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"CAMEO PARKWAY 1957-1967"
Various artists
(Abkco) sss
So you think every significant scrap of pop music has been reissued on compact disc since the format was introduced in the United States in the spring of '83?
Well, think again.
Until just last week, there was no official, non-bootleg way to purchase seminal hits by Bob Seger, Chubby Checker and the Mysterians, and the Rationals on CD. All of this material and much, much more was originally issued by Cameo Parkway, America's top independent label during the early 1960s.
Ridiculously overdue, this four-CD, 115-track box set contains all the chart hits on the Cameo and Parkway labels, and is something of a Holy Grail for serious music nuts. Why the long delay for this collection? Part of the reason is that the artist roster was all over the map. Much of the material, licensed from obscure labels, made it difficult to find the original tapes and gain necessary clearances and licenses. R & amp;B, hard rock, doo-wop, novelty songs and garage rock from the United States and the United Kingdom found its way onto Cameo Parkway, an unlikely mix that included Seger, Bobby Rydell, the Kinks, Patti LaBelle and even Clint Eastwood.
Let's get one thing perfectly clear: Cameo Parkway, founded around the same time as Berry Gordy's label, was certainly no Motown, artistically speaking -- not even close.
There are numerous tunes that you may listen to once (if that), and never want to listen to again -- egregious novelty tunes, pale imitations of that Motown sound, and just bad, bland pop. But if nothing else, just to hear Seger and the Last Heard on CD as they tear through their essential '66-'67 classics "Heavy Music Part 1," "Sock It To Me Santa" and "East Side Story" will be more than enough reason to spring for the box set.
Cameo Records was founded in Philadelphia in 1956 by musician and songwriter Bernie Lowe, who co-wrote the Elvis Presley smash "Teddy Bear" with his right-hand man Kal Mann (Kalman Cohen). Another ingredient in the success of the label was arranger, bandleader and songwriter Dave Appell.
But it was the nationally broadcast TV program "American Bandstand" and host Dick Clark that really put Cameo, and later Parkway, on the map, featuring almost every one of the label's major artists.
The first song on the box set is the label's first No. 1 Billboard hit -- Charlie Grace's "Butterfly" from '57, aimed squarely at the teen market, Cameo Parkway's core demographic.
But it wasn't until the arrival of Rydell and Checker a few years later that the hits starting coming in fast and furious. Rydell's good looks helped cover up his meager abilities, while Checker's indelible version of Hank Ballard's "The Twist" climbed to No. 1 in 1960, then re-entered the chart in '62 and hit No. 1 again, the only single of the rock era to do so.
By late '64, things started going downhill. Label founder Lowe sold out to a group of Texas businessmen, who revived the label with more than a little help from Neil Bogart.
Taking a big interest in talent from Michigan, Bogart helped sign Ann Arbor, Mich., rockers the Rationals, who cracked Billboard's Top 100 with a pre-Aretha Franklin version of "Respect." Soon to follow were ? and the Mysterians of "96 Tears" fame, and Seger and the Last Heard.
Cameo Parkway's story ended when money man Allen Klein gained control in 1967. The label became Abkco Industries in '69.
The sound quality throughout the boxed set is uniformly excellent, and so are the thoroughly informative liner notes. And oh yes, Clint Eastwood's singing on the cowboy tune "Rowdy" is actually kinda good.
"MODERN DAY DRIFTER"
Dierks Bentley
(Capitol) sss
Bentley's follow-up to his well-received 2003 debut grows better with every listen and confirms what some country fans began saying two years ago: Here's a singer who's in Nashville for the long haul. On "Modern Day Drifter," the Arizona native skillfully steers clear of the gimmicky production and forgettable songwriting that derail lots of young acts and opts for tradition-minded fare that allows him to be as lustful as Conway ("Come a Little Closer") and as restless as Waylon ("Lot of Leavin' Left to Do").
The singer's vocal on the Jamie Hartford ballad "Good Things Happen" is alone worth the price of admission here, but other rewards await those who keep listening: the mellow chorus of the title track (co-written by the seldom-wrong John Scott Sherrill), the bluegrass flavor of "Good Man Like Me" (recorded with the Del McCoury Band) and the poignant lyrics of the bluegrass-tinged "Gonna Get There Someday." This is a sophomore effort that's remarkable for its strength and maturity. Bentley is a bright beacon pointing the way to country's future.
"CAN'TNEVERDIDNOTHIN"'
Nikka Costa
(Virgin) sss
Blue-eyed soul siren Nikka Costa, the 32-year-old daughter of venerated arranger-producer Don Costa (Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Sammy Davis Jr.) first gained acclaim recording and performing in Europe and Australia, starting at the tender age of 5. On her second stateside recording, she sounds best when keeping the histrionic vocal mannerisms to a minimum and remembering that less is more.
"Till I Get to You," "On & amp; On" and the title tune are about as subtle as flying mallets, with Costa's singing too often edging into wake-the-dead shriek mode. Luckily, there are plenty of sublime moments to offset the irritating ones.
The entrancing "Around the World" has funky Moog bass and strings, a rhythmic groove that Prince would be proud of and a serpentine vocal melody in the verse that opens up beautifully into an elegant, hooky chorus. Costa doesn't try to reach the stratosphere anywhere on this song; it showcases her incredible vocal chops without trying to bowl you over.
On "Fooled Ya Baby," Costa lets loose with some titanic wails and screams, but here it works because they're used judiciously. Other winners include "Happy in the Morning," which harkens back a bit to David Bowie's "Fame," the Stevie Wonder-ish "Swing It Around" and the closing, hidden track -- an appropriately sultry version of Nina Simone's "I Want a Little Sugar in My Bowl."
"MAGIC TIME"
Van Morrison
(Geffen) ss
It's probably time for all of us Morrison enablers to give it up. If his 2003 album for Blue Note -- which turned out to be his first and only album for the label -- was an above-average if overpraised collection of mostly original R & amp;B that seemed to find him shaking off singing halfheartedly, the follow-up, presented again as a "return to form," is just more mishmash. It features a couple of passable songs that would have seemed like so much filler in his glory days, specifically the title song and the album opener, "Stranded," which is musically sound but weighted with cliched lyrical carping. The rest of the album consists of recycled recollections of the good times, with "The Lion This Time," for instance, evoking "Life with the Lions."
A two-song tribute to Sinatra -- "This Love of Mine" and "I'm Confessin'" -- comes out of nowhere and goes nowhere, while two new songs on familiar themes -- "Just Like Greta," which has him once again asking to be left alone, and "They Sold Me Out," yet another rant against a music industry that somehow keeps paying him to release albums -- seem to be begging an audience with Dr. Phil: Get over it. At least we get some irony: A new song called "Keep Mediocrity at Bay," in which Morrison complains "You got to fight every day to keep mediocrity at bay" could only be directed at himself.
"THINK OF ME"
Little Milton
(Telarc) sss
Little Milton, aka Milton Campbell, is yet another great blues-R & amp;B star who was encouraged to claim his legacy by a producer-fan. In this case, it is Jon Tiven, who has helped the 70-year-old singer-songwriter relight the fire inside. Tiven and Little Milton co-wrote 11 of the tracks on this consistently enjoyable album. The title track is a collaboration with gifted guitarist Ellis Hooks, and it's a flat-out beauty, with a gritty and soulful vocal as strong as his 1970 crossover hit "Grits Ain't Groceries."
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