Today is: Jan Gabriel Sunday! Sunday! Sunday! Smoking US 30 Dragstrip
And we're in Las Vegas seeing "The Wizard Of Oz" at The Sphere in what promises to be a once-in-a-lifetime presentation.
(fill you in more once we get back) kk
Meanwhile, here are a few of the comments you sent us before we took off ...
>>>Disney-Plus will be airing The Beatles Anthology Series over three nights beginning this Wednesday November 26th, Thanksgiving Eve! (kk)
Thanx for the notice, Kent! I need to make a quick stop at my Favorite Beatlemania Store and pick up a few things!
They have such convenient hours!
Open 24 Hours a Day! 8 Days a Week! Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!
Buell!
Lots of Beatles stuff floating around again thanks to the 25th anniversary of their “Anthology” material (book, cd’s and videos) …
Including this remembrance of Pete Best, whose 84th birthday was November 24th …
And this piece from Harvey Kubernik …
I interviewed American Bandstand host Dick Clark in 1998 at his office in Burbank, Ca.
I asked Clark, a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, about The Beatles. On November 26th, Disney+ broadcasts the premiere of The Beatles Anthology 3-part series.
As a native of Los Angeles, child of Hollywood and a teenager, I danced on American Bandstand when it filmed in Hollywood in 1966. One time the Mamas & Papas and Bob Lind were the in-studio guests. I was in the Slauson Line in May of 1966.
You can stop being jealous … or telephone or email my longtime pal Bob Kushner who was with me for a weekend of tapings.
I also danced briefly on Shebang, another TV danced program hosted by DJ Casey Kasem that Clark produced. The Beau Brummels were the guests. Surfer Peter Piper was my wingman back then. We chatted a bit with regular dancer Famous Hooks, who Clark recently heard from. And, yes, I still talk with Peter.
Harvey Kubernik: I know Paul McCartney appeared on one “American Music Awards” a few years back. Looking around your office, I mean, photos of The Beatles, John Lennon, Stuart Sutcliffe artwork, and I realized at one time you had a record label, Swan, that issued “She Loves You” b/w “I’ll Get You” very early in the game. Can we talk about The Beatles? The anthologies are selling as are the BBC tapes. What impressed you about them? (Clark goes to his office wall and shows me a Swan Records staff photo and a record presentation to The Beatles on their first American tour in 1964. And you ought to see the fantastic Jackie Wilson photo Dick has on the wall!)
Dick Clark: You asked for it (laughs). Here’s a ticket stub from November, 1961, from a Beatles show which amounts to 42 cents U.S. money. Here’s the photo of Bernie and Tony, my former partners in Swan, with The Beatles when I was in the music business; after the government forced me out of the music business, they went on with it.
The first record Bernie brought back was from these four kids from England with the funny haircuts. I put it (“She Loves You”) on “Rate-A-Record” (an American Bandstand segment) and the kids gave it a 73. They didn’t like it. I thought they looked strange.
I didn’t particularly care for it because I thought it was derivative. It sounded like The Crickets and Buddy Holly, and a little Chuck Berry. Recycled old American music. I didn’t focus in on the fact that it had a different thrust. I had no idea they would go on and make their own music and change the world. The irony of the picture of Bernie and Tony with The Beatles and the record “She Loves You” was that, had Swan sold 50,000 copies of “She Loves You” that we played on “Rate-A-Record”, we would have had the rights to The Beatles ad infinitum.
I said to Bernie years later, “Why didn’t you buy 50,000 copies? (laughs) This was their second release. Vee Jay and Ewart Abner had them first. Bernie was an alert guy. Someone called his attention and he went over to England to check The Beatles out. At the time, Capitol didn’t want them in the U.S.
I look at this photo. How fate changes things. I’m looking at Ringo Starr ...
We did Birth Of The Beatles and Pete Best got aced out of a drummer’s job and I met him and talked to him. I wondered, how did this man walk around without being a total nutcase, knowing that he got aced out of a job as one of four musicians who changed the world? He was the technical advisor on our show. A sweet man. I still hear from him.
HK: Did you ever see the band play live in the U.S. or promote any of their live shows?
DC: I saw them in Atlantic City on their first tour here. The first time I saw them in the flesh. Several times thereafter.
HK: Did you like their stage show?
DC: It was interesting because it was like the first time I saw Elvis Presley. There was this shriek, this sound, which I think is part of the reason they gave up performing in person. It was very hard to hear the music. The audience reaction was phenomenally interesting. That’s what I found about Presley. I saw Presley in the ‘50’s at The Arena in Philadelphia, a 4,000 seater. It was the first time my ears rang after a concert. The same thing happened in Atlantic City when I saw The Beatles. So, you knew something was going on. We later promoted them in Pittsburgh, I think. We had to pay them $25,000 for the night, which was just incredibly expensive in those days.
Photos by Brad Elterman
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Courtesy the Harvey Kubernik Archives
Don Randi, Harvey Kubernik, Don Peake, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones
“When I was the lead guitarist of the Everly Brothers 1961–1963, we rotated nights with the Beatles in Germany,” Los Angeles High School alum Don Peake reminded me during a 2023 interview.
“John and Paul watched our shows. I always liked the Beatles and I knew they would be successful just like the Rolling Stones, who opened for us on a tour of England in 1963.
“I’m on the John Lennon Rock ’n’ Roll album Phil Spector produced in 1973. John remembered me at the sessions.”
If you think all of Keith Richards’ guitar lessons were gleaned from the Eddie Cochran and Chuck Berry playbooks, along with riffs on the Chess, Sun, Motown, and Stax record labels, this is what Keith said to New Musical Express in 1963.
“I have picked up as many hints on guitar playing as I can from Don Peake, who is the Everly Brothers guitarist. He really is a fantastic guitarist, and the great thing about him is that he is always ready to show me a few tricks.”
"We did 'Rubber Soul Jazz,'" keyboardist/arranger Don Randi reminisced to me in a 2012 interview.
"We did it for Randy Wood, who had Mirwood. Wood was formerly with Vee-Jay Records. I loved the music from the start. If not the first fusion album, one of the first to combine the feeling of jazz and rock together. Marshall Leib. Thanks. He heard me playing these songs at Sherry’s Restaurant on the Sunset Strip and asked if I would like to do the album.
“Half the people on the sessions were Wrecking Crew people. But the fact was that we could do the music instantly and it made it easier for everybody else. We stayed constant so that they got used to dealing with a constant rhythm section. A band that plays together and listens to each other. Because we had the ability to do that. We didn’t have to do 20 takes.”
While his history on the pop charts here in America may seem minuscule, reggae artist Jimmy Cliff left his mark on the world’s music, bringing reggae to the forefront as a new music genre. Between Cliff and reggae legend Bob Marley, these artists paved the way for reggae music to gain and audience around the world.
We first heard his music in late 1969 / early 1970 when his first US chart hit, “Wonderful World, Beautiful People” soared to #10 here in Chicago. (Nationally, it peaked at #18.
It would be nearly a quarter of a century before we’d see that name on the charts again. In 1994, Jimmy’s version of “I Can See Clearly Now” peaked at #8. (An earlier version by Johnny Nash, also a prominent figure in the promotion of this new reggae sound, topped the charts in 1972. Ironically, although he had already been around for a decade scoring minor chart hits, Nash first gained our attention with his 1968 reggae-tinged hit “Hold Me Tight,” which went to #3 in 1968. After his 1972 chart-topper “I Can See Clearly Now,” Nash would just miss The National Top Ten the following year when “Stir It Up” peaked at #11.)
The movie “The Harder They Come” put Cliff on the musical map for good when it was released in 1972. He was inducted into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2010.
Cliff’s family posted this death notice on social media:
It’s with profound sadness that
I share that my husband, Jimmy Cliff, has crossed over due to a seizure
followed by pneumonia. I am thankful for his family, friends, fellow artists
and coworkers who have shared his journey with him. To all his fans around the
world, please know that your support was his strength throughout his whole
career. He really appreciated each and every fan for their love. I also wanted
to thank Dr. Couceyro and the whole medical staff, as they have been extremely
supportive and helpful during this difficult process. Jimmy, my darling, may
you rest in peace. I will follow your wishes. I hope you all can respect our
privacy during these hard times. Further information will be provided at a
later date.
See you and we see you Legend.
Latifa , Lilty and Aken
There's a brand "new" Ray Charles album out ...
Titled "No One Does It Like Ray Charles," this new LP represents a collection of Ray Charles gems from the '60's that never made their way to an LP before ... singles and B-Sides that for a Ray Charles collector like me, make this a "must have" for my collection. (And I just LOVE the cover!)
Here's the track list:
My Baby Don’t Dig Me (#50, 1964)
Without Love (#29, 1963)
The Brightest Smile in Town (#92, 1963)
Hide Nor Hair (#20, 1962)
My Baby (I Love Her, Yes I Do) #92-B, 1960
No One (#21, 1963)
Don’t Set Me Free (#20, 1963)
Something’s Wrong (#xx, 1964)
At the Club (#40, 1962)
Worried Life Blues (Someday Baby) #88, 1960
Who You Gonna Love (#92, 1960)
My Heart Cries For You (#38, 1964)
I just wish there were more tracks here ... lots more rare, hard-to-get material is available from this era. (kk)
Kent,
Enjoyed the write-up about Len Barry. Got a question and I realize I could do some investigative follow-up, but several years ago on my show I played a song by Barry called "4-5-6," which was supposed to be an answer to "1-2-3,". Can't remember the label offhand but I don't believe it was Decca. Now I borrowed the record, it was not mine, so I have no way of checking ... but it was never played in this market to my remembrance. I don't have the record. Are you familiar with this record?
Have a Happy Thanksgiving and be sure and do the TURKEY TROT with Little Eva.
Larry Neal
Len Barry DID cut a follow-up record (for the Amy label) in 1968 … and it actually charted (in Cash Box and Record World anyway), bubbling under at #122 and #125 respectively.
Its official title was “4, 5, 6 (Now I’m Alone)” … and this one sounds a bit like “Early Morning Blues And Greens” by The Monkees! I don’t really get the 4-5-6 connection here … probably more a gimmick to get it played more than anything else. (Len’s last Top 40 Hit was two years prior.)
I was surprised to see that John Madara also had a hand in writing this one.
I wasn’t familiar with it until you brought it up … but I did find this clip on YouTube …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1OOYzIC890&list=RDt1OOYzIC890&start_radio=1
Jim Roup shares some "timely" 1965 memories from KRLA, featuring the recently mentioned Len Barry and The Spokesmen!
>>>Sixty years ago this week we were down at the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego shooting the pilot for what was then called "The Monkeys." We filmed from November 13th through November 22nd. None of us had any idea that those days on the beach and around that beautiful old hotel would launch something that would stay with us for the rest of our lives. I was just a young actor having fun and doing the work alongside Davy, Peter and Michael. Then suddenly the whole world changed. The show, the records, the touring … it all grew out of that first little pilot shoot. I’m grateful every time I think about it. The friends I made. The music we created. The people who’ve stayed with us for decades. I kept a lot of notes and photos back then, and when I go through them now I shake my head and smile. We were kids doing a job. Somehow it turned into a piece of pop history. Thanks for keeping the memories alive with me. (Micky Dolenz)
A clipping from Gary Pig Gold …
After our piece on the Buddy Holly street markings ran we received a few responses …
Kent:
I was not aware of this.
I would suggest anyone wanting to reverse this ruling in Lubbock, to reach out the Transportation Secretary ASAP:
The Honorable Sean Duffy
U.S. Department of Transportation
1200 New Jersey Ave., SE
Washington, DC 20590
Additionally, you can reach out to your State Senator and ask them to contact Mr. Duffy and ENCOURAGE him to allow Lubbock to be a exception to the rule.
I will be doing both tomorrow.
-Tom Cuddy
Astonishingly sad ... thanks Kent
- DIS
60 YEARS AGO TODAY:
11/30/65 – Actor Ben Stiller is born
