Are there any goods books on exotica? Or any good biographies on Martin Denny, Les Baxter, Yma Sumac and the likes?
I've just readd this great Martin Denny interview on Dana Countryman's blog:
http://www.danacountryman.com/Denny/Denny1.html
Interesting to note he
"had a lot of ghosting done":
DC: And that started in the '60s?
MD: Yeah, I was traveling quite a great deal at that time and the product had to keep coming out. Of course, Liberty Records was using my name and I really didn't have too much choice about that. The management made those decisions and they always dangled that reward at the end of the road. They said "you gotta do it", so I had to go along with it.
DC: Do you recall what album the ghosting might have started with?
MD: Well, I'm looking at one of them, "Spanish Village". I personally never would have approved of a thing like that. They used saxophones and the like. Some of the albums were done very well. They were formulated with the idea that this was "Martin Denny". I'm not really happy about that part of my career.
DC: How involved were you in the "Exotic Moog" album?
MD: Well, I attended some of the sessions. You know some of those were done in New York City with a studio band. I haven't discussed this phase of my career with anyone.
DC: Well, I really appreciate you sharing the honest truth with us. A lot of your fans have expressed interest in learning more about that particular period of your career. You know, that "Exotic Moog" albums is considered one of the most highly collectable Martin Denny albums.
MD: I know, it was my idea, but I was never too enthusiastic about that particular medium. It was like working for a big corporation, which Liberty became. They were determined to keep me in the groove, you know.