Неизвестные 60-е. Часть 09. Группа Arbors

Эта группа запала мне в душу из-за впечатляющих вокальных гармоний, а также удачных каверов моих любимых вещей 60-х, "The Letter" группы "The Box Tops" и "Like A Rolling Stone" Боба Дилана. В основном хиты группы Arbors слушаются сейчас архаично, но приведенные ниже вещи на мой взгляд весьма и весьма занятны:

The Letter
https://www.beatles.ru/sounds/arbors/tl.rar

I Can't Quit Her
https://www.beatles.ru/sounds/arbors/icqh.rar

Just Let It Happen
https://www.beatles.ru/sounds/arbors/jlih.rar

Like A Rolling Stone
https://www.beatles.ru/sounds/arbors/lars.rar

Touch Me
https://www.beatles.ru/sounds/arbors/tm.rar

Информация с AMG:

The Arbors should be as fondly remembered by oldies enthusiasts as The Tokens, The Association, or Harpers Bizarre — or at least as fondly as The Lettermen or The Sandpipers. The fact that they aren't is more a function of bad luck and the sheer diversity of their sound rather than anything lacking in their music. As it is, few music groups of the 1960s experienced a more wide-ranging evolution than The Arbors, starting off in a Four Freshmen mold in the middle of the decade and covering (most effectively) songs by Bob Dylan and the Doors by its end. Two sets of brothers — Tom and Scott Herrick from East Lansing, MI and Ed and Fred Farran from Grand Rapids, MI — met at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor (whence their name came), and found they all loved harmony singing in the manner of The Four Freshmen and The Hi-Los.

By 1965 they were appearing at Detroit area country clubs, and they went to New York that same year. A single for Mercury failed, but then they cut a rather more elaborate record, "A Symphony for Susan," for a tiny label called Carney. This was later picked up by Columbia and reissued nationally on the Date label (the same imprint that The Zombies ended up on) — "A Symphony for Susan" hit number 18 listings. A pair of modest soft pop efforts ("Just Let It Happen," "Graduation Day") followed. The group's prospects away from the easy listening charts were always limited in the midst of the late '60s rock boom, but their future was hemmed in further when they were caught in the middle of a pair of musical and music-business squeeze plays.

In 1968, they recorded a song called "Valley of the Dolls," written in connection with (but not used in) the film of that title, and endorsed by original author Jacqueline Susann; it failed utterly in the shadow of the song used in the movie. Around that same time, The Arbors were briefly caught up in the middle of an effort to try and hold the group Chicago back from Columbia, which did little to help their standing with the label. But in 1969 their moody, atmospheric version of "The Letter," cut two years after the hit version by the Boxtops, displayed more of a rock sound and backing than anything they'd ever recorded and reached number 20 on the pop charts. They never saw another hit of that kind or caliber, and they cut their final Columbia releases in 1969 — ironically enough, this came after cutting an extraordinary album of rock standards reworked to their harmony style, among them a version of Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone," the Doors' "Touch Me" and a medley of Blood, Sweat and Tears' "I Can't Quit Her" and Simon and Garfunkel's "For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her."

This is where most groups begin the process of breaking up, but in the Arbors' case, it was the reverse. Their exposure on record helped them move into the even more lucrative area of music for commercials — they still concertize, but for the last 30 years, they've been one of the busiest and most successful groups making music for radio and television commercial jingles. They remain together, still working in the late 1990s, and have been inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame.

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:qmg9keft7q7c~T1

Discography:

1967 - A Symphony for Susan - Date 116166
1968 - The Arbors Featuring I Can't Quit Her/The Letter - Date TES-4012

(На фото - сорокапятка "I CAN'T QUIT HER"/"LOVIN' TONIGHT(MAYBE TONIGHT)" BY ARBORS DATE#2-1645)

Информация о втором альбоме, AMG:

Less than two years after the Box Tops took "The Letter" to number one, this Lettermen-style group ,with the help of future John Lennon engineer Roy Cicala and his wife, Lori Burton, took a semi-orchestrated remake of the Alex Chilton/Joe Cocker signature tune to the Top 20. In doing so, "The Letter" became their signature tune as well, bringing the group with impeccable vocals to a much wider audience. Starting off with "Motet-Overture," the Arbors give new meaning to the term Gregorian chant. It's a wonderful prelude which melts into their astonishing version of "The Letter." The combination of acoustic guitars, vocal harmony, and orchestration takes the sterling composition into uncharted territory. The jet sounds at the end are more subdued than the Box Tops, but everything blends perfectly. Following this innovative production with a Beatles medley is as foretelling as the "Motet-Overture," which begins the disc. Hugh McCracken, guitarist for both Paul McCartney and John Lennon at various times, gets to play on "Good Day Sunshine" and "Got to Get You Into My Life" before his work on Ram and Double Fantasy. More than a medley, this version is a mixture of the two songs — the Ray Coniff Singers gone rock & roll, if you will. "Lovin' Tonight (Maybe Tonight)" is one of the two originals here, put together by arranger/conducter Joe Scott, a pleasant diversion from all the pop reconstructon that is the album's main focus. It's the combination of talents, from Joe Scott and engineer Shelly Yakus to the producers, and all involved's willingness to experiment with a style considered so straight-laced that makes songs like the complete reinvention of "Like a Rolling Stone," with modulation and stops, as creative as what Jimi Hendrix would do to the same melody. Al Kooper's "I Can't Quit Her," Billy Roberts' "Hey Joe" (who says they weren't listening to what Jimi Hendrix was covering?), the Doors, and even another song from "The Letter" author Wayne Carson all get the treatment. Carson's "Mr. Bus Driver" sounds like "Come on Down to My Boat Baby" fused with the "gotta get back to my baby" line from "The Letter." Get it? First he used an airplane, now the sequel has the author taking a bus — from "listen Mr." at the airline ticket counter to listen "Mr. Bus Driver," it's a little contrived, but sequels are always fun. Stripping the sexuality out of the Doors' "Touch Me" makes it sound more Simon & Garfunkel than the cover of "For Emily, Whenver I May Find Her." Edward Farran and red Farran, along with Scott Herrick and Tom Herrick, the two sets of brothers who make up the Arbors, may think the music is sexy, but it is not. More important is that they've created a soundtrack for seduction. There's an excellent interview with the bandmembers from Circus Magazine used as the liner notes. The Arbors Featuring: I Can't Quit Her/The Letter is a highly experimental and entertaining album. It's too bad they didn't take this concept a bit further. Imagine doing this to songs by U2, Roxy Music, and the Velvet Underground? The album closes with an explosive, apocalyptic "Hey Joe" and the return of the sound which Tibetan Monks would find popularity with a couple of decades later. Truly groundbreaking work.

Tracks

1 Motet - Overture
2 Letter (Thompson)
3 Good Day Sunshine/Gotta Get You into My Life (Lennon, McCartney)
4 Lovin' Tonight (Maybe Tonight) (Loring, Scott)
5 Like a Rolling Stone
6 I Can't Quite Her/For Emily
7 Whenever I May Find Her
8 Most of All
9 Mr. Bus Driver
10 Touch Me (Doors)
11 Hey Joe

1968 LP Date TES-4012

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:ty5s8qnbbtc4

(На фото - сорокапятка The Letter/ Most Of All-Date-2-1638 DATE#2-1645)

2>Corvin - а у тебя есть эта книга. В ней наверное информация о паре сотен британских бит-груп их 60-х!

Да! Версия "The Letter" конечно убийственная!

2Cloud9:

>2>Corvin - а у тебя есть эта книга. В ней наверное
>информация о паре сотен британских бит-груп их 60-х!

А пока в серии "Неизвестные 60-е" в основном обсуждаются американские команды...
P.S. Книга по всей видимости достойная!

Скажите, а тут будут New Mix, John Fred and His Playboy Band, Sleepy Hollow, Sundowners, Comfortable Chair, Lazy Smoke, Die Rattles и Los Shakers? А кто будет? А когда?

Скачал. Спасибо!

2SkyElevator:

>Скажите, а тут будут New Mix, John Fred and His
>Playboy Band, Sleepy Hollow, Sundowners, Comfortable
>Chair, Lazy Smoke, Die Rattles и Los Shakers?
>А кто будет? А когда?

Создавайте темы про эти группы - а mp3 я найду и выложу!

2Котофеич: Cупер! Cпасибо! Не смог вчера найти дискографию... Где удалось найти, если не секрет?

2Mr.Moonlight:

>Скачал. Спасибо!

Каковы впечатления?

Скачал Touch Me. :))) Ну надо же, вот совсем не ожидал, что эту песню можно исполнить именно так! :)

Единственное, что смущает в группе - все песни, на мой взгляд, настолько подогнаны под один стиль, что весь репертуар в целом начинает выглядеть малость однообразно и скучновато. Вокал хорош, не спорю, но в трёх песнях, что я скачал, нет никакого разнообразия вокала. А может быть первое впечатление ошибочно... Надо ещё раз переслушать. :)

Из серии: "где были мои глаза".
Думаю, что все заинтересованные люди эту тему просматривают (а кто не смотрит - сам виноват!).
Оказывается, хорошие люди перелопатили borderlinebooks (The tapestry of Delights и Fuzz Acid and Flowers) и сделали сжатую версию (без картинок). Зато в этой версии и Америка и Англия на одной странице (и стало гораздо проще искать).

http://marcbolan.ru/rockisland/bbooks/index.html

Пользуйтесь, если кто не знал. Это один из лучших справочников (если не лучший).

PS
Главное, сообщение об этом было 100 лет назад - а я прочитал только сейчас.

Corvin
>2Mr.Moonlight:
>Скачал. Спасибо!
>>Каковы впечатления?

Положительные, как и от всего, что ты выкладываешь. Восторгом это назвать нельзя, но очень любопытно послушать интересные каверы. The Letter после Бокстопсов я бы даже не узнал, если бы не написали.
А вот группа The Tee Set, что выкладывалась последней (по старой инициативе JLKYN), мне действительно здорово понравилась.

Сакраментальный вопрос: когда перейдем к британцам? :)))

Здорово! Особенно радут, что каверы трудно узнать, но при этом приятно слушать.

Согласен с Мунлайтом - Корвин выкладывает ОЧЕНЬ любопытные имена, спасибо!
Конкретно Arbors чрезвычайно интересны необычным подходом, их психоделия очень музыкальна, ближе всего по духу они к Zombies. Жаль, что не слышал их раньше.

Вкратце:
-спасибо Корвину за еще одну интересную группу
-спасибо всем предоставившим информацию
-группа мне не слишком понравилась. По-моему, у них саунд немного подзамшел. Вокальные гармонии от этого не страдают, впрочем.

2Dvas Nickolas:

>По-моему,
>у них саунд немного подзамшел.

(With all my respect)
Дык год какой стоял на дворе?

Gene
Все же УЖЕ 1965й.
Но это я так, по мелочи придираюсь.

На дворе стоял 1969 год. Иначе откуда б взялась перепевка Touch Me?