🎵 AotW AOTW: Family Portrait (SP 19002)
- Thread starter Harry
- Start date
rockdoctor
Well-Known Member
Harry, I did find Something Festive earlier this year. It will be getting time on the turntable this month. This was the first copy of Family Portrait that I have ever seen.
I've found FAMILY PORTRAIT to be a rather powerful promoter of things A&M. Very early on, it led me to Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 when all I really knew on the A&M label was Herb. By the way, the track "Like A Lover" is a slightly different mix than the one on LOOK AROUND. You'll immediately notice that John Pisano's guitar starts in a different channel - and it's not because the stereo is backwards. Sergio's piano inhabits the left channel throughout the track while the guitar is consigned to the right. At the bridge, Sergio's familiar piano riff is missing entirely.
Bobberman
Well-Known Member
I remember that version well and I prefer that mix to the regular one nevertheless it's one of my favorite Brasil 66 tunes
Even though I own all the tunes on these A&M sampler records elsewhere, they're still a fun listen to spin on the turntable! I've found that many of these are still cheap and plentiful. I don't think I have Family Portrait, but did score a copy of Music Box a while ago, and have probably five copies now of Something Festive (partly for an upcoming project for our YouTube channel). There was also Burt Bacharach & Friends that I found, which isn't in the best condition, but was a good wrap-up of some Bacharach tunes recorded at A&M.
rockdoctor
Well-Known Member
I found Something Festive and Burt Bacharach and Friends at the same thrift store this year. The Bacharach one that I bought was in there for the second time. The first did not have an inner sleeve and a higher price and did not look as good as the copy I bought with an inner sleeve. I saw Music Box a while back but it was in bad shape. I did notice the difference right away for Like a Lover on Family Portrait.
I also saw the Million Dollar Sampler at a used book and record store. That is my next target.
Out of curiosity, how many releases are in the 19000 catalog?
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One of our other fellas here can probably answer that one. In fact, I'm interested myself. I've seen a couple others mentioned here but never remember to look for them. (Probably because I have a long want list.)
This is yet another album that I hadn't heard of until I joined A&M Corner. The only A&M compilation I have (on LP) is Music Box. I remember it cost $1, or maybe 99¢, at a local store.
19001 - MILLION DOLLAR SOUND SAMPLER
19002 - FAMILY PORTRAIT
19003 - iSOMETHING FESTIVE!
19004 - THE BEST FROM HERB ALPERT & THE TIJUANA BRASS (DEE JAY SAMPLER)
19005 - Bill Wyman (a UK regular release supposedly placed in this series)
19006 - MUSIC BOX
19007 - BURT BACHARACH & FRIENDS
19008 - The Lovin' Touch - Dick Summers (another outlier in the series, this was on Omen Records)
19009 - ODYSSEY
19002 - FAMILY PORTRAIT
19003 - iSOMETHING FESTIVE!
19004 - THE BEST FROM HERB ALPERT & THE TIJUANA BRASS (DEE JAY SAMPLER)
19005 - Bill Wyman (a UK regular release supposedly placed in this series)
19006 - MUSIC BOX
19007 - BURT BACHARACH & FRIENDS
19008 - The Lovin' Touch - Dick Summers (another outlier in the series, this was on Omen Records)
19009 - ODYSSEY
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rockdoctor
Well-Known Member
Mike, The only one of these that I had ever seen in my younger days was Music Box and it was usually about $1.99 or less but I never bought it. I also did not know of the others before I signed onto this site. This site has made it fun to look at and play my old lp's and to look for the early A&M releases. I am also watching for inner sleeves that I do not currently have that feature the old releases.
Funny, but MUSIC BOX was the one I'd never run into in the intervening years. In fact, my first copy of that one came from our late member Wendell. Since then I've acquired at least one other in better shape and remastered the whole thing with real CD tracks and one LP needledrop of "Brasilia". The original LP is CSG processed.
Aside from the outliers, I am missing Odyssey and possibly Family Portrait. None of those are titles I went out of the way to find--in fact, Something Festive was stumbled upon accidentally as I thumbed through titles at Solo Records, some time in the early 80s. That was the same day I found the nearly perfect stereo Equinox. Good times! It was finds like the Something Festive record (I mean, back then, who in my group of peers knew this record even existed?) that led me to eventually start this site. Back then the record was a rarity as I'd never found other used copies, and now in the past decade or two I discovered it wasn't really all that rare. Crossing paths with @Steve Sidoruk on CompuServe, and the other fans who lurked in the Music/Arts forum, showed me there was still an interest in this type of music.
Bobberman
Well-Known Member
The 80s for me was a truly musically fertile time as far as collecting classic A&M albums as I mentioned before for a 2 year period (1984 -1986) where I lived at the time there was a new used record shop called Roadrunner Records it was a satellite store of a much bigger one in Spokane WA I became friends with the owners of Roadrunner and they were related to the owner of the spokane store needless to say They had tons of A&M vintage vinyl between the 2 stores most of the time if they didn't have it in stocks they would have it at the other store and be able to get it for me they even had a sealed Music Box Lp at one point as well as excellent condition copies of Family Portrait and Something Festive and multiple copies of most everything it seemed it sure helped me with a lot of what I was looking for at the time Especially All things A&M Good times Indeed.
We kind of suffered here--A&M was a west coast label, and other than the more common/popular titles, I never saw some of the rarer titles locally, even after I knew what to look for. I think in all my years of looking for Baja's As Time Goes By, I have only ever seen one copy in our area, and that was only after I had already purchased one online back in the mid 90s.
Wow, I had forgotten about Odyssey... I had that at one time, but have no idea what happened to it. I must have put it in a grab bag, or in the used records pile or something. I must not have liked it all that much.
I can see why I never would have taken a second look at Odyssey:. There might have been only a few tracks I'd listen to. It does have Q's unique version of "Summer in the City" that I like. It's from the same Q album that brought us "The Street Beater" (aka the "Sanford & Son" television theme song).
| A1 | Rick Wakeman– | Catherine Howard Written-By – Rick Wakeman Written-By – Rick Wakeman | 6:36 |
| A2 | Rita Coolidge– | Journey Through The Past Written-By – Neil Young Written-By – Neil Young | 3:27 |
| A3 | Strawbs– | Part Of The Union Written-By – Ford*, Hudson* Written-By – Ford*, Hudson* | 2:55 |
| A4 | Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee– | Sail Away Written-By – R. Newman* Written-By – R. Newman* | 3:50 |
| A5 | Sandy Denny– | Listen, Listen Written-By – Sandy Denny Written-By – Sandy Denny | 3:36 |
| B1 | Joan Armatrading– | It Could Have Been Better Written-By – Armatrading*, Nestor* Written-By – Armatrading*, Nestor* | 4:19 |
| B2 | Cheryl Dilcher– | High Written-By – Cheryl Dilcher Written-By – Cheryl Dilcher | 2:44 |
| B3 | Lani Hall– | Sundown Lyrics By [Additional] – Alpert*, Hall* Words By, Music By – Willis Ramsey* Lyrics By [Additional] – Alpert*, Hall* Words By, Music By – Willis Ramsey* | 3:30 |
| B4 | Paul Williams (2)– | That's Enough For Me Written-By – Paul Williams (2) Written-By – Paul Williams (2) | 5:14 |
| B5 | Quincy Jones– | Summer In The City Written-By – John Sebastian, Mark Sebastian, Steve Boone Written-By – John Sebastian, Mark Sebastian, Steve Boone | 4:05 |
rockdoctor
Well-Known Member
I have three of those albums that are listed-Lani Hall, Rita Coolidge and Sandy Denny. Summer In The City by Quincy Jones got a lot of airplay back in the day of its album's release.
rockdoctor
Well-Known Member
Harry, in the photograph, who is the group of four at the back of the picture? Also are Sandpipers the two against the tree and the one on the blanket? Lastly, the two with the picnic basket-Boyce and Hart? I can make out all the others but those groupings I am unsure who they are.Was Ms. Starr at the 'picnic'? If so, would she have been excluded from the main photo?
Here's the cover photo as it appeared in a trade magazine around the time of Family Portrait. (Pardon the seam, but that's the way it came.) I'd post it in the forum, but it's too wide.
Harry
...with pictures, online...
Thanks.
I believe the group of four with the green umbrella might be The Merry Go Round. The two against the tree go with the third sitting on the blanket - The Sandpipers. Boyce and Hart are behind Herb with the basket.
Obvious ones are the Baja Marimba band on the left, the Tijuana Brass at the table, Wes Montgomery behind them, Claudine on the swing, and Brasil '66 upper left. Liza of course is in front with Herb.
Bobberman
Well-Known Member
To long time A&M fans like myself it was very easy to identify everybody in the photo I knew there were a few artists featured on the Album that were missing that day at the picnic but they were there in spirit such as Jobim. Phil Ochs,Burt Bacharach. And Herbie Mann
I believe the group of four with the green umbrella might be The Merry Go Round. The two against the tree go with the third sitting on the blanket - The Sandpipers. Boyce and Hart are behind Herb with the basket.
Obvious ones are the Baja Marimba band on the left, the Tijuana Brass at the table, Wes Montgomery behind them, Claudine on the swing, and Brasil '66 upper left. Liza of course is in front with Herb.
They should have had Pete Jolly front and center, playing a white grand piano. 
Even though we don't really know exactly when his albums were recorded, he did appear on many of those recordings as a sideman.
Wes seems out of place, but mainly due to his CTi compadres not being there with him, like @Bobberman mentions. I doubt Jobim would have sat in for a photo, as I'm not certain where he was living at the time (New York? Los Angeles?). Although with Wes, he was given a Greatest Hits LP alongside TJB, Baja and B66.
Even though we don't really know exactly when his albums were recorded, he did appear on many of those recordings as a sideman.Wes seems out of place, but mainly due to his CTi compadres not being there with him, like @Bobberman mentions. I doubt Jobim would have sat in for a photo, as I'm not certain where he was living at the time (New York? Los Angeles?). Although with Wes, he was given a Greatest Hits LP alongside TJB, Baja and B66.
Don't know, but they sure didn't need no stinkin' parasols!BTW, why does the Baja gang look like a gang of party crashers??
