Robert John has passed away – he was 79. (No official cause of death was given … but John had a stroke a few years ago.)
Robert’s career began back in 1958 when a record he released under his real name, Bobby Pedrick, Jr., broke into The Top 100. “White Bucks And Saddle Shoes” peaked at #74 in Billboard Magazine when Bobby was only twelve years old … and then he disappeared from the charts for ten years until his song “If You Don’t Want My Love,” released under his new stage name of Robert John, made The Top 40 in Cash Box Magazine. (It peaked at #34 in Cash Box, but only reached #49 in Billboard.) He remained Robert John from that point forward.
We heard his song “When The Party Is Over” here in Chicago in 1970. It hit #19 on the WCFL Top 40 Survey but failed to chart at all on competing Top 40 rocker WLS.
Then, in 1972, John’s near note-for-note perfect resurrection of The Tokens’ 1961 #1 “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” became a smash, peaking at #2 on the national charts (#3 in Billboard)
John disappeared from the Top 40 until 1979 when “Sad Eyes” became an across-the-boards #1 Hit. He would hit the national Top 40 twice more, first with “Lonely Eyes” (#37, 1980) and then with his remake of Eddie Holman’s “Hey There Lonely Girl” (#31, 1980) A remake of The Four Seasons’ hit “Sherry” peaked at #70 later that same year … and then he never charted again.
Billboard’s on-going “Forever #1” series spotlights Roberta Flack this week, highlighting her first of THREE #1 Hits on their Hot 100 Pop Singles Chart.
Tom Cuddy tells us that The American Music Awards will be back soon …
Last night, I watched Quest Love's documentary on Sly Stone. It was excellent!
I knew he was a San Francisco DJ in ‘64 and producer of the Beau Brummels and many others as well as knowing and HAVING all the Family Stone 45s, but his STORY was eye opening.
YES, I knew he got too into drums in the early ‘70s and for me then, he kind of faded away with little afterthought from me in the late ‘70's and onward. This story has great footage and reminds of all the great songs we heard and loved (mostly with concert footage), even tho some classics like "M'Lady," "Sing a Simple Song" and "Smilin'" were not in the show to my memory.
We got to KNOW who all these band members were and WHY they became integral parts of the Family Stone. You got to see how Sly REALLY wanted to have peace between all races and sexes and everything else. He didn't want to be a black band or a white band or a soul band or a top 40 band or funk or other genres. He wanted to cover all bases -- AND HE DID!
I gotta say that as I watched and listened and sang along with the tunes as they came along, I realized that I was 12 years old in ‘68 when "Dance to the Music" came to my house via a DJ 45 (as did most then) and it blew me away. During the coming years, I grew a little, but was still only 15 when "Family Affair" went to the top. I never realized how broad Sly's lyrics were and how they all stood the test of what he wanted their music to be about. TO ME, they were great top 40 rock songs, not soul, and I really did not think about the lyrics because they were just fun to sing to! This film made me realize how cool those lyrics I'd been singing for over 50 years were and what it meant.
My first dislike was "Runnin’ Away," which seemed bubble-gummy for Sly. Then, I saw that in the documentary and the crazy almost teenybopper things he was suddenly doing, it made me sick. YET, I liked "If You Want Me To Stay" … and the fact that the drummer quit and was replaced by a tweaked drum machine for his #1 hit "Family Affair" was quite amazing. I NEVER know about who samples songs today, but obviously, that has been happening, and it makes sense. Heck, as I watched, I was not even sure he was still alive! He's 81! I guess he doesn't know that his old songs could make him a ton of money these days.
I never thought of him as a genius, but maybe he was! He just disappeared when drugs took over and that's sad.
It's great to have this show, but like Emitt Rhodes and others who could not cope well with fame, I wonder how his music would have progressed. Maybe DISCO would have ruined his music anyway? Often, I think that after a five year run, lots of artists could STILL make great music, but time passes one by. I still think Buddy Holly would likely have stopped having hits, but would have kept producing other's hits had he lived. You just never know, BUT this is a good film -- on HULU.
Clark Besch
I really enjoyed it as well … had been looking forward to this one for quite some time. There are SO many areas Questlove could have gone into, but I think part of his purpose in making this film was to show as much of Sly’s GOOD side as he possibly could. Trust me … read those books I recommended the other day for the WHOLE story … drugs messed this man up to the point where he didn’t have a CLUE what he was doing anymore … and, as such, I find it hard to tag him a “genius.” However, the music he made was fascinating and revolutionary … so maybe he WAS a genius at that point and time … and then just completely went over the edge. (kk)
https://www.amazon.com/Thank-You-Falettinme-Mice-Agin/dp/0374606978/ref=sr_1_
https://www.amazon.com/Sly-Family-Stone-Oral-History/dp/1637585020/ref=sr_1_
Both are fascinating reads … and highly recommended. (kk)
More Sly info from Harvey Kubernik ...
With the Sly and the Family Stone documentary, SLY LIVES! (aka The Burden of Black Genius), now airing on Hulu, I’m really excited about an upcoming April Record Store Day release that the vaunted High Moon Records label will be issuing, Sly and the Family Stone Live at the Winchester Cathedral 1967.
Triple Grammy-nominated reissue specialist Alec Palao has assembled an audio artifact that showcases Sly Stone’s band just prior to their signing to Epic Records in 1967.
Around the time of his late-1964 and early-1965 era recording studio endeavors with the Beau Brummels, Bobby Freeman and the Great Society, with vocalist Grace Slick for Autumn Records, Slyvester Stewart had a very popular radio shift in the Bay Area. He had gone to radio school and then forged a multi-racial program format of soul and rock sounds that influenced future hitmakers.
“Sly Stone was the most popular DJ among all my friends when he was on KSOL radio,” Emilio Castillo, bandleader for Tower of Power told me in a recent email correspondence.
“He played the best soul music and had a really great radio personality. We loved him!!! He started playing at a nightclub called Frenchy’s in Hayward near me and we would sneak in every weekend ‘cuz we were underage. They played before and after hours, so there were many sets to listen to and they always put on an exciting show. We stood to the side and watched closely in absolute awe!!!”
“The Winchester Cathedral tapes first came to light over two decades ago,” Palo emailed me in late February, 2025.
“Rich Romanello, the owner of the club and the Family Stone’s erstwhile manager, had made the recordings hoping to capture some lightning in a bottle, as the band's cathartic after-hours performances had quickly become the talk of the San Francisco Peninsula in early 1967, just a few short weeks after the band was formed. Romanello had essentially forgotten about them until Sly researchers Edwin & Arno Konings contacted him in the early 2000s. The reels located, Rich brought them over to my home studio to see if the sound could be resuscitated for a potential release. The recorded performance was dynamic and undeniably exciting, but there was an essential flaw in that the vocals seemed to be absent. Disappointed, we left it at that, but sometime later I went back to the tapes and, using a different machine to transfer them as well as the careful application of audio restoration software, I was able to recover enough of the vocals and create an acceptable presentation.
“Sadly, Rich had passed away in the interim, but he always advocated for a release of this historic material, which forms a tangible memento of his stewardship of the band at the very start of their career. The Winchester recordings are a significant discovery in that they showcase a one-of-kind outfit that was already at the peak of its powers, long before it became internationally famous. Even though the set is comprised of contemporaneous soul covers, Sly is fully in command, while the unique arrangements and tighter-than-tight ensemble playing point clearly to the road ahead, and the enduring influence of Sly and The Family Stone’s music (indeed, the recordings are featured extensively within the new Questlove-helmed documentary, Sly Lives!). The deluxe RSD version will be supplanted by a regular vinyl release, as well as a CD with extra material, in early summer 2025.”
The Record Store Day Vinyl edition:
I Ain’t Got Nobody
Skate Now
Show Me
What Is Soul?
I Can’t Turn You Loose
Baby I Need Your Loving
Pucker Up Buttercup
Saint James Infirmary
I Gotta Go Now (Up On The Floor) / Funky Broadway
Bonus track only on CD / digital release, summer 2025:
Try A Little Tenderness
A couple of vintage Sly and the Family Stone photos from the Woodstock era, courtesy of Henry Diltz and Gary Strobl …
The other day one of our readers wrote in asking about a Randy Bachman / Burton Cummings tour … and we said that Randy was currently enjoying his Bachman-Turner Overdrive reunion while Burton was out performing with his own band, otherwise known as The Carpet Frogs.
Well, now comes an announcement that BTO will be doing an extended tour with The Marshall Tucker Band, kicking off in July. Jefferson Starship will join these groups for a series of shows after they finish up their tour with Kansas and .38 Special. (That makes for one hell of a line-up!!!)
Confirmed dates at this time include:
July 18th – Council Bluffs, IA – Harrah’s Stir Cove (with
Jefferson Starship)
July 19th – Welch, MN – Treasure Island Casino (with Jefferson Starship)
July 20th – Fargo, ND – Scheels Arena (with Jefferson Starship)
July 22nd – Interlochen, MI – Kresge Auditorium (with Jefferson Starship)
July 24th – Appleton, WI – Neuroscience Group Field (with Jefferson Starship)
July 25th – Terre Haute, IN – The Mill Terre Haute (with Jefferson Starship)
July 26th – Huber Heights, OH – Rose Music Center (with Jefferson Starship)
July 28th – Bloomington, IL – Bloomington Center For The
Performing Art (BTO alone)
July 29th – Elk Grove Village, IL – The Village Green at the Charles Zettek
Municipal Complex (BTO alone)
July 31st – Jefferson City, MO – MU Health Care Capital Region Amphitheater
(BTO alone)
August 1st – El Reno, OK – Lucky Star Casino (with Jefferson
Starship)
August 3rd – Amarillo, TX – Amarillo Civic Center Complex (with The Outlaws)
August 15th – Wendover, NV – Peppermill Casino (BTO alone)
August 16th – Beaver Creek, CO – Vilar PAC (BTO alone)
August 18th – Boise, ID – Western Idaho Fair (BTO alone)
August 21st – Pala, CA – Pala Casino (BTO alone)
August 22nd – Ft. McDowell, AZ – We-Ko-Pa Casino (BTO alone)
August 23rd – Albuquerque, NM – Legends Theater at Route 66 Casino (BTO alone)
Prior to their summer tour, BTO will be performing in Canada along with special guests April Wine and The Headpins. This tour runs thru April and May.
Here are the dates for all of our Canadian Forgotten Hits Readers:
April 1st – Victoria, BC – Save On Foods Memorial Centre
April 3rd – Abbotsford, BC – Abbotsford Centre
April 4th – Penticton, BC – South Okanagan Event Centre
April 6th – Cranbrook, BC – Western Financial Place
April 8th – Prince George, BC – CN Centre
April 9th – Grand Prairie, AB – Bonnetts Energy Centre
April 11th – Calgary, AB – Event Centre at Grey Eagle Casino
April 12th – Calgary, AB – Event Centre at Grey Eagle Casino
April 13th – Lethbridge, AB – VisitLethbridge.com Arena
April 15th – Regina, SK – Brandt Centre
April 17th – Brandon, MB – Westoba Place at Keystone Centre
April 19th – Winnipeg, MB – Canada Life Centre
April 24th – Kitchener, ON – The Aud (Kitchener Memorial Auditorium)
April 26th – Toronto, ON – Great Canadian Resort Toronto
April 28th – St. Catharines, ON – Meridian Centre
April 29th – Peterborough, ON – Peterborough Memorial Centre
May 1st – London, ON – Canada Life Place
May 2nd – Ottawa, ON – The Arena at TD Place
May 4th – Sudbury, ON – Sudbury Arena
May 5th – Laval, QC – Place Bell
May 7th – Saint John, NB – TD Station
May 8th – Halifax, NS – Scotiabank Centre
Hi Kent,
Thank you so much for letting me know about Randy Bachman appearing in Elk Grove in July!! I imagine it will be an outdoor summer fest?? Sorry Burton and him can't get together, but as you know, I always favored Randy. LOL
I don't want to build up my hopes too high, tho … Randy has cancelled on me twice in the past. Didn't his brother, the drummer pass away?
Don't ever give up Forgotten Hits … you are the King of that category for sure!
Keep Rockin' and Rollin’
Carolyn
Randy Bachman’s brothers, Robbie and Tim, both of whom were founding members of Bachman-Turner Overdrive, passed away within a few months of each other in 2023; Robbie died in January, and Tim died in April of the same year. Fred Turner has been too ill to tour with the band … but is supposedly working behind the scenes on a new Bachman-Turner album, which has been talked about for a couple of years ago. A live album is also expected of their reunion tour … but no official release dates have been mentioned. (kk)
A review of Micky's show at The Strat in Las Vegas ...
https://zrockr.com/2025/02/23/mickydolenz-thestrat-vegas/
From Jim Roup ...
Here is Tommy "Bubba" Facenda, original Gene Vincent Blue Cap, who recorded "High School U.S.A.."
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And finally, from our TURNABOUT'S FAIR PLAY DEPARTMENT:
While President Trump seems to be going out of his way to replace anything having to do with the name "Mexico" here in The United States, FH Reader Timmy tells us that our compadres from south of the border have a few new ideas of their own ...
60 YEARS AGO TODAY:
2/27/65 – Actor Noah Emmerich is born
