The Lewis Sisters - WAY OUT...FAR (w/LesMcCann)

[JSngry]

Saw this at Da' Bastids http://www.dustygroove.com/vocalscd.htm#410643 and read this description:

The gals may look square on the cover, but they've got some very groovy sounds here -- thanks to a young Les McCann -- who handled both vocal and instrumental arrangements for the set! The album's an unusual mix of straight jazz and female harmony vocals -- done with a sound that's far hipper than you'd think for both the cover and the Liberty label at the time. McCann's piano isn't as hard and heavy as on his own records from later years, but he's definitely got a flair for this sort of set -- and sets the vocals dreamily amidst vibes from Victor Feldman, alto and flute from Paul Horn, and guitar from Al Viola -- a very cool small combo sound that gives the record a totally unique feel! Titles include "Round Midnight", "Day By Day", "Just Friends", "It Matters Not At All", "What Is This Thing Called Love", and "But Not For Me".

Well, hey. big whoop. but these ladies don't look like Les McCann proteges, if you get my drift, so I'm thinking that there's gotta be more to the story. The AMG REVIEW of this album was kinda provocative in a bland way:

Not a bad find if you can grab this out of print debut album by the Lewis Sisters aka the Singing School Teachers at a decent price. Jazz pianist Les McCann adds a soulful touch to the already touching sound of Helen and Kay Lewis on a dozen standards, including "S'Wonderful," "The Thrill Is Gone," "Not for Me," and "What Is This Thing Called Love." The siblings' poignant singing and McCann's vibrant piano playing was a step up from the mundane easy listening fodder that dominated mainstream media in this era.

Ok, the initial feeling that this was some kind of kitsch classic was beginning to ebb, and a sense that there was a story here, one of those "only in the music business" type stories, so I went to the AMG BIO OF THE LEWIS SISTERS. And yes, there is a story, and it is definitely one of those "only in the music business" type stories. Check it out:

Helen and Kay Lewis', two sisters from Michigan, names cropped up on Motown albums and some single releases in the '60s, such as Gladys Knight & the Pips' "Just Walk in My Shoes." But their careers didn't begin at Motown, rather, in the '50s as jazz singers and songwriters. After high school, Kay attended Michigan State University and earned a degree in music; Helen graduated from UCLA with the same degree.

In 1955, Kay, whose primary instrument is guitar, moved to California to join her sister Helen who plays piano. They befriended jazz pianist Les McCann in 1958 and he got them a deal with Liberty Records where they recorded a jazz album entitled Way out...Far. McCann played piano on the session and Paul Horn played alto sax. Next came a few sides for Chess/Checker records, including "Come on Let's Stroll," which found its way onto the Checker LP Hits That Jumped in 1959. A year later they cut what Kay describes as a weird album for Verve Records. The Russ Garcia produced Voices, Strings and Percussions was quite odd, Garcia used the sisters' voices like violins on the 1960 album of Tchaikovsky songs.

They met Hal Davis in California and through Davis' partner Marc Gordon, got them inked to Motown in 1963 as recording artists, but their only releases as artists came two years later on the company's VIP subsidiary. "He's an Oddball" b/w "By Some Chance" and "You Need Me" b/w "Moonlight on the Beach" were good records, different from their early jazz and voice albums, more mainstream. 11 days before the release on their final single, Kay's daughter Little Lisa emerged on VIP as well with "Hang on Bill" b/w "Puppet on a String" (August 20, 1965). The dynamic sisters appeared with Chris Clark on Clark's November, 1965, single "Do Right Baby, Do Right." Nothing hit with much authority and no more recordings were issued. Helen and Kay's songs were being snapped up mostly as album cuts by other artists including the Miracles' "Baby, Baby" and Edwin Starr and Blinky's LP Just We Two which featured "Can't We Be Strangers Again" and "I See a Rainbow."

"This Love Starved Heart of Mine," a song they wrote for Marvin Gaye, became popular in Europe but didn't get unearthed until after the singer's untimely demise; according to Kay, they originally wrote the song for Al Wilson, Wilson recorded it but it never came out, Hal Davis and Marc Gordon tried to get him signed to Motown but couldn't swing a deal, so the soulful singer signed with Jerry Fuller's Rocky Road Records where he hit with "Show and Tell." In 1969, Helen and Kay reunited with Les McCann for a project he was doing with Roberta Flack, the resulting Comments album features the sisters' songs. McCann recorded their "Universal Prisoner" and got much acclaim for doing so. Kay stayed active in the business, with her husband Bob Smith; the couple built a recording studio in 1985. Though the sisters wrote most of their songs together, each also had songs published with different collaborators. The two appeared in a cameo spot in Lady Sings the Blues playing two has-been singers.

When Britisher Ian Levine went on his record-every-artist-who-had-anything-to-do-with-Motown mission, he didn't missed the Lewis Sisters and cut them on "Baby, Baby," "Dancing With Danger," and "Just Walk in My Shoes." Like other Motown artists, the Lewis' appreciated the chance to record again but reiterated what others have said: "we never got paid for those sessions." The violent earthquake that hit southern California in 1994 severely damaged Kay and Smith's studio and caused many to leave the area, including Helen Lewis who relocated to Sedona, AZ, with her husband.

The sisters no longer write together, but collectively and with others they each have about 84 songs registered with BMI. Helen retired from music and had long since returned to school and earned a Ph.D in Psychology, she's now Mrs. Helen Mastor, Ph.D. Kay's in for life; she teaches music and still records songs with her husband in hopes of placing them with someone. Her daughter Lisa didn't have any hits at Motown, but later scored a big one with Sergio Mendez as Lisa Miller.

Wow. What a long strange trip that's been. You gotta love the music business!

(and BTW - "Universal Prisoner" is a great song.)

Edited March 22, 2006 by JSngry