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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
The Naked City
The late 1950s through the mid-1970s were golden years for television, Hollywood and the crime jazz soundtrack, years when staccato piano chords lurked around every dark corner, and every chase scene was heralded with a steady gallop of bongos. This … Continue reading
Boogaloo
The boogaloo was a fascinating musical phenomenon of 1960s Spanish Harlem, an organic result of both the Puerto Rican community’s proximity to the city’s African-American neighborhoods, and the popular, pervasive influence of 1960’s soul music. Joe Cuba (“Bang Bang”), Ray … Continue reading
Odd pop
They’re guys with guitars, organs, and drums, and they’re playing in a mid-1960s combo style. On paper, they’re garage bands. But it’s still easier to categorize these three groups by what they aren’t. They aren’t really the typical clanging noisemakers … Continue reading
The Moog
The Moog synthesizer wasn’t the first electronic instrument to work its way into the context of post-War pop music. There was the theremin, for example – that white swan of electronic instruments, heard for a few spectral bars on certain … Continue reading
Organ moods
Three measured doses of organ jazz ambience this week. These selections may only bore you, or you may find something more subtle and exciting about these, something with the quality of a cinematic archetype. Think “after hours nightclub scene.” See … Continue reading
Great Britain
No clever themes unite this week’s 1960’s psychedelic pop selections. Beyond being unapologetically British, that is. 1. Phil Cordell, Red Lady (Janus)Phil Cordell was a British folk-popster & songwriter who found greater (or, rather, relatively greater) fame in the 70’s … Continue reading
Girl trips
This week, three female harmony-soul records from the early ’70s. Their production styles are wildly different, but they’re all suffused with the lightly trippy aesthetic of the era. 1. The Three Degrees, Collage (Roulette) An enduring Philadelphia female vocal trio, … Continue reading
The Sitar
In that weird gray zone where American popular taste comingled with “ethnic” music, anything – even sitars – could happen. It may have been the Beatles who introduced it to the popular consciousness, but it took the muscle of the … Continue reading
