Our last Sunday Comments Page of 2009 ... thanks again to everyone for contributing throughout the years!
re: MORE BEACH BOYS NEWS:
How funny was "Full House" ... Really?!?!? Frannie just found this clip MINUS the laugh-track ... incredibly, they actually wrote these long pauses into the script to allow for the HYSTERICAL audience reaction to these INCREDIBLY un-funny jokes!!! (Kinda sad, really ... I mean the show WAS mostly lame ... but this REALLY proves it!!!) Enjoy this ... in a sick "car-crash" sorta way!!! But we used to watch it because you just never knew when The Beach Boys were going to show up!!! (kk)
Click here: 'Full House' Without the Laugh Track? You Got It, Dude - Lemondrop.com
One Beach Boy's "Christmas Day":
Al Jardine Has a Sack Full of Excitement for the Coming Year
The Holidays Start Saturday, 5 PM Pacific, on Sirius XM's "Cousin Brucie" Show! BURBANK, Calif. - December 18, 2009 - Beach Boys co-founder Al Jardine, who started the group in 1961 with the Wilson brothers (Brian, Carl, and Dennis) and their cousin Mike Love, is preparing for the holidays by releasing a special "live" Christmas recording for download through the iTunes music store.The song can be heard Saturday, December 19th on Sirius XM's "Cousin Brucie" show (8 pm to Midnight Eastern time, "The '60s on 6"), when Radio Hall of Fame DJ Bruce Morrow will conduct a live interview with Al Jardine at approximately 5:15 pm Pacific time.
On the track, an informal "live" performance recorded at a Christmas party at Red Barn Studios in Big Sur, California in 2004, Jardine reprises "Christmas Day," the very first lead vocal he ever recorded with the iconic group. A video of the impromptu performance can be viewed at the website, http://www.aljardine.com.
The original version of the tune appeared on The Beach Boys' Christmas Album, which was released by Capitol Records in October, 1964 and has been a holiday favorite for decades.
Al Jardine has a plethora of exciting dates and events on his calendar, going into the new year:
First, on Nov. 24, 2009, the Beach Boys' 1965 Capitol single, "California Girls," on which Jardine also appeared, was named by the Recording Academy® as one of its 2010 Grammy Hall Of Fame® Inductees. The Grammy Hall Of Fame Award was established by The Recording Academy's National Trustees in 1973 "to honor recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance that are at least 25 years old. Inductees are selected annually by a special member committee of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of the recording arts." The list and recordings now reside as a collection on display at the Grammy Museum® in Santa Monica, California.
Al Jardine is also a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and received a Lifetime Grammy in 2001 as a member of the Beach Boys.
In January 2010 he will release an EP of three tracks, selected from the "green side" of his upcoming album, that speak to the relationship of man and his environment. "Don't Fight the Sea," "Tidepool Interlude" and "California Saga" are songs that reflect this artist's deep love for the California coastline and his concern for the ecological health of the planet. "I think the strength of this project lays here in these days of climate change," Jardine suggests. The new album, A Postcard from California, is slated to become available in its entirety in spring 2010, and some rough-mix samples of tracks from the album can be enjoyed on Al Jardine's website. The collection will feature Jardine along with a regular "who's who" of classic rock and popular music royalty, and includes a rare guest appearance by Neil Young, who will be honored as the 2010 MusiCares Person of the Year at a star-studded gala dinner and concert January 29th in Los Angeles. MusiCares is a charitable organization founded by the Recording Academy to benefit music professionals in need of help in various ways. The Person of the Year tribute dinner is an annual event that is held as part of the Grammy week activities. Inspired by -- and dedicated to -- Jardine's parents, who, as he puts it, "were infected by the American dream and never satisfied with the status quo," the album was largely penned by Jardine. He was joined in the studio by a steady and willing stream of famous friends, including Brian Wilson, Stephen Stills, David Crosby, Glen Campbell, Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell of America, David Marks, Richie Cannata and John Stamos. Completing the generational span, Jardine's sons, Matt and Adam, are also heard fleshing out the vocal harmonies. The track, "Tidepool Interlude" (found on both EP and album packages), includes a spoken word narrative from another special guest, actor Alec Baldwin, who is heard reading a poem written by Stephen John Kalinich, in a moving tribute to California and its natural beauty. Baldwin is set to co-host the 82nd Academy Awards ceremony ("The Oscars") with Steve Martin at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California, on March 7th, 2010.
Al Jardine's 21st century take on "Help Me Rhonda" has a special place on the upcoming album, and a video from the recording sessions, showing Jardine with Steve Miller and Flea recording the Brian Wilson-penned song, is also hosted on the website. "I wanted this version to feel like a blues classic," says Jardine, to which end he also featured Steve Miller Band harmonica legend Norton Buffalo on the track, for that authentic blues edge. The Beach Boys' original of "Help Me Rhonda," on which Jardine also sang lead, went to number one on the Billboard "Hot 100" chart in 1965.
In other recent related activities, an alternate take of the Beach Boys' hit, "Heroes and Villains," (yet another original Jardine lead vocal!) appeared on Rhino / WMG's archival 4-CD box-set, Where The Action Is! Los Angeles Nuggets 1965-1968, which was released last September 18th.
Al Jardine's single of "Christmas Day," which he defines as a "Christmas party song," could certainly liven up anyone's holiday festivities, and can be instantly downloaded from the iTunes music store with a couple of mouse-clicks. But Jardine's best Christmas present to himself this year is the fact that he's just wrapped production on his new album, A Postcard from California, in his studio in Big Sur. We will be looking forward to enjoying his Postcard in the months ahead! -- submitted by David Carr
I just got this clip in from Fred Vail (who knows a thing or two about the music of The Beach Boys! lol) What a GREAT performance of this Beach Boys Christmas Classic ... we've watched it several times now. You can check it out here:
Click here: YouTube - The Fendertones - Little Saint Nick
The #3 Christmas record of 1963, "Little Saint Nick" ranks right up there with "Jingle Bell Rock, "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree," "Blue Christmas" and a few select others, as one of the best seasonal records of all-time.
Well, it may take 20 or so "Fendertones" to do what I heard 'the five boys' do 'live' on December 21, 1963 -- the night we recorded the "Beach Boys Concert" album -- but these guys are fabulous just the same. If any of your readers want more of the same, go to YouTube.com and put in "The Fendertones." They have equally impressive versions of "California Girls," "God Only Knows," "Good Vibrations," "Let Him Run Wild" and at least a half dozen more.
Merry Christmas to you and yours, Kent, and to all my fellow appreciative readers of "Forgotten Hits."
Fred Vail
Treasure Isle
Nashville, TN
"Music City, USA"
Same to you, Fred ... and this is a GREAT video ... we've watched it again and again and again! Thanks so much for sharing this with our readers! (kk)
Fred ALSO told me about an exciting Beach Boys / eBay auction (that ended last night) ... QUITE a collection ... and it went for a damn good price, too. When all was said and done, these LPs went for a little over $4.00 a piece!!! And there are some REAL Collectors Items in this batch! (Scroll down for complete information ... the auction has already ended) kk
Click here: BEACH BOYS LP LIFETIME COLLECTION - APROX 500 LP'S - eBay (item 140368723514 end time Dec-26-09 15:27:57 PST)
This auction closes in about two hours. By fate I stumbled on it and wrote the seller a note. His passion for our band started with "Beach Boys Concert." Read his description and reason for parting with his collection -- you're going to be touched by his story.
PLEASE send this link on to your fellow BB collectors and fans. I hope his lifelong collection ends up in the hands of a fellow BB fan. It deserves to find another great home.
Hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas. Here's to a super healthy, prosperous and successful 2010!
Fred
re: ROSES ARE RED:
>>>According to Fred Bronson's book "The Billboard Book Of Number One Hits", Vinton was about to be dropped from the brand new Epic Record Label after his first two releases flopped. (kk)
Actually, Epic was not a "brand new" label in 1962 ... the first record on the label to make the Billboard pop charts was "(My Baby Don't Love Me) No More" by the DeJohn Sisters in late 1954. And Roy Hamilton and other artists had hits on the Epic label on the R&B charts even before that.
– Randy Price
I'll take 100% of the hit on this one ... my phrasing was wrong again ... my intention was to convey that Bobby Vinton was brand new to the Epic Label and had had a couple of flops and was about to be dropped ... NOT that the label was brand new. (A quick online check shows the label was officially founded in 1953 ... as was I, for that matter!!! lol This would be consistent with your information about their first chart hit the following year by The DeJohn Sisters. The original intent of this Columbia Records subsidiary was to be a full-fledged classical label ... but by 1954 they were already touting their "pop" roster.) Where I went off-track was reading about how one of the gold records later received for this record was the first time a producer was recognized for his role in the sales success of a record. Focusing on that, I completely blew the "brand new label" bit ... apologies to Fred Bronson, too, if this even implied that this was HIS error in anyone's mind. The mistake was CLEARLY mine ... 100% ... and of "epic" proportion!!! (kk)
MORE ON EPIC RECORDS: Some of the key acts that WE remember from the bright yellow label (besides Bobby Vinton) include The Dave Clark Five, Donovan, Lulu, The Yardbirds and (after their initial US stint on Imperial Records), The Hollies. In the '70's, Epic's top hit artists included Sly and the Family Stone, Charlie Rich, REO Speedwagon and the newly renamed Jacksons (after jumping ship from Motown ... Epic Records would ALSO be home to Michael Jackson's biggest hits in the late '70's and '80's. Of course by the mid-'70's and '80's, the label was blue.) According to Fred Bronson's book "Billboard's Hottest Hot 100 Hits", the two biggest hits the Epic Records Label ever had belong to Jennifer Lopez: "I'm Real" (2001) and "Ain't It Funny" (2002). Hard to believe that these two J-Lo titles outrank Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" (#3) and "Black And White" (#4). Jackson also holds down the #7 and #9 spots in The Epic Records Top Ten Hit List with "Rock With You" and "Beat It" respectively. Bobby Vinton's "Roses Are Red" (the song that launched this whole conversation in the first place) is Epic Records' #8 all-time hit. (He just missed with a couple of others: "Blue Velvet" came in at #12 and "There! I've Said It Again" ranks at #14.) Rounding out The Top Ten are Lulu's "To Sir With Love" (#5), Sly and the Family Stone's "Everyday People" (#6) and "Karma Chameleon" by Culture Club (#10). Big as they were in the '60's, you won't find The Dave Clark Five's name on the list until you reach #59 ("Over And Over") and even The Hollies' over-played rock classic "Long Cool Woman (In A Black Dress)" is way down at #45.
re: DARK SIDE OF THE MOON:
The possibility that our math was off concerning the REAL number of LPs sold on this Pink Floyd classic was addressed a couple of times this past week ... and from both angles ... RIAA Sales are based on US tallies, right? If we take foreign sales into account, the numbers would ALSO jump for Michael Jackson's "Thriller" and The Eagles' "Greatest Hits" ... but it's interesting to see the wide-ranging feelings on this one! (kk)
Hey Kent,
In my checking out the Billboard Top 200 album chart for years, the #200 title seems to vary between 4,000 and 10,000 copies, closer to 4,000 these days. So you'd better do a recalculation re: Dark Side Of The Moon, perhaps using 5,000 as your average figure. Don't make me do the math, though.
Guy Arnston in Algonquin
Kent,
You are right in your assumptions regarding Dark Side Of The Moon. Randy Price is quoting RIAA figures. Do some of you Americans REALLY think that it's only US sales that make a successful album? At one time practically every CD plant in Europe was pressing almost nothing but DSOTM to keep up with demand. It's sold way over 30 million copies worldwide, maybe even over 40m. Those US people who think the world ends at US shores need to wake up!
gvanwin
So there you have it ... clear as mud!!! (My Head Hurts!!!!) kk
re: INSTRUMENTALS:
There was also a vocal version of “Sleepwalk” by Nick Noble that I believe charted on WLS!
Ken
#33 for exactly one week back in November of 1963. I'd be curious to hear THAT one!!! (kk)
And, as it turns out, THIS track in on the "WLS ONLY" CD Set that Ed Erxleben made for me, too!!! So I DO have it to share! (To echo an earlier sentiment, how the heck did THIS guy have so many hits here in Chi-Town?!?!?) kk
It seems like I am always dating myself, 'Maria Elena' a great instrumental by Los Indios Tabejeros, was originally a vocal ! (Gene Autry)
Also 'Apache' by Jorgan Ingmann (sp) was recorded as a vocal by Sonny James.
Bonanza also had words, I am quite sure there are quite a few songs and a good topic foe discussion.
Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays and wishing you a great New Year 2010.
Sweet Dreams
Charlie Fraser
re: THE BEATLES:
>>>On February 8th, "She Loves You" joined "I Want To Hold Your Hand" in The Top Ten. The two records remained in The Top Ten for the next several weeks. On February 22nd, "She Loves You" hit the #2 spot while "I Want To Hold Your Hand" was still the #1 Record. The songs HELD those two positions for the next four weeks ... and by then "Please Please Me" had JOINED them in The Top Ten, giving The Beatles THREE Top Ten Charters. On March 14th, "I Want To Hold Your Hand", "She Loves You" and "Please Please Me" were the Top Three Songs in the Country. A week later, "She Loves You" replaced "I Want To Hold Your Hand" at #1 and "Twist And Shout" entered The Top Ten for the first time, giving The Beatles FOUR Top Ten Records the week of March 21st. The following week, these four records were The Top Four Records in the Country with "She Loves You" at #1, "I Want To Hold Your Hand" at #2, "Twist And Shout" at #3 and "Please Please Me" at #4. NO Artist had EVER achieved this feat before ... so imagine the surprise the following week when their latest release, "Can't Buy Me Love", jumped from #27 to the #1 Spot, giving The Beatles THE TOP FIVE RECORDS IN THE COUNTRY!!!: "Can't Buy Me Love" (#1), "Twist And Shout" (#2), "She Loves You" (#3), "I Want To Hold Your Hand" (#4) and "Please Please Me" (#5). No act would EVER repeat this feat. (kk)
Kent,
This is great, and I agree that it will never happen again. #2, #3 and #5 were "backlog" songs that had been written in 1963, and #3 and #5 had been released in that year, and went nowhere. You can add Love Me Do to this list, which reached #1. No band will ever have a "backlog" like this again. I still cannot believe the older songs bombed here in the US in 1963.
-- Dwight Rounds
www.AnimalsToZombies.com
Have you seen this rather unusual collection before?
http://beatlephoto.blogspot.com:80/
Cheers!
Bill
No, I haven't ... pretty cool 'tho!!! Check it out! (kk)
re: THE MONKEES:
Just got this from Rich Appel of Hz So Good ... now wouldn't THIS be something to see?!?!? (kk)
There’s talk of all four Monkees – yep, Mike, too – reuniting in 2010 to record a live version of their 1967 landmark album Headquarters. I say “landmark” because, unlike the group’s first two studio releases, Headquarters featured the Monkees singing and playing their own instruments. That’s crucial because the planned live recording is seen as an attempt to be taken seriously by music critics, particularly those long opposed to the Monkees’ being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Should this happen, it would be a triumph in several ways. For one, it would give a much-needed push to a long-overlooked piece of the Monkees’ musical legacy. As was the case with Sgt.Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, the Beatles album that came out at around the same time in the summer of 1967, no singles were released from Headquarters in the U.S. One that should have been, Micky Dolenz’ “Randy Scouse Git,” made it to #2 in the U.K. At least three other tracks on Headquarters – Mike Nesmith’s “You Just May Be the One,” Peter Tork’s “For Pete’s Sake” (which doubled as the TV show’s closing theme for awhile) and the Barry Mann-Cynthia Weil composition “Shades of Gray” – garnered significant radio play at the time.Such a reunion would also be a triumph for the group itself, seeing as Tork has been battling throat cancer. More on this story as it develops, but let’s hope it does.
-- Rich Appel
