August 26th

After today's lecture by The Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in North Wales, The Beatles held a news conference to announce that they had become disciples in his Spiritual Regeneration Movement.  As such, this obligated them to donate one week's earnings every month to the organization (which, for The Beatles in 1967, was a WHOLE lotta money!!!)  They also publicly renounced the use of all drugs (although they clearly didn't believe in this statement enough to abstain themselves!)

George Harrison:  LSD isn't a real answer. It doesn't give you anything. It enables you to see a lot of possibilities that you may have never noticed before, but it isn't the answer. You don't just take LSD and that's it forever, you're OK. To get really high, you have to do it straight. I want to get high, and you can't get high on LSD. You can take it and take it as many times as you like, but you get to a point that you can't get any further unless you stop taking it.  It helps you find fulfillment in life, helps you live life to the full. Young people are searching for a bit of peace inside themselves.

Paul McCartney: You cannot keep on taking drugs forever. You get to the stage where you are taking fifteen aspirins a day, without having a headache. We were looking for something more natural. This is it. It was an experience we went through. Now it's over and we don't need it any more. We think we're finding other ways of getting there.

John Lennon: Don't believe that jazz about there's nothing you can do, and 'turn on and just drop out, man' - because you've got to turn on and drop in, or they're going to drop all over you.

Jimi Hendrix makes The Billboard Hot 100 Pop Singles Chart for the first time when "Purple Haze" debuts at #94.  It will peak at #65 during its eight week chart run.

From Marti Smiley Childs and Jeff March:
"Never My Love" by the Association made its debut on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on August 26, 1967. The single peaked at No. 2, a position it held for two weeks, and remained on the chart for 14 weeks (it hit No. 1 on the competing Cashbox chart). Don and Dick Addrisi (who recorded as the Addrisi Brothers) wrote the sweet ballad "Never My Love." The single earned the band its third RIAA award -- a platinum record that November -- recognizing 1 million in sales.

Now consider that The Association and Jimi Hendrix BOTH performed at The Monterey Pop Festival earlier this summer ... and you get some idea as to just how diverse "the sound of music" was in 1967!

August 25th

Some interesting debuts on the chart this week.

New at #63 is "I Dig Rock And Roll Music" by Peter, Paul And Mary, a song that successfully captures the feel of some of their contemporary artists such as The Beatles and, most notably, The Mamas and the Papas … in fact I swore this WAS The Mamas and the Papas the very first time I heard it.  

John, Denny, Cass and Michelle debut a few spots lower at #69 with "Twelve Thirty", a very pretty, overlooked gem by the quartet that I suppose one COULD say (in hindsight) sounds an awful lot like Peter, Paul And Mary!!!  

It had been awhile since Peter, Paul and Mary had had a Top Ten Hit (four years to be exact!)  Like most American artists, they suffered when folk music fell out of favor to all things British.  Although they would make The Top 40 a couple of times in between, their last significant Top Ten Record was their #9 showing on Bob Dylan's "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" in 1963.

In between Peter, Paul and Mary and The Mamas and the Papas ... and premiering at #67 ... we find Tommy James and the Shondells and their latest, "Gettin' Together".  Herman's Hermits are back on the chart with "Museum", a song written by Donovan.  A new group out of Santa Cruz, California, take an avant-garde look at the old Cole Porter tune "Anything Goes" and give it a contemporary feel … it premiers at #78 and makes for the perfect follow-up to their reworking of the Paul Simon tune "The 59th Street Bridge Song" from earlier this year.  

Frankie Valli has a new solo hit on the chart with "I Make A Fool Of Myself" but it won't have anywhere near the impact that his chart-topping "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" did.  Ray Charles has some movie music premiering at #85 with "In The Heat Of Night" (great song, great flick!) and we also find follow-up singles debuting this week by Every Mother's Son ("Put Your Mind At Ease", #87) and The American Breed ("Don't Forget About Me", #100).  

Dean Chance of The Minnesota Twins pitches a no hitter against The Cleveland Indians.  However Cleveland scores one run due to the five walks allowed by Chance.  Nineteen days earlier Chance threw five perfect innings in a game shortened by rain.  

The Beatles fly to Bangor, North Wales, to spend the weekend studying Transcendental Meditation under Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.  Two days later they would receive the devastating news that their long-time manager Brian Epstein was dead.  

Brian Wilson performed live on stage with the Beach Boys for the first time in two years at a concert in Honolulu, Hawaii. 

The Monkees are back on the road today with a concert at The Seattle Center Coliseum in Seattle, WA.  Tonight's show (as well as Saturday's show on the 26th in Portland, OR and Sunday's show on the 27th in Spokane, WA) are all recorded and eventually released on the Rhino Handmade Collectors' Edition of "Summer, 1967".  

American Nazi Party Leader George Lincoln Rockwell is assassinated in Arlington, Virginia.

The Cryan' Shames hold on for another week at the #1 position on the Chicagoland charts ... but Bobbie Gentry (pictured on this week's WCFL Sound 10 Survey) is poised and ready to take over that spot next week.

Notice, too, that "Never My Love" by The Association is already closing in on The Top 20 here in Chicago ... while it has yet to premier on the national chart!

August 24th

Earning bullets elsewhere on the chart we find "Groovin'"  by Booker T. and the MG's (#58 to #43), "Jill" by Gary Lewis and the Playboys (#54 to #45), "I Had A Dream" by Paul Revere and the Raiders (#77 to #47, a jump of 30 points), "Making Every Minute Count" by Spanky and Our Gang (#72 to #48), "Ha Ha Said The Clown" by The Yardbirds (#62 to #51),  "Things I Should Have Said" by The Grass Roots (#64 to #52), "A Little Bit Now" by The Dave Clark Five (#65 to #55), "A Woman's Hands" by Joe Tex (#66 to #58), "Gimme Little Sign" by Brenton Wood (#76 to #60), "Little Ole Wine Drinker, Me" by Dean Martin (#82 to #61), "Zip Code" by The Five Americans (#73, to #62), "Laura, What's He Got That I Ain't Got" by Frankie Laine (#75 to #66), "Love Bug, Leave My Heart Alone" by Martha and the Vandellas (#92 to #68), "Knock On Wood" by Otis (Redding) and Carla (Thomas), #91 to #80, "Turn The World Away" by Eddy Arnold (#93 to #83), "Paper Sun" by Traffic (#94 to #84) and "I Feel Good, I Feel Bad" by The Lewis and Clarke Expedition, a new act signed to The Monkees' Colgems Record Label (actually Boomer Clark and Michael Martin Murphey, who will go on to have quite a successful pop and country career in the 1970's and '80's … and also write a HUGE Monkees album track, sung by Michael Nesmith, called "What Am I Doin' Hangin' 'Round"), who move this week from #100 to #86.  (Unfortunately their OWN first record is pretty much a bust!) 











At George's urging, The Beatles attend their first transcendental meditation lecture by The Maharishi Mahesh Yogi at The Hilton Hotel in London.  Meeting with him afterwards, The Maharishi invited them to travel with him to Bangor in North Wales to attend more lectures, which they did. 

A heavily intoxicated Who Drummer Keith Moon (still celebrating his 21st birthday from the night before) drove a Lincoln Continental into the pool of a Flint, Michigan, Holiday Inn and then blew up the toilet in his hotel room, a favorite pastime of his.  As a result The Who were banned from Flint, Michigan, and the Holiday Inn Hotel Chain for life. 

The Monkees record "Riu Chiu" for the Christmas episode.

August 23rd

Making leaps of five spots or more in The Top 40 this week we find "San Franciscan Nights" by Eric Burdon and the Animals (#34 to #25), "There Is A Mountain" by Donovan (#52 to #29), "Brown Eyed Girl" by Van Morrison (#39 to #31), "Funky Broadway" by Wilson Pickett (#48 to #33), "You Know What I Mean" by The Turtles (#46 to #34), "The Letter" by The Box Tops (#63 to #35), "The Windows Of The World" by Dionne Warwick (#47 to #38), "Higher And Higher" by Jackie Wilson (#53 to #39) and "Blues' Theme" by Davie Allan and the Arrows (#45 to #40). 

Bumped from consideration for the "Our World" worldwide television special, The Beatles return to the studio tonight to work on Paul's "Your Mother Should Know".  (Actually the filmed sequence that appears at the end of their "Magical Mystery Tour" television special is one of the few highlights of that hour.)

Herman's Hermits (with The Who as their opening act) perform at Atwood Stadium in Flint, Michigan.  

Ironically after passing on an opportunity to visit Graceland a week earlier because The King was out of town, The Monkees and Elvis are both scheduled for recording sessions at RCA Studios today in Hollywood, CA.  Elvis ended up cancelling his sessions at the very last minute so The Monkees did three split sessions between noon and 1 am.

*****

Davie Allan has been a friend of Forgotten Hits for many years now.  His 1967 Hit "Blues' Theme" was a #3 smash here in Chicago (and we've seen several charts where it actually ranked at #1) yet nationally the best showing it ever had was at #27 in Record World.  (It peaks this week at #40 on our Super Chart.)

A good part of the reason for this is that once again the record never reached its full momentum at the same time across the country.  For example, although it was released several months earlier, "Blues' Theme" premiered on either April 15th or April 22nd on the national charts ... but didn't debut here in Chicago until July!  As such, the record enjoyed the unfortunate fate of becoming popular in various new cities across the USA as it was already falling off the charts in others.  Had this record had the advantage of mass saturation and accumulated sales and airplay all at the same time, it likely would have been a National Top Ten Hit.

Davie fills us in on a little more about the history of his best-known song and his band, The Arrows ...   

Being in the middle of the “Summer Of Love”, 1967, made me wonder if our music (especially the “Cycle-Delic Sounds of…” LP) was okay for that time. We had a two-night gig at the “Hullabaloo” in Hollywood and we were booed the first night by all those flower children. The next day I went to a toy store and bought four sets of bows and rubber-tipped arrows. That night when they started harassing us again, we shot the arrows into the audience. We didn't know what to expect, but we were a bit surprised because many of them got a kick out of it. 

When we did “The Wild Angels”, I knew I had found my niche and I never wanted to turn off the fuzz! I went on to do a couple dozen other soundtracks many of which were “biker” films such as “Devil’s Angels”, “Born Losers” (that introduced the character “Billy Jack”) and “The Glory Stompers” (with a pre-“Easy Rider” Dennis Hopper). In interviews I have stated that “Blues’ Theme” was my attempt to have my guitar sound like a Harley motorcycle! Also, a reviewer said I sounded like “Duane Eddy with dirty fingernails”. I even recorded a takeoff / tribute to Duane on my 2013 album “Retrophonic 4” titled “Don’t Blame Duane”. 

During our 1967 tour, a stop at “Tower Records” in New York brought a great piece of news. Even though “Blues’ Theme” only went to #37 on Billboard, it was hitting top five just about everywhere as it traveled from town to town (December, 1966 to September, 1967) and I was told at the label that it had sold 800,000 copies! I haven’t said much about this, but I only made $2000! And to get my credit on “The Wild Angels” album, I waived any chance of royalties (and that album went up to #17 on Billboard’s chart!). Outrageous treatment (somebody made a ton of money but not me or my band members). Having said that, I must say that my career has had plenty of ups with the downs. 

So, here we are after the 50^th anniversary of “The Arrows” in 2015 plus the 50^th anniversary of “The Wild Angels” in 2016, we now have the 50^th anniversary of “Blues’ Theme” in 2017! By the way, the apostrophe is in the right place because “Blues” was Peter Fonda’s name (not “Blue”).   
Thanks,  
Davie Allan  
www.davieallan.com

August 22nd

Name:  Richard Kimble, Doctor of Medicine  

Destination:  Death Row, State Prison

Richard Kimble has been tried and convicted of the murder of his wife … but laws are made by men and carried out by men … and men are imperfect. 

Richard Kimble is innocent.  

Proved guilty, what Richard Kimble could not prove was that moments before discovering his wife's body, he encountered a man running from the vicinity of his home  … a man with one arm … a man who has not yet been found. 

Richard Kimble ponders his fate as he looks at the world for the last time … and sees only darkness. 

But in that darkness, fate moves its huge hand. 

THE FUGITIVE … a QM Production … starring David Janssen as The Fugitive … 

An innocent victim of blind justice, falsely convicted of the murder of his wife …  

Reprieved by fate when a train wreck freed him en route to the death house …  

Freed him to hide in lonely desperation … to change his identity … to toil at many jobs … 

Freed him to search for a one-armed man he saw leave the scene of the crime … 

Freed him to run before the relentless pursuit of the police lieutenant obsessed with his capture. 

That weekly opening narration and on-going monologue was voiced by William Conrad, who would soon find his own television fame in the role of Cannon, private investigator.  The number of soon-to-be A-List Guest Stars who made appearances during the series' four year run is staggering … 

Bruce Dern (who appeared FIVE times!), Dabney Coleman, Diana Hyland, Ed Asner, Telly Savalas, Ed Begley, Robert Duvall (twice), Norman Fell, Clint Howard, Jack Klugman, Ted Knight, Leslie Nielsen, Suzanne Pleshette, Kurt Russell, Martin Balsam, Beau Bridges, Charles Bronson, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Angie Dickinson, Anne Francis, James Frawley, Lee Grant, Ronny Howard, Dean Jagger, Brian Keith, Deforest Kelly and William Shatner, Diane Ladd, Hope Lang, Jack Lord, Vera Miles, Greg Morris, Kevin McCarthy, Carroll O'Connor, Slim Pickens, Jerry Paris, Mickey Rooney, Tom Skerritt, Frank Sutton, Brenda Vaccaro, Jessica Walter, Jack Warden, Tuesday Weld and Jack Weston among them. 

Part One of the two-part series finale airs tonight of "The Fugitive", without question one of my favorite shows of all time.  Extremely well-written, most of the episodes still hold up incredibly well today, some fifty years later.   The suspense for the finale was indescribable.  The program had already aired its fourth and final season … but was brought back for a two-part wrap-up episode that finally saw Dr. Richard Kimble vindicated.  It was, at the time, the most watched television show in history. 

Actor David Janssen, who portrayed the good doctor for four seasons joked that he knew exactly how the show was going to end …  

“It goes like this … Kimble, cleared of the murder, retires to a desert island to recuperate from his ordeal. At sunset he takes a swim. Just before plunging into the surf, he pauses, unscrews his wooden arm, and tosses it on the sand. 

Fade-out.”  

Not exactly … more next week.

August 21st

Bobbie Gentry's "Ode To Billie Joe" reaches the #1 spot on the charts in its fourth week of release, leaping from #8 to #1.  The Beatles fall to #2 with "All You Need Is Love" after two weeks in the #1 position, followed by "Pleasant Valley Sunday" by The Monkees (holding at #3), "Baby I Love You" by Aretha Franklin (holding at #4) and "Light My Fire" by The Doors, also a former #1 Record, now falling from #2 to #5.

Diana Ross and the Supremes seemed poised to take over the top spot as their latest, the somewhat psychedelic-sounding "Reflections" moves from #19 to #6 in its third week on the chart, followed by James Brown's "Cold Sweat (up from #13 to #7).  #'s 8 and 9 feature songs working their way down the chart:  "A Girl Like You" by The Young Rascals and "I Was Made To Love Her" by Stevie Wonder respectively … as The Beach Boys crack The Top Ten for the first time with their latest, "Heroes And Villains", which moves from #16 to #10. 





"Words" by The Monkees can now call the #11 spot its new peak on the chart (up from #15) and "You're My Everything" by The Temptations continues its climb from #20 to #12.  

Other big Top 20 Movers include "Come Back When You Grow Up" by Bobby Vee (#29 to #18) and "Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie" by Jay and the Techniques (#30 to #19). 

"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" by The Beatles holds on to the Number One spot on the album chart for the ninth straight week. 

Talk about cranking 'em out … 

In the morning Elvis Presley wraps up working on "Speedway" … and then after lunch begins make-up tests for his next movie, "Stay Away, Joe"! 

Carl Giammarese of The Buckinghams celebrates his 20th birthday.  The Bucks have already enjoyed THREE Top Five Singles this year!!!

The Peoples Republic of China announces that it has shot down US planes violating its airspace.