PopAmericana©

[manho]

here's "home of the brave" by bonnie and the treasures:

www.sendspace.com/file/98b9ff

this track is par excellence PopAmericana© (i'm going for the two words with no space in between look). over the next few weeks i'll be posting songs which i consider to be representative of the genre and trying to actually define what makes a song PopAmericana© and not just a load of old shite.

[cripes]

found this on the internet (spot the boby connection).

Bonnie and the Treasures

Phi-Dan 5005, 1965
Billboard: #77

Charlotte O'Hara (née Matheny) sang lead on this Mark II version of Phil Spector's Wall of Sound, produced by Spector protégé Jerry Riopelle and issued on a short-lived Philles subsidiary label. Behind Charlotte were Sherlie Matthews and Clydie King. The song, by Brill Building experts Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, is a Shangri-Las-y tale told by a teenage girl who can't understand why her boyfriend was suspended from school — for the length of his hair, fercrissake. "Land of the free," indeed. This little story was full of contemporary resonance, and I don't mean recording-studio echo either, and it probably would have been an enormous hit had Capitol not released a far blander version with country-crossover artist Jody Miller, who charted at #25. Charlotte, alas, is no longer with us. Clydie and Sherlie went on to the Blackberries and sustained lengthy careers as backup singers. Sherlie also piled up extensive production and songwriting credits, the latter often with Marva Holiday, who was part of a "touring" version of the Treasures and who eventually cut a single herself ("Hang Around"/"It's Written All Over My Face", GNP Crescendo 411). The team at the Spectropop mailing list have compiled a frighteningly-complete history of this track and Charlotte O'Hara's recording career.

Where can I get this on CD?
There hasn't been a "legitimate" CD issue to my knowledge, but "grey area" CDs rush in to fill gaps like this. The European (it says) Flip label is offering a compilation called Phil Spector's Flips and Rarities (CD-001). See your import dealer.

Nice find.

[manho]

PopAmericana is mainly a girl thing but there are one or two guys who make up the numbers. spector is obviously in there, but not all his stuff can be considered part of the genre: he's a rebel, yes... loving feeling, no.

one guy whose work is almost entirely within the genre is jimmy webb. there's a case to be made for saying macarthur park is the the greatest PopAmericana artefact. but then everything he wrote is valid. the linesman out on the line. the balloon up up and away. these songs define a moment. something exquisitely new but impossible to grasp.

check out this one. jimmy webb's homage to another songwriter, p f sloan:
www.sendspace.com/file/jqjmaj

pure PopAmericana. acid had something to do with it. childhood moments. breaking down of ego. catching that horse if you can.

[manho]

here's a good one. skeeter davis, the end of the world:
www.sendspace.com/file/dzmc04



what makes it PopAmericana? well, just the name skeeter qualifies. and the way she says "it's the yend of the world". it's a sort of innocence. a belief in the disney paradigm.

maybe the greatest single PopAmericana line is "i met him at the candy store". but then "walking in the sand" doesn't fit into the genre. too finger-clicking cool. too swish. so it's not just about certain performers.

oh, and skeeter does that spoken verse thing. that's a classic. maybe "are you lonesome tonight" by elvis is PopAmericana.

[manho]

sandy posey, single girl:
www.sendspace.com/file/mc9o6i


the best thing to come out of this presidential campaign was sarah palin. she really did break down barriers. because she's PopAmericana.

[manho]

i was gonna post this on the jukebox thread but then i thought it fits in here better.

sonny bono, the revolution kind:
www.sendspace.com/file/ovwelh

a couple of sonny's things (laugh at me, i got you babe) are PopAmericana.

kitch postscript:
in the 60s the big hits wouldn't be released in italy but local artists would "cover" them, often changing the words and turning them into completely different songs. so, for example, whiter shade of pale is famous here but not the procol harem version and there's no mention of 16 vestal virgins arriving from the coast. one thing they never changed of course was the arrangement, the sound of the record. they were record thieves, not song thieves.

here's the italian version of sonny's revolution kind.
i nomadi, come potete guidicare:
www.sendspace.com/file/53fwcn

[manho]

i think this guy fits the category...

david ackles, road to cairo:
www.sendspace.com/file/8npdyi

it's something to do with being lost out on the highway, near the water's edge, not knowing what you'll find when you finally get to that place whose name and location you have no knowledge of. we've all been there right?

ackles gets in just on the strength of this one line, "i wrecked my lincoln in saint jo".

[cripes]

Bob: What's Ackles' problem?
Bing: I guess he doesn't want to go on the road.
Bob: Fuck him them. More Cairo stuff for us.

[manho]

how it really went...



Telephonist: American Breakdowns, name please.

Ackles: Er... Ackles... David Ackles.

Telephonist: What exactly is the problem sir?

Ackles: Well, erm... I was heading down that road, you know, that road to Cairo?

Telephonist: Just get to the point sir.

Ackles: Busted head gasket.

Telephonist: Make of car?

Ackles: Ford Lincoln Continental.

Telephonist: Where exactly are you?

Ackles: Main Street, Saint Jo.

Telephonist: A mechanic will be with you within the hour, sir.

Ackles Thanks, but... like, I was heading down that road, you know, that road to Cairo?

Telephonist: (hangs up)

[manho]

"The first commercial recording of a Jimmy Webb song was 'My Christmas Tree' which appeared on 'Merry Christmas, the Supremes', released in 1965. The following year Webb met singer and producer Johnny Rivers who signed Webb to a publishing deal and recorded Webb's 'By the Time I Get to Phoenix' on his 1966 album 'Changes'"

johnny rivers, by the time i get to phoenix:
www.sendspace.com/file/byrjb5

[manho]

'For all its preposterousness, there is something rather wonderful about MacArthur Park – Sammy Cahn compared its might to Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. And despite its ornate grandeur, there lies something rather plain and wrenching at its heart. "I see it as a relatively simple love song," Webb once explained, "about things passing away and never being the same again."'

www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/jun/03/hail-hail-rock-n-roll

[manho]

little peggy march, i will follow him:
www.sendspace.com/file/s1i9gz