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Post by jasonaustin on Dec 11, 2022 17:54:56 GMT -5
Anybody else count themseves a fan of the guy? I'm listening to the unreleased second Ballroom album right now and was compelled to write something. I'm always tempted to compare and contrast Curt's production style with Brian's, although that's not really fair to either, I suppose. They both heavily favored 12-string guitars and assorted percussion (the clip-clop, and so forth). But the way they arranged vocals was actually worlds apart. Curt's arrangements are typically far busier, sometimes to the music's detriment. (Witness the two songs he arranged for Gene Clark.) The common bonds between Curt and the Beach Boys are Gary Usher and Tandyn Almer, both of whom split their time between both camps. Unfortunately neither of them are alive today to be able to share their experiences with us. Bruce spent a lot of time with Curt in the seventies, but always seems reticent when it comes to discussing their relationship. Still, a lot of good stuff in Curt's catalog that should appeal to Beach Boys and sixties pop/ vocal harmony fans in general: - The Goldebriars
- The Ballroom
- Sagittarius (with Gary Usher)
- The Millennium
- solo
- California Music (with Mike Meros, Terry Melcher, Bruce, etc.)
He also produced Looking Back with Love, but let's not hold that against him! Anyway, just thought I'd start a thread in case there were any other members of the Curt Cult hanging out here.
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Post by boogieboarder on Dec 12, 2022 10:57:33 GMT -5
I absolutely love the first album by The Association which was produced by Curt Boettcher, and the band was foolish to change the producer to Jerry Yester for their second album.
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Post by Mark on Dec 12, 2022 16:08:08 GMT -5
I love Curt Boettcher’s stuff. I picked up an 8cd box set of The Millennium (At Last) while on holiday a few years ago and that had a load of great Boettcher solo stuff on it. I also picked up a covers album of his stuff on the same trip by Beth Sorrentino. Never heard of her before and picked up the CD blind but glad I did. m.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kklfOxN1g7jdXkkdXBdNtxXA3OP3wPT0w
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Post by jasonaustin on Dec 12, 2022 17:47:34 GMT -5
I absolutely love the first album by The Association which was produced by Curt Boettcher, and the band was foolish to change the producer to Jerry Yester for their second album. I'm glad you brought the Association up, and I couldn't agree more. I'm a fan of pretty much everything they recorded up through 1972, but that first album is special and Renaissance (relative merits aside) was a step down. I might go so far as to say that the first Association album is actually one of the most underrated sixties albums out there. I read somewhere that Brian told one of the guys in the band (I think it was Terry Kirkman, if I'm not mistaken) that it was the best debut album he'd ever heard.
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Post by jasonaustin on Dec 12, 2022 17:48:34 GMT -5
I love Curt Boettcher’s stuff. I picked up an 8cd box set of The Millennium (At Last) while on holiday a few years ago and that had a load of great Boettcher solo stuff on it. I also picked up a covers album of his stuff on the same trip by Beth Sorrentino. Never heard of her before and picked up the CD blind but glad I did. m.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kklfOxN1g7jdXkkdXBdNtxXA3OP3wPT0wThanks for this. I've not heard of Beth Sorrentino, but I'll be checking this out forthwith.
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Post by jk on Dec 13, 2022 5:41:20 GMT -5
Something I discovered while checking out King Harvest to see if CB had any connections with them (it seems he didn't), is that back in 1968 keyboardist Ron Altbach moved to Paris to study classical piano with Nadia Boulanger! Now Nadia B had taught everyone in all walks of music during her long life (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadia_Boulanger]here[/url]). That places Ron a handshake a way from George Gershwin, whom Ms Boulanger refused to teach, afraid that rigorous classical study would ruin his jazz-influenced style. And, I found this cool interview with KH’s Rod Novak...
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Post by jasonaustin on Dec 13, 2022 18:46:54 GMT -5
Something I discovered while checking out King Harvest to see if CB had any connections with them (it seems he didn't), is that back in 1968 keyboardist Ron Altbach moved to Paris to study classical piano with Nadia Boulanger! Now Nadia B had taught everyone in all walks of music during her long life (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadia_Boulanger]here). That places Ron a handshake a way from George Gershwin, whom Ms Boulanger refused to teach, afraid that rigorous classical study would ruin his jazz-influenced style. And, I found this cool interview with KH’s Rod Novak... Interesting factoid there, jk. I'm not familiar with Ms. Boulanger, but I'm guessing we should be thankful that she had the foresight not to mess with Gershwin's approach? Definitely no Curt involvement with King Harvest that I've ever heard of. The closest he might have gotten was producing the debut album by Eternity's Children, some of whom later wound up founding the group Starbuck in the early 70s. (I always feel the need to hear "Moonlight Feels Right" after "Dancin' in the Moonlight", or vice-versa.)
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Post by jasonaustin on Dec 13, 2022 18:55:57 GMT -5
I might try posting a few select Boettcher productions/performances here in an effort to draw some interest to his work.
I'll start with this one, since it's off the album boogieboarder recommended. It's a collaboration between Curt and Tandyn Almer. This was released in July of '66, and it's pretty clear that some of those involved were still under the spell of Pet Sounds at the time. Joe Foster (the record producer) mentioned in an interview once that Curt borrowed the oscillator heard during the instrumental break from Brian Wilson, but I've never seen that confirmed anywhere else. You can also hear the Japanese koto clearly in the right channel during this portion-- an instrument Curt would later feature on the Millennium's sole album for CBS.
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