APPROXIMATELY BOB DYLAN (Frankie Valli style)

Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons became so famous in the early sixties that they lost all respect for their loyal record-buying Valli-loving audience and decided to TRICK THEM by releasing Bob Dylan's Don't Think Twice It's Alright under a pseudonym, 'The Wonder Who'. (Get it, I wonder who is singing Bob Dylan in falsetto with three-part harmony male backing vocals and NY Italian-American accents... hmmm... perhaps Peter Paul and Mario?)

(Don't Think Twice, It's Alright by The Wonder Who)

The Vallli fans guessed it was their Frankie, the single was a hit and the band released an album of covers: Frankie Valli & the 4 seasons Sing the Big Hits of Burt Bacharach and Bob Dylan. Almost every traack is a favorite but I chose the-very-rarely-covered Queen Jane Approximatley as the best example of Producer Bob Crewe's incongruous arrangements of folk songs by Bob Zimmerman. Perhaps it helps to know that Bob Crewe also composed the soundtrack to Barbarella... so by virtue of Hanoi Jane Fonda, the circle of protest is complete.

The song is here:

Queen Jane Approximately - Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons

This is my video version:

POSITIVELY THE LIVING VOICES

Here's my favorite - The Living Voices turn Bob Dylan's nasty, vicious, seering Positively 4th Street into a valium-dulled stream of consciousness delivered to our uptown analyst while reclining on his couch. This is just a temp video; over the holidays I might edit something which is a little more synchronised.

'The Enjoyment of Music' from His Master's Voice

Liner note:

"Most of us first became interested in the classics through hearing a popular symphony, concerto or orchestral piece, but there is a danger that we will limit our listening to this type of music. The range of music is infinite and our appreciation of the world's great composers can be deepened by a broadening of the musical horizon. This record contains eleven extracts representing many facets of music... If you like what you hear, explore further. You will discover that the enjoyment of music - all sorts of music - is boundless... enjoy endless hours of pleasure and personal enrichment."

"Cover Photo by Derek Brown of HMV Stereogram Model Audio 10."

Stereo-Radiogram

When your record player was a piece of furniture.

The Living Voices

The Living Strings appeared on the budget record label, Camden, for the easy-listening instrumental music market, apparently featuring a variety of uncredited European orchestras including the Oslo Symphony. Camden released other "Living" brands including - my favorite - The Living Marimbas and - the stars of this post - The Living Voices.

It seems as though,after a few years of recording cover versions of the latest innocuous pop hits, The Living Voices suddenly found their political soul and released an album of cover versions of the latest anti-establishment protest songs, including the album title track, "Positively 4th Street" - Dylan's first foray into electric folk-rock and a nasty mean-spirited vicious personal attack (not really a political protest song at all) one of his folk days friends (Irwin Silber, folk music critic).

The arranger for this album was the leader of the eponymous Anita Kerr Singers (she' still singing and has her own website). I love the incongruity of Kerr's strict phrasing and unison vocal arrangments applied to Dylan, Donovan, Barry Maguire and others rambling folk ballads. Did the polyester-wearing Middle-American family purchasers of Living series LPs notice that their Stereo-Radiograms had suddenly gone subversive? They still voted for Nixon in '68.

I've used the Ray Conniff Singers in this video. This will be apparent in a subsequent post. Ypu can see the Anita Kerr Singers (only four of them) performing Oh Lonesome Me in Osly in '64 on youtube: Anita Kerr Singers - Oslo 1964

My DAWN OF CORRECTION video

PROPAGANDA WARS - FILM & VIDEO

Vietnam was the first television war. In the on-screen battle, The Spokesmen are AWOL: I can only find Barry McGuire performing on the American music television show 'Hullaballoo'. So I have rushed to the frontline in the battle for minds a video of the right side.

In the red corner:

The lyric battle: evening versus dawn, destruction versus correction

EVE OF DESTRUCTION vs DAWN OF CORRECTION

The eastern world, it is exploding
The western world has a common dedication
Violence flarin’, bullets loadin’
To keep free people from Red domination
You’re old enough to kill, but not for votin’
And maybe you can't vote, boy, but man your battle stations
You don’t believe in war, but what’s that gun you’re totin’
And even the Jordan River has bodies floatin’
Or there'll be no need for votin' in future generations

But you tell me over and over and over again, my friend
So over and over again, you keep sayin' it's the end
Ah, you don’t believe we’re on the eve of destruction.
But I say you're wrong, we're just on the dawn of correction

Don’t you understand what I’m tryin’ to say
Can’t you feel the fears I’m feelin’ today?
There are buttons to push in two mighty nations
If the button is pushed, there’s no runnin’ away
But who's crazy enough to risk annihilation?
There’ll be no one to save, with the world in a grave
The buttons are there to ensure negotiation
Take a look around ya boy, it's bound to scare ya boy
So don't be afraid, boy, it's our only salvation

Yeah, my blood’s so mad feels like coagulatin’
I’m sitting here just contemplatin’
I can’t twist the truth, it knows no regulation.
Handful of senators don’t pass legislation
And marches alone can’t bring integration
When human respect is disintegratin’
You tell me that marches won't bring integration
But look what it's done for the voter registration
Be thankful our country allows demonstrations
This whole crazy world is just too frustratin’
Instead of condemnin', make some recommendations
I don't understand the cause of your aggravation
You mean to tell me, boy, it's not a better situation?

Think of all the hate there is in Red China
You missed all the good in your evaluation
Then take a look around to Selma, Alabama
What about the things that deserve commendation?
You may leave here for 4 days in space
Where there once was no cure, there's vaccination
But when you return, it’s the same old place
Where there once was a desert, there's vegetation
The poundin’ of the drums, the pride and disgrace
Self-government's replacing colonization
You can bury your dead, but don’t leave a trace
What about the Peace Corp. organization?
Hate your next-door neighbor, but don’t forget to say grace
Don't forget the work of the United Nations

the answer

Fortunately for the free world, this Communist propaganda - direct from Mao, Ho Chi Min and the rest of the red cabal - was answered by The Spokesmen, an unknown group of singing patriots with 'The Dawn of Correction'.

Its anthemic chorus goes:

So over and over again, you keep sayin' it's the end
But I say you're wrong, we're just on the dawn of correction

My favorite lyric (among many)

Instead of condemnin', make some recommendations

The song here.

The Eve of Destruction vs The Dawn of Correction

Continuing the battle against the red menace (from a Cold War 1960s perspective), I recently discovered another potent weapon in our pro-capitalist arsenal: 'The Dawn of Correction' by the Spokesmen. Many of you would know Barry McGuire's communist antiAmerican diatribe titled 'The eve of Destruction'. Barry McGuire (ex-New Christy Minstrels) has a rasping and gravelly voice, suited to the angry lyrics by PF Sloan ('P' for 'Pinko' and 'F' for 'Fink'). It's marching slogan chorus shouts:

But you tell me over and over and over again, my friend
Ah, you don’t believe we’re on the eve of destruction.

The song here.