Brian's Music Musings

I always liked the Pastels song "Been So Long". It's a great ballad that got to number 24 on the Billboard pop charts in 1958. Two releases later they had a song called "So Far Away" which is every bit as good. In fact, I like it even more. It didn't see Billboard action, but was a wonderful 45 and hit many local charts. The Pastels included Dee Irvin and were not the same group that recorded on the United label. "Been So Long" was recorded for the Hull records subsidiary, Mascot. Once it started flying off the shelves, they leased it to the Chess subsidiary, Argo records. Since you seem to only hear top 10 records on oldies stations these days, this record is one I call a long lost oldie on my radio show. It never used to be that way!

What should be the last CD of vintage Aquatones material will be out for sale soon. Relic records in Hackensack NJ started this "whole thing" when they issued an LP of Aquatones recordings in the 1980's. As a collectors note, they pressed some on red vinyl with a blue cover, and the normal black wax with a green cover. They also sold a CD in the 1990's with one minor problem. They included a few takes that were unreleased, yet didn't note it on the CD. They may not have realized what they did. The latest CD rectifies that, and takes it a step further. It includes the records the Aquatones sang back-up on which includes Vinnie Monte and Bob E. Lee (No relation). There is also some demo's, LP cuts and songs from an obscure cassette. Good liner notes help you sort out what you are listening to. It is on the Vinyl Reproductions label, catalog number 3001. Look for it soon!

I finally obtained a stock copy of the Vince Castro song "Too Proud To Cry", and will update my website soon. In fact I have now seen three of them for sale within a month. Up to this point, I had seen maybe 8 or 9 promos and just one stock copy. This makes me feel that there are still more promos than regular releases as a general rule. What I often wonder is why the record was not successful. It had some of the same elements as Bong Bong without sounding like it. It's a great record that was certainly more worthy. I suppose there were a lot of those "worthy" records that never got the attention they deserved.Vince Castro is still alive and well, and is singing! You can see/hear some of the new songs for Vince, on Youtube.

I think I could spend the rest of my natural life hunting down first and second pressings of records. Hmm, seems I am doing that as we speak! Some of them are obvious and well known. Others, not so much. I think of the Tri Lads on the Perspective label with "Cherry Pie" before ending up on Bullseye, Dart Ward, Bobby Jackson, and others. One obvious first and second pressing that totally got by me is Dick and DeeDee's "The Mountain's High" first on the Lama label, before finding it's way to Liberty. Pictured to the left, I will add that to my pages this week. There were also two other Lama issues for the Duo, including "Tell Me" and "Goodbye To Love. Original pressings of "Mountain" should look like the one pictured, and no distributed by Liberty mentioned on the label, like I have with my "Tell Me" issue. So how did I find out about this? I have to rewind to the Rockit Radio BBQ, and talking with Steve Propes and DeeDee herself, found out about it's existence.

Last night I aired my interview with Carl Dobkins Jr. He's a really nice guy with lots of great stories, and he has a brand new CD out. I played several of his vintage recordings and three from the new CD called "Cruising With Carl". Just click on the CD sales link. Eventually, I will get a page together for him, though it will take a while to get to my "complete" stage. I am starting to believe that a decent representation is much better than none at all.

With sadness we all learned about the passing of Jerry Wexler, Atlantic records producer, and collaborated with Ahmet Ertegun to become an amazing production team and had a great eye for talent. And that is an understatement. Atlantic records importance in the history of R+B, and music in general, cannot be stressed enough. A nice, but brief article can be seen here.

I am really backlogged with web site updates. I have some nice first and second pressings, and other artist records that I couldn't live without. Keep checking back for updates!

One of the great things about the Internet is the amazing amount of information that is available. One of the bad things about the Internet is the amazing about of mis-information that is available. Let's see if we can clear up the mystery of the Chiffons on the Big Deal label. Shown is the record label, with the address listed from Chatsworth, California. Most people forget that it was actually a Billboard chart record that debuted the same week as the ultimately more popular version by the Shirelles. But back to the Chiffons...

The Chiffons are an east coast group that also recorded a couple of records as the Four Pennies on Rust. They had 12 Billboard chart records with the combined two names, or was it 11? They were High School classmates from the Bronx, and made good with a great sound and fine material to sing. A not so quick check on the Internet shows an overwhelming amount of sites that insist the "Big Deal" Chiffons were the same as the Laurie label Chiffons. In fact it was difficult to find anyone who didn't say that. Most of my books show them as the same group. Rockin Records even shows a price for the top 100 single as 75-100 bucks. For a chart record?

I read one site that a guy had actually talked to a couple of the Chiffons, just a few years back. They said they didn't recall the record and felt it certainly wasn't them. If I knew the interviewer, I could put complete stock in that answer. What confirmed that they are two completely different groups is that Steve Propes interviewed the actual Big Deal Chiffons. In his book LA R+B Vocal Groups 1945-1965, it is obvious that the two groups were different. Besides that, they were on two seperate coasts. That latter fact alone would not convince me, but all the information together is overwhelming evidence that they are not related.

I had a chance to chat with Carl Dobkins Jr the other day. I hope to air an interview later this month. A really nice guy, he had quite a history with rock and roll, and he just released a new CD with some fine songs on it. "Cruising with Carl" is now available.

Speaking of new CD's, the Aquatones are now represented with a definitive CD called "The Aquatones The Authentic Releases". What really sets the CD apart is that it explains all the different iterations of releases. The original Relic CD from some 15 years ago, did not issue all the originally released records, and accidentally included alternate takes. This CD sets that straight and as I mentioned, explains the process. Also included are the Chord'r Notes, Bob Lee and Vinnie Monte issues where the Aquatones backed up the name artist, and as in the Chord'r Notes, it was Dave Goddard and a different group of guys. At this point, I don't think there is any of the Aquatones material that could be unearthed.