Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.
I found this article by Grant Brisbee about Kyler Murray who is going to choose between baseball and football. It’s a great article that relates to any athlete choosing between the two sports. He writes in the article if you want fame quickly choose football… if you want a long career and more money in the long run…pick baseball…but it’s not that easy on either.
He touches on quality of life also a little in this…For me, this is the key thing to think about. In years after retirement being able to…think and function would be a nice benefit.
Jeff Samardzija is a pitcher for the San Francisco Giants.
Right now, Jeff Samardzija is somewhere either smoking a cigarette or rehabbing his shoulder, unless he’s doing both at the same time because he’s an absolute legend. But his brain is still good. In 10 years, his brain will probably still be good, and he’ll have made more money over his career than Joe Thomas, who was one of the best offensive linemen in NFL history.
I’ve always liked this song and Tanya’s voice. This song was first recorded by Alexander Harvey in 1972. Tracy Nelson (who sang backup on the original) and Bette Midler put the song in their live repertoire before it became a country hit for a 13-year-old Tanya.
The song peaked at #6 in the Country Charts, #3 in Canada and #72 in the Billboard 100 in 1972.
Helen Reddy would take the song to #1 in the Billboard 100 in 1973.
Barbra Streisand passed on the song after the backing track had been recorded by her producer without her prior knowledge.
Delta Dawn
Delta Dawn, what’s that flower you have on? Could it be a faded rose from days gone by? And did I hear you say he was a-meeting you here today To take you to his mansion in the sky?
She’s forty-one and her daddy still calls her “baby” All the folks around Brownsville say she’s crazy ‘Cause she walks dowtown with a suitcase in her hand Looking for a mysterious dark-haired man
In her younger days they called her Delta Dawn Prettiest woman you ever laid eyes on Then a man of low degree stood by her side And promised her he’d take her for his bride
Delta Dawn, what’s that flower you have on? Could it be a faded rose from days gone by? And did I hear you say he was a-meeting you here today To take you to his mansion in the sky?
Delta Dawn, what’s that flower you have on? Could it be a faded rose from days gone by? And did I hear you say he was a-meeting you here today To take you to his mansion in the sky?
Delta Dawn, what’s that flower you have on? Could it be a faded rose from days gone by? And did I hear you say he was a-meeting you here today To take you to his mansion in the sky?
Delta Dawn, what’s that flower you have on? Could it be a faded rose from days gone by? And did I hear you say he was a-meeting you here today To take you to his mansion in the sky?
A great bluesy song off of Pearl, Janis’s last album. The song peaked at #78 in the Billboard 100 in 1971. “Get It While You Can” was written by the songwriting team of Jerry Ragovoy and Mort Shuman, and originally recorded by the soul singer Howard Tate. The song was the title track to Tate’s debut album, which was produced by Ragovoy. His version made just #134 in the US, and Tate struggled in the business before giving up music in the mid-’70s.
Pearl was Janis’s most polished album. Janis died on October 4, 1970, and the album was released on January 11, 1971. The album would peak at #1.
John Lennon’s birthday was on October 9 and Janis recorded a birthday message for him while completing Pearl. She sang “Happy Trails”…but by the time John received the tape, Joplin had died.
In 2002, Tate once again teamed up with Ragovoy to record a new album called Rediscovered, on which they included a new version of this song. Speaking with Record Collector about the new version, Tate said, “The words mean much more to me now than they did back then, then they were just the words of a song someone had wrote for me. Now they have all the meaning in the world, I can relate to them. You have to Get It While You Can because you may not get it tomorrow, you may not get another chance.”
The most popular version of this song was recorded by Janis Joplin and the Full Tilt Boogie Band and included as the last track on her 1971 posthumous album Pearl. So if you listen to her primary studio albums in order of release, this is the last song you hear from her.
This song is about not passing up the opportunity for love and comfort, because life’s too mean and short. Isn’t that just about the cornerstone of Joplin’s philosophy? In the book Love, Janis by Janis’ sister Laura Joplin, Full Tilt Boogie Band guitarist John Till shares this moment of Janis’ free-wheeling spirit: “She’d come boogeying up to me and our faces would come right together like that, and then she’d give me a great big kiss. And I wouldn’t remember nothing except big asterisks and f***ing exclamation points over my head… It was an experience, taking a guitar solo in front of forty thousand people and getting this kiss from Janis.”
Also from Love, Janis, a glimpse into her application of the counter-culture philosophy right towards her last year: “In private, she was changing in small but important ways. When someone who latched onto her group was grumbling angrily about the ‘pigs’ abusing their power, Janis cut him short. ‘They’re cops, just people doing their job, honey. Don’t call them pigs, it just makes it worse.’ When she first started touring with Big Brother, if a waitress was rude to them because of their attire and style, they often left without tipping. On the Full Tilt tour, a rude waitress might be left a $100 bill, as a way to change her attitude about hippies.”
From the same book, a quote from Janis offering a take on her life’s work: “My whole purpose is to communicate. What I sing is my own reality. But just the fact that people come up to me and say, ‘Hey, that’s my reality too,’ proves to me that it’s not just mine.”
This song reached its peak position of #78 US in September 1971, nearly a year after Joplin died.
Get It While You Can
In this world, if you read the papers, darling You know everybody’s fighting ah with each other You got no one you can count on babe Not even your own brother So if someone comes along He gonna give you some love and affection
I’d say get it while you can, yeah Honey, get it while you can, yeah Hey hey, get it while you can Don’t you turn your back on love, no, no
Don’t you know when you’re loving anybody, baby You’re taking a gamble on a little sorrow But then who cares, baby ‘Cause we may not be here tomorrow, no
And if anybody should come along He gonna give you any love and affection I’d say get it while you can, yeah Hey, hey, get it while you can Hey, hey, get it while you can Don’t you turn your back on love No no no, no no no no no
Oh, get it while you can, yeh Honey get it when you’re gonna wanna need it dear, yeah yeah Hey hey, get it while you can Don’t you turn your back on love No no no, no no no no, get it while you can
I said hold on to somebody when you get a little lonely, dear Hey hey, hold on to that man’s heart Hey hey, get it, want it, hold it, need it Get it, want it, need it, hold it Get it while you can, yeah Honey get it while you can, baby, yeah Hey hey, get it while you can
One of the reasons that Roger McGuinn is one of my favorite guitarists is because of this song. Roger has said he was influenced by John Coltrane when arranging the song.
The song peaked at #14 in the Billboard 100 and #24 in the UK in 1966
Many people…including me believe this song is about drugs, but the band claimed it was inspired by a flight where singer Gene Clark asked guitarist Roger McGuinn how high they were in the sky. McGuinn told him six miles, but for the song, they changed it to eight.
Roger McGuinn on Eight Miles High
Eight Miles High has been called the first psychedelic record. It’s true we’d been experimenting with LSD, and the title does contain the word “high”, so if people want to say that, that’s great. But Eight Miles High actually came about as a tribute to John Coltrane. It was our attempt to play jazz.
This story was likely a smokescreen to keep the song in the good graces of sensitive listeners. The band had been doing a lot of drugs at the time, including LSD, which is the likely inspiration. If the band owned up to the drug references, they knew it would get banned by some radio stations, and that’s exactly what happened when a radio industry publication reported that the song was about drugs and that stations should be careful about playing it. As soon as one station dropped it, others followed and it quickly sank off the charts.
When we asked McGuinn in 2016 if the song was really about drugs, he replied: “Well, it was done on an airplane ride to England and back. I’m not denying that the Byrds did drugs at that point – we smoked marijuana – but it wasn’t really about that.”
In his book Echoes, Gene Clark said that he wrote the song on his own with David Crosby coming up with one key line (“Rain gray town, known for its sound”), and Roger McGuinn arranging the song with help from Crosby.
In the Forgotten Hits newsletter, McGuinn replied: “Not true! The whole theme was my idea… Gene would never have written a song about flying. I came up with the line, ‘Six miles high and when you touch down.’ We later changed that to Eight because of the Beatles song ‘Eight Days a Week.’ I came up with several other lines as well. And what would the song be without the Rickenbacker 12-string breaks?”
This song is often cited in discussions of “Acid Rock,” a term that got bandied about in 1966 with the release of Bob Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde album. The genre covers a kind of psychedelic music that became popular at the time, and also the look and lifestyle that went with it. “Acid Rock” was hailed as a pathway to higher consciousness and derided as senseless drug music. At the end of the ’60s, the term petered out, as rock critics moved on to other topics for their think pieces.
The band recorded this on their own, but Columbia Records made them re-record it before they would put it on the album, partly because they had contracts with unions. The Byrds liked the first version better.
Don McLean referred to this in his song “American Pie,” which chronicles the change in musical style from the ’50s to the ’60s. The line is “Eight miles high and falling fast- landed foul out on the grass.” McLean could be sardonically implying that the song is about drugs, since “foul grass” was slang for marijuana.
Husker Du recorded a noise-pop version in 1985.
For decades, the story went that “Eight Miles High” was a commercial failure because it had been banned from radio due to its perceived pro-drug messages. Research presented by Mark Teehan on Popular Music Online challenges this theory. Teehan instead blames the song’s failure to chart on three factors:
First, its sound was too far ahead of its time, and radio stations didn’t know what to do with it.
Second, the departure of Gene Clark led to Columbia Records significantly shrinking the scope of the band’s advertising campaign.
Third, the success of Paul Revere and the Raiders’ “Kicks” further diminished Columbia’s support for the Byrds and “Eight Miles High.”
Eight Miles High
Eight miles high and when you touch down You’ll find that it’s stranger than known Signs in the street that say where you’re going Are somewhere just being their own
Nowhere is there warmth to be found Among those afraid of losing their ground Rain gray town known for its sound In places small faces unbound
Round the squares huddled in storms Some laughing some just shapeless forms Sidewalk scenes and black limousines Some living some standing alone
Merle Haggard wrote this song while serving time in San Quentin prison for robbery. The song is based on his life, and how his mother tried to help him but couldn’t… This song came out in 1968 and peaked at #1 in the Country Charts in 1968.
The man had 38 number one hits, 71 top ten hits, and 101 songs in the top 100 in the country charts. Merle is one of my favorite country artists. If only the new ones would listen and learn.
This song has been covered by a wide range of artists, including the Everly Brothers and the Grateful Dead.
From Songfacts
The song is largely autobiographical; Haggard’s father died when he was nine years old, and his mother, a devout member of the Church of Christ, tried to keep him on the straight and narrow with a strict upbringing based on her conservative values. This didn’t sit well with Haggard, who said he was an “incorrigible” child and constantly rebelling against her (“Despite all my Sunday learning, towards the bad I kept on turning”).
He was always hopping on freight trains (“The first thing I remember knowing was a lonesome whistle blowing”), an early indicator of his itinerant outlaw personality. He got into trouble for offenses like shoplifting and writing bad checks. Stints in reform school didn’t help, and in 1957 he landed in prison for burglary, where he spent his 21st birthday.
In this song, Haggard takes full responsibility for his choices and takes pity on his mother, who did the best she could (“No one could steer me right but Mama tried”).
Mama Tried
The first thing I remember knowing, Was a lonesome whistle blowing, And a young un’s dream of growing up to ride, On a freight train leaving town, Not knowing where I’m bound, And no one could change my mind but Mama tried One and only rebel child, From a family, meek and mild, My Mama seemed to know what lay in store Despite my Sunday learning, Towards the bad, I kept turning ‘Til Mama couldn’t hold me anymore
I turned twenty-one in prison doing life without parole. No one could steer me right but Mama tried, Mama tried Mama tried to raise me better, but her pleading, I denied That leaves only me to blame ’cause Mama tried
Dear old Daddy, rest his soul, Left my Mom a heavy load, She tried so very hard to fill his shoes Working hours without rest, Wanted me to have the best She tried to raise me right but I refused
I turned twenty-one in prison doing life without parole No one could steer me right but Mama tried, Mama tried, Mama tried to raise me better, but her pleading, I denied That leaves only me to blame ’cause Mama tried
The Beatles recorded this while they were filming the promotional video for “Lady Madonna.” Since they had to be in a studio while filming, Paul McCartney thought they should record a song. This is a nice rocking song written by Lennon. The original name was “Hey Bullfrog” but Paul barked at the end and made John Lennon laugh. They kept in the barking and changed the title, even though there is no mention of a bulldog in the verses or chorus.
John said Hey Bulldog was “a good sounding record that means nothing.” This song would not be out of place today. It is one of the few Beatle songs that gets overlooked and underplayed.
Geoff Emerick, the engineer describes the events of this session. “Even though it was destined to be given to the ‘Yellow Submarine’ film, ‘Hey Bulldog’ was a really strong song. The vibe that day was great… all four Beatles were in an exceptionally good mood because they knew they would be heading to India in a matter of days. Despite the fact that there was a film crew underfoot, it was a Sunday session, so things were quite relaxed – the Abbey Road complex was largely deserted, and The Beatles could wander around the corridors if they wanted to.”
Dave Grohl played the song with Jeff Lynne in 2014 in a tribute to the Beatles after the Grammys.
This was the first recording session to which John Lennon brought Yoko.
This was the last song The Beatles recorded before leaving for a retreat in India to study meditation with the Maharishi.
John Lennon called this “a good sounding record that means nothing.” Musically, it has some interesting nuances. The middle part contains an interesting example of Lennon’s polyphonic technique: The piano in the background does not follow the singer. Near the end of the song, Lennon talks while accompanied by the music, which could be considered a forerunner to Rap. In the climax, Lennon starts shouting, and the others follow. They scream like mad while the guitar in the background plays the same notes again and again as if nothing has happened.
Hey Bulldog
Sheepdog, standing in the rain Bullfrog, doing it again Some kind of happiness is Measured out in miles What makes you think you’re Something special when you smile
Childlike no one understands Jackknife in your sweaty hands Some kind of innocence is Measured out in years You don’t know what it’s like To listen to your fears
You can talk to me You can talk to me You can talk to me If you’re lonely, you can talk to me
Big man (yeah) walking in the park Wigwam frightened of the dark Some kind of solitude is Measured out in you You think you know me, but you haven’t got a clue
You can talk to me You can talk to me You can talk to me If you’re lonely, you can talk to me
Hey hey
Roar
Hey, bulldog (hey bulldog)
Woof
Hey, bulldog Hey, bulldog Hey, bulldog
Hey man
Whats up brother?
Roof
What do ya say
I say, roof
You know any more?
Ah ah (you got it, that’s it, you had it) That’s it man, wo ho, that’s it, you got it
Woah
Look at me man, I only had ten children
Ah ah ah ah ah ah ha ha ha ha Quiet, quiet (ok) Quiet Hey, bulldog, hey bulldog
I posted this in 2017 when not many people knew I was here.
The questions:
Why did the professor bring that many books? Why did the Howells bring that much cash on a 3-hour cruise? How many dresses did Ginger pack? How many red/blue/white shirts did Gilligan, Skipper and the Professor own respectively? Why did they let Gilligan participate in getting rescued ploys? The Professor was a Macgyver times 20… He could make anything out of coconut shells, vines, and a spare part off of the SS Minnow…but he couldn’t build a raft or boat?
You tend to overlook that and just have fun. The network and critics hated the show. The public liked it and it has never stopped being broadcast because of syndication. Every day after school this was always on and I was always hoping as a kid for them to get off that island. I had no clue it was filmed years before I was watching it. They finally were rescued in some TV movies in the 70s long after the show had gone off the air. When I was a kid I went to a muscular dystrophy telethon and there she was…Dawn Wells standing there and I was 10 years old. She gave me an autographed picture and shook my hand…I didn’t wash that hand for at least a week…until mom made me. Sadly I lost the picture but I will never forget meeting her. She was down to earth and really kind.
Gilligan’s Island was a fun slapstick comedy show. My favorite episode is the one with The Mosquitos rock band. The Mosquitos were really a group called the Wellingtons… they are the group that sang the theme song to Gilligan’s Island and Davy Crockett.
My son’s 14th birthday party happened a few years ago and we had a projector set up for a giant screen…what did 14-year-old kids want to see in 2014? Gilligan’s Island. One thing I noticed about the color shows…they are very vivid….the color jumps out at you.
And THE question that gets asked… answer…Mary Ann!
Mary Ann
The Mosquitoes…Bingo, Bango, Bongo, and Irving.. love the glasses that Irving is wearing…in real life…the Wellingtons.
The first Band album I ever bought was The Best of The Band. When I heard “The Shape I’m In” I knew I was going to like them. I knew the hits of course but the songs I never heard of at that point were great. I then started to buy their albums and loving this band. The song was off on the album Stage Fright and was a B side to the song “Time To Kill.”
There is a great version on The Last Waltz which is below. Robbie wrote the song for Richard to sing and at that time Levon, Rick, and Richard were heavy into heroin and drinking. The song peaked at #64 in Canada.
Robbie Robertson talks some about writing this song
At one time, there was talk that if you wanted to play like the angels, you had to dance with the devil—that heroin was a gateway to music supremacy. That myth was yesterday, but the power of addiction was still in full force. It hit me hard that in a band like ours, if we weren’t operating on all cylinders, it threw the whole machine off course. This was the first time that writing songs was painful for me. In some cases I couldn’t help but reflect on what was happening behind the curtain. I wrote “The Shape I’m In” for Richard to sing, “Stage Fright” for Rick, and “The W. S. Walcott Medicine Show” for Levon—all with undertones of madness and self-destruction. While watching Richard pound out the rhythm on the clavichord, I couldn’t help but see the irony as he sang out, “Oh, you don’t know, the shape I’m in.”
The Shape I’m In
Go out yonder, peace in the valley Come downtown, have to rumble in the alley Oh, you don’t know the shape I’m in
Has anybody seen my lady This livin’ alone would drive me crazy Oh, you don’t know the shape I’m in
I’m gonna go down by the water But I ain’t gonna jump in, no, no I’ll just be lookin’ for my maker And I hear that that’s where she’s been?
Oh, out of nine lives, I spent seven Now, how in the world do you get to Heaven Oh, you don’t know the shape I’m in
I’ve just spent 60 days in the jail house For the crime of having no dough, no no Now here I am back out on the street For the crime of having nowhere to go
Save your neck or save your brother Looks like it’s one or the other Oh, you don’t know the shape I’m in
Now two young kids might start a ruckus You know they feel you’re tryin’ to shuck us Oh, you don’t know the shape I’m in
I bought Tea for the Tillerman for this song and became a fan. The song peaked at #11 in the Billboard 100 in 1971. Stevens is a very good songwriter who has had his songs covered by many artists including Rod Stewart, Don Williams, Jimmy Cliff and many more…and his unique voice sets him apart.
Cat Stevens on Wild World
“It was one of those chord sequences that’s very common in Spanish music. I turned it around and came up with that theme- which is a recurring theme in my work- which is to do with leaving, the sadness of leaving, and the anticipation of what lies beyond. There is a criticism sometimes of my music, that it’s kind of naïve, but then again that’s exactly why people like it. It goes back to the pure childish approach of seeing things almost for the first time. A kid can say things like, ‘Why is a cow?’ You shouldn’t put those words together! But if you do, then it makes you stop and think.”
Stevens wrote this about searching for peace and happiness in a crazy world. There was some speculation that much of the song was a message to Patti D’Arbanville, an actress he had been dating. Stevens cleared this up when he spoke about the song on The Chris Isaak Hour in 2009. Said Stevens: “I was trying to relate to my life. I was at the point where it was beginning to happen and I was myself going into the world. I’d done my career before, and I was sort of warning myself to be careful this time around because it was happening. It was not me writing about somebody specific, although other people may have informed the song, but it was more about me. It’s talking about losing touch with home and reality – home especially.”
This was a #8 UK hit for Jimmy Cliff three months before Stevens released his version. Cliff explained to Mojo magazine July 2012 that Stevens produced his cover. “I felt an affinity with Cat Stevens,” he said. “They tried to market him as a rock act and like me, he was more than that and one day I went to the publisher and he played me this demo of ‘Wild World’ and he told me that Steve (Cat’s real name) had written it but he didn’t like it. I loved it right away so he called up Steve and put me on the phone to him. Steve asked what my key was, I said and he started playing guitar down the phone, He said we have to record it together so he went in and did the track and I went in the following day, helped put on the backing voices with Doris Troy and then it was time to put my voice on and Steve directed me to sing the high notes. He was a really good producer and it was a big hit.”
Maxi Priest recorded this in 1988. His version hit #5 in the UK.
This was released as a single only in the US. Stevens’ European label, Island Records, wanted to encourage people to buy the albums rather than the 45s.
This was one of the songs that convinced Stevens, now known as Yusuf Islam, to release a boxed set of his songs in 2001. He stopped making secular music in 1979 but came to realize that people find strength and inspiration in the songs he recorded as Cat Stevens.
This was Stevens’ first song to chart in the US.
In an interview with Mojo magazine June 2009, the comment was made that lyrically this song has “an uninhibited simplicity.” Stevens responded:
Stevens that this is, “a song about me.”
TV presenter Jonathan King covered this after he accused the Pet Shop Boys of ripping off the song’s melody for their 1987 hit “It’s A Sin.” He eventually dropped the claim… after the duo sued him and won.
Wild World
Now that I’ve lost everything to you You say you want to start something new And it’s breaking my heart you’re leaving Baby, I’m grieving
But if you want to leave, take good care Hope you have a lot of nice things to wear But then a lot of nice things turn bad out there
Oh baby baby it’s a wild world It’s hard to get by just upon a smile Oh baby baby it’s a wild world I’ll always remember you like a child, girl
You know I’ve seen a lot of what the world can do And it’s breaking my heart in two ‘Cause I never want to see you sad girl Don’t be a bad girl
But if you want to leave take good care Hope you make a lot of nice friends out there But just remember there’s a lot of bad and beware Beware
Oh baby baby it’s a wild world It’s hard to get by just upon a smile Oh baby baby it’s a wild world And I’ll always remember you like a child, girl
Baby I love you But if you want to leave take good care Hope you make a lot of nice friends out there But just remember there’s a lot of bad and beware Beware
Oh baby baby it’s a wild world It’s hard to get by just upon a smile Oh baby baby it’s a wild world And I’ll always remember you like a child, girl
Oh baby baby it’s a wild world And it’s hard to get by just upon a smile Oh baby baby it’s a wild world And I’ll always remember you like a child, girl
Never-before-seen, The Bruce McMouse Show is a concert film with a difference. Paul McCartney opens with the story of how the band came to meet the inimitable impresario Bruce McMouse. Featuring the original Wings line up, live concert footage from Wings’ 1972 European tour is interspersed with animated scenes, introducing a family of mice living under the stage. After opening the film with ‘Big Barn Bed’ – taken from Wings’ LP Red Rose Speedway – the camera takes us down through the floorboards into this charming animated world. We see Bruce McMouse regale his children with stories from his past, when son Soily rushes into the room in a whirlwind of excitement announcing that “The Wings” are playing above them.
As the concert plays on, Bruce declares to his wife Yvonne that Paul and the band need his help. Bruce then proceeds to venture on stage to offers his services as producer. As the concert progresses, the animated scenes culminate with dozens of animated mice flocking to the venue to see Wings play. The film was directed by Barry Chattington and produced by Roger Cherrill with the live elements taken from four shows in Holland and Germany in 1972.
Paul viewed the initial concert edit and realized there was great potential in the material captured. Prior to the European tour, Paul had the idea of a family of mice and sketched the characters. Picking up the idea, Eric Wylam took Paul’s sketches and created the final McMouse family. This storyline was incorporated and used as a linking theme within the concert footage. The voice-overs for the animated mice took place at the end of 1973, recorded by Paul and Linda McCartney, Deryck Guyler, Pat Coombs and Derek Nimmo.
Production stretched from 1972 to 1977 when the film was complete, however, with changes in the band’s line-up and music scene, the project was shelved. ‘The Bruce McMouse Show’has been fully restored in 2018 at Final Frame Post alongside a brand-new audio mix (stereo and 5.1) created at AIR Studios and mastered at Abbey Road.
I can’t help but like this song. It’s super catchy and the vocals sound so good. My 18-year-old son of all people got me into listening to 40s music…Frank Sintra and big band and I heard this one on satellite radio and remembered hearing it when I was younger.
The Andrews Sisters made the song famous when they performed it in the 1940 Abbott and Costello movie Buck Privates. The song begins in the movie with a solo trumpeter opening Reveille jazz style before a piano enters with a boogie-woogie bass vamp. Dressed in military uniforms and sitting on barstools drinking malts, the sisters stand up and start singing their inimitable close harmonies (notes near enough to grab with one hand on a piano). At the Academy Awards the following spring, “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” won the Oscar for Best Song.
By the time they retired from singing professionally, the Andrews Sisters had become the most successful female vocal group in history to that point, recording some 600 tunes that sold 75 million to 100 million records. When the Vocal Group Hall of Fame opened in Sharon, Pennsylvania, in 1998, they were among the original inductees. “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” remains their signature song and was voted number 6 of 365 on the 2001 list Songs of the Century.
There is a 70s version with Bette Midler and a newer version with Katy Perry…I’ll stick with the Andrew Sisters.
Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy
He was a famous trumpet man from out Chicago way
He had a boogie style that no one else could play
He was the top man at his craft
But then his number came up and he was gone with the draft
He’s in the army now, a-blowin’ reveille
He’s the boogie woogie bugle boy of Company B
They made him blow a bugle for his Uncle Sam
It really brought him down because he couldn’t jam
The captain seemed to understand
Because the next day the cap’ went out and drafted a band
And now the company jumps when he plays reveille
He’s the boogie woogie bugle boy of Company B
A-toot, a-toot, a-toot-diddelyada-toot
He blows it eight-to-the-bar, in boogie rhythm
He can’t blow a note unless the bass and guitar is playin’ with ‘I’m
He makes the company jump when he plays reveille
He’s the boogie woogie bugle boy of Company B
He was some boogie woogie bugle boy of Company B
And when he plays the boogie woogie bugle he was busy as a “bzzz” bee
And when he plays he makes the company jump eight-to-the-bar
He’s the boogie woogie bugle boy of Company B
Toot toot toot-diddelyada, Toot-diddelyada, toot-toot
He blows it eight-to-the-bar
He can’t blow a note if the bass and guitar isn’t with ‘I’m
Ha-ha-hand the company jumps when he plays reveille
He’s the boogie woogie bugle boy of Company B
(Instrumental)
He puts the boys to sleep with boogie every night
And wakes ’em up the same way in the early bright
They clap their hands and stamp their feet
Because they know how he plays when someone gives him a beat
He really breaks it up when he plays reveille
He’s boogie woogie bugle boy of Company B
The below trailer scared the hell out of me when I was a kid. I had that scream in my head at night and I peeked around every corner. This is a 70’s B Drive-in type movie…but I enjoyed it. I could not talk my mom into taking me to see this one in 1977…I did convince her to take me to see The Car that same year.
It’s Alive was released in a limited run in 1974. It was reissued with the below commercial in 1977 and that is when I heard that damn scream. The budget was $500,000 and the US gross was over $14,000,000 and by 1977 it climbed over $30,000,000 worldwide. Mr. Cohen did very well… there were sequels….but of course!
The Davises have had a baby but they are not sending out any announcements. Most new parents are a little scared when they have a baby. The Davises are terrified. You see there is only one thing wrong with the Davis baby… IT’S ALIVE…(insert scream)
The movie is about a couple who have a killer mutant baby but it does have some social commentary about the medicines and chemicals we take that will cause trouble…as in mutant killer babies.
It was written, produced, and directed by Larry Cohen. The couple’s name was Frank and Lenore Davis…Lenore had been given contraceptive medicine and the doctor who prescribed the drugs to Lenore was contacted by a pharmaceutical company executive. The executive acknowledges that the child’s mutation may have been caused by the drugs. He tells the doctor that the child must be destroyed to prevent the discovery of the company’s liability.
It’s Alive Cast… Cast. John P. Ryan as Frank Davis, Andrew Duggan as the Professor, Sharon Farrell as Lenore Davism, Guy Stockwell as Bob Clayton, James Dixon as Lieutenant Perkins, Michael Ansara as the Captain, and William Wellman Jr. as Charley.
The film was followed by two sequels, It Lives Again (1978) and It’s Alive III: Island of the Alive (1987) and a remake, It’s Alive (2009).
I first heard this song in the seventies and liked it. I ordered Three Dog Night’s Greatest hits off of television. They were very successful in the late sixties and seventies…songs like Joy To The World, Family of Man, Black and White, The Show Must Go On, etc… They racked up 11 top ten hits and 3 number 1’s… and 21 songs in the Billboard 100 altogether.
They were unusual because they had not one, not two…but three lead singers.
I always wondered what “Shambala” meant…now I know. The word ‘Shambala’ has a spiritual meaning in the Buddhist religion, and some Tibetan Buddhists believe that it is a mythical kingdom or a mystical land hidden somewhere in the Himalaya mountains…
The song’s writer, Daniel Moore, told this story. I remember getting excited about the sound of the word, ‘Shambala.’ Before I wrote the song, I called a friend, Eddie Zip, who I’d been working with and telling him, ‘That word Shambala has a magic sound to it, you ought to put together a band and call it Shambala, you couldn’t lose.’ We had just recorded one of his songs titled ‘Don’t Make God’s Children Cry.’ We were getting – ELEVATED!
I wrote the words and melody, a capella, driving on the Ventura Freeway in about 10 minutes. I got home, picked up my Martin guitar and had the music finished in 5 minutes; a pretty good 15 minutes.
The song peaked at #3 in the Billboard 100 and #4 in Canada in 1973.
This is the commercial I ordered it from back in 1970s.
This was written by the songwriter Daniel Moore, and first released by the Texas songwriter B.W. Stevenson. Moore told Songfacts: “Regarding the song, ‘Shambala,’ it was written entirely by myself, Daniel Moore, in the fall of 1972. It was recorded by Three Dog Night in December of 1972. It was recorded by B.W. Stevenson in Late February, 1973 and released two weeks before the Three Dog Night version was released. During those two weeks B.W.’s version sold 125,000 single 45s. Then Three Dog Night released their version and sold 1,250,000 single 45s.”
Later in 1973, with the Three Dog Night version of “Shambala” climbing the charts, Stevenson released a carbon copy single called “My Maria” (credited to Stevenson and Moore), which peaked at #9 US, two months after “Shambala” hit #3.
‘In 1972 my brother, Matthew, called me and informed me that he had received a letter from Dorothy Beg at Lake Pleasant, Massachusetts that told him where and who he had been in his past lives. He had sent a letter to her requesting this information. After recounting several past lives the letter ended with, ‘My messenger tells me to tell you, ‘Let your light shine in the halls of Shambala.” In the phone conversation at that point Matthew said, ‘Shambala, what the hell is that?’
So I did some research and found dozens of references to the word Shambala, the 5000-year-old word originating from Sanskrit. Some were weird, some were goofy but the one I liked was found in Alice Bailey’s Treatise On White Magic. It basically said that there was a gigantic cavern under the Gobi Desert that has a replica of every evolving human being. And when that replica begins to light up or glow (meaning you are cleaning up your act and becoming more spiritual minded or raising your consciousness to a higher level), there is point where your replica gets bright enough to warrant a spiritual teacher being sent to you.
The recording session of my demo in 1972 was with Dean Parks and Jim Varley. Dean (playing bass) was sitting with me (I was engineering, playing the acoustic guitar and singing live) in the control room. We were wearing earphones with the speakers turned off, and 50 feet away at the other end of the studio on the other side of the glass with earphones, was Jim Varley playing drums. Twenty-eight years later I had Greg Beck overdub an electric guitar and that is what you hear on this recording. That’s the only time Dean Parks and Greg Beck have played together, according to Greg.
Three Dog Night heard the song through a publisher, Lindy Blaskey, who was working at ABC Dunhill Publishing. He called me and was very excited because he had gotten such a positive reaction from Three Dog Night and their producer Richie Podler. Anyway, they cut it, it was their single and it was a hit. Bless all of their hearts.
Postscript: In the Guinness Book of World Records, under Prophecies, there is a reference to Shambala where it says, ‘Any one who furthers the name, ‘Shambala’ shall be rewarded 100 times.’ And so it is.”
This was used in a commercial television advertisement campaign for Citgo Petroleum.
Cory Wells, who along with Danny Hutton and Chuck Negron was one of three vocalists in the band, sang lead on this track. Wells died in 2015 at age 74.
Shambala
Wash away my troubles, wash away my pain With the rain in Shambala Wash away my sorrow, wash away my shame With the rain in Shambala
[Chorus] Ah, ooh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Everyone is helpful, everyone is kind On the road to Shambala Everyone is lucky, everyone is so kind On the road to Shambala
[Chorus]
How does your light shine, in the halls of Shambala
I can tell my sister by the flowers in her eyes On the road to Shambala I can tell my brother by the flowers in her eyes On the road to Shambala
[Chorus]
How does your light shine, in the halls of Shambala
This haunted car movie was before Christine and though it’s not as good it is entertaining. It was panned when released but it does have a 6.1 in IMDB which is not terrible. The movie resembles Jaws but with a driverless demon car instead of a shark.
It’s a cross between a science-fiction and a horror film about an angry, driverless automobile that terrorizes a small Utah town for several days, squashing one hitchhiker, two bicyclists, one sheriff, one school teacher, and assorted policemen.
While much of the plot and dialog in The Car is pretty silly, there are some terrific moments in it, like the opening scene, where two bicyclists are rammed off a high bridge, which was reportedly the highest free fall stunt of its time. There’s also a scene where the car hides in the dark, then it flies through the window of a house, running over a woman in her kitchen.
The Car cast James Brolin, Ronnie Cox, Kathleen Lloyd, John Marley, R.G Armstrong, John Rubinstein, and Elizabeth Thompson.
I talked my mom into taking me to see this movie when I was ten in 1977. She gave it a big thumbs down. As B movies go you can get much worse than this movie.
The Star of the film is The Car! Designed and engineered by legendary car builder George Barris, who was also responsible for such iconic movie vehicles as the Batmobile, The Munster’s Koach and many others, The Car began life as 1971 Lincoln Continental Mark III Coupe.
Guillermo Del Toro is known to drive a replica of the Lincoln from the film. He is a fan of the movie.
It has its fans and detractors but it is remembered. Below The Car in this Simpsons Treehouse of Horror episode with Maggie driving while chasing and hitting Millhouse.
This song was co-written by Easybeats guitarists George Young and Harry Vanda, who were the primary songwriters in the group (Young is the older brother of Malcolm and Angus Young from AC/DC). A nice mid-sixties pop/rock song.
Friday On My Mind peaked at #16 in the Billboard 100 in 1967.
The Easybeats were already huge in their native Australia when they recorded this song, but this was their first hit outside of that country. After scoring several Aussie hits in 1965, they got an international distribution deal in 1966. In the UK, “Come And See Her” was their first single, and in the US, “Women (Make You Feel Alright)” was chosen. Their second single in each territory was “Friday On My Mind,” which was their breakthrough (the song was also a huge hit in Australia, where it was #1 for eight weeks).
Previously, the band’s main songwriting team had been George Young and lead singer Stevie Wright. Vanda and Young produced The Easybeats’ later albums and after the group broke up in 1969, formed their own group, Flash And The Pan, which had a few successes during the late ’70s and early ’80s. They also continued writing and producing hits for other artists like AC/DC and John Paul Young. >>
This song has quite a buildup. After the opening cymbal crash, its just a staccato guitar for the next 20 seconds underscoring Stevie Wright’s vocal where he runs through the days of the week, explaining why Monday-Thursday don’t excite him. The bass finally comes in as he gets closer to the weekend. Finally, 30 seconds into the song, we hit Friday and the drums come in to play.
This energy carries into the chorus, where we hear about the plans for the weekend. But then it’s back to Monday, and we do the “five-day drag once more.” This time, however, the tempo is faster and he’s even more optimistic, knowing that his time will come. The second chorus is even more energetic and repeats to close out the song. All of this is packed into 2:47, making it one of the more distinctive and energetic hits of the era.
The group was not able to capitalize, falling victim to drug abuse, management struggles, and internal strife. It was six month before their next single, “Who’ll Be The One,” appeared, and listeners were underwhelmed. They never had another US hit and in the UK managed just one more: “Hello, How are You,” which made #20 in 1968.
The group recorded this song in London with producer Shel Talmy, who is famous for his work with The Who.
Friday On My Mind
Monday mornin’ feels so bad Ev’rybody seems to nag me Comin’ Tuesday I feel better Even my old man looks good Wed’sday just don’t go Thursday goes too slow I’ve got Friday on my mind
Gonna have fun in the city Be with my girl, she’s so pretty She looks fine tonight She is out of sight to me Tonight I’ll spend my bread, tonight I’ll lose my head, tonight I’ve got to get to night Monday I’ll have Friday on my mind
Do the five day grind once more I know of nothin’ else that bugs me More than workin’ for the rich man Hey! I’ll change that scene one day Today I might be mad, tomorrow I’ll be glad ‘Cause I’ll have Friday on my mind
Gonna have fun in the city Be with my girl, she’s so pretty She looks fine tonight. She is out of sight to me Tonight I’ll spend my bread, tonight I’ll lose my head, tonight I’ve got to get to night Monday I’ll have Friday on my mind
PowerPop... An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture 