Something Else [Original recording remastered]

Amazon.com
When alto saxophonist Cannonball Adderley culled together this quartet, he grabbed three champions from seemingly disparate schools to complement his flinty solos: Miles Davis, the king of cool; Art Blakey, the thundering force of hard bop; Hank Jones, a veteran of swing; and Sam Jones, a versatile bassist adaptable to nearly any setting. The results are one of Blue Note's most beloved albums. The open-ended beauty of "Autumn Leaves," which features Davis beautifully stating the melody on muted trumpet, sounds like it could easily be an outtake from Kind of Blue (which it isn't). The midtempo title track provides the centerpiece of this classic as Adderley echoes Miles's swaggering melody before both unravel wonderful solos. A must-have Blue Note album. --John Murph

Something Else,Cannonball Adderley,Blue Note Records,Jazz,Jazz Music,Pop

Average customer rating: WOW! It's Something Else Alright My Personal Favorite Britpop Ground Zero Neglected Masterpiece Ingenious!

Something Else by the Kinks The Kinks Manufacturer: Reprise / Wea ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Britain | British Isles | Europe | International | Styles | Music General | Pop | Styles | Music Singer-Songwriters | Pop | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music General | Oldies | Pop | Styles | Music Baroque Pop | Oldies | Pop | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music British Invasion | Classic Rock | Styles | Music General | Classic Rock | Styles | Music Similar Items: The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society Arthur - Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire Face to Face Lola versus Powerman and the Money-Go-Round, Part One Muswell Hillbillies ASIN: B000002KOC Release Date: 1990-05-02

Tracks:

1. David Watts
2. Death Of A Clown
3. Two Sisters
4. No Return
5. Harry Rag
6. Tin Soldier Man
7. Situation Vacant
8. Love Me Till The Sun Shines
9. Lazy Old Sun
10. Afternoon Tea
11. Funny Face
12. End Of The Season
13. Waterloo Sunset

Amazon.com

Some fans argue that this 1967 release is one of head Kink Ray Davies's middle-period masterpieces (coming between two LPs that no kultist can deny: Face to Face and Village Green Preservation Society), while others regard it as an uneven collection of great singles and inconsequential filler; a stopgap move. Although no one could argue that it's as consistent as those classics, Something Else does boast one of the great one-two punches in rock history: the rumbling tale of social envy, "David Watts," and "Death of a Clown," a slurring pub sing-along warbled by brother Dave. Elsewhere, the quartet dives headfirst into droning psychedelia ("Lazy Old Sun"), whimsical balladry ("Afternoon Tea"), suburban soap opera ("Two Sisters"--love that harpsichord), and one of the most poignant singles in rock history ("Waterloo Sunset"). --Don Harrison

Customer Reviews:

WOW! It's Something Else Alright.......2007-02-07

The best example of The Kinks brit-pop years that influenced many generations. Something Else Ray Davies's 2nd masterpiece of 3. The first is Face to Face, then Village Green after this... and his underrated brother Dave contributes a masterpiece Death of a Clown.

My Personal Favorite.......2006-12-30

As I write this review of Something Else I am sitting under the framed album cover autographed by Ray & Dave Davies. I'd waited outside their hotel, sometime early '70's, hoping they'd pop out. I brought my favorite Kinks album, and as Ray signed it, he said: "I don't think even I have a copy of this record." I assumed he was kidding. In any case, he wasn't about to get mine!

My favorite period for the Kinks was part of the least popular in America - that period that encompassed Face to Face, Something Else, and Village Green Preservation Society. Record sales had slunk so low that Reprise Records famously advertised a compilation for one penny with the slogan - "God Save the Kinks!" I have that compilation in my record closet. For my money, everyone should own Face to Face, Something Else, and Village Green, a tryptich of classic songs perfectly delivered. With this era, the Kinks solidified their position as one of the most creative, adventuresome, and accomplished of all their peers.

Something Else opens with David Watts, a wonderful tale of adolescent jealousy and envy. Everybody has known a David Watts - someone who walks on water, someone who always gets their way, for whom everything in life comes easy. Death of a Clown follows this - a song that always makes me sing-a-long with it, even if I haven't been drinking. Something Else includes songs (for the first time?) written by Dave Davies - in addition to Death of a Clown, Dave penned Love Me Till the Sun Shines and Funny Face.

There are songs that harken back to music hall music, like Harry Rag or Tin Soldier Man. A gentle ambiance of nostalgia, bittersweet longing for simplicity, old traditions, times gone by. Afternoon Tea. Lazy Old Sun. End of the Season. Themes that become fully realized on Village Green, but this is the interlude. The transitional album inbetween. It's as much of a concept album as Sgt. Pepper or Tommy or Forever Changes. It's just different. And very British.

But the best is saved for last, Waterloo Sunset. It's been described as the most perfect pop song ever written. A song for the centuries. That's not just my opinion - it's been described that way by Paul Weller, Elvis Costello, David Bowie. It's breathtakingly beautiful. The perfect end to the perfect album.

Britpop Ground Zero.......2006-10-03

In the the late 1960s, rock 'n roll began to outgrow "Satisfaction", "Love Me Do", and "You Really Got Me". Not only did bands become more socially and politically aware, they became more ambitious and eager to experiment. For their trouble, many of the great bands from this era - such as The Beatles, The Stones, The Who, and The Beach Boys - were rewarded with not only a secure musical legacy, but healthy financial benefits as well. The Kinks, who were banned from the US between the crucial years of 1965 and 1969, received neither. They had a handful of successful singles, but their LPs went almost completely unnoticed by record buyers.

Fortunately, the pendulum has swung, and The Kinks are now recognized as a major influence on subsequent generations of British rockers. To quote Mick Jones of The Clash, "As far as The Beatles, The Stones, and The Who are concerned, we don't really hear that much about The Kinks. But they're just as important". While the influence of The Beatles and The Stones spreads across the entire spectrum of popular music, that of The Kinks and The Who is most obvious in the punk (British and American) of the late 70s and the Britpop of the early 90s. Like Newton and Leibniz's independent but nearly simultaneous invention of calculus, the fuzzy power chords of these bands' 1964-5 singles laid the groundwork for punk, while assertions like Pete Townshend's "hope I die before I get old" and Ray Davies' "I'm Not Like Everybody Else" - a B-side that appeared 10 years before The Ramones' debut - were philosophical proto-punk manifestos. In the late-60s and early 70s, both bands turned toward catchy, melodic pop songs whose influence would be heard in everyone from The Jam and XTC to Blur and Pulp. And the career trajectory similarities don't stop there: The Kinks and The Who could also be credited - or, if you prefer, blamed - for inventing the rock opera/concept album with their 1969 releases Arthur and Tommy (although The Pretty Things' S.F. Sorrow was released a year earlier than both). In the late 70s and early 90s, British groups would be inspired to sound like these British bands who had influenced them, rather than like the American artists who had influenced the British bands of the 60s.

Something Else by The Kinks was arguably the first full-length instance of what would be called Britpop a quarter-century later. (Or maybe it was Face To Face. Take your pick.) The proto-punk and American R&B elements of their first records were less salient on this record, having been replaced by a "distinctly British" blend of marching drums, slow to mid-tempo rockers and ballads, and primarily acoustic - but nonetheless rocking - guitars. Furthermore, the themes moved beyond boy loves girl to musical snapshots of schoolyard jealousy, sibling rivalry, disappointed in-laws, bittersweet solitude and, of course, underachieving circus folk.

It is one thing for a record to culminate in a one-two punch or trio of great songs, but quite another for it to start off with a right, left, and uppercut. That is what we get on Something Else. With the Stonesy thump of "David Watts" (later covered in a faithful if perfunctory manner by The Jam), the quirky, melancholy folk of "Death of a Clown", and the thinly veiled allegory "Two Sisters", this record wastes no time getting started. And it is hardly on cruise control before closing with "Waterloo Sunset", a feather in the cap (if not jewel in the crown) of 60s British pop.

After the 1-2-3 punch that opens the record, things slow down a bit with "No Return", which, like the similarly hazy and dreamlike "Lazy Old Sun", shows that while the Kinks were not a psychedelic band or a bunch of hippies, they were clearly not impervious to the atmosphere of Swinging London. The same can be said of the hilarious "Harry Rag", which humorously mocks the idea that anything is bearable if you've got the right stuff to take your mind off of it. "End of the Season", sung by Ray in a mock lounge singer voice, is another highlight, and the music hall ditties "Tin Soldier Man" and "Situation Vacant" contribute significant personality to the record.

Then there are Dave Davies' songs. I am a great fan of underdogs and unsung heroes, and I think that it can be said that Dave wrote at least one great song for every dozen or so that Ray did (see Dave's The Album That Never Was for examples). The absurd folk of "Death of a Clown", which reached #3 in the UK, is proof enough: "The trainer of insects is crouched on his knees/And frantically looking for runaway fleas". But Dave also contributes the steady rockers "Love Me Till the Sun Shines" and "Funny Face". Hence, Something Else was for Dave what Revolver was for George Harrison. (The weakest track on the record is probably Ray's "Afternoon Tea". While its subject is quintessentially English, it hardly makes for compelling listening in this case.) And it would be a travesty to not give props to Nicky Hopkins for his superb piano and harpsichord work.

The bonus tracks on the 2000 re-issue are far from the throwaways meant to entice completists that such tracks often are. First of all, Dave rears his underrated head with "Lincoln County" and the excellent "Susannah's Still Alive", which was a hit single in its own right. And Ray's songs - especially "Autumn Almanac", "Wonderboy", "Polly", and "There's No Life Without Love" - are as good as anything to be found on this or any other Kinks record of the era. It may be a bit unfortunate that this re-release is in mono, for it is tempting to say that the stereo version packs more punch. But that is ultimately a matter of taste, and the fact is that this is a fascinating collection of songs, sounding very much like a product of its time - perhaps somewhat charmingly dated - and yet still unlike albums by the band's peers. These elements combine to create a precious gem of the British Invasion, one which would itself spawn the gems of future British Invasions.

Neglected Masterpiece.......2006-06-25

"Something Else" (1967) was released at a point when the Kinks were continuing to top charts in the UK and Europe but were barely registering on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. Since their earlier singles "Well-Respected Man," "Dedicated Follower of Fashion," and "Sunny Afternoon," along with their album "Face to Face," Ray Davies had been solidifying his position as a kind of 20th-century W.S. Gilbert with a rock 'n' roll sensibility. By the time the Kinks recorded "Something Else," Davies was writing songs which were in essence mini-operettas that examined England and the English (not, mind you, Britain and the British) with biting wit and wry affection. This album contains what is arguably his greatest composition, "Waterloo Sunset," a blend of almost Dickensian social observation and human sympathy set to an achingly tender yet driving tune that simultaneously conveys deep yearning and profound contentment. There are other outstanding tracks: "David Watts" and "Two Sisters" are clever studies of envy; "Harry Rag" is a Cockney-flavored singalong evocative of the music hall; and "Afternoon Tea" looks forward thematically to the Kinks' "Village Green Preservation Society" (1968). Two of the high points in "Something Else" are a couple of brother Dave Davies's best efforts -- the eerily jaunty "Death of a Clown" and the solid rocker "Love Me Till the Sun Shines." A few numbers, such as "No Return" and "Lazy Old Sun," seemed misguided experiments when the album was new, and they haven't improved with age. And it would have been nice if Reprise had added as bonus tracks such singles of that vintage as "Dead End Street" and "Mr. Pleasant." Still, the weak points can't spoil the overall impact of the Kinks' "Something Else," a true classic and a neglected masterpiece.

Ingenious!.......2006-05-29

"Something Else" is arguably the Kinks' best album ever. The lyrics meld together fabulous stories in a musically varied and enthralling way. As portrait painter and lyricist, songwriter Ray Davies has created a masterpiece. Most of the songs create indelible characters with tangible situations of struggle and anguish. The wit is often playful, yet formidable througout. (Even the opening of the album takes a shot at the Beatles' staginess on 'Revolver' and 'Sgt. Pepper'.) While the music isn't as fast paced as "You Really Got Me," it is all thoroughly substantial.

Surveying the songs, "David Watts" and "Love Me 'Til the Sun Shines" are formidable rockers. The former song is a concise testimony about an underdog growing up. "Two Sisters" and "Funny Face" offer glimmers of hope in the midst of desperation from unforgettable characters. "Situation's Vacant" is a brilliant short story that unfolds manipulation in a playful way. Indeed all of the songs seem to pick up the working class by the bootstraps and give them hope. "Harry Rag" and "Afternoon Tea" work admirably in this vein. One of the most brilliant songs, "Death of a Clown," carries sorrow in a light-hearted elegy without contradicting itself. "Lazy Old Sun" is a skillful personification playfully done. The album is also interspersed with fine, pensive ballads reflecting loss ("No Return" and "End of the Season") without seeming to shift focus. Other memorable characters come into play, including in the playful "Tin Soldier Man," and, again, "Two Sisters," a concise story of sibling rivalry. "Waterloo Sunset," the best song and finale, is a beautifully poetic ballad about a sad loner who must face second-hand consolations to cope with life.

"Something Else" may have been mostly overlooked by the States because of their affinity and references to the British, but the music is entirely engaging and eclectic. The songwriting is what we'd expect from Dylan or the Beatles, except that, being an individual task, it could only have come from the mind of Ray Davies*. The musicianship is terrific on every song. Lyrically, this album may be to Rock what 'Great Expectations' is to literature.

*with a couple songs from brother, Dave.

Average customer rating: Sanctuary blew it - Avoid This CD

Something Else by the Kinks The Kinks Manufacturer: Sanctuary UK ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Britain | British Isles | Europe | International | Styles | Music General | Pop | Styles | Music Singer-Songwriters | Pop | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music General | Oldies | Pop | Styles | Music Baroque Pop | Oldies | Pop | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music British Invasion | Classic Rock | Styles | Music General | Classic Rock | Styles | Music Classic Rock | Imports | Stores | Music Rock | Imports | Stores | Music Pop | Imports | Stores | Music Similar Items: Face to Face Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) Lola vs. the Powerman & the Money-Go-Round, Pt. 1 The Village Green Preservation Society Kinks ASIN: B0001XLX2A Release Date: 2004-05-03

Tracks:

1. David Watts
2. Death of a Clown
3. Two Sisters
4. No Return
5. Harry Rag
6. Tin Soldier Man
7. Situation Vacant
8. Love Me Till the Sun Shines
9. Lazy Old Sun
10. Afternoon Tea
11. Funny Face
12. End of the Season
13. Waterloo Sunset
14. Act Nice and Gentle [*]
15. Autumn Almanac [*]
16. Susannah's Still Alive [*]
17. Wonderboy [*]
18. Polly [*]
19. Lincoln County [*]
20. There Is No Life Without Love [*]
21. Lazy Old Sun [Alternate Stereo Take][#][*]

Customer Reviews:

Sanctuary blew it - Avoid This CD.......2004-12-21

I purchased this CD thinking it would be the latest and greatest as far as "Something Else..." was concerned. Unfortunately, not only was I disappointed with the mix, (compare "Situation Vacant" to the Japanese Stereo version released several years earlier), but I was also shocked to hear several tracks ending abruptly with crude fade-outs. "Autumn Almanac" sounded far better on the "Kinks Kronikles" set from 1990 - not to mention I got to hear Ray's final "yes" lyrics and Dave's backward guitar lines. Sanctuary blew it!

Average customer rating: classic embryonic Ornette--leave Walter alone! Tense debut A breakthrough disc This is a severely underrated album Joyous, early Ornette

Something Else!!!!:The Music of Ornette Coleman Ornette Coleman Manufacturer: Ojc ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Avant Garde & Free Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music General | Jazz | Styles | Music Similar Items: Tomorrow Is the Question! This Is Our Music Ornette! Change of the Century The Shape of Jazz to Come ASIN: B000000Y9C Release Date: 1991-07-01

Tracks:

1. Invisible
2. The Blessing
3. Jayne
4. Chippie
5. The Disguise
6. Angel Voice
7. Alpha
8. When Will The Blues Leave?
9. The Sphinx

Amazon.com

These are tunes that Coleman wrote in his early 20s, that he finally got a chance to record in his late 20s, in 1958. He had, meanwhile, been leading the life of a musical maverick, often-fired by leaders perturbed by his idiosyncratic approach. He was, after all, intent on digging up and replanting jazz. Hearing the startling exuberance in Coleman's compositions, and in his own whinnying playing, one senses that--truly--an annunciation is being made: Here is Something Else. With sublime assurance, Coleman was breaking free from the dictates of chordal playing, in search of increased melodic and harmonic opportunities. Pianist Walter Norris obliges by generally staying out of the way, after session producers put him in it--it is clear that the piano was not the instrument that would assist Coleman's mission. --Peter Monaghan

Customer Reviews:

classic embryonic Ornette--leave Walter alone!.......2005-12-17

Great tunes that we're all still playing more than 40 years later. This is one of the seminal early albums that spawned some of his later, even more memorable work a few years later: Shape of Jazz to Come, This is Our Music, Change of the Century, etc. The approach to chordless playing isn't as refined as it would become later on, but, it's good to keep in mind that a lot of the tunes Ornette was writing at the time were based on popular tune harmonies like I Got Rhythm and Out of Nowhere. If you ask me, Ornette hadn't fully abandoned traditional harmony at the time of this recording. Hence, Walter Norris' piano playing, while retrospectively incongruous with the kind of chordless playing that has defined most of Ornette's career, fits fine for my ears in the context of this recording. While I don't think he would have sat well with Broken Shadows or Beauty is a Rare Thing, Norris' bop lines sound good here. Check out some of the bop influence in Don Cherry's blowing too!

Tense debut.......2005-09-02

Ornette Coleman generated quite a stir when he appeared on the jazz scene, although listening to his debut record nearly fifty years later, it's actually quite difficult to understand. "Something Else!!!!" actually sounds quite conventional and tame to modern ears, certainly not like the leap forward that his Atlantic debut, "The Shape of Jazz to Come" was.

A lot of this probably has to do with the band-- while Coleman (playing his trademark white plastic alto sax) is accompanied by his then-usual frontline partner Don Cherry on trumpet, his rhythm section-- pianist Walter Norris, bassist Don Payne, and drummer Billy Higgins-- play within conventional constraints. Higgins' place in this is actually quite interesting to hear, given how advanced his drumming would be on that Atlantic debut. As a result of this conventional rhythm section performance, there are implied changes on the pieces. Coleman plays far more conventionally than he usually does, and when he does venture into his style of bending the notes or trying to force the rhythm section to follow him (as on "Jayne"), they don't. Net result-- Coleman introduces tension when playing the way that makes sense to him, and as a leader, he (and to a lesser extent, Cherry) is in total opposition to the rest of the band.

The music itself is decent enough-- most of the pieces are blues forms of some sort or another, somewhat advanced at times, but by and large pretty straightforward, and its pleasant enough, but similar to Cecil Taylor's early records, there's little indication of what advancements he'd make in the very near future. Coleman has indicated in books that the songs on here were written several years beforehand-- if this is the case, it explains their relative unadvanced state. Still, it's a quite listenable record, and it's a decent album, but it's better as a historical document than anything else. Interested parties in Coleman's music are encouraged to check out his work on Atlantic first (in particular "The Shape of Jazz to Come") before coming to look for this album.

A breakthrough disc.......2002-03-19

I had this for years on tape, mislaid it, & now just got the CD. It's automatically a very important album because it's Coleman's first as a leader; but I'd never thought of it as a first-rank Coleman album--of his two Contemporary discs, probably I'd give the 2nd, _Tomorrow Is the Question_, the edge, & unquestionably the Atlantics are the peak of Coleman's early career. However, revisiting the disc I'm reminded of how sheerly enjoyable it is, & I think it deserves the full 5 stars. The "sound" of the disc is a surprisingly effective blend of brisk West-Coast swing & Coleman's already completely wayward, unorthodox sax. Don Cherry plays a normal trumpet (with a pronounced Miles Davis inflection) rather than the oddball "pocket trumpet" that sounds so marvellously alien on the Atlantics--he sounds basically like a confident bopper but already makes a few lateral swerves that suggest his future musical direction.

Reviewers often blame the comparative conservatism of the music here on the presence of Walter Norris, a fine bop pianist but hardly a necessary presence given Coleman's later preference for pianoless ensembles. (Norris is reported in Litweiler's bio of Coleman as having been rather mystified by Coleman & Cherry's frequently ignoring the chord changes they'd decided on for the tunes during their improvisations.) But to criticize Norris is to miss the point: Coleman's music here is much more closely tied to bop orthodoxy than it would be in the following years. Tunes like "Chippie" & "Angel Voice" are straightahead "I Got Rhythm" variants, despite their nicely individual melodies ("Angel Voice" for instance has a calypso tinge to its A section). Even more surprising, "Jayne" turns out to be a variation on "Out of Nowhere", a Parker favourite. This last instance is certainly enough to scotch the idea that Coleman was ignoring standard 32-bar structures or chord changes.

Anyway, why need we judge the music on how "advanced" it is? Sure, Ornette never sounded like this again, but it's still a solid, grooving jazz date. & it's got some of Coleman's greatest tunes on it--"The Blessing", "Invisible", "Chippie", "The Sphynx", "When Will the Blues Leave?"...all classics. The album is mostly uptempo swingers, carried along by Billy Higgins' springy drumming--it's a delight to listen to.

This is a severely underrated album.......2000-10-05

The piano sounds fine! This is rediculous. In fact, you hardly notice it. It's very low in the mix. What a great album! All the tunes are his, the saxaphone playing is excellent (incredibly smooth). The notes Coleman puts together on this album are definitely strange, but the overall effect is not overwhelming cacophony, like found on Free Jazz. In fact, it's an incredibly straight forward album. Coleman was an innovator, but sometimes you just want to relax and take a break from his edgier music, regardless of how innovative it may have been. In summary- the songs are relatively simple, but certainly not boring. The sax playing is EXCELLENT. I like it better than "shape of jazz to come" which, i think, is an overproduced album. What is that crappy treble sound in Atlantic Jazz recordings? Anyway, you won't find it on this album.

Joyous, early Ornette.......2000-08-31

Ornette Coleman's tunes on this early album are bouncy and melodic. The overall mood is up-beat and optimistic. Purists will prefer "The Shape of Jazz to Come" and other recordings by his more austere pianoless quartet recorded a few years later. But for me the piano and bass playing fairly conventional jazz changes behind Ornette and Don Cherry "works"-- even if it really shouldn't. And Billy Higgins' light touch on the drums adds just the right tone: I can picture him smiling as he plays. "The Blessing" has become a jazz standard, and all the quirky melodies stay in your head for a long while. This should be in your Ornette collection, whether it is the first or last recording of his you buy.

Average customer rating: ONE OF HER BEST STUDIO ALBUMS EVER!!! SOMETHING MAGICAL IS "SOMETHING ELSE"!! Something Else She's truly Something Else! great sample of her work

Something Else Shirley Bassey Manufacturer: EMI Int'l ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General | Easy Listening | Pop | Styles | Music General | Vocal Pop | Pop | Styles | Music Traditional Pop | Oldies | Pop | Styles | Music Traditional Vocal Pop | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music General | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music Broadway & Vocalists | Imports | Stores | Music Pop | Imports | Stores | Music Similar Items: Something I Capricorn And I Love You So Never Never Never/Good, Bad But Beautiful I've Got a Song for You: And We Were Lovers ASIN: B00000J209 Release Date: 1999-04-26

Tracks:

1. (Where Do I Begin) Love Story
2. 'Til Love Touches Your Life
3. Easy Thing To Do
4. Until It's Time For You To Go
5. It's Impossible
6. What's Done Is Done
7. Pieces Of Dreams
8. Breakfast In Bed
9. Excuse Me
10. Bridge Over Troubled Water
11. I'm Not There
12. I'd Like To Hate Myself In The Morning (And Raise A Little Hell)
13. For The Love Of Him
14. Vehicle

Album Description

Reissue of the beloved Welsh diva's 1970 album for the United Artists label. Features the original cover art & all 12 of the cuts that first graced it, plus covers of Ides of March's classic 'Vehicle' & Bobbi Martin's smash 'For The Love Of Him' added as bonus tracks. 14 tracks total, all digitally remastered. Also features the original cover art. 1999 release.

Album Details

Remastered Reissue of her 1971 United Artist Label Release. Includes Bonus Tracks 'For the Love of Him'& 'Vehicle !'.

Customer Reviews:

ONE OF HER BEST STUDIO ALBUMS EVER!!!.......2007-07-15

If any album of Shirley Bassey's could be considered near perfection, it would be this one. Recorded in 1971 as a follow up to 1970's magnificent Something album, this is, in my humble opinion, her best United Artists work. Every song is a winner. Beautiful arrangements, vocals to give you chills. Tough to pick the best tracks, but Excuse Me, Bridge Over Troubled Water, Till Love Touches Your Life, Until It's Time For You To Go, and Judy Garland's I'd Like To Hate Myself In The Morning, are knockouts! A Bassey collection is not complete without this album!

SOMETHING MAGICAL IS "SOMETHING ELSE"!!.......2004-05-13

By the 1970's Shirley Bassey's voice became truly "Something Else" as it became more full bodied and rangy and also dramatically deepened in tone becomming one of the all time original great voices of the century!!! At the same time Johnny Harris stepped in as producer, arranger and conductor of the landmark 1970 "Something" album which was followed by this 1971 classic which sounds as great today and holds up as a timeless vocal masterpiece!! Opening with an opulant version of "(Where Do I Begin) Love Story", it is clear that Miss Bassey is in superb form in a glorious orchestration that gives this classic a timeless feeling. Stirring rhythm make "'Til Love Touches Your Life" a great ride while "Easy Thing To Do" is soulful and full of pathos. "Until It's Time For You To Go" is a song that has been done to death but this version is beautifully sung with so much feeling that it is fresh and gorgeous with each new listen and a fresh bossa nova approach to "It's Impossible" does the same for this standard. Powerful and dramatically moving make "What's Done Is Done" a stunner as is Michel LeGrand's beautiful "Pieces Of Dreams" which soars to a glorious finale! Sensuous and a naughty Shirley make for fun versions of "Breakfast In Bed" and "I'd Like To Hate Myself In The Morning (And Raise A Little Hell Tonight)". Nobody is quite as stunning as Shirley is on a torchy ballad full of pathos and none is finer that the classic "Excuse Me" where you feel her soul in this passion filled masterpiece. A complete vocal tour de force make "Bridge Over Troubled Water" as great as the original (which is a classic masterpiece!) so that in itself speaks volumes about the wonderous talent of Shirley Bassey!! Classic orchestration meets a classic performance and get ready to use the repeat button over and over on this incredible performance and enjoy!!!! "I'm Not There" is another incredibly moving song that one can get lost in as Shirley is simply magnificant and at her soulful best. Closing out this great collection of timeless performances are two greats recorded at the same time and "For The Love Of Him" and "Vehicle" would make the final cut of this classic set. Bravo Shirley!!!

Something Else.......2001-08-19

Something Else is the perfect title many times over! 1st Shirley's perfect voice always hitting the mark & those glorious high notes. 2nd, her way with the naughty songs: Breakfast in Bed & I'd Like to Hate Myself in Morning. No one comes close to matching Shirley for suggestive but classy material. 3rd, the unkown songs: Escuse Me, Easy Thing to Do, &, to some extent, Pieces of Dreams. These ***** should have been done to death but usually Shirley was the one with the taste to do these gems. In Excuse Me, she cuts to the quick when singing: YOU JUST DON'T CARE NO MORE! Dear God one feels her loss. Best ever about the first moments of discovering love is lost. 4th, Shirl's queenship of covering others' hits is again proven, doing Bridge over Troubled Water much more authoritatively than Art Garfunkel. She provides the strong voice that Artie lacks but is so needed for the song to artistically succeed. Love Story must make Andy Williams quake with envy. 5th, her beauty which is scantly shown to great success on the cover. Only Lena Horne & Linda Ronstadt shared same kind of physical & vocal beauty. 6th, Something Else is a sequel to the Something album. Both are this TRUE DIVA's most successful ventures: artistically & commerically. Please buy it & don't waste your time & money on stuff you won't play after the first time. I loved this for 30 years. May we all live that much longer!

She's truly Something Else!.......2000-07-30

I was so thrilled when I heard that "Something Else" was re-mastered. I bought the record years ago, and it's been my favorite Bassey Album since then. Here, You can feel her Power and emotion. I love " What's Done is Done", "Breakfast in Bed", and her version of "Bridge over Troubled water". The great thing is that 2 Bonus tracks are included on this album (For the Love of Him) & (Vehicle) both are great. She is an exceptional artist and by listening to this, you'll know what I mean!

great sample of her work.......1999-07-26

This album introduced me to Shirley Bassey. When I was about six or seven years old, I remember my father playing this on his then state-of-the-art Fisher stereo system. For years I kept my appreciation for Bassey secret, until she was featured on the "Oh Yeah" album by the band Yello in 1985. "Something Else," which offers rather limited tracks for Bassey, is nonetheless a tight sample of her soulful voice. Aretha Franklin has nothing on her. If you like Bassey, you'll likely appreciate Oleta Adams.

Average customer rating: A Must Have CD Toe-tapping stuff

Softly Wild and Something Else Johnny Richards Orchestra Manufacturer: Fresh Sounds Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Country | Styles | Music General | Jazz | Styles | Music Similar Items: Mosaic Select: Johnny Richards Modern Touch I Have But Two Horns / Plays Bill Holman's Arrangements The Bill Holman Band Live Complete 1959 & 1963 United Artists Complete Big Band Studio Recordings ASIN: B000B6TRNO Release Date: 2005-09-27

Tracks:

1. Waltz, Anyone?
2. For All We Know
3. Dimples
4. Band Aide
5. Turn Aboot
6. Burrito Borracho
7. Long Ago and Far Away
8. Aijalon
9. Walk Softly
10. Run Wild
11. Way You Look Tonight
12. Laura
13. Tempest on the Charles
14. Sunday's Child
15. Alone Together
16. Three Cornered Cat
17. You Go to My Head
18. Yemaya

Album Description

Johnny Richards was a man of convictions. Hearing the Richards aggregation, one can feel the leader's expansive expressiveness working. His main goal was the creation of interesting, stimulating music, not music of any particular kind. Recorded in Hollywood, August 1956 and New York City 1959. 18 tracks. Fresh Sound. 2005.

Customer Reviews:

A Must Have CD.......2006-07-24

Wow. This CD of 2 albums blows my mind. I should have heard this music years ago. I can't stop listening to it. The musicianship, particularly on Something Else, is insane. The compositions and arrangements range from hot to subtle. Richards can flow a 12-tone intro into a sultry Latin ballad, and integrate the themes throughout. There are crazy swinging fugues punctuated by tympani. Then again, mellow haunting melodies reach out and carry you off to another place. What a fascinating soundscape!

I discovered Kenton albums containing Richards charts back in high school in the '80s, when we played Kenton arrangements in stage band and an arrangement of "La Suerte de los Tontos" in marching band. A few months ago, I started listening to the mellophonium orchestra bonus tracks on Cuban Fire again, wanted more Richards, found Softly Wild and Something Else, and ordered it on a whim. I can't believe I had never listened to Richards' orchestra before. This CD has been a revelation.

This music may not be for everyone, particularly those who at the one extreme don't get large jazz groups, or those at the other who are looking for straight ahead big band. Very little is linier in Richards' sonic world. I've seen Richards compositions described as flamboyant and idiosyncratic but instead find them extraordinarily expressive. And this is not big band; it is truly jazz orchestra. There are so many Latin and classical influences on this music. It is easy to hear the impacts of romantic orchestration techniques and 20th century harmony. If you are looking for a sophisticated example of later large ensemble jazz, this is the stuff.

Toe-tapping stuff.......2006-03-07

Johnny Richards fans can toss their 1956 Bethlehem BCP6011 'Something Else' LP now that Fresh Sounds have wisely re-issued on CD the greatest jazz orchestra record of the fifties. He is mainly known for his arranging work with Stan Kenton but eight albums (all available on CD) were released between 1955 and 1966 under his own name.

Richard's arranging and composing skills really come across in the eight tracks on Something Else plus he got the best names around to play in his orchestra. I can't hear three of these too often, Dimples, Band Aide and Turn Aboot. This last one is so typical of his creative output, the composition is tight and has a little intro before the musicians surge into a swinging beat and frequently the melody is arranged to lead into a solo spot for trumpet, trombone or a sax.

The other ten tracks (six are Richards originals) on this great CD are from the 1959 Coral album 'Walk Softly...Run Wild' but overall I don't think they quite have the drive and energy so evident on Something Else. The recording also, I think, lacks the depth and presence of the Something tracks. Whoever was the engineer on that session in August 1956 really knew his stuff.

For his other six albums look out for the excellent three-CD box set 'Mosaic Select: Johnny Richards'. The material is really wide ranging, from classical sounding pieces, pure jazz orchestral swing and rhythmic interpretations of native dances.

Average customer rating: A bargain collection of showtunes

Golden Greats: Greatest Broadway Hits Manufacturer: Golden Greats ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD All Works by Bernstein | Bernstein, Leonard | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Duke, Vernon | ( D ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Gershwin | Gershwin, George | ( G ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Porter | Porter, Cole | ( P ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Weill | Weill, Kurt | ( W ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General Modern | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Modern & 20th Century | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music English | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Nostalgia | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music Movie Soundtracks | Soundtracks | Styles | Music General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music General | Musicals | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music Traditional Vocal Pop | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music General | Oldies | Pop | Styles | Music Traditional Pop | Oldies | Pop | Styles | Music Easy Listening | Compilations | Pop | Styles | Music General | Easy Listening | Pop | Styles | Music General | Vocal Pop | Pop | Styles | Music ASIN: B00005USEJ Release Date: 2002-02-26

Tracks:

1. Ouverture - Orchestra
2. Something Wonderfull - Dorothy Sarnoff
3. Doin' What Comes Natur'lly - Ethel Merman
4. Life Upon the Wicked Stage - Colette Lyons
5. So in Love - Patricia Morison
6. You'll Never Walk Alone - Jan Clayton, Christine Johnson
7. Bill - Carol Bruce
8. Hello, Young Lovers - Gertrude Lawrence
9. Bloody Mary - Male Chorus
10. I Can't Say No - Celeste Holm
11. This Was a Real Nice Clambake - Jan Clayton,
12. Oklahoma! - Alfred Drake
13. Sue Me - Vivian Blaine, Sam Levene
14. Woman Is a Sometime Thing - Edward Matthews
15. Some Enchanted Evening - Ezio Pinza,
16. I Got Plenty O' Nuttin' - Todd Duncan, Todd Duncan
17. Guys and Dolls - Douglas Deane, Stubby Kaye, Johnny Silver
18. It Ain't Necessarily So - Lawrence Tibbett
19. Make Believe - Jan Clayton
20. Wonderful Guy - Mary Martin
21. They Say It's Wonderful - Ethel Merman
22. When the Children Are Asleep - Jean Darling, Eric Mattson
23. More I Cannot Wish You - Pat Rooney, Sr., Pat Rooney, Sr.
24. Puzzlement - Yul Brynner
25. I Got Lost in His Arms - Ethel Merman

Tracks:

1. Overture...Summertime - Anne Brown
2. Why Can't You Behave? - Lisa Kirk, Harold Lang
3. Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man - Carol Bruce
4. There's No Business Like Show Business - Chorus
5. If I Were a Bell - Isabel Bigley
6. People Will Say That We're in Love - Alfred Drake, Joan Roberts
7. Bess, You Is My Woman Now - Anne Brown
8. Luck Be a Lady Tonight - Robert Alda
9. Shall I Tell You What I Think of You? - Gertrude Lawrence
10. Girl That I Marry - Ray Middleton
11. Nobody Else But Me - Jan Clayton
12. Carousel Waltz - Orchestra
13. Dites-Moi - Barbara Luna
14. Ol' Man River - Kenneth Spencer
15. Summertime
16. Many a New Day - Joan Roberts
17. Blow High, Blow Low - Murvyn Vye
18. It Takes a Long Pull to Get There - Edward Matthews
19. You've Got to Be Carefully Taught - Billy Tabbert
20. We Open in Venice - Alfred Drake
21. I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair - Mary Martin
22. Who Do You Love, I Hope? - Kathleen Carnes, Robert Lenn
23. I've Never Been in Love Before - Robert Alda
24. Tom, Dick or Harry - Lisa Kirk
25. I Whistle a Happy Tune - Gertrude Lawrence

Tracks:

1. New York, New York - Lynn Murray, Lynn Murray
2. Almost Like Being in Love - Marion Bell, Dave Brooks, David Brooks
3. Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered - Vivienne Segal
4. Beat out Dat Rhythm on a Drum - June Hawkins
5. How Are Things in Glocca Morra? - Ella Logan
6. Old Devil Moon - Ella Logan
7. South American Way - Carmen Miranda
8. September Song - Walter Huston
9. This Is the Army, Mister Jones - Irving Berlin
10. Takin' a Chance on Love - Ethel Waters
11. My Heart Belongs to Daddy - Mary Martin
12. Anything Goes - Jeanne Aubert & The Four Admirals
13. You're the Top - Jeanne Aubert & The Four Admirals
14. I Get a Kick Out of You - Ethel Merman
15. Night and Day - Fred Astaire
16. I Got Rhythm - Red Nichols & His Orchestra
17. Someone to Watch Over Me - Gertrude Lawrence
18. Fascinatin' Rhythm - Adele Astaire, Fred Astaire
19. Strike Up the Band - Red Nichols & His Orchestra
20. Makin' Whoopee - Eddie Cantor
21. Heatwave - Ethel Waters
22. Easter Parade - Clifton Webb
23. She Didn't Say Yes - Peggy Wood
24. I've Told Every Little Star - Mary Ellis
25. Johnny One Note - Lynn Murray, Lynn Murray

Album Description

Import exclusive, budget price compilation featuring Broadway classics like 'You'll Never Walk Alone', 'Summertime', & There's No Business Like Show Business', performed by Ethel Merman, Gertrude Lawrence, Celeste Holm, & many more. 75 tracks in all. Standard double jewel case. Disky. 2001.

Album Details

3 CD set

Customer Reviews:

A bargain collection of showtunes.......2005-08-19

This bargain collection of showtunes is highlighted by the composition of Kurt Weill and the uniquely rolling tongue of Colette Lyons. I have a complaint about this compilation. It includes "Ol' Man River", but it excludes Al Jolson's rendition of "Ol' Man River." Otherwise, this collection gives you ample bang for your buck.

Average customer rating: A great great record Another amazing record!

Why Don't We Talk About Something Else Outrageous Cherry Manufacturer: Rainbow Quartz ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music 4-for-3 Alternative Rock | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music 4-for-3 Pop | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music 4-for-3 Rock | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music 4-for-3 All Music | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: Outrageous Cherry Supernatural Equinox Our Love Will Change the World Book of Spectral Out There in the Dark ASIN: B00067HNAC Release Date: 2004-11-30

Tracks:

1. Why Don't We Talk About Something Else
2. My Suspicious Midwest
3. Don't Worry
4. Eternity Changed Her Mind
5. Detroit Blackout

Customer Reviews:

A great great record.......2005-08-28

These guys just get better and better. Put it in your cart NOW!

Another amazing record!.......2004-12-06

Over the last year or so, Outrageous Cherry has become one of my alltime favorite bands. Their perfect mix of 60's Pop/Psychedelia/spacerock/whatever is still going strong here, but the psychedelic aspect is toned down a little. "Why Don't We Talk About Something Else" and "DOn't Worry" are pretty poppy. My two favorite tracks on here, "My Suspicious Midwest" and "Eternity Changed Her Mind" are both slower, but really prettty and addicting. Two of these songs are going to be on their upcoming album, and if this EP is anywhere near as good as the album, we're in for a treat.

Average customer rating:

Something Else!:The Music of Ornette Coleman Manufacturer: Contemporary/OJC ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Avant Garde & Free Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music ASIN: B0002516Q0 Release Date: 1992-07-13

Average customer rating: Under-rated funked fusion classic INCREDIBLE FUNK-SOUL-JAZZ-ROCK FUSION--

Something Else Jeremy Steig Manufacturer: Delta ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Blues | Styles | Music Avant Garde & Free Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music Bebop General | Bebop | Jazz | Styles | Music General | Jazz | Styles | Music Jazz Fusion | Jazz | Styles | Music Modern Postbebop | Jazz | Styles | Music Bebop & Post-Bop | Compilations | Jazz | Styles | Music Classic Big Band | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music CDs Under $7 | Jazz General | Jazz | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music All Bargain Titles | Jazz General | Jazz | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music Similar Items: Jigsaw ASIN: B000001VYX Release Date: 1996-09-17

Tracks:

1. Home
2. Cakes
3. Swamp Carol
4. Down Stretch
5. Give Me Some
6. Come With Me
7. Dance Of The Mind
8. Up Tempo Thing
9. Elephant Hump
10. Rock #6
11. Slow Blues In G
12. Rock #9
13. Something Else

Customer Reviews:

Under-rated funked fusion classic.......2005-06-20

Half the sessions that make this album up were first released on Capitol as "Energy", with original cover art by Steig; the complete session was released on the short-lived vinyl label Groove Merchant Records in the 80's. The title cut from "Energy" is gone here, but it's otherwise the complete session, and a classic one, too.

In the wake of other fusion classics, (and the sudden pop popularity of Jethro Tull) both Steig and and Herbie Mann broke flute into fusion in a big way, as flutists who didn't double on other winds.

Steig doubled on everything in the flute family, though; he played everything from bass flute to piccolo, (taking to another level the voice techniques that Ian Anderson had lifted from Roland Kirk) and multi-tracked extra parts on "Dance of the Mind". Jan Hammer (pre-Mahavishnu and Miami Vice) made his US debut, playing Fender-Rhodes e-piano cranked up through fuzz and wah-wah, while drummer Don Alias and the bassists got so funky that you could practically smell the record. (thirty years later, Steig still duets with Eddie Gomez!)

This all got recorded at Electric Lady Studios by former Hendrix mix-master Eddie Kramer (check the pan-pot action on "Swamp Carol"!)

Now it's a blast from the past at a bargain price.

INCREDIBLE FUNK-SOUL-JAZZ-ROCK FUSION--.......2003-11-16

Nobody has reviewed this??! Suddenly there seems to be a heavy weight of responsibility on my shoulders... maybe it's just that everybody knows full & well how outta sight this is, & you're all laughin' right now, sayin' "man, can you believe this cat? Pointing at the air we breathe & ranting that it gives life-"
-But that scenario would simply be a joy.
It must be said: get the cd, because it's easy to find--- and while you're chewin', look for the VINYL. Here's why: The six extra tracks on the cd definitely stray a bit from the overall feel of the album, and tend more to act, collectively, as sort of an extra & quite unnecessary wheel, you might say. -Good stuff, yes; but, relatively dry and straight-ahead-blues-jam oriented.
-What makes the album material great is a much more universal fusion, progressively. --...Aaaahh, acoustic cosmic ghetto funk, with just enough of a chill to really take you to the street... and just enough warmth to squeeze sweet tears of joy from your heart. Music that goes with you where you go and takes you with it, too. The photo of the street scene on the cover of the LP says it perfectly. And, AND, the kicker is, there's actually a track on the album not on the cd... a nice one, too. An essential which is very much missed on the cd. -The vinyl LP isn't called "Something Else" nor does it contain that song. You'll likely, it seems, find it as one record in the EUROPA JAZZ Series... simply and almost hauntingly titled:"Jeremy Steig, Jan Hammer, Don Alias, Eddie Gomez." -But fitting for a beautifully haunting album.
Again-- emotive, reflective & driving funky rock-jazz, wonderfully progressive... the musicians' individual performances are brilliant,(Jan is SO organic, flowing & funky- makes his Mahavishnu stuff seem exceedingly cold and mathematical-) and the human combo here is spectacular.
The missing track is called "Energy". Hope you enjoy.

Average customer rating:

Krenek: Ballad of the Railroads Op98; Durch die Nacht Op67 Manufacturer: Orfeo ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Krenek, Ernst | ( K ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General Modern | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Keyboard | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music ASIN: B00003NHBI Release Date: 1999-12-15

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