I don’t know if we’ve ever started a posting with The Clip Of The Week before or not … but THIS one’s just TOO good to pass up! (kk)
Hi Kent,
With all the deaths lately, be it Covid, other illness, or natural causes, I wanted to send you a video I ran across this evening of Tom Jones, who you can see is still very much alive at 80!
In the words of comedian Steven Wright: "I'm gonna live forever ... so far, so good!"
Take Care,
Tim Kiley
Now THIS is an example of just pure, raw talent and control …
Check out Tom Jones, sitting in his chair, just as relaxed as can be, breaking into song to cover the Solomon Burke song “Cry To Me.” Frickin’ AMAZING!!! (kk)
Hi Kent,
Just a brief follow-up, when it comes to talent and longevity, there is no expiration date on Tom Jones' milk carton!
Take Care,
Tim Kiley
Again, absolutely AMAZING!! (It doesn’t take much to egg him on, does it?!? Lol)
At least this time, he gets up out of his chair!
You mentally associate Tom Jones’ singing with all of his body movements …
So to see him just sitting in a chair and STILL turning out a performance like these two above is a TRUE testament to this man’s talent. (kk)
One more …
Kent,
I would kick myself if I didn't send you and Forgotten Hits this video of Jennifer Hudson and Tom Jones. It completes the trifecta!
I got the chills when I listened to it and I'm not even in Chicago in January! This performance is flat-out stellar! I'm sure Aretha would give this her stamp of approval. Get ready, this one is a killer!
Take Care,
Tim Kiley
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHX1eGISjMk
Not bad …
But check out THIS one …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9-7swuZi4E
It's the sheer, raw talent that gets me ... and it's here in abundance with Tom Jones and Jennifer Hudson ...
Heck, I think I'd be watching The British edition of "The Voice" more to see THEM than for any of the competing contestants!!!
I've told the story before of how many years ago we were invited over to Ray Graffia, Jr. of The New Colony Six's house for a brief party and band reunion. Seems they were all being honored at a special ceremony at St. Pat's, where the band first formed way back when and decided to just all get back together for a very informal jam in Ray's basement, just for the fun of it ... no pressure, no audience ... just all of the guys (well, MOST of the guys ... noticeably absent was co-founder Pat McBride) relaxin' and chillin' on a Saturday afternoon.
Ronnie Rice, who joined the band during their second album, but went on to become the most recognizable "sound" of The Six, was just lying on the couch when all of a sudden he burst into song ... and that VOICE just came out of nowhere and blew us away.
Ronnie had been performing for decades as a solo act, sort of "The Human Jukebox," playing all of the hits that HE grew up loving as a kid and, for the most part, getting the audience to sing along with him for the bulk of the show. As such, he grew a bit "lazy" ... it wasn't about the sound of the music so much anymore (it was, after all, just him and his guitar ... no band) ... it was ALL about "throwin' the party" that the audience could enjoy as much as he did. The whole show was played for laughs, all about having a good time.
Hearing that voice come out of nowhere ... for literally the first time since these records were first hits just blew us away. All I kept thinking was, "Boy, if he would just go out there and do THAT on stage, there'd be a brand new sheriff in town!" (Thankfully, some of that energy and excitement level has been restored thanks to all these Cornerstones Of Rock shows, featuring all of our "Local Heroes" representing the era of Chicago Rock from the '60's.)
That's the magic of having the talent and the voice that I'm talking about. It's just there ... whether you're sitting in a chair, being prompted to sing one of your biggest hits ... or just lying on your back on the couch in a completely relaxed, no pressure moment ... the true talent and gift come out. (kk)
You can read all about that VERY special reunion event here ...
https://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/2008/04/new-colony-six-reunion-and-we-were.html
Since we’re already top-heavy with videos this morning, check out these two, sent in by Al Jardine’s personal assistant, Spud …
It’s a couple of brand new covers of The Beach Boys’ classic “Good Vibrations” …
They call this one The Social Distance Sessions, featuring Minhee Jones and Jesse Hernandez …
And this one's done by Ashley Campbell (Glen’s daughter) …
Glen, of course, played on any number of Beach Boys sessions … and even toured with the group for a short while … before, you know, he became Glen Campbell!!! (lol)
While there’s been some talk of a 60th Anniversary Beach Boys Reunion Tour (aka A Disaster Just Waiting To Happen!), Al Jardine suggest that maybe something like a TV Special or live concert that could be watched by millions from home would be a bit more appropriate, especially in light of these challenging times.
Let’s hope so … I’d love to see them one more time … and who knows … as a one time event, we may even catch them on their best behavior!!! (kk)
As most of you already know, we just LOVE 1967!!! We even devoted an entire YEAR to celebrating the sights, sounds and events of our all-time favorite year in music. (Scroll back to the last couple of days of 2016 and you can catch this series in its entirety simply by clicking on the “Newer Posts” button at the bottom of each page … it will literally take you day by day thru the entire year!)
Here’s a quick link to get you started:
http://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/2016_12_25_archive.html
Best Classic Bands ran a salute to 1967 this week as well … it’s not the first time they’ve run it … and it captures the majority of the highlights from this incredible year.
If you’ve only got time for the Cliff Notes edition, you can check out these articles:
https://bestclassicbands.com/1967-music-highlights-1-3-177/
https://bestclassicbands.com/top-radio-hits-1967-12-23-1555/
Kent:
You have had some excellent posts on Hank Aaron ... except he has been depicted in the wrong uniform.
I was fortunate to see the Braves play in Milwaukee County Stadium two or three times in the late ‘50s. Our Cub Scout troop organized a bus trip up there every year.
My most memorable game, however, was on 8/2/61, at Wrigley Field.
My family piled into my dad’s ‘57 Studebaker and we drove into Chicago. We booked a room at a downtown high-rise hotel and took our first subway ride to Wrigley Field. We arrived late at the bottom of the first inning. For some reason, I remember walking down to our seats just as the Braves launched a good hit, or a home run and the bases were clearing. I always thought that this was Hank Aaron hitting a grand slam.
As it turns out, my memory was slightly off, as it turns out he actually hit the grand slam in the 7th with two outs. That’s a good two-out rally.
I also don’t remember which game he hit it in, as this was a double header.
The Braves won the first game 4-2 and the second game ended in a 7-7 tie as the sun went down. My guess is that it must have been the second game.
From that day on, and for the rest of the season, the Cubs and Braves had a -1 at the end of their won loss record. The game was never completed.
I was absolutely devastated when the Braves were ripped off from Milwaukee and I walked away from the game. I have never caught on or followed a baseball team since.
I have been to Cubs, Sox, Cardinals and Brewers games, but none of these teams caught on. I even attended the infamous “Dime Beer Night” in Milwaukee in 1972, which has to rank right up there with “Disco Demolition” as far as disastrous promotions go. Although in 1972, I loved that kind of disaster.
I refused to watch the Braves after they left Milwaukee up until the last several years in the event that they were playing another team I am watching.
When I retired about five years ago, I joined the Senior Softball League and started watching games again on TV just to pick up pointers. We primarily watch the Cubs as that’s what’s on in our neck of the woods and I am actually starting to enjoy baseball games again.
When folks ask me who my team is, I respond ... “It’s a real sad story and your probably too young to understand. I’m a Milwaukee Braves fan.”
And I take that to my grave.
Robert S. Campbell
The Braves have the unique and remarkable distinction of playing in THREE different cities during their history and winning over brand new fans (while retaining the old ones!) everywhere they go.
Starting in Boston, The Boston Braves first launched in 1912 … and remained in Boston thru 1952 … or forty years.
From 1953 – 1965, The Braves played out of Milwaukee, another twelve year stretch.
And then in 1966, they moved to Atlanta, where they still reside today.
Hank Aaron started his career with The Milwaukee Braves in 1954 … and made the move with the team to Atlanta in 1966. For his final two seasons, he went back to Milwaukee to close out his career where it started, this time playing for The Milwaukee Brewers. (So TECHNICALLY, he played more games in Atlanta than he did in Milwaukee, meaning the photo WE ran was more accurate from a historical point of view) … but hey, I get it … it’s the team that YOU grew up with and fell in love with that will stay with you forever … and for anybody out there thinking “So what does any of this have to do with music?,” the answer is NOTHING … but EVERYTHING … because Forgotten Hits has ALWAYS been ALL about the Memories, whatever they may be. And any kid growing up pledging his allegiance to The Milwaukee Braves … or any other major league team for that matter … knows EXACTLY what I’m talking about.
For as long as I followed Major League Baseball, MY team was The Chicago White Sox.
I certainly admired others … The Dodgers, The Miracle Mets (half because of the INCREDIBLE season they pulled off and half because that performance displaced The Cubs in the process!), The New York Yankees in their 1960’s hey-day with Mantle and Maris … and any other exceptional athlete who won us over with his super-human abilities to rise above all others and dominate the game. (Sadly, we’ve lost too many of these lately … much like our musical heroes who seem to disappear every time we turn around.)
So while I grew up wanting to be “just like Pete Ward” (and the rest of the country wondered “Who the heck is Pete Ward?!?!”), I can totally relate.
But there was NOBODY like Hank Aaron … so we tip our cap one more time to salute his greatness. Thanks for the memories, Hank! (kk)
Kent,
Thanks for posting the digitized version of IN THE MOOD. As I said in a previous email, Glenn Miller's version of IN THE MOOD is the only song from the days of "big band" music that I ever liked.
Going back to Amazon's using Chuck Berry's IT WASN'T ME in their commercial, the first and or second time I heard it, I thought it might be a Chuck Berry sound-a-like. I agree with Mike's assessment of how it probably came about being used in the Amazon commercial.
I knew a couple of things about the record ...
I knew that personally I did not have a copy here at home and had to do some research to when it was released. It was released after DEAR DAD in 1965, which I have.
I had an afterthought. I wonder if the Chuck Berry estate gets some sort of royalties off that song? Probably so.
I did not know until I read it in FH that James Purify had passed away. I always did like their SHAKE A TAIL FEATHER, the remake of the 5 Dutones 1963 song.
Thanks for posting Chubby Checker doing The Twist among other things.
There has been a commercial running here in OKC (don't know if it's a local or national ad), but in the beginning, it shows a woman starting to dance under the limbo stick. Now there's a tune, LIMBO ROCK, by Chubby I haven't heard in a while!
Larry
My first gut reaction to this 1965 Chuck Berry track was
that he certainly must have fallen out of favor at this point in his career,
due to the complete take-over of the charts by The British Invasion … MANY of
whom (The Beatles and The Rolling Stones included!) were issuing new recordings
of themselves playing songs that Chuck Berry had written in the first place!
But the truth is ol’ Chuck was holding his own (and no, I don’t mean his Ding-A-Ling) back in ’64 and ’65. “Nadine” (#23, 1964), “No Particular Place To Go” (#6, 1964), “You Never Can Tell” (#14, 1964, “Little Marie” (#51, 1964) and “Promised Land” (#35, 1965) were all radio hits during this time … so “It Wasn’t Me” (released in November of 1965) had as good a chance as any to follow suit. Truth is that after “Dear Dad” peaked at #82 in 1965, Chuck wouldn’t have another Top 100 Hit until the aforementioned “My Ding-A-Ling” went all the way to #1 in 1972, his only OFFICIAL #1 Record.
Still, it’s nice to see some appreciation for some rare Berry, no matter WHAT the circumstances are that brought it to all of our attention. (I doubt that there are too many on the list who knew THIS one by heart before Amazon Prime resurrected it!)
“Limbo Rock” was a #1 Hit for Chubby Checker in 1962 (in Cash Box … it peaked at #2 in both Billboard and Music Vendor.) I’ll betcha I say “How LOW can you go???” at least once a month to SOMEBODY!!! (lol)
And James and Bobby Purify hit The Top 40 FOUR times between 1966 and 1967. “Shake A Tail Feather” peaked at #23 in ’67 … but their BIGGEST Hit, “I’m Your Puppet,” went all the way to #5 the year before. Falling in between was “Let Love Come Between Us” (#21, 1967) and “Wish You Didn’t Have To Go” (#35, 1967).
For the record, Bobby (whose real name was Robert Lee Dickey … and was James’ cousin) died in 2011.
After Dickey retired from show business in 1971, James teamed up with singer Ben Moore, who assumed the name of Bobby Purfiy for performing purposes. The two continued to perform until the mid-‘80’s. (kk)
A closer from Frank B …
