Monday, September 30, 2013

Monday, September 2, 2013

miss toni fisher

the big hurt


train of love
Pop music fans who are familiar with Miss Toni Fisher would certainly know her biggest hit "The Big Hurt". And those who are familiar with "The Big Hurt" undoubtedly have noticed a unique "sound" which is heard on that recording. Well, that sound was not planned in advance but came about quite by accident. In Mark Ribowsky's book "He's A Rebel" about legendary pop music producer Phil Spector, some information is provided about music engineer Larry Levine who worked extensively with Mr. Spector. Larry worked at Gold Star studios in the mid fifties on into the 1960s, and he engineered many famous recordings, including Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues" and Toni Fisher's "The Big Hurt". Quite by accident, Mr. Levine established a milestone in overdubbing - by layering a copy of the tape over the original at a slightly different speed, it caused an in-and-out "phasing" effect (which Larry wanted to correct on "The Big Hurt" - but it came to characterize the record, so it was left in). Wayne Shanklin - Miss Fisher's husband and producer - liked this sound so much that he had it employed on two of Toni Fisher's subsequent releases - "How Deep Is The Ocean" and "The Train Of Love". To my ears, it is particularly interesting on "The Train Of Love" since it sounds at times like the "train" is entering a tunnel! So - if you were ever curious about the unique "sound" that was achieved on "The Big Hurt", and some of Toni Fisher's other recordings - that is the inside story about it!

-Michael McKenna
how deep is the ocean

(nice buildup, nice sax solo!)

here's one without the phasing effect -- "love big"

i'm pretty into the arrangement of this song!!

paula watson - love me forever