DAVID MALLETT
"VITAL SIGNS"
Mastodon Post

Evidently "Vital Signs" is the David Mallett fan favorite. It starts strongly with "Midnight Madness" and ends with "Highways," which, according to an apparently knowing Amazon customer comment, was often a very big number in concerts. Side One's "April" and the title track are spoken of favorably by Mallett's followers. The first side ends with one of Mallett's best known songs, "Red Red Rose," which was covered to perfection by Emmylou Harris. It is surprising how many covers and interpretations of David Mallett songs closely follow the original arrangements. This may be seen as a testimonial to the production.

"Vital Signs" is notable for the team effort - from piano to drums - of the players, with each contributing catchy riffs.

"Vital Signs" is something like David Mallett's forbidden fruit album. It has never been reissued; and, as far as I am aware, it does not stream. (Some re-recordings do.) A track that once was posted to YouTube has been removed. Evidently the label, Flying Fish Records, made a mistake on the cover which is mirrored on the LPs label, crediting all words and music to Mallett. Judging by the publisher credits, the first song on the second side, "(Coming Apart) At the Seams," appears to be an exception. Evidently pianist Chris Neville claims a co-writer credit. The album got locked up by a lawsuit. Vinyl LPs and at least one cassette can be had online and, one would imagine, in used record stores.

Following popular concert attractions "Good Times" and "These Times," the album ends with Mallett's re-recording of "Highways," which first came out on the live "Hard Light" album. Mallett's singing here on "Highways" is so different that it ought to be considered as a rearrangement.

Jim Rooney did his usual excellent job with this production. David Mallett's home, Sebec, Maine, shares a town line with my old hometown, Milo. For me, then, it is more than a little ironic that Jim Rooney got his start performing on Boston's WCOP Hayloft Jamboree for Nelson Bragg, "The Merry Mayor of Milo, Maine."

A clean burn of the vinyl LP keeps me happily listening. Anyone who has read this far may want to hunt up a copy of the vinyl album. If you are a devoted singer-songwriter fan, chances are good that you have a friend who has burned it. A reissue would have been ideal but ways still exist to enjoy what may very well have been David Mallett's most popular record release, "Vital Signs."

Here are two of the best covers of David Mallett songs:

Summer Of My Dreams
Kathy Mattea - Topic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzFUG4zQWGU

Red Red Rose
EmmyLouharris

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmL0QSPJhTo

And one by David Mallett:

David Mallet - Summer Of My Dreams
from Live At The Iron Horse Vol. 1 by Signature Sounds Recording Inc.

https://signaturesounds.bandcamp.com/track/summer-of-my-dreams

Music Museum of New England (MMone) Jim Rooney article

https://www.mmone.org/jim-rooney/

:

#april #bostonmusic #chrisneville #comingapartattheseams #davemallett #davidmallett #emmylouharris #flyingfish #flyingfishrecords #goodtimes #hardlight #hayloftjamboree #highways #jimrooney #kathymattea #mainemusic #merrymayorofmilomaine #midnightmadness #mmone #music #musicfeed #musicmuseumofnewengland #musicnews #nelsonbragg #nemsbk #newenglandmusic #redredrose #sebec #sebecmaine #singersongwriter #summerofmydreams #thesetimes #vitalsigns #wcop #wcophayloftjamboree

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DAVID MALLETT
"VITAL SIGNS"
Mastodon Post

Evidently "Vital Signs" is the David Mallett fan favorite. It starts strongly with "Midnight Madness" and ends with "Highways," which, according to an apparently knowing Amazon customer comment, was often a very big number in concerts. Side One's "April" and the title track are spoken of favorably by Mallett's followers. The first side ends with one of Mallett's best known songs, "Red Red Rose," which was covered to perfection by Emmylou Harris. It is surprising how many covers and interpretations of David Mallett songs closely follow the original arrangements. This may be seen as a testimonial to the production.

"Vital Signs" is notable for the team effort - from piano to drums - of the players, with each contributing catchy riffs.

"Vital Signs" is something like David Mallett's forbidden fruit album. It has never been reissued; and, as far as I am aware, it does not stream. (Some re-recordings do.) A track that once was posted to YouTube has been removed. Evidently the label, Flying Fish Records, made a mistake on the cover which is mirrored on the LPs label, crediting all words and music to Mallett. Judging by the publisher credits, the first song on the second side, "(Coming Apart) At the Seams," appears to be an exception. Evidently pianist Chris Neville claims a co-writer credit. The album got locked up by a lawsuit. Vinyl LPs and at least one cassette can be had online and, one would imagine, in used record stores.

Following popular concert attractions "Good Times" and "These Times," the album ends with Mallett's re-recording of "Highways," which first came out on the live "Hard Light" album. Mallett's singing here on "Highways" is so different that it ought to be considered as a rearrangement.

Jim Rooney did his usual excellent job with this production. David Mallett's home, Sebec, Maine, shares a town line with my old hometown, Milo. For me, then, it is more than a little ironic that Jim Rooney got his start performing on Boston's WCOP Hayloft Jamboree for Nelson Bragg, "The Merry Mayor of Milo, Maine."

A clean burn of the vinyl LP keeps me happily listening. Anyone who has read this far may want to hunt up a copy of the vinyl album. If you are a devoted singer-songwriter fan, chances are good that you have a friend who has burned it. A reissue would have been ideal but ways still exist to enjoy what may very well have been David Mallett's most popular record release, "Vital Signs."

Here are two of the best covers of David Mallett songs:

Summer Of My Dreams
Kathy Mattea - Topic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzFUG4zQWGU

Red Red Rose
EmmyLouharris

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmL0QSPJhTo

And one by David Mallett:

David Mallet - Summer Of My Dreams
from Live At The Iron Horse Vol. 1 by Signature Sounds Recording Inc.

https://signaturesounds.bandcamp.com/track/summer-of-my-dreams

Music Museum of New England (MMone) Jim Rooney article

https://www.mmone.org/jim-rooney/

:

#april #bostonmusic #chrisneville #comingapartattheseams #davemallett #davidmallett #emmylouharris #flyingfish #flyingfishrecords #goodtimes #hardlight #hayloftjamboree #highways #jimrooney #kathymattea #mainemusic #merrymayorofmilomaine #midnightmadness #mmone #music #musicmuseumofnewengland #musicnews #nelsonbragg #nemsbk #newenglandmusic #redredrose #sebec #sebecmaine #singersongwriter #summerofmydreams #thesetimes #vitalsigns #wcop #wcophayloftjamboree

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DAVID MALLETT
Jim Rooney on the Death of Singer-Songwriter David Mallett
MASTODON POST

Attached are Jim Rooney's memories of David Mallett.  This is no small thing.  Rooney is a very long-time and prominent professional in the music and recording businesses.

https://www.mmone.org/jim-rooney/

He got started performing on Boston's WCOP Hayloft Jamboree for my own personal merry mayor, Nelson Bragg, the "Merry Mayor of Milo, Maine" (the place of my very own birth).  He has produced Grammy-nominated albums by Tom Paxton, John Prine, and Peter Rowan.  Rooney was one of the key players in the rise of Nanci Griffith.  Rooney produced at least three albums for a singer-songwriter I much admire, Iris DeMent.  Jim Rooney has done a lot since his 1950s start.  So, to get a little context here, Rooney's recollections of David Mallett have a great deal of professional weight behind them.  This Facebook post by Rooney came from a Web search hitlist on a related but different topic.  While going through the hitlist, it was apparent his post had been reposted I don't know how many times. David Mallett was from Sebec, Maine, which shares a town line with my old hometown, Milo. Being easily among his first fans, I have three singles by his 1960s group, The Mallett Brothers, and two tracks by his next duo, Hinkley and Mallett with memorable guitarist Don Hinkley.

:

#bostonmusic #bostonradio #davemallett #davidmallett #donhinkley #hayloftjamboree #hinkleyandmallett #irisdement #jimrooney #johnprine #mallettbrothers #merrymayorofmilomaine #milomaine #mmone #musicmuseumofnewengland #music #musicnews #nancigriffith #nelsonbragg #nemsbk #newenglandmusic #peterrowan #radio #sebecmaine #singersongwriter #themallettbrothers #tompaxton #wcop #wcophayloftjamboree

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This is just the start of a rough draft on the topic of Nelson Edward Bragg. A certain historical society seems to have eaten an article I wrote for them and this is going to be my recreation of it.

Great Representation of the WCOP Hayloft Jamboree

The "W.C.O.P. Hayloft Jamboree" CD is not so much a great album as it is a solid representation of much of the country music in New England in and around the mid-1950s. The big star was Jack Clement, a name anyone interested in rockabilly and country music ought to know. Some of the best cuts involve one or both members of the Woodward Brothers. Personally, I had never heard Muriel White before buying this disc, though I knew she came with a stellar reputation as a live country performer. Thus, her "Weekend Blues" is, for me, one of the great treasures of this collection. "Swiss Lullaby" by the yodeling Le Clair Sisters is another standout. One of these recordings, by Mick Woodward, has attracted a good deal of attention online among fans of hotrod songs. It is a zippy talking blues titled "Hot Rod Race Navy Style." Though in most ways very different, it still might in some ways call to mind "The Great Race" (Belmont Records, ca. 1978) by the equally great Dick Curless. A very important fellow who we do not hear on this disc is the show's producer and host, Nelson Bragg "The Merry Mayor of Milo, Maine." Being a Milo native myself, I hereby acknowledge Nelson Edward Bragg as one of the main guys if not THE main guy behind this radio broadcast and stage show. Though Bragg was a self-styled Merry Mayor, in the late 1940s an organization set up to attract industry to Milo proclaimed him to be our honorary mayor. Good for them! Bragg was also known professionally as "The Boston Traveler." His son, Nelson Bragg, Jr., last I knew was a key member of the excellent Brian Wilson Band. A very well known and gifted Nashville record producer, Jim Rooney, was a member of the WCOP Hayloft Jamboree company of performers. An illustration posted online shows Elton Britt to have been a member of this troupe at one time. Though not represented on this CD, it may still be of interest that his "There's a Star Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere," with lyrics by Paul Roberts (Paul Metivier) of Swans Island, Maine, was the first country music single to be certified gold by the recording industry. Boston's WCOP played a significant part in the early history of rock 'n' roll by way of the occasional rhythm and blues records played by legendary show host Symphony Sid during his two stints with the station. If you have read this far, chances are really strong that you need to purchase a copy of this important and highly worthwhile compact disc. The WCOP Hayloft Jamboree was broadcast "Coast to coast, from Revere to Nantasket....." - Four Stars

:

#merrymayorofmilomaine

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