1/20/65 – Legendary Disc Jockey Alan Freed dies of uremic
poisoning and cirrhosis, brought on by alcoholism ... he was only 42.
Although all kinds of proof exists proving otherwise, Freed has always been credited with coining the term “rock and
roll” as it pertains to music and he ruled the airwaves at the dawn of the rock and roll era, helping to promote it by also playing a heavy dose of rhythm and blues (or race) music at the time, introducig the genre to white teenage America. He also appeared in
several movies promoting the new sound.He was able to ride that roller coaster until the payola scandal hit …
and then he was pretty much finished in the business.
There is no way to over-sell or exaggerate Alan Freed's contribution to the advancement of rock and roll.
While it has been widely reported that it was Freed who coined the phrase "rock and roll," evidence now suggests that it had been in existence for quite a while in the black community prior to him using it to describe the new music he was playing. Although this is most likely true (rockin' and rollin' was apparently a black euphemism for having sex), there is no doubt that Freed popularized the term as it spread from coast to coast ... and became the accepted genre for this new beat of music that was capturing the hearts and spirit of teenagers all over the country. This was THEIR music ... and record sales immediately shifted from the parents to the teenagers in terms of the total volume sold. Record companies immediately began targeting this new, previously untapped market.
First reaching fame in Cleveland by playing music by "race artists" on his popular radio show as early as 1951, Freed introduced a whole new audience to the original, authentic version of songs currently being covered by white artists, usually in whitewashed, "safer" versions of these tunes that were making the pop charts while the originals were delegated to the R&B charts.
Freed turned that around, giving these artists their due ... and suddenly White America was discovering the true origins of this music thru artists like Fats Domino, Little Richard, The Chords and more. By the mid-'50's, these records were charting side-by-side ... and often eclipsing the "cover versions" that previously ruled the airwaves in White America.
Freed became as popular as many of the artists he was playing, adopting the moniker "Moondog" as a way of describing both his radio program and the dances he was promoting.
It is said that Rock And Roll Music began in Cleveland, with Freed leading the charge, and this is why it was so important for The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame to be situated there.
But as his popularity grew, Freed moved to New York, where he became an even bigger radio personality. Soon he had his own TV show ("The Big Beat") and was putting on all kinds of package rock and roll shows, spotlighting more of these black artists. Next came the movies, all with throw-away plots, designed simply to showcase the music. In all cases, he made it a point to feature the music of black artists and white artists side-by-side, marketing this racial and musical harmony to teenage America.
Things couldn't have been going better until the payola scandal hit. Freed ultimately admitted taking money and gifts to play certain artists on his show ... and in a flash, his career was over. He became the poster boy for payola and was, for the most part, blacklisted from radio after that. (Although he was able to find work at other stations, it just wasn't the same ... and it didn't take long before the fight had been taken out of him.) A $38,000 IRS fine for income tax evasion in 1964 only helped to deepen the hole he had spiraled into.
He died on this date in 1965, probably better known as a disgraced outcast than as an innovator. This reputation would change over time ... and in 1986, he was inducted into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame for his indelible contribution to the advancement ... and acceptance ... of rock and roll music. (He also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame ... and was inducted into The Radio Hall Of Fame in 1988.)
In fact, The Radio Hall of Fame's web page states that "despite his personal
tragedies, Freed’s innovations helped make rock and roll and the Top-40
format permanent fixtures of radio."
Santana, John Fogerty, Pearl Jam, Joan Jett & the
Blackhearts, Cheap Trick, The Dave Matthews Band, Kacey Musgraves, Rickie Lee
Jones, Lenny Kravitz, Gladys Knight, Stanley Clarke, Marty Stuart, Haim, Luke
Combs, Samantha Fish, and James Bay, Lil Wayne & The Roots, Cage the
Elephant, My Morning Jacket, Patti LaBelle, Branford Marsalis, Diana Krall, Taj
Mahal & the Phantom Blues Band, Kenny Wayne Shepherd with Bobby Rush,
Morris Day & the Time, Better Than Ezra, Harry Connick, Jr., Babyface, Irma
Thomas, The Wailers, and many, many more.(There are literally HUNDREDS of artists performing ... but is there even a jazz act listed?!?!)
The festival takes place at the Fairgrounds Race Course in
New Orleans and spans two weekends: April 24 - 27 and May 1 - 4. General
admission tickets include access to all performances on day of use, as well as
the wide variety of food and beverages available for purchase, art exhibits,
crafts booths, and more. Early-bird discount tickets for each weekend are
available now. Tickets are available here. (kk)
Bob Uecker influenced many
wannabe radio announcers.I was
fortunate to be in his presence a couple of times.
Phil Nee – WRCO
I emailed my brother Bill about
losing this Braves and Cards great.OK,
Bob would never use that term, but he did have more than a cup of coffee in the
bigs. He was a Cards fan and I was a Braves fan as kids. Ueck
played for both. A fact Ueck would have relished.I admit I never knew of him until decades
later … but I found it interesting that his last year 1967 Topps baseball card
showed his major & MINOR league seasons … and I count 17 seasons
total! THAT is amazing! Then, I thought maybe he was on more than
one team per year so it was not that many. Well, after checking, it was
11 seasons total from 1956-1967. STILL, a long career with six years
bouncing around the minors first.
Here's a Ueck cards story:
The Music Man Before the Cardinals took on the Yankees
in Game 2 of the 1964 Fall Classic at Busch Stadium, Uecker decided he would
loosen things up a bit. He strapped on a tuba during batting practice, walked
to the outfield and proceeded to shag fly balls with it.
"They had some Dixieland
bands on the field that were playing before the game," Uecker recalled in
The Chicago Tribune. "And while one of them was taking a break, I grabbed
one of the tubas and put it on and went out in the outfield and started
shagging fly balls with it. I didn't catch them all. Some made dents in the
tuba, but I caught a couple."
Did you know that Bob Uecker hit fourteen career home runs, of which three were
off future hall of fame pitchers — Gaylord Perry on May 5, 1965, Sandy Koufax on July 24, 1965 and Fergie Jenkins on April 29, 1966? Uecker
often joked on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show, where he made nearly 100 guest
appearances, that he always thought the Koufax homer would keep Sandy from getting into the Hall of Fame. Uecker also hit one career grand slam on June 21, 1967, off pitcher Ron Herbel. Uecker quipped that after he hit the slam, the manager of the Giants came out
to the mound to take Herbel out and, with him, was Herbel's suitcase.
Clark Besch
Got a bunch of forgotten pix to share. January birthday!🎂🎇 greetings to
Susanna Hoffs, seen here with Donovan Leitch Jr. at Bar One … Mick Taylor
at The Monkey Bar … Paul Young and wife Stacey check out The Roxbury on Sunset.Also remembering David Lynch in the company
of Isabella Rossellini at Spago.
Jim Roup
Speaking of Susanna Hoffs, a new, authorized biography of The Bangles (titled “Eternal
Flame”) will be released next month.
And look for a new Doors book, too.(“Night Divides The Day”)kk
Kent,
The first song I thought of in
CB's minute melody was Brenda Lee's SWEET NOTHIN'
Larry
And, speaking of Brenda Lee (and Chuck Buell), Chuck sends us this note ...
Here's something you might find of some interest ...
I
never really appreciated just how truly talented or influential this
pop singer was from such a very young age all the way through her songs
of our High School years!
While
we were burning our Home Town Loops or Parking in our Special Hidden
Hideaway Spots, she was recording Hit Songs and singing on our radios! AND she was, and is, around the same age as we are!
Remember these ~~~
1960 - Number 1 - “I Want to Be Wanted”
1961 - Number 3 - “Fool #1”
1962 - Number 4 - “Break It to Me Gently”
1962 - Number 3 - “All Alone Am I”
Those, of course, are nowhere near as many Hits as she had!
Oh,
then there's her Large Holiday Hit she recorded when she and we were
only 13 years old that debuted successfully in 1960 reaching Number 14
that first year and has been a perennial Christmas Holiday Song "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" nearly every year since including reaching Number One again this last 2024 Holiday Season!
Since this program was released late last year, I'd been looking for a while where I could watch it without renting or buying it. Yesterday, I wondered if YouTube might have it.
Yep! They do!
This 55 minute documentary presents her remarkable story!
We have a smart TV on which we can watch YouTube Videos and such and so I found the program and I did see it for Free just like a regular full screen Program! It can also be watched on a Computer Screen or a Cell Phone.
So, even though Yesterday was "National Nothing Day," perhaps you might enjoy her "Sweet Nothings" Story today!
Chuck
I haven't seen this special yet, but I've heard it's very good.
Brenda Lee hit The National Top 40 an incredible 36 times between 1960 and 1969 (and that doesn't include all of the times her seasonal hit has made the charts again this millennium!)
This tally includes fourteen Top Ten Hits, two of which ("I'm Sorry" and "I Want To Be Wanted," both 1960) both went to #1.
While her stats may have been somewhat evenly matched by Connie Francis, Brenda's in The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame ... and Connie isn't.
Will have to check this out. (kk)
Here is a link to a GREAT review of what sounds like a GREAT concert Burton Cummings did in California last week ...
Heard from our FH Buddy James Holvay this past week …
He sent me a copy of his new CD EP, “Working Man,” available
as digital downloads thru all the usual sources.
My personal favorite track off the new EP is called “Don’t Take Your
Love,” about the best example of ‘60’s Soul circa 2025 anyone could ever
imagine … well, other than my all-time personal favorite, “Sweet Soul Song”
from his previous release …
If the name’s not familiar to you, James was a member of the
Chicago horn / show band The Mob in the late ‘60’s and early ‘70’s …
But his biggest claim to fame is having written FOUR Top Ten
Hits for The Buckinghams:“Kind Of A
Drag,” “Don’t You Care,” “Hey Baby, They’re Playing Our Song” and “Susan,” all
of which you still hear all the time in oldies rotation.(1967 was a VERY good year for James!Lol)kk
And from our friends over at Record Research, here's a great chance
to pick up what will likely be the final edition of their Top Pop Albums book.
Due to escalating costs, an updated
edition is not underway; it is unlikely that another edition covering
the entire history of the albums chart, along with the tracks of each album,
will be released as a single print edition. This may be your final chance
to get a record of everything that made the albums chart, from #1 - #200, in
one, hefty volume.
The chart stats, the album and
artist facts, and a complete listing of tracks make up each entry in this
artist-by-artist compendium of every album to appear on Billboard’s pop
albums charts.
Spanning 1600 pages and weighing
just over nine pounds, it’s no surprise that this is our biggest book by far!
They’re down to about the last 100 copies … so you’d better
act soon.(And you’ll even save $30 in the
process!)
For a better perspective of The Sonics, here is a 2015, 45
minute video of a fairly recent live show. I still can’t believe we never heard
of these guys here in the Midwest!
The Sonics - Full Performance (Live at Easy Street) -
YouTube
Also check out their “Christmas Song”, “Don’t Believe In
Christmas” which Rockin’ John aired on his Christmas show this year.
While searching around for something else the other night, I stumbled upon this GREAT clip from 1986 ...
It's ZZ Top making their very first live television appearance on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson!
Now you may be thinking to yourself, "How-How-How is this possible?!?!" ... that it took them THIS long to finally show their stuff on TV to a national audience ... and I really don't know ...
By this point, the band had already been together for about sixteen years ... and hitting the charts for much of that time ... but apparently the talk show circuit just hadn't been their thing up to this point.
But they are certainly up to the challenge here, featuring rousing performances of both their 1983 hit "Sharp Dressed Man" and 1975's "Tush."
Even cooler, That Little Ol' Band From Texas are accompanied by Doc Severinsen and the Tonight Show Band, adding a little bit of brass to their Texas funk. It's ZZ Top like you've never seen them before. (And check out their exit from the stage!)
Doc and Johnny are completely on board (or would that be on beard??) It all makes for a whole lotta fun to get your Sunday goin'!
Well, the three most likely records to go all the way to #1 placed 1, 2, 3 on this week's chart ... with Petula Clark leap-frogging to the top from #4 with her classic hit "Downtown," written by our good Forgotten Hits buddy Tony Hatch.
The Searchers come in at #2 with their remake of "Love Potion Number Nine" while The Righteous Brothers continue their climb ... they'll get there eventually ... with "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'," this week's #3 Record, up from #5.
Shirley Ellis makes an impressive ten point move into The Top Ten this week with "The Name Game" ... while The Kinks leap fourteen places to #15 with their second US Hit, "All Day And All Of The Night."
Sam Cooke, who we lost a few weeks back, climbs to #24 (up from #41) with "Shake" ... and Dobie Gray moves up sixteen spots with "The In-Crowd," which now sits at #39.
Two of this week's biggest movers remain a couple of my personal favorites from this era ...
"This Diamond Ring" by Gary Lewis and the Playboys is up 29 spots to #35 ... and "I Go To Pieces" by Peter and Gordon cracks The Top 40 for the very first time with another move of 29 places.
The top debut this week belongs to those Jersey Boys, The Four Seasons, as "Bye Bye Baby (Baby Goodbye" premiers at #60.
60 YEARS AGO TODAY:
1/18/65 – Paul Simon drops out of law school to become a
full-time musician
Also on 1/18, The Rolling Stones record “Play With Fire” and
“The Last Time” at an RCA Studio in Hollywood, California
Also on 1/18, Barbra Streisand and Bobby Darin sing for
Lyndon Johnson’s presidential inauguration.
It was quite the gala concert celebration. Johnson had just won the election by the biggest landslide vote in history.
Streisand's archive page states that Alfred Hitchcock acted as Master of Ceremonies. In addition to Bobby Darin singing “Mack the Knife,” the evening featured a comic
monologue by Woody Allen. Also present were Johnny Carson ... and Carol Burnett and Julie Andrews, who joined together to perform a song medley.
The comedy team of Nichols and May performed ... as did the stunning Ann-Margret ...
And ballet was represented by Dame Margot
Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev ...
And Carol Channing, whose own show, Hello,
Dolly!, closed for the evening so she could appear, sang “Hello, Lyndon!” for the President.
In addition, Harry Belafonte and Barbra Streisand each sang solo. (According to "Variety," Barbra'sset list for The President included “Happy Days Are Here
Again,” “Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home” and “Don't Rain On My
Parade.”)
I searched YouTube but couldn't find any footage. Still, even without The Village People, this must have been quite the night for celebration. (kk)
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