Reprise Records-The Early Years Quiz

Answer: Ring-a-Ding-Ding!

The "Ring-a-Ding-Ding!" album was recorded by Frank Sinatra at Reprise over three days in mid-December, 1960 and released in 1961. Johnny Mandel was the arranger. In addition to the title song, the album featured such classics as "A Foggy Day", "Let's Fall in Love", "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm" and "Let's Face the Music and Dance" among the 15 tracks contained on the LP.

The title track was written specifically for the album for Frank by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen. The album was released to good reviews and reached number four on the Billboard Album Chart. "Sinatra's Swingin' Session!" was simultaneously released by Capital. "This Is Sinatra!" was released by Capitol in 1956 and in 1959 Capitol released "Look to Your Heart". Interesting fact; Frank earned his nickname, "Chairman of the Board", from his ownership of Reprise Records.

Answer: French Style

Neal Hefti was the arranger for the 1962 "French Style" album by Dean Martin. "Gigi", "The Last Time I Saw Paris" and "April In Paris" were among the dozen titles on the French themed LP. Another Dean Martin classic, "C'est Si Bon", was included on his first Reprise LP and has also been included on many of his compilation albums. When Dean Martin hosted his own television show in the sixties the album releases related to the show were done on Reprise.
Among many of arranger Neal Hefti's musical credits were composing the theme to the "Batman" (1966) television series and the soundtrack for the 1968 "The Odd Couple" film and ensuing television series.
"Dino Latino" was released on Reprise the following year. "Cha Cha de Amor" and "Dino! Italian Love Songs" were Capitol albums for Dean.
Interesting fact; In his youth Dean was admittedly a croupier in a speakeasy and peddled illegal booze.

Answer: Redd Foxx

Redd's early recordings were live performances done on the Dooto label and didn't enjoy mainstream distribution. He switched to MF Records but because of the raunchy content the albums were also mostly underground releases. Redd Foxx signed with a division of Reprise Records owned by Sinatra called Loma records. He released "Foxx A Delic" and "Live at Las Vegas" for the label in the early sixties. This exposure to more mainstream audiences led to a role in 1970 in "Cotton Comes to Harlem" and the sitcom "Sanford and Son" two years later.
RCA Victor recorded Carlin's premier album in 1967. In 1963 Warner Brothers Records released Crosby's debut album, "Bill Cosby Is A Very Funny Fellow...Right!". Warner Brothers also signed Bob Newhart who released "The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart" in 1960. Richard Pryor was another comedian who released comedy albums on Reprise.
Interesting fact; Redd Foxx was the only artist invited to Elvis' wedding in May, 1967.

Answer: Sammy Davis, Jr

Marty Paich and Morty Stevens arranged Sammy's debut album on Reprise, "The Wham of Sam". Included on the 12 songs on the album was "I'm a Fool to Want You", which was co-written by Sinatra. "Thou Swell", "Let There Be Love" and "(Love Is) The Tender Trap" are among the other standards recorded on the LP. Sammy enjoyed a singing, theater, film and television career and was headlining rooms in Las Vegas in the fifties when he wasn't allowed to have a room in the hotels he performed at. Arranger Marty Paich worked with numerous musical luminaries and passed his musical genes onto his son David, who was a forming member of the band Toto.
Bing Crosby, Duke Ellington and Nelson Riddle were all signed with Reprise at one time. Riddle arranged many Reprise albums such as "Sinatra's Sinatra".
Interesting fact; Sammy Davis, Jr., was an amateur photographer. In 2007 a book containing many of Sammy's photographs of celebrities was published.

Answer: The Kinks

The Kinks signed with Reprise in 1964. The label made an effort to attract a younger audience and expand their fan and sales base. Before the Kinks signed with Pye and Reprise the name of the band was The Ravens. Their third single release, "You Really Got Me" was a 1964 Number One Hit in the UK and made the US Billboard Top Ten. They followed up with "All Day and All of the Night" later the same year and continued releasing successful singles over the next decade. Other rock acts to be signed to Reprise were Jimi Hendrix, Kenny Rogers and The First Edition and Captain Beefheart.
The Animals were on UK Columbia, UK Decca and MGM. MGM was also the American label for Herman's Hermits. Pye Records, Philips Records and Liberty Records all signed The Searchers during their recording career.
Interesting fact; In 1972 the compilation album "The Kink Kronikles" was issued by Reprise.

Answer: Joni Mitchell

Joni Mitchell began singing in coffee houses in her native Canada and gravitated to the folk scene in New York. She became recognized as an artist as well as a songwriter and when she relocated to California to become part of the burgeoning folk-rock scene she signed with Reprise. After releasing the two-part concept album, "Song to a Seagull", Mitchell followed with "Clouds" (1969), "Ladies of the Canyon" (1970) and "Blue (1971) before moving to Asylum Records. Her 1974 Asylum album, "Miles of Aisles" contained "Big Yellow Taxi". She is also an artist who did cover art for her albums.
Joan Baez released her 1960 debut album, "Joan Baez", on the Vanguard label. Collins' early albums were on Elektra Records. Gale Garnett's records were released by RCA Victor. Maria Muldaur released her eponymous debut album with Reprise records in 1973.
Interesting fact; David Crosby of The Byrds and Crosby, Stills and Nash produced "Song to a Seagull".

Answer: Gordon Lightfoot

"If You Could Read My Mind" was from Gordon Lightfoot's first Reprise album, "Sit Down Young Stranger" (1970). It was later reissued with the title "If You Could Read My Mind". "Don Quixote" was his third album for the label and was his first to feature songs about the sea, a theme he would return to on subsequent releases. Before signing with Reprise, Lightfoot released a few albums on United Artists beginning with his 1966 debut album "Lightfoot!". Lightfoot recorded eight albums for Reprise before signing with Warner Brothers in 1979.
Columbia Records and Epic Records were among the labels that Dan Fogelberg signed with. Neil Young was also part of the Reprise Records roster in the seventies. Among his hit albums for reprise were the 1970 release "After the Gold Rush". United Artists released Don McLean's hits in the seventies.
Interesting fact; Gordon's song, "Early Morning Rain", has been covered by a diverse group of artists from The Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, Peter Paul and Mary, Elvis to Johnny Cash.

Answer: Gram Parsons

Gram Parsons was only 26 when he died from a likely mixture of of morphine and alcohol in 1973. He had worked with The Byrds on their 1968 "Sweethearts of the Rodeo" album. Byrds bass player Chris Hillman and Parsons eventually formed The Flying Burrito Brothers and the band opened at the 1969 Altamont Concert. After working with The Flying Burrito Brothers, Parsons was signed to Reprise in 1972. His first album "GP" was released in 1973 and was followed up by "Grievous Angel" after he passed away the same year. "Grievous Angel" was a combination of some songs recorded specifically for the album and previously recorded material assembled for the nine-cut LP.
Guitarist Tommy Bolin died in 1976 at age 25 from a presumed mixture of alcohol and narcotics. Former Byrds guitarist Clarence White was killed by a drunk driver in 1973 at age 29. Ironically, John Glascock had worked with Jethro Tull and did session work on the Tull album "Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die!" before he died at age 28 from a congenital heart ailment in 1979.
Interesting fact; In 2003 the film "Grand Theft Parsons" was a fictionalized account of the theft of Parsons' corpse.

Answer: Duane Eddy

The following year Duane Eddy released his second of two albums on Reprise called "The Roaring Twangies". Duane Eddy's fifties hits were done on the Jamie label, then he went to RCA before doing two LPs with Reprise. Between 1958 and 1987 he released over 25 albums on various labels. Early in his career Duane paired up with a disc jockey named Lee Hazlewood who would go on to co-write and produce many of his hits. He has consistently worked with great artists through the years and has the distinction of being the first guitar player to have his own signature series guitar.
Michael Franks released two albums on Reprise, "Art of Tea" in 1975 and the 1990 album, "Blue Pacific". The rest were mostly with Warner Brothers. Chet Atkins was affiliated with RCA for most of his career. Mason Williams has released albums for ten labels, but Reprise was not on the list.
Interesting fact; Hazlewood produced many of Nancy Sinatra's hits for Reprise and recorded duets with Nancy.

Answer: Dino, Desi & Billy

Dean's son, Dean Martin Jr., Desi Arnaz, Jr and Billy Hinsche recorded four LPS with Reprise as Dino, Desi and Billy and toured with the Beach Boys after their album became successful. They also did "The Ed Sullivan Show" (1948) at the peak of their success.

The oldest of the group was 15 when they hit the charts. They used studio musicians for the recording sessions and members of the songwriting talent pool at the label wrote songs for the group. They disbanded in the early seventies. The Electric Prunes released "I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)" (1966) on Reprise.

The Fugs formed in 1965 New York City and recorded for Reprise. The Florida based Pearls Before Swine was a psychedelic folk band formed in 1965. Interesting fact; The group recorded a cover version of Dean Martin's hit song "Memories Are Made of This".