Back in the early "email only" days of Forgotten Hits, it wasn't at all uncommon to come up with an abundance of mail for our Comments Pages that was simply too large to run in one segment.
I've always felt that if readers took the time to write, we should present a forum whenever possible to allow their comments to be heard ... but sometimes it just gets completely out of control and it's impossible to feature everything.
Further scrutiny also showed that many of these letters lacked what I can only describe as "mass, cross-appeal" ... so at some point in time we started a new series called "Leftovers" ... designed for the die-hard Forgottten Hits fans at large who simply felt that they just had to read EVERYTHING no matter how "inside" or off the beaten path it may seem to be.
Well, it's happened again ... much of what you'll find on the site today would have made our Leftovers Page ten years ago ... mail's been piling up for awhile now (and I'm STILL at least ten days behind!!!)
So today, in addition to some newer comments regarding some of our recent articles, you'll also find a clearing of the decks, if you will, to try and get our mail "current" again.
It's not for everybody ... we'll freely admit that ... so you may end up doing some skimming this week ... but it's there if you want it. Hopefully after this large assault we'll be in a better position to stay as current as possible.
Read on!!!
Kyle Vincent / Elliot Lurie
I took a different track to find out about Kyle's history. I researched The Rollers' history to find where he fit in. That was a dead-end trail of sorrow and woe, where no one got the money, and no one is happy about it. Well ... somebody got the money. I have my own theories after reading. Anyway, Kyle, you still eluded me. He is a fascinating and talented performer who adds to this collage of entertainers well, so you DO want to place him on your historical time-line accurately. My last resort was a friend of mine, who keeps reminding me that The Bay City Rollers toured shortly before we met, and being such a big Rollers' fan, she will forever hold it against me that I wasn't around to see the concert with her. Always funny to hear, "(You Jerk), They toured before I met you and my other friends didn't want to go." So, I casually mentioned the name after my "Feelin' Groovy" concert and review and her eyes were alight as she responded with, "Oh yes! He was with Bay City on their last tour. The one I couldn't go see because I hadn't met you and (name of second friend) yet." SORRY????? We met around 2007.
Maybe calling compilation tours "Feelin' Groovy Concert" is the best way to go ... just acknowledge the feelings ... and don't date them.
Shelley
Kyle put on a great show, as did the others in the '70's Pop Fest line-up. The problem I have is when they bill an artist as "formerly of" and you find out (as in Kyle's case ... and in his own words) that he was "the 17th Roller" ... the group just wasn't around long enough in the spotlight for that to matter ... the whole premise is very misleading ... and it's clearly a billing tactic to draw in unsuspecting fans ... THAT'S what I have a problem with. (And believe me, we see it all the time. There are enough legitimate "formerly of's" out there who have to bill themselves this way because they've lost all rights to their former band's namesake. And we've seen plenty of acts come through Chicago boasting things like "former lead singer of Journey" or "former lead singer of Boston" only to find out that this guys spent six months with the band as their fifth lead singer and had absolutely NO ties to the original members at all. (Kyle mentioned this, too, when stating that at the time he was in The Rollers there were NO original members ... just people who had come along and hung around long enough to have some identity attachment.) As such, I find it commendable that Kyle doesn't even mention his association with The Bay City Rollers on his own website ... that he's put together a three decade career and released numerous albums under his own name. I think a more fair and accurate billing would be something like: "Don't miss the '70's Pop Fest, featuring the music of great artists like Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods, The Bay City Rollers, Looking Glass, The Ohio Express and The 1910 Fruitgum Company and many more of your late '60's / early '70's favorites" ... because that, in a nutshell is what you're REALLY getting up on that stage.
And I have to admit that I was shocked to learn that Bo Donaldson never sang lead in Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods. (Maybe they were named that way simply because he had the coolest show-biz name?!?! Or maybe he's the one who organized the group way back when. For the record, the group's lead singer's name was Mike Gibbons.) Again, we've seen this before ... The Dave Clark Five (whose whole sound was based around the incredible vocals of Mike Smith) ... Elvin Bishop (whose vocals were really handled by Mickey Thomas on their biggest hit, without so much as a "featuring" on the record label credit) ... and a few others. (kk)
It was especially cool to hear from Elliot Lurie, too, after our concert review ran. Hopefully he'll stay in touch with Forgotten Hits and share some of his "fly on the wall" memories with our readers.
Hey Kent -
Thanks for the nice review!
I'm new to your site and love what you're doing.
Forgotten Hits? Everything I know about guitar licks I stole from Curtis Mayfield. How about his composition / production "Mama Didn't Lie" by Jan Bradley? Check it out. Best,
Elliot Lurie
Elliot Lurie
Hi Elliot! Great to hear from you!
"Mama Didn't Lie" was a #13 Hit back in 1963 ... yet you NEVER hear it on the radio anymore. Let's fix that today in Forgotten Hits! (kk)
>>>Lastly, I would be completely remiss if I didn't single out Elliot Lurie of Looking Glass. Elliot has been away from the scene for a little while ... but has not lost one iota of talent in the process. Having written and sang two of our favorite hits from the 1970's, "Brandy" and "Jimmy Loves Mary-Anne" ... and possessing one of the most unique and distinctive voices in all of rock and roll (seriously, I can't think of another single person who sounds ANYTHING like him!), I couldn't help but wonder what he's been doing with himself these past 40-something years! However there is absolutely no update information (or contact information) to be found on his website, allowing him (I guess) to continue to lead the life of mystery. I can only assure you that his vocal chops were well in force on Friday night. (Elliot - again, if you see this, please contact me so we can give our readers an update!) Frannie talked to him after the show, complimented him on his set and told him how we had just recently watched a video of Looking Glass performing "Brandy" and how his "hair was down to there ... and your shirt was open down to there ..." ... got a good laugh from Elliot who seemed to genuinely appreciate the warm welcome he received at The Arcada Theatre. (kk)
I recently saw the Looking Glass You Tube video and noticed Elliot's shirt was buttoned this time. lol Ahh ... the good ole' days of the early 70's. You are right about how great Elliot's voice is. It's distinguishable from most others. And very underrated. I am glad to see he is back on the scene after 40 years. (I guess that he has been living his life.) By the way, the original drummer from Looking Glass, Jeff, and I graduated from the same high school together in New Jersey. We were both into music. lol. It's good to see that he is part of rock history by being in a very successful band. I love the "Looking Glass." As a semi-retired "teeny bopper" it's fun to remember.
Blossmwrld
Elliot Lurie is the real deal ... he wrote and sang Looking Glass' two biggest hits ... but despite a #1 Record that still gets played several time a day 43 years later, his name isn't well known in music circles because Looking Glass was one of those nameless, faceless bands who hit it big and then disappeared. (In concert he mentioned that he was able to avoid One Hit Wonder-dome when "Jimmy Loves Mary-Anne" cracked The Top 40. It did a little more than that ... reaching #22 in Record World but only hitting #31 and #33 in Cash Box and Billboard respectively. It was a #5 smash here in Chicago ... and is another PERFECT example of a "Forgotten Hit" ... nobody on the radio plays it anymore ... it's been out of circulation for YEARS ... and yet you recognize it the moment you hear it. Fortunately, we get to hear it again here in Chicago these days thanks to Me-TV-FM ... and it'll also pop up on Bob Stroud's Rock And Roll Roots radio program from time to time. GREAT track ... and Elliot did a FINE job of performing it last weekend at The Arcada. (kk)
Hi Kent,
Saw the recent references to Elliot Lurie, who, of course, led Looking Glass to those big early 70s’ hits, “Brandy” and “Jimmy Love Mary-Anne”. Elliot went on to make a self-titled solo album in 1975, which included a track issued as a 45, “Disco (Where You Want to Go)”. A good sound, especially with the sax and a reminder of how disco music sounded before the whole Casablanca / Studio 54 / Donna Summer thing got under way. It was much lower key, with discs such as George McCrae’s “Rock Your Baby” and William DeVaughn’s “Be Thankful For What You Got” carrying the genre.
Segueing into the 80s and “Jimmy Loves Mary-Anne” was revived by Josie Cotton, the lady who gave us “He Could Be The One” and who appeared in the prom scene in the Nicolas Cage film, “Valley Girl” in 1983.
Best wishes,
Mike Edwards
Speaking of the Arcada ... and other area-sponsored shows
Here's Ron Onesti's take on Lou Christie's appearance at Addison's Italian Fest ... (we've been on a hot streak lately ... Forgotten Hits reviews of Lou Christie, Kyle Vincent and Elliot Lurie have inspired all three artists to write in ... here's hoping they'll continue to check back from time to time ... and help spread the word as to what we're trying to do here in our efforts to keep all this great music alive!)
http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20150828/insights
/150829085/
Some of the Local Guys Are Still Making Headlines With Their New Releases!
How interesting to find that there would seem to be a battle of Cryan Shames releases now! After being long out of print on Sundazed, the Now Sounds label reissued the first two RED albums earlier this year to nice success. They were mono, as you know. Now, it seems the success of these has caused Sundazed to reissue these stereo issues they originally issued a few years ago. They are now available on their website again in the exact same issue. What I find strange is that the "Sugar & Spice" album had lots of mono on the stereo issue and NO ONE reissued MY favorite of the three, "Synthesis"!!!
Now, when is the vinyl coming out on that new heavy stock vinyl? When do the Shames get some money from their recordings again??? STILL, great that these are selling 50 years later. The Shames will be remembered long after we are gone. That's what I call a "Sony Legacy." Perfect time for a Tom Doody biography. James Fairs, too! JC Hooke, too!
Sundazed STEREO issues now available:
Now Sounds MONO issues now available thru parent label, Cherry Red:
Clark Besch
In addition to these Cryan' Shames releases, Cary Mansfield's Varese Vintage label will be relelasing "The Buckinghams: The Complete Hit Singles", with liner notes composed by the above-mentioned Clark Besch. ALL of the Columbia (and USA) tracks are here including their biggest Top 40 Hits ("Kind Of A Drag", "Don't You Care", "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy", "Hey Baby, They're Playing Our Song", "Susan" and "Back In Love Again" along with earlier USA Tracks like "I'll Go Crazy", "I Call Your Name", "I've Been Wrong", "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" and "Summertime" (many of which did very well on our local charts here in Chicago) ... along with latter-day tracks like "Where Did You Come From", "This Is How Much I Love You", "It's A Beautiful Day" and "I Got A Feelin'", by which time the hit-making machine had stopped.
Not only did Clark write the liner notes for this hot new release but he ALSO wrote liners TWICE the length as those that made the official release ... and we'll be running THOSE notes EXCLUSIVELY in Forgotten Hits in the days to come.
But first, be sure to pick up YOUR copy of this hot new release. (Cary even sent us one to give away to a lucky Forgotten Hits who can best describe what the music of The Buckinghams meant to them growing up in the '60's.)
So get your entries in now ... head on over to the Varese Vintage website to order your own copy of this collectible disk ... and then stay tuned to Forgotten Hits to read the unedited, unabridged liner notes EXACTLY the way Clark first wrote them. (Who knows ... we might even feature a comment or two from Carl and Dennis!!!) Stay tuned!
The Wrecking Crew
Carol Kaye is right about Studio Musicians all being Independent Contractors because my Dad, Edgar Redmond, was one of them playing saxophone. Also how is it that Fabulous Arrangers and Musicians like Ernie Freeman, Gene Page, Harold Battiste, and H.B. Barnum aren't listed as part
of this so-called Wrecking Crew? Also Billy Preston who played with everybody (Gospel, R 'n' B, Pop, Soul, Jazz, Rock, etc.) and who is considered the Fifth Beatle and played on Shindig isn't mentioned as part of the Wrecking Crew. And with all due respect to Phil Spector and his Wall of Sound Recordings, there is never a mention of Sam Cooke and 50-75 of the Finest Musicians of the time (early to mid 60's) being contracted to play music on his recording sessions. Sam Cooke surpasses Phil Spector in amount of Top Hits in the early 60's with Sam having 30 to Phil's 25.
Yes, Sam was a great artist and singer, but he was also the first artist to have his own Record Labels, Publishing Companies, Management Company, and ownership of his copyrights before he got killed and things went astray. The Bible says the Truth shall set us free so I hope I have given you readers your freedom because I speak the Truth.
Michael Redmond
I think the basis of "regulars" who made up The Wrecking Crew (not called that at the time) were determined (primarily anyway) by Hal Blaine (who seems to have been the "leader of the pack" if you will) and Denny Tedesco, Tommy Tedesco's son, who put together the documentary. If you read Ken Sharp's EXCELLENT book "Sound Explosion", you'll find many other musicians and artists mentioned that you cite above. (kk)
And, Speaking Of The Wrecking Crew ... and New Releases ...
The soundtrack CD to "The Wrecking Crew" film is FINALLY being released this week ... it's a 4-CD set of some of the biggest hits created by this superstar group of studio musicians, along with selected dialog and commentary from many of the players.
This one has been a LONG time coming (due to licensing arrangements) but is WELL worth the investment ... music you've loved your whole life, presented in a way to always keep near you.
More details here:
And, in addition to being available for purchase on DVD or BluRay, the film is still playing in selected theaters across the country ... here's a current list ... please contact your local theater for show times ...
9/25/15 Tunkhannock, PA: Dietrich Theatre
9/30/15 Loveland, CO: Rialto Theater
10/1/15 Melbourne, Australia:
10/15/15 Benton AR: Benton Event Center
11/7/15 Edom, TX: The Old Firehouse
11/9/15 Batavia, IL: Randall 16
11/9/15 Oswego, IL: Kendall 10
11/9/15 Peoria, IL: Willow Knolls 14
11/9/15 Savoy, IL: Savoy 16
11/9/15 Brownsburg, IN: Pavilion Cinemas 8
11/9/15 Lafayette, IN: Eastside 10
11/9/15 Noblesville, IN: Hamilton 16 IMAX
11/9/15 Portage, IN: Portage 16
11/9/15 W. Lafayette, IN: Wabash Landing
11/9/15 Ann Arbor, MI: Quality 16
11/9/15 Bay City, MI: Bay City 8
11/9/15 Canton Township, MI: Canton Cinema 7
11/9/15 Grand Haven, MI: Grand Haven 9
11/9/15 Holland, MI: Holland 7
11/9/15 Jackson, MI: Jackson 10
11/9/15 Kalamazoo, MI: Kalamazoo 10
11/9/15 Saginaw, MI: Quality 10
11/9/15 Columbia, MO: Forum 8
11/9/15 Jefferson City, MO: Capital 8
12/8/15 Annapolis Royal, NS: TIFF Film Circuit
Just like he did with the weekly Billboard Charts, Joel Whitburn is now making available ALL of the Cash Box Charts from the 1960's and 1970's!
These are actual reproductions of every Top 100 List published during those two decades ... the 1970's edition is available now for immediate shipment and the 1960's book will begin shipping in November.
Both are more "must have" editions for the serious music and chart collector. More details on the Record Research Website: http://recordresearch.com/
Correction
Last week when we fielded a question about Jim Shea, former Morning Man at Y103.9, we reported that he was now attending Medical School at The University of Miami. (Jim said he had just arrived in Miami for Medical School so I presumed that's where he was going to school.)
Turns out I mis-spoke ... Jim is actually enrolled in Barry University IN Miami ... and he sent me this little "All Access" blurb as he departed the Milwaukee airwaves ...
Jim Shea Exits WKTI / Milwaukee For A Career In Medicine
August 31, 2015 at 4:04 AM (PT)
Miami Bound!
Broadcaster JIM SHEA has decided to retire the headphones and begin a new chapter in his life. SHEA told ALL ACCESS, "I'm leaving part-time swing at (E.W. SCRIPPS) Country WKTI / MILWAUKEE and relocating to MIAMI in order to attend medical school at BARRY UNIVERSITY."
In addition to MILWAUKEE, SHEA has cracked the mic or programmed in CHICAGO; CLEVELAND; COLUMBUS; HARRISBURG, PA; CHARLESTON, WV; and EVANSVILLE, IN in a career that spanned some 35 years. He's also on the team at BENZTOWN as commercial copywriter.
Some of the Local Guys Are Still Making Headlines With Their New Releases!
In addition to these Cryan' Shames releases, Cary Mansfield's Varese Vintage label will be relelasing "The Buckinghams: The Complete Hit Singles", with liner notes composed by the above-mentioned Clark Besch. ALL of the Columbia (and USA) tracks are here including their biggest Top 40 Hits ("Kind Of A Drag", "Don't You Care", "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy", "Hey Baby, They're Playing Our Song", "Susan" and "Back In Love Again" along with earlier USA Tracks like "I'll Go Crazy", "I Call Your Name", "I've Been Wrong", "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" and "Summertime" (many of which did very well on our local charts here in Chicago) ... along with latter-day tracks like "Where Did You Come From", "This Is How Much I Love You", "It's A Beautiful Day" and "I Got A Feelin'", by which time the hit-making machine had stopped.
The Wrecking Crew
of this so-called Wrecking Crew? Also Billy Preston who played with everybody (Gospel, R 'n' B, Pop, Soul, Jazz, Rock, etc.) and who is considered the Fifth Beatle and played on Shindig isn't mentioned as part of the Wrecking Crew. And with all due respect to Phil Spector and his Wall of Sound Recordings, there is never a mention of Sam Cooke and 50-75 of the Finest Musicians of the time (early to mid 60's) being contracted to play music on his recording sessions. Sam Cooke surpasses Phil Spector in amount of Top Hits in the early 60's with Sam having 30 to Phil's 25.
Yes, Sam was a great artist and singer, but he was also the first artist to have his own Record Labels, Publishing Companies, Management Company, and ownership of his copyrights before he got killed and things went astray. The Bible says the Truth shall set us free so I hope I have given you readers your freedom because I speak the Truth.
Michael Redmond
And, Speaking Of The Wrecking Crew ... and New Releases ...
And, in addition to being available for purchase on DVD or BluRay, the film is still playing in selected theaters across the country ... here's a current list ... please contact your local theater for show times ...
9/30/15 Loveland, CO: Rialto Theater
10/1/15 Melbourne, Australia:
10/15/15 Benton AR: Benton Event Center
11/7/15 Edom, TX: The Old Firehouse
11/9/15 Batavia, IL: Randall 16
11/9/15 Oswego, IL: Kendall 10
11/9/15 Peoria, IL: Willow Knolls 14
11/9/15 Savoy, IL: Savoy 16
11/9/15 Brownsburg, IN: Pavilion Cinemas 8
11/9/15 Lafayette, IN: Eastside 10
11/9/15 Noblesville, IN: Hamilton 16 IMAX
11/9/15 Portage, IN: Portage 16
11/9/15 W. Lafayette, IN: Wabash Landing
11/9/15 Ann Arbor, MI: Quality 16
11/9/15 Bay City, MI: Bay City 8
11/9/15 Canton Township, MI: Canton Cinema 7
11/9/15 Grand Haven, MI: Grand Haven 9
11/9/15 Holland, MI: Holland 7
11/9/15 Jackson, MI: Jackson 10
11/9/15 Kalamazoo, MI: Kalamazoo 10
11/9/15 Saginaw, MI: Quality 10
11/9/15 Columbia, MO: Forum 8
11/9/15 Jefferson City, MO: Capital 8
12/8/15 Annapolis Royal, NS: TIFF Film Circuit
Just like he did with the weekly Billboard Charts, Joel Whitburn is now making available ALL of the Cash Box Charts from the 1960's and 1970's!
Jim Shea Exits WKTI / Milwaukee For A Career In Medicine
re: This And That:
The other day we ran the brand new video for Darlene Love's new Bruce Springsteen-produced CD. Darlene will be performing her Christmas Show at The Genesee Theatre in Waukegan on December 16th. More ticket information here: http://www.geneseetheatre.com/
And on October 4th you can catch Hippiefest, starring The Family Stone, Rick Derringer, Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels and Joey Molland's Badfinger.
Sly Stone showed up at a Family Stone concert in Red Bank, NJ ... a rare and unexpected appearance where he joined the band for one song on stage. (Makes me want to catch this show even more!!!) Stone is notorious for his Chicagoland appearances back in the day ... equally famous for inciting riots as well as numerous "no shows", leaving thousands of disappointed fans in his wake. Be nice if he'd make an extended experience here in October to make it up to all those fans who stuck with him through all these years!!! (kk)
Hey Kent,
I found a video of Jim Peterik sitting in with the band, Chase. I've never seen it before now. He recorded two songs with them on their third album, "Pure Music". This one is "Love is on the Way". I prefer his other song, "Run Back to Mama", but this live, primitive, video is shot a little better I think. It's fun to watch the band again, but sad too, as four of the members, including Bill Chase, were killed in a plane crash, just a few months later.
- John LaPuzza
Actually, we've featured "Run Back To Mama" several times before in Forgotten Hits ... I think it's a GREAT track that should have received some recognition when it was first released. (Chase should NOT have been a "one hit wonder" with great material like this also available!) And, quite honestly, you rarely hear "Get It On" much anymore either. (#19, 1971). For the record, "Run Back To Mama" did "bubble under" in Record World Magazine only, peaking at #124 in 1974 ... after a TEN WEEK run on the charts! How does a record "bubble under" for ten weeks and never make The Top 100? That'd be like Pete Rosee's kid playing in the minors for 29 years or something!!! (kk)
We've been telling you about The Zombies' reunion to tour, performing their entire "Odessey And Oracle" album along with all of their other best known, greatest hits. Well, now comes word that they will also be performing (and recording) some NEW music as well! (In fact, their brand new album, "Still Got That Hunger", drops on October 9th!)
Check out this Rolling Stone link, submitted by FH Reader Tom Cuddy ... http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/hear-the-zombies-tackle-mortality-on-bluesy-moving-on-20150902
LISTEN TO THIS PIECE OF ROCK & ROLL HISTORY:
58-years ago this night: CHARLIE GRACIE, Philly's first R&R star, was in the middle of a 10-week British tour -- the first SOLO U.S. rocker to do so!
Listen to this track to hear screaming fans react as Charlie breaks into Tutti Fruitti: AUGUST 26th, 1957 at the STOCKTON GLOBE THEATER: Enjoy!
*Charlie will tour Britain this November. Schedule will soon be posted.
Charlie Gracie, Jr.
Kent ...
Scott Shannon just announced that between 20,000 and 25,000 showed up for the free Joan Jett concert on Saturday.
Frank B.
http://wcbsfm.cbslocal.com/photo-galleries/2015/08/22/photos-joan-jett-and-the-blackhearts-live-wcbsfm-saturday-in-the-park/
HERES A GREAT SHOT OF TOMMY ROE AND THE BAND
SANTA FE NEW MEXICO, AUGUST 27, PRE SHOW
WE DID A GREAT FUNDRAISER FOR YOUTH SHELTERS AND AT RISK YOUTH ...
PEOPLE LOVED THE SHOW ... AND WE LOVED THE CAUSE.
RICK LEVY
L TO R: LEE BROVITZ, RICK LEVY, TOMMY ROE,
MIKE CAMPBELL, MIKE LIDDY
Thanks for your recent piece on our Beatles salute. That's probably better than I could have done ... and I'll add my info when I return. But who called it Danbury HILLS Forever?? Lol.
Cheers,
Charles F. Rosenay!!!
Liverpool Productions and International Tours & Events website: www.ToursAndEvents.com
email: liverpooltours@aol.com
That would be me! (lol) It's called running out the door first thing Saturday Morning to make a 240 round trip drive to visit our daughter at college ... but still trying to rush out a quick link so people would know to read the article! (lol) Of course it was Danbury Fields Forever (not Hills) ... my bad ... but, by all acounts, a pretty fantastic day of Beatles music! (kk)
From FH Reader Tom Cuddy ...
Whatever happened to Sheena Easton? http://www.reviewjournal.com/columns-blogs/doug-elfman/sheena-easton-makes-enough-time-performing-raising-kids
Sheena: 2015
From Chicagoland Radio and Media ...
The helmet that Chicago radio legend Steve Dahl wore during the famous (infamous?) Disco Demolition baseball promotion in July, 1979, is being enshrined. Dahl is donating the helmet to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY, where it will soon be placed on display. The Hall of Fame requested the item to commemorate the most famous baseball attendance stunt of all time. This is the same helmet worn on the cover of Dahl's top-selling "Do You Think I'm Disco" single. Dahl, who is currently heard weekday afternoons on WLS-AM, sent his helmet off to the Hall of Fame this week.
Could it be true? A Spice Girls reunion with ALL of the original members?
That's what we're hearing. Stay tuned for more details! (kk)
We also received this very in-depth piece on the passing of Bob Johnston from Harvey Kubernik which includes pieces of interviews he did in 2009 and 2013 regarding Bob's involvement in the careers of Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash and Leonard Cohen ...
I had these archive interviews on the inspirational and immortal Bob Johnston. If you are acknowledging his physical departure there's some insightful comments from him you may display.
Best,
Harvey Kubernik
Record producer Bob Johnston on Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash / Johnny Cash on Bob Dylan
By Harvey Kubernik, c 2009
Bob Johnston on Leonard Cohen, c 2013
Record producer Bob Johnston breathtaking audio resume includes Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison” and “San Quentin” live LP’s, Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bookends,” several Willie Nelson records and the first few classic albums of Leonard Cohen, studio activities with Patti Page, Moby Grape and Joe Ely, and culture-altering Bob Dylan studio efforts, “Highway 61 Revisited,” “Blonde On Blonde,” “John Wesley Harding,” “Nashville Skyline,” “Self Portrait”, and “New Morning.”
June 17th marks the 40th anniversary of the original Columbia Records release of “Nashville Skyline.”
Bob Johnston was born in 1932 in Hillsboro, Texas. Johnston held a staff song writing position at Elvis Presley’s Hill & Range Music, and then had peripatetic stints talent scouting for Kapp and arranging for Dot Record labels, before joining Columbia Records in 1965. Decades later he produced Mike Scott. “Bob Johnston is in the list of the greats. Absolutely,” volunteers drummer Jim Keltner” who worked on the Scott project. Bob Johnston appears in the Martin Scorsese-directed “No Direction Home” Bob Dylan” DVD.
Now based in Austin, Texas, Johnston recalls his landmark production endeavors and collaboration with Bob Dylan on “Highway 61,” “Blonde On Blonde,” “John Wesley Harding” and “Nashville Skyline” as well as his studio and television work with Johnny Cash.
Johnston was initially introduced to Dylan in 1965 when he was called in to replace producer Tom Wilson to complete Dylan’s “Highway 61 Revisited” album in New York City. “I was working with Dylan in New York and I flew in Charlie McCoy from Nashville, introduced him to Dylan, and the first thing we cut was a version of ‘Desolation Row,’ with Dylan on acoustic, Charlie on electric, and Harvey Brooks on bass.
“I was standing by the sound board and I said to Dylan ‘Listen man, you ought to come to Nashville sometime,’” Johnston recalls. “I got a fix up down there with no clocks and the musicians are fuckin’ great.’ ‘Hmmm.’ He’d never answer you, just go ‘hmmm’ like Jack Benny. So I finished ‘Highway 61’ and then Dylan called me about six months later and he said, ‘an, I got a bunch of songs. What do you think about going to Nashville?’ ‘That’s what I was talkin’ about!’ In 1966 we went down there for ‘Blonde On Blonde’ and the first thing was beautiful. He said, ‘Well, I got an idea…’. He stayed out in the studio 10 or 12 hours. He never left it. He’d eat candy bars and drink milk shakes and all, and nobody does that much,” Johnston ponders. “I sent the musicians away and told them to do anything you want to and be in phone contact. Don’t go home… you can be in the studio down here if you need some beds or something. About 2:00 in the morning Dylan came out of the studio and said, ‘I got a song I think. Is anybody left here?’ First thing we did was ‘Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands.’
"I told everybody if they quit playing they were gone. It didn’t matter because I could overdub anybody but Dylan. But if you quit with him you’ll never hear that song again,” Johnston relates. “And he’d go to the count and play something else. So they came out and got all around. And Dylan said, ‘it goes like this. C, D. G.’ And then he went over the thing and they said, ‘Man, we haven’t heard this thing.’ ‘I said that’s right. The first one who misses just walk out of the room. Don’t stop.’ And he went out there and started counting off, and that’s another thing, too, nobody ever counted off for Bob Dylan. Every other artist in the world that I’ve been around has a drummer or somebody else counting. He went 1, 2, with that foot and it was gone. When we got through he said ‘let’s hear it back.’ And he came in the studio and played back ‘Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands.’ 15, 16 minutes. And that was the first thing that we did for ‘Blonde On Blonde.’ And from then on it just went up and up and couldn’t go up any higher and higher. I think that’s one of the best tracks ever cut along with ‘Desolation Row.’
“Dylan and I were notorious for using first takes,” Johnston reveals. “I don’t see any sense in doing it over and over. They knew what I wanted them to play not what I gave them. That’s why they were there. When I started with Dylan he said, ‘my voice is too loud.’ Good enough. So I turned it down. Then I’d turn it up. ‘Man, I can’t hear myself,’ and had that voice out there. Finally we got to the place where he said, ‘I can’t hear myself.’ ‘Cause I’d brought it so low. So I told him I’d take care of it and never asked him about it anymore and turned everything up and had that voice out there.”
Fast-forward to 1967, after the notorious Dylan motorcycle accident in July 1966 that among other things, sidelined Dylan (at least in the public eye) for a better part of a year. Bob Johnston met up with Dylan again at a Ramada Inn in Nashville, Tennessee before working on “John Wesley Harding” together. “He played me some songs and asked, ‘what do you think about a bass, drum and guitar?’ ‘I think it would be fuckin’ brilliant if you had a steel guitar.’ ‘You know anybody?’ ‘Yea. Pete Drake.’ He was workin’ with Chet (Atkins), so I got somebody to take his place and brought him over,” Johnston ruminates. “Pete said, ‘Can I play some rock ‘n’ roll?’ And I told him, ‘That’s what you’re here for.’ Charlie McCoy played a lot of instruments on that album. He played, 4, 5 or 20 instruments on every record.
“When I produced ‘Blonde On Blonde’ and ‘John Wesley Harding,’ they all knew what I wanted. (Drummer) Kenny Buttrey was a genius by being as good as he was and by me fuckin’ with everybody. I used to fuck around to Kenny and I’d say, ‘Your God damn drum is dragging, and you’re bringing everybody else down.’ And he’d get pissed off. “My drum isn’t dragging!’ He’d be mumbling to himself and everybody else would be laughing,” Johnston chuckles. “Then he’d say ‘can I play anything else?’
“I would place glass around Dylan for recording,” Johnston remembers. “He had a different vocal sound. I didn’t make his different vocal sound. He always had different sounds on. I never wanted to be (Phil) Spector… and while the rest of the world was doing an album as big as ‘Blonde On Blonde,’ which everybody was, the more musicians they could get, the better it was. We went in with four people…in the middle of a psychedelic world!”
On December 27, 1967, Columbia Records released the Bob Johnston-produced Bob Dylan “John Wesley Harding” long player. In January of 1968 it was the most tracked LP on countless FM radio stations in America and all over the world.
Two tracks on “JWH” were a preview of the upcoming “Nashville Skyline” The Sun Records-inspired “Down Along The Cove” and “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight.”
At the start of "To Be Alone With You" on “Nashville Skyline,” Bob Dylan famously asks "Is it rolling, Bob?" referring to producer Johnston.
“’Nashville Skyline.’ That’s fuckin; great. Like sessions with Cash, I found the players, ‘if you quit you are outta here.’ They knew what I wanted them to play not what I gave them. That’s why they were there.
“I’ll tell you something else I did with Dylan, and recording Dylan and Cash,” Bob Johnston discloses. “Everybody else (at the time) was using one microphone. Which means you have to sacrifice something. If you’re gonna have a band, you can’t have the band playin’ full tilt. If you’ve got him in the middle you can’t understand everything with different people (engineers) in there raising the guitar up, raising the drum up, and shit like that. What I always did was that I had three microphones because he was always jerking his head around, and I put the microphone on the left, center and right and it didn’t matter where in the fuckin’ room he went.
“And then,” he continues,” I’d mix and start on the left and go all the way over on the right. So I’d usually have the piano on the outside left, without any echo. And then I’d put the echo on the right side. And then I’d have one of the guitars on the right and put the echo on the left…and then I’d match it all alone and brought up everything even so they could fight it out. And then that’s the way the band was. They didn’t have to raise this and lower this, and 15 people sitting around doin’ all that shit. The band was there and he was full tilt. Then you could go any place in the room and understand him. And I never heard another word from him about anything. What I did was put a bunch of microphones all over the room and up on the ceiling. I would use echo when everything got through and I could do that as much as I wanted. I wanted it to sound better than anything else sounded ever, and I wanted it to be where everybody could hear it. And I don’t know what Dylan would have been if he stayed in New York with those people, and been mixed like that. And I know he would have never done that shit like he did in Nashville,” states Johnston.
“I always had 4 or 8 speakers all over the room and I had ‘em going. The louder I played it the better it sounded to me. This is the way I really did it. As a songwriter, I wrote songs, too. Dylan changed the world. Every song he did I loved. I was a Dylan freak and I knew he was changing the world. I knew he was changing the society as we knew it. And I knew Paul (Simon) was too,” concludes Johnston.
In 1969 after the recording sessions for “Nashville Skyline” were completed as well as a Cash and Dylan studio date that yielded a “Girl From The North Country” duet that was subsequently incorporated into “Nashville Skyline” LP.
“I had Cash in the Columbia Music Row studio and thought it would be nice to get Dylan in there, too and I didn’t say anything to them. Cash was in the studio and Dylan came in. ‘What are you doing here?’ ‘Gonna record.’ ‘Well, I’m recording too.’ So, they invited me to dinner, but I said ‘no thanks.’ And when they returned I had a ‘Café’ set up outside with microphones and their guitars, and they came in, looked at the lights, sorta smiled at each other. June was there. We did like 18 tracks.”
Cash penned the poetic liner notes to Dylan’s "Nashville Skyline" back cover album jacket.
Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan were tight. In 1975 I interviewed Cash in Anaheim, California.
"I became aware of Bob Dylan when the 'Freewheelin'' album came out in 1963. I thought he was one of the best country singers I had ever heard. I always felt a lot in common with him. I knew a lot about him before we had ever met. I knew he had heard and listened to country music. I heard a lot of inflections from country artists I was familiar with.
"I was in Las Vegas in '63 and '64 and wrote him a letter telling him how much I liked his work. I got a letter back and we developed a correspondence." A year later Cash met his label stable-mate. "We finally met at Newport in 1965. It was like we were two old friends. There was none of this standing back, trying to figure each other out.
"He's unique and original. I keep lookin' around as we pass the middle of the 70s and I don't see anybody come close to Bob Dylan. I respect him. "Dylan is a few years younger than I am but we share a bond that hasn't diminished. I get inspiration from him,” Johnny told me at the time.
It was in June 1967 when Columbia Records staff producer Bob Johnston replaced Don Law at the Nashville based company producing Cash. A sonic and cultural architect visionary, Johnston’s studio acumen and teaming with Cash in the 1968 and ’69 time period resulted in the bold and riveting artifacts ”Johnny Cash at San Quentin” that followed up the earlier “Johnny Cash At Folsom Prison.”
“When I took over Cash he didn’t hit the country charts,” Johnston reinforces. “ Like I said on the back of the ‘Folsom Prison’ album liner notes, no one for 8 years would let him go there to record live until he got me, and I said, ‘let’s do it’ I picked up the phone and called Folsom and San Quentin,” he volunteers. “The reason the ‘Folsom’ album was made first is because the Folsom warden answered first, simple as that. I got the warden, Duffy, and I handed Johnny the telephone and left. When we did ‘Folsom’ there was a guy who was going to introduce Johnny on stage in front of the cons and everyone standing up. I said ‘Bullshit!’ And told Johnny to go walk out there now! They are not even sitting down good. Walk out there and jerk your head around and say, ‘Hello. I’m Johnny Cash’ and it don’t matter what the fuck you record. And he said ‘Get outta my God damn way!’ And he didn’t usually didn’t cuss. But he pushed people away went out there and the God damn place became unglued!
"When we got through I helped Cash get the television show. Cash called me a little bit later, and said, “Listen. I got one thing. Will you get Dylan? If I had Dylan on my show it would be a big success. And if I don’t it will be a fuckin’ failure.’ And he said, “Will you get him?” “And I said, no.” “You won’t?” “No,” “You won’t” Why not? ”But I’ll ask him.” But I can’t get anybody. I don’t want to get anybody. That’s the kind of truth I had with all of those people. He said, “will you ask” “Yea!” So I was in Ft. Worth Texas, which was my hone town, and called Dylan. “And, I said, ‘Man, Cash just called me and he’s got a TV show that we’ve been working on and if he’s got you it will be a success and if he doesn’t it will be a fuckin’ failure. That’s what he told me.’ And, Dylan said, “well, man, I’d like to…” And I thought that’s the end of that, he’s so busy. And he said, “I’ve got nothing to wear.” I said “I’m in Ft. Worth Texas, let me get you a cowboy suit.” “yea!” “What size do you wear and what color?” “I don’t know.” I said, don’t fuckin’ worry about it I’ll take care if it.” I got him a pin stripped white one that was too long came over his wrist, and a white one that was too short.” That’s how it started.”
On the first TV show, Cash and Dylan performed 3 songs from “Nashville Skyline.”
“The sound jumped off the screen on the Cash TV series because I never told anybody that wasn’t the truth. Everything I said and did was for the artist,” now states Bob Johnston. “I never gave a fuck what the company thought. One of my goals was to make it sound like they were in the room with me. But the thing I wanted was the truth. And that’s what Cash got. And that’s what Dylan got. At the Ryman Auditorium tapings for the Cash show I was always real nice to everybody and had two engineers from Columbia (Records) in Nashville that I told Cash we had to have with them so they didn’t fuck up for us. Johnny didn’t fight for anything. ‘This is the way it’s gonna be’. I had those people take care of everything and anything that was bad I would move it, and anything that wasn’t I’d re-record it on the kind of microphone I’d want and put it on there anyway,” explains Johnston. ---- From the Harvey Kubernik Leonard Cohen book "Everybody Knows," published in 2014.
Johnston bounced between both coasts, handling A&R duties for labels like Kapp Records, stepping up with arrangement duties for the prestigious Dot Records. By 1964, he was a protégé of John Hammond at Columbia, which led to a run of Dylan productions, beginning with Highway 61 Revisited, which would enshrine his own name as well.
Never one for formality, Johnston treated his artists with the wariness of a rattlesnake wrangler, giving them all the space they needed to find their creative core. Johnston let his charges make all the creative decisions… until he decided they shouldn’t. It rarely came to that. Building trust, that wide-open space beneath the Smoky Mountain Mountains, was the key to the highway and Cohen responded in kind.
Bob Johnston: Now Leonard had the Buckskin Boys, and my grandmother Mamie Jo Adams co-wrote ‘When Irish Eyes Are Smiling.’ My mother Diane wrote ‘Miles and Miles of Texas’ that won a Grammy and she wrote songs for Gene Autry. And I grew up with that shit. I’m in the Rockabilly Hall of Fame with Elvis Presley.
“When Leonard first came to town he was in an old person’s hotel and stayed about the first week. And then me and (songwriter) Joy (Byers) my wife, leased acres from Boudleaux Bryant and his people and it was a little house by a creek. And then Leonard looked at this house and went all through it, and saw the 1,500 acres and he said, ‘One day I‘ll have a house like that and I’ll be able to stay and write when I want to write.’ And I replied, ‘why don’t you just begin now?’ And I gave him the key and he moved in.
“When I first went down to Nashville I took all the fuckin’ clocks out in the Columbia studio and I tore those rooms down and put the chords underneath the floor and the room was as big as a football field. And we made a Ping-Pong room. Had a pool table and had everything.
“I’ll tell you something else I did recording Dylan, Cash and Cohen. Everybody else (at the time) was using one microphone. What I did was put a bunch of microphones all over the room and up on the ceiling. I would use all those echo when everything got through and I could do that as much as I wanted. I wanted it to sound better than anything else sounded ever, and I wanted it to be where everybody could hear it. And that’s the way that we did it. I always had 4 or 8 speakers all over the room and I had ‘em going. The louder I played it the better it sounded to me.
“I never wanted to be Phil Spector. As far as recording or playback, I like to blast shit loud. Damn it! If I don’t feel it in my chest I can’t tell if I have it.
“I had the engineer Neil Wilburn, did the Cash Folsom Prison live album with him. And he was a genius behind all that shit. I had a great thing with anybody who was a genius.
“I put together the studio band for Leonard. I hired all those guys who were doing the demos from the South. Charlie McCoy (harmonica and guitar), Charlie Daniels, (bass, fiddle, acoustic guitar) who I knew from 1959. Ron Cornelius (acoustic and electric guitar), Elkin “Bubba Fowler (bass, banjo, acoustic guitar) and I played keyboards. I did a record with Ron Cornelius’s group (West) in 1967.
Charlie Daniels was a good ol’ boy from North Carolina, a mean fiddler who could bust out a toe-tappin’ bluegrass lick or break your heart with the sustain of a lonesome E minor chord. He kicked around a bunch of road dog rock ‘n’ rollers, crossing paths with Bob Johnston, who invited him to Nashville. Anxious to get off the Greyhound, he settled down by the Grand Ol’ Opry and a steady diet of well-paying studio dates. He’s there with Dylan on Nashville Skyline, with Marty Robbins and later, with Ringo on Beaucoups of Blues. But nothing proved quite as challenging of squaring his sound with the assonant warbling of the man from Montreal.
Charlie Daniels: Leonard came to Nashville in September of 1968, and lived locally in a cabin. I actually picked up Leonard Cohen at the airport when he arrived in Nashville with his friend Henry (Zemel) from Montreal. Johnston was booked in a studio. I had long hair and a mustache. I didn’t know who Leonard Cohen was. I knew he was a recording artist and comin’ to town and that we were gonna do some sessions with him. I didn’t know what he did. I knew he had a song called ‘Suzanne.’
“You don’t know what to expect when you go to meet somebody for the first time that is a totally different kind of music than anything you’ve ever been exposed to. You don’t know what kind of personality they have or what they’re gonna be like. But it was a very pleasant surprise that Leonard Cohen was as down to earth and nice as he could be. He spoke a different way than everybody else around there did. But he had a great sense of communicating with people.
“I will never forget that when Leonard came to Nashville he lived out in the country for a while. And there was a guy who lived out there, an old cowboy called Kid Marley. I mean people who came from totally opposite ends of the spectrum. It was Leonard Cohen and Kid Marley. But they just hit it off and got to be friends. Leonard was just that kind of guy.
“One thing that needs to be said about Bob Johnston and bringing people to town like Dylan and Leonard Cohen. There was skepticism about Bob coming to Nashville because he was taking the place of a legendary producer, Don Law. Who was an institution in town. Here’s this guy Johnston from New York, who had been doing Simon & Garfunkel, Dylan, and now Leonard Cohen, who were not really thought of as being country. But the first thing Bob did when he came to town was to do a number one song with Marty Robbins. He had gained credibility.
Bob Johnston: Leonard and I walked in the Columbia Studio A. It had a bench there. A little stool. He said, ‘I want to play my song.’ And I said, ‘we’re going to get some hamburgers and beer.’ And he said, ‘I want to play my song.’ I said, ‘go ahead and play it and turn the button on there.’ ‘No. I want you around.’ And I said, ‘I want to get some beer.’
“So we walked over across the street to Crystal Burgers, he came, had a couple of hamburgers and beer and came back. ‘What do you want me to do now?’ I said, ‘Why don’t you get your guitar and tune it?’ And he looked at me, so I had his guitar tuned, and he got on the stool. And I said, ‘play anything you want to.’ OK. Roll tape. And Leonard played the song ‘The Partisan.’ And he got through it and asked to hear it. ‘Yea.’ Played it back to him. He looked at me and said, ‘God damn. Is that what I’m supposed to sound like?’ And I said, ‘forever.’ And walked off. And there it was.
“The only thing I told everybody was to keep playing. If you stop playing you might as well pick up your brief case and go on out the door. Don’t plan on comin’ back. We did about ten studio sessions.
“I always ask the artist ‘what do you want to do?’ You get better performances when you make the artist comfortable. Dylan, Cash, Cohen were just wonderful people and they should be treated as such.
“What attracted me to Cohen and songs like ‘Bird on the Wire?’ What attracts you to Leonardo Di Vinci. Or the painters. Leonard was the best I’d ever heard. And Dylan was the best I’d ever heard. And (Paul) Simon was the best I’d ever heard. And Cash was the best I’d ever heard. And all those fuckin’ people were the best I’d ever heard.
Sidebar
Leonard Cohen: I liked the work Johnston did with Dylan and we became good friends. Without his support I don't think I'd ever gain the courage to go and perform. He played harmonica, guitar and organ on tours with me. He's a great friend and a great support. We worked hard on the albums we did together, but I wasn't totally happy. Overall I couldn't find the tone I wanted. There were some nice things, though.
Columbia Records, meanwhile, was itching to get a return on its investment – which meant touring, a fact of pop star life that rankled at even this most inveterate of travelers. Cohen turned to Bob Johnston to arrange a band, manage the tour and provide a comfort zone from which he could keep the terrors of stage fright at bay.
Bob Johnston: I put his 1970 band together for him and told him I’d get him the best musicians in the world. And he said, ‘Bob. I don’t want the best musicians in the world. I want friends of yours.’ I said, ‘Good enough.’ I played organ and piano. For a while I acted as Leonard’s manager after he asked me in Paris.
Harvey also tells us about a new book of photos our readers may be interested in ...
KK:
Here's a literary music and photo book I think your readers would enjoy.
Best,
HK
Independent Publisher Book Awards 2015
Harvey Kubernik, Kenneth Kubernik
Bronze Medal in Photography
for Guy Webster Big Shots book
Independent Book Publishers Association
Benjamin Franklin 2015 Gold Winner
in the category of Art & Photography to
Harvey Kubernik, Kenneth Kubernik for
Guy Webster Big Shots book
Ken Kubernik and Harvey Kubernick
photo by Guy Webster 2014
The Rolling Stones by Guy Webster 1965
Congratulations to Joe Smith, who received a star on The Hollywood Walk Of Fame (on my birthday no less!) Check out THIS guy's resume!!! (kk)
MUSIC EXECUTIVE JOE SMITH TO BE HONORED WITH STAR ON THE HOLLYWOOD WALK OF FAME
WHO: Honoree: Joe Smith
Emcee: Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, President/CEO Leron Gubler
Guest speakers: Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt
WHAT: Dedication of the 2,558th star on the Walk of Fame in the category of Recording
WHERE: 1750 N. Vine Street in front of Capitol Records
WHEN: Thursday, August 27, 2015 at 11:30 a.m. PDT
The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce is proud to announce that music executive Joe Smith will be honored with the 2,558th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Thursday, August 27, 2015 at 11:30 a.m. PDT. The star in the category of Recording will be dedicated in front of the historic Capitol Records Building at 1750 N. Vine Street. Helping emcee and Hollywood Chamber President/CEO Leron Gubler to unveil the star will be Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt.
Over the course of his illustrious career, Joe Smith holds the distinction of being the only person to have headed three major record companies.
Joe Smith with Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead,
Phil Everly of the Everly Brothers and Rod Stewart
A native of Chelsea, Massachusetts, Joe Smith was President of his Chelsea High School class. After serving with the U.S. Army Infantry in the Far East, he received his BA in English and Political Science from Yale University.
Smith worked as a sportscaster and disc jockey in Virginia and Pennsylvania before moving to Boston where he became a top-rated and pioneering Rock ‘n’ Roll DJ, and appeared in the motion picture “Jamboree.”
In 1961, Smith moved to California and entered the music industry as National Promotion Manager for Warner Bros. Records. He was named Promotion Executive of the Year four times by The Gavin Report, an industry trade publication. Smith was named President of the Warner Bros. Records in 1972.
During his years at Warner Bros, he signed and/or worked with such artists as Peter, Paul & Mary, Rod Stewart, James Taylor, Alan Sherman, The Grateful Dead, Don Rickles, Van Morrison, Bonnie Raitt, Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Petula Clark, The Allman Brothers Band, The Doobie Brothers, George Benson, Al Jarreau, Seals & Crofts to name a few. He also worked closely with many of the company’s Reprise Records artists including Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Jimi Hendrix, Jethro Tull, Trini López, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and Randy Newman.
In 1975, Smith became Chairman of Elektra/Asylum Records, a division of Warner Communications. For the eight years he was there, Smith worked with The Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, Queen, The Cars, Carly Simon, Judy Collins, Joni Mitchell, Grover Washington Jr., Mötley Crüe, X, and Hank Williams Jr., among others.
In 1983, he was named President and CEO of Home Sports Entertainment, a division of Warner Cable. Following this, he became the first full-time President of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. During this time, he appeared in motion pictures “FM” and “One Trick Pony.”
In 1985, Smith achieved the herculean task of interviewing over 230 artists, producers, managers and executives which constituted his book “Off the Record” that would became a strong seller in Italy, England, Japan and the USA. The audio interviews on which the book is based were donated to the American people and comprise the “The Joe Smith Collection” at the Library of Congress.
In 1987, Smith became President and CEO of Capitol-EMl Music which included the Blue Note and Angel labels. During his seven year tenure, the company registered record profits from such artists as Garth Brooks, Tina Turner, Bonnie Raitt, MC Hammer, Bob Seger, David Bowie, Poison, Megadeth and others.
Upon his retirement from Capitol/EMI at the end of 1993, Smith assumed Executive Producer responsibilities to the World Cup Soccer tournament, where he was hired as executive producer of entertainment for World Cup USA in 1994, the first time the world’s soccer championship was held in the United States. The tournament was crowned with a Dodger Stadium appearance by The Three Tenors that Smith facilitated.
In 2001, Smith was elected to the New England Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame, the Doo Wop Hall of Fame, and received the Boston Music Lifetime award. Just last year he was the recipient of Billboard Magazine’s inaugural Clive Davis Visionary Award,
Smith has been a highly visible executive and spokesman for the music industry in Washington and overseas. He has led the fight for copyright protection and against piracy, testifying before several Congressional committees. He served as Vice President of the Country Music Association, President of the Record Industry for Community Relations and a board member of the Recording Industry Association of America and the Black Music Association.
Smith has been a guest speaker or toastmaster at almost every music event over the past 40 years. He was the first American to keynote the London-based Music Week Awards.
Smith has been the recipient of a multitude of awards from organizations such as the City of Hope, B’nai Brith, NARAS and others, and was granted an honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he served as a Commencement Speaker. He has served as an officer or director of the City of Hope, Cedars-Sinai Hospital, TJ Martell foundation, Variety Club and the Neil Bogart Memorial Lab. He is a Trustee at the California Institute of the Arts, Yale School of Music, the Basketball Hall of Fame, Magic Johnson Foundation, Rhythm and Blues Foundation and the Museum of Science and Industry.
NIGHTS AND DAYS ARE FOR ROCKIN’ AT THE PONDEROSA STOMP: MUSIC HISTORY CONFERENCE SET FOR OCT 1 + 2
The Ponderosa Stomp, the New Orleans music festival that features two solid nights of performances by the seldom seen and heard pioneers of midcentury rock ‘n’ roll, also offers a full slate of music history symposia during daylight hours. This well-rounded approach provides counterpoint to the typically raucous, high-energy sets that take place the nights of Oct. 2-3 at the Rock ‘N’ Bowl™ in Uptown New Orleans.
The twelfth edition of the Ponderosa Stomp Festival kicks off on Thursday, Oct. 1, with a series of talks set for the Stomp’s host hotel, the AC Hotel by Marriott, also the site of the Stomp’s Record Show. While evening performances by the likes of Freddy “Boom Boom” Cannon, Mable John, Brenda Holloway, Willie Hightower, P.F. Sloan, Irma Thomas, Barbara, Lynn, Roy Head, and many, many others fill both Friday and Saturday nights with house-rockin’ music (from 6:30 p.m. until 3 a.m.) the Music History Conference offers insights into how this extraordinary phenomenon came to be — from those who actually made that music history and those who have long chronicled it.
Thursday’s slate includes a conversation called “Hook and Sling” with Scram Records (Eddie Bo, Walter “Wolfman” Washington, Benny Spellman) founder Al “Crawfish King” Scramuzza and WWOZ DJ Neil Pellegrin. That’s followed by a talk by rockabilly guitar great Al Hendrix titled “It Came From Bakersfield,” moderated by “American Routes” radio-show host Nick Spitzer. Nextis “When Linda Gail Met Cindy Lou,” a discussion of the Louisiana-bred swamp-pop subgenre with practitioners Rod Bernard and Gene Terry that will be moderated by the expert who coined the term, author John Broven.
Another highlight of Thursday’s conference is titled “That’s Cool, That’s Trash,” a talk between L.A. folk-rock pioneer P.F. Sloan, composer of “Eve of Destruction” and “Secret Agent Man,” and WFMU’s Todd Abramson. Muscle Shoals soul man Willie Hightower will be interviewed by music archeologist and blogger Red Kelly in a program titled “Walk A Mile In My Shoes,” d’apres Hightower’s biggest hit. Chicago blues harmonica and guitar great Billy Boy Arnold will reflect upon his career with Dr. Jason Hanley, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s education director, in a discussion called “Wish You Would.”
The legacy of the late New Orleans composer/producer Harold Battiste will be celebrated in a program titled “Story of a Jazz Man.” Thursday’s last talk is entitled “Rockin’ Across the Rio Grande” and includes Texas rockers Royce Porter and Jim Oertling; Mike Hurtt moderates.
Friday’s program touches on topics ranging from Memphis R&B, Sun Records’ rockabilly explosion, Motown’s gospel connection, and San Antonio’s wide-ranging contributions to rock and soul.
Stax and Hi Rhythm drummer Howard Grimes, who has backed soul greats including Al Green, Ann Peebles, and Rufus Thomas, will chat with author Preston Lauterbach for a talk entitled “Tales of Beale Street & The Chitlin’ Circuit.” Another Memphis-themed discussion, “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Going On,” a conversation between Sun Records drummer J.M. Van Eaton and writer Robert Gordon, follows.
Motown divas Mable John and Brenda Holloway will be the focus of a talk with NPR’s Ann Powers entitled “From Motown To God’s Salvation.” Author and filmmaker (Sir Doug & The Genuine Texas Cosmic Groove) Joe Nick Patoski will discuss the life and times of Doug Sahm with Augie Meyers (Sir Douglas Quintet and the Texas Tornados) in a discussion titled “Hey Ke Pa So.”
The music history comes to a close on Friday afternoon with an encounter featuring San Antonio Chicano soul greats Rudy T. Gonzales, Little Henry, Rudy Palacios, Chente Montes, and Manuel “Bones” Aragon titled “Talk About West Side Soul.” Ed Ward (NPR’s “Fresh Air,” Rock of Ages: The Rolling Stone History of Rock & Roll) moderates.
For more information about The Ponderosa Stomp’s Music History Conference please visit: www.ponderosastomp.com/music-conference_2015.php
To my Oldies friends and fans,
"Hushabye Little Guitar" - a love song to my guitar - was released in 1960 on Guaranteed Records. Unfortunately it never charted ... but here's an article from a British magazine from way-back-when:
"It was 1960 and the scene was the local youth club monthly dance in Southend on Sea, Essex, England. The disc jockey announced that the evening was drawing to an end and it was time for a dance to hold your partner close. The regulars smiled knowingly as they knew this spot as “bum-grabbing time’’. Soon the hall was filled with couples tightly gripping each other as they staggeringly navigated their way around the floor. The music being played was Paul Evans’ “Hushabye Little Guitar”, a local cult favorite and still a personal choice to this very day."
Paul Evans
Our FH Buddy Fred Glickstein of The Flock sent us these vintage Flock clips to share. (For those of you wondering "Who The Flock Is The Flock?" enjoy these tracks and see if you remember) ...
A bit of ROCK History
ENJOY!!!
Some of the Columbia stuff – 1969 – 1970
http://psychedelicsight.com/flock-album/http://psychedelicsight.com/flock-album/
These are from Flock’s 1975 Mercury album “”Inside Out” – Each link has 2 songs, so when one song ends, a second song will begin.
this next song starts very soft – give it a chance to get louder
Recently Released Flock CD: Heaven Bound - The Lost Album:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtpTVpv-q-Y&list=PLm_BVfPMR1hZQJpWSmHw5wGbDyHYKQPzUhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtpTVpv-q-Y&list=PLm_BVfPMR1hZQJpWSmHw5wGbDyHYKQPzUhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtpTVpv-q-Y&list=PLm_BVfPMR1hZQJpWSmHw5wGbDyHYKQPzU
ALL FLOCK MUSIC AVAILABLE ON AMAZOM.COM
Fred
And check out this cool poster Fred sent me from The Bath Festival, 1970 ... imagine seeing THIS line-up of artists all on the same stage!
Drum Icon Carmine Appice and 60's Hitmaker Dean Parrish To Release New Digital Only EP “Northern Soul - I'm On My Way”
Los Angeles - Legendary drummer Carmine Appice and New York 60's hitmaker, vocalist Dean Parrish have reunited after 50 years to record a new 7 song EP of 60's soul music, commonly known as Northern Soul music. Aptly titled “Northern Soul - I'm On My Way”, the EP will be released on iTunes in August 2015. The duo first met when in the early 60's they played opposite of Jimi Hendrix, known at the time as Jimmy James. The band, called The BEEETS, played Stax, Motown and Altantic 60's soul. Carmine eventually went on to have major success with the likes of the Vanilla Fudge, Cactus, Beck, Bogert & Appice, Rod Stewart and countless other artists, while Dean pursued a solo career and had a number of hits in the UK and US. He did several Murry The K tours and performed on the Dick Clark show and other well know TV programs at the time such as Zachary Channel 11 NYC, and the Clay Cole show. Dean has performed on the same bill as Mitch Ryder, The Capitals and Lou Christie. He has recorded and toured with the likes of Jorge Santana, Paul Weller, Lord Large and the legendary Bob Marley. Dean even recorded 2 Jams with Jimi Hendrix & Eddie Kramer at Juggy Murray's studio NYC 1969 with the band the Rosicrucians aka Steeplechase. In the 2000's Dean was featured in a wedding scene as the Mcee on the hit show the Sopranos.
Says Carmine, “While Dean was doing those Murry the K shows and having hit singles. I was having my career with Vanilla Fudge having hit albums at around the same time....There was always a connection with me and Dean. I hooked him up with my Vanilla Fudge manager Phil Basile, and in turn Phil got two album deals for Dean with band members who were also friends of mine and dean's from 60s....it was after that that Dean cut 'I'm On My Way', which became a big hit ...but over the years me and Dean stayed in contact.”
Then in the early 2000s, Carmine and Dean reconnected again through a mutual friend Randy Pratt, harpist for Cactus and bassist for The Lizards (who have a new CD released) and Rickity. The duo began writing and recording at Randy's studio in New York, which was the start of the “Northern Soul” release. Carmine and Dean had songs they wrote and recorded in the 60's and rehashed them into what's being released today....so this EP was destined to be finished. It features re-recorded versions of the big hit “I'm On My Way”, a karaoke version, a classic mix of the song as it was in 1970's, and a modern version along with new RnB classics such as “Love's Whatcha Cooking Babe”, “Fever” and “Lonely”, all really cool old school RnB, with an old school vibe but recorded with today's sonic sound.
Says Dean, “Singing and playing guitar on this EP with Carmine was a labor of love, a feeling of togetherness that just comes with Northern Soul Music. This movement is still is very much alive today more than ever with a passion a kind of music that takes hold of you.”
Says Carmine, “Some of my favorite music was the 60's RnB and the songs on this EP with Dean singing are exactly that, 60's RNB or today known as Northern Soul. Back in the early 1960's before Vanilla Fudge, I played with Dean in a 7 piece RnB group. Dean was always great at singing this music and I and glad to being playing that music with Dean again. I enjoyed putting this music together with him!”
To purchase Carmine Appice & Dean Parrish - “Northern Soul - I'm On My Way”:
The EP is available on iTunes and from all online Digital outlets
Official websites:
Carmine Appice
Dean Parrish
WAYNE NEWTON --
THE HUNGRY YEARS
THAT PHILLY SOUND is proud to present Mr. Las Vegas, "Wayne Newton -- The Hungry Years." Recorded in 1976, with a real pop sound, this is a rare CD and not available anywhere else.
The CD is presented by songwriter/record producer, John Madara, through That Philly Sound, which is dedicated to the music that came out of Philadelphia during the 50's and 60's. He also wrote and produced with partner Dave White such timeless classics as AT THE HOP (Danny & The Juniors), ROCK AND ROLL IS HERE TO STAY (Danny & The Juniors, written by Dave White and Produced by John Madara), THE FLY (Chubby Checker),YOU DON'T OWN ME (Lesley Gore, written by Madara & White and produced by Quincy Jones) and 123 (Len Barry, who also co-wrote the song with Madara & White). These and countless other hit records by Madara & White helped to make up "The Sound of Philadelphia." In October of 2013, Madara & White were inducted into the Philadelphia Walk of Fame by The Philadelphia Music Alliance.
Order now! Only $14.95. Buy One Today!
Please go to THAT PHILLY SOUND to purchase other rare Philly CDs, and learn more about the artists and people behind the scenes.
Like us on FACEBOOK for up-to-the-minute news and interesting information that we would love to share with you.
All songs have been digitally restored and digitally mastered.
Thanks for your support!
Roy Orbison's MGM Records Years Get Royal Treatment With Box Set and Unreleased Album Exclusive (submitted by Tom Cuddy from Billboard Magazine)
First a belated happy birthday. The song that immediately came to my mind was the Tuneweaver's song out of 1957 HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY. I can't remember offhand, but are you the big 6-0? I had a crazy idea of you going back, say through the sixties, and post every song that was #60 for that week according to Billboard Magazine. Ray alluded to you being 39. Through the years my mother and her sisters, my aunts, told everyone they were 39 and holding. I can't tell you how many times they held.
Kent, everyday before I leave the house I walk outside for thirty minutes just for a little exercise. A lot of the time while walking, I think of a song I haven't heard in years and will start singing it to myself. You mentioned in your paragraph about Tony Burrows just this past week, and I don't know why, I was reminded of GIMME DAT DING by the Pipkins. "That's right, that's right, I'm sad and blue, cause I can't do the boogaloo" ... or words to that effect.
You asked your readers if anyone of them has any copies of the Centuries' record LONELY GIRL. Kent, I am going to go out on a limb and say that no one on your reading list has a copy. However, I will say that possibly one reader might have a copy but that reader probably lived in or around OKC at that time. And if they are like me, they will not want to part with it.You also mentioned the passing of actress Yvonne Craig who played Batgirl on television. When I heard that news last week, again since I hadn't heard the record in years, I got out Neal Hefti's version of BATMAN and played it, as well as the Marketts.
Finally, just for my curiosity, I wonder what the status is of Sonny Geraci and the benefit concert that was given for him last year. I believe you said they were still having some sort of problems tallying the money and giving it to Geraci.
Again, happy birthday and many many more. Now that's original, isn't it?
Larry Neal
"Gimme Dat Ding" by The Pipkins is one of those novelty favorites of mine ... would LOVE to see Tony Burrows live in concert ... he was involved with SO many great hits in the early '70's.
I asked Dennis Tufano for an update on Sonny Geraci and the big Streetsboro fund-raising concert. As soon as I hear back, I'll pass the info along. (kk)
Hi Kent,
Found a couple of Silver Dollar Surveys that I thought you’d might like to use.
One, dated 09/01/1962, is for this day 53 years ago. What a fantastic selection of music. Such a cross section – pop, country, folk, r&b, instrumentals, British (2 pre-Beatles), Danish – so many genres covered.
Also after a quick scan, five of these Top-40 titles came back to the charts later – and in a big way. “Sherry”, “The Loco-motion” (twice!), “Breaking Up Is Hard To Do”, “Do You Love Me” and Beechwood 4-5789”
Another great listing for 12/08/1962. On both charts, it’s fascinating to note local hits that did not do so well nationally. On this chart, for example – Glen Campbell with “Kentucky Means Paradise” and the Revlons with “Boy Trouble”.
Best wishes,
Mike Edwards
One of the coolest things about running our weekly surveys is seeing how some records that barely made a dent on the national charts were a big deal on the local scene of any given city. All the more interesting because back then our whole musical world was determined by what our local Top 40 radio station played ... we were kids and didn't know the first thing about Billboard and Cash Box ... if it was on The WLS Silver Dollar Survey, that's all that mattered to us ... most of us discovered the previously untapped wealth of great music never made available to us at the time several years later was we dove deeper into our hobby. WLS was a BIG deal back then ... one of the top stations in the country and, with an incredibly strong signal, heard in many other states from coast to coast. We've told the story several times how somebody listening in Nebraska or Kentucky might hear a song from the WLS Silver Dollar Survey played and run out to their local record store to buy it the next day, only to find out that the record wasn't even available because THEIR local Top 40 radio station wasn't playing it!
Always fun to revisit the charts. Thanks, Mike! (kk)
And, speaking of the charts ...
Kent,
I noticed on today's survey that in the far right hand column (and this was the normal case on any survey), not only was the record label listed but the record number as well. This seems to me to be a lot of extra work for the radio station, but maybe not. The two records you briefly mentioned by Neil Sedaka and the Five Emprees did not make our survey, even though I have copies of them. Listing the top 12 albums for three musical genres, rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and country, I don't believe I have ever seen before.
Maybe a lot of radio stations did that back then. Fifty years ago today, our local survey had a listing of 50 records with a PIC-HIT listed at the bottom as well as a PIC-ALBUM of the week. They were BLOWIN' IN THE WIND by Steve Alaimo and ALL I REALLY WANT TO DO by Cher, respectively.
One final thing ... on the back of our survey every week was a picture of a recording artist or group currently with a hit record out. On the back of our survey 50 years ago today was none other than Freddy Cannon promoting his tune, ACTION.
One final final item is that in the UP'N'COMING section, I always did like the Sunrays I LIVE FOR THE SUN and just the other day I started to think of the Barbarians ARE YOU A BOY OR ARE YOU A GIRL.
Larry
The Top Tunes Of Greater Chicagoland was one of the most extensive and comprehensive surveys ever issued ... not only the week's Top 40 Hits but often as many as twenty other "up-and-comers", R&B Charts, British Charts, C&W Charts, Album Charts, etc. Pretty amazing for its time. Because these weren't tied to a particular radio station in town, they probably better reflected the actual sales in stores where they were distributed. They're pretty hard to come by these days ... but (with the exception of just one week) we have a complete collection for their entire length of run (approximately mid-1956 thru early 1966).
Most people associate The Sunrays with their hit "I Live For The Sun" but here in Chicago their song "Andrea" also got a fair amount of airplay ... and that one is MY favorite. Here it is again for the benefit of any of you out there who may not be familiar with this tune. (The Sunrays, of course, is the group The Beach Boys' Dad Murry Wilson went out and produced after his own sons threw him out of the studio! lol) kk
Hello to you, KK, whoever you
are!
Literally just stumbled on your
website today and have been glued there for quite a while!
I, too, grew up in Chicago and
cannot understand why WLS and WCFL didn't play more of the great garage bands
you have listed there. Sometimes I do shows that are nothing BUT 60's garage
bands. (Hey, I used to be a garage band musician and still am when
asked!)
You mentioned The
Kingsmen - Dennis Mitchell lives not too far from me and has a band that is a
really good "Bar Band." Nice to know some garage band legends are still out
there!
You might like my Monday night
show - it's Indies and Oldies. Dunno where you are but it's online every Monday
night at 11 PM Eastern/10 PM Central. Just click here to listen: www.bumps-radio.co.uk
Thanks so much for a truly great
website!
Onward,
DJ Toby
Chicago
DJ
TOBY CHICAGO
ROCKIN'
THE INTERNET
ON
BUMPS RADIO!
USA/CANADA
MON.
& WED. 11 PM EASTERN
UK/EUROPE/ETC.
TUE.
& THUR. 0400 HRS UTC
www.bumps-radio.co.uk
re: This And That:
Hey Kent,
I found a video of Jim Peterik sitting in with the band, Chase. I've never seen it before now. He recorded two songs with them on their third album, "Pure Music". This one is "Love is on the Way". I prefer his other song, "Run Back to Mama", but this live, primitive, video is shot a little better I think. It's fun to watch the band again, but sad too, as four of the members, including Bill Chase, were killed in a plane crash, just a few months later.
- John LaPuzza
Actually, we've featured "Run Back To Mama" several times before in Forgotten Hits ... I think it's a GREAT track that should have received some recognition when it was first released. (Chase should NOT have been a "one hit wonder" with great material like this also available!) And, quite honestly, you rarely hear "Get It On" much anymore either. (#19, 1971). For the record, "Run Back To Mama" did "bubble under" in Record World Magazine only, peaking at #124 in 1974 ... after a TEN WEEK run on the charts! How does a record "bubble under" for ten weeks and never make The Top 100? That'd be like Pete Rosee's kid playing in the minors for 29 years or something!!! (kk)
We've been telling you about The Zombies' reunion to tour, performing their entire "Odessey And Oracle" album along with all of their other best known, greatest hits. Well, now comes word that they will also be performing (and recording) some NEW music as well! (In fact, their brand new album, "Still Got That Hunger", drops on October 9th!)
Check out this Rolling Stone link, submitted by FH Reader Tom Cuddy ... http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/hear-the-zombies-tackle-mortality-on-bluesy-moving-on-20150902
LISTEN TO THIS PIECE OF ROCK & ROLL HISTORY:
We've been telling you about The Zombies' reunion to tour, performing their entire "Odessey And Oracle" album along with all of their other best known, greatest hits. Well, now comes word that they will also be performing (and recording) some NEW music as well! (In fact, their brand new album, "Still Got That Hunger", drops on October 9th!)
Check out this Rolling Stone link, submitted by FH Reader Tom Cuddy ... http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/hear-the-zombies-tackle-mortality-on-bluesy-moving-on-20150902
LISTEN TO THIS PIECE OF ROCK & ROLL HISTORY:
58-years ago this night: CHARLIE GRACIE, Philly's first R&R star, was in the middle of a 10-week British tour -- the first SOLO U.S. rocker to do so!
Listen to this track to hear screaming fans react as Charlie breaks into Tutti Fruitti: AUGUST 26th, 1957 at the STOCKTON GLOBE THEATER: Enjoy!
*Charlie will tour Britain this November. Schedule will soon be posted.
*Charlie will tour Britain this November. Schedule will soon be posted.
Charlie Gracie, Jr.
Kent ...
Scott Shannon just announced that between 20,000 and 25,000 showed up for the free Joan Jett concert on Saturday.
Frank B.
Frank B.
http://wcbsfm.cbslocal.com/photo-galleries/2015/08/22/photos-joan-jett-and-the-blackhearts-live-wcbsfm-saturday-in-the-park/
HERES A GREAT SHOT OF TOMMY ROE AND THE BAND
HERES A GREAT SHOT OF TOMMY ROE AND THE BAND
SANTA FE NEW MEXICO, AUGUST 27, PRE SHOW
WE DID A GREAT FUNDRAISER FOR YOUTH SHELTERS AND AT RISK YOUTH ...
PEOPLE LOVED THE SHOW ... AND WE LOVED THE CAUSE.
RICK LEVY
L TO R: LEE BROVITZ, RICK LEVY, TOMMY ROE,
MIKE CAMPBELL, MIKE LIDDY
Thanks for your recent piece on our Beatles salute. That's probably better than I could have done ... and I'll add my info when I return. But who called it Danbury HILLS Forever?? Lol.
Cheers,
Cheers,
Charles F. Rosenay!!!
Liverpool Productions and International Tours & Events website: www.ToursAndEvents.com
email: liverpooltours@aol.com
email: liverpooltours@aol.com
That would be me! (lol) It's called running out the door first thing Saturday Morning to make a 240 round trip drive to visit our daughter at college ... but still trying to rush out a quick link so people would know to read the article! (lol) Of course it was Danbury Fields Forever (not Hills) ... my bad ... but, by all acounts, a pretty fantastic day of Beatles music! (kk)
From FH Reader Tom Cuddy ...
From FH Reader Tom Cuddy ...
Whatever happened to Sheena Easton? http://www.reviewjournal.com/columns-blogs/doug-elfman/sheena-easton-makes-enough-time-performing-raising-kids
Sheena: 2015
From Chicagoland Radio and Media ...
The helmet that Chicago radio legend Steve Dahl wore during the famous (infamous?) Disco Demolition baseball promotion in July, 1979, is being enshrined. Dahl is donating the helmet to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY, where it will soon be placed on display. The Hall of Fame requested the item to commemorate the most famous baseball attendance stunt of all time. This is the same helmet worn on the cover of Dahl's top-selling "Do You Think I'm Disco" single. Dahl, who is currently heard weekday afternoons on WLS-AM, sent his helmet off to the Hall of Fame this week.
Could it be true? A Spice Girls reunion with ALL of the original members?
That's what we're hearing. Stay tuned for more details! (kk)
We also received this very in-depth piece on the passing of Bob Johnston from Harvey Kubernik which includes pieces of interviews he did in 2009 and 2013 regarding Bob's involvement in the careers of Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash and Leonard Cohen ...
I had these archive interviews on the inspirational and immortal Bob Johnston. If you are acknowledging his physical departure there's some insightful comments from him you may display.
We also received this very in-depth piece on the passing of Bob Johnston from Harvey Kubernik which includes pieces of interviews he did in 2009 and 2013 regarding Bob's involvement in the careers of Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash and Leonard Cohen ...
I had these archive interviews on the inspirational and immortal Bob Johnston. If you are acknowledging his physical departure there's some insightful comments from him you may display.
Best,
Harvey Kubernik
Record producer Bob Johnston on Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash / Johnny Cash on Bob Dylan
By Harvey Kubernik, c 2009
Bob Johnston on Leonard Cohen, c 2013
Record producer Bob Johnston breathtaking audio resume includes Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison” and “San Quentin” live LP’s, Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bookends,” several Willie Nelson records and the first few classic albums of Leonard Cohen, studio activities with Patti Page, Moby Grape and Joe Ely, and culture-altering Bob Dylan studio efforts, “Highway 61 Revisited,” “Blonde On Blonde,” “John Wesley Harding,” “Nashville Skyline,” “Self Portrait”, and “New Morning.”
June 17th marks the 40th anniversary of the original Columbia Records release of “Nashville Skyline.”
Bob Johnston was born in 1932 in Hillsboro, Texas. Johnston held a staff song writing position at Elvis Presley’s Hill & Range Music, and then had peripatetic stints talent scouting for Kapp and arranging for Dot Record labels, before joining Columbia Records in 1965. Decades later he produced Mike Scott. “Bob Johnston is in the list of the greats. Absolutely,” volunteers drummer Jim Keltner” who worked on the Scott project. Bob Johnston appears in the Martin Scorsese-directed “No Direction Home” Bob Dylan” DVD.
Now based in Austin, Texas, Johnston recalls his landmark production endeavors and collaboration with Bob Dylan on “Highway 61,” “Blonde On Blonde,” “John Wesley Harding” and “Nashville Skyline” as well as his studio and television work with Johnny Cash.
Johnston was initially introduced to Dylan in 1965 when he was called in to replace producer Tom Wilson to complete Dylan’s “Highway 61 Revisited” album in New York City. “I was working with Dylan in New York and I flew in Charlie McCoy from Nashville, introduced him to Dylan, and the first thing we cut was a version of ‘Desolation Row,’ with Dylan on acoustic, Charlie on electric, and Harvey Brooks on bass.
“I was standing by the sound board and I said to Dylan ‘Listen man, you ought to come to Nashville sometime,’” Johnston recalls. “I got a fix up down there with no clocks and the musicians are fuckin’ great.’ ‘Hmmm.’ He’d never answer you, just go ‘hmmm’ like Jack Benny. So I finished ‘Highway 61’ and then Dylan called me about six months later and he said, ‘an, I got a bunch of songs. What do you think about going to Nashville?’ ‘That’s what I was talkin’ about!’ In 1966 we went down there for ‘Blonde On Blonde’ and the first thing was beautiful. He said, ‘Well, I got an idea…’. He stayed out in the studio 10 or 12 hours. He never left it. He’d eat candy bars and drink milk shakes and all, and nobody does that much,” Johnston ponders. “I sent the musicians away and told them to do anything you want to and be in phone contact. Don’t go home… you can be in the studio down here if you need some beds or something. About 2:00 in the morning Dylan came out of the studio and said, ‘I got a song I think. Is anybody left here?’ First thing we did was ‘Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands.’
"I told everybody if they quit playing they were gone. It didn’t matter because I could overdub anybody but Dylan. But if you quit with him you’ll never hear that song again,” Johnston relates. “And he’d go to the count and play something else. So they came out and got all around. And Dylan said, ‘it goes like this. C, D. G.’ And then he went over the thing and they said, ‘Man, we haven’t heard this thing.’ ‘I said that’s right. The first one who misses just walk out of the room. Don’t stop.’ And he went out there and started counting off, and that’s another thing, too, nobody ever counted off for Bob Dylan. Every other artist in the world that I’ve been around has a drummer or somebody else counting. He went 1, 2, with that foot and it was gone. When we got through he said ‘let’s hear it back.’ And he came in the studio and played back ‘Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands.’ 15, 16 minutes. And that was the first thing that we did for ‘Blonde On Blonde.’ And from then on it just went up and up and couldn’t go up any higher and higher. I think that’s one of the best tracks ever cut along with ‘Desolation Row.’
“Dylan and I were notorious for using first takes,” Johnston reveals. “I don’t see any sense in doing it over and over. They knew what I wanted them to play not what I gave them. That’s why they were there. When I started with Dylan he said, ‘my voice is too loud.’ Good enough. So I turned it down. Then I’d turn it up. ‘Man, I can’t hear myself,’ and had that voice out there. Finally we got to the place where he said, ‘I can’t hear myself.’ ‘Cause I’d brought it so low. So I told him I’d take care of it and never asked him about it anymore and turned everything up and had that voice out there.”
Fast-forward to 1967, after the notorious Dylan motorcycle accident in July 1966 that among other things, sidelined Dylan (at least in the public eye) for a better part of a year. Bob Johnston met up with Dylan again at a Ramada Inn in Nashville, Tennessee before working on “John Wesley Harding” together. “He played me some songs and asked, ‘what do you think about a bass, drum and guitar?’ ‘I think it would be fuckin’ brilliant if you had a steel guitar.’ ‘You know anybody?’ ‘Yea. Pete Drake.’ He was workin’ with Chet (Atkins), so I got somebody to take his place and brought him over,” Johnston ruminates. “Pete said, ‘Can I play some rock ‘n’ roll?’ And I told him, ‘That’s what you’re here for.’ Charlie McCoy played a lot of instruments on that album. He played, 4, 5 or 20 instruments on every record.
“When I produced ‘Blonde On Blonde’ and ‘John Wesley Harding,’ they all knew what I wanted. (Drummer) Kenny Buttrey was a genius by being as good as he was and by me fuckin’ with everybody. I used to fuck around to Kenny and I’d say, ‘Your God damn drum is dragging, and you’re bringing everybody else down.’ And he’d get pissed off. “My drum isn’t dragging!’ He’d be mumbling to himself and everybody else would be laughing,” Johnston chuckles. “Then he’d say ‘can I play anything else?’
“I would place glass around Dylan for recording,” Johnston remembers. “He had a different vocal sound. I didn’t make his different vocal sound. He always had different sounds on. I never wanted to be (Phil) Spector… and while the rest of the world was doing an album as big as ‘Blonde On Blonde,’ which everybody was, the more musicians they could get, the better it was. We went in with four people…in the middle of a psychedelic world!”
On December 27, 1967, Columbia Records released the Bob Johnston-produced Bob Dylan “John Wesley Harding” long player. In January of 1968 it was the most tracked LP on countless FM radio stations in America and all over the world.
Two tracks on “JWH” were a preview of the upcoming “Nashville Skyline” The Sun Records-inspired “Down Along The Cove” and “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight.”
At the start of "To Be Alone With You" on “Nashville Skyline,” Bob Dylan famously asks "Is it rolling, Bob?" referring to producer Johnston.
“’Nashville Skyline.’ That’s fuckin; great. Like sessions with Cash, I found the players, ‘if you quit you are outta here.’ They knew what I wanted them to play not what I gave them. That’s why they were there.
“I’ll tell you something else I did with Dylan, and recording Dylan and Cash,” Bob Johnston discloses. “Everybody else (at the time) was using one microphone. Which means you have to sacrifice something. If you’re gonna have a band, you can’t have the band playin’ full tilt. If you’ve got him in the middle you can’t understand everything with different people (engineers) in there raising the guitar up, raising the drum up, and shit like that. What I always did was that I had three microphones because he was always jerking his head around, and I put the microphone on the left, center and right and it didn’t matter where in the fuckin’ room he went.
“And then,” he continues,” I’d mix and start on the left and go all the way over on the right. So I’d usually have the piano on the outside left, without any echo. And then I’d put the echo on the right side. And then I’d have one of the guitars on the right and put the echo on the left…and then I’d match it all alone and brought up everything even so they could fight it out. And then that’s the way the band was. They didn’t have to raise this and lower this, and 15 people sitting around doin’ all that shit. The band was there and he was full tilt. Then you could go any place in the room and understand him. And I never heard another word from him about anything. What I did was put a bunch of microphones all over the room and up on the ceiling. I would use echo when everything got through and I could do that as much as I wanted. I wanted it to sound better than anything else sounded ever, and I wanted it to be where everybody could hear it. And I don’t know what Dylan would have been if he stayed in New York with those people, and been mixed like that. And I know he would have never done that shit like he did in Nashville,” states Johnston.
“I always had 4 or 8 speakers all over the room and I had ‘em going. The louder I played it the better it sounded to me. This is the way I really did it. As a songwriter, I wrote songs, too. Dylan changed the world. Every song he did I loved. I was a Dylan freak and I knew he was changing the world. I knew he was changing the society as we knew it. And I knew Paul (Simon) was too,” concludes Johnston.
In 1969 after the recording sessions for “Nashville Skyline” were completed as well as a Cash and Dylan studio date that yielded a “Girl From The North Country” duet that was subsequently incorporated into “Nashville Skyline” LP.
“I had Cash in the Columbia Music Row studio and thought it would be nice to get Dylan in there, too and I didn’t say anything to them. Cash was in the studio and Dylan came in. ‘What are you doing here?’ ‘Gonna record.’ ‘Well, I’m recording too.’ So, they invited me to dinner, but I said ‘no thanks.’ And when they returned I had a ‘Café’ set up outside with microphones and their guitars, and they came in, looked at the lights, sorta smiled at each other. June was there. We did like 18 tracks.”
Cash penned the poetic liner notes to Dylan’s "Nashville Skyline" back cover album jacket.
Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan were tight. In 1975 I interviewed Cash in Anaheim, California.
"I became aware of Bob Dylan when the 'Freewheelin'' album came out in 1963. I thought he was one of the best country singers I had ever heard. I always felt a lot in common with him. I knew a lot about him before we had ever met. I knew he had heard and listened to country music. I heard a lot of inflections from country artists I was familiar with.
"I was in Las Vegas in '63 and '64 and wrote him a letter telling him how much I liked his work. I got a letter back and we developed a correspondence." A year later Cash met his label stable-mate. "We finally met at Newport in 1965. It was like we were two old friends. There was none of this standing back, trying to figure each other out.
"He's unique and original. I keep lookin' around as we pass the middle of the 70s and I don't see anybody come close to Bob Dylan. I respect him. "Dylan is a few years younger than I am but we share a bond that hasn't diminished. I get inspiration from him,” Johnny told me at the time.
It was in June 1967 when Columbia Records staff producer Bob Johnston replaced Don Law at the Nashville based company producing Cash. A sonic and cultural architect visionary, Johnston’s studio acumen and teaming with Cash in the 1968 and ’69 time period resulted in the bold and riveting artifacts ”Johnny Cash at San Quentin” that followed up the earlier “Johnny Cash At Folsom Prison.”
“When I took over Cash he didn’t hit the country charts,” Johnston reinforces. “ Like I said on the back of the ‘Folsom Prison’ album liner notes, no one for 8 years would let him go there to record live until he got me, and I said, ‘let’s do it’ I picked up the phone and called Folsom and San Quentin,” he volunteers. “The reason the ‘Folsom’ album was made first is because the Folsom warden answered first, simple as that. I got the warden, Duffy, and I handed Johnny the telephone and left. When we did ‘Folsom’ there was a guy who was going to introduce Johnny on stage in front of the cons and everyone standing up. I said ‘Bullshit!’ And told Johnny to go walk out there now! They are not even sitting down good. Walk out there and jerk your head around and say, ‘Hello. I’m Johnny Cash’ and it don’t matter what the fuck you record. And he said ‘Get outta my God damn way!’ And he didn’t usually didn’t cuss. But he pushed people away went out there and the God damn place became unglued!
"When we got through I helped Cash get the television show. Cash called me a little bit later, and said, “Listen. I got one thing. Will you get Dylan? If I had Dylan on my show it would be a big success. And if I don’t it will be a fuckin’ failure.’ And he said, “Will you get him?” “And I said, no.” “You won’t?” “No,” “You won’t” Why not? ”But I’ll ask him.” But I can’t get anybody. I don’t want to get anybody. That’s the kind of truth I had with all of those people. He said, “will you ask” “Yea!” So I was in Ft. Worth Texas, which was my hone town, and called Dylan. “And, I said, ‘Man, Cash just called me and he’s got a TV show that we’ve been working on and if he’s got you it will be a success and if he doesn’t it will be a fuckin’ failure. That’s what he told me.’ And, Dylan said, “well, man, I’d like to…” And I thought that’s the end of that, he’s so busy. And he said, “I’ve got nothing to wear.” I said “I’m in Ft. Worth Texas, let me get you a cowboy suit.” “yea!” “What size do you wear and what color?” “I don’t know.” I said, don’t fuckin’ worry about it I’ll take care if it.” I got him a pin stripped white one that was too long came over his wrist, and a white one that was too short.” That’s how it started.”
On the first TV show, Cash and Dylan performed 3 songs from “Nashville Skyline.”
“The sound jumped off the screen on the Cash TV series because I never told anybody that wasn’t the truth. Everything I said and did was for the artist,” now states Bob Johnston. “I never gave a fuck what the company thought. One of my goals was to make it sound like they were in the room with me. But the thing I wanted was the truth. And that’s what Cash got. And that’s what Dylan got. At the Ryman Auditorium tapings for the Cash show I was always real nice to everybody and had two engineers from Columbia (Records) in Nashville that I told Cash we had to have with them so they didn’t fuck up for us. Johnny didn’t fight for anything. ‘This is the way it’s gonna be’. I had those people take care of everything and anything that was bad I would move it, and anything that wasn’t I’d re-record it on the kind of microphone I’d want and put it on there anyway,” explains Johnston. ---- From the Harvey Kubernik Leonard Cohen book "Everybody Knows," published in 2014.
Johnston bounced between both coasts, handling A&R duties for labels like Kapp Records, stepping up with arrangement duties for the prestigious Dot Records. By 1964, he was a protégé of John Hammond at Columbia, which led to a run of Dylan productions, beginning with Highway 61 Revisited, which would enshrine his own name as well.
Never one for formality, Johnston treated his artists with the wariness of a rattlesnake wrangler, giving them all the space they needed to find their creative core. Johnston let his charges make all the creative decisions… until he decided they shouldn’t. It rarely came to that. Building trust, that wide-open space beneath the Smoky Mountain Mountains, was the key to the highway and Cohen responded in kind.
Bob Johnston: Now Leonard had the Buckskin Boys, and my grandmother Mamie Jo Adams co-wrote ‘When Irish Eyes Are Smiling.’ My mother Diane wrote ‘Miles and Miles of Texas’ that won a Grammy and she wrote songs for Gene Autry. And I grew up with that shit. I’m in the Rockabilly Hall of Fame with Elvis Presley.
“When Leonard first came to town he was in an old person’s hotel and stayed about the first week. And then me and (songwriter) Joy (Byers) my wife, leased acres from Boudleaux Bryant and his people and it was a little house by a creek. And then Leonard looked at this house and went all through it, and saw the 1,500 acres and he said, ‘One day I‘ll have a house like that and I’ll be able to stay and write when I want to write.’ And I replied, ‘why don’t you just begin now?’ And I gave him the key and he moved in.
“When I first went down to Nashville I took all the fuckin’ clocks out in the Columbia studio and I tore those rooms down and put the chords underneath the floor and the room was as big as a football field. And we made a Ping-Pong room. Had a pool table and had everything.
“I’ll tell you something else I did recording Dylan, Cash and Cohen. Everybody else (at the time) was using one microphone. What I did was put a bunch of microphones all over the room and up on the ceiling. I would use all those echo when everything got through and I could do that as much as I wanted. I wanted it to sound better than anything else sounded ever, and I wanted it to be where everybody could hear it. And that’s the way that we did it. I always had 4 or 8 speakers all over the room and I had ‘em going. The louder I played it the better it sounded to me.
“I never wanted to be Phil Spector. As far as recording or playback, I like to blast shit loud. Damn it! If I don’t feel it in my chest I can’t tell if I have it.
“I had the engineer Neil Wilburn, did the Cash Folsom Prison live album with him. And he was a genius behind all that shit. I had a great thing with anybody who was a genius.
“I put together the studio band for Leonard. I hired all those guys who were doing the demos from the South. Charlie McCoy (harmonica and guitar), Charlie Daniels, (bass, fiddle, acoustic guitar) who I knew from 1959. Ron Cornelius (acoustic and electric guitar), Elkin “Bubba Fowler (bass, banjo, acoustic guitar) and I played keyboards. I did a record with Ron Cornelius’s group (West) in 1967.
Charlie Daniels was a good ol’ boy from North Carolina, a mean fiddler who could bust out a toe-tappin’ bluegrass lick or break your heart with the sustain of a lonesome E minor chord. He kicked around a bunch of road dog rock ‘n’ rollers, crossing paths with Bob Johnston, who invited him to Nashville. Anxious to get off the Greyhound, he settled down by the Grand Ol’ Opry and a steady diet of well-paying studio dates. He’s there with Dylan on Nashville Skyline, with Marty Robbins and later, with Ringo on Beaucoups of Blues. But nothing proved quite as challenging of squaring his sound with the assonant warbling of the man from Montreal.
Charlie Daniels: Leonard came to Nashville in September of 1968, and lived locally in a cabin. I actually picked up Leonard Cohen at the airport when he arrived in Nashville with his friend Henry (Zemel) from Montreal. Johnston was booked in a studio. I had long hair and a mustache. I didn’t know who Leonard Cohen was. I knew he was a recording artist and comin’ to town and that we were gonna do some sessions with him. I didn’t know what he did. I knew he had a song called ‘Suzanne.’
“You don’t know what to expect when you go to meet somebody for the first time that is a totally different kind of music than anything you’ve ever been exposed to. You don’t know what kind of personality they have or what they’re gonna be like. But it was a very pleasant surprise that Leonard Cohen was as down to earth and nice as he could be. He spoke a different way than everybody else around there did. But he had a great sense of communicating with people.
“I will never forget that when Leonard came to Nashville he lived out in the country for a while. And there was a guy who lived out there, an old cowboy called Kid Marley. I mean people who came from totally opposite ends of the spectrum. It was Leonard Cohen and Kid Marley. But they just hit it off and got to be friends. Leonard was just that kind of guy.
“One thing that needs to be said about Bob Johnston and bringing people to town like Dylan and Leonard Cohen. There was skepticism about Bob coming to Nashville because he was taking the place of a legendary producer, Don Law. Who was an institution in town. Here’s this guy Johnston from New York, who had been doing Simon & Garfunkel, Dylan, and now Leonard Cohen, who were not really thought of as being country. But the first thing Bob did when he came to town was to do a number one song with Marty Robbins. He had gained credibility.
Bob Johnston: Leonard and I walked in the Columbia Studio A. It had a bench there. A little stool. He said, ‘I want to play my song.’ And I said, ‘we’re going to get some hamburgers and beer.’ And he said, ‘I want to play my song.’ I said, ‘go ahead and play it and turn the button on there.’ ‘No. I want you around.’ And I said, ‘I want to get some beer.’
“So we walked over across the street to Crystal Burgers, he came, had a couple of hamburgers and beer and came back. ‘What do you want me to do now?’ I said, ‘Why don’t you get your guitar and tune it?’ And he looked at me, so I had his guitar tuned, and he got on the stool. And I said, ‘play anything you want to.’ OK. Roll tape. And Leonard played the song ‘The Partisan.’ And he got through it and asked to hear it. ‘Yea.’ Played it back to him. He looked at me and said, ‘God damn. Is that what I’m supposed to sound like?’ And I said, ‘forever.’ And walked off. And there it was.
“The only thing I told everybody was to keep playing. If you stop playing you might as well pick up your brief case and go on out the door. Don’t plan on comin’ back. We did about ten studio sessions.
“I always ask the artist ‘what do you want to do?’ You get better performances when you make the artist comfortable. Dylan, Cash, Cohen were just wonderful people and they should be treated as such.
“What attracted me to Cohen and songs like ‘Bird on the Wire?’ What attracts you to Leonardo Di Vinci. Or the painters. Leonard was the best I’d ever heard. And Dylan was the best I’d ever heard. And (Paul) Simon was the best I’d ever heard. And Cash was the best I’d ever heard. And all those fuckin’ people were the best I’d ever heard.
Sidebar
Leonard Cohen: I liked the work Johnston did with Dylan and we became good friends. Without his support I don't think I'd ever gain the courage to go and perform. He played harmonica, guitar and organ on tours with me. He's a great friend and a great support. We worked hard on the albums we did together, but I wasn't totally happy. Overall I couldn't find the tone I wanted. There were some nice things, though.
Columbia Records, meanwhile, was itching to get a return on its investment – which meant touring, a fact of pop star life that rankled at even this most inveterate of travelers. Cohen turned to Bob Johnston to arrange a band, manage the tour and provide a comfort zone from which he could keep the terrors of stage fright at bay.
Bob Johnston: I put his 1970 band together for him and told him I’d get him the best musicians in the world. And he said, ‘Bob. I don’t want the best musicians in the world. I want friends of yours.’ I said, ‘Good enough.’ I played organ and piano. For a while I acted as Leonard’s manager after he asked me in Paris.
Harvey also tells us about a new book of photos our readers may be interested in ...
Harvey also tells us about a new book of photos our readers may be interested in ...
KK:
Here's a literary music and photo book I think your readers would enjoy.
Best,
HK
HK
Independent Publisher Book Awards 2015
Harvey Kubernik, Kenneth Kubernik
Bronze Medal in Photography
for Guy Webster Big Shots book
Independent Book Publishers Association
Benjamin Franklin 2015 Gold Winner
in the category of Art & Photography to
Harvey Kubernik, Kenneth Kubernik for
Guy Webster Big Shots book
Ken Kubernik and Harvey Kubernick
photo by Guy Webster 2014
Independent Publisher Book Awards 2015
Harvey Kubernik, Kenneth Kubernik
Bronze Medal in Photography
for Guy Webster Big Shots book
Independent Book Publishers Association
Benjamin Franklin 2015 Gold Winner
in the category of Art & Photography to
Harvey Kubernik, Kenneth Kubernik for
Guy Webster Big Shots book
Ken Kubernik and Harvey Kubernick
photo by Guy Webster 2014
The Rolling Stones by Guy Webster 1965
Congratulations to Joe Smith, who received a star on The Hollywood Walk Of Fame (on my birthday no less!) Check out THIS guy's resume!!! (kk)
MUSIC EXECUTIVE JOE SMITH TO BE HONORED WITH STAR ON THE HOLLYWOOD WALK OF FAME
WHO: Honoree: Joe Smith
Emcee: Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, President/CEO Leron Gubler
Guest speakers: Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt
Guest speakers: Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt
WHAT: Dedication of the 2,558th star on the Walk of Fame in the category of Recording
WHERE: 1750 N. Vine Street in front of Capitol Records
WHEN: Thursday, August 27, 2015 at 11:30 a.m. PDT
The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce is proud to announce that music executive Joe Smith will be honored with the 2,558th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Thursday, August 27, 2015 at 11:30 a.m. PDT. The star in the category of Recording will be dedicated in front of the historic Capitol Records Building at 1750 N. Vine Street. Helping emcee and Hollywood Chamber President/CEO Leron Gubler to unveil the star will be Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt.
Over the course of his illustrious career, Joe Smith holds the distinction of being the only person to have headed three major record companies.
Joe Smith with Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead,
Phil Everly of the Everly Brothers and Rod Stewart
A native of Chelsea, Massachusetts, Joe Smith was President of his Chelsea High School class. After serving with the U.S. Army Infantry in the Far East, he received his BA in English and Political Science from Yale University.
Smith worked as a sportscaster and disc jockey in Virginia and Pennsylvania before moving to Boston where he became a top-rated and pioneering Rock ‘n’ Roll DJ, and appeared in the motion picture “Jamboree.”
In 1961, Smith moved to California and entered the music industry as National Promotion Manager for Warner Bros. Records. He was named Promotion Executive of the Year four times by The Gavin Report, an industry trade publication. Smith was named President of the Warner Bros. Records in 1972.
During his years at Warner Bros, he signed and/or worked with such artists as Peter, Paul & Mary, Rod Stewart, James Taylor, Alan Sherman, The Grateful Dead, Don Rickles, Van Morrison, Bonnie Raitt, Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Petula Clark, The Allman Brothers Band, The Doobie Brothers, George Benson, Al Jarreau, Seals & Crofts to name a few. He also worked closely with many of the company’s Reprise Records artists including Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Jimi Hendrix, Jethro Tull, Trini López, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and Randy Newman.
In 1975, Smith became Chairman of Elektra/Asylum Records, a division of Warner Communications. For the eight years he was there, Smith worked with The Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, Queen, The Cars, Carly Simon, Judy Collins, Joni Mitchell, Grover Washington Jr., Mötley Crüe, X, and Hank Williams Jr., among others.
In 1983, he was named President and CEO of Home Sports Entertainment, a division of Warner Cable. Following this, he became the first full-time President of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. During this time, he appeared in motion pictures “FM” and “One Trick Pony.”
In 1985, Smith achieved the herculean task of interviewing over 230 artists, producers, managers and executives which constituted his book “Off the Record” that would became a strong seller in Italy, England, Japan and the USA. The audio interviews on which the book is based were donated to the American people and comprise the “The Joe Smith Collection” at the Library of Congress.
In 1987, Smith became President and CEO of Capitol-EMl Music which included the Blue Note and Angel labels. During his seven year tenure, the company registered record profits from such artists as Garth Brooks, Tina Turner, Bonnie Raitt, MC Hammer, Bob Seger, David Bowie, Poison, Megadeth and others.
Upon his retirement from Capitol/EMI at the end of 1993, Smith assumed Executive Producer responsibilities to the World Cup Soccer tournament, where he was hired as executive producer of entertainment for World Cup USA in 1994, the first time the world’s soccer championship was held in the United States. The tournament was crowned with a Dodger Stadium appearance by The Three Tenors that Smith facilitated.
In 2001, Smith was elected to the New England Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame, the Doo Wop Hall of Fame, and received the Boston Music Lifetime award. Just last year he was the recipient of Billboard Magazine’s inaugural Clive Davis Visionary Award,
Smith has been a highly visible executive and spokesman for the music industry in Washington and overseas. He has led the fight for copyright protection and against piracy, testifying before several Congressional committees. He served as Vice President of the Country Music Association, President of the Record Industry for Community Relations and a board member of the Recording Industry Association of America and the Black Music Association.
Smith has been a guest speaker or toastmaster at almost every music event over the past 40 years. He was the first American to keynote the London-based Music Week Awards.
Smith has been the recipient of a multitude of awards from organizations such as the City of Hope, B’nai Brith, NARAS and others, and was granted an honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he served as a Commencement Speaker. He has served as an officer or director of the City of Hope, Cedars-Sinai Hospital, TJ Martell foundation, Variety Club and the Neil Bogart Memorial Lab. He is a Trustee at the California Institute of the Arts, Yale School of Music, the Basketball Hall of Fame, Magic Johnson Foundation, Rhythm and Blues Foundation and the Museum of Science and Industry.
NIGHTS AND DAYS ARE FOR ROCKIN’ AT THE PONDEROSA STOMP: MUSIC HISTORY CONFERENCE SET FOR OCT 1 + 2
The Ponderosa Stomp, the New Orleans music festival that features two solid nights of performances by the seldom seen and heard pioneers of midcentury rock ‘n’ roll, also offers a full slate of music history symposia during daylight hours. This well-rounded approach provides counterpoint to the typically raucous, high-energy sets that take place the nights of Oct. 2-3 at the Rock ‘N’ Bowl™ in Uptown New Orleans.
The twelfth edition of the Ponderosa Stomp Festival kicks off on Thursday, Oct. 1, with a series of talks set for the Stomp’s host hotel, the AC Hotel by Marriott, also the site of the Stomp’s Record Show. While evening performances by the likes of Freddy “Boom Boom” Cannon, Mable John, Brenda Holloway, Willie Hightower, P.F. Sloan, Irma Thomas, Barbara, Lynn, Roy Head, and many, many others fill both Friday and Saturday nights with house-rockin’ music (from 6:30 p.m. until 3 a.m.) the Music History Conference offers insights into how this extraordinary phenomenon came to be — from those who actually made that music history and those who have long chronicled it.
Thursday’s slate includes a conversation called “Hook and Sling” with Scram Records (Eddie Bo, Walter “Wolfman” Washington, Benny Spellman) founder Al “Crawfish King” Scramuzza and WWOZ DJ Neil Pellegrin. That’s followed by a talk by rockabilly guitar great Al Hendrix titled “It Came From Bakersfield,” moderated by “American Routes” radio-show host Nick Spitzer. Nextis “When Linda Gail Met Cindy Lou,” a discussion of the Louisiana-bred swamp-pop subgenre with practitioners Rod Bernard and Gene Terry that will be moderated by the expert who coined the term, author John Broven.
Another highlight of Thursday’s conference is titled “That’s Cool, That’s Trash,” a talk between L.A. folk-rock pioneer P.F. Sloan, composer of “Eve of Destruction” and “Secret Agent Man,” and WFMU’s Todd Abramson. Muscle Shoals soul man Willie Hightower will be interviewed by music archeologist and blogger Red Kelly in a program titled “Walk A Mile In My Shoes,” d’apres Hightower’s biggest hit. Chicago blues harmonica and guitar great Billy Boy Arnold will reflect upon his career with Dr. Jason Hanley, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s education director, in a discussion called “Wish You Would.”
The legacy of the late New Orleans composer/producer Harold Battiste will be celebrated in a program titled “Story of a Jazz Man.” Thursday’s last talk is entitled “Rockin’ Across the Rio Grande” and includes Texas rockers Royce Porter and Jim Oertling; Mike Hurtt moderates.
Friday’s program touches on topics ranging from Memphis R&B, Sun Records’ rockabilly explosion, Motown’s gospel connection, and San Antonio’s wide-ranging contributions to rock and soul.
Stax and Hi Rhythm drummer Howard Grimes, who has backed soul greats including Al Green, Ann Peebles, and Rufus Thomas, will chat with author Preston Lauterbach for a talk entitled “Tales of Beale Street & The Chitlin’ Circuit.” Another Memphis-themed discussion, “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Going On,” a conversation between Sun Records drummer J.M. Van Eaton and writer Robert Gordon, follows.
Motown divas Mable John and Brenda Holloway will be the focus of a talk with NPR’s Ann Powers entitled “From Motown To God’s Salvation.” Author and filmmaker (Sir Doug & The Genuine Texas Cosmic Groove) Joe Nick Patoski will discuss the life and times of Doug Sahm with Augie Meyers (Sir Douglas Quintet and the Texas Tornados) in a discussion titled “Hey Ke Pa So.”
The music history comes to a close on Friday afternoon with an encounter featuring San Antonio Chicano soul greats Rudy T. Gonzales, Little Henry, Rudy Palacios, Chente Montes, and Manuel “Bones” Aragon titled “Talk About West Side Soul.” Ed Ward (NPR’s “Fresh Air,” Rock of Ages: The Rolling Stone History of Rock & Roll) moderates.
For more information about The Ponderosa Stomp’s Music History Conference please visit: www.ponderosastomp.com/music-conference_2015.php
To my Oldies friends and fans,
"Hushabye Little Guitar" - a love song to my guitar - was released in 1960 on Guaranteed Records. Unfortunately it never charted ... but here's an article from a British magazine from way-back-when:
"It was 1960 and the scene was the local youth club monthly dance in Southend on Sea, Essex, England. The disc jockey announced that the evening was drawing to an end and it was time for a dance to hold your partner close. The regulars smiled knowingly as they knew this spot as “bum-grabbing time’’. Soon the hall was filled with couples tightly gripping each other as they staggeringly navigated their way around the floor. The music being played was Paul Evans’ “Hushabye Little Guitar”, a local cult favorite and still a personal choice to this very day."
"It was 1960 and the scene was the local youth club monthly dance in Southend on Sea, Essex, England. The disc jockey announced that the evening was drawing to an end and it was time for a dance to hold your partner close. The regulars smiled knowingly as they knew this spot as “bum-grabbing time’’. Soon the hall was filled with couples tightly gripping each other as they staggeringly navigated their way around the floor. The music being played was Paul Evans’ “Hushabye Little Guitar”, a local cult favorite and still a personal choice to this very day."
Paul Evans
Our FH Buddy Fred Glickstein of The Flock sent us these vintage Flock clips to share. (For those of you wondering "Who The Flock Is The Flock?" enjoy these tracks and see if you remember) ...
A bit of ROCK History
ENJOY!!!
Some of the Columbia stuff – 1969 – 1970
http://psychedelicsight.com/flock-album/http://psychedelicsight.com/flock-album/
These are from Flock’s 1975 Mercury album “”Inside Out” – Each link has 2 songs, so when one song ends, a second song will begin.
this next song starts very soft – give it a chance to get louder
Recently Released Flock CD: Heaven Bound - The Lost Album:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtpTVpv-q-Y&list=PLm_BVfPMR1hZQJpWSmHw5wGbDyHYKQPzUhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtpTVpv-q-Y&list=PLm_BVfPMR1hZQJpWSmHw5wGbDyHYKQPzUhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtpTVpv-q-Y&list=PLm_BVfPMR1hZQJpWSmHw5wGbDyHYKQPzU
ALL FLOCK MUSIC AVAILABLE ON AMAZOM.COM
Fred
And check out this cool poster Fred sent me from The Bath Festival, 1970 ... imagine seeing THIS line-up of artists all on the same stage!
Drum Icon Carmine Appice and 60's Hitmaker Dean Parrish To Release New Digital Only EP “Northern Soul - I'm On My Way”
Los Angeles - Legendary drummer Carmine Appice and New York 60's hitmaker, vocalist Dean Parrish have reunited after 50 years to record a new 7 song EP of 60's soul music, commonly known as Northern Soul music. Aptly titled “Northern Soul - I'm On My Way”, the EP will be released on iTunes in August 2015. The duo first met when in the early 60's they played opposite of Jimi Hendrix, known at the time as Jimmy James. The band, called The BEEETS, played Stax, Motown and Altantic 60's soul. Carmine eventually went on to have major success with the likes of the Vanilla Fudge, Cactus, Beck, Bogert & Appice, Rod Stewart and countless other artists, while Dean pursued a solo career and had a number of hits in the UK and US. He did several Murry The K tours and performed on the Dick Clark show and other well know TV programs at the time such as Zachary Channel 11 NYC, and the Clay Cole show. Dean has performed on the same bill as Mitch Ryder, The Capitals and Lou Christie. He has recorded and toured with the likes of Jorge Santana, Paul Weller, Lord Large and the legendary Bob Marley. Dean even recorded 2 Jams with Jimi Hendrix & Eddie Kramer at Juggy Murray's studio NYC 1969 with the band the Rosicrucians aka Steeplechase. In the 2000's Dean was featured in a wedding scene as the Mcee on the hit show the Sopranos.
Says Carmine, “While Dean was doing those Murry the K shows and having hit singles. I was having my career with Vanilla Fudge having hit albums at around the same time....There was always a connection with me and Dean. I hooked him up with my Vanilla Fudge manager Phil Basile, and in turn Phil got two album deals for Dean with band members who were also friends of mine and dean's from 60s....it was after that that Dean cut 'I'm On My Way', which became a big hit ...but over the years me and Dean stayed in contact.”
Then in the early 2000s, Carmine and Dean reconnected again through a mutual friend Randy Pratt, harpist for Cactus and bassist for The Lizards (who have a new CD released) and Rickity. The duo began writing and recording at Randy's studio in New York, which was the start of the “Northern Soul” release. Carmine and Dean had songs they wrote and recorded in the 60's and rehashed them into what's being released today....so this EP was destined to be finished. It features re-recorded versions of the big hit “I'm On My Way”, a karaoke version, a classic mix of the song as it was in 1970's, and a modern version along with new RnB classics such as “Love's Whatcha Cooking Babe”, “Fever” and “Lonely”, all really cool old school RnB, with an old school vibe but recorded with today's sonic sound.
Says Dean, “Singing and playing guitar on this EP with Carmine was a labor of love, a feeling of togetherness that just comes with Northern Soul Music. This movement is still is very much alive today more than ever with a passion a kind of music that takes hold of you.”
Says Carmine, “Some of my favorite music was the 60's RnB and the songs on this EP with Dean singing are exactly that, 60's RNB or today known as Northern Soul. Back in the early 1960's before Vanilla Fudge, I played with Dean in a 7 piece RnB group. Dean was always great at singing this music and I and glad to being playing that music with Dean again. I enjoyed putting this music together with him!”
To purchase Carmine Appice & Dean Parrish - “Northern Soul - I'm On My Way”:
The EP is available on iTunes and from all online Digital outlets
Official websites:
Carmine Appice
Dean Parrish
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First a belated happy birthday. The song that immediately came to my mind was the Tuneweaver's song out of 1957 HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY. I can't remember offhand, but are you the big 6-0? I had a crazy idea of you going back, say through the sixties, and post every song that was #60 for that week according to Billboard Magazine. Ray alluded to you being 39. Through the years my mother and her sisters, my aunts, told everyone they were 39 and holding. I can't tell you how many times they held.
Kent, everyday before I leave the house I walk outside for thirty minutes just for a little exercise. A lot of the time while walking, I think of a song I haven't heard in years and will start singing it to myself. You mentioned in your paragraph about Tony Burrows just this past week, and I don't know why, I was reminded of GIMME DAT DING by the Pipkins. "That's right, that's right, I'm sad and blue, cause I can't do the boogaloo" ... or words to that effect.
You asked your readers if anyone of them has any copies of the Centuries' record LONELY GIRL. Kent, I am going to go out on a limb and say that no one on your reading list has a copy. However, I will say that possibly one reader might have a copy but that reader probably lived in or around OKC at that time. And if they are like me, they will not want to part with it.You also mentioned the passing of actress Yvonne Craig who played Batgirl on television. When I heard that news last week, again since I hadn't heard the record in years, I got out Neal Hefti's version of BATMAN and played it, as well as the Marketts.
Finally, just for my curiosity, I wonder what the status is of Sonny Geraci and the benefit concert that was given for him last year. I believe you said they were still having some sort of problems tallying the money and giving it to Geraci.
Again, happy birthday and many many more. Now that's original, isn't it?
Larry Neal
Larry Neal
"Gimme Dat Ding" by The Pipkins is one of those novelty favorites of mine ... would LOVE to see Tony Burrows live in concert ... he was involved with SO many great hits in the early '70's.
I asked Dennis Tufano for an update on Sonny Geraci and the big Streetsboro fund-raising concert. As soon as I hear back, I'll pass the info along. (kk)
Found a couple of Silver Dollar Surveys that I thought you’d might like to use.
One, dated 09/01/1962, is for this day 53 years ago. What a fantastic selection of music. Such a cross section – pop, country, folk, r&b, instrumentals, British (2 pre-Beatles), Danish – so many genres covered.
Also after a quick scan, five of these Top-40 titles came back to the charts later – and in a big way. “Sherry”, “The Loco-motion” (twice!), “Breaking Up Is Hard To Do”, “Do You Love Me” and Beechwood 4-5789”
Another great listing for 12/08/1962. On both charts, it’s fascinating to note local hits that did not do so well nationally. On this chart, for example – Glen Campbell with “Kentucky Means Paradise” and the Revlons with “Boy Trouble”.
Best wishes,
Mike Edwards
One, dated 09/01/1962, is for this day 53 years ago. What a fantastic selection of music. Such a cross section – pop, country, folk, r&b, instrumentals, British (2 pre-Beatles), Danish – so many genres covered.
Also after a quick scan, five of these Top-40 titles came back to the charts later – and in a big way. “Sherry”, “The Loco-motion” (twice!), “Breaking Up Is Hard To Do”, “Do You Love Me” and Beechwood 4-5789”
Another great listing for 12/08/1962. On both charts, it’s fascinating to note local hits that did not do so well nationally. On this chart, for example – Glen Campbell with “Kentucky Means Paradise” and the Revlons with “Boy Trouble”.
Best wishes,
Mike Edwards
One of the coolest things about running our weekly surveys is seeing how some records that barely made a dent on the national charts were a big deal on the local scene of any given city. All the more interesting because back then our whole musical world was determined by what our local Top 40 radio station played ... we were kids and didn't know the first thing about Billboard and Cash Box ... if it was on The WLS Silver Dollar Survey, that's all that mattered to us ... most of us discovered the previously untapped wealth of great music never made available to us at the time several years later was we dove deeper into our hobby. WLS was a BIG deal back then ... one of the top stations in the country and, with an incredibly strong signal, heard in many other states from coast to coast. We've told the story several times how somebody listening in Nebraska or Kentucky might hear a song from the WLS Silver Dollar Survey played and run out to their local record store to buy it the next day, only to find out that the record wasn't even available because THEIR local Top 40 radio station wasn't playing it!
Always fun to revisit the charts. Thanks, Mike! (kk)
Always fun to revisit the charts. Thanks, Mike! (kk)
And, speaking of the charts ...
Kent,
I noticed on today's survey that in the far right hand column (and this was the normal case on any survey), not only was the record label listed but the record number as well. This seems to me to be a lot of extra work for the radio station, but maybe not. The two records you briefly mentioned by Neil Sedaka and the Five Emprees did not make our survey, even though I have copies of them. Listing the top 12 albums for three musical genres, rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and country, I don't believe I have ever seen before.
Maybe a lot of radio stations did that back then. Fifty years ago today, our local survey had a listing of 50 records with a PIC-HIT listed at the bottom as well as a PIC-ALBUM of the week. They were BLOWIN' IN THE WIND by Steve Alaimo and ALL I REALLY WANT TO DO by Cher, respectively.
One final thing ... on the back of our survey every week was a picture of a recording artist or group currently with a hit record out. On the back of our survey 50 years ago today was none other than Freddy Cannon promoting his tune, ACTION.
One final final item is that in the UP'N'COMING section, I always did like the Sunrays I LIVE FOR THE SUN and just the other day I started to think of the Barbarians ARE YOU A BOY OR ARE YOU A GIRL.
Larry
The Top Tunes Of Greater Chicagoland was one of the most extensive and comprehensive surveys ever issued ... not only the week's Top 40 Hits but often as many as twenty other "up-and-comers", R&B Charts, British Charts, C&W Charts, Album Charts, etc. Pretty amazing for its time. Because these weren't tied to a particular radio station in town, they probably better reflected the actual sales in stores where they were distributed. They're pretty hard to come by these days ... but (with the exception of just one week) we have a complete collection for their entire length of run (approximately mid-1956 thru early 1966).
Most people associate The Sunrays with their hit "I Live For The Sun" but here in Chicago their song "Andrea" also got a fair amount of airplay ... and that one is MY favorite. Here it is again for the benefit of any of you out there who may not be familiar with this tune. (The Sunrays, of course, is the group The Beach Boys' Dad Murry Wilson went out and produced after his own sons threw him out of the studio! lol) kk
One final thing ... on the back of our survey every week was a picture of a recording artist or group currently with a hit record out. On the back of our survey 50 years ago today was none other than Freddy Cannon promoting his tune, ACTION.
One final final item is that in the UP'N'COMING section, I always did like the Sunrays I LIVE FOR THE SUN and just the other day I started to think of the Barbarians ARE YOU A BOY OR ARE YOU A GIRL.
Larry
The Top Tunes Of Greater Chicagoland was one of the most extensive and comprehensive surveys ever issued ... not only the week's Top 40 Hits but often as many as twenty other "up-and-comers", R&B Charts, British Charts, C&W Charts, Album Charts, etc. Pretty amazing for its time. Because these weren't tied to a particular radio station in town, they probably better reflected the actual sales in stores where they were distributed. They're pretty hard to come by these days ... but (with the exception of just one week) we have a complete collection for their entire length of run (approximately mid-1956 thru early 1966).
Most people associate The Sunrays with their hit "I Live For The Sun" but here in Chicago their song "Andrea" also got a fair amount of airplay ... and that one is MY favorite. Here it is again for the benefit of any of you out there who may not be familiar with this tune. (The Sunrays, of course, is the group The Beach Boys' Dad Murry Wilson went out and produced after his own sons threw him out of the studio! lol) kk
Hello to you, KK, whoever you
are!
Literally just stumbled on your
website today and have been glued there for quite a while!
I, too, grew up in Chicago and
cannot understand why WLS and WCFL didn't play more of the great garage bands
you have listed there. Sometimes I do shows that are nothing BUT 60's garage
bands. (Hey, I used to be a garage band musician and still am when
asked!)
You mentioned The
Kingsmen - Dennis Mitchell lives not too far from me and has a band that is a
really good "Bar Band." Nice to know some garage band legends are still out
there!
You might like my Monday night
show - it's Indies and Oldies. Dunno where you are but it's online every Monday
night at 11 PM Eastern/10 PM Central. Just click here to listen: www.bumps-radio.co.uk
Thanks so much for a truly great
website!
Onward,
DJ Toby
Chicago
DJ
TOBY CHICAGO
ROCKIN'
THE INTERNET
ON
BUMPS RADIO!
USA/CANADA
MON.
& WED. 11 PM EASTERN
UK/EUROPE/ETC.
TUE.
& THUR. 0400 HRS UTC
www.bumps-radio.co.uk
I think WLS and WCFL played the majority of the garage bands listed in our FH Readers Poll ... plus they gave a MAJOR boost to local talent like The New Colony Six and The Shadows Of Knight (both definitely of the "garage band genre there in the early years) as well as the more "polished" sounds of The Buckinghams, The Cryan' Shames and others.
Our readers are VERY partial to those garage band sounds ... so you may enjoy tuning in to Toby's show.
Meanwhile, here's that recapped list of exactly how you guys voted when we took our Garage Bands Poll a few years ago ... http://forgottenhits.com/your_top_50_all-time_favorite_garage_bands
OldiesMusic.com has just published this year's edition of The Labor Day 500. You can check it out here: http://www.oldiesmusic.com/500-15.pdf
Buddy Holly
was born September 7th and all the Chicago oldies
stations recognize the singer-songwriter’s impact on rock and roll. But you
probably won’t hear his music on 87.7, WLS-FM, K-Hits or The Drive. This Sunday
from 12 noon to 4 pm, Mike Baker And The Forgotten 45s will feature the hits of
“the chirping crickets” and Buddy Holly on 88.1 WLTL-FM.
Actually you DO hear Buddy's music quite a bit on 87.7 and at least Bob Stroud's program on The Drive ... whether it be his original version of these tunes or the more popular remake versions recorded by SO many artists over the years. (Me-TV-FM seems to be especially fond of "Everyday" ... which they play nearly "everyday" ... by either Buddy or James Taylor.) In fact, the station STILL plays the heck out of JT ... to the point that (since radio stations rarely use their call letters anymore) we've come up with some new, more identifying names for many of Chicago's radio stations ... James Taylor FM (87.7), Steve Miller FM (94.7), John Mellencamp FM (103.5), Taylor Swift FM (100.3), Led Zeppelin FM (97.9), AC/DC FM (97.1), etc. At least now you've got "truth in advertising" because that's REALLY what you're going to hear nearly every time you tune in! (kk)
