Billy Mure "Hawaiian Percussion" 1961

                I picked up this pretty little record the other day and did a little research on it.  It turns out that Billy Mure just recently died this September at the age of 97, not too far away from where I live in Florida.  I thought it would be fitting to give this album the attention it deserved.  In addition to his solo albums, Billy was also the man who arranged Bobby Freeman’s late 50’s hit “Do You Wanna Dance?” He was also known for records that were filled with overdubs and crazy guitar work.  This, however, is a more straight forward affair.    

                Yes!  Another version of “Hawaiian War Chant!”  I am really amazed how many great versions of this song there are.  This one is bouncy and the melody is picked swiftly on the guitar. It’s very nice in a very non threatening kind of way.  However, after an organ break, the guitar turns savage.  Billy’s really not foolin’ around here.  As the song goes darker, this guy tears into his first solo on the record with some aggressively sharp guitar stabs.  It’s nasty sounding, especially by 1961 standards.  Then the steel guitar comes in and saves the day.  Like a loud drunkard being settled by his friend, the steel pacifies the guitar solo and the jaunty mellowness continues. 

                That’s one thing I really like about this record:  the songs don’t always keep the same rhythm throughout the entire song.  “Song of the Islands” is a wonderful example.  It starts off straight, with a major focus on the percussion, then starts to swing ever so slightly.  About ¾ of the way through, it kicks into high gear and gives us a beat we can really dance to.  It then slows down one more time and takes us home. 

                The organ sound on this album is absolutely heavenly.  It’s watery and dreamlike.  Sometimes it chirps like a cricket, and sometimes it just tickles your ear, but what it really does is make you feel something.  Some of the repeating figures played in “Kalua” sound like some of the 70’s arpeggiated synthesizers I have heard on some Todd Rundgren (among many others) tracks.  It makes me picture a gigantic piece of glass that has a million spider web-like cracks in it.  If someone could play those cracks, that’s what it would sound like.  It feels like some kind of effect, but because this was released in 1961, it’s more than likely just some good old fashioned fancy finger work.  Billy arranged/created some very interesting sounds that weren't explored until almost 15 years later.  I love hearing this kind of stuff.     

                There is a cover of “Sleep Walk” on here as well.  Considering the year this came out, and the instrumentation of the album, it is a very logical choice.  However, it’s really hard to capture (let alone top) the magic of the original Santo and Johnny version.  Billy’s take is adequate and close to the original, so it feels more like a rehash instead of a re-imagining.  It strikes me as something the record company would have asked him to include.  

                I actually passed over this record once.  It was only $.50 (what the heck was I thinking?) at a pawn shop. I told my wife that I saw a cool record with a geometric pineapple on it, but passed it up.  She told me I should go back and get it, and I am so glad I did.  This is everything I wanted it to be: cool percussion, cool guitar licks, cool steel guitar, and very cool greasy hair on Billy’s picture on the back cover.  Sometimes, wives are cool and make you delicious things to eat.  Sometimes wives are very cool and tell you to go back to the store to buy awesome records.  My wife was very cool that day.      

                On another personal note, buying this album so soon after Billy's death makes me wonder about the timing of things.  I would have loved to make the short drive to where Billy lived and see him play a show or get a guitar lesson.   My understanding is that he was still playing regularly.  Check out this link.  How often is it that someone from the 50's is still out there doing what they love?  I do consider myself lucky to have found this record though, and have heard a lot of good things about his other more layered guitar work.  I actually found a copy of "Supersonic in Flight" the other day, but it was scratched and unplayable.  That's how it goes sometimes.  

Tones:  Like I said, that organ is the surprise hit of this album.  It’s as inviting as a hug on a cold day.  The percussion is also captured nicely.  It is difficult for me to tell what the bamboo log is, and what the temple block is, but I like ‘em when I hear ‘em, and according to the liner notes, they're on here.  

Cover Note:  Geometric figures, weird paintings that have little to do with the actual music, and huge advertisements of stereo sound are all good signs when it comes to records collecting.  This one has an orange square pineapple and three other geometric modern marvels on it.  Mine also has an actual orange sticker placed on the bottom right that says “STEREOPHONIC.”  Was stereo some kind of selling point in the late 50’s or something?  Just kidding.

Price paid:  If you see a record that looks cool to you for any reason and it’s only $.50, just buy it.  Don’t be silly like me and have your wife tell you to go back and buy it.  I really must have been having an off day.  I think I had a job interview or something.  Anyway, $5.00-$8.00 is fair.  This is well above average.  

Bottom line:  It’s fun.  It’s melodic.  It has nice sound, and it has a great cover.  My wife also likes this record, so I advise you to throw your headphones away in the garbage (or keep ‘em, whatever) and listen to this with your family and friends.  Billy’s the man.  Let's go dig through some boxes, find Billy's records, and give his music the spins it so desperately deserves.  

Solid State Record "Percussive Mariachi" Arranged and Conducted by Ted Sommer (1967)

 

              I have been attracted to these Solid State record jackets for a while now.  My buddy Vic and I are lovers of old Command Records, and I feel like while much different, these are in the same vein.  It’s a pretty safe bet that if something has geometric figures on the cover and the words “percussive” or “percussion,” then there is a good chance it will be good.  I just bought a record called “Hawaiian Percussion” by Billy Mure based on the same criteria, and it worked out great for me.

                I have found very little information on the Solid State record company, but their claim to fame was recording with solid state gear.  It was specifically for home Hi-Fi’s that utilized the futuristic (and presumably magic) transistor.  “NO TUBES WERE HURT DURING THE MAKING OF THIS RECORD.”  I actually made that quote up, but based on the album notes, these guys were serious about their transistor equipment.  Funny how things change.  Tubes are back in style these days in a big way.  Today, saying your stereo has transistors in it is like saying your car has wheels on it.     

                But how does it sound?  Really great, actually.  It’s super clean and has nice separation.  Some of the low notes the brass section plays will actually rattle your chest deep into the lungs, if played at high volume.  The marimba parts are clean and plucky and the drums are crisp and dry.

                One thing that should be noted is that it does kind of sound of like a Herb Alpert record.  In 1967, Herb was all the rage, so there were lots of "cash in" albums done in his style.  I love Herb Alpert, so this is not really a bad thing for me.  My wife loves the song “If I Were a Rich Man,” and with all of its tempo changes and marimba virtuosity, it’s a great choice.  Ole Herb did this tune on his “What Now My Love” record and she pointed out how cool it was then.  Now she sings it with a kind of “doo doo doot doot doot” kind of sound that I find very pleasing.  Maybe I’ll make her record it for my personal files.

                On an odd note, every time I look at the record cover I think it says “Progressive Mariachi.”  What the heck would that sound like?  I am actually quite intrigued.  It could be awesome, with serious jazz dudes wearing Mexican hats, just tearing it up with fast complex horn lines and harmonies.  Or, it could be somethin’ awful.  I also picture fat metal kids in black t-shirts with 7 string guitars tuned to C#.  They may even play Randall amps.  Those are transistor based…Right?

                Side two kicks off with not one, but two songs from the Black Orpheus soundtrack!  If you haven’t heard Luiz Bonfa’s recording of these songs, just go find them and dig in.  Vince Guaraldi’s versions are great too.  There is a neat percussion sound in “Samba De Orfeu’ that the liner notes calls "pitched cow bells".  It sounds like someone hitting an expensive pan made of both glass and metal.  “Carnival” is also great and played much faster than the more somber renditions I have heard in the past.   Has anyone ever seen the movie Black Orpheus?  I got a get a paragraph in on this. 

                What a strange movie from Brazil.  My wife and I watched this one afternoon before our son was born.  I think we ate BBQ chicken pizza, which my wife no longer cares for, but I would like to have again sometime.  Anyway, the movie has this little dancing kid with a tambourine that follows Orpheus around.  Dang this kid is awesome.  He’s probably 65 now, but I’d still love to meet him.  I tried dancing around the house like him for a few days, but surprise, it did not have the effect I was looking for.  I’m going to go and get my tambourine and try again right now.  Hold on……………………………………………………………………Dang!  I still can’t do it.  If you haven’t seen Black Orpheus though, you should.  So many Jazz and Bossa Nova dudes played the songs from the soundtrack that it’s cool just to say you saw it.  My wife and I still talk about it.  It’s weird and has subtitles though, so don’t watch it when you just need to veg out. 

Tones:  There is an interesting instrument on a few songs called a buzzimba.  Without hearing it, I would think that would sound like a marimba running through a fuzz box, but I am wrong.  To me it sounds bit like a tuned car horn.  Maybe that mixed with a bit of percussive moog.  There is also an ondioline (the ubiquitous ondioline!) on one track, and an electric clavichord on another.  Ondiolines are pretty sick too.  I like just about everything I hear outta them. 

Cover note:  Solid State Records had very similar covers when they were first starting.  This one is mostly white (which I have always loved) and has a picture of an everlasting gobstopper from the original Willy Wonka painting on it.  It’s very eye catching.  Tell me it doesn’t look like this:

Price Paid:  $2.00 from that same record table at the Central Florida Fairground Record show.   I cleaned up that day. 

Bottom Line:  This record won’t change your life, but is great for a sunny Sunday afternoon.  The song list is cool and you may get some different versions of stuff you already like.  If you see it for $1.00-$4.00, snatch it up!