A MCRFB news brief: 1963
First Family Album Went Through Various Changes at Cadence
NEW YORK — Archie Bleyer said last week that it was unfair to condemn any of the firms who turned down “The First Family,” as a substantial number of companies did.
“When I first heard the album there were only a few demos of some skits and a script outlining the others. A lot of the sketches were unusable; some of them, as far as I was concerned, were not in good taste.”
“Before we ever sat down to record the album we went over every single word in every skit. We tossed many ideas out and changed many of them around. We did our best to make sure everything was in unchallengeable taste. The album didn’t come to us ready to go. It required hard work by all concerned before we had a workable script.
“When anyone knocks the firms who turned down the album, he’s wrong. What they heard was not the material that finally came out on Cadence.
“So they turned it down. Well, I’ve turned down plenty of hits in my time, too. It not what you turn down that matters but what your track record is at the end of the year. Don’t forget, a lot of firms that didn’t accept the album has fine records. That’s what counts in the long run.” END.
(Information and news source: Billboard; January 26, 1963).
