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Decca 75057 Cover Art: Howard Bernstein (1969)
WHATEVER
HAPPENED TO The Bag?
SONGS OF THE Deep 60's
"The Bag album Real
contains several really well crafted soul pop
and polished r&b songs with a
touch of psychedelia."—Reviewer
“The album vanished without trace.
Within a matter of
months the band followed suit.”―Reviewer
“They should have been given the chance to do a
second album
based on what they showed they could do."―The
Rock Snob
"I got in touch with Dan Mahony, formerly of The Bag . . .
As it seems he doesn't remember things
very well."—Reviewer
by Dan Mahony
I—The REAL Album
Complete album online here. . . about the arrangements, playing, chord progressions, . . .
II—Lyrics
About the songs . . . writing them . . .
III—Story
Where we were playing, our recording studio work, what we were about, how the album came about . . .
IV—Reviews and Sources of Album & Singles
I
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Vocals—Joe Di Marzo
Guitar
(Telecaster)— Keys (B3)—Dan Mahony Drums (Custom Set)— Al EspositO |
(Click titles to play song.)
(side one)
Up In the Morning(side two)
Nickels and Dimes
Sittin' by the Wayside of My Life
ABOUT the MUSIC
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Up In the Morning
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Opens with the blowing up of a paper bag and the busting of it. Likely producer Jimmy Curtiss's idea. Maybe it symbolizes the end of 60's. A present-day reviewer claims that we were Young Rascal clones. The reviewer may be hearing my B3 solo which is something like Felix Cavaliere's solos, though I didn't hear the similarity until now. I had developed my style by trying to cop Jimmy Smith and Ramsey Lewis licks, The Doors, and The Spencer Davis Group, before I ever heard The Rascals. Maybe there's something in the Westchester, NY air where Felix Cavalieri, and we, came from. And in my opinion Joe's singing and Jay's guitar are better than Felix and Gene Cornish would do on our songs. But I must add that Felix was such a great talent that he could play the bass parts on the B3 foot pedals while he sang and played the keys—andand he wrote their hit songs. Jay's unusual chord progression starts in the key of D then modulates to E. Then to G. Chords: |D (8bars)|E(8bars)|G|G|F|F|G|G|F|F|(on 3rd fret: GCGmi7)| etc. |C|C|A|Acut| |
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I Want You by My Side
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This cover of Jerry
Vance's song is on the album probably because Jimmy Curtiss had the good
sense to want it there. I feel that The Bag
interpretation of the Vance and Kanyon songs show our years of gigging. We
were given the two covers in the studio
with the expectation that we would probably complete the recording quickly. Jimmy Curtiss had come to expect this of us because of our
many recording sessions making demos of Jimmy's tunes. I right away heard this one as a Procol
Harum chord progression and used the organ chord voicing in Whiter
Shade of Pale. |Bb Dmi|Gmi Bb/F|Eb Dmi|Cmi F| Bridge: Same chords. Unusual. Ends with |Bb Eb|Bb Eb|. |
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I Don't Want To
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Uses a recording-studio
trick of mixing Joe's singing with Jay's wah-wah pedal guitar. This was
long before the digital age. |D|C| etc. Bridge: |Bmi7|G9|Bmi7|C9|Bmi7|G9|E|A| |
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Red
Purple and Blue
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This is meant to be a simple
vehicle
for keyboard improvisation. The Ami7 D9 chords make it possible to
use just the white keys. This is the same chord pattern of Ray Manzarek's
famous solo in Light My Fire by The Doors. The bridge is in the
parallel major key (A) which is somewhat unusual. Head: |Ami7 D9|etc.| Bridge: |AMaj7|GMaj7|etc.| |
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Bide My Time
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This one starts with Jay's
tight Hendrix-style guitar intro. Jay never played jive notes just to show off.
His solos were always neat little compositions, and his chord playing was always
just right for the song. His solo on this one is in
his own style. The song is the usual I-IV-V but here the V chord
establishes a key change. The playing is what you might call "minimalist,"—very little
embellishment. My organ playing was aimed at the minimal idea too. The lyrics are quite poetic with color metaphors like
"tainted tattle-tale blue," and "crimson wall," but I doubt it was due to a
conscious effort on Joe and Jay's part to provide what a reviewer called "a touch of psychedelia."
Al's drumming is also very tasteful no-jive playing. The fade starts at
a weak place, likely not our idea. We were never at the final mixes! If we
had been there we would have been able to stop Curtiss's overuse of
reverb. |CF| etc. Bridge: |BbEb|BbEb|CF| new Key |G| |
| Nickels 'n Dimes | Chord progression: |FG|BbC| etc. Bridge: |G|G|F|F|C|C|D|D|G|G?|G?|C?|C?|??? |
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Got Away
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As far as I know this is the first recorded pop song in 5/4. The session drummer was Panama Francis who was playing with Wilson Pickett at the time. He told me afterwards he was impressed with it. (I assume Al Esposito had another commitment at the time of the recording session. He easily played it on the few gigs we did it.) Chord progression: just another I-IV-V. |
| Nobody's Child | Intro: |FG|BbC| Verse |GC|etc. Bridge:|G|G|F|F|C|C|D|D|G|G|C|C|D|D| Solo on intro chords.| |
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Down and Out
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Jay's tight "chockum"
guitar and his solo stand out in this one which shows how tight we
were musically, even though we first recorded it and then played it on
a few gigs before we vanished. Our tightness (precision) was the result of
couple of years of playing gigs
4 - 6 nights a week and recording many demos for the likes of Ernie Maresca and Jimmy
Curtiss. |CFGmi7 (all played on 3rd fret) etc.| Bridge (Key of G): |A|A|C|D| |
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It's All Over
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Here we hear Jay's unusual chord progression of a three-bar pattern in 2/4 and a jazz-waltz 6/8. Joe does a parlando (talk) section, and doubles his vocal by singing quite precisely on an overdub. And we hear Al's nice tight time. 2/4: |C|Bb|G| etc. Bridge: 6/8: |A D9|A D9|C F9|C F9| |
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The Wayside
of My Life
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Joe overdubbed the harmony
part. None of the rest of us could have sung it nearly as well. Real nice
guitar solo composed by Jay. |CF|CF|CAmi|G| etc. Bridge: |F|C|F|C|FEmi|DmiC|G|G cut| CHECK KEY**** |
II
THE LYRICS
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"Vote for who?
"No more bombs are gonna' fall now baby
I’m up in the mornin’ at the crack of dawn
"Rise and shine
"I get away from black & white
"Good luck today
"No I cannot help her |
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Side One (Di Marzo & Savino)Up in the mornin'
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Side Two
Nickels 'n Dimes I got a girl that I love so I’ve got to save got to save My nickels and dimes I’ve got to save got to save My nickels and dimes I’m up in the mornin’ at the crack of dawn The pay is bad and the hours are long I said, “Mister jeweler save that diamond ring for me It won’t take long, I’ll be back, some day you’ll see In the pocket of the pants that I’m wearin’ I will bring Enough nickels and dimes to buy my baby that diamond ring (Di Marzo's Coda)
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(Vance) (Di Marzo's Coda)
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(Mahony)
Sittin’ here chicken by myself |
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I Don't Want To I don't want to be
seen walkin' with you (Di Marzo's Coda) |
Nobody's Child (Curtiss & Mahony)
I’m nobody’s child
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(Hillman & Mahony) Red purple and blue
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Down and Out (Di Marzo & Savino)
Down and out |
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(Di Marzo & Savino) Woman so hung up
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It's All Over (Savino) (Verse: 3/2; bridge: 6/8 Jazz Waltz) Where're we gonna' go when the well runs dry now baby? Nobody left but you and I now baby Ain't no need to sit and cry now baby We'll get back on our feet bye and bye now baby Where're we gonna' be When it's all over? No more bombs are gonna' fall now baby Get outta' your shelter and start to crawl now baby Pushin' buttons is a thing of the past now baby We gotta' see how how long we can last now baby Where're we gonna' be When it's all over? (Bridge) Keep thinkin' it's a dream Wake up with a scream How're we gonna' last? Don't think about the past Come on help and build a fire now baby World owes you and me a livin' now baby I'm not about to lay down and die now baby You ain't gonna' be livin' real high now baby Where're we gonna' be When it's all over? (Di Marzo's coda, a parlando) Got to think about uh, what we're gonna' do uh, tomorrow Don't have to take out the garbage no more No incinerators left We gotta' lotta' thinkin' to do about me and you baby Maybe we'll just get down on the grass and roll around Yeah you know what I mean Talk about "it's alll ovuh" Ain't nobody left but me and you Heh heh heh, I like it You know You know baby |
about our songs
1. The way The Bag wrote is in separate teams. Jay and Joe would bring their songs to Jimmy Curtiss's office at Popdraw on 47th St. and sing and play them with a dry (acoustic) guitar. Jimmy would likely say "Great," and in a few days we'd all go into the studio and record the songs in a few takes. Same with my songs, but in this case Jimmy and Marcia Hillman would make some changes and then off to the studio we'd go. So the first time I hear J & J's songs was in the studio, and vice versa. I don't really know how Jay and Joe wrote. In my case I'd have the words & music mostly written and then play it for Jimmy or Marcia. I wonder if Jay would bring a mostly-written song to Joe, or did Joe sing a song and Jay would find good chords and licks for it. Joe could play decent guitar and bass, so he could do the same. But with Jay's apocalyptic It's All Over, we find him writing on his own. And it's no minor set of lyrics. The Deep (late) 60's was a time when Mutually Assured Destruction was on our minds. Even Nixon's. Is it any different now?
2. Joe and Jay did not make write like musicians. By that I mean they didn't start with a nice chord progression and then try to find a string of notes to fit them. They wrote melodies and lyrics and then fit the chords. Many musicians don't get this, possibly because most of their time is spent playing their instruments. Writing songs has to be learned through practice just like playing an instrument. It's possible to write songs without an instrument at all. You can hear this in Jay's solos as well. They are not just strings of notes played fast to impress. His solos are melodies in themselves. And Joe's codas are variations on the melody and lyrics.
3. In the case of my songs, I tried to write melodically too. I'd start with a chord progression, but I 'd try to sing a song with some lyrics along with them rather than just find notes to fit the chords. But I consider mine to be our B-side songs. This is not modesty, it's just that I just like the other songs better. I believe I became a better writer in later years and concentrated on melody more. (Perhaps you'd like to hear some.)
4. Jay's It's All over has a really fine set of lyrics which explain our experience of the Deep Sixties.
4. As for I Want You by My Side, Jerry Vance has great musical knowledge along with his composing abilities. I know this because I spent a few weeks working with him on the arrangements and charts for the Hobbits. Believe me this guy knows what he's doing, and take note he wrote both the words and music. In my opinion, this song is one of the best on the album. I'll bet Jerry liked the way we did the song.
III
OUR STORY
Wrote a reviewer: “I got in touch with Dan Mahony, formerly of The Bag, in the summer of 2003. Unfortunately Dan couldn't tell anything really new. As it seems, he doesn't remember things very well.”
Huh?
It's the deep 60's. 1967 or so. Before we were The Bag. We were The Esquires on our way to William and Mary College in Virginia to back up Chuck Berry. There’s a mattress in the back of our old station wagon which was hooked to a U-Haul with our equipment and clothes. We take turns driving all the way from Utica NY where we had just backed up Mary Wells (“My Guy”) at Hamilton College. Besides Mary Wells, a lovely lady and talent, I remember that we played in a church, from the altar, frat heads and their dates filling the pews. During a rehearsal Joe Di Marzo knocked on the altar and bellowed, “Come on out God I know you’re in there.”
One amazing thing Joe Di Marzo could do was sing hypervocal. It wasn't just that he could sing higher than the highest note on Jay's Telecaster. I remember one time at the Ship Ahoy in New Rochelle he sang even higher by inhaling the notes! A lot more can be said about this fine singer-songwriter who should be a star now. God only knows why he isn’t.
Anyway, back to The Esquires and Utica. As I walked into a Hamilton College frat house in Utica where we were given a room to hang out in while we set up the equipment, rehearsed with Mary’s guitar player and would change for the show. Seconds before I stepped further into the place a big easy chair came crashing down from above and split into pieces a few feet from me. There was apparently a trashing tradition there during big weekends. A couch rained down not long after.
Why were we in Utica? We worked for an agency, Universal Talent, which booked Motown and soul stars and sent better-than-average bands along to open for them and then back them up for their shows. The way it worked was that most of the soul groups traveled with a guitar player and the band’s music charts. We would be led by the guitar player and follow the charts. We would rehearse the charts in the afternoon led by the guitar player. We never saw the stars during the rehearsal. In Universal Talent’s system we got to back Chuck Berry, Martha and the Vandellas, Mary Wells, Little Anthony and the Imperials, and the Isley Brothers—whose road guitar player was one Jimmie James. I didn’t get to play with Jimmie that night, but I remember well his great playing and gyrations. You now know him as Jimi Hendrix.
I certainly remember the details of an hour’s conversation with maestro Berry, whose songs are on the satellite which has traveled farther into outer space than any man-made object. I’ll get to what he told me shortly—it’s worth hearing about.
Anyway, that’s what we did besides playing Westchester clubs and proms. Proms. Oh yeah, a couple of times we got to back up some Brooklyn group, Little Anthony and the Imperials. I remember Anthony remembering me from a gig we did with him in Rochester. I was sure he had a great memory. I remember most playing their wonderful arrangements, wonderful background harmonies, and Teddy Randazzo’s beautiful chord progressions in Goin’ Out of My Head, I'm on the Outside Looking In, and Hurt So Bad. They’d start out off stage with some lovely harmonies echoing through the crowd and then burst in with flying leaps landing in splits. It was the first time I saw truly professional charts, beautifully ink scrolled.
During that time, we somehow had become recording studio musicians in New York City. I can only vaguely remember how we got there from Westchester County, just to the north, where we lived and played. We mostly served as demo musicians for song writers., particularly Ernie Maresca at Laurie Records. That means that the writer would hand us his chord charts and sing and play his song on dry guitar and we'd soon record a decent track. They liked me because I could come up with licks that seemed to fit the tune. This was probably because I learned keyboards under the guidance of maestro Jay. He was in early blue-eyed soul groups like The Esquires who had achieved some status in Westchester under the guidance of Kevin Brenner. The Esquires wanted a keyboard player but found that the ones they auditioned played too accordion-like. Jay and I were teaching guitar at Bill’s Music Shop in Yonkers and one day he got the idea that I should learn the horn parts and chords of the various soul tunes The Esquires were doing. The problem with the accordion players was that they tended to overplay and didn’t have the soul feel. So he rehearsed me for a week learning the licks of the soul tunes and I started playing with them.
The main point is that blue-eyed soul was firmly established in Westchester County by the time I was given the gift in 1966. Billy Vera Kevin Brenner may have been its founder. (Click to The Rock Snob's piece on the origins of Blue Eyed Soul.)
One time the owner inspected the ashtrays on the bandstand at the Ship Ahoy in New Rochelle where we often played, which brings up the subject of how we might be associated with the psychedelic. Joe & Jay wrote a lot about getting up in the morning to work at boring jobs.
[Expand]We all would probably have gone to Woodstock but we were playing our usual gigs that weekend. I remember turning on the TV Saturday morning to the news that the New York State Thruway was closed in both directions from the exit to Woodstock. A hundred thousand of us were on their way to history's greatest concert. Some of the speed-limit signs had their mph changed to mgs with spray paint. It was amazing. Jimi Hendrix played the Star Spangled Banner fuzz-toned to the hilt. He later died on a supposed drug overdose and joined the long list of those who had media power and died suspiciously prematurely (Lenny Bruce, Martin King, Bobby Kennedy, John Lennon, Jim Belushi, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, . . . ) But Woodstock stood for all we stood against: stupid wars and violations of our birth rights to freedom of expression. Here it is 2006 and it's still "time for a change home on the range."
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Some More Matters . . .
The Deep Sixties: war time, student protests, Woodstock, Highly creative time, Kent State, . . .
About the cover artist Howard Bernstein: "Hello, I am writing a short bio of a group I was in called The Bag. In your catalog you attribute the cover art for our album to Howard Bernstein. Do you know where I can get more info on him? Where did you get that info? Many thanks, Dan Mahony." "Hi Dan, The info came from an old web page that's off line now (Borderline Books). Sorry I can't help out more. Jim azusedrecords.com ."
"Many have said the band's sound is psychedelic, ...but to us they sound like Young Rascal clones." Well, we had our sound before we ever heard the Rascals, but we became big fans once we did."
"The Bag, who self-described their music as psychedelic soul.” I don't think we would have described our music in any way at all. Psychedelic Soul likely was a marketing decision by Jimmy Curtiss and Terry Philips. The problem for us was that they were good at marketing but not at promotion of anything but Jimmy Curtiss's projects. I remember being a backup musician at a Hobbit audition for the Ed Sullivan show.
"The band came from the same [New Rochelle] New-York-based blue-eyed soul scene as The (Young) Rascals or The Soul Survivors."
Mickey Baker's jazz-chord book. I learned a lot about chords and chord progressions from this book.
"It’s interesting to see that Joe Di Marzo and Jay Savino as well as Danny Mahony of The Bag appear again as songwriters – and possibly musicians – on the New Hobbits album." No. While we played as session musicians on their albums, we had no hand in the writing of any Hobbits songs. They'd be by Jimmy Curtiss, sometimes with Marcia Hillman.
The many happy memories of rehearsing in Al Esposito's house near Wilmot Road in New Rochelle.
NEXT . . .
