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.
This song has always sounded really good…especially in headphones. Los Bravos were a Spanish beat group quintet with a German lead singer named Mike Kogel. They were one of the few rock groups from a non-English speaking country to have an international hit, in part because they were one of the few Spanish acts to sing in English. They formed in 1965 and were based in Madrid.
The song peaked at #1 in Canada, #4 on the Billboard 100, and #2 in the UK in 1966. This song was written by the British team of Michelle Grainger, Tony Hayes, and Steve Wadey.
In America, the group followed this up with the unfortunately titled “Going Nowhere,” which reached #91 later in 1966. “Bring A Little Lovin” did a little better, going to #51 in 1968. In the UK, their only other chart entry was “I Don’t Care,” which went to #16 in 1966.
The organ you hear is a Vox Continental that Manuel Fernández played on this track. This instrument was used on many classic tracks from the ’60s, including “96 Tears” and “The House Of The Rising Sun.”
Kogel was not a native English speaker (he had to have the lyrics written out phonetically), and his vocals had unusual intonations. When this song was released…some thought Gene Pitney was singing it because Mike Kogel sounded so much like him.
The British producer Ivor Raymonde took a trip to that country and signed the group, who at the time were using the name Mike & The Runaways. He brought them to London and had them record “Black Is Black,” which was their first release as Los Bravos.
Black is Black
Black is black, I want my baby back
It’s grey, it’s grey, since she went away, oh oh
What can I do, ’cause I, I’m feelin’ blue
If I had my way, she’d be here today
But she’d go in time, and leave me to cry again, oh no
What can I do, ’cause I, I’m feelin’ blue
I can’t choose, it’s too much to lose when our love’s too strong
Maybe if she would come back to me, then I can’t go wrong
Bad is bad, that I feel so sad
It’s time, it’s time, that I felt peace of mind, oh oh
What can I do, ’cause I, I’m feelin’ blue
I can’t choose, it’s too much to lose when our love’s too strong
Maybe if she would come back to me, then I can’t go wrong
Black is black, I want my baby back
It’s grey, it’s grey, since she went away, oh oh
What can I do, ’cause I, I’m feelin’ blue
‘Cause I, I’m feelin’ blue, ’cause I, I’m feelin’ blue
If you want to see where we are…and you missed a few…HERE is a list of the episodes in my index located at the top of my blog.
This show was written by Gene Roddenberry, Judy Burns, and Chet Richards
I’ve said that the third season was much better than I remembered…well this is one of the reasons. A 5-star episode. We get to see the relationship between Spock and Doctor McCoy up close in this one.
An excellent episode that provides all the elements necessary for the feud between Spock and McCoy to come to a climax. Without Kirk to referee and the situation growing more intolerable, Spock and McCoy find themselves alone to hear the “Final Orders” as part of their obligation to Kirk.
The reason Kirk is not there is because when Checkov, McCoy, Kirk, and Spock beam on the disabled Starship USS Defiant adrift in space… everyone is dead on the ship. By the looks of it they all killed each other. While this is going on the Defiant is going in and out of view like it’s slowly disappearing. After investigating and showing no one but them alive on the ship…all beam back except Kirk. The ship then disappears into subspace and it’s gone.
All the while… the ship is trapped by the Tholians in an obvious Tholian Web.
Kirk vanishes with the ship…and on top of the Captain missing…now whatever caused the other crew to kill each other is now on the Enterprise. They think Kirk is dead until Uhura sees a ghostly image of Kirk…was it Kirk or was it the illness that the Enterprise has now?
A classic Star Trek episode. My favorite part is when McCoy and Spock have to watch a video left to them by Kirk if he dies. After arguments between them up to this point…the video does help them get through it.
From IMDB:
Star Trek was nominated for an Emmy Award for the special effects in this episode.
This episode is the only time that Spock refers to McCoy by his nickname, Bones.
This was the only appearance of the Tholians in the “Star Trek” franchise until Future Tense (2003) 35 years later.
This is one of the few episodes in which all of the regular second and third-season characters, Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scott, Sulu, Uhura, Chekov, and Chapel, appear.
This is the third time that the Enterprise has encountered another Constitution-class star ship with the entire crew dead. The others were in The Doomsday Machine (1967) and The Omega Glory (1968). By the end of The Ultimate Computer (1968) a fourth Constitution class, the Excalibur, is also lifeless.
This episode introduced the environmental suit. These suits were created by costume designer William Ware Theiss and consisted of silver lamé with a fabric helmet with screen mesh visor. Since these outfits were meant to be seen only in NTSC resolution, someone came up with the ingenious solution of making the “window” out of mesh. Mesh would provide the diffusion to make it seem there was something clear and solid in front of the actor’s face and reflections and recording dialog would be no problem. The way the shows were broadcast back then it would provide successful illusion of a solid face plate for the most part. It was not until DVD, which achieved the highest quality of NTSC resolution that the use of mesh became much more noticeable. And now, with high definition resolution, you can see the texture and wrinkling of the mesh quite easily.
According to James Doohan, NBC executives told him to comb his hair back for the third season. Doohan hated wearing his hair this way and stopped doing so during the filming of ‘The Tholian Web’.
Ralph Senensky began the direction of this episode but was fired and replaced by Herb Wallerstein. Senensky used the fisheye lens camera effect to show the viewpoint of a person affected by interspace. This technique had previously been used by Senensky in Is There in Truth No Beauty? (1968). (The Trek 25th Anniversary Celebration)
The antique Napoleon III ebony cabinet pedestal found in Spock’s quarters had previously appeared in the films It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) and Citizen Kane (1941).
The Defiant is not among the names of the fourteen Constitution-class starships that were established in “The Making of Star Trek”.
One of only two TOS episodes without a single guest star; the other was The Immunity Syndrome (1968).
When Chekov asks if there’s ever before been a mutiny aboard a starship, Spock responds by saying that there are absolutely no records of any such occurrence. This cleverly avoids answering the question directly. While there may be no mutiny “on record,” Spock well knows that there have been at least two, one of which he himself took part in, during The Menagerie: Part I (1966)/The Menagerie: Part II (1966). Another mutiny is mentioned years after the fact in Whom Gods Destroy (1969).
This is the first time, in the broadcast order, that Lt. Uhura’s quarters are shown. The first time via production order is in Elaan of Troyius (1968).
Herb Wallerstein is the credited director of this episode. Ralph Senensky was the original director, but was fired midway through filming and replaced by Wallerstein. Senensky refused any screen credit for this episode. However, he admitted, just to set the record straight, that half of the episode was his footage.
The space suits were later reused in Whom Gods Destroy (1969).
The ship’s chapel, which had previously appeared in Balance of Terror (1966), was a redress of the briefing room.
The lab apparatus and tubing that McCoy uses in attempting to synthesize the theragen derivative appears to have been recycled from The Devil in the Dark (1967), where it was used as part of Scotty’s makeshift replacement for the main circulating pump of the PXK pergium reactor.
Summary
The Enterprise finds the U.S.S. Defiant, which had disappeared three weeks earlier, in uncharted space. While they can see it on the view screen, their instruments can’t detect it as the space around them is in a state of flux. Captain Kirk and others beam aboard to find that the crew have all killed themselves. When all but Kirk returned to the Enterprise, the Defiant suddenly disappears. Spock believes Kirk may still be alive and is determined to bring him back, but the instability in space is affecting the crew, who are going mad (and starting to see the captain floating about the ship). Meanwhile, a pair of Tholian ships, thinking the Federation is intruding upon their space, is slowly weaving a web around the Enterprise to entrap them.
***I want to vent here for a second…or two or three. I don’t know if youtube has changed its policy but lately, every time I try to post a video for Star Trek…it’s age-restricted and will show blocked if you click on it. You can watch real people die on youtube but a 30-second clip from a 60s TV show? NO can’t have that.***
CAST
William Shatner … Captain James Tiberius ‘Jim’ Kirk Leonard Nimoy … Mister Spock DeForest Kelley … Dr. McCoy James Doohan … Scott George Takei … Sulu Walter Koenig … Chekov Nichelle Nichols … Uhura Majel Barrett … Nurse Chapel Sean Morgan … Lt. O’Neil Barbara Babcock … Cmdr. Loskene (voice) (uncredited) Paul Baxley … Defiant Captain (uncredited) Bill Blackburn … Lieutenant Hadley (uncredited) Bob Bralver … Berserk Engineer (uncredited) Frank da Vinci … Lt. Brent (uncredited) Louie Elias … Crazed Crewman (uncredited) Jimmy Fields … Security Crewman (uncredited) Roger Holloway … Lt. Lemli (uncredited) Jay D. Jones … Engineer (uncredited) Jeannie Malone … Yeoman (uncredited) Gary Wright … Enterprise Sciences Crewman (uncredited)
I’m reaching into the obscurity bin for this one but it’s a good song. They didn’t have any hits further, leading them to be called as a one hit wonder.
Crabby Appleton was founded in Los Angeles, California, founded by Michael Fennelly. Fennelly was previously with another band The Millenium, a pop band that recorded one album, Begin.
Fennelly was also Crabby Appleton’s principal songwriter, and the lineup was rounded out by bassist Hank Harvey, keyboardist Casey Foutz, percussion Felix “Flaco” Falcon, and drummer Phil Jones. The group was initially named as Stonehenge but re-named themselves as Crabby Appleton, after a Tom Terrific cartoon character.
This band was not exactly a household name but this single is really good. Go Back was released in 1970 and it peaked at #36 in the Billboard 100. The album, Crabby Appleton, made it to #175 on the Billboard 200 album charts.
It was produced by Don Gallucci… formerly of the Kingsmen. The drummer Phil Jones also played percussion and drums for Tom Petty on every song but one on Full Moon Fever. He has also played with Joe Walsh, Johnny Rivers, and Waddy Wachtel.
Fennelly embarked on a solo career and recorded two albums Lane Changer and Stranger’s Bed from the early to mid-1970s. He also went on to work with other artists such as Steely Dan.
The band did release two albums before breaking up in 1971. Bands like this fascinate me. I listened to their debut album and it’s really good…I have to wonder if Electra didn’t push them enough.
I do remember hearing this song in the 70s.
Go Back
You don’t hold me so well And it’s not hard to tell When you know in your heart That it’s wrong
‘Cause your thoughts are not here And you’re making it clear That the one you love is gone
Well, I can’t tell you your life, no I can’t tell you what to do But you know, yes, you know That’s it’s true
I think you better go back Go back to your lover, go back He’s the one you really love Go back, go back to your bed I said, go back He’s the one you’re thinking of
Go back, go back to your bed I said go back, girl As fast as you can, go back
Now you look good to me Still, I can’t help but see You’ve been thinking of him All the time
And you know it’s not right When you kiss me tonight You pretend his lips are mine
Yeah, I can’t tell you your life, no I can’t tell you what to do But you know, yes, you know That it’s true
I think you better go back Go back to your lover, go back He’s the one you really love Go back, go back to your bed I said, go back He’s the one you’re thinking of
Go back, go back to your bed I said, go back, girl As fast as you can Go back, whooooooa Go back, go back to your lover Go back Go back, go back to your bed I said, go back
I had a relative that played this song to death…but I didn’t mind. Machine Head is a great hard rock album.
The intro to this song is worth the price of admission. Jon Lord’s organ has a filthy dirty sound. The half-step riffs in the refrain were inspired by the theme music for the Batman TV program composed by Neal Hefti. Blackmore asked singer Ian Gillan if he could write any lyrics over the riff, and the rest of the song evolved from there.
Machine Head peaked at #1 in the UK, #1 in Canada, and #7 in the Billboard Album Charts in 1972. Ian Gillan, Ritchie Blackmore, Roger Glover, Jon Lord, and Ian Paice – are all credited as writers of this song.
This song actually got into space when the astronaut Kalpana Chawla took a copy of the Machine Head album with her on board the Space Shuttle Columbia, which sadly disintegrated before it could land back on Earth during its 2003 mission. Chawla got to know Deep Purple guitarist Steve Morse, which is why she brought the album with her. Morse wrote a song called “Contact Lost,” which appeared on the 2003 Deep Purple album Bananas in memory of Chawla and the others on board.
The album Machine Head was recorded in a hotel. The plan was to use the Montreux Casino in Switzerland as a studio to help capture their live sound, but the day after they got there, it burned down during a Frank Zappa concert. We all know that story told so well as told in Smoke On The Water.
They ended up recording this at the Grand Hotel and they used the Rolling Stones mobile unit that Zeppelin and a few others used at that time. That was a genius idea…you could have a studio in your house or an old castle somewhere if you wanted.
Ace Frehley covered this song in 2020.
Space Truckin
Well, we had a lot of luck on Venus
We always had a ball on Mars
We’re meeting all the groovy people
We’ve rocked the Milky Way so far
We danced around with Borealis
We’re space trucking ’round the the stars
Come on, come on, come on
Let’s go space truckin’
Come on, come on, come on
Space truckin’
Remember when we did the moonshot?
And pony trekker led the way
We’d move to the Canaveral moonstop
And every ‘naut would dance and sway
We got music in our solar system
We’re space truckin’ ’round the stars
Come on, come on, come on
Let’s go space truckin’
Come on, come on, come on
Space truckin’
The fireball that we rode was moving
But now we’ve got a new machine
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah the freaks said
Man those cats can really swing
They’ve got music in their solar system
They’ve rocked around the Milky Way
They dance around the Borealis
They’re space truckin’ everyday
Come on, come on, come on
Let’s go space truckin’
Come on, come on, come on
Space truckin’
Come on, come on, come on
Let’s go space truckin’
Come on, come on, come on
Space truckin’
Yeah, yeah, yeah, space truckin’
Yeah, yeah, yeah, space truckin’
Yeah, yeah, yeah, space truckin’
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, space truckin’
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Here we are in a new decade that will make a huge dent in 20th-century culture. This decade will change the world from the black and white 1950s into technicolor with tragedy, freedom, generation gaps, and thoughts of change that are still felt…both good and bad. Music is filled with safe artists…not many edgy artists like Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard. Even Elvis was safe now and he became Cliff Richard a movie star. Rock and Roll had temporarily lost its bite. There was still some great music as we see below.
Let’s start off with those sweet harmonies by the Everly Brothers. Cathy’s Clown which was huge this year. It was written by Don Everly.
Ok, let’s get a driving voice in this look at 1960. Here is the one and only WandaJackson with Let’s Have A Party. It was written by Jessie Mae Robinson.
Instrumentals were huge through the 1950s and 60s. They gradually wound down through the decades. I’ve always liked instrumentals because it’s not as easy as writing songs with lyrics. It’s almost like a silent movie…you try to get the point across without words… just painting with music. Here is one of the best-known instrumental bands ever…The Ventures with Walk Don’t Run. They also released a version four years later but we will go with the 1960 version. It was written by Johnny Smith. He was a jazz guitarist who wrote this back in 1954. This guitar sound lent itself to beach music that was just around the corner in becoming popular.
Roy Orbison and Joe Melson wrote Only the Lonely, which they tried to sell to Elvis Presley and the Everly Brothers. Both of them turned him down so Orbison did the song himself thank goodness. His voice was truly unique and one of a kind. Here is Roy singing Only The Lonely.
The Shirelles released this song in November of 1960. The song is beautiful and it was written by the husband and wife duo of Gerry Goffin and Carole King.
If you want to see where we are…and you missed a few…HERE is a list of the episodes in my index located at the top of my blog.
This show was written by Gene Roddenberry, Hendrik Vollaerts, and Arthur H. Singer
I like this one a lot. It’s one of the episodes I go to when I want to watch a Star Trek episode.
Doctor McCoy finds out he has a fatal disease and only has around one year to live. The Enterprise in attacked by a missile, launched from an asteroid on an independent collision course with highly populated planet, Darren 5, in 396 days, which has simple atomic power and an internal atmosphere, but no inhabitants.
Kirk, Spock and McCoy beam onto the ‘asteroid’ and soon discover that it is a generational ship and its crew, which is very much alive, have no idea that they are on a ship. In fact, the fact is deliberately hidden from the people aboard and actions that may lead to the truth coming out are punished by the ‘Oracle’.
The most senior person there is Natira, the High Priestess of the society, and she is clearly attracted to McCoy and he feels the same way. This makes it easy for him to keep her occupied while Kirk and Spock investigate the Oracle. Unfortunately, they are caught and forced to return to the Enterprise. McCoy however decides to spend his final year with Natira. Shortly afterward he learns that there may be a way to save the people of Yonada but it would mean reading their sacred book; something nobody may do until they reach their destination.
McCoy is in love with Natira and is ready to run off with her since he only has a year to live. It was nice seeing McCoy getting the female this time. The biggest criticism of this episode is too many coincidences in this one to make it believable but still a very enjoyable episode.
From IMDB:
Polycythemia is a real disease in which the body produces too many red blood cells and is not, by itself fatal. Xenopolycythemia would be an alien (xeno- = foreign, alien) variation of the disease. It is revealed Dr. McCoy is suffering from xenopolycythmia.
The voice of the Oracle was played by James Doohan.
Jon Lormer, who plays the Old Man, was also in The Return of the Archons (1967), and the original pilot, The Cage (1966).
The metal helical staircase is recycled from The Empath (1968).
The ancient Yonada text is based on Korean (Han-Gul-ma) alphabet.
The entrance set used for the entrance portal to the “underground” section of the Yonada world-ship was used again in The Cloud Minders (1969).
The ‘Book of the People’ is the same as ‘Chicago Mobs of the Twenties’ in A Piece of the Action (1968).
Byron Morrow, who portrayed Admiral Westervliet, also portrayed Admiral Komack in Amok Time (1967).
This has the longest title of any episode in the “Star Trek” franchise.
The field reader tube, normally used to take a medical patient’s vital signs, is used in this episode by McCoy to extract the instrument of obedience from Natira. This marks the only apparent close-up use of this prop in the series.
The music that accompanies the appearance of the old man played by Jon Lormer is the same music by Alexander Courage that played during some of his lines as Dr. Theodore Haskins in The Cage (1966).
When McCoy is being punished by the Oracle while talking to the Enterprise, Kirk says, “Bones what is it? Bones what is it?” This is a recorded line of dialogue reused from The Tholian Web (1968).
The bridge scene that runs under Kirk’s voiceover at the start of Act One (where Kirk enters the bridge from the turboshaft) is the same footage from the very beginning of the episode.
Summary
Dr. McCoy is diagnosed with a fatal disease and has only one year to live. When the Enterprise is fired upon, they trace the weapons to what appears to be a giant asteroid, some 200 miles wide, that is in fact a ship on a collision course with a heavily populated planet, Darren V. What they find when they beam over is that the local population that don’t realize they are on a ship. For McCoy the trip is liberating in many ways. He finds purpose with them but also love with their High Priestess, Natira. Kirk agrees to let him stay behind but when McCoy discovers a possible solution to the impending collision with Darren V, he returns to the alien vessel with Spock intent on re-directing the errant craft.
CAST
William Shatner … Captain James Tiberius ‘Jim’ Kirk Leonard Nimoy … Mister Spock DeForest Kelley … Dr. McCoy Katherine Woodville … Natira (as Kate Woodville) James Doohan … Scott George Takei … Sulu Walter Koenig … Chekov Nichelle Nichols … Uhura Majel Barrett … Nurse Chapel Byron Morrow … Admiral Westervliet Jon Lormer … Old Man Frank da Vinci … Transporter Operator (uncredited) Tony Dante … Fabrini Oracle Guard (uncredited) Jeannie Malone … Fabrini Servant (uncredited)
I’m a huge Cheap Trick fan but when I heard this song as the theme to That 70s Show… I just asked myself why? Why not use the original version of the song? That’s not a dig at Cheap Trick…they did fine with it but it was unnecessary. The show later covered a Big Star song in an episode…the haunting song Thirteen. The band had lost out on stardom in the early seventies and now many people really like the theme song but have no clue who wrote it. In a way though…unfortunately, that fits Big Star perfectly.
In the first season, the theme song was done by Todd Griffin. It’s a close copy of the original soundwise but with different lyrics by Ben Vaughn. The rest of the show’s seasons was replaced by the Cheap Trick version. The only reason I can think of not using Big Star is they needed an edited version of the song and felt they had to change the song’s lyrics although the lyrics would have fit the show. Cheap Trick’s version is very good of course because it’s Cheap Trick…but it would have been nice to hear the original. Many people think that Cheap Trick wrote the song.
Chris Bell and Alex Chilton are credited with writing the song. In 2000, Chilton confirmed that he was paid $70 in royalties each time the show aired, an amount he thought ironic, given the show’s title. The song was originally on their debut album #1 Record.
Recently I watched some performances they did on the Leno show later on when Alex Chilton and Jody Stephens reformed the band with two members of the Posies. The introduction made me do a double take…“Big Star…the missing link between the Beatles and The Replacements.” How could I not like that? Three of my favorite bands right there.
The #1 album was hailed by critics and got radio play when released. The feedback from people who heard it was very positive. There was one problem though. They signed with Stax Records which normally didn’t deal with pop and rock bands. They weren’t prepared to promote them and the biggest problem was there was no distribution. People started to go to record shops to buy it but there were no Big Star albums there. Stax was in financial trouble as well. They carried on for three albums but with no commercial breakthrough…although bands like Cheap Trick, The Replacements, R.E.M., KISS, and others all say they were heavily influenced by them.
Jody Stephens drummer of Big Star: “I don’t know if the general population even knows that Big Star had anything to do with it.”
Mike Mills of REM: “I heard the first two records first, Radio City and #1 Record, I just thought they were perfect. If I could make records, that would be the sort of records I would make. The third one took me a bit longer to get into, but it does reward repeated listening. What Big Star was doing made sense to me.”
The Todd Griffin version
The Cheap Trick version
The Orginal
In The Street
Hanging out, down the street The same old thing we did last week Not a thing to do But talk to you
Steal your car, and bring it down Pick me up, we’ll drive around Wish we had A joint so bad
Pass the street light Out past midnight
Ahh
Hanging out, down the street The same old thing we did last week Not a thing to do But talk to you
It’s a fun song that never gets old….they produced it themselves. They had been recording for Motown but left the label in 1968 to take more control of their music. This was their first release after leaving Motown, and it was a huge success, hitting #1 on the R&B charts and selling over two million copies.
The group never had a bigger chart hit in America, but became one of the top acts of the ’70s, enjoying the creative control that came with recording on their own label. The song peaked at #1 on the Billboard R&B Charts, #2 on the Billboard 100, and #3 in Canada in 1969.
Ernie Isley, just 16 years old, played bass on this song…the first time playing that instrument on a recording. Isley had played the bass when they were rehearsing the song, but a studio musician was supposed to handle it on the recording. When this hired hand couldn’t match what Ernie did at rehearsal, Ronald Isley made the call to have his younger brother play it instead. Ernie later said he was in “complete fear” during the recording.
Barry Gordy evidently wasn’t a fan of the Isley Brothers after they left him. When this song took off, Motown head Berry Gordy filed a lawsuit claiming The Isleys were still under contract when they recorded it. The court case went on for 18 years before a federal judge ruled that The Isley Brothers had recorded it after the Motown contract had lapsed.
They use the phrase “sock it to me” which Aretha Franklin had made popular with the song Respect. It also started to be used on the 60s show Laugh-In. This song also won a Grammy for best R&B vocal by group or duo in 1970.The song was written by Ronald Isley, O’Kelly Isley, and Jr.Rudolph Isley.
Ronald Isley said that he wrote the song while dropping his daughter off at her school one day. He hummed it over and over so he wouldn’t forget the lyrics. After he reached his mom’s house…he sang it to his older brother O’Kelly Isley…his brother told him right away…that is a hit!
The guitar player in this session was Charles Pitts Jr. who later played the famous wah-wah on “Theme From Shaft” by Isaac Hayes.
It’s Your Thing
It’s your thing
Do what you wanna do
I can’t tell you
Who to sock it to
It’s your thing
Do what you wanna do now
I can’t tell you
Who to sock it to
If you want me to love you, maybe I will
I need you woman, it ain’t no big deal
You need love now, just as bad as I do
Make’s me no difference now, who you give your thing to
It’s your thing (It’s your thing)
Do what you wanna do
I can’t tell you
Who to sock it to
It’s your thing (It’s your thing)
Do what you wanna do now
I can’t tell you
Who to sock it to
It’s your thing (It’s your thing)
Do what you wanna do
I can’t tell you
Who to sock it to
I’m not trying to run your life,
I know you wanna do what’s right,
Ah, give your love girl, do whatever you choose,
How can you lose, with the stuff you use?
It’s your thing (It’s your thing)
Do what you wanna do
I can’t tell you
Who to sock it to
It’s your thing (It’s your thing)
Do what you wanna do
Don’t let me tell you
Who to sock it to
Let me hear you say it’s my thing (It’s your thing),
I do what I wanna do…
This is one of the first Allman Brothers songs I remember hearing on the radio.
It’s a fantastic song that you don’t hear as much as some of the other Allman songs like Rambling Man. Gregg Allman had most of the music written already but wrote the lyrics right after his brother Duane died in a motorcycle wreck.
It’s about Gregg dealing with the loss of his brother and the soldiers coming back from Vietnam. The Allmans had just started recording the album Eat A Peach when Duane died. Soon after he passed they went to Miami to finish the album.
They started to work on this album in September of 1971 and laid down the basic tracks for “Blue Sky,” “Stand Back” and “Little Martha.” Duane Allman died on October 29, 1971. So those tracks have Duane playing on them and of course, all of the live material features him on guitar. After he died the band went back to the studio and recorded the rest and it was finished in December.
The album also included live tracks that were not used on At Fillmore East like One Way Out, Trouble No More, and a 33-minute “Mountain Jam” that was built off a riff from a Donovan song “There is a Mountain.”
They had some sort of chemistry live that was incredible. I’m usually not a fan of long endless live songs but they keep the intensity up…plus with this album, you get the best of both worlds. The album was released on February 12, 1972, and it peaked at #4 on the Billboard 100 and #12 in Canada. The original name was going to be “Eat A Peach for Peace.”
Dickey Betts had never played electric slide before but when Duane died he was forced to learn the old material and put his spin on Duane’s slide parts. He also came up with new slide parts to this song and Melissa.
The song peaked at #77 on the Billboard 100 in 1972.
Gregg Allman: Losing Duane really slammed Dickey too, but he didn’t show it. We didn’t see too much of Dickey after my brother died. He had this huge garden, and when something would piss him off, he would go out there and sling a hoe or a shovel or an ax for about four hours in the hot sun. He’d come back in for dinner, and he’d be okay. The cat really does have a heart, and I think he really cared about my brother—you don’t go naming your child after someone that you don’t care for.
When my brother died, Dickey really stepped up. He wood-shedded like crazy; I remember him learning how to play the slide part for “Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More” on the airplane, during the flight down to Miami to finish up Eat a Peach.
Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More
Last Sunday morning, the sunshine felt like rain
The week before, they all seemed the same
With the help of God and true friends, I’ve come to realize
I still have two strong legs, and even wings to fly
So I, ain’t a wastin’ time no more
‘Cause time goes by like hurricanes, and faster things
Well, Lord, Lord, Miss Sally, why are your cryin?
Been around here three long days, lookin’ like we’re dyin’
Go step yourself outside and look up at the stars above
And go on downtown, baby, find somebody to love
Meanwhile, I ain’t a wastin’ time no more
‘Cause time goes by like pourin’ rain, and much faster things
You don’t need no gypsy to tell you why
Ya can’t let one precious day to slip by
Well, look inside yourself, and if you don’t see what you want
May be sometimes then ya don’t
But leave your mind alone and just get high
Well, by and by, way after many years have gone
And all the war freaks die off, leavin’ us alone
We’ll raise our children, in the peaceful way we can
It’s up to you and me brother to try and try again
So, hear us now, we ain’t wastin’ time no more
‘Cause time rolls by like hurricanes
Runnin’ after the subway train
Don’t forget the pourin’ rain
If you want to see where we are…and you missed a few…HERE is a list of the episodes in my index located at the top of my blog.
This show was written by Gene Roddenberry, Jerome Bixby, and Arthur H. Singer
I think this one ranks up there with the best of the 3rd season. Klingons and the Enterprise crew are controlled by an alien. Things are still tense between the Federation and the Klingon Empire. Anything can set it off and in this episode something nearly does.
The Enterprise responds to a distress call from a colony but finds no sign of them; it is as if there were no colony. Shortly afterwards a Klingon vessel arrives and suffers damage without the Enterprise firing a shot. A Klingon landing party, led by Kang, confronts Kirk on the planet and blames him for the attack on his ship while Kirk accuses him of wiping out the colony. Kang intends to take the Enterprise by forcing Kirk to beam them up… his plans fail and he is the one captured.
Things don’t stay that way for long though, a strange entity appears to be playing one side against the other. It turns the crew’s phasers into swords and similarly arms the Klingons. Fights ensue but injuries soon heal no matter how serious and the hatred is magnified as each side’s distrust grows. If they are to avoid an eternity of fighting they will have to come to an understanding; something that won’t be easy.
I thought the concept excellent… a being that feeds on violent, negative emotions and with the wounds healed…could go on forever. This nicely brings the crew of the Enterprise back into conflict with their most famous enemy… the Klingons.
The fact that to win they must persuade the Klingons that they can be trusted serves to make it more interesting and the conflict before that involves some enjoyable sword-fighting action. We also get Chekov ranting about wanting revenge for the death of an imagined brother and even the doctor is demanding revenge.
The regular cast do a solid job but it is Michael Ansara’s strong performance as Kang that stands out… this performance enables us to believe Kang would torture Chekov to death in an early scene and also believe he would agree to a truce when he saw their fighting had no purpose. Susan Howard also puts in a likable performance as Kang’s wife, Mara, without whom the peace couldn’t have been established.
From IMDB:
Although intra-ship beaming is routine in later incarnations of ‘Star Trek’ (where it is called “site-to-site transport”), this is the first and only time it is done in the original series, although it is also referenced in Shore Leave (1966) when Sulu notes that Spock is beaming down “from the bridge”.
Near the end of the episode, Scotty tells Kirk that the ship’s dilithium crystals are deteriorating. Kirk asks “Time factor?” Scotty replies “In 12 minutes we’ll be totally without engine power.”
This happens with exactly 12:00 minutes left in the episode.
Mara is the only female Klingon with a speaking role on TOS. Another female is beamed on board the Enterprise at the same time, but only seen briefly.
This episode was originally written with Kor from Errand of Mercy (1967) as Kirk’s Klingon adversary. Although John Colicos wanted to reprise his role, he was in Europe making Anne of the Thousand Days (1969) and was unavailable. The part was recast with Michael Ansara as “Kang”.
The spinning alien entity effect was created with a child’s spinning windmill bought from a stand at Santa Monica beach. Visual effects supervisor James Rugg was told to be creative as the production budget for season three had been drastically cut. He bought it after noticing how it glistened in the sunlight and filmed it against a black velvet cloth from several different angles, deliberately out of focus, turning with the help of a desk fan and with different gels on the spotlights. To help make it feel unearthly and disguise what it was, he also under-cranked the film in the camera to make it appear to spin faster and ran the film backwards.
This episode affords a second and final glimpse of the “working” communicator’s central spinning moiré disc, which was controlled by an inner stopwatch mechanism. Its first appearance was in Friday’s Child (1967).
As in the Imperial Starfleet of the Mirror Universe (first seen in Mirror, Mirror (1967)), the regular universe’s Klingon Empire uses agonizers on Ensign Chekov. These were developed further as the “painsticks” often seen on Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987).
Kang wears the same golden sash worn by Kor in Errand of Mercy (1967). The same sash would be worn (albeit on the opposite shoulder) by Lieutenant Worf in the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987).
The Klingon who says, “Stand and fight, you cowards!” is Pete Kellett, who previously appeared in Mirror, Mirror (1967) as Farrell, Kirk’s henchman.
Mark Tobin, who plays a Klingon in this episode, would return more than 30 years later to play a Klingon in Barge of the Dead (1999). He previously played Khan’s right-hand man, Joaquin, in Space Seed (1967).
Footage of the Klingon ship is reused from Elaan of Troyius (1968) which was filmed earlier, but aired later.
For most of the fighting, Kirk has a US Model 1860 cavalry saber.
Scottie is delighted to find a claymore (Scottish longsword). The kind he had was a basket-hilt claymore, a good battlefield weapon. The earliest claymores were 15th century but the basket-hilt designs (as Scotty has) appeared in the 18th century. Claymores weighed about 2.2-2.8 kg and were 1.2-1.4 m long. They were two-handed weapons that could take the legs off of a cavalry horse.
This is the only time Sulu is seen in engineering or working in a Jefferies tube.
Kang gives his name to one of the two cyclopic alien squids who repeatedly plague The Simpsons (1989) in their Halloween fantasies. The other is Kodos who takes his name from The Conscience of the King (1966).
David L. Ross plays a character called Lt. Johnson. This appears to be the same crewman who is otherwise known as Galloway.
The footage of engineering, with the hovering entity, was recycled from The Tholian Web (1968), which featured a floating Kirk in place of the entity.
Multiple spellings exist for Chekov’s imaginary brother. It’s a foreign variant of “Peter” that has been spelled as Piotr and Piotre. “Piotre” is an unusual spelling that can’t readily be found anywhere (leastwise, not outside the 23rd century). “Piotr” does exist in European spellings, but it is Polish rather than Russian. The standard transliteration of the Russian name (from the original Cyrillic) is “Pyotr”, although “Piotr” is phonetically equally valid.
The transporter can beam up more than six at a time. Mr. Scott had isolated and beamed through Enterprise party first, and held the additional Klingons in status somewhere within the transporter buffer.
Michael Ansara later reprises his role as Kang in Blood Oath (1994) and Flashback (1996). In Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979) he appeared as a character with a difference of only one letter: Kane.
Klingon battle cruisers can hold up 440 people. (Kang said four hundred of his crew were killed, and forty survivors were beamed aboard the Enterprise.)
This takes place in 2268.
Michael Ansara and Leonard Nimoy appeared together previously in Showdown (1965), as brothers that were also lawmen. The episode was written by TOS producer/writer Gene L. Coon.
James Doohan and Michael Ansara previously both appeared in Hot Line (1964), but did not share any scenes.
Summary
Having found a Federation colony of 100 people completely destroyed, Kirk and the Enterprise have to deal with a nearby Klingon vessel which they believe must be responsible for the colony’s destruction. When the Klingon ship is disabled, they, in turn, assume they were attacked by the Enterprise. There is obvious tension between the Enterprise crew and its Klingon enemies. Unbeknown to Kirk and his Klingon counterpart, Kang, this is the work of an alien being that gets its energy from the friction and emotions between sentient beings. The natural animosities between the two parties feed its appetites. When the creature is beamed aboard the Enterprise, it purposely creates tension among the crew, to its benefit. The situation eventually forces Kirk and Kang to work together to defeat it.
CAST
William Shatner … Captain James Tiberius ‘Jim’ Kirk Leonard Nimoy … Mister Spock DeForest Kelley … Dr. McCoy Michael Ansara … Kang Susan Howard … Mara James Doohan … Scott Walter Koenig … Chekov George Takei … Sulu Nichelle Nichols Nichelle Nichols … Uhura David L. Ross … Lt. Johnson (as David Ross) Mark Tobin … Klingon Phil Adams … Klingon Soldier (uncredited) Albert Cavens … Klingon Crewman (uncredited) Dick Geary … Security Guard (uncredited) Eddie Hice … Security Guard (uncredited) Roger Holloway … Lt. Lemli (uncredited) Jay D. Jones … Klingon (uncredited) Pete Kellett … Klingon (uncredited) Hubie Kerns … Klingon Crewman (uncredited) Victor Paul … Klingon Crewman (uncredited) Charlie Picerni … Klingon (uncredited) George Sawaya … Klingon Crewman (uncredited) David Sharpe … Security Officer (uncredited)
I was born with a plastic spoon in my mouth The north side of my town faced east, and the east was facing south
America missed out on The Who’s great early singles. Some didn’t hear their 60’s singles until after they hit with Tommy and released Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy in 1971. It’s one of my favorite compilation albums. This one has a raw power to it and it’s pushed by John Entwistle and Keith Moon driving the song along.
Great song by The Who. The song peaked at #5 in the UK charts in 1966. The twelve-string guitar opening riff kicks into one of The Who’s best singles. This was a flop in the US, partly because it wasn’t promoted well. It was the only Who song released on Atco Records.
Townshend’s favorite song at the time was “Tracks of My Tears” by Smokey Robinson & The Miracles. Townshend loved the way Smokey sang the word “substitute” so perfectly “Although she may be cute she’s just a substitute ‘Cause you’re the permanent one” that he decided to celebrate the word with a song all its own. The song was also influenced by 19th Nervous Breakdown by the Rolling Stones. Townshend admitted to getting the riff from that song. Townshend also got his trademark windmill from watching Keith Richards warm up with his arms going above his head.
This was the first single The Who released after breaking their contract with their manager and producer, Shel Talmy. As part of the deal, Talmy got royalties from this and the other Who records over the next 5 years, which turned out to be albums that old-time producer Shel Talmy would never have produced. The albums were Tommy, Who’s Next, and Quadrophenia.
After listening to a recording of the song, Keith Moon began to become paranoid, insisting that it wasn’t him drumming and that the band had gone behind his back and gotten another drummer. John Entwistle refuted this paranoia as ridiculous – he could hear Keith screaming on the recording as he did a difficult fill.
Substitute
You think we look pretty good together
You think my shoes are made of leather
But I’m a substitute for another guy
I look pretty tall but my heels are high
The simple things you see are all complicated
I look pretty young, but I’m just back-dated, yeah
(Substitute) your lies for fact
(Substitute) I can see right through your plastic mac
(Substitute) I look all white, but my dad was black
(Substitute) my fine linen suit is really made out of sack
I was born with a plastic spoon in my mouth
The north side of my town faced east, and the east was facing south
And now you dare to look me in the eye
Those crocodile tears are what you cry
It’s a genuine problem, you won’t try
To work it out at all you just pass it by, pass it by
(Substitute) me for him
(Substitute) my coke for gin
(Substitute) you for my mum
(Substitute) at least I’ll get my washing done
I’m a substitute for another guy
I look pretty tall but my heels are high
The simple things you see are all complicated
I look pretty young, but I’m just back-dated, yeah
I was born with a plastic spoon in my mouth
The north side of my town faced east, and the east was facing south
And now you dare to look me in the eye
Those crocodile tears are what you cry
It’s a genuine problem, you won’t try
To work it out at all you just pass it by, pass it by
(Substitute) me for him
(Substitute) my coke for gin
(Substitute) you for my mum
(Substitute) at least I’ll get my washing done
(Substitute) your lies for fact
(Substitute) I can see right through your plastic mac
(Substitute) I look all white, but my dad was black
(Substitute) My fine-looking suit is really made out of sack
If you want to see where we are…and you missed a few…HERE is a list of the episodes in my index located at the top of my blog.
This show was written by Gene Roddenberry, Gene L. Coon, and Arthur H. Singer
This one really caught my attention. It’s one of my favorite episodes. It’s a bit surreal and I like the sparse half-done sets. We have a few of the crew of the Enterprise visiting the OK Corral. Doc Holliday, Morgan, Virgil, and Wyatt Earp all are here.
Westerns were all the rage in the 50s and 60s, and I suppose Star Trek had to pay homage to the genre in some form or fashion. “Spectre of the Gun” offers that, just as other episodes touched on medical and courtroom drama formulas.
The Enterprise arrives in Melkotian space, Kirk’s goal is to set up relations with the secretive race. The Melkotians don’t take kindly to visitors, however, and, as a form of punishment, seemingly send Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, and Chekov to a warped version of Tombstone, circa 1881, based on information they plucked from Kirk’s mind. To Spock’s credit…he thought they should have turned around and left but Kirk was determined.
The buildings are there but only halfway done. You only see fronts of buildings and nothing is quite right about this version of the old west. A powerful Melkotian tells Kirk, Spock, Bones, Checkov, and Scotty they are to be punished for their “disobedience”, recreating a frontier town with only a few buildings on some fake ground representing Tombstone, Arizona.
The Melkotian tells them they have been sentenced to death and the means of the death will be based on Kirk’s cultural memories of the Wild West town of Tombstone. The town they find themselves in is rather strange and their phasers have become revolvers and the locals believe that the landing party, Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty and Chekov, are actually the Clanton Gang. To make matters worse it is the day of the famous Gunfight at the OK Corral where the real Clantons were gunned down.
Chekov, who is playing the part of Billy Claiborne is gunned down in a fight over a woman but the real Billy Claiborne was the sole survivor from the Clanton Gang. It becomes apparent that normal rules don’t apply here; if they believe they won’t die then maybe they won’t. As the allotted time approaches, they will find out.
A very different type of episode for Star Trek. When you watch the video below…remember…everyone sees them as the Clanton game with normal western clothes.
From IMDB:
The original script called for filming on an outdoor location but, due to budget constraints, filming took place in the studio. These constraints also prevented the set designers from building a complete Western town and the concept of pieces of a town drawn from Kirk’s mind was developed.
DeForest Kelley appeared in other dramatizations of the same historical events, playing Ike Clanton in The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (October 26, 1881) (1955) and Morgan Earp in Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957). He was also offered a role in Hour of the Gun (1967) (the movie this episode is named after) but had to decline due to his Star Trek commitment.
For the third season, the velour tunics from the first two seasons have been replaced by polyester ones, which are better-fitting but lack the luster of the original velour. The new fabric was a heavy diamond-weave nylon double-knit material akin to that used in professional baseball uniforms. The switch was made because the original velour shrank every time it was dry-cleaned. This was a problem because union rules required that costumes be cleaned before each use.
The writing of this episode was influenced by NBC executives who wanted Chekov to be featured more in the third season than he had been in the second season.
This is the only episode to end with the Enterprise heading toward a planet.
Written by Lee Cronin, the pseudonym of Gene L. Coon. Some have assumed that it was used because he was unhappy with the results. Actually, it was because he had left Paramount and was under contract with Universal, so he was not supposed to be working for Paramount as well.
Gene Roddenberry originally wanted to film ‘Spectre of the Gun’, about the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, in Arizona, either at Old Tucson Studios in Tucson, Arizona, or at Apacheland Studios in Apache Junction, Arizona. He found out that there was no budget to do it and had to rely on camera angles, bright colorful lights, and dreamlike sets, which added to the episode’s strange alien quality.
This was the first episode produced for the third season but it aired as the sixth episode of the season.
Kirk, Spock, and Scotty are all in the landing party and Sulu doesn’t appear. The storyline never states who is in command of the Enterprise while the senior ranking officers are away, although Uhura is the next in line.
According to James Doohan, NBC executives told him to comb his hair back for the third season. Doohan hated wearing his hair this way and stopped doing so during The Tholian Web (1968).
After Season 2, Star Trek was very nearly cancelled. After a fan-led campaign, a third season was finally commissioned by the network, providing a budget cut of 25% was instigated. This is why the third season has little location filming, re-used and re-purposed props, and recycled special effects. Seasons 1 and 2 already had tight budgets, so a reduced budget was always going to be noticeable This episode is one example where the budget cutbacks started to become apparent as the producers tried to keep expenditures down.
A very subtle change in the third season was the use of new sound effects for the pushing of buttons on the bridge.
The episode was first broadcast on October 25, 1968, only one day before the 87th anniversary of the actual Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.
A scene that was never filmed included McCoy/McLowery (DeForest Kelley) offering to share his medical expertise with Doc Holliday (Sam Gilman) to treat his progressing tuberculosis.
Another difference this episode brings is the “singing plant” background noise from The Cage (1966), used for nearly every planet in seasons one and two, is replaced here by a warbling sound used before in The Gamesters of Triskelion (1968). This will again be used intermittently throughout season three for example, in For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky (1968) and The Cloud Minders (1969).
In this episode, Kirk refers to the ships phasers as ‘phaser guns’.
Clocking in at approximately five minutes and 25 seconds, this episode’s teaser is the second longest in the original series, lasting 10 seconds shorter than the teaser for I, Mudd (1967).
The original title for this episode was “The Last Gunfight”.
This is The Original Series’ only foray into surrealism, with unique set designs by Walter M. Jefferies.
Some errors regarding the historical gunfight: Morgan Earp is referred to by Kirk as “the man who kills on sight” when the real-life Morgan, by most reliable accounts, was an even-tempered lawman who used his gun only when he was forced to. The gunfight in the Melkotian scenario is treated as a prearranged event when, actually, it was a more or less spontaneous affair. The gunfight took place near the hour of three o’clock, rather than the five o’clock in the episode. Finally, although it may have seemed that Chekov’s Billy Claiborne was the youngest (he turned twenty-one, the day before the gunfight), Billy Clanton, the role Scotty played, was nineteen.
Jerry Fielding’s unique score adds atmosphere. When the villains are first seen in the saloon, Fielding has the piano play stereotypical “menace” notes and a bizarre rendition of “Buffalo Gals”. Fielding’s other Star Trek contribution was his score for The Trouble with Tribbles (1967).
For the incomplete mock-up of the Sheriff’s office, the sign with the word “Sheriff” on it is written in the same font as the opening credits to the series (the Fs have the same slant in the center).
This is the second time that McCoy believes he cannot be harmed by a weapon (this time due to Spock’s convincing in a meld); the first time, when he stands his ground as the Black Knight charges him in Shore Leave (1966), this strategy was unsuccessful, as the weapon (a lance) was physically real, not merely an illusion.
Chekov is the only member of the landing party who wears a two-holstered gun belt.
Rex Holman (Morgan Earp) later played the settler J’onn in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989).
When Spock and McCoy are in the bar, discussing the tranquilizer, the table with the supplies that are used to make it also has a double-barreled shotgun on it, whose presence goes unexplained.
Although Sam Gilman (Doc Holliday) was 53 years old when this episode was made, Holliday was only 30 at the time of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral on October 26, 1881 and 36 at the time of his death on November 8, 1887.
Gregg Palmer (Rancher) previously played Tom McLowery in Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1961).
Charles Seel plays the saloon bartender. He also played a Western bartender in the series Tombstone Territory (1957), Bat Masterson (1958), Wanted: Dead or Alive (1958), and The Guns of Will Sonnett (1967) as well as the feature films The Texas Rangers (1951) and The Horse Soldiers (1959).
Abraham Sofaer, the voice of the Melkotian, also provided the voice used for the Thasian in Charlie X (1966).
Other USS Enterprise crews visited the Old West in A Fistful of Datas (1992) and North Star (2003).
The “sparkling” sound effect heard in the background while the crew is in Tombstone is also heard in the “Orson reports” at the end of most episodes of Mork & Mindy (1978).
Sulu does not appear in this episode.
Charles Maxwell, who plays Virgil Earp, was a veteran character actor on TV westerns of the era, including Bat Masterson (1958), Bonanza (1959), Rawhide (1959), The High Chaparral (1967), and others.
This takes place in 2268.
This was Bonnie Beecher’s penultimate role before retiring from acting. Now known as “Jahanara Romney”, she works with her husband Wavy Gravy (born Hugh Romney) running a performing arts camp. Beecher grew up in Minnesota where she knew the young Robert Zimmerman, now known as Bob Dylan. Beecher even sang on some of Dylan’s earliest homemade recordings, and is one of the possible inspirations for the song “Girl From The North Country.”
James Doohan voiced the Melkotian warning buoy.
When Kirk (Ike Clanton) attempts to appeal to Wyatt and Virgil Earp in their office, he is taunted by Virgil, who punches him. Kirk reacts and places Virgil in an arm lock. After Kirk releases him, Wyatt wants to kill Kirk and tells him to draw, but Virgil intercedes and tells Wyatt that, when the time comes, he will make him pay for what he did, but,during the gunfight at the end, it is Wyatt who move forward to confront Kirk.
Summary
When the Enterprise trespasses into uncharted territory, Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scott and Chekov are transported to a location that has all the trappings of the American Old West. It’s October 26, 1881, and Kirk soon realizes they are in Tombstone, Arizona, on the day of the famed gunfight at the OK Corral between the Clanton gang and the Earps – with Kirk and company representing the ill-fated Clantons. If history is to be repeated, they will fairly all be killed so must use whatever resources availed to them to defeat the threat and survive. The solution, however – and the only way of escape – lies within them.
CAST
William Shatner … Captain James Tiberius ‘Jim’ Kirk Leonard Nimoy … Mister Spock DeForest Kelley … Dr. McCoy Ron Soble … Wyatt Earp Bonnie Beecher … Sylvia James Doohan … Scott Walter Koenig … Chekov Nichelle Nichols … Uhura Charles Maxwell … Virgil Earp Rex Holman … Morgan Earp Sam Gilman … Doc Holliday Charles Seel … Ed Bill Zuckert … Johnny Behan Ed McCready … Barber Abraham Sofaer … Melkotian (voice) Richard Anthony … Rider (uncredited) Paul Baxley … 1st Cowboy (uncredited) Bill Blackburn … Lieutenant Hadley (uncredited) Charles Cirillo … Barfly (uncredited) Roger Holloway … Lt. Lemli (uncredited) Jeannie Malone … Yeoman (uncredited) Bob Orrison … 2nd Cowboy (uncredited) Gregg Palmer … Rancher (uncredited) Eddie Paskey … Lieutenant Leslie (uncredited)
ZZ Top is a fun band. I like their music and when they made Eliminator it was a good sound for that time but I always favored their seventies-period. Their music before that album is a little rawer and edgier. Billy Gibbons is a hell of a guitar player and even Jimi Hendrix was a fan.
This song was released in 1979 and didn’t chart but it remains one of my favorites of them. It was on the Degüello album released in 1979. The album peaked at #24 on the Billboard Album Charts. In case you are wondering… I’m here to teach!”Degüello” is a Spanish noun from the verb “degollar”, to describe the action of throat-cutting.
They are a tight band and I bought a ticket to one of their shows in the early 80s…they were explosive with a great light show. They had a huge sound for a trio.
A Texas blues musician named Joey Long, who was good friends with the band, inspired this song. Long didn’t have a driver’s license, but he always had a new Cadillac. His wife Barbella would drive him to gigs in that car. Joey Long never became a household name nor rich and famous but was a guitar mentor to Billy Gibbons. The song just embellished Long driving along with females all around him.
Billy Gibbons played what he described as “a multi-stringed mandolin-like instrument from Parral, Mexico” that Joey Long gave him on this track.
Billy Gibbons:“If you listen closely, you can hear close-miked mandolin-sounding rhythm accompaniment, the lead track was played on a custom-made, half-sized, real short-scaled guitar tuned to G. It was actually standard tuning cranked up three steps, which remained quite playable thanks to the guitar’s short scale. The song’s tail end alternates between three distinct effects created by two pedals: an Echoplex doubler and a Maestro octave box alternating every third bar between having the octave up and the octave down.”
I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide
Well I was rollin’ down the road in some cold blue steel
I had a blues man in back, and a beautician at the wheel
We going downtown in the middle of the night
We laughing and I’m jokin’ and we feelin’ alright
Easin’ down the highway in a new Cadillac
I had a fine fox in front, I had three more in the back
They sportin’ short dresses, wearin’ spike-heel shoes
They smokin’ Lucky Strikes, and wearing nylons too
‘Cause we bad, we nationwide
Yeah we bad, we nationwide
Well I was movin’ down the road in my V-8 Ford
I had a shine on my boots, I had my sideburns lowered
With my New York brim and my gold tooth displayed
Nobody give me trouble ’cause they know I got it made
Maybe the first “”Supergroup”…In 1968 John Lennon, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, and Mitch Mitchell got together and played the Beatle’s Yer Blues. The Rolling Stones were taping a Television special featuring The Who, Jethro Tull, Taj Mahal, and Marianne Faithfull, called “The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus” but was shelved for 28 years.
Yer Blues was on the White Album and had only been released 3 weeks before this December 11th recording. John Lennon came up with the band name “Dirty Mac” from a play on words of the hot new group at the time…Fleetwood Mac. I always wondered what a band would have sounded like headed by John Lennon and Keith Richards…this is as close as we will ever know.
I would have loved to hear John Lennon sing in close quarters more than about anyone else. John was an interesting lead guitarist. He never played much lead with The Beatles but he would work a chord and get a solo out of it. He also came up with some great rock and roll riffs. Day Tripper, I Feel Fine, And Your Bird Can Sing, and many more. He did play lead a year later on the song Get Back.
The show did not see the light of day until 1996. The Stones were not happy with their performance which would be the last with Brian Jones. They had been up for days and were worn out. The Who had just returned from a tour and were really tight and some thought upstaged the Rolling Stones. I’ve read that Keith, Mitch, and Clapton wanted to stay as close as possible to the Beatles recording…and they did.
The best thing to come out of the film to me is this performance…and The Who performing “A Quick One, While He’s Away.”
The Dirty Mac performed two songs…Yer Blues and “Whole Lotta Yoko” with Yoko…uh…”singing” so we will stick with this one.
A DVD of this event was released in 2004…It’s worth buying.
Yer Blues
Yes, I’m lonely, wanna die
Yes, I’m lonely, wanna die
If I ain’t dead already
Woo! Girl you know the reason why
In the morning, wanna die
In the evening, wanna die
If I ain’t dead already
Woo! Girl you know the reason why
My mother was of the sky
My father was of the earth
But I am of the universe
And you know what it’s worth
I’m lonely, wanna die
If I ain’t dead already
Woo! Girl you know the reason why
The eagle picks my eyes
The worm he licks my bone
I feel so suicidal
Just like Dylan’s Mr. Jones
Lonely, wanna die
If I ain’t dead already
Woo! Girl you know the reason why
[Instrumental Break]
The black cloud crossed my mind
Blue mist round my soul
Feel so suicidal
Even hate my rock and roll
I’m lonely, wanna die
If I ain’t dead already
Woo! Girl you know the reason why
[Instrumental Break]
Wanna die, yeah, wanna die
[Instrumental Break]
By this time Rock and Roll was not in a good state. Buddy Holly died in February, Jerry Lee Lewis had married his 13-year-old cousin earlier and got the canceled treatment years before it was a phrase, later in this year Chuck Berry would be arrested for the Mann Act, Little Richard was dedicated to the church, and Elvis was in the army in Germany. So you had artists like Anita Bryant, Pat Boone, Fabian, Annette Funicello, Frankie Avalon, and more that I won’t post on the charts. All wasn’t lost though. You did have some great artists left. The one and only Ray Charles is a great place to start in 1959. This is my favorite Ray Charles song…What’d I Say…damn this song is good. It was written by the man himself…Ray Charles.
This is one of if not my favorite instrumentals of all time. Santo and Johnny released this great song called Sleep Walk. Santo Anthony Farina and John Steven Farina were brothers who grew up in Brooklyn. They played a guitar and a steel guitar which was not in many rock/pop bands. I remember this song best from the movie La Bamba in a very emotional scene. Sometimes music can make movies in certain scenes like La Bamba or Goodfellas. The song was written by Santo Farina, Johnny Farina, and Ann Farina.
I first learned about Jackie Wilson through a Van Morrison song titled…Jackie Wilson Said (I’m in Heaven When You Smile). After hearing that song I looked for his music and what an artist! I found many artists by reading about others. Reading about the Beatles took me to Bob Dylan and the tree grew from there. This song was written by Berry Gordy, Roquel “Billy” Davis, and Gwendolyn Gordy.
Fats Domino was one of the old guards still pumping out the hits. This one is called I Want To Walk You Home. Fats wasn’t as flashy as Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, or Little Richard but the man could play and sing like no one else. He was steady through the 50s and he did have some success in the 1960s. This song was written by Fats Domino.
I’m cheating a little on this song. It was recorded on December 16, 1958, and was released (and that is what I go by) at the end of December but it’s so close that I’m counting it. It charted in January of 1959 and because of the circumstances, I am posting his great double-A-sided single. At the time of the release… the song Donna was the A-side and La Bamba was the B-side. Ritchie Valens seemed to have a bright future in front of him but was taken from us in the plane crash that took Buddy Holly and The Big Bopper. Donna was written by Ritchie Valens. He wrote the song about Donna Ludwig who was his high school sweetheart. La Bamba was an old Mexican folk song arranged by Ritchie Valens.
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