Salt Water Taffy - Summertime Girl

Salt Water Taffy - Summertime Girl (Pete Anders/Vinnie Poncia) Metromedia MM220 - 1970

Me gusta el contraste entre el riff instrumental de guitarras fuzz y wah wah con el colorido y la dulzura de la melodía cantada, cercana al sunshine pop. Una bonita y original canción de pop urbano escrita por Pete Anders y Vinnie Poncia, legendarios autores y productores (The Ronettes, The Crystals, Bobby Bloom, The Tradewinds, The Innocence...).

Salt Water Taffy, además de ser un dulce típico del area de New Jersey, era un grupo neoyorkino liderado por Rod McBrien y Johnny Giametta. Rod ya tenía experiencia anterior como músico con The Tornadoes, The Valrays, The Casualeers o The Eastern Scene, y también como técnico de sonido en diferentes estudios (Roulette, Allegro, o Ultra Sonic, donde con Shadow Morton grabó el mítico "Leader Of The Pack" de The Shangri-Las). También, Rod y Johnny habían escrito algunas canciones para otros artistas.

Salt Water Taffy editaron un total de cinco singles y un muy agradable LP entre 1968 y 1970, todos ellos para el legendario sello Buddah, excepto este último que aquí presentamos que fué publicado con diferentes caras B por dos marcas diferentes: United Artists y Metromedia.


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I like the contrast between the wah wah and fuzz guitar instrumental riff, and the sweet and colourful sung melody, quite close to sunshine pop. A nice and original urban pop song written by Pete Anders and Vinnie Poncia, legendary songwriters and producers (The Ronettes, The Crystals, Bobby Bloom, The Tradewinds, The Innocence...).

Salt Water Taffy, besides being a New Jersey area tipical sweet, was a newyorker group led by Rod McBrien y Johnny Giametta. Rod was already an experienced musician with The Tornadoes, The Valrays, The Casualeers or The Eastern Scene, and also a sound engineer in several studios (Roulette, Allegro, or Ultra Sonic where, with Shadow Morton, he engineered the mythical "Leader Of The Pack" by The Shangri-Las). Also, Rod and Johnny had written some tunes for other artists.

Sal Water Taffy released a total of five singles and a quite pleasant LP between 1968 and 1970, all of them for the legendary Buddah label, excep this last one we're presenting here which was released with different B sides for two different labels: United Artists y Metromedia.


http://rapidshare.com/files/261716265/Salt_Water_Taffy_-_Summertime_Girl.mp3

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Gullivers People - Somehow, Somewhere

Gullivers People - Somehow, Somewhere (A.Keen/J.Wilkins) Columbia DB 8588 A - 1969

Esta canción me pilló desprevenido. La pinché un par de veces y me enganchó. Refrescante y en colores a cuadros, transmite una jovialidad que casi da vergüenza. El órgano que responde a cada estrofa fué el elemento definitivo. Además, a pesar de no ser nada complicado, no puedo imaginar a nadie actualmente haciendo una canción con este rítmo precísamente. Esclavitudes de las épocas. Adjudicada.

"Somehow, Somewhere" fué el cuarto y último single de Gullivers People, un sexteto de Londres que apenas actuó nunca fuera de la ciudad, pero que fueron el grupo residente del legendario Tiffany's durante un buen número de años. Con un sonido muy cercano al llamado "sunshine pop", publicaron tan sólo cuatro singles entre 1966 y 1969. A single por año. Con el inefable Norman Smith en los controles, casi parece verano.


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This song caught me unprepared. I played it a couple of times and got hooked. Refreshing and in squared colours, it transmits an almost shameful cheerfulness. The organ answering each verse was the definitive element. Also, in spite of not being complicated at all, I just cannot imagine anyone nowadays making a song with exactly this rhythm. Slaveries of the times. Awarded.

"Somehow, Somewhere" was the fourth and last single by Gullivers People, a London sextet that hardly ever played outside town, but who was the resident band in the legendary Tiffany's during a few years. With a sound quite close to the so called "sunshine pop", they released only four singles between 1966 and 1969. A single per year. With the unutterable Norman Smith at the controls, it almost seems it's summer.



http://rapidshare.com/files/256996305/Gullivers_People_-_Somehow__Somewhere.mp3

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Leapy Lee - If I Ever Get To Saginaw Again

Leapy Lee - If I Ever Get To Saginaw Again (Bob Russell / Jack Keller) LP "Little Arrows" Decca DL 75076 - 1968

Una gran canción sale, prácticamente, de cualquier sitio. A veces, de lugares más que insospechados. Graham Pulleyblank (Eastbourne, Reino Unido, 1939) cambió su nombre a Lee Graham y cuando se lió a grabar discos en 1965 elegió Leapy Lee como nombre de guerra. En 1968 tuvo un éxito mundial con una insidiosa cancioncilla llamada "Little Arrows", que aqui en España grabó Karina con igual éxito.

Para aprovechar el momento se publicó un primer LP, "Little Arrows", en el que, entre discretas originales y versiones varias, se puede encontrar esta mayúscula canción, que no me ha dejado en los últimos días. "If I Ever Get To Saginaw Again" fué escrita por Bob Russell y Jack Keller, ambos reconocidos profesionales en el pop americano de los 60. Ya querrían muchos escribir canciones como esta a los 54 años, como Bob. La canción había sido grabada también por The Monkees, pero no fué editada en su dia hasta que apareció en el disco "Missing Links Vol. 2" muchos años después. Hay que decir que la versión de Leapy Lee es abiertamente superior. Tal vez ayuden a ello la naturalidad de Leapy y la impecable producción y arreglo del ex-Manfred Mann, Mike Vickers.

Leapy Lee nunca consiguió repetir el éxito de "Little Arrows" y tras unos cuantos discos más, una estancia en la cárcel y una emigración a Arabia Saudí, se instaló en Mallorca y abrió un bar en Santa Ponsa. Todavía sigue allí, cantando a veces por los garitos de la zona y haciendo alguna columna para algún periódico local en inglés.

Aqui está la letra de la canción, que trata un tema totalmente inusual para una supuestamente inofensiva canción pop, y que la hace incluso mejor todavía:



"If I ever get to Saginaw again,
A locale that's somewhat off the beaten track.

Get to see the girl I never saw again,
Who must know why I have never ventured back.

Oh, we were young,
And so alive

And now I wonder if she'd cling to me,
Be my very own as she did then,
If I ever get to Saginaw again.


If I ever get to Saginaw again,
It won't be in spring with meadows turning green.

It won't be to tangle with the law again.
It won't be with someone only seventeen,

Who gave her love,
And made me hers.

And when you find the one you're dreaming of
Who strucks to ask, how old is love?, not when
You may never get to Saginaw again.


If I ever get to Saginaw again
I will get to see the son who bears my name.

And perhaps I'll quietly withdraw again
When I see the little man that he became.

But now I yearn
To watch him grow.

A father's love is maybe all it takes
To try to beat the great mistakes of men
If I ever get to Saginaw again"


(Bob Russell / Jack Keller)


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A great song appears, in fact, anywhere. Sometimes, in more than unsuspected places. Graham Pulleyblank (Eastbourne, UK, 1939) changed his name to Lee Graham and, when he got involved in making records in 1965, he chose Leapy Lee as his new nick name. In 1968 he had a world hit with an insidious little song called "Little Arrows".

To cope with the moment a first LP, "Little Arrows", was released. On it, among discreet originals a various covers, you may find this tremendous song, which has not left me in the last few days. "If I Ever Get To Saginaw Again" was written by Bob Russell and Jack Keller, both of them respected songwriters in the american 60s pop. Many musicians would give an arm and a leg to be able to write such a song at 54, like Bob. This tune had also been recorded by The Monkees, but it wasn't released at the time until it finally appeared many years later in "Missing Links Vol. 2". We should note that Leapy Lee's version is far better. It may help Leapy's natural way of singing it and also the faultless production and arrangement of ex-Manfred Mann, Mike Vickers.

Leapy Lee could never repeat the great success of "Little Arrows" and after a few more records, a season in prison and a migration to Saudi Arabia, he settled in Majorca in Spain, and he opened a bar in Santa Ponsa. He's still there, sometimes singing around the local pubs and writing some column for some local british newspaper.

You can find above the lyrics to the song, which is dealing with an absolutely unusual topic for a supposedly harmless pop song. Which makes it even better.




http://rapidshare.com/files/252963173/Leapy_Lee_-_If_I_Ever_Get_To_Saginaw_Again.mp3



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