I have to plead naive innocence as a mitigating circumstance, but when I was a tender young musical hooligan of 11, it seemed like a good idea to invest in those 'Top of The Pops' albums. If you're 35 or more, you probably remember the form: scantily-clad young lady in an, erm, exotic pose on the cover and around 20 of the current chart hits all gathered together over two sides of vinyl, usually for about £1.35 a throw. For a young kid subsisting on pocket money, it seemed like a good idea when The Jam's 'David Watts' was about to set me back 79p for the one 7" single at W.H. Smiths.
Admittedly, it wasn't in the same league as discovering that Father Christmas was actually my old man in a red suit (I'm still traumatised by that one!) but a few years later my teenage mind discovered these albums were 'replica' recordings made by crack session players. I felt suitably disappointed and couldn't take it in at first. I mean, those versions of 'David Watts', 'My Sharona', 'MacArthur Park' and the like sounded fine to my youthful ears. Was I really that easily duped?
Many years later, I can take heart with the discovery that the cut-price 'replica' trade was alive and making a mint in the American mid-west long before I discovered the delights of those 'Top of the Pops' albums. Indeed, back in a pre-Beatles 1961, two budding entrepreneurs, Alan Bubis and William Beasley, were launching their own Nashville 'hit factory' and while it's pushing it to bracket them in the same league as the Motowns or Staxes of the Soul and R'n'B world, their 'replica' hits brought in enormous revenue and made a lot of fellow idealistic teens very happy indeed.
Instead of regular record stores, Bubis and Beasley's outlets were drug stores and dry goods stores, in effect places which didn't sell 45RPM singles as a rule. Folk could snap up maybe three for a paltry $1 and head away happy. To ensure the best return possible, Beasley and Bubis worked out a totally self-sufficient situation. Their Spar label had its' own offices, recording studio, pressing plant, distribution network and publishing company, 'Tennessee Music'.
That 'Tennessee Music' publishing name recurs frequently during the course of this 2-CD, 48-track compilation of Bubis and Beasley's 'greatest re-makes', but then of course, they also had the significant advantage of having the cream of budding Nashville sessioneers at their disposal. These tracks are graced by the presence of players like Wayne Moss, David Briggs, Kenny Buttrey, Charlie McCoy, Hargus 'Pig' Robbins, Billy Sherrill and Peggy Gaines. The list is truly staggering and if you check out your Neil Young, George Jones, Elvis Costello, Johnny Cash, Steve Miller and Linda Ronstadt albums you'll discover these same names feature again and again.
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OK, I'm in no way suggesting these re-makes and re-models usurp the originals, but I'm tellin' ya: squint closely enough and you'll struggle to spot the difference between these well-heeled versions of standards like 'Where Did Our Love Go?', 'Twistin' The Night Away', 'Walk Like A Man', 'Sugar Shack' and 'Speedy Gonzales' and the originals. Be it Motown soul, no-nonsense Pop, Country, R'n'B, Doo-wop, Beach Boys-style harmonies, Gospel or novelty records, these guys are equal to it. Hell, there's even the occasional oddity like Bill Pursell's 'Heartbeat' which goes out on a limb of its' own volition. Few of the 'artists' names will be familiar ('The Chords' are most definitely NOT the London Mod band of the same name, though their drummer sounds like he disagrees) yet there's no questioning the meticulous quality of the official forgery minting its' reputation here.
The rise of the 'album' as the serious commercial force, not to mention the 'brain drain' of talent from Spar's studio eventually forced Bubis and Beasley to close the doors forever in the early 1970s, but by then they'd created one hell of an alternative legacy for themselves. Hindsight ensures their reputation is more of a blueprint for business moguls like Richard Branson or David Geffen rather than a signpost to artistic achievement, but 'Covers, Hits & Misses' is still a worthy re-telling of a lesser known success story and a blast to listen to. Fine by me on both counts.
T-Bird Records official site
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