45 RPMs 28: Bill Haley and the Comets ~ See You Later Alligator

~   
Sixty-three years ago today, December 12, 1955, Bill Haley and His Comets (link below) recorded, the blockbuster song, See You Later, Alligator (link below). Alligator was the second song I heard by Haley & the comets, the first being, of course, Rock Around the Clock (link below).     

Bill Haley and His Comets - See You Later, Alligator

45 rpm record 

photo by Styrous®

The song was originally entitled Later, Alligator and based on a 12-bar blues chord structure (141541), and written by Louisiana songwriter Robert Charles Guidry and first recorded by him under his professional name "Bobby Charles" in 1955 (link below). His recording was released on Chess Records under the title Later, Alligator as 1609 in November 1955 backed with On Bended Knee. Guidry, a Cajun musician, adopted a New Orleans-influenced blues style for the recording. The melody of the song was borrowed from Later for You, Baby, by bluesman Guitar Slim, which was recorded in 1954 (link below). Guidry also wrote Walking to New Orleans (link below), which was recorded by Fats Domino.

Bill Haley and His Comets - See You Later, Alligator

45 rpm record, side 1

photo by Styrous®

Haley's arrangement of the song is faster-paced than Guidry's original, and in particular the addition of a two-four beat changed the song from a rhythm and blues "shuffle" to rock and roll. The song also has a more light-hearted beat than the original, starting out with a high-pitched, childlike voice (belonging to Haley's lead guitarist, Franny Beecher) reciting the title of the song. The ending of the song was virtually identical to the conclusion of Haley's earlier hit, "Shake, Rattle and Roll".    

Bill Haley and His Comets - See You Later, Alligator

45 rpm record, side 1 label detail

detail photo by Styrous®

Unlike most of Haley's recordings for Decca, which were created at the Pythian Temple studio in New York City, Alligator and its flip-side, The Paper Boy (On Main Street U.S.A.), were recorded at the Decca Building in New York City.         

Bill Haley and His Comets - The Paper Boy (On Main Street U.S.A.)

45 rpm record, side 1

photo by Styrous®

The song was featured in Rock Around the Clock, a musical film Haley and the Comets began shooting in January 1956.       

Bill Haley and His Comets - The Paper Boy (On Main Street U.S.A.)

45 rpm record, side 2 label detail

photo by Styrous®

Viewfinder link:     

     

Bill Haley   

  

YouTube links:     

     

Bill Haley and the Comets ~  
          ~ See You Later Alligator  

          ~ The paper boy      

Robert Guidry ~ See You Later Alligator     

      

     

   

    

     

~

45 RPMs Archive

MAIN MENU - Blog Articles

~

101 Reel-to-Reel Tapes 34: Paul Butterfield’s Better Days ~ ~ ~ It All Comes Back

Paul Butterfield’s Better Days

It All Comes Back

cover photo detail by Styrous®

In addition to my 20,000 Vinyl LP collection I'm selling, I have reel-to-reel, pre-recorded tapes I am selling as well (see link below).

This entry is about the reel-to-reel tape, It All Comes Back, by Paul Butterfield’s Better Days. For more information, contact me by email but please, not through a comment.

~ ~ ~

"We're the only band around that's playing rooted American music," Better Days vocalist and former folkie Geoff Muldaur told an interviewer when this album was first released in 1973, and he was right. The band's mix of various styles of blues, from rural (Robert Johnson), to cosmopolitan (Percy Mayfield), along with hints of New Orleans R&B, boogie woogie, and early rock and country, was tremendously out of step with the pop trends of its time. 

These days, of course, there are many bands doing more or less the same thing (although rarely as well), but the fact that these guys couldn't have cared less about appearing trendy is one of the reasons why Better Days sounds timeless. Another reason, of course, is world class musicianship; Muldaur, Paul Butterfield, and stupendously stylish guitarist Amos Garrett in particular come across as both relaxed and passionate. Despite their essentially formalistic approach to music making, they never sound academic or sterile. Better Days is one of the great lost albums of the '70s. 

Paul Butterfield’s Better Days

It All Comes Back
album design by Milton Glaser
cover photo by Alan MacWeeney

photo of cover front by Styrous®

Paul Butterfield’s Better Days

It All Comes Back
album design by Milton Glaser
back cover photo by Alan MacWeeney

photo of cover back by Styrous®

Paul Butterfield’s Better Days

It All Comes Back
reel-to-reel tape

photo by Styrous®

Paul Butterfield’s Better Days

It All Comes Back
reel-to-reel tape label detail

detail photo by Styrous®

Tracklist:

1 - Too Many Drivers - Vocals - Paul Butterfield / Written By Andrew Hogg - 3:18

2 - It's Getting Harder To Survive -  Vocals and Written By - Ronnie Barron - 3:51

3 - If You Live - Vocals - Paul Butterfield / Written By Mose Allison - 3:27

4 - Win Or Lose - Vocals - Paul Butterfield / Written By Bobby Charles and Paul Butterfield - 4:34

5 - Small Town Talk - Vocals - Geoff Muldaur / Written By Bobby Charles and Rick Danko - 5:33

6 - Take Your Pleasure Where You Find It - Vocals and Written by - Bobby Charles and Paul Butterfield - 3:42
7 - Poor Boy - Vocals and Arranged By [And Adapted] Geoff Muldaur - 4:17

8 - Louisiana Flood - Vocals - Ronnie Barron / Written By Mac Rebennack and Ronnie Barron - 3:35

9 - It All Comes Back - Vocals - Geoff Muldaur and Paul Butterfield / Written By Bobby Charles - 6:10

 

Credits

• Congas – Bobbye Hall
• Horns – Howard Johnson (3)
• Musicians – Amos Garrett, Billy Rich*, Christopher Parker*
• Vocals – Bobby Charles, Maria Muldaur
• Producer – Geoff Muldaur, Paul Butterfield
• Photography By – Alan MacWeeney*
• Mastered By – RL*
• Design [Album] – Milton Glaser
• Engineer, Producer – Nick Jameson

Companies etc

• Distributed By – Warner Bros. Records Inc.
• Mastered At – Sterling Sound
• Label: Bearsville ‎– BST 2170-C 
  Released: 1973
  
  

reel-to-reel tapes on eBay

Styrous® ~ January 25, 2014

~

20,000 Vinyl LPs Archive
101 Reel-to-Reel Tapes Archive
MAIN MENU - Blog Articles

~