Category Archives: The Beatles

ON THE TURNTABLE: November of 1967

01 Thursday Nov 2018

Posted by in #WhiteBoyBlues, Arthur Lee, BigBrotherHoldingCo., blue eyed soul, Cream, Creedence, Dr. John, DYLAN, Elektra Records, Eric Clapton, Golden Age of Radio, Grateful Dead, Jeff Beck, Jefferson Airplane, Kevin Patrick, LOVE, Michael Bloomfield, Neil Young, Otis Redding, Rock music, rock music trivia, Steve Winwood, The Beatles, The Byrds, The Doors, The KinKs, THE MOTHERS of INVENTION, The radio, The Rascals, The Who, Ticket Stubs, Traffic, Uncategorized, Vinyl Records, Zappa

≈ 1 Comment

ON THE TURNTABLE: In November of 1967 I was purchasing mostly albums, having drifted away from single (45rpm) releases.This change in my purchasing, as well as the purchases of like minded teens listening to the same current music, was due in part, a large part, by one singular event; that being the change in FM radio broadcasting.

(A brief history thanks to Allen Sniffen) In 1966 the Federal Communications Commission ruled that major market FM radio stations could no longer simulcast their AM sister stations.  FM had to become separate with individual programming.  This was deemed necessary to allow FM to grow and develop its own audience.  The ruling put radio station owners in a bind.  They needed to come up with new formats for these weaker and less desirable stations. Since FM was more difficult to receive,  its universe of potential listeners was much smaller… and so was its billing.  The new formats therefore had to be both different and relatively inexpensive to program. It was in that environment that RKO General Broadcasting launched its new WOR-FM  (98.7Mhz) “Hot 100” format on July 30, 1966.  The name is deceiving because, in fact, it was the first progressive rock station in the country.  It marketed itself as stereo as a way to distinguish itself from AM radio.  The problem was that many of the records played by the station were not in stereo.  While it was true that most record albums were stereo, singles were not.  Since the singles came out before the albums, much of the new music it was breaking was in mono.

So to me as a 14 year old, my listening experience changed overnight, well actually after purchasing an AM-FM radio which did not exist in my house.The newly staffed WOR-FM hired some of NYC’s hottest “Top Ten” dj’s, specifically MURRAY“The K”(Kaufman) from 1010 WINS, SCOTT MUNI from 570 WMCA and later 770 WABC, and ROSKO, the coolest sounding person on the radio, anywhere. Murray The K appeared to be the draw for WOR-FM and the “new” MURRAY was a 180 degree departure from what I was familiar with while listening to him on 1010 WINS (AM). This was not “Top 40” jive talking any longer, as a matter of fact it was a “cool” MURRAY, one who it has been claimed broke the song  “Society’s Child” in the Summer of 67 (because it should be heard), as well as PROCOL HARUM’s “Whiter Shade of Pale” simply because HE “liked it”.AND Murray  was famous in the area  for his holiday stage show extravaganzas, the last which brought THE WHO and (as billed) THE CREAM to NYC for the first time, Easter of 1967. My buddy went and raved about those two bands.

But WOR-FM was a short lived experiment as program directors tried to rein in the playlist, to the chagrin of the radio hosts. Murray was fired in September of 67 despite having the highest rated FM program in NY, even higher than most AM shows. During his short tenure at WOR-FM “The K” attracted not only a large audience but in the audience advertisers found a different demographic, a newer demographic,that being a more mature college aged kid and with this newer, older audience the station drew in record companies as their advertisers. Record companies had found the station (WOR-FM) was highly valuable at influencing sales of rock albums especially new artists and groups like Cream, The Doors, Jefferson Airplane, and The Jimi Hendrix Experience, acts which were having their records played and /or being introduced.

At WOR-FM (October 1967)with a new tighter playlist ROSKO quit while “on the air”. He was soon found (October 30,1967) hosting the 7PM to midnight program at the “all girls dj’s” of WNEW-FM 102.7 FM. WNEW-FM was at that time a MOR station with an entire staff of female Dj’s, a unique experiment at the time. But at the 7PM hour Rosko had a free hand to “do his thing”. JONATHAN SCHWARTZ (10AM- 2PM) was added on November19, and a few days later SCOTT MUNI (2-6PM) joined the staff. ALLISON STEELE  later dubbed “The Nightbird” (2AM-6AM) was held over from the formerly “all girl” staff and WNEW-FM took off.

Note: a few years later the line up included John Zacherle and Pete Fornatale with Vince Scelsa added on weekends.

So all this AM/FM babble is the background to my “new” listening experiences which in turn changed my record purchases from TOP 40 hits (45RPM) to albums.

During that November I purchased “Love Forever Changes”, my first LOVE lp, their third and final collection. I picked up  CREAM’s “Disraeli Gears” (did not have “Fresh Cream”) and spent hours looking at the cover while trying to decipher the meaning of “SWLABR”. Incidentally, the album was recorded (May 1967) following the nine days of CREAM being part of MURRAY THE K’S “Music In The Fifth Dimension” series.

Murray The K’s Music In The 5th Dimension | RKO 58 St Theater (28 shows over nine days and nights) featuring:

Mitch Ryder & Detroit Wheels, Wilson Pickett, The Who, Hardly-Worthit Players, Cream, Blues Magoos, The Blues Project, Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, Jim & Jean, Mandala, The Chicago Loop, Phil Ochs, Simon & Garfunkel, The Young Rascals

(udiscovermusic.com)When both The Who and Cream made their live debut in America, it could hardly have been any less auspicious. It happened for both of them on 25 March 1967 at the RKO Keith Theater on 58th and 3rd Ave in New York City. The shows were redolent of the old 1940s variety shows with a bill packed with artists that actually began at 10 o’clock in the morning and ran all day with a movie thrown in for good measure. All the artists on the bill played five shows a day and it was grueling; the whole thing was promoted by New York’s legendary DJ, Murray the K.

The Who and Cream, or The Cream as they were billed, were well down the bill. Headlining were Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, Wilson Pickett, with Buddy Miles was on drums, The Hardly Worthit Players, The Mandala, the Chicago Loop, Simon & Garfunkel, Jim & Jean, Phil Ochs, The Young Rascals and The Blues Project, Al Kooper’s band.

My next album was “Buffalo Springfield Again” their second album (my first) followed by JEFFERSON AIRPLANE’s  “After Bathing at Baxters”. “Surrelistic Pillow” was a man stay on my turntable before this collection was released on November 30,1967. This was departure and I loved that band. By the end of the CHRISTMAS release season I also had Hendrix’s “Axis As Bold As Love”, Dylan’s “John Wesley Harding” and an album I still love “The Who Sell Out”. Times surely had changed and so did my record collection.

Recently, I checked the files for purchases I made when I was 16 years old in 1968. Not surprisingly, those discs were all receiving heavy rotation on WNEW-FM: “Super Session”-Bloomfield,Kooper and Stills, The Airplane’s “Crown of Creation”, Jeff Beck’s amazing “Truth”, Big Brother and The Holding Company’s “Cheap Thrills”, Traffic’s second album, The Doors “Waiting For The Sun” and a fav of mine The Small Faces “Ogden’s Nut Gone Flake”. Also included were:Dance To The Music,We’re Only In It For The Money, The Notorious Byrds Brothers, Anthem of The Sun, Child Is The Father To The Man, Odessey and Oracle, SweetHeart of The Rodeo, The Village Green Preservation Society, Wheels of Fire, Dr John’s GRIS GRIS, Electric Ladyland, Beggar’s Banquet, Music From Big Pink and of course THE BEATLES akaThe White Album.

 

ROCK’S IN MY HEAD: Chapter 22- UP AGAINST THE WALL and THE WHITE ALBUM

20 Friday Jul 2018

Posted by in Democratic Convention Chicago 1968, Rock music, The Beatles, The Yippies, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

ROCK’S IN MY HEAD: Chapter 22- UP AGAINST THE WALL and THE WHITE ALBUM

The television event of the summer was THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION held in Chicago during August of 1968.

First,we had the Hippies, then the Death of The Hippies, followed by the arrivals of THE YIPPIES. According to my Dad you could assume someone was a “hippie” by their longish hair, their horrific odor, wearing jeans and having sandals on their feet. But these YIPPIES were a completely different classification.

The Youth International Party aka The YIPPIES started, according to folk lore, in 1967 when Jerry Rubin, Abbie Hoffman and a few knuckleheads got together to discuss world events and how they wanted to bring attention to what was happening in the world and in politics. Their tactics, at first very peaceful, involved techniques known as street theater,which was fun in the making. Their goal was to ever so slightly mock the populous apathy in asking to make changes, then slowly gain their support in hopes of eventually having a majority asking for  mass changes in issues regarding war, poverty, civil rights, etc.

The first major step in gaining recognition was a “YIP-IN”, sorta like the be-ins of the summer before, only this one was held in Grand Central Station. Hundreds showed up and all was peaceful until a large black banner appeared on the station wall declaring “UP AGAINST THE WALL MOTHERFUCKER” boldly written in red. Then, some guy climbed up the clock tower and removed the hands from the famed clock. By this time the police had had enough. It was not so peaceful anymore.

The YIPPIES next move was a YIP-OUT, a legitimate protest to be held in Central Park, complete with all the necessary permits, insurance riders, bathroom facilities, etc. and ‘with the graces of NYC’. This endeavor was a bit more tranquil and quite successful. The Yippies now made plans to take “this show” on the road, to Chicago for the Democratic National Convention. Articles were written for underground newspapers, hand bills put up in major cities asking folks to come to Chicago where it was falsely alleged by the opposition that the Yippies were planning on dosing the city’s water supply with top grade LSD and then they would storm the convention floor, all not true. Mayor Richard J. Daly of famed Chicago lore was not too pleased with the Yippies plans and as more and more “Yippies” arrived he declared “law and order will prevail”.

Peaceful large scale protest marches happened at first. Jerry Rubin did nominate PEGASUS THE PIG for President.  After a few days of police  along with the National Guardsmen interacting with the Yippies ( mostly everyone outside was considered  a Yippie by law enforcement) a young boy was killed after he attempted to shoot at a Chicago officer. AND….all hell broke loose. The television coverage was mind boggling. Tear gas, riot gear, police lines, barbed wire barricades, and billy clubs pounding men and women’s skulls. Even newsman Dan Rather took a beating on the convention floor. The Democrats made speeches from the floor in protest as to what was happening in the streets, calling the police tactics GESTAPO like. All were asking for the “gestapo” to back down. But,  Chicago PD and others thought someone (The Yippies) must pay.

At first The Trial was given the title “the Chicago Eight” which featured that lovable clown Abbie Hoffman, his bearded sidekick Jerry Rubin both representing the Yippies, seated along side Bobby Seale of Black Panther fame, joined by future politician Tom Hayden, Rennie Davis, David Dellinger, John Froines, and Lee Weiner. This cast of characters, was charged by the federal government with “conspiracy, inciting to riot” and numerous other lesser charges.

Bobby Seale claiming he was not permitted to choose his own lawyer was eventually removed for this trial after being bound and gagged by court officers. His wish to be removed was granted. “Your brother’s bound and gagged and they chained him to a chair, won’t you please come to Chicago”- Graham Nash wrote.

So the 8 became The Seven. Ironically, the judge’s last name was Hoffman but no relation to our star Abbie as the judge indicated during his opening statement. Abbie immediately replied,” Dad, Why have you forsaken me?”. Abbie was a hit with the crowd but not so much with “His Honor” as  Judge Hoffman was a noted stickler for proper court room protocol. “Julie” as the boys called him throughout the trial was no match for the boys and he had to endure their four and 1/2 months of court room shenanigans. One morning Abbie Hoffman arrived in judicial robes and sat at the defense table. When JULIE thought this was disrespectful to the court he requested  Abbie remove the garment to which he did only to find that Abbie had a Chicago police uniform under it.

Bobby Seale got four years for contempt which was later reversed. Most all of the remaining seven were convicted of something, most of crossing state lines to incite a riot, but after exhausting appeals, etc, all were reversed. The finding was that Judge Hoffman was biased to the defendants. Point goes to The Yippies.

September of 68 I was working after school and weekends at Dubbings Electronics, a factory making cassette and 8 track tapes. Cassettes were new to the music business at this time and Dubbings had the market pretty well covered. Their major clients included Vanguard, Elektra, Capitol Records and all their minor labels. Needless to say my music collection grew substantially each and every afternoon by at least one or two cassettes. Blues, folk, rock, jazz, whatever I could fit in my boot I took home; Country Joe, Dave Van Ronk, Quicksilver, Butterfield, Frank Sinatra, Doc Watson, Buffy St. Marie, Ian & Sylvia, Skip James, Steve Miller and others all found their way into my room.And here I met Pete, a long haired guy working in INVENTORY. Every afternoon as soon as I arrived we were expected to count out the labels for the evening shift. Upstairs with no supervision, we counted.

After being there only a few weeks, Ruthie who worked in the “Mastering Lab” called me over to hear something she thought was unique, that is, something strange to her 50 year old ears. The“lab”she worked in was a climate controlled, sound proofed room with thick glass windowed partitions. Basically it was an air tight room, locked, with a red light blazing DO NOT ENTER over the door. One had to wear white gloves and coveralls to enter the room. Coming into the Inventory Department where I worked, Ruthie slipped a cassette into one of our machines and attached her very expensive headphones over my ears. Upon hearing the sounds, I was at first perplexed but knew instantly what it must be. “They say it’s your birthday.” It sounded like The Beatles. Then, “Number nine, number nine” over and over with a cacophony of sounds, screams, horns, etc. Smiling I answered with more of a question, THE BEATLES ? I proposed. She then with her white gloves on, removed the cassette from the apparatus and put in another cassette…. HELTER SKELTER….THE BEATLES ,YES IT’S THE BEATLES. She informed me it was a company hush hush job, no one was to know what we were putting together, not even her supposedly but she had her suspicions and needed “verification” which was ME.  No labels, no inserts, just a number 4XWL stamped on the cassettes, which was to be a double cassette set. One million cassettes (half a million packages to market) was to be produced and stored until November 15 shipping. The entire factory, two shifts, was working on one project and I guessed who and what it was. Needless to say Ruthie slipped me a few early finished cassettes during week one, no labels just 4XWL which I knew meant The Beatles (The WHITE ALBUM), to share with my friends, friends who were skeptical at first but after a little while….yea man, The Beatles.

1968: My collection was now mostly albums (vinyl) and many cassettes, with an occasional single thrown in. White Album AKA The Beatles, Hendrix’s Electric LadyLand,THE STONES Beggar’s Banquet (loved it), Odyssey and Oracle(which I bought on a lunch hour after seeing the cover in a record store on Wall Street- I loved The Zombies), THE KINKS Village Green Preservation Society, THE BAND Big Pink,Waiting For The Sun by The Doors,  Lady Soul(my brother’s), SUPER SESSION, SweetHeart Of The Rodeo Big Brother’s Cheap Thrills, CREAM’s double lp set Wheels On Fire, Small Faces Ogden’,s Nut Gone Flake, Blood Sweat and Tears, and Creedence Clearwater Revival’s first to name a few.

ROCK’S IN MY HEAD:  CHAPTER 18: AND THE JUKEBOX KEPT ON PLAYING…

10 Tuesday Jul 2018

Posted by in Cream, DYLAN, EdSullivan, ElvisPresley, Golden Age of Radio, James Brown, Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix, LOVE, Monterey Pop 67, Otis Redding, R&B, Rock music, rock music trivia, Scott McKensie, Summer Of Love, The Beatles, The Beatles on Sullivan, The British Invasion (1964-1966), The Doors, The radio, Uncategorized, Vinyl Records

≈ Leave a comment

ROCK’S IN MY HEAD:  CHAPTER 18: AND THE JUKEBOX KEPT ON PLAYING…

“There’s something happening here, what it is ain’t exactly clear”, Stephen stills wrote in the 1967 song FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH.

The music of the 60s famously captured the countercultures activism and ethos of those times. Music can inspire, it can galvanize and fuel movements, it can spread the key messages for social causes. However, do we define the music that the artists create or do the songs they sing about the social issues defined us? Sometimes it’s both as its almost impossible to separate the art from the artist.

In my generation’s time the biggest example of music affecting culture had to be the music of the Beatles. Their music created an iconic shift in our culture. Take a look at photos in any high school yearbook before 1964, and you will see the American middle-class males all have really short haircuts. However in just one years time, everyone’s hair was a little longer. The Beatles were influencing culture, as a matter of fact they changed the entire culture. Fortunately during that time the music scene was not as fragmented as it is today. With about only five popular radio stations and/or TV stations( in NY) everyone heard the same songs. It was truly broadcasting in a “broad” sense of the word as opposed to today’s “narrow” casting. Music mobilized people and songs became anthems as music was one of the strongest ways to influence our generation.

By ’67 I was an avid reader of magazines, books, news weeklies, most somewhat politically skewed to the left, well as left as I could get away with in my household. Even my newspaper of choice was the VILLAGE VOICE, a weekly out of Manhattan. My high school’s reading assignments, the general novels assigned, the poems, did little to excite me, but I read what I was asked to read, mostly.  But then, I read Ralph Nader’s UNSAFE AT ANY SPEED which intrigued me. His invitation to the auto makers to produce a safer machine was researched so well, and his requests and suggestions to the industry and to the government made so much sense. Yet no one did anything about it. The CORVAIR car, transmission gear positions on cars, safety to pedestrians, wind shield standards and seat belts.WOW, simple safety. That year Nader was “the man” to me.

THE SUMMER OF LOVE: 1967

A news item came across the screen the other day (2017) declaring that JEFFERSON AIRPLANE’S album SURREALISTIC PILLOW was certified Platinum, I’m talking a few month shy of it’s 50th anniversary of its release. That’s a long haul. The LP went GOLD back in July of 1967, THE SUMMER OF LOVE, finally platinum in 2017.

50 Years ago “it” was all over the press: San Francisco and the “SUMMER OF LOVE”. The SF Chronicle was the first to depict that designation to which I am sure they regretted almost immediately. But, WHAT WAS THAT SUMMER OF LOVE LIKE?

I was 15 and it was no summer of Love for me, summer of Confusion might best describe my circumstances. SURREALISTIC PILLOW was on my turn table yet I actually had to look up and research what the heck “surrealistic” meant and how the hell did it apply to a pillow. This was too far out.

Summer of ’67 nearly 100,000 kids head to San Francisco’s HAIGHT ASBURY  with “flowers in their hair, flowers everywhere”. It is time to “turn on, tune in, drop out”. This coincides with young adults declaring rock and roll was here to stay, it was not some phase we would grow out of. Rock was to be our music, an essential part of our being, the way we expressed ourselves. I’m in, I ready to volunteer. Frank Sinatra, not for me. Even the sounds recorded at that moment in time changed. Listen to JORMA KAUKONEN’s feedback on PILLOW. It was new, unique, and different.We took this music, our music seriously, and so did the musicians who made it . Singles were fading fast as bands/musicians sought to make a statement or two. Albums became the rage. Musicians experimented and so did we.

Our radio changed. AM stuck to the hit parade format. Recent legislation stated that AM stations could no longer simulcast on FM, so the clearer sounding FM was free to experiment and experiment they did. The AM dj’s catch phrases, their gift of gab would not survive the coolness of the FM disk jockey playing THE DOORS Light My Fire (extended version).And in June of 67 The BEATLES released Sgt. Pepper’s which had no singles on it. Truly the listening teens were FM bound.

Reporting on the “happenings” changed also. The cigar smoking, shirt and tie wearing newsman suddenly had long bushy sideburns, bell bottom jeans, smoked a joint and wrote from the heart. Journalism,the reporting of the news was way different from what it was only a few months before. Slanted as it might have been, these new writers helped me develop a better understanding of culture and politics. An example would be RAMPARTS magazine, which started as a Catholic Quarterly, but now in ‘67 it was a full blown anti-establishment rag. It’s articles raised the hair on the back of my neck; Vietnam, the CIA, The Black Panthers. And then the NewYork Times Best Sellers List had names like Norman Mailer, Tom Wolfe and other non-traditional authors topping the charts. Hail, hail to THE CLASS OF ’67.These “New Journalists” led me to read authors who influenced the new generation: Lincoln Steffens, Ida Tarbell, and many other so called “muckrackers” as Teddy Roosevelt named their genre.

So what was 1967 through the eyes and ears of a fifteen year old boy? Well, January 15 the very first SUPER BOWL was held with a television audience of 60 million folks.The Green Bay Packers beat the Kansas City Chiefs 35-10. Interesting to note that according to all research this singular event catapulted the NFL in viewership which in turn drew advertising money to football. The cost of a 30 second SUPER BOWL ad in 67 was a mere $37,500.

By February my neighbor, a guy I tried to get to take me to see the Lovin Spoonful told me about a new group he saw at Stony Brook, a local university. The band was Jefferson Airplane, yes, same group I read about in NEWSWEEK. Now, I was more than interested in that band.

The 25th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified in February 1967 thereby establishing the “succession” to the Presidency which was vitally important as our Vice-Presidency had been vacant at least 16 times through our short history. This Amendment gave us a clear path to what steps were needed to take place, especially after the death of JFK when we had a void. This would prove to be politically significant in subsequent years.

In April Muhammed Ali, aka CASSIUS CLAY the Heavy Weight Champ who became a CO, was stripped of his heavyweight boxing title for refusing induction in to the US Army.

THE SIX DAY WAR (June 5-10) occurred just as we were finishing our school year. The  Arab Forces were defeated and Israel took possession of additional territories.  This news item intrigued me as I knew little if anything about the Middle East which we had studied this past year history class, but not like this.This was for real. My knowledge or lack thereof about the Middle East would soon change.

Thurgood Marshall became the first black Supreme Court Justice in October. These events made ’67 an interesting year. Monterey Pop was held (June), Otis Redding died, and SGT.PEPPERS was released. We listed to Sgt. Peppers almost every afternoon that June at my girlfriend’s house,with the music blasting through the speakers from her brother’s stereo which she placed in the front window while a group of us were playing whiffle ball in the street. Life and relationships were simple then.

My 45’s record collection seemed to grow by the end of each week: The Letter by the Box Tops with Alex Chilton on vocals is still a gem today, Light My Fire by The Doors (the edited radio version of course), The Rascals lovely Groovin’, Little Bit Of Soul, Kind Of A Drag, Expressway to Your Heart, Soul Man, Incense And Peppermints, Somebody To Love,and Whiter Shade of Pale just to name a few. However, I used more of my limited cash on albums: The Doors(first), the aforementioned Jefferson Airplane’s Surrealistic Pillow,  Moby Grape’s first, The Beatles Sgt. Peppers, Jimi Hendrix Experience, The KinKs Something Else,The Doors Strange Days (which my dad bought for me),Cream’s Disraeli Gears, The Who Sell Out, The Rascal’s Collections and The Soul Survivors, which I was led to believe by the guy behind the counter at the local RECORD RACK sounds “exactly” like the Rascals.This proclamation was not necessarily true and another story all together. By years end I included the newly established ROLLING STONE magazine to my mandatory reading list .

By end of 1967 heading into ’68, listening to FM radio and watching television rock was not enough for me. Like every other red blooded discophile I was drawn to the fire of live music. Having no true curfew I started to attend The Hullabaloo, a local teen club in the neighboring town of Lindenhurst. A true TEEN SCENE club serving 15-20 year olds  with an affordable  $2.00 cover. Their stage hosted a few bands each weekend (Friday and Saturday nights), many were local garage style combos, with a few noted National acts tossed in…The Vagrants, The Hassels, and Vanilla Fudge just to name a few.

During this period I saw The Critters (Younger Girl; My Dyingly Sad) at the local Roll N Ice, followed by Every Mothers Son (Come On Down To My Boat, Baby) at my 10th grade dance, The Good Rats (pre-TASTY) at a high school art show(1968), and a WMCA (NY Radio station-THE GOOD GUYS)sponsored “Sock Hop Show” featuring The Left Banke (1967).  And of course Long Island’s own The Vagrants (Leslie West), and The Hassels (Billy Joel) regularly played at the aforementioned Hullabloo.

At home I played Rubber Soul and Revolver over and over again. Two of my favorite albums at that time and probably my two favorite Beatles albums of all times.

See you next time….Chapter19:THE SUMMER OF LOVE. Comments? jazzbus@gmail.com

ROCK’S IN MY HEAD: Chapter 17-BIGGER THAN JESUS

06 Friday Jul 2018

Posted by in ColumbiaRecordClub, Jefferson Airplane, MOTOWN, Rock music, rock music trivia, The Beatles, The British Invasion (1964-1966), The KinKs, The Stones, Vinyl Records

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , ,

John Lennon’s statement that The Beatles were “bigger than Jesus” caused quite an uproar with some radio stations refusing to play Beatles records. Living in liberal New York the noise of Anti-Beatledom was minimal, basically non-existent. As liberal as the politics of my home state might be, the radio stations were quite conservative, only playing the “hits” that had been tested in the minor markets. NY Radio would wait until others lesser known band’s song became a hit across the country before giving it a shot on the air. But not with The Fab 4 who seemed bigger than ever. The Beatles still had the instant hits.

REVOLVER was my most played album of 1966, and TAXMAN was a favorite song of mine from that collection, what a great opening tune. Years later I found that that song written as such still needed a hook during the recording process. Someone suggested, after watching an episode of the TV program BATMAN, that THE BEATLES replicate the BATMAN theme chant into TAX MAN. Hence, BATMAN became TAXMAN.

While the political innuendo of TAXMAN was not missed by me, ELENOR RIGBY did nothing for me. I later learned that not one Beatle played an instrument on that tune so that reason alone might subconsciously be why I didn’t care for it one bit. REVOLVER was the last album issued by Capitol with an altered playing order, that is one different from it’s UK counter part. In January of 1967 THE BEATLES had a new contract, one which specified Capitol records could no longer alter the tracks or the running order or remove tracks from Beatle approved albums. Just in time too, as Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band could have been quite different if Capitol Records USA had still had control over songs, sequence, etc.

The fashion of 1966 was basically CARNABY STREET and with that style came the introduction of the “mini skirt”. Imagine being a 14 year old boy in high school at a time where girls were required to wear skirts in school. Then the mini skirt arrives. “Thank you, Lord” our prayers were answered. Keeping ’66 in mind, that same year Pampers were introduced and the Dow Jones year end average was 785. And of course October of 66, THE MONKEES debuted on TV, an ersatz Beatle-esk band, which caught on with the teeny boppers, as we were then referred as.

 

To recap the year, January 1, 1966 started off with the New York City Transit Strike, a 12 day event pairing a fiery Mike Quill the NYTA union leader against the newly installed Mayor John Lindsey. Lindsey was no match for the tough Irish union leader. The Transit workers received a 15% raise and The TAYLOR LAW was enacted the next year.

In July, MUHAMMED ALI once known as CASSIUS CLAY declares himself a CO, a “Conscientious Objector”. This brought more attention to the VIETNAM War and to the opposition to this “undeclared” war. I started to pay more attention to radio news reports. According to FCC regulations at the time, each radio station MUST present the news “on the hour” with updates “on the half hour”. The 6 PM and 11PM television evening news were quite visual in its coverage of the carnage in Vietnam, actually upsettingly so. In September the long running whitbread television program THE ADVENTURES OF OZZIE AND HARRIET ended.

NEWSWEEK had a featured article in its December edition about BE-INS, as in Human “Be-ings”,  that were  called “happenings” in major cities, San Francisco being one such city. The author referenced the JEFFERSON AIRPLANE as “the most popular of groups”. This was duly noted in my brain.

The USA had 500,000 troops in Vietnam, NASA’s Gemini 10 left “Earth for 3 days in space”, cigarettes were required to carry a health warning on the side package, and Richard Speck killed 8 nurses in Chicago which the news of this scared the bejesus out of me. Speck was outdone a few months later by Charles Wittman who killed 14 and injured 31 by shooting from a tower at the University of Texas to the crowd below. Mass murders, Vietnam, all too much bloodshed on the news and in print.

We had sit-ins, be-ins, teach-ins and the popular films were THUNDERBOLT, DR. ZHIVAGO, and A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS. I was 14 closing in on 15 and my world was changing around me, rapidly.

For me in 1966 The LOVIN’ SPOONFUL was a band I most desired to see, I even bought a vest and a yellow shirt because I saw John Sebastian wearing one on an album cover. At one point I almost wished my eye sight would fade a bit so if I needed glasses I could get a pair like Sebastian’s.

Those big band albums from Columbia record club that my dad had, and the little kid 45’ records that my brother and I had soon met their shelf mates including: 96 Tears, Summer In The City, Good Lovin’, Paperback Writer, 19th Nervous Breakdown and Gloria (Shadows of Night). The album collection expanded as well adding Revolver, Pet Sounds, Blonde on Blonde, High Tides and Green Grass: Big Hits, Fresh Cream, Love, Animalism, Paul Revere and The Raiders, Buffalo Springfield and of course the debut by The Monkees. That Monkees  phenomena was a story unto itself.

And then there was the beginning of rock music on FM radio in NY, WOR-FM, August of 66. I needed, I wanted an AM/FM radio.

See you next time….Chapter18: AND THE JUKEBOX KEPT ON PLAYING… . Comments? jazzbus@gmail.com

ON THE SHELF: JUDAS ! : FROM FOREST HILLS TO THE FREE TRADE HALL, A HISTORICAL VIEW OF THE BIG BOO by Clinton Heylin.(2016)

27 Wednesday Jun 2018

Posted by in books, DYLAN, Rock music, rock music trivia, The Beatles, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

ON THE SHELF: JUDAS ! : FROM FOREST HILLS TO THE FREE TRADE HALL, A HISTORICAL VIEW OF THE BIG BOO by Clinton Heylin.(2016)  Everything I read about folkies going electric occur mostly after two events; one being the Beatles performing on Ed Sullivan and second was Bob Dylan going electric in 1965, hence the subtitle THE BIG BOO. If you listen to the song CREQUE ALLEY by the Mamas and Papas you’ll hear a biography of the various musicians mostly folkies  who happened to be “passing the hat” in the clubs in and around Greenwich Village New York during the early 1960s. After the Beatles on SULLIVAN a few of the solo acts, mostly songwriter types, reformed as duets or small combos to the horror of the folk aficionado and turned “electric”. Also,Barry McGuire having a #1 hit with “The Eve of Destruction” turned a few heads.

CLINTON HEYLIN, the British author is a renown DYLANOLOGIST and with some recently uncovered acetates of DYLAN’S soundboards from the now fabled 1966 tour, Heylin offers some new insights. This book is seriously researched so the faint of heart, the casual reader might drop off or skip many pages due to the books repetitiveness, that is, “Where they booing?”, “Who was booing?” “What was Bob actually thinking that night?”, etc, etc.

Our journey starts in NEWPORT FOLK FEST 1965 (the first boo), slowly morphs into THE HAWKS (a band playing so loud it hurt) joining him for FOREST HILLS 66 show and then the author takes us the reader throughout the United States, Europe, and back. Just the newspaper reports alone ,which are extensively referred to throughout the book, helped me the reader understand the depth of what was occurring. This book follows the entire tour of Bob Dylan on his historic electric adventure, not skipping one date during 1965/66, a tour which changed the face of music.

“Folk-rock, I’ve never said that word” Bob Dylan.

MY LITTLE KNOWN FUN FACT THAT I LOVE: ‘Judas, the most hated name in human history! If you think you’ve been called a bad name, try to work your way out from under that. Yeah, and for what? For playing an electric guitar?’ – Bob Dylan

ROCK’S IN MY HEAD: CHAPTER 13: A CHANGE IS GONNA COME (1965)

22 Friday Jun 2018

Posted by in Brill Building, DYLAN, LBJ, Sam Cooke, Space Race, The Beatles, The Great Society, The KinKs, The radio, The Stones

≈ Leave a comment

It’s now 1965 and A CHANGE IS GONNA COME not only as a song but as a way of life in America, but first the song. Sam Cooke’s hit from that year inspired Bob Dylan to begin writing a more personal selection of tunes. Bob Dylan recorded BRING IT ALL BACK HOME over a two day period with one 8 hour session recording side one (the electric side), followed by the second day recording side 2 the acoustic side. When released this landmark album set the bar higher for all other artists. This his fifth LP was his first Top Ten (#6 BILLBOARD) album. The sheer audacity of Dylan to release an album without “fillers” was unique. Dylan challenged his past (folk) while confronting his future (electric). Other artists upon hearing this album were inspired and challenged at the very least to experiment more with their music.

NOTE: Sam Cooke’s debuted the song A CHANGE IS GONNA COME on THE TONIGHT SHOW, February 7, 1964. Received well that performance’s review was unfortunately lost in the press as The Beatles debuted on Ed Sullivan two nights later.

For me the memorable songs of 1965 including the entire Motown mega-roster of hits, the Rolling Stones HEART OF STONE (a “re-make of Otis Redding’s PAIN MY HEART) and of course the “most played single of all time” The Righteous Brothers YOU’VE LOST THAT  LOVING FEELING, a Phil Spector WALL OF SOUND song written by Brill Building’s team of Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. Rumor has it that this tune(YLTLF) is a response to the heartaches expressed in The Four Tops BABY I NEED YOUR LOVIN. This Spector (label) record capitalized on a phrase “something beautiful is dying”. The actual recording clocks in at a whopping 3:45 but is falsely listed on the label as 3:05 in hopes of capturing the program directors attention of being only a “3 minute” song, the standard for the day.

My philosophy about listening to music has been to “listen eagerly, to sit in the stillness, the quietness of the space, so that you can hear only the music; that is the melody and the words. Simply rest in the presence of the music”. From the time of the white AM radio in the kitchen to the transistor I received for Christmas that is what I attempted to do.

In the beginning of the year prior to his inaugural address LBJ delivered the “State of the Union” thus declaring our time as” the great Society” . A few months later Grace Slick, her husband, and her brother-in-law would form a rock band in San Francisco using that same name. But were we truly a Great Society?

Our neighbors to the north, Canada, had recently changed their flag losing the Union Jack and adopting the Maple Leaf, a smack at the imperialistic past associated with Great Britain.

Promised as it was, the USA was running neck and neck with the USSR in the”space race”, the ultimate prize being to successfully land a man on the moon. To this end the USA purposely”crashed” Ranger B on the moon’s surface while it was photographing possible lunar landing sites.

In the far east the U.S. started bombing North Vietnam (Rolling Thunder), a deed that will continue for 3+ years. 3500 additional ground troops were sent, followed by doubling the draft quota from 17,000 to 35,000 soldiers per month. At home men started to burn their draft cards, later an act which would be classified as illegal. Civil rights activists clashed in Selma, Alabama leading LBJ to announce the basis for the Voting Rights Act of 65. The SDS (Students For A Democratic Society) marched  on Washington as “teach-ins” were being held at major universities.

The movie HELP is released featuring the song of the same name which  authored by John Lennon was meant as a true cry out for help. SATISFACTION by The Rolling Stones is Number One on the charts as Bob Dylan stuns the crowd at the Newport Folk Festival by plugging it. His 1965 release HIGHWAY 61 REVISITED yields the hit LIKE A ROLLING STONE.

The War on Poverty, another LBJ initiative a.k.a. the Social Security Act of 1965, offers Medicare and Medicaid, meanwhile the streets of Watts are burning.  The Beatles play SHEA STADIUM, the very first stadium show, to 55,600 screaming fans as TV audiences are preparing to view one of the worst programs ever made, MY MOTHER THE CAR. Not to be outdone by the Beatles, Pope Paul VI holds mass at Yankee Stadium. A few weeks later, a 25-year-old Catholic Worker Movement  member sets himself on fire at the United Nations.

RUBBER SOUL is released in December, for a total of four BEATLE albums in 1965.

November brought the GREAT BLACKOUT to the Northeast and Canada. We, The Great Society as proclaimed only a few months before by LBJ, yet I’m not too sure.

See you next time….Chapter14: SWEET SOUL MUSIC .Comments? jazzbus@gmail.com

ROCK’S IN MY HEAD: Chapter 11- THE BLUES IN BRITAIN

14 Thursday Jun 2018

Posted by in Big Bill Broonzy, Chuck Berry, Howlin' Wolf, John Lee Hooker, Lead Belly, Mersey Beat, R&B, Rock music, rock music trivia, The Animals, The Beatles, The British Invasion (1964-1966), The Stones, The Yardbirds, Vinyl Records, Willie Dixon

≈ Leave a comment

From February 1964-66 The British ruled the US airwaves. The movie  A HARD DAYS NIGHT made LONDON appear cool while Carnaby Street fashions sold like hotcakes in The States. The Mersey Beat sound, as well as the (American) blues influenced London groups, were TOP OF THE POPS in the colonies as well as the Motherland. In the UK THE BEATLES were the most successful artists with 17 singles hitting #1, on top of the UK charts for 69 weeks during the 1960’s with SHE LOVES YOU being the best selling UK single for the entire decade.

The Beatles started as THE QUARRY MEN SKIFFLE BAND in 1957. SKIFFLE style music (guitar, washboard, tea chest bass) was popularized in England by LONNIE DONEGAN who was influenced by American HUDDIE LEDBETTER  better known as Lead Belly who had a hit with ROCK ISLAND LINE in1956) . BIG BILL BROONZY, another American artist was also an icon in England.

BIG BILL BROONZY aka Lee Conley Bradley was a true mystery man, a story teller to the Nth degree. He fabricated many a monologue using each as introductions to his tunes. Usually his “tales” were at best an amalgam of stories told to him by others. But according to most who saw him, BIG BILL was  a great story teller and performer nonetheless. A farm hand born to slaves he played violin and fiddle, later as an itinerant preacher he became Bill Broonzy for unknown reasons. He moved to Chicago in the 1920’s learned guitar and started recording as BIG BILL in 1927.

(broonzy.com)On 23 December, 1938, Big Bill was one of the principal solo performers in the first “From Spirituals to Swing” concert held at the Carnegie Hall in New York City. In the programme for that performance, Broonzy was identified in the programme only as “Big Bill” (he did not become known as Big Bill Broonzy until much later in his career) and as Willie Broonzy. He was described as:”…the best-selling blues singer on Vocalion’s ‘race’ records, which is the musical trade designation for American Negro music that is so good that only the Negro people can be expected to buy it.” The programme recorded that the Carnegie Hall concert “will be his first appearance before a white audience”.

In the fifties, folk blues (acoustic blues) gained popularity in England as Big Bill Bronzy toured the countryside. He was followed a few years later by the electric blues of MUDDY WATERS, SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON, JOHN LEE HOOKER, SISTER ROSETTA THARPE, BLIND GARY DAVIS, SONNY TERRY, and OTIS SPAN. In 1963 MELODY MAKER declared London “the NEW CHICAGO”. American Black artists felt a bit more comfortable touring Europe than they did in the USA.

Also in June of 1963 The STONES release their first single which is a remake of CHUCK BERRY’S 1961 tune “Come On”. Chuck’s original did not chart in the US yet The Stones hit #21 in the Mother Country. The Stones B-side was a remake of WILLIE DIXON’S “I Want To Be Loved”.

CHUCK BERRY was a pioneer of American rock n roll. A singer, songwriter, and guitarist of some renown to say the least. Berry developed a unique guitar sound with a few moves stolen from T-BONE WALKER and together with the addition of the amazing pianist JOHNNIE JOHNSON the two wrote some of the greatest rock songs: “Maybellene” (1955), “Roll Over Beethoven” (1956), “Rock and Roll Music” (1957) and “Johnny B. Goode” (1958).

In 1964, a tune written and recorded by JOHN LEE HOOKER’s (“DIMPLES”) was released in England as a single and stays on the UK charts for 10 weeks peaking at #23. Immediately THE SPENCER DAVIS GROUP adds the tune to their set and recorded their version which charts. The Animals also add it to their set. Next HOWLIN WOLF’S “Smokestack Lightning” charts at #42 but more importantly THE YARDBIRDS, MANFRED MANN, THE ANIMALS and THE WHO add that song to their set lists.

The most significant UK single was a WILLIE DIXON (1961) penned tune “Little Red Rooster” originally recorded by HOWLIN’ WOLF, reworked ever so slightly and released in 1964 by THE ROLLING STONES. Their interpretation charts as #1, the first blues record to top the British charts. London Records THE STONES US record company refused to release the 45 in the states.

Within short order THE ANIMALS release LED BELLY’S “House of the Rising Sun”, THE MOODY BLUES record BESSIE BANKS “Go Now”, THE YARDBIRDS do the same with SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON’S  “Good Morning Little Schoolgirl”, and THE ANIMALS “steal” NINA SIMONE’S “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood”. And ALL becoming huge hits in England and as well as in the States where the naive record buying public assumed these were original songs for the recording artist.

See you next time….Chapter12-POST WWII- THE BRITS and THE U.S. Comments?  jazzbus@gmail.com

AT THE MOVIES: August of 64: A HARD DAY’S NIGHT

13 Wednesday Jun 2018

Posted by in Mersey Beat, Rock music, rock music trivia, The Beatles, Vinyl Records

≈ Leave a comment

AT THE MOVIES: August of 64: A HARD DAY’S NIGHT

A feature length black and white movie starring my idols of that very moment in time, THE BEATLES, and what more could I ask for in lieu of seeing the band live which was not going to happen any time soon for me. I walked with my buddies to a neighboring town theatre for an afternoon showing and we were back on line the very next day to see it again. It was THE BEATLES, THE BEATLES on a train,THE BEATLES in the street, THE BEATLES playing in a field, THE BEATLES being chased by their fans, THE BEATLES on the TV stage, geez, I felt like I was there with them. RINGO the lost soul with his camera, PAUL’S grandfather aboard the train, JOHN with his cap, and GEORGE with PATTI, could it get any better ?. Oh, yeah, it could, there are THE SONGS.The album of the same name is only the third long player release by the band and this one is all originals.Bingo, on vinyl and in the film we hear  A HARD DAY’S NIGHT with its unique opening chard, I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER’s harmonica, IF I FELL, I’M HAPPY JUST TO DANCE WITH YOU,  CAN’T BUY ME LOVE, AND I LOVE HER  all new to my ears, and finally in the movie SHE LOVES YOU what more could one ask for….GIVE ME MORE, GIVE ME MORE, HEY, HEY, HEY, GIVE ME MORE.

ROCK’S IN MY HEAD: Chapter 10-The British Are Coming, The British Are Coming (1964-1966)

11 Monday Jun 2018

Posted by in Mersey Beat, R&B, Rock music, rock music trivia, The Back Beat, The Beatles, The Beatles on Sullivan, The British Invasion (1964-1966), The KinKs, The Stones, Vinyl Records

≈ Leave a comment

Today, we experience “musicians” (notice the quotations) who write their own songs, play their own instruments and produce their own material. Some have total control over the entire process, some just “sample” , but I digress again. However, writing, playing and producing your own stuff was not always the case. So in the early 1960’s when a group of four LIVERPOOL lads made records where they actually played their own instruments, wrote most of their own songs,….Hey,that was unique.

When THE BEATLES hit our shores we started to hear about The MERSEY BEAT.  The Mersey is the river running through LIVERPOOL which is a port city in Western England. From that quaint little city a group of four lads became highly famous after charting their first UK single in late 62.Soon the “talent scouts” hovered.

These 4 lads as well as other Brits were influenced by American music, specifically the stylings of Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Little Richard, Eddie Cochrane, Buddy Holly,John Lee Hooker, Smokey Robinson, and a host of others. Emulating their American heroes they formed groups named THE ROLLING STONES,THE YARDBIRDS, THE ANIMALS,THE KINKS, THE WHO, THE PRETTY THINGS, THE DAVE CLARK FIVE.

THE ROLLING STONES formed in 1962 and according to legend BRIAN JONES named the band after seeing the song title ROLLING STONE on a MUDDY WATERS album. Originally this band played Chicago styled blues influenced by Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Howlin’ Wolf (check out The Rocking Chair lp to see where the Stones earliest guitar licks came from) and Bo Diddley. Through their incarnations, today THE ROLLING STONES have taken the moniker of THE WORLD’S GREATEST ROCK AND ROLL BAND. I venture to say they are correct.

Formerly known as THE BLUES SOUND this band changed their name in 1963 to a reference of Charlie “YARDBIRD” Parker. The YARDBIRDS followed THE ROLLING STONES residency at CRAWDADDY CLUB, a prestigious London gig where their repertoire drew from the Chicago blues of HOWLIN’ WOLF, MUDDY WATERS, SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON, ELMORE JAMES AND BO DIDDLEY. Their sets included: GOOD MORNING LITTLE SCHOOLGIRL, GOT LOVE IF YOU WANT IT, I’M A MAN. and SMOKESTACK LIGHTNING. Their first album, a must to have (FIVE LIVE YARDBIRDS) was recorded LIVE after touring and backing up SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON (II).

THE ANIMALS began in 1962  as THE ALAN PRICE RHYTHM AND BLUES COMBO covering songs by JIMMY REED, JOHN LEE HOOKER (Boom Boom) and NINA SIMONE(Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood).

THE DAVE CLARK 5 formed in 1957,had the privilege and  the pressure of being the second  BRITISH INVASION group to appear on Ed Sullivan after the Beatles. Their single GLAD ALL OVER  was #6 (US) in April 64. Funny how this ensemble was more popular in the US than their homeland. Their distinction for me was they prominently displayed a saxophone.

GERRY AND THE PACEMAKERS, another Liverpudlian group, became the second act signed by Beatles manager BRIAN EPSTEIN. These lads were produced by George Martin which is probably a reason they had 3 consecutive #1 records with their first 3 UK outings (late 62)…”How Do You Do It?“, “I Like It” and “You’ll Never Walk Alone  (in UK 1963/ US 64) and finally with FERRY CROSS THE MERSEY (US early  65).

Billy J. Kramer and The Dakotas, Billy the lead singer was a handsome dude also managed by Brian Epstein and with George Martin they produced DO YOU WANT TO KNOW A SECRET (Beatles tune) to # 2 in UK. They followed that success up with additional LENNON/McCARTNEY tunes gaining gold records (UK) and  appearances on US TV.

The Searchers were a skiffle band primarily doing  remakes of American music: THE DRIFTERS (61) “Sweets For My Sweet”, JACKIE DeSHANNON’S “Needles and Pins” (charted US March 64), a fav of mine “When You Walk In The Room” and THE CLOVERS’ “Love Potion #9”.

The KinKs formed in 64 were very briefly part of  THE BRITISH Invasion. Their exposure on our shores was curtailed by an American touring ban issued in 1965. Yet, their early material as well as their subsequent recordings are amazing. ….I could write for days on this band so I’ll save it for a later date. GOD BLESS THE KINKS.

The ZOMBIES like many other British invasion groups, were sent to The United States to tour behind their new hit single “She’s Not There”. Among their early US gigs was the Murray the K’s Christmas Shows at the Brooklyn Fox Theater, where the band played seven performances a day. On January 12, 1965 the band made its first in- person appearance on US television on the very first episode of NBC’s HULLABALOO. They played “She’s Not There” and their latest single “Tell Her No”. Recently, I had  the pleasure of seeing The Zombies during the 50th anniversary “Odessey and Oracle” tour. Trust me folks this is no oldies band as these guys are for real. After performing O and O as promised the band played some new stuff. One song in particular entitled “New York”  touch on their experience at the Brooklyn Fox as well naming the American heroes that influenced their sound.

New York

I walked into the Brooklyn Fox

That snowy Christmas Day

And Patty and the Blue Bells

Simply stole my heart away

She took me to Aretha Franklin

Showed me so much soul

And helped us join the party

With our English Rock and Roll

And I came to love you New York

Your energy your honesty every time

City of a million dreams

You gave one up to me

New York

Now I played so many times

Since nineteen sixty four

In cities all across the land

From shore to distant shore

And I loved the way the people

Always opened up their hearts

But I never will forget the things

The magic world I still embrace

The place I never could replace

That gave us such a start

And I’ve come to love you New York

Your energy your honesty every time

City of a million dreams

You gave one up to me

New York

FYI:

RECORDING: DECCA STUDIOS, LONDON, JANUARY 1, 1962

The Beatles’ Decca audition saw them run through some 15 songs, all of which were recorded on tape for the benefit of A&R man, Dick Rowe. The audition set is worth looking at, since it reveals the type of material the group were performing, as well as their reticence when it came to pushing their own original songs:

• Like Dreamers Do (Lennon-McCartney)

•Money (That’s What I Want)

•Till There Was You

•The Sheik Of Araby

•To Know Her Is To Love Her

•Take Good Care Of My Baby

•Memphis Tennessee

•Sure To Fall (In Love With You)

• Hello Little Girl (Lennon-McCartney)

•Three Cool Cats

•Crying, Waiting, Hoping

• Love Of The Loved (Lennon-McCartney)

•September In The Rain

•Besame Mucho

•Searchin’

See you next time….Chapter11-The Blues In Britain 1960-1966 . Comments? jazzbus@gmail.com

IN THE HOUSE: June 2, 2018- THE BLUES BEATLES @ Boulton Center, Bay Shore, N.Y.

03 Sunday Jun 2018

Posted by in #WhiteBoyBlues, Albert King, Booker T. and The MG'S, Little Richard, Liverpool, Mersey Beat, Rock music, The Beatles

≈ 1 Comment

IN THE HOUSE: JUNE 2, 2018: THE BLUES BEATLES @ Boulton Center, Bay Shore, NY

Cover bands and tribute bands are not my cup of tea. My friend CHRIS on the other hand enjoys tribute FLOYD and EAGLES bands on a regular basis. I guess it saves lots of ticket money and saves time awaiting for the originals to re-appear, or in the case of PINK FLOYD reuniting, well that ain’t a happening folks. Not that there is anything wrong with tribute bands. Sitting in a bar where you can enjoy the company of friends over a few drinks and hear the recreation of music by bands you throughly enjoy is not a bad night out.

So tonight, well it was without hesitation that I purchased tickets for this show after seeing a collection of this band’s “recreations” on YOUTUBE.com. As a matter of fact, I was anxiously anticipating this evening because these six guys merged THE BEATLES with THE BLUES, and I can really get into hearing that live. So here (hear) we go.

After an excellent dinner in an adjoining restaurant we walked the crowded street to the small venue. After a stop at the lobby bar we were escorted to our seats. There is not a bad seat in the house by the way. Sight lines were clear, access great, and a decent sound system was in place. The band started promptly after a few words about the origin of the theater. Lights out.

The Beatles, Little Richard,The Beatles, a drum solo (amazingly good jazzy beats), B.B. King,and back to The Beatles with some serious BOOKER T. and THE MG’S (Green Onion) riffs, as well as a mash-up of ALBERT KING’S “Blues Power” used as the backdrop for “Yesterday”. Throughly enjoyable show as these lads could play (each took some solo time to shine) and obviously were having fun and ultimately so did we.Bravo to THE BLUES BEATLES.