Moog Plays The Beatles - Marty Gold

 

Fool On The Hill

Moog Plays The Beatles

The Electronic Music Of Marty Gold

Arranged and Produced by Marty Gold

Programmed by Walter Sear for Sear Electronic Music Productions, Inc.

All songs composed by John Lennon & Paul McCartney

Engineer: Russ Hamm

Cover and Liner Design: The Mixed Media Machine, Inc.

Avco Embassy STEREO AVE 33003

1969

From the inside cover: "Moog Plays The Beatles" Yet! Less than a decade ago, this would have sounded like a preposterous title for nobody knew then what either a Moog or a Beatle was. Now, of course, we all know the Beatles. And, record by record more and more of us are learning about the Moog. The Moog, as those in-the-know know, makes music electronically. Specifically, it's an elaborate, electronic synthesizer, name after its inventor, Robert Moog (the vowel sound is like "Mow," rather than "Moo"). And the tremendous variations of sounds it can produce have begun to revolutionize many of today's recordings. Now, some of those Moog sounds haven't always been downright appealing, simply because they have tended to emphasize the synthesizer's tremendous technical prowess without paying too much attention to the development of its musical potential. And that's pretty understandable, of course, because so often when something new like this does come along, people at first tend to become more entranced by what it can do, than by how it can do what they want it to do. Marty Gold has been around a long time, and he's always wanted to make good musical sounds – on his own big orchestral albums and in back of girl singers like Lena Horne, Patti Page and Sarah Vaughan, boy singers like Ed Ames, Eddy Arnold, Perry Como, Sergio Franchi, John Gary and Jimmie Rodgers, and pianists like Peter Nero and Roger Williams. And now he has come to the Moog, an instrument, as he puts it, "That really challenges one's creative imagination simply because it can create an infinite number of new sensations for the ear, far beyond the sounds of the usual musical instruments we've been used to hearing. "What I've tried to do on this record is not merely bring out those sounds for their own effects, but, even more so, to blend them with other contemporary musical sounds." And what could be more contemporary-sounding vehicles than a dozen of the Beatles' best songs! Gold has managed to maintain the original flavor of many of these by utilizing a strong, driving rhythm section of an electric guitar, an electric bass, an electronic harpsichord, a Lowrey organ, drums and percussion. "The spontaneous drive of live rhythm section created a lot of excitement," he notes. Using an eight-track recorded, he laid his basic rhythm sound on four tracks, and then, on subsequent sessions, filled the remaining four with sounds from the Moog synthesizer. "I was helped tremendously," he readily admits, "by Walter Sear. He'd worked with Robert Moog for many years, and so he could show me exactly how to get every sound I wanted. What was so especially great about working with Walter was, that besides being an experienced electronic engineer, he's also a first-rate musician. He has played tuba for leading symphonies and he's also an arranger. So you can see that it became pretty easy for us to communicate." With Sear sitting by, Gold used the Moog keyboard to embellish his basic sound tracks. Though his pre-session sketches program it for him accurately. "Walter not only gave me whatever effects I was trying for, but he also made some excellent suggestions, especially some of those programmed Moog sound effects, like the wind on 'Fool On The Hill'." The collaboration of these talents has resulted in some unusual and attracting sounds – like the human voice effects in the opening of "Eleanor Rigby;" "The Automatic octave slurs in "Norwegian Wood;" the beautiful purity of sound in "Yesterday" and in "Michelle," which also has some attractive whistling effects; the Mozart-like approach to "Hey Jude;" the canon approach to "Fool On The Hill," and the eerie, unmatched vibratos that permeate "Good Nite," the lovely, but not too-well-known song that has closed so many of the Beatles' concerts. The inherent danger in a project like this one – the temptation to adapt the music to the instrument, rather than the instrument to the music – is something Gold and Sear strove hard to avoid. "I wanted more than anything else," says Gold, "to retain the musical values of these great Beatles songs, and certainly not to sacrifice them to any machine. The Moog is a magnificent instrument. But I was interested in creating something beyond another pure Moog album. Rather, I wanted to create a musically valid electronic album, complete with other musical instruments, that featured the Moog within a total musical picture. I hope I've succeeded. – George T. Simon

Eleanor Rigby

Norwegian Wood

Day Tripper

Yesterday

Get Back

Penny Lane

Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds

Michelle

Hey Jude

In My Lfe

The Fool On The Hill

Good Night

Poinciana - Ahmad Jamal

 

Autumn Leaves

Poinciana

Ahmad Jamal

Cover Painting: Don Zolan

Cover Design: Don Bronstein

Engineer: Malcolm Chisholm

Argo LP-719

1963

From the back cover: There have been piano trios in great abundance in Jazz ever since Art Tatum showed the way back in the early 30's. Most of them have been "one man" trios, such as Art's, because of the overwhelming talent with which the leader-pianist was usually imbued. The bass and drums usually kept to the unobtrusive role of time keeping. Errol Garner's men are listed as string and percussion accompaniment, which they very finely but innocuously are. And so the trios go.

With the Ahmad Jamal Trio of this setting the word trio means exactly that; three! Indisputably, it is Ahmad's trio. It is he the general public comes to see and hear. They come now to hear his new group which is rapidly growing to excellence. However, the trio herein is no more. Its great bassist, Israel Crosby has passed on, and its greatly underrated but superbly inventive drummer, Vernell Fournier is now with George Shearing. Those of you who've heard this trio may differ with me and say that Israel or Vernell never did solo, that they merely kept time and were subservient to Ahmad's explorations. In the sense of an out and out extrovert type solo this is essentially true. However, the few breaks they do take plus their overall contributions to the general meaning of the selection being played are so important and so much a part of the whole conception that without their rapport it is very doubtful that the Ahmad Jamal Trio would have gained the fame it so deserved. No one, I'm sure realizes this fact as keenly as the exceptionally talented pianist-composer, Ahmad Jamal. (This is one reason he has reorganized his present trio along the same lines, with Richard Evans, bass and Chuck Lampkin, drums). Both of these excellent sidemen possess some of the great qualities of their predecessors, plus of course, their own personal talents, which are quite large!

All of the selection included in this album were recorded before a live audience and their appreciative reactions are easily evident after each number. "Poinciana," one of the first tunes to really boost the group begins side one, and is followed by a great standard. "You Don't Know What Love Is." Sprinkled by many humorous interpolations, this selection swings along with Israel giving "singing" session to all bassists while propelling Ahmad into some fanciful flights of two fisted chords and deftly turned single note runs. "Gal In Calico" which follows features some of the most finger poppin'est head shakin' swingin' ever recorded. Vernell builds right along with Ahmad and distinguishes himself by crashing the loudest cymbal ever in his long career. Obscure but beautiful is the ballad, "Ivy"; its Rhumba like treatment alternating with a deep sounding 4/4 is a perfect interpretation by these masters. The first side ends with guitarist Irving Ashby's composition, "Tater Pie," a cute light sounding swinger which lends itself admirably to the easy styled positive style of bass walking on this tune are remarkable, and without fear of stretching a point I would say this is the way most bass players would like to be able to play!

The longest tune in the album, the forever standard "Autumn Leaves" opens the second side, and is given a vastly different treatment than Miles Davis' famous interpretation. "This Can't Be Love," which I've always loved by Lester Young is played robustly with tongue-in cheek. Many truly humorous interpolations poke their way through the web of the tune's melody which Ahmad constantly toys with in much the same manner as did Prez; with multi-noted flourishes alternating with open gaps of surging rhythm. On this and the album's closer, "Ole Devil Moon," Israel Crosby once again rules the world of tasteful bass playing hands down. Notice also the interplay between drums and bass, both listening to Ahmad and each other.

Listening to and appreciating each other musically and personally with the talent already involved was perhaps the secret of the Trio. I truly feel that Ahmad Jamal's Trio is most certainly among the elite in its field of music. This album, among his many others, helps to justify this position, as does his new trio. I sincerely think Poinciana will meet with the approval of your discerning ears. – Joe Segal

Poinciana

You Don't Know What Love Is

A Gal In Calico

Ivy

Tater Pie

Autumn Leaves

This Can't Be Love

Ole Devil Moon

Fontainebleau - Tadd Dameron

 

Fontainebleau

Fontainebleau

Tadd Dameron and His Orchestra

Supervision by Bob Weinstock

Recording Engineer: Van Gelder

Prestige LP P-7037

1956

Kenny Dorham - Trumpet

Sahib Shihab - Alto

Joe Alexander - Tenor

Cecil Payne - Bariton

Henry Coker - Trombone

Tadd Dameron - Piano

John Simmons - Bass

Shadow Wilson - Drums

From the back cover: Dameron is Tadd, Tadley Ewing to be formal, one of Cleveland's few gifts to the jazz world. His brother Caesar, an alto saxophonist, introduced him to jazz and his first professional job was with Freddie Webster who later in Tadd's career graced Sarah Vaughan's recording of Tadd's If You Could See Me Now with some of the most soulful trumpet ever recorded.

After stints with Zack White and Blanche Calloway (Cab's sister) Tadd arrived in Chicago and by 1940 at the age of 23, he had started to arrange. Before the war and defense work, he managed to get to New York with Vido Musso and to Kansas City where he wrote and arranged for Harlan Leonard.

When the war ended, Tadd really came into prominence through hi arrangements for Jimmy Lunceford, Billy Eckstine, Count Basie, Georgie Auld and Sarah Vaughan. He also organized and played piano in Bab's Three Bips And A Bop and wrote most importantly for the big band of Dizzy Gillespie. Patrons of the Royal Roost in 1948 will attest to the remarkable small group Tadd headed with Allen Eager and Fats Navarro as the leading horns.

In 1949, Tadd went to the Paris Jazz Festival with Miles Davis and remained on the other side of the Atlantic to write for England's Ted Heath. On returning to the U. S. in 1951, he spent two years with Bull Moose Jackson and then formed his own nine piece band which played at the Paradise Club in Atlantic City, N. J.  Now after hibernating in Cleveland since the demise of that band, Tadd Dameron, one of the brightest of the modern arranger-composers is back to realize all those promises he made with his lyrical, rich-textured, soul-moving compositions of the past.

Fontainebleau is the site of famous palace and vast forest in northern France, southwest of Paris, where the Bourbons used to cavort. When Tadd saw Fontainebleau he was moved to the extent of writing the impression of what he felt in a piece of program music, depicting the various aspects of the place, both physical and historical.

Fontainebleau is divided into three parts with melt into each other without sharp lines of demarcation. First is Le Foret and the verdure stretching out in its grandeur; next Les Cygnes (the swans) as they swim on the lake; and then the palace itself and L'Adieu, Napoleon's farewell before leaving for Elba in March of 1814.

Knowing these facts and the idea behind the composition are extremely interesting, but the music is excellent music for its own merit with or without any verbal qualifications. On hearing it, I immediately thought of a larger band (possibly Dizzy's) and the many extra colors that Fontainebleau would readily lend itself to but it seems as if other people had thought along these lines on an ever larger scale for Tadd tells us that Sir Thoman Beecham recorded it (as yet unreleased) in England with a 78 piece orchestra.

Delirium is a swift, rocking vehicle for Tadd's fellow Clevelander, Joe Alexander, who blows hi vigorous horn in two separate solos divided by a crackling, sparkling solo by Kenny Dorham.

The typically Dameronian The Scene Is Clean is expounded by Tadd both chorally and single line.

Henry Coker has Flossie Lou all to himself. Henry was one of the members of Eddie Heywood's sextet in the later Forties but is best known for his work with Count Basie since 1952.

The blues make their appearance on Bula-Beige with extended solos by the mood setting Tadd, Joe Alexander, not untouched by Sonny Rollins and Wardell Gray, a mellow Coker, plaintive Shihab, fecund Cecil Payne, walking John Simmon and Tadd again, chording and occasionally pulling Avery Parish before the band introduces a new them into a swelling climax - Ira Gitler

Fontainebleau

Delirium 

The Scene Is Clean 

Flossie Lou

Blua-Beige

Baton & Bows - Morton Gould

 

Baton & Bows

Baton & Bows

Morton Gould and His Orchestra

Arrangements by Morton Gould

RCA Victor LSC-2217

1959

Side One: Kreisler

Liebesfreud

Schon Rosmarin

The Old Refrain

Tambourin Chinois

Liebsleid

Caprice Vennois

Side Two: Kern

The Way You Look Tonight - from the RKO film "Swing Time"

Can I Forget You - from the film "High, Wide And Handsome"

I Dream Too Much - from the film "I Dream Too Much"

All The Things You Are - from the musical comedy "Very Warm For May"

Yesterdays - from the musical production "Roberta"

Jockey On The Carousel - from the RKO film "I Dream Too Much"

Magnificence - Margie Meinert

 

Brazil

Magnificence 

Margie Meinert at The Wurlitzer Electronic Organ

Fraternity Records - Cincinnati, Ohio

F-1009

From the back cover: During your 12 years with us at Station WOC, AM-FM-TV, we have seen you rise from a girl to a woman, from a novice at the piano to an organ artist, until today you are recognized as an outstanding musical genius, traveling from coast to coast, border to border, entertaining many thousands, commingling with the great and near-great in your profession.

With all this glory and tribute paid you everywhere, you are still, and will always be, the sweet, kindly, and thoughtful girl as we knew you 12 years ago. Fame has not changed your modest or sweet self, nor has your rise from obscurity to earned fame unbalanced your humbleness, and it never will.

With gratitude, respect, and admiration for a life of service to better music and an inspiration to all musicians and for you many outstanding contributions to the advancement of harmony to the human race, we present this plaque with our unstinted blessings as you climb to greater glories, which you so richly deserve.

No greater tribute could we pay you than this.

Station WOC, AM-FM-TV, Pals and B. J. Palmer, President

Davenport, Iowa, 1957

That's A Plenty

Loch Lomond

Blue And Broken Hearted

Dancing Tambourine

St. Louis Blues

Sleepy Time Gal

Trolley Song

Johnson Rag

Dry Bones

Brazil

Nightingale 

My Buddy

Orchids To My Lady - Wayne King

 

You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To

Orchids To My Lady

Wayne King and His Orchestra

Decca Records DL 78876

1963

Trombone solos by Tommy Shepard

Piano solos by Ceasar Giovannini

You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To

You Are Too Beautiful

You Stepped Out Of A Dream

All The Things You Are

A Pretty Little Girl Is Like A Melody

If There Is Someone Lovier Than You

A Beautiful Lady In Blue

Stay As Sweet As You Are

The Way You Look Tonight

The Touch Of Your Hand

Lovely To Look At

You Were Meant For Me

Meet The Jazztet - Art Farmer & Benny Golson

 

Mox Nix

Meet The Jazztet

Art Farmer & Benny Golson

Engineer: Tommy Nola

Production: Kay Norton

Supervision: Jack Tracy

Cover Photo taken at Nola Studios by Chuck Stewart

Design: Emmett McBain

Recorded February 6, 9, and 10, 1960 at Nola Studios, New York

Argo LP 664

1960

Art Farmer - Trumpet

Benny Golson - Tenor Saxophone

Curtis Fuller- Trombone

McCoy Tyner - Piano

Addiso Farmer - Bass

Lex Humphries - Drums

Narration on "Killer Joe" by Benny Golson

From the back cover: "This is a musical organization and we want it to sound like that, not like the usual jam session that goes under the name. The jam session can be a wonderful thing, but it's a hell of a thing to try and pull off every night!" That's the way Art Farmer thinks of the aims and ideas of The Jazztet.

"What we're actually trying to do is to get a loose sound the allows each man a chance to say what he has to say musically on his instrument, but still have uniformity and togetherness." That's the way it is for Benny Golson.

The Jazztet, in case you are meeting it for the first time is a musical organization that does not sound like the usual jam session, and in which each man has a chance to say what he has to say, but in which there is still uniformity and togetherness.

It consists of trumpeter Art Farmer, tenor saxophonist Benny Golson, trombonist Curtis Fuller, pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Addison Farmer, and drummer Lex Humphries. It was in existence only a few months when this LP was made, but it looks like it will be in business for a long, long time to come.

Farmer, born in Iowa in 1928, was raised in Arizona, went to L.A. in 1945, worked with Horace Henderson and others and joined Lionel Hampton in '52 and toured Europe with him. A Down Beat New Star trumpeter, he has recorded extensively under his own name and with Gerry Mulligan, with whom he played last year.

Benny Golson was born in Philadelphia in 1929, attended Howard university, worked with Tadd Dameron, Lionel Hampton, Johnny Hodges, and Earl Bostic. In 1956 he joined Dizzy Gillespie's big bands. He's one of the best known young composers in jazz with several jazz standards (Stablemates is one) already to his credit.

The genesis of The Jazztet goes back to the summer of 1959. "Art had in mind to organize a group and approached me," Golson says, "and I had in mind to get a group and approached him!"

Farmer and Golson are both careful planners and this is reflected in the group. Arrangements are mutually discussed and plotted, and all the rest of the minutia of organizing and routining a band is a community enterprise. In a night club each member of the front line is given a feature number, and it is interesting, in view of their concept of the group as a unit, that even on such tunes the other two men are busy now and again with little backgrounds and fills.

They have deliberately chosen a name that does not include the name of any of the men and they are willing to fight club owners and anyone else for the length of time necessary to put this name across. "Naturally I think the music itself is the important thing," Golson says. "If you're really producing the music, you can call the group anything!" But The Jazztet is what they have elected to call it and it will stick. You can mark it down in your book as one of the groups in jazz that will make it.

The Music

Serenata was a problem. "I had never heard it done in 6/8 and I decided I would try it," Golson says. "At first he couldn't get anything out of the tune," Art says, "until he thought of 6/8."

It Ain't Necessarily So "is a song I've always liked," Benny says. "And I tried to make it as loose as possible. The bridge is the only time we're playing complete ensemble."

Avalon, the old standard, is a tune the band picked by mutual consent. Again it's a Golson arrangement. They picked the tune because of the melody and then took the melody out! "We just started with the solos," Benny says. 

I Remember Clifford is a Golson original. Already a classic of jazz, it is dedicated to the late Clifford Brown. "When I play it," Art says, "I just try to think of what Clifford was to me. I wouldn't want to play like him on the tune because that wouldn't be my idea of him. I just try to say, 'Yes, I do remember Clifford and he was like this.' That's about all there is to it."

Blues March is another Golson original. "It speaks for itself," Benny says. "It's just reminiscent of the marching bands, the old New Orleans marching bands."

It's All Right With Me originated "when Curtis and I were working together, Golson says. "He used to play it all the time and I always thought he played it very well." Art Farmer adds "I think that's one of the classic trombone solos on record. We did two takes and Curits just went though the thing and never let up. On the first take he was playing so fast the rhythm section couldn't keep up with him. He's one of the most important men around on the horn."

Easy Living was the suggestion of the group's manager Kay Norton. "I had always thought of it as a vocal," Benny says. "But once I started playing it I began to like it." Art adds another point regarding this tune: "We want to show Benny's ballad ways."

Mox Nix is Art's tune. "I picked the expression up – it's a German expression, you know – from a girl in Brooklyn," says Farmer. "It means 'never mind, that's all right'."

Park Avenue Petite is another Golson original, one that Benny wrote back in 1954 and had forgotten about until Blue Mitchell asked for some material and Benny brought it out.

Killer Joe started this way. "I just sat down at the piano one day," says Benny, "and started messing away on the two chord progressions – I had about three or four different melodies – and I eliminated the others and decided to use the one I have now. As I was doing it, it made me think of one of these hip cats – standing on the corner."

 – Ralph J. Gleason, syndicated columnist whose column, The Rhythm Section appears in many newspapers

Serenata

It Ain't Necessarily So

Avalon

I Remember Clifford

Blues March

It's All Right With Me

Park Avenue

Mox Nix

Easy Living

Killer Joe