Variety (December 1957)

Wednesday, December 4, 1957 f<SniETf S1VSIC Lean Days for Picassos of Platters I Jazzsters Not a Major Magnet In As Album Art Takes on Fanuliar Look Concert Stance; Wame Psemlo-'Stars’ Jazz came to New York's Car- ppralleling problems in the rep- f~ - r — 1 ' ■ ■ —r—————-— negie Hall on two levels Friday _ ^ - - - - - ertoire phase of disk packaging, art jb—• OC- IV night (29), an all-femme group nr n ti- directors are facing an exhaustion WCCR IM UlYVy roZ^and a'nSdern^e : c^cS WaK BlOg of new ideas for album covers. At JDecca ; Records has declared a blowing in the big haU. The ladies Mary Lewis Coakley calls her jtlie present time, about 85% of all <UViden ? of merely demonstrated that, as! far hiograhpy of the bandleader, “Mr. album covers now use four-color snare on the company s capital as j azz g oes> their place is still in Music Maker, Lawrence Welk,” photography, a condition which is giving a monotonous look-alike • quality to packaged merchandise. Striking covers for the album product are the keys to getting ex¬ posure in a retail store. Bob Jones, RCA Victor art chief,: points out, however, that a good cover can’t sell an album if the merchandise in the groove doesn’t stand up. But a striking cover can save worthy material from getting lost in the shuffle. Stock. It’s payable Dec. 30 to stockhold¬ ers of record Dec. 16. Between Aoto Shows And Old College Tell, the kitchen. slated for March publication via Dizzy Gillespie band (which was ^ tt „ playing below), out of all the dis- taffers, was of downstairs caliber. En ° y MUS . lc * also While the basic trio, Jean Galvis, ^ u * “ Marcm _ however, that a good cover , can’t „ • * vu » an imaginative pianist; Elaine - 1 ---— sell an album if the merchandise in Marclunl’e in Tlnirar Leighton, a strong drummer, and D_ * DnAlr m Dni the groove doesn’t stand up. But MarSHalO.-$ III ynOYCF Gloria Beil, bass, can stand on iiyiDJ 1 vUCK IO DHl* ! a striking Cover can save worthy Boston, Dec. 3. their own as competent jazzmen, a »r p I' T a J i t i material from getting lost In the Harry Marshard, the Hub-based skilled harpist ilke Betty Glamann 10 «€t lUtOrOQ lDtO ! shuffle. society orch leader. Is musical dl- could not fit her difficult instru- l\ I J II • Jones believes that four-color I rector for the Boston Auto Dealers’ ment into the jazz bracket, while UflllCClUUUl ffliYSlOnCS photography has been overdone arid “Stars and Cars” show ait Common- Morgana King, the . evening’s vo- . (r that art work on albums may Shift wealth Armory running Nov. 30 calist, didn’t have a mike to give ■■ ,. . . j - to a more sophisticated approach, through Dec. 8. Marshard, Who her voice the electronics it needed. ... A. school, for dancebands .Is thriy- He ‘pointed to the possibility of arranged the musical theme under The peter Long-Charles Rosen ^ using more illustrations or graphic fb* title of “Fascination,” brought production was half rehearsed and Dennis Matthews. It s. called the art . as a departure from photo- in Jane Morgan, whose album of the small hall was half-filled. London Student Orchestras and graphic realism: that name has just been released; the bit? hash in the mAin room sessions a week in a * ... ., , .. Phyllis Ponn ballerina > n H the oasn in ine main room West End"basement. Budding mu- -Jones speculated that the popu- Buddy Thomas l£e OOT *' the ™ « two-session benefit for the slcians> *ho must pass a profit Iar M? P h »‘?' “W “f*” .from *»» FoltaWni toto doto ho . Hiatt.. ency test, are schooled in section puhllc conditioning by video and outwlthiss’m*n for toechJmnS pr i du “ 4 by Kenneth Lee Karpe, *** when they reach a high, the picture magazines. He agrees S'“*,““"”5**?* and: a professional job on all grade are put on the books that photos^will always play an hn- Detrott, CindSLatl ^t^LOuSs « #oM ^ ."»*** ^as .saldto be , s pf^ibleo for pro bands. Sey-: portayt roio to album arte ;but cle ”j''nd Chicago’BMil on™ near capacity and midnight, house mus iciai, s have been placed would like to see a more flexible York -and hack J a i o35o ’ “ * must ha V® been a good 60% toll, with bands to this way. approach to cover art. ’Mittal’S biggest For a fee of $1, th/stodents get The widesprred jwe of photog- years since 1932 on the college Im^,v™wSu s g rtonover^ 1,1 *' f * two-and-a^uarter-hour tultlonal raphy. tor album art has led both dance circuit, Marshard says. While '“if . session to section and toll orch RCA Victor and Capitol Records to football heroes have come, and The Gillespie band was the Main object is to impress approacn to cover art. This has been One of toe biggest ^ * to* toe students get The widesprred jwe of photog- years since 1932 on too college im^aV^wntof ctonover^ f * two-and-a^uarter-hour tultlonal raphy. f°r album art has led both dance circuit, Marshard says. While '"If- Cp n 0V er - = session in section and full orch RCA Victor and Capitol Records to football heroes have come and The Gilles pie band was the worlc Main object is to impress set up their >own studios for such gone and are currently In a sad mainstay of the evening, its big the importance of teamwork on work. state, Marshard goes on with the sound warming and feeding budding danceband musicians. - : --— : —* same kind of music he’s played for Die audience. Aus.iin Cromer’s At present the LSD has 65 pu- - ■ - mwmm the past 25 years. The style, he voice and Lee Morgan's trumpet p u s on its books, and operates three J Llyi T..: says, has a society tempo with a were solo standouts. They were bands. They never play profes- 11130 I Hlnl IIV rlTI dixieland beat. “This style con- followed by the Zoot Sims quartet, 8 i ona i engagements* butsometimes w *>vwv vi urn tmues,” he says, “and is now more soon joined by Chet Baker for a ge t practical experience working _ _ _ popular than before." (Continued on page 64) charity, concerts. Grab 1,580 of’Em In Boston Raids On "Hot’Biscuits . Boston, Dec. 3. i Hundreds of alleged obscene records, nabbed by a squad of Hub detectives in two raids Fri¬ day (29) and. valued at more than $6,000, brought a check of stores T selling disks and of dislrib firms Saturday (30). It was the first such raid in local history! Lt. Edward F. Blake, who led the- raids on a Back Bay record, shop and a company warehouse ih the South End, said that officers •are seeking other , local disk stores which may have bought the plat¬ ters from the' same wholesaler. Blake said he would seek warrants against both the retailer and the distrib in municipal court. | More than 1,500 platters includ- 1 ing LP’s, were seized. About 400 of the disks had blank labels and. many others bore only sug-, gestiye titles, police said. The raids, it was stated, climaxed a three- week investigation after a num¬ ber of parents had complained that the recordings \rere being peddled to their teenage sons and ; daughters. 1 After receiving search warrants i from Judge Elijah Adlow, who j listened to several of the selec¬ tions, vice squad members con- ■ ducted the raids.; ( Judge Adlow recently blasted rOck ’n’ roll af-j fairs after a Boston Garden rock; show which resulted in court ap- i pearances of several audience * members.) Police said the records were sold : to teenagers at $6.50 each. Some ! of: the disks \\ r ere recorded in} .French, police said, and others 4 contained voices that sounded like j those of Hollywood personalities j (^perhaps simulated—Ed’s, note). Envelopes, with pictures of scant- j ity.clad.femmes, encased.a number- of the albums. Many of the platters were of the | Blank label type, not crediting ; the performing artists. As a re-! suit of the raids,, a close check is j •being made of all record firms to • stop the sale .of pornographic disks', that could be considered daihkg-' ing to the morals of teenagers. Blake said two plainclothes de¬ tectives went to the Back Bay store last week and bought a fee-. ord with a blank label. This was, later played before Judge Adlow. The raiders seizer .40 disks at the > store and the rest at the dis’rib : «ri They also nabbed several-: tape recordings. 1 PHrIETY Scoreboard OF TOP TALENT ANP TUNES I Compiled, from Statistical Reports of Distribution Encompassing the Three Major Outlets ■ » Coin Machines Retail Disks Retail Sheet Music as Published in the CuiTent Issue NOTE: The current comparative sales strength of the Artists and: Tunes listed hereunder is arrived at under u statistical system comprising each of the rthree major sales outlets enu¬ merated above . These findings are correlated with data from wider sources* which are exclusive with Variety. The positions resulting from these findings denote the OVERALL IMPACT de¬ veloped from the ratio of points scored, two ways iii the case of talent (coin machines, retail disks) dnd.three ways in the case of tunes (coin machines, retail disks and .retail sheet musich By MIKE GROSS Concert jazz is running behind its counterpart in the niterv and recording field. The jazzsters, who’ve been blowing up a storm in niteries and disks the past year, have been slow on the b.o. draw in the concert halls. Aside from the current “tight money” alibi, most of the blame la being put on the johnny-come-late- ly promoters trying to hop on the jazz gravy train. The bookers claim that it takes more to being a pro¬ moter than just the ability to lino up, a string of artists. The jazz concerts, they say, are doing bad¬ ly because they are “bad con¬ certs.” The young promoters aye trying to get by. for the most part, by passing off featured billing tooters or sidemen as stars—-and it’s not been working. Also, , certain concert scheduling has been hurting them. Some have booked. midweek conceits when there’s only an aud for a week¬ end gig, while others have slotted midnight shows when an eariy evening setup was called for. ’ jazz concerts that , give some thought to the timing of the date, and which carry a load of star at¬ tractions; can still do big biz! one promoter said, but there’s now too much mediocrity being thrown In¬ to the jazz concert field. The jazz concert downbeat was pointed up over the Thanksgiving weekend when a flock of jazzsters moved into New York’s Carnegie Hall. The shoWs played to half- filled houses. Norman Granz’s tour¬ ing perennial, “Jazz At The. Phil¬ harmonic,” also was way below expectations. Tour ended up in the black but it w T as far behind^ Its I (Continued on page 61). TALENT POSITIONS This Last Week Week ARTIST AND LABEL TUNE SAM COOKE (Keen) You Send Mef ELVIS PRESLEY (Victor) . Jailhouse Rockf PAT BOONE (Dot) April Love* RAYS v (Cameo) Silhouettes! BOBBY HELMS (Decca).....My Special Angelf FRANK SINATRA .(Capitol) .............. All The W<#* POSITIONS This Last Week Week JOHNNY MATHIS (Columbia) .. EVERLY BROS. (Cadence) V jlMMIE RODGERS (Roulette)..; . = v., .... Ki THURSTON HARRIS (Aladdin) L TUNES TUNE PUBLISHER * APRIL LOVE—“April Love”-F Feist fYOU SEND ME Higuera f JAILHOUSE ROCK—“Jailhouse Rock”-F Presley f SILHOUETTES .Regent ?ALL THE WAY—“Joker Is Wild ?, -F Maraville ^FASCINATION—“Love In The Afterndon”-F Southern fRAUNCHY Hi-Lo rCHANCES ARE ,. Korwin fMELODIE D’AMOUR Rayven fWAKE UP LITTLE SUSIE . .. Acuff-Rose (*A.SCAP fBMI F-FiJms) (Chances Are* *“*{Twelfth of Ndver* Wake Up Little Susief ... .Kisses Sweeter Than Winef Little Bitty Pretty Onef Dollar to Dealers i ToHypoPromotion j Audio Fidelity, indie diskery ; operated by Sidney Frey, pulled, off ; a can’t-miss eye-catching promo- | tion aimed at dealers last week, j Circulars w’ere mailed to over j 2;000 key. retailers with an at- j tached dollar bill and penny de- j signed to point up the label’s mer- I chandising slogan of “dollar profits vs. penny profits.” , Frey’s operation, one of the most consistently successful indie labels, has been based on a fixed '$5.95 price to the consumer with the dealer getting the regular 40% markup and the distributor his 22% margin. The AF label, more¬ over, has been unique among the indies with' its consumer-directed ad campaign, pegged onto a hi-fi f angle, in the national mags. ... Frey initially clicked a few years ago with “The Investigator,” an album version of the Canadian | Broadcasting Corp.’s satire on the their living Senator Joseph' Mc¬ Carthy. That set sold around .(60,000 copies under Frey’s label | and it’s estimated has sold about las much viaHhe numerous pirated 4 versions. j More recently. Audio ^Fidelity’s f “Brave Bulls” and “Port Said” {sets have been strong sellers, ] along with -the Dukes of Dixie- ; land. Latter combo has been, next f to Louis Armstrong, the bestsell- ! ing dixieland jazz group on wax . during the past year, with each of their sets for the label hitting the 50,000 marker. Garner’s O’seas Concerts ; . Erroll Garner planed out of New ! York Sunday <1) for his. first con- i cert thur of Europe. Initial stops •for the pianist will be in Paris where" he begins a three-week en¬ gagement at the Olympia Theatre tomorrow (Thurs.). Garner will remain overseas un- i til the middle of January, follow¬ ing his Paris, date, with concert ; stands in mid-Europe. Upon his re¬ turn to the States, he’ll resume' work on the ballet score for the New York City Ballet Co., and start concert trekking again.