Buell - With a Remembrance:
I read with interest in FHs about yet another “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated” incident, this time around Jerry Lee Lewis.
You also included a Fun vintage video of “The Killer'' playing “Whole Lot of Shakin’ Going On” when he appeared on the Steve Allen Show on July 28, 1957.
As a very young boy, I was a Big Fan of his Forgotten Hits, not knowing that later on I’d be playing them on the radio myself, probably hundreds of times over the years, or that a major market leading Radio Station would appropriate the title to one of his songs to use as a promotional theme for me!
It was before then, and then, and after then, that it was, has been, and still is, one of my favorite Jerry Lee Lewis hits. (Watching this video through, you can probably see why!)
CB ( which stands for “Commandeered Boy!” )
I cannot help but laugh when I watch that video of Jerry Lee performing on The Steve Allen Show.
Just a year before, Allen had Elvis dress up in a tuxedo and sing “Hound Dog” … to a hound dog!!! (Allen seemed to really enjoy poking fun at that “passing fad” that everybody called rock and roll way back then!)
Whereas Elvis always felt his appearance on the program was a bit humiliating and insulting (Steve Allen, on the other hand, saw the humor in the move ... and likely just thought of Jerry as just another "novelty act") ... but still he just let Lewis rock his little heart out …
By the end of the song his hands, fingers and legs were flying in every possible direction, all while still keeping the beat and the moment very much alive.
Rock and Roll was new and still in its infant stage at the time … but the kids loved it … and the parents were entertained by the outrageousness of it all! (kk)
The three remaining original members of Chicago remember how much Jimi Hendrix enjoyed their band in 1969 … and even invited them to go out on tour with them!
https://bestclassicbands.com/jimi-hendrix-live-album-los-angeles-forum-10-26-22/
And, speaking of Jimi Hendrix ...
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We're also looking forward to a new Rolling Stones album next year ... it'll be the band's first LP of brand new original material in 18 years ... and, we're told, at least half the tracks will feature Charlie Watts on drums. (The Stones have always been big about raiding the vaults and re-evaluating old and unfinished tracks to see what might be worth resurrecting when putting together a new LP) Steve Jordan, who took over the sticks after Watts passed away last year, will play on the remaining tracks. No official release date has yet been announced.
Bruce Arnold, writer and lead singer of Orpheus' "Can't Find The Time" has passed away. SO many great songs by that Bosstown sound group and his voice was so smooth, too.
Clark Besch
I’ve always said you just never know who’s reading Forgotten Hits … until somebody contacts you out of the blue to tell you how much they enjoyed a particular piece … or to set the record straight on a misinformed topic … or just to let you know what a great job you’re doing.
Such was the case when we heard from Bruce Arnold a few years back COMPLETELY out of nowhere. He praised a piece we had done on Orpheus and thanked us for keeping the music out there … and even told us that the band was working on a new recording project. (I didn’t even know they had gotten back together!)
So very sad to hear that this great talent has passed on. (“Can’t Find The Time” is one of those songs that ALWAYS shows up on those “forgotten favorites” … “should have been a bigger hit” lists.) When it was first released in 1968, it fizzled out at #88 in Cash Box … and never even made The Hot 100 in Bilboard. The following year, it was rereleased and climbed to #72 in Cash Box and #80 in Billboard … but an awful lot of people must have loved it and been familiar with it based on the tremendous amount of mail we’ve received on this song and band over the past 25 years. (kk)
https://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/2009/05/cant-find-time.html
https://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/2020/05/exploring-some-new-old-music.html
https://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/2020/05/the-friday-flash.html
I don't know if this has any basis, but I was thinking about the originally "unknown artist" for "Mah-Na-Mah-Na."
As read in Forgotten Hits: “During its September 1 – 15, 1969, run on the WLS 890 Hit Parade, the surveys erroneously credited the record to someone named Pete Howard.”
OK, Pete Wright and Howard Bedno were two of the most well-known, aggressive, successful and active Independent Record Promoters in Chicago in the 1960s.
If I have my dates right, Art Roberts was Music Director at WLS in the mid-to late 1960s right before I was and he, too, dealt with them on a weekly basis. Perhaps that was a record they were promoting at the time and WLS, needing an artist's name for the song when it was time to list it on the station's music survey, and Art being pretty good friends with them, might have come up with that name as a space holder just for Fun! "Pete (Wright) Howard (Bedno)!" "Pete Howard!"
Just speculating here!
CB ( which stands for "Conjecture Boy!" )
I think that is a very likely and very real possibility … and a pretty educated guess! Bedno and Wright were the KINGS of promotion here in the ‘60’s … the whole Midwest, really … and were even involved with many of the artists themselves. (I know they played a big role in the advancement of The New Colony Six’s career … and many others as well … and even had their own record label for a while.)
I think you may be on to something here (although I’m still not sure why WLS would list the record that way … perhaps they thought Piero Umiliani was a little too hard to pronounce or remember … and they probably didn’t think it was going to be all that big a hit either.) It ultimately climbed to #34 on the WLS chart during the three weeks it spent there. In contrast, WCFL didn’t chart it at all.
And … Art Roberts recorded his “Bedtime Stories” LP on Bedno and Wright’s Quill Record Label … I feel confident enough to say that your analysis and theory are likely spot on! WTG, CB!!! (kk)
With “Revolver” coming out today (the 28th) Harvey Kubernik’s piece is exceptionally timely!
https://www.musicconnection.com/kubernik-the-beatles-revolver-special-edition/
John
Lodge will bring his new show “John Lodge Performs ‘Days of
Future Passed’” to America. JOHN, together with his 10,000 Light Years Band,
will perform The Moody Blues’ iconic ‘Days of
Future Passed’ album in its entirety, with a special recording by the
late Graeme Edge and performances by Jon Davison of YES. The show will
also feature a set of the pioneering classic hits “Ride My See-Saw,” “I’m Just
a Singer (in a Rock and Roll Band),” “Isn’t Life Strange,” “Legend of a Mind”
and “Nights in White Satin” in what promises to be a truly spectacular evening.
“November, 2022, sees me looking back 55 years to that week in 1967,” says JOHN
LODGE. “As I said at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Graeme, Mike, Ray,
Justin, and I, together with Tony, went into a studio, and seven days later we
came out with an album that changed our lives forever.” He adds: “I’m sorry
that the Moodies are no longer touring, and I miss my friends Ray and Graeme
deeply, but as I looked back to the past, I realized that I also wanted to look
forwards to the Future. My hope is that in this show, and album, you will
get to revisit 1967, but at the same time, see how this album has grown with
me, and with you. Thank you to the 10,000 Light Years Band, Jon
Davison and, of course, Graeme, for their belief in this project and helping
bring my vision to life. And thank you to all the fans for Keeping the Faith.”
And a closing tribute to Gladys Knight, who was just here last weekend performing at The Arcada Theatre. (Man, I would have loved to have seen that show ... I have always wanted to see her!) If any of our readers were there, we would LOVE to run your review of the concert! (kk)
https://bestclassicbands.com/gladys-knight-biography-5-28-20/
