OT: ELEKTRA
LookingGlass
Excellent recordings...every one I have heard...very well
recorded...and distinctive...*clean*.
I was out for the daily *diabetic jig* and had the radio
on...*classic*, of course. Car's LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL came
on...good walking song.
I *heard* the Elektra sound on that one...got me thinking...Peter
Asher did some engineering/producing at that label.
Elektra>Asher>McCartney>Martin (Sir) connection...???
...and another *shout out*...Queen's SOMEBODY TO LOVE...wow! That is
another *tingle* song ...shivers....remember the Vincent Price movie,
THE TINGLER...? That's what happens to me with these *thrill* songs.
(good walking song too)
!!!
RichL
Some thoughts:
(1) Queen's US releases were on the Elektra label but the original UK
versions were EMI. How's that for a Beatles connection?
(2) I wasn't sure so I did a little bit of digging, I had a feeling,
and indeed several of the Cars' albums (including the debut on which
"Good Times Roll" appears) were produced by Roy Thomas Baker, one of
whose main claims to fame is that he produced several of Queen's albums
including their first four, although oddly enough not "A Day At The
Races", upon which "Somebody To Love" appears!)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Thomas_Baker
LookingGlass
>
> (1) Queen's US releases were on the Elektra label but the original UK
> versions were EMI. How's that for a Beatles connection?
>
> (2) I wasn't sure so I did a little bit of digging, I had a feeling,
> and indeed several of the Cars' albums (including the debut on which
> "Good Times Roll" appears) were produced by Roy Thomas Baker, one of
> whose main claims to fame is that he produced several of Queen's albums
> including their first four, although oddly enough not "A Day At The
> Races", upon which "Somebody To Love" appears!)
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Thomas_Baker
Thanks Rich...I'm sure there's a lot of *incestuous liaisons*
occurring in music studios.
Nil
rec.music.beatles:
> The *Elektra* label doesn't get too much discussion.
>
> Excellent recordings...every one I have heard...very well
> recorded...and distinctive...*clean*.
>
> I was out for the daily *diabetic jig* and had the radio
> on...*classic*, of course. Car's LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL came
> on...good walking song.
>
> I *heard* the Elektra sound on that one...got me thinking...Peter
> Asher did some engineering/producing at that label.
> Elektra>Asher>McCartney>Martin (Sir) connection...???
I'm not sure there really is an "Elektra sound". When I think of
Elektra Records, my first thought are of The Doors and Love. The Doors
albums have a very distinct sound. Their producer, Paul Rothchild, also
did Love, I think, so maybe that would be considered the label's sound
at that time. I don't know that I'd say that Roy Thomas Baker's
Cars/Queen's sound has much in common with The Doors'. But yeah, both
can have a big, spacious sound, even when the music is dense.
I just found this interesting account of the label's history:
<http://www.bsnpubs.com/elektra/elektrastory.html>
They have been around longer than I realized, since 1950. Now they're
just another cog in the Time-Warner megacorp. Probably not much
identity left.
LookingGlass
>
> Beyond maybe a brief period in the late '60s, I don't think one can
> pinpoint much of an "Elektra sound." What makes the Cars sound like an
> Elektra band?
>
> Some Elektra acts I like: the Doors, Billy Bragg, Love, Luna,
> Bjork/Sugarcubes, Stereolab, Frank Black/the Pixies/the Breeders, Jason
> Falkner, Guadalcanal Diary, Tim Buckley, Ambitious Lovers, Robin
> Holcomb, Wayne Horvitz, Moby, John Zorn, Natalie Merchant/10,000
> Maniacs, Television, They Might Be Giants, Oysterhead, Ween, X, th'
> Faith Healers, Nico, the Afghan Whigs, the Stooges, Public Image
> Limited. Some of these acts could be bundled together stylistically, but
> certainly not all of them. And I'm ignoring a slew of important acts
> from other genres.
>
> Elektra was a really exciting label about 15 years ago during the
> alt-rock signing boom -- they were signing all kinds of crazy stuff
> which didn't have much sales potential (Scrawl, Jennyanykind, Spoon when
> they just seemed like a crummy Pixies clone, Thrush Hermit). But based
> on what happened to the label a few years down the road, I suppose this
> was not the wisest strategy.
Thank you Sir.
Just the very *clean* production...well defined soundfield. I guess
nothing more. But the Elektra recordings were so consistent judging
from the ones I have heard.
The Nice Mean Man
The Blue Book says that they're just an old folkie label. All they
ever really had was the fucking Doors.
The Nice Mean Man
> On 13 Dec 2009, LookingGlass <goldencocke...@gmail.com> wrote in
Why hi, Niles.... Get any attention yourself lately? Doubtful since
you have the personality of a circut board.
The Nice Mean Man
LookingGlass
globular
> On 13 Dec 2009, LookingGlass <goldenc...@gmail.com> wrote in
> rec.music.beatles:
>
>> The *Elektra* label doesn't get too much discussion.
>>
>> Excellent recordings...every one I have heard...very well
>> recorded...and distinctive...*clean*.
>>
>> I was out for the daily *diabetic jig* and had the radio
>> on...*classic*, of course. Car's LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL came
>> on...good walking song.
>>
>> I *heard* the Elektra sound on that one...got me thinking...Peter
>> Asher did some engineering/producing at that label.
>> Elektra>Asher>McCartney>Martin (Sir) connection...???
>
> I'm not sure there really is an "Elektra sound". When I think of
> Elektra Records, my first thought are of The Doors and Love. The Doors
> albums have a very distinct sound. Their producer, Paul Rothchild, also
> did Love, I think, so maybe that would be considered the label's sound
> at that time. I don't know that I'd say that Roy Thomas Baker's
> Cars/Queen's sound has much in common with The Doors'. But yeah, both
> can have a big, spacious sound, even when the music is dense.
Roy Thomas Baker used to like overdriving the VU meters I was told.
Giving that distinctive 'tight' sound such as with The Cars.
AllaBest
> The Blue Book says that they're just an old folkie label. All they
> ever really had was the fucking Doors.
Wrong.
LookingGlass
>
> Wrong.
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85JD-vpzGb4
Thanks Robert.
Jeff
The Band, Crabby Appleton was on Elektra with their hit
"Go Back". I like this album.
LookingGlass
>
> The Band, Crabby Appleton was on Elektra with their hit
> "Go Back". I like this album.
I remember when Crabby Appleton was on The Tom Terrific Show.
:o)
The Nice Mean Man
Like I said, all they ever had were The Doors.