A notification comes out about a celebrity death ... only to be overturned a few hours later with a "Oh no, they're still alive" announcement. (In this age of immediate news, it would seem to me that this should be less likely than ever before. Back in the good old days, when a story actually had to circulate through whatever means was available at the time (and be verified and triple-checked in the process), these misannouncements were far less frequent. In fact, I can honestly say that I don't remember them ever happening at all!)
And yet, once again, the news came out that the great Jerry Lee Lewis had passed away (announced by TMZ, no less, who seem to have representatives hiding behind the door of every single celebrity around the world, just waiting to scoop the world with their shocking announcements.)
They quickly back-pedaled, of course ... but as we've seen time and time again of late (Tony Dow and Tanya Roberts immediately come to mind) in the short time it takes to print the retraction, the celebrity in question actually DOES pass away in the meantime ... leading one to conclude that MOST of this information is well-founded and these news sources are jumping the gun just a bit in wanting to be the first to announce the inevitable. (In all fairness, and I do not mean this at all in any sense as a hurtful criticism, but Jerry Lee has LOOKED like death for close to twenty years now ... and much more so over the past few years where he appears almost skeletal ... like a light breeze could blow him over!)
But for right now anyway ... as I type this ... The Killer is still with us.
He was there for the Birth of Rock And Roll ... and truly believed in his heart that it should have been HIM and not Elvis that le d the attack on our teenage youth, winning them over with his rollicking, foot-stomping piano ... and all the theatrics that went along with it. (Lewis was in the inaugural class of The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 1986.)
But he burned out his own flame too quickly when he married his 13 year old cousin ... the backlash side-railed his career literally overnight ... and although he continued to play shows for another 65 years (when he chose to actually show up, that is ... I was the victim of THREE Jerry Lee Lewis no shows during those 65 years!), his career never came close to measuring up to what many believe it could have ... and SHOULD have ... been.
After decades of playing country music (and hitting Billboard's Country Singles Chart an amazing 65 times between 1957 and 1989, including SIX #1 Hits), he quietly semi-retired, only coming out briefly and sporadically over the past 15 years or so to do an occasional concert. (Incredibly, I remember watching part of his live internet show during the heart of Covid a year or two ago ... so the man DEFINITELY had balls!)
When it comes to Pop Hits, he hit The National Top 40 seven times ...
"Whole Lot Of Shakin' Going On" (#3, 1957), "Great Balls Of Fire" (#2, 1958), "Breathless" (#7, 1958), "High School Confidential" (#20, 1958), "What'd I Say" (#30, 1961), "Me And Bobby McGee (#40, 1972) and "Drinking Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee" (#25, 1973).
Lewis carried a tarnished reputation for most of his career (and always seemed to come up with new ways to keep it that way) ... but there is no question as to the lasting impact he had on the roots of rock and roll.
Yes, he was known as "The Killer" for most of his career ...
But perhaps that nickname was better earned than you might suspect ...
One of the most fascinating profiles I've ever read can be found here:
(The complete article runs ten pages - and my guess is that once you start reading it, you likely won't be able to stop. Check it out for yourself ... and then let us know what YOU think.)
Lewis and Elvis Presley were one-time labelmates at the infamous Sun Records in Memphis early in their careers. While Elvis had to leave Sun in order to reach national acclaim, Jerry Lee's first ten Top 100 Billboard Chart Hits came on the Sun record label. (In Lewis' mind, there was always a jealousy between himself and Presley ... Jerry Lee believed he was the bigger, more outrageous and flamboyant star, who always fell in Presley's shadow. At one point, years later, Lewis, in a drunken stupor, crashed his car through the gates of Graceland and, brandishing a pistol and a bottle of champagne, wanted to have a "face-to-face" meeting with The King. He was subsequently arrested ... just one more pit stop on his road to self destruction.)
After leaving rock and roll in the late '50's (through no choice of his own, really ... it simply wasn't having him anymore!), Lewis carved out a very successful country music career (where drinking and carrying on is all part of the accepted and expected mystique.) He returned to his rock and roll roots, however, in 1973 to cut an album of rockers with some of Great Britain's elite players (Peter Frampton, Albert Lee, Alvin Lee, Kenney Jones, Gary Wright, Klaus Voorman and more.) That "Sessions" LP (a two-record set) put Jerry Lee back in pop music's Top 40 when his version of the old Sticks McGhee tune "Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee O'Dee" raced up the charts. Honestly, Lewis never sounded better.
My hope here is not to have to follow up this piece with a quick obit in the next day or two ... but rather to honor Jerry Lee Lewis while he is still with us. Outrageous? Yes. Insane? Absolutely. But boy, what an entertainer! (And thank goodness they didn't crop his performance at the waist!!! Check out Jerry Lee on The Steve Allen Show, circa 1957!) kk
Carly Simon lost both of her sisters
to cancer just a day apart.
The three started out singing
together as The Simon Sisters in the early 1960’s (and even charted once with
their version of the children’s classic “Winkin’, Blinkin’ And Nod,” a #73
Billboard Hit in 1964.)The trio
actually recorded three albums together.
Sister Joanna Simon, an opera
singer, died of thyroid cancer on Wednesday (October 19th) at
the age of 85.Her stage career began in
1962, while the group was still together, and she would go on to perform with
the New York Philharmonic and Vienna Philharmonic, among others, until her
semi-retirement in 1986. After that, she became a TV arts correspondent and won
an Emmy in 1991 for a report on mental health’s effect on creativity.
Sister Lucy Simon passed away the
following day (Thursday, October 20th), at the age of 82, of breast
cancer.
Lucy made her mark as a Broadway
composer, winning a Tony Award in 1991 for the music in “The Secret
Garden.”She later worked on a series of
musicals and scored the 1993 movie The
Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom.
Prior to her death, she had been working on music for the upcoming production On Cedar Street.
Carly Simon, of course, took the pop
music route, scoring huge hits in the 1970’s and 1980’s like “You’re So Vain”
(#1, 1973), “Nobody Does It Better” (#2, 1977), “Mockingbird” (#3, 1974, a duet
with her then-husband James Taylor), “You Belong To Me” (#6, 1978), “Jesse”
(#6, 1980), “Haven’t Got Time For The Pain” (#7, 1974), “That’s The Way I’ve
Always Heard It Should Be” (#7, 1971), “Anticipation” (#10, 1972) and “The
Right Thing To Do” (#10, 1973).
Our condolences go out to all of the
members of the Simon family in what has to be an extremely difficult time.(kk)
>>>OK, now that's just about the coolest clip
ever!!!No, I had NOT seen this before
... and wasn't even aware of its existence ... or of Andrew Gold's incredible
memory of such a special event. (Talk about your Hollywood Royalty ...
your Hollywood Elite!)
Can you imagine the privilege of being invited to such a
prestigious event??? And at the age of 13, no less?!?!? Amazing!Wow ... what a childhood memory. (kk)
I first heard about Andy's visit at the
Beatles event from ... ANDREW HIMSELF!
Probably the first year I was on the internet,
my brother, Bill, had just seen Andrew perform with his band Bryndle the
week previous and had gotten Andrew to sign his "All This and Heaven,
Too" LP for me.I absolutely call it
one of my Top 10 LPs for a desert island. It is SUPERB!
Anyway, they were all up talking to the
audience after the show and Bill went up and was telling Andrew what a fan all four
brothers were of his music and I think he gave Bill his email for me. The
following week, we tried to contact him that way and sure enough, HE WROTE
BACK! He had just played THE WHITE HOUSE that week! He told us
about how shaky his hand was for the 1964 handshake with Paul. It was a
true delight to get an email from him and have his autograph.
IF anyone loved his first LPs, you need the
"Something New" CD of his 1973 demos released a year or so ago.
It's a dream come true to hear more from him from that 70's period. I
wish I had that email. I THINK I got it printed out (probably 2001), but
no idea where it is.
Clark
Tom Cuddy sent us this link to 30 Brill
Building favorites …
Ironically, I heard Sammy Tallerico talking
about a new Brill Building documentary that’s airing now … I forget where
exactly … Netflix maybe???I’ll have to
check it out.
He says the documentary itself isn’t all that
interesting or well done … but you just can’t beat the music … so you may want
to search for this one as well.
(I have a couple of these documentaries on dvd
– probably ran on PBS at some point in time – I’m not sure and can’t remember –
but it really is quite amazing to think how, back in the day before groups were
composing their own material, hit songs were being MANUFACTURED … LITERALLY …
in a series of song-writing factories … who just kept churning out the hits in
an unprecedented fashion.And these
tunes are all still gold standards today to take measure of this era. (kk)
That KOB chart was
amazing! I had NO idea they ever played top 40. They were one of a few
nemesis for me and my brothers, being 50,000 watts on 770 just like WABC
in NYC. THEY were the reason it was so hard to catch WABC ... because KOB
always blocked them out except sometimes in winter.
Clark
That
October 23, 1972, KOB 77 survey in Monday's FH looked vaguely familiar. I
checked Billboard's Easy Listening chart from that week and the lists
are almost identical except for the numerical positions and five songs that
weren't on Billboard's chart. Richard Harris was nowhere to be found,
nor were the country songs at the bottom. But to have 35 out of 40
records be the same made me wonder if the station really played those
45s. Have you or your readers ever noticed anything like this before?
That IS pretty surprising ... because this is a bit of an unusual list based on most of the other charts we've been seeing. (Now I cannot help but wonder if they typically used Billboard's Easy Listening Chart and then just added a few titles to it for "local flavor.") Still, an unusual song selection either way. (kk)
>>>Looks like KOB used to run off copies of their weekly survey chart on a mimeograph machine!!! (lol) kk
Well, I could smell that fabulous fragrance of Mimeograph Ink on paper even if only in the Memory Bank of My Mind!
CB (which stands for "Copy Boy!")
You might enjoy this! Blast from the past - D
(from Times Square Chronicles)
Micky Dolenz was being interviewed by KOZZ’s Max
Volume in Reno the other day and was asked about the Dean
Jeffries-designed Monkee-mobile back in the day and whether the lads
ever took it out. Dolenz laughed and said that one afternoon, even
before the show had premiered on NBC, they took off for lunch in the
car and drove to a Bob Big Burgers
in the Valley in full costume and makeup. Dolenz added, that they had
curb service then and “they must have though we were nuts.” Funny story
for sure.
David also sent us this photo of Micky Dolenz with author Mark Bego.
(Bego wrote the authorized Micky Dolenz biography "I'm A Believer: My Life Of Monkees, Music and Madness.") The two caught up at Micky's show at The Celebrity Theater in Phoenix this past weekend. (kk)
Looks like KOB used to run off copies of their weekly survey chart on a mimeograph machine!!! (lol)
I don't think I've seen anything quite like this SINCE 1972!!!
Still, we've got some surprises here ...
It's Petula Clark's version of "The Wedding Song" that's charting in New Mexico. (Nationally, the hit went to Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul and Mary ... his version peaked at #19 the year before. Pet's remake got as high as #61 in Billboard.)
Right behind it is another dramatic reading by Richard Harris ... "There Are Too Many Saviors On My Cross" bubbled under in all three trades ... but it earned him a Top Ten Hit in New Mexico.
Then we see Wayne Newton and Steve and Eydie again ... how these songs didn't perform better on the national charts is beyond me ... we have seen them listed in The Top Ten and Top Twenty numerous times now already!
Elvis' "It's A Matter Of Time" was the B-Side to his last #1 Record, "Burning Love" ... and didn't chart at all on its own merits ... but here in New Mexico it sits at #14.
And I can't help but wonder if "Apres Toi" by Paul Mauriat and "Canta Libre" by Al Martino were released specifically for the Spanish market (???)
[Notice that "Nights In White Satin," last week's #1 Record in Tennessee, is not on this list at all ... but the New Mexico chart wraps up with two country superstars ... Tammy Wynette sits at #39 with "My Man" while The Statler Brothers hold down the #40 spot with "Class of '57.']
Although
“Tiny Dancer” is today one of Elton’s most-played hits (it finished at #15 in
our TOP 3333 MOST ESSENTIAL CLASSIC ROCK SONGS Poll a few years ago, ahead of
every other Elton John tune), it was NOT a big hit upon first release in 1972.(It didn’t even make The Top 40 in Billboard,
stopping at #41 … but climbed to #29 in Cash Box during its brief seven week
run.) The
song has just grown in stature ever since.(Its use in a key scene in the film “Almost Famous” certainly didn’t
hurt!)kk
Last
year, there was a similar buzz about the clip showing Paul McCartney literally
creating “Get Back” out of thin air during a break in what became known as the
Get Back / Let It Be sessions …
Clark,
your Forgotten Hits report on Beatles '65 was well done and informative to
me. I had first heard of Dave Dexter when John Lennon died. Billboard
ran tributes from various members of the recording community. They
published Dave Dexter's "tribute" on page 30 of their December 20,
1980, issue with the headline "Lennon's Ego & Intransigence Irritated
Those Who Knew Him."In it, Dexter
listed a litany of Lennon's "flaws," most of which centered on his
disagreeing with Dexter on almost everything.
There was universal
outrage at this, and Billboard backpedaled. I'm now glad they had printed
it though. It's a good look at the mindset of the person who mismanaged
the Beatles single and album releases in America.
Ed #1
Wow … what an asshole!(lol)
I didn’t know about any of this … and now I’ve
just gotta find it and read it.
Dexter WAS wrong on all of his decision making
regarding The Fab Four!It couldn’t be
more obvious.
And then to put Lennon down after he was
brutally murdered???
What an asshole!(kk)
Thanks to FH friend Ed Erxleben, for his Dave Dexter information.
Dexter revised the Beatles catalog from day one and then, amazingly, just after
John's passing in 1980, he decided to throw mud on his grave by writing
the Billboard mag article below (revising some here, too) about Lennon
just after he had been killed. What a time to try and get him back!
You've likely seen the clip below from when a young
Andy Gold got his chance to meet Paul Macca at the very 1964 party
Dexter comments on in your article:
Clark Besch
OK, now that's just about the coolest clip ever!!!
No, I had NOT seen this before ... and wasn't even aware of its existence ... or of Andrew Gold's incredible memory of such a special event. (Talk about your Hollywood Royalty ... your Hollywood Elite!)
Can you imagine the privilege of being invited to such a prestigious event??? And at the age of 13, no less?!?!? Amazing!
Are there more clips in this series? (This would appear to be the case, looking at it!)
Wow ... what a childhood memory. And to think of the career Andrew Gold would go on to have!
(There is
a famous story about Linda Ronstadt not liking the absolutely brilliant
guitar bit that Gold played on her #1 Smash "You're No Good" ...
She thought it sounded "too Beatle-ish" lol
How could it not?!?!
Gold
was a disciple of the band ... what he played would have felt just as at home on a session for The Beatles' "Abbey Road" album ... that's him playing ALL of the guitar parts on this solo ... and Peter Asher was producing the
record!!! Of COURSE it sounded "Beatle-ish"!!! And was, without
question, the highlight of the record in my opinion!)
Excellent stuff.
Thank you so much for sharing! (kk)
I love the way Dave Dexter back-pedals in his Billboard piece about how all of those early Beatles singles were flops for the other labels that issued them, thus justifying his taking a pass on these tracks from EMI. I supposed to SOME degree he's right ... until "I Want To Hold Your Hand" burst the door wide open, America just wasn't ready yet for four long-haired mop-tops from England singing pop songs. Once Capitol Records invested their million bucks to launch the group here in The States, ALL of those earlier recordings came to light ... and labels like Vee Jay, Tollie, Swan, Atco and MGM reaped the benefits big time.
Suddenly "flops" like "Please Please Me," "She Loves You," "From Me To You," "Twist And Shout," "Do You Want To Know A Secret," "Thank You Girl," "Love Me Do," "P.S. I Love You," "Ain't She Sweet" and "My Bonnie" (featuring Tony Sheridan on lead vocals!) were smash hits here in America, too. (To recap, those titles, in the order listed above, peaked at numbers 3, 1, 41, 1, 2, 35, 1, 10, 13 and 26 on the American charts ... so somebody misheard something!!!)
One of my biggest points of contention with Clark Weber, who was at WLS when Dick Biondi became the first disc jockey in America to play a Beatles record on the air ("Please Please Me," February of 1963), was that Clark kept insisting that "Those early Beatles records were terrible. Nobody would have played them ... until they went back into the studio to re-record them all ... and that's when they became hits. Prior to that, they were just awful ... horrible recordings."
WRONG!!! The Beatles didn't re-record ANY of those records ... they were EXACTLY the same records that came out in England and went all the way to #1. (Before I get a ton of letters, yes, The Beatles DID record "Love Me Do" for their first album ... and THAT's the version of the single that became a worldwide hit ... and no, "Love Me Do" did NOT go to #1 in Great Britain ... but all of their other original singles ... I'm not talking about their early 1961 German tracks here ... and, much like Dave Dexter did, the other labels were also trying to cash in on Beatlemania as well, by releasing songs that were NOT released as singles over in the UK like "Do You Want To Know A Secret" and "Twist And Shout," which became BIG hits here in The States) ... why The Beatles' first official #1 Record in Great Britain, "From Me To You," was issued as a B-Side here in America, after it had already flopped on its own (other than in LA where they played it) the year before.
And one last interesting aside on "From Me To You" ...
When The Beatles did a British tour with American artist Del Shannon, they saw their record go to #1, and ended up being the headliners on the tour as a result. Del liked their song so much that he recorded it himself, thus becoming the first American act to cut a Lennon and McCartney tune.
Because he was an established name in the music business, HIS was the version radio played (if they played it at all ... it only went to #67.) NOBODY was going to play a version of that same song by some unknown British band! (Except in LA, where The Beatles' version became a minor hit.) My how the world had changed a year later ... when EVERYTHING British was suddenly the flavor of the month. Established American recording star Bobby Rydell cut a version of the Lennon-McCartney track "A World Without Love" that fizzled out at #71 because NOW the listening audience only wanted to hear the British version by Peter and Gordon! And the fact that Beatle Paul McCartney was dating Peter Asher's sister?!?!? A guaranteed #1 Record ... and, quite honestly, one of the best "throw-away" tracks The Beatles ever created. (You can lump Billy J. Kramer's "Bad To Me" into that category, too!) kk
Bob Dylan’s The Philosophy of Modern Song was
just published by Simon & Schuster.
The Philosophy of Modern Song is Bob Dylan’s first book of new writing since
2004’s Chronicles: Volume One — and since winning the Nobel Prize
for Literature in 2016.
Dylan, who began working on the book in 2010,
offers his extraordinary insight into the nature of popular music. He writes
over sixty essays focusing on songs by other artists, spanning from Stephen
Foster to Elvis Costello, and in between ranging from Hank Williams to Nina
Simone.
He analyzes what he calls the trap of easy
rhymes, breaks down how the addition of a single syllable can diminish a song,
and even explains how bluegrass relates to heavy metal. These essays are
written in Dylan’s unique prose. They are mysterious and mercurial, poignant
and profound, and often laugh-out-loud funny. And while they are ostensibly
about music, they are really meditations and reflections on the human
condition. Running throughout the book are nearly 150 carefully curated photos
as well as a series of dream-like riffs that, taken together, resemble an epic
poem and add to the work’s transcendence.
News from Simon & Schuster further
illuminates the title …
“In 2020, with the release of his outstanding album Rough
and Rowdy Ways, Dylan became the first artist to have an album hit the
Billboard Top 40 in each decade since the 1960s. The Philosophy of
Modern Song contains much of what he has learned about his craft in
all those years, and like everything that Dylan does, it is a momentous
artistic achievement.”
A 1957 photo
of American singers Little Richard, Alis Lesley and Eddie Cochran in Australia
is the cover image of Bob Dylan’s book The
Philosophy of Modern Song. Both Bob Dylan and Eddie Cochran recorded at
the landmark Gold Star Recording Studios in Hollywood, California.
Little
Richard once visited the same temple of sound, cautioning Love’s co-founder
Johnny Echols “not to give your music publishing to a record company.”
Paul
McCartney, as a 15-year-old performed a version of Cochran’s record “Twenty
Flight Rock” as the first song when he auditioned for John Lennon on July 6,
1957 in Liverpool.
“For Doc
Pomus” graces the title page of The Philosophy of Modern Song.TunesmithPomus, along with collaborator Mort Schuman, were one of the most important
and influential songwriting teams from 1958-1965, second only to Jerry Leiber
and Mike Stoller. Pomus supplying the lyrics, Schuman composing the melodies
for over 500 songs.
“Mort
Schuman was an anomaly when we first arrived in New York in ’64,” reminisced
record producer and author, Andrew Loog Oldham, who managed and produced the
Rolling Stones during 1963-1967. “The Stones went to The Apollo and Harlem, I
went to Mort Schuman, who was dating a late arrival to The Avengers.I witnessed a great songwriter who had
assimilated and become so many of the cultures America rejected and turned that
metamorphosis into the American art of song, a magic to be embraced forever.
“Lou Adler,
Seymour Stein, and Leiber and Stoller had it, so did Paul Simon. To be born
into a world that observed and worn, would provide the precious few with a
productive future was a wonder to behold. It didn’t happen in England until the
Smiths, before that it was merely a case of escaping from the non-future we
were offered.”
Over the
last few decades I’ve interviewed singers and songwriters about a few of the
tunes Dylan comments on.
“All of us, as singers and performers, keep
those great songs in the pipeline so they are not forgotten,” emphasized Howard
Kaylan, of the pop and rock group, the Turtles in a 2013 interview.
“It doesn’t have to be a great Bob Dylan song
or a Tim Hardin song or even a great Leiber and Stoller song. If it’s great and
forgotten you kind of feel like you are a missionary as far as getting those
things to the public.”
“I thought
who would think in their wildest imagination that Tin Pan Alley was a real
place,” marveled Robbie Robertson in our 2017 interview. “The Brill Building.
And then Donnie Kirshner’s thing. All of it was actually in a place you could
go. And the doors were golden when you walked in. And inside there in all these
rooms were people who wrote songs and sent them out to the whole wide world.
“I had such
a respect and a connection feeling for these people. And I knew Doc and
Mort.Doc and Mort remained friends. One
of the things that I really took away from the Brill Building were friendships
with Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman and Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller.
“Anyway, one
of the things I really got from them, because the obvious thing was that they
tapped into something that felt good. But it had to feel good. The song could
be about anything but it had to feel good. And I was like. ‘Wow…’
“Then, the
other door was Bob Dylan. Who it wasn’t about that. It was about emotion and an
energy. But it was really about saying something. It wasn’t about ‘these words
could be anything.’ No. No. It was specific. So, to me it was rebelling in a
beautiful way against this other thing.”
The
songwriting team of Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong wrote two Motown label
releases Dylan highlights in his study: “Ball of Confusion” by the Temptations,
and Edwin Starr’s “War,” both produced by Whitfield.
“Norman to
me was probably the most underrated of all the producers, because he was
producing by himself,” suggested Berry Gordy, Jr. one afternoon in 1995 inside
his Bel-Air mansion. “And he would deal with different sounds, different beats,
change with the times and write his stuff, and also Barrett Strong would work
with him as a writer on many of his things. Norman was innovative and he had
fire. And he had a different kind of style.
“His beat
was different and could go from ‘Cloud Nine,’ ‘Psychedelic Shack,’ ‘Papa Was a Rolling
Stone,’ to ‘Just My Imagination.’ He was sensitive and I think he could do so
many different types of things. Then he’d come right back with ‘War’ and then
‘Ain’t Too Proud To Beg.’
“He could
take one chord, like on ‘Papa Was a Rolling Stone,’ and play the same chord and
do all these different beautiful melodies and things that many people could not
really imagine this guy doin’. And I would watch him and he did it all by
himself as a producer.
“He would
work with five guys in the Temps and he would change leads on each one. He
would pick the right lead for the right song, ya know, and he’d utilize all
five of those leads in a song that was just incredible. When I listen to ‘em
today, now that I have time to listen to ‘em, I’m saying, ‘Wow!’ This guy was
probably the most underrated producer we had.
“Whatever it
is, a great song is a great song. That’s all it is. Let’s make sure we have
great songs. I started as a songwriter. I love songs, so you know, that’s a
hobby.”
Dylan
spotlights Glen Campbell’s By the Time I Get to Phoenix in his new
literary effort.
“I had a
previous relationship with Jimmy Webb’s ‘By the Time I Get to Phoenix,’”
Campbell remembered in our 2009 conversation. “There was a record out on it by
Pat Boone already and I think I played on it as well. Johnny Rivers cut it and
was the publisher.
“I knew
Jimmy when he was living near Sunset and La Brea. I had done early sessions
with Al De Lory and then he got a gig producing for Capitol.”
“Glen
Campbell became my voice,” admitted Jimmy Webb in 2014 at the Herb Alpert UCLA
School of Music in Professor David Leaf’s course, Songwriters on Songwriting: Killer Hooks, Essential Songs and
Songwriters of the Rock Era.
Dylan
also ruminates abut Frank Sinatra’s “Strangers in the Night” in chapter 62.
This 1966 hit single was arranged by Ernie Freeman and produced by Jimmy Bowen
at the famed United Western studios on Sunset Blvd.Drummer Hal Blaine and guitarist Glen Campbell are heard on
“Strangers in the Night.”
“There was a
song that we did and he wanted to show that he had an operatic type voice,”
Blaine told me in a 2007 interview. “Just a big voice. Like Elvis. That’s all
there is to it. He was a one of. People who generally become famous are one of.
Sinatra was Sinatra and Elvis was Elvis.
“The
Wrecking Crew [then known as Local 47 Musicians Union members] could lock in
with anybody. When we finished, we had to go out and do another session. I
might have had two other gigs that day. Our job was making hit records and we
loved it.”
“On the
Sinatra session,” volunteered guitarist Campbell in a 2008 interview, “Barney
Kessel and Tommy Tedesco were great readers. A lot of the session musicians
lived in Laurel Canyon. The Wrecking Crew as they were later known, could play
anything. You would cut with the Monkees, Beach Boys, and Sinatra.”
“My father
really loved being booked on Frank Sinatra dates,” added Denny Tedesco. “Plus,
Frank had the sessions catered by Chasen’s restaurant.”
Bob Dylan is
our tour guide audio librarian in The Philosophy of Modern Song. His
writing about hand-picked copyrights is insightful, highly enjoyable,
educational and continues the beatific aspects and wisdom of his observational
skills while reminding us about the impact and durability of 66 songs and
recording artists who did them.
This book (and its audio
book companion) have jumped to the top of my Christmas List for this year.(We ran a plug for both a couple of weeks ago
… and they both sound amazing!)kk
CB
has supplied me with so much music history and information that I am
filled full and must use this weekend to review all this knowledge.
School has been short-staffed and overwhelming, causing a need to be
totally self-serving when I hit my doorstep. That meant a quick-read of
anything! I will enjoy breaking his pages down into segments this
weekend and digesting them. Well look at me! After 26 years, I have
learned to separate my desires from my work. I'M A BIG KID NOW!
Shelley J Sweet-Tufano
Chuck B missed an
opportunity to expand on the WLS ... World's Largest Stone comment.
At the time of the
"Rock of Chicago" promotion, the WLS studios were located in the
STONE Container Building at Michigan and Wacker.
(Oops ... it must of
lost something in the translation from analog-to-digital.)
Does he have anything
to say about that?
J Morgan
Well, you just KNOW he would!!!Lol
(And in the most complimentary way, I might add!)
Take it, Chuck!(kk)
Excellent Add-on! Thanx!
Rock On, J!
CB
Kent,
Would you believe just
yesterday I was singing to myself NEVER ON SUNDAY and thinking of the
Chordettes. I always did like the Don Costa instrumental version as
well. I believe there was a version of LOLLIPOP by singers Ron &
Ruby.
Larry
Ronald and Ruby DID chart with "Lollipop," back in the day when the some of trades were still letting multiple artists share the same chart positions. As such, they earned at #2 ranking in Cash Box ... and even Joel Whitburn's Comparison Chart Book shows their version at #20 in Billboard ... but that's where it fell on Billboard's Disc Jockey Chart ... it only reached #39 on their Top 100 Chart and #40 on their Best Sellers Chart ... so that #20 showing is a bit deceiving. Music Vendor just showed it at #63 for one week and then it was gone. (I don't think there's anybody out there that doesn't consider "Lollipop" to be anything other than a Chordettes song ... not even Ronald or Ruby! lol) kk
A song from the
"Elvis" soundtrack, "Vegas" by Doja Cat, has reached #1 on
Billboard's Top 40 Pop Airplay chart. I haven't seen the movie yet.
I hope it's better than this song.
Ed #1
The movie actually is pretty good - I’ve
seen it twice already
A little long - and it glosses over
some key facts – but excellently filmed and executed.
That being said, there was
absolutely no reason to throw new music into the mix - it adds nothing – and
certainly doesn’t do anything to represent what Elvis was all about …
But the guy playing Elvis (Austin
Butler)is pretty damn good.(kk)
Congratulations to our FH Music
Buddy Merrell Fankhauser …
Kent -
I just found out our
California central coast news and music magazine, New Times is giving me a
Music Legend Award! It will be presented Friday November 4th, 7 pm at the SLO
Brew Rock in San Luis Obispo, Calif. They will run in print the
announcement of my CD box ser anthology 60's & 70's albums 1964-1979. Oct.
28th release, available everywhere and Amazon.
Also, the Nicky
Hopkins documentary movie "The Session Man" featuring me, "The
Rolling Stones", "The Beatles" and others. In theaters next
year. They used clips from my 1991 interview with Nicky from my satellite TV
show 'California Music".
Best,
Merrell
And Wages Of Spin III is now in the
works!
Our buddy Shawn Swords sent us this
bit from Bob Charger, who’ll be hosting a new Philadelphia-based television
show based on the hit documentary, exposing the behind-the-scenes payola
schemes in the music business back in the late ‘50’s and early ‘60’s …
Follow our new Wages of
Spin TV show and Wages of Spin III Documentary Film on Facebook!
Iconic Philadelphia Radio,
Film and Television Personality Bob Charger returns to Philadelphia Television
hosting the "Wages of Spin" TV Show and producing the riveting Wages
of Spin III Documentary Film!
The Wages of Spin is a
television interview show hosted by iconic Philadelphia radio show host,
Television and Film producer Bob Charger. In each episode, Bob will interview a
music industry notable about their career in the music industry and the
pitfalls, inner workings of and emotional toll of a career in the music
industry. Our show will also explore many of the corrupt practices perpetrated
on artists and the public throughout the sordid history of the music industry.
Wages of Spin III explores
the history of the inner workings of The Philadelphia Music Scene.
The Show and Film are
being produced by the creative team behind the feature length documentary film
"Wages of Spin" that has had over 2,000 PBS affiliate airings and is
in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Archives.
Production has commenced
of Wages of Spin TV Show and Wages of Spin III Documentary Film.
You can follow Bob Charger
on Facebook for more updates.
Yowzah!!!
Tucumcari Timmy just sent us a six-and-a-half
hour documentary on Frank Sinatra!!!
If you’ve got THAT kind of dedication, here’s
the link!!!
(Now I don’t feel so bad about our 18-minute
salute to August of ’67!!!)
I loved the Chicago themed video you had for the Summer of '67.
Nice job.
I often think that if I categorized all my WLS / WCFL tapes,
including ones by others, I could do a soundtrack like that with the
time period jocks playing the songs back then into a continuous
evolution from 64-69 period in Chicago.
Clark
If you haven't had a chance to check it out yet, we've run the link again below. (It'll take you about eighteen minutes to watch the whole thing ... but a GREAT representation of what it was like listening to the radio here in Chicago during the Summer of '67!) kk
And, to wrap things up this weekend, here’s a brief MA'H-NA'-MAH-NA' Update …
After we ran Chuck Buell’s piece a short while
ago, we heard from a few people who said their local Top 40 radio station would
credit the tune to somebody other than the REAL recording arist, Piero
Umiliani, who also WROTE the tune.
(Here is Chicago, WLS showed the artist as “Pete
Howard” … absolutely NO idea where that name came from … and it’s a real shame,
too, because if you went into the record store and tried to BUY a copy of this
record (infectious ditty that it was!), you couldn’t find it ANYWHERE.(God only knows how many potential sales this
took away from Umiliani!Or just how big
a hit this could have been.)
When the piece first ran, FH Reader Larry Neal
told us …
Kent,
You mentioned the tune
"Mah-Na-Mah-Na" by Piero Umiliano in today's FH. For the week of
August 14, 1969, it made its initial appearance on our weekly top 40 survey as
a HIT BOUND RECORD. It eventually peaked at #12 for the week of September 4th.
When it made its
initial appearance, the word SOUNDTRACK was listed under ARTIST. However, from
that point on, the artist was designated as DALE & EFFIE. These were
two characters created by mid-day DJ Don Wallace. The listening audience really
didn't know better.
Larry
FH Contributor Tom Diehl sent us
this from Wikipedia on the subject …
During its September 1 –
15, 1969 run on the WLS 890 Hit
Parade, the surveys erroneously credited the record to someone named Pete
Howard.
WPTR did much
the same, except that the credit was given to the station's Disc Jockey, J.W.
Wagner.
From what I’ve heard, several radio
stations credited their own deejays when playing and charting this
record -
Poor Pierre Umilianto (or
whatever his name is!) never got the credit he deserved - which is why even I
don’t know his name all these years later!!!
Lol(kk)
I don't even
think Piero Umiliani was credited as an artist on his own 45.
Tom
To an extent, you’re absolutely right.
Here is a copy of the 45 I eventually
bought (found it in an oldies bin several years later … I never WAS able to
find and buy a copy when the record was out … again, further proof that
Umiliani was cheated out of sales and a bigger chart life at the time.)
You’ll notice that while Piero is
credited as the songwriter under the song title, the “credit” (if you will)
goes to the film soundtrack to SWEDEN HEAVEN AND HELL … with no further
explanation.
I’m not exactly sure how the song came to
be associated with The Muppets … but that exposure certainly took it to a much
larger audience.
(In fact, Chuck Buell sent us this follow
up comment to his own piece) …
This morning's email is brought to you by the Letters "C"
and "B!"
A quick follow up to my recent Mah NÃ Mah NÃ story!
When I first saw this photo, I too thought this lady was a Muppet!
HA!
Chuck Buell! ( which stands for the Letters "C" and
"B!" )
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