And so begins the Age of Hair. This is the first of three reviews of singles taken from the hit musical. Yes, a far greater appreciation for the phenomenon of the hippie stage show can come from looking at the RPM hit parade than from Billboard's Hot 100. It's curious how such a naughty production resulted in covers by some of the most painfully mainstream acts in the business. One pulled it off more effectively than the other two but it must be said that they all did it better than what ended up on the original cast recordings. So, let's plug in the Walmart lava lamp and get started.
Joe Osborn. No, I'd never heard of him either. But this is a name that ought to be used glowingly whenever "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" is being discussed because he is easily the best thing about it. (If I'm in an especially grumpy mood, I'd even go so far as to say he's the only good thing about it)
When the Wrecking Crew is brought up (and it sure as hell gets brought up an awful lot and with good reason) there are two names that are most frequently dropped: drummer Hal Blaine and bassist Carole Kaye. They were the backbone of the LA session group, playing on The Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds" as well as dozens of Phil Spector and Bachrach-David recordings. (Even fellow WC alum and country music superstar Glen Campbell isn't mentioned anywhere near as frequently) What's easy to forget — and, indeed, be unaware of entirely — is that Hollywood's hardest working studio band had several individuals at the key positions. In addition to Blaine, they had four other drummers in their employ (all of which are notable, including Jim Keltner and Earl Palmer) as well as half-a-dozen electric bassists other than Kaye. One of them was the great Joe Osborn.
Osborn's playing has already appeared on songs that have been reviewed here, including The Mamas and the Papas' "Monday, Monday", Richard Harris' "MacArthur Park" and The 5th Dimension's previous number one hit "Up, Up and Away". But it is only with the "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" medley from Hair that his skills as a bassist really stick out. The first part of the song is showy and provides a nice spotlight for Marilyn McCoo's clear and pure vocals but is let down by being incredibly bland. Yet the bass is a steady presence in the verses and provides a sweet groove in an otherwise undistinguished chorus. At roughly the halfway mark the pace drops with a crass shift in tone to the "Let the Sunshine In" segment. Even still, Osborn more than earns his appearance fee here with a jazzy part that doesn't let up. (His Wrecking Crew colleagues were similarly up for the challenge of piecing two unrelated and unremarkable compositions together)
Otherwise, there's not much more to say. For sure this is better than "Up, Up and Away" but the bar was low so that's not saying much. I will say that to have chosen the ultra milquetoast 5th Dimension to record this selection from Hair, with its brazen use of drugs and nudity, was an interesting one. While Tom Breihan argues that the quintet managed to squeeze all the countercultural life out of it, I question whether there was all that much of it to begin with. This was a Broadway show after-all. Sure, boobs and bush and blazing up are all well and good but these are still just show tunes that weren't exactly in Sondheim's league. The flower children loved them but I think that says more about these soon-to-be-yuppies than anything else. Whatsmore, The 5th Dimension (and the Wrecking Crew, with yet another shout out to our pal Joe Osborn) managed to improve upon the ghastly Broadway recordings. This was no longer Gershwin and Porter providing Great American Songbook classics to pop stars, this was a faded cultural tradition propping up a music industry that needed better source material.
No comments:
Post a Comment