Sunday, June 5, 2022

The Sunday Comments ( 06 - 05 - 22 )

Chuck Buell brought it to our attention that in addition to June 3rd being National Donut Day … and the anniversary of when Billie Joe McAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge … it was also “National Egg Day!”

 

His reminder came along with this note …

 

Now, one of the most popular and well-known Forgotten Hits Beatles Songs is, of course, “Yesterday.”

 

And most of us Forgotten Hitters know that the melody of that song came to Paul McCartney before he had any words written to it. And because he needed something that would fit his tune while he was waiting for lyrics to develop, he came up with, and for months, used the working title “Scrambled Eggs,” along with some fill-in lyrics as a substitute because they fit so well as a temporary place-holder! (The initial working lyrics were, “scrambled eggs, oh my baby, how I love your legs!”   Thank goodness better lyrics did come along!)

 

In December of 2010, Paul McCartney was a guest on” The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” and together, for the first time, they addressed that famous story, and their version of “Scrambled Eggs” was performed as a Duet by Fallon and McCartney!

 

Here it is in celebration of this Special “National Egg Day!”

 

CB ( which stands for "ChicagoOmelete Boy!" )

 

 

I don’t imagine there’d have been 2200 covers of this tune had they left the original lyrics intact.  Maybe an egg commercial … but I think that’d be about it!  (kk)

 

DIDJAKNOW?:  While discussing just how the song should be released, Producer George Martin later said “’Yesterday’ wasn't really a Beatles record … and I discussed this with (Beatles Manager) Brian Epstein.  ‘You know this is Paul's song ... shall we call it Paul McCartney?’ 

 

“And Brian said, ‘No … whatever we do, we are not splitting up the Beatles.’”

The Beatles refused to permit the release of a single in the United Kingdom.  It appeared on their “Help!” album before it was released here in America.  (The American pressing of “Help” only contained songs from the movie soundtrack … so “Yesterday” was not included … and, in fact, would not appear on a US Beatles album until 1966’s “Yesterday … And Today,” perhaps most famous for its quickly recalled butcher album cover.

 

Capitol Records here in The States DID release “Yesterday” as a single … and it went to the top of the charts and stayed there for four weeks.

 

Incredibly, even though it was never actually pressed or released this way, THIS is how WLS charted it for the very first week on their Silver Dollar Survey …

 


The Beatles occupy six of the Top 20 spots on the WLS Best Selling #1 Records Hit List ... even if they DO mis-title "She Loves You" as "She Loves Me!!!"  (Again, who the heck was responsible for proofreading these things?!?!?)


British Crooner Mat Monro was the first artist to record a cover version of this tune.  His version made it into The Top Ten in The UK.  Since then, reportedly 2200 different artists have also recorded the tune, making it the most-recorded song in music history.  (Catchy as they are, I don’t think the “scrambled eggs” lyrics ever would have really caught on!)  kk

 

And because he just seems to KNOW these things … Chuck also told us that tomorrow, June 6th, is NATIONAL DRIVE-IN MOVIE DAY!!!

(… or Night!)

 

Tomorrow is a Very Special Day!

June 6th marks this date in 1933 when the first drive-in movie theater opened in Camden, New Jersey.

And a Big Deal it was! The screen was 40 feet high by 50 feet wide and there was parking for 400 cars!

Then, many years later, in Copiague, Long Island, New York, one of the largest drive-in theaters ever opened. With over 29 acres 2,500 vehicles could watch a movie all at once! It also had a full-service restaurant with rooftop seating, and to take children and adults to the playground - a trolley system and, in case of bad weather, a large indoor movie theater!

Along with the “Normal” size Drive-in Theaters of the era, by the late 1950s about 4,000 were in nightly operation. But today there are currently only about 330 nationwide that remain open in the United States.

Blame the invention of color television, VCRs, video rentals and time spent perusing the wildly entertaining Forgotten Hits Website each day along with the increase in land values and the widespread adoption of daylight-saving time for the drive-in theater concept taking a nosedive in popularity. Plus, these days, a lot of us Forgotten Hitters go to bed a lot earlier than we did back in the day of the Drive-in Movies’ heyday. Hey! What if Drive-in Movies started showing Matinees! Oh, well. Kent would still fall asleep before the movie was over!

So now in celebration of the former Great Drive-in Movie Theaters, here’s my “Forgotten Hits Drive-in Movie Minute Medley!”

 

CB ( which stands for “Cinema Boy!” )

 

Kent,
I have to admit that I've never been a huge fan of the Dave Clark Five, although they've put out a lot of good material.

But, as it's approaching the start of summer here, I would like to make a personal comment that I believe THEIR version of "Here Comes Summer," a big hit for Jerry Keller, is MUCH better.  I think it sounds smoother and easier to listen to than Keller's.
Just my two  cents ...
Mike

The DC5 version didn’t make a ripple here in The States … (it charted in Cash Box only … and even then only at #135) … but across the pond, it peaked at #44, one of the band’s last chart hits.

We’ve featured it numerous times before (because actually I AM a HUGE fan of The Dave Clark Five!), so I have absolutely no qualms about running it again!  (kk)

Since we seem to be stuck in British Invasion mode here, have you heard about the new Fan Vote for The Rolling Stones’ “60” Tour?

The night before each concert, fans get to vote on which “bonus” song they’d most like to see The Stones perform the following night in their city.  (The tour kicks off on June 1st in Spain.)

More details here:  https://www.noise11.com/news/the-rolling-stones-open-fan-voting-for-first-setlist-20220531

I have to admit that I was quite shocked to read that The Rolling Stones have never performed “Out Of Time” in concert before!

This has always been one of my very favorite Stones tunes.  I first discovered it in the movie “Coming Home” starring Jane Fonda and Jon Voight … and just HAD to get a copy right away.  (Unfortunately, the rocking version I heard is NOT the one that ended up being pressed on a single here in The States.  Instead, we got an orchestrated remix put together by Andrew Loog Oldham that pales in comparison.)  Thankfully, I was eventually able to get the version I heard and first fell in love with.

Much has been said about how this was never really supposed to be a Stones cut after all.  Mick and Keith had written it and given it to British singer Chris Farlowe to release as a single.  In fact, Mick even produced the thing.  And while it never really did much of anything here in The States (it bubbled under in all three major music trade publications, peaking highest in Record World at #112 after charting for five weeks.  It only charted for ONE week in Billboard, where it peaked at #122.  Even more amazing is the fact that it spent SEVEN weeks on Cash Box’s chart … and finished even lower at #125!) … it DID go all the way to #1 in the UK.  (Actually, it incorporates the strings as well … and it sure sounds like Mick singing the background vocals … maybe even Keith, too.  But Farlowe’s lead vocal lacks all of the grit of Jagger’s vocal so this one really can’t compare.  (London should have released The Stones’ version as a single here … I think it would have been a sure-fire hit.)

Much has been made about the extended use in Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood” film a few years ago … and I have to admit that was one of the highlights of the film for me, especially since I was pretty disappointed in the flick overall … and then they don’t even include it on the soundtrack album!!!  (What’s up with THAT?!?!?)

Actually, the music was the best part of the movie for me … all kinds of gems buried in the full soundtrack, most of which also never made the final LP cut.

Harvey Kubernik gives us a little bit of his own history with the tune …

The Rolling Stones’ “Out of Time” … The Backstory of the Glory

By Harvey Kubernik, Copyright © 2022

In 2016, Charlie Watts of the Rolling Stones invited me to a band rehearsal in a North Hollywood, Ca. sound stage as they prepared for their two-night Desert Trip booking in Southern California.

During a break, I chatted with Charlie, Ronnie Wood and Keith Richards. Ronnie asked me about the set list I was watching. I kidded about my fantasy inclusion and touted “Out of Time.” I also comically suggested that he could also slip in a tune from the Jeff Beck Group Truth album, when Wood was the bass player in that outfit. We had a good laugh and Keith howled.  Charlie and I then continued discussing drummer Shelley Manne.   

In Los Angeles during 1966 I was first exposed to “Out of Time” from the UK Aftermath album on KBLA-AM radio station when the legendary deejay Dave Diamond hosted a Sunday evening three-hour slot Stones City. An edited studio version of “Out of Time” also appears on the Rolling Stones’ 1967 U.S. album, Flowers.  

I was delighted to learn in 2022 that the Stones included “Out of Time” in their tour opening show in Madrid at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium.  

The soundtrack for Quentin Tarantino’s heavily anticipated music-laden film Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood is available now. Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood visits 1969 Los Angeles, where everything is changing, as TV star Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his longtime stunt double Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) make their way around an industry they hardly recognize anymore. The ninth film from the writer-director features a large ensemble cast and multiple storylines in a tribute to the final moments of Hollywood’s golden age. Written and Directed by Quentin Tarantino, the film also stars Margot Robbie as Sharon Tate plus Al Pacino, Emile Hirsch, Timothy Olyphant, Dakota Fanning, Bruce Dern, Lena Dunham, and more.  

There are several recordings broadcast in the movie but not incorporated in the soundtrack offering: Aretha Franklin’s “The House that Jack Built,” Otis Redding’s ‘I Can’t Turn You Loose,” “Soul Serenade,” courtesy of Willie Mitchell, Billy Stewart’s rendition of “Summertime” and the potent screen-only inclusion of the Mick Jagger / Keith Richards-penned “Out of Time.”   

The “Out of Time” heard in the movie’s score takes on prophetic significance and is a telling musical sequence foreshadowing the celluloid tale’s murderous task ending.   The initial media announcement earlier in 2019 of the Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood Soundtrack Album had listed the addition of the Rolling Stones’ “Out of Time” culled from the epochal Stones’ Aftermath UK edition, cut in Hollywood at RCA Studios in 1966, produced by their manager and liner note flapsmith, Andrew Loog Oldham.  

During a 2004 interview with Bill Wyman, the Stones’ longtime bassist, I asked about the Stones recording with producer Loog Oldham.

“We had recorded at Chess for a couple of dates, a few times. When we came into L.A., we went to RCA. We walked into the studio and it was too big. We were really worried. We were intimidated. We were used to recording in little places like Regent Sound. The studio was like this hotel room. And Chess wasn’t very big either. Suddenly we’re at RCA and it’s enormous. It was like Olympic (in England) later. But we solved that same problem. We thought “God, we can’t record in here. We’re gonna get the wrong sound,” lamented Bill. 

“But Andrew had this brain wave and he put us all in the corner of one room, turned all the lights down, and just tucked us all around in a little small circle. And we forgot about the rest of the room and the height of the ceiling. And we just did it in this little corner. It personalizes it much more, and as soon as the Stones did that, and got into this little area and started playing, it worked.

“And Dave Hassinger, the engineer, got all the sounds we wanted. Brian picked up all the instruments in the studio. The dulcimers, the glockenspiel, the marimbas. And I played some of that stuff as well. The organ where I laid on the floor and pumped the rhythm for ‘Paint It, Black.’  

“We just experimented in there. Brian brought in electric dulcimers, marimbas, autoharps. He just did so much to those songs from 1964-1966 in RCA. Brian created so many new sounds. Then he got the sitar together, just so he could play a riff. He wasn’t as good as George Harrison on it. George really learned the sitar and studied it. Brian didn’t, he just picked it up and worked out a little riff for one song. He did it with flutes. And he was brilliant at that. Dave Hassinger helped us do those things and he was always … We never had one bad word with Dave. At the time we didn’t know the heritage of the RCA studios. Andrew did.”  

“There’s incredible clarity to what they were doing,” record producer, author and deejay, and university lecturer Andrew Loog Oldham explained to me in a 2004 interview we conducted for my book Hollywood Shack Job: Rock Music In Film and on Your Screen.  

“It was like a linear thing. Filmic. They were vivid, and the key to that vividness was Brian Jones. The organ on ‘She Smiled Sweetly’ by Brian is just amazing. I like ‘She Smiled Sweetly’ more than ‘Lady Jane’ and ‘Ruby Tuesday.’ ‘Sweetly’ was boy/girl, living on the same floor. Whereas both those other songs have a ‘To The Manner Born’ quality to them. Trying to write and evoke. And Mick’s vocals …  ‘Out Of Time’ I love. On the initial recording it’s Mick Jagger pulling off Jimmy Ruffin. Between The Buttons and Aftermath, without a doubt quite a few harried moments. And we did it in Hollywood at RCA studios.  

“In 1964 I first walked into RCA with Jack Nitzsche in Studio B. He was doing a knock-off on Bob B Soxx  & the  Blue Jeans for Charlie Greene and Brian Stone and Atlantic. Singing back-up was Darlene Love, Jack's wife Gracia, Bobby Sheen aka Bob B Soxx and Cher. Jack introduced me to Dave Hassinger, the engineer. It only took a minute - I knew I found the band their next home.”  The actual “Out of Time” eventually implemented in Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood is from the Rolling Stones’ Metamorphosis compilation album of 1964-1970 outtakes and alternate versions, produced by Andrew Loog Oldham and Jimmy Miller, issued in June 1975 by ABKCO Records. 

This “Out of Time,” was done in England at Pye Studios April 27-30, 1966, produced by Mick Jagger for Oldham, featuring singer Chris Farlowe, for which Jagger recorded a reference vocal for the artist he was producing on a backing track comprised of English session musicians including guitarists Jimmy Page and Big Jim Sullivan, and overdubbed a horn section assembled from the Ronnie Scott jazz club bandstand. The result, featuring Chris Farlowe, was a number one UK hit single for Oldham’s Immediate Records label. 

“The Chris Farlowe record produced by Mick was something else, a real piece of work,” emphasized Andrew in our 2004 conversation.  “One of Little Steven's [Steven Van Zandt] favourite tracks is ‘Baby, Make It Soon’ by Farlowe and written by me and Eric Woolfson, who went on to do the Alan Parsons Project. Eric was our B-side boy at Immediate. He got at least half of all the songs he wrote. I have to say that watching Mick spend my money was one of the greatest pleasures ... No, seriously. One of my proudest moments. The boy became King. He took command of that studio, of those cranky old musicians and he made those tracks and horns swing, and we got a # 1 with ‘Out of Time.’ He was so pro and on the money with the budget and turning up to work in the morning.”  In July, 2019, I interviewed Andrew Loog Oldham for my 2020 book Docs that Rock, Music That Matters. Andrew detailed his “Out of Time” studio endeavors:

“In one of my dreams that did not come true, Mick and Keith and I were gonna be Holland-Dozier-Holland for Immediate. That was the original idea. But it didn’t work out. Everybody got extra busy, whatever. But that was one of the original thoughts behind it. Mick did a wonderful job on Chris Farlowe’s ‘Out of Time’ and his album. Expensive. 12,000 pounds. A lot of money then. The price of a Rolls Royce Phantom V. It was also Mick’s first production with me for my label, Immediate. The only reason Mick, Keith and I started to produce together was that we like to do things the Beatles hadn’t done. 

“There came a settlement between the Rolling Stones and Allen Klein in the early seventies that I didn’t know much about. 1973 or ’74. I was living in Paris with my wife Esther. We got together with Mick and Bianca. Mick was meant to be settling with Allen Klein. Mick was gonna deliver great tracks and stuff that would make a great last album of the deal between the Stones and ABKCO. And then Mick and I were supposed to get together in New York to mix it and this was the album that would become Metamorphosis. 

“I was not privy to what was going on. But Mick obviously changed his mind and delivered a bunch of lesser stuff to Allen Klein. It was just abysmal. 
“In an attempt to not only rescue the album but make it complete, a full album, when I used to do Andrew Loog Oldham Orchestra recording sessions for Decca, when say 2 hours and 10 minutes was gone out of the 3 hours allotted, I would have done the tracks, whether it be a Four Seasons album, Beach Boys, Rolling Stones songbook, and I would have 50 minutes left with, you know, 16 musicians. Which included Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, and I would then record anything I wanted, something new I was working on or, more often than not, doing elaborate demos of songs that Mick and Keith had written.   

“So that makes up five or six things that are on side one of Metamorphosis. The Rolling Stones are not playing on them. It’s just Mick and Keith doing some vocals. Same is true of ‘Out of Time.’ 

“Then I remembered that Mick had done a reference vocal for Chris Farlowe for ‘Out of Time.’ So, I let Allen have it for Metamorphosis ‘cause we needed a decent song. I mixed that and added a lot of people from Connecticut, bass players and background vocals that I used on a Donovan session. Same year. And that went onto the album with the Jimmy Miller-produced ‘I Don’t Know Why.’ 

“Stuff they worked on and not bothered to finish. For example, the version of Stevie Wonder’s ‘I Don’t Know Why’ which was recorded on the night Brian Jones died. The ‘I Don’t Know Why’ that they recorded at Olympic, the night that dear Brian died, was like 1:30. Right? 

“When I was putting together Metamorphosis in New York at the Record Plant in 1975, John Lennon was next door. Right? And I borrowed the horn people from Elephant’s Memory. Stan Bronstein. And John Lennon said to me, ‘Use him, man.’ And I just suggested, ‘I want a Jimmy Miller horn section.’ (laughs) “And they did that on ‘I Don’t Know Why.’ And if you listen to it, Mick Jagger repeats the same verse and chorus three times. I just made it 3:40 with the addition of the horn section and the Connecticut musicians.  

“As for the Stones’ ‘Out of Time’ in this movie, maybe Quentin Tarantino is so vinyl anal he was familiar with Metamorphosis. Right? Good for him.”  

In a July 26, 2019, story on Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood by Armond White in The National Review, contrasts the powerful exhibition of the Stones’ ‘Out of Time’ in an earlier film Coming Home from director Hal Ashby, with the ‘Out of Time’ heard in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.  

“Tarantino’s pop sadism vents the undigested frustration of the juvenile mentality. The hit parade of half-obscure pop tunes is a mere distraction, proof that Tarantino’s understanding of pop music — like his understanding of movies — is far shallower than we imagined. The Mamas and the Papa’s trenchant ‘Twelve Thirty (Young Girls Are Coming to the Canyon)’ has been used more felicitously elsewhere, as was The Rolling Stones’ ‘Out of Time,’ which Hal Ashby scored in Coming Home so that it expressed the forgotten romance and regret behind Sixties political anxiety.”

In our 2004 interview, Andrew Loog Oldham was enthusiastic about the placement of the Aftermath master take in Coming Home.

‘“Out of Time’ I love. It’s used twice in the Coming Home movie. I do remember, we all have our way of looking at it, survival mode, I am sure I reached Hal Ashby outside the cinema. I got (producer) Lou Adler, who knew him, to connect me. ‘I want you to hear me while I still have a lump in my throat. Great. You just blew me away …’

“Not like I had never been moved. I’ve had a moment that will be with me forever. The double use of ‘Out of Time’ as a political statement and a love statement was just incredible. Hal was on location and I reached him. If a piece of art has affected you like that, either you want the person to see your eyes or the sound of your voice and I was able to do it.” In June, 2022, I’m sure Andrew Loog Oldham, based in Bogota, Colombia, is smiling sweetly with the inclusion of “Out of Time” in the Stones’ current set list.   

--HK

More from Noise 11:

The Rolling Stones have performed one of their earlier songs ‘Out of Time’ for the very first time at the first show of the SIXTY tour in Madrid, Spain. 

‘Out of Time’ was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards but it was a hit for Chris Farlowe, not The Stones. Mick Jagger produced the Farlowe version. The Farlowe version featured Jimmy Page, soon of Led Zeppelin, on guitar.

The Rolling Stones’ version appeared on the UK edition of their ‘Aftermath’ album, but not on the American release. In the USA, the Stones version appeared for the first time on the 1967 compilation ‘Flowers.’ 

Quentin Tarantino included the song on the soundtrack to his 2019 movie ‘Once Upon A Time In Hollywood’.

The Rolling Stones set list for June 1st, 2022, in Madrid, Spain

Street Fighting Man (from Beggars Banquet, 1968)
19th Nervous Breakdown (single, 1966)
Sad Sad Sad (from Steel Wheels, 1989)
Tumbling Dice (from Exile On Main Street, 1972)
Out of Time (from Aftermath UK, 1966)
Beast of Burden (from Some Girls, 1978)
You Can’t Always Get What You Want (from Let It Bleed, 1969)
Living in a Ghost Town (single 2020)
Honky Tonk Women (single, 1969)
Happy (from Exile On Main Street, 1972)
Slipping Away (from Steel Wheels, 1989)
Miss You (from Some Girls, 1978)
Midnight Rambler (from Let It Bleed, 1969)
Start Me Up (from Tattoo You, 1981)
Paint It Black (from Aftermath US, 1966)
Sympathy for the Devil (from Beggars Banquet, 1968)
Jumpin’ Jack Flash (single, 1968)

Encore:
Gimme Shelter (from Let It Bleed, 1969)
(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction (from Out of Our Heads, 1965)

[Man, that is a KILLER set list!!!] – kk

We missed a big June 1st anniversary …

 

On June 1st, 1967, that The Beatles released their landmark “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” album.

(Here’s the way we remembered it on the album’s 50th Anniversary …

All part of our Salute to 1967 that ran FOR AN ENTIRE YEAR!!!

http://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/2017/06/june-1st-1967.html

http://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/2017/06/june-8th.html

 

Dear Fellow Beatles Fans,
Where do I begin?

Sgt. Pepper burst onto the scene 55 years ago today and changed the face of popular music. It was the album that flicked the switch from AM to FM radio. It went to #1 on the Album charts and stayed there for 15 consecutive weeks. It STILL pops up occasionally on Billboard's Top 200 - especially five years ago when the 50th Anniversary Editions were released. They were released the same time that The Beatles Channel on SiriusXM was launched. What an amazing addition for Beatles Fans - and the station keeps getting better all the time!
Back to 1967 –

Capitol wanted a new single and Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields Forever were chosen. The Beatles had sent a clear message to the world. If you think this single was outlandishly great and totally different, just wait until our next album comes out!!! Many experts and music lovers say this was the greatest two sided single EVER! We had to wait another 3+ months until an album was released. We never knew when new albums were coming out in the 1960s. We fans just sensed those moments.
I went to Expo 67 at the end of May with a friend, after my sophomore year in college. We had a great time at this futuristic village in Montreal. We did not get to the British exhibit (didn't know about it.)  In recent years, Beatles author Piers Hemmingsen told me he was playing the album there, just before its release!!!
We were driving back on Saturday, June 3rd, and since there were not a lot of Top 40 radios stations between Montreal and New York, it was a challenge to find anything to listen to. (Cars only had AM radio then.)  I was turning the dial very slowly trying to find something when I found a station that was so staticky it was not listenable. However, I heard just a few notes of something I had never heard before and yelled out IT'S A NEW BEATLES SONG! Couldn't keep the station connected to hear what it was. I heard maybe fifteen seconds! Got home late that Saturday night and first thing on Sunday morning at 10 AM, I went to the department store Two Guys From Harrison to see if there was a new Beatles record out. All other record stores in New Jersey were closed on Sundays. I ran to the record department and there they were - Two full racks of nothing but Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band. One rack was Mono and the other was Stereo. I bought the Mono as no teenagers had stereos yet. I couldn't wait to get home to listen to it. My brother was also home and listened to the entire album with me. With the exception of Within You Without You (I wasn't emotionally ready for such a deep and groundbreaking song yet), I was blown away with the music, the packaging, the lyrics on the back cover, the cutouts, the gatefold image, everything about it - AND THAT COVER!!! My brother thought it was okay but added a comment that I still never let him forget. He said "Why did they put that last song on after the reprise? It's a filler." He actual said that about one of the greatest and amazing songs of the 20th century!  By the way, the song I heard only seconds of the day before was Lovely Rita. We Baby Boomers have such strong memories of moments in our lives relating to The Beatles that we will never forget. It is what keeps us forever young at heart.
Happy 55th to all!
All You Need Is Love,
Mark

 

And on another Beatles-related note, Pattie Boyd has a new book coming out celebrating her life in photographs … both OF her … and with photos she has taken of others.


https://bestclassicbands.com/pattie-boyd-book-my-life-in-pictures-6-1-22/

 

Moving over to George Harrison … and his son Dhani (thru second wife Olivia), THIS certainly was an exciting announcement …

Leon Russell’s Catalogue Re-Issued Through George Harrison’s Dark Horse Records

by Paul Cashmere on June 3, 2022  (NOISE 11)

17 albums from the Leon Russell catalogue are now streaming through the George Harrison record label Dark Horse Records.

George’s son Dhani Harrison, who now runs the company, said on his socials …

“So happy for this announcement!!!
Leon Russell, The Legend, on Dark Horse Records for the first time ever!!!
I hope you all enjoy this music as much as I do.
Listen to 17 albums from the legendary Leon Russell’s solo catalog, now on Dark Horse Records, including “Signature Songs,” “Best of Hank Wilson,” “Live At Gilley’s” and more, available wherever you stream your music!

The Leon Russell albums now on Dark Horse are:

Snapshot (2013)
Best of Hank Wilson (2009)
In Your Dreams (2008)
A Mighty Flood (2008)
Bad Country (2007)
Almost Piano (2007)
Angel In Disguise (2006)
Moonlight & Love Songs (2002)
Rhythm & Bluegrass (Hank Wilson, Vol 4) (2001)
Signature Songs (2001)
Guitar Blues (2001)
Live At Gilley’s (2000)
Crazy Love (2000)
Face In The Crowd (1999)
Legend In My Time (Hank Wilson Vol 3) (1998)
Hymns of Christmas (1995)
Hank Wilson Vol 2 (1984)

George Harrison founded Dark Horse Records in 1974 after Apple went into hibernation. All of Harrison’s solo albums from ‘Thirty Three 1/3’ (1976) to ‘Brainwashed’ (2002) were released through Dark Horse.

The label was also home to Ravi Shankar, Splinter, Henry McCullough, Keni Burke, Attitudes, Jiva and Stairsteps. From that list only Splinter achieved chart success with ‘Costafine Town’ in 1974. It reached no 17 in the UK and no 16 in Australia.

Leon Russell performed with Harrison on the historic Concert for Bangla Desh on  August 1st, 1971, at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Last week we talked a little bit about AccuRadio. 

 

Well, it seems we have ANOTHER Chicago connection here that we were unaware of!

 

It was FH Reader Sam Ward who got the ball rolling by supplying a list of stations available thru this site … a WIDE selection of genres and something for every taste in music.

 

(You can view that whole piece here:  http://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/2022/05/lots-of-great-listening-choices.html

 

Then we got this from FH Reader Bob Frable …

>>>I discovered AccuRadio just as it was getting off the ground in 2000, when it was founded by Kurt Hanson, whose RAIN: Radio and Internet Newsletter (https://rainnews.com) I was reading regularly at the time. (I should go back to doing that.)  His COO there is John Gehron, a name you and your local / Chicagoland readers are quite familiar with, as are New Yorkers from his years running CBS-FM.  It doesn't surprise me in the least how diverse their selection of music has become!   (Bob Frable)

To which I replied …

>>>John Gehron is nothing short of radio royalty here in Chicago … I didn’t know he was involved with programming the station.  (Actually, I probably DID, when it first happened … but it’s been off my radar ever since.)  I have bounced around from channel to channel, listening a little bit … it’d be nice if they could program in something to avoid the repeats of the same songs as often as it seems to happen … I have a few ideas on that but am not savvy enough to know exactly how to implement them … but would be happy to discuss if they were so inclined!  Meanwhile, it makes for a great diversion while you’re working on other stuff … and there is no shortage of variety here to choose from.  (kk)

Only to receive THIS from our buddy Rick O’Dell, who programs the Me-TV-FM Network that we’re always raving about …

I enjoyed all the talk about AccuRadio last week.  Yes, John Gehron is at the top of the totem pole there along with founder Kurt Hanson — two brilliant radio guys.  Farther down the list you’ll find me.  I’m their Brand Manager for Smooth Jazz.  I’ve been programming their 20+ channels of Smooth Jazz since 2009.  

Rick

Great to see you are able to still keep your hands in programming what has to be your true passion.  (Rick’s name became synonymous with Smooth Jazz here in Chicago … and just may be the biggest feather in his heavily feathered cap!  Lol)

Use this link to browse around a bit and bookmark a few stations that catch your fancy.  Like I said, you’ll find something here for everybody.

https://www.accuradio.com/oldies/

(Rick has been running the A-Sides/B-Sides Weekend again this weekend on Me-TV-FM … certainly a fan-favorite.  (You can catch the last day of the festivities here:

https://www.audacy.com/metvmusic/listen#discover

And we’re actually cooking up a few new special programming ideas as well … so stay tuned for that.)

Hey Rick … now that I know you’re still programming Smooth Jazz, you’ve just GOT to find a way to slip THIS one into the mix somewhere!!!

Kent -

Thanks for all you do in keeping 60's music alive.  I'm a daily reader and appreciate all the work you must put in to make Forgotten Hits what it is.

I'm a huge Temptations fan.  I've been one since I first heard their second greatest hits collection, which was only the start for me.  My Mom actually took me to see them at Mill Run in the 70's.

I wanted to send you additional information on the last solo track that you credited to Eddie Kendricks, " I Couldn't Believe It."  The track was off an album that both Ruffin and Kendricks released in 1987 called "Ruffin & Kendricks," and should be credited to both of them.  The album was on RCA and I believe the album deal was secured for them by Hall & Oates following the Apollo album.  The album is actually very good but fell victim to not being promoted.

In case you are interested, the current Tempts have put out two albums in recent years that are worth checking out ... "All The Time," released in 2018, and "Temptations 60," released last year.  

Thanks again for all you do.

Stuart Cohn

My error … totally missed that.  In fact, the duo charted one more time on Billboard’s R&B Chart with “One More For The Lonely Hearts Club,” which went to #43 in 1988, from the same album.  (Funnily enough, they are listed on the label for these as Ruffin and Kendrick … no “s” at the end of Eddie’s name.  Wonder what that was all about?  Maybe like Dionne Warwick adding an “e” to the end of her last name when she cut “Then Came You” with The Spinners … perhaps a label violation of some sort if Eddie was under contract to somebody else???  I never noticed it before, but even their duet with Hall and Oates shows him as Eddie Kendrick.)  Interesting.  (Interesting, too, that Eddie stayed loyal to David Ruffin as the “band of brothers” he so wanted with The Temps.  Sadly, David would be dead of an overdose just a few years later.  He just never was able to kick it.)  kk

UPDATE:  According to Joel Whitburn’s book, “Kendricks later dropped the letter “s” from his last name.”  Wild!  (kk)

 

Micky Dolenz was in New York City Friday for a show tomorrow with Felix Cavaliere at The Palladium … and will sit down with CBS' Anthony Mason for an in-person interview for Mason's For The Record series on CBS Sunday Morning.

Mason first interviewed Dolenz, with Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork, in 2016, in conjunction with their Good Times album in 2016.

David Salidor

I’ll have to watch for that Sunday Morning clip … (it aired earlier this morning but I was still in bed!!!  lol)  Those are generally pretty good.  (Please send it to me if you can.)  Thanks, David!  (kk)


Good stuff from Jack Levin around Billie Joe McAllister in Forgotten Hits this morning!

I sent this “Today In Music History” reminder to some of the folks on my list.

Chuck Buell

 

This was brought to my attention today!

Seems timely to bring it to yours today too.

So, while today is June 3rd, this song was released in July of 1967 and climbed to be a Number One song in August of 1967 for four weeks.

 


( And if you want to follow along ~~~ )

 

It was the third of June, another sleepy, dusty Delta day.

I was out choppin’ cotton, and my brother was balin’ hay.

And at dinner time we stopped and walked back to the house to eat.

And Mama hollered out the back door, “Y’all, remember to wipe your feet!”

And then she said, “I got some news this mornin’ from Choctaw Ridge.

Today, Billie Joe MacAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge.”

 

And Papa said to Mama, as he passed around the black-eyed peas.

“Well, Billie Joe never had a lick of sense; pass the biscuits, please.

There’s five more acres in the lower forty I’ve got to plow.”

And Mama said it was shame about Billie Joe, anyhow.

Seems like nothin’ ever comes to no good up on Choctaw Ridge.

And now Billie Joe MacAllister’s jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge.

And brother said he recollected when he, and Tom, and Billie Joe

Put a frog down my back at the Carroll County picture show.

And wasn’t I talkin’ to him after church last Sunday night?

“I’ll have another piece-a apple pie; you know, it don’t seem right.

I saw him at the sawmill yesterday on Choctaw Ridge,

And now you tell me Billie Joe’s jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge.”

 

Mama said to me, “Child, what’s happened to your appetite?

I’ve been cookin’ all mornin’, and you haven’t touched a single bite.

That nice young preacher, Brother Taylor, dropped by today.

Said he’d be pleased to have dinner on Sunday, oh, by the way.

He said he saw a girl that looked a lot like you up on Choctaw Ridge.

And she and Billie Joe was throwin’ somethin’ off the Tallahatchie Bridge.”

 

A year has come and gone since we heard the news ’bout Billie Joe.

And brother married Becky Thompson; they bought a store in Tupelo.

There was a virus going ’round; Papa caught it, and he died last spring.

And now Mama doesn’t seem to want to do much of anything.

And me, I spend a lot of time pickin’ flowers up on Choctaw Ridge,

And drop them into the muddy water off the Tallahatchie Bridge.

 


Could the success of the ABBA Avatar show bring back more of our favorite artists from yesteryear, live in concert again?

 

Think about it … between vintage video footage and today’s technology, virtually EVERYBODY could believe and performing again!

 

(Jimmy Page disclosed this past week that Led Zeppelin were once approached about doing something similar to the ABBA show … but could never agree on just how to present it so it never happened.  But now, even if THEY aren’t willing to perform together again, the band could live on forever through this new technology.)

 

The Beatles could get back together, even though two of them have passed on!  Elvis, Buddy Holly, heck even The Winter Dance Party Tour all could live again.  (Wasn’t there a Roy Orbison hologram tour a few years back?  And I know there was an Elvis one … where the computer-generated image of Elvis performed his songs on stage with a live band and orchestra.

 

No, it’s not the real thing … but how else can we preserve the music and imagery of these artists without something along these lines.  (Now I’ve never seen one … so I can’t say with any authority what this will be like … but the reviews have been outstanding … and the atmosphere would be far more concert-like than just going into a movie theater and watching something projected up on the big screen.  And I imagine the sound’s a whole lot better, too!)

 

This could be the future … of the past.  (Damn, what a great slogan … can I copyright that???)  Time will tell where it all goes from here … and if we’ll get the chance to see it.  (kk)    

kk:

Just some random thoughts …

Wild Wayne Told This Story On His Show ...

Years Ago, Wild Wayne Was Having Lunch With Tommy Sands. “You're   Married To Nancy Sinatra,” Wild Wayne Said To Tommy. Tommy Answered,  “Not Anymore. She Kicked Me Out With Her Boots And I Started Walking.”

Chris Montez Was Touring England With The Beatles.  Chis Was Sleeping On The Bus. John Lennon Poured Beer On His Head. They Started Fighting And Had To Be Separated.

Brian Hyland Told This Story About Chris ...

They Were Backstage And Chris Forgot His Jacket At The Hotel. He Calls The Phone Number On The Key To See If Somebody Could Bring Him His Jacket. Turns Out He Was Talking To The Pizza Place Across The Street From The Hotel.

By the way, Brian Hyland Just Recorded "MR. BLUE," The Fleetwoods’ #1 Hit From 1959.

On Saturday Night, Around 7 PM, Cousin Brucie Talked To Barbara Ann Hawkins (of The Dixie Cups.) … "CHAPEL OF LOVE" and "IKO IKO."

Tony Orlando (from 10 PM to Midnight) Played Music Of The 2022 Inductees Into THE EAST COAST MUSIC HALL OF FAME … Neil Sedaka, Jay and the Americans, Dionne Warwick, Gary “US” Bonds, Earl "SPEEDO" Carroll And More.

On Tuesday, June 7th, from 8 - 11 PM, Ken Kojak Interviews Jimmy Clanton On His "1960's JUKEBOX REVUE."

FB 

Love Brian Hyland … but I don’t think he brings anything to this new recording of “Mr. Blue,” a song I have never really cared for in the first place.  (Being familiar with his singing style, I had hoped he would have mixed it up a little bit to give it a little more oomph and pizazz … just not feeling it on this one. Sorry, Brian!)

Of course, we featured Nancy on Saturday as part of Phil Nee’s weekly interview series running this year exclusively in Forgotten Hits … and we’ve got more planned, including a special Nancy and Lee segment …

Assuming we can ever string together enough time to actually write it!!!  (kk)

2022 NEW FEATURES

As we approach the halfway point of 2022 (can you believe it?!?!) I am curious to know which of the new features we’ve unveiled this year you are enjoying the most.  (Comments will be kept private … but I am trying to gauge the hits and misses and determine which ones connect the most with our audience.)

So please take a minute to drop us a line and let us know your thoughts about:

PHIL NEE’s WEEKLY INTERVIEW SEGMENTS

MAGIC MONKEES MOMENTS

THE MONTHLY JEFF MARCH / MARTY SMILEY CHILDS “INSIGHT TO” ARTIST PROFILES FROM THEIR SERIES OF “WHERE HAVE ALL THE POP STARS GONE” BOOKS

OUR SWEET 16 THEMES

EXCERPTS FROM HENRY DILTZ’S JOURNALS

THE WEEKLY 1972 TOP 40 SURVEYS FROM EVERY STATE IN THE UNION (except, STILL, Vermont!!!  What the heck is up with that?!?!)

CHUCK BUELL’S RANDOM OBSERVATIONS

REPRINTS OF HARVEY KUBERNIK’S ARTICLES PROFILING SPECIAL ARTISTS AND TIMELY EVENTS

As well as the usual SUNDAY COMMENTS, TUESDAY THIS AND THAT, THURSDAY THIS AND THAT, THE FRIDAY FLASH

HELPING OUT OUR READERS

CONCERT REVIEWS

Let us know, too, how often you read FORGOTTEN HITS and how it fits into your routine  (Are you a daily reader?  Or do you just check it out when we send out reminders?  Maybe you catch up on the weekends to see what you may have missed?  We wanna know!)

We’ve been doing this for 23 years now (and are determined to reach year #25!!!) … so your feedback … good, bad or otherwise … is much appreciated.

We want to give you what you most want to see …

So please, just take a few moments and let us know what you think.

THANKS!  (kk)