Dig Deep: Dominic Frontiere, Et al. – Music From The Film: On Any Sunday – Bell (1970)

Dominic Frontiere – Sunday Drivin’
Dominic Frontiere – The End Of Love
Dominic Frontiere – Stretchin’ Out
Dominic Frontiere – I Believed

As is my tradition, what we have here is the last record that I picked up in 2021. After being in lockdown for much of 2020, and unable to go back into record stores, 2021 was filled with a whole lot of record therapy. I am not ashamed to admit that I probably spent more money on records from record stores than I ever have before. In most cases, it was the first time being at a particular store in over a year, and so I guess I was trying to make up for lost time. One of my fave stores pre-pandemic was Atomic Records in Burbank, but despite that fact, I hadn’t been to the store until the final week of the year. I didn’t spend much time at the store, but, as is almost always the case, they did not disappoint, particularly the store’s vaunted wall. In addition to a few other records that I picked up, I finally got a copy of this soundtrack, something that I’ve wanted for quite some time.

I first heard songs from On Any Sunday when Greg Belson shared them over FB in reference (I believe, the memory is fuzzy these days, and I’m no longer on the socials) to a discussion of classic late 1960s biker film soundtracks. For me, the gold standard of these particular records is the soundtrack to the exploitation/grindhouse film Hell’s Belles. That album features two of the heaviest and funkiest songs I’ve ever heard. Bells felt that On Any Sunday was on par with that record, even if it doesn’t quite have the same massive, open drum breaks. Part of the reason for this may be related to the fact, at least to my ears, it sounds as if it’s almost the exact same band playing on both records. What On Any Sunday has, that Hell’s Belles does not, is the full list of the personnel that plays on the record.

While it’s great to know all of the people playing all the parts, particularly since it’s so rare to see with ensemble/library sessions such as these, there’s one name on this list that I would have 100% known was playing on the album even without the list. That name is Carol Kaye.

Carol Kaye really should be a household name, one that everyone, regardless of their tastes, just knows out of 1960s music, like Jimi, the Beatles, Stones, etc. It’s quite possible that she’s one of the most recorded musicians of all time, even though the bulk of her recorded material comes roughly from a decade of work. When you hear her sound, you understand immediately why she was so in demand. Few sound quite like Carol Kaye. Her bass has a unique and original sound, due to not only her use of a pick on electronic bass, but also the way she plays her basslines. Never content to just keep the beat, Kaye’s bass practically sings through songs, whether in a explicit solo or just accompanying the other musicians. The rhythm section she formed with Earl Palmer on David Axelrod recordings, such as Song of Innocence/Experience and Release Of An Oath (which technically is listed under the Electric Prunes, but it’s an Axelrod record, through and through) is my all-time favorite rhythm section, in any genre, from any time. Here (and I suspect on the Hell’s Belles soundtrack) she’s paired with Larry Bunker, and it’s also a great pairing.

Whether on the heavy, funkier tracks, like the monster “Sunday Drivin'” or the more mellow ones, like “I Believed,” the Kaye/Bunker combination shines through, and is reason enough to pick this LP up if you ever run into it in the wild. That I found it on my last record hunting trip of 2021 (and, just to let you know, with a planned tribute to Carol Kaye upcoming for the March 2022 Moods), was the sweetest icing on top of the massive pile of record goodness that 2021 blessed me with (much of which I’ll be highlighting in the traditional “Best Of” posts soon enough). If this is how I closed out 2021, can’t wait to see what discoveries come my way in 2022. Peace & Bright Moments to you all.