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Verve - The Bottomless Pit Of "Who Knew?"


JSngry

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On 2/24/2015 at 10:54 AM, Brad said:

I'd like to think that some of these non-jazz recordings helped pay the bills but I can't imagine Alice or Linus contributing to the bottom line, but what do I know.

But Tim Hardin probably did.  (And I think Richie Havens was on Verve too.) 

Edited by medjuck
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14 hours ago, medjuck said:

But Tim Hardin probably did.  (And I think Richie Havens was on Verve too.) 

Don't think either of them were actually huge sellers (chartwise they didn't do great - the Hardin's did not chart at all, though maybe as back catalog they had better shelf life.  And I'm sure Hardin sold a tad better than, say, Gil Melle or Alan Shorter).  The Zappa's did sell, and they had some sizeable one-shot wonder success with the Hombres, Friend and Lover, and Janis Ian (who also was later much more successful at Columbia, though her early Verve stuff is much more interesting).  They missed out letting Laura Nyro and Rare Earth get away after their first albums, but didn't know how to produce either of them as well as Columbia and Motown,  The Verve Folkways/Forecast labels impact goes well beyond their sales.  The Blues Project, Richie Havens, Tim Harden, Paupers albums should have sold more than they did.  The Paupers had a chance to be big, but stiffed at Monterey.  

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Getz was not afraid to make overtly commercial records, either. That was a part of who he was, so no harm, etc. I have two of his later such record, the Bacharach album and Didn't We. Neither are really interesting to me for "pure musical value", but neither of them suck either. And I'm sure that they sold well enough and/or got enough airplay, relative to the times, which were brutal for jazz in general.

I know there are those who poo-poo "popular appeal" and I totally get that, but otoh, if it were truly that easy, anybody/everybody could do it, and obviously...

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3 minutes ago, JSngry said:

Getz was not afraid to make overtly commercial records, either. That was a part of who he was, so no harm, etc. I have two of his later such record, the Bacharach album and Didn't We. Neither are really interesting to me for "pure musical value", but neither of them suck either. And I'm sure that they sold well enough and/or got enough airplay, relative to the times, which were brutal for jazz in general.

I know there are those who poo-poo "popular appeal" and I totally get that, but otoh, if it were truly that easy, anybody/everybody could do it, and obviously...

Understood.  For instance, I think these are brilliant and (in their own way) groundbreaking. albums, even though totally "commercial".  And these are two exceedingly talented musicians.  Not that many people could have made them.

 

Image result for gato barbieri caliente

Image result for john klemmer touch

 

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8 minutes ago, JSngry said:

Possible exception for Righteous Brothers when they first came to the label.

They only had one monster hit for  the label, and never made a good album, but this sure was one for the ages.  And they made other good records on Verve (especially "Go Ahead and Cry"), but popular taste moved on.

 

Edited by felser
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