My New Year's Music Resolution - 2019

I have decided to appreciate and celebrate the music of our lives to a fuller extent this year.

That means no more complaining about who is or isn't in which band ...

Let's face it ...

At this point in time, more than half of our musical heroes are gone ... 

And that's just the cold, hard facts.

So many of these great artists have passed on that it has simply become IMPOSSIBLE to truly recreate the line-ups and sounds that we all grew up loving and listening to.  

So from now on if the group is paying a high-quality, respective tribute to the music and memory of those original artists, then they're all-right in my book.  Because really, that's what we want to hear ... that's why we go to these shows ... to recapture that incredible feeling one more time.

Over the past couple of years, we have even gone so far as to name some of these tribute artists to our Best Concerts Of The Year lists.

Why?  

Because they're THAT good.

Groups like The Chicago Experience, The Orchestra and The Fab Four have absolutely nailed the sounds of these artists ... and faithfully reproduce this music live on stage.  There is no question as to their own love of the music ... and the utmost respect they have for these artists.

Now I know that there are some of you out there who will fight me on this.

For example, from some past conversations I've had with Billy J. Kramer, I know that he has absolutely NO interest in ever seeing a Beatles cover band ... because he has seen the real thing ... and was intimately involved with their early success.  And I get that.  I can respect Billy's decision not to go.

But in the scheme of things, how many people ever really got the chance to see the real thing?  How many people actually saw The Beatles?  (Any how many of those who did HEARD anything they played???)

And let's face it ... they played their last live concert in 1966 ... and "getting the band back together again" isn't a real possibility anymore at this point in time ... it's just never gonna happen.  Yet their music lives on ... and people want to hear it.  So why not go and appreciate the joy this music gives you ... and see it presented in its highest fashion?  

There is nothing that I can say that will chance your stance if this is the way that you feel ... like I said, I get it.  But by the same token, we have to respect the people who come for the "theater" of it all through these recreations.

I can only tell you that The Fab Four faithfully and respectfully present this music live on stage in ways The Beatles never even had the opportunity to do so.  No one will ever recreate the same magic as the original ... it just isn't possible ... so to hold that against an artist really isn't a fair assessment either.  But I can assure you that this show is well worth the visit.

The same can be said of some of our other tribute favorites, The Chicago Experience and The Orchestra.

I've gone on record stating that I have seen The Chicago Experience perform the music of Chicago better than the actual group Chicago does in concert.  This is because bring a youthful excitement and appreciation with them to the stage every time they take it. 

Likewise, The Orchestra.  We saw Jeff Lynne's ELO last year ... and named it Concert Of The Year.  But Jeff Lynne didn't tour The States for 35 years ... and I have never seen ANYBODY better at producing this music live on stage than The Orchestra, all former members of some incarnation of ELO.  And they present it in such a respectful and professional manner that the entire listening experience is pure perfection.

Then there are groups out there like The Grass Roots and Paul Revere's Raiders, neither of which contain a single original member anymore ... yet they continue to draw audiences in with their faithful reproductions of this material.  (We've heard from any number of readers over the years who argue "Yeah, but it ain't the real thing.")

So what's the real thing?  Some of the members of these bands have been performing this music for DECADES now.  They have BECOME the real thing.  (And if you don't believe me, YOU try telling Ron Foos that after 40+ years in a Raiders uniform, he's not really a Raider!!!)

And see, that's another thing ... some of these band members have been together longer than the originals ever were.  (A notable exception to this rule is The Ides Of March, who still perform with all four original members that started out in a Berwyn basement some 55 years ago!)  

MOST of the groups of the '60's burned out in less than five or six years ... and even then band members came and went on a regular basis.  

And think about this for a minute ...  

How many of these popular group members from the '60's can you identify on a "first name basis" other than John, Paul, George and Ringo?

Tommy James still has his Shondells ... Gary Puckett still has his Union Gap ... Eric Burdon still has his Animals ... Frankie Valli still has his Four Seasons ... and Peter Noone still has his Hermits.  NONE of these current back-up musicians were part of the original bands that we grew up with ... but I'll tell you what ... nearly ALL of them perform the music better today than the original bands did several decades ago.

So from now on, I'm going to go see the artists whose music I admire without any reservations ... simply for the experience of sitting back and enjoying the music I love best.

Now does that mean that I'll take in The Little River Band when they play The Arcada Theatre again on May 4th?

Yeah, I think I probably will ... because I want to experience their music with this new mind-set.  Simply put, I just want to sit back and enjoy the music ... for the pure pleasure of hearing it.  And I just happen to LOVE the music of The Little River Band ... and Ambrosia ... and The Atlanta Rhythm Section ... etc, etc, etc.

What I WON'T tolerate is any band disrespecting this music that is so sacred to us ... and those bands will be called out in our pages ... as will any other groups out there trying to deceive the public with false advertising as to who they really are and what people will actually see and hear after shelling out their hard-earned money to attend their concert.  (But other than that, I guess you can say that I've mellowed in my old age.  lol)

I am looking forward to seeing many more great shows in 2019 ... and reporting our experiences back to you in these pages.  

It's all about the music ... in Forgotten Hits.
kk
Kent Kotal
Forgotten Hits 

One final afterthought ...

We ALL know how New Year's Resolutions go ... but I will do my very best to uphold my end of the bargain here ... 

If I slip along the way, I apologize ... but it probably just means that some artist didn't hold up THEIR end of the deal (and really pissed me off!)  Lol
kk

Guest Concert Review #3

The concert I didn't see and more ...

I wasn’t going to include this piece at all, but it is the only way I have of bringing attention to this.  

I have back-to-back concerts the middle of November. I am excited about a weekend away and a day off from school on Monday. I head out to Patchogue, Long Island, for a “Night of Doo Wop” with Lou Christie, Jay Siegel’s Tokens, The Toys, Manhattan Skyline and The Capris. The problem in Patchogue is there is no parking. I circle for an hour and am half hoping to grab a parking spot as someone leaves. However, so are at least 20 other cars. We move through four municipal lots and metered parking spaces. The show has now started and I am still driving around. 

After missing a half hour of the show, and realizing this is not going to have a happy ending, I head back to the hotel. I am crushed! I found out later that the same thing happened to others ... no show for them either. The worst thing I heard was that the performers had the same issue. They had to be dropped off at the stage door and then someone else, usually their merchandise people had to drive around looking for parking. Two staff members made it in at the intermission. 

This now eliminates Patchogue Theatre for the Performing Arts as a venue I can support. We have spent much time and money in the Northeast repairing and re-establishing these theatres so that these fantastic performances can continue in beautiful historic surroundings. I am sorry to forthcoming performers I planned to see here. I cannot buy tickets, pay for hotels and gas and just turn around scared and defeated. Now I know better.  

The Buckinghams at Daryl’s    

The next morning I head off the Island to Pawling, NY, where The Buckinghams are appearing at Daryl’s House. I love Daryl’s House! Not the show. I don’t have cable. I love the dinner club Daryl’s House. The food is gourmet, but not showy and the shows are close up and personal. Besides which I am having dinner with Marty Sanders of Jay and the Americans. Dave Zane, lead guitarist of The Buckinghams also plays with Jay and the Americans, and Marty lives close enough to come see him. Apparently Marty goes to Daryl’s quite a bit. I enjoy the drive to Pawling. I enjoy the town atmosphere which is reminiscent of my own upbringing and still I say to Daryl, “WHY PAWLING?” 

Dinner listening to Marty’s stories and enjoying the company of two others at the table makes this a winning night. Of course, all I could talk about was Forgotten Hits. (smirk!) Actually, we covered many topics but they all somehow linked to music. The other couple did not know who Marty was so when he mentioned something about “his group”, they naively asked, “Oh, who is your group?” It seemed like a forever pause until he said quietly, “Jay and the Americans”. “YOU’RE KIDDING ME!!” an obvious, shocked reaction. He just looked at her, and I responded, “No. He’s not kidding.” 

The Bucks came on the stage which was so close to us I could have gotten in their way trying to stand up. WOW! What a show! The video camera was running and a side screen showed a very flattering angle and bright lighting. As in person, the camera gave the impression this was a concert in someone’s home. The Buckinghams are “courting the audience” in this up close and personal setting. I am curious as to whether the performers here are enjoying this intimacy or whether they prefer a large theatre with distance between them and the audience. But as Carl sings ‘Worst That Could Happen’ while standing next to the table and looking at me, it was hard to stifle the girlish giggles that I felt. Each of The Bucks had leads in songs and tributes to the “Sorta Happy Tour” (which Carl and Nick are joining again this year) intertwine with the great hits of the Chicago sound that marked The Buckinghams. Ending was difficult, good-byes expressed sincere joys spent together and then … I’m gone.  

Herman's Hermits Starring Peter Noone and the end    

My last concert this year includes a return to The Wolf Den for Herman’s Hermits starring Peter Noone. A friend of mine and Beatle DJ, Ken Michaels, had planned on coming but didn’t make it. Of course he figured he knew what the content of the concert had been so when I told him about the added Christmas songs and Vance wearing an elf suit even tho’ this was technically not a Christmas show, his reaction was, “Now THAT was a show I would have liked to see, and I missed it.” Well, I watched it from the outside looking in. I was to have a seat inside the Den but when I arrived, my seat had been given to someone else. There was no way I could have gotten there sooner. School ended and I took off, arriving around 5:00 pm. The line to get in to the Wolf Den was longer than the available, non-reserved seats. I met a friend at the slots and we parked ourselves around the corral to stand. OK! A new way to view a concert! The people outside the Den watching are free to be who they really are. Which means dancing, flirting, asking questions, yelling at the stage in anonymity, and just being joyful. I counted 29 song titles in this hour and a quarter set. Herman’s Hermits hits, songs not as often sung (Jezebel, Bus Stop, Dream On), Christmas songs (Oh Holy Night, The Sex Pistols' version of Jingle Bells, Rudolph) and cover songs all filled the casino and wafted out to us listening on the edge. The sound was much clearer than I would have thought, and except for my feet falling asleep and my needing to shift my legs, it is worth doing again. There were many tender musical moments and for me, it was a perfect end to my 2018 concerts. December was enough for me to handle. I will begin again in 2019, and who knows just what will happen. It is a new year! 

-- Shelley J Sweet-Tufano

Daryl's House sounds absolutely amazing ... would LOVE to be able to see a show there some day!

I asked Carl Giammarese to share a few words about it as well ... our East Coast Readers would do well to check this place out!  (And please report back when you do!)  kk   


Hi Kent, 
I will say we enjoyed playing there very much. We were coming from playing an Englewood NJ, concert with Peter Noone at the Bergen PAC. Once you get out of New Jersey and past New York City, it becomes very scenic and beautiful passing through parts of Connecticut and getting to up state New York. 
Darryl’s Place is kind of rustic and maybe holds 100 people at the tables in front of the stage, and maybe another 80 at the bar. We are always excited to play to an intimate and enthusiastic audience. It’s always fun to see an audience so up close with such a great response. They really knew the Buckinghams and our music, and showed their appreciation. Like I’ve said so many times before, we are so blessed to have such loyal fans all over the country. A great evening ... the only thing that could have made it better would have been if Darryl Hall would have shown up and sat in with us. Great fun! 
Carl Giammarese 
The Buckinghams
 

Guest Concert Review #2

Here is the second of Shelley Sweet-Tufano's Year-End Concert Reviews ...  

NELSON:  RICKY NELSON REMEMBERED

Headline News! 

Nelson will be back on tour next year! But that also means that Gunnar and Matthew Nelson will be setting aside their ‘Ricky Nelson Remembered’ show. Then again … maybe not. 

I see it scheduled for some gigs next year, so possibly the brothers will be presenting both shows throughout the year, tho’ that is not what they announced. I hope ‘Ricky Nelson Remembered’ DOES continue. It is a musical breath of fresh air showcasing the life and songs of a mid-twentieth-century teen idol, offered by his two best friends and obvious fans: his twin sons.  

The videos show Ricky starting at age 16 and continuing through to his country rock Stone Canyon Band. They sing his hits. They are brash and wisecracking with each other. They pose well for photography opportunities, and they know their subject well. Stories about Uncle George (George Harrison, their next door neighbor) and babysitter Cass Elliott belie the fact that they are just down to earth natural musicians. Their musical genetics is now in its third generation, earning them a Guinness Record as the only three-generation musical hit-maker family. They have videos of Paul McCartney praising Ricky Nelson and John Fogerty inducting Ricky posthumously into the Hall of Fame. When I first saw this show, it was at an outdoor fair and the videos were not visible … so they just stopped them and went on with the show. I still enjoyed it so much, I couldn’t wait to see them at Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den, the middle of October. It surpassed my expectations.

Gunnar ended the show teary-eyed relating his emotions during a medical life-and-death struggle that Matthew endured this past year. It is expected that it would have great impact on him. This is his partner, sibling, twin. Matthew let him continue and only added a glib remark about the weight he had lost in the hospital being a good thing. He may have been uneasy standing there but he allowed Gunnar to speak freely and seemed to accept that his brother had also suffered during this time.  

Go see them! As Nelson, or as Ricky’s sons. Go see them! My favorite song that night? Definitely ‘LOVE IS SOMETHING YOU CAN’T BUY’.  

DICK FOX'S GOLDEN BOYS:

The end of October, and my last concert for the month is back at Mohegan Sun, but in the Arena to see an incarnation of Golden Boys or Teen Idols from the 50’s/60’s. In order of appearance they are: Bobby Rydell, Fabian and Frankie Avalon. Depending on when and where you see them, it could be a different line-up ... Lou Christie joins Frankie and Bobby in California next year ... BUT you can be assured you will be visited by pin-up teen idols of walls past. 

I am seven years old and walking into my babysitter’s room two houses away. Strangely, she does not seem overjoyed that I am invading her space, although she is cordial. As I look around her walls, all I see are the centerfold male singers of the 50’s, pulled out of teen magazines. Trying to fit in I say, “Who do you think is the best looking?” “I don’t know.” Is her passive response. YOU DON’T KNOW? YOU HAVE THE WORLD OF MUSICAL MEN PLAYED OUT IN PRINT ON YOUR WALLS FOR EASY COMPARISON AND YOU DON’T KNOW WHO IS THE BEST LOOKING? The fact that my teenage friends and I would disagree on this same topic in future years is lost on me here.  

Bobby Rydell is recovering from a bad cold and I will never forget his 2012 double transplant and what he has gone through. He opens his mouth and I am hearing the voice from 45 records and Bye Bye Birdie that flows out as if there is no effort needed. My favorite, ‘Forget Him,’ brings chills down my spine. For that voice …. I would forget him and go home to be sung to forever. 

Fabian does the middle of the show singing ‘I’m A Man,’ the hit he sang on American Bandstand at age 15. 

15??? 

Man??? 

The British Invasion ran into the same thing. Boys playing as men as their popularity increases. I am surprised at how many movies (all Westerns?) that Fabian appeared in. Some with Ricky Nelson and John Wayne. Fabian’s voice has never been what others were, but he topped the pin-up list and torn clothes by fans list mightily. 

Frankie Avalon closes with Annette tributes. My impression of teenage love and commitment came from their movies, and so yes, it was unrealistic and warped. GOOD TIMES. 

The three of them sing together on songs, make jokes about growing up streets apart (Did you know that Bobby and Fabian used to throw other kids at Frankie? One of their height jokes) And I feel included, but also feel like an eves-dropper on their lives. They have musicians who have spent 40+ years with them and Frankie’s son, Frank is his drummer. There are medleys, tributes and Ethan Everly. Yes, a son of an Everly joins Frankie and his son onstage to toast his famous father and uncle.  

Tributes: Ricky Nelson, Elvis, Bobby Darin, Bill Haley, The Everly Brothers ... some from Bobby, some from Fabian, some from Frankie  

In any occupation, when successful relationships are asked to reunite to achieve a goal, magic can ensue. The difference in entertaining is that we get to watch the magic at these reunions. 

Once a Golden Boy, always a Golden Boy.

To be continued … 

Shelley J Sweet-Tufano

Guest Concert Review #1

Forgotten Hits East Coast Correspondent Shelley Sweet-Tufano has submitted three final reviews from her late 2018 concert agenda.  We're featuring the first of these today.  (kk)

Tarrytown, NY, is the scene for Washington Irving’s ‘Legend of Sleepy Hollow’ and today it is the home of The Music Hall which housed a show called 'Stars of the 60s' at the beginning of October. October is a perfect time to visit a place known for its spooky heritage. I love this fall pilgrimage and as Tarrytown is still a sleepy little hollow along the river, it is always a perfectly fun experience.  

There are four acts on the bill: The Chiffons, The Brooklyn Bridge, The Vogues and Jay and The Americans ... all American acts from the 60s who have experienced issues and reformations, still managing to keep the music alive and prosperous. 

Judy Craig Mann, original lead singer of The Chiffons and her daughter and niece are the first examples of this reformation. Judy left show biz, only to return and revive her career and the songs she introduced in the early 90’s. Originally The Chiffons were a group whose purpose was to introduce the songs of writer / composer Ronald Mack to the industry in an effort to market his creations to other performers. Surprise, surprise! The Chiffons became a hit and began shopping for matching dresses in which to begin their performances. ‘One Fine Day’ immediately gets the audience clapping and singing the praises of this wonderful day we all have in our memories … real or imagined.  ‘I Have A Boyfriend’ is next, followed by Judy’s daughter, Dawn, taking the lead vocals for ‘That’s The Way It Goes.’  NOW comes my fave moment as these girls “get real” about all those ‘Sweet Talking Guy’(s).  The pre-song repartee from each girl giving her opinioned attitude on these men we wish to forget, after having fallen victim to their words without meaning, brings all women in the audience into a single sisterhood of “UH-HUH! Been there, and NOT going back!” However, we absolutely MUST end acknowledging ‘He’s So Fine.’  Of course, THAT would be each of you men reading this review. Thank you, Chiffons, for bringing me back into the Spectacular 60s from a girl’s point of view. 

I have not seen The Brooklyn Bridge since Johnny Maestro’s last performance. It was at Bowzer’s Doo-Wop, Mohegan Sun in CT. I had no idea it would be his last and, from what I have been told, others did not either. So what can The Brooklyn Bridge offer me now? There are still three original members and a new lead singer. His name is Roy Michaels. And, as The Bridge tells us, “Johnny threw him down to our microphone suited up and complete with hat.”  Below is a piece taken from The Brooklyn Bridge’s announcement on their decision to continue. It explains it beautifully.    

The Brooklyn Bridge (Band) are excited and looking forward to continue the music that all of you are familliar, with such songs as 'Lonely Teardrops,' 'Give Me Some Lovin'' and many more. Since Johnny Maestro's passing in March of 2010 and Fred Ferrara's passing in October of 2011, the band and our families have felt their loss on many levels. We miss them terribly, as do all our fans. However, at this time, the band feels that the responsibility to carry on the music is something that can not be ignored. And so, the band is looking forward to performing the hits that are still popular on all of the Rock and Roll shows and all the oldies shows on the radio and the internet. Such songs as 'Welcome Me Love,' 'Blessed Is The Rain,' 'Your Husband And My Wife,' and our most popular million seller, 'The Worst That Could Happen,' along with many others of the Brooklyn Bridge song list will be performed once again to our fans and friends. 
Future bookings and events will be posted on this website. Also, you can log on Facebook to 'TheBrooklynbridgeband on Facebook' for more information on the band. 
Hope to see you at future shows and we thank you for always being a very important part of our lives and the music.   
Peace   ///    
Rn'R Forever ...

The Brooklyn Bridge Band   

So, what do I say now? I am SO glad they made this decision to go on with their musical performances. Roy’s vocals are spot on, and to be able to hear ‘Lonely Teardrops,’ ‘My Prayer,’ ‘Welcome Me, Love,’ ‘Blessed Is The Rain,’ '16 Candles’ and ‘The Worst That Can Happen’ in live performance with the feeling that Johnny is not only smiling, but saying, “YEAH! I did that! And the world still loves it!” made me weepy and joyful both. What happened to ‘Your Husband and My Wife’? I don’t know. It was not performed tonight. I hope all is well with them. (sarcasm ;-D).   

The last time The Vogues performed at The Music Hall, Bill Burkette was still with them. They were such a hit, the audience plagued The Music Hall to bring them back … and they listened. Today, The Vogues name is headed by Troy Elich and includes Royce Taylor and another vocalist who (according to their website) is not computer savvy enough for email. They tour with The Five O’Clock Band whose names (but not emails … again , not computer savvy) are Art DeLeonardis, Dean Mastrangelo, Tom Lamb, and Rich Gooch.   

This is sounding like a funeral dirge depicting loss, but I really see it as a positive of the music being carried forward. As with other bands, there are members here who performed with the originals and carry the blessings of them to go forward and keep the magic going. And, as I have said before, CDs are nice (actually my vinyls are better) but live harmonies ROCK the world! The vocals are filling the room bringing the songs to life. 

The Land of Milk and Honey

Magic Town

My Special Angel

Turn Around (Look at Me)

Five O’Clock World

You’re The One

These songs long for and are enhanced by some of the most beautiful harmonies and lyrics we can find in concert. A patron says to me, “The Vogues put on a great show. They know how to do it.” I am feeling warm, mushy, strong and determined as their section ends. At each concert I realize again the importance of music in my life and the lives of others.  

The show ends with Jay and The Americans backed by The USA Band! Several “Jays” have had the honor of strength of voice to deliver the HIGHS, with never a low, of the songs that went toe to toe with the British Invasion. Although there are many “shoulda been a hit” examples in music, there are also as many or more, examples of songs that lurched through the stacks to emerge victorious against all odds. Music can win when all else fails. And ‘Only In America’ is the place to start. It is BECAUSE of our melting pot existence that we are able to bring forth musical genres and styles that may separate or combine music from any area of the world.

Sandy Deanne, Marty Sanders and Jay Reincke appear tonight. The stage is minus Howie Kane and at times, I feel a burden on the other three to make up for “one man down”. You nailed it, guys. 

Jay Reincke appeared at times to be dissatisfied with his voice, but the audience didn’t feel it. This was an audience who were all glad to be attending this concert and they showed their appreciation.

Some Enchanted Evening

Let’s Lock the Door

She Cried

Young Blood

Over You

Oh, Pretty Woman

Let It Be Me

Cara Mia

Be My Baby (Sandy Deanne takes lead vocals)

Walking In The Rain

The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore 

Come A Little Bit Closer

This Magic Moment  

This was my first concert in October. After this, my personal and professional life took on curves that didn’t allow me the time to finish this review, nor write the others for October and November. I can’t let this year end without acknowledging all the concerts I attended (YES, despite everything, I made it to every concert on my list, and thankfully so. I would not have survived, still smiling, without them.) So, I will be sending a whirlwind montage of the rest of my year in one fell swoop. Marty Sanders of Jay and The Americans will emerge again along with American Rock N Roll royalty, a trip involving a concert that didn’t happen, and The British Invasion. 

Happy New Year!

Shelley J Sweet-Tufano

In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida

With Forgotten Hits now featuring the music and times of 50 years ago, namely 1969, I had this happen today and it took me back to January, 1969. 

I was driving across town today and my MP3 player was set on shuffle and for the FIRST time ever, on came the LONG version of "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida."  I played it all the way for the first time in decades.  MAN, me and my brothers ate that long version up so much in '68 and '69.  It led the way, IMO, for a change in music.  Did I miss ITS 50th anniversary box set somehow???  I played it five more times in the rest of the day.  7th Heaven!!! 

One big reason this album was so cool was the great STEREO it used.  Stereo may have been well known to FM followers in the bigger cities, but in Dodge City, Kansas, we Besch brothers were inducted into the stereo sound really for the first time in 1968.  LOTS of cool stuff was coming out in stereo (altho most 45s were still mono releases) and mono was starting to be sold cheap by the year's end.  Cutouts of recent Beatles and others would be as cheap as $1.87 when they were normally about $3.89 or so in DC.  But I digress. 

I had known of Iron Butterfly from earlier in 1968 when they appeared on American Bandstand on March 2nd.  The San Diego band's first LP, "Heavy," had just hit Billboard's LP charts and the single, "Unconscious Power"  would be passed over quickly.  Personally, I recorded the LP cut "You Can't Win," which they performed in lip-synch on the show, with our reel-to-reel machine.  As the year moved along, the new "heavy" sound was starting to infiltrate the LP charts more and more and even gained some prominence with AM singles hits as well.  Atlantic/Atco was leading the way in this area at the time.  Just as Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love" (in its second incarnation on the charts in '68) and Vanilla Fudge's "You Keep Me Hangin' On" were reaching Top 6 status nationally that summer, the new Butterfly under three minute single edit of "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" started its rise, but a month into its chart ventures, something blew us all over and the song got lost for a bit. A 7-minute single, "Hey Jude," hit the charts.  Nothing else seemed to matter much in some ways when this single hit us all like a mallet when we all pulled that first ever Apple 45 out of its sleeve proclaiming "The Beatles on Apple" and plopped it on the turntable. 

OK, so Cream had started the progressive Atco movement and the Beatles had a long song that everyone loved.  So, what makes "In-A-Gada-Da-Vida" so special? 

"In-a-Gadda-Da-Vida" was a game changer in many ways.  It influenced music for decades to come.  Even the Beatles never recorded an 18 minute song that filled an entire album side and I am not sure such would have the magnitude of this one song -- IN THE U.S.  I don't think the Butterfly album or 45 ever had the appeal that it did here. 

Anyway, the album rose steadily for three months on Billboard's Top LP charts before finally reaching Top 10 status in the first week of October, 1968.  Within a month, it had fallen out of the Top 10, just as the 45 had peaked at a modest #30.  I must say that the 45 deserved better.  The edit of a 17 minute song to under 3 minutes was done beautifully.  I heard the 45 first, like many, since it was riding the charts and airwaves a month before the LP was released.  AM airplay was so-so, despite all the Atco/Atlantic recent success. 

Despite dropping from the Top 10 LP chart, it quickly jumped back into the Top 10 and, despite the Beatles' "White Album" jumping to the top and gaining a gold record instantly, the Iron Butterfly's second album was a solid Top 10 and after five months, had also gained gold record status, finally.  I count 44 Top 10 weeks for the LP in 1968-9 on the Cash Box LP charts from its first week in the Top 10 in '68.  There must have been more hits on this LP, right? 

Actually, NO.  Did anyone ever HEAR the other LP cuts?  Did anyone ever even PLAY the other side of the album?  This was unheard of!  That LONG version was suddenly STUCK on FM's and turntables for an entire year.  I picture millions of incense sticks burning and bongs flaring to this LP side that year of 68/9. 

Butterfly's NEW album, "Ball" (released in February, '69) would actually chart higher, reaching #1 on Cash Box and #3 in Billboard.  I have to say that, personally, "Soul Experience" from that LP was just that and listening to it with headphones in 1969, it was a masterpiece in itself.  However, the new LP was and still is totally overshadowed by the "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" LP, which ran thru the LP charts for 140 weeks in Billboard.  

There was something else adding to the experience of this LP that had not previously been so big of a deal.  Sure, you could put the LP on at home or in the car, choose to listen to Chuck Buell and WLS play the AM hits on your AM radio, OR you could hope to hear the 17 minute classic on FM as it became the underground radio anthem long before "Stairway to Heaven" took over years later.   BUT, a new idea gave you that chance to have YOUR music in YOUR car ANYTIME you wanted it!  The 8-track tape had given us all a new option for car listening.  Yeah, tapes had been an experiment between 4-tracks, 8-tracks and cassettes, but the 8 track cartridge soon became the item of choice for the car.  If you wanted  to hear the lyrics clearly, buy the LP.  If you wanted to groove in the car with friends and know every part of the song (even with the changing tracks CLICK) with few lyrics and memorable parts you could almost skip to, if needed, you chose to buy THIS 8-track.  Before "Abraxas" was an 8-track everyone partied with in the car, Iron Butterfly had led the way. 

At the end of 1969, AM/FM choices had become more clear cut and Billboard's year end charts ranked Iron Butterfly as the #6 album selling artists (#4 vocal group) despite not being among the entire top 100 singles artists!  Not surprisingly, Iron Butterfly were the #1 8-track artists, with the Beatles only #20.  They were #3 in cassettes and #5 in the failing 4-track tape category.  Yet, Billboard's story on their year in review said very little about the band, only stating (BURIED IN THE 3RD PAGE OF TOPICS) that the LP had been near the top 10 all year.  Sorry, Kent, but 1969 SPOILER ALERT: The same issue ranked the album as #1 for entire year!  A little more respect, please?  No Grammy nomination in any category for this LP?  I guess it IS hard to find a category for such an LP, right? 

In June of '69, the short 45 was reissued thanks to LP sales still being around the Top 10.  The 45 reached #68 and two months after it had again left the charts after 17 weeks on the Hot 100, the LP, which had previously peaked at #5 in late '68, finally reached its Billboard Top LPs' peak at #4 IN ITS 58th WEEK on the chart!  It peaked a whole YEAR after it first charted!!!  This LP defied description.  The LP's first week of July 20, 1967, saw it debut with a bullet at #117, only bettered by the post-death compilation, "The Immortal Otis Redding."  Also in their first week then were Jose Feliciano's first LP, "Feliciano," and our own New Colony Six jumping on at #173 just ahead of Creedence Clearwater Revival's first album at #179. 

At #4 on August 9th, 1969, so much had changed -- except the appeal of this LP!  Woodstock was but a week away. CTA's first LP was struggling to keep sales moving, which would not be a problem soon.  Instead of Hendrix, Tiny Tim and Cream in the Top 10 like week one, we saw Blood, Sweat and Tears, the Hair soundtrack and Crosby, Stills and Nash as new competitors.  It just didn't matter.  The #1 LP in the first week of 1968 was Simon & Garfunkle's "Bookends" -- it was not on the chart on August 9th a year later.  Similar fates were happening.  "The White Album" that had taken the sails out of #5 "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" at Christmas 1968 was now #70! 

Yet, the song was what changed history most, IMO.  IF you are still reading, put the long version on and follow along ... and remember! 

Examining this song now after hearing it a million times 50 years ago brings new light.  From that amazing keyboardist Doug Ingle's opening organ chord progression with Ron Bushy's drum beat and Lee Dorman's bass backing and the LOUD Erik Braunn fuzz guitar, it becomes an instant classic when Ingle's other worldly vocal comes in.  If he began by singing "In the Garden of Life," who knows if we would have ever heard this amazing track.  That is what the song's title is supposed to mean, but when he COMMANDS "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, honey, don't you know that I'm lovin' you," you feel the flower power explode in your ears.  The stereo is just awesome.  You just have to crank it full volume.  Not a lot of lyrics to this one, but we all know every one easily and sing along proudly as if it's our anthem. 

Just after the two minute mark, the 45 version disappears into this mesmerizing work beginning with the keyboard solo that just blows one away, likely influenced some by the Doors.  Then, about 3:30 in, the guitar solo rocks us, sounding at times like the sounds that Tommy James would soon be making in HIS long version of "Crimson & Clover."  If Tommy wasn't channeling this song when he did his classic long version, I'd be amazed.  However, I have to believe that the middle of Crimson & Clover was edited IN to the 45, instead of the 45 edited OUT of the long version.  The edit is too abrupt to be natural, IMO.  I digress again.  The sounds of Cream can be felt in this passage as well. 

Now at about 6:30 in, it gets nice and quiet and you wonder if this is "Susie Q" by CCR being copied or vice-versa.  The CCR song is another long one at 8+ minutes, but split in half on the 45.  The two songs first charted only two weeks apart on the Hot 100, so who was first with this tapping symbol?  Both were California bands, so maybe one heard the other live?  No doubt that our own FH'er Harvey Kubernick knows the story and can tell us.  Whatever the case, this jumps into the pounding drum solo that is spectacular in stereo and was the start of so many bands adding drum solos to their live acts.  What is likely different, is that this one is so VERY entertaining throughout.  YES, bands do nice drum solos, but are they always INTERESTING like this long classic?  Later in '69, the Beatles' Abbey Road would do the best SHORT clone job of this drum solo that could be.  It's great, but no doubt it was inspired by the Butterfly classic.  Both certainly got pounded by us on our dashboards of our cars as if we could duplicate the originals.  I would think that the Cryan' Shames' drum break in "Greenburg Glickstein" was influenced by this song, as well. 

Back to the track, we eventually find the drums going back and forth with great ambience and phase shifting in our headphones as the keyboard rejoins in a church-like atmosphere that might have made my mom say, "I love this part."  In reality, the drum solo that we think is the whole song is basically three minutes of pure glory.  Then, as the peaceful church sounds descend, suddenly things get quite weird as the guitar screams out at 11 minutes in.  But soon after this 20 second lunacy, a nice veiled version of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" can be heard in the organ solo which ascends back into the main song again as it powers to new heights.  Now a transition into the drum solo for a few seconds and then what I think is the music of "Streets of Cairo" if I am correct.  How bizarre, but cool.  It has this wavery effect that Tommy James again used in "Crimson & Clover" to fuller effect.  Then another crazy guitar solo that is superb stereo leading into the FINAL finale' of this 17 minutes of chaos.  The ending part of the 45 edit comes back as well as the closing lyrics, of which there had been NO lyrics for the past 13 minutes!  The beginning keyboard part returns to appropriately close the song. 

OK, so maybe my thoughts above were not coherent, but can you blame me?  This song just begs you play it again and again, AND WE DID!  Well, at least thru 1968 and 1969.  140 weeks!  That's almost three years on the Top LPs charts!  Did we wear all the copies out?  On the first LP chart of January, 1970, the LP still stood proudly at #11.  As that year ended, one can certainly hear the influence on Bloodrock's new single, "D.O.A." too, I think.  The first week of January, 1971, the LP had finally slipped to #152, but was up from 156 the week before! 

On March 20, 1971, the legend ended (for now) when the LP last charted (up two spaces from the previous week!) at #168.  Janis and Jimi had died and Jim Morrison would soon join them.  The Beatles had broken up in this chart run and "Jesus Christ, Superstar" had replaced "Hair" as a top LP.  Black Sabbath and Alice Cooper were new forces in the psychedelic era of the '70's, and yet THIS album was still clinging.  It's just too odd to be true, but it helped close the '60's era, even if it hung on much longer than the legends we love and remember more often.  Take another listen!  WLSClark Besch 

Actually if you put the LP cut on at the start of today's piece, it probably could have played as the soundtrack to the time it has taken to read this far!  (Not quite "Wizard Of Oz" / "Dark Side Of The Moon" worthy, perhaps, but there is no denying your passion!) 

Clark is correct ... despite never reaching #1 ... and having been released some five months before 1969 even began ... Iron Butterfly's "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" LP would go on to rank as Billboard's #1 Album of 1969.  (We were gonna tell you that eleven months from now in our own year-end recap of '69!  lol) 

Sure, I listened to it ... but not to the extent others obviously did.  For me, it was interesting the first couple of times ... but I have never been one for extended drum solos, which then seemed to dominate EVERY concert we went to back in the '70's.  I soon found myself bored with the concept.  (If I'm going to invest seventeen minutes into something today, it'll more likely be "Alice's Restaurant" than "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida"!!!) 

But I get it ... and music certainly had taken a major turn by this point.  It was a very different time.  (Brother Mark listened to it intensely as well.  And I cannot help but wonder if, when listening to it in the car on an 8-track player, if it switched channels three times during the course of this one single song?!?!) 

Different strokes for different folks ... but I believe Clark's piece will strike a passion in many of our readers so I am happy to run it. 

Rather than run another 17 minutes here, I will post the single edit which, I have always believed, never really did the song justice.  It seems like there is so much more they could have done to capture a better flavor of what the song was all about.  It's OK ... but the whole "pop hook" that could have made this a hit is missing.  (Ultimately, it peaked at #30 when it was first released as a single in August of '68 ... then climbed to #68 in May of '69 when it was released again.  In all, it spent a total of 17 weeks on Billboard's Hot 100 Pop Singles Chart between its two runs.)

So here it is again ... probably not enough time for an extended bathroom break ... but this is the way many of us first heard this tune.  (kk) 

January 6th

By 1969, the only "street sheet" that you could pick up in a record store measuring The Top 40 Hits in Chicago was the WLS Hit Parade.

WCFL had stopped printing and distributing charts early the year before.  For most of the year, they sent a poster to be displayed in stores only ... but nothing that us kids and record buyers could take home.  (Fortunately, there were enough of us fanatics out there who wanted this information so we wrote down the weekly chart and then recreated it at home.  Sadly, this was before the time of cell phones to take pictures!!!)

In honor of the 50th Anniversary of 1969 ... when SO many great, legendary events occurred ... we'll be running Fifty Year Flashbacks from time to time throughout the year ... musically, all keyed around that week's WLS Chart.

We will also devote full pages to certain events throughout the year (some of which were first published by Forgotten Hits back in 2009 on the 40th anniversary of these milestones.)

So, let's kick this sucker off with the WLS Chart for January 6, 1969.  (By the way, ALL charts supplied for this year's survey features are courtesy of Jack Levin, a fellow survey collector as well as a guy I have known for a good forty years.  Thanks, Jack, for livening up this year's tribute to '69!!! (kk)

Some big movers this week ... led by The Doors, who jump 19 places with their latest, "Touch Me," which is up from #33 to #14.

And how about that Top 10???  Pretty solid tracks throughout.

New on the list this week are our buddies The Royal Guardsmen ("Baby Let's Wait," which premiers at #34) and The Turtles with one of my favorites by them, "You Showed Me," which closes out the list at #40.

The 2nd Annual WLS Hit Parade Awards that this survey is referring to was a listener-based / fan-based poll of choosing Chicago's favorites in several categories.  I asked Jack to send us a copy of that, too, so our readers could see what the trends in music looked like as we kicked off 1969.

Other news this week:  

January 1^st – Ohio State defeats USC in the Rose Bowl

Also on this date, actor Verne Troyer (Mini Me) is born (he died in 2018)

January 2^nd – Rupert Murdoch adds the largest-selling British Sunday Newspaper, “The News Of The World” to his media collection

January 3^rd – 30,000 copies of John and Yoko’s “Two Virgins” album were seized at a New Jersey airport because the front cover featured a nude, full-frontal photograph of the couple.  A vice squad also shut down a record store in Chicago for displaying the album.   

Eventually, Tetragrammaton Records would repackage the new LP in a plain brown wrapper. (Ironically, The Beatles’ late manager Brian Epstein once suggested “Brown Paper Bags for Pepper,” as he believed THAT album’s revolutionary front cover went WAY beyond the border of good taste.)

January 4th -  Bobbie Gentry appears as a guest on The Hollywood Palace   

January 5^th – Rocker Marilyn Manson is born

 

Also on January 5th,

Diana Ross & the Supremes perform "Love Child," "I'm Livin' In Shame" and "I Get a Kick Out of You" on The Ed Sullivan Show