🥂 50th Compile Your Own A&M 50th Anniversary Box Set

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I'm almost of the mind that if A&M had a hand in it somehow, then it could be on the box set. But that's probably because I like the songs enough that I don't want to leave them off. :laugh: Kidding aside, the associated labels are also a big part of A&M's history, but I don't how how (or if) they'd be represented on a retrospective set.

As for the tunes like "Raindrops" or the "Casino Royale" theme, there had to have been some sort of licensing deal to have the artist and same recording appear on two different labels. To use "Casino Royale" as the example--why would A&M want to give away rights to its most popular act at the time? And on the flip side, why would Colgems not want to keep a piece of the action and have the theme song appear exclusively on their own label? Remember that the Beatles' soundtrack to A Hard Day's Night appeared on United Artists, and from what I'd read, I don't think the film maker cared if the movie was a flop or not...they knew album sales would make them a windfall, getting a piece of the action that EMI and Capitol were cashing in on at the time.

Not only would you have some interesting licensing hurdles including distributed labels (Ode, Dark Horse, IRS, Windham Hill...well, okay, not IRS, which Uni owns now), but you'd have to start carving out more space on Discs 1, 2 and 3 to represent them.

As for "Casino Royale", by 1967, Herb and Jerry knew where the movie soundtrack market was...in the tank compared to five years before. As long as they had the rights to release the single and feature it on a TJB album, they knew they'd make way more money off the song than Colgems would. And Colgems had to take the deal. They weren't going to release the album without the theme song. If they cut Herb from the movie, then there'd be no conflict and A&M could release the 45 and LP anyway. It looks like there was more to the deal, and it all favored A&M...Burt Bacharach got to put "Bond Street" on the "Reach Out" LP and release it as a single...all on A&M (Dusty Springfield got to re-cut and release "The Look of Love" on Phillips).

"A Hard Day's Night" was a bit different. United Artists got the rights to the soundtrack album in the US only. It was released on Parlophone (EMI) in the UK. The US single was on Capitol, not United Artists. And it appeared on a Beatles LP on Apple ("Hey Jude", a compilation of singles not featured on albums) in 1970.
 
Another one to add for the 90s...Soundgarden: "Black Hole Sun". Major hit on alternative rock radio. Which reminds me I should look through what I have, since a few I owned that were on A&M.

Looking around the 'net a bit, though, it confirmed my earlier suspicions: A&M has released far less since 1999. The big layoff at the A&M lot was in January of 1999 (remember the black arm band across the revolving A&M sign?), and their artist roster was chopped to a third its former size (around 20 when previously, it was well over 60). Chart appearances are few and far between, so a lot of what A&M released wasn't that well known anyway. Names like Gin Blossoms, Blues Traveler, Black Eyed Peas, Keyshia Cole, Sheryl Crow, Sting and a couple of others are about it as far as chart action for A&M.

With that in mind, I wouldn't even bother filling a fifth disc with anything past 1999...since there was very little to begin with. And even prior to that, pickings are slim, and you notice that the hits are pretty much all by the same artists once you get past a certain point--it's all Sting, Janet Jackson, Sheryl Crow, Bryan Adams--and a retrospective set is not one you'd want to heap a lot of tracks on by the same artists just to fill it out.
 
Not only would you have some interesting licensing hurdles including distributed labels (Ode, Dark Horse, IRS, Windham Hill...well, okay, not IRS, which Uni owns now), but you'd have to start carving out more space on Discs 1, 2 and 3 to represent them.

That would make a great companion set, compiling tracks from an assortment of A&M's distributed/affiliated/licensed labels. It really cut a wide swath of popular music throughout the years.

It looks like there was more to the deal, and it all favored A&M...Burt Bacharach got to put "Bond Street" on the "Reach Out" LP and release it as a single...all on A&M (Dusty Springfield got to re-cut and release "The Look of Love" on Phillips).

"Bond Street" on Reach Out is a re-recording, quite different from the film version, so that sidesteps a licensing issue. From what I recall though, the theme song was the same recording on both the soundtrack album and the TJB's Sounds Like. The soundtrack album features a reprise version at the end, which may just be an edit. And to get really nitpicky, it is actually a Burt Bacharach orchestral track, the tapes sent to Los Angeles from London so Herb could overdub his trumpet parts.
 
As for the others, "Lonely Bull" not only has historical significance as the first (and the only track on this compilation celebrating A&M's 50th that actually goes back 50 years), but it was the TJB's biggest chart single, peaking at #6.

That's true--the set essentially has to kick off with "Lonely Bull."

No love for George McCurn, eh? :laugh: Even though it's a stone rarity, and McCurn nothing more than a footnote in both A&M's history and recorded music in general, "Snap Your Fingers" would have been an interesting track to slip on there. While almost nobody has heard it, the thing that amazed me about that song was that the laid-back, easygoing "A&M sound" was there right from the start. The great Shorty Rogers did the arrangements, but while the musicians are uncredited, it sounds like some of the L.A. crew that worked on other A&M pop albums of the day (Montez, Longet, Baja, etc.) were performing on this album as well.

So would I include it on the set? Maybe not...but it's a really close call.
 
Another one to add for the 90s...Soundgarden: "Black Hole Sun". Major hit on alternative rock radio. Which reminds me I should look through what I have, since a few I owned that were on A&M.

Looking around the 'net a bit, though, it confirmed my earlier suspicions: A&M has released far less since 1999. The big layoff at the A&M lot was in January of 1999 (remember the black arm band across the revolving A&M sign?), and their artist roster was chopped to a third its former size (around 20 when previously, it was well over 60). Chart appearances are few and far between, so a lot of what A&M released wasn't that well known anyway. Names like Gin Blossoms, Blues Traveler, Black Eyed Peas, Keyshia Cole, Sheryl Crow, Sting and a couple of others are about it as far as chart action for A&M.

With that in mind, I wouldn't even bother filling a fifth disc with anything past 1999...since there was very little to begin with. And even prior to that, pickings are slim, and you notice that the hits are pretty much all by the same artists once you get past a certain point--it's all Sting, Janet Jackson, Sheryl Crow, Bryan Adams--and a retrospective set is not one you'd want to heap a lot of tracks on by the same artists just to fill it out.

Yeah, but now you have to look at it from Uni's viewpoint. Are they gonna cop to A&M being a lesser label? If so, why bother with a 50th anniversary package? Again, with longer tracks, you only need 15 songs per disc. Disc 4 (1992-2001) should be fairly easy, and for disc 5 (2002-2011), you go with the biggest hits and some tracks from artists that either should have hit big or better (from a label point of view, anyway), have some future potential and are still signed with the label. You're starting with "The Lonely Bull", maybe the set ends with the last track A&M pushed for airplay in 2011 whether it hit or it stiffed. There are your bookends, and a rich, diverse history in between. With luck, you've sparked interest in under-performing current acts and maybe given catalog sales a little boost too.
 
There are your bookends, and a rich, diverse history in between. With luck, you've sparked interest in under-performing current acts and maybe given catalog sales a little boost too.

Good point there. Although I'm hard pressed to find anything current and noteworthy by A&M. To me it seems like they've gone artistically dormant for years. They don't even have their own website now and in fact, they are not even their own label anymore--the Octone label is attached to them like a parasite. Buried on the Interscope site is a link to what is supposed to be A&M, listing a mere 10 (!) artists on the A&M/Octone roster.

Universal, in other words, has absolutely no idea what to do with A&M, and is keeping it on life support as a mere formality.

Sad, sad, sad...that isn't anywhere near what A&M stands for. And, it's sad to see how the label has declined since the big sale of 1989. If I had my way, my own personal box set would end at January 22, 1999. :agree:
 
That's true--the set essentially has to kick off with "Lonely Bull."

No love for George McCurn, eh? :laugh: Even though it's a stone rarity, and McCurn nothing more than a footnote in both A&M's history and recorded music in general, "Snap Your Fingers" would have been an interesting track to slip on there. While almost nobody has heard it, the thing that amazed me about that song was that the laid-back, easygoing "A&M sound" was there right from the start. The great Shorty Rogers did the arrangements, but while the musicians are uncredited, it sounds like some of the L.A. crew that worked on other A&M pop albums of the day (Montez, Longet, Baja, etc.) were performing on this album as well.

So would I include it on the set? Maybe not...but it's a really close call.

Not so much "no love for McCurn", Rudy, as I've never heard him. Ages out of print, he kinda falls through the same crack as Lucille Starr and Bob Regan.

There are a lot of A&M artists that I would have liked to include (Pete Jolly, Nick DeCaro, Shawn Phillips, Roger Kellaway).

Actually, if you can get 1992-2011 onto one disc, then Disc 5 could be rarities, like ( and these are just off the top of my head):

Captain Beefheart: Diddy Wah Diddy
Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66: The Christmas Song
Alan Copeland Singers: Classical Gas/Scarborough Fair
Waylon Jennings: MacArthur Park
Punch: Fallin' Lady
Shawn Phillips: Bright White
Roger Kellaway: Lay Karma Lay
Renee Armand: Raining In L.A.
...and any original mix of a Carpenters hit (just kidding, Richard!)
 
...and I just found and listened to George McCurn on YouTube. Great stuff. I'd definitely include him in a "rarities" disc.
 
True. But wasn't "Miss You Much" number one for a month or something like that?

Yep. 4 weeks. "When I Think Of You" was two weeks. But again, it was her first #1...and outperformed the first two singles from the same album. And since my compilation is chronological, I can really use her energy earlier in the disc.
 
Then I vote for "What Have You Done..." - it was the breakout hit and established the 'tough-but-sweet-and-in-control' persona that defines so much of her music.
 
Then I vote for "What Have You Done..." - it was the breakout hit and established the 'tough-but-sweet-and-in-control' persona that defines so much of her music.

A&Mguy: I'll be interested to see your full list of tracks. I'm sticking with "When I Think Of You". Not only #1 versus #4, but #1 as the third single from an album that had been out for six months and had produced two singles that stopped at #4 ("What Have You Done For Me Lately") and #3 ("Nasty), the first career #1 for Janet, and with it, she became the youngest artist since Stevie Wonder to hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Stevie did it at age 13 with "Fingertips-Part 2" in 1963, so Janet, at age 20, achieved something no one else had been able to at her age or younger (Stevie's next #1, "Superstition", came at age 22) in 23 years.
 
Didn't know all of that (and don't think I have the energy to do a whole list....I'll probably just stick to criticizing other people's!)....
 
Joe Cocker "The Letter"????!!!!! What about "Feelin' Alright"????!!!!

Brothers Johnson "I'll Be Good To You"????!!!! I'd rather have "Strawberry Letter #23"...!

I know, I don't have energy or time for a whole list either... But those are at least a couple I would suggest... As for Roger Kellaway, I doubt if "Lay Karma Lay" would be a good cut (doesn't he drop the "F Word" in that one?)--how 'bout J.J. & K, "Mojave", (Kellaway does a mighty good clavinette solo there!) if this set were to include A&M/CTi artists (or we need a sort of retrospective commemorating that!)....


-- Dave
 
Joe Cocker "The Letter"????!!!!! What about "Feelin' Alright"????!!!!

Brothers Johnson "I'll Be Good To You"????!!!! I'd rather have "Strawberry Letter #23"...!

I know, I don't have energy or time for a whole list either... But those are at least a couple I would suggest... As for Roger Kellaway, I doubt if "Lay Karma Lay" would be a good cut (doesn't he drop the "F Word" in that one?)--how 'bout J.J. & K, "Mojave", (Kellaway does a mighty good clavinette solo there!) if this set were to include A&M/CTi artists (or we need a sort of retrospective commemorating that!)....


-- Dave

"Feelin' Alright" stalled at #66 the first time out (in fall '68), and only made it to #33 on the re-release in 1972. "The Letter" got to #7 and was Joe's first and only Top 10 hit until "You Are So Beautiful" in 1975 (and "Up Where We Belong" in 1982).

"I'll Be Good To You" was the first hit and made #3. "Strawberry Letter #23" peaked at #5.

And yes, Roger does drop the "F word" in "Lay Karma Lay". Just wanted to see if anyone was paying attention! :cool:
 
Actually, he does more than drop the Big F...it's a key part of the chorus!

Agree on the A&M/CTi. I included cuts from Wes Montgomery, Antonio Carlos Jobim and George Benson. A full set would be nice. It'll be CTi's 50th in five years.
 
Go-Go's would mean other IRS acts would likely need to be represented: R.E.M.'s "Radio Free Europe" and Wall Of Voodoo's "Mexican Radio" being the other top-ranked IRS singles during A&M/IRS era...

Same with King and any of the hits from Tapestry... We'd need at least one cut from a Cheech & Chong album, LOL.
 
Instead if five discs by years we can do five (or more) discs by category. A&M Japan did this for their A&M The First Ten Years series. I've managed to find one of the ten double LPs in that series...
Vol 1 Instrumental
Vol 2 Bossa Nova
Vol 3 Easy Listening Jazz
Vol 4 Easy Listening Vocal
Vol 5 Soft Rock
Vol 6 Hard Rock
Vol 7 Singer-Songwriter
Vol 8 Screen Theme
Vol 9 Live
Vol 10 Big Hits
Obviously the categories are less broad for the time period covered than what we're talking about here. Added categories would include:
Vol 11 Punk/New Wave
Vol 12 Soul
Vol 13 Disco
Vol 14 Rap
Vol 15 Grunge
Vol 16 Christian
Vol 17 World
(and likely a "Part Two" to some of the original 10 categories)

--Mr Bill
 
While I respect what's considered "The Classics" as well as the chart positions of the songs mentioned & the idea of a comp' based on that notion, I still find the irony of what's to me, recognizable not ranking that highly, but then again, I never followed BILLBOARDTM right from the time it was first formed...

Looking back at the songs suggested "I'll Be Good To You" and "The Letter", by Brothers Johnson and Joe Cocker, respectively, maybe I do want to see how a retrospective like this might do or maybe sound...

But, in regards, however, "to too many choices", anything documented by "authorities" vs. "our fav's", this should strictly be a "Do It Yourself": Just send us the packaging & some blank discs! :biglaugh:


-- Dave
 
The more I think about it, the more I'd compile a list based not only on chart performance, but on classic performances, ambitious albums and interesting rarities as well, to give an idea of A&M Records as a whole....If I gave this CD (or five or six or ten CD set) to a friend, I'd want them to get a true, fun appealing picture of what the label stood for and the range of music they did (nothing against the BEP, but my set would be in past tense and end when Herb & Jerry sold the label). With that in mind, I'm going with "Strawberry Letter 23" (still a radio staple) and Joe's "The Letter". Don't know if it's on the original list, but I'm including "River Deep Mountain High" even though it stiffed on the charts - it's become a classic in the meantime.....
 
I think with sets like these, they could go both ways: a set with A&M's most recognizable hits, or a set that represents the musical milestones, even if they somewhat faltered on the charts (or never made an appearance). The first type of set is easy: first, biggest and/or most recognizable hits. The second type of set is what we'd stay up until 4am debating... :laugh: And ultimately it would be quite a rewarding set.

Sales-wise, the "theme" retrospective albums would never sell on CD like they did in the past (labels won't commit to manufacturing product if they don't have to), but with digital albums, it would be a great way to bundle songs up for sale.

BTW, there was some sort of CTi or Creed Taylor retrospective set out there, but I don't know if it ever included any of the A&M material. I'll have to skim down the track listing again.
 
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