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Monday, March 30, 2015

Thurl Ravenscroft--Pay As I Go (1955)


     Thurl Ravenscroft is a name that doesn't conjure up images of a star, but his voice became an indelible sound in the ears of children for over 50 years....

      Thurl spent much of his time as a singer, with The Sportsmen, then after World War II, The Mellomen. That group in particular were very successful singing backup vocals with a host of stars from pop in the early to mid-1950's, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, Frank Sinatra and Elvis as well as a large number of ads for radio and television. 

      His deep base voice attracted attention all on it's own, and in 1952 he became the voice of Tony the Tiger for Kellogg's Sugar Frosted Flakes, a job he held up to his death in 2005. 


     Another voice that he provided (although uncredited at the time) was in the television rendition of, "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". It was accidentally left off the credits, but that bass voice has entertained millions with, "Your a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" in 1966. 


     He attempted a solo career during the mid/late 50's with a series of singles which covered varied styles. "Pay as I Go" was the B side of "Dr. Geek" (Of Tanganuika). He did quite of bit of work with Disney over the years, and it has some of that feel to it here. 


Saturday, January 24, 2015

Roger Nichols and the Small Circle of Friends--Snow Queen (1967)

     Roger Nichols, Muccay MacLeod and his sister Melinda MacLeod comprised the group, "The Small Circle of Friends". Signed to A&M records, Nichols composed several songs with Tony Asher, fresh off of his working with Brian Wilson on the album, "Pet Sounds". Looking back, the songwriting lineup was impressive with songs by Van Dyke Parks, Lenny Waronker, and Randy Newman. One of the shining songs on an album of strong ones was "Snow Queen" written by Jerry Goffin and Carole King.

     Over 45 years after it's release the sounds so familiar even though none of the songs became hits, and the album sunk not too slowly into the sunset. The reason came because of a decision made by co-owner of A&M, Herb Alpert. There was something about Nichols writing that Alpert thought potentially profitable, so he was hired on to the record company as a songwriter. It was here that Nichols met Paul Williams.

     The pair went on to success with a number of hits for the Carpenters (who's musical sound was very close to Nichols'), including, "We've Only Just Begun", "I Won't Last A Day Without You", and "Rainy Days and Mondays". Thus it's not a stretch that this album from 1967 was one of the templates of California soft rock.