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Mel-o-dy 107 (B), March 1963
B-side of The Interview (Summit Chanted Meeting)
(Written by Barney Ales and Al Klein)
I was expecting real horrors here, perhaps a nuclear-themed continuation of the dreadful A-side The Interview (Summit Chanted Meeting) (an alleged comedy “break-in” record), but thankfully no. It appears that Motown wisely steered clear of allowing Messrs Haney or Armstrong any more valuable recording time, and instead opted to fill the B-side of their one and only Motown single with a slinky, sexy instrumental saxophone blues instead.
It’s such a blessed relief, after the sheer all-encompassing awfulness of the A-side, that it’s easy to initially overlook the weirdness of this situation. Who is this actually by? (It’s not Haney and Armstrong, surely, unless they were secretly a pair of top blues musicians moonlighting as inept comedians in their mid-forties). What’s this got to do with the topside? (Nothing, so far as I can tell). Why is it so short? (Barely one and three-quarter minutes, and it fades out.) Why did Motown think people who loved the A-side would want to hear this? (I’ve no idea; maybe Haney and Armstrong didn’t have any more material – indeed, the topside was apparently Haney’s one and only appearance on record anywhere, though Armstrong stuck around Hitsville for a while, racking up demos and getting a second (terrible) release under the name “Ray Oddis” nearly two years later – and Motown had to put something on the B-side.) Baffling.
Still, as a piece of meaningless instrumental fluff apparently intended as nothing more than space filler, it’s really rather nice. Background music, aural wallpaper, sure, but eminently listenable and – actually – rather groovy. Plus, as a restorative after the exertions of the A-side, it fits the bill quite nicely.
MOTOWN JUNKIES VERDICT
(I’ve had MY say, now it’s your turn. Agree? Disagree? Leave a comment, or click the thumbs at the bottom there. Dissent is encouraged!)
You’re reading Motown Junkies, an attempt to review every Motown A- and B-side ever released. Click on the “previous” and “next” buttons below to go back and forth through the catalogue, or visit the Master Index for a full list of reviews so far.
(Or maybe you’re only interested in Haney and Armstrong? Click for more.)
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| Bert “Jack” Haney & Brice “Nikiter” Armstrong “The Interview (Summit Chanted Meeting)” |
Amos Milburn “My Baby Gave Me Another Chance” |
I love your site. It is the perfect companion to The Complete Motown Singles. The A-side is (except for “Bobby’s Girl” bit) pretty bad. As to the B-side, it was common for break-in records too have instrumentals on the back. Dickie Goodman’s(the king of break-ins?) had them from time to time. I guess to plug only the A-side and cut down on lawyer fees.
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Thanks Michael – glad you’re enjoying it! Really nice to get such positive feedback.
Interesting information too! It’s a phenomenon that never really caught on in Britain, so a lot of the standard break-in tropes are alien to me. If it was usual practice, Peaceful makes a lot more sense.
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A possible (probable) explanation to the b-side: Dickie Goodman, the king of break-in records (now there’s a title no one should endeavor to have) would usually put a really short throwaway mid-tempo blues or jazz number on his b-sides. Something that could be done cheaply by studio musicians in a quick take. Klein was apparently imitating Goodman right down to the format of the record.
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Interesting that Al Klein shared the songwriting credit with Motown’s chief marketing man, Barney Ales. I remember playing both sides of this record, and STILL deciding to resist buying it despite my habit of buying every Motown 45 released. It seemed like a fairly “blah” instrumental. Saxophone is my favourite instrument, and I like Jazz and Jazzy R&B instrumentals. So, based on the descriptions of it on this thread, I’m hoping to hear it again. But, I can’t find it on The Internet. Can anyone here point me the way to hear it?
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Spotify! 🙂 That’s how I found most of what I looked for.
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I’ve just realized…this sounds an awful lot like “Spoonful”. Especially towards the end.
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