Suppose A&M released a tie-in album to THE HOLLYWOOD PALACE show.

[Harry]

If A&M had released basically a soundtrack album to the December 12, 1967 HOLLYWOOD PALACE, what would it include? I've just looked over the songs performed and came up with this:

Going in order of the broadcast:

Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass - With A Little Help From My Friends
Liza Minnelli - The Happy Times
Liza Minnelli - My Mammy
Julius Wechter & The Baja Marimba Band - Fowl Play
Julius Wechter & The Baja Marimba Band - Fiddler On The Roof
Wes Montgomery - Windy
Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 - Going Out Of My Head
Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 - For Me
Burt Bacharach - What The World Needs Now
Burt Bacharach - Alfie
Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 - The Look Of Love
Julius Wechter & The Baja Marimba Band - Walk On By
Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass - Casino Royale
Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart - I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight
Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass - The Love Nest
Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass - A Banda

There were a few other partial songs done too, like Herb playing the melody to "The Portuguese Washerwoman" "Comin' In The Back Door", various of the artists doing some Bacharach tunes that they hadn't recorded, and a comedy sketch with the guy imagining the Tijuana Brass tunes.

My list above features 16 songs - the same number as FAMILY PORTRAIT, so it's not overly long. Having the songs in show order might be problematic, particularly with two Liza Minnelli tunes showing up at the start.

With four TjB records, maybe use MUSIC BOX's technique of starting and ending each side with a TjB tune. Both Wes and Boyce&Hart got only one song, so they would go on opposing sides. Julius got three and Sergio got three. These would have to be placed around the side start/end tunes on one side and in the middle on the other side for spacing.

How would you arrange the songs on this mythical compilation?

I'll provide a bit of cover artwork:

 

[lj]

Harry--a soundtrack album would have been cool. I'd sequence the songs in the same order as seen on the TV broadcast, as they were perfectly placed from the get-go.

 

[Rudy]

I would keep the show's running order, although only the purists who have seen and/or remember the show would know the significance of that order. Other than that, sure, I'd probably bookend each "side" with a TJB tune. I'm not sure if I have Liza's tracks but I can look at a playlist when I'm back at a computer and see how things flow together. The only thing here is that the Bacharach tunes seem to be grouped together in mid-program, and I'd probably try to keep it similarly sequenced.

 

[AM Matt]

As well as The Glen Glenn Sound (laugh track) which has the man saying "One" or "What".

 

[TjbBmb]

Herb played Portuguese Washerwoman, not Comin in the Back Door. 😝

 

[Harry]

Herb played Portuguese Washerwoman, not Comin in the Back Door. 😝

Stupid me!

 

[Harry]

OK, so originally aired order seems to be at least in the running. I've begun assembling the tracks - and have run across an anomaly. One that is not making sense to me.

Fact: the two Liza Minnelli tracks that I have on her complete A&M compilation both have HAECO-CSG processing applied. So I've checked all of the other tracks on that portion of the box set, and none of the other tracks from that first album are CSG'ed.

Was SP4141 CSG'ed originally? Anyone know?

Even the YouTube version has it applied.



Of course, I can undo it, but I'm just boggled by the fact that only these two on this album would be CSG'ed.

 

[Harry]

The first track on the album is "The Debutante's Ball" . This YouTube has no CSG and neither does my comp.

 

[LPJim]

The Wes and Wes/Liza ("Trains & boats & planes") clips are supposed to be the only color videos of him released in his lifetime. Everything else is black & white.

JB

 

[Rudy]

I don't own the album but do see it on Qobuz. I could give it a listen Tuesday when I'm back at a computer with a proper sound system. I don't have the LP obviously, but it's probably something I could score cheaply at the bigger of the nearby record stores.

 

[Harry]

The strangeness continues. In addition to Liza's COMPLETE A&M RECORDINGS package, I remembered I also had the official FOURSIDER CD that was issued by A&M. While it doesn't include "The Happy Time", it does include the other song she did on THE HOLLYWOOD PALACE (and also suffering from HAECO syndrome on the COMPLETE package), "My Mammy".

So I dug out FOURSIDER and it turns out that "My Mammy" is free of the HAECO scourge on that CD. So now I'm really curious as to how the original LP sounds. It seem inconceivable that this album, SP-4141, would have any HAECO-CSG encoding on it. It was still quite a ways away from SPX-4160, FOOL ON THE HILL, which was the first on the label to dabble in those waters.

So the big question is, if the original LIZA MINNELLI album, SP-4141, is totally free of HAECO-CSG, then where in the world did the compilers of THE COMPLETE A&M RECORDINGS manage to come up with those two tracks, "The Happy Time" and "My Mammy", that was altered with HAECO-CSG.

Liza didn't get a GREATEST HITS album in that series which added the processing.

??

 

[Mike Blakesley]

Programming an album is different from a TV show. On TV, the aim is to keep people watching as long as possible. There's no such requirement for an LP -- if people buy it, they've bought it, and they want to hear those hit singles, so there's no reason to hold up the hits until the end. That's why the hits are often the leadoff tracks on each side.

That said, I think "With a Little Help from My Friends" is a lousy choice for an album opener. I'd put "Casino Royale" up front -- or maybe "A Banda," since that's the song they were promoting at that time.

I would leave out the Liza Minelli tunes because I don't think she blends well with the others. Just because somebody is on A&M doesn't mean they belong in the same mix. There again -- an album is a different animal than a TV show. I'm not sure about the Boyce & Hart tune, I've never heard it and right now I'm not in a place where I can listen to it.

 

[Harry]

Mike, you're probably right that any souvenir album might have been constructed with the songs in a more logical, market-friendly manner, which was the reason I even started the thread. "Casino Royale" would indeed be a great album opener. And "The Look Of Love" could easily be the Side Two opener.

Liza Minnelli was deemed worthy of inclusion on both SOMETHING FESTIVE and FAMILY PORTRAIT, so I think she would have been included here too. After de-HAECO-CSG'ing her tracks from that COMPLETE A&M RECORDINGS set, I find them both listenable. Boyce & Hart's track was a top-ten hit single.

And knowing of my Capricorn-sign penchant for strictly ordering things, I'm sure that had A&M issued the album with the tracks jumbled, I'd be doing this thread about how I've taken the tracks and re-ordered them in the show order.

Above, I posted my initial thought of an album cover. While I liked the idea of giving this the catalog number of SP-121267 - which is in keeping with some A&M promotional numbers in the 12" series later on, and refers to the date of broadcast - the artwork looked too dark. So I went about looking for another idea.

I stumbled on the fact that the Command label had issued an actual HOLLYWOOD PALACE album of tunes by the orchestra leader of the show, Mitchell Ayers. The album cover they used was much brighter and more inviting,


So, adhering to A&M conventions of the time, I set about altering that for use in my compilation. Here's the result:


I used the arrowed [STEREO] and [CATALOG NUMBER] devices in the upper left and right with their correct Folio Bold font (thank you W.B.). For the Marquee, I used the Davida font that A&M was fond of. And for the name of the acts in the album, another well-used A&M font of Hobo. I had to lighten the darker-blue lightbulb images so that my text would show better. And of course and A&M logo in the lower right.

For the rear, I did a straight track listing next to the ad that appeared for this particular show. I think it was in Billboard, but it might have been elsewhere. The background color is similar to the light-bulbs on the front.



Of course, the maddening thing about that ad is the spelling of "Sergio Mendez and Brazil '66". But then again these are the people that got "Mas Que Nada" wrong for so many years!

I listened to the comp yesterday in my car and thought it sounded pretty good.

 

[rockdoctor]

Mike, you're probably right that any souvenir album might have been constructed with the songs in a more logical, market-friendly manner, which was the reason I even started the thread. "Casino Royale" would indeed be a great album opener. And "The Look Of Love" could easily be the Side Two opener.

Liza Minnelli was deemed worthy of inclusion on both SOMETHING FESTIVE and FAMILY PORTRAIT, so I think she would have been included here too. After de-HAECO-CSG'ing her tracks from that COMPLETE A&M RECORDINGS set, I find them both listenable. Boyce & Hart's track was a top-ten hit single.

And knowing of my Capricorn-sign penchant for strictly ordering things, I'm sure that had A&M issued the album with the tracks jumbled, I'd be doing this thread about how I've taken the tracks and re-ordered them in the show order.

Above, I posted my initial thought of an album cover. While I liked the idea of giving this the catalog number of SP-121267 - which is in keeping with some A&M promotional numbers in the 12" series later on, and refers to the date of broadcast - the artwork looked too dark. So I went about looking for another idea.

I stumbled on the fact that the Command label had issued an actual HOLLYWOOD PALACE album of tunes by the orchestra leader of the show, Mitchell Ayers. The album cover they used was much brighter and more inviting,
View attachment 7719

So, adhering to A&M conventions of the time, I set about altering that for use in my compilation. Here's the result:
View attachment 7720

I used the arrowed [STEREO] and [CATALOG NUMBER] devices in the upper left and right with their correct Folio Bold font (thank you W.B.). For the Marquee, I used the Davida font that A&M was fond of. And for the name of the acts in the album, another well-used A&M font of Hobo. I had to lighten the darker-blue lightbulb images so that my text would show better. And of course and A&M font in the lower right.

For the rear, I did a straight track listing next to the ad that appeared for this particular show. I think it was in Billboard, but it might have been elsewhere. The background color is similar to the light-bulbs on the front.

View attachment 7721

Of course, the maddening thing about that ad is the spelling of "Sergio Mendez and Brazil '66". But then again these are the people that got "Mas Que Nada" wrong for so many years!

I listened to the comp yesterday in my car and thought it sounded pretty good.

My Japan issues of Stillness, Pais Tropical and Primal Roots all have "Brazil" on the cd proper. The covers are all correct. You are right. It is a bit maddening not to have someone check spelling before promotion and publication.

 

[Steve Sidoruk]

The strangeness continues. In addition to Liza's COMPLETE A&M RECORDINGS package, I remembered I also had the official FOURSIDER CD that was issued by A&M. While it doesn't include "The Happy Time", it does include the other song she did on THE HOLLYWOOD PALACE (and also suffering from HAECO syndrome on the COMPLETE package), "My Mammy".

So I dug out FOURSIDER and it turns out that "My Mammy" is free of the HAECO scourge on that CD. So now I'm really curious as to how the original LP sounds. It seem inconceivable that this album, SP-4141, would have any HAECO-CSG encoding on it. It was still quite a ways away from SPX-4160, FOOL ON THE HILL, which was the first on the label to dabble in those waters.

So the big question is, if the original LIZA MINNELLI album, SP-4141, is totally free of HAECO-CSG, then where in the world did the compilers of THE COMPLETE A&M RECORDINGS manage to come up with those two tracks, "The Happy Time" and "My Mammy", that was altered with HAECO-CSG.

Liza didn't get a GREATEST HITS album in that series which added the processing.

??

I have a Liza compilation CD that's on one of the PolyGram labels, that I'll have to look for. The problems are that I still have many unpacked moving boxes and the CD is sealed, but will give it a look.

 

[Harry]

My Japan issues of Stillness, Pais Tropical and Primal Roots all have "Brazil" on the cd proper. The covers are all correct. You are right. It is a bit maddening not to have someone check spelling before promotion and publication.

I've learned to live with any product that spells the group name as "Brazil", as that is the correct spelling of the country name in many languages including English. Strictly though, since the name was given by a Brazilian, it really should be "Brasil". However, the misspelling of "Mendez" is just as egregious as "Albert."

I have a Liza compilation CD that's on one of the PolyGram labels, that I'll have to look for. The problems are that I still have many unpacked moving boxes and the CD is sealed, but will give it a look.

Thanks Steve. I guess none of us actually went out and bought the original album, as Liza is rather outside the norm for the A&M acts that we all loved.

 

[rockdoctor]

I've learned to live with any product that spells the group name as "Brazil", as that is the correct spelling of the country name in many languages including English. Strictly though, since the name was given by a Brazilian, it really should be "Brasil". However, the misspelling of "Mendez" is just as egregious as "Albert."

Thanks Steve. I guess none of us actually went out and bought the original album, as Liza is rather outside the norm for the A&M acts that we all loved.

Harry I never knew about the misspelling of "Albert" on the "Greatest Hits" album until I saw a comment about it on this site. I then checked my copy and the misspelling is there. Was it corrected on later pressings of the lp?

 

[Harry]

Harry I never knew about the misspelling of "Albert" on the "Greatest Hits" album until I saw a comment about it on this site. I then checked my copy and the misspelling is there. Was it corrected on later pressings of the lp?

I don't know the answer to that as both of my copies have the spelling error. The "Albert" error also showed up on a b-side 45 of "Sandbox".