For as long as I've been writing on the blog, I've managed to find some more kayo where legendary band The Ventures have gotten involved.
Yumi Makiba's（牧葉ユミ）singing career didn't last too long, since it was just between 1971 and 1975. The Tokyo native somehow found herself behind the mike after a brief time as a staff worker at a company, and she made her debut with "Bouken"（冒険...Adventure）in July 1971. For the purposes of this article, allow me, though, to write about her third single, "Kaiten Mokuba" (Carousel) which came out in June 1972.
Kazuko Katagiri（片桐和子）wrote the lyrics about a young woman falling in love with a vagabond guitar player on some rock, although nothing about a carousel ever popped up from what I could find there. Still, Bob Bogle, a founding member of The Ventures, composed "Kaiten Mokuba". According to the YouTube description, the hint was that the song may have been a cover of a Ventures tune called "You and Me", but I couldn't find any thing of that tune by the band. In any case, I like Makiba's crisp and strong voice.
Makiba, whose real name is Yumiko Omura（大村由美子）, released a total of 11 singles and 1 original album. From what I read on her J-Wiki profile, a very young Momoe Yamaguchi（山口百恵）had sung "Kaiten Mokuba" on the audition program "Star Tanjo"（スター誕生!...A Star Is Born!）back in December 1972 to pass through to the next stage in the competition. My compliments to the uploader MomoeKaitenMokuba in being able to create this video which was probably very difficult to pull off.
Thanks you so much for providing such an insightful resource for the Pop music of Japan.
ReplyDeleteI came to your site while researching the Group Sounds and Eleki music that The Ventures covered in the 60's through the 90's.
The Ventures song on which "Kaiten Mokuba" is based was recorded by them under the title "Prima Vera" and is credited to both Bob Bogle and Don Wilson as composers.
The song was released by The Ventures on their album "Pops In Japan '73" and was featured as the B-side of their 1973 single "Last Tango In Paris".
Hello, SundiegoJC. Thanks very kindly for the correct information regarding the origins of "Kaiten no Mokuba". This ought to put any questions to rest.
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