What Was The First Record You Ever Bought?

My favorite music magazine, the UK's Record Collector, has a monthly feature where they do interviews with famous and not so  famous musicians, asking them a series of 10-15 brief questions.  One question that often pops up is: "What was the first record you bought?"  

The interviewees always seem to remember their first purchase with no difficulty, and invariably name some appropriately cool record by Cliff Richards, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Elvis Costello, Fine Young Cannibals, Nirvana, or the like, depending on their age.  All performers, in other words, that indicate a level of musical sophistication in their younger selves.  Strangely, no one ever admits that they started their musical journey with a hit by Donnie and Marie Osmond, Pat Boone, The Archies, Richard Harris, Britney Spears, or The Spice Girls.  

Reading the latest issue of Record Collector got me thinking about the first record I ever bought, and the answer is:  I have no idea.  The best I can say is that the first record I can remember buying was a 45 rpm single of "The Joker Went Wild," released by Brian Hyland in 1966 (photo above).  The song was in heavy rotation on our local AM station that summer (WBUY - 1440 on your dial).  I tuned in with my portable GE transistor radio that had a nifty ear plug so I could listen at night when I was supposed to be asleep.  I was so taken with the song that I rode my bicycle downtown to Mack's Five and Dime and spent some of my hard-earned paper route money to buy a copy.  

Fifty-seven years later, I still have the 45 in its original Philips company sleeve (top).  It's a lucky thing I held onto it, since nice copies fetch as much as $2.50 on the used market today.  As you can see in the photo, I paid 79 cents, so I could easily triple my money if I sold it.

Even though no music magazine is ever likely to ask, for a long time I worried that having to admit "The Joker Went Wild" was the first record I bought would sound pretty lame.  Brian Hyland had hits with "Gypsy Woman" and "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini," and was primarily known as a practitioner of "bubblegum" pop -- not the kind of thing a hip, 1960s musical connoisseur like myself wants to be associated with.

Very Cool

It wasn't until many years later, while going through the small collection of 45s that survived from my youth, that I noticed (by reading the label, duh) that "The Joker Went Wild" was arranged and produced by Leon Russell (with Snuff Garrett).  That discovery made my first record purchase seem much less embarrassing, because Leon is the king of cool.  [Now, if Record Collector comes calling, I'd probably fudge my answer by saying something like "My first record was some single produced by Leon Russell."  Mum's the word.]  

Not cool

"The Joker Went Wild" was a top 20 hit for Hyland.  It was written by Bobby Russell (no relation to Leon), who later married the singer/actress Vicki Lawrence, best known for her work on The Carol Burnett Show.  Bobby Russell peaked as a songwriter in 1968 when he had two huge hits: "Little Green Apples," which charted for three different performers and went on to win two Grammys, and "Honey," a million-selling single for singer Bobby Goldsboro (left).  [In 1973, Vicki Lawrence had a hit single with a song written by husband Bobby, called "The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia."]  

The opposite of cool

While we're at it, I have to admit that I also can't remember the first LP I ever bought.  Once again, the best I can say is that the first album I remember buying was Good Times, the 1967 soundtrack to Sonny and Cher's movie of the same name (right).  I still have the album, a mono pressing in VG+ condition which is now worth just about the same $3.99 I paid for it in 1967 (also at Mack's Five and Dime).

I have a fuzzy memory of seeing the movie when it came out.  The plot, such as it is, has Sonny getting involved with a dicey producer who wants to cash in on Sonny and Cher's fame by putting them in a cheesy movie about a singing hillbilly couple.  Sonny and Cher reject the script, so the producer tells Sonny to write his own script.

It's the 60s, baby

The rest of the film consists of three unrelated episodes where Sonny daydreams about different movies they could make, including a western, a Tarzan and Jane style jungle adventure, and a private eye/gangster mashup.  There are connecting bits where Sonny and Cher play themselves, bickering about the movie and meeting with the menacing producer.  Woven into the daydream sequences and the connecting bits are six music videos, which are the songs that also appear on the soundtrack.  The film is every bit as bad as it sounds.  Although, all that aside, the film has lots of great shots of Sonny and Cher wearing groovy 60s fashions.  If you want to chance it, you can watch the whole film here.

As dreadful as the picture is, bear in mind that it was the first feature directed by William Friedkin, who went on to make such classic films as The French Connection (Oscar winner for best director) and The Exorcist (Oscar nominee for best director).  Likewise, Sonny and Cher went on to make such classic albums as um, Sonny & Cher Live, and um, Live Vol. 2 (oh, never mind.)

Sigh

Seeing Good Times at the theater was likely the reason I bought the record.  Well, that and having a serious preteen crush on Cher.  (What, like you didn't?)  Similar to the movie, the soundtrack album has little redeeming value, although it does contain two versions of the hit single "I Got You Babe." Unfortunately, neither of the two versions on the album is the original. 

The first version of "I Got You Babe" opens the album (and plays over the opening credits in the movie).  It is sung by a children's choir in a sort of Muzak-y style with a harp and soaring strings. (OK, ok, but I kid you not, the drumming is sensational.)  A second version of the song closes the album (and plays over the closing credits in the film).  This version is reworked as a wispy ballad with Sonny and Cher trading lines while backed by a Spanish-style guitar and what sounds like a music box.  Nuff said.

The French cover

Neither of the versions on the soundtrack do justice to the original 1965 single, which was a monster hit that topped the charts in the US and internationally.  [Fun fact: In the US, "I Got You Babe" beat out "Help!" by The Beatles at number two, and "I Can't Get No Satisfaction" by The Rolling Stones at number five.]

According to AllMusic critic William Ruhmann, "I Got You Babe" was Sonny Bono's answer to Bob Dylan's 1964 breakup song "It Ain't Me Babe" (written for Dylan's then girlfriend, Suze Rotolo.)  Sonny, who had worked as a songwriter, promoter, and general factotum for Phil Spector, produced "I Got You Babe" and faithfully recreates Spector's famous Wall of Sound.  "I Got You Babe" is a classic 1960s pop ballad, even if, as Ruhmann notes, "Sonny and Cher are not very interesting singers."  

The song is buoyed by a stellar list of session players, including jazz great Barney Kessel on guitar, Tijuana Brass and Baja Marimba alumni Julius Wechter (percussion) and Bud Coleman (guitar), and Wrecking Crew members Don Randi (piano), Lyle Ritz (bass), and Frank Capp (drums).  Ace session men Warren Webb and Morris Crawford add a unique oboe/bassoon accompaniment.  The song was recorded by engineer Stan Ross at his legendary Gold Star Studios in Hollywood.  Even if you don't like the song, there is no denying that the sound is fabulous, with Gold Star's trademark burnished sound.  [Ross was also at the controls at Gold Star a year later, in 1966, when The Beach Boys cut their masterpiece, "Pet Sounds."]

The only other song of note on Good Times is the album reissue of Sonny and Cher's 1966 top 50 single, "It's The Little Things."  Stylistically and sonically it's quite similar to "I Got You Babe" with the same call and response lyrics and another Wall of Sound production.

While there is no accounting for my preteen taste in music (or female pop stars), I hasten to add that among the other 1960s 45s that survived from my youth are disks by the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Doors, Donovan, Bob Dylan, Procol Harum, and Otis Redding.  And I also had a huge crush on Joni Mitchell.

Enjoy the music!