re: News Of His Demise Has Been Greatly Exaggerated!:
Here's one that got by me. (So much for "fact-checking!" Fortunately a couple of astute FH Readers were paying attention!)
In his review of the Jefferson Starship concert, FH reader Tim Kubat said:
>>>As most are aware, so many people have been a part of Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship and Starship over the years -- some have retired from performing (Grace Slick), some have gone to Rock And Roll Heaven (Marty Balin) and others have gone their own ways (Mickey Thomas).
Well, Marty Balin is still alive and well (thank you very much!) so I figured we'd better get THIS retraction up right away!
Click here: Marty Balin | The Official Marty Balin Website
And, if you think you just might want to see this for yourself, you can check him out in concert here:
Click here: Tour | Marty Balin
He's not in rock n roll heaven yet.
phrabec
While I'm sure it's a mistake on the reviewers part, Marty Balin is still alive ... and I thought he has rejoined the Airplane.
Jack
I remember seeing him on one of those PBS specials not all that long ago ... but sometimes those are filmed YEARS in advance and then edited into various specials. Looking at his website, I'd say Marty is out doing solo shows these days. (kk)
Here's his biggest solo hit ... "Hearts", a #8 Billboard Hit in 1981.
And for some reason THIS one always reminds me of THAT one ...
re: Bobby Womack:
Meanwhile, due to pre-scheduled material, we also missed the REAL death of Bobby Womack ... who was not only a great songwriter as well as a blues and R&B legend ... but THIS is the guy who married Sam Cooke's widow after Cooke was murdered in 1964. (Quite honestly, I've always been a LITTLE bit suspicious about that whole scene!!!)
Here's a remembrance from FH Readers (and noted writer and rock historian) Harvey Kubernik:
Some Kind of Wonderful: Remembering Bobby Womack
(NOTE: You'll find the full article in THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER - kk)
A soul giant who made Los Angeles his home was a man about town.
To the people who knew Bobby Womack, or bought his records, heard his tunes covered over a seven-decade career, or caught his stellar live performances, this left-handed guitarist, a southpaw like Los Angeles Dodger pitching legend Sandy Koufax, was a melodic and lyrical force of nature. Bobby was a soul survivor who spent plenty of time on a pain train that we thankfully didn’t have to ride along on with him.
Over the last 40 years around Hollywood, at least a few times a year, I would inevitably encounter Bobby Womack at a concert, recording studio, band rehearsal room, LP preview listening events, a restaurant -- usually Thai -- and any number of record company lobbies. I’d also catch him at a dentist or post office, various supermarkets, sometimes at the midnight hour or even six in the morning, backstage or in dressing rooms of countless shows, usually headlined by English rock royalty.
My very first Womack sighting was decades ago at the Hollywood Boulevard law offices of Walter E. Hurst, who represented Sam Cooke, the Valentinos (Womack’s old band), J.W. Alexander, Lou Rawls, Eddie Cochran and Jack Nitzsche, among others. Bobby Womack kept his pit bull dog in one of Hurst’s vacant spaces. Kim Fowley was a client of Hurst and was truly saddened to learn of Bobby‘s death.
“Bobby Womack was a pioneer,” Fowley volunteered. “He was one of the first songwriters in the black community to acknowledge the British music invasion. He would kibbitz with us white rock guys and sit in one of Walter’s chairs talking shop. Bobby was a wonderful person who was kind, informative and encouraging. He understood the rock ‘n’ roll music game for what it was.”
I remember once in 1983 at the Chan Dara Thai restaurant in Hollywood immediately after I was “put on waivers” by a girl who I thought I was deeply involved with. After I was cut from her team, I nursed two Thai iced coffees. I was definitely in the bummer tent. And in walked Bobby Womack. He had just left United Artists Records up the street on Sunset Boulevard.
He pulled up a chair and patiently listened to my splitsville saga. Bobby took a long and deep breath, lit a Kool menthol cigarette, and then explained to me some real facts of life about skin, sin and particularly the fascinating erotic and neurotic aspects of women, concluding with, “Man, where do you think all my songs come from?”
For the first 30 years, Bobby would recognize me and just say, “Hey Pisces!” The last 15 years, if I ran into him on the street or a record store, it was, “Hey Writer!”
In 2004, I mentioned Bobby in my first book This is Rebel Music where I cited him in the text. It was a moment just after we were waiting in line at a Sam Woo’s Korean BBQ on Sepulveda Boulevard in the San Fernando Valley. He had just parked his Buick Electra 225 deuce quarter and strolled into the joint beaming. “BW” had the title theme and ending credits cue on Quentin Tarentino’s Jackie Brown with “Across 110th Street.” Bobby had just gotten paid. He happily offered to buy me a head of a pig on a spit at the take-out counter. It sure looked scary, but it tasted awfully good. However, that was the last time I ate pork.
Later during an interview, I pressed him for some revealing music business tales. He laughed, “I can’t tell you the wildest crazy shit I saw in a studio because I would need an aspirin,” he coyly confessed. One of the last times I saw him on Ventura Boulevard in Van Nuys. He yelled out “Harvey the writer!”
Womack was preparing for a tour of England. He embraced me and profusely thanked me for including him in my books Canyon of Dreams The Magic and the Music of Laurel Canyon and Turn Up the Radio! Rock, Pop, and Roll in Los Angeles 1956-1972. He was so overjoyed, he had tears in his eyes. “Great books! Great books! Man, ‘Black Santa’ is definitely gonna take care of you this Christmas!”
Then, a few hours later I bumped into him again at the Marie Calendar’s bakery on Ventura Boulevard. Bobby proudly stated that one of the last business transactions Allen Klein’s ABKCO did on his behalf in 2009 was to administer the licensing request when Mariah Carey sang “We Belong Together” and sampled his “If You Think You’re Lonely Now.”
In May of 2013, I was on-screen, along with Damon Albarn of Blur and the Gorillaz, Chuck D of Public Enemy, writer Barney Hoskyns, Bill Withers, Regina Womack, actor Antonio Fargas, and the Rolling Stones’ Ronnie Wood in the BBC-TV documentary on Womack directed by James Meycock.
Just last month I suggested Womack’s anthem “Across 110th Street” be played on Biggles.FM radio on The California Music Show in England, hosted by DJ Mike Grant. He was doing a segment on my Radio! book and asked me for some quintessential SoCal music to program in a guest segment.
In one taped conversation with Bobby in 2009, the R&B hero reminisced about visionary Curtis Mayfield and singer Dee Clark. Womack lamented, “I didn’t know I loved them this much until they aren’t around. Maybe it’s the Pisces thing where we become messengers for some people who aren’t here. Yeah. But boy, sometimes I’m telling you I need some help with these messages. Sometimes they go too fast.”
Bobby Womack himself remarked a few years ago, “As long as I’ve got that breath and God-given talent every time someone thinks of soul music will remember me and say, ‘That’s one mother f---er who wouldn’t die.’”
When I informed music historian Paul Body of the news that the immortal Bobby Womack had just flashed, he replied, “It’s getting awfully crowded in soul heaven.”
Harvey Kubernik is the author of Turn Up the Radio! Rock, Pop and Roll in Los Angeles, 1956-1972 (Santa Monica Press)
- See more at: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/some-kind-wonderful-remembering-bobby-715578#sthash.cN2z6kR5.dpuf
re: On The Radio:
Robert Feder reported this past weekend that the WLS-FM / Eddie and JoBo deal is OFF ... personally, I couldn't be happier ... but who in their right mind walks away from half-a-million-dollars a year? ... Seriously, does ANYBODY in radio still make this kind of money these days?!?!
Pathetically disappointing in their "Classic Hits" stint on K-Hits a few years ago, these guys are simply the WRONG fit for this format ... there is absolutely NO connection between the two ... so thankfully we'll be spared having to endure them again. (Poor Brant Miller ... for WEEKS now he's been the subject of "on his way out" gossip while Eddie and JoBo came to terms ... only to find now that the deal isn't going to happen at all.)
Here's the complete scoop:
Click here: Eddie & Jobo are a no-go at WLS FM
As far as who might take Brant Miller's spot as the new morning man at WLS, nothing is official yet, but quite a few of us think it just might be the station's own Robert Murphy, now doing afternoon drive. He'd be the most logical candidate if promoting from within ... many of us here in Chicago have long believed his last name was "In The Morning" ... as in Murphy In The Morning, the spot he held (and dominated) for YEARS here in Chi-Town a short while back. Stay tuned! (kk)
Kent,
I read online and I believe I read that one of your readers mentioned while back, that the
True Oldies Channel is ceasing broadcasting. I am listening now online and the DJ on air, Robby Bridges, just signed off. Next is the Sunday night Cruisin' America. It'll be interesting to see if Scott Shannon does the show.
You mentioned in Sunday's comments that this past week you were listening to the TOC in your cubicle or wherever you worked. Be interesting to see what your channel programs on Monday morning. Bet you ten to one they start out with JACK AND DIANE, what do you say?
Scott Shannon is doing the show tonight. I will be listening tonight to see what he says at the end of the program. The station here in OKC that used to run the TOC dropped it months ago. They were doing a poor job of broadcasting the TOC but then again, that's another story.
Larry
When Scott Shannon jumped ship to WCBS-FM, he left the Cumulus Family ... so the future of The True Oldies Channel was always in jeopardy. (Honestly, I'm surprised it has lasted this long.) I don't know if he has found a new home for it or not. I'm sure he tried. (I tried to contact Scott months ago to discuss the future of the channel but we were never able to connect ... I wanted to let the oldies fans out there know where they could still hear their favorite hits from the '50's, '60's and '70's. Maybe he'll see this and give us the latest update.) kk
UPDATE: And here it is ... the link is still the same ... but now he's calling it The True Oldies Channel v2.0 ... and it's running commercial free right now ... so be sure to give it a listen!
Click here: Scott Shannon's TRUE OLDIES CHANNEL
Hi Kent!
To put my two cents in on the current state of oldies radio, I feel that the reason why so-called “oldies” stations don’t play a lot of lesser known stuff is because of the large media corporations that control some of these stations. They are so wrapped in their strict playlists that play what the companies think the public might listen to in order to make money selling to advertisers that they forget to ask what people would really want to hear? The corporate people would argue “Why play something most people don’t know because the public we serve doesn’t know any of this stuff!”. But the reality is that playing the lesser known stuff makes people want to seek out these recordings (among them older record collectors such as myself and younger people for whom the lesser known stuff would be brand new to them). Not to mention , it would bring back a lot of memories to people because what could be obscure to one person can be a treasured memory to another.
I can also add the corporate homogenization of oldies radio practically destroyed the character of regional oldies radio stations because of the non-playing of material that were major hits in the region and the playing of certain regional artists. Here in Pittsburgh, we were practically a major part of the “Doo-Wop” vocal group scene of the 1950’s and early 1960’s because such groups as the Del-Vikings, the Skyliners, the Tempos, and the Vogues were based around this area. And WWSW-FM here in Pittsburgh helped boost the profile of Pittsburgh oldies through playing them regularly on Sunday nights back in the day. And your native Chicago’s contributions to the worlds of Blues, R&B, Soul music, and Rock & Roll are nothing to be sneezed at either (!). But all of that got lost in the shuffle by the strict playlists of today’s “Oldies” stations.
I love your blog because it gives me the chance to hear more stuff that you wouldn’t hear on the so-called “oldies stations” today. And also finding out what other regions tastes in records were during the Golden Age of AM Top Forty radio. It very much boosted my appreciation of the music of the 50’s, 60’s, and early 70’s.
Keep up the good work!
Sincerely,
Mr. Kelly Izaj of Pittsburgh, PA.
I have found Rewound Radio to be the most reliable and consistent in playing the music oldies fans REALLY want to hear ... I listen whenever I can ... Forgotten Hits couldn't program a radio station any better! Give it a shot and see if you don't agree: Click here: Rewound Radio: It's not how old it is... It's how GOOD it is!!
Another interesting alternative is Reel Radio ... they feature actual clips from radio programs EXACTLY as they were broadcast at the time, circa the '60's and '70's. You're SURE to hear some obscure, long forgotten favorites this way. (Click on one of your favorite Pittsburgh stations ... you'll be amazed by what you find!) It works out to be about a buck a month ... WELL worth it ... and FAR more interesting than ANYTHING passing for radio today! (kk)
Click here: Airchecks:Radio:REELRADIO Reel Top 40 Radio Repository
re: Jersey Boys:
As mentioned here last weekend, the success (or lack their of) of "Jersey Boys" falls squarely on the shoulders of director Clint Eastwood. Despite pleas from Frankie Valli, Eastwood went his own way with the film ... and I have this on pretty good authority (from an unnamed source). kk
I know many of your readers, like myself, are fans of Frankie Valli and were eagerly awaiting the release of the movie version of “Jersey Boys,” directed by Clint Eastwood.
This past weekend I was talking to a long-time friend of Frankie’s and he revealed a couple of things that I have not heard Frankie discuss publicly.
Frankie had some ideas that he wanted to see incorporated into the movie version of “Jersey Boys,” but his ideas were not welcomed by Clint. Clint had a vision of what he wanted to do with the movie (including not wanting the actors to lip synch to Frankie’s original recordings).
When Frankie didn’t receive any positive feedback to his suggestions, he went to the movie set multiple times and talked to Clint in-person, but Clint was firm on how he wanted to do the film.
As a result, it appears Frankie’s silent protest was to skip the Hollywood premiere of the movie. He had a concert the night of the NYC premiere. As a comparison, Frankie did attend opening night of the Broadway show and has seen the play numerous times since then.
- Anonymous by request
I still say a far more interesting spectacle to watch would have been these two 80-something year-olds duking it out on camera rather than behind the scenes over the film that ultimately was released! (And isn't it just a little bit pathetic that this weekend I would rather go see The Beatles in "A Hard Day's Night", released in honor of the film's 50th Anniversary, than sit through "Jersey Boys" again?!?!? That alone should tell you something about the level in drop-off regarding excitement for this new film. It'll be interesting to see how the second and third weekend box office did!) kk
re: The Beatles:
Be sure to check your local listings for this one ... The Beatles' first film "A Hard Day's Night" is back in theaters all over the country in honor of the movie's 50th anniversary. (SO hard to believe!!!) I remember wanting to see this so bad when I was a kid ... but my parents didn't want to have to deal with all the crowds and screaming that was going on in the movie theaters. (Once again, this news was ALL over the papers!!!) So they waited a few weeks until all the fever had died down and then loaded up all of us kids in the back of the station wagon (in our pajamas, I might add) and took us to see it at the drive-in!!! It just wasn't quite the same, listening to it on the crappy little clip-on speaker ... but it WAS pretty cool to see the Beatle-Guys up on the big screen larger than life in the wild outdoors! Several weeks later I got the chance to go see it again in a real movie theater ... most of the screaming had died down by then (although there were some who felt obligated to scream, I guess!) I've probably seen it a hundred times since ... including a couple of months ago when I enjoyed it on DVD right here at home ... but STILL may go check it out again one last time in all of its remastered and restored glory.
A couple of recent Beatles-related articles sent in by FH Readers:
http://www.analogplanet.com/content/beatles-get-back-mono-and-aaa-vinyl
http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2014/06/the-power-of-two/372289/
‘With the Beatles’ LP to be discussed by expert Jude Southerland Kessler on ABC Overnights
Beatles expert, author and radio show host Jude Southerland Kessler will discuss the Beatles’ second album ‘With the Beatles’ on ABC radio in Australia on July 5th.
World-renowned Beatles author Jude Southerland Kessler will be a guest on “Overnights” with hosts Rod Quinn on ABC radio in Melbourne, Australia. Kessler will be discussing the making of each song, including back stories and the influences, from the Beatles’ second album With the Beatles.
Jude’s hour long interview on ‘Overnights’ will air at 4 a.m. in Australia on July 6th and in the U.S. at 2 p.m. (ET) on July 5, 2014. Fans can listen live by going to: http://www.abc.net.au/overnights/
The 14 song LP, With the Beatles, was released in the U.K. on November 22, 1963 and remained at the top of the charts for 21 weeks. Kessler articulates in great detail the story of the making of the album in her latest book, She Loves You.
Jude Southerland Kessler is the author of The John Lennon Series – a nine book series on the life of John Winston Lennon. She is also the host of The John Lennon Hour a weekly radio show that can be heard every Sunday night at 7 p.m. (CT) on Beatles-A-Rama!!! internet radio.For more information on Jude Kessler, go to her website at: http://www.JohnLennonSeries.com
re: This And That:
It sounds like Rolf Harris may have been tying down more than just kangaroos these past fifty years or so. In a case that literally spans decades, Harris was finally found guilty of TWELVE counts of indecent assault, dating back from 1968 through the early '80's!!!
Harris topped the charts (and won virtually every kind of Australian honor known to man) after his 1963 Hit "Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport" reached #1 all over the world. However it was his fondness for seven year olds that ultimately did him in. (There have been stories ... and charges ... circulating for YEARS now ... and many of us will have a new, tainted definition that will stick with us till the end of time as to what Rolf's didgeridoo really was!!!)
Putting Harris away for the rest of his life was a disturbing but necessary task for Judge Justice Sweeney. VVM speculates even further ...
The Guilty verdict now brings to question Harris’ royal honors. Rolf Harris is one of the most decorated Australian entertainers ever. Queen Elizabeth II has awarded the entertainer the Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) (1968), Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) (1977) and Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) (1989). In 2012 Queen Elizabeth II upgraded Harris yet again to Officer (AO). Rolf Harris was inducted in the ARIA Hall of Fame in Australia in 2008.
(What is it about these rock stars and entertainers that makes them think they're above not only the law but any measure of dignity?!?! Michael Jackson anyone?) kk
>>>I remember the Price Guides for "Rhapsody In The Rain" even listing the number etched in the wax so that the buyer could determine which pressing he was purchasing without actually having to listen to the record! (kk)
>>>Except the price guide isn't quite right on it. They say the clean version of the song has DJ etched after the matrix number in the trail out area when, at least on my copy, it's just a "-2" with no mention of DJ (and I've also had it on an off-center promotional pressing, which likewise did not have DJ etched anywhere in the trail-out, but was the clean version of the song). (Tom)
>>>The early price guides that I recall had an entirely different matrix number etched into the wax ... I remember being able to determine this way on early pressings which was which ... because BOTH versions were commercially available in the stores at the time ... not just as a "dj" copy. (I see now that the current price guide only shows the "DJ" reference you mention above ... but I swear the older guides had two distinctly different numbers shown. Anybody got an old 45 Price Guide handy that will bear this out???) kk
Hi Kent,
You were asking about the listings for Rhapsody In The Rain in the old price guides ... I have my Osborne & Hamilton's Original Record Collectors Price Guide, 4th Edition, from 1983. I scanned the page with Rhapsody In The Rain and I am attaching the file. You have to zoom in a few times before you can actually read it, but it lists Rhapsody In The Rain twice:
(With the lyrics "We Were Makin' Out In The Rain", and the matrix number 66-XY-308 in the vinyl trail-off). This was valued at $30 for a near mint copy.
(With the lyrics "We Fell In Love In The Rain", and the matrix number 66-XY-308-1 in the vinyl trail-off). This was valued at $3 for a near mint copy
Doug
I knew it was something like this ... but even STRANGER now in that the vintage price guide shows a "-1" suffix ... and, re-reading Tom's email, he says he's got one that shows a "-2"!!! Now I'm REALLY confused!!! (lol) kk
Oh my God ... has it REALLY been 15 years already?!?!?
FH Reader sent in this Billboard article of Carlos Santana and Rob Thomas reflecting back on their HUGE #1 hit "Smooth"
http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/6141004/smooth-at-15-carlos-santana-and-rob-thomas-reflect-on-their
Tom also tells us the biggest concerts of the summer ... how much would YOU pay to see ...
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music-arts/george-strait-jay-z-beyonce-battle-top-tickets-article-1.1846671
Kent,
Thanks for posting TRANSFUSION by the 4 Jokers. To my knowledge, that is the first time I have ever heard that version. No telling what the names of the singers are on that version.
Speaking of Ronnie Dove on his Diamond label, probably my all time favorite Ronnie Dove tune is his
1966 song HAPPY SUMMER DAYS.
Tom Diehl mentioned I WANT MY BABY BACK by Jimmy Cross. It seems to me that years ago I read
that that record was the worst record ever made up to that point in time. Probably early seventies or
some where there about. I know the record came out in 1964 but this was some sort of survey asking for one's suggestions as