February 4th

Davy Jones records his vocals for "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You", "She Hangs Out" and four other tracks and then joins Michael Nesmith (and his wife Phyllis), Micky Dolenz and Producer Chip Douglas for a night out on the town in New York City.  They eventually meet up at Ondines, where they hang out with members of Paul Revere and the Raiders and catch a performance by The Daily Flash.  

Petula Clark is a guest on The Hollywood Palace tonight, performing "This Is My Song" and "Winchester Catherdral".  



Also singing are Ernie Terrell and the Heavyweights!

Terrell, of course, is more famous for his boxing skills than his singing skills ... and perhaps MOST famous for his bout with Heavyweight Champion Muhammad Ali (who would cause quite a few 1967 headlines of his own.)

Terrell (who is NOT related to Tammi Terrell, as is often reported ... but whose sister Jean sang with his group The Heavyweights and eventually went on to front The Supremes after the departure of Diana Ross, scoring hits with "Up The Ladder To The Roof", "Stoned Love", "Nathan Jones", "Floy Joy" and others) won The World Boxing Association Title  in 1966.  He would lose to Ali two nights after this evening's televised performance with his band. 

The publicity surrounding the bout was the typical Muhammad Ali circus.  When Terrell refused to call Ali by his new chosen name and continued to refer to him as Cassius Clay during a press conference, Ali vowed to "punish him" in the ring.  (Listen to Jack Benny's introduction to see that he, too, has a little bit of fun playing around with Muhammad Ali's name.)

He did.

Ali taunted Terrell throughout the fight, dragging it out for the full fifteen rounds in order to inflict as much physical punishment as possible along the way.  (You can catch the fight in its entirety here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efBcVKmbLs8)

After he retired in 1973 (with a record of 46-9 and 21 knock-outs), Terrell moved to Chicago to become a record producer.  He also ran (unsuccessfully) for an alderman position in 1987.  He died here (in Evergreen Park) in 2014, reportedly suffering from dementia.

Also on this date, from Jeff March and Marty Smiley Childs ...

"No Fair at All" by the Association, the band's fourth national hit on the Valiant label, made its debut on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on February 4, 1967. Warner Bros., which distributed the Valiant releases, bought the label outright in 1967, primarily to add the Association to the Warner roster. "No Fair at All," which peaked at No. 51, resulted from a Yester brothers collaboration. Association member Jim Yester wrote the song, while the recording session was produced by his brother, Jerry (who was a member of the Modern Folk Quartet and subsequently joined the Lovin' Spoonful).