Hot Butter

 ( American Instrumental Musical Groups ) 

Tracks written by members of the band were "At the Movies" (the B-side of "Popcorn") and "Tristana", by all the band members except Free, and "Space Walk", by Jan Fairchild (Mullaney) and his father Dave Mullaney. "The Silent Screen (Hot Butter)" is credited to all the members except for Free, but it's actually an arrangement of the main theme of the first movement of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Symphony No. 40. Among the other artists covered by the band were Stephen Schwartz, Jerry Lordan and The Shadows, Neil Diamond, Joe Meek and The Tornados, Neal Hefti, Serge Gainsbourg, Robert Maxwell, Piero Umiliani, Jean-Joseph Mouret, Billy Joe & the Checkmates, Joe Buffalo's Band, Teo Macero, Leroy Anderson, Danny Flores, and Norman Petty and The String-A-Longs. Mullaney and Abbott did most of the arranging. The Jeromes, Jordan, and Richard E. Talmadge record producer the albums with MTL Productions for Musicor Records.

In addition to "Popcorn", another well-known track is August Msarurgwa's "Skokiaan", which was included on RE/Search's compilation album Incredibly Strange Music. Follow-up singles included The Shadows' "Apache", Chuck Rio's (Danny Flores) "Tequila", Billy Joe and the Checkmates' "Percolator", Joe Buffalo's Band's "Slag Solution", and Gene Farrow with G.F. Band's "You Should Be Dancing".

Upon his return, he became active in many musical endeavors, including serving as musical director for one of the first live television variety talk shows, "Cafe De Paris" with Sylvie St. Clair, on WNYW, the old DuMont channel in New York (1949). The Stan Free Trio played in many New York jazz clubs of the day, including The Composer, The Embers, The Living Room and Hickory House to name a few. He was the featured performer for several summers at Herb McCarthy's Bowden Square in Southampton, Long Island. He recorded several albums (now out of print) under his own name: Free For All: The Stan Free Trio, Piano A La Percussion and Stan Free Five: Would You Believe? Jazz Alive.

Free's best-known recording was the Moog synthesizer hit "Popcorn" (1972), with the album named Hot Butter. In addition to Free, five studio musicians contributed to the album. Free also toured and recorded with the First Moog Quartet (1970–72), organized by Gershon Kingsley. Additionally he arranged music and conducted for many performers, notably the jazz vocalist Chris Connor (Chris Craft), and the comedian Jack Carter. He was also a Session musician for many of the rock and pop groups of the 1960s, including The Four Seasons, The Monkees and The Association. In 1979, Free played percussion on the Broadway Show The Most Happy Fella.

He was married with children and grandchildren, and died in New York.

• Musicor MS-3242 (U.S.); Pye International NSPL.28169 (UK), 1972

1. "Popcorn" (Gershon Kingsley) (2:30)
2. "Godspell" (Stephen Schwartz) (3:44)
3. "Apache" (Jerry Lordan) (2:50)
4. "At the Movies" (Abbott, Mullaney, Jerome, Jerome, Jordan) (2:31)
5. "Tristana" (Abbott, Mullaney, Jerome, Jerome, Jordan) (3:29)
6. "Song Sung Blue" (Neil Diamond) (3:54)

Side two

1. "Telstar" (Joe Meek) (2:34)
2. "Tomatoes" (Neal Hefti) (2:27)
3. "Amazing Grace" (Trad. Arr. Abbott, Mullaney) (2:37)
4. "Love at First Sight" (Serge Gainsbourg) (2:38)
5. "Song of the Narobi Trio" (R. Maxwell) (2:13)
6. "Hot Butter (The Silent Screen)" (Abbott, Mullaney, Jerome, Jerome, Jordan) (2:04)

• Musicor MS-3254; 1973

1. "Percolator"
2. "Slag Solution"
3. "Sounds"
4. "Wheels"
5. "Skokiaan"
6. "Pipeline"

Side two

1. "Space Walk"
2. "The Masterpiece"
3. "Tequila" (Instrumental)
4. "Syncopated Clock"
5. "Makizushi"
6. "Mah-Na, Mah-Na"

1. "Popcorn" (Instrumental)
2. "Day by Day"
3. "Apache"
4. "At the Movies"
5. "Tomatoes"

Side two

1. "Pipeline"
2. "Hot Butter"
3. "Telstar"
4. "Tristana"
5. "Song of the Nairobi Trio"
6. "Amazing Grace"

• Musicor Records, L34984, 1974 (Australia)

1. "Slag Solution"
2. "Sounds - Simple"
3. "Wheels"
4. "Skokiaan"
5. "Russian Whistler"

Side two

1. "Space Walk"
2. "The Masterpiece"
3. "Tequila"
4. "Syncopated Clock"
5. "Mah-Na, Mah-Na"
6. "Mexican Whistler"

• Castle Music ESMCD907 (UK), 2000
• "Popcorn" (Gershon Kingsley)
• "Godspell" (Stephen Schwartz)
• "Apache" (Jerry Lordan)
• "At the Movies" (Abbott, Mullaney, Jerome, Jerome, Jordan)
• "Tristana" (Abbott, Mullaney, Jerome, Jerome, Jordan)
• "Song Sung Blue" (Neil Diamond)
• "Telstar" (Joe Meek)
• "Tomatoes" (Neal Hefti)
• "Amazing Grace" (Trad. Arr. Abbott, Mullaney)
• "Love at First Sight" (Serge Gainsbourg)
• "Song of the Narobi Trio" (Maxwell).
• "Hot Butter (The Silent Screen)" (Abbott, Mullaney, Jerome, Jerome, Jordan)
• "Mah-Na-Mah-Na" (Piero Umiliani)
• "Masterpiece" (Mouret, Parnes)
• "Percolator" (Lew Bedell, Ernie Freeman)
• "Skokiaan" (August Msarurgwa)
• "Slag Solution" (Morgan, Ranzzano)
• "Sounds" (Teo Macero)
• "Space Walk" (Mullaney, Mullaney)
• "Syncopated Clock" (Leroy Anderson, Mitchell Parish)
• "Tequila" (Danny Flores)
• "Wheels" (Norman Petty)

• 1972: "Popcorn" (Gershon Kingsley) 2:30 / "At the Movies" (John Abbott, Dave Mullaney, Bill Jerome, Steve Jerome, Danny Jordan) 2:31
• 1972: "Apache" (Jerry Lordan) 2:47 / "Hot Butter" (Mozart: Sinfonie Nr. 40) (Abbott, Mullaney, B. Jerome, S. Jerome, Jordan) 2:08
• 1972: "Tequila" (Danny Flores) 1:47 / "Tomatoes" (Neil Hefti) 2:21
• 1973: "Percolator" (Lew Bedell, Ernie Freeman) 1:58 / "Tristana" (Abbott, Mullaney, B. Jerome, S. Jerome, Jordan) 3:29 (#46 CAN AC)
• 1973: "Slag Solution" (Tony Ranzzano, Babel Son) 2:30 / "Kappa Maki" (Abbott, Mullaney, B. Jerome, S. Jerome, Jordan) 2:38
• 1975: "Getting Off" (D. Mullaney, J. Mullaney) 2:53 / "Getting On" (D. Mullaney, J. Mullaney) 3:29
• 1977: "You Should Be Dancing" (Gene Farrow, Chris Warren) 5:13 / "You Should Be Dancing" (Track Without Lead Vocal) (Farrow, Warren) 4:42