James Remembers Summer Holiday

In 1999, Jimmy talked with me about his first album, released back in 1963.  Summer Holiday was the title of that album and contained a lot of cover versions, done in Jimmy's inimitable style. While not a huge commercial success, it did enjoy some local popularity and caused Gene Weed of radio station KFWB in Los Angeles to remark:

"I am sure that you and I will agree that this album, added to your collection, will gather little if any dust in the next few years, or at least until Jimmy releases another. Good listening to you and good luck to Jimmy, a new talent that is here to stay, and I'm glad!"

Here then is that interview:

FH

 Let's start with the cover. There's an interesting bit of trivia associated with that.
JG Well, the girl on the right - I ended up marrying for four months! She was an actress and she played in Lost At Sea with Robert Logan. She was in a lot of shows. Her name was Mikki Jameson. The other girl was just a model - I didn't know her.
FH And you're on some kind of a boat there.
JG Yeah - I think we were in Marina del Ray somewhere. I don't remember too much about that area. I was new in town.
FH None of your own compositions were on this album. Did you have an option to do any original material?
JG

Yes, but I didn't have anything I was really crazy about. Jimmy Bowen was the producer and that was right before he got hot. He produced Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime - which was a big hit by Dean Martin - and that record literally saved his job at Reprise. It launched him on a very successful career in the industry, which eventually led him to Nashville where he ran Capitol Records, and finally Liberty Records until his recent retirement. He championed a lot of West Coast recording techniques here in Nashville.

FH Did you do any playing on this album or was it strictly singing?
JG No playing. Leon Russell played piano. Glen Campbell played guitar. Hal Blaine played drums.
FH Did Glen Campbell write My Baby Made Me Cry with someone named Capehart?
JG Jerry Capehart was his co-writer. Jerry also wrote Summertime Blues.
FH He also wrote What Kind Of Girl Are You.
JG Yes. That was a single and almost a hit. Good tune. The vocal was inspired by Steve Lawrence or maybe Bobby Vee.
FH You've been described as sounding like Bobby Vee on this album. In fact, the president of the Bobby Vee fan club has visited this site and is on our e-mail mailing list.
JG I produced a song for Bobby Vee called Get The Message. Interestingly, Bobby was dating the girl on the cover (Mikki), whom I later married.
FH What was cutting that record like? Did you do it in a couple of days or was it a longer project?
JG

As I recall, we had three sessions in which we recorded four songs per session with a twenty-eight piece orchestra. We did the whole album in three days. I'm really trying to get back to that method of recording wherein you capture the magic of live performance. It's quicker and everyone rises above themselves. Today's method is to record the track and add other instruments afterwards, and then the vocal. This allows you the opportunity for perfection, but something is lost in the process.

FH Would you sing live with the music?
JG

Yes, along with the other background singers. For two or three of the songs, I did complete re-takes or doubled the vocal that was already there.

FH Do you think they promoted the album enough?
JG Reprise Records was new at the time and they did a pretty good job. There was a rumor in town at the time, I recall, that Reprise Records was a tax write-off for Sinatra and they weren't really looking to get hits.
FH Where were you living during all this?
JG West Hollywood. I think I was living on Clark Street at the time.
FH And you were how old?
JG

18. I got out there on July 4th of '62. I had a record deal by September. I had a couple of singles out that year.

FH Did the singles come before the album?
JG Yes. A different producer - a guy named Steve Venet - produced Girls Grow Up Faster Than Boys and one more. Then he and I wrote a few songs together and became good friends. He was a very talented producer. His brother, Nik Venet, produced many Capitol Records acts, including Bobby Darin. When Steve left in 1963, Jimmy Bowen took over. Jimmy dropped most of the acts that Steve had signed, but kept me and produced my first album.
FH Were there a lot of distractions in Hollywood at that time?
JG

No, it was cool - a lot of activity. A lot of young people were getting deals. You know, all the artists back then seemed a lot younger than I when they had their first hit and consequently, I felt like I was over-the-hill at eighteen! All these guys were pretty young when they got their hits, like Paul Anka, Bobby Vee and Fabian. Even when Bread got started - I was 25 - I recall David, Robb and myself commenting about our concern over our age. It was a very youth-oriented business back then.

FH What did you do after you made the record? Did you get to hear it much on the radio? Was it exciting?

JG

 It didn't get much airplay, except in certain cities. I kept up in different markets. I went to San Francisco, where I was having a lot of airplay on the radio, and I did my first live show at the Cow Palace, which was the venue at the time. On the show was Tony Bennett, Donna Loren, The Angels (My Boyfriend's Back) and Annette Funicello.
FH There was a movie out with Tom Hanks a while back about concert tours put on by labels where they would showcase all their label hopefuls - was it like that?
JG That's exactly what it was.
FH How did it come about that you actually got the opportunity to go to California and record Summer Holiday?

JG

 Well, I went out to visit Dorsey Burnett, after I graduated high school. Dorsey and Johnny Burnett moved in across the street from me in Memphis when I was seven years old, and they were living in California by this time. Dorsey played the upright bass and steel guitar, as well as acoustic guitar. Johnny played acoustic guitar and together they were fabulous songwriters and singers. Their harmonies were always real tight and I enjoyed singing with them, even at that age. Johnny Burnett had a big hit called Dreamin and then Dorsey had a hit called The Tall Oak Tree. Dreamin was produced by Snuff Garrett, who also produced artists like Bobby Vee, Timi Yuro and others, and eventually myself. Dorsey was recording for Reprise Records at this time and was impressed with my songs enough to take me to meet his producer, Steve Venet, and I played some songs for the him that I had recorded demos of in Memphis. I also sang two or three songs live. This was in August and I had a deal by September.
FH So it was definitely good to have a contact out there...
JG Definitely.
FH ...because there must have been a lot of people looking for deals.

JG

 Actually, there weren't as many labels nor as many artists seeking deals as you would think. It was important to get into the center of town and start meeting people. If you had a little talent - and it didn't take a lot in those days - you could get a deal. The song was the important thing.
FH How about a one or two line comment about some of the songs on the album, starting with the title cut Summer Holiday.
JG Jimmy Bowen found it. It was a hit by Cliff Richard in England. In fact, he had a movie out in England by the same name. Jimmy suggested I do it. The song was very infectious. Jack Nitzsche did a great arrangement for it. That was the first song I ever whistled on!
FH How about Too Young?
JG That's something I worked up in high school. My family, especially my dad, used to love to hear me do that song on guitar. When Jimmy Bowen and I were choosing songs for the album, he asked if I had anything else and I played Too Young and he said "let's do it." I forget who wrote that - maybe Hoagie Charmichael or someone like that. It's a real old tune. I think Nat King Cole had a hit with it.
FH Great story - how about She Used To Be Mine?
JG That was submitted to Jimmy Bowen for me by one of the local publishers. You may already know, when you're doing an album, the producer asks publishers to submit songs and that was one of the songs that was submitted. That's still how it's done today. We just liked it a lot - a very pretty ballad.
FH How about Summertime Blues?

JG

 That was also written by Jerry Capehart. Now knowing Jerry, I think he talked Jimmy into recording it for the album. The song had already been a hit by Eddie Cochran and, although I liked it well enough, I didn't like it for my voice. I had yet to learn how to say "no."
FH My Baby Made Me Cry - another one by Glen Campbell.
JG I liked that song. I think it sounds like it was written for Bobby Vee and he rejected it.
FH Love Letters In The Sand?
JG A Jimmy Bowen idea - it had been a hit by Pat Boone many years before that. I don't know why he wanted to do it. Jack Nitzsche did the arrangements, so I guess he felt that he could do a unique and different arrangement.
FH You're Tempting Me?
JG That was a strange little song that was really not my style. That was written by Barry Davorzon. He was one of the first songwriters I knew that also had an active publishing operation in those days. He's still active in the business today. He did a good job on the demo, but it didn't work for me when I tried to copy his style. Consequently, I wasn't too crazy about it. Further evidence...
FH How about Cold Rainy Day?
JG That was written by Stanley Uno and Pat Vegas. With his brother, Lolly, Pat subsequently started a band called Redbone, which had a hit in the late sixties called Come And Get My Love. Stanley and Pat knew I was recording an album and played it for me. I liked it and submitted it to Jimmy Bowen. The orchestra slowed down during the take that we ended up keeping and this always bothered me. It was an interesting arrangement.
FH Four more...What Kind Of Girl Are You?
JG That was written by Glen Campbell and Jerry Capehart and was the song that Jimmy and Reprise Records really pinned their hopes on. It was the first single released from the album. I also felt like I might have my first hit with that.
FH The Bully?
JG I hated that! I don't know where that song came from. Bowen came up with that song and I hated it. I hated it! Further evidence of my reluctance to say "no."
FH A Little Like Lovin'?
JG That was another song submitted by a publisher and I liked it. It had an R&B feel, that I eventually leaned more and more towards. It was in a good vocal range for me. During the session, I remember the track bothering me because it was too fast. While I was singing, I remember feeling the orchestra was playing it too fast and I didn't feel confident enough at that early age to interrupt all that was going on.
FH The last one...Sealed With A Kiss?
JG That was previously a huge hit by Brian Hyland while I was in high school. Jimmy and I both really liked it. I guess he was just trying to find songs that created an association in people's minds with other hit artists. The Nitzsche arrangement was very good.

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Thanks a million to James for sharing his remembrances of Summer Holiday with the fans.

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Last updated: Friday, March 16, 2007