Visit Hollywood, 1962, with “Billy Barnes’ L.A.” from Kritzerland
In his interview with The Second Disc, producer Bruce Kimmel promised to reissue some long-lost musical revues among Kritzerland’s future releases; he makes good on his word with Monday morning’s announcement of the 1963 Los Angeles cast recording of Billy Barnes’ L.A.
Billy Barnes’ L.A. opened on October 10, 1962 at that city’s Coronet Theatre, still in use today as part of the Largo music and comedy club. It was recorded the following January at the legendary United Recording Studio on Sunset Boulevard and engineered by Bones Howe, later acclaimed for his work with the Association and the 5th Dimension. As the title indicates, it featured original songs by Billy Barnes, whose most familiar compositions include “Something Cool” (immortalized by June Christy) and “Have I Stayed Too Long at the Fair?” (popularized by the young Barbra Streisand). Barnes also brought his flair to the music of Laugh-In. L.A. was one in a series of revues that also included Billy Barnes’ Hollywood and The Billy Barnes Revue; the latter transferred to Broadway and featured among its cast a bevy of future television legends: Broadway star-turned-game show host Bert Convy (Super Password, Win, Lose or Draw), Ken Berry (Mayberry RFD, Mama’s Family), Ann Morgan Guilbert (The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Nanny) and Lennie Weinrib (HR Pufnstuf, Scooby-Doo). Barnes himself would be a regular presence on the small screen when he recurred as Mr. Edlin on the sitcom Mad About You.
Created with Bob Rodgers as sketch writer and director, Billy Barnes’ L.A. starred Berry along with Marlyn Mason (Dr. Kildare, Broadway’s How Now, Dow Jones), Steve Franken (recognizable from The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis and guest spots on many programs including Bewitched) and Barnes’ then-wife, Joyce Jameson (The Andy Griffith Show); in other words, the revue represented a microcosm of Hollywood’s brightest young actors circa 1962. Kritzerland’s reissue of the original BB Records LP has been “cleaned up as much as possible,” sound-wise, and expands upon a previous CD reissue with the inclusion of five bonus tracks performed by Barnes and musical director Marvin Laird at twin pianos. These were recorded at Studio One, a West Hollywood nightclub, and include a revised version of “L.A. Is,” updating the song to the 1970s.
Hit the jump for more about Kritzerland’s expanded edition of the original cast recording of Billy Barnes’ L.A. including ordering info and the full track listing.
Billy Barnes’ L.A. can be pre-ordered directly from Kritzerland here. As usual, it is a limited edition of 1,000 copies only, and it’s due to arrive by the third week of September, although pre-orders usually ship an average of four weeks early. And as a reminder, Kritzerland has reissued Mischa Spoliansky’s score to Otto Preminger’s 1957 film version of Saint Joan, and it’s selling fast. It can be pre-ordered here. (Dig that striking Saul Bass cover art!)
Billy Barnes’ L.A. (BB Records 1001, 1963, reissued Kritzerland, 2010)
- L.A. Is
- Weather Report
- I’m Glad I Call It Home
- Little Leaguers
- L.A. Is
- Keep Away
- Where Was The Music?
- Covina
- The Forties
- I’ve Never Attended at All
- I’m Glad I Call It Home
- The Pink Pussycat School
- The Akron
- Does Anybody Here Love Me?
- I’m Glad I Call It Home
- Sister Aimee
- L.A. Is
- The Hollywood Museum
- Unemployment Line
- Ambivalent
- Show Biz is My Life
Tracks 17-21 are previously unreleased bonus tracks recorded at Studio One
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4 thoughts on “Visit Hollywood, 1962, with “Billy Barnes’ L.A.” from Kritzerland”
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I agree completely…
It would be nice if Mr. Marchese would have read the liner notes and listened to the entire album. He would have found that the cast consisted of six performers, not only the five he mentions in his review. The omitted cast member is Sylvia Lewis, who in fact sang the “I’m Glad I Call it Home” tracks plus “Where Was the Music?”, which oddly, was the one track that was played often on radio by then radio star, Steve Crane, who found that track hilarious. Sylvia Lewis also choreographed the entire show to boot. She did have a helluva career and at least deserves to have her name included in the cast.
No disrespect intended to Ms. Lewis or her stellar career in showbiz! If you would kindly look at the date of this article, you’ll notice that it was written in advance of the CD release. In addition to having been familiar with the show and recording prior to this article, I have, indeed, read the liner notes and listened to the entire album, and rather enjoyed both. This article is not a review, but rather a brief news item on the CD’s release. As there was no intention or representation to list the entire cast of six, the name of performer Tom Hatten is not present in the article, either. That said: mea culpa on the sin of omission. I’m always happy to bring the career of a veteran talent like Ms. Lewis to light here, and indeed, her contributions to BILLY BARNES’ LA.
Just for the record; Billy Barnes and Joyce Jamieson were divorced when we did the Billy Barnes LA Revue.
They remained close friends until her death (i’ve forgotten the year). I started out as understudy to all 3 girls; Sylvia had to drop out and I stepped in, but remained on as choreographer. She was, and still is ,stunning. Personally I thought she was a better dancer than Cyd Charisse. Syl and I remain chums to this day.
Marlyn Mason