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Julie London Easy Does It 1968 Rar

July 30, 2022

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Mr Bass Chevelle Ma Belle Thread Starter

These discographical threads on Julie London collect what information I could find plus some commentary on each record listed. They are simply meant to be a handy reference for those who want more specifics about her records. Most discussion of Julie is probably best posted in the General Discussion thread unless it relates specifically to some aspect of the recordings mentioned in a given discographical thread.
JULIE LONDON: General Discussion Thread
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29 Easy Does It (Liberty LST 7546, 1968. LP Stereo)
Side 1

1. Show Me the Way to Go Home (Campbell/Connolly)
2. Me and My Shadow (Dreyer/Rose/Jolson)
3. This Can't Be Love (Rodgers/Hart)
4. Spring Will Be a Little Late This Year (Loesser)
5. Soon It's Gonna Rain (Schmidt/Jones)
6. I'll See You In My Dreams (Jones/Kahn)

Side 2

1. April In Paris (Duke/Harburg)
2. Bidin' My Time (Gershwin/Gershwin)
3. The Man I Love (Gershwin/Gershwin)
4. It Had To Be You (Jones/Kahn)
5. We'll Be Together Again (Fischer/Lane)
6. The One I Love Belongs to Somebody Else (Caper/Jurman/Kahn)

Julie London, vocals with Kirk Stuart, Don Bagley A1-5 & Allyn Ferguson A6

Producer: Calvin Carter
Engineer: Lanky Linstrot

Easy Does It was Julie's next to last LP for Liberty. In mood and arrangements it can be thought of as a continuation of For the Night People which itself followed on from All Through the Night.. Cal Carter seems to have given up with the Julie project as this is a throwback to Night People without the soul tracks which were the main reason he was brought in. Unsurprisingly this was his last effort as Producer. Carter's string of albums is a very mixed bag and he missed an opportunity to do something noteworthy with Julie. Even the solid With Body and Soul was not promoted well. The frustration is that he definitely had ideas that could have worked out well for Julie with slightly better arrangements on With Body And Soul and more cogent selection of material and better direction on the others.

As for Easy Does It, the performances are noticeably better than on Night People. Although many of the songs look like they could have appeared on earlier Julie albums, actually only 2 are retreads. Here we have a small guitar trio with high strings, on the first LP side (mostly arranged by Don Bagley. and on Side 2 by Kirk Stuart.. Julie sings well and the recording is much better than on many of her later albums, the engineer being Lanky Linstrot. Hat tip Lanky. Julie delivers standout performances on Spring Will Be a Little Late This Year, The Man I Love. and It Had To Be You. The musicians are alert and provide sensitive accompaniment for the most part. The cover has a nice romantic picture of Julie with discreet lettering, a major improvement over many of her later albums.

Other Pressings: Easy Does It is also represented in original foreign pressings on Liberty labels (Germany LBS 83 162 1 retitled as Lady Sex).

Pressing Notes: There is only the Stereo pressing except for a Promo only fold down. Sonics are very good, with clearly defined instruments with natural tonality. The bass extension is the best on any Julie album since Julie Is Her Name Vol. 2 and Bagley's string bass sounds natural. Julie's voice is a bit larger than life but otherwise minimally processed. The stereo presentation is balanced and pleasing. The German pressing sounds very nice as well but is not quite as transparent as the US. I have not heard the Canada pressing.

Digital: Japanese mini LP pack CD from Toshiba, TOCJ 9689.

Listening Notes: Show Me The Way To Go Home has Julie singing a bit like she did on the soul inflected tracks on Night People. The arrangement however is more jazzy. The entry of the strings further conflicts with Julie's stylings. I wonder if the arranger was on the same page as the Producer and singer. In any event Julie and the musicians capably go their own way. Me And My Shadow has a nice walking bass intro and smoky vocals by Julie. She sings very well with good phrasing. The strings add nothing to the vibe but at least Julie and the combo are in sync this time. This Can't Be Love also has Julie singing with soul inflections while the arrangement while good leans more to jazz. Julie handles the slow tempo easily and her precise diction provides rhythmic pointing. Spring Will Be A Little Late This Year has a really lovely intro by Julie. This time the jazzy arrangement has a dreamy aspect to it and Julie goes along with it. The strings are used much more effectively in this song as well. Soon It's Gonna Rain veers more to a pop arrangement than jazz but is just as dreamy as the previous song. Julie sings well but perhaps a bit more generically than on Spring Will Be A Little Late.

The closer on Side 1 I'll See You In My Dreams and the opener on Side 2 April In Paris are more generic in their arrangements and also with Julie's singing. They also tend to drag a bit which is something that is rare with Julie even when she sings slowly. The quality picks up with Biding My Time which starts off with a very good guitar intro. Julie opens up occasionally but listen to the smooth insinuating way she sings "biding my time". The arrangement is more active as well as with very nice guitar and bass work. The next 3 songs are the high point of the album. The Man I Love starts with Julie in her low register singing with excellent phrasing with a nice guitar accompaniment. The arrangement is jazzy but even when the strings enter Julie maintains her intimate style to great effect. It Had to Be You appeared earlier on a 45 but this performance and arrangement improve on the earlier recording. This one has a lively intro by Julie with guitar but slows down as strings enter for the min song. This is an interesting inversion of the typical slow intro and faster continuation. Bagley's bass work is also effective. The familiar Songbook standard We'll Be Together Again receives a very slow and intimate interpretation. The guitar playing at the opening is well done and very clearly recorded. The arrangement has a brilliant segue from the spare opening into the verse refrain. Listen to Julie's low register phrasing of "don't let the blues make you bad". Unfortunately the closer The One I Love has a slower sadder performance than Julie's earlier performance that doesn't really compete with it. Overall, this is a very solid album with excellent sonics but it was another step backward recording career wise.

LST 7546 Front Cover

LST 7546 Back Cover

LST 7546 Label A

LST 7546 Label B
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German issue of Easy Does It retitled Lady Sex
LBS 831821 German Front Cover

LBS 831821 German Back Cover

LBS 831821 German Label 1

LBS 831821 German Label 2
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30 Yummy Yummy Yummy (Liberty LST 7609, 1969. LP Stereo)
Side 1

1. Stoned Soul Picnic (Nyro)
2. Like to Get to Know You (Scharf)
3. Light My Fire (Krieger/Morrison/Manzarek/Densmore)
4. It's Nice to Be With You (Goldstein)
5. Sunday Mornin' (Guryan)
6. Hushabye Mountain** (Sherman/Sherman)

Side 2

1. Mighty Quinn (Dylan)
2. Come To Me Slowly* (Guryan)
3. And I Love Him (Lennon/McCartney)
4. Without Him (Nilsson)
5. Yummy, Yummy, Yummy* (Resnick/Levine)
6. Louie Louie** (Berry)

*Liberty 45 F56074 Yummy Yummy Yummy A Side with Come To Me Slowly
**Liberty 45 F56085 Louie Louie A Side with Hushabye Mountain

Julie London, vocals with Tommy Oliver Orchestra

Producer: Tommy Oliver
Engineer: Bruce Ellison, Ami Hadami

Julie London's last album Yummy Yummy Yummy, is an interesting record but because of the unfortunate title has received a lot of unwarranted derision. The 1968 hit song Yummy Yummy Yummy, from the Ohio Express, was always laughed at as bubblegum music for 10 year olds. It was also covered by the 1910 Fruitgum Co on their album 1 2 3 Redlight. So it was very unfortunate that this was the title given to Julie's last album. For those thinking this was a complete misfire, it should be noted that the main 45 from this album F6074 actually made the lower charts at #125 for the first time since the 45s from the Snuff Garrett LP charters End Of The World and Wonderful World. It shows that with the right contemporary material Julie could have charted more regularly even late in her career. Of course she would go on to become a TV star in the Emergency series but her professional recording career ended here. She did continue as a Vegas and nightclub singer though in the intervening period of 1969-72.

Because of the misconceptions in the music press, not to mention Bobby Troup's criticisms, I want to show some of the context on why this is Not a bizarre set of songs for Julie to cover. Looking at the track list, there are only 5 of the 12 songs that anyone could think fell out of the normal pattern of songs Julie sang: Light My Fire, Mighty Quinn, Stoned Soul Picnic, Yummy Yummy Yummy, Louie Louie. The other 7 are all ballads or soft pop songs that would never have generated any satire.

Light My Fire was of course a huge hit by the rock band The Doors in 1967. But almost as well known, Jose Feliciano released a soft pop version of Light My Fire in 1968 well before this album was released. Jose's version went to an incredible #3 and was probably better known to the non-rock audience than the original. Julie's version is breathier and sexier obviously but not radically different from Feliciano's cover.

Mighty Quinn (Quinn the Eskimo) was written by Dylan but never officially released by him until much later. The pop group Manfred Mann released their cover in Jan. 1968 which had a strong pop beat but was not raucous. It was covered also in 1968 by folkies Ian & Sylvia, Gary Puckett and the 1910 Fruitgum Company. Dylan himself described it as "a children's nursery rhyme". Julie's version does not stray far from the softer cover versions.

Stoned Soul Picnic was a song by the cult NY songstress Laura Nyro.. The song was not well known in the Nyro original until the 5th Dimension did a cover version that went to #3 but which is only notionally soul flavored. Julie's version is similar to the cover but more laid back. The song may be about a picnic but the "stoned soul" part was always in doubt in this whimsical song. Nyro's version, while rough edged seems more joyful than the rather generic 5th Dimension effort.

Yummy Yummy Yummy was a hit by Ohio Express, a studio band, and covered by the 1910 Fruitgum Co. on their 1 2 3 Redlight album in 1968. Interestingly they also covered Mighty Quinn on the same album which may explain where Julie or more likely Tommy Oliver the Producer got those songs. Believe it or not, the later disco producer Giorgio Moroder released a cover of this song himself in 1968. If Moroder thought it was OK to cover we can excuse Julie who treats it as a light-hearted but straight forward love song. The bubblegum music fad was really strong in 1968 and a number of groups were issuing bubblegum type singles at the time. The one unfortunate thing is that the song was used as the title for Julie's album. Almost any other song on the album would have been better instead.

Louie Louie was of course a monster rock n roll hit for The Kingsmen. However fewer people know that the version of the original songwriter Richard Berry had a distinct Calypso beat not too far from Harry Belafonte. After The Kingsmen, Louie Louie was covered by Otis Redding, the Beach Boys, and the Sandpipers (in Spanish no less); not exactly a rogues gallery of garage bands. Julie's version harks back to the original Calypso origins of the song and has a nice swinging beat, far better than the clipped beat of the original.

The remainder of the songs are very typical Julie songs: And I Love Him (Beatles), Without Him (Harry Nilsson), Hushabye Mountain (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang), It's Nice to Be With You, a ballad from The Monkees, two songs from Spanky and Our Gang (Like to Get to Know You and Sunday Mornin'), the latter which came from the 60s songwriter Margo Guryan plus her own ballad Come to Me Slowly.

The Producer and arranger Tommy Oliver had previously worked with Frankie Avalon and later did arrangements for The Osmonds. In 1968 he arranged and conducted the album Bobby Gentry and Glen Campbell which had a cover of (surprise) Sunday Mornin on it. His arrangements are quite typical pop orchestral, not terribly different than some of Herbie Mann's albums. The only time the arrangements become really swoopy is on the final two songs on Julie's album, Yummy Yummy and Louie Louie.
As for the cover art, it is not bad but it is not great either. Actually the picture of Julie on the back cover of the LP is much better than the one they used on the front.

P.S. Speaking of Louie Louie is it just a coincidence that the very last lines of the song and thus the album are "I gotta go"? Julie knew this was likely her last album. Julie, so sorry you had to go, but at least this is a fun finish to a wonderful, memorable singing career.

Other Pressings: Yummy Yummy Yummy is also represented in original foreign pressings on Liberty labels (UK LBS 83 183). For whatever reason the Canada pressings of Yummy seem more common than the US, which is unique for Julie. Typically Canada pressings are very scarce.

Pressing Notes: The sonics are relatively standard professional pop of the late 60s, similar to With Body and Soul. However, the soundstage is even flatter than that LP. There is only a Stereo pressing. The US promo I have is rhythmically quite bouncy and lively and there is a pleasing ambiance around voices and nstruments. The UK pressing atypically sounds darker and smoother than the US. It has a smooth slightly heavy tonality that emphasizes the romantic over pop or light rock. The Canada pressings are as is usual for them between the US and UK. In this case they are closer to the US pressings but just a bit smoother and less open sounding.

Digital: Japanese mini LP pack CD from Toshiba, TOCJ 9690.

Listening Notes: Stoned Soul Picnic sets the pattern for the arrangements throughout the album. The small combo of acoustic guitar, bass guitar and percussion is augmented with strings and flute. On a few tracks there are some brief brass phrases. Stings are heavily processed to remove articulations. So the strings seem to be playing lots of glissandos even when they are probably playing normally. Strangely the acoustic guitar sound less processed than the other instruments. Julie's voice is only a little above the accompaniment in the mix. Julie sings in a pop style but very gently. She opens up in the second verse with interesting inflection at "from the sky comes the Lord and the lightning". The break is nondescript with just some bass guitar motives which go nowhere. Apart from a few nice phrases by Julie no one seems highly involved.

I'd Like To Get To Know You features an instrumental arrangement instead of the mainly vocal approach by Spanky and Our Gang.. Julie sings pleasantly and a bit more actively. Her phrasing though remains intimate. Light My Fire is dominated so to speak by an overactive flute playing in a 60s Herbie Mann style. Overall though the arrangement is fairly close to Feliciano's. Julie sins pleasantly but a bit generically and only loosens up a bit at the close going to her lower register. It's Nice To Be With You. has a lighter arrangement with the combo dominating. Julie sings with very intimate phrasing effectively. The acoustic guitar adds to the song as well. Sunday Morning has much more intimate singing by Julie than the rather generic approach by Spanky. Actually Margo Guryan's own performance is more interesting although it is ethereal where Julie is womanly. The opening for once is a bit dramatic with staccato chords on the strings. Julie sings incisively at the opening but then settles into a very well phrased and warm pop style. Hushabye Mountain is of course from the movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. The arrangement is slightly precious and oversweet. Julie can't quite decide whether she should sing in soundtrack style or intimate pop style.

Side 2 starts with the Dylan authored hit by Manfred Mann, Mighty Quinn (Quinn The Eskimo). The arrangement has a brief brass opening and an active bass guitar with tambourine. Julie sings in a pop style in a light hearted way. Towards the end it almost seems as if she is amused that she is singing this song. Come To Me Softly is the second ballad by Margo Guryan. Julie sings it in a fresh pop style with excellent phrasing and inflection despite the rather generic arrangement. She opens up nicely at the close. The Beatles' And I Love Him keeps fairly close to the original. Julie sings rather generically though and the strings become intrusive at the bridge. Without Him, the much covered song by Nilsson, receives excellent phrasing by Julie in the opening section. Unfortunately the bridge verse receives an over elaborate and rather precious arrangement and Julie is forced into a generic approach herself.

The two final songs on the album have received a lot of derision but I don't think people were listening very closely to them. There is no question that putting Yummy Yummy Yummy on the album was a poor PR choice and using it as the title a PR disaster. However, Julie's performance is actually excellent as is her take on the closer Louie Louie. Julie keeps to her low register and her phrasing is excellent and natural given the limitations of the lyrics. Listen to the way she sings "ohhh peaches and cream" and stretches out "yummy". The arrangement is actually fairly effective and avoids excessive cuteness. Louie Louie goes back to the basic Caribbean calypso premise of the Richard Berry original and has nothing of the rock version. The arrangement here actually has a looser swinging beat than the original although the strings are a bit swoopy. Also the flute is somewhat overactive. Again Julie mostly keeps to her low register singing sexily. She also takes the rather naive and ingenuous lyrics at face value, treating them as a tender love song. Listen to the way she sings the verse "fine little boy waits for me ... ". The bridge verse "Jamaica moon .." is startling because for some reason it is mixed much more transparently than the rest of the song or even the album. Her voice sound very immediate and clear before the closing refrain reverts to the usual mix. I have no idea whether that was intentional or not. I just wish the rest of the album had been mic'ed and mixed that way. Although not among her very best albums, this is a fun listen.

LST 7609 Front Cover

LST 7609 Back Cover

LST 7609 Label A

LST 7609 Label B
Mr Bass Chevelle Ma Belle Thread Starter

LST 7609 Canada Label A

LST 7609 Canada Label B

hi_watt and Cokelike- like this.
Mr Bass Chevelle Ma Belle Thread Starter

LBS 83183E UK Front Cover

LBS 83183E UK Back Cover

LBS 83183E UK Label A

LBS 83183E UK Label B
Mr Bass Chevelle Ma Belle Thread Starter

AFTERWARDS
In the years after Julie's recording career ended, there were a few Japanese issues aimed at the collector market. Some of these were unique compilation LPs and some were special 7" 45rpm issues. The covers made use of stock color photos of Julie presumably sourced from Liberty. The Julie London Deluxe #2 LP shown below is one of the better examples of these 70s era issues. In the 80s, there were selected reissues in the UK and France. These were inconsistent sonically and have to be sampled on a case by case basis. Very recently there have been some heavy vinyl reissues from Analogue Productions and other labels including gray market Euro issues. There have also been selected albums remastered for SACD..

Julie Deluxe #2 Front Cover

Julie Deluxe #2 Back Cover

Julie Deluxe #2 Booklet Cover

Julie Deluxe #2 Booklet Inner Pagea

Julie Deluxe #2 Label 1
Mr Bass Chevelle Ma Belle Thread Starter

Reposting comments from the old broken thread so that they are not lost. Thanks to all posters.
@W.B.

Ms. London even did an hour-long syndicated TV special during 1969 in which she sang some of the songs from Yummy, Yummy, Yummy (which by some strange coincidence was also the title of that special). It aired on a few local TV stations, including WPIX (Channel 11) in New York (which apparently had a hand in producing it) which ran it on June 3, 1969 at 10 P.M. The description in TV Guide was thus:

Julie's one-woman show presents such songs as "Let There Be Love," "Hushabye Mountain," "Sunday Mornin'," "Light My Fire," "Didn't We," "Come To Me Slowly," "And I Love Him," and "When Your Lover Has Gone." Music is provided by Don Overberg, guitarist; Milton Hinton on bass; Carl Fontana, trombonist; and Mousie Alexander on the drums.

Wonder if those musicians backed her on that final LP?

IMDb's page for Ms. London doesn't mention the Yummy, Yummy, Yummy special either. WPIX didn't preserve much of what they produced during that period, I presume (except for maybe the 1970 35mm film shot in California for their yearly Yule Log Xmas presentations). None of Clay Cole's shows for 'PIX throughout his run (mid-1960's) exist on videotape at all; some audio clips taped off air, that's all.
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Mr Bass reply

Very interesting. Even this Julie London fan site (Julie London's Television Performances ) makes no mention of the performance you cite. I would love to see it but I assume no longer exists.

As for the musicians I don't see anything linking them to Tommy Oliver. Instead they are jazz musicians who are associated with people known to Bobby Troup and Julie.

I should mention that stock copies of Easy Does It only appeared in Stereo. However there are some Radio Audition copies that are in Mono with the mono designation number LRP 3546. I haven't heard them but I am sure they are fold downs. The singles off the Yummy Yummy Yummy album are fold down Monos. In the case of Louie Louie they did a terrible job too.

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@ibekeen

I have to admit that I heard Yummy x 3 in a used record store and it took me years to find a copy for myself. I bought it for the joke factor and then realized that in most cases the joke was on me. This album was done with no jokes intended but some songs still get the belly laughs and looks of shock when I sneak a few of them on a road trip compilation.
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Mr Bass reply

Out of curiosity which YYY tracks get the laughs or looks of shock?

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@ibekeen

Mighty Quinn, Louie Louie, and Yummy, Yummy, Yummy.

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Mr Bass reply

Thanks. As I noted, I thought Julie herself seemed amused singing Mighty Quinn on the record. Not a highlight I agree. As for Louie Louie I think the reaction is based on people's lack of knowledge about the song because The Kingsmen's garage band version is so well known. But the faux Calypso style of Berry's original was copied fairly often in the early 60s by MOR and folk acts.

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@Dave Gilmour's Cat

The Mighty Quinn and Louie Louie were the highlights of this for me. It's a strange album by Julie's standards, but I really like it.

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Mr Bass reply

I like Julie's version of Louie Louie as well. I also like her takes on the two Margo Guryan songs. The title was unfortunate but Julie saves this album by singing these songs straight without camp. Some of the arrangements work against her though, as sort of Herbie Mann slumming even more than usual.
Your dedication to this series of album reviews, with pictures and all these details and everything is just incredible. Really, great job with this!! Huge Julie fan here, so all your work here is much appreciated.
Seconded here. Another huge Julie fan who appreciates your work and dedication. Cheers!
Mr Bass Chevelle Ma Belle Thread Starter

Thanks for the kind words but this is a small fraction of what Julie deserves for her dedication and consistency. Of 30 albums there are only 3 that to me are losers and that wasn't due to her but the arrangers, engineers etc. She didn't have much control over these albums except indirectly for the early ones produced by Bobby Troup, but she never tanked an album even if she didn't like the material that much.

Last edited: Jun 10, 2019
Dan Senior Member

I did find a UK mono pressing of this today. 1969, so I assume a fold down? I think it's the only mono pressing of this that Discogs lists.
Mr Bass Chevelle Ma Belle Thread Starter

Yes a fold. The 45s from the Yummy LP were also folds. Certainly fairly scarce though. I have the UK stereo.

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