>>>An instant classic debuts at #66 as The Who's “Wont' Get Fooled Again” premiers on the chart this week. Even some fifty years later, there isn't a day that goes by where we don't hear THIS one. (kk)
And not just on radio ... if you've got a channel called 'CourtTV Mystery' (formerly called 'Escape') on your cable or over-the-air (in Chicago that's WXFT 60.2), you've got near-daily episodes of 'CSI: Miami' (remember David Caruso?) ... that was its theme song!
Bob in Jersey
And if you happen to get tired of this one, you can always flip it over to an old episode of CSI to hear their hit “Who Are You.” (Who says these guys aren’t commercial?!?!) That’s ANOTHER song you hear EVERY SINGLE DAY on the classic rock stations. (kk)
From Tom Cuddy …
Questlove’s “Summer of Soul” Doc Sputtered at Box Office During the Week, Footage Was Used On TV in 1969
And apparently this footage wasn’t quite as “lost” as we were led to believe! (kk)
Weighing in on The Summer Of Soul …
Ok, after watching the preview of this movie a couple weeks ago on CBS, I was blown away that I knew nothing about this concert. A buddy checked into it and found it was concerts that were held over a few weeks in the summer of ‘69. That changed my thoughts in comparison to the ONE crazy event Woodstock was. Yesterday, I got to see the documentary that Questlove made and my thoughts changed again.
I thought it was going to be cool to see all the 1969 black artists performing their hits of the time. Yes, they did and didn't. However, the thought that changed was that this film was less about the music and hits than the feeling of seeing something that was right for our times. THEN, it was right for their times, but so much has not changed in society 50 years later, that it was right for OUR times as well. The music and artists were phenomenal. Some I knew well and some I knew a little about and some nothing -- but they were all priceless to see, hear their stories and how the whole event fit into 1969 and how it did NOT fit into television's plans.
No need to read further if you haven't seen this, as this is your spoiler alert.
Maxwell House Coffee did a great justice to being the company to back this series of events to get filmed. Despite all the uncertainly and work put forth, the films all lay dormant for 50+ years -- WHY? One of the weirdest things and to have them get pulled out now when we are going thru yet another era of uncertainty that mimicked 1968 unrest between blacks and whites. Sure, this film turned into a bit politics of today (and then as well) in retrospect, but it didn't matter how many hits were seen in this show … it was about how everything came together in Harlem for one of the most peaceful concerts of that many people that could ever be.
Maybe Nina Simone had some harsh words for whites then, but could you blame her? Blacks had so many reasons to become violent, as they have had this past year. Otherwise, it was not necessarily an anti-white situation, but more of a celebration in a tough time. Music can do that.
I worked with two black women for 20 years that were awesome friends and I learned so much about a culture I never knew about from them. I have not seen either since retiring a year ago, but what we discussed about music, religion and cultures still revives in me often what I had never realized. BOTH grew up with gospel learnings, as did so many blacks. I grew up in a church going family, but so different from gospel music being a forefront of the church. One of those friends was the sister-in-law of the Hutchinson Sisters who grew up in Chicago and along with their father formed a gospel group much alike their Chicago neighboring gospel family friends, the Staple Singers. The Hutchinsons became the Sunbeams and along with the Staples could be heard on Chicago's great "Jubilee Showcase" gospel TV show weekly. The Sunbeams would evolve into the Grammy Winning Emotions ("Best Of My Love," 1977).
My friend would talk about the show to me and how Mavis Staples actually became the group's manager in 1969 when they had their first hit. She would tell me how incredible Mahalia Jackson was -- and this show bore out how important she was to the gospel world in that time.
The show debated the moon walk which took place when the festival was in full gear. Today, we can debate all the talk about Mars in the same light. The film transcended the music in the way 50 years has changed some things, but not enough. Most of the hits performed in the show were from the current year and the stories about the musical "Hair" and "Aquarius" were cool. The one item I would question is about the great Stevie Wonder and how it seemed to paint him as ready to change his Motown image in 1969 from pop star to one who wrote about issues. Certainly, his hits of "Living For The City" and 'You Haven't Done Nothing" were career changing moments, but they were still two to three in the future and it was, IMO, really Marvin Gaye who started that ball rolling at Motown in the effort for making societal statement songs when he did "What's Going On" in 1971. In 1969, Stevie was having hits with "Shoo-Be-Doo-Be" (performed in the film), "Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday" and "My Cherie Amour." I think Questlove missed his mark in that one part of the show.
Although I would like to see a comp of the show, this effort to "inform" us about this event was just fabulous -- politics and all. It made both whites and blacks (and others) think about the times then ... and now.
Truly a fabulous show that needs to be seen without even having to mention who was there and what songs were played, but just the overall brilliance of music and performance.
SEE IT!
-- -- Clark Besch, 2021 ;)
I am committed to watching the whole thing … it was just SO not what I was expecting the first time around that it left me not caring whatever else might be coming up because I already felt so let down by what I had already not seen. But I WILL give it another try. As a music guy, I have a sense of obligation to do so.
I don’t know if you watched any of that BET series “American Soul,” essentially portraying the life of Don Cornelius and his hit show “Soul Train.” The music re-enactments were fabulous … and the story of how Don got to where he was fascinating. I have yet to hear if it is returning for a third season or not but if you have the chance to catch it On Demand, I highly recommend that you do so.
That being said, I found “American Soul” to be more entertaining and enlightening in re-enactment form that I did by watching something as spectacular as the Summer Of Soul film, simply because of all they left out. Certainly, the best of this music could have been used if only as a backdrop. In this respect, I think Questlove dropped the ball on this one. He flat out lost me. (kk)
Also from Tom …
Chicago, Rolling Stones and George Harrison on Obama’s Summer Playlist
Oh, Kent ... lol ... the CB video ... lolol ... man, that was funny ...
Well done.
What a great video program they have ... a fun toy for sure.
Later, my friend -
LYM
Barry
Speaking of Chuck … here are a few new Chuckisms …
>>>I was thinking of organizing a Roast at the WLS-AM studios honoring Chuck Buell. I mean, when you think about, when everybody gets together, who in the hell doesn't like a good "Chuck Roast!" Broomp-boomp! (Tim Kiley)
I admit, I think tha'd be fun!
Years ago, I was driving to a planning meeting for just such an event when suddenly, I hit a Huge "Chuck Hole!"
Didn't matter tho ... Due to some other unforeseen circumstances, they decided to "Chuck" the idea!
So, I went home to handle some house repairs. Got out my Drill and Bits, but I could not find my drill's "Chuck!"
Meanwhile, I have this annoying aunt who, to this day, every time she visits, she starts by giving me a little "Chuck" under my chin!
If these "Nameisms made you roll your eyes, I hope at least they didn't make you "UpChuck!"
Chuck de-Buell-Ell-Ess
CB ( "which once stood for "Chucago Boy!" )
>>>Reading the latest sheet, you mention the Bob Seger single “Old Time Rock And Roll.” From memory, this great single was what the Everly Brothers used to open their last show they did at the Royal Albert Hall in London. (Rockin' Lord Geoff)
>>>It looks like they opened their show with “Claudette,” the Roy Orbison song (and a #30 hit for the Everlys as well in 1958.) I just watched the entire concert and they did not perform the Seger hit ... but I WILL tell you that it's a GREAT show. (kk)
Hi Kent,
Just a little correction re: The Ev's ...
I was referring to their last tour of the UK, not the reunion show which was several years before their last tour.
Take care, stay safe,
Geoff
I thought that might be the case … but I couldn’t find ANY performance of them singing “Old Time Rock And Roll” on YouTube. There is about twenty minutes of footage from their 2005 Albert Hall appearance … would that be the one? Unfortunately, it catches the boys mid-stream and just concentrates on their own hits. But now you’ve got my curiosity up … so I wanna hear them do it! (lol) If somebody finds a video of this, please let us know.
By the way, in my efforts to track down some video of this, I came across this site that explains that The Everly Brothers performed there at Royal Albert Hall a total of thirteen times … first in 1971 and then not again until the big reunion show (that we featured), twice in 1983. After the success of that show, they returned ten more times, performing there for the LAST time on November 24th, 2005. So I’m thinking that this must be the show we’re looking for.
(And now that we all know how many holes it takes to fill The Albert Hall, finding this Everly Brothers concert video should be a piece of cake!) kk
The Instrumental Sgt Pepper LP that Mike Wolstein refers to is a great cover that was the creative genius of Sascha Burland -- the man behind the Nutty Squirrels and many commercials of the 60's. He wanted to do the cover using DJs as a promotional gimmick. One of Sascha's creations was the Utica Club Carbonation National Band 45, which was actually done by Chicago's Trolls. Sascha wrote both sides.
And Kent, indeed we HAVE discussed this album before, most recently in 2018.
I tracked down a copy of it after reading about it in Billboard in THIS article from Billboard July 15, 1967, amazingly only a month after the original Beatles LP came out here in the US!
60 DJ's!!! Who are all of them?
Peter Knight's crazy LP is between Timothy Leary and Dave Dudley!!
- MG 21122 Sarah Vaughan - It's A Man's World
- MG 21123 Chuck Berry - In Memphis
- MG 21124 Spanky And Our Gang
- MG 21125 Horst Jankowski - With Love
- MG 21126 Sil Austin - Plays Pretty For The People Again
- MG 21127 The Rattles - Greatest Hits
- MG 21128 Tony Randall - Warm And Wavery
- MG 21129 Keith - Out Of Crank
- MG 21130 The Robbs
- MG 21131 Dr. Timothy Leary - Turn On, Turn In, Drop Out
- MG 21132 Peter Knight - Instrumental Beatles Themes From Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
- MG 21133 Dave Dudley Country
- MG 21134 Dick Smothers - Saturday Night At The World
- MG 21135 The Mauds - Hold On
- MG 21136 Lori Burton - Break Out
- MG 21137 Big Jim Sullivan - Sitar Beat
- MG 21138 Chuck Berry - Live At The Filmore Auditorium - San Francisco
- MG 21139 The Best Of Moms Mabley
From this article in August 27th Cash Box, there's no mention of the cover, but "Within You, Without You" was released as a single.
From below Cash Box of September 9, 1967, we find that the LP was one of the first two albums released in England's new Mercury Records organization!
BUT, WHY the DJ pictures and release of this album at all? It seems to be tied to the new format of cassettes being offered in England, possibly? The below article from the beginnings of the Summer of Love (May 27, 1967 Cash Box), tells us that Philips’ line of cassette machines for cars, home and carry has opened the doors to 45 hits being issued on TAPE in STEREO for the first time and it is going over WELL! One of the first car cassettes will feature the Peter Knight Orchestral stuff -- likely from THIS album! Now, maybe the US ALBUM release was just the same thoughts, or maybe just to keep in line with what was issued in the UK? With the lineup of LPs above, who would know, right??? Maybe adding DJ pics would have been a good thought for DJs to start playing orchestrated pop music? Would Mr. Weber remember?
To top this all off, Peter Knight thought his orchestral instrumental pop recordings might go over with the kids and in November, 1967, PETER KNIGHT was the conductor of the London Festival Orchestra that backed the Moody Blues of their groundbreaking "Days of Future Past" album. So Knight went from the Beatles to the Moodies and hardly anyone noticed this achievement -- except Forgotten Hits did!
Do you happen to know if a legend exists identifying each face on the cover? (kk)
Sorry, I don’t. I have the actual LP and it has no comment on the cover.
Clark
Kent,
This is in regard to that LP of all the DJ's, promotional men, etc. on the cover that you posted today. I just got off the phone from talking to Dale Wehba (who lives and is retired here in OKC), and here is what he told me about that special promotional LP.
Basically, he just remembers someone from Mercury (promotional dept. maybe) calling him up, asking him if they could use a likeness of him on this instrumental album. He said, "Sure, why not." He doesn't remember who he talked to or anything else. I do believe he said he has a copy of that album, but am not sure.
Also, concerning the songs that are telephone related, the two that came to my mind were Gladys Knight and the Pips’ 1961 record, OPERATOR, and another one that probably a lot of your readers may not remember. This one did not chart nationally, I believe, but was a Top 5 record here in the OKC area in 1961. It was called DADDY, DADDY (GOT TO GET A PHONE IN MY ROOM) by singer Robin Clark (Capitol).
Larry
Robin Clark’s record bubbled under on all three major charts, placing highest in Music Vendor at #111. (Cash Box had it ten spots lower and Billboard charted it at #120 for one week) I’ve never heard (or heard of) the song.
Obviously, the downside of doing the Sweet 16 is that you can only feature sixteen songs … so you’ve got to be somewhat discriminatory when choosing them.
But I really enjoyed putting together that feature back in 2016 and have been thinking about resurrecting it … maybe once a month or so for next year. (The idea would be to get some kind of radio station tie-in who could then feature a “themed” Sweet 16 chart each month. There are SO many topics to choose from that I think this could make for an interesting on-going series. (Any takers?) kk
Hi Kent,
I am not a huge fan of Coast To Coast AM and George Noory but on occasion, when weekender Ian Punnett is on, there will be an interesting topic and guest … plus he puts thought into his bumper music.
Last night Mr. Punnett had on Music journalist Michael Christopher speaking about the "anomalies of the death of Jim Morrison." Being it is a late night show, I may catch part of a show or I may conk out -- last night, I conked out. I am not a member of the Coast To Coast AM "club," so I can't listen to their archived shows, but thought if any of your readers were members and wanted to access the archived show that was presented last night (July 9th), they could.
I do not know of Michael Christopher nor his credentials nor how good the show was, but just wanted to call attention to the show, being you most recently featured the similar subject matter. I would find it hard to believe it could top Harvey Kubernik's award-worthy article recently featured in Forgotten Hits.
Today's Saturday edition of Forgotten Hits was another ass-kicker with a ton of people "showing up for the party," injecting a huge helping of interesting content!
Thanks Kent, have a great weekend!
Take Care,
Tim Kiley
Yes, the 50th anniversary of Jim Morrison’s death has sparked a LOT of press these past couple of weeks. News of the new planned documentary that we told you about the other day should keep the fire burning for a while longer. (kk)
From FH Reader Ken Voss ...
Byron Berline, Top Fiddler Who Played With Stones, Dylan, Flying Burritos and Bill Monroe, Dies at 77
Just Some Stuff (In General):
As to the Super Charts, I still find it amazing that "Indian Reservation" would not reach #1 nationally until after 16 weeks on the chart. You would think that weekly sales by 16 weeks would not ALLOW a record to sell enough that late in its chart life to still reach #1. Even Billboard's #1 Record of the YEAR of 1965, "Wooly Bully," could not reach #1 on the weekly chart due to the long run it had just to reach its weekly peak of #2 -- a whopping 10 weeks.
Seeing "Smiling Faces Sometimes" at #56 fifty years ago and hearing it recently on my MP3 player in the car, I cannot say how cool those lyrics were, as well as 'Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get."
As to Chuck Buell's cartoons about money in the payphone and making crank calls, I did both 50 years ago and it was exciting and fun!
The Fifth Dimension doing "Sunshine Of Your Love" brings me to point out that two years after my Cryan’ Shames buddies covered Nilsson's "Rainmaker' in 1969 as their last 45, the 5D did a more Holloweenish "Thriller" version of the song on their LP as well!
Clark Besch
Wow … that Fifth Dimension version of Sunshine Of Your Love is pretty heavy!
Tom
I know … isn’t it great??? I wonder whose idea it was to cut that one! (kk)
Hi Kent,
Enjoyed all your comments, especially about the Fifth Dimension. They were a favorite group of mine, too! Got to see them at the old theater in the round in Niles.
The opening act was The Hues Corporation and their big hit "Rock the Boat," a song you don't hear that often.
And by the way, you look good with your long hair ...
Carolyn
You’re think of the old Mill Run Theater, who hosted MANY of the biggest celebrities of the day for DECADES. (The last show I saw there was The Jacksons … a show that included Michael and about an eight year old Janet. Incredibly, the place was better than half empty!!! It would be a few more years before Michael and Janet would explode on the scene again.) GREAT place to see a show.
If you’re missing hearing “Rock The Boat” on the radio, turn on any Yacht Rock station … I swear they play it EVERY SINGLE DAY!!! (Sirius/XM’s Yacht Rock Station seems to be the worst … I think they have a playlist of about thirty songs! Not only do they play the same ones over and over and over again, but sometimes they even play them in the same order. HORRIBLE variety, especially when one considers that people are PAYING for this service!!! And if The Drive has become Chicago’s Led Zeppelin / Aerosmith / AC/DC station, then Sirius/XM’s Yacht Rock might be known as the Rupert Holmes / Michael McDonald station. Rarely does an hour go by when you don’t hear one … or both of them. And let’s face it … Rupert Holmes didn’t have that many hits!!! They didn’t play “Answering Machine” this often when it was out and topped out at #32. Why would they think anyone would want to hear it NOW?!?!)
As for the long hair, I barely even remember it … it was just kind of the look of the day if you were playing in a rock band. I mean, I remember having it … and obviously have the pictures to show it … but I don’t remember anything at all significant about it in the way of caring for it, comments about it or any of that. Just a phase, I guess, like my short-lived early ‘80’s perm! (lol) kk
