by Anonymous
Lesley Gore "Someplace Else Now" 1972
After six years and eleven Top 40 hits at Mercury Records, Lesley Gore found herself in 1969 without a record contract. Bob Crewe, who had produced some of her last Mercury singles, signed her to his own label, but nothing clicked, not even the remake of the Fleetwoods' "Come Softly to Me", credited to "Billy and Sue". Billy was William Oliver Swofford, better known as Oliver, who had had a 1969 hit with "Good Morning Starshine" from Hair. Exit Lesley Gore, hitmaker.
And enter Lesley Gore, composer. It wasn't a new role, exactly — she and brother Michael had written "I Won't Love You Anymore (Sorry)", a late-1965 single — but something spurred her to write, write, write during those early days of the Seventies. And at least part of that something was a new acquaintance, lyricist Ellen Weston. Gore and Weston began writing together, and in 1972, producer Joe Porter brought Lesley Gore back to the studio.
Someplace Else Now was half a lifetime and 180 degrees away from "It's My Party". The songs scarcely resemble Lesley's classic girl-group items. "Out of Love" would have fit nicely into an early (pre-Richard Perry) Carly Simon album. "She Said That", the single, is what's left when you drain all the smarm out of something like Charlene's "I've Never Been to Me". Not quite Sixties pop, yet not really a standard Seventies singer-songwriter effort, the album baffled the few that heard it and went ignored by the rest.
It was also apparent that Motown Records, still based in Detroit but trying to build a West Coast operation (hence "Mowest"), was still not a factor in any market other than the one it had created in the Sixties; they were unable to sell Lesley Gore the way they had sold Diana Ross, or even Rare Earth. Once again, Lesley Gore disappeared from the music scene. But she wouldn't stay gone forever.
Extra! Two copies of this LP showed up almost simultaneously on eBay in late 1999; they both sold for prices over $20 US. The fans are definitely still out there.
Track listing:
For Me (Gore-Weston)
The Road I Walk (Gore)
Out of Love (Gore-Weston)
She Said That (Gore-Weston)
Don't Wanna Be One (Gore-Weston)
Be My Life (Gore)
Where Do You Go (When You Get Home) (L. & M. Gore)
What Did I Do Wrong (Gore)
Someplace Else Now (Gore-Weston)
Mine (Gore)
No Sad Songs (Gore-Weston)
For You (Gore-Weston)
Produced by Joe Porter for Joe Porter Productions
Recorded at Mowest Studios
Arranged by Artie Butler (1-5, 9, 11-12), Michael Omartian and Jimmie Haskell (6-8, 10)
DL
After six years and eleven Top 40 hits at Mercury Records, Lesley Gore found herself in 1969 without a record contract. Bob Crewe, who had produced some of her last Mercury singles, signed her to his own label, but nothing clicked, not even the remake of the Fleetwoods' "Come Softly to Me", credited to "Billy and Sue". Billy was William Oliver Swofford, better known as Oliver, who had had a 1969 hit with "Good Morning Starshine" from Hair. Exit Lesley Gore, hitmaker.And enter Lesley Gore, composer. It wasn't a new role, exactly — she and brother Michael had written "I Won't Love You Anymore (Sorry)", a late-1965 single — but something spurred her to write, write, write during those early days of the Seventies. And at least part of that something was a new acquaintance, lyricist Ellen Weston. Gore and Weston began writing together, and in 1972, producer Joe Porter brought Lesley Gore back to the studio.
Someplace Else Now was half a lifetime and 180 degrees away from "It's My Party". The songs scarcely resemble Lesley's classic girl-group items. "Out of Love" would have fit nicely into an early (pre-Richard Perry) Carly Simon album. "She Said That", the single, is what's left when you drain all the smarm out of something like Charlene's "I've Never Been to Me". Not quite Sixties pop, yet not really a standard Seventies singer-songwriter effort, the album baffled the few that heard it and went ignored by the rest.
It was also apparent that Motown Records, still based in Detroit but trying to build a West Coast operation (hence "Mowest"), was still not a factor in any market other than the one it had created in the Sixties; they were unable to sell Lesley Gore the way they had sold Diana Ross, or even Rare Earth. Once again, Lesley Gore disappeared from the music scene. But she wouldn't stay gone forever.
Extra! Two copies of this LP showed up almost simultaneously on eBay in late 1999; they both sold for prices over $20 US. The fans are definitely still out there.
Track listing:
For Me (Gore-Weston)
The Road I Walk (Gore)
Out of Love (Gore-Weston)
She Said That (Gore-Weston)
Don't Wanna Be One (Gore-Weston)
Be My Life (Gore)
Where Do You Go (When You Get Home) (L. & M. Gore)
What Did I Do Wrong (Gore)
Someplace Else Now (Gore-Weston)
Mine (Gore)
No Sad Songs (Gore-Weston)
For You (Gore-Weston)
Produced by Joe Porter for Joe Porter Productions
Recorded at Mowest Studios
Arranged by Artie Butler (1-5, 9, 11-12), Michael Omartian and Jimmie Haskell (6-8, 10)
DL
posted by Lizardson at 10:42 PM
3 Comments:
Lesley Gore actually came out with a new album a couple years ago. It's really great...sorta has that world-weary Marianne Faithful vibe to it.
Oh man, I can't believe I found this!! Thanks so much!
an absolutlely brilliant release-too bad lame american audience lacked the intelligence to look beyond the It's My Party or "little rich girl" Lesley mindset-check out the archived Rolling Stone review-same deal with "Love Me By Name"-Quincy Jones top shelf work!
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