Benny Goodman - Memories of You (1956)

Benjamin “Benny” Goodman was born in Chicago, Illinois on May 30th, 1909. He was a jazz musician, a swing musician, a clarinetist, and a bandleader. He led a popular, integrated jazz group during the height of segregation. He performed throughout his entire life- which ended in 1986 at the age of seventy seven- despite the ailing health of his later years. His overwhelming success in the music industry earned him the nickname “The King of Swing.”

The song heard below is a 1956 recording by Benny Goodman on his clarinet, and featuring his backing band. When originally written in 1930 by Eubie Blake, the song had accompanying lyrics which were written by Andy Razaf. The song had been made for use in the 1930 Broadway play Lew Leslie’s Blackbirds of 1930. It was in this play that the song was first introduced by singer Minto Cato. Although the version below is instrumental, there is a version which was released by Goodman featuring the lyrics being sung by Rosemary Clooney.



Benny Goodman - Memories of You (1956)

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Lyrics:

(instrumental)

Hardin and York - Drinking My Wine (1969)

Having been in The Spencer Davis Group together, Eddie Hardin and Pete York split from Spencer’s band to create a two-person band in 1969. Hardin, an organist and pianist, mixed with York’s drumming to create one of the most unique duo/instrument combinations of the era. Although Hardin’s left hand usually created the bass sound, the band’s three albums were often accompanied by more than just the pair’s instruments of choice. You would often hear guitars, brass, female backup vocals, or wind instruments on any of their three albums: 1969’s Tomorrow Today, 1970’s The World’s Smallest Big Band, and 1971’s For the World. The duo wasn’t able to find much of an audience in the US or UK, but were quite popular in the rest of Europe, especially in Germany. In 1971, York started the Pete York Percussion Band and Hardin co-created Hardin/Fenwick/Newman. Although they kept up their dual enrollment for a while, they eventually disbanded in 1973 when the Spencer Davis Group came beckoning for a reunion.

With their jazz-influenced blend of the blues and hard rock, it was hard not to compare the duo to Traffic. Steve Winwood, co-creator of Traffic, had been in the Spencer Davis Group with Hardin and York, so it’s certainly conceivable to see where Hardin & York were inspired to find their sound. The song heard below, written by Eddie Hardin and featured on their debut 1969 album, Tomorrow Today, was featured as the album’s fourth track. That album’s cover, which lacked Hardin and York’s name, was an award-winner in New York for artistic originality.



Hardin and York - Drinking My Wine (1969)

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Lyrics:

Sitting here drinking my wine
Wastes so much of my time
Pass another empty day
Sitting on my new friend’s way

When it comes to you
I drink some out of your shoe
And I don’t know, but i feel like
Some of these might happen to me, too

Sitting alone in the park
Feeling afraid of the dark
Everyone’s eyes set firmly on me
Why can’t they set me free?

When it comes to you
I drink some out of your shoe
And I don’t know, but i feel like
Some of these might happen to me, too

Sitting here drinking my wine
Wastes so much of my time
Pass another empty day
Sitting on my new friend’s way

When it comes to you
I drink some out of your shoe
And I don’t know, but i feel like
Some of these might happen to me, too

Sitting alone in the park
Feeling afraid of the dark
Everyone’s eyes set firmly on me
Why can’t they set me free?

When it comes to you
I drink some out of your shoe
And I don’t know, but i feel like
Some of these might happen to me, too

The Graham Bond Organisation - Wade in the Water (1965)

Formed in the early ‘60s, this band was originally known as the Graham Bond Quartet. Mixing jazz with elements of rhythm & blues, the group was centered around frontman Graham Bond, a classically trained pianist who “dabbled” with the saxophone (he played it in a very avant-garde way). Not being entirely pleased with a deal they had received to sign with EMI, the band decided to sign with Decca Records in 1964. They opened for Marvin Gaye and toured the UK backing Chuck Berry, but were constantly in turmoil because of the clashing between drummer Ginger Baker and bassist Jack Bruce. Eventually, Graham Bond told Baker that he should ask Bruce to leave the band. When Bruce was asked to leave, he hadn’t been informed it was actually Bond’s request and thought it was merely Baker telling him to leave. Bruce felt he had just as much claim to the band as Baker did, so he kept showing up to perform at their concerts until Baker finally convinced him to quit for good at knifepoint backstage before a show in August 1965. Ironically, it was less than a year later in July 1966 when Ginger Baker quit the band and he and Bruce were reunited in the supergroup Cream with Eric Clapton. In late-1966, Graham Bond attempted to reform his band as a trio consisting of himself, original member Dick Heckstall-Smith, and newcomer Jon Hiseman; but, their commercial success was severely lacking. Although the band officially broke up in 1967, Bond would again unite with his original bandmates when he briefly played in Ginger Baker’s Air Force and toured with Jack Bruce in the 1970s. After years of substance abuse, it was reported that Bond had apparently been clean by this period, but also had a growing obsession with black magic and the occult. On May 8, 1974, Graham Bond died of an apparent suicide after lying down (or falling) in front of a train.

Released on the band’s first album, The Sound of ’65, this song is a traditional track that, for the sake of this band, was arranged by John Group and Paul Getty. Regarding the history of the song, it’s author is unknown, but it was first published in New Jubliee Songs as Sung by the Fisk Jubilee Singers by brothers John Wesley Work, Jr. and Frederick J. Work in 1901. The song, which originally contained lyrics referencing the Bible, was a spiritual song for enslaved African Americans in the United States.



The Graham Bond Organisation - Wade in the Water (1965)

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Lyrics:

(instrumental)

The U.F.O.'s - Hello World (1967)

This band, formed in 1966, was one of the first all-female rock groups in rock history. Although often overlooked because of the lack of access to their material, they can be heard performing their song “Hello World” in the 1967 movie The Love-Ins. With at least one member from Buffalo, New York (lead singer and guitarist Lisa Kindred), the band called California their home. They were almost signed by Capitol Records, but Vanguard Records didn’t want to release Kindred from her contract (she had been signed as a solo folk artist.) Members of the band included: Lisa Kindred (guitar, vocals); Ann Sternberg (bass); Diane/Helena Tribuno (guitar); and Laurie Stanton (drums). Out of the four, Sternberg, Tribuno, and Kindred can also be seen talking about "love in 'modern' music" in the rock documentary Inside Pop: The Rock Revolution, hosted by Leonard Bernstein and released in 1967.

Other than this song appearing in the 1967 movie The Love-Ins, I know very little else about this band or their song heard below. If you have any information, please leave a comment or send an email.



The U.F.O.'s - Hello World (1967)

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Lyrics:

Hello world
I think I’m loving you
Open my eyes
What else could I do?

Stained glass sunlight
Shining on heads of gold
Long haired children
Flowers to hold in their-
Love to unfold from their hands

Sandalwood and jasmine
Driftin' through the air
My mind is smiling
Whisperin' a silent prayer

Let the peaceful feeling
That we have shared today
Come on, sunrise
Bring it on here to stay
Never to fade away

Colored flowers, smiles all surround
Beauty of sight, the fullness of the sound

Vaulting rhythms plotting inside of me
Loving, trusting, this is the way to be-
This is the way to be free

Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians - Auld Lang Syne (1947)

Born Gaetano Alberto Lombardo in Ontario 1902, this Canadian-American was a largely successful bandleader, violinist, and hydroplane speedboat racer. Coming from Italian parents who had moved to Canada, Guy and his brothers had always been singing since a very young age. Guy himself put on his first vocal performance at the age of twelve, and was recording in studios by twenty-one. He formed The Royal Canadians in 1924 with his brothers Carmen, Lebert, Victor, and other friends from his hometown and led them to international success through the late ‘20s and 1930s. At the time of the band’s success, many jazz and big-band purists had found their music to corny. Fortunately for them, the general public loved it.

Lombardo and his band would also go on to be associated with New Year’s Eve, as they played on the radio (and later television) each New Year’s Eve from 1928 until 1976. This song, now associated with the New Year’s Eve celebration and New Year’s Day itself, was popularized by Lombardo and his band when they began playing it each year starting in 1929. This particular version of the song was recorded on September 29, 1947 and was published by Decca Records as a single. Although Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve would eventually become popular with younger viewers, Lombardo’s New Year’s Specials remained popular with older viewers. Traditionally, Lombardo's version of the song is the first song played after the ball has dropped on midnight in Time Square, New York.

Also, see what other New Year's Eve related music we have.



Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians - Auld Lang Syne (1947)

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Lyrics:

Should old acquaintance be forgot
And never brought to mind?
Should old acquaintance be forgot
And days of lang syne?

For auld lang syne, my dear
For auld lang syne
We’ll take a cup of kindness yet
For auld lang syne

Sil Austin - Slow Walk (1956)

Born in Dunnellon, FL in 1929, this saxophonist taught himself to play at the age of twelve. He got his big break when he won a talent contest in Harlem’s Apollo Theater. His talents and credentials evolved when he joined the big bands of Roy Eldridge and Cootie Williams for brief periods of time. He recorded over thirty albums and had hits with the song below, “My Mother’s Eyes,” and his signature song, “Danny Boy”. Sadly, in 2001, prostate cancer ended his life.

This song was a hit for him, reaching the Top 20 in 1956.



Sil Austin - Slow Walk (1956)

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Lyrics:

(instrumental)