!Shoot-out! TjB "In-house" Writers: Sol Lake vs. Julius Wechter

Vote For Your Favourite

  • Sol Lake

    Votes: 8 72.7%
  • Julius Wechter

    Votes: 3 27.3%

  • Total voters
    11

JOv2

Well-Known Member
OK…Here we go. To date from our four-way !!!!Shoot-out!!!! we have a 14-14 tie. in response, we’ll hold this special !Shoot-out! Let’s see who wins.
  • Sol Lake (1962-71)
    • The Lonely Bull
    • Crawfish
    • Winds Of Barcelona / El Presidente
    • Marching Thru Madrid
    • Crea Mi Amor
    • Mexican Shuffle
    • Salud, Amor y Dinero
    • Adios, Mi Corazon
    • Green Peppers
    • Bittersweet Samba
    • El Garbanzo
    • More And More Amor
    • Memories Of Madrid
    • Cantina Blue
    • Mexican Road Race
    • Bo-Bo
    • Cowboys And Indians
    • A Beautiful Friend
    • She Touched Me
    • Marjorine
    • Country Lake
    • Montezuma’s Revenge
  • Julius Wechter (1964-75)
    • Up Cherry Street
    • Spanish Flea
    • Brasilia
    • Bean Bag (w/Pisano, Alpert)
    • Blue Sunday
    • Shades Of Blue
    • Flea Bag
    • Panama
    • Warm
    • Robbers And Cops
    • Julius And Me (also attributed to Alpert)
    • The Nicest Things Happen (w/Cissy Wechter)
    • Coney Island
 
I'm gonna stay with Sol Lake. His songs were the deeply-woven fabric of the TjB repertoire and were not often performed by any others.
 
As Rudy states, this is a difficult runoff.

From SRO onward it's essentially a draw; however, Sol gave us the critical pieces from LB through WC&OD -- half of his entire TjB output -- which provided the musical fuel that clearly helped Herb to define what became known as "the TJB sound".
 
Well as much I hate to pick one over the other, I would have to vote for Sol just for his sheer output. There are many favorites of mine on both lists so they are both indispensable, in my opinion.
 
I voted for Sol Lake For the lion's share quantity of songs as well as the continuing longevity up to 1971 although I enjoy Julius's contributions he comes in a very close second but make no mistake in the big picture Every little bit from everybody helped shape the sound of the TJB
 
I do agree with everyone here--Sol Lake was instrumental in putting the TJB (and A&M) on the map (remember, "The Lonely Bull" charted at #6 on the Hot 100), so I would give him the nod. But the added compositions of Julius on many TJB albums, as well as tunes provided by other band members, are really good icing on the cake. Which is why this was such a difficult question to begin with!
 
Really tough to choose. Sol Lake was clearly the "backbone" (composition-wise) to the early TJB's success. I would then argue that if Sol was the "backbone" then Julius was the "funnybone." So, since I like Julius's sardonic sense of humor (having a similar sense of humor myself) I reluctantly vote 51/49 for Julius here.

--Mr Bill
 
Didn't Sol Lake play the piano? I seem to remember Herb saying that in an interview. I wonder why he didn't play on the albums at all, or maybe he only played when he was composing?
 
I wonder why he didn't play on the albums at all, or maybe he only played when he was composing
I would wager the latter. I'm guessing Sol, like most traditional songwriters, played composer's piano. He most likely chose to develop piano chops that would specifically support his songwriting (to explore voicings, counter melodies, rhythms etc.) -- rather than focus on building performance chops.
 
This is a difficult choice. You can say that Herb and Sol and Julius created a golden musical triangle--remove any one of their points in the triangle and their musical legacy would never have been the same. Each was so important in their own way.
 
I know this is a wimpy answer but here goes. I'm partial to Julius because of the combination of his TJB songs and of course the BMB. However, Sol's song output is prodigious and excellent. I pick BOTH! (as I said, it's a wimp answer).
 
I voted for Sol Lake mostly because I regard his songs as providing much of the foundation and originality for the earlier TJB sound. However, Julius Wechter contributed some very essential and important songs also, most notably for me are Up Cherry Street and Spanish Flea. Each writer made significant and important contributions to the TJB repertoire.
 
Back
Top Bottom