Saturday, November 4, 2017
November 4th
After spending millions of dollars on horses, vehicles, farming equipment and other incidentals for his Circle G Ranch in Horn Lake, Mississippi, an auction is held today to liquidate all remaining items, including some of Elvis Presley's personal belongings. Over 2000 people attend ... and the auction brings in $108,000! (I guess Elvis got bored with the whole idea after ten months of gung-ho exuberance.)
Friday, November 3, 2017
November 3rd
The Beatles complete filming of "Magical Mystery Tour". BBC Television bought the film for TWO showings … first in black and white on Boxing Day, December 26th (God knows why! But apparently there was only a small segment of Britain's viewing audience that owned color television sets in 1967) … and then again in color on January 5th on their BBC2 channel.
Pink Floyd makes their US concert debut at The Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco, opening the show for Janis Joplin and Big Brother and the Holding Company. The tour will come to an early end, however, when Syd Barrett displays increasing strange behavior … first refusing to lip sync "Arnold Layne" on American Bandstand and then refusing to answer questions on The Pat Boone Show. (Story goes that, affected by an enormous intake of drugs, Syd Barrett refused to mime their song “See Emily Play” on The Pat Boone Show, leaving Roger Waters to do it for the television cameras. Barrett refused to speak or interact with anyone there that day. Honestly, did Pink Floyd really belong on EITHER of these programs?!?!?)
After Sgt. Pepper, the importance of the album as its own entity changed. (Before, you typically got one or two singles and a bunch of filler ... now LP's were standing on their own ... and being judged for their total merit.)
In November of 1967, Top 40 Pop Radio Station WCFL published their first Albums Chart! (Of course, seven of those Top 20 LP's were still Greatest Hits collections ... but hey, it was a start!)
Incredibly, Sgt. Pepper came in FOURTH ... behind Diana Ross and the Supremes' Greatest Hits, Strange Days by The Doors and The Jimi Hendrix Experience!
After Sgt. Pepper, the importance of the album as its own entity changed. (Before, you typically got one or two singles and a bunch of filler ... now LP's were standing on their own ... and being judged for their total merit.)
In November of 1967, Top 40 Pop Radio Station WCFL published their first Albums Chart! (Of course, seven of those Top 20 LP's were still Greatest Hits collections ... but hey, it was a start!)
Incredibly, Sgt. Pepper came in FOURTH ... behind Diana Ross and the Supremes' Greatest Hits, Strange Days by The Doors and The Jimi Hendrix Experience!
Thursday, November 2, 2017
November 2nd
The Beach Boys and The Four Season always had a friendly competition on the charts, each identified by their special West Coast and East Coast sound. Last week The Four Seasons premiered on the chart with their latest hit "Watch The Flowers Grow", a VERY different sounding record from what we were used to hearing by these Jersey Boys. This week The Beach Boys have the top debut with their latest, "Wild Honey", which premiers at #68. It, too, is a bit of a departure for these guys … a little grittier and funkier than what we're used to … but then again The Beach Boys ALWAYS seemed to surprise us with their new musical direction. (Just look at "Good Vibrations" from the year before!)
Both groups started hitting the charts around the same time, each defining both the East and the West Coast sound. Trademark falsettos were the name of the game … and Frankie Valli and Brian Wilson had two of the best.
The Four Seasons’ broke through in a VERY big way in 1962 with their #1 Hit “Sherry”. In fact, their first three commercially released singles ALL went to #1. By the time “Watch The Flowers Grow” hit the charts, The Four Seasons had already scored SIXTEEN National Top 10 Hits (including one under the pseudonym “The Wonder Who”.)
The Beach Boys hit The Top Ten for the first time that very same year with “Surfin’ Safari”. They would go on to have a total of fifteen National Top Ten Hits before “Wild Honey” cracked the charts.
In the 1980’s the two groups would team up for a one-off single called “East Meets West”. It totally bombed (and was quite awful ... such a shame when one considers the amount of pooled talent on this one recording.)
The Four Seasons saw a resurgence in their career in the mid-‘70’s with their disco hit “Who Loves You” and one of the most over-played oldies classics of all time, “December, 1963 (Oh What A Night”), a #1 Record in 1976. The hit musical “Jersey Boys” told their story to the world several years later.
The Beach Boys last hit the #1 spot in 1988 with “Kokomo”, ironically a song NOT written by their leader, Brian Wilson. (In fact, Brian wasn’t on the record at all!) They continue to tour in two factions to this day as both The Beach Boys (featuring Mike Love and Bruce Johnston) and The Brian Wilson Band, which often features Al Jardine (and sometimes David Marks and Blondie Chaplin) on board.
Also new on the chart this week are "I Second That Emotion" by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles (#74),"Paper Cup" by The Fifth Dimension (#80) and "She's My Girl" by The Turtles (#89).
The Beatles complete the recording of their next single, "Hello Goodbye". Backed with "I Am The Walrus", it will be released on November 24th (and go right to #1 … quite possibly their least-deserving #1 record.)
Once again The Monkees earn a Gold Record Award for the pre-order sales of their next LP "Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn and Jones, Ltd." It will be officially released on November 6th.
President Lyndon Johnson holds a secret meeting with a group of the nation's most prestigious leaders (later dubbed "the Wise Men") and asks them to suggest ways to unite the American people behind the war effort. They conclude that the American people should be given more optimistic reports on the progress of the war.
Both groups started hitting the charts around the same time, each defining both the East and the West Coast sound. Trademark falsettos were the name of the game … and Frankie Valli and Brian Wilson had two of the best.
The Four Seasons’ broke through in a VERY big way in 1962 with their #1 Hit “Sherry”. In fact, their first three commercially released singles ALL went to #1. By the time “Watch The Flowers Grow” hit the charts, The Four Seasons had already scored SIXTEEN National Top 10 Hits (including one under the pseudonym “The Wonder Who”.)
The Beach Boys hit The Top Ten for the first time that very same year with “Surfin’ Safari”. They would go on to have a total of fifteen National Top Ten Hits before “Wild Honey” cracked the charts.
In the 1980’s the two groups would team up for a one-off single called “East Meets West”. It totally bombed (and was quite awful ... such a shame when one considers the amount of pooled talent on this one recording.)
The Four Seasons saw a resurgence in their career in the mid-‘70’s with their disco hit “Who Loves You” and one of the most over-played oldies classics of all time, “December, 1963 (Oh What A Night”), a #1 Record in 1976. The hit musical “Jersey Boys” told their story to the world several years later.
The Beach Boys last hit the #1 spot in 1988 with “Kokomo”, ironically a song NOT written by their leader, Brian Wilson. (In fact, Brian wasn’t on the record at all!) They continue to tour in two factions to this day as both The Beach Boys (featuring Mike Love and Bruce Johnston) and The Brian Wilson Band, which often features Al Jardine (and sometimes David Marks and Blondie Chaplin) on board.
Also new on the chart this week are "I Second That Emotion" by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles (#74),"Paper Cup" by The Fifth Dimension (#80) and "She's My Girl" by The Turtles (#89).
The Beatles complete the recording of their next single, "Hello Goodbye". Backed with "I Am The Walrus", it will be released on November 24th (and go right to #1 … quite possibly their least-deserving #1 record.)
Once again The Monkees earn a Gold Record Award for the pre-order sales of their next LP "Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn and Jones, Ltd." It will be officially released on November 6th.
President Lyndon Johnson holds a secret meeting with a group of the nation's most prestigious leaders (later dubbed "the Wise Men") and asks them to suggest ways to unite the American people behind the war effort. They conclude that the American people should be given more optimistic reports on the progress of the war.
Wednesday, November 1, 2017
November 1st, 1967
We've got some big movers on the lower half of the chart this week …
"Keep The Ball Rollin'" by Jay and the Techniques moves from #59 to #41, "Glad To Be Unhappy" by The Mamas and the Papas is up from #60 to #42, "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" by Gladys Knight and the Pips moves from #62 to #43, "Get It Together" by James Brown climbs from #56 to #44, "Like An Old Time Movie" by Scott McKenzie is up from #64 to #45,"Homburg" by Procol Harum moves from #66 to #47, "She Is Still A Mystery" by The Lovin' Spoonful from #67 to #49), "Watch The Flowers Grow" by The Four Seasons from #72 to #52, "Stag-O-Lee" by Wilson Pickett is up 42 places from #97 to #55 … I've always liked his version of this song ... "Mr. Dream Merchant" by Jerry Butler (#70 to #58), "This Town" by Frank Sinatra (#88 to #60), "Back On The Street Again" by The Sunshine Company (#78 to #61), "Wake Up Wake Up" by The Grass Roots (#73 to #64), "Skinny Legs And All" by Joe Tex (#98 to #65), "Out Of The Blue" by Tommy James and the Shondells (#96 to #67), "You Better Sit Down Kids" by Cher (#83 to #69), "Are You Never Coming Home" by Sandy Posey (#82 to #71), "Go Go Girl" by Lee Dorsey (#87 to #73) and "You Are My Sunshine" by Mitch Ryder (#85 to #75).
Tuesday, October 31, 2017
October 31st
After pleading guilty yesterday to drug possession, Rolling Stone Brian Jones is released on bail today. During his day of incarceration, seven Rolling Stones fans were arrested and charged with obstructing the police after demonstrating outside the prison gates.
Roger Miller sings "You Can't Roller Skate In A Buffalo Herd" and "Code Of The West" on The Hollywood Palace this evening … and then, along with host Bing Crosby, does a hobo medley (which I'm sure included "King Of The Road" … or why else do one?!?!)
Later that night Crosby, Victor Borge, Miller and Paul Lynde do a send-up of the Peter, Paul and Mary hit "I Dig Rock And Roll Music".
Roger Miller sings "You Can't Roller Skate In A Buffalo Herd" and "Code Of The West" on The Hollywood Palace this evening … and then, along with host Bing Crosby, does a hobo medley (which I'm sure included "King Of The Road" … or why else do one?!?!)
Later that night Crosby, Victor Borge, Miller and Paul Lynde do a send-up of the Peter, Paul and Mary hit "I Dig Rock And Roll Music".
Monday, October 30, 2017
October 30th
"To Sir With Love" by Lulu holds down the top spot on the chart for the third straight week while "Soul Man" by Sam and Dave move into the #2 position, leap-frogging over "How Can I Be Sure" by The Young Rascals, which holds at #3.
"Expressway To Your Heart" by The Soul Survivors is up three places from #7 to #4 as is "It Must Be Him" by Vikki Carr, which moves from #9 to #6. "Incense and Peppermints" by The Strawberry Alarm Clock and "The Rain, The Park and Other Things" by The Cowsills make their initial voyage into The Top Ten, moving from #13 to #7 and #16 to #10 respectively.
"Please Love Me Forever" by Bobby Vinton continues its climb up the chart, moving from #17 to #12, "I'm Wondering" by Stevie Wonder is up from #18 to #14, "Love Is Strange" by Peaches and Herb climbs from #21 to #17 and we're also seeing upward movement from "Holiday" by The Bee Gees (#22 to #18), "It's You That I Need" by The Temptations (#26 to #19),"Everlasting Love" by Robert Knight (#29 to #22), "I Can See For Miles" by The Who (#36 to #24), "Kentucky Woman" by Neil Diamond (#37 to #25), "Lazy Day" by Spanky and Our Gang (#42 to #27), "Pata Pata" by Miriam Makeba (#39 to#30), "I Say A Little Prayer" by Dionne Warwick (#47 to #32), "Lady Bird" by Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood (#53 to #38), "Beg, Borrow And Steal" by The Ohio Express (#48 to #39) and "Big Boss Man" by Elvis Presley (#46 to #40).
The number one album in the country again this week belongs to Diana Ross and the Supremes and their Greatest Hits.
Brian Jones, guitarist for The Rolling Stones, pleads guilty to drug possession in a London Magistrate's Court, stemming from his arrest last March. He is remanded to Wormwood Scrub Prison until the following day when he is sentenced to nine months behind bars. (Man how did ANY of these bands stay together back in this day when EVERYBODY was doing … and getting busted for doing … drugs!!! One false move could tear your band apart for YEARS!!!) That being said, Jones is then released on bail, pending an appeal … and the sentence was later suspended.
Paul McCartney flies to France with camerman Aubrey Dewar to shoot a number of random scenes that will be used to illustrate the dream sequence of "The Fool On The Hill" in the "Magical Mystery Tour" film. No other Beatles will be part of this filming.
Sunday, October 29, 2017
October 29th
Ed Sullivan welcomes The Cowsills to his program tonight. They perform their first big chart hit, "The Rain, The Park And Other Things" along with a medley that includes "The Cruel War", "Monday Monday", "Sweet Talkin' Guy", "Oh, Lonesome Me", "Please Mr. Postman" and "Reach Out, I'll Be There".
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band perform on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.
"The Jungle Book" tops the weekly box office again this week with nearly no fall-off from the week before. (Opening week it did just under $4.8 million … this week receipts tally up to $4.55 million … pretty darn good for a cartoon!)
This shows you how open our tastes were to anything back then … a bloody, gory thriller like "Bonnie And Clyde" can top the box office for eight weeks, only to be displaced by something out of the Disney Studio.
Black Panther Leader Huey Newton was stopped by the Oakland, California police. A gun battle ensued in which Newton was injured and Police Officer John Frey was killed. Newton was convicted of voluntary manslaughter but the conviction was later overturned. According to Gene McKinney, who was with Newton that night, he and Newton were pulled over by the police after they had driven out to pick up some take-out food following a Black Panther Party Fundraiser. After the shooting, it was McKinney who commandeered a passing car in order to get Newton to a hospital.
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band perform on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.
"The Jungle Book" tops the weekly box office again this week with nearly no fall-off from the week before. (Opening week it did just under $4.8 million … this week receipts tally up to $4.55 million … pretty darn good for a cartoon!)
This shows you how open our tastes were to anything back then … a bloody, gory thriller like "Bonnie And Clyde" can top the box office for eight weeks, only to be displaced by something out of the Disney Studio.
Black Panther Leader Huey Newton was stopped by the Oakland, California police. A gun battle ensued in which Newton was injured and Police Officer John Frey was killed. Newton was convicted of voluntary manslaughter but the conviction was later overturned. According to Gene McKinney, who was with Newton that night, he and Newton were pulled over by the police after they had driven out to pick up some take-out food following a Black Panther Party Fundraiser. After the shooting, it was McKinney who commandeered a passing car in order to get Newton to a hospital.
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