1960s – Page 70 – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

Bobby “Boris” Pickett & the Crypt-Kickers – Monster Mash

Happy Halloween Everyone…

This song was banned by the BBC from their airwaves in 1962 for “being too morbid.”…Really BBC?

Elvis Presley had no sense of humor about this song…he was not a fan and called it the dumbest record he ever heard… this coming from the man who sang Clambake…but I still love Elvis.

The song charted more than once…It peaked at #1 in 1962 in the Billboard 100 and #3 in the UK. It peaked at #91 in 1970 in the Billboard 100. It also charted at #10 in the Billboard 100 in 1973…and again in the UK in 2007 at #60.

Pickett and Lenny Capizzi wrote this song in about two hours. They recorded a demo to tape and brought it to Gary Paxton, lead singer of The Hollywood Argyles (“Alley Oop”). They recorded the song with Paxton and studio musicians Leon Russell, Johnny McCrae and Rickie Page, who were credited as “The Cryptkickers.” Paxton, who is credited as the song’s producer, also added the sound effects.

Paxton put the song out on his Garpax label and distributed it to radio stations around Southern California. The response was overwhelming, as the stations saw their phone banks lighting up with requests for the song. A deal was struck with London Records, who distributed the song worldwide.

From Songfacts

Pickett was a nightclub entertainer who performed with a group called The Cordials. He wrote “Monster Mash” with his friend Lenny Capizzi. They were both big horror movie fans, and Pickett would do an impression of the actor Boris Karloff (known for playing the monster in many Frankenstein movies) during the speaking part of “Little Darlin'” that went over well in his act. As Capizzi played the piano, he and Pickett put together this song with his Karloff impression in mind. They came up with the plot about Frankenstein’s monster starting a dance craze.

The lyrics are based on the story of Frankenstein, which started as a 1818 novel by Mary Shelley and evolved into various film adaptations. In the story, Dr. Frankenstein creates a creature who comes to life, but what he created is a monster. The book is sober tale of regret and unexpected consequences, but the story is often played for comedy. In this song, the monster throws a big dance party, which is enthusiastically attended by many other creatures of lore (Dracula, Wolfman).

Pickett is imitating Boris Karloff, but is narrating the story as Dr. Frankenstein, not the monster that Karloff famously portrayed.

This is a dance song based on the “Mashed Potato” dance craze, which is where The “Mash” in the title comes in.

The original title was “Monster Twist” in an attempt to jump on the Twist craze, but that fad was fading so they tried calling it “Monster Mashed Potato,” then settled on “Monster Mash.”

This being 1962, many of the sound effects had to be created in the studio. The sound effects on the song were done as follows:

The coffin being opened was made by pulling a rusty nail out of a lump of wood with the claw of a hammer.

The bubbling sounds came from blowing through a straw in a glass of water.

The sound of the chains was made by dropping chains onto plywood planks on the record studio floor.

This is arguably the most successful novelty song of all time. Bobby Pickett accomplished the rare feat of reaching the top 100 music chart three times with the same song. On October 20, 1962, the original release hit #1 in the US. The song re-entered the Billboard Hot 100 on August 29, 1970 peaking at #91, and then again on May 5, 1972 when it went all the way to #10. The song has sold over four million copies and continues to be a Halloween favorite.

The song made little impact in the UK until it was re-released there in 1973 and reached #3 on the Singles chart. By this time Boris Pickett was a 32-year-old part time New York cab driver.

Pickett quickly followed up this song with “Monsters’ Holiday,” where the monsters throw a mischievous Christmas party. The song, which was written by Paul Harrison of “Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini” fame, did well, reaching #30 and giving Pickett back-to-back holiday hits in 1962. The following year, he reached #88 with “Graduation Day,” his first entry that wasn’t a novelty song. “The Monster Swim” reached #135 in 1964, which was his last chart appearance until the “Monster Mash” re-issues.

This has been used in several TV shows, including Cheers, The Simpsons and Happy Days. It’s also been used in the movies Halloween III and Sweetheart’s Dance. In 1995, Monster Mash: The Movie was released, starring Pickett as Dr. Frankenstein.

Boris Karloff loved this song. He performed it on a special Halloween edition of the variety show Shindig! on October 30, 1965.

Artists who have covered this song include The Beach Boys (on their first live album – Beach Boys Concert, released in 1964), Misfits, Mannheim Steamroller and Sha-Na-Na. >>

Pickett was diagnosed with leukemia in 2000 and died in 2007. In his autobiography Monster Mash: Half Dead In Hollywood, he wrote: “Gone is that conditioned, morbid fear of physical death. I feel that psychological death is much more grueling and painful. Besides, to quote the great Bela Lugosi as Dracula, ‘To be dead… to be really dead… that must be glorious!’ Poor guy. A vampire’s half-life must really suck.”

Around Halloween in 2004, Pickett re-recorded the song as “Monster Slash.” The new version was a protest against President George W. Bush and his support for logging, mining and other environmental policies Pickett felt were harmful. Sample lyric: “The guests included big timber, big oil, mining magnates and their sons.”

Darlene Love, who sang the holiday favorite “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home),” claims that she was one of the backing singers on this track, which is plausible as she was one of the most popular session singers at the time. Love occasionally performed the song at Bette Midler’s Halloween shows.

The third release for this song in 1973 was a #1 hit in Australia, spending over 20 weeks on the Top 40 charts.

When a novelty song becomes a surprise hit, a hastily produced album typically follows (see: “Pac-Man Fever”). In this case, the album was called The Original Monster Mash and included songs like “Blood Bank Blues,” “Graveyard Shift,” “Transylvania Twist,” “Me And My Mummy” and “Irresistible Igor.”

Pickett extended the “Monster” brand throughout his career. In 1970, he released “Monster Man Jam,” 1973 saw “Monster Concert,” and in 1984 he released the inevitable “Monster Rap.”

Also an actor, Pickett made appearances on T.J. Hooker, Bonanza and The Beverly Hillbillies, and played Dr. Frankenstein in the 1995 film Monster Mash: The Movie, which also starred Candace Cameron and Jimmie Walker.

“Monster Mash” was the nickname of the professional basketball player Jamal Mashburn.

Monster Mash

I was working in the lab, late one night
When my eyes beheld an eerie sight
For my monster from his slab, began to rise
And suddenly to my surprise

He did the mash, he did the monster mash
The monster mash, it was a graveyard smash
He did the mash, it caught on in a flash
He did the mash, he did the monster mash

From my laboratory in the castle east
To the master bedroom where the vampires feast
The ghouls all came from their humble abodes
To get a jolt from my electrodes

They did the mash, they did the monster mash
The monster mash, it was a graveyard smash
They did the mash, it caught on in a flash
They did the mash, they did the monster mash

The zombies were having fun, the party had just begun
The guests included Wolfman, Dracula, and his son

The scene was rockin’, all were digging the sounds
Igor on chains, backed by his baying hounds
The coffin-bangers were about to arrive
With their vocal group, ‘The Crypt-Kicker Five’

They played the mash, they played the monster mash
The monster mash, it was a graveyard smash
They played the mash, it caught on in a flash
They played the mash, they played the monster mash

Out from his coffin’, Drac’s voice did ring
Seems he was troubled by just one thing
He opened the lid and shook his fist and said
“Whatever happened to my Transylvania Twist?

It’s now the mash, it’s now the monster mash
The monster mash, it was graveyard smash
It’s now the mash, it caught on in a flash
It’s now the mash, it’s now the monster mash

Now everything’s cool, Drac’s a part of the band
And my Monster Mash is the hit of the land
For you, the living this mash was meant too
When you get to my door, tell them Boris sent you

Then you can mash, then you can monster mash
The monster mash and do my graveyard smash
Then you can mash, you’ll catch on in a flash
Then you can mash, then you can monster mash

Mash good!
Easy, Igor, you impetuous young boy
Mash good! Grrr!

The Who – Boris The Spider

This was Jimi Hendrix’s favorite song of The Who…which didn’t amuse Pete.

This was the first Who song written by bass player, John Entwistle. Pete Townshend asked him to write a song for their second album…A Quick One. A common story about the song is that “Boris the Spider” was written after John had been out drinking with Bill Wyman. They were making up funny names for animals when Entwistle came up with Boris the Spider.

The song became a huge concert favorite because it was so fun and offset many of their more serious songs. Also, the popularity of the song eventually wore off on Entwistle himself, and he began ritualistically wearing a spider medallion on stage.

Pete Townshend had this to say about the song: Politics or my own shaky vanity might be the reason, but ‘Boris The Spider’ was never released as a single and should have been a hit. It was the most-requested song we ever played on stage, and if this really means anything to you guitar players, it was Hendrix’s favorite Who song. Which rubbed me up well the wrong way, I can tell you. John introduced us to ‘Boris’ in much the same way as I introduced us to our ‘Generation;’ through a tape recorder. We assembled in John’s three by ten-foot bedroom and listened incredulously as the strange and haunting chords emerged. Laced with words about the slightly gruesome death of a spider, the song had enough charm to send me back to my pad writing hits furiously.”

From Songfacts

Entwistle was afraid of spiders as a kid. He wrote this about seeing a spider crawling from the ceiling and squishing it.

Entwistle wrote this as a joke, but it became a concert favorite. It is a fun song that offset many of the more serious Who songs.

This was the only song from the album that they continued to play live.

In the UK, the album was called A Quick One. It was changed to Happy Jack in the US to avoid being offensive.

After he wrote this, Entwistle started wearing a spider medallion at concerts.

Boris The Spider

Look, he’s crawling up my wall
Black and hairy, very small
Now he’s up above my head
Hanging by a little thread

Boris the spider
Boris the spider

Now he’s dropped on to the floor
Heading for the bedroom door
Maybe he’s as scared as me
Where’s he gone now, I can’t see

Boris the spider
Boris the spider

Creepy, crawly
Creepy, crawly
Creepy, creepy, crawly, crawly
Creepy, creepy, crawly, crawly
Creepy, creepy, crawly, crawly
Creepy, creepy, crawly, crawly

There he is wrapped in a ball
Doesn’t seem to move at all
Perhaps he’s dead, I’ll just make sure
Pick this book up off the floor

Boris the spider
Boris the spider

Creepy, crawly
Creepy, crawly
Creepy, creepy, crawly, crawly
Creepy, creepy, crawly, crawly
Creepy, creepy, crawly, crawly
Creepy, creepy, crawly, crawly

He’s come to a sticky end
Don’t think he will ever mend
Never more will he crawl ’round
He’s embedded in the ground

Boris the spider
Boris the spider

Rolling Stones – Sympathy For The Devil

Since Halloween is coming upon us I thought I would feature a few songs referencing the normal culprits throughout the week.

When I was a teenager the song spooked me a bit…and still does. It’s powerful and dynamic with its samba beat. Mick Jagger has said this is about the dark side of man, not a celebration of Satanism. It does, in fact, show the dark side…the lines that stand out to me are: I shouted out, Who killed the Kennedys When after all It was you and me.

Mick Jagger: The satanic-imagery stuff was very overplayed [by journalists]. We didn’t want to really go down that road. And I felt that song was enough. You didn’t want to make a career out of it. But bands did that – Jimmy Page, for instance. I knew lots of people that were into Aleister Crowley. What I’m saying is, it wasn’t what I meant by the song “Sympathy for the Devil.” If you read it, it’s not about black magic, per se.

This song is infectious, it’s a great piece of writing by Mick. The lyrics were inspired by The Master and Margarita, a book by Mikhail Bulgakov. British singer Marianne Faithfull was Mick Jagger’s girlfriend at the time and she gave him the book. Faithfull came from an upper-class background and exposed Jagger to a lot of new ideas. In the book, the devil is a sophisticated socialite, a “man of wealth and taste.”

I usually keep my posts short and quick but songfacts for this song have a book of info on this one so read it if you want. A lot of interesting info.

From Songfacts

This perpetuated the image of the Stones as frightening bad boys, as opposed to the clean-cut Beatles. It was great marketing for the band, who got some press by implying an interest in the occult.

A documentary by French filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard called One Plus One captured the recording of this song, which took place over five days: June 5, 6, 8 – 10, 1968. At one point, a lamp for the documentary started a fire in the studio. The tapes were saved, but a lot of the Stones’ equipment was destroyed.

The original title was “The Devil Is My Name.” Said Jagger: “Songs can metamorphasize, and ‘Sympathy For The Devil’ is one of those songs that started off like one thing, I wrote it one way and then we started the change the rhythm. And then it became completely different. And then it got very exciting. It started off as a folk song and then became a samba. A good song can become anything. It’s got lots of historical references and lots of poetry.”

Keith Richards (2002): “‘Sympathy’ is quite an uplifting song. It’s just a matter of looking the Devil in the face. He’s there all the time. I’ve had very close contact with Lucifer – I’ve met him several times. Evil – people tend to bury it and hope it sorts itself out and doesn’t rear its ugly head. ‘Sympathy For The Devil’ is just as appropriate now, with 9/11. There it is again, big time. When that song was written, it was a time of turmoil. It was the first sort of international chaos since World War II. And confusion is not the ally of peace and love. You want to think the world is perfect. Everybody gets sucked into that. And as America has found out to its dismay, you can’t hide. You might as well accept the fact that evil is there and deal with it any way you can. Sympathy for the Devil is a song that says, Don’t forget him. If you confront him, then he’s out of a job.”

The song took on a darker meaning when The Stones played it at their Altamont Speedway concert on December 6, 1969, before a fan was fatally stabbed by Hells Angels gang members hired for security. As they played it, the crowd got more unruly; a few songs later, during “Under My Thumb,” the stabbing occurred. [This is all documented in the film Gimme Shelter]. The Stones kept “Sympathy” in the their setlists, playing it throughout 1970.

Some of the historical events mentioned in this song are the crucifixion of Christ, the Russian Revolution, World War II, and the Kennedy assassinations. Robert Kennedy was killed on June 5, 1968, after Mick Jagger started writing the song. His original lyric was “who killed Kennedy?” referring to the 1963 John F. Kennedy assassination, but he changed it to “who killed the Kennedys?”

Other historical events alluded to in the song include the Hundred Years’ War (“fought for ten decades”) and the Nazi Blitzkrieg (“the blitzkrieg raged, and the bodies stank”).

The “whoo-whoo” backing vocals were added when Richard’s girlfriend, Anita Pallenberg, did it during a take and the Stones liked how it sounded. Pallenberg sang it on the record along with Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Bill Wyman, Marianne Faithfull and Jimmy Miller.

Stones producer Jimmy Miller: “Anita (Pallenberg) was the epitome of what was happening at the time. She was very Chelsea. She’d arrive with the elite film crowd. During ‘Sympathy For The Devil’ when I started going whoo, whoo in the control room, so did they I had the engineer set up a mike so they could go out in the studio and whoo, whoo.”

On their 1989 Steel Wheels tour, The Stones performed this with Jagger standing high above the stage next to a fire. Mick wore a safety belt in case he fell.

The Stones performed this on Rock and Roll Circus, a British TV special The Stones taped in 1968 but never aired. It was released on video in 1995. During the performance, Jagger removes his shirt to reveal devil tattoos on his chest and arms.

Guns ‘N’ Roses covered this in 1994 for the move Interview With The Vampire (the song appears at the end of the movie, which stars Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt and a young Kirsten Dunst). Their version hit #9 in England, and marked the first appearance of their new guitarist Paul Huge (rhymes with “boogie” – he later went by “Tobias”), who replaced Gilby Clarke. Axl Rose brought in Huge, and it caused considerable conflict in the band, which broke apart over the next few years. At one point, Matt Sorum called Huge “the Yoko Ono of GNR.”

In our 2013 interview with Gilby Clarke, he recalls this recording as a signal that the band was over. “I knew that that was the ending because nobody told me about it,” he said. “Officially I was in the band at that time, and they did that song without me. That was one of the last straws for me, because nobody had said anything to me and they recorded a song by one of my favorite bands. It was pretty clear I’m a big Stones fan, and they recorded the song without me. So I knew that was it.”

The song ended up being the last one Axl Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan recorded together. “If you’ve ever wondered what the sound of a band breaking up sounds like, listen to Guns N’ Roses’ cover of ‘Sympathy for the Devil,'” Slash wrote in his memoir.

The beat is based on a Samba rhythm. Keith Richards said it “started as sort of a folk song with acoustics, and ended up as a kind of mad samba, with me playing bass and overdubbing the guitar later. That’s why I don’t like to go into the studio with all the songs worked out and planned beforehand.”

The opening lines of this song, “Please allow me to introduce myself I’m a man of wealth and taste,” were quoted by the Devil character (played by actor Rick Collins) in the 1989 film The Toxic Avenger Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxie.

Carlos Santana thought The Stones were playing with fire on this song. “I don’t have no sympathy for the devil,” he said in an NME interview. “I like the beat of the song but I never identify with the lyric. Jagger and Richards don’t really know the full extent of what they’re talking about. If they knew what they were getting into when they sing that song they would not be doing it. The devil is not Santa Claus. He’s for real.”

Santana was one of the performers at the ill-fated Altamont concert, and Carlos claimed he could feel a “demonic presence” during their set – a striking contrast to Woodstock, where the group conjured up peace and love. Santana didn’t allow any of their footage into the Gimme Shelter film.

In 2003, The Stones released this as a “maxi-single,” with four versions of the song. The original was on there, as well as remixes by The Neptunes, Fatboy Slim, and Full Phatt.

The line, “And I laid traps for troubadours who get killed before they reach Bombay” possibly refers to the notorious Thuggee cult, who worshiped Kali, the Hindu goddess of death. They would waylay travelers on the roads of India, then kill the entire group in order to make off with their valuables. This seems to be the closest well known historical incident to fit the lyrics. Also, the Thuggee would have been well known in England, since the British Army put a stop to the cult during the colonial period.

Another interpretation is that the line refers to the hippies who traveled the “Hippie trail,” a passage through Turkey, Afghanistan, India and a few other countries that was popular in the counterculture community. Many of these travelers were killed and ripped off by drug peddlers in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Those shady deals could be the “traps.”

Some other worthy covers: Sandra Bernhard, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Bryan Ferry, Jane’s Addiction, The London Symphony Orchestra, Natalie Merchant, U2.

One verse of lyrics was recited by Intel vice president Steve McGeady during his testimony in Microsoft’s antitrust trial in November 1998. McGeady had written a memo about Microsoft with the subject “Sympathy For The Devil,” and when asked whether he was calling Microsoft the Devil, McGeady recited the passage about using your well-learned politesse.

In his book Mystery Train, Greil Marcus states that this was influenced by Robert Johnson’s song “Me and the Devil Blues.” Keith Richards describes Johnson’s influence as “Like a comet or a meteor” in the liner notes to Robert Johnson – The Complete Recordings.

Fitting for a song about Satan, the song is heavy on the low end, with the bass, percussion and piano prominent throughout the track. The guitar doesn’t come in until 2:50, when the solo comes in. It doesn’t return until nearly two minutes later, when it returns for some licks. The Stones typically change the arrangement when they perform it live, bringing the guitar in for the first “pleased to meet you line,” sometimes punctuated with pyro or other visual elements.

Jagger (1995): “It has a very hypnotic groove, a samba, which has a tremendous hypnotic power, rather like good dance music. It doesn’t speed up or down. It keeps this constant groove. Plus, the actual samba rhythm is a great one to sing on, but it’s also got some other suggestions in it, an undercurrent of being primitive – because it is a primitive African, South American, Afro-whatever-you-call-that rhythm. So to white people, it has a very sinister thing about it. But forgetting the cultural colors, it is a very good vehicle for producing a powerful piece. It becomes less pretentious because it’s a very unpretentious groove. If it had been done as a ballad, it wouldn’t have been as good.”

Jagger (1995): “I knew it was a good song. You just have this feeling. It had its poetic beginning, and then it had historic references and then philosophical jottings and so on. It’s all very well to write that in verse, but to make it into a pop song is something different. Especially in England – you’re skewered on the altar of pop culture if you become pretentious.”

In 2006, this was included in The National Review magazine’s list of the 50 most conservative rock lyrics. They claimed that this is an anti-Communist, conservative song and that the devil being referred to is Communist Russia.

The opening line was used in Volume 2 of 10 of the graphic novel V For Vendetta. >>

This song was used for a title of a episode of the anime series Cowboy Bebop. “Honky Tonk Women” is also the title of an episode.

In the TV series Will and Grace, The character Karen states that she always wanted to walk down the aisle when she got married for the fourth time to “Sympathy For The Devil.” When her husband-to-be refuses, she fights with him.

The industrial band Laibach released an entire album containing different covers of this song. The character and tone of the Laibach covers are largely very different from the Stones original. In the opening track the lead singer sings/shouts in a very deep bass voice with a thick Slavic accent. One of their covers contains references to the violence at the Altamont raceway.

Sympathy For The Devil

Please allow me to introduce myself
I’m a man of wealth and taste
I’ve been around for a long, long year
Stole many a man’s soul to waste

And I was ’round when Jesus Christ
Had his moment of doubt and pain
Made damn sure that Pilate
Washed his hands and sealed his fate

Pleased to meet you
Hope you guess my name
But what’s puzzling you
Is the nature of my game

I stuck around St. Petersburg
When I saw it was a time for a change
Killed the czar and his ministers
Anastasia screamed in vain

I rode a tank
Held a general’s rank
When the blitzkrieg raged
And the bodies stank

Pleased to meet you
Hope you guess my name, oh yeah
Ah, what’s puzzling you
Is the nature of my game, oh yeah

I watched with glee
While your kings and queens
Fought for ten decades
For the gods they made

I shouted out
Who killed the Kennedys?
When after all
It was you and me

Let me please introduce myself
I’m a man of wealth and taste
And I laid traps for troubadours
Who get killed before they reached Bombay

Pleased to meet you
Hope you guessed my name, oh yeah
But what’s puzzling you
Is the nature of my game, oh yeah, get down, baby

Pleased to meet you
Hope you guessed my name, oh yeah
But what’s confusing you
Is just the nature of my game, mm yeah

Just as every cop is a criminal
And all the sinners saints
As heads is tails
Just call me Lucifer
‘Cause I’m in need of some restraint

So if you meet me
Have some courtesy
Have some sympathy, and some taste
Use all your well-learned politesse
Or I’ll lay your soul to waste, mm yeah

Pleased to meet you
Hope you guessed my name, mm yeah

But what’s puzzling you
Is the nature of my game, mm mean it, get down

Oh yeah, get on down
Oh yeah

Oh yeah

Tell me baby, what’s my name
Tell me honey, can ya guess my name
Tell me baby, what’s my name
I tell you one time, you’re to blame

Oh, right

What’s my name
Tell me, baby, what’s my name
Tell me, sweetie, what’s my name

Classic TV Episodes: Green Acres – Square Is Not Round

One of the most surreal shows ever on television. This one was different from most shows at the time or now. This episode is the one I think of the most. Chickens laying square eggs and toasters operating when you say… “Five” and the newer models operating when you say… “eight”

Probably the most outrageous episode of Green Acres. And that is saying something.

“Well, you know the old saying: you can lead a horse over the water, but you can’t make him think.”

Well, it should’t be too hard to find out, all we gotta do is look for a square chicken

GREEN ACRES – Square Is Not Round

This episode is the one I think of the most. Chickens laying square eggs and toasters operating when you say… “Five” and the newer models operating when you say… “eight” The Characters: Oliver and Lisa Douglas, Mr. Haney, Mr. Kimball, Eb Dawson, Fred Ziffel, Sam Drucker, Newt Kiley, Mr. Moody, and Arnold.

Oliver discovers that one of his chickens is laying square eggs, but he can’t find out which one it is. In addition, he finds out that he has a toaster that only works when you say the word “five”. When he mentions this to the boys at Drucker’s, they sympathize with him for having an old model–they have new models that only work when you say “eight”.

Mr. Kimball tells him about a man that would buy the chickens because square eggs would revolutionize shipping them. Mr. Haney comes by and wants to buy his “defective” chickens back but Oliver won’t budge. Mr. Moody comes and buys the chickens but they don’t lay any square eggs for him so he gives them back after stopping payment on the check he gave Oliver.

There is something else in the end but you need to watch it.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0592667/

My Top 10 Favorite Live Albums

I’m more of a studio guy when it comes to listening to bands but there are a few live albums I really like. This is my top 10 and a few honorable mentions at the bottom. Very few artists can improve on the studio version but sometimes some manage to pull it off.

10. Led Zeppelin – How the West Was Won – After the disappointing live album The Song Remains The Same, this album released in 2003 contained Led Zeppelin live in 1972 from two shows in top form.

9: Simon And Garfunkel – The Concert In Central Park – This was big for me when it was released. I had by this time worn a groove out in their greatest hits. The band was great and their harmonies were as good as ever.

8: George Harrison – The Concert For Bangladesh – Fun to listen to George freed from the Beatles and he sounds great with Dylan, Billy Preston, Ringo, and other friends.

7: The Band: The Last Waltz – One of the best live albums ever. The Band’s last concert with Robbie with a host of talented famous friends. I still don’t get the Neil Diamond selection…nothing against Neil…he didn’t fit in with this atmosphere.

6: The Allman Brothers Band “At Fillmore East” – This album floats up and down this list depending on my mood. It was at number 2 when I first made this list a couple of weeks ago. This band was probably one of the most talented bands in the seventies. I didn’t start heavily listening to them until around 5-10 years ago. They are better live than in the studio. There was not a weak link in this 6 piece band…especially in the Duane version but later incarnations were almost as strong.

5: Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, ‘Live/1975-85’ – I listened to this so much in the 80s that I knew the stories Bruce would tell by heart. Later when listening to the studio version of a song I would expect the story that went with it.

4: Paul McCartney Wings Over America – This triple album set was a live greatest hits. The songs had some edge to them thanks to Jimmy McCulloch the young prodigy guitar player. Paul even broke his silence on the Beatles and included five Beatle songs. Blackbird, I’ve Just Seen a Face, Yesterday, The Long and Winding Road, and Lady Madonna. Unlike the other 3 albums ahead of this on in the list, Paul didn’t mess with the songs too much from the original studio recordings.

3: The Rolling Stones – ‘”Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out!” – This tour and the 1972 tour were the Stones at their live peak.

2: Bob Dylan – The Bootleg Series, Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966, The “Royal Albert Hall” Concert – I have seen Dylan 8 times but if I could pick a tour to see him on…I would go back and this would be the one. With The Band backing him up…minus Levon Helm but Mickey Jones on drums is very powerful.

1: The Who – ‘Live at Leeds’ This album highlights The Who at their best. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a rock band so tight. The power of the performance is huge. Pete Townshend told his soundman Bob Pridden to erase all other shows on this tour at the time…Bob did… much to Pete’s regret later on.

Honorable Mentions

Beatles Live At The Star-Club in Hamburg Germany – The quality of the recording is pretty bad but it’s exciting to hear the punkish Beatles before Beatlemania hit.

The Kinks – One For The Road

Neil Young & Crazy Horse – Live Rust

Johnny Cash – At Folsom Prison

The Band – Rock of Ages

Cheap Trick – At Budokan

Elvis (68 Comeback Special)

Classic TV Episodes: The Andy Griffith Show – The Pickle Story

Some shows are easy to pick a classic episode…this one not so much. There are so many to pick from but personally, I really like this one. It was reported that The Pickle Story was Don Knott’s favorite of the series. Aunt Bee was a fantastic cook but don’t ask her to make pickles or marmalade. Andy, Barney, and Opie pays when she does…

“You mean you actually WANT her to make another batch of them kerosene cucumbers?”
” I gotta tell ya, my heart ain’t in this… Well, it’s not so much your heart we need, it’s your stomach”
“I don’t know how I can face the future when I know there’s eight quarts of these pickles in it.“

The ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW – The Pickle Story

This show’s writing was top notch. There are a lot of shows that are memorable with The Andy Griffith Show. The Characters are Aunt Bee, Barney Fife, Opie Taylor, Andy Taylor, Clara Johnson, Motorist from Oregon, County Fair Judge

Clara drops by the Taylor house so Bee can sample some of the pickles she’s been working on for the county fair, which are delicious – they’ve won the blue ribbon 11 years in a row. Bee lets her sample some of the pickles that she’s been putting up for the family, which are terrible – the bane of her family’s meals for years. Aghast at the horrible concoction, Clara launches into a long list of polite suggestions that might help to make them better, but Bee waves them off. No less flabbergasted by her “kerosene cucumbers” are Andy and Barney who, unlike Clara, don’t know how to tell her that they’re awful. As a survival tactic, Andy and Barney plot to make her pickles edible by placing store-bought pickles in Aunt Bee’s jars while placing her pickles in store jars with Barney handing them out as gifts to passing motorists heading far away.

The plot works, but then Bee announces her decision to enter her pickles at the fair. Andy and Barney consider letting the matter slide, but when Clara drops by the courthouse to let Andy sample her pickles and pours her heart out about how much winning the contest at the fair means to her, Andy feels bad and suggests to Barney that they reverse their plan by eating all the store pickles so that Aunt Bee will have to make more. They do, she does, and once again they’re terrible – only this time it’ll be according to the judges at the fair. The winner is Clara for the 12th year in a row. Unfazed, Aunt Bee announces to Andy and Barney that, due to their recent appetite for her pickles, she’s made 16 jars for them to enjoy. Along with that terrible news, they also discover she’s started making heinous marmalade.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0512602/

The Litter – Action Woman

I love garage rock and this song is what it’s all about. Distortion and feedback with a driving beat.

Action Woman is The Litter’s most well-known song. With its demonic fuzz/feedback guitar riffs and snarling lead vocal, it was an archetype of the tough ’60s garage rock and a precursor of the 70s punk movement.

The Litter was heavily influenced by British Invasion bands such as The Yardbirds and the Who, they recorded their debut single, Action Woman backed by The Who’s A Legal Matter with local producer Warren Kendrick in late 1966.

Kendrick wrote Action Woman for them. They finally signed to a major label in 1969 but their distortion was toned down a bit and their singer and guitar player was replaced. Their album Emerge peaked at #175 in the Billboard Album Chart.

The B side…Cover of The Who’s Legal Matter

Action Woman

Hey, Miss High and Mighty
I’ve had all I can take
Walkin’ right on by me
That’s your last mistake

I’ve gotta find myself some action
To satisfy my soul
A little mad distraction
Before I lose control

You say you love me good
But why are you so cold?
You say you own the world,
But you don’t own my soul.

A little competition, now
Maybe that’ll wake you up,
Stir up some ambition, yeah
And really shake you up.

Yeah! Oh!

I’m gonna find me an action woman
To love me all the time,
A satisfaction woman
Before I lose my mind.

Yeah, I’m gonna find me an action woman
To love me all the time,
A satisfaction woman
Before I lose my mind.

I’m gonna find me an action woman
A satisfaction woman!
I’m gonna find me an action woman! (fade out)

The Band – The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

This song was a B side to Cripple Creek. This was on the Band’s self-titled second album The Band with peaked at #9 in 1970 in the Billboard Album Charts. The song was written by Robbie Robertson:

’ I told Levon I wanted to write lyrics about the Civil War from a southern family’s point of view. ‘Don’t mention Abraham Lincoln in the lyrics’ was his only advice, ‘That won’t go down too well.’ I asked him to drive me to the Woodstock library so I could do a little research on the Confederacy. They didn’t teach that stuff in Canadian Schools. When I conjured up the story about Virgil Caine and his kin against this historical backdrop, the song came to life for me. Though I did stop and wonder, can I get away with this? You call this rock ‘n’ roll? Maybe!

Joan Baez covered this song and it peaked at #3 in the Billboard 100 in 1971…while the Bands version didn’t chart…Life isn’t fair at times. Asked about the Baez version of this song, Robbie Robertson said it was “a little happy-go-lucky for me,” but he was thankful that it introduced many listeners to The Band.

The song appeared at number 245 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.

From Songfacts

Robbie Robertson wrote this song, which is set during the American Civil War – “Dixie” is a term indicating the old American South, which was defeated by the Union army. The song is not related to his heritage, as Robertson is half-Mohawk Indian, half-Jewish Canadian.

Robertson came up with the music for this song, and then got the idea for the lyrics when he thought about the saying “The South will rise again,” which he heard the first time he visited the American South. This led him to research the Civil War.

The main character in the song, Virgil Caine, is fictional, but there really was a “Danville train” and “Stoneman’s cavalry.”

The train would have been part of the Richmond and Danville Railroad, a vital conduit for the Confederate Army. George Stoneman was a Union cavalry officer who led raids on the railroad.

The vocals featured the 3-part harmonies of Levon Helm, Richard Manuel, and Rick Danko on the choruses, and Helm sang the verses. He was the only band member who was from the South (Arkansas), so it was fitting that he played the role of Virgil Caine, a Virginia train worker, in this song.

This was recorded in Sammy Davis Jr.’s house in Los Angeles. The Band rented it and converted a poolhouse into a studio to record their second album.

Joan Baez covered this in 1971. It was her biggest hit, reaching US #3 and UK #6.

Her version was recorded at Quad Studios in Nashville with producer Norman Putnam, who gathered about 20 people from around the studio to sing on the chorus. One of those voices belongs to Jimmy Buffett, who Putnam would later work with on his album Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes.

Baez changed some of the lyrics on her version. For example, she sings, “Virgil Cain is my name and I drove on the Danville train. ‘Til so much cavalry came and tore up the tracks again.” The original lyrics are, “Virgil Cain is THE name and I SERVED on the Danville train. ‘Til STONEMAN’S cavalry came and tore up the tracks again” referring to George Stoneman, who was a general in the Union army).

This was used as the B-side to “Up On Cripple Creek.”

The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

Virgil Caine is the name, and I served on the Danville train
‘Til Stoneman’s cavalry came and tore up the tracks again
In the winter of ’65, we were hungry, just barely alive
By May the tenth, Richmond had fell, it’s a time I remember, oh so well

The night they drove old Dixie down, and the bells were ringing
The night they drove old Dixie down, and the people were singin’ they went
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la

Back with my wife in Tennessee, when one day she called to me
“Virgil, quick, come see, there goes Robert E Lee”
Now I don’t mind choppin’ wood, and I don’t care if the money’s no good
Ya take what ya need and ya leave the rest
But they should never have taken the very best

Like my father before me, I will work the land
Like my brother above me, who took a rebel stand
He was just eighteen, proud and brave, but a Yankee laid him in his grave
I swear by the mud below my feet
You can’t raise a Caine back up when he’s in defeat

The night they drove old Dixie down, and the bells were ringing
The night they drove old Dixie down, and all the people were singin’, they went
Na, la, na, la, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na

The night they drove old Dixie down, and all the bells were ringing
The night they drove old Dixie down, and the people were singin’, they went
Na, la, na, la, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na

Neil Diamond – Cherry Cherry

Great guitar riff that has been recycled into many songs, catchy chorus, and Neils unique voice. A nice mid-sixties rocker.

This started out with a guitar lick Diamond came up with that caught Jeff Barry’s ear. He and Greenwich loved it and encouraged Neil to finish the song. Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich produced the song.

The song peaked at #6 in the Billboard 100 in 1966.

In an interview with Melody Maker, Jeff Barry said that this song was originally “Money, Money,” but that he and Bang records owner Bert Berns convinced Diamond to make it lighter and more teen-friendly.

Neil Diamon has had 3 number 1 hits, 13 top ten hits, and 53 songs in the Billboard 100.

From Songfacts

Neil Diamond is the only credited songwriter on this track, but he got some help from Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich, who worked with him after he signed with Bang Records and produced the song. Barry and Greenwich were part of the Brill Building songwriting community, and had written many major hits, including “Be My Baby” and “Chapel Of Love.” They mentored Diamond early in his career and helped him create this Pop nugget, which helped make him a star.

Ever notice that there are no drums in this song? That’s because the version you hear was intended as a demo, with hand claps providing the drum beat. Diamond recorded the demo with Barry and Greenwich on backing vocals and Artie Butler on piano and Hammond organ. When they recorded the song in an official session complete with horns and drums, they couldn’t capture the exuberance of the demo. The drum and horn version was included on Diamond’s 1996 anthology In My Lifetime.

When this became a hit, Diamond’s songs were in demand. This led to The Monkees recording of Diamond’s “I’m A Believer,” which was the biggest hit of 1967.

Ellie Greenwich was not just a premier league songwriter, she was a fine backing singer as well; she and Jeff Barry often did the backing vocals for the songs they wrote. Neil Diamond recalled to Rolling Stone her contribution to this song: “Ellie was the best background singer ever. She did all the background parts on my early Bang records, ‘Cherry Cherry,’ ‘She Got the Way to Move Me,’ ‘Kentucky Woman’ – all of those records were Jeff and Ellie. They just had this great knack of singing all kinds of background parts and they were great at it. She invented the background parts to ‘Cherry Cherry.'”

Diamond made his TV debut performing this song on American Bandstand in 1966. Said Diamond, “American Bandstand was the holy grail of television shows for any Rock and Roll artist at that time.”

Cherry Cherry

Baby loves me
Yes, yes she does
Ah, the girl’s outta sight, yeah
Says she loves me

Yes, yes she does
Gonna show me tonight, yeah

She got the way to move me, Cherry
She got the way to groove me
She got the way to move me
She got the way to groove me

Tell your mamma, girl, I can’t stay long
We got things we gotta catch up on
Mmmm, you know
You know what I’m sayin’

Can’t stand still while the music is playin’
why’ain’t got no right
No, no you don’t
Ah, to be so exciting

Won’t need bright lights
No, no we won’t
Gonna make our own lighting

She got the way to move me, Cherry
She got the way to groove me
She got the way to move me
She got the way to groove me

No, we won’t tell a soul where we gone to
Girl, we do whatever we want to
Ah, I love the way that you do me
Cherry, babe, you really get to me

She got the way to move me, Cherry
She got the way to groove me
She got the way to move me
She got the way to groove me

Roger Miller – King of the Road

Trailer for sale or rent
Rooms to let… fifty cent
No phone, no pool, no pets
I ain’t got no cigarettes
Ah, but..two hours of pushin’ broom
Buys an eight by twelve four-bit room
I’m a man of means by no means
King of the road

I love the lyrics and the feel of this song. This peaked at #4 in the Billboard 100, #1 in the UK, #1 in the Billboard Country Charts, and #1 in Canada in 1965.

The song won 1965 Grammy awards for Best Contemporary Rock ‘N Roll Single, Best Contemporary Vocal Performance, Best Country & Western Recording, Best Country Vocal Performance, and Best Country Song.

I remember the song because in Nashville they opened a King Of The Road Hotel…Miller opened two “King of the Road” Motor Inns in the early ’70s – one in Nashville, and another in Valdosta, Georgia. Unlike the cheap digs Miller sings about in his song, however, these Motels were billed as “luxury accommodations” and had a very modern motif. At the Nashville location, a music club on the top floor became a popular spot for many local musicians to perform. Ronnie Milsap played there many times, and Miller would often play as well.

From Songfacts

The title of this song is an allusion to hoboes and tramps, who were known as “knights of the road.” The song tells of the happy hobo lifestyle, with few creature comforts but plenty of freedom.

On Roger Miller’s website, it explains that Miller wrote this song over a 6-week span, beginning on a 1964 Midwest TV tour. He wrote the first verse when he saw a “Trailers for Sale or Rent” sign on the road outside Chicago. A few weeks later, he bought a statuette of a hobo in Boise, Idaho airport gift shop and stared at it until he had completed the song.

Miller has given at least one other explanation for how he came up with the song, however. When he was the co-host on the Mike Douglas Show August 11, 1969, he revealed that the idea for “King Of The Road” came when he was driving in Indiana and saw a sign offering trailers for sale or rent, and it stuck in his mind. Said Miller, “I was doing a show in a place you have probably never heard of called Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, and I saw a statue of a hobo in a cigar shop were I was staying. I purchased it and took it to my room and wrote the song.”

So we know there was a sign and a hobo statue, but where they came from is unclear. Miller would sometimes introduce the song by saying, “Here’s a song I wrote on a rainy night in Boise, Idaho,” which is much more identifiable for American listeners (especially in Nashville) than Kitchener, Ontario. Miller’s widow says that she’s not sure, and the Kitchener story could very well be true.

To further complicate matters, Nashville lore has it that Miller drew inspiration from the “Trailers for sale or rent” sign at Dunn’s Trailer Court, where he lived when he moved from Amarillo to Nashville with his wife and three kids. This was a popular place for aspiring Country singers on tight budgets: Hank Cochran and Willie Nelson both stayed there as well.

MIller’s scribbling of King of the Road now hangs in a shadowbox at the Country Music Hall of Fame.

This is the most popular song to mention the state of Maine in the lyric (“destination Bangor, Maine”). A contender for #2 is the 2009 hit “Out Last Night” by Kenny Chesney, where he sings:

There were girls from Argentina and Arkansas
Maine, Alabama, and Panama

King Of The Road

Third boxcar, midnight train
Destination… Bangor, Maine
Old worn out clothes and shoes,
I don’t pay no union dues,
I smoke old stogies I have found
Short, but not too big around
I’m a man of means by no means
King of the road

I know every engineer on every train
All of their children, and all of their names
And every handout in every town
And every lock that ain’t locked
When no one’s around

I sing,
Trailers for sale or rent
Rooms to let, fifty cents
No phone, no pool, no pets
I ain’t got no cigarettes
Ah, but, two hours of pushin’ broom
Buys an eight by twelve four-bit room
I’m a man of means by no means
King of the road

Cream – White Room

Ginger Baker passed away Sunday, October 6th… Ginger was one of the best drummers in rock history.

Paul McCartney: Ginger Baker, great drummer, wild and lovely guy. We worked together on the ‘Band on the Run’ album in his ARC Studio, Lagos, Nigeria. Sad to hear that he died but the memories never will. X Paul

Mick Jagger: Sad news hearing that Ginger Baker has died, I remember playing with him very early on in Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated. He was a fiery but extremely talented and innovative drummer.

John Densmore: A drumming force of nature, Ginger Baker has broke on through. Emblematic of his influence, I put 2 bars of his reverse-beat in “Hello, I Love You.”

Pete Brown wrote the lyrics and Jack Bruce wrote the music to White Room. He was inspired by a cycling tour that he took in France. The “white room” was a literal place: a room in an apartment where Pete Brown was living. It was not, as some suspected, an institution.

The music was written first. Pete Brown’s first attempt at a lyric was something about a doomed hippie girl – the song was called “Cinderella’s Last Goodnight.” Jack Bruce didn’t like it, so he scrapped that idea and pulled up an eight-page poem he had written earlier, which he reworked into White Room.

Pete Brown: “It was a miracle it worked, considering it was me writing a monologue about a new flat.”

The song peaked at #6 in the Billboard 100 in 1968.

Cream in the 1970s… Pattie Boyd took the photo.

From Songfacts

This song is about depression and hopelessness, but the setting is an empty apartment. The lyrics were written by a poet named Pete Brown, who was a friend of Cream bass player Jack Bruce, the lead vocalist on the track. Brown also wrote the words for “Sunshine Of Your Love,” “I Feel Free” and “SWLABR.”

In a Songfacts interview with Pete Brown, he told the story: “It was a meandering thing about a relationship that I was in and how I was at the time. It was a kind of watershed period really. It was a time before I stopped being a relative barman and became a songwriter, because I was a professional poet, you know. I was doing poetry readings and making a living from that. It wasn’t a very good living, and then I got asked to work by Ginger and Jack with them and then started to make a kind of living.

And there was this kind of transitional period where I lived in this actual white room and was trying to come to terms with various things that were going on. It’s a place where I stopped, I gave up all drugs and alcohol at that time in 1967 as a result of being in the white room, so it was a kind of watershed period. That song’s like a kind of weird little movie: it changes perspectives all the time. That’s why it’s probably lasted – it’s got a kind of mystery to it.”

Upon its release, Wheels Of Fire was given a terrible review by Rolling Stone magazine. They claim that “White Room” has “The exact same lines for guitar, bass and drums” as “Tales Of Brave Ulysses.” If you listen to both songs, they are somewhat similar, but nowhere near the level they claim.

Eric Clapton used a wah-wah pedal on his guitar. He got the idea from Jimi Hendrix.

Clapton’s solo earned the #2 spot on Guitar World’s greatest wah solos of all time in 2015. The #1 spot? Hendrix’ “Voodoo Child (Slight Return).”

Why are the starlings tired? Because the pollution in London was killing them. Pete Brown also told us: “The ‘tired starlings’ is also a little bit of a metaphor for the feminine in a way, as well. It was women having to put up with rather a lot – too much pressure on them at the time.”

More lyric interpretation courtesy of Pete Brown:

“Goodbye Windows” – “Just people waving goodbye from train windows.”

“Black-roof Country” – “That was the kind of area that I lived in. There were still steam trains at one point around that area, so the roofs were black. It was black and sooty. It’s got that kind of a feel to it.”

On their last tour before the band broke up, Cream opened most of their shows with this song. When Cream did a reunion tour in 2005, they played it near the end of the sets.

Clapton refused to play this after leaving Cream until 1985, when Paul Shaffer urged him to play it while he was sitting in with the band on Late Night With David Letterman. That same year, Clapton played it at Live Aid.

This was released as a single after Cream had broken up. It did better in the US than in England, since Cream had caught on in the States.

In 2000, Apple Computer used this in commercials for their white iMacs. While the song does have the word “white” in the title, the subject matter is not good for selling computers.

Jack Bruce recorded a new, Latin-influenced version on his 2001 album Shadows In The Air. Clapton played on this as well as his new recording of “Sunshine Of Your Love.”

Clapton performed this in 1999 for the album Sheryl Crow and Friends: Live From Central Park. Clapton and Crow were an item for a time in the ’90s.

White Room

In the white room with black curtains near the station
Black roof country, no gold pavements, tired starlings
Silver horses ran down moonbeams in your dark eyes
Dawnlight smiles on you leaving, my contentment

I’ll wait in this place where the sun never shines
Wait in this place where the shadows run from themselves

You said no strings could secure you at the station
Platform ticket, restless diesels, goodbye windows
I walked into such a sad time at the station
As I walked out, felt my own need just beginning

I’ll wait in the queue when the trains come back
Lie with you where the shadows run from themselves

At the party she was kindness in the hard crowd
Consolation for the old wound now forgotten
Yellow tigers crouched in jungles in her dark eyes
She’s just dressing, goodbye windows, tired starlings

I’ll sleep in this place with the lonely crowd
Lie in the dark where the shadows run from themselves

Yogi Bear

Yogi Bear – “I’m smarter than the average bear”,

I always liked Yogi Bear and would watch it when I got a chance…if only for the way he said pic-a-nic baskets.

Yogi first started out as a sidekick in a Hanna-Barbera show called The Huckleberry Hound Show in 1958. He was the first Hanna-Barbera character to break out.

In 1961 he was given his own show called The Yogi Bear Show. His show included other segments like Yakky Doodle and Snagglepuss. The show also featured episodes with Yogi Bear breaking away from the unadventurous life of other bears in Yellowstone Park.

The plot was basically Yogi raiding picnic baskets, dodging hibernation, being chased by Ranger Smith, and making money together with his more honest sidekick Boo-Boo Bear. The show also featured episodes of Ranger Smith trying to tame Yogi and Boo-Boo Bear.

Around this time the great baseball player Yogi Berra sued Hanna-Barbera for defamation. But Hanna-Barbera claimed that the similarity of the names was just purely coincidental. Eventually, Yogi Berra withdrew his suit. When Yogi Berra died the AP’s wire service mistakenly announced the death of Yogi Bear instead…that is sad.

Yogi starred in a feature film, Hey There, It’s Yogi Bear, in 1964.

Yogi’s personality was based on Art Carney’s character from The Honeymooners.

The Yogi Bear Show lasted only 2 season but other shows featuring Yogi continued on. Yogi Bear and Friends, Yogi’s Gang, Yogi’s Space Race, Galaxy Goof-Ups, Yogi’s Treasure Hunt, The New Yogi Bear Show, and Yo Yogi! Yogi was on the air from 1958 to the 1990s.

Daws Butler originated the voice of Yogi and did it from 1958 to 1988 when he passed away. He was replaced by Greg Burson who was personally taught by Butler on how to do Yogi’s voice and other characters.

Ray Charles – Georgia On My Mind

I first heard this at home because my mom had Ray Charles’s greatest hits. One of the most beautiful songs ever…and Ray’s voice made it that much better.

This was written by Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell in 1930. Carmichael was an actor, performer, and popular songwriter, some of his other compositions include “Stardust” and “Winter Moon.” Gorrell was a banker living in New York City, and he wrote the lyrics.

The song peaked at #1 in the Billboard 100 in 1960. Mr. Charles had an incredible 75 songs in the top 100, 11 top 10 hits, and 3 number 1 hits.

On April 24, 1979, this became the official state song of Georgia.

From Songfacts

It’s possible that this was written about a woman, not the state. Carmichael and Gorrell didn’t live in Georgia, but Carmichael did have a sister named Georgia.

This was a #10 hit for a jazz saxophone player named Frankie Trumbauer in 1931. Many artists have recorded it over the years, including Louis Armstrong, James Brown (a Georgia native), Django Reinhardt, and Willie Nelson. Charles’ version is by far the most famous.

Charles decided to record this song after his driver suggested it, since Ray kept singing it while riding in the car.

Ray Charles was born in Albany, Georgia. His family moved to Florida when he was still a baby.

The orchestra was arranged by Ralph Burns, Woody Herman’s pianist.

This was recorded quickly in New York City – it took only four takes to complete (compared to Charles’ usual 10-12 takes).

This won Grammy awards for Best Male Vocal Recording and Best Pop Song Performance. The album also won for Best Male Vocal Performance Album, and another song on the album, “Let the Good Times Roll,” won for Best R&B Performance, giving Charles a total of four Grammys in 1960.

Five different versions of this song have made the US Hot 100. Here the four that came after Charles’ recording:

Righteous Brothers (#62, 1966)
Georgia Pines Candymen (#81, 1967)
Wes Montgomery (#91, 1968)
Willie Nelson (#84, 1978)
Michael Bolton (#36, 1990)

This was the first of three #1 singles on the US Hot 100 for Ray Charles. “Hit the Road, Jack” and “I Can’t Stop Loving You” are his others.

The song “Georgia on My Mind,” with lyrics by Mr. Stuart Gorrell and music by Mr. Hoagy Carmichael, has an enduring quality that has made it one of the best-loved songs in America for many years.

Although “Georgia on My Mind” describes a Georgian’s love for his state, its beautiful melody and lyrics have given the song a worldwide appeal.

“Georgia on My Mind” has been recorded by many outstanding artists, but the rendition by Mr. Ray Charles, a native Georgian, which was first recorded in 1958, has been greatly enjoyed by music lovers throughout the world.

It is appropriate that the official State song should be a beautiful song that has wide appeal throughout the country, and “Georgia on My Mind” is an outstanding example of these qualities.

Willie Nelson sang this at Charles’ funeral in 2004.

Charles won eight awards at the 2005 Grammy Awards, including Record of the Year and Album of the Year (for Genius Loves Company). He was honored throughout the show; Alicia Keys and Jamie Foxx performed this as part of the tribute. Foxx had recently portrayed Charles in the movie Ray.

Nelson’s version was recorded for his 1978 album, Stardust, a collection of pop standards. Rick Blackburn, an executive at CBS Records Nashville who went on to become president of Atlantic Records, thought Nelson was nuts for taking on the project, thinking it would alienate his growing fanbase. Blackburn recalled Nelson’s response in the 1988 biography Willie: “Willie said, ‘Great songs are great songs no matter when they’re written. The other thing is, my audience right now is young, college age, and mid-twenties. They’ll think these are new songs, and at the same time we’ll get the sentiment of the older audience who grew up with these songs but don’t necessarily know the artist. We will bridge that gap.”

Nelson was right. The album went to #1 on the country albums chart and stayed on the chart for ten years. His rendition of “Georgia On My Mind” was also a #1 hit on the country singles chart and earned him the Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance in 1979.

Georgia On My Mind

Georgia, Georgia
The whole day through
Just an old sweet song
Keeps Georgia on my mind (Georgia on my mind)

I said Georgia
Georgia
A song of you
Comes as sweet and clear
As moonlight through the pines

Other arms reach out to me
Other eyes smile tenderly
Still in peaceful dreams I see
The road leads back to you

I said Georgia
Ooh Georgia, no peace I find
Just an old sweet song
Keeps Georgia on my mind (Georgia on my mind)

Other arms reach out to me
Other eyes smile tenderly
Still in peaceful dreams I see
The road leads back to you

Whoa, Georgia
Georgia
No peace, no peace I find
Just this old, sweet song
Keeps Georgia on my mind

I said just an old sweet song
Keeps Georgia on my mind

Petticoat Junction

I would watch Petticoat Junction at my grandmother’s and loved seeing Kate Bradley’s three daughters Billie Jo, Bobbie Jo, and Betty Jo…

The show was created by Paul Henning who also created The Beverly Hillbillies and Green Acres. All three shows were in the same universe so to speak. They all crossed over into each other’s shows. Petticoat Junction took place in Hooterville, the same location as Green Acres. The show ran 7 seasons from 1963 to 1970.

The series takes place at the Shady Rest Hotel, which is run by Kate Bradley (Bea Benaderet) and the three daughters. The Hotel is usually empty and barely staying open. The only way to the Hotel is the train called the Cannonball ran by engineer Charley Pratt (Smiley Burnette) and fireman/railway conductor Floyd Smoot (Rufe Davis). Uncle Joe played by the great character actor Edgar Buchanan was more a hindrance than a help. Joe would come up with get rich quick schemes that would cost the Kate money and time.

They did have a dog…name “The Dog” played by Higgins…better known as the original Benji. Sam Drucker played by Frank Cady was a cast member in this show and in Green Acres. Out of the three shows, this one was probably the weakest but I still enjoyed it…and I still watch it.

The show lasted 7 seasons. Bea Benaderet died of lung cancer on October 13, 1968, during the 6th season. Her position in the show…but, not her character was replaced by June Lockhart as the matriarch of the Hotel. She played Dr. Janet Craig, a medical professional who rents a room at the Shady Rest Hotel…and gives the three sisters advice.

The ever-changing sisters…

The first two seasons the sisters were played by – Billy Jo – Jeannine Riley, Bobbie Jo – Pat Woodell, and Betty Jo – Linda Kaye Henning

In the third season, Jeannine Riley and Pat Woodell left the show. They were replaced with Gunilla Hutton and Lori Saunders (my favorite)… and of course, Higgins played “The Dog”

In the 4th season, Gunilla Hutton left the show and was replaced with Meredith MacRae. This would remain the lineup until the end.

Petticoat Junction was a good family show with laughs. Who wouldn’t want to stay at the Shady Rest Hotel and travel to Hooterville and Pixley on the Cannonball? Seeing Betty Jo, Billy Jo, and Bobbie Jo would not be a chore either.

Beatles – Revolution 9

My son walked into his first college Music Appreciation class in August. The Professor was waiting for everyone and played this piece by The Beatles. He turned around and asked the class…Is this considered music or not?

Bailey wasn’t the only one who knew this strange piece and in the end…the Professor said yes it was music…like art, music can come in different forms.

I went to youtube to see some of the comments…I’m going to list a few.

“This is what it feels like to have anxiety.”
“I use this song to test my sanity”
“Terrifying for sure, but it’s kind of beautiful in an abstract way”
“I listened to She Loves You right before this. I can’t believe it’s the same band”
“Still better than Justin Bieber”

And last but not least: “Listened to this blind drunk and by the end, I swear I saw John wearing Ringo’s skin as an overcoat”

I remember listening to this at 2 in the morning alone in the dark in around 1981…scared me to death. The memory has stayed with me to this day. I have grown to appreciate this sound collage. They were trying something new…and it is interesting.

John Lennon wrote this with contributions from Yoko and George Harrison. It’s a highly experimental piece, which Lennon once called “The music of the future.” It is the most controversial and bizarre track on the album.

John Lennon: “an unconscious picture of what I actually think will happen when it happens; that was just like a drawing of revolution.” “All the thing was made with loops, I had about thirty loops going, fed them onto one basic track. I was getting classical tapes, going upstairs and chopping them up, making it backward and things like that, to get the sound effects. One thing was an engineer’s testing tape and it would come on with a voice saying ‘This is EMI Test Series #9.’ I just cut up whatever he said and I’d number nine it. Nine turned out to be my birthday and my lucky number and everything. I didn’t realize it; it was just so funny the voice saying ‘Number nine’; it was like a joke, bringing number nine into it all the time, that’s all it was.”

From Songfacts

This was made by layering tape loops over the basic rhythm of “Revolution.” Lennon was trying to create an atmosphere of a revolution in progress. The tape loops came from EMI archives, and the “Number 9” voice heard over and over is an engineer testing equipment.

Paul McCartney and Beatles producer George Martin hated this and tried to keep it off the album.

This is the longest Beatles song – it runs 8:15. It also took longer to complete than any other track on album.

This helped fuel the “Paul is dead” rumors. If played backwards, you were supposed to hear the car crash where Paul died, and a voice saying “Turn me on, dead man.” Also, playing the line, “I’m not in the mood for wearing clothing” in reverse eventually becomes a rather odd but clear reversal, “There were two, there are none now.”

This is referencing the rumor that Paul McCartney died in a car with “Lovely Rita” and that the two were burned away after the wreck.

The rumor took off in October 1969 when a listener called the radio station WKNR in Detroit and told the DJ Russ Gibb about the backward message. When Gibb played it backwards on his show, listeners went wild and spent the next week calling in and offering their own rumors. The story quickly spread, and McCartney helped it along by laying low and letting it play out.

Lennon felt the number 9 was quite significant. He was happy that, after he changed his name to John Ono Lennon, his and Yoko’s names collectively contained 9 O’s. >>

According to the book The Beatles, Lennon And Me, by John Lennon’s childhood friend Pete Shotton, One evening, Lennon was with Shotton in the attic of his Kenwood home, tripping on LSD and smoking a few joints. They messed about with John’s Brunnel recorders, fiddling with feedback, running recordings backwards and creating tape loops. Opening the windows for some fresh air, John and Pete began to shout whatever was on their minds at the trees outside, the recorder running. This night’s lark was to later captured on “Revolution 9.” >>

Marilyn Manson released their own version of this on the B-side of the single for “Get Your Gunn.” It was called “Revelation 9” and ran 12:57. >>

This was parodied on an episode of The Simpsons. When the guys for a group called The B-Sharps, Barney meets a girl during recording. He exclaims at the studio that he’s making the music of all time. The song is Barney’s girl friend (with striking resemblance to Yoko Ono) saying “Number 8” and Barney burping. >>

Charles Manson thought that when they screamed the words “Right!” it was actually “Rise!” meaning the black community rising over the white people. Charles Manson was of course crazy, and thought The Beatles were warning about a race war.

Revolution 9

lyrics?… Oh, yea…Number 9, Number 9…then the madness starts.