Category: 1960s

Twilight Zone – Stopover in a Quiet Town

★★★★★ April 24, 1964 Season 5 Episode 30

If you want to see where we are…HERE is a list of the episodes.

This is a classic episode of the Twilight Zone. The characters are both a little hungover. They can be short-tempered, quarrelsome, and blame each other for their predicament. The wife tends toward hysteria and the man is totally insensitive, but we feel for them. They wake up in a strange house and town after drinking at a party the night before. In this quiet town, the horror is real, and we can sense the panic that the characters are going through. You start caring for the characters and are invested at this point as they think they find the way out time after time.

Serling has used this idea before with the pilot Where Is Everybody? but he explores it more with this episode. Rod Serling achieves a heightened sense of claustrophobia of feeling trapped in this episode. Serling’s closing narration turns it in a warning against drunk driving. “The moral of what you’ve just seen is clear. If you drink, don’t drive. And if your wife has had a couple, she shouldn’t drive either. You might both just wake up with a whale of a headache in a deserted village in the Twilight Zone.”

Earl Hamner Jr: I got that idea walking around the backlot at MGM once, Hamner recalls. Everything was made of papier-mache and was a false front. It suddenly came to me, what if someone woke in this surrounding and there was nothing but false labels on everything, and if you dropped a lighted match on the grass it would catch fire, and if you got on a train it would come all the way around to where you started from?

IMDB Trivia: The abandoned town in which the Frazers find themselves is the same location used for The Twilight Zone: The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street (1960). As the actors move through the ‘town’, they traverse several of the old themed ‘street’ sets which were then standing on the old MGM backlot, including the New England street, the “St Louis” street, and the western town.

The bulletin board in front of the church says that the sermon will be given by Rev. Kogh Gleason. F. Keogh Gleason was a set decorator at M-G-M for many years, and worked on The Twilight Zone (1959).

This is the second episode that shows two people sharing the same bed together on television, something unusual at the time. The first was The Twilight Zone: Person or Persons Unknown (1962). Due to censorship regulations from the networks, TV shows at the time would portray married couples sleeping on separate beds. In both of these cases, the couples were still fully dressed and had gone to sleep while drunk, thus making it clear to the viewer they hadn’t “slept” together.

This show was written by Rod Serling and Earl Hamner Jr.

Rod Serling’s Opening Narration: 

Bob and Millie Frazier, average young New Yorkers who attended a party in the country last night and on the way home took a detour. Most of us on waking in the morning know exactly where we are; the rooster or the alarm clock brings us out of sleep into the familiar sights, sounds, aromas of home and the comfort of a routine day ahead. Not so with our young friends. This will be a day like none they’ve ever spent – and they’ll spend it in the Twilight Zone.

Summary

After drinking too much at a party, Bob and Millie Frazier awaken in a strange bed, in a strange house in a strange town. They’re still dressed in the clothes they wore to the party but their memories are fuzzy. Bob was too drunk to drive so Millie was behind the wheel and she vaguely remembers a shadow falling over them. They soon realize that everything in the town is fake: the telephone in the house isn’t wired; the drawers and cupboards in the kitchen are only a façade; even the trees are fake. The town is deserted and Millie begins to wonder if they’re dead. They keep hearing a child laughing and begin a search. They’re not prepared for what they encounter.

Rod Serling’s Closing Narration:

The moral of what you’ve just seen is clear. If you drink, don’t drive. And if your wife has had a couple, she shouldn’t drive either. You might both just wake up with a whale of a headache in a deserted village in the Twilight Zone.

CAST

Rod Serling … Host / Narrator – Himself
Barry Nelson … Bob Frazier
Nancy Malone … Millie Frazier
Denise Lynn … Little Alien Girl
Karen Norris … Alien Mother

 

Twilight Zone – The Jeopardy Room

★★★★1/2 April 17, 1964 Season 5 Episode 29

If you want to see where we are…HERE is a list of the episodes.

This is another episode in which I’m in the minority. I rated this one a 4 1/2 -star episode though not many have rated it that high. This one is great. It’s not exactly Twilight Zone-ish. You won’t see science fiction in this one. It could be a separate spy show or something out of a James Bond film. Martin Landau plays Major Ivan Kuchenko and he escaped from the Soviet Union to find freedom. He plays a cat and mouse battle between him and his KGB opponent John van Dreelen who plays  Commissar Vassiloff.

You could call this one from a different era… a Cold War film but wait…the era may not be so far gone anymore. Thrilling and suspenseful and worth a watch. It’s one of the highlights of the 5 season. The battle of wills between Kuchenko and Vassiloff is very entertaining. 

IMDB Trivia: One of a handful of TZ episodes that, notably, contains no science fiction or fantasy elements. Others include The Twilight Zone: Dust (1961), The Twilight Zone: The Shelter (1961), and The Twilight Zone: The Silence (1961).

Martin Landau (Major Ivan Kuchenko) later played William Cooper-Janes in The Twilight Zone: The Beacon/One Life, Furnished in Early Poverty (1985).

This show was written by Rod Serling 

Rod Serling’s Opening Narration: 

The cast of characters—a cat and a mouse, this is the latter. The intended victim who may or may not know that he is to die, be it by butchery or ballet. His name is Major Ivan Kuchenko. He has, if events go according to certain plans, perhaps three or four more hours of living. But an ignorance shared by both himself and his executioner, is of the fact that both of them have taken the first step into the Twilight Zone.

Summary

After spending twelve years in a Soviet prison, Major Ivan Kuchenko has fled his homeland and is now in transit in a third country hoping to soon leave and seek asylum in the USA. He is not alone however as Commissar Vassiloff, his torturer during his imprisonment, has caught up with him. Vassilof could easily kill him – he has an assassin with him, Boris – but he decides to give him a chance to walk away. He’s placed a bomb in Kuchenko’s room and he gives the Major 3 hours to find and disarm it. Kuchenko proves himself to be a worthy adversary.

Rod Serling’s Closing Narration:

Major Ivan Kuchenko, on his way West. On his way to freedom: a freedom bought and paid for by a most stunning ingenuity. And exit one Commissar Vassiloff, who forgot that there are two sides to an argument – and two parties on the line. This has been the Twilight Zone.

CAST

Rod Serling … Host / Narrator – Himself
Martin Landau … Major Ivan Kuchenko
John van Dreelen … Commissar Vassiloff
Robert Kelljan … Boris- Vassiloff’s assistant

 

Rolling Stones – Stray Cat Blues

Mick sounds sinister and ominous in this track and the guitar is absolutely filthy. I feel the need for a shower after I listen to it.  It’s raunchy and sleazy…but a great album cut.

I once had a girlfriend and being around me she started to appreciate the Beatles. I thought that was cool because I never pushed them on her…then I played her some Stones. After around a week of listening to Beggars Banquet, she told me…Max, The Beatles seemed to progress so much as they went on…The Stones…they are low rent.

She was paying attention. She didn’t mean that in a bad way but yea…that is the essence of the Stones…showing the seedier side in their songs…and believe me…this song does. As humans…The Beatles could be as nasty but they didn’t usually reflect that in a lot of music…The Stones went out of their way to do so.

Stray Cat Blues is off of my favorite album by the Rolling Stones…Beggars Banquet. Would this song fly today? NO…oh pardon me… let me reword that…HELL NO… It’s hard to believe it flew back in 1968. I could be wrong but I doubt you would hear this on very many classic radio stations today.

Keith Richards is on top of his game in this one. Mick seemed to be testing or provoking audiences with this one.

This was the first album to start the stretch of 5 albums (Beggars Banquet, Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers, Exile on Main Street, and Goats Head Soup) that helped make the Stones what they are today. In 1967 after failing to live up to Sgt Pepper with Their Satanic Majesties Request (although I do like that album) they came back retooled with a new producer Jimmy Miller

The Stones got back doing what they do best…playing country rock blues…although with a different sound than Little Red Rooster. A weary Brian Jones was still in the band at this time and contributed to all but two songs…but it’s mostly Keith on guitar. Brian, because of the state he was in, was used more as a touch-up artist…filling in some holes with sitar, tambura, guitar,  blues harp, and mellotron. It would also be the last studio album Brian would work on.

I’ve always related Beggars Banquet to the White Album. They were both released in 1968 and both were raw and honest. No studio trickery with either…a big departure from the psychedelic era of 1967.

The album peaked at #5 in the Billboard Album Charts, #3 in the UK, and #3 in Canada in 1969.

The lyrics were bad enough with I can see that you’re fifteen years old/
No I don’t want your I.D…. when playing it live on the 69 tour it became I can see that you’re thirteen years old/ No I don’t want your I.D. Mick seemed to be jabbing and provoking seeing how much he could get by with.

When you listen to it I would suggest the studio version. Many of the nuances are lost in this live version. I always try to pick a live version around the time they made the song but this one is not the best I heard.

Cat Scratch Blues

I hear the click-clack of your feet on the stairs
I know you’re no scare-eyed honey
There’ll be a feast if you just come upstairs
But it’s no hanging matter
It’s no capital crime

I can see that you’re fifteen years old
No I don’t want your I.D.
And I’ve seen that you’re so far from home
But it’s no hanging matter
It’s no capital crime

Oh yeah, you’re a strange stray cat
Oh yeah, don’tcha scratch like that
Oh yeah, you’re a strange stray cat
Bet your mama don’t know you scream like that
I bet your mother don’t know you can spit like that.

You look so weird and you’re so far from home
But you don’t really miss your mother
Don’t look so scared I’m no mad-brained bear
But it’s no hanging matter
It’s no capital crime
Oh, yeah
Woo!

I bet your mama don’t know that you scratch like that
I bet she don’t know you can bite like that

You say you got a friend, that she’s wilder than you
Why don’t you bring her upstairs
If she’s so wild then she can join in too
It’s no hanging matter
It’s no capital crime

Oh yeah, you’re a strange stray cat
Oh yeah, don’tcha scratch like that
Oh yeah, you’re a strange stray cat
I bet you mama don’t know you can bite like that
I’ll bet she never saw you scratch my back

Twilight Zone – Caesar and Me

★★★1/2 April 10, 1964 Season 5 Episode 28

If you want to see where we are…HERE is a list of the episodes.

This is the second Twilight Zone with a ventriloquist’s dummy that is smarter than his ventriloquist. The episode though doesn’t build the same mystery about the dummy as The Dummy does. Jackie Cooper plays Jonathan West a down-on-his-luck ventriloquist who has no friend but Caesar…the dummy. You do feel some sympathy with this character, but he is far too naive. The trouble starts when Caesar manipulates Jonathan into performing several robberies instead of finding honest work while they are waiting for their big break.

The vicious character in this story is the little girl named Susan played by Suzanne Cupito. She would later play  Katherine Wentworth in Dallas. She started out as an insufferable little  know it all but ended up as evil as the Caesar. This is the only episode of the series written by a woman. Adele T. Strassfield was the secretary of William Froug, the producer of the second half of the final season of The Twilight Zone.

It was a good episode and an improvement over the previous episode Sounds and Silences. 

IMDB Trivia: The ventriloquist’s dummy is a reuse of the one created for The Twilight Zone: The Dummy (1962). It was modeled on George Murdock, one of that episode’s guest stars.

Jackie Cooper’s name previously appeared on a poster for the film O’Shaughnessy’s Boy (1935), in which he starred, in The Twilight Zone: The Incredible World of Horace Ford (1963).

This show was written by Rod Serling and Adele T. Strassfield

Rod Serling’s Opening Narration: 

Jonathan West, ventriloquist, a master of voice manipulation. A man, late of Ireland, with a talent for putting words into other peoples’ mouths. In this case, the other person is a dummy, aptly named Caesar, a small splinter with large ideas, a wooden tyrant with a mind and a voice of his own, who is about to talk Jonathan West – into the Twilight Zone.

Summary

Ventriloquist Jonathan West isn’t having much luck finding a job. He’s gone to several auditions but no one has taken him on. He’s falling behind in his rent and is now getting to the point where he’s running out of things to pawn. He has to put up with the taunts of young Susan, the landlady’s niece. He’s also talking to his dummy, Caesar, who has advice for him on how to get ahead. It’s not very good advice however.

Rod Serling’s Closing Narration:

A little girl and a wooden doll. A lethal dummy in the shape of a man. But everybody knows dummies can’t talk – unless, of course, they learn their vocabulary in the Twilight Zone.

CAST

Rod Serling … Host / Narrator – Himself
Jackie Cooper … Jonathan West / voice of Caesar
Suzanne Cupito (Morgan Brittany) … Susan
Sarah Selby … Mrs. Cudahy
Stafford Repp … Pawnbroker
Don Gazzaniga … Detective
Kenneth Konopka … Mr. Miller
Sidney Marion … Watchman
Robert McCord … Man Watching Audition
Olan Soule … Mr. Smiles

Dave Clark Five – Glad All Over

I first found out about the Dave Clark Five in the early eighties. One of my friend’s dads grew up during the sixties and I found this band and Buffalo Springfield in his record collection.

The drums in this song are sharp and loud. Those two beats after “Glad All Over” hooks me every time. They had such a huge sound.

They were the first British Invasion band that had a hit in America after The Beatles. The song has a huge loud sound to it. The single charted at #6 in the Billboard 100, #2 in Canada, and #1 in the UK in 1964. Dave Clark and Mike Smith wrote this song. Smith came across a song called “Glad All Over” by Carl Perkins and wrote a new song with the same title.

The song also knocked I Want To Hold Your Hand out of the number one position in the UK charts.

After the Beatles were on Ed Sullivan… Ed wanted the Dave Clark Five. Sullivan thought a lot of the band and had them back on the show 11 more times. Getting them on the show the first time proved a challenge. The show wasn’t broadcast in England, so Clark had never heard of it and turned down the offer. When Sullivan’s producer called back offering a substantial payment, he convinced his bandmates to make the trip.

Bruce Springsteen has mentioned that the Dave Clark Five was a big influence. The group was huge…they ended up with 24 songs in the top 100, 7 songs in the top 10, and one #1 record with “Over and Over.”

After the group broke up in 1970 Dave Clark became a media mogul and also wrote, produced, and directed.

Lead vocalist Mike Smith wrote this song. He was looking through the Carl Perkins catalog and found a song named Glad All Over…he took the title.

Mike Smith: “We had lost out on ‘Do You Love Me’ to Brian Poole and so Dave (Clark) thought we should do an original. He asked me to come up with something and I looked through my record collection for a suitable title.”

Dave Clark: “I knew that we needed a song with the thumps in. we had been playing dance halls and we were getting a great audience response to the stomping things we were doing.”

“I went to Alexander Palace once, and saw a big band called The Eric Delaney Band. On the front of the stage, he had these timpanis. He came off the drums at the back and played these timpanis, and it was quite amazing. It was showmanship. That’s always stuck in my mind. It wasn’t very clever l, what he was doing, but it was dynamite, the crowd loved it. That was a big influence.”

Glad All Over

You say that you love me (say you love me)
All of the time (all of the time)
You say that you need me (say you need me)
You’ll always be mine (always be mine)

I’m feelin’ glad all over
Yes I’m-a glad all over
Baby I’m glad all over
So glad you’re mine

I’ll make you happy (make you happy)
You’ll never be blue (never be blue)
You’ll have no sorrow (have no sorrow)
Cause I’ll always be true (always be true)

And I’m feelin’ glad all over
Yes I’m-a glad all over
Baby I’m-a glad all over
So glad you’re mine

Other girls may try to take me away (take me away)
But you know, it’s by your side I will stay
I’ll stay

Our love will last now (our love will last)
Till the end of time (end of time)
Because this love now (because this love)
Is gonna be yours and mine (yours and mine)

And I’m feelin’ glad all over
Yes I’m-a glad all over
Baby I’m glad all over
So glad you’re mine

Other girls may try to take me away (take me away)
But you know, it’s by your side I will stay
I’ll stay

All of our lives now (all of our lives)
Till the end of time (end of time)
Because this love now (because this love)
Is only yours and mine (yours and mine)

And I’m feelin’ glad all over
Yes I’m-a glad all over
Baby I’m-a glad all over
So glad you’re mine

I’m so glad you’re mine now
I’m so, I’m so glad you’re mine
I’m-a so glad you’re mine now
Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa

Small Faces – Lazy Sunday

The Small Faces were indeed small… all of them were between 5’4″ and 5’6.” They would later grow when the taller Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood joined and they became the Faces.

Lazy Sunday came off the classic album  Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake. The Small Faces didn’t intend to release this song. Steve Marriott was against his manager Andrew Loog Oldham’s decision to release this as a single and that was one reason why he left the group shortly afterward to be replaced by Stewart. The band didn’t take the song seriously and made it into a joke. Steve sang some of the voices with a cockney accent.

They were touring Germany and they picked up a music paper and saw it was not only released but a hit. Steve wanted a tougher image for the band, and this was more of a novelty pop song.

This song is not a good example, but Steve Marriott may have had the best voice of all his peers. Robert Plant and Paul Rodgers have cited Marriott as an influence. Personally, I would take him over those two and that is saying a lot.

The Small Faces also recorded this critically acclaimed concept psychedelic album in 1968 with their new record company Immediate Records. They never followed it up and only performed it once live in its entirety on a television show called Colour Me Pop. It spent 6 weeks at number one on the UK Album Charts.

Lazy Sunday peaked at #2 in the UK, #42 in Canada, and #114 in the Billboard 100.

This song was written by Steve Marriott. Marriott and Ronnie Lane did most of the writing. Their songs were clever and catchy. This band should have been bigger than they were… With the right record label, manager and push, they might have broken through.

Kenney Jones: “Steve had been a child actor, he was the first Artful Dodger in Lionel Bart’s Oliver in the West End. He brought back that theatricality to this.”

Ian McLagan: “When Steve came in with this it was slower. We started taking the piss out of it while he was out of the room. The ‘Root-ti-doo-ti-di-day’ thing stop and he laughed when he came back in and heard us. So we cut it like that. It was a piss take!”

Lazy Sunday

A-wouldn’t it be nice to get on with me neighbours?
But they make it very clear, yhey’ve got no room for ravers
They stop me from groovin’, they bang on me wall
They doing me crust in, it’s no good at all, ah
Lazy Sunday afternoon
I’ve got no mind to worry
I close my eyes and drift away-a
Here we all are sittin’ in a rainbow
Gor blimey, hello Mrs. Jones, how’s old Bert’s lumbago? (he mustn’t grumble)
(Tweedle-dee) I’ll sing you a song with no words and no tune (twiddly-dee)
To sing in the khazi while you suss out the moon, oh yeah
Lazy Sunday afternoon, I’ve got no mind to worry
Close my eyes and drift away-a

Root-de-doo-de-doo, a-root-de-doot-de-doy-di
A-root-de-doot-de-dum, a-ree-de-dee-de-doo-dee (doo-doo, doo-doo)
There’s no one to hear me, there’s nothing to say
And no one can stop me from feeling this way, yeah
Lazy Sunday afternoon
I’ve got no mind to worry
Close my eyes and drift away
Lazy Sunday afternoon
I’ve got no mind to worry
Close my eyes and drift a-
Close my mind and drift away, close my eyes and drift away

Twilight Zone – Sounds and Silences

★★  April 3, 1964 Season 5 Episode 27

If you want to see where we are…HERE is a list of the episodes.

EXACTLY on April 3, 1964…58 years ago today, this episode was aired for the first time. I wish it would have been a better episode that lined up with the current date. This is a light episode, not one of the great ones. The main character (Roswell G. Flemington) is not likable but played well by John McGiver. He is a very loud man because his mom made him be quiet all of his childhood.

You feel for his long-suffering wife played by Penny Singleton. All that said, the film has some funny moments at the expense of Roswell, particularly his employees talking among themselves about him when he isn’t around. He expects the world to put up with his very loud ways. The episode is harmless enough, but it doesn’t get off the ground. It can be taxing to get through.

On May 1961, a script was submitted to Serling entitled The Sound of Silence, concerning a man who could not hear the sounds around him. Serling rejected it, then forgot all about it. Two years later, he wrote Sounds and Silences. As soon as it aired, the writer of the original script filed suit. Because of the similarities in title and plot, the writer was paid $3500 and the matter was settled. Unfortunately, because the suit was in litigation when Twilight Zone was put into syndication, Sounds and Silences was not included. The episode was aired only once and then put away in the CBS vaults.
.

IMDB Trivia: Shortly after the airing, a writer came up with a lawsuit claiming his script and title was used. It was settled with him receiving $3500 but litigation prevented it from being included in syndication for a time.

The first “sound effect” record played by John McGiver is actually a 78RPM disc on the Deltone label called “You Won’t Believe Your Eyes” sung by Ina Massine. Ina Massine isn’t a real singer; it was Kathryn Grayson’s character name in the 1951 film “Grounds for Marriage.” This Rodgers and Hart song (real title, “Wait Till You See Him”) was recorded for the movie but not used. This record must have been a leftover prop.

Mrs. Flemington is portrayed by Penny Singleton, who is perhaps best known for portraying Blondie Bumstead from the “Blondie!'” movies of the 1930s and 1940s, that were based on the comic strip created by Chic Young. Penny also provided the voice of Jane Jetson on “The Jetsons” (1962).

This show was written by Rod Serling 

Rod Serling’s Opening Narration: 

This is Roswell G. Flemington, two hundred and twenty pounds of gristle, lung tissue and sound decibels. He is, as you have perceived, a noisy man, one of a breed who substitutes volume for substance, sound for significance, and shouting to cover up the readily apparent phenomenon that he is nothing more than an overweight and aging perennial Sea Scout whose noise-making is in inverse ratio to his competence and to his character. But soon our would-be admiral of the fleet will embark on another voyage. This one is an unchartered and twisting stream that heads for a distant port called the Twilight Zone.

Summary

Rosswell G. Flemington owns a model ship company and loves everything nautical. That’s not his problem, however: he likes everything to be loud. He speaks at the top of his lungs, bellowing commands to his staff. He plays his phonograph records – his favorites include the sound of jets flying off the deck of the USS Hornet – as loud as possible, something that leads his wife to leave him. He’s not prepared for what happens to him in the Twilight Zone however

Rod Serling’s Closing Narration:

When last heard from, Mr. Roswell G. Flemington was in a sanitarium pleading with the medical staff to make some noise. They, of course, believe the case to be a rather tragic aberration – a man’s mind becoming unhinged. And for this they’ll give him pills, therapy, and rest. Little do they realize that all Mr. Flemington is suffering from is a case of poetic justice. Tonight’s tale of sounds and silences from the Twilight Zone.

CAST

Rod Serling … Host / Narrator – Himself
John McGiver … Roswell G. Flemington
Penny Singleton … Mrs. Lydia Flemington
Billy Benedict … Conklin
Francis De Sales … Doctor
Michael Fox … Psychiatrist

 

Beatles – I’ve Got A Feeling

I’m glad the Let It Be album is getting a new life because of the Get back film.   It’s not Revolver by any means but it was never meant to be. Let It Be started off as an album that would feature minimum overdubs and get back to playing as a band. I’ve Got A Feeling is a mix of two unfinished songs, Paul McCartney’s “I’ve Got a Feeling” and John Lennon’s “Everybody Had a Hard Year.”

John Lennon did have a hard year. He got divorced, battled heroin addiction, police drug raid, Yoko had suffered a miscarriage and he was convicted of drug possession.

John had worked on this song earlier. After meeting with Paul at his St. John’s Wood home in London sometime in December of 1968 to merge both of their songs into one, John met with the others at Twickenham Studios on January 2nd, 1969, with an arrangement that was already formulated, right down to the synchronized vocals of both composers in the final verse. All that was left was to finalize the arrangement with George and Ringo and to rehearse it repeatedly before it was ready to record.

The Beatles recorded this live on the Apple rooftop, which was used in their movie, Let It Be. John Lennon’s guitar sounds downright nasty and George’s compliments that sound with clean licks off of his Fender.

The Let It Be album peaked at #1 in the Billboard Album Charts, Canada, and The UK in 1970.

The version of I’ve Got a Feeling which was released on Let It Be was recorded during the rooftop concert. The studio take was released on the 1996 Anthology 3. Let It Be… Naked, which was a remix album that came out in 2003, patched two different rooftop concert takes.

I would have loved to hear Elvis do a cover of this song…but I can’t imagine him singing the “wet dream” part but it would have been interesting.

Pearl Jam also did a version of this song.

I’ve Got A Feeling

I’ve got a feeling, a feeling deep inside
Oh yeah, oh yeah.
I’ve got a feeling, a feeling I can’t hide
Oh no, oh no, oh no.
Yeah, I’ve got a feeling.

Oh please believe me, I’d hate to miss the train
Oh yeah, oh yeah.
And if you leave me I won’t be late again
Oh no, oh no, oh no.
Yeah, I’ve got a feeling, yeah.

All these years I’ve been wandering around,
Wondering how come nobody told me
All that I was looking for was somebody
Who looked like you.

I’ve got a feeling, that keeps me on my toes
Oh yeah, oh yeah.

I’ve got a feeling, I think that everybody knows
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah.
Yeah, yeah, I’ve got a feeling, yeah.
Yeah

Ev’rybody had a hard year
Ev’rybody had a good time
Ev’rybody had a wet dream,
Ev’rybody saw the sunshine
Oh yeah, oh yeah.

Ev’rybody had a good year,
Ev’rybody let their hair down,
Ev’rybody pulled their socks up,
Ev’rybody put their foot down.
Oh yeah, oh yeah.

Yeah I’ve got a feeling
A feeling deep inside
Oh yeah, oh yeah.

I’ve got a feeling, a feeling I can’t hide
Oh no
Oh no no no

Yeah yeah yeah yeah
I’ve got a feeling
I’ve got a feeling

…

Twilight Zone – I Am the Night – Color Me Black

★★★★★ March 27, 1964 Season 5 Episode 26

If you want to see where we are…HERE is a list of the episodes.

IMDB has this one rated with 7.4 out of 10. I think it should have been rated much higher. It is an excellent and powerful episode so I’m giving it 5 stars. A thought-provoking episode that is very original. Rod Serling wrote this and he lashed out at hatred in this episode. It was made only 4 months after JFK was assassinated. I rate this a 5 not because of the action or sci-fi…but it makes you think. The best Twilight Zones do that.  Some might not like it because it is very dark. 

Serling describes darkness covering various areas of the world simultaneously in reference to the evil happenings of the era. It’s a powerful message about a human sickness that all of us can learn and grow from. It was such a great concept to have the sunlight go away and to have total darkness brought on by hate. Maybe it is an act of God that’s being spurred on by men. 

George Lindsey (Goober off of the Andy Griffith Show) plays a backwoods redneck policeman in this one. Michael Constantine plays the sheriff who feels guilty about what is going on and realizes the mistakes that he and everyone else has made. Ivan Dixon plays the Reverend Anderson and he and Constantine are the stars of this episode. The acting, writing, and lessons are great in this one. 

IMDB Trivia: This episode takes place on May 25, 1964.

Ivan Dixon (Reverend) previously starred in The Twilight Zone: The Big Tall Wish (1960).

This show was written by Rod Serling 

Rod Serling’s Opening Narration: 

Sheriff Charlie Koch on the morning of an execution. As a matter of fact, it’s seven-thirty in the morning. Logic and natural laws dictate that at this hour there should be daylight. It is a simple rule of physical science that the sun should rise at a certain moment and supersede the darkness. But at this given moment, Sheriff Charlie Koch, a deputy named Pierce, a condemned man named Jagger, and a small, inconsequential village will shortly find out that there are causes and effects that have no precedent. Such is usually the case—in the Twilight Zone.

Summary

In a small town, a man by the name of Jagger is about to be executed after being found guilty of murder. The local newspaperman, Colbey, is convinced that Jagger is innocent. He accuses Deputy Pierce of having perjured himself to get a conviction and accuses Sheriff Charlie Koch of just plain laziness in investigating the case. As the morning of his execution arrives, the townsfolk realize that the sun hasn’t risen that day. They soon begin to understand the cause of the darkness that surrounds them.

SPOILER WARNING WITH VIDEO

 

Rod Serling’s Closing Narration:

A sickness known as hate. Not a virus, not a microbe, not a germ—but a sickness nonetheless, highly contagious, deadly in its effects. Don’t look for it in the Twilight Zone—look for it in a mirror. Look for it before the light goes out altogether.

CAST

Rod Serling … Host / Narrator – Himself
Michael Constantine … Sheriff Charlie Koch
Paul Fix … Colbey
George Lindsey … Deputy Pierce
Ivan Dixon … the Reverend Anderson
Terry Becker … Jagger
Eve McVeagh … Ella
Douglas Bank … Man
Russell Custer … Townsman
Elizabeth Harrower … Woman
Michael Jeffers … Deputy
Robert McCord … Townsman
Ward Wood … Man

 

Janis Joplin – Ball and Chain

I always thought Janis had the voice of a songbird. A cigarette smoking and Southern Comfort drinking songbird…but a songbird all the same. Janis and Aretha Franklin are my two favorite female artists of all time. They put every ounce of themselves into their songs. They cheated no one.

I first heard this song on Janis Joplin’s Greatest Hits. I bought the album for the song Me and Bobby McGee and I found out I liked every song on the album. Unlike other singers I listened to at that time…Janis left everything on the field so to speak. That is the same quality I liked about Bruce Springsteen later.

Ball and Chain was written and originally recorded by a blues singer named Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton, who recorded the original version of “Hound Dog.” Thornton was introduced to church music at an early age. A skilled singer, songwriter, dancer, self-taught drummer, and harmonica player.

Janis’s big break came at the Monterey Pop Festival singing this song. She would go on to sing it at Woodstock also. It was on the album by Big Brother and the Holding Company called Cheap Thrills released in 1968. With the help of their appearance at Monterey, the album peaked at #1 in the Billboard Album charts for 8 consecutive weeks.

This was their breakthrough album. The album was supposed to be called Sex, Dope and Cheap Thrills; Columbia nixed it. The album ended up being the band’s last album with Joplin, who left by the end of the year to launch a solo career.

The cover was designed by legendary artist Robert Crumb. He didn’t care for Big Brother too much but liked Janis.

Cheap Thrills [LP] VINYL - Best Buy

Robert Crumb: “She was a swell gal and a very talented singer. Ever heard any of this pre-Big Brother stuff she recorded? She was great. Then she got together with those idiots. The main problem with Big Brother was they were amateur musicians trying to play psychedelic rock and be heavy and you listen to it now and it’s bad… just embarrassing.”

“She wasn’t nationally known yet. I remember going to see her at the Avalon Ballroom and you could tell right away that she had an exceptional voice and she would go far. She started out singing old time blues like Bessie Smith. She was kind of a folknik originally.“

 “Janis had played with earlier bands just playing country blues and it was much better. Way, way better. She’s singing well, not screaming, not playing to the audience that wanted to watch her sweat blood. In the beginning she was just an authentic, genuine Texas country-girl shouter.”

Ball and Chain

Sitting down by my window
Honey, looking out at the rain
Sitting down by my window, looking out at the rain
All around that I felt it
All I can see was the rain
Something grabbed a hold of me
Feel to me, oh, like a ball and chain
Hey, you know what I mean that’s exactly what it felt like
But that’s way too heavy for you, you can’t hold them all

And I say, oh, whoa, whoa, oh, that cannot be
Just because I got oh, your love, please
Why does every
Oh, this can’t be just because I got to need you, daddy
Please don’t you knock it down now, please
Here you’ve gone today
What I wanted to love you and I wanted to hold you, yeah, till the day I die
Yes, I did, yes, I did, yeah, hey, hey, alright

Say, whoa, whoa, whoa, honey
This can’t be anything I’ve ever wanted from your daddy tell me now
Oh, tell me, baby
Oh, say, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, honey
This can’t be, no, no, no, no, no
Yeah, yeah
I hope there’s someone out there who could tell me
Tell me why just because I got to want your love
Honey, just because I got to need, need, need, need your love
I said I understand
Honey, what I’m wanna trying to say hi
Trying, try, try, try, try, try, try
Honey, everybody in the world, also same, baby
When everybody in the world what needs, seem lonely
What I wanted work for your love, daddy
What I wanted trust your love, daddy
I din’t understand how come you’re gone
I don’t understand why half the world is still crying, man
And the other half of the world is still crying too, man
I can’t get it together
I mean if you go to ? Oneday, man
I mean, so baby, you want ? Three and sixty five days, right
You ain’t gonna within sixty five days, you gonna for one day, man
I tell you, that one day, man, better be your life, man
Because you know, you can stay oh man, you can cry about the other three and sixty four, man I said whoa, whoa, whoa
But you gonna lose that one day, man
That’s all you got, you got to call it love, man
That’s what it is, man
If you got today, you don’t worry about tomorrow, man
Because you don’t need it
Because the matter of the fact, as we discovered tat’s rain, tomorrow never happens, man
It’s all the same fucking day, man

So you gotta when you want to hold someone
You gotta hold them like it’s the last minutes of your life
You gotta hold, hold, hold and I say, oh, whoa, whoa, now babe, tell me why
Hold, baby, ’cause some come on your shoulder, baby
It’s gonna feel too heavy, it’s gonna weigh on you why does every thing, every thing
It’s gonna feel just like a ball
Oh, daddy and a chain

Twilight Zone – The Masks

★★★★★ March 20, 1964 Season 5 Episode 25

If you want to see where we are…HERE is a list of the episodes.

Rod Serling wrote this episode and it is a bonafide classic. This is one of the episodes I point out to people who have never seen The Twilight Zone. I love some great Twilight Zone justice and this has it. A dying wealthy older man invites his awful family (his daughter Emily, her husband Wilfred, and children Paula & Wilfred Jr.) down to visit and for a party. He makes each of them wear a mask that reflects who they are until midnight. They do not want to wear the masks but he makes it clear, if they don’t wear the masks they will not get anything when he dies. “That is indeed the most touching thing you ever dredged up by way of conversation, Wilfred. But I must include this addendum, this small proviso: You shall wear your masks until midnight. If anyone of you should take them off, from my estate, you shall each receive train fare back to Boston, and that’s it!”

This is one of those perfect episodes. The narration, writing, and acting come together perfectly. The star of it was Robert Keith who played Jason Foster. He is dying and his lines to his family in this episode are cutting but well deserved. This was the only episode of the series to be directed by a woman, Ida Lupino. She previously played Barbara Jean Trenton in the episode The Sixteen-Millimeter Shrine. The famous actress Lupino would end up with 42 director credits to go along with her 105 acting ones. 

Here are a few of his quotes

You’ve been at death’s door so often it’s a wonder you haven’t worn a hole in the mat. 

You know, Wilfred, I think the only book you ever read was a ledger. I think if someone cut you open, they would find a cash register.

Well, that’s friendly of you to tell me that, considering that you haven’t seen me yet. All you’ve seen is your mirror image.

This show was written by Rod Serling 

Rod Serling’s Opening Narration: 

Mr. Jason Foster, a tired ancient who on this particular Mardi Gras evening will leave the Earth. But before departing, he has some things to do, some services to perform, some debts to pay—and some justice to mete out. This is New Orleans, Mardi Gras time. It is also the Twilight Zone.

Summary

When his doctor tells him that he could die at any moment, the wealthy Jason Foster gathers his heirs including his daughter Emily Harper, her husband Wilfred and their children Paula and Wilfred Jr. Jason doesn’t think much of any of them and it’s clear they can’t wait to get their hands on his fortune. It’s Mardi Gras time in New Orleans and he has one last request – for each of them to wear a carnival mask. Each of the masks is meant to reflect some aspect of their personality – and leave a lasting impression on them.

Rod Serling’s Closing Narration:

Mardi Gras incident, the dramatis personae being four people who came to celebrate and in a sense let themselves go. This they did with a vengeance. They now wear the faces of all that was inside them—and they’ll wear them for the rest of their lives, said lives now to be spent in shadow. Tonight’s tale of men, the macabre and masks, on the Twilight Zone.

CAST

Rod Serling … Narrator / Self – Host (uncredited)
Robert Keith…Jason Foster
Milton Selzer…Wilfred Harper
Virginia Gregg…Emily Harper
Brooke Hayward…Paula Harper
Alan Sues…Wilfred Harper Jr.
Willis Bouchey…Dr. Samuel Thorne
Bill Walker…Jeffrey The Butler
Maidie Norman…Maid

Lovin’ Spoonful – You Didn’t Have to Be So Nice

The Lovin’ Spoonful’s songs seem so effortlessly written and performed. They were popular for a short while in the mid-sixties. They influenced many bands including The Beatles who released Good Day Sunshine as a nod to The Lovin’ Spoonful’s song Daydream.

In the 1980s I really got into this band. I purchased one of their many greatest hits. I first heard of John Sebastian in the 70s when he wrote and sang the theme song of  TV show Welcome Back Cotter called “Welcome Back” which went to #1.

They were considered by TV producers to be in a television show but they were dropped over a conflict of song publishing rights. After an audition process, the producers figured it was more trouble than they expected. For one thing, the Spoonful were writing their own music at this point, and the show was not interested in giving up the publishing rights to the songs written for the show, so it really did not make sense for either party, and the producers instead turned to open auditions for the show. The Monkees were found soon after that. 

Brian Wilson said this song influenced one of the Beach Boys’ best songs…God Only Knows. The group was only active from 1965 to 1968, which John Sebastian described as “two glorious years and a tedious one.” John Sebastian wrote the majority of their songs. He had a #1 hit as a solo artist in 1976 with “Welcome Back,” the theme song to the TV series Welcome Back, Kotter.

This song was written by John Sebastian and bassist Steve Boone.

Lovin’ Spoonful played what they called “jug band” music and like the Rascals, they were more of a singles band than an album band. In 1967 Zal Yanovsky left the band citing musical differences. In 1968 Sebastian left for a solo career and the band carried on until 1969 without a significant hit.

The song peaked at #10 in the Billboard 100 and #4 in Canada in 1965.

John Sebastian:  “We started off in a world of 45 singles, so our only game still was three minutes of heaven every time out. That was all. We thought of it as four-man Phil Spector music. We wanted it to have that big quality, but we didn’t want to hire the Wrecking Crew.”

“Our producer Eric Jacobsen understood something about this funny hybrid that we were working on,” “Things like the chimes on ‘You Didn’t Have to Be So Nice’ were our attempts at creating that kind of vibe: harmonica, slide whistles and penny whistles. I hate calling it folk-rock. They called The Byrds folk-rock and then they were too lazy to come up with something else for our band, but we weren’t really drawing from the Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan catalog. It was a time of a lot of seriousness, and a lot of fake seriousness and people talking about Important Things. And Loving Spoonful didn’t really go for that. We were just trying to entertain.”

You Didn’t Have To Be So Nice

You didn’t have to be so nice
I would have liked you anyway
If you had just looked once or twice
And gone upon your quiet way

Today I said the time was right for me to follow you
I knew I’d find you in a day or two
And it’s true

You came upon a quiet day (ooh)
You simply seemed to take your place (ooh)
I knew that it would be that way (ooh)
The minute that I saw your face (ooh)

And when we’ve had a few more days (when we’ve had a few more days)
I wonder if I’ll get to say (wonder if I’ll get to say)
You didn’t have to be so nice (be so nice)
I would have liked you anyway (would have liked)

Today I said the time was right for me to follow you
I knew I’d find you in a day or two
And it’s true

You didn’t have to be so nice (didn’t have to be so nice)
I would have liked you anyway (would have liked you anyway)
If you had just looked once or twice (once or twice)
And gone upon your quiet way (quiet way)

Ventures – Walk Don’t Run

Walk Don’t Run is one of my favorite instrumentals right along Sleep Walk, Green Onions, and a few others. When I learned to play this on guitar, I was on cloud nine. Johnny Smith wrote this song and was the first one to record it. Chet Atkins along with many artists covered this but the song is best remembered by The Ventures.

This song got a push in The Ventures native Seattle when a local radio DJ used it to lead into every newscast. The Ventures first released this song in 1960 and it peaked at #11 in the Billboard 100. After this song, it kicked their career in high gear. The band had 14 singles in the Billboard Hot 100. With over 100 million records sold, the Ventures are the best-selling instrumental band of all time.

Numerous musicians credit the Ventures with helping them learn their instrument, including Anthrax, the B-52s, Jeff “Skunk” Baxter, Dire Straits, Dave Edmunds, Adam Ant, Mick Fleetwood, Aerosmith’s Joe Perry, Johnny Ramone, Jello Biafra, Keith Moon, Gene Simmons, Jimmy Page, Toulouse Engelhardt, Jim Diamond, Chris Spedding, Insect Surfers, Black Train, Gary Pig Gold, Al Di Meola, and Max Weinberg.

In 1964, The Ventures released an updated version called “Walk Don’t Run ’64, which also made the Top 10 in the US. In addition to their 1960 and 1964 versions. They recorded completely new versions in 1968, 1977, 1986, and 2000. “Walk-Don’t Run 77 is a disco track. The 1986 one was sort of a heavy metal version, and the one in 2000 has a sax in it.

They were founded by Bob Bogle and Don Wilson in the 1950s. John Fogerty inducted the Ventures in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008.

Johnny Smith Version

Walk Don’t Run 77

Walk Don’t Run 64

The Original

Walk Don’t Run

Not one lyric…Just dig on the guitar riff.

Twilight Zone – What’s in the Box

★★★1/2 March 13, 1964 Season 5 Episode 24

If you want to see where we are…HERE is a list of the episodes.

Two bickering and unlikable characters star in this episode. Do you want to see the dark side of marriage? Watch this episode. It reminds me of the episode A Most Unusual Camera. It’s almost too close to that episode. Both take place in a high-rise apartment building that features a window. This time it’s a TV, not a camera that after a “repair” shows the near feature in wonderful black and white. 

 William Demarest and Joan Blondell are effective in portraying their characters here, even if neither one is very likable. There is no need for a back story of these two, it’s clear why they fight. Sterling Holloway plays the TV repairman, and you might recognize his voice as Winnie The Pooh. Again, not in the top episodes but certainly not too bad. The next episode coming Wednesday…a classic. 

From IMDB Trivia: Joe Britt is surprised at getting Channel 10. When television began, it was broadcast over the very high frequency (VHF) band of the radio spectrum. The VHF channels were 2-13, but, to avoid interference, a city could not have channels with consecutive numbers, except for 4 and 5 or 5 and 6. Britt lives in New York, which had channels 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, and 13.

While the TV repairman is fixing the television in the first scene, numerous voices can be heard. One of them is Rod Serling saying, “Next time on The Twilight Zone (1959)…”

According to The Twilight Zone Companion, Martin M. Goldsmith was brought in to write an episode of The Twilight Zone, due to his previous collaboration with William Froug on Playhouse 90. And according to William Froug, Martin Goldsmith came up with a notion of a guy looking at his own extramarital activities on TV, and trying to it off before his wife could see it. Martin Goldsmith would disown the episode, saying “I didn’t like it, it lacked all subtlety the way it was done. I think Joan Blondell and William Demarest overplayed it. It was just too broad.”

This show was written by Martin Goldsmith and Rod Serling

Rod Serling’s Opening Narration: 

Portrait of a TV fan. Name: Joe Britt. Occupation: cab driver. Tonight, Mr. Britt is going to watch “a really big show,” something special for the cabbie who’s seen everything. Joe Britt doesn’t know it, but his flag is down and his meter’s running and he’s in high gear—on his way to the Twilight Zone.

Summary

Taxi driver Joe Britt usually makes his way home to his wife Phyllis but theirs is not a happy marriage as they constantly bicker and she accuses him of having a girlfriend. The obnoxious Joe is having his TV fixed but after the repairman leaves, Joe sees himself with his girlfriend in scenes from the recent past. Soon after, he has a glimpse of what will happen in the near future.

Rod Serling’s Closing Narration:

The next time your TV set is on the blink, when you’re in the need of a first-rate repairman, may we suggest our own specialist? Factory-trained, prompt, honest, twenty-four hour service. You won’t find him in the phone book, but his office is conveniently located—in the Twilight Zone.

CAST

Rod Serling … Narrator / Self – Host (uncredited)
Joan Blondell…Phyllis Britt
William Demarest…Joe Britt
Sterling Holloway…TV Repairman
Herbert Lytton…Dr. Saltman
Sandra Gould…Woman On T.V.
Howard Wright…Judge
Douglas Bank…Prosecutor
Ted Christy…The Wild Panther
Robert McCord…Electric Chair Guard
Tony Miller…Announcer
Mitchell Rhein…Neighbour
Ron Stokes…Car Salesman
John L. Sullivan…The Russian Duke