Remembering a couple of the talented ladies we lost this past
week …
Hey Kent –
Like you, I'm shocked and
saddened to hear about Melanie's death. Loved reading about her Ed Sullivan
Show experience.
We interviewed her for Songfacts
just a few years ago, and she was as kind, generous and insightful as you'd
expect. Here's a quote I love relating to Woodstock and "Lay Down (Candles
in the Rain)":
"I think the best way to
help people alleviate the pain and frustration is to live a good example and do
as much as you can creatively if that's what you do. And if you do that, then
hopefully that will translate into something better than, rather than through
hate.
“You know, I think they did a
great job capturing that period in Forrest Gump. There's the hippie girl who
believed in all the ideals and people and humanity. And then there were the
angry political types. I was always suspicious of people who didn't have a good
sense of humor. I think humor and art are the first to go once people become
fanatics."
The full interview is here:
https://www.songfacts.com/blog/interviews/melanie
Be Well,
Carl Wiser
Songfacts
Hey Kent,
Thanks for the wonderful tribute to Melanie
Safka. When I was younger and first beginning to discover and enjoy oldies, I
bought a multi-cassette compilation of 60s and 70s music. Among the tracks were
three from Melanie - "What Have They Done To My Song, Ma," "The
Nickel Song" and I think "Mr. Tambourine Man."
Among all the songs on that compilation, hers
stood out to me the most because of her unique voice and her style. I started
finding more of her music shortly afterwards and soon became a fan. Songs like
"Lay Down," "Good Book," "I Really Loved Harold"
are on my "favorites" playlist to this day.
Recently, I watched some online concerts she
performed along with her son Beau, including one where she ran through all of
the songs in her Woodstock set.
She'll be missed for sure, but she's leaving
behind some incredible music.
Colin Donahue
Listening back to some of her music these past few days, I
was reminded of how much joy she brought to her songs. They were relatively simple tunes with “feel
good” themes … and very clever lyrics … most of which would work as fun,
sing-alongs. I think this is one of the
reasons her audience loved her so much … she brought them in and made them feel
right at home as part of the show. (kk)
Hey
Kent,
With
the passing of Melanie on Tuesday, it made me think back just two short years
ago when my girlfriend Alice and I had the privilege of catching Melanie in
concert at a very intimate show at the Safety Harbor Music And Art Center here
in Safety Harbor, Fl. The date was March 27, 2022. The setting was outdoors in
a temporary stage setup for maybe a 100 fans. They closed off the road in front
of the center and put up a stage and a bunch of folding chairs. I think the
cost was maybe $50.
Melanie
was seated in a chair with her guitar with her son Beau to her right with a
guitar. Another gentlemen (I forgot his name) was on her left also playing some
on the guitar. She played for about an hour and a half, probably about 15 to 18
songs, and told a lot of cool stories about her past. She sang most of the hits
you would expect with A Brand New Key being last, but also played some stuff
that she said she had just wrote and was hoping to have on an upcoming album.
Some of the songs were about the covid pandemic that at the time we were just
coming out of.
I am
trying to write this from memory so I am fuzzy on some details and song
selection but what I do remember was her incredible stage presence. She told
about how she used to live in our area (Tampa Bay), but had moved back to
Nashville when her husband died, but was hoping to come back to the Tampa area
in the future.
I
loved hearing her reminisces about Woodstock and all her details about the
festival. I was most impressed by the fact that you could tell that she was not
in the best of health, but she made every attempt to entertain. Her son Beau
was at her side, helping her every step of the way. Me and Alice got to speak
with both of them after the show and she could not have been more gracious and
accommodating towards us and other fans. Alice sat down next to her for a few
minutes as she told her even more stories about everything under the sun.
Most
impressed by her son Beau, who you could tell loved taking care of his mom. He
would help her get around (unfortunately she was in a walker), helped bring her
on to the stage, got her anything she needed and played guitar at her side.
Melanie
is and unfortunately was a true class act!
Rich
Turner
Largo,
Fl
Hi Kent –
Thanks for getting Mark
Bego’s statement in.
So sad ... the first lady of
Woodstock!
This Pic of Mark and Melanie is
from 2006 at NY's Cutting Room
- Derek Storm Photos
DIS
As usual, a great tribute from Joe Marchese of The Second
Disc …
https://theseconddisc.com/2024/01/25/in-memoriam-melanie-safka-1947-2024/
I'm hoping that Cleopatra Records will find a way to release whatever Melanie had in the can on her planned next album, "Second Hand Smoke," so we can hear some of her interpretations to some of these great classics.
Between the new live 2-CD set and re-release of her Buddah / Neighborhood recordings, here will be ALL kinds of Melanie music to listen to in the near future. (kk)
Here are a couple of video clips sent in by FH Reader Gary Maurer,
remembering the late Mary Weiss, lead singer of The Shangri-Las …
Remember (Walkin’ In The Sand) from the Muscular Dystrophy
Telethon, hosted by none other than Tony Orlando!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMjDkSKX-lw
(Despite the rave reviews below the clip, I personally found
this one a bit cringe-worthy!)
And “You’re Never Gonna See Me Cry” from
her then-new album “Dangerous Game” …
Sounding a bit better here!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mKMMmto51Y&list=OLAK5uy_nhKyOvEDkxTVZkm6s-UEwKBKHa-UcnQho&index=6
(Man, what a husky voice she developed
over the years!)
And, after all, this WAS a huge week for
The Beatles …
So this from Jennifer Vanderslice of Moon Glow Public Relations,
featuring a new piece from our former FH Buddy Garry Berman …
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The Beatles’ Invasion: 60 years and counting!
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As
2024 begins, we come to yet another (round number) anniversary marking
the Beatles’ historic invasion of America, during which they did nothing
less than turn our popular culture upside down.
Even with their astounding success in
Britain and Europe by the end of 1963, the Beatles were adamant about
going to America only after they first had a #1 record in the States.
They had seen other British singers try to make a name for themselves
here, such as Cliff Richard, without first securing a #1 hit, only to be
placed third or fourth on concert bills, resulting in lackluster
support from American audiences and record buyers. Their manager, Brian
Epstein, needed to stay ahead of the curve. He had booked the Beatles on
The Ed Sullivan Show back in November
1963, getting them top billing for their three appearances in 1964.
Epstein also told promoter Sid Bernstein, who wanted to book them into
Carnegie Hall, that the group would have to receive heavy radio airplay
first. In fact, the idea of touring America at all as a top-of-the-bill
act was, in Epstein’s mind, contingent on the kind of substantial
airplay and exposure they would receive in the weeks leading up to the
Sullivan show.
The waiting ended when the January 25 issue of Cash Box magazine placed I Want to Hold Your Hand
in the #1 spot, giving it the honor of becoming the first Beatles
single to do so in America. By February 1, the song reached #1 on the
more prestigious Billboard chart as well. It was everything the Beatles had been hoping for.
The stage was now set. The final bookings were made. The invasion of America was next.
With their much-anticipated appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show fast approaching, the accompanying hype and building excitement would continue to increase until reaching critical mass.
On Friday, February 7, 1964, the Beatles
arrived in New York’s newly named John F. Kennedy International Airport
at 1:20 p.m. aboard Pan Am flight 101, to the welcome of 3,000 screaming
fans. As they stepped off the portable stairway ramp from the plane,
John, Paul, George and Ringo secured their foothold for their invasion
of North America.
In 1964, there were three major New York
AM stations that found themselves salivating at the opportunity to
promote themselves on the backs of the Beatles: WINS, WMCA, and WABC.
Much has been written and discussed about where and when specific
Beatles songs first made it onto the airwaves in U.S. But as the first
year of Beatlemania progressed, each New York station devised ways to
cozy up to the Fab Four (both figuratively and literally) and promote
itself as the Beatles station in the
city. The competition among the three stations became red hot, and it’s
difficult to proclaim an ultimate winner. Each of them had its moments,
but it soon became necessary to do more than just play the newest
Beatles songs as they became available. And young fans of the group
indulged in every bit of information — reliable and otherwise — about
the Fab Four’s activities and plans during their visit.
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The Beatles arrive at JFK
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The Beatles on Ed Sullivan
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| | On February 9, the Beatles made their historic first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show,
with 728 audience members in the theatre experiencing the event in
person, and an estimated audience of 73 million watching at home.
Sullivan was in his 16th season on the air, and his program had long-ago
become a staple of American viewing habits on Sunday evenings. But this
night was to be very different. It quickly became an entertainment
event famous for having not only generated unprecedented anticipation,
but for surpassing even the highest of expectations.
The reverberations felt throughout
millions of households across the country that Sunday evening were
immediate. For most parents watching the Beatles’ performance, it was in
parts laughable, cacophonous, unseemly, or worse. For their children,
however, it was nothing short of electrifying. By the time that single
hour-long program began rolling its closing credits at 8:58 p.m. Eastern
Standard Time, the Beatles had generated an emotional shock wave of
such intensity that it instantly sent an entire generation of American
teenagers into a state of sheer exhilaration. An overstatement, perhaps?
Not according to those who experienced it and who can still recall that
night in vivid detail, and with that same youthful passion.
Just two examples:
Janet Lessard watched from home near Boston: “By the time they were on The Ed Sullivan Show,
that was just — I can’t even compare it to anything right now. It was
just fantastic. We were literally gathered in each other’s homes. We
would sit there from six o’clock waiting for that show to come on at
eight, in groups of fives and tens. We were just amazed…. The tears. We
would watch them and just dissolve into tears. I can’t describe it. It
was something that just came over us. All of a sudden, these four guys
come around with their charm, their music, their witty remarks, and it
just kind of hit us like a ton of bricks!”
Charles Pfeiffer watched with his family
in Kansas: “On that Sunday night in February of ’64, we gathered around
the black & white Zenith…and gosh, when the struck that first chord
it just sent something through me. And I was a 12-or 13-year-old boy
with a crew cut, and I remember I turned around and said, ‘I’m growing
my hair out.’ That was the first thing I was gonna do, which I started
to do. And just the minute they started to play, I thought, ‘Gosh, this
is what I want to do.’ ”
The next day, the Beatles took a train
from New York to Washington, D.C. for their first American concert, then
continued south to Miami, where they’d appear again on The Ed Sullivan Show.
And that was just the beginning.
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(I say “former” because Garry jumped ship after we ran some
negative comments on the Peter Jackson / Beatles film “Get Back” and the poor
job Apple did putting together their “Let It Be” box.)
As Jack Nicholson so famously said, “YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE
TRUTH!!!”
Oh, and speaking of Jack …
Got this cool shot from Timmy …
Heeeeeere’s Mikey!
One more reminder from Bob Lind ...
(the gig is next weekend!)
TO MY FLORIDA FRIENDS AND FANS ...
And those who may be in Florida in early February:
By now, most of you know that in just over a week from now (Saturday, February 3rd), I will be the headline act at the SOUTH FLORIDA FOLK AND ACOUSTIC MUSIC FESTIVAL.
But for those who don't, now you do.
I go on at 8 p.m.
But
this isn't just a "Lind gig."
It's a three-day event featuring some of the
best acoustic music south of Georgia. Florida favorite Amy Carol Webb is
the headliner on Friday night. And the phenomenal Dave Nachmanoff
closes the Sunday show.
Hoping to see a whole teeming mob of you there.
And be aware: if it should rain, so what? The entire area is covered.
You can get tix through the link on my website here:
Just click on the Broward Folk Club link.
Here's the official poster ...
And one more from Timmy ...
Thank GOD for McCall's Magazine, helping to keep our parents clear on the terminology of the day ...
