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From '50s NYC clubland, a Yma Sumac-inspired version of "Babalu" by jazz/calypso singer Phyllis Branch.
Author Archives: Little Danny
Detroit City
Any attempt to encapsulate the history of 1960s Detroit soul in a few meager paragraphs is destined to failure. A few items are worth noting, though. First of all, Detroit was one of the powerhouse cities, if not the powerhouse … Continue reading
Overhauling the British Invasion (part two)
(Ed. note: This is part two of a post about wild British Invasion covers by ‘60s American garage bands. – Little Danny) 1964. Why did it take the British Invasion to re-ignite rock ‘n’ roll – a musical form that’d … Continue reading
Summer break
Greetings all, I’m taking the week off. I wish I could say it was for a commensurate stretch of rest and relaxation in some distant locale. But, no, the deadline for another sort of writing project looms and must take … Continue reading
Everybody wipe out now
When they’re discussed at all, the early 1960s are usually derided as rock ‘n’ roll’s Dark Ages, the years when the hot guitar licks and sexualized strains of boogie and backbeat were subdued by an army of brylcreemed teen idols … Continue reading
1968: The R&B instrumental
It could be a jazz organist angling for a catchy original number to climb the R&B; charts. It could be a young six-piece combo who played together in their high school band and who were now letting loose with a … Continue reading
The Varitone Saxophone
History has not been kind to the dreaded Varitone saxophone. What is the Varitone? It’s an electric saxophone, simply put, part of a broader post-War trend of oddball, electrified instruments and effects. Except for a control box with visible knobs … Continue reading
Dream pop
It’s possible, as Joseph Lanza did in his Vanilla Pop: Sweet Sounds From Frankie Avalon to ABBA, to trace an unbroken lineage of effervescent vocals from the Four Lads all the way to ABBA, counting groups like the Chordettes, the … Continue reading
Latin funk
Funk and salsa, as musical forms, were both ascendant in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. They were forms that were nourished within culturally aware, politically mobilized communities. According to the tradition that America will always co-opt its most disenfranchised, … Continue reading
