One&Done @ A&M: Dave Lewis / Little Green Thing SP/LP 105
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Bobberman
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I listened to this on YouTube i found it quite enjoyable and Dave Lewis was from The Seattle area ( I live in the neighboring state of Idaho) Sadly This was only a Hit in the Seattle Area but it was an Attempt to introduce him Nationally its A Shame this album Didn't get very far.
This one seemed to be in my brain as a fairly common sight on innersleeves, but I don't think that turns out to be true, based on our recent explorations of innersleeves. I may have seen it in a lot of record club ads inside magazines and TV Guides. Anyway, that title LITTLE GREEN THING just seemed like something natural that I'd seen for a number of years.
Until joining the Corner in 1997, though, I never gave it a thought that I needed to add it to my collection. Someone here at the time made me a copy of the LP - might have been on cassette - but I never sampled much of it. Then, a decade or so ago, I found one on eBay (stereo) and stashed it in the collection without giving it much of a listen. And then, like pulling teeth, I finally gave it a listen - and a digitizing while I was at it. This is one of those wide stereo albums with lots of left/right and not much in the center.
As I cleaned it up for digitizing, I of course listened pretty closely. My earlier impression that this was essentially roller-rink music faded and I had a bit higher opinion of it. I haven't listened to it at all since the digitizing and have it playing as I type this. It's still not my cup of tea, not horrible, but not something I'd choose for a listening session if it wasn't otherwise brought up like this thread.
Favorite track? Probably "Around The World in 80 Days"
Once upon an old thread, I was confused by the albums graphics being mostly blue, but Mr. Bill straightened me out that the dot over the "I" was indeed the "little green thing."
Until joining the Corner in 1997, though, I never gave it a thought that I needed to add it to my collection. Someone here at the time made me a copy of the LP - might have been on cassette - but I never sampled much of it. Then, a decade or so ago, I found one on eBay (stereo) and stashed it in the collection without giving it much of a listen. And then, like pulling teeth, I finally gave it a listen - and a digitizing while I was at it. This is one of those wide stereo albums with lots of left/right and not much in the center.
As I cleaned it up for digitizing, I of course listened pretty closely. My earlier impression that this was essentially roller-rink music faded and I had a bit higher opinion of it. I haven't listened to it at all since the digitizing and have it playing as I type this. It's still not my cup of tea, not horrible, but not something I'd choose for a listening session if it wasn't otherwise brought up like this thread.
Favorite track? Probably "Around The World in 80 Days"
Once upon an old thread, I was confused by the albums graphics being mostly blue, but Mr. Bill straightened me out that the dot over the "I" was indeed the "little green thing."
JOv2
Well-Known Member
Dave Lewis is a pretty good organist. Unfortunately, LPs and 45s of this "organ R&B trio" were commonplace in the early '60s; so, he had stiff competition all around (from R&R, R&B, and jazz artists). That roller rink sound you hear at times stems from a combination of Lewis focusing on sustained upper octave voicings and using the straight (i.e., non-Leslie) speaker. I'm not a fan of his greasy stop (organ voice) selections: (to paraphrase Frank Zappa: that's so greasy you should not listen it, you should wear it in your hair...); however, the show-stealer is electric guitarist, Joe Johansen: man, that cat's is all over it.
Jerry and Herb are clearly not involved in the recording, so this must have been a licensing deal. I'm guessing this was the 2nd LP to go OOP at A&M. It's a decent LP -- and Dave is very good -- but for this bag I'll take Big John Patton or Lonnie Smith.
Jerry and Herb are clearly not involved in the recording, so this must have been a licensing deal. I'm guessing this was the 2nd LP to go OOP at A&M. It's a decent LP -- and Dave is very good -- but for this bag I'll take Big John Patton or Lonnie Smith.
I was going to say the same thing--it sounds like it was a licensed deal with A&M, since the recording sounds nothing like other early A&Ms (where McCurn's did--his was almost like a blueprint for the albums that would follow). He was popular in the Pacific Northwest at the time, so this would have been a way to get some national attention. He's more of a "jazz lite" style than Lonnie Smith, Jimmy Smith, etc. and their contemporaries, which is fine. Not really an essential recording but still a lot of fun to listen to--very energetic!
No hard feelings either--he covered Herb's tunes a few years later.
No hard feelings either--he covered Herb's tunes a few years later.
I remember reading somewhere, Goldmine I seen to recall, back in the 80s that Dave Lewis did the Plays Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass album as a thank you to Herb for trying to give him a break in the early 60s. I seem to recall the interview was not with Mr. Lewis but with one of his bandmates. He mentioned Herb was ahead of his time and responsible for Sam Cooke and tried to regain that "magic" with George McCurn, Dave Lewis and others. I thought it was an interesting read. Unfortunately it was my Navy roommate's copy of the magazine and he wouldn't part with it. And not that I blame him -- I still have all my music and SF magazines from the late 70s and 80s, still organized in my newly shelved library... I believe Jerden was the label from which A&M licensed Little Green Thing, though is not as blatant a license as the We Five Trident deal that came only 6 LPs later...
--Mr Bill
--Mr Bill
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