Hum Along With Me - 1963-4 Instrumental Hits Quiz

Answer: The Village Stompers

"Washington Square" was very much a surprise hit for The Village Stompers in the autumn of 1963. It was co-written by David Shire and Bobb Goldsteinn, neither of whom seem to have written any more pop music of consequence. Shire went on to a career as the composer of stage musicals and of film and T.V. scores. Goldsteinn had an eclectic career as a promoter of various artistic ventures. He is given most of the composing credit for "Washington Square" having written it while still in high school in the early 1950s.

The Village Stompers were an octet of jazz musicians who had been performing in various other combos in the NYC area for several years. Thanks to the surprising success of "Midnight in Moscow" by Kenny Ball in early 1962, Dixieland style jazz became a sudden craze and the group was formed to capitalize on it. It is interesting to note that while the library of traditional Dixieland songs dating back to the turn of the 20th Century is enormous, only "Midnight in Moscow" and "Washington Square" written in the 1950s achieved significant success on the Billboard Hot 100, both peaking at Number Two. It's worth mentioning that the song was incredibly popular in Japan, topping that country's music chart for an amazing six months! On the other hand, it never charted in the U.K. where Dixieland music was very popular at the time.

The Village Stompers' attempts to replicate their "Washington Square" success was fruitless. They did record a total of seven albums consisting of old Dixieland standards or contemporary songs with Dixieland embellishments but they sold modestly. It became apparent to the group members that although Dixieland as a musical genre would always have a core of enthusiasts, its sudden widespread popularity was merely a fad and in 1967, the band ceased to be.

Answer: Surfaris

The late Dick Dale may have been the unquestioned father of the "surf guitar" sound but the iconic hits of the genre in 1963 were "Wipe Out" by The Surfaris and "Pipeline" by The Chantays.

"Wipe Out" was composed on the spot in the recording studio by the members of The Surfaris who required a "B" side for the already recorded "Surfer Joe". It became notorious for its introductory maniacal laugh by the band's manager, Dale Smallin, and the frenetic drum solo which follows by Ron Wilson. Actually, Wilson's drumming was the major component throughout the song with the guitars playing a secondary role. "Wipe Out" would peak at Number Two on the Hot 100 in August, 1963, while the original "A" side, "Surfer Joe", stalled at Number 62 the same month. "Wipe Out" rose to Number Five on the British charts and when re-released in 1966, peaked at Number 16 on the Hot 100.

The original group folded in the spring of 1966 but was later resurrected with new personnel by original rhythm guitarist, Bob Berryhill. That variation persevered until 2017.

Answer: Chantays

If ever there was a prototypical song that personified the surfing "vibe", surely "Pipeline" was it. Originally recorded in late 1962, it first charted on the Hot 100 in March 1963 rising steadily until plateauing at Number Four. It was somewhat unusual in that the bass guitar drove the melody and the whole song was eerily subdued.

The Chantays consisted of five high school chums from Santa Ana, California. They were true one hit wonders never having another song manage a chart posting on the Hot 100. Nevertheless, the band has persisted through the ages and apparently is still active as of 2020.

Answer: Vince Guaraldi Trio

"Cast Your Fate to the Wind" was something of a musical oddity. Originally, the song was the "B" side to another Guaraldi composition, "Samba de Orpheus", which was released to capitalize on the Bossa Nova craze that had enveloped North America at the time. A Sacramento DJ flipped it over and, preferring it to the "A" side, started to play it regularly. Others followed suit and before long, it had made its way up to Number 22 on the Hot 100. It was considered a jazz song, earning a Grammy for "Best Original Jazz Composition" and despite the presence of Dixieland hits on the Hot 100 during this time period, straight jazz arrangements making Hot 100 appearances were quite rare. Probably the last jazz hit to have charting impact prior to this one was "Take Five" by Dave Brubeck which rose to Number 25 in 1961. But then "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" double dipped! In 1965, a cover version by Sounds Orchestral, a British studio group, cracked the Top 10 right on the number.

Guaraldi would have no further Hot 100 hits, another classic one-hit wonder, but greater fame would be his starting in 1964 when two television script writers and producers, Lee Mendelson and Bill Melendez, approached him to compose the musical score for a TV special they were working on. That was "The Charlie Brown Christmas Special". To many critics, Guaraldi's music was the highlight of the show and naturally he was contracted to write the music for the many "Charlie Brown Specials" which ensued. On February 6, 1976, after completing the score for "It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown" and having dinner with Mendelson, Guaraldi collapsed between sets of the lounge act he was performing in at Menlo Park, California. He died immediately of a heart attack or aortic aneurysm at the age of 47.

Answer: Lonnie Mack

Prior to composing this quiz, I really knew nothing about Lonnie Mack other than he had a Number Five hit in 1963 with an instrumental cover of Chuck Berry's hit "Memphis" then followed it up with the Number 24 hit "Wham" later in the year. It turns out he had a long, convoluted career rich in vicissitudes.

He was born in 1941 in rural Indiana, learned to play the guitar while very young and started playing professionally in his early teens. His musical background was influenced by R&B and country music and because he looked much older than his years, was playing the bars and roadhouses in the Cincinnati area when he was 17. Session work behind artists like Hank Ballard, Freddy King and James Brown led to the opportunity to record "Memphis" in late 1962 and "Wham" as its follow-up. Whether it was mismanagement or bad luck, Mack's career stalled abruptly and although he did some studio work, he all but abandoned the music business for over a decade during the 1970s thoroughly disillusioned.

He was not forgotten entirely, however. Stevie Ray Vaughan was one of his admirers and with his help and a concurrent move to Austin, Texas, his career was resurrected in the mid-1980s with a critically acclaimed rock/blues album which enabled him to tour extensively for about ten years before declining health forced him into early retirement by 2004. At the time he was deemed to be one of the giants of rock and blues guitar to his peers although his reputation with the public was entirely understated. He passed away in 2016.

Answer: Los Indios Tabajaras

"Maria Elena" has two claims to fame in my opinion. First, it was arguably the prettiest instrumental song to chart during the rock era and, second, it was probably recorded by one of the most unlikely musical acts to come down the pike (or out of the jungle) in recorded musical history, Los Indios Tabajaras.

"Maria Elena" was composed by Lorenzo Barceleta in the early 1930s and was named after and dedicated to Maria Elena Peralto, the wife of the president of Mexico at the time. It quickly became a musical standard and eventually gravitated to the attention of U.S. artists. Lawrence Welk was the first to record it but Jimmy Dorsey had the biggest hit, a Number One smash for six weeks in 1941. English lyrics written by Bob Russell were sung by Dorsey's male vocalist, Bob Eberly.

The Tabajara were a tribe of indigenous natives who resided in the state of Ceara in N.E. Brazil. In around 1933, a detachment of Brazilian soldiers encountered a village of tribespeople in the jungle, among them two teenagers named Muçaperé and Erundi who were fascinated by the strangers. They were baptized by the troop's chaplain and renamed by Lieutenant Lima as Natalicio and Altenor Lima. They left the village with the soldiers but eventually went on their own and began a three-year, 2,000 km odyssey before reaching Rio de Janeiro. Along the way, they discovered an abandoned guitar and learned to play it. They also learned indigenous songs wherever they went and by busking en route, survived the journey. By 1943, they were "discovered" again playing bars and street corners in Rio, started playing on the radio, were renamed "Los Indios Tabarajas" and offered a recording contract. They endeavoured to become serious musicians by taking music lessons, learning to read musical charts and expanding their musical horizons.

They became enormously popular throughout South and Central America and did an extensive tour of Europe before finally making their way to the U.S. in 1957. Thereafter, they alternated residences between the U.S. and Brazil when they weren't on extended worldwide tours. They recorded "Maria Elena" in 1958 but it wasn't immediately popular. It wasn't until 1963 when WNEW in New York began using the song as the entry and exit music for their news shows. Listeners wanted more! By popular demand, RCA released the song and it rapidly rose up the Hot 100 chart until peaking at Number Six. It also went to Number Five in the U.K. and Number Four in Canada.

Essentially, this was their only charting success but their soft acoustic guitar stylings ultimately accounted for 43 LPs of their music in North America alone and heaven knows how many more in their native Brazil. Altenor retired in 1979 but Natalicio carried on with his wife Michiko Mikami who learned to play the guitar to keep the act going. They had met in Japan and were married in 1971. They remained active until just before his death in 2009.

Answer: Kai Winding

"More (The Theme from Mondo Cane)" was originally entitled "Ti Guarderò Nel Cuore" and only became "More" after being featured in the Italian documentary film "Mondo Cane". It was composed by Riz Ortolani and Nino Oliviero for the movie and was nominated for an Academy Award as such, ultimately losing to "Call Me Irresponsible" written by Cahn and Van Heusen for the movie "Papa's Delicate Condition". The song was always meant to be an instrumental but lyrics in both Italian and English were eventually written for the melody.

Trombonist Kai Winding is credited with the version that became the most popular charting hit, taking it to Number Eight on the Hot 100. He was born in Denmark in 1922 but moved with his family to the U.S. in 1934. He was featured in the orchestras of Benny Goodman and Stan Kenton before forming his own outfit in collaboration with fellow trombonist J.J. Johnson. He recorded several jazz-oriented albums with Johnson and on his own before succumbing to a brain tumor in 1983.

Although Winding was the title artist on "More", you'd be hard pressed to hear his trombone on the recording. The melody is driven by a predecessor to the synthesizer, a theremin like instrument called an ondioline played by Jean-Jacques Perrey, a Frenchman who was a pioneer of electronic music. I couldn't even begin to describe what an ondioline is but it did produce the novel sound featured on the recording which undoubtedly contributed to its popularity. It would be both Winding's and the ondioline's only chart appearance.

Answer: Al Hirt

"Java" was composed by the noted New Orleans composer and musician, Allen Toussaint, in 1958. Pianist Floyd Cramer introduced it to the Billboard Hot 100 with a recording in his inimitable style that reached Number 49 in January 1963. Al Hirt took it to Number Four a little over a year later. It was the start of a mini-run of hits Hirt would have that year, following it up with the Number 15 "Cotton Candy" and then "Sugar Lips" at Number 30. Subsequent singles didn't do quite as well over the next few years but that was compensated for by managing to have a total of 19 albums chart between 1961 and 1968.

Hirt was born in New Orleans in 1922, started playing the trumpet when he was six and began his professional career ten years later working with his close friend, clarinetist Pete Fountain. They would play together live and on recordings for many years thereafter. After honing his craft at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and serving in the Armed forces during WWII, he played in both Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey's orchestras before freelancing with various Dixieland bands in his native New Orleans thereafter, particularly at the club he owned on Bourbon Street from 1962 to 1983. Health issues slowed him down thereafter until his passing in 1999.

Answer: Marketts

In the early 1960s, Michael Gordon was a busy man, the driving force behind two groups. The Mar-kets, who would later become the Marketts, scored a minor Number 31 hit with the instrumental "Surfer's Stomp" in 1961. The other group he formed was called The Routers and they also hit the charts with the Number 17 "Let's Go (pony)" in 1962. The Marketts returned to the Hot 100 with their biggest hit, the Number Three "Out of Limits" in 1964 then had their Top 40 swan song with "Batman Theme" which peaked at Number 17 in 1966.

Now, neither group had a consistent line-up of musicians. When recording in the studio, it was Gordon and various session musicians largely made up of members of the "Wrecking Crew", famous for performing as the backing band on many recordings of the era. If the groups were on tour, it was Gordon and whichever itinerant musicians he could scrounge up for that series of gigs. It seems that The Routers name was abandoned by the mid-1960s but the Marketts continued to exist by that name until 1977. Thereafter, Gordon contented himself with music composition for films and TV shows, then later, screenwriting and producing his own films.

The popularity of "Out of Limits" probably could be traced to its ethereal nature initiated with the opening four-note sequence reminiscent of the theme music for the TV show "The Twilight Zone". That show's creator and producer, Rod Serling, thought so too. Originally, the song's title was "Outer Limits" which, coincidentally, was the title of Serling's newest TV production and he immediately sued Gordon over the obvious copying of that musical sequence without his permission. Despite many copies of the record having already been pressed with that song title, Gordon chose to back off and change the title to the rather non-nonsensical "Out of Limits".

Answer: Mongo Santamaria

Ramon "Mongo" Santamaria was born in Havana, Cuba in 1917. He started playing the bongos and conga drums in his teens and through observation and the mentoring of local masters, he himself became one of the premier percussionists in Cuba during the 1930s and 1940s. Moving to the States in 1950, he played in the orchestras of Perez Prado and Tito Puentes, the leading Latin bands of the era before forming his own combo in the early 1960s.

In 1962, his band was lined up for a weekend gig at a NYC supper club but Chick Corea, his piano player, decided to leave the group and Herbie Hancock was called in to replace him for that engagement. During one of the intermissions, a mutual friend named Donald Byrd, a jazz trumpet player, dropped by and he and Santamaria were discussing some musical nuance. To make a point, Byrd asked Hancock to play his latest composition for Santamaria. After a few bars, Santamaria went to the stage and started to play along. The remainder of the band joined in and the result was a jam session of "Watermelon Man" that had the whole joint jumping. Hancock encouraged Santamaria to record it with his band and by the end of the year, he had a Top 10 hit. He would have a handful of minor hits on the Hot 100 but his fusion of Afro-Cuban and Afro-American music was not necessarily hit radio friendly. Rather it was immensely popular with that ethno population and he was their "rock star" into the 1990s. He passed away following a stroke in 2003.

Eventually, Hancock would record the piece himself in 1974. It wasn't a charting success and maybe it never was released as a single, but it proved to be the keystone of his most successful album "Head Hunters". He has remained active recording and performing in various jazz idioms to the present day, 2020, as this is written.