Joan Selects, Volume 5 – Birds of a Feather

Volume 5 of the Series That Continues To Astonish is here courtesy of Joan K and it may be the best one yet. This time round the theme is vocal groups named after birds and Joan sent me this quote from a book which I’ve never read, but I’d be interested in hearing from anyone who has and how they rate it:

"Doo Wop groups had an affinity for birds. The trend no doubt started with the Ravens in the mid-1940's and the Orioles in the late 1940s. For these groups, the names made sense. Birds sing, ravens are black, the "Ravens" is an excellent choice for a black singing group (as was the "Ink Spots"). The Baltimore Oriole is the state bird of Maryland, and Sonny Till and his friends came from Baltimore. Again, good choice. After them, however, many groups just jumped on the bandwagon and the logic behind their choice of avian names was for the birds. By our count, more than 40 additional groups chose a fine feathered friend to represent them. That's enough for a decent size aviary.” *

*Doo-Wop - The Forgotten Third Of Rock 'n Roll by Dr. Anthony J. Gribin and Dr. Matthew M. Schiff, published by Krause Publications (ISBN 0-87341-197-8)

In this collection Joan presents a representative sampling of most of these bird groups.

There are many highlights in this compilation. For me The Bluebirds with “Feel Like Ridin’ On” is one of the best vocal group rockers I’ve ever heard. “Back Home Again” by The Birds is a magnificently impassioned pleader. There’s fine bomping tenor sax work on The Quails’ “A Little Bit of Love”, and veteran West Coast doowop fans – if you have tears to shed, be prepared to shed them as you listen to The Penguins on “Memories of El Monte”, co written by Frank Zappa. Joan informs me that the opening track by The Flamingos, “Dream of a Lifetime”, ranks in her top ten desert island take-alongs, and in her top ten doowop ballads.

Bitrates vary from 96 to 320. “Trying to Get to You” has been ripped from what I’m sure Joan would call a “pretty trashed 45”. The Orioles’ “Getting Tired, Tired, Tired” and The Crows’ “Untrue” were ripped from 78 rpm discs. Joan chose the 78 version of “Untrue” because it has a longer intro than the 45 version.

Ripped from vinyl and shellac. Passsword = greaseyspoon

Download from here:

http://www13.zippyshare.com/v/Pxn09u12/file.html

01) - The Flamingos - Dream Of A Lifetime - Parrot 808
02) - The Meadowlarks- Love Only You - RPM 399
03) - The Jayhawks - Counting My Teardrops - Flash 104
04) - The Wrens - C'est La Vie - Rama 194
05) - The Falcons - My Only Love - Falcon 1006
06) - The Whippoorwills - Deep Within - Josie 892
07) - The Penguins - Memories Of El Monte - Original Sound 27
08) - The Blue Jays - White Cliffs Of Dover - Checker 782
09) - The Eagles - Tryin' To Get To You - Mercury 70391
10) - The Swallows - Wishing For You - King 4466
11) - The Pelicans - Ain't Gonna Do It - Imperial 5307
12) - The Skylarks - Glory Of Love - Decca - 48241
13) - The Peacocks - Tender Love - Noble 711
14) - The Ospreys - It's Good To Me - East West 110
15) - The Ravens - Time Takes Care Of Everything - Columbia 6-906
16) - The Robins - Whadaya Want - Spark 110
17) - The Starlings - Music Maestro Please - Josie 760
18) - The Gaylarks - Church On The Hill - Music City 809
19) - The Bluebirds - Feel Like Ridin' On - Rainbow 199
20) - The Cardinals - Two Things I Love - Atlantic 1067
21) - The Sparrows - I'm Gonna Do That Woman In - Kelway 101
22) - The Blue Jays - Lover's Island - Milestone 2008
23) - The Orioles - Getting Tired, Tired, Tired - Jubilee 5084
24) - The Larks - I Don't Believe In Tomorrow - Apollo 430
25) - The Swans - My True Love - Rainbow 233
26) - The Birds - Back Home Again - Dooto 703
27) - The Hawks - It's All Over - Modern 990
28) - The Crows - Untrue - Rama 29
29) - The Parrots - Don't Leave Me - Parrot 758
30) - The Quails -A Little Bit Of Love - Deluxe 6057
31) - The Hummingbirds - My Ship - Cannon 4600