording would have to make do.
Here's how it sounded from my turntable. Later, Bob was able present it digitally remastered to improve the sound quality.