The Styrous® Viewfinder: Isley Brothers

Showing posts with label Isley Brothers. Show all posts

November 3, 2021

45 RPMs 66: Lulu ~ To Sir With Love & Neil Diamond

Lulu ~ To Sir with Love

45 RPM record

Today is the birthday of Lulu Kennedy-Cairns CBE, aka affectionately as just plain, Lulu. But there was nothing "just plain" about her. In August 2017, Lulu's family history was the subject of an episode in the UK series Who Do You Think You Are?. The research showed that her mother had been brought up by another family. The investigation into her genealogy showed that Lulu's maternal grandparents had come from across the religious divide in Glasgow. Her grandfather Hugh Cairns was a Catholic and her grandmother, Helen Kennedy, was a Protestant. Cairns had been a member of a Catholic gang and was found in the research to have been in and out of prison at the time of the birth of Lulu's mother. Kennedy was found to be the daughter of a Worthy Mistress of the Ladies' Orange Lodge 52; the discovery explained why the two families had opposed the union between Kennedy and Cairns.

Lulu ~ To Sir with Love

45 RPM record

photo by Styrous®

Lulu was born in Lennoxtown, Stirlingshire, Scotland, and grew up in Dennistoun, Glasgow. When she was 12 or 13, she and her manager approached a band called the Bellrocks seeking stage experience as a singer. She appeared with them every Saturday night: Alex Thomson, the group's bass player, has reported that even then her voice was remarkable. When she was 14, she received the stage name "Lulu" from her future manager Marion Massey, who commented: "Well, all I know is that she's a real lulu of a kid."

Lulu ~ To Sir with Love

45 RPM record

photo by Styrous®

When she was fifteen and billed as Lulu & The Luvvers, her version of Shout by the Isley Brothers and delivered in a raucous but mature voice, peaked at No. 7 on the UK chart. In 1966, she toured Poland with the Hollies as the first British female singer to appear live behind the Iron Curtain. In the same year, she recorded two German-language tracks; Wenn du da bist and So fing es an for the Decca Germany label (links below).

Lulu left Decca in 1966 and signed with Columbia where her records were produced by Mickie Most. All seven singles she cut with Most made the UK Singles Chart, ending with Boom Bang-A-Bang, an om-pa-pa waltz, reaching number 2 in 1969.

There were many artists who covered To Sir with Love. Roberta Flack recorded an almost reverent piano duet; Al Green did a really nice dance à la Motown version; Chaka Kahn had a lush strings intro, that was almost a dance version; Vicki Sue Robinson did a disco version, of course. The Ventures did the only instrumental version on their December 23, 1967, release $1,000,000 Weekend. Midge Ure was the latest entry in 2008 (links below).

To Sir with Love is the title song to the 1967 movie of the same name. Lulu was in the film with Sidney Poitier - she got the gig after director James Clavell saw her open a show for The Beach Boys. At first she had just a small role in the movie, but Clavell was so impressed with her that he expanded her role and had her sing the theme song.

I remember at the time I loved this song, I thought the lyrics and music were very romantic. Don Black wrote the lyrics and Mark London composed the music.

To Sir With Love

Those schoolgirl days
Of telling tales and biting nails are gone
But in my mind
I know they will still live on and on

But how do you thank someone
Who has taken you from crayons to perfume?
It isn't easy, but I'll try

If you wanted the sky
I would write across the sky in letters
That would soar a thousand feet high
"To Sir, with love"

The time has come
For closing books and long last looks must end
And as I leave
I know that I am leaving my best friend

A friend who taught me right from wrong
And weak from strong, that's a lot to learn
What, what can I give you in return?

If you wanted the moon
I would try to make a start
But I would rather you let me give my heart
To Sir, with love

To Sir, with Love - 1967

lobby card

I was familiar with Sidney Poitier from the time he was in Blackboard Jungle, the first film I saw him in. I'd also seen him in Porgy and Bess, A Raisin in the Sun (I would play the character, Bobo in the theater group I belonged to later) Lilies of the Field and A Patch of Blue, one of his finest films.

Lulu - 1965

Dutch television

Lulu returned to the UK singles chart in April 1967, reaching No. 6 with The Boat That I Row, which was written by Neil Diamond; it was the "B" side of To Sir with Love.

Lulu ~ The Boat That I Row

45 RPM record

photo by Styrous®

Lulu ~ The Boat That I Row

45 RPM record

photo by Styrous®

Lulu ~ The Boat That I Row

45 RPM record

photo by Styrous®

Tracklist:

Side 1:

A - To Sir With Love, written by D. Black*, M. London* - 2:44

Side 2:

B - The Boat That I Row, written by N. Diamond* - 2:43

Companies, etc.

Manufactured By – IFC
Pressed By – Columbia Records Pressing Plant, Terre Haute

Credits:

Producer – Mickie Most

Notes:

[A]: From The Columbia Pictures Release "To Sir With Love"

Barcode and Other Identifiers

    Pressing Plant ID (Etched in runouts): T
    Matrix / Runout (Matrix - Center Label - Side A): ZSP 119030
    Matrix / Runout (Matrix - Center Label - Side B): ZSP 119007
    Matrix / Runout (Runout side A): ZSP 119030-1H T IIIII
    Matrix / Runout (Runout side B): ZSP 119007-1L T III

Lulu – To Sir With Love / The Boat That I Row
Label: Epic – 5-10187
Format: Vinyl, 7", Single, Styrene, Terre Haute
Country: US
Released: Sep 2, 1967
Genre: Pop, Stage & Screen
Style: Vocal, Soundtrack

Viewfinder links:

10,000 Maniacs

The Beach Boys

Madeline Bell

Neil Diamond
Divinyls
Roberta Flack

Lesley Gore

Al Green
Chaka Khan
Carole King

Mark London
Lulu

Mickey Most

Sidney Poitier

Vicki Sue Robinson
Gabor Szabo
Midge Ure
The Ventures
Betty Wright

Net links:

SongFacts ~ To Sir With Love by Lulu

Song Meanings + Facts ~ To Sir With Love by Lulu

YouTube links:

10,000 Maniacs ~ To Sir With Love
Madeline Bell ~ To Sir With Love
Divinyls ~ To Sir With Love

Roberta Flack ~ To Sir With Love

Lesley Gore ~ To Sir With Love

Al Green ~ To Sir With Love
Chaka Khan ~ To Sir With Love

Lulu ~

The Boat That I Row

Boom Bang-A-Bang

To Sir With Love

So fing es an

Wenn du da bist

Lulu And The Luvers - Shout

Martha Reeves & The Vandellas ~ To Sir With Love

Vicki Sue Robinson ~ To Sir With Love

Gabor Szabo ~ To Sir With Love

Midge Ure ~ To Sir With Love
The Ventures ~ To Sir With Love

Styrous® ~ Wednesday, November 3, 2021

45 RPMs Archive
MAIN MENU - Blog Articles
~

March 12, 2015

101 Reel-to-Reel Tapes 99: Jimi Hendrix Experience ~ Smash Hits

Jimi Hendrix Experience ~ Smash Hits

reel-to-reel tape box cover spine

photo by Styrous©

In addition to my 20,000 Vinyl LP collection I'm selling, I have reel-to-reel, pre-recorded tapes for sale. If interested, contact me by email please, not by a comment.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience ~ Smash Hits, reel-to-reel tape, was for sale on eBay. I have others for sale on eBay now (see links below).

~ ~ ~

It is truly amazing that a group/man who only made three studio albums, two in 1967 and one in 1968, should have made such a profound impact on the world of rock.

All three of the band's studio albums, Are You Experienced (1967), Axis: Bold as Love (1967) and Electric Ladyland (1968), were featured in the top 100 of the Rolling Stone list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, at positions 15, 82 and 54 respectively.

Lead singer and song writer, Jimi Hendrix, is widely regarded as one of the most influential electric guitarists in the history of popular music, and one of the most celebrated musicians of the 20th century. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame describes him as "arguably the greatest instrumentalist in the history of rock music".

Jimi Hendrix Experience ~ Smash Hits

reel-to-reel tape box cover

cover photo by Ed Thrasher

photo of tape box by Styrous©

The Jimi Hendrix Experience was an English-American rock band that formed in Westminster, London, in September 1966. Composed of singer, songwriter, and guitarist Jimi Hendrix, bassist and backing vocalist Noel Redding, and drummer Mitch Mitchell, the band was active until June 1969. During this time they released those three successful studio albums. After Redding left the band in mid-1969, Hendrix and Mitchell continued to work together on other projects.

Jimi Hendrix Experience ~ Smash Hits

reel-to-reel tape box back

art direction & photos by Ed Thrasher

photo of tape box back by Styrous©

Hendrix was born Johnny Allen Hendrix on November 27, 1942, in Seattle, Washington, of African American descent, with Irish and Cherokee ancestors. In 1946, his parents changed his name to James Marshall Hendrix. He began playing guitar at the age of 15. In 1961, he enlisted in the US Army and was granted an honorable discharge the following year. He moved to Clarksville, Tennessee, and began playing gigs on the chitlin' circuit, earning a place in the Isley Brothers' backing band and later with Little Richard, with whom he continued to work through mid-1965. He then played with Curtis Knight and the Squires before moving to England in late 1966 after being discovered by Linda Keith, who in turn interested bassist Chas Chandler of the Animals in becoming his first manager.

Hendrix achieved fame in the US after his performance at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, and in 1968 his third and final studio album, Electric Ladyland, reached number one in the US. The double LP was Hendrix's most commercially successful release and his first and only number one album. The world's highest-paid performer, he headlined the Woodstock Festival in 1969 and the Isle of Wight Festival in 1970 before his accidental death from barbiturate-related asphyxia on September 18, 1970, at the age of 27.

Jimi Hendrix Experience ~ Smash Hits

reel-to-reel tape box back detail

art direction & photos by Ed Thrasher

detail photo by Styrous©

Hendrix was inspired musically by American rock and roll and electric blues. He favored overdriven amplifiers with high volume and gain, and was instrumental in developing the previously undesirable technique of guitar amplifier feedback. He helped to popularize the use of a wah-wah pedal in mainstream rock, and was the first artist to use stereophonic phasing effects in music recordings. Holly George-Warren of Rolling Stone commented: "Hendrix pioneered the use of the instrument as an electronic sound source. Players before him had experimented with feedback and distortion, but Hendrix turned those effects and others into a controlled, fluid vocabulary every bit as personal as the blues with which he began."

Jimi Hendrix & Lithofayne Pridgon

photographer unknown

According to Chris Campion of The Guardian, Lithofayne Pridgon was the unacknowledged inspiration behind the song Foxy Lady by Hendrix.

"She has held some of the most charismatic and talented performers of their day in her sway, and befriended many others – a roll call that includes Jackie Wilson, Marvin Gaye, Sly Stone, Ike Turner and James Brown. She was also Etta James’s best friend." - Chris Campion - Sunday 22 March 2015 05.00 EDT

Jimi Hendrix Experience ~ Smash Hits

reel-to-reel tape box spine details

Smash Hits is a compilation of singles by the Jimi Hendrix Experience, and the very first compilation album for Jimi Hendrix, released in mono in the United Kingdom in 1968 on Track Records 612004, and a year later in stereo in the United States on Reprise Records, catalogue 2276. It peaked at number four on the British album chart and number six on the Billboard 200, and has been certified double platinum by the RIAA.

Jimi Hendrix Experience ~ Smash Hits

reel-to-reel tape

Hendrix was the recipient of several music awards during his lifetime and posthumously. In 1967, readers of Melody Maker voted him the Pop Musician of the Year, and in 1968, Billboard named him the Artist of the Year and Rolling Stone declared him the Performer of the Year. Disc and Music Echo honored him with the World Top Musician of 1969 and in 1970, Guitar Player named him the Rock Guitarist of the Year. The Jimi Hendrix Experience was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992 and the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005. Rolling Stone ranked the band's three studio albums, Are You Experienced, Axis: Bold as Love, and Electric Ladyland, among the 100 greatest albums of all time, and they ranked Hendrix as the greatest guitarist and the sixth greatest artist of all time.

Jimi Hendrix Experience ~ Smash Hits

reel-to-reel tape detail

Noel Redding was found dead in his home in Ireland on May 11, 2003. Will Scally produced and directed the DVD The Redding Experience (MNVDISCS), on which Redding discusses the history of the band in detail.
While touring in the US, Mitch Mitchell was found dead on November 12, 2008 in his room at the Benson Hotel in Portland, Oregon. He was the last surviving member of the original Jimi Hendrix Experience, while Billy Cox remains the only surviving additional member.