The Dave Pell Singers – Oh Calcutta!
The Dave Pell Singers – Laughing
The Dave Pell Singers – Honky Tonk Women
Back in the early 1990s when I started out in radio, I was already pretty confident that I knew a thing or two about music. I deserved to be humbled just about every other week as I found more and more and more that I’d never heard before (even after almost 20 years as a DJ I’m still floored by how much music is actually out there just waiting to be heard). One of the many head-blowing musical discoveries I made during that period of time was a well regarded collection of largely library music called the Sound Gallery. I can’t remember entirely at this point, if I was asked to review it or if it came up during a “rotation” shift at Album 88, but I still remember how I felt the first time I heard “Oh Calcutta!” from the Dave Pell Singers. Utter disbelief. I was convinced that it wasn’t an actual group from the 1960s, but instead a clever ruse perpetrated by members of St. Etienne and/or Stereolab. Something about the way the rhythm rolls out reminded me of those bands at that time, let alone the purring female vocals that sound exactly like Sarah Cracknell. When I finally ran into some records from the Dave Pell Singers, I figured it had to be the real deal.
Strangely, I’d never run into the record that features that lovely song until just recently. Most of the record is not my cup of tea, far too easy listening. But there are some nice moments, mostly because of the band that’s backing the singers. I’d always thought this was a British group with British players, but hearing those drums on “Calcutta” and “Laughing” it’s really hard not to believe that Earl Palmer is not playing on this album. Something in the sound of those drums reminds me too much of Palmer’s legendary work with David Axelrod from this same period of time. Perhaps it’s all in my head, just as the St. Etienne conspiracy was, but you never know…one day someone may even track down an instrumental version of this record and that will be a most happy day.
Cheers,
Michael
p.s. this is also the record that includes this:
…which might also remind you of this if you’re over the age of 30:
Dave Pell was an old-school big band jazz cat who became an exec at Liberty and later Motown Records. He recorded a number of LPS under his own name while with Liberty, and I believe "ghosted" several albums credited to Martin Denny, of "Exotica" fame. My own take on this LP, both album and cover, is that it's a sort of more-hep Ray Conniff.