ALBUM: For the Collector Vol. 2 (4-record Laurie compilation)
MVC Rating: 4.0/$$$$$
What a treasure trove. Here are 64 songs from 50s, 60s and 70s. Many that you know you know. Others you know but didn’t know you knew. Others you wish you didn’t know.
You know? What I mean?
Like right now I’m listening to Jimmy Curtiss sing “Laughing at the Rain.” I know this song but didn’t know I knew it.
This collection has a lot of Dion (8 songs) and a lot of singers that sound like Dion. But that’s OK, I love Dion (and the Belmonts). Most known artists like Del Shannon get two or three spots. But lots of one-hit wonderfuls, like ‘Doctor’ by the Five Discs, ‘Western Movies’ by the Olympics, and ‘The Normal Ones’ by the Brooklyn Boys. I believe it was a bargain special when it came out, but now I see it listed for $50 on eBay and it seems to be scarce.
Then you have the Chiffons singing ‘He’s So Fine,’ AND ‘My Sweet Lord’ – the song they sued and won a landmark decision against former Beatle George Harrison over his song “My Sweet Lord.’ Listening now. Yes, they sound quite alike in melody. He’s so fine. My sweet Lord. I wish he were mine. I really want see you.
Guess the Chiffons wanted to show how alike the two songs are.
You know plagiarism is a bad thing, I agree, but you know how stuff gets in your subconscious. I’ll go ahead and admit it, I am plagiarizing Robert Christgau right now. Except his vocabulary is twice mine. So I’m really only plagiarizing half of his words. But its not the words. Look at ‘He’s so Fine’ and ‘My Sweet Lord’. The words are completely different. Same with Christgau and me. But it’s the melody, the notes, the zeitgeist. I am plagiarizing Christgau’s zeitgeist. And both of our album reviews are in ALPHABETICAL ORDER. Although his is more alphabetical than mine.
OK moving on.
On the last record, the record compilers couldn’t resist bringing in Snoopy v. Red Baron by that great band the Royal Guardsmen. You know the Guardsmen, the RG baby. Never heard of them but I do remember the song, it was my favorite at 4-years-old.
PS I checked real quick Wikipedia on the Guardsmen. Let’s just say they had a hit with the Snoopy Red Baron thing and rode that dog for as long as they could. Here’s what Wiki wrote:
The Royal Guardsmen are an American rock band, best known for their 1966 hit single Snoopy vs. the Red Baron, The Return of The Red Baron”, “Snoopy For President”, and the Christmas follow up “Snoopy’s Christmas.”
I wonder where Vol . 1 is?
Counting down my 678 vinyl records before I die of brain disease.
Counting down my 678 vinyl records before I die of brain disease.