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Steve Schell
04-18-2008, 12:42 AM
In 1967 I was attending a Catholic elementary boarding school in Berkeley, CA. It was quite a time to be in the bay area, what with the Haight, People's Park etc. in full flower.

Sometimes I'd spend the weekend at home with a local kid when the Brothers made all the long distance boarders scram. This one weekend I went home with Kenny Harris to Oakland. On Saturday we were out bumming around and wandered into a thrift shop. I spotted a huge pile of new 45 RPM records, most of them having the same title: "You're Driving Me Crazy" by Dorothy Berry. Since the asking price was three cents I took a chance and bought one. When we got home we gave it a spin, looked at each other and grinned... it was good!

I still have that 45, plus a second copy I picked up in the '80s for $6. It had become a rare record, presumably because most of them wound up in that thrift shop in Oakland. Anyway, it still gets me going like no other single record I can think of. Now it is probably not as good a record as I think it is, because my perceptions are colored by all the pleasant memories of that period. Or maybe it is!

Dorothy Berry was the wife of the late Richard Berry, who is most famous for having written "Louie Louie." Why Dorothy remained obscure I'll never understand, because IMO she could sing as well as anyone, definitely up in Etta James territory.

I just happened onto a web site with an audio file of "You're Driving Me Crazy." Give it a spin!

http://www.last.fm/music/Dorothy+Berry/_/You%27re+Driving+Me+Crazy

mikebake
04-18-2008, 05:45 AM
Nice!

spkrman57
04-18-2008, 08:20 AM
I enjoyed listening to that Steve!

Thanks, Ron

johnaec
04-18-2008, 10:37 AM
?? :(

Due to issues beyond our control, we have lost all power to our datacenter. Unfortunately Last.fm will be offline until further notice.

John

johnaec
04-18-2008, 12:01 PM
I guess the U.S. could have used all that money blown in Iraq to rebuild our power grid.Yeah - it's not so much that I mind paying taxes - I just think we should be allowed to determine *where* they're spent. Like on the tax forms, have a list of about 20 areas, (roads, education, security, etc.), where we could enter the percentage of our taxes we wanted applied. Of course that makes too much sense and would never fly - we'd be taking politicians' piggy bank away... :biting:

John

mikebake
04-18-2008, 12:08 PM
Meanwhile, back to Steves favorite record in the whole world...............

hjames
04-18-2008, 12:20 PM
Gee guys ... Sometimes, its not about us, err US, err U.S. ....

see - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last.fm

Last.fm is a UK-based internet radio and music community website, founded in 2002. It claims over 21 million active users based in more than 200 countries.


Also see - http://blog.last.fm/
(http://blog.last.fm/)


Just another sign of our crumbling infrastructure. I guess the U.S. could have used all that money blown in Iraq to rebuild our power grid.

Oops! :o:

Yeah - it's not so much that I mind paying taxes - I just think we should be allowed to determine *where* they're spent. Like on the tax forms, have a list of about 20 areas, (roads, education, security, etc.), where we could enter the percentage of our taxes we wanted applied. Of course that makes too much sense and would never fly - we'd be taking politicians' piggy bank away... :biting:

John

Mr. Widget
04-18-2008, 01:10 PM
Thanks for sharing, Steve... when I listened to it this morning, it had been played a whopping 168 times. That is obscure! How did you find it?


Widget

hjames
04-18-2008, 01:14 PM
The track is back up!!
Cool tune, thanks for the link, Steve!

http://www.last.fm/music/Dorothy+Ber...iving+Me+Crazy (http://www.last.fm/music/Dorothy+Berry/_/You%27re+Driving+Me+Crazy)

Steve Schell
04-18-2008, 01:44 PM
Widget, I just ran a Google search on Dorothy Berry for the heck of it and the site turned up. Most of what I know about her (which ain't much) comes from here:

http://www.louielouie.net/09-dorothy.htm

Steve Schell
04-18-2008, 10:40 PM
Lansing Heritage co-founder Maui Steve wrote to point out that a 45 of YDMC is available right now on ebay, for $40.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Dorothy-Berry-North-Soul-45-Youre-Driving-Me-Crazy-117_W0QQitemZ170112443478QQihZ007QQcategoryZ306QQr dZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1638Q 2em118Q2el1247

There are two versions of this 45. The auctioned record title is "I Say You're Driving Me Crazy" while the ones I have use the shorter title, also seen here:

http://www.poparchives.com.au/feature.php?id=1826

They both carry the designation of Little Star #117. I seem to remember reading in the past that the title was changed due to some copyright issue. Maybe that's why a pile of them ended up at the thrift shop.

H.B. Barnum wrote the song and arranged it for Berry. No wonder the arrangement kicks butt; he's worked for some notable artists:

http://www.soulwalking.co.uk/H.B.Barnum.html

duaneage
04-19-2008, 05:12 AM
So that record outperformed the stock market in value, interesting.

Steve Schell
04-19-2008, 11:35 AM
Duaneage, in 1967 I could have cornered the world market in Little Star #117 for about five bucks. Who knew?

richluvsound
04-20-2008, 06:04 AM
thanks awfully Heather- LAST FM- right under my nose :D

Rich

cooky1257
04-20-2008, 04:18 PM
Cool tune-I had heard it once before-the right tune at the right time and place can change your life, amazing.
Is there something up with my browser 'cos I can see the quoted posts but not all of the originals-or is it Big Brother at work censoring anti U.S. gov stuff?

Steve Schell
08-19-2013, 01:29 PM
I've gotta reopen this old thread as yesterday was a big day. I was providing piano service for the Jazz In The Pines festival in Idyllwild, CA. I noted with great interest that the opening act on the main stage on Sunday was listed as "H.B. Barnum and the L.I.F.E. Choir." When the pianist had taken his seat I introduced myself and asked him if he might be the same H.B Barnum who had produced the Dorothy Berry records in the 1960s. He said yes, and seemed surprised then pleased when I told him that I considered "You're Driving Me Crazy" to be the best record in the whole world. H.B. chuckled and said that they had probably pressed 500 copies of that title.

Mr. Barnum is approaching 80 and is still very active musically with his gospel choir. He is a powerful pianist and he and the choir gave a varied and moving performance, covering "Oh Happy Day", several other selections with soloists stepping forward for each, and closing with a Christmas medley!

Both issues of Little Star 117 are now available for your listening pleasure on Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7tpzWkUlUY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPB3MFRPj8I

Stop the presses! Now the rousing B side of LS 117 is also up on the 'tube... yes!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvqFpjsWD6I

NickH
08-19-2013, 04:19 PM
I bet that gave you goose bumps. I would have. Very cool experience though to make a cool story even more cool.