HENRY DILTZ's JOURNAL - March 15th, 1972 (50 Years Ago This Week!)

It is hard to believe that it has now been 50 years since Henry went to Joshua Tree to shoot the Eagles for their first album cover.

-- Gary Strobl

 

SWEET 16 - March

I won't lie ...

Last month coming up with sixteen tunes with "Didn't" in the title was a bit of a challenge.

Not so the case THIS month when we jumped to "Don't" ...

In fact, we probably could have done a whole week of Sweet 16's and still had a couple dozen great tracks left over.

(Now if we had decided to do "Do's and Don't's," we might have been able to stretch it into a full month!  Kicking off, of course, with Dicky Doo and the Don'ts' Top 40 Hit "Click-Clack" from 1958!)

And hey, a "Do's and Don'ts" Weekend might be an EXCELLENT theme for one of our radio partners ... let me know if you'd be interested in putting together something like that ... I'll bet I could come up with a couple hundred tunes without even trying!!!

But for now, we'll stick with the Don'ts ... which didn't take nearly as long to pull together as the Didn'ts!!!  (kk)

Insights into ... THE BUCKINGHAMS

 Insights into … the Buckinghams

[8 Billboard Hot 100 singles, 1966–68]

The Buckinghams, originating in Chicago and consisting of lead singer Dennis Tufano, drummer-band leader John Poulos, keyboard and saxophone player Marty Grebb, guitarist Carl Giammarese, and bassist Nick Fortuna, honed their collective appreciation of jazz, blues and rock into a dynamic fusion of those genres. The hybrid “pop-rock horn sound” that made them unique would later be embraced by other bands: Blood, Sweat and Tears, Chase, Chicago, Lighthouse, Earth, Wind and Fire, Cold Blood, the Electric Flag, the Ides of March, and Tower of Power through the 1970s and beyond.

On February 18, 1967, the band’s debut hit single, “Kind of a Drag” punched its way to the top by ending the seven-week reign of the Monkees’ “I’m a Believer” as the nation’s #1 record. The rise to #1 was a coup not only for the Buckinghams as a new group, but also for their small independent label, U.S.A. Records. “Kind of a Drag” held on to the #1 spot for two weeks, but it took the Rolling Stones’ “Ruby Tuesday” to unseat it. The giddy success of “Kind of a Drag” prompted U.S.A. to compile an album of the same name from previously recorded tracks, including covers of the Drifters’ “Sweets for My Sweet” and the Beatles’ “I Call Your Name.” While “Kind of a Drag” was still on the charts, U.S.A. released a follow-up single, “Lawdy Miss Clawdy” (which on some pressings the label also spelled “Laudy Miss Claudy”), an energetic horn-driven celebration of Lloyd Price’s 1952 R&B hit.

Amid their newfound fame in early 1967 the band members were introduced to James William Guercio – bass player for Chad and Jeremy’s touring band and composer of their No. 1 hit, “Distant Shores” – and they agreed to work together. He signed the Buckinghams to a management contract with Ebbins-Guercio Associates, and the group traveled to New York to record with Columbia Records with national representation by the William Morris Agency, for which Garrick Ebbins’ father worked. With Guercio as manager and producer, the Buckinghams created four more top-20 hits: “Don't You Care,” a remake of Cannonball Adderley’s soulful “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy,” “Hey Baby (They're Playing Our Song)” and “Susan.” At the top of their game, the group was honored by Billboard magazine as “The most listened-to band in America,” and Cashbox Magazine named them “The most promising vocal group in America.”

Beginnings

“When I was a freshman in high school, I had a couple of school chums, two brothers, who had guitars at their house. When I would go over to the house, if they were tied up doing chores or eating dinner or whatever, and they had a couple of guitars lying around, I used to mess with it a little bit. Watch what they were doing and then mess with the guitars. And slowly but surely I developed my own interest. I think that was probably one of the most fun parts of my life. Of course, I miss my youth back then. There’s an old saying: youth is wasted on the young. Well, hello. Of course, everybody wants to be 20 forever. But fortunately enough, I’ve held up pretty good.”

— Nick Fortuna
bass guitarist and singer

Misperceptions

“When we performed on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, we arrived to find the set decorated with the Union Jack flag, because the producers actually thought we were from England. The TV crew even served us fish and chips to eat during our rehearsal break – we would have preferred pizza.”

— Carl Giammarese
guitarist and singer

The Buckinghams’ sound

“There’s a certain kind of clarity to our music. It was pretty simple and straight-ahead. It wasn’t cluttered at all. And the horn sound, of course, gave us a good solid foundation. Now I’m saying this as the singer, but I think that there was kind of a sincerity in the delivery of our songs. I always felt like I had songs that I could actually just really sing, but I didn’t have to do any kind of selling, or any kind of gimmicky stuff. We had the reputation of looking clean and being clean. We were just regular guys.”

— Dennis Tufano
lead singer

Longevity in music

“I knew I was going to be a professional musician when I was still in grade school. It was definitely my aspiration. I was totally focused on that. I had set aside some money and for the first six months [after leaving the Buckinghams], I just really sort of tried to re-form myself after going through the trauma of being in a No. 1 band in 1967 – over the Beatles, over the Monkees, over Jimi Hendrix, over all the people that were out that year. Coming from that and feeling sort of trashed, it took me a while to really be motivated. But then once I was, I started to make more hookups and tried to figure out what I was going to do. I just kept plugging away, and more doors kept opening.”

— Marty Grebb (died January 2, 2020)
saxophonist, pianist and singer

“Probably one of my proudest achievements is the longevity of being part of a band that had five top records. I guess a real achievement is staying married all these years – being in the music business, that’s not always easy. I’d have to say the thing I’m most proud of is what I’ve accomplished with the Buckinghams. I’ve enjoyed my experience more in the last 20 years than I did back in the ’60s. We still have a strong following, and there’s still an audience that wants to hear us play, which makes me realize that, hey, we did something right. And thank God for oldies radio. It’s like having hits all over again.”

— Carl Giammarese

The narrative and quotations in this article are excerpted from the book Where Have All the Pop Stars Gone? — Volume 2, by Marti Smiley Childs and Jeff March. This material is copyrighted © 2012 by EditPros LLC and may not be reproduced or redistributed without written permission.

You can order YOUR copy of this book here:

https://www.editpros.com/WHATPSG_Vol_2.html

PHOTO CREDIT:

The Buckinghams in 1968. From left to right, Nick Fortuna, Marty Grebb, Jon Poulos, Carl Giammarese and Dennis Tufano (photo courtesy of Dennis Tufano)

THE BUCKINGHAMS HIT LIST:

1967 - Kind Of A Drag  (#1)

1967 - Lawdy Miss Clawdy  (#36)

1967 - Don't You Care  (#5)

1967 - Mercy, Mercy, Mercy  (#5)

1967 - Hey Baby, They're Playing Our Song  (#5)

1968 - Susan  (#6)

1968 - Back In Love Again  (#45)

1972 Survey - March 13th - WLS Chicago

Here's the first of our two stops in The Windy City, where we grew up with TWO Powerhouse 50,000 Watt AM Top 40 radio stations.

Our first chart comes from WLS (who would actually suspend printing surveys later this year.

In about six weeks, we'll return to take a look at the WCFL chart.  (In order to fill 53 weeks of charts this year, we've got one from every state in the country ... plus one from Washington, D.C. ... and one from CHUM in Canada ... and our second Chicagoland chart.  That being said, we STILL need a chart from Vermont in order to complete the Coast-To-Coast journey ... so if anyone out there can help us in this regard, we certainly would appreciate it!)

WLS in Chicago seemed to be lagging a little behind the times in 1972 ... I remember thinking the same thing at the time.  A good reason for this may have been WCFL overtaking them in the ratings, playing a bigger and more aggressive playlist.  (In the '60's, these two stations fought tooth and nail to air the new premiers first.  The fact that WLS stopped printing surveys altogether until the Summer of '73 might be another indicator of a bit of a defeatist attitude.)

Another way the two stations were differing ...

WLS was playing the Giorgio version of "Son Of My Father" while Super 'CFL went with the Chicory version.

Perhaps a bit more surprising is the fact that WLS was playing "Jungle Fever" by Chakachas at all!  (They always tended to exude a more "conservative" point of view when it came to tracks like these.)  Still, it's a Hit Parade Bound Premier at #23 this week.

The Grass Roots were also very popular here in Chicago.  You'll find their latest hit, "Glory Bound," at #11 this week.  It didn't fare as well in Billboard, where it peaked at #34 ... a bit of a disappointment after scoring six prior Top 20 Hits.

Concert Review: GILBERT O'SULLIVAN (Chicago City Winery - Friday, March 11th)

 

It only took a little over two years for Gilbert O'Sullivan to make good on his scheduled appearance at the Chicago City Winery (thanks to Covid delays and rescheduling) ...

And just under fifty years for him to FINALLY appear at ANY Chicagoland venue since he first hit the charts in 1972 with his #1 smash "Alone Again (Naturally)" ...

But after having these tickets posted to our calendar since the day they first went on sale in late 2019 / early 2020, we were finally able to enjoy an up close and personal evening with one of our favorite early '70's artists ... and it was well worth the wait.  (Truth is, we were literally close enough to reach up and touch him ... provided we could have climbed over the only two people blocking us from the stage which, in a brief moment of clarity, we decided not to do!  lol)  Regardless, it was a VERY enjoyable and intimate show to say the least.

And this is one of those that I feel I can accurately describe as almost a "living room concert" ... Gilbert was totally relaxed and comfortable up there, accompanied only by guitarist Bill Shanley (and the occasional prerecorded backing track) ... and in this intimate a setting, you were literally able to digest every word of every lyric in a way that might not have presented itself under different circumstances.

O'Sullivan has never been one to follow the typically strict rule of meter in a song ... he tends to stretch well beyond the usual limits, getting in more words and syllables than one might expect within the context of any given musical line ... and then modifies the melody accordingly as necessary to make sure that everything still fits.  In some cases, this makes some of the lyrics seem a bit nonsensical ... but always in a sincere and endearing way.

He told a few fun stories along the way ... such as the one about his ill-fated first US tour that was aborted shortly after take-off when the crowds just weren't there to fill the huge venues in which he had been booked.  (Gilbert explained that he was first offered the opportunity to tour The States as the opening act for The Moody Blues, further acknowledging the fact that this is the way most recording artists build an audience ... you start out opening up for a major act until  you've earned enough of a following of your own to become an headliner yourself.)  But, in that his manager at the time was Gordon Mills, who also handled the careers of mega stars Tom Jones and Engelbert Humperdinck, Mills booked Gilbert into the same venues that his superstars were filling ... achieving nowhere near the same results.

His US debut at Carnegie Hall, backed by a band and a full orchestra, was a huge success ... but they were not able to duplicate those results once the show hit the road, eventually deciding to throw in the towel after a few more scarcely attended performances ... and O'Sullivan never ventured back to tour The States again.

Although Gilbert O'Sullivan wracked up six US Top 40 Hits inside of two years, only his first four albums saw release here in The States.  (I bought all four of them ... and quite enjoyed them, in fact, at the time.  Truth be told, I played the heck out of them in '72 and '73 but honestly haven't listened to them since.)  However, hearing him perform a number of these tunes again in concert at The City Winery brought the familiarity rushing back ... there was some really good material contained on those first four LP's ... and it was great to relive that joyful experience again!

O'Sullivan performed two full 45-minute sets ... and the only genuine US hit in the first one was "Clair," a #2 record in 1972, which just happens to be Frannie's favorite.  ("It gets me in the heart" - FK)  The song was written for his manager's daughter ... and that's young Clair giggling there at the end of the record.  Listening to him sing it again in 2022, I couldn't help but smile to myself at the thought that Clair herself in now a woman in her mid-50's, perhaps with grandchildren of her own!

When he flubbed the lines to one of MY personal favorites, "Out Of The Question" during the second set, he stopped the song, had a bit of a laugh, and then started it over in order to give it a proper presentation.  While nearly all of his key tracks were present in the set list line-up, including material he has recorded over the past ten years that never saw the light of day here in America, a couple of what I would consider to be key tracks were also missing in action ... "Ooh Baby" (#11, 1973 / #25 in Billboard), "Happiness Is Me And You" (#34, 1974 / #62 Billboard) and the album track "Who Was It" (a minor hit for Hurricane Smith in 1973) were expected and, as such, noticeably missing. 

O'Sullivan talked a bit about what an honor it is, as a songwriter, to have other artists want to record your songs.  One in particular that he singled out was Andy Williams, who recorded Gilbert's song "We Will" after Gilbert allowed him to make a slight lyric change that Andy felt was perhaps a "bit too British" to connect with an American audience.  (The original line read "On Sunday next if the weather holds we'll have that game, but I bagsy-being-in-goal not because I'm good or because I think I should") ... yeah ... I get that!

He also expressed the opinion (something that we have been touting for the past 23 years now) that when an artist is fortunate enough to actually HAVE a hit record, that song should be presented exactly the way it was recorded when it's performed in concert so that the fans can enjoy it the way they first heard it and fell in love with it.

He said that an artist can usually have a little more leeway with a non-hit or album track, working up a new arrangement (which he did on his song "Why, Oh Why, Oh Why," done up in what he described as a somewhat reggae send-up) ... but also noted that after one concert he did in Europe a few years ago, a fan came up to him after the show and said "You played my favorite song tonight ... and ruined it" ... driving home the point of staying faithful to the original even further.  (He also used the example of Mick Jagger singing a 25-minute version of "Satisfaction" at a recent concert event ... basically alluding to the fact that, even after 57 years, poor Mick STILL isn't satisfied!)

One of the folks sharing our table (as that's the way it's done at City Winery) was a man name Stuart, who was such a big, life-long Gilbert O'Sullivan fan that he even flew to Ireland to see him perform three shows there a few years ago.  He, along with several others in attendance that night, could only be classified as true, die-hard fans, knowing and singing along with nearly every song that Gilbert performed.  (Even Gilbert was impressed ... he couldn't help but giggle out loud a few times, at one point remarking "Oh, so you know this one, too!")  He then invited the whole audience to sing along with the gospel-like ending to his song "Where Peaceful Waters Flow" from his "I'm A Writer Not A Fighter" album (my personal favorite), which we all did happily.

He closed the show (as part of a two song encore) with another one of my favorites, "Get Down," a #4 smash (#7 in Billboard) from 1973 that went all the way to #1 here in Chicago, a rousing rocker to close out the night.  (kk)

Kent: 

I saw Gilbert at the City Winery in NYC before the pandemic.  He was outstanding. Gilbert sang ALL the hits and so much more! Comedian Gilbert Gottfried  turns out to be a huge fan and attended the show. 

Tom Cuddy 

This may  just be a case of "the Gilberts" sticking together! (lol)

We were blown away by just how many die-hard Gilbert O'Sullivan fans were at the Chicago show ... these folks knew every word to every song ... even the ones that were never released here in The States.  And his niece (and her boyfriend) were in attendance the night we saw him, too.  In fact, he dedicated "Alone Again (Naturally)" to them ... which I thought was rather an odd choice ... almost one of those "I hope you like it ... please don't jump off a building later tonight" kind of moments!!!  (kk)

After we got home from the show, we found this awesome video of Gilbert O'Sullivan performing his hit "Get Down" with Elton John from British television ... check it out!  It is not to be missed!!!

A couple of great recent Gilbert O'Sullivan interviews we think you'll enjoy ... 

https://www.rockcellarmagazine.com/gilbert-osullivan-interview-u-s-tour-dates-2022/

https://www.goldminemag.com/features/10-questions-for-gilbert-osullivan

Gilbert has been doing the full City Winery gamut on this 2022 tour, with just a few dates left ... then it's a couple of appearances at The Mint in LA before heading off across the pond for a series of shows in The UK, Japan, Ireland and The Netherlands.  Check him out if you can!

March 14th - The City Winery - Nashville, TN

March 15th - The City Winery - Atlanta, GA

March 17th and 18th - The Mint - Los Angeles, CA

March 20th - The City Winery - Washington, DC

April 5th - Baths Hall - Scunthorpe, UK

April 8th - City Varities Music Hall - Leeds, UK

April 12th - Town Hall - Birmingham, UK

April 23rd and 24th - Sinjuku Cultural Center - Tokyo, Japan

September 2nd - Lime Tree Theatre  - Limerick, Ireland

September 3rd - Royal Theatre - Castlebar, Ireland

September 6th - Watergate Theatre - Kikenny, Ireland

September 9th - Cork Opera House - Cork, Ireland

September 11th - Bord Gais Energy Theatre - Dublin, Ireland

November 5th - Carre Theatre - Amsterdam, Netherlands

Phil Nee: March 12

One of my favorite bands of the early 70's was Badfinger.  Their haunting single 'Day After Day' hit its peak in early 1972 and the group picked up a gold record in March.  Guitarist Joey Molland was my guest in 2003.  I had the chance to ask him about George Harrison's involvement with that song.

When the Badfinger song 'Baby Blue' debuted on the charts in March of 1972, it was an instant classic.  It gained new popularity when it was used in the finale of the series Breaking Bad.  I had the chance to ask Joey Molland about that hit.

 

One of my favorite new artists of the early '70's was Badfinger.  People may have referred to them as "The Baby Beatles," but they had their own unique way with a song (even though The Beatles WERE involved to some degree ... John Lennon renamed them, after they first recorded for Apple as The Iveys, Paul McCartney wrote and produced their first hit single, "Come And Get It," from the film "The Magic Christian," which just happened to star Ringo Starr, and George Harrison produced ... and played slide guitar on their 1972 big hit "Day After Day!"  Badfinger even performed at George's Concert For Bangla Desh, with Pete Ham sharing the acoustic guitar duties during Harrison's performance of "Here Comes The Sun.")

Still, their hit ratio was phenomenal ... inside of just two years, they hit The Top Ten four times with "Come And Get It" (#3, 1970), "No Matter What" (#4, 1970), "Day After Day" (#1, 1972) and Baby Blue" (#9, 1972)  Their "Straight Up" album (produced by George Harrison and Todd Rundgren) remains one of my very favorite LPs of all time.  (kk)

Many of my favorite guests are those that have only had one moment on the charts.  Chicago born actress/singer Beverly Bremers joined me by phone in 2007.  I had the chance to ask her about her recording career and 'Don't Say You Don't Remember,' which was on the charts in March of 1972.  This song is truly a forgotten hit and it often gets a good response when I bring it back to the airwaves.

Beverly Bremers was one of the first interviews I ever did for Forgotten Hits.  I always found "Don't Say You Don't Remember" to be catchy as hell ... and it went all the way to #4 here in Chicago.  (It peaked at #13 nationally.)  Beverly was doing quite a bit of voice-over work for Disney at the time we talked.  I always felt she should have had a more noticeable career on the pop charts (although she immediately pointed out, to both me AND Phil, that her follow-up single, "We're Free," also made The Top 40, making her technically NOT a One-Hit Wonder act.)  I dunno ... it peaked at #40 in Billboard only ... and I wonder if three people out there can actually sing a line of this tune!  (lol)  kk

Around Here, March Madness = Magical Monkee Moments (all from March of 1968 ... as the band scores their last #1 Hit!)

Gary Strobl provides more ...

MAGICAL MONKEES MOMENTS

 

March 7, 1968

The Napa Valley Register

March 10, 1968

The Daily Inter Lake

 March 16, 1968

The News

March 18, 1968

The Chicago Tribune

March 30, 1968 

Cash Box Magazine - Top 100 Hits

 

Although it may not have been reflected in Billboard Magazine, The Monkees scored FIVE #1 Hits on the pop charts between October of 1966 and March of 1968, an INCREDIBLE stretch of hit singles spread out over 17 months that also included Top 20 showings for "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone" (#20), "Pleasant Valley Sunday" (#2) and "Words" (#5).

"Valleri" was a chestnut that was revived as a hit single a year after it was first used in their television series in the "Captain Crocodile" episode.  By this point, The Monkees had wrangled creative control of their recorded output ... but this also meant that they had to go back into the studio and recreate the magic of this original session.  (They even brought the song's writers, Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, back onboard to help oversee the sessions, despite taking Producer's credit for themselves, which was now also part of their contractual agreement.)  Some thought the new recording lacked some of the magic of those original 1967 sessions ... but I loved it ... and so did a whole lot of other people as it became the group's sixth million selling single.

The Monkees would have one more Top 20 Hit before officially disbanding in 1970.  ("D.W. Washburn" hit #10 in Cash Box and #19 in Billboard when it was released as the group's next single.)  A remarkable comeback sixteen years later (after MTV started airing old episodes of their TV series) created one more Top 20 smash ("That Was Then, This Is Now") ... and the band was able to tour for four decades performing their special brand of feel-good music for millions of fans all over the world.

 

You can read what I like to call the TRUE story behind The Monkees' hit "Valleri"in our salute to The Music of Tommy Boyce And Bobby Hart" here:

http://forgottenhits.com/the_music_of_tommy_boyce_and_bobby_hart

You'll find it in Chapter 6!  (kk)