Ace’s long-running Songwriters and Producers series has recently yielded two stellar entries celebrating two gentlemen equally versed in both crafts: Gary Usher and Bob Crewe. Part One of our Ace Round-Up today looks at Happy in Hollywood: The Productions of Gary Usher. Gary Usher (1938-1992) would have gone down in pop history as one of his neighborhood pal Brian Wilson’s earliest collaborators, penning lyrics for both a popular hot rod tune (“409”) and one of Wilson’s most introspective, personal statements (“In My Room”). But he was arguably even more influential as one…
Shadows and Reflexions: High Moon Records Collects Rarities from Curt Boettcher and Friends
High Moon Records’ new collection from Curt Boettcher and Friends, Looking for the Sun, takes its title from a 1968 Boettcher production for singer-songwriter Gordon Alexander. Given Boettcher’s participation, one might expect the song to be a dreamy SoCal pop fantasia with richly layered harmonies. But instead it’s a rather sparse, dark rumination with an acid coffeehouse feel. Alexander, in the song at least, doesn’t find the sun, and arguably, neither did Curt Boettcher in his lifetime. But the late, enigmatic visionary (The Association, Sagittarius, The Millennium) left behind a remarkable and…
Release Round-Up: Week of October 25
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! The Kinks, Arthur, or The Decline and Fall of the British Empire [Various Formats] (BMG) 4CD/4-seven-inch single box: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / The Kinks Official 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / The Kinks Official 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / The Kinks Official The Kinks’ 1969 concept album continued in the quintessentially British vein of The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society but carved out its own musical identity. Building on the…
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Soul and Inspiration: Dawn Eden Goldstein Pens Memoir “Sunday Will Never Be the Same”
The world of rock and roll has seen many amazing journeys, but few like Dawn Eden Goldstein’s. Using the pen name of Dawn Eden, Goldstein carved out a niche in the 1990s as a rock historian. As the concept of the deluxe CD reissue took hold, she contributed essential liner notes to albums by artists including Harry Nilsson, The Hollies, and The Seekers, and wrote for publications such as Billboard and The Village Voice. But Goldstein was a seeker herself. Born into a Jewish family, she found herself upon a spiritual odyssey…
It’s “Happy Lovin’ Time”: Ace Collects Rare Sunshine Pop and More
Ace Records has previously mined the eclectic catalogue of producer-impresario Gary S. Paxton, most notably on Hollywood Maverick: The Gary S. Paxton Story. That 2006 volume featured Paxton’s work with artists including The Hollywood Argyles (“Alley Oop”), Paul Revere and the Raiders (“Midnight Ride”) and Bobby “Boris” Pickett (“The Monster Mash”). Recently, Ace has returned to the archives of Paxton’s Garpax production company with the delicious Happy Lovin’ Time: Sunshine Pop from the Garpax Vaults on the Big Beat imprint. Though a couple of familiar names crop up – Curt Boettcher and…
Sunshine Special: Now Sounds Collects “The Best of The GoldeBriars”
Late in 1963, The GoldeBriars recorded “Sunshine Special,” the group’s adaptation of the traditional train song. Curt Boettcher – the male vocalist in the line-up and also its major creative leader – would later make sunshine a specialty; his shimmering California-pop productions for the likes of The Millennium, The Ballroom and Sagittarius have all gone on to attain cult status. There’s not much of that baroque psych-pop sound on Now Sounds’ Walkin’ Down the Line: The Best of The GoldeBriars (CRNOW52), the first-ever retrospective for the short-lived folk unit. But this compelling…
