Give It Up Love

TechDirt points out that Mike Love was at it again suing his cousin Brian Wilson. The guy never stops. For someone who was soooo into meditation and being zen, he seems to be the most high strung and vindictive with a lot of time on his hands. Wonder why an attorney would even give credit to his ridiculous claims by taking on his case.

Dennis Diken and Bell Sound: Pure Pop for Now People

I love the irony in the title of Dennis Diken with Bell Sound’s new album, Late Music. I’m assuming it’s twofold. There are songs that should be listened to at night, such as the lounge-like “Lost Bird”. On the flip side, this album has been nearing perfection for over 10 years. Dennis gave me a cassette (remember those?) that contained a few songs, which have made their way on to this album. A few years later another configuration made it into my hands, this time on CD. The project was called Sleeping Giant. I got chills the first time I heard “Standing In That Line” and I relived that same feeling listening to the final version of this great collection of songs.

Dennis, best known as the drummer for the Smithereens is a great historian of rock/pop music so it will surprise no one that musical references are worn on the sleeve. Listening to this album brought me back to songs that I hadn’t heard in awhile, which is the beauty of Late Music. They’re not reinventing the wheel, just rearranging the spokes and taking it for a ride. Put the top down and turn it up.

There are numerous reasons why “Standing In That Line” is a perfect pop song. It brings to mind the “lost” Beach Boys hit “The Little Girl I Once Knew”. Forgotten by most, maybe because of the simple lyrics, but it was a preview of where Brian Wilson was headed as a musician and producer. His next project was Pet Sounds. What makes “Little Girl” such an achievement are the expanding layers of vocals, breaks of silence, hooky chorus and interesting timings. There is a lot going on and it’s orchestrated so beautifully. The line ‘”She’s Not The Little Girl I Once Knew” is the red flag that things are changing for Brian and look out here comes the confessional Pet Sounds. Early on “Standing In That Line” proclaims, “I was found, but now I’m lost”. Sound familiar? Sound like a mantra for today? “Standing” comes out of the gate and grabs your attention with the opening guitar, which quickly leads into a swell of instruments carried by the pounding of drums. Dennis explained that this full blown-production was actually “cut on a four-track cassette.” In come the vocals (lead vocal Pete DiBella), which echo the power of Carl Wilson and the innocence of Brian Wilson. There are bridges and breaks and a short, but soaring guitar solo. This song is a gem.

“Long Lonely Ride” gives a sly nod to the other drumming Dennis (Wilson) by mentioning a Two-Lane Black Top (Wilson starred in a 1971 movie by that name with James Taylor). Noted lyrics: Eat My Dust, Chew My Leather. In the obscure reference department: There’s a musical piece in the song that immediately brought me back to the Boyce-Hart song “Where Angels Go Trouble Follows”. In the movie of the same name, there is a dance scene in the gym. The band is playing the song and when they get to the above referenced part of the song, the scoreboard flashes numbers showing the girls beating the boys.I warned you it was obscure. “Fall Into Your Arms” could have been a track on Dennis Wilson’s solo album, the recently reissued Pacific Ocean Blue. It has the same beautiful vulnerability.

Take the best of The Beau Brummels, The Standells, The Lovin’ Spoonful, Paul Revere and the Raiders, the soundtrack to To Sir With Love (note the Mindbenders "Off and Running"), Peter and Gordon and you’ve got “I’ve Been Away”, “The Sun’s Gonna Shine In The Morning” and “Let Your Loved One Sleep”. All modern day classics. The album closes with the “Ain’t That Peculiar”-feeling, “Tell All The Fools”. Background vocal courtesy of The Honeys (Brian Wilson’s ex-wife and mother of 2/3 of Wilson Phillips, Marilyn Wilson_Rutherford, Marilyn’s sister Diane Rovell and Ginger Blake).

Late Music glows. Turn it up. Take it in. Enjoy the ride.

Dennis collaborated with Pete DiBella. and producer Dave Amels. Special guests include Andy Paley, The Honeys, Jason Falkner, and members of The Wondermints.

Dennis Diken with Bell Sound’s Late Music is available September 29th on Cryptovision Records.

Ellie Greenwich: The Songwriting Leader Of The Pack Dies

Ellie Greenwich stands out as one of the greatest songwriters of all time. She died yesterday in Manhattan at the age of 68. Along with songwriting partners Jeff Barry (her husband at one time) and sometime collaborator, Phil Spector, she penned a string of hits that is staggering. She was also a stellar arranger and producer. Like Carole King, I think these women were unsung when it came to what they brought to the table, not only as songwriters, but as arrangers and producers. Early in her career she recorded a few of her songs under the band name The Raindrops. I think her song legacy and what she meant to other musicians will stand as a tribute to what she gave to this world.

"She was the greatest melody writer of all time," Brian Wilson told The LA Times on Wednesday.

"Those songs are part of the fabric of forever," said songwriter Diane Warren

“Ellie Greenwich was one of the most important people in my career.” Neil Diamond

Songwriting Credits:
Why Do Lovers Break Each Other’s Hearts
Today I Met the Boy I’m Gonna Marry
Da Doo Ron Ron
Then He Kissed Me
Hanky Panky
Leader of the Pack
Chapel Of Love
Be My Baby
River Deep Mountain High
Out In The Streets
All Grown Up
Baby I Love You
Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)
Do Wah Diddy
Gee Baby Gee
Girls Can Tell
Don't Ever Leave Me
Heartbreaker
Hold On Baby
I Can Hear Music
I Wanna Love Him So Bad
Look Of Love
Maybe I Know
People Say
Take Me Home Tonight
The Sunshine After The Rain
Wait 'Till My Bobby Gets Home
Why Don't They Let Us Fall In Love




Producer Credits:
Cherry, Cherry
Kentucky Woman
Solitary Man


Vocal Arranger
Chain of Fool
Girls Just Want To Have Fun (contributes background vocals also)
Evil Woman -yes the ELO song
Baby I'm Gonna Make You Mine
The Lion Sleeps Tonight

Background Vocals:
Dreaming
In the Flesh
Man Overboard
Atomic

This is just a partial list of her accomplishments. For full list, see her website.

Thanks for the wonderful melodies!

Celebrating Leonard Bernstein

On November 14, 1943 Bernstein subbed at the last minute to conduct the NY Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall, replacing an ailing Bruno Walter. Friday night at Carnegie Hall celebrated the 65th Anniversary of that historic debut. My knowledge of Bernstein is limited. I watched two episodes of the very informative Young People's Concerts. It was a series of TV shows he hosted to instill in children (and adults) a better understanding of music. I saw the film West Side Story for which he composed the music. A musical kinship between Brian Wilson and Leonard Bernstein cemented Leonard on my radar.

Brian Wilson is the pop heir to Leonard Bernstein. He appeared on a CBS special of Bernstein's in 1967 singing Surf's Up. Leonard introduced the song: "There is a new song, too complex to get all of first time around. It could come only out of the ferment that characterizes today's pop music scene. Brian Wilson, leader of the famous Beach Boys, and one of today's most important musicians, sings his own Surf's Up. Poetic, beautiful even in its obscurity; Surf's Up is one aspect of new things happening in pop music today. As such, it is a symbol of the change many of these young musicians see in our future." Brian wrote small or pocket symphonies (as Good Vibrations was once called). Had he not left planet earth for a few years, Brian's output may have rivaled that of Bernstein.

Bernstein's music is implanted in pop culture, which became apparent to me during the NY Philharmonic's performance of West Side Story Concert Suites No.1 and No.2. The first notes of I Feel Pretty brought to mind Madelyn Kahn's Bride of Frankenstein singing to a mirror in an SNL skit.

It was very powerful to hear the music of West Side Story performed by the NY Philharmonic. At times I was taken by the score, which seem to rival the best of a Western film. Like Westerns, West Side Story was about rivalries and turf wars. Note of trivia: Originally it was called East Side Story and based the Romeo and Juliet story around the conflict between Catholics and Jews on the Lower East Side. A streak of gang-related violence in 1956 on the Upper West Side changed the course of the musical. Maria featured tenor Paul Graves, who conveyed the song's hopefulness and enchantment. He made you remember how good a song it is. A revival of the play is planned for Broadway in the beginning of 2009.

A year after the film On The Waterfront was released, Bernstein debuted his Symphonic Suite from On The Waterfront, which is the way he intended his music to be presented. Only 35 minutes of the film contain his music. Leonard originally turned down the chance to score the film. The director Elia Kazan had finished the film before he thought about the music. The film's producer first approached Leonard, who declined. He was not a fan of Kazan who had a reputation as a willing informant to Senator McCarthy's House Committee on Un-American Activities. Bernstein on the opposite side, was one of 50 celebrities who in 1947 signed a manifesto condemning those hearings. Apparently the FBI had a 700-page document on him. Never having seen the movie, I felt the grittiness of life in NY on the docks at that time. The music at times was foreboding, signaling something wasn't right, yet life goes on .

The middle piece, Serenade (after Plato's Symposium) for Violin, String Orchestra, Harp and Percussion, was perfectly juxtaposed to the Waterfront Suite: Calming and meditative. Glenn Dicterow was the soloist. According to the Playbill, he first learned the piece for a 1986 Bernstein-led US Tour. Dicterow remembers, "at one point during a rehearsal, Lenny turned to me and said, 'This is the best piece I ever wrote.' " The evening was filled with "best pieces".