Tune Tag #114 with Michael K. Fell, Pt. 2: Sons of Adam, Country Joe & The Fish, Carolyne Mas, Nino Tempo & April Stevens, Jerryo, Archie Bell & The Drells, Carolyn Crawford
When Michael's invited to the party, expect a delightfully eclectic passel o' talented people to follow! And, today's no different! Keep track of how many of our musical guests are new to you!
✨Just between you and me…..🤫shhhhh: Michael told me he was attending a party the night before our Tune Tag taping. I think we’re in for a….well, let’s see if we can get a rise out of him…..Michael……..MICHAEL!!………
“HEY, MIKE!!!”
Oh, well….I’m sure he’ll pop up by the downbeat!
Welcome of !
I’m an artist and art educator from Portland, Oregon. However, I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, and also lived in London for fourteen years! My personal love for records started when I was six after my uncle gave me a copy of KISS 'Alive!' I first started writing about art and psychedelic music in the 1990’s, and with the encouragement of my family, I launched my Substack, Home Is Where The Music Is, in December 2023, with a focus on music and art.
Thanks very much, Brad, for the kind invitation to take part in your legendary Tune Tag series again! My Tuesdays always start with a cup of coffee and Tune Tag. So, without further ado, let the games begin!
Enjoy Michael’s first Tune Tag foray by clicking here, but here’s a unique collab we did where he guided me through my first listen to key British band, The Pretty Things:
Last week, we welcomed of Rare Groove Productions, for her debut Tune Tag:
Tune (Tag) in next week to welcome Ken Frampton of !
Michael’s song #1 song sent to Brad: The Sons of Adam, “Feathered Fish,” 1966
Michael’s rationale: What a scorching single, right? Serious energy. Once upon a time, before a band called The Doors became synonymous with Los Angeles, the kings of Sunset Strip were Love and The Sons of Adam.
The latter initially started life playing surf rock, but soon transitioned into a noisy garage rock band. Their pal, Arthur Lee (Love), offered them three songs; they chose “Feathered Fish,” which became a live favorite.
Their guitarist, Randy Holden (pictured above), left the band before this 1966 single was recorded (the guitarist on the 45 is Craig Tarwater). Randy formed The Other Half, and they recorded a handful of singles, and one great LP before he was invited to join Blue Cheer. The Other Half’s LP also opens with a bruising heavy rock version of “Feathered Fish,” but for me, it’s The Sons of Adam’s teenage angst with its rocket-fueled guitar riff, and Arthur Lee-esque vocals that wins me over.
Brad’s song #1 sent to Michael: Those Darn Accordions, “We’re an Accordion Band,” 1994
Michael’s response: Oh, that darn accordion! It is a key instrument in so much European folk music. But, rarely in Pop or Rock (although I know Brad is a huge Jethro Tull fan, I bet he loves the accordion in “Skating Away On the Thin Ice of a New Day”!).
[Brad butts in: I heard my name invoked, Chairman; may I respond? I have got to stop watching Congressional hearings on TV! 2 stories, MKF, just from your paragraph above!
I played accordion from about ages 7 to 10, winning ribbons and trophies in 2 out-of-state recitals! After seeing The Beatles on that February ‘64 Ed Sullivan Show a month before my 9th birthday, I wanted to quit (as none was playing an accordion! I deduced it must not be a “hip” instrument)! I stuck it out for another year, though!
My next instrument was the flute, motivated and inspired by Ian Anderson’s playing on those first several Tull albums! I rented a flute (followed by a purchased one a little later), took one lesson to learn the fingering and embouchure, and off I went, learning by ear, all his flute licks off the records through A Passion Play (and, of course, playing and lead-singing in my high school rock band, Brimstone, early-’70s! That story’s here!):
One more! Picture it: Roatan, Honduras, summer 1998: I was on a Western Caribbean cruise with my mom, brother, and his wife. Roatan was our port o’ call one afternoon, and while stopping into a restaurant and waiting for our table, over the loudspeaker…in Honduras!….was “Skating Away on the Thin Ice of a New Day”! Along with, possibly, the 238th moon of Saturn (in March, astronomers confirmed the discovery of a previously unknown 128 moons, bringing the ringed-one’s gaudy total to 274! C’mon, Satty, save some for the rest of us!), that just might’ve been the last place one might figure to hear that song!]
Back to Michael: Hmmm… the only connection I can find with this goofy take on the hit song by Grand Funk Railroad is that Those Darn Accordions released their album in 1994 on Flying Fish Records.
Brad’s rationale: After a song called “Feathered Fish,” my tartar sauce-lined noggin couldn’t help but go to the longtime traditional folk, blues and country label, Flying Fish Records (what else would fish with plumage do but fly?). An indie for years, it was sold to Rounder Records in the ‘90s.
Michael’s song #2: Country Joe & the Fish, “Cetacean,” 1968
Brad’s response: Well, clearly, Michael got where I was going with my Accordion Band selection! While he got the “fish” reference in Country Joe’s band name, I needed the reminder that a “cetacean” is, while an ocean-dweller, is indeed, not a fish, but the word used to describe all 90 species of whales, dolphins and porpoises! Now, for my next song…..did Flipper ever sing (even for Flying Fish Cetacean Records)?
Michael’s rationale: Inside the album’s gatefold, Fish bassist, Bruce Barthol, writes, “One definition for cetacean is a big-headed fish.” Well, technically, Bruce, it’s a marine mammal, not a fish.
I have a soft spot for Country Joe & The Fish: Their first two albums are psychedelic gold. No, they haven’t aged well, but that’s ok. They are a time capsule of a period that will never happen again. This track comes from their third, and arguably, most successful album, Together.
Curiously, despite its success, the album hinted at a band running out of ideas, and would be the last record with the original line-up (although they did briefly reunite in 1977). This particular semi-instrumental track holds everything I love about the band:
Barry (the “Fish” Melton’s) mind-melting lead guitar, David Bennett Cohen’s swirling organ, and Chicken’s weird music boxes. But, don’t give up on it when it goes silent; Country Joe soon wails on the harmonica before the song’s only lyrics close the track out: “Open the door and love walks in, Close the door, you’re alone again.”
TUNE TAG INTERACTIVE! Join us in the Chat Room today to share your thoughts with others about today’s Tune Tag! You never know who might show up!
Brad’s song #2: Nino Tempo and April Stevens, “All Strung Out,” 1966
Michael’s response: What a lovely slice of mid-’60s Sunshine Pop! My initial thought on the connection with the Country Joe song was that it’s a brother/sister duo playing “together.” A play, perhaps, on the title of the C.J. & The Fish album. However, on closer inspection, I saw their album was released on White Whale Records.
A white whale is also another name for a Beluga whale, or a “big headed fish” (harking back to Bruce Barthol’s quote in the C.J. & The Fish liner notes)! White Whale is the label that released most of The Turtles’ discography, but I also have a few other albums and singles on the label.
By the way, watching the video of Nino and April, is it just me, or does April Stevens remind others of Aubrey Plaza?
Brad’s rationale: We continue our cetaceanic trend with White Whale Records, and their very Spector-inspired “All Strung Out” by siblings, Nino Tempo and his older sister, April Stevens, from 1966. Arranged by veteran (but, a newcomer on this record), Nick DeCaro, the song was written and produced by Nino Tempo and Jerry Riopelle, which suggests an intentional approach by the two songwriters/producers to create and produce a song with a very Phil Spector/Gold Star Studio atmosphere! Who could blame them?
By 1966, Spector had made an indelible mark on ‘60s (and beyond) studio wizardry with “Wall of Sound” hits by a score of girl groups, and most recently, the top-of-the-chart hits by The Righteous Brothers (“You’ve Lost That Loving Feelin’,” 1964), and Tina Turner (“River Deep-Mountain High,” 1966):
Riopelle, like so many other young musicians and nascent studio “geeks” (see the late Brian Wilson’s Gold Star observations in the above Tina Turner article…and, hear rare Spector outtakes from the control room during recording), was mesmerized by the Gold Star mysticism, and Spector’s mastery over its board: Earlier in his career, Riopelle played keyboards on The Righteous Brothers’ songs, some on The Ronettes’, and all of the Ike & Tina Turner tracks in Phil Spector’s productions. Like Brian, Jerry had caught the bug!
To put it another way, Nino Tempo became Riopelle’s more-than-willing “partner in climb” to produce as close to a Spector record as they could get, sans the master!
In a Spectropop.com interview with Tempo by Bill Reed, Nino happily allowed the following:
“All Strung Out” was written for The Righteous Brothers in the “Lovin’ Feelin’” style. I presented it to them. For some reason, they didn’t want to do it, so I told my sister, April, ‘Why don’t we try it? The worst that could happen is that it won’t sound good and we won’t release it.’
Through Jerry Riopelle, I got Nick DeCaro to arrange it. It’s the Wrecking Crew. It was recorded at Gold Star with [Spector’s reliable engineer], Larry Levine engineering on one part, Stan Ross on another. It was made on a small budget. We did things on the fly, and there was a lot of movement.
I had to bring this up here, push that down there, and then get this out here. It was a tough one; the guys I was mixing with initially couldn’t make it happen, it still sounded like an incomplete record.
Tempo turned to Bones Howe, one of the most respected record engineers around: I went to him and said, “You gotta help me with this; I can’t seem to pull it together.” He finally gave me one evening because he was busy. He did a brilliant job mixing it. Bones put the right echo, he was able to work a little magic with all the faders, made everything sound like it was well-recorded. Bones put the record together, made a wonderful mix of what was on tape. He really took a rough recording and pulled it together beautifully.
Spectropop.com: As a result of Howe’s tinkering, Tempo was certain he had a hit with his catchy Mamas and Papas-meets-Phil Spector synthesis. But the song only crawled to 26 on the charts and then disappeared. Around the same time, Spector’s “River Deep - Mountain High,” the (now) classic by Ike and Tina Turner, was also perceived as a sure-fire hit by nearly everyone who heard it in advance of its [May 1966] release.
Unlike “All Strung Out,” “River Deep” took months and a small fortune to make. Yet, it fared even worse on the U.S. charts than Tempo’s record. In recent times, though, the latter has emerged as a cult favorite, regarded as one of the two or three great neo-Spectorian singles!
For years, its initial failure nagged at Tempo, but it doesn’t seem to bother him that the best of his own production work is often compared with Phil Spector’s: “I give Phil full credit for everything he did musically. He was certainly a front-runner, a brilliant kid. I was in my early-twenties, and he was a teenager when we met at Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller’s New York office. Jerry was leaving on vacation, and said ‘Why don’t you guys watch my place for me?’ Phil and I were roommates for five or six weeks.”
DATELINE, OAKLAND! This just in! Substack creator,
of Earworms & Song Loops gets ulna caught in adorable dinosaur tchotchke! He managed to escape unharmed, though, thanks to his stylish, new stainless steel Tune Tag Travel Mug!
Michael’s song #3: Jerryo, “(Funky) Four Corners,” 1968
Brad’s response: Well, he was on White Whale! Likely after this turn on Detroit soul label, Boo-Ga-Loo Records, one that Jerry Murray himself, owned, I’m guessing! He’s teaching dancers how to do the Four Corners; he even mentions James Brown (“JB”), and The Tighten Up, made famous, in 1968, by Houston’s Archie Bell & The Drells, who didn’t stop with just the “Tighten Up” (as you’ll soon see…and hear)!
Michael’s rationale: An energetic, fun single that was originally released in 1968 on none other than… White Whale Records! Jerryo (Jerry Jerome Murray) was a producer, record label owner, and soul performer. The video I sent to Brad has a photo of the 45 on Jerry’s Boo-Ga-Loo Records (a label named after an earlier single by Jerryo). Hmmm… I wonder if Brad will make the White Whale connection?
Brad’s song #3: Archie Bell & The Drells, “The Soul City Walk,” 1975
Michael’s response: I am scratching my head on why Brad sent this track. The only thing I can think of is that Jerryo’s first single was called “Boo-Ga-Loo” (which he would also name his record label), and it kick-started a dance craze. Ten years later, in 1975, Archie Bell’s “Soul City Walk” also ignited a dance craze. Is the connection dancing?
Brad’s rationale: Dance songs (and how to do the dances) were a big thing at one point. They spread from the discotheque TV shows of the ‘60s to the discos that proliferated in the ‘70s! Can I get a witness, Pe of
?Michael’s song #4: Carolyn Crawford, “Just Got To Be More Careful,” 1974
Brad’s response: Michael picks a song that was on Philly International Records (CBS affiliate) the year before “The Soul City Walk” was on another CBS affiliate, TSOP Records. Curiously, Caroline, born in Detroit as Carolyn, only used her real name for three singles for Motown, mid-’60s, and for her three mid-’70s singles for PIR. Beginning in 1978, and her two years (and 2 albums) on Mercury, she went by Caroline, actually calling her Mercury debut, My Name is Caroline:
Michael’s rationale: Archie Bell’s song was produced and written by Gene McFadden, John Whitehead, and Victor Carstarphen. That team was responsible for not just McFadden and Whitehead’s smash hit, “Ain’t No Stopping Us Now,” they also wrote and produced several hit songs in Philadelphia (aka “Soul City”) for a variety of artists, including The O’Jays, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, and this rather obscure, but wonderful, disco funk track.
Feeling like we needed to end this Tune Tag with Female Power, Carolyn’s powerful vocals are the perfect funk track for me to wrap with.
Brad’s song #4: Carolyne Mas, “It’s No Secret” 1979
Michael’s response: I have never heard of Carolyne Mas, and this late ‘70s pop-rock tune is new to me. I see she was from NYC, so I am struggling to find the connection with Carolyn Crawford. Unless the obvious is right in front of me….is it that the two women share the same name?
Brad’s rationale: What’s in a nam? The Great Carolyn Debate of the ‘70s! Ms. Crawford insisted her “Name is Caroline” (despite being born sans “e” and with a “y”). Ms. Mas was born Carol Patricia Mas, but saw fit to add the “yne” to her name!
According to Ian Ashleigh of Toppermost.co.uk in 2015, “Carolyne Mas has a following in Canada and on Continental Europe due to live work there, but not particularly in her native USA where she is relatively unknown, nor in the UK.
“Born in Bronxville, New York in October 1955, and raised on Long Island, Mas is musically trained in classical piano, voice and guitar. Her father was a pianist/baritone with the New York City Opera Company (and a scientist who, incidentally, invented the battery charger).
“Her mother was a singer/guitarist, so almost inevitably, Carolyne Mas was going to follow a career in music. She had a place at the Juilliard School of Music in 1974, but declined it after performing at a music festival in Pennsylvania a few weeks before. The thrill of performance and sharing her music in that environment overtook the kudos of attending the premier music school.
“There was a time in the late 1970s when Carolyne Mas was feted to be the ‘female Bruce Springsteen’ [by many rock critics of the day]. While, musically, I can see why this might be the case, she doesn’t use her music to depict blue collar America in the way the Boss does.”
Michael: Once again, this has been a blast! Like the first time I participated, after sending my songs, I never knew how Brad would respond.
It was fun to receive something very different in return, and then try to connect the dots of Brad’s musical mind!
Cheers, my dude!
Feel free to leave a comment, and we’ll see you in the Chats to share thoughts on this Tune Tag!
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Thank you, Brad! It's always fun to see how you wrap these musical exchanges up with your comments, plus the added visuals and video. This was a joy to do with you (way back in August), and I think we sent each other some new, fun, and interesting tunes. The journey definitely took some unexpected twists and turns. Now that it is posted, "It's no secret" that I was doing my best "Boo-Ga-Loo" up here in Portland while you were doing the "Soul City Walk" in Austin. But, could you please leave that damn accordion at home next time! 😎
Now, if only I weren't a plant eating vegan, I might just be cooking up some fish for dinner tonight! I'll let you do that, my friend.
I really enjoyed this Tune Tag -- it was a feast of new (to me) artists and bands, with a smattering of recognizable gems. Also, as a vegequarian (what others call pescatarian), I appreciated the fishy waters this tete-a-tete swam in.
Michael is another wonderful human musical encyclopedia; reading the two of you battling wits was like watching The World Book going head to head against Brittanica.