Report From The Country, Part Three: The Floyd Cramer Craze
Published March 20th, 2006 in Treasure Tags: C&W, Cheese, Music.
There’s not much we can say about the fabulous career of Floyd Cramer that hasn’t already been said. Crack Nashville studio player famous for his “slip note” piano, Floyd is probably best known for his solo hit from 1960, “Last Date.” His work was an integral part of the oft-maligned “countrypolitan” sound pioneered by producer Chet Atkins, a sound usually held responsible for moving country music into the mainstream during the 1960’s through its reliance on clean arrangements and a light instrumental approach.
That approach is well evident on Floyd’s 1967 outing, “Here’s What’s Happening,” an album of contemporary favorites designed to appeal either to the young or to people who like album covers with pictures of the young on them. The simple, arrangement-driven “Nashville Sound” is on full display here, as is the exceptional session work of everyone involved. Of special note are the orchestrations by Bill McElhiney, under whose care even such shopworn evergreens as “Born Free” and “Cherish” take on extra sparkle.
My personal favorites are the Tony Hatch tune “Who Am I” and Burt Bachrach’s “I Don’t Know What To Do With Myself.” For most listeners, however, Floyd’s version of the Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations” will be the album’s major selling point. Given a relaxed, good-natured reading by the group, stripped of manic Beatlesque experimentation and lavish Spectorian ambiance, the tune’s vibrations are better than ever.
It’s a Sunday afternoon here at Bostworld. It’s chilly outside; a light but steady rain has broken a near record stretch of clear skies that numbered over 140 days. As we enjoy a warm cup of tea and put the finishing touches on this post, we’ve got Floyd’s album playing softly in the headphones. All’s right with the world.
Can’t believe there hasn’t been any other feedback on this yet! Been enjoying this whole series immensely. Seems as if any time I see the word “countrypolitan” used anywhere in Blogland it’s meant derogatorily. Country music IS a genre of Pop music. The presence of a string section or of the Ray Conniff Singers as backup does not make a recording any “less country” imho. While I’m not particularly fond of the mass-market niche with which current country-pop is aligned (along with CMT and any number of lifestyle-trendselling magazines) — and tend to think of it as “that music where all the guys wear black hats so you can tell it’s country music that they’re playing” — I pretty much have the same distaste for ALL sub-genres of current massmarket music anyway.
Please keep this stuff coming—along with the wonderful commentaries!!!
Thanks for the kind words! I agree with you: a good pop song is a good pop song regardless of its “genre.”
I’ve got a few more parts to post in the current sountry series before to move on to the next pasture; I’m sure you’ll enjoy them. The best is yet to come!
Thanks for posting Floyd (and the other albums too for that matter). I find this kind of country-pop crossover stuff endlessly fascinating, and I agree with you that “Who Am I” is a highlight. For some reason, it reminds me of music that played underneath the “Family Affair” opening credits.
You’ve got an excellent weblog, fellow Phoenician!
I was going to lecture you on the greatness of Tony Hatch, then I realized you’re Matt Hinrichs! No lecture needed! I’m a Scrubble reader, and have left a comment or two. But I’ll be damned if I can now recall what they were about!
Thanks very much for the vote of confidence!
Floyd of course is also credited with inventing the ‘bent note’ for piano. In attempting to emulate the sound of the pedal steel guitar, he inadvertantly came up with his own signature sound. He and Chet Atkins as a team are absolutely brilliant on those early Everly Brothers reordings, and the sound they carved out became the standard for ‘Country Music’ for the rest of the 1960’s, and on into the 1970’s when the beloved Saint Willie of Texas (Nelson of course) turned all ‘Country’ on it’s end once and for all.
Yer a fine teacher Professor Bostrom.
Bent note, slip note. Whatever. You say tomato…
Plisss
Floyd Cramer - Java
Bartolomeo Cristofori made the piano… Floyd Cramer made it Grand !