The Fair and the Cruel

“The Fair and the Cruel”  is an original composition intended to be in the style of early 1960’s surf rock and the Ventures.

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Doggin’ It

“Doggin’ It” is an original instrumental in the style of late 50’s/early 60’s guitar rock. This particular one is intended to be similar to numbers written by Bill Doggett – like “Honky Tonk” and “Ram-Bunk-Shush”.

Caravan

“Caravan” was composed by Juan Tizol and Duke Ellington and first performed by Ellington in 1936.  Irving Mills wrote lyrics, but they are rarely sung.

It quickly became a jazz standard, frequently performed and recorded.

In 1960 the Ventures included the tune on their album “Walk Don’t Run”. It shortly became a staple of their live performances, featuring extended drum solos by Mel Taylor and later Leon Taylor.

My arrangement was inspired by the Ventures approach, although the drum break is fairly short.

 

The Hoary Hodads Ride Again

“The Hoary Hodads Ride Again” is another original instrumental composition in which I try to combine the feel of 60’s instrumental guitar rock with a somewhat more complex musical and harmonic language than was typical for that genre. With this one I tried to get a feel similar to the early 60’s style of surf rock and the Ventures.

Candy Apple Racer

“Candy Apple Racer” was a Ventures track that was recorded in 1961 but not released until 1965.

Capitalizing the the popularity of the dance “the Twist”, the Ventures released two “Twist Party” albums in 1961. The second one included “twistified” arrangements of a number of folk and traditional songs such as “Blue Tail Fly”, “Swanee River” and “My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean”.

Also recorded at the time was an arrangement of the civil war era song “Listen to the Mockingbird” — but it did not make it onto the album.

In 1965, a single was created for the Japanese market. The “A” side was titled “Kickstand”, but it was just a renamed “A Go Go Dancer” from their 1965 album “Ventures A Go Go” with some added motorcycle sound effects. The “B” side was “Candy Apple Racer” — which was just “Listen to the Mockingbird” under a new title.

All clear?

A Go Go Dancer

“A Go Go Dancer” was a track on the Ventures 1965 album “Ventures A Go Go”.

The same song with introductory motorcycle engine sounds was also called “Kickstand” and appeared as the “B” side to the 1967 single “Theme from the Wild Angels”.

Surf Fugue

“Surf Fugue” is an original composition that combines a surf rock feel with a traditional fugue with its form and construction based on J.S. Bach.

It opens with a solo presentation of the fugue subject in the tonic key of A minor. This is followed by the subject in the dominant key of E minor, accompanied by a counter-subject. The exposition concludes with a return to the tonic, again with the counter subject. The subject is then stated in the relative major, C, without the counter-subject and harmonized in 6ths.

A brief development section follows: a sequence built from the first half of the fugue subject.

The piece concludes with a recap of the first three statements in A minor, E minor and A minor.