January 16th

The Top Three Records maintain their hold on this week's countdown … "I'm A Believer" by The Monkees is #1 for the fourth straight week … which is exactly how long it has held "Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron" by The Royal Guardsmen at the #2 spot.  Following up at #3 is "Tell It Like It Is"  by Aaron Neville, who now holds down that position for three consecutive weeks.  

New into The Top Ten this week are "Georgy Girl" by The Seekers (#8, up from #12 the week before) and "Tell It To The Rain" by The Four Seasons, which climbs from #13 to #10.  

"Music To Watch Girls By" by The Bob Crewe Generation and "Wild Thing" by Senator Bobby finally crack The Top 40.  They are joined by Top 40 newbies "Green Green Grass Of Home" by Tom Jones (#35, up from #49), "I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night" by The Electric Prunes (#36, up from #54), "Blue Autumn" by Bobby Goldsboro (#39, up from #42) and "Papa Was, Too" by Joe Tex, which climbs three positions from #43 to #40.  

The Monkees hold down the #1 spot on the Album Chart again this week, too, thanks to their debut album.  They are in the recording studio today, laying down an early version of Mike Nesmith's "The Girl I Knew Somewhere" (which, at this time, featured Nesmith on lead vocal instead of Micky Dolenz, whose vocal would make the record's official release later this year) as well as two tracks that won't make the final cut on their next LP, "Headquarters" … "She's So Far Out, She's In" and "All Of Your Toys".  

Chicago's huge convention center, McCormick Place, is gutted in a huge fire.  Home to The Arie Crown Theater, it would not reopen until 1971.  

The fire was first reported by janitors at 2:05 am on the morning of January 16th ... within 20 minutes, it was upgraded to a five-alarm fire ... 20 minutes after that Fire Commissioner Robert Quinn ordered the first special alarm.  It happened that fast ... it took just 45 minutes for two-thirds of the building to be completely engulfed.  Quinn later commented that "the fire was out of control when the first units arrived." 

Much as The Titanic was deemed "unsinkable", McCormick place (built in 1960) was supposed to be fireproof.  In the bitter cold early morning hours, firefighters lost time trying to thaw four of seven hydrants before realizing that they weren't frozen ... but had never been hooked up!  (It was later learned that contractors building the interchange of the Stevenson Expressway and Lake Shore Drive had disconnected them.) 

Approximately 2000 firefighters, using 65% of the city's fire equipment (including drawing water from Lake Michigan from which three fire boats also pumped water onto the fire) battled the blaze for nearly eight hours. 

The fire was finally contained at 9:48 am, by which time the roof had collapsed and the Arie Crown Theater was severely damaged but not destroyed.  Incredibly, only one person died in the fire ... 31 year old security guard Kenneth Goodman, whose burned body was later found in the rubble. 

Mayor Richard Daley immediately vowed to rebuild McCormick Place.  "This is a tragic loss to the people of Chicago.  But remember the Chicago fire of 1871.  The people recovered from that one."  (McCormick Place was a HUGE money-maker for the city, bringing in as much as $300 Million a year in convention business and employing more than 10,000 people.)

True to his word, a brand new McCormick Place opened in January of 1971, built on the old foundation with a completely renovated Arie Crown Theater.  Conventions such as The Housewares Show and The Auto Show were soon hosting hundreds of thousands of visitors.  

Incredibly, The Chicago Tribune was able to cover the story for their early edition (that's where all of these photos above came from.)  The fire wasn't even out yet when the newspapers hit the streets.  

Here in Chicago, the lakefront disaster pushed the results of the very first Super Bowl to "second place" as far as the day's headlines went.  (We told you yesterday that The Green Bay Packers, led by Bart Starr, beat the Kansas City Chiefs by a score of 35-10.)


Jay and the Americans and Don and the Goodtimes appear on "Where The Action Is".

Two other favorites from this week's chart ...

***** 

"Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron" was a HUGE #2 Hit in early 1967.  It provided an immediate connection to the Charles Schultz character that captivated America (and the rest of the world) beginning in 1950.  (Schultz personally drew every "Peanuts" cartoon strip himself until his death in 2000.)  But the people behind the hit record never sought Schultz's permission to put his famous character to song so, as a back-up plan, they recorded an alternate version of the tune called "Squeaky vs. The Black Knight", should Schultz decide to put the kibosh on the whole project once the record was released.

Just think ... if Charles Schultz had nixed this whole idea, you could have been listening to THIS track instead ...

Would it have been as big a hit?  Somehow I don't think so.  Another case of all the planets perfectly aligning ... "Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron" is a 1967 Classic!  

Barry Winslow of The Royal Guardsmen told us:  

As best as I can remember, Squeaky was done quickly to keep the momentum going that the record had started. So while the brass at Laurie Records met with Charles Schultz and friends to get this all sorted out, Squeak was launched. I wish I knew more, but as a 17 yr old "artist", I wasn't privy to any real "business dealings" early on.   

kk:  So Squeaky vs. the Black Knight was actually launched in the event that Charles Schultz and company decided not to allow the use of their copyrighted character?  (It sounds like Laurie Records knew they had a hit record on their hands ... and wasn't going to risk letting anything get in the way of stopping the record's momentum ... so "Squeaky Vs. The Black Knight" was quickly recorded as the "back-up plan!"  Interesting!  I had no idea!)  One cannot help but wonder if the record would have had anywhere near the same impact, were it not a "relatable" character like dearly beloved Snoopy!  (In fact, instead of the recognizable beagle we all know and love, in the "Squeaky" version the lead character was a buck-tooth beaver!)  

kk:  Speaking of copyrights, there was also evidently some issues with the use of the Snoopy name from creator Charles Schultz.  (But wasn't The Red Baron based on a real-life, actual person?)  I'm told that until Schultz was cut-in on a percentage of the royalties, he threatened a lawsuit to stop the record all together.  (Were the songwriters really that naive to think that there wouldn't be some legal action?)  How was all of this resolved?  And didn't Schultz become a big supporter of the follow up records, even designing artwork for the album covers and picture sleeves?  (It had to be good publicity for him, too, right?)

BW:  The "issue" of the suit came from a book that was out at the time, "Snoopy And The Red Baron" and our record title, "Snoopy vs The Red Baron".  Thus the quandary and threat of a suit was over "AND" or "VS".  As I understand it, everything worked out well and Charles did like our records.  You're correct, he did renderings of us for an album "Snoopy and His Friends, The Royal Guardsmen".  I think our records helped with Snoopy's success, and much as it helped ours.  BTW, you're correct ... Baron Manfred von Richthofen was a real, and highly decorated, German WW1 fighter ace. 

 

January 15th

The Green Bay Packers defeat The Kansas City Chiefs by a score of 35 - 10 in the first AFL - NFL World Championship game, held at The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

Although this is the way the game was billed at the time, we have since come to know this pairing as The Super Bowl … and despite plenty of discussion to the contrary, TV Guide was already running ads for the big game and referring to it in this way back in 1967, too … so those "in the know" were well aware of the "official" title.  (For weeks the networks had been referring to it as "Super Sunday" … truth be told, NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle didn't think "Super Bowl" was a "classy-enough name" for this showdown.)

The game was covered by both CBS and NBC as, at the time, CBS was the official NFL Network Carrier and NBC broadcast the AFL games.  The Packers ultimately won the game 35 -10, shutting down The Chiefs 21 points to 0 in the second half. 
 

Tonight on The Ed Sullivan Show we had two comedians (Allan Sherman and Alan King) and two remnants from The British Invasion of a few years before, Petula Clark and The Rolling Stones.  

And yes, THIS is the night when The Rolling Stones changed the lyrics to their latest record to "Let's Spend Some TIME Together" at the request of Mr. Sullivan (although Mick Jagger clearly let the audience know what he thought of this mandate by rolling his eyes for the camera when he first sang the altered lyric.)  They also performed the A-Side of the record, "Ruby Tuesday". 



For the record, Petula Clark performed her latest hit "Color My World" as well as Bob Lind's "Elusive Butterfly". 

Meanwhile, Chicago's Buckinghams, now signed to Columbia Records, begin recording "Don't You Care" in New York.  It will peak at #5 nationally later this year (and top the chart here in Chicago!)

The Monkees perform at Public Hall in Cleveland, Ohio. 

Number One again at the Box Office this week is The Sand Pebbles. 

You can own ALL of The Rolling Stones' appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show on DVD:  http://www.edsullivan.com/products-page/most-popular/the-6-ed-sullivan-shows-starring-the-rolling-stones/

Check out our Ed Sullivan Tribute Page here (featuring comments from many of the artists who appeared on Ed's program)

http://forgottenhits.com/forgotten_hits_remembers_the_ed_sullivan_show__from_both_sides_of_the_screen

As well as our interview with Andrew Solt, who owns all of these television programs and licenses them out for commercial use ... he has also put together some INCREDIBLY great collections available for purchase for home viewing (through the edsullivan.com link above)

http://forgottenhits.com/forgotten_hits_interviews_andrew_solt

 

January 14th

The Monkees perform a sold-out show at Olympia Stadium in Detroit, Michigan.  

This week's edition of The New Musical Express reports that The Monkees will likely film an episode of their television series in Great Britain during their visit there in February.  

San Francisco hosts the first ever "Be-In" at Golden Gate Park, featuring live performances by Big Brother and the Holding Company, The Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service and The Jefferson Airplane.  Also in attendance … Hell's Angels.  Billed as "The Human Be-In:  A Gathering Of The Tribes", over 25,000 attend. It was here that Timothy Leary first proclaimed "Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out".  Spotlighting the Haight-Ashbury area, Allen Ginsberg reportedly for the first time coined the term "Flower Power".  

Senator Everett McKinley Dirksen (from the great state of Illinois!) appears on The Hollywood Palace this evening, performing his surprise hit "Gallant Men", which currently sits at #33 on this week's Super Chart. 

The Rolling Stones' brand new single "Ruby Tuesday" / "Let's Spend The Night Together" is released in America.  It will become a two-sided hit (although many stations will ban the B-Side due to its "suggestive lyrics".)  Mick Jagger will famously change the title line to "Let's spend some TIME together" when The Stones perform the song on The Ed Sullivan Show the following night at Sullivan's request.  (Or would that be insistence???)

January 13th

The top premiers on this week's chart include "The Beat Goes On" by Sonny and Cher, the Motown classic "It Takes Two" by Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston and the garage band classic "The Little Black Egg" by The Nightcrawlers.  

Also new on the chart this week are a couple of middle-of-the-road / soft rock gems … "Tiny Bubbles" by the late, great Don Ho (#97) and "Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye" by The Casinos, one of my favorite songs of the whole year.  

Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr go to the Bag Of Nails club in London this evening where they see Jimi Hendrix perform for the first time.  (McCartney would be blown away six months later when he saw Hendrix again, this time performing the title track from The Beatles' brand new album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" just four days after its British release.)  

Otis Redding ("Try A Little Tenderness") and Dino, Desi and Billy make appearances on "Where The Action Is".

January 12th

The Louisville, Kentucky, draft board refuses the exemption requested for Heavyweight Champion Muhammad Ali.  

Dr. James Bedford becomes the first person to be cryonically preserved with intent of future resuscitation.  (Not quite "Disney On Ice" … but historic nevertheless)  

A reboot of the popular late '50's TV Series "Dragnet" returns to network television.  Creator Jack Webb is back as Sgt. Joe Friday … but his new sidekick, Bill Gannon, is played by future M*A*S*H star Henry Morgan.  (By the way, the word "reboot" didn't exist in 1967)   

The Seeds appear on "Where The Action Is", performing "Pushin' Too Hard".

January 11th

Big day in the recording studio today as Jimi Hendrix records the hard-rock classic "Purple Haze" and The Hollies lay down "On A Carousel".  

Keith and The Electric Prunes (singing "I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night") appear on "Where The Action Is".

Here are the songs Dex Card was counting down on The Silver Dollar Survey every weekday afternoon this week on WLS ...

And here's how many of those same songs ranked on Super 'CFL ...

(Note that according to the WCFL Chart "Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron" was still holding The Monkees at bay, hanging on to the #1 Spot for the third week in a row!)

January 10th

Sammy Davis, Jr., on the lot filming a guest appearance for the hit comedy "I Dream Of Jeannie", stops by The Monkees set, where they are filming the "Monkees A La Mode" episode.  Although it is reported that Davis films a brief cameo, no footage of this appearance ever materializes.  

Neil Diamond performs "I Got The Feelin'" and "Cherry Cherry" on "Where The Action Is".  

National Educational Television begins as PBS broadcasts for the very first time on 70 stations across the USA.  

It's a big day for Royal Weddings, too … Dutch Princess Margret marries Pieter van Vollenhoven.   

Elvis' new single "Indescribably Blue" / "Fools Fall In Love" is released.  It will peak at #26 / #100 on the  national charts … and go on to sell 300,000 copies, considered a failure by Elvis standards.

January 9th

The biggest movers on this week's chart include "Color My World" by Petula Clark, up another ten places to #22, "98.6" by Keith, now sitting at #26 (up from #37) and "Stand By Me" by Spyder Turner (#27, up from #41).  

The Buckinghams make a HUGE leap into The Top 40 this week, climbing from #65 to #37 (that's a jump of nearly thirty places!)  The Bob Crewe Generation ("Music To Watch Girls By"), "Wild Thing" by Senator Bobby and "Bring It Up" by James Brown (#61, up from #92 the week before) all make significant moves this week as well.    

The Buffalo Springfield appear on "Where The Action Is". 

The Monkees' second album, "More Of The Monkees", is released.  In a few weeks it will displace their debut LP at the top of the national album sales chart.  Later this evening, the episode "The Case Of The Missing Monkee" airs on NBC.  "Steppin' Stone" is the featured song.  

New Orleans christens their brand new football franchise "The Saints"

January 8th

Today is Elvis' 32nd birthday.  

The Number One Movie at the Box Office this week is The Sand Pebbles  

We've got a brand new chart (for the week ending January 14th).

As you can see, The Monkees hold at the #1 position with "I'm A Believer" (their third week on top.)  The Mamas and the Papas sneak into The Top Ten with their latest, "Words Of Love" (up from #11 last week to #6 this week … the B-Side of that record, their remake of the Motown classic "Dancing In The Street" is "bubbling under this week at #104.)  "Words Of Love" is the only new Top Ten entry on this week's chart.  

Meanwhile, The Monkees also have the #1 Album again this week as their debut album "The Monkees" holds down the top spot on the LP Chart for the tenth consecutive week.

January 7th

UK Music Publication The New Musical Express announces that The Monkees will make their first visit to Great Britain in February.  

Country Singer Charley Pride becomes the first African-American solo singer to perform at The Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, TN.  It would be 67 Country Chart Hits (including 29 #1 Records) and 25 years later that Pride officially became a member of The Grand Ole Opry in 1993.

Pride played baseball in the Negro Leagues for several years and had Major League try-outs with both the New York Mets and the California Angels before finally choosing a musical career over his baseball dreams.  (I'd say it paid off in dividends!)  His biggest #1 Hit came in 1971 when "Kiss An Angel Good Mornin'" topped Billboards Country Singles Chart for five weeks.

From this week's pop chart here's "Tell It Like It Is" by Aaron Neville.  (Neville wouldn't have another Top Ten Hit for 22 years until he teamed with Linda Ronstadt for "Don't Know Much".  Ironically, BOTH records peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 Pop Singles Chart.)

Here's one I never understood ...

They played the heck out of this record here in Chicago (especially on WIND ... my mom used to listen to Howard Miller every morning when she was getting us ready to go to school and absolutely LOVED this tune ... and so did I!) yet it never hit our local charts ... and spent exactly one week at #100 in Cash Box.  (It "bubbled under" in Billboard, never climbing higher than #110.)

We've featured it several times before in Forgotten Hits ... and it seems like EVERYBODY remembers it, too ... so how the heck was this not a huge hit???  (Rich Appell ... I don't know if this one's ever made your I.R.S. list or not ... It Really Shoulda ... Been A Top Ten Hit ... but I'm going to start campaigning early for votes for this one!!!)

I know there's been some talk over the years that the record was just "too suggestive"  (seriously?!?!?) so recording artists Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich re-recorded a "cleaner" version ... but that one wasn't a hit either (and doesn't have anywhere NEAR the appeal of the original.)

So, if you're feeling in a frisky, suggestive mood, dig out your old Twister game, grab your partner and give a listen to this one ... "Bend It", the #100 Hit in Cash Box on January 7th, 1967.

January 6th

Here's what the Chicagoland Charts looked like that first week of January, 1967 ...

Speaking of Paul Revere and the Raiders, they appeared on tonight's episode of The Hollywood Palace, where they performed "The Great Airplane Strike of 1966" … despite the fact that they're currently in The Top Ten with one of their best, "Good Thing".  (Over the past four weeks, "Good Thing" has climbed from #43 to #32 to #15 to #7.)  Also of interest on this evening's program is the appearance of Ray Bolger, who performs a couple of songs from "The Wizard Of Oz", dressed as The Scarecrow.  

Paul Revere and the Raiders also hosted a very soulful edition of "Where The Action Is" this afternoon, featuring performances by guests James Brown, The Four Tops and Wilson Pickett. 

Other music of note on the Super Chart this week …  

"Try A Little Tenderness" by Otis Redding sits at #27 … 



and Cannonball Adderley debuts on the chart this week with the instrumental version of "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy".  (#93)  The Buckinghams will have a Top Five Vocal Hit with this record later this year. 

How hot are The Monkees right now? 

Advance orders for their second album "More Of The Monkees" are so overwhelming that the LP is certified gold before it even ships!

January 5th

One of my personal favorites on this week's chart include "East West" by Herman's Hermits (a track you virtually NEVER hear anymore).  

Chris Montez ("Time After Time") and The Outsiders ("Help Me Girl") perform on "Where The Action Is".

 

January 4th

The Doors release their first album titled simply "The Doors".  

Other tracks earning bullets on this week's chart include "Words Of Love" by The Mamas and the Papas (#11, up from #18 the week before), "Tell It To The Rain" by The Four Seasons (#17, up from #26) and "Where Will The Words Come From" by Army-bound Gary Lewis and the Playboys (#35, up from #47)  

The Music Machine (performing "Talk Talk") and Sandy Posey (singing "Single Girl") appear on "Where The Action Is".

January 3rd

Two days after Gary Lewis is drafted, Carl Wilson of The Beach Boys refuses induction into the US Army claiming to be a conscientious objector.  His status is upheld and he never serves in the armed forces.  

The Bee Gees reach #1 in their home country of Australia with "Spicks And Specks", a record that never charts here in America but is included in many of their hit compilations years later.  It is their first official #1 Record.  

Jack Ruby, the man who shot and killed accused John F. Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald, died in a Dallas hospital today.  

Brand new debuts on the chart this week include the novelty hit "Wild Thing" by Senator Bobby (premiering at #63), "Pretty Ballerina" by The Left Bank, cracking the chart at #82 and "Gimme Some Lovin'" by The Spencer Davis Group, which bows at #89.  

Paul Revere and the Raiders perform "Good Thing" today on "Where The Action Is" … and their guest Ian Whitcomb sings his big hit from 1965, "You Turn Me On".

January 2nd

Biggest movers on the chart this week include:  "Music To Watch Girls By" by The Bob Crewe Generation  (up from #80 to #57) a jump of 23 points, "Kind Of A Drag" by The Buckinghams  (up from #86 to #65) a jump of 23 points, "Knight In Rusty Armour" by Peter and Gordon  (up from #69 to #48)  a jump of 21 points … next week it'll pass their current hit "Lady Godiva", "Hello Hello" by Sopwith Camel (up from #81 to #64) a jump of 17 points, "Stand By Me" by Spyder Turner  (up from #57 to #41) up 16 and "Georgy Girl" by The Seekers  (up from #38 to #23) a jump of 15 places.

Former actor (for future President) Ronald Reagan is inaugurated as Governor of California.  
 

The Monkees perform at The Civic Center Arena in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  During their performance of "I Wanna Be Free", a film of a freedom march in Montgomery, Alabama, is shown on a large projection screen.

January 1st, 1967

The brand year begins with the following Top Ten Records in America:  

#10 - Standing In The Shadows Of Love - The Four Tops

#  9 - Mellow Yellow - Donovan

#  8 - Coming Home Soldier - Bobby Vinton

#  7 - Good Thing - Paul Revere and the Raiders

#  6 - Sugar Town - Nancy Sinatra

#  5 - That's Life - Frank Sinatra

#  4 - Winchester Cathedral - The New Vaudeville Band

#  3 - Tell It Like It Is - Aaron Neville

#  2 - Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron - The Royal Guardsmen

#  1 - I'm A Believer - The Monkees  

The #1 Album in the Country as 1967 begins is "The Monkees" by The Monkees, their debut album which is now in its ninth week at #1.  

Speaking of The Monkees, they performed live on New Year's Day at Municipal Auditorium in Nashville.  

Gary Lewis, son of comedian Jerry Lewis, and leader of The Playboys, who have been ALL over the charts the past two years scoring hit after hit after hit (and currently hold down the #35 spot on this week's chart), is drafted into the US Army.  In an interview with Gary James of classicbands.com, when asked why, with his celebrity status and all his father's connections, he couldn't have avoided the draft, Gary replied:  "I had a really good role model. When I was thinking about getting out of the draft, I thought of Elvis going into the service at the height of his career and doing what he had to do for his country without complaining.  So, thinking of how Elvis did that, I thought to myself, I'm going to do the same thing and I'm going to be proud the rest of my life for it, and I am. It's just amazing how many Vietnam vets come up to me at these shows and thank me for doing what I was supposed to do. So, I wouldn't change that for anything."   

Speaking of Elvis, today he signs a new contract with Colonel Tom Parker which explicitly recognizes that they are engaged in what amounts to a partnership or joint venture.  According to the terms of this contract, Parker will continue to collect a 25% commission on all of Elvis' movie salaries and guaranteed record company advances .. but will now also receive 50% of any profits or royalties beyond the basic payments from these record and film contracts … as well as 50% of any "special" or "side" deals.  Basically stated, Elvis provides 100% of the talent but then  equally splits the financial results of that talent with his manager.  Unreal!  

Sonny and Cher are banned from The Tournament Of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California, for supporting the 2000 demonstrators (known as The Sunset Strip Rioters) speaking out against a year-long campaign by sheriffs and police to clear the Strip of "loitering teenagers".  

The New Vaudeville Band appear on The Ed Sullivan Show tonight performing their former #1 Record "Winchester Cathedral" along with "Whispering" and "Shine".  

Meanwhile, The Doors make their first live television appearance in Los Angeles on the KTLA-TV Program "Shebang", where they lip-sync their first single "Break On Through". Later this year they'll make an appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show performing their #1 Hit "Light My Fire" before being banned for life for not deleting the line about "getting higher" per Mr. Sullivan's request.  When told afterwards that they'll never play The Sullivan Show again, frontman Jim Morrison said "Who cares … we've already done it."  

The First Annual New Year's Wail is held in San Francisco.  Among the artists performing that evening were The Grateful Dead and Big Brother and the Holding Company, featuring Janis Joplin.  The concert was arranged by the San Francisco Chapter of Hell's Angels as a good will gesture for all of the Haight-Ashbury hippies who got together to bail Angels members Chocolate George and Hairy Henry out of jail after their arrests at the Death Of Money Parade held December 17, 1966, an event staged by The Diggers, a radical community-action group of activists and improvisational actors, cofounded by actor Peter Coyote.  (Making their political statement, the actors dressed in animal masks and carried a large coffin full of fake money down Haight Street singing "Get out my life, why don't you babe?".)  

Number One at the Box Office this week:  The Sandpebbles

*****

I talked with Gary Lewis about being the "lead story" in our Salute to '67 this year in Forgotten Hits ...

Kent Kotal / Forgotten Hits:  OK, tell me about The Ed Sullivan Show. 

GARY LEWIS:  OK, well the Sullivan Show, everybody knew that if you got asked to do that show, that was going to be a high point in your career.  So we went on there and debuted "This Diamond Ring" to the country and I know that had a lot to do with that going to #1 for us … and then we got asked back six different times to do it.  So within the release of our first seven singles, we did six Ed Sullivan Shows … and so all seven of those tunes went to The Top Ten.  

kk:  You had a string of hits there that just wouldn't stop … for awhile, it was just unreal.  

GL:  Oh yeah, it was just great … it was really great … and then I got my draft notice!

kk:  Let's talk about that.  1967 was still a big year for the Playboys … in fact, you guys  had a few hits that year … "Where Will The Words Come From", "The Loser (With A Broken Heart)", "Girls In Love", "Jill" ... it's funny because the very first entry in my 1967 calendar for the year, January 1st, is: Gary Lewis gets drafted.

GL:  That's right …   

kk:  Tell me about that.   

GL:  That was my first day in the Army … New Year's Day … and, since it was a holiday, nobody was around.  We hung out, not knowing where we were supposed to be, who we're supposed to see … are we supposed to talk to anybody? … what's going on … no, nothing until the 2nd.  But it was … I didn't really like going in, but by the end of it, when I was comin' out, I knew that it was a good thing that I did it, it really was.  I had to grow up a little.   

kk:  I read a quote from you that you kind of used Elvis as a role model. 

GL:  Well, that's exactly right … when I got my draft notice, that's the first thing that I thought of … well, Elvis did it, I'll do it.  And everybody's tellin' me, "You're nuts!  Your dad could have gotten you out of that!" .  Well, I didn't want that, ya know?  I just didn't want it … so I went. 

kk:  And I don't know if you even know this or not, but two days later … two days after you went in, Carl Wilson of The Beach Boys filed for conscientious objector status.   

GL:  Oh really?!?  No, I didn't know that!  

kk:  Yeah, it was like two days later.  

GL:  I did not know that!   

kk:  Yeah … I mean, it was a different time, for sure … January, '67, I had just turned into a teenager right then, so I probably wasn't really all that aware about all that was going on outside my own little bubble of suburbia ... but let's face it, you weren't that much older than me. 

GL:  No, I was barely 21.  And I suppose I could have done that ... asked my dad for help ... but that wasn't what I wanted ... I wanted to do this on my own and face whatever was in store for me.

 

kk:  I tell people that the day The Beatles hit America, Paul McCartney was twice as old as me … and now he's only eleven years older than I am now … and it just doesn't seem fair!

GL:  Laughing … ha, ha … oh yeah, yeah … funny!

kk:  But he used to be TWICE as old as me!

GL:  Yeah, yeah, right!

kk:  Now you're in the army ... yet Gary Lewis and the Playboys had four hit records that year ... so how did that happen?  I mean, you were gone!  Did you go in and prerecord a bunch of stuff before you went into The Army?

GL:  Yeah, when we found out that I was going into the service, Snuffy (Record Producer Snuff Garrett) said, "Let's just go in and cut what I think can all be singles", so we recorded like four or five songs and just put them in the can and just released them while I was overseas.

kk:  Well, that definitely kept things goin'!

GL:  Yeah, right.

kk:  Now did you do any entertaining when you were in the service, or no?

GL:  No, they wanted me to get a band together and go around and play USO clubs around the country and stuff and at that time I didn't want to be anything special … I didn't want to BE special … I just wanted to be one of the guys that had to go thru everything that you have to go thru … I didn't want any kind of favoritism … and thank goodness I thought that way.  'cause I gotta live with all these guys!  And if I would have been shown any kind of favoritism it would have been a real drag … so I said, "No thank you, please just give me a job" and so they stuck me in the supply room.  (laughing)

kk:  Yeah, but that probably made it a heck of a lot easier in the long run overall!

GL:  Yeah, it probably did, actually, you know.  I mean I just had the foresight to understand that if you're pointed out as something special and you're getting favors and this and that, it just would not have been a good two years.

kk:  So when you came back, obviously the music scene had changed quite a bit … '67 … one of the reasons I focused on '67 is that just really seemed to be the year of change … EVERYTHING changed.

GL:  Oh man, did it ever … yeah, that was it … Jimi Hendrix … Janis Joplin … and I'm going, you know, "Oh my God, where do I fit into this?"  And then when I got out of the service I said, "Snuffy, what are we gonna do" and he said "Nothing - there's no market for you."

kk:  Oh wow!

GL:  Just like that … boom!  I mean, pie in the face.  So that's when I really started not liking him too much because he could have come up with something … I mean, he ran Liberty Records … Al Bennett was the President and The Boss and all that, but Snuffy … he would do anything that Snuffy said … so Snuffy was actually in charge.  And if he wanted to do something, he could have, so I was pretty upset about that.

kk:  Well SO many things changed … it was such a volatile time … 

GL:  It was, it really was.

kk: Think about all of the guys who were HUGE, top of the charts artists until The Beatles hit … and then all of a sudden they couldn't even get played on the radio anymore.

GL: That's exactly right … and I didn't think of that until YEARS later … and it's absolutely true … and the guy that worried the most was Elvis!

kk:  FIfty years later, tho, and you're still doin' it, man … I mean who would have EVER thought!

GL:  Oh my God … NEVER!  We've done 52 years so far … and that's the best gift I could have EVER been given.  I'm truly blessed.

kk:  And you're still havin' fun … and the folks are havin' fun watchin' it … you can't ask for anything better than that, you really can't!

GL:  No, no … and it's true … ALL the people we play to are just SUPER good people … they're probably the same people we played to in the '60s!

kk:  (laughing)  No, I think you've picked up a couple of generations since then (lol) … 'cause I've gotta say, this is infectious music … there's just something about this music that spans every age group … and as they discover it … I remember watching my kids grow up whenever they'd have a birthday party or something, they would still play the music of the '60's … didn't matter what era it was … it was still that feel good music of the '60's.

GL:  Ah, yeah … that's cool … you know, people tell me that all the time at our shows … "Oh my God, where is music like that now?"  And I say "Well, you know, I don't know the answer to that one but thank you for saying so."

kk:  One other thing from '67 that I wanted to ask … and this fact totally surprised me … "This Diamond Ring", which is one of my FAVORITE records of all time, was such a HUGE, huge hit when it first came out … but did you know that it didn't actually go gold until 1967.  Does that seem right to you?  Kinda odd?  I mean, that record was HUGE … BIG #1 Hit.

GL:  Yeah, that's right … I think that's because it got to #1 too fast … that's what I think.  It went up the charts SO fast … like maybe five or six weeks … that it didn't have time to sell all that until later on.

kk:  That could be.

GL:  That's what I think anyway.  Ever since 1965, I've got five "Diamond Ring" gold records, and three of all the others … so they keep coming because these songs have continued to sell.

kk: Wow - that's great!

GL:  I love it!

kk:  Now do you still get royalties on any of this stuff?

GL:  Yeah, sure … oh yeah, we made a GREAT deal with Liberty Records … a lifetime deal!

kk:  Well, that's just awesome … because a LOT of guys don't!

GL:  Oh, I know, I know … somewhere in their career when their popularity kinda sinks a little bit, they sign things back over to the record company, and that's the mistake right there.

kk:  Well, I appreciate you taking some time today to talk about some of this stuff, it means a lot … please follow along as we relive 1967 this year in Forgotten Hits ... and feel free to chime in at any time with some "fly on the wall" memories.

GL:  Oh sure, my pleasure … any time you want to do this, just shoot me an email or give me a call.

A rare shot of Gary in his Army Uniform - supplied by Gary Lewis!