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Licorice Soul Records LSD 003
Release date: March 2004
Eddie Paolucci & The Leftovers
A: 0-1-0-1 Real | MP3
Bob Bernard Quartet
AA: Coming Home Baby Real | MP3
Limited edition of 700 individually numbered copies
Our third release is a double-A-sider featuring tracks from two excellent privately-pressed funk albums originally produced to promote restaurant house bands! Only available at the time to restaurant customers in tiny quantities, these two superb funk tracks are available on 45rpm single for the first time ever!
Representing the USA, Ohio 'bone stalwart Eddie Paolucci brings us a blistering Hammond-fuelled Jim Burns original with wicked brass, while from the UK, Kent multi-instrumentalist Bob Bernard weighs in with a beefy funk take on 1970s standard "Coming Home Baby". Read more...
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| LSD 003 is now SOLD OUT
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UK customers: if you wish to pay by personal cheque, please send to this address and make cheques payable to 'Licorice Soul'. Please enclose your name, the number of singles you want, the postage type (from the list above) and your shipping address, together with a cheque for the total amount.
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| Side A 'Eddie Paolucci & The Leftovers: 0-1-0-1' is a tasty uptempo funk dancer! High quality brass work, a wicked horn riff, great rhythm section, choppy wah guitar, tight drums and a wicked Hammond B-3 solo make this one a winner! Taken from the album 'Now serving at the Tangier'. |
| Side AA 'Bob Bernard Quartet: Coming Home Baby' is a great uptempo British funk version of the Herbie Mann classic. Opening with a stunning Fender Rhodes break, this tasty instrumental features cracking snappy drums, superb Rhodes and a fantastic wah guitar solo too! Taken from the album 'At The Ashes'. |
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| About this release |
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| Our third release is dedicated to the unsung heroes of the music business: the jobbing musician. Responsible for maintaining and developing a vibrant local music scene, these musicians either preferred to play live or simply never made the break into recording or session work. Many of these musicians equally were as competent and well-trained as their better-known, more frequently recorded counterparts and often could be found gigging many nights a week at local bars, restaurants or clubs all around the world during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Two such musicians are Jim Burns and Bob Bernard. Thirty years ago they each recorded a single album with their respective bands - a fascinating insight into an exciting, dynamic and surprisingly similar local music scene on both sides of the Atlantic. |
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First up, representing the USA: Eddie Paolucci and the Leftovers from Akron, Ohio. We talked to Leftovers arranger and composer Jim Burns about life with the Leftovers. Jim has a master's degree in music education and still teaches music in the Akron area. Along with composing, conducting and arranging for many big bands, Jim plays organ, flute, flugelhorn, slide trombone and even sings backing vocals! Jim joined The Leftovers in 1968 when they were resident band at Akron's exclusive Tangier restaurant, an establishment which is still going strong today. |
| The original album's liner notes answered our first question. "Why an album? The Tangier is one of the finest restaurants in the country. Its reputation has spread literally around the world. Any visitor to Akron who is brought to Tangier by his host, always is treated to an incomparable meal, courteous service and fine entertainment. Frequently these visitors approach Eddie with praise for the Leftovers and an eager 'Do you have any records of the group?' This album is dedicated to those visitors. It contains the most requested tunes in the current repertoire of the band and covers a pleasant variety of styles. Also this album is dedicated to that faithful group of regulars who can be found at the Tangier any time things are really happening. Without them there would be no reason to record, no incentive. The Leftovers and especially Eddie Paolucci hope that this album pleases anyone who has ever contributed a good, hearty 'One more time!'" |
| LS: Why did you decide to record an album? |
| JB: The reason we made an album was that we were at Tangier five nights a week, and consequently our group was very tight, ensemble-wise. In fact, Bob Fraser and I knew the charts so well that on my Hammond B-3's music stand we would have a magnetic chess game, and we'd actually be playing while we were on stage entertaining. |
| LS: Do you still play chess as well as music? |
| JB: I still have that magnetic chess board and, in fact, was using it earlier today to go over a game from the Fischer-Spassky world championship match. |
| LS: Tell us about the circumstances of the album's recording session. |
| JB: The Leftovers album was made in a one-day, twelve hour long marathon recording session at a studio in Cleveland, Ohio, called "Agency". It was above a rock'n'roll club which was not open on Sunday, so we started about noon and finished about midnight. The last tracks that were laid down were four flute tracks on the track 'Shaft'. We did some overdubbing of brass parts on 'Leroy Brown', '0-1-0-1' and 'Sweet Gypsy Rose'. 'Shaft' had four tombones, so Eddie did 1st and 3rd parts and I played 2nd and 4th. I think Bob Fraser went back to Agency about a week later and redid the electric sitar solo on 'Shaft'. The trickiest part of anything recorded was Tom Eritano adding a final timpani roll at the end of 'Jesus Christ Superstar'. Everything else had been laid down, so Tom had to listen carefully and match the interval of time from the end of the previous note to the beginning of the roll and the length of the roll itself. I think it took him about a dozen attempts to get it right. |
| LS: How many copies of the 'Now serving at the Tangier' LP were pressed? |
| JB: There were only 1000 of those albums ever pressed, and 250 were stolen from the guitar player's car shortly after he picked up a shipment at the local bus station. |
| LS: Who were Cold Cuts Records? |
| JB: That was our own label. We created it to release that album. |
| LS: Where was the album sold? |
| JB: We sold the album at the restaurant where we played. |
| LS: Who else played on the album? |
| JB: The Leftovers were a quartet. Eddie Paolucci played valve trombone and trumpet, and sang. He started out in a Navy band and then went on to tour with a few professional groups before forming The Leftovers. Tom Eritano played drums. Tom had done some studio work for radio and TV, and worked with 'The Characters' in Las Vegas for a year or so. He also played and recorded with the Christian rock group 'The All Saved Freak Band' at around that time. I still see Tom as he plays with my current big band. On guitar we had Bob Fraser, originally an electrical engineer who went on to work in various recording studios. Bob was involved in the recording of Maureen McGovern's hit 'The Morning After' as I recall [Academy Award-winning song from the movie 'The Poseidon Adventure']. Bob also did the remixing on the album. I doubled on trombone as required. |
| LS: Did The Leftovers record any other material? |
| JB: The Leftovers did not make any other albums, but I did frequently bring in my Sony reel-to-reel machine and a fairly elaborate set of microphones, and a mixer, and record some of our nights at the Tangier. |
| LS: Tell us about '0-1-0-1'. Where did the name come from? |
| JB: The tune gets its title from the fact that the melody can be played on the trumpet by alternating open (no valves depressed) and first valve. It's probably the hardest-driving track on the album. It was one of my first compositions and I still like it today. I played the Hammond B-3 organ solo on it. |
| LS: What are the other band members doing today? |
| JB: Eddie and I still play music together with my wife Carolyn in our trio, 'The Carolyn and Jim Burns Band'. Tom plays drums in the big band for whom I conduct and arrange. |
| Contact the Carolyn & Jim Burns Band featuring Eddie Paolucci at burnsband@ix.netcom.com or on +1 330 784 5352 |
| Recording session information |
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Date recorded:
November 4th 1973
Recorded at:
Agency Recording Studios, Cleveland, Ohio.
Featured players:
Eddie Paolucci - valve trombone, trumpet
Jim Burns - Hammond organ, flute, flugelhorn, slide trombone
Bob Fraser - guitar
Tom Eritano - drums
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L-R: Bob, Eddie, Jim & Tom |
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On the other side of the Atlantic, Bob Bernard could be found playing with the Bob Bernard Quartet at The Ashes restaurant in Kent, South East England. Bob received his musical training during a nine-year stint in the Army where he played in the Shropshire Light Infantry Military Band. He went on to play in various clubs in London's West End before moving to Kent and becoming resident band leader at The Ashes restaurant in New Ash Green. Bob is now a registered music teacher in the Kent area and still plays live music regularly with his jazz band. Like Jim, Bob is a multi-instrumentalist and plays saxophone, clarinet, flute and keyboards. We talked to Bob about his one and only record and the circumstances of the recording. |
| The original liner notes set the scene. "Just like a succulent menu, well-run and managed kitchens, and an efficient staff are an integral part of any successful restaurant, so too must Bob Bernard and his resounding trio be an integral part of The Ashes Restaurant, tucked away at New Ash Green in the rolling Kent countryside. A complete, and by today's standards, inexpensive evening's entertainment can be had at The Ashes, starting with a drink in the compact and well-stocked bar and ending on the intimate dance floor where Bob will play to suit your mood." |
| LS: How many copies of the album were pressed? |
| BB: I think there were only 1000 copies made. They were all sold through our gigs at the restaurant. My family recently found a copy of the record at a car boot sale: that's the only copy I've seen since the 1970s. |
| LS: That's how we found our copy! How did you get the album pressed? |
| BB: The owner of the restaurant gave us some money towards the manufacturing costs and we got it pressed through a local electronics company who were involved in music manufacturing and distribution. |
| LS: Did it get a commercial release or other distribution? |
| BB: No, we just sold it at the restaurant when we played. |
| LS: Tell us how the recording came about. |
| BB: I'd just come out of the Army and put the band together for the restaurant. People who heard us play at the restaurant used to ask us if we had any records of the quartet. At about the same time, a friend of mine called Eric Radcliffe had just finished work on his own recording studio. He was a tutor at Goldsmiths College [respected art college in London], and was a really good singer and guitarist. He used to record all the local bands. |
| LS: Do you remember what the studio setup was? |
| BB: Sure! I remember it like it was yesterday. Eric had built his own budget 4-track recording studio in the cellar of his house. He had a control room and the recording room down there. He used a TEAC 4-track reel-to-reel, a TEAC mastering box, and an M&M 16-track mixer. We went to his studio and recorded the album in one long session. I always played Hammond at The Ashes, but there was a Fender Rhodes in the studio so I used that on the album. I had a TEAC multi-track reel-to-reel tape deck too, and used to record the band live at The Ashes, but the tapes are long gone - pity! |
| LS: Were you a popular band at the time? |
| BB: Yes! The Ashes used to get packed out. We were playing four nights a week, originally with Colin on guitar, and later on with Eric [Radcliffe] because he was a great singer as well as a good guitarist. Over the busy Christmas period we'd play between four and six weeks solid, every night. We used to play a lot of Georgie Fame covers, Billy Joel - things like that. I loved that Hammond sound and kept my Hammond down at the restaurant. The thing that killed it for us as a band was disco. As soon as four-part harmonies and Saturday Night Fever came out, we were finished. People kept asking us for this stuff and we just couldn't play it with the lineup we had and the instruments we had. |
| LS: Tell us about the instruments you used. |
| BB: I had a Hammond C-3. It was a lovely instrument. I used a couple of Leslie 145s [speaker cabinets] with it. I had the bass pedals split [sent out to a different amplifier] and put the bass pedals through a proper bass amplifier instead of the Leslies. It sounded much more like a real bass that way. I had a Wurlitzer keyboard on top of the Hammond too. I always used to keep the Hammond down at the restaurant, except for one gig we got over on Earl's Court Road. It was great over there too. The place was called 'The Duke Of Richmond' - I think it's still there. We used to play in this upstairs bar which was full of rich Arabian and Chinese couples. There was an Australian bar downstairs so the atmosphere was always great. |
| LS: Do you still have the Hammond? |
| BB: Unfortunately not. I wish I did have! The C-3 had the full cabinet but no speakers, whereas the B-3 had these kind of legs so it was a bit lighter. I rarely used to use the presets. I usually set my own presets up before the gigs. To get a fatter, deeper, Jimmy Smith sound I used to mould the drawbars with my left hand, pulling them out until I found the right sound. It was hard to do while you were playing! Later on, the bass lines started getting too complex to play on the bass pedals so I used to practise bass lines on the pedals a lot. |
| LS: A lot of Hammond players tell us they're not very reliable instruments. |
| BB: You're right. The contacts in the Hammond were terrible. We were always fiddling around with it. The bass pedals on the C-3 were particularly bad, so lots of people used to replace them with Lowrey sustain pedals. I'll tell you a funny story about my Hammond. I used to use an organ repairer in Ilford called Norman Sargeant. I needed the bass pedals on my C-3 replacing, so I took it in to Norman for a service. He didn't have the right parts in at the time, and I needed the Hammond for the gig, so he said "You can have the pedals out of that one over there". Turns out that it was Dudley Moore's Hammond! Dudley was out of the country at the time so Norman pulled Dudley's bass pedals out of his Hammond and put them into mine! |
| LS: Tell us about the musicians who were involved in the recording. |
| BB: I played Hammond organ, Fender Rhodes, flute, and did some of the singing. The guitarist was Colin Bourner, who had been lead guitarist in late 50s/early 60s rock band 'The Barons'. They'd had a few hits and worked with people like Bert Weedon and Eden Kane. Colin had also had a hit with a track called 'Cossack' which sold quite a few copies in the early 1960s. Colin played guitar, 12 string guitar and sang as well. He was also the restaurant manager. Then we had a young bloke called Steve Bennett on drums. Steve had only been playing about five years and must have been about 17 when we recorded the album. He was a good player. Despite his age, he'd done plenty of touring and had played with a professional rock group by the time we did the session. As for the original songs on the record, I had a mate called Dave Metcalfe who was also into writing his own stuff, so we wrote those tunes together. |
| LS: What about the fourth member of the quartet? |
| BB: We got a friend of a friend in to play bass on the record. He wasn't part of the usual band that played at The Ashes - we usually played as a trio. |
| LS: What are the other musicians doing now? |
| BB: I still see Colin. I think Steve moved to Australia, where he set up a successful chain of drum shops. Apparently he had some personal problems over there so I think he moved back to the UK and sadly died not long afterwards. |
| LS: The album is a mix of cover versions and your own originals. |
| BB: Yes. The choice of tracks reflects the kind of sets we played at the restaurant at the time. I was into songwriting back then, so some of the tracks have vocals. They're a bit rough - it was only a bit of fun at the time! We recorded the album pretty quickly and didn't do much overdubbing or re-recording. |
| LS: Tell us about 'Coming Home Baby'. |
| BB: It was a big record at the time, after Herbie Mann had a hit with it. It was a popular jazz standard and we used to get asked to play it. We jammed it out at the studio a few times, then did a take which made it onto the record. |
| LS: You're still very involved in music. What are you working on at the moment? |
| BB: I teach music at various schools in Kent, and have just written a book on jazz improvisation with a backing CD - it's called 'Let's get started!'. I also play with my jazz band on a regular basis all over the South East of England. |
| Contact Bob Bernard at bob@bbernard.co.uk or on +44 (0)1892 523497. |
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