LES FRADKIN: Perfect World

Les Fradkin

Perfect World

© 2005 RRO Entertainment (634479153297)

CD IN STOCK. ORDER NOW. Will ship immediately.

SPECIAL: 10% discount if you buy more than one copy of it today!

(About MP3 downloads at CD Baby)

60's Beach Boys & Beatles style Summertime Pop from Les Fradkin of Beatlemania. Features new versions of "My Baby Loves Lovin'","Smile A Little Smile" and "Love Grows." - all iTunes smash hits. On RRO-"The Sound Of Your Digital Lifestyle"

notes

FEATURES THE SMASH HITS:
"Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)"
"Smile A Little Smile For Me"
"My Baby Loves Lovin'"

In addition to his trademark guitar stylings, he has endeavored to bring something new and fresh to the Edison Lighthouse smash "Love Grows" as well as new versions of 70's Hit classics such as White Plains'"My Baby Loves Lovin'"and The Flying Machine's "Smile A Little Smile For Me." Of special interest is his new recording of his original composition cult classic tune "God Bless California." Done up in a dazzling 60's Beach Boys lush style, this track represents, possibly, the very last appearance in a recording studio of the famous group of studio musicians known affectionately to all as "The Wrecking Crew."

Fans of Beach Boys styled vocals will find huge harmony vocals within this release. Les' Phil Spector styled production tops off this Pop music cake!

Les would like to thank Hal Blaine, Carol Kaye, Don Randi, Mitch Holder, Alan Boyd and Bruce Cooke for the great music and for helping us to create our "Perfect World."

A BIT OF BIO:

Les Fradkin is one of the guitar legends of the 1970's. As well as being a veteran member of The Original Cast of Beatlemania, he has found success as a recording artist, composer and producer with MGM Sunflower, ESP-Disk', Bell, Arista, RCA, and Laurie Records. Les has written the well known French hit "La Chansons Des Souvenirs" ("Song Of A Thousand Voices") for the famous Mireille Mathieu. He has played 12 and 6-string Guitar, Bass, Mellotron, and Piano on dozens of Top 40 hit records throughout the early 1970's , scoring many US and UK chart placings throughout his career.

His 12-string guitar, vocals and production with legendary underground psychedelic folk- rock group,The Godz, resulted in several albums for ESP Disk among which "Pass On This Side" (featuring Les' song "God Bless California"), continues to influence and mentor generations of new musicians to this day.

In 1976, Les was selected over thousands of other auditioning guitarists to appear in the original cast of the smash hit Broadway musical "Beatlemania" playing lead guitar and the part of "George Harrison" in New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago. Running for two and a half years from May 1977 thru October 1979, every show (including over 1200 in New York alone) was sold out and the musicians quickly became celebrities with magazine cover stories ("Newsweek","Time", "People", "Rolling Stone") and many major television show appearances. With his guitar-playing in the international spotlight from the show, Fradkin developed a cult following that has avidly followed his career and made him a celebrity among guitar fans.

He has enjoyed chart success on the net as well with his songs reaching mp3.com's 1 position 16 times! New Gandy Dancer Rock Magazine named Les' CD "A Day At The Beach" it's 2004 Album Of The Year. In addition, Les has performed with The Ventures as 2nd Lead Guitarist. Nokie Edwards of The Ventures has performed with Les on several occasions and is a featured guest on his "While My Guitar Only Plays" CD. In fact, Les has been acknowledged as a guitar virtuoso for over 30 years and he has been featured in issues of 20th Century Guitar Magazine, Pipeline and New Gandy Dancer Magazines.

Today, Les has released 15 solo CD's on his RRO Entertainment Indie label and has had over 300,000 downloads bringing him several substantial hits on Apple iTunes and other download sites across the Internet.

reviews

Please log in to review this album.

  • The Vocals are really jawdroppingly good!
    author: Jason Bear

    Les Fradkin is a former member of the sixties' band Edison Lighthouse. He also played George Harrison in the seventies' Beatlemania project ("not the Beatles, but an incredible simulation"). Les is now back with a new album combining covers of sunshine pop classics like "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" and "Smile a Little Smile" with some new originals in a similar vein. The best of these is the sterling "God Bless California", which is perfect summertime pop in the Brian Wilson tradition. This track is extremely notable for featuring "Wrecking Crew" session musicians Hal Blaine, Carol Kaye and Don Randi. (The liner notes to the CD indicate that this is "possibly the very last collective appearance in a recording studio of Phil Spector's famous group of studio musicians...") On the remaining cuts, Les is a real one-man band, playing most of the guitar parts as well as bass, piano, organ and mellotron mk II. He also handled engineering duties (with Larry Levine and Joe Hall), all musical arrangements, and co-produced the album with his wife Loretta. While some of the backing tracks are basic no-frills MIDI, the vocals by Les and such notable background singers as Alan Boyd are really jawdroppingly good. This CD is a throwback to a bygone era, yet at the same time it sounds surprisingly fresh. Les Fradkin is a talented guy, and in an era dominated by by-the-numbers commercial rock music, a little talent and creativity go a long way. Recommended.

  • Sing along and tap your feet to this disc!
    author: Eric Sorensen

    Perfect World - by veteran jangly artist Les Fradkin, who once played with Edison Lighthouse. If you admire 60s pop, you can't help but sing along and tap your feet to this disc! Fradkin's guitars chime on numerous tracks, but his great cover of "Funny How Love Can Be" should delight Rickenbacker 12-string fans. This album also has the distinction of featuring the 60s studio artists affectionately known as the "Wrecking Crew." Fradkin wears his love of 60s pop music on his very talented sleeve. Several years ago, I mentioned the great Godzology compilation CD that chronicled Fradkin's collaboration with Paul Thornton as the mid-70s band the Godz. Jangleholics should seek this disc out also - the compilation features a very Byrdsian take on "I Know You Rider." Fradkin's Rickenbacker 12-string chimes and rings on many of the other tracks. Long may you run, Sir Les!

  • Les delivers the goods!
    author: Alan Merrill

    Les Fradkin is a long time music industry performer, and he always delivers the goods. If you like your power pop music with hooks and catchy melodies, this is for you. Along the lines of The Beatles, The Byrds, and The Beach Boys, this has all the best elements of those bands. Have a listen. You won't be disappointed.

  • Les has produced a little gem here.
    author: John Kennedy

    Les has produced a little gem here. His self-penned "I Can Never Say Goodbye" is a very sweet piece. And, I just love the cover version of "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes"). Good one, Les.

email

Please log in to email this artist.