Clark Ford, ft Underground Treehouse: “1961 The Musical” (Album Review)

Today’s review features a real treat – “1961 The Musical” by Clark Ford feat. Underground Treehouse. “1961 The Musical” is a book, with music and lyrics written for the stage. It is a comedy-drama musical and was performed as a staged reading in 2015, for which there is video online. This is Clark Ford’s seventh musical to write and stage. Lucky 7?

Clark notes that the “songs were written in genres popular in 1961, including Traditional Pop (jazz standards), Musical Theater, Rock, Doo-Wop, Blues, Motown, Operetta, Jazz combo, Big Band, and a Civil Rights March.” I cannot tell this story better than Clark, so with his help …

“The storyline of the musical weaves together three love stories within the same extended family during the postwar early 1960s of American suburbia, with references to postwar prosperity and the cold war. The musical is set in an era of sexism and the cold war. Some of the lyrics reflect in a very overt way what was on many people’s minds at the time. Consider it satire!

Irene is 30, living at home, and desperately looking for a man (“I Believe In You”). Several men woo her (“Ring the Bell of Freedom!,” “God’s Country,” “Let’s Go Cruisin’ Tonight!”) and a fourth, Theo, is successful (“My Man/My Gal,” “For Better Or Worse”).

Irene’s conservative and controlling father, Joseph, disapproves of women who don’t know their place (“In His Image”), and, with the other men, has a solution for Communists: “Nuke ‘Em!.” His wife, Rose, feels trapped (“Beautiful Bird”).She joins the other women asking ‘why can’t a man be “More Like A Woman?”‘ Joseph and Rose reawaken their love for each other after Rose has major surgery (“If Ever”).

Irene’s older brother, Robert, and his wife Maureen are awaiting postwar prosperity. Robert has learned too much about women from his father, and Maureen sets him straight (“My Day,” “The M.R.S. Blues). They are still in love, however (“Meant To Be,” “Man of Mystery,” “Queen For Life,” and “A Dream Come True”).

In the end, Irene and Theo get engaged, Joseph and Rose are in love, and Robert gets a raise so he and Maureen can move to the suburbs. All sing “Live It Up!.”” So that’s a good summary of the story as the author tells it.

My guess, before listening, after reading the story, is that the songs were written before the story, and the story was made to fit the songwriting. But we’ll see how it plays out. Taking a first listen tonight and will finish my more detailed review tomorrow after I finish working at my radio show.

So let’s have a listen …

The first thing I notice is that the order of the songs on the album does not match the order in which the author laid out the story he retold above. This is the order of the songs on the album: “I Believe In You”, ”Ring the Bell of Freedom!”, “In His Image”, “My Day”, “Meant To Be”, “Beautiful Bird”, “God’s Country”, “The M.R.S. Blues”, ”Let’s Go Cruisin’ Tonight!”, ”My Man/My Gal”, “Man of Mystery”, “Nuke ‘Em!”, “More Like A Woman”,“What Is A Woman?”, ”Queen For Life”, “A Dream Come True”, ”For Better Or Worse”, “If Ever”, and “Live It Up!”

“I Believe In You” starts off with a piano and saxophone and the sound immediately hooks you. A very pleasant female singer enters the fray. A song about a girl dreaming of marriage and finding the right Mr. Right. The song is well-constructed, well-produced, and well-performed. Very nice!

“Ring the Bell of Freedom!” features a male vocalist marching through the melody. Complete with the drummer doing the marching triplets. “We are marching peacefully, but we will not back down – hear our mighty sound!” A very patriotic march of a tune. Takes me back to the early 50s and I’m not that old, lol.
 
“In His Image” starts off with an arpeggiated keyboard riff, God made man in his image, and men are to “rule over women” and women are only here to serve men. I’m not a big fan of this point of view, being a woman. And this is a song in which the author is just riffing on the topic – in an overtly demeaning and stereotypical way cloaked in the authority of religion.

I find the song offensive, and I think a lot of women, and men, and non-binary people, will too. Now, I suppose we are supposed to think that these are just the offensive right-wing religious views of a character in the play? But I, like most people, think that songs are the creation of the songwriter, and that a songwriter should know better than to pen a song this gender offensive. Women are equal to men, not their lesser servants.

“My Day”, the fourth song on the album, has a campy sounding keyboard vamp with a female vocalist riffing in quick vocal melody. I like the details in the lyrics in this song. It captures the perspective of a 50s/early 60s housewife keeping up to social expectations of the decade.

The fifth song on the album, ”Meant To Be”, kicks off with a lovely sax solo over a lovely piano vamp, and features a really nice male vocalist. A love song. “I’m in love with you and I love when you’re with me”, then enters a female vocalist singing about her luck in finding her true love. Loving the sax solo during the song’s bridge the both vocalists come in. Very nice!

“Beautiful Bird” starts off with a flute (bird) over a mysterious piano riff. A majestic female voice sings this melody which sounds like sorrow. Some really high notes being sung, bravo! It even throws in a songwriter’s favorite tool – a key change! The song definitely makes an impression.

“God’s Country” features a deep male voice singing about the name of this song. A place where “a man can still be free!” The song does sound like mountains – it reminds me of the Sound of Music, but it’s set in a country “range” setting. The song features a lot of strings in the mix. Definitely sounds like a move soundtrack.
 
“The M.R.S. Blues”, is a blues tune, as the name implies. “I know my place within these household walls”, features a female vocalist singing about her rejection, or at least, unhappiness with these “rules.” A warning to young brides. I do like the lead guitar player’s riffage in this song. Well done.

“Let’s Go Cruisin’ Tonight!” Is another blues vamp. Heavy on lead guitar. This one features a male vocalist. Baby, let’s go cruisin’ tonight! Crusin’ the strip. Every town when I was growing up had a cruising strip. Short song.

“My Man/My Gal,” starts off with a very lovely female vocalist singing about her man. After about 2 minutes a male vocalist starts singing about my gal adores me, “a domestic goddess, she cooks, and she sews.” I like how the song slows down the tempo at points for emphasis. Both vocals join in singing the same lyrics, which is another effective songwriter tool. 

“Man of Mystery” has a Pink Panther vibe. With a single note bass leading the way. Very nice male voice starts singing like an old-shoe detective. Very sassy saxophone solo in the middle.

“Nuke ‘Em!” Is a bar singalong type vibe, maybe an old soldier singing about why are we friends after we went to war with their nation. The song suggests that we’re friends because we “nuked them”. From Russia to China, this song just wants to nuke them all. I realize it’s supposed to be funny, but at it’s core, it’s also offensive. Especially, the focus on Japan.

“More Like A Woman” is a female bar-singalong riffing along about male gender stereotypes that “we’ll never understand”. “Why can’t a man be more like a woman?” I find it funny that men think women think like this. The myth that men and women are two completely separate universes.

“What Is A Woman?” has the sound of a folk song in a musical. Which is convenient considering this is a folk musical. Loving the female vocalist.
 
“Queen For Life” starts off with a sultry sax solo, sounds like an old-style Christmas tune. Just not about Christmas. It does have an early 60s sound. It is reminding me of the song Broadway. Or that era tune. 

“A Dream Come True” … “when I first laid eyes on you, you were like a vision, … like a dream come true.” I really like the male vocalist on this song. He has a very nice, soothing voice. Does sound like a musical.

“For Better Or Worse” … a song about marriage, good times, bad times, happy times, and sad times. “Better think about it first, because you’ll be married For Better Or Worse”. I like the solo instrument in this one and the vocalists do a really nice job singing this one.

“If Ever” starts off with a pensive piano and a soaring female vocalist. This song is also a duet with a male vocalist singing back. Movie soundtrack. I think the Titanic is sinking! LOL

I expected “Live It Up!” to be more uptempo, but instead has a sultry sax riffing against the male vocalist. The song changes tempos and styles all while maintaining that old movie soundtrack vibe the writer was seeking. I fully expect to see Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers walk onto the set.

If I were to rate this album purely on the production and performances of the participants on the recordings, I would have to rate this album as Excellent. But I find that this album has perhaps caught a sound that most people today don’t want to revisit and I don’t think will find much, if any, popularity in today’s radio market. And a way of thinking that most people today find offensive, women anyway. I suppose if you couch it inside a musical, make a character say the offensive parts, it’s ok? I’ve written offensive songs, but they are always a message of empowerment – like empowering the listener to tell the jerk who’s been beating up on them emotionally, to “F off!” I’ve even written a song from the perspective of a racist killer, but only to show how F’d up that point of view is. Not like it’s the gospel truth – and I suppose that’s a difference in writing perspective.

I also find it confusing that the album does not really tell a story, the songs are out of order from the storyline. If you didn’t know that this was meant to be a musical or play in advance, you would not be able to figure out the story from the songs themselves. It’s just a nice collection of well-produced songs in no particular random order, so I’m not sure it serves the story or the songwriter/author’s intent. I think, in that sense, the album misses the mark.

SCORE/Good: The performances, songwriting, and production on this album are Excellent. The album does a nice job of reminding us of what it was like to live in the 1950s and 1960s, in a land of white picket fences and over-fertilized lawns, and stereotypes that we find pretty offensive today. An album should make you want to sing all the songs. I don’t really want to sing all these songs. It’s a nice one-time listen; perhaps it would be better within the dialogue of the play. This album is rated Good because I don’t think it will age well. Much love, Beth

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