Tag Archives: Sonny Bono

The Buddy Rich Orchestra: Big Swing Face

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In June 1967, “Pacific Jazz” label released “Big Swing Face”, live album by the Buddy Rich Big Band (the 21st Buddy Rich album overall). It was recorded February – March 1967, at “Chez Club” in Los Angeles, and was produced by Richard Bock.

Personnel:

  • Buddy Rich – drums
  • Quinn Davis – alto saxophone
  • Ernie Watts – alto saxophone, flute
  • Jay Corre, Robert Keller – tenor saxophone, flute
  • Marty Flax – baritone saxophone
  • Bobby Shew, Yoshito Murakami, Charles Findley, John Scottile – trumpet
  • Jim Trimble, John Boice – trombone
  • Bill Wimberly – bass trombone
  • Richie Resnicoff – guitar
  • Ray Starling – piano
  • James Gannon – double bass
  • Cathy Rich – vocals
  • Shorty Rogers – arrangement

Track listing:

  1. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) – John Lennon, Paul McCartney
  2. Big Swing Face – Bill Potts
  3. Monitor Theme – Bernie Baum, Bill Giant, Florence Kaye
  4. Wack Wack – Isaac “Redd” Holt, Donald Storball, Hysear Don Walker, Jimmy Young
  5. Love for Sale – Cole Porter
  6. Mexicali Nose – Harry Betts
  7. Willowcrest – Bob Florence
  8. The Beat Goes On – Sonny Bono
  9. Bugle Call Rag – Billy Meyers, Jack Pettis, Elmer Schoebel

Stevie Wonder: Down To Earth

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On November 16, 1966, “Tamla Motown” label released “Down to Earth”, the sixth Stevie Wonder studio album. It was recorded 1965 – 1966, at “Hitsville USA” in Detroit, and was produced by Clarence Paul and Henry Cosby.

Personnel:

  • Stevie Wonder – vocals, harmonica, keyboards, drums, percussion
  • The Originals – backing vocals
  • The Andantes – backing vocals
  • James Jamerson – bass guitar
  • Benny Benjamin – drums
  • The Funk Brothers – instrumentation

Track listing:

  1. A Place in the Sun – Ron Miller, Bryan Wells
  2. Bang Bang – Sonny Bono
  3. Down to Earth – Ron Miller, Avery Vanderberg
  4. Thank You Love – Henry Cosby, Sylvia Moy, Stevie Wonder
  5. Be Cool, Be Calm (And Keep Yourself Together) – Henry Cosby, Sylvia Moy, Stevie Wonder
  6. Sylvia – Henry Cosby, Sylvia Moy, Stevie Wonder
  7. My World Is Empty Without You – Holland-Dozier-Holland
  8. The Lonesome Road – Gene Austin, Nat Shilkret
  9. Angel Baby (Don’t You Ever Leave Me) – Henry Cosby, Sylvia Moy
  10. Mr. Tambourine Man – Bob Dylan
  11. Sixteen Tons – Merle Travis
  12. Hey Love – Morris Broadnax, Clarence Paul, Stevie Wonder

Glen Campbell: Wichita Lineman

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On November 4, 1968, “Capitol” label released “Wichita Lineman”, the eleventh Glen Campbell album. It was recorded in 1958, at “Capitol Studios” in Hollywood., and was produced by Al De Lory.

Personnel:

  • Glen Campbell – vocals, acoustic and electric guitars
  • Al Casey – acoustic guitar
  • Dennis McCarthy – piano
  • Jimmy Webb – organ
  • Carol Kaye – bass guitar
  • Joe Osborn – bass guitar
  • Ray Pohlman – bass guitar
  • Hal Blaine – drums
  • Bob Felts – drums
  • Jim Gordon – drums
  • Al De Lory – arrangements

Track listing:

  1. Wichita Lineman – Jimmy Webb
  2. (Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay – Otis Redding, Steve Cropper
  3. If You Go Away – Jacques Brel, Rod McKuen
  4. Ann – Billy Edd Wheeler
  5. Words – Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb
  6. Fate of Man – Glen Campbell
  7. Dreams of the Everyday Housewife – Chris Gantry
  8. The Straight Life – Sonny Curtis
  9. Reason to Believe – Tim Hardin
  10. You Better Sit Down Kids – Sonny Bono
  11. That’s Not Home – Billy Graham

Cher: All I Really Want To Do

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On August 16, 1965, “Imperial” label released “All I Really Want to Do”, the debut Cher studio album. It was recorded in 1965, at “Gold Star” in Los Angeles, and was produced by Sonny Bono.

Personnel:

  • Cher – lead vocals
  • Monte Dunn – guitar
  • Jeff Kaplan – guitar
  • Barney Kessel – guitar
  • Steve Mann – guitar
  • Donald Peake – guitar
  • Mike Post – guitar
  • Randy Sterling – guitar
  • Harold Battiste – piano
  • Michel Rubini – keyboards
  • Bill Marx – accordion, keyboards
  • René Hall – bass guitar
  • Cliff Hills – bass guitar
  • Mel Pollan – bass guitar
  • Lyle Ritz – bass guitar
  • Frank Capp – drums
  • Sharkey Hall – drums
  • Jessie Sailes – drums
  • Frank DeVito – percussion
  • Gene Estes – percussion
  • Brian Stone – percussion
  • Julius Wechter – percussion
  • Harold Battiste – arrangements

Track listing:

  1. All I Really Want to Do – Bob Dylan
  2. I Go to Sleep – Ray Davies
  3. Needles and Pins – Sonny Bono, Jack Nitzsche
  4. Don’t Think Twice – Bob Dylan
  5. He Think I Still Care – Dickey Lee Lipscomb
  6. Dream Baby – Sonny Bono
  7. The Bells of Rhymney – Idris Davies, Pete Seeger
  8. Gir Don’t Come – Chris Andrews
  9. See See Rider – traditional, arranged by Sonny Bono, Charles Greene, Robert Stone
  10. Come and Stay with Me – Jackie DeShannon
  11. Cry Myself to Sleep – Mike Gordon
  12. Blowin’ in the Wind – Bob Dylan

V.A.: A Christmas Gift for You from Philles Records

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On November 22, 1963, “Philles” label released “A Christmas Gift for You from Philles Records”, an album of Christmas songs. It was recorded September – October 1963, at “Gold Star” in Hollywood, and was produced by Phil Spector. In 2003, the album was ranked at no. 142 on “Rolling Stone” magazine’s list of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time”, and in 2019, it was ranked the greatest “Christmas Album of All Time”.

Personnel:

  • Darlen Love – performer (White Christmas, Marshmallow World, Winter Wonderland, Christmas, Baby Please Come Home)
  • The Ronettes – performer (Frosty the Snowman, Sleigh Ride, I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus)
  • Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans – performer (The Bells of St. Mary’s, Here Comes Santa Claus)  
  • The Crystals – performer (Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer, Parade of the Wooden Soldiers)
  • Phil Spector – performer (Silent Night)
  • Barney Kessel – guitar
  • Bill Pitman – guitar
  • Tommy Tedesco – guitar
  • Nino Tempo – guitar
  • Irv Rubins – guitar
  • Leon Russell – piano
  • Al De Lory – piano
  • Don Randi – piano
  • Ray Pohlman – bass
  • Jimmy Bond – bass
  • Hal Blaine – drums
  • Sonny Bono – percussion
  • Frank Capp – percussion
  • Jack Nitzsche – percussion, arrangements
  • Jay Migliori – saxophone
  • Steve Douglas – baritone saxophone
  • Roy Caton – trumpet
  • Lou Blackburn – horns
  • Johnny Vidor – strings
  • Larry Levine – engineer

Track listing:

  1. White Christmas – Irving Berlin
  2. Frosty the Snowman – Steve Nelson, Walter Rollins
  3. The bells of St. Mary’s – A. Emmet Adams, Douglas Furber
  4. Santa Claus Is Coming to Town – J. Fred Coots, Haven Gillespie
  5. Sleigh Ride – Leroy Anderson, Mitchell Parish
  6. Marshmallow World – Carl Sigman, Peter DeRose
  7. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus – Tommie Connor
  8. Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer – Johnny Marks
  9. Winter Wonderland – Felix Bernard, Dick Smith
  10. Parade of the Wooden Soldiers – Leon Jessel
  11. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home – Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry, Phil Spector
  12. Here Comes Santa Claus – Gene Autry, Oakley Haldeman
  13. Silent Night – Josef Mohr, Franz X. Gruber

Gábor Szabó: Spellbinder

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In October 1966, “Impulse!” label released “Spellbinder”, the second Gábor Szabó album. It was recorded in May 1966, at “Van Gelder Studio” in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, and was produced by Bob Thiele.

Personnel:

  • Gábor Szabó – vocals, guitar, painting
  • Ron Carter – bass
  • Chico Hamilton – drums
  • Willie Bobo, Victor Pantoja – percussion
  • Rudy Van Gelder – recording
  • Viceroy – design
  • Robert Flynn – design
  • Bob Thiele – photography
  • Charles Stewart – photography
  • Nat Hentoff – liner notes

Track listing:

All tracks by Gábor Szabó, except where noted.

  1. Spellbinder
  2. Witchcraft – Cy Coleman, Carolyn Leigh
  3. It Was a Very Good Year – Ervin Drake
  4. Gypsy Queen
  5. Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) – Sonny Bono
  6. Cheetah
  7. My Foolish Heart – Ned Washington, Victor Young
  8. Yearning
  9. Autumn Leaves/Speak to Me of Love – Joseph Kosma, Jacques Prévert, Johnny Mercer/Jean Lenoir

Sonny & Cher: Look at Us

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On August 2, 1965. “Atco” label released “Look at Us”, the debut Sonny & Cher studio album. It was recorded in 1965, and was produced by Sonny Bono.

Personnel:

  • Cher – co-lead vocals
  • Sonny Bono – co-lead vocals
  • Barney Kessel – guitar
  • Steve Mann – guitar
  • Monte Dunn – guitar
  • Donald Peake – guitar
  • Harold Battiste – piano
  • Don Randi – piano
  • Lyle Ritz – bass guitar
  • Cliff Hills – bass guitar
  • Frank Capp – drums
  • Hal Blaine – drums
  • Gene Estes – percussion
  • Brian Stone – percussion
  • Michel Rubini – harpsichord
  • Harold Battiste Jr. – arrangements
  • Stan Ross – engineer
  • Haig Adishian – design
  • Robert W. Young – photography

Track listing:

  1. I Got You Babe – Sonny Bono
  2. Unchained Melody – Hy Zaret, Alex North
  3. Then He Kissed Me – Phil Spector, Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry
  4. Sing C’est la Vie – Sonny Bono, Charles Green, Brian Stone
  5. It’s Gonna Rain – Sonny Bono
  6. 500 Miles – Hedy West
  7. Just You – Sonny Bono
  8. The Letter – Don Harris, Dewey Terry
  9. Let It Be Me – Gilbert Bécaud, Mann Curtis, Pierre Delanoë
  10. You Don’t Love Me – Bo Diddley, Willie Cobba
  11. You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me – Smokey Robinson
  12. Why Don’t They Let Us Fall in Love – Phil Spector, Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry

Mott the Hopple: Same

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On November 22, 1969, “Island” label released the self-titled, debut Mott the Hoople album. It was recorded May – July 1969, at “Morgan” in London, and was produced by Guy Stevens. 

Personnel:

  • Ian Hunter – lead vocals, piano, rhythm guitar
  • Mick Ralphs – lead and backing vocals, lead guitar
  • Verden Allen – organ, backing vocals
  • Pete “Overend” Watts – bass, backing vocals
  • Dale “Buffin” Griffin – drums, backing vocals
  • Guy Stevens – piano
  • Andy Johns – engineer
  • M. C. Escher – front cover drawing

Track listing:

  1. You Really Got Me – Ray Davies
  2. At the Crossroads – Doug Sahm
  3. Laugh At Me – Sonny Bono
  4. Backsliding Fearlessly – Ian Hunter
  5. Rock and Roll Queen – Mick Ralphs
  6. Rabbit Foot and Toby Time – Mike Ralphs
  7. Half Moon Bay – Mike Ralphs, Ian Hunter
  8. Wrath and Wroll – Guy Stevens

Vanilla Fudge: The Beat Goes On

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In February 1968, “Atco” label released “The Beat Goes On”, the second Vanilla Fudge studio album. It was recorded in 1967, and was produced by John Linde and Shadow Morton.The album doesn’t contain ordinary songs forms, but sound collage featuring different elements: the voices of world leaders past and present, the band reciting excerpts of songs by The Beatles and Sonny Bono.

Personnel:

  • Carmine Appice- drums, vocals
  • Tim Bogert- bass, vocals
  • Vince Martell- guitar, vocals
  • Mark Stein- lead vocals, keyboards

Track listing:

Side One

  1. Sketch – Carmine Appice, Tim Bogert, Vince Martell, Mark Stein

Phase One

  1. Intro: The Beat Goes On – Sonny Bono
  2. Eighteenth Century: Variations on a Theme by Mozart: Divertimento No. 13 In F Major – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
  3. Nineteenth Century:/ Old Black Joe – Stephen Foster
  4. Twentieth Century
  • Don’t Fence Me In- Cole Porter
  • 12th Street Rag – Euday L. Bowman
  • In The Mood – Garland, Razaf
  • Hound Dog – Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller
  1. The Beatles
  • I Want To Hold Your Hand – John Lennon, Paul McCartney
  • I Feel Fine – John Lennon, Paul McCartney
  • Day Tripper – John Lennon, Paul McCartney
  • She Loves You – John Lennon, Paul McCartney
  • Hello Goodbye – John Lennon, Paul McCartney

Phase Two

  1. The Beat Goes On
  2. Beethoven: Fur Elise & Moonlight Sonata – Ludwig van Beethoven
  3. The Beat Goes On
  4. The Beat Goes On

Side Two

Phase Three

  1. Voices in Time: Neville Chamberlain, Winston Churchill, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, John F. Kennedyand Other Voices

Phase Four

  1. The Beat Goes On
  2. Merchant / The Game Is Over
  • Merchant – Carmine Appice, Tim Bogert, Vince Martell, Mark Stein
  • The Game Is Over – Bourtayre, Bouchety): Vinnie
  • Merchant
  • The Game Is Over
  • Merchant
  • The Game Is Over: Carmine
  • Merchant
  • The Game Is Over: Mark
  • Merchant
  1. The Beat Goes On

Vanilla Fudge: Same

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In August 1967, “Atco” label released the self-titled, debut Vanilla Fudge album. It was recorded in 1967, and was produced by Shadow Morton.

Personnel:

  • Vince Martell— vocals, guitar
  • Mark Stein— lead vocals, keyboards
  • Tim Bogert— vocals, bass
  • Carmine Appice — vocals, drums

Track listing:

  1. Ticket to Ride – John Lennon, Paul McCartney
  2. People Get Ready – Curtis Mayfield
  3. She’s Not There – Rod Argent
  4. Bang Bang – Sonny Bono
  5. Illusions of My Childhood, Pt. 1
  6. You Keep Me Hangin’ On – Brian Holland-Lamont Dozier-Eddie Holland
  7. Illusions of My Childhood, Pt. 2
  8. Take Me for a Little While – Trade Martin
  9. Illusions of My Childhood, Pt. 3
  10. Eleanor Rigby – John Lennon, Paul McCartney