(2010, download, - , crossfire publications)
(2011, flash-drive, usa, crossfire publications)

various artists

paul buff presents the pal and original sound studio archives, vol.2

2010 download - crossfire publications

re-releases
    (2011, flash-drive, usa, crossfire publications) = the complete 35 album series, with bonus liner notes on pdf and 56 extra tracks

various tracks recorded by Paul Buff

http://cdbaby.com/cd/PaulBuffVariousArtists1

  1. conrad and the hurricane strings: hurricane  (ed sigarlaki)  -  produced by curry (frank zappa) and irvin (aerni)

  2. johnny fortune: alone and cryin'

  3. the biscaines: blue skies

  4. the masters: sixteen tons

  5. sonny wilson: lonely nights

  6. the hollywood persuaders: go-go music

  7. ricky dean: little girl

  8. the masters: rolling blues

  9. paul buff: betty jane

  10. the pal studio band: masked grandma  (frank zappa) -  feat.frank zappa

  11. baby ray and the ferns: how's your bird?

  12. the heartbreakers: everytime i see you  (frank zappa)

  13. the pauls: cathy my angel  = paul buff

  14. ned and nelda: surf along with ned and nelda  (zappa, collins)

  15. larry gee: cruisin' mainstreet usa

  16. the catalinas: your tender lips  = paul buff

  17. the friendly torpedoes: citizen fear (final mono master)

  18. the buff organisation: original sound tag  = paul buff

 

liner notes by Greg Russo:

Welcome to Volume 2 of Paul Buff's 20-volume series of recordings from Pal Studios and Original Sound Studios! Pal Records was a record company run by his mother Olivia and stepfather Ward Allen. After Paul Buff was honorably discharged from the military, he finished putting together Pal Studios in December 1957. The studio costs were $12.50/hour for mono recording and $15/hour for stereo. Local musicians booked the studio to make recordings of their rehearsals and repertoire. When Pal Records wound itself down in mid-1959, Paul Buff created his first record label - Emmy. Other labels (Plaza, Yukon and Vigah!) would follow shortly thereafter. The music presented on this series was released on extremely rare records that would literally cost thousands if you can find them. In addition, there are many unreleased tracks spanning from 1960 to 1969. Paul Buff is now making them available again for everyone to appreciate.

Pal associate Dave Aerni first came by the studio in late 1962 when his management client The Tornadoes wanted a different sound. The Tornadoes scored with their first single "Bustin' Surfboards," but their follow-up, the two-part single "The Gremmie," did not do well. The Tornadoes' output at Pal will be covered throughout this series on other volumes.

Aerni had four record labels going at once: Aertaun (The Tornadoes' label), Daani, Daytone and Ador. Volume 2 kicks off with the Daytone release "Hurricane" by Conrad And The Hurricane Strings. It was produced by Curry (Frank Zappa) and Irvin (Aerni). This track from January 1964 was sampled by Frank Zappa on his album "Lumpy Gravy." It is a classic of the surf genre.

Next up is the B-side of Johnny Fortune's first Emmy single, "Alone And Cryin'." Its heavy reverb is typical of Johnny's early rockabilly style. Irving Berlin's "Blue Skies" was done by The Biscaines for Paul Buff's Yukon label in November 1960. It was reissued a few months later on Felsted. Led by sax player Tom Funk, The Biscaines cut one single and a two-song acetate at Pal. Paul Buff thought so much of the song that he recorded it with Dave Aerni as The Bongo Teens in 1963.

Ronnie Williams and Paul Buff served up an unusual instrumental arrangement of Merle Travis' "Sixteen Tons" as the second Masters A-side in 1961. The song was a big hit by "Tennessee" Ernie Ford in 1955. Sonny Wilson's "Lonely Nights" was first released on the Plaza label in August 1961. This is the song that Frank Zappa loved and mentioned in interviews, but he mistakenly called it "Lonely Lips." This was the only song from the recording session licensed to Candix that was not reissued on that label. Candix instead went with "I Ain't Giving Up Nothin'" and "Troubled Times" as their single pairing.

One of Paul Buff's recording personas was The Hollywood Persuaders, and it was his most popular venture. Nearly all the instrumental recordings made under this name featured Buff playing all the instruments. A perfect example of The Hollywood Persuaders' style is the unreleased track from 1965 - "Go-Go Music." It would have fit perfectly on any of the dance shows that appeared on television during the mid-1960s.

There were many Mexican-American performers after Ritchie Valens that wanted to break into the English-speaking market. Rick Martinez, known professionally as Ricky Dean, was one of them. His Emmy single "Blue Tears"/ Little Girl" was licensed to the Donna label shortly after release in August 1962. Ricky Dean would go on to record additional tracks for Donna before turning up on the Original Sound label in 1967 for the Paul Buff co-written and produced single "Flowers."

"Rolling Blues" was the B-side of the third and final Masters single in August 1961. As with all the Masters tracks, Ronnie Williams' guitar playing was well ahead of his contemporaries. Ronnie struck out with his group Tom Kendall And Gentrys a few years later, but he unbelievably never released anything else. "Betty Jane" is an unreleased Paul Buff track from 1963 that features Paul as a one-man-band. As with some of the tracks on this series, the entire session has been included for your enjoyment.

The Pal Studio Band returns with a Zappa doo-wop extravaganza that no one has ever heard - "Masked Grandma." Yes, little Frankie is in love with someone's grandmother! Everyone at the Pal stable at the time (Buff, Zappa, Ray Collins) are all over this track. The tape box shows that this song was to be jokingly billed as Little Franky & The Frogs!

The next three tracks were licensed for single release on Donna. Baby Ray And The Ferns' "How's Your Bird?" is the first one, inspired by Steve Allen. It was written before Zappa's appearance on Allen's show in March 1963, and Frank talked about it during his appearance. FZ wrote and produced "Everytime I See You" for The Heartbreakers, a Mexican teenage duo. The other side of the record was "Cradle Rock," which will be covered later. The Pauls' "Cathy My Angel" features Paul Buff on numerous overdubs - hence, The Pauls. It's a prime example of early '60s pop before The Beatles shook things up.

Ned And Nelda's "Surf Along With Ned And Nelda" cashed in on the sudden interest in surf music, but in a very satirical way. Zappa and Collins made sure that there was no commercial potential!  

Unlike most Emmy label singles which were done at Pal, Larry Gee's "Cruisin' Mainstreet USA" was done at Original Sound in the fall of 1963 while Paul Buff was putting together a new studio. In addition to surf records, car songs such as Larry Gee's were popular. This is one of Emmy's rarest releases.

Terri And Johnnie had cut "Your Tender Lips" at Pal for release on Donna, but their version was not a hit. So, Paul Buff did his own version as The Catalinas for Original Sound. Unlike Terri And Johnnie's version as a male/female duet, all the vocals on The Catalinas' version were by Paul.

After recording the entire output of The Music Machine at Original Sound, Paul Buff got together with Music Machine leader/vocalist (Thomas) Sean Bonniwell to do some tracks as The Friendly Torpedoes. They released an Original Sound single ("Nothing's Too Good For My Car"/ "So Long Ago") in 1970, but "Citizen Fear" never turned up until the Music Machine CD "Ignition" in 2000. Actually, the backing track of "Citizen Fear" is exactly the same as The Buff Organization B-side "Upside Down World" from late 1967, but Bonniwell was called in to write new lyrics and vocalize them in 1969. This is one of three mixes that were made of "Citizen Fear," with the others following later.

Closing out this volume is a brief theme that Paul Buff recorded as The Buff Organization - "Original Sound Tag." It has the sound of the '60s all over it.

On to the next volume!