The Sonics – Nine Fan Albums

Dedicated to two friends I’ll identify as “K” and “G”. They’re alive and well, I am just especially looking forward to their thoughts on this project.

For those not in the know, fan albums are the attempts of me and many others to take songs and put them on an album, typically they’re made to improve upon something, such as an existing album or to take non-album tracks and put them on an album.

I was and still am amazed by The Sonics’ debut album, Here Are The Sonics. It’s truly one of the greatest rock albums of all time, famous for its raw energy and powerful playing. I was under the belief that more of their material was hard rocking than in actuality. Their next new recording, “Keep A-Knockin’”, maintained that sound (I wonder if it was an outtake), but then they softened a little for their Christmas recordings. Their second LP has some tracks that are similarly as raucous and some more laid-back, and their third has some good “more laid back tracks” with some that are too meandering. In addition to doing the normal, grabbing all the tracks I can, including those the proper albums missed, I will also do something a little different; arrange all the studio material from most-hard rocking to least. Incrementally, the albums become softer and softer. There’s also been so many Sonics line-ups that it can be hard to keep track of everything. I will explain and simplify things, so everyone understands what’s what.

Early Live Tracks

Two official compilation albums cover all the material that predates The Sonics’ debut album. For those that want to hear the band become The Sonics known and loved, these albums will be for you. One compilation, The Savage Young Sonics, isn’t really The Sonics. The band was formed by Andy (bass) and Larry Parypa (guitar), originally having no other classic members. Eventually, the three other classic members; Gerry Roslie (vocals, keys), Rob Lind (saxophone), and Bob Bennett (drums), joined. This release mostly focuses on the earlier line-ups, which cover pretty standard, but not bad surf rock. The material is a fun novelty/exploration, but isn’t necessary for those who aren’t really into surf or especially The Sonics. Both have far better material.

The last four tracks on Savage and the second compilation, Busy Body!!!, feature the classic line-up. This results in about 40 minutes of pre-classic music and 40 minutes of classic, pre debut music. Albums of the time leaned more to the 20s than 40s minutes-wise, so I made this material four 20 minute albums of live or demo music. Seeing as the first two’s only classic members are the Parypa brothers, the band name is called “The Parypas” by me. The tracks are all in the same order as on the official versions, so if one listened to the Parypa and then early-Sonics albums in order and another listened to Savage and Busy, they’d hear the exact same recordings in the same order.

For those that would rather listen to these tracks in the compilations officially released, links to them will be below.

The Golden Era

In early 1965, Here Are The Sonics was released. It set the bar so high that few could beat it, even The Sonics themselves. While their official second album, Boom, is usually listed as being just as energetic and powerful by reviewers, I strongly disagree. Some of the tracks are basically as hard-hitting as Here, though half the album fails that. One track from the group’s third album and one single also “hit as hard”; thus the group only has eight recordings that match their most recognizable set, in my opinion. A decent amount of material would be perfectly serviceable in complementing those eight tracks, so we can have a full-length album. What better than what they did in-between Here and Boom? Three of their four Christmas tracks and their other single-only track, “The Hustler”, flow very well with the other eight. These tracks can produce the best possible follow-up album. I have decided to title this bunch, Gunpowder.

Conveniently, there’s enough remaining good material for exactly one album; twelve standard tracks and one about a minute. These will serve as the basis for the third studio album. While the recordings are not punk-ish, there is a feeling and soul to them and in the end are pretty solid. Unable to think of a title, I named it “Break Song” after the one minute track. Here, Gunpowder, and Break make a nice little trilogy. I could imagine them and one of two albums soon to be discussed being re-released in the CD-age as two two-fers.

The Sonics Fall Apart

Some people boil down The Sonics to their first two albums being good and their third being bad. While #3, Introducing The Sonics, is quite a bit worse; it doesn’t deserve as much or all the flack. Not wanting to exclude any tracks from this project, it seemed sensible to make an album of the weakest material, which I’d probably skip on a casual relisten, but slog through when it feels right to be a completionist. Conveniently, there are twelve tracks exactly. When listening to this fan album, I wondered if some of these tracks, which I had only heard about once, would be so bad. The answer is yes. All the tracks are either ballads which the band seem inept at doing or really limp rockers. The latter sounds like the band didn’t care and just tried to get the songs done. Not holding any love for this material, I’ve christened them “The Sonics Sell Out”.

Most of the tracks on Sell Out come from the infamous “Jerden Years”, but there are exceptions. The group did a very soupy ballad on Boom called “Since I Fell For You”. It sticks out like a sore thumb. There’s also a cover of “On Broadway” (re-titled and re-lyriced “It’s Christmas”). I’m not going to swear against the band being unable to do a good cover of “On Broadway”, but this one has no edge. It’s fine for a band like the Beach Boys to do a slow run-through of this number, but it sounds wrong from The Sonics doing the same thing.

At this point, Gerry Roslie left and was replaced with a Jim Brady. Not long after, every member left the group. Jim did some recordings as “The Sonics”. They’re so un-Sonicy that they won’t be discussed here, but instead here. The real Sonics reunited in 1972. For those inclined to listen to the live recordings basically in recording order with the albums, three 1966 live tracks come from an album called Live / Fanz Only. They should be placed in between Gunpowder and Break Song. The other three tracks are the 1972 material. While the material has somewhat rough audio and aren’t as good as the three studio albums, they are enjoyable and a fitting send-off to the band. While I’m not sure, the live tracks coming from this 1972 performance are perhaps the last recordings of all five classic members.

Post-Script

The band members did their own thing for a while. Two albums came from this period of The Sonics being broken up, both from the 80s. Gerry Roslie recorded an album called “Sinderella”. This was under the The Sonics name, but seeing as he’s the only Sonics member, it seems better categorized as a solo album. The Parypas joined a band called Charlie and The Tunas. They recorded an album, though more than one guitarist and bassist are credited. I’m not sure if the Parypas played on every song. That album was released on Spotify as a Sonics album, though it wasn’t originally released as one (my pet peeves!) In 2007, Gerry, Larry, and Rob reunited. Andy and Bob have occasionally participated.

On YouTube there are many live recordings of the band. Some feature the first three members and one of the other two. I’m not sure if any feature all five. Due to a lack of interest, I won’t compile the modern live tracks into albums. There’s a lot of material there. The official releases with Gerry, Larry, and Rob are as followed: 8 (2011). This one features four studio tracks and four live, though a CD release adds two more live tracks. This one is interesting for featuring Andy, though only on the studio tracks. This is the closest we’ve gotten to a studio classic line-up reunion. While these tracks might’ve been solid if done by the band in the 60s, here their age hinders them. Next is their first LP since Introducing or Sinderella; This Is The Sonics (2015). Age is once again an issue.

Comically, as if to demonstrate that history is repeating itself, Gerry and Larry left the group. Apparently they only stopped ‘touring’, so a future studio or live album with them is not out of the question. With Rob Lind as the only classic member, there was the 2016 release, Live At Easy Street. There are many more recordings of this line-up on YouTube, if interested. For the sake of noting, a 2012 album called Unreleased (not to be confused with the 1980 Sonics compilation of the same name) features 1967 studio recordings and modern-sounding live tracks. I’m not sure when these are from or who the singer is.

I prefer The Sonics being this weird, underground thing that ended after the ‘72 performance. Keep them mythical. It’s better to have the impression that they never got old and disappeared when things started to stop working. Even if someone is to ignore everything recorded after 1972, they know about that material’s existence.

Researching

I couldn’t find much information about the two instrumentals on Break Song, “Break Song” and “Good Hard Rock”. I can’t cross my heart and say they feature the classic line-up, due to nothing confirming or denying that. Both are on compilations with material from 1967 and onward. One comp features tracks from the classic-line-up and Jim Brady-era. The other is the 2012 Unreleased album. Those two tracks seem to fit well enough for classic line-up albums. It’s a shame how unorganized the band’s material is. Releases can be very eclectic and poorly documented.

Conclusion

My journey with The Sonics is strange. Upon listening to Here, I fell in love with how wild it is. According to “G”, there was plenty of other material that was great and if I were wise I’d listen. Now that I have, I’m in a few minds. No release other than Here has a full set of punk-ish tracks. That being said, there’s enough studio tracks for two more great albums and a little live material that’s nice and enjoyable, but inconsequencial. It’s a journey that’s had many moments of satisfaction and intrigue, though there’s a certain joy and magic to only knowing that first album; that one album so perfect that I can’t touch it and make it better. I am glad to have some of the later stuff, but miss that mythicism.

The most well known and best era of the band represents a small amount of material. That period was virtually the only released for a while. Now we have songs which show the Sonics develop, more golden era songs, more tracks of the band being ‘bad’ before breaking up, and the reunion era. It’s a fun ride to see the ups and downs and experimenting, even as someone who says that it’d be possibly better for only the ‘golden era’ to exist, making the group more mysterious and never bad.

Given that all this material exists and has existed, it’s a shame the material isn’t presented in a better way. Imagine two-fer releases of Here and Gun, then Break and either Sell Out or Fanz Only. Keep the band as distinguished as possible. While we didn’t have these succinct albums before, we do now; so go listen, psychos!

Tracklists

THE PARYPAS – THE SAVAGE YOUNG PARYPAS

TRACKLISTING

SIDE A

1. “A-Rab”
2. “Rumble”
3. “Shanghied”
4. “Sonic Blues”

SIDE B

1. “Mashed Potato Time”
2. “Wailin’”
3. “High Wall”

THE PARYPAS – SONIC BLAST!

TRACKLISTING

SIDE A

1. “Lucille / Slippin’ And Slidin’”
2. “Swing Shift”
3. “Louie Louie”

SIDE B

1. “Sac O’ Woe”
2. “Hey Mrs. Jones”
3. “In The Open”
4. “Bony Moronie”
5. “Just Pickin’”

THE SONICS – SONIC SOUNDS

TRACKLISTING

SIDE A

1. “Sonics Dance Ad”
2. “Wailers House Party”
3. “Keep A-Knockin’”
4. “Think”
5. “Hold It”

SIDE B

1. “Introduction”
2. “In the Open”
3. “Tall Cool One”
4. “Goin’ Back to Granny’s”
5. “Busy Body”
6. “Night Train”
7. “Number X”

THE SONICS – RADIOSONIC WORKSHOP

TRACKLISTING

SIDE A

1. “Introduction”
2. “Tough Walk”
3. “Have Love, Will Travel”
4. “Oo Poo Pah Doo”

SIDE B

1. “Hitch Hike”
2. “Busy Body”
3. “The Witch”
4. “KTNT Radio Spot”

THE SONICS – GUNPOWDER

TRACKLISTING

SIDE A

1. “Cinderella”
2. “Jenny Jenny”
3. “Hitch Hike”
4. “He’s Waitin’”
5. “Louie Louie”
6. “Shot Down”

SIDE B

1. “Bama Lama Bama Loo”
2. “Santa Claus”
3. “Don’t Believe In Christmas”
4. “The Village Idiot”
5. “The Hustler”
6. “Keep A-Knockin’”

THE SONICS – DEAD OR ALIVE

TRACKLISTING

SIDE A

1. “Please, Please, Please”

SIDE B

1. “Pushin’ Too Hard”
2. “I’m a Man”

THE SONICS – BREAK SONG

TRACKLISTING

SIDE A

1. “I’m A Man”
2. “On The Road Again”
3. “I’m Going Home”
4. “Maintaining My Cool”
5. “Dirty Old Man”
6. “Break Song”
7. “Diddy Wah Diddy”

SIDE B

1. “Skinny Minny”
2. “Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark”
3. “Don’t You Just Know It”
4. “It’s Allright”
5. “Good Hard Rock”
6. “Let The Good Times Roll”

THE SONICS – SELL OUT

TRACKLISTING

SIDE A

1. “Anyway The Wind Blows” (Version B)
2. “I’ll Always Love Her”
3. “You Got Your Head On Backwards”
4. “Leave My Kitten Alone”
5. “Lost Love”
6. “Hanky Panky”

SIDE B

1. “Like No Other Man”
2. “High Times”
3. “Love Lights”
4. “Since I Fell For You”
5. “I’m A Rolling Stone”
6. “It’s Christmas”

THE SONICS – THIS WAS THE SONICS

TRACKLISTING

SIDE A

1. “Lucille”

SIDE B

1. “Psycho”
2. “The Witch”

The Music

With more, shorter live albums

1. The Parypas – The Savage Young Parypas (1962) – Spotify – YouTube
2. The Parypas – Sonic Blast! (1963) – Spotify – YouTube
3. The Sonics – Sonic Sounds (1964) – Spotify – YouTube
4. The Sonics – Radiosonic Workshop (1964) – Spotify – YouTube
5. RECOMMENDED STARTING POINT The Sonics – Here Are The Sonics (1965) – Spotify – YouTube
6. The Sonics – Gunpowder (1966) – YouTube
7. The Sonics – Dead or ALIVE (1966) – YouTube
8. The Sonics – Break Song (1967) – Spotify – YouTube
9. The Sonics – Sell Out (1967) – YouTube
10. The Sonics – This Was The Sonics (1972) – YouTube
11. Gerry Roslie – Sinderella (1980) – Archive.org
12. The Parypas/Charlie and the Tunas – Rock & Roll (1986) – Spotify – YouTube
13. Gerry, Larry, Rob, sometimes Andy – 8 (2010) – Spotify – YouTube
14. Gerry, Larry, Rob – This Is The Sonics (2015) – Spotify – YouTube
15. Rob Lind – Live At Easy Street (2016) – Spotify – YouTube
16. An Unorganized Group Of 2007-present Live Tracks – YouTube
17. Who knows? – Unreleased (2012) – Spotify – YouTube

With the official versions of live material

1. The Parypas/The Sonics – The Savage Young Sonics (1962-1964) – Spotify – YouTube
2. The Sonics – Busy Body!!! (1964) – Spotify – YouTube
3. RECOMMENDED STARTING POINT The Sonics – Here Are The Sonics (1965) – Spotify – YouTube
4. The Sonics – Gunpowder (1966) – YouTube
5. The Sonics – Break Song (1967) – Spotify – YouTube
6. The Sonics – Sell Out (1967) – YouTube
7. The Sonics – Live / Fanz Only (1966, 1972) – YouTube
8. Gerry Roslie – Sinderella (1980) – Archive.org
9. The Parypas/Charlie and the Tunas – Rock & Roll (1986) – Spotify – YouTube
10. Gerry, Larry, Rob, sometimes Andy – 8 (2010) – Spotify – YouTube
11. Gerry, Larry, Rob – This Is The Sonics (2015) – Spotify – YouTube
12. Rob Lind – Live At Easy Street (2016) – Spotify – YouTube
13. An Unorganized Group Of 2007-present Live Tracks – YouTube
14. Who knows? – Unreleased (2012) – Spotify – YouTube

This is a passion of mine and if one person likes what I do, I’ll feel honored. I like suggestions on what artist to cover next, so if you know of one you’d like me to look at, feel free to suggest ‘em!

Jim Brady – Two Fan Albums

“Have Mercy!”

For those not in the know, fan albums are the attempts of me and many others to take songs and put them on an album, typically they’re made to improve upon something, such as an existing album or to take non-album tracks and put them on an album.

My objective in doing fan albums is usually one or both of two things; to expose people to an underappreciated artist or expose people to someone’s entire work, which may include their bad work. With both examples, at least some of someone’s work is exceptional enough to constitute the project. This Jim Brady collection is a bit of an exception. I didn’t know of Jim Brady until recently and didn’t expect anything very good. Having now listened to all his recordings, I can say that it’s about as average as expected. The reason for this project is to satisfy an itch in the back of my brain about the classic garage rock band, The Sonics.

The classic line-up of the Sonics functioned from 1964 to 1967 before some members left the band and were replaced, notably original singer Gerry Roslie with Jim Brady. Not long after, every original/classic member left. What was left was Jim Brady and the rights to the “Sonics” name. This is among the truest examples of a band in name only. At least an album like Squeeze by The Velvet Underground had one member from when that band was making critically acclaimed work and was in the vicinity of the same sound. Admittedly, the Sonics did lean towards soupier-material in their eleventh hour, but Jim pushed the bar further and essentially to the opposite extreme of The Sonics’ most well-liked, near-punk material. Some of these recordings may feature some actual Sonics, but I doubt it. Even if they are here, they don’t play like how they did. Despite my soul being unable to christen these recordings “The Sonics” or even “Jim Brady and the Sonics”, the voice in my head telling me to be a Sonics-completionist made me cook this up for those who want what could be considered a Sonics album. If Jim Brady had released an album of these recordings, it likely would’ve been called The Sonics, as he used that name until at least the late 70s.

I am currently working on a Sonics fan album project and couldn’t raise the courage to include the Jim Brady stuff, instead designating that as its own mini-project that a ravenous Sonics fan can jump to if they want a more complete look of the band’s history. Anyone that will sit down and listen to all the Sonics’ archival compilations will listen to Brady as one album includes Brady’s tenure mixed in with real Sonics songs. Once becoming dedicated enough to the cause to bother entertaining this era, I discovered a band Jim had been in, “Mercy Boys”. They only have seven recordings. Due to how minimal material there is, why not take those and two Sonic-era live tracks to give a complete view of this person? I’ve literally come to the point where I wanted to fan album the Sonics and through trying to cover everything am not even covering a band with the same name or any of the same members as the line-up I care about.

Listed below are two lovingly compiled studio albums, with seven and nine tracks respectively. Anyone that wants the next step in The Sonics’ journey after Gerry Roslie left should listen to the “Love-itis” album before progressing to The Sonics’ reunions. Anyone looking for a full view of Jim Brady should listen to both albums. The Mercy Boys one covers some light garage rock and the one I’m christening a solo album features psychedelic. Both albums are pretty standard and inoffensive for their genres, but not bad or unpleasurable. In fact, The Sonics’ album of their weakest material is worse than the following Jim Brady-era; so for Sonics fans wondering if they could possibly get worse after they cut material like “Anyway The Wind Blows”, the answer is no.

JIM BRADY & MERCY BOYS – MERCY, MERCY

TRACKLISTING

SIDE A

“The Way I Am”

“Mercy, Mercy”

“Lost And Found”

SIDE B

“This Girl”

“Long Tall Shorty”

“Spoonfull”

“Gimme Gimme”

 

JIM BRADY – LOVE-ITIS

TRACKLISTING

SIDE A

“Love-itis”

“Once Again”

“I’ll Stay With You”

“I’m Right”

“Only She Would Do”

SIDE B

“Goodbye”

“Near My Soul”

“Wake Me, Shake Me”

“You’re In Love”

BONUS TRACKS

“Near My Soul (Live)”

“Goodbye (Live)”

Mercy, Mercy (1967) – YouTube

Love-itis (1969) – YouTube – Spotify (Spotify version doesn’t have bonus tracks)

I’m not sure when the track “The Way I Am” or album Love-itis were recorded exactly, but it seems Mercy Boys broke up in 1967 and Love-itis has a sound that is very 60s; plus the live tracks are from 1969, so those years seemed like fair estimates.

This is a passion of mine and if one person likes what I do, I’ll feel honored. I like suggestions on what artist to cover next, so if you know of one you’d like me to look at, feel free to suggest ‘em!

The Chordettes – Five Fan Albums

For those not interested in reading this article, I recommend starting The Chordettes with The Wedding, due to the earlier stuff being a little harder to get into as a new fan. Links are at the very bottom of the article.

For those not in the know, fan albums are the attempts of me and many others to take songs and put them on an album, typically they’re made to improve upon something, such as an existing album or to take non-album tracks and put them on an album.

I have taken quite a fascination in The Chordettes as of late. Most know “Mr. Sandman” and maybe some of their other hits, but if one digs deep they’ll find that they had a career full of great music. They weren’t just a one trick pony and are worth loving for a variety of well crafted barbershop and pop songs. From the group forming in 1946 to breaking up in 1963, there were nine Chordettes, though only ever four at once; despite some sources implying in their language that they were always the same four. In fact every role; lead, tenor, baritone, and bass, has had two or three singers. That being said, the studio recordings are more constant, with only three line-ups. The first line-up of the group was Jinny Osborn on tenor, Alice Mae Buschmann on baritone, Dottie Schwartz on lead, and Janet Ertel on bass. This line-up never recorded, though photos of them survive.

Alice Mae was replaced by her sister-in-law Carol Buschmann, thus leading us to…

The Jinny, Dottie, Janet, Carol Line-up

The group released a few solo LPs and singles backing other artists on Columbia records. The solo LPs are notable for having no instrumentation at all. This fact can make them less accessible than the later material. The LPs released at this time were 20-27 minutes, so I considered moving tracks around to make 30-40 minute albums, but the simplistic nature of them meant that they might drag like that. They work best in the 20s. The singles all have instrumentation. They’re more someone else’s song with The Chordettes on backing vocals than a Chordettes song. Almost all the tracks feature Arthur Godfrey on lead vocals, though two feature Bill Lawrence. These are among my least favorite material by the group, Arthur Godfrey is a pretty annoying vocalist. I wouldn’t consider this a true Chordettes album, but for the super fans like myself, it’s nice to have.

The one exception to “Every Chordettes track in this line-up is barbershop” is “O Joe”. It was the b-side to a Godfrey song and features none of his vocals, though he plays piano. It’s pretty straightforward, but a piano is still an instrument. There’s a few different albums this track could go. It could go on the instrumental-less Harmony Time (1950), but it’d be out of place. It could go with the Godfrey comp, but it wouldn’t fit in with the non-solo tracks. It could go on the first solo album with instruments, but it’s noticeably more simplistic and early than the others. The solution will be addressed later…

The Margie, Lynn, Janet, Carol Line-up

Both Dottie and group founder Jinny left the group for their own reasons. The sound noticeably changed at this point, seeing as half the line-up differed. This line-up was very much a transitional period. Their first release was in keeping with the previous line-up, a vocal-only LP. Shifts followed when they left Columbia Records and joined Cadence. They released a few singles, their first solo single other than “O Joe” if you count that one. These had proper instruments, though after only two releases, they cut another vocal-only album, Close Harmony. One oddball release is the album, Robert Q. Lewis And His Gang. The cover features The Chordettes and Discogs credits them for only one song, “Dixie Danny”. Some tracks aren’t credited with any artist, so perhaps The Chordettes appear on more than one song? Who knows, because I was unable to find a copy? Another piece of lost media is “Dudelsack Polka”, which may just be the accessible “Dudelsack Song” under a different name.

In 1955, the group recorded around enough material for us to make an album. The Wedding (1955) features all the tracks with instrumental backing and this line-up. There’s some qualities of “getting the hang of this”. I wonder if they weren’t used to singing to a band, though the tracks are still good. “Sincerely” and “Humming Bird” are two particular favorites. “It’s You, It’s You I Love” is one that gets stuck in my head. This album also features the withstanding, “Mr. Sandman”. For my money, it’s not even the best of this album, and as we’ll soon see, it will be outshined by tracks which are almost all better…

The Jinny, Lynn, Janet, Carol Line-up

With Margie leaving and Jinny rejoining, we get the best line-up. These four have the best group performance of the others and the whole musicality and production improved. The group mostly stopped doing LPs and instead singles. One album that borders between proper studio album and compilation is their 1957 self-titled. It spanned from Sandman to the then present. The Margie stuff is better with the other Margie recordings and what remains is married with more time-appropriate tracks. The first fan album of mine from this era covers 1956 and 1957, Love Never Changes. The ballads are particularly good, though the lighter stuff is fun. There’s some unsurity over when Margie left and what she recorded. As an example, Jinny’s obituary claims she was on “Born to be With You”, though Margie claimed in 2018 that she sung on it. An argument can be made for both being the better source. That said, these tracks fit together well enough that they will stay. If they were moved to the Margie section, there’d either have to be one long album or two short ones. The Wedding, Love Never Changes, and the next two are all in between 32 and 33 minutes, not too long and not too short. The six 1956 tracks, which Margie credited to herself, but sound more Jinny to me are; “Eddie My Love” (I misheard as ‘Penny My Love’), “Whistlin’ Willie”, “Born to Be With You”, “Love Never Changes”, “Lay Down Your Arms”, and “Teen Age Goodnight”.

The next is I Call Him Lollipop!, named after my favorite or second favorite Chordettes song (it can fight Teen Age Goodnight. This album improves upon what came before it, featuring sharper tracks which can be more effectively dramatic or funny. “Lollipop” in particular is a great blend of light pop and well-communicated emotional feelings of love. The next album covers stranger material. Perhaps they were hoping to follow the trends of the 60s before deciding to break up? There’s some lowkey tracks and Civil War music. This also features their only acapella-only track after Close Harmony. It doesn’t sound quite like the rest, so it seems it was probably recorded in the early 60s. Next is the actually released album, Never On Sunday. The group decided to finally release an album, this time containing instrumentals. It’s a shame the group broke up, especially because they remained great, though they do seem like the kind of thing that has a time limit. They fit in well with the 50s, but how would they have handled concept albums and psychedelia, if at all? One member of the group, Janet, stopped touring (though continued to sing on the records) in 1958 because she felt she was too old. Maybe they would’ve allowed themselves to be replaced by younger women?

Still, what is available is timeless in its charm. Their music still appears in movies and shows and seems like it’s been around forever. Perhaps if the group had released albums of the golden era, their whole canon would be more known.

Oddities

Nancy in bottom right

There’s a decent amount of odd-ball material. This includes alternate versions of songs, mostly from the barbershop era; a solo single by Janet; and most interestingly, live recordings! All were recorded for television, but are still live. Sometimes these performances were literal live recordings and sometimes the group lip-synched to the studio version. My collection of odds and sods only includes what wasn’t lip-synched. I was hoping for a version of “Mr. Sandman” with Jinny, but no luck. Featured is a live recording of “Humming Bird” and “Dixie Danny”, dressing a line-up of Margie, Lynn, Carol, and Jinny. I could find no documentation of this line-up’s existence other than their appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show to sing Humming and Danny. Maybe Janet was unavailable? It’s interesting to hear what sounds like Jinny on bass. A live performance of “Lollipop” is the only recording of the group I could find with Janet’s replacement, Nancy Overton, other than performances she did with Lynn and two other women in the 80s and 90s. Nancy’s replacement, Joyce Weston, doesn’t have any recordings I could find and I barely found any information on her. There are many tv performances that I couldn’t locate and it seems there were many. If they were all found, many fan albums could be cooked up. Most of the tv material was posted by Margie herself on YouTube! If she hadn’t done that, the material might’ve been lost.

Joyce on far right

Conclusion

It’s a shame that there’s so much lost media and information. It’s not unlikely that there’s unreleased recordings which only remain unreleased due to people not caring about this “one hit wonder group”. In all the line-ups The Chordettes went through, they never turned in a bad job, giving a charming and lovable blend of vocals to soothe the ears in hard times. At their best, they captured a feeling; often of sadness or love, and portrayed it with a complex performance that most acts fail to come close to. It’s hard to say if there was a “genius” behind the group, who was making them great. My favorite line-up of Jinny, Lynn, Janet, Carol was at least three-fourths present on every recording, save for the 80s and 90s, and also three-fourths present at all known live outfits barring two brief periods. Janet and Carol were on every studio track. It’s possible that the four had a particular magic that made the music so good, though that’s not to discount Margie and Dottie. Margie and maybe Dottie seemed in-the-fold, with Margie doing some performances in 1959. Any other members weren’t around very long. This group does feel like a family and hopefully the warm and powerful feelings they gave me will the same with others. Just like love, their music goes on and on.

Tracklists

THE CHORDETTES – THE WEDDING

TRACKLISTING

SIDE A

1. “The Dudelsack Song”
2. “It’s You, It’s You I Love”
3. “Hearts Of Stone”
4. “I Don’t Wanna See You Cryin’”
5. “Sincerely”
6. “True Love Goes On And On”

SIDE B

1. “Lonely Lips”
2. “The Wedding”
3. “Humming Bird”
4. “I Told A Lie”
5. “I Don’t Know, I Don’t Care”
6. “Go Away From My Window (Long Version)”
7. “Mr. Sandman”

THE CHORDETTES – LOVE NEVER CHANGES

TRACKLISTING

SIDE A

1. “(Fifi’s) Walking The Poodle”
2. “Baby Of Mine”
3. “Born To Be With You”
4. “Soft Sands”
5. “Come Home To My Arms”
6. “Eddie My Love”
7. “Just Between You And Me”

SIDE B

1. “Photographs”
2. “Whistlin’ Willie”
3. “Lay Down Your Arms”
4. “Like A Baby”
5. “Echo Of Love”
6. “Love Never Changes”
7. “Teen Age Goodnight”

THE CHORDETTES – I CALL HIM LOLLIPOP!

TRACKLISTING

SIDE A

1. “Lollipop”
2. “Zorro”
3. “Baby Come-A-Back-A”
4. “Love Is A Two Way Street”
5. “Pink Shoe Laces”
6. “I Cried A Tear”
7. “A Girl’s Work Is Never Done”

SIDE B

1. “No Wheels”
2. “Charlie Brown”
3. “No Other Arms No Other Lips”
4. “Tall Paul”
5. “To Know Him Is To Love Him”
6. “Tears On My Pillow”
7. “We Should Be Together”

THE CHORDETTES – FARAWAY STAR

TRACKLISTING

SIDE A

1. “A Broken Vow”
2. “All My Sorrows”
3. “Your Wild Heart”
4. “In The Summertime (You Don’t Want My Love)”
5. “Faraway Star”
6. “In The Deep Blue Sea”
7. “White Rose Of Athens”

SIDE B

1. “Waterloo”
2. “The Battle Of New Orleans”
3. “That’s Old Fashioned (That’s The Way It Should Be)”
4. “Lonely Boy”
5. “My Heart Stood Still”
6. “Adios”

THE CHORDETTES – ODDS AND SODS: VOL. 1 – WITH ARTHUR GODFREY AND BILL LAWRENCE (1950-1951)

TRACKLISTING

SIDE A

1. “Candy And Cake”
2. “Hawaii”
3. “Down By The Old Mill Stream”
4. “If It Wasn’t For Your Father”
5. “Jingle Bells”
6. “A Marshmallow World”

SIDE B

1. “(Sweet Angie) The Christmas Tree Angel”
2. “Dance Me Loose”
3. “Can’t Seem To Laugh Anymore”
4. “Time Out For Tears”
5. “Driftin’ Down The Dreamy Ol’ Ohio”
6. “Love Is The Reason”

THE CHORDETTES – ODDS AND SODS: VOL. 2 – 1950-1955

TRACKLISTING

SIDE A

1. “O Joe”
2. “When You Were Sweet Sixteen (Alternate Version)”
3. “Moonlight Bay (Alternate Version)”
4. “Tell Me Why (Alternate Version)”
5. “When Day Is Done (Alternate Version)”

SIDE B

1. “For Me And My Gal (Alternate Version)”
2. “Wonderful One (Alternate Version)”
3. “Mr. Sandman (Live, The Ed Sullivan Show)”
4. “Humming Bird (Live, The Ed Sullivan Show)”
5. “Dixie Danny (Live, The Ed Sullivan Show)”

THE CHORDETTES – ODDS AND SODS: VOL. 3 – 1955-1962

TRACKLISTING

SIDE A

1. “Janet Bleyer – ‘Cause You’re My Lover”
2. “Go Away From My Window (Short Version)”
3. “Born To Be With You (Alternate Version)”
4. “Just Between You And Me (Live, The Ed Sullivan Show)”
5. “Lollipop (Live, The Ed Sullivan Show)”
6. “To Know Him Is To Love Him (Takes 7 & 8)”

SIDE B

1. “The Archie Bleyer Show Appearance (1)”
2. “Wonderful One (Live, The Archie Bleyer Show)”
3. “The Archie Bleyer Show Appearance (2)”
4. “The Archie Bleyer Show Appearance (3)”
5. “Now Is The Hour (Live, The Archie Bleyer Show)”
6. “Never On Sunday (Alternate Mix)”
7. “Wooden Heart (Alternate Mix)”

THE CHORDETTES – ODDS AND SODS: VOL. 4 – 1980S

TRACKLISTING

SIDE A

1. “‘The Original Chordettes’ Documentary (Featuring Chatanooga Choo Choo, unidentified track, Orange Colored Sky, Mr. Sandman)”

SIDE B

1. “Beyond Vaudeville ’80s Public Access Cable TV Interview”

THE CHORDETTES – ODDS AND SODS: VOL. 5 – 1990S-2015

TRACKLISTING

SIDE A

1. “Music City Tonight 1994 Interview”
2. “Eddie My Love (Live, 1994, On Music City Tonight)”
3. “Mr. Sandman (Live, 1994, On Music City Tonight)”
4. “Never On Sunday (Live, 1994, On Music City Tonight)”
5. “Lollipop (Live, 1994, On Music City Tonight)”

SIDE B

1. “Lollipop (Live, 1990s)”
2. “Mr. Sandman (Live, 1990s)”
3. “MRS. SANDMAN: A Chat with The Chordettes’ Lynn Evans 2015 Interview”

THE CHORDETTES – ODDS AND SODS: VOL. 6 – 2010

TRACKLISTING

1. “Oral History Project 2010 Interview with Carol Buschmann and Dottie Schwartz”

The Music

The Barbershop Era/Jinny, Dottie, Janet, Carol/Columbia Records

1. Harmony Time (1950) – Official Album – YouTube – Spotify
2. “O Joe” – YouTube
3. Harmony Time Volume II (1951) – Official Album – YouTube – Spotify
4. Harmony Encores (1952) – Official Album – YouTube – Spotify

The Barbershop Era/Margie, Lynn, Janet, Carol/Columbia Records

1. Sing Your Requests (1953) – Official Album – YouTube – Spotify

The Barbershop Era/Margie, Lynn, Janet, Carol/Cadence Records

1. Close Harmony (1955) – Official Album – YouTube – Spotify

RECOMMENDED STARTING POINT – The Instrumental Era/Margie, Lynn, Janet, Carol/Cadence Records

1. The Wedding (1955) – Fan Album – YouTube

The Instrumental Era/Jinny, Lynn, Janet, Carol/Cadence Records

1. Love Never Changes (1957) – Fan Album – YouTube
2. I Call Him Lollipop! (1959) – Fan Album – YouTube
3. Faraway Star (1962) – Fan Album – YouTube – Spotify
4. Never On Sunday (1962) – Official Album – YouTube – Spotify

Oddball Releases

1. Odds And Sods: Vol. 1 – With Arthur Godfrey and Bill Lawrence (1950-1951) – Fan Album – YouTube
2. Odds And Sods: Vol. 2 – 1950-1955 (Partially Video) – Fan Compilation Album – YouTube
3. Odds And Sods: Vol. 3 – 1955-1962 (Partially Video) – Fan Compilation Album – YouTube
4. Odds And Sods: Vol. 4 – 1980s (Completely Video) – Fan Compilation Album – YouTube
5. Odds And Sods: Vol. 5 – 1990s-2015 (Completely Video) – Fan Compilation Album – YouTube
6. Odds And Sods: Vol. 6 – 2010 (Completely Video) – Fan Compilation Album – Namm.org

This is a passion of mine and if one person likes what I do, I’ll feel honored. I like suggestions on what artist to cover next, so if you know of one you’d like me to look at, feel free to suggest ‘em!

They’re Riding High!