Ed Ames 1927-2023

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pljms
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Ed Ames 1927-2023

Post by pljms »

Ed Ames's Bacharach connections go back to the mid-50s when he was part of the singing group The Ames Brothers and Burt was their MD. The singer and actor who has died aged 95 went on to record two albums of Bacharach and David material in the early 70s, including what remains to this day the only vocal version of 'Nikki'.
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blueonblue
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Re: Ed Ames 1927-2023

Post by blueonblue »

Ed Ames...R.I.P.



'blue'
mark
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Re: Ed Ames 1927-2023

Post by mark »

And let's not forget Ed also did a vocal version of "She's Gone Away," one of my favorites from Make It Easy on Yourself. RIP Ed.

Jim Dixon
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Re: Ed Ames 1927-2023

Post by Jim Dixon »

mark wrote: Sun Jul 02, 2023 11:20 am And let's not forget Ed also did a vocal version of "She's Gone Away," one of my favorites from Make It Easy on Yourself. RIP Ed.
Mark, did you ever hear the version of "She's Gone Away" by Mike Patton on the 1997 Tzadik Records "Great Jewish Music: Burt Bacharach" album? It's arranged kind of like Ennio Morricone sat down with Brian Wilson and they went to town on the tune for an upcoming spaghetti western. That was the first version of that song I ever heard. Unfortunately it's been taken down from Youtube, or I'd post a link. It might be on Spotify or some other streaming service.
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Re: Ed Ames 1927-2023

Post by mark »

Yes! I'd heard Burt's solo version from Make It Easy on Yourself but it was Patton's version that made me fall in love with it. He really takes it over the top in terms of drama and I love the thermin. I was never a huge Faith No More fan, but they did a pretty reverent cover of "This Guy's in Love with You," too, so they were clearly big fans. (They also did nice covers of "Theme from Midnight Cowboy" and "I Started a Joke.")

The whole Great Jewish Music CD is awesome. It came out around the time I was realizing a lot of underground musicians were Bacharach fans. I seem to recall first hearing Jim O'Rourke's cover of "Something Big" around that time, another mildly kitschy cover that gave me a fresh appreciation of a song that just seemed like a pleasant enough album track from Burt's Living Together LP. I didn't even know it was originally a Mark Lindsay song from a movie.
Jim Dixon
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Re: Ed Ames 1927-2023

Post by Jim Dixon »

mark wrote: Sun Jul 02, 2023 3:05 pm I was never a huge Faith No More fan, but they did a pretty reverent cover of "This Guy's in Love with You," too, so they were clearly big fans. (They also did nice covers of "Theme from Midnight Cowboy" and "I Started a Joke.")

I seem to recall first hearing Jim O'Rourke's cover of "Something Big" around that time, another mildly kitschy cover that gave me a fresh appreciation of a song that just seemed like a pleasant enough album track from Burt's Living Together LP. I didn't even know it was originally a Mark Lindsay song from a movie.
Thanks for pointing me to these other tracks. I skipped over a lot of grunge and alt rock back when it was big, so I wasn't aware of Faith No More's various 60s pop covers. I knew O'Rourke did his Bacharach album much later, but "Something Big" wasn't on my radar either, back then or afterward. It's a great recording. The Mark Lindsay version is one tune I might say really belongs on the "Look of Love" box, as much as I admire the track list they did settle on.
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