Beth Sorrentino is a singer, composer, and pianist.
She hails from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, lived in Manhattan for 15 years, and is currently back in PA.
In the early 1990s, Beth, brother Jay Sorrentino (drums), and friend Ken Heitmueller (bass) formed the trio suddenly, tammy!, who released two EPs and a self-titled album on SpinART. A cover story in CMJ caught the attention of Warner Bros. Records executive Lenny Waronker, who signed the band. We Get There When We Do, their major label debut, was released in 1995, followed by an EP, Shut Up, It’s Christmas. A follow-up album, Comet, was recorded, but the band was unsigned by WB in 1996, after which the trio disbanded. (Comet was self-released digitally in 2010.)
In 2010, Beth discovered the ’60s sunshine pop of the late Curt Boettcher when she first heard the magical 1968 Millennium album Begin. She proposed recording a collection of songs associated with Boettcher, with most written or co-written by him. She enlisted her friend and mentor, producer Sean Slade, who had worked with suddenly, tammy! in the 1990s (Slade’s production credits include Radiohead, Pixies, Hole, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Juliana Hatfield, Lou Reed, Weezer, Warren Zevon, and others). Sorrentino and Slade crafted an approach that did not attempt to replicate the Boettcher sound, but instead represented a brilliantly idiosyncratic take on the artist’s legacy. The arrangements pay homage to Curt’s genius for vocal harmony, with Sorrentino’s sweet soprano providing all lead and backing voices.
Tandyn Almer, who wrote “Along Comes Mary,” called Beth’s version “one of the best I’ve heard. Love her phrasing.” The album showcases Sorrentino’s deft keyboard work on a Mason & Hamlin 1904 upright piano, Mellotron, Wurlitzer piano, Hammond B3, and Fender Rhodes.
And journalist Dawn Eden, one of the foremost authorities on Boettcher’s life and music, acclaimed that “Beth has done a beautiful tribute, a true artistic accomplishment.”
Sorrentino has long been intrigued by music released in 1968, the year of her birth. Following the completion of Would You Like To Go, she and Slade began sessions for an album provisionally titled 1968, featuring songs recorded that year by the Bee Gees, Procol Harum, Buffalo Springfield, the Zombies, the Monkees, and others. The project remains in progress.
https://www.bethsorrentino.com/curt-boettcher-songbook/
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Would You Like To Go - A Curt Boettcher Songbook (2014)
The album (on Basta) will be released in the US on June 10, 2014.
All songs originally recorded by The Millennium, The Ballroom,
Sagittarius, The Association, and/or Curt Boettcher (demos), 1966-1969
01. Beth Sorrentino - Would You Like To Go
02. Beth Sorrentino - I Just Want To Be Your Friend
03. Beth Sorrentino - The Island
04. Beth Sorrentino - I'm Not Living Here
05. Beth Sorrentino - You Know I've Found A Way
06. Beth Sorrentino - Baby, Please Don't Go
07. Beth Sorrentino - Another Time
08. Beth Sorrentino - Along Comes Mary
09. Beth Sorrentino - Prelude
10. Beth Sorrentino - The Know-It-All
11. Beth Sorrentino - There Is Nothing More To Say
12. Beth Sorrentino - Wearing Levis
13. Beth Sorrentino - I'm Not Living Here (demo)
14. Beth Sorrentino - To Claudia On Thursday (demo)
I saw Suddenly, Tammy open up for the Wolfgang Press at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco in the early 90s. They were okay, pretty good, but pretty far afield from TWP. It's cool to see this. It's great she got into Curt and did this. Also, that you know what's up about it. Thanks a lot for posting!
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