The obvious thing is to replace the glossy Max Martin production for some "real" instruments like a guitar, bass and drums — in fact, there's nothing remotely "radical" about this approach; indeed, I have no doubt there are several versions of "Toxic" that have been recorded this way. The other thing you could do is synth up something like "Everybody's Changing" which the original isn't a million miles from to begin with. Or you could do "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" in the style of Norah Jones. Or The Killers' "Mr. Brightside" as performed by Johnny Cash. Just take any song from '04 and give it a stylistic remodel. Simple.
What you most likely wouldn't think to do if you had any chance of sniffing the charts and/or gaining some measure of critical acclaim is to have it done it as an instrumental. Yet, this is what the multi-instrumentalist and bandleader Billy Vaughn did on several occasions throughout the fifties and into the sixties as a regular on both the American and Canadian hit parades. It should be said that the quality of his work varies. "Love's Melody" was a big hit for him back in 1954 but he lays the syrup on thick. His recording of the Western standard "Shifting, Whispering Sands" is stronger but the narration and chorus (yes, another one of those!) lets it down a tad. His rendition of recent Canadian chart topper "Raunchy" — which also happened to be the B-side of the present single — is punchier than Bill Justis' but he and his orchestra don't quite deliver the powerhouse jazzy rockabilly treatment it deserves.
But he certainly got it right when it came to "Sail Along Silvery Moon" and he managed to do so by making chicken salad out of the chicken shit that was Bing Crosby's 1937 original. To be fair, the Old Groaner did give his typically beautiful restrained vocal performance but there's seemingly nothing to the tune which just nonchalantly glides about on the back of a Hawaiian ukulele and little else. For Billy Vaughn to sense a stellar composition lurking about in there somewhere is a credit to his ear.
Not unlike "So Rare" and "Raunchy", one can imagine a full-blown jazz version of "Sail Along Silvery Moon". It's easy to picture tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins doing an inspired blowing session over it and I would swoon over what the Modern Jazz Quartet might have done with it. That said, this much more compromised effort is probably the best of both worlds. The rock 'n' roll influence on the song's beat gives it a steady groove. Too much improvisation might have also wrecked the relaxed atmosphere which Vaughn managed to preserve from the Crosby original. Perhaps he and his orchestra had some fun by stretching it out in their concerts but as a 45 release it's perfectly good the way it is.
With jazz waning commercially and this newfangled rock 'n' roll turning off anyone over the age of twenty-one, easy listening music was there to appeal to increasingly conservative men and women who really weren't all that old but whose tastes must have seemed ancient. This could result in some dreadful stuff and a good deal of it was also horribly boring. Yet, in the right hands there was a place for creativity to peak through by borrowing from styles of music that they normally steered clear of. Who'd have thought that so much could be done with a forgotten Bing Crosby number by adding on jazz and rock? It's as if they had unwittingly created jazz fusion at a time when Miles Davis was still trying to be as classy as possible. There's a pop music what if you never hear about.
Score: 8
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Can Con
The Diamonds return with "The Stroll" which would end up being their second biggest hit after "Little Darlin'". While hitting number three in Canada and four in the US seems a little higher than it might have deserved, it's a good deal better than their earlier work. Nudged along by a honkin' tenor and/or baritone sax, the Toronto foursome go all moody and sensual. The same cannot be said for Paul Anka's "You Are My Destiny" which only makes me wish his nibs could have made a return to form in the style of "Diana", which you may recall I didn't think much of when I reviewed it a few weeks ago. Well done Canadian public for not overdoing it on Ottawa's favourite son. I'm not looking forward to having to deal with him again but at least it won't be for a while.
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