Buddy Greco
Listen/Download – Buddy Greco – Time’s a Wastin’ While You’re Gone
Greetings all.
Today’s selection is one of the greatest “out of left field” records I’ve ever come across.
Big thanks to my old buddy Keith Patterson who brought it to my attention a while back.
Buddy Greco, if you know the name at all, is best known as one of those swing-a-ding-ding, post-Sinatra crooners (and pianist) of the 50s, 60s and 70s.
He was a mainstay in Vegas and everywhere else supper clubs thrived.
Posessed of a confident baritone and good looks, he made a string of albums that stretched out over almost 40 years.
He recorded today’s selection, ‘Time’s a Wastin’ When Your Gone’ in 1965.
How he got his hands on the tune, which was composed by English keyboard player John Burch (who wrote both ‘Preach and Teach’ and ‘In the Meantime’ for Georgie Fame, I cannot say, but it was indeed fortuitous that he did.
The record is a stunning bit of hard-charging, beat adjacent sounds. The producer (Bob Morgan) and arranger (Garry Sherman) were both straight up the middle mainstreamers, and the fact that they made a record like this, especially for Greco, suggests to me a deliberate attempt at mold-breaking.
Though I have no evidence in this direction, I wonder if Greco was recording over an existing, UK-based instrumental track. The drums and guitar are especially hard-hitting and the sound screams UK 1965.
Haven’t been able to find any other recordings of the song, either in the US or the UK.
That said, it’s a killer, and I hope you dig it.
If anyone has any more detailed information about the record, please let me know.
Until next week.
Peace
Larry
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