Music To Read Stan Cornyn's Liner Notes By

(Click on any of the text 'clippings' to ENLARGE on a new page)

The Mary Kaye Trio - 'Jackpot!' (W-1263)↑

'The Hit Sound Of Dean Martin' (R-6213)↓
Nobody wrote liner notes like Stan Cornyn.

For 34 years, Cornyn was a creative executive with Warner Bros. Records and the Reprise label.

Among his many accomplishments and escapades there, he wrote a ton of liner notes for (mostly) pop LPs.

This would be mostly back in the 1960's, when liner notes were more common. (LPs, too)

His notes could run the gamut from dry and flatly descriptive, to expressive and evocative, and to loopy stream-of-conciousness meanderings into the outer regions. There are bits and pieces of a few of those here.

For more examples and further background, please direct your attention to a detailed Stan Cornyn page at Space Age Pop.Com.

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The Gateway Singers - 'On The Lot' (W-1295) ↑

'And Now... The Anita Kerr Orchestra' (W-1640) ↓


The Marketts - 'Out Of Limits' (W-1537) ↓






←Trini Lopez- 'Trini' (R-6196)

Lee Hazlewood - 'Friday's Child' (R-6163) ↓























Mel Taylor and The Magics - 'In Action' (W-1624)↓
(See also previous Mel Taylor post)
















The Kirby Stone Four - 'Wow!' (W - 1508)↑

Petula Clark - 'These Are My Songs' (W-1698)↓


Sidney Poitier - 'Journeys Inside The Mind (The Dialogues of Plato, The Music of Fred Katz)' (W-1740)↓


Bill Cosby - '200 M.P.H.' (W-1757)↓


Frank Sinatra - 'Strangers In The Night' (R-1017)↓


Irving Taylor - 'Drink Along With Irving' (W-1323)↓
Dick & Dee Dee -
'Songs We've Sung On Shindig'
(W-1623)↓

Petula Clark - 'Color My World/Who Am I'
(W-1673)↓


































Frank Sinatra - 'September Of My Years'
(R-1014)↓


The Everly Brothers - 'Gone, Gone, Gone' (W-1585)↓


Sammy Davis Meets Sam Butera and The Witnesses - 'When The Feeling Hits You!' (R-6144)↓


Bob Newhart - 'The Windmills Are Weakening' (W-1588)↓


Peter, Paul, and Mary - 'See What Tomorrow Brings' (W-1615)↓


Nancy Sinatra - 'Boots' (R-6202)↓



Petula Clark - 'The Other Man's Grass Is Always Greener' (W-1719)↓



Bill Cosby - 'Why Is There Air?' (W-1606)↓


'Trini Lopez In London' (R-6238)→

It was often the case 'back in the day' for liner notes to carry little or no recording session info or date. Likewise it was common for liner notes to go un-credited. So in fact, a few of the examples here may NOT have been written by Stan Cornyn.

But I'll just betcha they were...










... and finally, here's one of my favorite jewels in the Cornyn crown;

The Anita Kerr Singers - 'Slightly Baroque' (W-1665)↓

(Click on any of the text 'clippings' to ENLARGE on a new page)


...and here's some music, by which one may read Stan Cornyn's liner notes whilst listening...

(click links for audio)

Listen to:
Irving Taylor - Tipsy #3 (vocal by The Chumps) †
Petula Clark - England Swings
Anita Kerr - Con Te Sulla Spiaggia
The Everly Brothers - Radio And TV
The Kirby Stone Four (w/ orch. conducted by Dick Hyman) - The Blacksmith Blues
Trini Lopez - If You Were Me
Peter, Paul and Mary - Tryin' To Win
Nancy Sinatra - I Move Around
Lee Hazlewood - Friday's Child
The Gateway Singers - Don't You Lie, Daddy-O
Dick & Dee Dee - P.S. 1402 (Your Local Charm School)
Trini Lopez - Fever
The Mary Kaye Trio - Day In, Day Out
Petula Clark - Resist
Dean Martin - Terrible, Tangled Web
Frank Sinatra - My Baby Just Cares For Me
Sammy Davis Meets Sam Butera and The Witnesses - There Will Never Be Another You
Sidney Poitier - This I Know - - That I Know Nothing
Irving Taylor - Domestic Wine (vocal by Robie Lester)
The Anita Kerr Singers - One Note Samba
The Marketts - Re-Entry
Dick & Dee Dee - Vini Vini
Mel Taylor And The Magics - Bullseye

(click links for audio)

You can listen to any of these LP tracks individually, or you can click here or also here to download all of them together in a 53MB zip file. (available for a limited time)

† The deep-voiced vocalist on 'Tipsy #3' is of course Thurl Ravenscroft. Among many other credits, Mr. Ravenscroft was known as the voice of Tony The Tiger, one of the voices on the Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland, and the singer of 'You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch'. For more info and examples of his work, head over to All Things Thurl.


ADDENDUM, 11/30/07: I received an especially gratifying e-mail today. It's from Stan Cornyn!

He writes:


Just came across this Blog. Thank you for all the attention. I think, looking WAY back, that I did write all of the ones you cited, though maybe not the PP&M one. But I must have written a thousand of these babies back then.

Pleased you've been so tenacious. I walked out of a Montecito cafe the other evening, where the bartender is a fan. I asked him to tell the couple we were with who I was. He immediately answered, "The guy who wrote the liner notes for The Mexicali Singers."

Makes me feel a bit aged, but I'll take that with the sweetness.

-- Stan


Thanks again, Stan. It was a labor of Love.

Paperback cover gallery: 1960's Teensploitation and more (flickr link)

More juicy covers, more fun.

Angry young men, wayward and wanton women.

Caulfield clones, troubled youth, and just plain trouble.

Exposés exposed, coming of age in a bygone age.

A batch published in the late '50's through to the mid-'70's.






Link to my flickr set:
1960's paperback cover gallery:Teensploitation and more





(...and click here to see ALL my flickr paperback gallery links)

Gerty Molzen - Walk On The Wild Side

Gerty Molzen (1906 - 1990) was a German actress who experienced several different careers in her lifetime.

Her opera and classical singing were put on hold by WWII, by its end she was a cabaret singer. In 1962 she began her film career; among her acting credits were Wim Wenders' 'The American Friend' in 1977. Somewhere along the way she authored several humorous books, as well.

Beginning in 1984, Gerty achieved international fame with her vocal interpretations of various contemporary pop songs, most notably her cover version of this Lou Reed signature tune. She was 79.

Her final film role was in 1989, in a segment of Gábor Altorjay's 'Polsprung'. She injects an odd bit of humor into a deathbed scene in which she covers James Brown's 'It's A Man's Man's Man's World'.

- - You can view a RealPlayer-compatible clip of this scene here. Scroll half-way down the page to where you'll see "Gerty Molzen sings This is a man´s world in Poleshift (City life episode)". - -

More on Molzen:
Her homepage (in German)
Her bio translated into broken english from a German wikipedia page.

Listen to: Gerty Molzen - Walk On The Wild Side (click for audio)

King Novelty Curio Catalog

American folklore, and American history; John The Conqueror Root, Van Van Oil, and The Lucky Mojo Bag. Hoodoo Charms and The Seven Keys To Power.

For a large portion of the 20th century, these items and many more were available from the King Novelty Co. out of Chicago, as well as dozens of other similar outfits. They were popular in the '30's and '40's, (when this catalog was likely printed) but several products continued to be advertised into the '60's and beyond.

I find the pages of this old catalog to be a juicy treat and fascinating to ponder. You could probably guess this by my inability to choose any of it to edit out for this posting.

Looking through the various curios, I half expected to see other folkloric wares, like tombstone bullets, cobra snake neckties, or a kit for building your own chimney out of human skulls. No such luck. Maybe that was a different catalog.

(Click on images to ENLARGE to a grossly huge and unwieldy size in a new window. You WILL want to be able to read the fine print.)

















(Click on images to ENLARGE to a grossly huge and unwieldy size in a new window. You WILL want to be able to read the fine print.)

So are these products a thing of the past? No, not quite. In doing just a tiny bit of research, I happily discovered the online catalog for The Lucky Mojo Curio Co.

Go to the website, where you can learn *so much more* about these items and their usage. You can see images from similar vintage catalogs, some of the packaging for the original curios, as well as their modern descendants.

The homepage and *vast, extensive, and scholarly* affiliated pages are written by cat yronwode, whose name I've not heard since back in the days of the Eclipse Comics publishing company. Nice to see what she's been up to since.

The breadth and detail of info available at her site is amazing. One page that stood out in particular for me included facts about the interesting history of King Novelty, and the definition and history of Hoodoo Rootwork in general. Don't confuse it with voodoo, and do take a look.

- - And for just a wee bit of further enlightenment, listen to this sales testimonial for the Mojo Bag. (click for audio)

The Two Things In One - Overdose

Golly gee, not a bit of info about this band, at least nothing I've been able to lay hands on so far.

This song is the rolling, funky, growling soul B-side to a pretty tepid and mellow A-side.

I'll take a whiff and guess we're talking smack dab in the mid-1970's.

Shall we assume that Music City Records was based in Nashville? (no, turns out we shan't*) Who do you suppose the vocalist is?

Feel free to jump in any time here and set the record straight...

*ADDENDUM 5/5/ - 5/7/07: Ask and ye shall receive. Bless the internet, and the people out there with all the answers. Check the comments on this post for the pertinent info on this band and their releases! Thanks all!


Listen to: The Two Things In One - Overdose (click for audio)

Reasons To Be Cheerful: week of 05/04/07

1. Recently I came upon two websites whose intent and 'mission' are pretty much polar opposites, but they both made me smile.

Go check out BalloonHat and Hate Book and see if you don't have the same reaction.

2.We're entering into prime garage sale-ing season. Happy hunting.

3. I was *almost* surprised how much I enjoyed the bits and pieces I saw of the 2-part 'Brando' documentary that ran on TCM this past week. - - And knowing their M.O., it's a safe bet I'll have more opportunities to catch the whole thing. Maybe I'll get it together to set my VCR this time. (remember VCR's?)

4. Critters. Do you pay attention to the critters in your neighborhood? Are you lucky enough to have some?

Back in California, it was the squirrels, the blue jays, the turkey vultures, the occasional raccoon and the ever-present deer. When one of my nieces was little, I remember once we were watching the family of deer that pretty much lived in our backyard all Summer. She asked me, "Who do those deer belong to? Who takes care of them?", and had trouble comprehending that in that suburban neighborhood, they belonged to no one and took care of themselves. As I think of it now, the day may be coming when that's a pretty remarkable feat.

Here, still settling into a new neighborhood in another state altogether, it's a different cast of critter characters. There are the interesting 'kept' ones; the screaming peacocks, the llamas, the goats, the miniature horses and their amazing miniature colts. I suppose I'm glad that I'm NOT dealing with 'pests' like the bobcats and wolves and bears with which some folks not too far away have to contend. The terrier in the house is already very vocal about the occasional scent he catches of visiting fox and coyote... (and of course the labrador doesn't care)

...But the wild ducks and geese are fun, and the prairie chickens are a trip. A couple weeks back I counted dozens of jackrabbits chasing each other and humping in a nearby field of sage. I've gotten to where I can recognize a particular enormous hawk that's laid claim to a few pastures in the 'hood, and it's fun to watch the smaller kestrels stay out of his way.

I hope you have critters you can enjoy where you are, and I hope you're remembering to enjoy them while you can.

5. Comedian Steven Wright's latest stand-up concert to be released on DVD is called 'Steven Wright: When the Leaves Blow Away'.

I rented it a couple of nights ago. It's great, and it leaves you wanting more. He's still got it, and it's still working. The brain-bending juxtapositions, the perfectly apt non sequiturs, and the deadpan delivery that still makes me think of Jackie Vernon.

You can view a preview clip of the video here, and you might want to take a peek at his website, too.

I gather also that there are several 'Steven Wright Quotations' pages to be found around the net, but oddly, many of them include material that he never wrote. An interesting phenomenon, is that close enough to be considered 'homage'?

6. HEY! Have you seen the 'Leave It To Beaver' letter over at Shorpy: The 100-Year-Old Photo Blog? Gee, maybe you oughta go see. You don't want people thinking you're some kinda creep or nothin'...

In Crowd of the month: Dick Hyman & Harpsichord

Dick Hyman has enjoyed a long and varied musical career spanning the last 50 years or so. Session man, musical arranger, composer - - He's worked in many styles with dozens of other artists, and has released over 100 albums.

His pop instrumental LPs released on the Command label in the sixties are legendary. This month's In Crowd is from the 1966 LP, 'Happening!'

Among his diverse achievements in more recent years has been his role as composer/arranger/conductor/pianist in many of Woody Allen's films.

Listen to: Dick Hyman & Harpsichord - The "In" Crowd (click for audio)

Gustaf Tenggren's 'Tell-It-Again' Fairy-Tale Illustrations, 1942

Illustrator Gustaf Tenggren was born in Sweden in 1896, and emigrated to the US in the early twenties. He is probably best known by his work for The Walt Disney Company, beginning with the film 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'.

After leaving Disney, his artwork style evolved from his 'Old World-Rackham-esque' look to the flatter, more contemporary look he would use for children's books.

He worked for Little Golden Books from 1942 - 1962, providing illustrations for 'The Poky Little Puppy' and many others.

These are all images appearing in 'The Tenggren Tell-It-Again Book', 1942, Little-Brown.

A few links to more Tenggren art online:

Some great examples of his fuller, more detailed 'traditional' style from the '20's & '30's can be found here and here.

There's also a bit of of Tenggren's work included in this fascinating gallery page of 'Arabian Nights' images.

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Cecil Young Progressive Quartet: Who Parked The Car, etc.

Recorded live and released in 1955 on the band's second 7" EP on the King label.

I particularly like 'Who Parked The Car - - It takes Dizzy Gillespie's 'Oop-Pop-A-Da' as a beginning reference point and from there scats madly outward...












Listen to: Cecil Young Progressive Quartet - Sweet Georgia Brown (click for audio)

Listen to: Cecil Young Progressive Quartet - Too Marvelous For Words (click for audio)

Listen to: Cecil Young Progressive Quartet - Who Parked The Car (click for audio)

Richard Avedon photos from 'Fads Of The Fifties'

Two images from a feature by Richard Avedon photographed for the February 2nd, 1960 issue of Look Magazine.

Art Carney, Gloria Vanderbilt, and Truman Capote appear in a tongue-in-cheek piece looking back at "...some foibles of the '50's."

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