“A pro does whatever he must to get through the session with grace.”
Indeed!
Precisely so.
He did exactly the right thing under the extraordinary circumstances.
As a final footnote, I later heard that a military drummer was elsewhere, in another similarly named studio owned by the label, being presented with the distinction of being required to play a 12 bar boogie shuffle.
“my head is spinning.”
I believe Peter Gabriel suffers from a similar malady.
“It is rare, especially today, for a singer to really be the focus...to take over everything and provide the emotion, either with or without the musical accompaniment.
Pet did that.
Dusty did that.”
And they were both so very beautiful, and both sang brilliantly.
Perfect vocal performance teamed with tremendous passionate delivery.
“Dusty was cool in any language.”
She once threw a cup of coffee right over my Session Drumming pal Bob.
He played on 10 tracks of Dusty’s recorded during the Sixties.
I would always have good fun in conversation with Bobby.
A sort of repartee.
I would say “Why is she called ‘Dusty’”.
He would say “Because she’s been of the shelf for so long”.
And so it would go on......
I would write things to make him laugh in my Score’s.
He was always sniggering over them when presented with them.
Copping me, knowing glances, gently taking the rise out of me.
“But Pet Clark had that studio orchestra! British Wrecking Crew indeed!”
‘Dusty had it as well, for instance, "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me."’
Cilla Black also had some very big backup of certain of her Recordings.
Bob played on Cilla’s “Anyone who had a Heart”
A big arrangement with a forever changing time signature.
As well as on Dusty’s wonderful "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me."
And of course, don't forget dramatic Shirley Bassey, another great singer he backed.
Here’s a little more about Dusty.
'Graham has special memories of Dusty Springfield:
"She threw a cup of coffee at me. She had this thing about Drummers,
We all had our little moment with Dusty. We did some stuff at Olympic, some at Phillips Studios.
'I Only Want To Be With You' had Vic Flick on guitar. (Note from P.P. Vic was the Guitarist that played lead on the Original James Bond Theme, another player from The John Barry Seven, it was a rare Semi Acoustic although you usually see Vic with a Strat).
Dusty didn't like the sound at Phillips, she couldn't get the warm American sound over here.
Dusty occasionally used to go and use the toilets in Phillips to record in.
They'd sling a mike up, she didn't like the dead sound in the studio".'
“pp, I am glad you cleared up the 335i scenario, I had dismissed it earlier as my geeky love of cars when I saw the numbers appear and thought there was no way that was what was being discussed.”
“I like the comment toward "Let's keep this on topic of Petula Clark" and then we get PAGES of BMW details in the same post!”
I’m delighted you both felt so very positive about it and have expressly written to say so.
Jerry Bosun told me that ‘brevity is the sign of a brilliant mind’.
I replied to him, that as he was patently unable to even write the name of The State he comes from properly.
That I had every reason, to doubt the truth, of his hypothesis. This afternoon spent with Shakespeare, confirmed to me the truth of that matter.
(Shakespeare would stay in Oxford every time he travelled between Stratford upon Avon and London). Unfortunately for Jerry, where I live, they take brevity, as a clear sign of complete ignorance.
I have always believed in delivering content rich material. Which I think is what we like about Petula, and Tony Hatch as opposed to the flotsam and jetsam which is the hallmark of others.
Frankly, I was in something of a quandary as to where best to post the reply to Dave Collins about the Car he seems to want to buy.
He has mentioned the vehicle concerned several times. As the thread will be deleted soon, adding the simple P.S. to the post seemed the easiest solution.
Keith of SSL is extremely interested in Cars and If Ross owns this same model, he will surely value the opportunity to see video footage of its manufacture, from raw sheet steel right through to the finished vehicle.
Seeing the engines pieced together is pure gravy for a true engineer.
And I know lots and lots of truly great engineers.
“And now important stuff. Pronunciation.”
The important issue to focus on where pronunciation is concerned in regard to Petula is this.
Making records from an early age, there came a point where she began to enter a transitional stage in development.
She came under the influence of elocutionists that honed her natural voice into something so far removed from the Petula we know and love, that were I to play those recordings to you from that very short period in her career, I am convinced you that no-one here would be able to identify the person singing.
Thankfully, she dispended with the vocal plastic surgeons, and retained, developed and matured, her natural God given talent.
When she went to America, rather than being dragged into the vocal Trans-Atlantic drawl common to so many, she retained her perfectly formed, crystal clear voice.
With the beauty, grace and elegance of a true English Rose, and all the Chic grooming of Paris, she sang with a true English voice, looked strikingly alluring and stunningly delivered all the passion we would attribute to the greatest Female Vocalist’s.
She was an Actress, turned Singer turned Actress.
And her youthful looks belied a voice of maturity that convicted and convinced, because it penetrated into character in the manner of an actress, and thus exhibited the excess’s of passion and drama that we would historically associate with French and Spanish singers.
But she was true to her own voice in a world were so very many try to make themselves like somebody else.
She also wrote a great many songs under various pseudonyms, and of course delivered these with all the full conviction that the original Composer is supremely capable of. Her songs by Tony Hatch and Jackie Trent (Tony’ wife) (Petula was married to Claude Wolff a Frenchman) were often threaded with a strong emotive appeal, a story or message that we could all readily identify with, and her ability to act, entering into character as she sang, actuated an explosive Vocal performance, full of heart rending drama and passion that engaged and enthralled the listener.
“To thine own self be true.”
William Shakespeare.
“It is incredible to read about the sheer volume of work that the top people were doing then. Then consider the high standard of it all and the sustained period that it was conducted over.
Makes it (even) harder to feel respect for some of the contemporary 'pop stars' that are in the press every day here complaining that they are not rewarded fairly for their work.”
Great Comment.
Oasis are on there 7th Album I believe.
I’m afraid that a No 1 hit in the U.K. today would probably have not even made the top 50 then in terms of sales. The Singers, the Songs, Musicians, and Production Values, were such that they commanded extremely wide appeal.
Keith.
I note you are from Scotland.
The word Glasgow actually means "A green and pleasant place".
The last time I was with Bob in Scotland performing was at the Usher Hall in Edinburgh, and the Concert Hall management told us that the popular demand was such that had had to open the third balcony there, for the first time in over 25 years.
They had been using it for storage.......
'Session men were expected to cope with every style of pop.
"One of the sessions I did with a fairly big orchestra was for Petula Clark. I remember walking in to the studio and thinking - 'oh my god there are all these guys I've looked at for years'.
People from the Heath Orchestra, big names. I was terrified. I was half their age. I couldn't read, and in those days,arrangers would write all the drum parts.
I remember doing a session with Tony Hatch. Tony hadn't realised I wasn't a reader, I'm playing away, and he said 'I've been sitting up all night writing those bloody drum parts and you're not playing them'.
I was too afraid to say in front of everyone 'I can't play them because I can't read them', so I said 'I thought I'd improvise'. He was very gracious and said 'It's working, you play what you want"’
“Les Reed OBE - Composer/Arranger/Musical Director.
I first met Bobby Graham when as Musical Director for Pye records sister label, Piccadilly Records, I was asked to oversee the recording of Joe Brown and The Bruvver's single 'A Picture of You'.
On that session I was very impressed with Joe Brown's Drummer, Bobby Graham who had all the aspects of a good solid sideman, and, indeed, I felt would make an excellent session drummer, he had a technique and feel that was really quite remarkable for his young age.
From that day forward, I booked Bobby on many Sessions for the likes of P.J.Proby, Tom Jones, The Dave Clark 5 and many other star names of the day and, on every recording, his work was just superb.
His expertise as a drummer soon reached the ears of other Musical Directors and, within a very short time he ended up as THE top session drummer and appeared on literally thousands of successful recordings.
He is a most sensitive musician, a good friend and indeed, a wonderful family man.”
I know many people of this Forum are interested in Jimmy Page.
This is why when the original poster asked about Drumming on Pet Clarks Records, and I shared a little about that, I also included some information of the both of them. I hope that is O.K.
People might be interested in Jimmy’s Debut Single which Bob also played Drums on.
Jimmy Page - She Just Satisfies / Keep Moving (Fontana TF 533, I965)
Fontana released Graham's first solo single in January I965.
"Skin Deep" was a drum work-out famous from Louis Belson's recording with the Duke Ellington Orchestra.
Graham's version was recorded at Phillips Studios with Jimmy Page, bassist Alan Weighel, organist Kenny Salmon, Arthur Greenslade on piano and a brass section of Duncan Campbell, Ray Davies (the Button Down Brass guy, not the Kinks and Bert Ezard from The Ted Heath Band.
The same line up appeared on Jimmy Page's debut single "She Just Satisfies".
During I965 Graham continued playing sessions, but began to put more effort into production work.
In February Eddie Barclay, the millionaire playboy owner of Eddy Mitchell's label, asked Graham to produce an album for the French market.
(Note from P.P. Bob told me when he went over to France, welcoming him on his first day there, this guy arranged a Champagne evening out to the movies to celebrate. He hired the entire Cinema with just this Guy, Bob and a whole load of dolly girls, to look after them properly. They were waited on and served a brought in Cordon Bleu meal as they watched the film in the otherwise completely empty Cinema).
Credited to Le London All Star, "British Percussion", released in September I965, was a stereo showcase, with ping-pong percussion effects.
Graham used his session colleagues - guitarist John McLaughlin, bassist Alan Weighell.
Drummers Andy White and Ronnie Verrall.
Jimmy Page's contribution was significant.
He played lead on every track and co-wrote three with Graham.
The stand-out is "Lord Byron's Blues" a bluesey fuzz/slide guitar work out.
Before the album's release, Barclay offered Graham a job.
"I was taken on as the head of Barclay Records UK. I didn't speak much French, I had an interpreter with me all the time. My job was to produce English artists for the French market. When I joined Barclay I began to stop playing, I just got so tired from the work load. I was tired of playing music I didn't like.
Clem Cattini took on a lot of the drumming when I moved from session work".
Perhaps sometime, I will tell you a funny story about Clem Cattini.
It’s just a shame that I am unable to post the pictures to accompany all this.
I have so many great ones as you will appreciate but no matter.
I’m sure, the Moderators always know best.
They won't upload.
Far too many Bytes I'm afraid!
For Jerry........
P
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