This one popped into my head this morning when I wasn't looking, so this is what I know, or think I know.
1 - The song remains officially unreleased.
2 - There are three versions I know of; the Fidu bootleg LP, which is long out of print, the German release "Chad & Jeremy Sing for You/Second Album," which also has been discontinued but is available used at Amazon, and "Now and Forever," from Acrobat Music, which I hear has since gone bankrupt ("This label Acrobat is the newest TKO licensee , the same bunch who have never paid Chad and Jeremy one penny for the 33 albums they have released so far. They released their Now and Forever CD on the same day as ARK-eology, trying to play games, and now they are gone until the next sucker they can find. Which they will." - Bob at TBO Records). This last one is still available in short supply on Amazon, though I don't know if it will be replenished once it's gone. And despite it's evil and dubious nature, it does contain great sound quality, 6 live tracks from 64's Live at the Mayfair, and of course The Nearness of You.
3 - The three versions boil down to really two; the Fidu version, and the version on Sing for You/second album (this is the same version as on Now and Forever, but includes some studio talk at the beginning).
The song, written by Hoagy Carmichael in 1938, starts off in a less than serious vein, but ends with some very sweet harmonies and some seriously good singing. I love it the way it is, but done straight, this one could have been a real contender for one of their best ballads.
Anyway, I rediscovered this on the original Chad & Jeremy web site, http://www.jasonrh.com/cjahomefor.htm , maybe in 2000. The thing is that I did remember the song from the 60's, and up until this hearing, I had not heard it for years and years, as I didn't own the Fidu LP (released in '65) then. So I'm thinking that they must have done this on TV some time back in their beginning days. Just where, though, I don't remember. I'd lean toward Merv Griffin, but that's just a guess. Merv was that kind of guy, though.
So, sorry to reminisce without being able to provide a sample, but the darn thing is hard to find, outside of Ebay from time to time. Worth seeking out in any form, as noted above. (If you've never heard the song in any form, check YouTube for versions by Norah Jones, Sinatra, Jo Stafford, Rod Stewart, etc.)
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My Sing for You/Second Album is on Repertoire, which doesn't look particularly German, and is "under licence from TKO". Bought it in the UK yonks ago - early nineties. Nearness of You is additional track #29, and has the 'Morning, boys' chat at the beginning of the track. I presume they're one and the same.
ReplyDeleteLiz, sweetie, Repertoire vaz/iz a German specialty label.
ReplyDeleteThe Repertoire disc is actually pretty much a clone of the planned "Capitol Collector's Series" C&J disc that Ron Furmanek did tons of remixing for in 1991 (that's the closest THEY ever got to Abbey Road Studios!).
When I finish the book you'll get to read some bizarre stories about the recording of this stuff, and then even more bizarre stories about what happened to the master tapes themselves (there are some truly amusing "where are C&J's master tapes" stories over the years, if you're interested in such things).
I think we've talked about this on the list before, but "The Nearness Of You" was actually recorded as a 'trick' by Guarino (in that they refused to record it, so he used a bit of subterfuge to get them to do it). He told them they needed someone to sing on it to help keep time (which is obvious nonsense if you're using some of the best musicians in NYC at the time), and they were just recording the backing track for a different artist at the end of that C&J session.
Hence why they goof off so much. They're doing their extremely unflattering Dean Martin impersonation, which they call "The Aging Swinger" and was one of their favourite in-jokes at the time.
As far as they knew, it was never in a million years intended to come out. World Artists had other plans, as Lou Guarino viewed them as some sort of cover artists for easy listening standards ("If I Loved You"; "Willow Weep For Me"; "September Song"; "A Very Good Year"; etc). They got out of that contract just in time, before they were pigeon-holed out of existence.
Unfortunately for that Mayfair stuff, Acrobat just cloned the two Japanese mini-LP sleeve CDs from 2007 and they fade the stuff out between tracks (as well as being horribly lifeless transfers).
That said, I cannot recommend anything else on the market higher than that. (Bob will kick me for doing that - again).
The only thing they messed up on I noticed jumping out on a casual listen last year was, like Tony noticed, the session chat on "The Nearness Of You". It really depends on your level of "collectory-ness". People like myself and Tony will want them all I suspect.
Oh, and Acrobat stole all of my album/single/ep sleeve art from the Record Archive for their CD with nary a thank you. Naughty b***ers. :(
Still, like I say, it is the best that anyone has done for the price so far - supplanting those Japanese mini-LPs. (Ouch - stop kicking me, Bob!) :)
The entire independent-label UK distribution system went belly-up just after the release of the CD, and took quite a while to get itself back into shape, so Acrobat seems to have been caught up in the turmoil of that, causing the CD to end up possibly harder to find now than those two mini-LP sleeve Japanese releases!
I hope I didn't just bore you, T!
J