Oh, how this toy teased me as a kid. I would start drawing something halfway decent and then I would hit a wall because I would get so close to what I wanted and then make a wrong move…then came the shake part and start all over again. The definition of insanity would be this toy in my hands…but yet I still tried. Some people can do interesting things with it…I’m not one of those people.
In the late 50s French electrical technician André Cassagnes applied his experience with the clinging properties of an electrostatic charge to invent a drawing toy with no spare parts.
The Ohio Art Company took a look at the toy and invested $25,000. It has sold more than 175 million units worldwide since it hit stores on July 12, 1960.
They have new versions of it now with more options.
One of my favorite toys growing up. To this day I like collecting any vintage lighting fixture like soft drink clocks or signs probably because of this toy. They came with designs that you could use to create different cartoons and clowns but I never used those. I liked to create my own masterpieces.
This toy allowed you to be creative in a very different way. It brought out the artistic side in you. You could design different things and it would light up your room in the dark with colors.
Lite-Brite was invented by Joseph M. Burck, a senior designer at Chicago toy and game design company Marvin Glass and Associates.
Of course…when I got older I would make crude messages on the Lite Brite for friends.
Alan Wilson is a forgotten figure who was a gifted musician. He died in 1970 under strange circumstances outdoors in a sleeping bag near his band’s lead singer’s (Bob Hite) house. He was dead at the age of 27. Jimi Hendrix would die in a couple of weeks and Janis Joplin would follow a month later…all of them were age 27.
Alan grew up in Boston, Massachusetts where he became a music major at Boston University. He was a frequent player at the Cambridge coffeehouse folk-blues circuit. Alan ended up a blues scholar. He had a massive collection of old blues records and was a walking encyclopedia of the blues. Wilson’s nickname, “Blind Owl,” was bestowed upon him by friend John Fahey during a road trip in 1965 from Boston to Los Angeles and was a reference to the extra-thick lenses Wilson wore.
Alan moved to Los Angeles and met Bob “The Bear” Hite and in 1965 started Canned Heat. The group decided to take their name from “Canned Heat Blues,” an obscure 1928 track by bluesman Tommy Johnson that described the drug high achieved through drinking the household product Sterno.
In 1967, after appearing at the Monterey Pop Festival, Canned Heat signed to Liberty Records. They made a self-titled album that year and it peaked at #76 on the Billboard Charts. In 1968 they released “Boogie with Canned Heat” which made it to number 16. They followed that album with “Living the Blues”(#18) and in 1969 released album Hallelujah(#37).
Their appearance at Woodstock raised their stock higher. They had two hit singles both sung by Alan Wilson, Going Up Country (1968 ) and On The Road Again (1969). Alan wasn’t the lead singer of Canned Heat but he sang the two best-known singles by them. They were both written by him and based off old blues songs. His unusual voice came from him trying to mimic the voice of old blues singers.
He was very intelligent, awkward, suffered from depression and was not a prototypical rock star. Alan was a serious environmentalist trying to save the Redwood trees. He would sleep outside often to be alone with nature. Alan Wilson was a superb slide guitar and harmonica player. John Lee Hooker said that Wilson was “the greatest harmonica player who ever lived.”
He was a big fan of Eddie James House, Jr. who was was better known as “Son House,” the great blues artist who had retired. He not only retired but was an alcoholic and had not played guitar in years and could not remember his old songs and slide parts from the 20s and 30s.Son House is said to have tutored Robert Johnson. John Hammond asked Alan Wilson to teach the 63-year-old Son House how to play like Son House again. Wilson knew his old records and licks and taught them to Son House who relearned them. House was later signed to a contract.
It gave Son House a career again and he kept playing till he retired again in 1974 after being rediscovered by a new generation. You can hear them both together on the Son House album John the Revelator: The 1970 London Sessions.
Alan died on September 3, 1970. No one knows if it was a suicide or an accidental overdose of Seconal.
Canned Heat continues to this day but they were never as successful after Alan passed away.
For a complete look at Alan Wilson go here to http://www.blindowl.net/index.html
it’s a great site. Below is an essay he wrote in 1970 about the Redwoods.
“Grim Harvest”
“The redwoods of California are the tallest living things on earth, nearly the oldest, and among the most beautiful to boot. They dominated the woods of the northern hemi-sphere in the time of the dinosaurs, a time when no mammal, flower, or blade of grass had yet appeared on earth. The Ice Age nearly exterminated them – of the once vast redwood forest only a remnant was spared by the immense glaciers which covered most of Europe, Asia, and North America in the not-too-distant evolutionary past.
Walking through this forest is an experience unique on earth. Here the sun’s rays are intercepted three hundred feet and more above the ground and are broken into tiny shimmering beams which descend among the towering pillars to play, at length, on the forest floor. Fern and wildflower bathe in the soft glow of a thousand muted spotlights which flicker on and off as the trees’ upper boughs sway majestically in a gentle wind.
2.000.000 acres of virgin redwood forest greeted the white man’s civilization as he completed his sweep of North America. In the last 100 years 1,800,000 acres of these have been logged, and of the remaining 200,000 only 75,000 are presently safe from devastation in state and national parks. At a time when these parks campsites must be reserved months in advance, the remaining 125,000 acres are being “harvested” (as the lumber-men put it), for uses which other trees could fulfill.
At the current rate of “harvest,” these remaining acres will be cleared within the next ten years.”
I never thought I would ever post a trucker song, but here I am, posting a trucker song! It was one of the first singles I remember playing as a child. When I was a kid, this story scared me to death. There’s something about a good ghost story that never leaves you, especially when it’s told in a Southern drawl through the crackle of a CB radio. This Red Sovine song is one of those perfect country songs that is Americana, part Twilight Zone, and part 1960s country storytelling at its finest.
An eerie monologue about a hitchhiker picked up by a kind-hearted trucker named Big Joe. The kid hops out at a truck stop, orders a cup of coffee, and the waitress gives him the shocker: Big Joe died ten years ago, crashing his rig to save a school bus full of children. The twist lands like a punchline from beyond the grave. “Son, you just met Big Joe and the Phantom 309.” 4-year-old Max got goosebumps every time.
How this record was in my house when I was 4 is a mystery to me. My dad had Merle Haggard music, and my mom had Elvis albums, and my sister would never have this. Not one of them was into trucking songs…but there it was all the same. It was released in 1967… The song peaked at #9 on the Country Charts.
It inspired covers by artists from Tom Waits to the punkabilly of Mojo Nixon. Even Pee-wee’s Big Adventure tipped a hat to it when Pee-wee hitched a ride with “Large Marge.” That alone belongs in the Twilight Zone.
Phantom 309
I was out on the West Coast, tryin’ to make a buck And things didn’t work out, I was down on my luck Got tired a-roamin’ and bummin’ around So I started thumbin’ back East, toward my home town.
Made a lot of miles, the first two days And I figured I’d be home in week, if my luck held out this way But, the third night I got stranded, way out of town At a cold, lonely crossroads, rain was pourin’ down.
I was hungry and freezin’, done caught a chill When the lights of a big semi topped the hill Lord, I sure was glad to hear them air brakes come on And I climbed in that cab, where I knew it’d be warm.
At the wheel sit a big man, he weighed about two-ten He stuck out his hand and said with a grin “Big Joe’s the name”, I told him mine And he said: “The name of my rig is Phantom 309.”
I asked him why he called his rig such a name He said: “Son, this old Mack can put ’em all to shame There ain’t a driver, or a rig, a-runnin’ any line Ain’t seen nothin’ but taillights from Phantom 309.”
Well, we rode and talked the better part of the night When the lights of a truck stop came in sight He said: “I’m sorry son, this is as far as you go ‘Cause, I gotta make a turn, just on up the road.”
Well, he tossed me a dime as he pulled her in low And said: “Have yourself a cup on old Big Joe.” When Joe and his rig roared out in the night In nothin’ flat, he was clean out of sight.
Well, I went inside and ordered me a cup Told the waiter Big Joe was settin’ me up Aw!, you coulda heard a pin drop, it got deathly quiet And the waiter’s face turned kinda white.
Well, did I say something wrong? I said with a halfway grin He said: “Naw, this happens every now and then Ever’ driver in here knows Big Joe But son, let me tell you what happened about ten years ago.
At the crossroads tonight, where you flagged him down There was a bus load of kids, comin’ from town And they were right in the middle, when Big Joe topped the hill It could have been slaughter, but he turned his wheel.
Well, Joe lost control, went into a skid A nd gave his life to save that bunch-a kids And there at that crossroads, was the end of the line For Big Joe and Phantom 309
But, every now and then, some hiker’ll come by And like you, Big Joe’ll give ’em a ride Here, have another cup and forget about the dime Keep it as a souvenir, from Big Joe and Phantom 309!”
I’ve always liked the peculiar World of Dr. Suess. It could be strange but it was wonderful. The strange creatures that spoke in rhyme kept me hooked.
In 1973 the cartoon “Dr. Suess on the Loose” (Green Eggs and Ham and Other Stories) aired and featured three stories. The Sneetches, The Zax, and the great Green Eggs and Ham. I still enjoy this cartoon.
I will admit that every time I watch a Dr. Suess cartoon that when I have a conversation afterward I want to talk in rhyme.
The Zax – One day in the Prairie of Pax a North-Going Zax and a South-Going Zax run into each other. Both are trying to get to their desired locations, but neither will move out of the way to let the other one pass. Both are too proud to compromise, they fail to see that the world continues on moving and time passes by.
The Sneetches – The Sneetches is about two types of creatures, separated by having or not having stars on their bellies. The Star-Belly Sneetches think they are the best, and look down upon Sneetches without stars. The Plain-Belly Sneetches remain depressed and cannot associate with the Star-Belly Sneetches…Until a fellow named Sylvester McMonkey McBean comes with a Star off and Star on machine and after every Sneetch goes the machine over and over again…and McBean takes all of their money…No one knows who had stars or not… It’s a great message in this…to treat everyone the same no matter their background. (http://www.umich.edu/~childlit/Sneetches/display1.htm)
I am a sucker for Green Eggs and Ham. Still, love it and can read it or watch the cartoon in a box…with a…nevermind. The book was released in 1960 and as of 2016, it has sold over 8 million copies. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Eggs_and_Ham)
Green Eggs and Ham – is about Sam-I-Am, trying to convince an unnamed character to try green eggs and ham. He will stop at nothing but the more he tries to convince him to try green eggs and ham the more this character refuses. I love the wordplay in this as Sam-I-Am is a persistent little…uh…whatever he is…but he wins at that end.
“GREEN EGGS AND HAM” (by Doctor Seuss)
I AM SAM. I AM SAM. SAM I AM.
THAT SAM-I-AM! THAT SAM-I-AM! I DO NOT LIKE THAT SAM-I-AM!
DO WOULD YOU LIKE GREEN EGGS AND HAM?
I DO NOT LIKE THEM,SAM-I-AM.
I DO NOT LIKE GREEN EGGS AND HAM.
WOULD YOU LIKE THEM HERE OR THERE?
I WOULD NOT LIKE THEM HERE OR THERE.
I WOULD NOT LIKE THEM ANYWHERE.
I DO NOT LIKE GREEN EGGS AND HAM.
I DO NOT LIKE THEM, SAM-I-AM.
WOULD YOU LIKE THEM IN A HOUSE?
WOULD YOU LIKE THEN WITH A MOUSE?
I DO NOT LIKE THEM IN A HOUSE.
I DO NOT LIKE THEM WITH A MOUSE.
I DO NOT LIKE THEM HERE OR THERE.
I DO NOT LIKE THEM ANYWHERE.
I DO NOT LIKE GREEN EGGS AND HAM.
I DO NOT LIKE THEM, SAM-I-AM.
WOULD YOU EAT THEM IN A BOX?
WOULD YOU EAT THEM WITH A FOX?
NOT IN A BOX. NOT WITH A FOX.
NOT IN A HOUSE. NOT WITH A MOUSE.
I WOULD NOT EAT THEM HERE OR THERE.
I WOULD NOT EAT THEM ANYWHERE.
I WOULD NOT EAT GREEN EGGS AND HAM.
I DO NOT LIKE THEM, SAM-I-AM.
WOULD YOU? COULD YOU? IN A CAR?
EAT THEM! EAT THEM! HERE THEY ARE.
I WOULD NOT, COULD NOT, IN A CAR.
YOU MAY LIKE THEM. YOU WILL SEE.
YOU MAY LIKE THEM IN A TREE!
I WOULD NOT, COULD NOT IN A TREE.
NOT IN A CAR! YOU LET ME BE.
I DO NOT LIKE THEM IN A BOX.
I DO NOT LIKE THEM WITH A FOX.
I DO NOT LIKE THEM IN A HOUSE.
I DO NOT LIKE THEM WITH A MOUSE.
I DO NOT LIKE THEM HERE OR THERE.
I DO NOT LIKE THEM ANYWHERE.
I DO NOT LIKE GREEN EGGS AND HAM.
I DO NOT LIKE THEM, SAM-I-AM.
A TRAIN! A TRAIN! A TRAIN! A TRAIN!
COULD YOU, WOULD YOU ON A TRAIN?
NOT ON TRAIN! NOT IN A TREE!
NOT IN A CAR! SAM! LET ME BE!
I WOULD NOT, COULD NOT, IN A BOX.
I WOULD NOT, COULD NOT, WITH A FOX.
I WILL NOT EAT THEM IN A HOUSE.
I WILL NOT EAT THEM HERE OR THERE.
I WILL NOT EAT THEM ANYWHERE.
I DO NOT EAT GREEM EGGS AND HAM.
I DO NOT LIKE THEM, SAM-I-AM.
SAY! IN THE DARK? HERE IN THE DARK!
WOULD YOU, COULD YOU, IN THE DARK?
I WOULD NOT, COULD NOT, IN THE DARK.
WOULD YOU COULD YOU IN THE RAIN?
I WOULD NOT, COULD NOT IN THE RAIN.
NOT IN THE DARK. NOT ON A TRAIN.
NOT IN A CAR. NOT IN A TREE.
I DO NOT LIKE THEM, SAM, YOU SEE.
NOT IN A HOUSE. NOT IN A BOX.
NOT WITH A MOUSE. NOT WITH A FOX.
I WILL NOT EAT THEM HERE OR THERE.
I DO NOT LIKE THEM ANYWHERE!
YOU DO NOT LIKE GREEN EGGS AND HAM?
I DO NOT LIKE THEM, SAM-I-AM.
COULD YOU, WOULD YOU, WITH A GOAT?
I WOULD NOT, COULD NOT WITH A GOAT!
WOULD YOU, COULD YOU, ON A BOAT?
I COULD NOT, WOULD NOT, ON A BOAT.
I WILL NOT, WILL NOT, WITH A GOAT.
I WILL NOT EAT THEM IN THE RAIN.
NOT IN THE DARK! NOT IN A TREE!
NOT IN A CAR! YOU LET ME BE!
I DO NOT LIKE THEM IN A BOX.
I DO NOT LIKE THEM WITH A FOX.
I WILL NOT EAT THEM IN A HOUSE.
I DO NOT LIKE THEM WITH A MOUSE.
I DO NOT LIKE THEM HERE OR THERE.
I DO NOT LIKE THEM ANYWHERE!
I DO NOT LIKE GREEN EGGS AND HAM!
I DO NOT LIKE THEM, SAM-I-AM.
YOU DO NOT LIKE THEM. SO YOU SAY.
TRY THEM! TRY THEM! AND YOU MAY.
TRY THEM AND YOU MAY, I SAY.
sAM! IF YOU LET ME BE,
I WILL TRY THEM. YOU WILL SEE.
(… and he tries them …)
SAY! I LIKE GREEN EGGS AND HAM!
I DO! I LIKE THEM, SAM-I-AM!
AND I WOULD EAT THEM IN A BOAT.
AND I WOULD EAT THEM WITH A GOAT…
AND I WILL EAT THEM, IN THE RAIN.
AND IN THE DARK. AND ON A TRAIN.
AND IN A CAR. AND IN A TREE.
THEY ARE SO GOOD, SO GOOD, YOU SEE!
SO I WILL EAT THEM IN A BOX.
AND I WILL EAT THEM WITH A FOX.
AND I WILL EAT THEM IN A HOUSE.
AND I WILL EAT THEM WITH A MOUSE.
AND I WILL EAT THEM HERE AND THERE.
SAY! I WILL EAT THEM ANYWHERE!
I DO SO LIKE GREEN EGGS AND HAM!
THANK YOU! THANK YOU, SAM I AM.
This man has always intrigued me. A reclusive billionaire who ran an empire from a darkened suite.
What a fascinating man. In his life, he was a busy man. He got his fortune from his father developing a drill bit called the Sharp–Hughes Drill Bit for drilling oil. Howard was very talented himself. He was a producer, part owner in RKO, playboy, aviator and much more. He started his own aircraft company and worked with the government developing World War II military aircraft.
He had an airplane crash in 1946 and after that, he started to become a recluse. This is where it started to go downhill for Hughes. Not only was he deathly afraid of germs but he also had OCD. He showed signs of this for years but it gradually got worse.
in 1966 he arrived in Las Vegas and stayed at in the penthouse of the Desert Inn. The management wanted him out because he was not a high roller. So what did Howard do? He bought the Desert Inn. Afterward, he went on a Vegas buying spree, snapping up other hotel-casinos, an airport, and airline and various tracts of undeveloped land. He stayed in the hotel during this. He did not venture out of his room.
He loved movies but there were no all-night tv stations at that time. So again what did he do? He bought a television station and made them an all-night station and they played the movies he wanted to see…a very expensive VCR.
Hughes employed key aides who belonged to the Church of Latter Day Saints. Mormons were prohibited from doing two things he did not do—drink alcohol and smoke. He was afraid of germs and had long rules on how to do certain things that his aides had to follow.
To open a can, a memo, for example, was over a thousand words…and included newspapers and 2 bars of soap….to break it down..Step 1: “Preparation of Table.” Step 2: “Procuring of Fruit Can.” Step 3: “Washing of Can.” Step 4: “Drying the Can.” Step 5: “Processing the Hands.” Step 6: “Opening the Can.” Step 7: “Removing Fruit from Can.” Step 8: “Fallout Rules While Around Can.” Step 9: “Conclusion of Operation.”
Flyswatters would be banned because they could stir up the air and recycle germs that were lying dormant in the air conditioner system. His aides had to catch flies with kleenex. He also made his aides to wash their hands multiple times and use paper towels while bringing him his food. The ironic thing is he lived in his own filth hardly ever taking a bath or brushing his teeth. It is said he thought “outside” germs were bad but his own germs were evidently ok.
One of his right-hand men who carried out his orders was former CIA and FBI agent Robert Maheu… Robert worked for Hughes from 1955 to 1970 and he never met Hughes face to face…only communicating over the phone and through written messages.
His last 30 years of life he was addicted to codeine because of injuries from the 1946 crash. There were rumors that he would wear Kleenex boxes on his feet and never cut his finger and toenails. He left Las Vegas in 1970. Some say it was because of nuclear testing in the desert and others say he was being investigated by the government.
Howard did help change Las Vegas to more corporate-owned casinos, thinning out the Mafia element. He died in 1976 of renal failure while on a plane to Texas.
I got to know Eddie Cochran’s music through The Who. The Who covered Summertime Blues and I wanted to know where that came from…I read about his influence on the Beatles but never heard anything from him until the mid-eighties when I bought one of his compilation albums.
Eddie Cochran was a huge influence for the up and coming British guitar players of the sixties. Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, John Lennon, and Pete Townshend. He was huge in the UK. He was one of the big 50s guitar heroes. He broke through with the song “Summertime Blues” in 1958 that peaked at #8 in the Billboard 100 and he also did well with C’mon Everybody. He was never really big in America… he was a bigger star in Europe.
He didn’t use his guitar as a prop like some did…he played it and played it well. He also worked as a session musician. He helped bring rock guitar along in more ways than just his playing. He was one of the first to modify his pickups and he did away with the wound G string on the guitar. He replaced it with an unwound string which made it easier to bend. Many future musicians were paying attention, sitting on the front row of his British tour.
His influence can be heard throughout rock and roll…It was because Paul McCartney knew the chords and words to “Twenty Flight Rock” that impressed John Lennon to asked Paul to become a member of the Quarrymen.
During a British tour in 1960, Eddie Cochran, Gene Vincent, Sharon Sheeley (Eddie’s fiancé), and tour manager Pat Thompkins were in a taxi. They were leaving a show in Bristol, England to go to the London Airport…the taxi hit a lamp post and Eddie was thrown from the car and suffered a head injury and died in a hospital. He was only 21 years old. Gene Vincent received injuries to his already bad leg and walked with a limp after the crash. Eddie was the only one to die.
Sharon Sheeley was a songwriter. She wrote Ricky Nelson’s first hit “Poor Little Fool” and a couple of songs (Love Again and Cherished Memories) for Cochran.
There are a couple of stories about Eddie’s Gretch guitar. A 13-year-old Marc Feld met Cochran outside the Hackney Empire, a theater in the London borough of Hackney, where Cochran had just played a concert. Cochran allowed the boy to carry his guitar out to his limousine. Later Marc Feld would be known as… Marc Bolan of T Rex.
After the crash the guitar was impounded at a London police station…a young policeman used it to teach himself how to play. That policeman’s name was David Harman, but he would soon change his name to Dave Dee and help start a band called Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich…One of the soon to be British Invasion bands.
This is an autobiography of Al Kooper. Al has worked with many people in the music industry. He was a songwriter, musician, producer, A&R man and everything in between.
His book is well written and Al uses humor all the way through.
A few of his career highlights are helping to form Blood, Sweat, and Tears, playing the organ on “Like a Rolling Stone” (although he didn’t know how to really play organ), organized the Super Sessions with Stephen Stills and Mike Bloomfield, found and signed a band while in Atlanta named Lynyrd Skynyrd. While in Atlanta he started a record label called “Sounds of the South” in conjunction with MCA records.
He goes over working with Lynyrd Skynyrd and how their first three albums were recorded and why they parted company. Another band that he signed was Mose Jones who was going to be his Beatles type group to counterpoint the Lynyrd Skynyrd Stones sound for his label. Mose Jones ended up being ignored my MCA.
There is so much musical history this man was involved in…he makes light of getting called Alice Cooper on many occasions.
In Al Kooper’s words
Let’s clear the air.
This is not a book by or about Vincent Furnier (né Alice Cooper.) It is a book by and about Al Kooper. If you don’t know who Al Kooper is, that’s fine. But don’t let that stop you from perusing these eye-opening accounts of encounters with Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Gene Pitney, The Royal Teens, Bill Graham, Quincy Jones, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Mike Bloomfield, The Rolling Stones, Lynyrd Skynyrd, George Harrison, Miles Davis, The Tubes, Nils Lofgren, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and all the other wonderful people I’ve been fortunate enough to cross paths with over the last forty years.
What was really interesting to me is he shared the same manager (Stan Polley) as Badfinger and was able to get out of his clutches with at least some of his money intact. I picked the book up cheap and I really have enjoyed it. I would recommend this to music fans. Many funny stories and he is such a talented musician.
Another quote from Kooper on the Like A Rolling Stone Session… Tom Wilson was the producer who knew Kooper didn’t normally play the organ.
Thirty seconds into the second verse of the playback, Dylan motioned toward Tom Wilson. “Turn the organ up,” he ordered. “Hey, man,” Tom said, “that cat’s not an organ player.” Thanks, Tom. But Dylan wasn’t buying it: “Hey, now don’t tell me who’s an organ player and who’s not. Just turn the organ up.” He actually liked what he heard!
Al Kooper and Bob Dylan
George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Barbara Bach, and Al Kooper
Last winter I binge watched some Leave It To Beaver episodes. I remember watching them as a child in the afternoons in syndication. My wife and I were watching them and I was thinking to myself it would probably not age too well. I was pleasantly surprised.
The show really had some good writers. They caught kids being kids and it holds up today minus the cell phones, video games, and modern distractions. They do catch how kids think and feel and also parents. Yea sometimes it could be a little too perfect but the writers would surprise me… Eddie Haskell. The name has lived on beyond the show. Everyone knows an Eddie Haskell.
In one episode the boys are playing basketball and June Cleaver is making sandwiches for them all. Eddie tells Mrs.Cleaver that he is allergic to mayonnaise. June doesn’t like Eddie and it’s clear in this episode…what does she do? She loads Eddie’s sandwich up with mayonnaise.
In another episode, the Cleavers get new neighbors and the wife of the neighbor kisses Beaver…Eddie tells him the husband is going to get Beaver back for kissing his wife. Later on, Beaver asks Ward a question about kissing women. This was more for the adults.
Theodore Cleaver:Dad, you’re a married man, aren’t you? Ward Cleaver:Yeah, I think we’re safe in assuming that. Theodore Cleaver:And Mom’s a married woman, isn’t she? Ward Cleaver:Oh, yes. Theodore Cleaver:Have you ever kissed any other married woman besides Mom? Ward Cleaver:Well… now, Beaver, why would you ask a question like that? Theodore Cleaver:I’m just wondering. Ward Cleaver:Well, actually son, No. Theodore Cleaver:I guess you were scared to, huh? Ward Cleaver:Yeah, that’s as good a way as any to sum it up, I guess. Theodore Cleaver:I guess a guy could get in a lot of trouble doing that, huh? Ward Cleaver : [a wistful smile crosses Ward’s face] He sure could.
The Beaver had a great friend in Larry Mondello. Larry was on the show for a few seasons and then left. Larry would sometimes leave Beaver holding the bag but for the most part, he was good to him. On the other hand, his friends Gilbert and Whitey would trick the gullible Beaver. Again we have all known Gilberts and we have all had a Larry Mondello friend.
This show gets made fun of at times but after watching some as an adult…it is a solid and well-written show and the choices they make work for today also.
My favorite episode? In The Soup… Whitey again tricks the Beaver into climbing into the Billboard soup bowl.
This album was a disappointment to some fans when it was released because it wasn’t as hard as the previous album. This record leaned heavy on acoustic and mixed with hard that Led Zeppelin IV would have to perfection. My favorite songs off this album are Tangerine, Immigrant Song and Since I’ve Been Loving You.
Tracklist
Immigrant Song
Friends
Celebration Day
Since I’ve Been Loving You
Out On The Tiles
Gallows Pole
Tangerine
That’s The Way
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Hats Off To (Roy) Harper
4. Houses of the Holy – 1973
The band was determined not to repeat themselves after the success of IV. This album is diverse with songs Over The Hills and Far Away, The Ocean, The Rain Song and the funk of The Crunge. This album was a perfect gateway into their next album.
Tracklist
The Song Remains The Same
The Rain Song
Over The Hills And Far Away
The Crunge
Dancing Days
D’yer Mak’er
No Quarter
The Ocean
3. Physical Graffiti – 1975
It’s big, bloated, self indulgent…and great. This album had a big variety with the classic rock Kasmir (possibly their best song), the funky Trampled Under Foot and a song that would have fit on a Stones album…Night Flight.
Tracklist
Custard Pie
The Rover
In My Time Of Dying
Houses Of The Holy
Trampled Under Foot
Kashmir
In The Light
Bron-Yr-Aur
Down By The Seaside
Ten Years Gone
Night Flight
The Wanton Song
Boogie With Stu
Black Country Woman
Sick Again
2. Led Zeppelin II – 1969
Nicknamed the “Brown Bomber” this album is explosive. The album was recorded in sections while on tour. It has a live feel to it. Classic songs such as Heartbreaker, Whole Lotta Love, Livin’ Lovin’ Maid, and the album never lets up. After this album, the band starts to change into more of their famous light heavy feel.
Tracklist
Whole Lotta Love
What Is And What Should Never Be
The Lemon Song
Thank You
Heartbreaker
Livin’ Lovin’ Maid (She’s Just A Woman)
Ramble On
Moby Dick
Bring It On Home
1. Led Zeppelin IV – 1971
No suspense here. This album is nearly perfect. The light and heavy were perfectly balanced. If I never hear Stairway to Heaven again I’ll be happy but I could listen to just the drums to When The Levee Breaks… all day. A Great album at the peak of their career.
Tracklist
Black Dog
Rock And Roll
The Battle Of Evermore
Stairway To Heaven
Misty Mountain Hop
Four Sticks
Going To California
When The Levee Breaks
Led Zeppelin has produced some of the best albums in the history of rock. I will include the original live album of “The Song Remains the Same”… Not the remastered version of that one. Below is the way I would rank them. Ten albums in all including Coda released after John Bonham died. 1-5 coming tomorrow.
10. The Song Remains The Same – 1976
This was recorded at the end of their 1973 American tour but was not released until 1976. They sound tired. It’s a good history marker looking back, but far from their best live performance. Not until long after the band broke up though nothing was officially released except this. I still prefer this over the movie of the same name.
Tracklist
Rock And Roll
Celebration Day
The Song Remains The Same
Rain Song
Dazed And Confused
No Quarter
Stairway To Heaven
Moby Dick
Whole Lotta Love
9. Coda – 1982
The album spans the band’s entire career, from live performances just after their debut album to unused songs from In Through the Out Door sessions. My favorites are Ozone Baby, Wearing and Tearing and Walter’s Walk. Personally, I like this album more than Presence but the playing is not as tight.
Tracklist
We’re Gonna Groove
Poor Tom
I Can’t Quit You Baby
Walter’s Walk
Ozone Baby
Darlene
Bonzo’s Montreaux
Wearing and Tearing
8. Presence – 1976
This album was made when Robert Plant was recuperating from injuries he and his wife suffered in a car wreck. He was singing from a wheelchair. Jimmy Page was keeping the band busy recording this since they could not tour. The playing on this album is great and tight but the songs are not as strong as their predecessors. After Physical Graffiti, this one paled in comparison. Technically this could be one of Jimmy Pages best performance on an album. It was recorded and mixed in 18 days.
Tracklist
Achilles Last Stand
For Your Life
Royal Orleans
Nobody’s Fault But Mine
Candy Store Rock
Hots On For Nowhere
Tea For One
7. In Through The Out Door – 1979
It was not the typical Led Zeppelin album. Page and Bonham were having substance difficulties during this album. Plant and Jones wrote much of the album and Jones used his new synthesizer. This was a change in direction and some Zeppelin fans hated it but it did foreshadow the synthesizer coming in the eighties. I liked a lot of songs on this album like In The Evening, Fool In the Rain, All of My Love and the fun Hot Dog.
Tracklist
In the Evening
South Bound Suarez
Fool In the Rain
Hot Dog
Carouselambra
All My Love
I’m Gonna Crawl
6. Led Zeppelin – 1969
One of the best debut albums of any band. The classic Dazed and Confused, Good Times Bad Times, etc… The album went to #7 in the Billboard 100, #6 in the UK and #11 in Canada. Some people wonder why the band didn’t like critics…this is what Rolling Stone said about the album.
“The latest of the British blues groups so conceived offers little that its twin, the Jeff Beck Group, didn’t say as well or better three months ago, and the excesses of the Beck group’s Truth album (most notably its self-indulgence and restrictedness), are fully in evidence on Led Zeppelin’s debut album.
In their willingness to waste their considerable talent on unworthy material the Zeppelin has produced an album which is sadly reminiscent of Truth. Like the Beck group they are also perfectly willing to make themselves a two- (or, more accurately, one-a-half) man show. It would seem that, if they’re to help fill the void created by the demise of Cream, they will have to find a producer (and editor) and some material worthy of their collective attention.”
The album is hard-hitting as it is fused Rock and Blues…it was very heavy and had a great sonic quality…
Tracklist
Good Times Bad Times
Babe I’m Gonna Leave You
You Shook Me
Dazed And Confused
Your Time Is Gonna Come
Black Mountain Side
Communication Breakdown
I Can’t Quit You Baby
How Many More Times
Led Zeppelin ruled the hard rock landscape of the 1970s. Critics didn’t like them and they didn’t like the press. They sold tons of records and their concerts were instant sellouts. They spawned a lot of bad imitators in their wake. By 1975 things started to go wrong for the band and soon by the start of the new decade they were done.
Led Zeppelin formed in 1968 while Jimmy Page was still with the Yardbirds but with only bass player Chris Dreja and he still left in the group. To fill other gig obligations Page formed the New Yardbirds with Robert Plant and his recommendation for drummer John Bonham. Chris Dreja dropped out so studio bassist John Paul Jones filled the bass position.
After a change of name, they were off and running. They made their first self-titled album and signed a huge deal with Atlantic Records. The album had bad reviews but sold very well. The band made their reputation off of live performances.
Their manager at this point was Peter Grant and with him made their mark on the industry. Peter made sure his band made money and no one would stand in the way. He told promoters the band was to get 90 percent of the gate…which was unheard of at the time. The promoters gave in because they would rather have ten percent of that than 100 percent of nothing.
The musicians were great. Robert Plant could sing and wail like no other. John Bonham was a groove extraordinaire who had his own style. John Paul Jones was a great underrated bass and keyboard player. Jimmy Page was one of the best studio guitarists there was at the time. Similar to The Who…it was like a Rock All-Star lineup.
Zeppelin’s first three albums were building up to the fourth. You can see it build with the first and second album’s electric hard edge to the third where the acoustic is introduced more and a more folk side is shown. It all peaked with the classic 1971 Led Zeppelin IV with the perfect combination of the two.
Songs that came off that album are classics like Stairway to Heaven, Black Dog, Four Sticks, Rock and Roll, Going to California, When the Levee Breaks, The Battle of Evermore, and my favorite Misty Mountain Hop. This album and the Who’s Who’s Next came out within months of each other and both of these albums are the foundation of classic rock radio.
More great albums were to follow like Houses of the Holy and Physical Graffiti though none would match the fourth album. After Physical Graffiti things started to go south for Zeppelin.
Their reputation kept growing and it was not all about their music. Wild stories about groupies, Peter Grant stopping at nothing if he perceived an injustice toward his band and there was the Jimmy Page strong occult interest that followed the band like a dark cloud. John Bonham was described as a nice family man until he started to drink. When drunk he would turn into “The Beast” (as bandmates called him) and could terrorize anyone near the band. They did a series of concerts in 1975 at Earl’s Court and after that The Zeppelin started to descend.
In 1975 Robert Plant and his wife were in a serious car wreck and it would take Plant a few months to recuperate and soon the band would record the album Presence with Plant still not able to walk without assistance. The band would not tour in 1976 because of Plants injuries but started an American tour beginning in April 1977.
When Zeppelin started in 1968 critics didn’t like them and Zeppelin didn’t trust the press. Critics thought their first two albums were the work of blues-ripoff artists. Led Zeppelin never forgot that. This was one set of rules in 1977 shared with the press covering the band.
1. Never talk to anyone in the band unless they first talk to you.
1a. Do not make any sort of eye contact with John Bonham. This is for your own safety.
2. Do not talk to Peter Grant or [Tour Manager] Richard Cole — for any reason.
3. Keep your cassette player turned off at all times unless conducting an interview.
4. Never ask questions about anything other than music.
5. Most importantly, understand this — the band will read what is written about them.
The tour was beset with problems with rowdy crowds, Pages increasing heroin intake, and Bonham’s drinking. Peter Grant had hired a British gangster named John Bindon to handle security. Zeppelin’s security crew and John Bonham attacked one of promoter’s Bill Graham’s staff after Grants 11-year-old son was pushed down… After that incident in Oakland, they flew to New Orleans for the next show and Plant received a phone call from back home informing him that his five-year-old son Karac died from a stomach infection. The entire tour was immediately canceled as Plant flew home to be with his family. The last Oakland concert was the last time they played in America.
In 1979 they would get back together and release “In Through the Out Door“, a softer more synthesizer-based album. Plant and Jones did the majority of the writing on the album. Zeppelin did two great shows at Knebworth in 1979 and a short European tour in 1980. While rehearsing for the American tour John Bonham died of asphyxiation in his sleep after a night of heavy drinking in Page’s home on September 25, 1980. Unlike the Who, who continued on without their one of a kind drummer, Led Zeppelin was no more.
The band regrouped three times for one-off concerts. Once in 1985 for Live Aid with two drummers (Phil Collins and Tony Thompson )and in 1988 for the Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary with Jason Bonham on drums. Neither of those turned out too well.
They did regroup in 2007 for a concert with Jason Bonham drumming. This time they sounded comparable to their younger days and their fans clamored for a reunion and tour…Plant all but ruled that out.
I like most of their albums and consider them one of the biggest rock bands ever…They have made some of the best albums in Rock history. I just never got into them like The Who, Beatles, Stones, Cream, and Kinks. The more I learn about them the more distant they get. Their mystique and image became larger than their music at times.
I’m going to attempt to rank 10 of Led Zeppelin’s albums coming up this week.
Pattie Boyd is a beautiful woman who was the inspiration for many great songs. She was married to George Harrison and then to Eric Clapton. The three most well-known songs were Something (Beatles), Layla (Derek and the Dominos…Eric Clapton) and Wonderful Tonight.
Other songs include
I Need You (Beatles)
She’s Waiting (Eric Clapton)
For You Blue (Beatles)
It’s All Too Much (Beatles)
Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad ((Derek and the Dominos…Eric Clapton)
So Sad (George Harrison)
If I Needed Someone (Beatles)
She worked in London, New York, and Paris, side by side with the world’s top models. Boyd appeared in the UK and Italian editions of Vogue magazine, as well as in several commercials. George Harrison met Pattie while filming “A Hard Day’s Night” in 1964 and they married in 1966. George and Patti were a hip couple in 1960’s Swinging London.
By the early seventies, George and Pattie were having problems and it didn’t help that Eric Clapton was pursuing Pattie and that is when Layla was written.
In 1974 Pattie ran off with Eric with George’s blessings. George and Eric remained friends and would visit and work with each other in the future. A quote from Pattie “The first Christmas after I’d left him, in 1974, just as Eric and I were sitting down to lunch, George burst in, uninvited,” Boyd says in her autobiography. “He had some wine and Christmas pudding with us. I couldn’t believe how friendly he and Eric were towards each other.” Pattie and George’s divorce was final in 1977 and George married Olivia Trinidad Arias. They would stay married until George’s death.
George stayed friends with Pattie till the end.
Pattie and Eric were married in 1979. At the reception, Paul, George, and Ringo played together but there is confusion on why John Lennon was not invited other than he lived in America at the time. Later it was reported that John did say he would have loved to be there.
The marriage was a painful one for both. Clapton had a drinking problem through most of the marriage. Pattie left Eric in 1986 after Lory Del Santo had Clapton’s child. Ironically, it was Clapton who once said that his marriage had suffered because he and Boyd couldn’t have children. Practicing with others was clearly not a solution.
Pattie would say that being married during the Beatles years was not an easy thing. If she went to the concerts she and the other wives and girlfriends would sometimes be chased, kicked, and pushed by jealous fans.
This is part of an interview with Taylor Swift interviewing Pattie Boyd. Read the full interview here.
Taylor Swift: I remember seeing a picture of the house, and Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithfull had spray-painted their names on the wall with the words mick and marianne were here. I read a book about Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor recently, and how there was this crazy frenzy surrounding them. In the book, Elizabeth is quoted as saying, “It could be worse, we could be the Beatles.” You are one of the only people who can say they experienced what Beatlemania was like from the inside. How did that feel for you?
Pattie Boyd: In my first experience, I found it absolutely terrifying. I got to see the Beatles play at a theater in London, and George told me that I should leave with my friends before the last number. So before the last song, we got up from our seats and walked toward the nearest exit door, and there were these girls behind me. They followed us out, and they were kicking me and pulling my hair and pushing us all the way down this long passageway.
Antoine “Fats” Domino Jr. was not flashy and wild like some of his 1950s peers such as Elvis, Little Richard, and Jerry Lee Lewis. The first I heard of Fats Domino was on “Happy Days” and the song Blueberry Hill. I was at a relative’s yard sale when I was a kid and was given his greatest hits.
Domino was the youngest of eight children in a musical family, he spoke Creole French before learning English. At age 7 his brother in law taught him how to play the piano. By the time he was 10, he was already performing as a singer and pianist.
Fat’s first hit in the Billboard 100 was the great “Aint That A Shame” in 1955 written by Fats Domino and Dave Bartholomew that peaked at #16 and his last charting song was a cover of the Beatles “Lady Madonna”(great version) that peaked at #100 in 1968. He had 45 songs in the top 100 and 4 top 10 hits…many more top 10 hits in the R&B Charts.
My favorite song by him is “I’m Walking” because it’s so simple but yet effective. The odd beat sounds modern and it hooks you. He was inspired to write the song when his car broke down and someone said “Hey Fats Domino is Walking” and he thought to himself…Yea I’m walking.
Ricky Nelson covered the song and it went to number 4 on the charts.
What is sad to me is Pat Boone covered Aint That a Shame and it went to number 1 while Fat’s version only made it to 16 in the same year. That was the era where some parents would buy their kids the Pat Boone version of the song and the kids would hide their self-bought Fats Domino version… Same went with Little Richard also.
Domino received The Lifetime Achievement Grammy, a National Medal of the Arts from President Bill Clinton and the induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Fats semi-retired in the 80s and said he would not travel outside of New Orleans.
During Hurricane Katrina, he lost most of his possessions and him and his family were rescued by the coast guard. He unselfishly made many personal appearances to raise money for the hurricane relief. His house was hit hard and he lost his National Medal and gold records but George Bush gave him another medal to replace the lost one and the RIAA gave him replacement gold records.
To raise money for repairs for his own home, friends and fellow musicians recorded a tribute album, Goin’ Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino, featuring the likes of Robert Plant, Elton John, and Sir Paul McCartney. He as living in New Orleans at the time of his death on October 24, 2017.
He was a huge influence on The Beatles, Elton John, Robert Plant, Randy Newman, and Elvis even called Fats “The King.”
I’m walkin’, yes indeed, and I’m talkin’ ’bout you and me I’m hopin’ that you’ll come back to me (yes) I’m lonely as I can be, I’m waitin’ for your company I’m hopin’ that you’ll come back to me What ‘ya gonna do when the well runs dry? You’re gonna run away and hide I’m gonna run right by your side, for you pretty baby I’ll even die I’m walkin’, yes indeed, I’m talkin’ ’bout you and me I’m hopin’ that you’ll come back to me
I’m walkin’, yes indeed, and I’m talkin’ ’bout you and me I’m hopin’ that you’ll come back to me (yes) I’m lonely as I can be, I’m waitin’ for your company I’m hopin’ that you’ll come back to me What ‘ya gonna do when the well runs dry? You’re gonna sit right down and cry What ‘ya gonna do when I say bye-bye? All you’re gonna do is dry your eye I’m walkin’, yes indeed, I’m talkin’ ’bout you and me I’m hopin’ that you’ll come back to me
The commercial came out in 1968 – 1970 and I still see it every once in a while. The spot leaves us with a puzzling question…How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop?
The original commercial was 60 seconds long and that one is not seen as much…it was edited down to 15 seconds and all we see is the boy and Mr. Owl…but the original had more….here is the script…
Boy: Mr. Cow… Mr. Cow: Yeeeeesss? Boy: How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop? Mr. Cow: I don’t know, I always end up biting. Ask Mr. Fox, for he’s much clever than I. Boy: Mr. Fox, how many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop? Mr. Fox: Why don’t you ask Mr. Turtle, for he’s been around a lot longer than I? Me, hee hee hee, I bite. Boy: Mr. Turtle, how many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop? Mr. Turtle: I’ve never even made it without biting. Ask Mr. Owl, for he is the wisest of us all. Boy: Mr. Owl, how many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop? Mr. Owl: A good question. Let’s find out. A One… A.two-HOO…A three… (crunch sound effect) Mr. Owl: A Three! Boy: If there’s anything I can’t stand, it’s a smart owl. Narrator: How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop? (crunch sound effect) Narrator: The world may never know.
After the commercial, Mr. Owl became the mascot for Tootsie Roll Pops, appearing in marketing campaigns and on the packaging.
Researchers at New York University and Florida State University conducted a study in 2015 to find out how many times one would need to lick a Tootsie Pop to reach the center. Their findings revealed that 997 licks are needed to get there… Mr. Owl was off by 994! However…many other colleges tested it with different results…I guess we will never know the answer…and I thought Bigfoot was hard to prove.
The original 60 second commercial with Mr. Cow, Mr, Fox, Mr. Turtle, and Mr. Owl.
My favorite Tootsie Roll commercial was this one from 1977
The world looks mighty good to me
Cause Tootsie Rolls are all I see
Whatever it is I think I see
Becomes a Tootsie Roll to me
Tootsie Roll, how I love your chocolatey chew
Tootsie Roll, I think I’m in love with you
Whatever it is I think I see Becomes a Tootsie Roll to me
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