JSngry

Now that you mention it... Although, to be fair to Leon Russell, the ""real" changes to the A-section of "Angel Eyes" don't follow the minor chord w/a chromatically descending 7th pattern that "Masquerade" has. But other than that... First time I ever heard "Masquerade" was as the B-side to a Carpenters 45 thea my kid sister had bought. This would've been 1972 or so, iirc. I remember thinking that it was a surprisingly hip tune (and arrangement) for such a treacly group. When the Benson version hit, I was pleased that such a nice song of recent vintage was becoming so popular. 30 or so years later, yeah, it's "overplayed", to put it mildly, but under the right conditions it can still be a satisfying call on a gig, which is more than I can say about most hit songs from the same era. Too bad Gene Ammons never recorded "Masqerade". An A/B of that with his definitive instrumental reading of "Angel Eyes" (for vocal, I still gotta go w/Sinatra's on Only The Lonely) would certainly have been interesting.

Yeah but did they lip sync on those too? ← Worse - they don disguises! Ashlee actually looks 1000% (or more!) better, but Evelyn, certainly an attractive woman, makes a just plain butt-ugly dude! She should get advice from Lily Tomlin.

I think I have all the Ashlee & Evelyn records. ← Count your blessings!

Mike Love is a pig.

Rawls also sang with The Highway Q.C.s, as did, at various times, Cooke & Johnnie Taylor.

Yeah, it's pretty darn good. You'll not be disappointed.

Ashlee Simpson & Evelyn Ashford (I guess that's who they were) wrote some very good songs and made some very good records.

I hear ya.

Yep.

Don't know how much the PJ-era bands toured per se, but I'm pretty sure they had regular gigs at local venues. Plus, many of the older players had real-life (as opposed to school) experience playing in big bands. That makes a difference in the "flavor" you bring to your approach to section work. There's a huge difference that comes about from playing live night after night, for "real people" in "real life" situations, as opposed to playing regularly in a school rehearsal hall with the occasional concert. It's not just university bands that suffer (imo) from this lack of personality either. Pretty much all the "rehearsal bands" (save for a very select few) sound like this as well, to one degree or another. Good, professional, but ultimately generic. Of course, it's not necessarily their fault. If the good sound comes from experience, and there's no way left to get the experience, whose fault is that?

Yet they go nowhere.

I've been hearing bits of the new GW on KNTU this week, and although the writing is the usual excellent stuff and the soloing is fine, there's a disconcerting ensemble blend that results in the band sounding more like a college lab band than an aggregation of seasoned players. Maybe it's the recording quality, which is very "naked". I don't know. But ensemble sound, the blend of each section's unique tonal personalities, both individually and collectively, is one of the most critical elements of making a big band work for me. I dunno - is section playing at the level beyond just phrasing together and playing in tune becoming a lost art? Sure seems that way more often than not...

You shouldnt'a gone to the airport...

Same here. Still good.

No, can't say that I do. Nor do I remember "L. David Sloan" by Michelle Lee or "Loving You Has Made Me Banannas" by Robert Q. Lewis. I can't remember a damn thing.

And then there's Ethiopian Knights, which is a rather flavorless neither-fish-nor fowl-outing. Somebody explain that one to me with something other than "Produced by George Butler"...

Interesting story!

Who is this fucling bitch who think's she's so goddammed high and mighty that she can go poking around inside people's brains? What's she fucking looking for anyway, huh? A way for her and the pigfuck dicklickers she works for to better find a way to control our minds so we can all get fucked up the ass without so much as a whimper? FUCK her and her spawn-of-Satan "research". The flames of hell forever barbequeing her no-doubt-cancerous womb will no doubt come as a relief to her.

The Jones/Lewis is the first version I'm aware of. I agree, it got to be a standard very quickly, even obtaining lyrics and such. That makes me wonder if the original wasn't a "radio hit" on the East Coast on not just jazz stations, but stations that played the "adult pop" of the day. I could see that happening. Calling those who were there!

Duke Pearson!

Or was Osteen still with the Senators in '63?

And really, if you can say "Claude Osteen" more than 5 times in a row without starting to feel stoned, you probably already are...

Claude Osteen?

Who was the Dodgers' 4th starter in '63? I'm almost old enough to remember... (and am old enough to should be able to remember from my old baseball cards...)