Remembering Jimy Sohns

 

Jimy Sohns, lead singer of Chicago’s very own Shadows Of Knight, passed away Friday Night (July 29^th) after suffering a second stroke.  He was 75.

The Shadows Of Knight were the first Chicago band to make The National Top Ten when their debut hit “Gloria” came blasting out of transistor radios from coast to coast in the Spring of 1966.  The tune, written by Van Morrison and first recorded by his group Them the year before (and released as a B-Side), was often referred to by Jim Peterik of The Ides of March as “Rock And Roll’s National Anthem” during the Cornerstones Of Rock shows that the two bands have been performing together for the last several years, along with other ‘60’s local rock giants The Buckinghams, The New Colony Six and The Cryan’ Shames.  It has since been inducted into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

The story goes that WLS Morning Disc Jockey and Program Director Clark Weber put the word out to Bill Traut, The Shadows’ Manager and one of the co-owner of the new Dunwich record label in Chicago, that if somebody could record a “clean” version of “Gloria,” it would be an immediate hit … and Traut had his boys quickly learn the song and head into the studio later the same day to do exactly that.  Sohns once told me that while that may have been the legend that was spread via the publicity chain, it wasn’t quite accurately the truth.  (And, as we all know, when the legend is far more interesting than the truth, print the legend!!!)  

People talk about "Gloria" being the big break-through hit in 1966 ... and there've been stories going around for years about how WLS and Clark Weber got us to make that record ... and I love Clark, he's a great guy ... but people remember things differently. All I know is we were playing "Gloria" for a year before the record came out, so nobody had to ask us to go out and learn that song in order to put a record out. We actually learned that song in a gas station up in Arlington Heights ... now if that's not a garage band, I don't know what it is ... and then we went out and played it that same night at The Cellar. Don't get me wrong ... the radio support here in Chicago was great and it became a #1 Hit here.
We picked up on "Gloria" very early on ... and that was actually the B-Side of a Them record. The A-Side was Them's version of "Baby, Please Don't Go" ... and "Gloria" was on the B-Side ... and, as such, they let a lot of things go on that record because it was just a B-Side. There are a lot of little mistakes in that ... and here's a little bit of trivia for you ... you know who plays that guitar solo there in the middle on Them's version of "Gloria"? That's Jimmy Page!  

Jimy Sohns

In 1969, The Shadows Of Knight re-released “Gloria” with an overdubbed fuzz tone guitar running throughout it, thinking the heavier sound of the day just might make it a hit all over again.  Sadly, that didn’t happen … but honestly, quite deservedly so … it really is an AWFUL record!!!  (kk)

I would wait breathlessly for Art Roberts on WLS to announce his “top three most-requested songs” every night at 9 pm. The Ides and our many fans would jam the phone lines but to no avail. “Now, for the second week in a row, the top most-requested song is -- you guessed it -- the Shadows of Knight and "Gloria."

Jerry McGeorge’s ringing Rickenbacker guitar cut through the darkness of my room like a hot knife through butter. Then that banshee wail of a voice pierced through “ya know she come around - About five feet four from her head to the ground.”  Game over. This song -- this group -- this singer was destined to win. Again!!

Fast forward to this millennium when the Ides and the Cornerstones of Rock had the pleasure of sharing the stage with this rock legend. Jimy was always self-effacing and humble, but he always kept an ace up his sleeve. “Ya know Gloria just got inducted to the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. Hadda fly down to Cleveland to accept the award.” God bless you, Jimy. He’s one rock star that deserves every accolade he has ever received.

The Cornerstones of Rock are missing a boulder. No one can replace him and never will. But Jimy’s voice will echo always through rock history. He’s the man - Oh Yeah, he’s the man - and he will sing forever in our hearts. Rock In Peace, Brother.

Jim Peterik and all the Ides of March

Hi Kent,

So sorry to hear about Jimy Sohns.  I’m actually a Shadow of Knight fan from the “Shake” era.  I heard that on the radio and couldn’t get enough of it.  I know it’s not a complicated tune, but something raw and fun about it gets me every time.  It got played in the Rochester, NY, area, but didn’t make a big impression nationally I guess.  From there, I went back and found other SOK stuff.  To this day I still have the original Gloria album on Dunwich and the Super K (Buddha) album with a different mix of “Shake” on it.  It seems to me they were probably better live than the records represent.

So many of the artists we grew up with are leaving us.  Very sad but understandable.  People say “Why don’t the Rolling Stones hang it up?”  And I’m like “Noooo!!”  They’re one of the last from the golden era and I love that Mick and Keith are still running around the stage and rocking!  It’s an inspiration and when it ends, we will all feel a litter emptier in my opinion.  These songs are classics and why shouldn’t they do them if they can?

Jim Culveyhouse

I was quite surprised to learn that that was The Shadows Of Knight on the Buddah single release in 1968.  This was a BUBBLEGUM hit!!!  It’s what the label was founded for!  The Shadows Of Knight were groomed as Chicago’s “Bad Boys Of Rock And Roll” … “America’s Rolling Stones” … how on earth could this be them on this Buddah hit?!?!  It just didn’t make sense to me at the time … or how they would have even been considered!

You’re right … nationally, “Shake” was pretty much a flop, making The Top 40 in Cash Box only (and even then only peaking at #39.)  Record World had it at #45 and Billboard a spot lower on their charts.

Here in Chicago, the record made it to #10!

The Shadows Of Knight topped the local charts with “Gloria” … and then made The Top 20 with “Oh Yeah” (#13) and “Bad Little Woman” (#19.)  “I’m Gonna Make You Mine” (#25) and “Willie Jean” (#26) also made our local Top 40 … and then they were gone … so “Shake” was a big comeback record of sorts.  It was just such a different sound for the band.  (During those in between years, groups like The Buckinghams, The Cryan’ Shames and The New Colony Six took over the Chicagoland airwaves, scoring hit after hit after hit.  The New Colony Six may have been the first local band to make the national charts, but The Shadows Of Knight were the first to earn a Top 10 Hit. (“Gloria” peaked at #10 in Billboard, but went to #6 in Record World and #7 in Cash Box.)  The Buckinghams scored an incredible FOUR National Top Ten Hits in 1967 alone, while The Cryan’ Shames, The New Colony Six and The American Breed would all score #1 Hits on our Chicagoland Charts before the decade was over.

From Jimy regarding the Buddah years …

The Shadows started doing some studio gigs, too, when we went over to Buddah Records. The "Shake"-era Shadows Of Knight ... there were usually at least two or maybe three of us on those records ... we were on "Yummy Yummy Yummy" and "Chewy Chewy" and "Down At Lulu's" and a whole bunch of those records that were very popular at the time with this new style of music.  When we went over to Buddah Records, we KNEW we weren't going to get any royalty money, playing as the "house band" ... but we thought we were going to get rich and famous with a hit the size of "Gloria" ... and that just never happened.

Jimy Sohns

Phil Nee interviewed Jimmy Sohns on his Those Were The Days radio program …

And here are a few of those segments …

Wow.  I'm saddened to hear of Jimy's passing ... after all these decades of seeing him at concerts, Biondi Film events, and what-have-you, I just can't imagine the Chicago music scene without him. Rest in peace, Jim.  ;-(

Mike Wolstein

Here's a nice pic ...

Jimy with Dick Biondi, WLS Toy Drive, 2014

Sad to hear that lead singer of the Shadows of Knight, Jimy Sohns, passed away a couple hours ago. What a band he led for 50+ years.

I particularly enjoy this photo from my September, 2006 visit to a Chicago Gold show when I got to meet and chat and watch these three Jims in concert that evening.  Three great guys.

 

L to R: Jims Peterik (Ides of March), Sohns (Shadows of Knight) and Pilster (JC Hooke of Cryan’ Shames)

Photo by my friend Mike Hartman, who took many of my memory photos that day.

Clark

More from Clark Besch's collection ...

 

 

It's been a tough week …

In addition to losing Jimy Sohns and Tony Dow, we lost two other absolute icons last week … Basketball Legend Bill Russell and Star Trek Actress Nichelle Nichols, who shared television’s first interracial kiss with Commander James Kirk of the Starship Enterprise.

 

A TV Milestone

Nichols was born Grace Dell Nichols right here in Chicago in 1932. Her first starring film role was in “Porgy and Bess” with Sammy Davis, Jr., (so she has kept some pretty good company throughout her career!)  Not convinced?

 

At an NAACP Event she was approached by one of the promoters who told her that someone wanted to meet her … said he was her greatest fan.  “I thought it was some Trekker, some kid,” Nichols said afterwards.  “I turned in my seat and there was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with a big smile on his face.  He said, ‘I am a Trekker, I am your biggest fan.’” 

Nichols thanked King, and told him that she was leaving the show.

"He was telling me why I could not [resign].  He said I had the first nonstereotypical role, I had a role with honor, dignity and intelligence. He said, 'You simply cannot abdicate, this is an important role. This is why we are marching. We never thought we'd see this on TV.'"

Nichols said she was at a loss for words. It was the first time the importance of being an African-American woman on television had sank in. She returned to "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry the next Monday morning and rescinded her resignation.

"He sat there and looked at me and said, 'God bless Dr. Martin Luther King. Somebody does understand me,'" Nichols says.

Bill Russell led The Boston Celtics to eleven championships in thirteen years, including eight in a row.  (And we thought our Bulls Dynasty was worth bragging about!  Well, it WAS!!!)  He played for The Celtics from 1957 – 1969, and enjoyed a remarkable career.

How big was he? (And I don’t mean 6’10”!!!)  During his career, he played in 963 regular season games … and scored 14,522 points … yet only averaged 15.1 points per game, which I found pretty surprising.  I remember reading a biography on him while I was still in high school … he had just stopped playing basketball and was already considered to be a landmark, legendary player.  (The head-to-head competition between Russell and Wilt Chamberlain dominated sports coverage in the ‘60’s.)

Russell won the MVP Award five times … and was named to twelve All Star Games.

Also a close friend of Dr. King, Russell was quite the activist in the ‘60’s … and was quite vocally critical of the racism he faced as a player, feeling that he never got quite as much recognition during his playing years as he deserved.  (He also marched alongside Muhammad Ali.)  The sports world lost a true icon this past weekend.  (kk)

1972 SURVEYS - July 30th - NEW HAMPSHIRE

Today's chart from WKBR, Big K-Boss Radio in Manchester, New Hampshire, brings us to the end of our "N-States"s Trifecta.

(For the record, we've still got New Mexico coming up in October ... 

And had previously covered North Dakota and North Carolina ... in fact, North Dakota kicked this whole journey off back on January 3rd ... and North Carolina wrapped up the month of March.  Meanwhile, New York and New Jersey made THEIR appearances on January 31st and February 21st.  

With EIGHT states that begin with the letter "N," they're tied with "M" for the most different states beginning with the same letter.)  

You can scroll back to see ALL of our 1972 Charts ... our state-by-state journey has run every Monday in Forgotten Hits this year ... and will continue to do so until we wrap things up in Alaska on January 1st, 2023!

While a good chunk of this chart offers up the same old, same old, there are some interesting surprises as well.

For starters, we see "A Piece Of Paper" by Gladstone holding down the #4 position, up nine places from the week before.

This is one of those songs that we used to hear quite a bit on our "Soft Rock '70's" Stations here in Chicago ...  but it was never really much of a hit.  (It peaked at #38 in Cash Box and only got to #45 in Billboard.  Here in Chicago, it charted on WCFL only, and went to #22.)

We also see "Small Beginnings" by Flash in The Top Five.  This song has shown up on the last few charts we've looked at from all over the country ... yet only rose to #29 on the Billboard chart.  (That's OK ... New Hampshire's #10 record, "Tramp" by Sugar Bus, never charted nationally at all!!!)

We find Sonny and Cher in The Top 20 again with "When You Say Love."  (That makes several appearances of this one!)  Stories' hit "I'm Coming Home" (featured last week as a premier) is also represented ... and already on its way DOWN the chart, falling from #12 to #19.  And Chris Hodge, signed to Apple Records, also takes a tumble as his hit "We're On Our Way" falls from #9 to #20.

"Arkansas Breakout" ... "In The Quiet Morning" ... these aren't songs you typically expect to see on a Top 30 Chart.  (I'd throw Albert Hammond's "Down By The River" into that category, too!)

So all-in-all, a pretty interesting chart that allows us to stretch a little bit this week!

PATIENCE

Because of a special anniversary tomorrow, Chuck Buell has a Forgotten Hits story about the value of Patience!  

 

He tells us …

 

Sometimes when one is pursuing someone or pursuing something, it takes a while!

 

In this case for instance, pursuing a particular Girl, she of Jessie’s renown, never actually took place.  But pursuing something, like a Number One Song, did.

 

On August 1^st, 1981, Rick Springfield’s Hit, “Jesse’s Girl,” in which he sang, "I wish that I had Jessie's Girl," finally nailed the Number One spot on Billboard’s Hot 100 after 19 weeks!

 

19 weeks!  That’s around four and a half months to get to the Top!  His song then went on to win a Grammy for Best Male Vocal. Ultimately, it spent over seven months on the Top 100 and its popularity still remains high even some forty-plus years later!  And BTW, Springfield has said his song was inspired by a True Story!

 

Today, at nearly 73, Springfield’s passions quite probably have changed a bit to less stressful pursuits from those of his younger years . . . 

 

Still, learning how to grill the Perfect Steak can also take a while!

 

Again ...

 

Patience!

CB  ( which stands for “Cookout Boy!” )

 

 

"Jessie's Girl" spent six weeks in Billboard's Top Ten before finally reaching the top of the chart ... this after a quantum leap from #20 to #10 for the week ending June 20th.

What great music was blocking his path?

For starters, the #1 song that week of June 20th was the Stars On 45 Medley that included "Venus," "Sugar, Sugar" and then bits and pieces of eight Beatles tunes.  George Harrison was also in The Top Five that week with his tribute to the recently-slain John Lennon, "All Those Years Ago."  And the previous #1 Record, "Bette Davis Eyes" (which topped the chart for the previous five weeks), was holding down the #2 position for Kim Carnes.

After Stars On 45's one week at the top, "Bette Davis Eyes" RETURNED to the #1 position and stayed there for another four weeks, tallying up an astounding total of NINE WEEKS at #1. 

What finally toppled it from its reign (other than COMPLETE listener boredom by this point)???

Well, it was Air Supply's hit "The One That You Love" ... which held the top spot for all of a week while "Bette Davis Eyes" sat at #2 and "Jessie's Girl" moved up to #3.

Once Springfield finally got there, he held the #1 position for two weeks ... before ANOTHER monster hit took over for the next nine weeks ... "Endless Love" by Diana Ross and Lionel Richie.  (Sounds like 1981 is shaping up as a rather boring year in music!)  Still, "Jessie's Girl" remained popular enough to stick around in The Top Ten for four more weeks after falling from grace.

Because of these lengthy reigns at the top, Billboard only listed sixteen #1 records for the whole year ... and the biggest was still to come.  In late November, Olivia Newton-John started her ten week run at #1 with her monster hit "Physical," which carried over to the next year as part of its ten week run at the top.

Other #1's of note during 1981 include TWO by Blondie ("The Tide Is High," which spent one week at #1 in January and "Rapture" which took over the top spot for two weeks at the end of March), two by Daryl Hall and John Oates ("Kiss On My List" for three weeks in April and "Private Eyes" for two weeks in November, "Celebration" by Kool and the Gang (two weeks), "9 to 5" by Dolly Parton (two weeks), "I Love A Rainy Night" by Eddie Rabbitt (two weeks), giving us two big back-to-back country cross-over hits, "Keep On Loving You" by REO Speedwagon (one week), "Morning Train" by Sheena Easton (two weeks) and "Arthur's Theme" by Christopher Cross, which held the #1 spot for three weeks beginning in October.

PHIL NEE - July 30th

Today I am pleased to highlight more 1972 memories.  

 

Gallery was a group that hailed from the Detroit area.  They became a three hit wonder with a trio of songs that were all released during '72 and all were from the same album.  They sold a lot of 8 tracks that year!  Jim Gold was the leader of the band and he joined me on the air in 2006.

 

 

Gallery got a lot of airplay and were featured on a couple of K-tel commercials that seemed to air all the time on local t.v. Jim Gold is happy that he got a brief moment in the national spotlight.

 

  

 

 

I feel the debut album by Gallery is an overlooked gem from 1972. 

Three hits on one album guaranteed that my $3.99 was well spent at the record store.  The group's version of I Believe In Music was released in early August. 

 

  

 

 

Gallery's three hits came back-to-back-to-back in 1972 ... and all three of them made The National Top 12.

 

"Nice To Be With You" went all the way to #1 in Cash Box Magazine.  (It topped out at #4 in Billboard and Record World ... but charted for an incredible 22 weeks ... virtually unheard of at the time when a long-running record MIGHT spent 16 weeks on the chart.)

 

"I Believe In Music," a Mac Davis song, followed it up the charts, peaking at #12 in Record World, #13 in Cash Box, but only #22 in Billboard.  It still seems to be the definitive version of this tune, even fifty years later.

 

"Big City Miss Ruth Ann" wrapped up the trifecta by also gong to #12 (this time in Cash Box), while peaking at #21 and #23 in Record World and Billboard respectively.  All three recordings still hold up very well some five decades later.  (kk) 

 

Be sure to listen to Phil Nee's THOSE WERE THE DAYS radio program tonight … and EVERY Satuarday Night on WRCO ... 6 pm – Midnight (Central):

WRCO AM FM Radio Richland Center Wisconsin

Just click on the 100.9 headphones and start streaming!

 

 

JIMY SOHNS:  Sadly, the official news of Jimy Sohns' passing started circulating Friday Night ... this second stroke was just too much for him ... so Chicago (and the world) has lost one of its favorite '60's singers.

I have updated yesterday's piece to include the news of his passing ... (just scroll down to see it) ... and will put something together to run on Tuesday (August 2nd) recapping the story of Jimy Sohns and The Shadows Of Knight.  In 1966, he recorded a rock and roll classic ... and I believe that people will be spelling his biggest hit for many years to come.  (kk)

The Friday Flash

As expected, Tony Dow did officially pass away within 24 hours of the false announcement of his death.  Doesn’t make it hurt any less … he was such a huge part of all of our lives growing up.

And no sooner did we receive this news than we started hearing rumors of Jimy Sohns’ death (lead singer of The Shadows Of Night and a long-time friend of Forgotten Hits.)

These, too, were apparently greatly exaggerated … although Jimy did suffer another stroke.  (He recovered remarkably well from the first one … but I hear this one may have knocked him down a peg.)

Back in 2012 when we polled our readers in order to determine their All-Time Favorite Garage Band, The Shadows Of Knight came out on top of the heap.

After taking the title, Jimy had this to say …

A few years ago ... I don't know, 2007 or 2008 ... Rolling Stone Magazine named us as the Greatest Garage Band Ever ... of course that was thanks to my good friend Little Steven ... I've known him forever ... but we still came out on top and that's all that mattered ... to be recognized for your work all those years later.

You know when we started out there weren't a lot of clubs here in Chicago ... we were the house band at The Cellar in Arlington Heights and we would sometimes play there for six months at a time. Little Jimmy Peterik told me that he used to catch the train to come up there to see us. Then little by little, more clubs began to open up and more bands came around to become the "house band" at these different clubs ... The Cryan' Shames had their place and The Buckinghams had their place ... and more and more clubs started to open up where the kids could come out and listen to music being played live. But we played there at The Cellar for about six months straight. In fact, once we got big enough to go out on the road ... and by "out on the road" I mean like Rockford ... or Valparaiso, Indiana ... The Cellar actually had to shut down for a while until they could find some other bands to fill in while we were gone. Once we finally moved out of there, the band that took over for us ... that took our spot ... was Jimy Rogers and the Mauds. God bless Jimy ... one of the greatest voices in Chicago rock right up until the day he died ... and nobody ever knew ... because he never said a word.

People talk about "Gloria" being the big break-through hit in 1966 ... and there've been stories going around for years about how WLS and Clark Weber got us to make that record ... and I love Clark, he's a great guy ... but people remember things differently. All I know is we were playing "Gloria" for a year before the record came out so nobody had to ask us to go out and learn that song in order to put a record out. We actually learned that song in a gas station up in Arlington Heights ... now if that's not a garage band, I don't know what it is ... and then we went out and played it that same night at The Cellar. Don't get me wrong ... the radio support here in Chicago was great and it became a #1 Hit here.
We picked up on "Gloria" very early on ... and that was actually the B-Side of a Them record. The A-Side was Them's version of "Baby, Please Don't Go" ... and "Gloria" was on the B-Side ... and, as such, they let a lot of things go on that record because it was just a B-Side. There are a lot of little mistakes in that ... and here's a little bit of trivia for you ... you know who plays that guitar solo there in the middle on Them's version of "Gloria"? That's Jimmy Page! He sat in with a lot of bands back then in the studio and played on records by The Kinks, Them, "Hurdy Gurdy Man" by Donovan ... a whole bunch of 'em. He was doing his studio thing ... and then, later on, a few years later, The Shadows started doing some studio gigs, too, when we went over to Buddah Records. The "Shake"-era Shadows Of Knight ... there were usually at least two or maybe three of us on those records ... we were on "Yummy Yummy Yummy" and "Chewy Chewy" and "Down At Lulu's" and a whole bunch of those records that were very popular at the time with this new style of music.
Critics and journalists have always referred to us as "America's Rolling Stones", which was right on the money ... that's what we were at the time ... but we never saw any royalty money from those records we recorded ... nobody did back then. At least when we went over to Buddah Records, we KNEW we weren't going to get any royalty money, playing as the "house band" ... but we thought we were going to get rich and famous with a hit the size of "Gloria" ... and that just never happened.
People always want to ask me about the original band ... and the original band was great ... don't get me wrong, we were a great band and that's the band that made the records ... but we were only together for about three years! I've been doing this now for 46, 47 years. Those other guys didn't really stick with it, but I've done SO many things over the past 46 years ... played with so many great musicians and I've kept in touch with many of them. Some of them have moved on or gotten into other things, but we're still rockin' ... I've got gigs lined up all the time and I still tear it up on stage ... it just takes me a little bit longer to get going the next day, that's all!
But I'm glad the fans still love and appreciate the music of The Shadows Of Knight, as indicated by your poll. You told me that we were ahead by a landslide and it's great to hear that ... that people still know and love this music.

Seriously, come out and see us some time and tell me what you think.
Click here: Home

-- Jimy Sohns

You can view all of the results here:

http://forgottenhits.com/your_top_50_all-time_favorite_garage_bands

From my understanding, Jimy had another stroke. Contrary to was originally posted on Facebook, he has not passed away. Let's all say some prayers for Jimy.

Mike De Martino

 

From The Shadows Of Knight Facebook Page …

 

We are sorry for the relaying the miscommunication regarding Jimy’s health situation. He is currently in the hospital after suffering a stroke on Friday. He has not passed away, but can certainly use the love and support from his friends and fans.

 

UPDATE:  7-29-22:

Sadly, this second stroke was too much for Jimy - he passed away Friday afternoon (7/29)

 

Due to committed pre-posts, we will run our tribute to Jimy Sohns on Tuesday, August 2nd.  But we did receive a couple of emails after the news of Jimy's passing started to circulate ... including this one which came just BEFORE the story hit the news ...

Hi Kent,

So sorry to hear about Jimy Sohns.  I hope he gets better.  I’m actually a Shadow of Knight fan from the “Shake” era.  I heard that on the radio and couldn’t get enough of it.  I know it’s not a complicated tune but something raw and fun about it gets me every time.  It got played in the Rochester, NY area, but didn’t make a big impression nationally I guess.  From there, I went back and found other SOK stuff.  To this day I still have the original Gloria album on Dunwich and the Super K (Buddha) album with a different mix of “Shake” on it.  It seems to me they were probably better live than the records represent.

So many of the artists we grew up with are leaving us.  Very sad but understandable.  People say “Why don’t the Rolling Stones hang it up?”  And I’m like “Noooo!!”  They’re one of the last from the golden era and I love that Mick and Keith are still running around the stage and rocking!  It’s an inspiration and when it ends, we will all feel a litter emptier in my opinion.  These songs are classics and why shouldn’t they do them if they can?

On another note, I’m listening to the new James Holvay EP, This Girl. Wow, if you miss the Impressions, Holvay has nailed their sound.  Wonderful soul music and vocals.  I listen to the earlier one, Sweet Soul, quite often, too. Funny, his web site doesn’t mention the new EP. I love Chicago soul and rock from the classic era.  I live in NH but still search out lost bands and tunes from Chicago and other areas. 

Thanks for keeping it all going consistently Kent!!

Jim Culveyhouse

From our friend David Lewis down in Nashville, who on Wednesday already had heard that Jimy had passed away and was checking to see whether or not it was true.  (It wasn't ... the news of Jimy's second stroke was getting around ... and his own Facebook Page had reported that he died!  You can see their apology / retraction above)

Having just gone thru this exact same scenario with Tony Dow the day before, David wrote:

Second false death announcement in as many days! When has this happened before?

DL

The truly amazing part about all of this is that we live in the most instantaneous age ever - news circulates within SECONDS these days thanks to all of the various ways people communicate today.  So to have the WRONG information spreading around the world would seem to be unheard of in this day and age of social media ... and yet David's right ... TWICE in two days the announcements were off the mark.  (Jimy's daughter Raechel made the official announcement at 5:10 pm on Friday, July 29th ... but then again it was Tony Dow's own wife who falsely reported that he had died a day before it was actually true!!! ... so I guess you really don't know WHO to believe!)

And then, also from David, Friday evening ...

Jimy's passing is official, too, two days later.

Sad times for Boomers.

David

Just heard from Jimy's daughter Raechel through The Shadows of Knight ... Jimy passed at 5:10 pm, just three hours ago.

Shelley J Sweet-Tufano

 

Sad to hear that lead singer of the Shadows of Knight, Jimy Sohns, passed away a couple hours ago. What a band he led for 50+ years.

Clark Besch

 

Again, look for more on Tuesday in FH  (kk) 

 

The Origins of ELO

The song was earmarked to be another Jeff Lynne penned b-side for the Midland's homegrown supergroup, The Move. That is until multi-instrumentalist Roy Wood added a cheap Chinese cello to the unfinished track. It was the missing ingredient the two good mates had been searching for to introduce a Move side gig they were calling the Wood-Lynne project.

Wood had envisioned creating a working band able to perform complex arrangements live on stage similar to what The Beatles had only done in the studio. It was a concept that had enticed Lynne to join The Move in 1970. The idea itself might have germinated from a Tchaikovsky riff that Wood had used on The Move's first hit, "Night Of Fear" (UK #2), in 1967. At the time, Wood described it as a classical rave up.

On July 29, 1972, "10538 Overture" was finally released in the UK by the project, now renamed The Electric Light Orchestra. A December,1971, album release containing the track had bombed but was revived by the single. Meanwhile, The Move's top ten and longest charting single, Wood's "California Man," a pastiche to fifties rock 'n roll, was still in the charts, backed by Lynne's "Do Ya."  But apparently two maestros wasn't working for Wood. Before "10538 Overture" was even released, he dissolved The Move, left ELO to Lynne, and formed another band, Wizzard, that would embrace pop-oriented glam rock.

Wizzard debuted at Wembley Stadium's first ever Rock And Roll Show on August 5th that was headlined by several American rock 'n roll legends from the fifties. At this point, no one knew if ELO might be anything other than a one hit wonder, especially after Wood's departure. After all, Lynne's innovative previous band, The Idle Race, had never had a hit record. He had replaced Wood in that one.

"10538 Overture" could have easily been mistaken as something new by the Sgt. Pepper crew in yet another disguise. It peaked at UK #9 but failed to chart in the US, as hadn't The Move's swansong,"California Man."  But a few months later, "Do Ya" was re-released as the plug side and became The Move's only stateside chart single. Earlier, a Disc And Echo UK music critic had called "Do Ya" one of the greatest rock 'n roll masterpieces ever recorded. It would be over a year before another Lynne original, "Showdown", would follow a Chuck Berry cover into the UK charts. By then, Wizzard had already topped the UK charts not once, but twice. Major transatlantic success would remain elusive until Lynne's perseverance transformed ELO into something more than a Beatles tribute band.

In 1975, a live version of "10538 Overture" was released as the b-side of "Evil Woman."  In 1977, a reworked "Do Ya" became an ELO hit in America, 69 positions ahead of the original in Billboard. Cheap Trick would cover "California Man" and release an original tribute titled "ELO Kiddies."  Despite two number one albums in the UK, ELO's only chart topping single was as Olivia Newton-John's backing band on "Xanadu" in 1980. In the US the band holds the record for most Hot 100 hits without a number one. In 2017, the group, including original mastermind Roy Wood, was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.
Mike Gentry

I still love the story about how United Artists Records was trying to break ELO here in America.  Culling tracks from their British releases to be used for their first LP, the big wigs didn’t want to take any chances by missing something that The Brits had already latched on to that might help to make an immediate connection with what they hoped would be their new fanbase.  So, one of the UA executives told one of his office boys to get on the phone with the band’s record company over in The UK and find out what the name of their first LP was over there so that UA could replicate it here Stateside.

I don’t know if it was the time change or just a slow business day, but this kid made repeated calls to the UK all day long and never got anybody to pick up the phone.  Finally, at the end of a long day, he figured that rather be reprimanded by his boss for not coming thru with the information, he would instead just leave him a note explaining the reason for his failed mission.
So, right before leaving for the night, he took a post-it note, scribbled down his explanation and stuck it on his boss’ phone.

All it said was “No Answer” … the end result of all his efforts.
When his boss came in the next morning and saw the note, he was beaming that his young associate had come thru for him … and immediately made plans to release Electric Light Orchestra’s first US album.  Just like it had been in the UK, their American debut would be called “No Answer” … never realizing for a second that the note he found stuck to his telephone receiver the following morning could possibly be anything other than the information he had asked his young assistant to find out.  (kk)

 

After making headlines with her surprise appearance at The Newport Folk Festival, Joni Mitchell is back in the news today as Rhino prepares a new box set called "The Asylum Years, 1972 - 1975," featuring all four of her albums released for the label: "For The Roses" (1972), "Court And Spark" (1974), "Miles Of Aisles" (Joni live in 1974) and "The Hissing Of Summer Lawns" (1975).  It'll be available as either a 4-CD or 5-LP set ... and compliments last year's release, "The Reprise Years, 1968 - 1971."

The Asylum years were Joni's "hit years" ... during that time she placed five songs in The National Top 50, starting with "You Turn Me On, I'm A Radio" (#18, 1973), "Raised On Robbery" (#50, 1973), "Help Me" (#7, 1974), "Free Man In Paris" (#22, 1974) and the live version of her first Reprise chart single, "Big Yellow Taxi" (#24, 1975).   (kk)

The new Paul McCartney book, "The McCartney Legacy, Volume 1:  1969 - 1973," has been pushed back to a December 13th release date ... and has also increased in size from 592 pages to 720 pages.  (And this is only Part 1!!!)  Sounds like the perfect Christmas Gift for me!  (hint - hint)  kk