Once I've been there..

Norman Connors - Once I've Been There (feat. Phillip Mitchell)

Norman Connors - Stella
Norman Connors - Wouldn't You Like To See (feat. Eleanore Mills)
Norman Connors - This Is Your Life (feat. Eleanore Mills)

A few weeks back, when buymusicbymail.com was selling a bunch of deleted Unidisc CDs, I took the opportunity to buy some of their out-of-print Norman Connors CDs.. Connors is one producer whose work I've been starting to explore a bit more lately. I'm mostly familiar with him through his Aquarian Dream project, where it seems a great deal of his more disco-styled productions went. The two tracks of theirs which I'm most familiar are "Phoenix" and "You're A Star" (hear both on Myspace), the latter being, in my opinion, nothing short of discofied genius..

That said, some of his own albums, at least the two that I've listened to from his years at Buddah have some excellent material as well. I guess, like his bio at the All Music Guide says, you can put Connors alongside George Benson, Roy Ayers and Patrice Rushen, all artists with backgrounds in Jazz, who've also made names for themselves in the R&B and/or Disco fields. Connors, having produced and/or featured, among others, the likes of Jean Carn, the late Phyllis Hyman, Eleanore Mills, Reggie Lucas and Wah-Wah Watson on his albums, it's no wonder why he is also well known, aside from being a musician and producer, as an excellent assembler of talent.

I'd say his "Romantic Journey" (1977, Buddah) LP is probably a good example of that. Surprisingly enough, Connors was not the producer of this album. Judging from the credits, his role, aside from being the assembler-of-talent, was in arranging, and playing drums, tympani and other percussion with the main production being handled by Skip Drinkwater. "Romantic Journey," for the most part runs between mostly Jazz and R&B, with the slight exception of "Once I've Been There," which also had some disco traction, making it up to #30 on the Billboard Disco Charts. The promo 12" single of that track also seems to be highly sought after, having apparently gone for some 400 or so US dollars on eBay a little while back (and currently going for over $100 US). Personally speaking, no matter how rare, I don't think I could ever pay $400 for a 12'' single, especially one which is identical to the album version and well represented on CD, but hey, that's just me..

Anyway, about the song itself, one of the things I love about it are those soft, classy strings and, if I'm correct in my terminology, those wonderful chord progressions on the strings, which are pretty much the backbone of the whole thing. Notably also, the song goes through a lot more changes than one would probably expect in a disco song. Not just chord changes, but also those brief but bold drum fluorishes right before the chorus, ably complimented and interplayed with those impressive and, in that instance, dynamic strings. It probably doesn't do much, as far as giving the track those four-on-the-floor disco credentials, but it's totally arresting nonetheless..

Having been written and sung by Phillip Mitchell (AKA Prince Phillip Mitchell), the song itself is perhaps more of a Phillip Mitchell track than a Norman Connors track. In a 2001 interview with Soul Brother's Soul Cellar, Mitchell talks about how his involvement with Connors came about:

"It was around 1977 and I was performing locally, at the Access Theatre in Louisville. Aki Aleong, who was Norman's manager at the time, actually came through with a cousin of mine and she introduced me to him - I think he might have been here for the Derby. He needed songs for Norman Connors and I said I've got some.... We began to talk and I played him some stuff and he liked it. Michael Henderson had just split from Norman's band to go solo, so I was asked to record my songs, 'Once I've Been There' and 'Destination Moon', so it was a pretty good deal for me. It turned out to be a big record and we toured and travelled throughout the country. I also recorded a duet with Eleanor Mills for the album. 'For You Everything.' That began a relationship with Norman.."

Now, the next three tracks are not disco, but are just some other favourites of mine from Norman's "This Is Your Life" LP (1977, Buddah/Arista) that I just had to share. Unlike "Romantic Journey," the entire "This Is Your Life" album was produced by Connors himself and would probably be my favourite of the two.. Aside from "Stella" (a groove which can't be denied), the other two tracks feature Eleanore Mills on vocals. Now I don't really know much about her, but she's just got one of those voices, so smooth and dynamic, yet so full of feeling and warmth, you can't help but be melted by it.. Her rendition of Jimmy Webb's "This Is Your Life," is nothing less than sublimely soulful and, my personal favourite, "Wouldn't You Like To See," combines both the soul and feeling of "This Is Your Life" with a sunny groove, all adding up to what is just one joyful performance.

The CD reissues of "Romantic Journey" and "This Is Your Life" are, as mentioned earlier, both out of print, however Buy Music By Mail might still have copies available. Please note though that the deleted CDs aren't advertised on their main site, so you'll have to email them for details. However, "Once I've Been There" is currently available on "The Best Of Norman Connors" (2001, Sequel) CD, as well as on the forthcoming compilation "Discotheque, Vol.2 : The Paradise Garage" (2007, Gut), which should be released in the UK on the 22nd.

LINKS:
NORMAN CONNORS - ONCE I'VE BEEN THERE (PROMO 12'') @ DISCOGS
NORMAN CONNORS - ROMANTIC JOURNEY LP @ ALL MUSIC GUIDE
NORMAN CONNORS - ROMANTIC JOURNEY LP @ DISCOGS
SOUL BROTHER'S SOUL CELLAR - PHILLIP MITCHELL INTERVIEW
NORMAN CONNORS - THIS IS YOUR LIFE LP @ ALL MUSIC GUIDE
NORMAN CONNORS - THIS IS YOUR LIFE LP @ DISCOGS
DISCOMUSIC.COM FORUMS - NORMAN CONNORS - ONCE I'VE BEEN THERE 12-INCH
DISCOMUSIC.COM FORUMS - NORMAN CONNORS "YOU ARE MY STARSHIP" LP

PURCHASE:
NORMAN CONNORS - THE BEST OF NORMAN CONNORS CD (INCLUDES "ONCE I'VE BEEN THERE") | CDUNIVERSE.COM | AMAZON.COM | AMAZON.CO.UK
VARIOUS - DISCOTHEQUE, VOL. 2: THE PARADISE GARAGE 2 CD (INCLUDES "ONCE I'VE BEEN THERE") | AMAZON.CO.UK | AMAZON.COM | CDUNIVERSE.COM | DUSTY GROOVE

CATEGORIES: MINI DELIVERIES, PAST REISSUES

Disco Delivery #9: Karen Silver - Hold On I'm Comin' (1979, Quality/Arista)

Karen Silver - Hold On I'm Comin'
Karen Silver - Hot Stuff
Karen Silver - Make Me Feel Alright
Karen Silver - Can't Stop Dancing

Ever since I started this blog, waaay back in January, I've gotten some suggestions about artists and songs to cover; one of the names that has come up a few times was Gino Soccio, so I figured now would be a good time to do a post on one of his productions.. Aside from his own solo efforts, Soccio was involved in quite a few disco projects in the late '70s like Bombers, Kebekelektrik, Witch Queen and even hockey star Guy Lafleur(!) to name a few. Another one of his major outside productions was Karen Silver.. Silver was a Toronto based singer who was previously a vocalist on the John Driscoll disco project Star City. Their big single was a cover of "I'm A Man," a song which had been covered at least two other times during the disco era, most successfully by the Petrus/Malavasi-produced group Macho.

This Karen Silver album was co-produced by Soccio and Star City producer John Driscoll, but Soccio's unique electronic stamp is (at least to me) what is most striking about the sound on this album. The lead off single and title track "Hold On I'm Comin' " is an excellent cover of the 1966 Sam & Dave hit; taking the R&B classic and turning it into a euro-style driving, pulsing, electro-disco experience. Soccio's style is especially obvious on this track in the sharp, minimalist synth sounds and slight rock influence on the breaks.. This version, in my opinion, does what an excellent cover version should do; take the original song and bring it into a completely different context, a kind of reinterpretation in a way. It's the sort of thing that many of Grace Jones' efforts succeeded so well in doing, and one of the reasons why this, so far, is one of my favourite Gino Soccio productions.

The other cover included here is a version of Arista labelmate Ray Parker, Jr's "Hot Stuff," originally on his group Raydio's "Rock On" album (also from 1979). This one is also quite synth driven, especially compared to the funk workout that the original was. Even after I heard the original, this version reminded me more of Donna Summer's "Bad Girls," with it's similar tempo and those guitars in the background..

"Make Me Feel Alright" was a slight change in tempo on the album; a sort of dark, slow-burning disco track; with those minor chords and pleading vocals on the chorus, it has an almost dizzying, desperate tone to it. Strangely enough, this is also another one of those tracks that was part of my introduction to disco, way back on my parents' old disco 8-tracks. I say strangely because I'm not even sure whether this was a single, but nevertheless still have fond memories of this one.. The last selection, "Can't Stop Dancing" is a bit of change in tone, a little less darker than the other tracks. The lyrics are minimal for sure, but catchy.. "(boogie nights) all night.. can't stop dancing!." Can't go wrong with a disco song about disco itself and dancing all night. A much more prominent bassline on this one and a hot sax towards the end, one of those instruments which seems so under used these days..

Even though "Hold On.. " managed to peak at #15 on the Billboard Disco Charts; somehow none of the songs off this album managed to cross over, nor did the album make any of the charts in the US. I'm not certain how this did here in Canada, but Arista in the US probably hoped for better. Karen Silver would release another album a couple of years later called "Set Me Free" (1981, Quality/RFC) produced solely by Gino Soccio this time, but with more new-wave and funk influences. Her biggest hit, "Nobody Else" would come out of that album. She would release some stand alone singles after that, including another Gino Soccio produced cover, this time of Betty Wright's "Clean Up Woman." Unidisc has put most of her material on a compilation CD also called "Hold On I'm Comin'" using the cover shot from her "Set Me Free" album. I don't have it yet, but I hope to one of these days..

Also, one last note about the files.. I just installed a new sound card on my PC so I can rip some of my vinyl properly. Unfortunately, the original built-in sound card on my PC seemed to only record in mono, which is probably why my last rips turned out a little muddy.. Anyway, these files above are my first rips using this sound card. I'm just sort of getting the hang of things, but hopefully these sound allright for all of you out there..

LINKS:
KAREN SILVER DISCOGRAPHY @ DISCOGS
KAREN SILVER @ DISCOMUSEUM.COM
GINO SOCCIO @ DISCOMUSEUM.COM
KAREN SILVER - HOLD ON I'M COMIN' LP @ DISCOMUSIC.COM

PURCHASE:
KAREN SILVER - HOLD ON I'M COMIN' (COMPILATION) CD @ AMAZON.COM

CATEGORIES: DISCO DELIVERIES, CAN-CON DISCO