#Belford Hendricks

[filosofablogger]

♫ It's Just A Matter Of Time ♫

I think I’ll take you way back in the time machine today.  The year is 1959, a time when pop and rock songs were simpler, with everyman lyrics and great melodies to say what needed to be said and nothing more, often in less than three minutes.  Brook Benton was just coming into his own, bringing his smooth voice to the Mercury Records label. From American Songwriter … Written by Benton, Clyde…

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Dinah Washington: What Difference A Day Makes

Song of the Day - “What A Difference A Day Makes” Today marks the 65th anniversary of the recording of “What A Difference A Day Makes” by the incomparable Dinah Washington - February 19th, 1959. The song is an English adaptation of a popular Mexican song, "Cuando Yuelva a Tu Lado” by Maria Grever. This track was recorded at Mercury Sound Studios in New York, with Belford Hendricks' orchestra, with the great Panama Francis on drums, Joe Zawinul on keyboards and Kenny Burrell on guitar.. The entire album she recorded 65 years ago today is stellar - every single cut... her "Cry Me A River" is killer... as is "We'll Take Manhattan"... there is no voice quite like Dinah’s… But this track is the one. Dinah won a Grammy for this single, and though it would get covered by a handful of great singers, this is her song... hands down. In fact, it really is her signature song. Just custom made for her nasal-y voice..

[Mary Elaine LeBey]

[the1959project]

October 6, 1959

Dinah Washington records “This Bitter Earth” with Belford C. Hendricks and his orchestra in New York.

[cbjustmusic]

Today is Randy Travis’ 61st birthday. (Born May 4, 1959)  Even though he is not currently able to perform, we still have year’s worth of music, like this 2000 performance of “It’s Just A Matter Of Time”. _______________________________ It’s Just A Matter Of Time Songwriters: Brook Benton, Clyde Otis, and Belford Hendricks

Someday, Someway You'll realise that you've been blind Yes Darling, you're going to need me again It's just a matter of time Go on, go on Til you reach the end of the line Cause I know you'll pass my way again It's just a matter of time After I gave you everything I had You laughed and you called me a clown Remember in your search for fortune and fame What goes up must come down I know, I know That one day you'll wake up and find That my love is a true love It's just a matter of time Words are spoken with chords played Someday and Someway Girl you'll realise that you've been blind Yes Darling, I know you gonna need me again It's just a matter of time Continue singing here After I gave you everything I had You laughed and you called me a clown But remember in your search for fortune and fame What goes up must come down I know, I know That one day you'll wake up and find That my love was a true love It's just a matter of time

[garudabluffs]

Walk On By · Aretha Franklin Runnin' Out of Fools (Expanded Edition)              ℗ Originally released 1964

Conductor, Arranger: Belford C. Hendricks Composer, Lyricist: Hal David Composer, Lyricist: Burt Bacharach Producer: Clyde Otis

[wordsofothers]

It’s Just a Matter of Time

Brook Benton

Someday, some way, you'll realize that you've been blind Yes, darling, you're going to need me again It's just a matter of time

Go on, go on, until you reach the end of the line But I know you'll pass my way again It's just a matter of time

After I gave you everything I had You laughed and called me a clown Remember, in your search for fortune and fame What goes up must come down

I know, I know that one day you'll wake up and find That my love was a true love It's just a matter of time

Songwriters: Belford Hendricks / Brook Benton / Clyde Lovern Otis

[rocketsongs]

Aretha Franklin’s Best Covers

Perhaps the greatest Soul singer in American history has passed away, and we’re going to veer a little off-course and just celebrate some of her best covers.

Producer: Arif Mardin Producer: Jerry Wexler Producer: Tom Dowd Writer: Bernie Taupin Writer: Elton John

Choir: The Southern California Community Choir Conductor, Piano: Rev. James Cleveland Producer: Arif Mardin Producer: Jerry Wexler

Composer: Carole King Composer: Gerry Goffin Composer: Jerry Wexler

Conductor, Arranger, Composer: Belford C. Hendricks Composer: C. Otis Composer: B. Benton

[the1959project]

September 2, 1959

Sarah Vaughan records for the first time with Belford C. Hendricks’ orchestra in Los Angeles. 

She’d just signed a new contract with Roulette in July, but was still tied to Mercury until April 1960. Naturally, the label pressed her for one last album, perhaps hoping to capitalize on the surprise success of “Broken Hearted Melody.” Vaughan had turned the jaunty pop tune into a distinctive, rich single that peaked at no. 7 on the Hot 100 on September 7, 1959 — it’s a great example of the way she infused jazz phrasing into even her poppiest cuts. Vaughan, for her part, never minced words about her biggest hit. From Elaine M. Hayes’ biography, Queen of Bebop: The Musical Lives of Sarah Vaughan:

“God, I hated it. I did that in the ’50s and everybody loves that tune. It’s the corniest thing I ever did,” Vaughan explained years later. “They still ask for it and it drives me nuts.”

At this session, Vaughan recorded the irresistible cha cha “Smooth Operator” and schmaltzy waltz “Eternally,” which both also had reasonable success on the charts, reaching no. 41 and 44 on the Hot 100 respectively. 

For the first time, the singer was a bona fide hitmaker as well as a beloved jazz star — but it wasn’t what she had wanted as much as it was what her record label had wanted, and also came as a new marriage to Clyde B. Atkins was quickly turning sour. He was abusive and controlling, both traits made even worse by the fact that he was her manager as well as her partner. 

Also from Hayes’ biography, in a section where she’s describing Vaughan’s resistance to performing the song live:

“Okay, okay, okay, we’ll try it,” Vaughan finally said to the young couple determined to hear “Broken-Hearted Melody” that night in Washington, D.C. Longtime friend Robert Richards was surprised by what happened next. “She did a funny run through of it and it was fine and the audience loved it,” he reminisced. “And after she was through with it, she sat kind of in a very pensive way, and she said, ‘You know, did you ever leave home like on a Tuesday night, and you’re just going to go out and hear some music and have a drink somewhere and somehow or another you don’t get back home for two days?’ And the audience is like ‘What?’ and she was very thoughtful about this and she said, ‘Have you ever had that experience?’ and the couple [replied,] ‘No, no.’ And she said, ‘Well that’s what “Broken-Hearted Melody” is to me.’”

It was an unusually candid, revealing moment; a dramatic contrast to her customary lighthearted, humorous banter; and a striking comparison. She likened singing “Broken-Hearted Melody” to a bender, losing control as events cascade around you. When you finally do emerge from the haze, days, months, or even years later, you realize that that was neither who you are nor who you want to be. For Vaughan, “Broken-Hearted Melody” brought back memories and experiences that she preferred to forget. It had come to symbolize hard times, difficult years in both her personal and professional lives.

Below are more songs she recorded at this session with Hendricks — they were eventually released on Close To You and My Heart Sings. For the most part they rely on the gaudy strings and choral accompaniment that often sounds dated to the contemporary ear. Vaughan, though, is as flawless as ever, elevating the cliched backdrop with her self-assured, pitch-perfect interpretations. It’s still funny how the very thing that the arrangers of the time thought was classing up the joint — stiff, ornate string arrangements — wound up sounding so much more dated than the jazzier small ensemble stuff. 

The rest are “Maybe It’s Because (I Love You Too Much,” “Our Waltz,” “Never In A Million Years” and “Close To You.”

[the1959project]

February 19, 1959

By early 1959, Dinah Washington was a jazz and blues sensation — but she’d never crossed over into pop’s mainstream. 

Her label, Mercury, had just hired a new A&R man named Clyde Otis, who would eventually be recognized as a pioneer — he was one of the first Black executives at a non-“race” label. His first mission at Mercury was to get Washington on the pop charts, which he believed would happen if she were backed with an orchestra instead of the brassy big bands she’d been taped with previously. “What a Diff’rence a Day Made” was the first song he pitched to Washington to record in a poppier style.

According to Nadine Cohodas’ biography Queen: The Life and Music of Dinah Washington, Washington was resistant, insisting that she was a “horn person.” 

“One song I’d love to have you do to see what Dorsey brothers had recorded it in 1934, and it was a hit. Dinah said she knew the tune, though not well. “Would you record that with strings?” Otis asked. “I’ll think about it,” Dinah replied. “Well, how soon would you let me know?” “Oh,” Dinah said, “pretty soon.” Otis thought the meeting was over, rueful about the future of their relationship. He got up to leave. “I’ll give you one take on that,” Dinah said.

So Otis recruited Belford Hendricks, an esteemed Black arranger, to prepare an arrangement and lead the orchestra in that one take at Fine Recording (56th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues). Milt Hinton and Charles Davis were part of the band, and according to Cohodas, Washington greeted them with a jovial “Good to see you motherfuckers.” They recorded the tune in one take as promised, and the result was flawless. 

Here’s the liner notes on whether it was supposed to be “makes” or “made”:

The song, which was rushed out in early April, became her first top 10 hit reaching no. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100. 

Here’s a Variety review, from its “Best Bets” column:

And Billboard’s, of the single and its B-side:

And here’s a 1960 live performance (with an introduction by...Ronald Regan):