Curt Boettcher
Curt Boettcher | |
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The GoldeBriars | |
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Curtis Roy Boettcher (January 7, 1944 – June 14, 1987), sometimes credited as Curt Boetcher or Curt Becher, was an American singer, songwriter, arranger, musician, and
The New York Times wrote of Boettcher: "If his life had gone just a bit differently, [he] might have been another Brian Wilson. ... As it stands, Boettcher — a pop-music producer whose heyday was the late '60s — now survives in rock history mostly as a liner-note credit. He could have been, but never was. Yet he enjoys a godlike status among a select group of music fans, for whom obscurity is more enticing than fame."[1]
Early life
He was born in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, to Peggie and Arland Boettcher. His father was a Navy pilot in World War II and later worked at the Pentagon.[2]
The GoldeBriars
Boettcher entered the
The Association, The Ballroom, and Tommy Roe
Following the demise of The GoldeBriars, Boettcher moved into production and songwriting work for others, including Lee Mallory and The Association. In 1966, through his production partnership Our Productions, Boettcher produced the debut album by The Association, And Then... Along Comes the Association, released on Valiant Records. The album spawned two Top 10 hits, "Along Comes Mary" (which reached #7 in the U.S.) and "Cherish" (which reached #1). In 2012, original Association member Jim Yester said Valiant Records claimed "Cherish" sounded "too old and archaic", but the song's success "just showed we can have archaic and eat it, too."[7] The album included the song "Message of Our Love", co-written by Boettcher and Tandyn Almer (who also wrote "Along Comes Mary").
Boettcher's wife Claudia said that Almer wrote "Along Comes Mary" as a slow song. Boettcher sped up the tempo and recorded a demo on which he sang the vocal. This demo was presented to The Association, who used it as a guide for their arrangement of the tune. It was the band's attempt to replicate and build on Boettcher's demo that became the group's first hit single (produced by Boettcher). Boettcher and Almer had a dispute over writing credits for the song, Boettcher arguing that his extensive contributions to the arrangement, which formed the basis of the hit version of the song, warranted a co-writer credit. However, the song was ultimately credited solely to Almer.[8]
After the album achieved commercial success, according to a November 1966 story in
In a 1974 interview with ZigZag Magazine, Boettcher said that during this period he was under contract to Our Productions and on salary. This arrangement accorded him no royalties, but a tremendous amount of artistic freedom. "I wanted to keep on working, to be there. I think for a while I had more hours [of studio experience] for any producer my age. I used to practically live in the studio. And I used to work until I fell over. It was like an addiction.[11]
In 1966 he formed the group The Ballroom with
In 1966, he produced two hit singles for Tommy Roe, "Sweet Pea" and "Hooray for Hazel". Production on both was credited to Boettcher's Our Productions partner, Steve Clark, but Boettcher subsequently claimed that he himself produced these recordings.[12] The following year, Boettcher produced Roe's album It's Now Winter's Day (ABC Records).
The Millennium and Sagittarius
Boettcher is said to have met both producer
Usher bought Boettcher's contract and signed him as a staff producer for Columbia Records. In 1967 he enlisted Boettcher to collaborate on a personal project, a studio band called Sagittarius, under whose name he had produced a single, "My World Fell Down", which became a minor hit. (It was sung by
Usher's celebrity, as well as Boettcher's successful productions for The Association and Tommy Roe, convinced Columbia to finance Boettcher's own studio project. In 1967 he assembled a group of musicians and songwriters with whom he had previously worked or personally knew (including Sandy Salisbury, Lee Mallory, Joey Stec, and Michael Fennelly), as well as some top Los Angeles session musicians, and started recording an album under the group moniker The Millennium. The album was co-produced by Keith Olsen, who had been a friend of Boettcher since his college days. Their debut—and only—album, Begin, was the most expensive album ever recorded for Columbia at that point. Despite the release of several singles, sales were dismal and the project was considered a commercial flop. This was partially attributable to Boettcher's reluctance to tour. The group staged a few live performances in Los Angeles, but the difficulty of replicating the album in concert posed a large enough challenge to dissuade Boettcher from sustaining the band. Although the single "It's You" became a hit in several regions, there was no group to support it. "5 AM" also charted in the Philippines. The group recorded one final single, "Just About The Same" b/w "Blight", which was not issued at the time. Despite its commercial failure, the album is critically regarded as one of the finest pop albums from the late 1960s, and has been described at AllMusic as a "bona fide lost classic".[15] In 2000 an album of demos by The Millennium called Again was issued.[16]
Soon after The Millennium broke up, Boettcher's friend Gary Usher, fired by Columbia Records, started a record label called Together Records. He brought in Boettcher and Olsen as staff producers, and Boettcher was involved in several projects for the label. These included his first attempt at a solo album, as well as producing recordings for a Sandy Salisbury solo album, contributing to the second Sagittarius album, and co-producing with Olsen The Moses Lake Recordings by The Bards, which was a mixture of garage rock with psychedelia and sunshine pop elements. Although the second Sagittarius album,
Solo recording and The Beach Boys
In the early 1970s, Boettcher had little commercial success and few rewarding recording projects. In 1971, at the insistence of Elektra Records founder-president
In the mid-1970s, Boettcher sang backing vocals on a number of Elton John recordings, including "Don't Go Breaking My Heart", a duet John recorded with Kiki Dee. He also contributed backing vocals to recordings by Tanya Tucker, Helen Reddy,[19] Eric Carmen[20] and Dennis Wilson.
Thereafter, his output as a musician and producer was limited and sporadic. Beginning in 1975, he worked for several years as a
Personal life and death
Little is known about Boettcher's personal life. He married Claudia Ford in the late 1960s, and they had a son, Varek, before they were divorced.
Boettcher died in June 1987 at
Cover versions
The Brady Bunch recorded Boettcher's composition "I Just Want To Be Your Friend" for their 1972 album, Meet the Brady Bunch (Paramount Records).[25] Another Boettcher co-composition, "There Is Nothing More to Say", was sung as a solo by Maureen McCormick on Chris Knight & Maureen McCormick, a 1973 album by Brady cast members McCormick and Christopher Knight.[26] The song was reissued as a bonus track on the CD release of The Brady Bunch Phonographic Album.[27]
The Sunshine Company, a Los Angeles rock band, recorded two Boettcher compositions, "I Just Want To Be Your Friend" (on the 1967 album Happy Is the Sunshine Company, Imperial Records 12359), and "If You Only Knew" (on the 1968 album The Sunshine Company, Imperial Records 12368).
Eternity's Children covered a Boettcher composition, "You Know I've Found a Way" on their 1968 album of the same name. A further cover of the song included Sagittarius, who included it on their album, Present Tense.
In April 2013, Beth Sorrentino (formerly of the American rock band Suddenly, Tammy!) released Would You Like To Go: A Curt Boettcher Songbook, produced by Sean Slade and issued in Europe on the Basta label.[29] (It was released in North America on June 10, 2014.) The album includes covers of well-known and obscure Boettcher songs and co-writes, as well as an idiosyncratic recording of "Along Comes Mary" because of the song's strong association with Boettcher. Sorrentino's recording of "You Know I've Found a Way" (co-written by Boettcher and Lee Mallory) was used as the soundtrack for the trailer of Rik Cordero's film Starla.[30]
Discography
As Artist:
- The GoldeBriars- The GoldeBriars (1964, Epic)
- The GoldeBriars- Straight Ahead! (1964, Epic)
- The Ballroom - Preparing for the Millennium (1998, Creation)
- The Millennium - Begin (1968, Columbia)
- Sagittarius - Present Tense (1968, Columbia)
- Sagittarius - The Blue Marble(1969, Together)
- Curt Boetcher [sic] - There's an Innocent Face (1973, Elektra)
- Curt Boettcher - Chicken Little Was Right (2004, Rev-Ola)
As Producer:
- The Association - And Then... Along Comes the Association (1966, Valiant)
- It's Now Winter's Day(1967, ABC)
- Jameson - Color Him In (1967, Verve)
- Eternity's Children - Eternity's Children (1968, Tower)
- The Millennium - Begin (1968, Columbia)
- Sagittarius - Present Tense (1968, Columbia)
- Sandy Salisbury - Sandy(1969)
- The Bards - The Moses Lake Recordings (1969 Together Records)
- Song - Album (1971, MGM)
- Sailor - Checkpoint (1977, Epic; co-produced by Bruce Johnston)[31]
- The Beach Boys - "Here Comes the Night" (extended remix), on L.A. (Light Album) (1979, Brother/Caribou/CBS)
- Geno Washington - That's Why Hollywood Loves Me (1979, DJM)
- Mike Love - Looking Back with Love (1981, Boardwalk)
- The Diamonds - Live and Well (1983)
- Various Artists: Looking for the Sun: The Lost Productions of Curt Boettcher and Friends (2019, High Moon Records)[32]
Appears on:
- Your Gang - Your Gang (1966, Mercury)
- Friar Tuck - Friar Tuck and his Psychedelic Guitar(1967, Mercury)
- Chad & Jeremy - Of Cabbages and Kings (1967, Columbia)
- Chad & Jeremy - The Ark (1968, Columbia)
- The Byrds - The Notorious Byrd Brothers (1968, Columbia)
- Paul Revere & the Raiders - Hard 'N' Heavy (With Marshmallow) (1969, Columbia)
- Michele - Saturn Rings(1969, Mercury)
- Emitt Rhodes - Emitt Rhodes (1970, Dunhill)
- Emitt Rhodes - Farewell to Paradise (1973, Dunhill)
- Andy Goldmark - Andy Goldmark (1973, Warner)
- Elton John - Blue Moves (1976, MCA)
- Bob Crewe - Motivation (1977, Elektra)
- Eric Carmen - Boats Against the Current (1977, Arista)
- Helen Reddy - Ear Candy (1977, Capitol)
- Bruce Johnston - Going Public (1977, Columbia)
- Dennis Wilson - Pacific Ocean Blue (1977, CBS/Caribou)
- Tanya Tucker - TNT (1978, MCA)
- Tony Sciuto - Island Nights (1980, Epic)
References
- ^ Molotkow, Alexandra, "She Told Herself She Couldn't Die Because She Had to Write His Story," New York Times Magazine, August 11, 2013
- ^ Arland Boettcher obituary Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine, Eau Claire Leader-Telegram, August 18, 2010
- ^ a b Lanza, Joseph, Vanilla Pop: Sweet Sounds from Frankie Avalon to ABBA, Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 2005, pp. 114
- ^ Lanza, Joseph, Vanilla Pop: Sweet Sounds from Frankie Avalon to ABBA, Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 2005, pp. 115
- ^ Lanza, Lanza, Vanilla Pop: Sweet Sounds from Frankie Avalon to ABBA, Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 2005, pp. 115
- ^ Once Upon a Coffee House at IMDb
- ^ Palisin, Steve, "The Association teams up with Long Bay Symphony", The Sun News, October 19, 2012
- ^ Along Comes Tandyn, LP liner notes, Sundazed 2013
- ^ "Valiant Records, a 4-Star Loser, Now $1,500,000 Winner for Original Ops", Billboard, October 12, 1966
- ^ a b Unreleased Recordings from 1980 Archived 2012-11-11 at the Wayback Machine at CurtBoettcher.com
- ^ McCarthy, Ray, ZigZag Magazine 49, January 1975
- ^ "Curt Boettcher at Spectropop". Spectropop.com.
- ^ Eden, Dawn, 1988 interview with Gary Usher published in Sundazed Records 1997 reissue of the Sagittarius album Present Tense
- ^ Welch, C. (November 14, 1964). "Beach Boys Brought Their Own Vegetables - So Audiences Beware!". Melody Maker: 10.
- ^ "Begin - The Millennium | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic.
- ^ "Again - The Millennium | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
- ^ Curt Boettcher songwriting credits (incomplete) Archived 2014-08-11 at the Wayback Machine at CurtBoettcher.com
- ^ "Curt Boettcher - Chicken Little Was Right 2004". Waddywachtelinfo.com. Archived from the original on July 25, 2008.
- ^ "Helen Reddy - Ear Candy". Discogs.com. 1977.
- ^ "Curt Becher | Credits". AllMusic.
- ^ West, Reuminations: Thoughts On Music, Fine Arts, And The American (November 14, 2015). "Reuminations-Thoughts on Music, Books, and the American West: Tropically Topical: Curt Boettcher's California".
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Rock & Roll Again - a Mike Love album?". Smileysmile.net.
- ^ a b Molotkow, Alexandra (2017-09-29). "Imaginary Friends (10)". Hilobrow.com. Retrieved 2018-10-14.
- ^ Molotkow, Alexandra (2013-08-09). "'She Told Herself She Couldn't Die Because She Had To Write His Story'". New York Times Magazine. Retrieved 2018-10-14.
- ^ "Meet the Brady Bunch - The Brady Bunch | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic.
- ^ "Chris Knight & Maureen McCormick". discogs.com. 1973./
- ^ "The Brady Bunch Phonographic Album - The Brady Bunch | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic.
- ^ "Hep Stars: "It's Been A Long Long Time" - Information". 2.gol.com.
- ^ "Would You Like To Go at BastaMusic.com". Archived from the original on January 9, 2014.
- ^ "Starla trailer". Vimeo.com.
- ^ "Sailor Albums - Checkpoint". Sailor-music.com.
- ^ "'Looking For The Sun': The Lost Productions of Curt Boettcher & Friends". DangerousMinds.net. September 20, 2019.
External links
- A Curt Boettcher discography Archived 2014-08-12 at the Wayback Machine at CurtBoettcher.com
- Curt Boettcher at Allmusic
- ZigZag magazine interview with Boettcher Archived 2019-06-18 at the Wayback Machine, Part 1, December 1974
- ZigZag magazine interview with Boettcher Archived 2014-08-12 at the Wayback Machine, Part 2, January 1975
- "Curt Boettcher: The King of Sunshine Pop", Barcelona, Spain, February 28, 2009
- The GoldeBriars (with Curt Boettcher) perform "Slow Me Down, Lord" on YouTubelive in the 1965 film Once Upon a Coffee House
- Profile of Boettcher productions with sound samples at officenaps.com