the Rock Report

Ahhh, and what a week it was, yardbirds …

On Sept. 15, 1961 (a mere 48 years ago!), a young band from Hawthorne, California called The Pendletones had their first real recording session in L.A. Due to the big coastal craze at the time, the band does a small, self-penned song called “Surfin’”.

When it finally hit the local charts, everyone started callin’ them The Beach Boys.

The rest is history …

One year later, Brian Epstein brought a band he managed to do an interview with Peter Jones of the London Daily Mirror. Jones did the interview, but concluded that “The Beatles they are a ‘nothing’ group.”

But one year and one day later, the Fab Four released their hit, She Loves You (b/w I’ll Get You) in the states … but on Swan Records. But it didn’t make the charts until a year later, when the Invasion was in full swing (it was already #1 in the UK).

By the way: Remember The Beatles’ fab tune, A Hard Day’s Night (from the movie of the same name)? Have ya ever wonder why no one’s been able to get exactly the same sound the band had when they play the song’s opening chord?
It’s because they had all three guitars (George was on 12-string here) and Sir George Martin’s piano playing the same specific note at the same time! And, of course, ya had The Beatles’ inimitable attack!

Gettin’ back to the timeline: On September 15, 1964, John was interrupted in the midst of his song by a Cleveland (Ohio) police inspector took his mic and asked the band to leave the stage for fifteen minutes so they could calm down the screaming crowd!

Two days later, the Fab Four played a gig in Kansas — on what was supposed to be their day off! The pay wasn’t bad, though: They got $150,000 for the show (figure that’d be almost five times as much in today’s dollar!)

Okay … that’s it for this brief post (but wait’ll ya read the next one. It’s about how The Beatles helped bring down Communism [and, no, I’m not joking!]). Until sometime during the next 24 — and at all other times — you can catch the double-E (aka Chuck Hinson) on Facebook, Twitter and Great Internet Newspaper&#8482 (yeah, matter of fact I do get around!).
So, until next time, remember …
keep your eyes on the skies, your feet on the ground, your heart with the music …
and I’ll see you on the flip side …

Man, this is too good to pass up:

‘Til this evening,
see ya on the flip side!

TEXT-TRACKING THE FORE

First, for all the FOREMANIACS who are tuning in today, a treat:
There’s a new which will enable anyone to download tracks from the hot UK band THE FORE directly to their phone or PC! It’s called Text a Track and is a great way to keep Spencer, Matt, Si and Nathan with you wherever you go!
It costs nothing, apart from the time to upload and set up, and the texts are only £1 each (and that’s the total amount!).
Right now, you can get their fab hits Little Louisa and You’ll Be Mine — but more are to be added soon! Here’s how it works:

text 3133 to 83262 for Little Louisa and/or
3294 to 83262 for You’ll Be Mine
Just pay a simple £1.00 and the track is uploaded to your cell or PC!

Now … on with the show:

Awww, c’mon … don’t tell me ya didn’t expect it …

Phil Spector was sentenced Friday to 19 years to life in prison for the murder of actress Lana Clarkson. The judge also ordered him to pay $16,811 in funeral expenses, $9,740 to a state victims’ restitution fund and other fees (Hmph … shoulda charged him more for wearing that goofy wig. Remember … he’d shaved his head only a couple of weeks ago …).

After the sentence was handed down, Spector was quickly taken away, with his attorney asking that his client’s transfer from county jail to a state prison be immediate (it’s understandable, really. The press and paparazzi would be hanging around like vultures, making it too easy to breach the jail’s security). At least for now, nobody knows which prison will house Spector.

NEW BEATLE MUSEUM OPENS …

A new Beatles museum (obviously) entitled Beatlemania, opened its doors Friday in Hamburg, Germany (most rock historians agree that it was their gigs in this city that actually “made” the Fab Four!)

It has a total of five floors of exhibits, and the museum is in the same Reeperbahn section where John, Paul, George, Pete Best and Stu Sutcliffe first performed in 1960 (but, if you remember, George Harrison was later sent back to the UK for being underaged).

Wanna follow The Beatles’ during their all-important “make-it-or-break-it” year? Just check out THE SAVAGE YOUNG BEATLES page by clickin’ that link you just passed! You’ll find some things ya didn’t know before!

Awwww, rats!  Y’see — bein’ America’s Chief ForeManiac, I couldn’t wait to try the “Text-A-Track” myself!  But, bein’ so excited, I … er, welllllll, I made a little … mistake in typin’ the link into the address bar!  “Text-A-Track”, right?
One little friggin’ letter was off …

So now I gotta write ‘em back and tell ‘em I don’t need a Ford pick-up …

See ya on the flip side …

A poem that folk-rock legend Bob Dylan wrote when he was only 16 years old is going on the auction block at Christie’s — and is expected to sell for up to $15,000 (£10,000) on June 23.

Still known by his given name (Bob Zimmerman, in case you didn’t know …) wrote a poem about a little pooch who met a tragic end.

He wrote Little Buddy during the summer of 1957 for the newspaper at Herzl Camp in Webster, Wisconsin.

Now, you might’ve read about it already, but here’s the poem itself:

Little Buddy

Broken hearted and so sad
Big blue eyes all covered with tears
Was a picture of sorrow to see
Kneeling close to the side
Of his pal and only pride
A little lad, these words he told me

He was such a lovely doggy
And to me he was such fun
But today as we played by the way
A drunken man got mad at him
Because he barked in joy
He beat him and he’s dying here today
Will you call the doctor please
And tell him if he comes right now
He’ll save my precious doggy here he lay

Then he left the fluffy head
But his little dog was dead
Just a shiver and he slowly passed away
He didn’t know his dog had died
So I told him as he cried
Come with me son we’ll get that doctor right away

But when I returned
He had his little pal upon his knee
And the teardrops, they were blinding his big blue eyes
Your too late sir my doggy’s dead
And no one can save him now
But I’ll meet my precious buddy up in the sky

By a tiny narrow grave
Where the willows sadly wave
Are the words so clear you’re sure to find

Little Buddy Rest In Peace
God Will Watch You Thru The Years
Cause I Told You In My Dreams That You
Were Mine

Bobby Zimmerman

Now, yardbirds, I dunno about you, but, bein’ a dog owner myself (or is that the other way ’round?  You know what I mean …), that was some kinda strong!  It’s no wonder that little Bobby Z. ended up being the song-poet who touched the very soul of a generation!

PHIL’s PHINAL PHIGHT

Yesterday, prosecutors in L.A. asked the judge presiding over Phil Spector’s murder trial to sentence him to 19-years-to-life for the murder of actress Lana Clarkson in 2003.*
Now, while fifteen years is the required sentence, prosecutors want an additional four years tacked on for the use of a gun. They also want Spector be ordered to pay at least $26,500 to Lana’s family for her funeral and their mental health costs. The family has filed a wrongful death civil lawsuit on top of all this.
But keep yer ears perked, because the judge is gonna sentence Spector on May 29.
(*=Since there was no conclusive proof that the perp pulled the trigger, that it was premeditated and since the jury couldn’t come up unanimously with the first degree charge, the judge had no option but convict him of Murder Two).

Okay … that’s it for now, so … WAIT!
One more thing: If ya haven’t done it yet, be sure to vote for The Fore’s song, Little Louisa, for the top position on the Unsigned Charts!
Now, you can vote here and, if ya wanna hear the song (in its entirety) again, just click here!

Me?? I’ll see ya on the flip side …

In the back-pages of rock and roll, we’ve seen acts that, for whatever reason, “fell between the cracks” a bit — just to have one or two of the members “climb out” of that crack and go on to become superstars in their own right. 

The boys on yer left is proof of that.  Ya know who they are by the band’s name, Allman Joy.
But when Duane and his brother Gregg got together with a couple of friends, donned some Beatlesque collarless jackets and gigged as AJ way back in 1964, they had no idea what was ahead of them!

Today, years after Duane’s death, Gregg is still carrying the family name high with the legendary Allman Brothers Band.  (Incidentally, their Rebel Rivals, Lynyrd Skynyrd, wrote a song in memory of Duane Allman, shortly after his fatal crash.  It was called … Freebird!)

Another band, which apparently was a bit more influential than I’d originally thought, spawned one of the greatest songwriters of the twentieth cen — no, of the whole of history!

Tico and the Triumphs influenced quite a few bands of the time, and that was largely due to its songwriter/leader (see in the middle of this pic) — a young man who, though had a street-tough pseudonym, became better known under his real name:  Paul Simon!

IN THE NEWS

Piano Man Billy Joel is set to put his “John Hancock” on a $60,000 baby grand piano! The purpose: It’s gonna be auctioned off to raise money for Mount Carmel-Holy Rosary School’s music program (the school’s in East Harlem, New York). The auction will end on May 6.

Oh … and congrats to John Mellencamp’s fourteen-year-old son, Hud! He won the Indiana Golden Gloves championship in his division Thursday night. Now he moves on to the national championship in Salt Lake City, which’ll take place on May 4-10.

Now, I’ll be back a bit later this evening with more, so stay tuned! Ya never know what’s gonna pop up on TRR next.
See ya on the flip side!

Awww, every once-in-awhile, I throw a little trivia into the mix here for your readin’ pleasure (’sides, it’s a slow news day).

Soooo … without further ado (as if I had any “ado” to begin with …)

GIVIN’ IT THE RASPBERRY:  Back in ‘72, a band called The Raspberries were hittin’ the AOR charts.  But didja know that their debut LP had a scratch-and-sniff raspberry sticker on it to intro the band? (Hmph … somehow, I’m kinda glad that Green Day didn’t do that with their LP, Dookie!)444444444444444444444444444444444444(Sorry.  M’cat got on the keyboard.  She’s a big FORE fan.  Now … where were we??)

A PETTY SITUATION: Now, if you remember, former Eagle guitarist Don Felder did a fantastic show for charity awhile back (see my article about it). But didja know that, as a teenager, he taught guitar to a friend who also had high hopes?
The youngster’s name was Tom Petty!

SEND A COPY TO MY MOTHER … Anyone who follows classic rock remembers Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show — a bunch of self-described “rounders” who, among their Top 40s, hit it big with their cult classic, Cover Of The Rolling Stone.
The song itself was written by Shel Silverstein, who wrote the bizarre children’s book, Where The Sidewalk Ends (he also narrated the “audio-book” version with a voice that some confused as comedian Bill Cosby!).
Well, shortly after the song hit the airwaves, the band did, in fact, appear on the cover of RS … but in cartoon form! (Yeah, they did actually send copies to their mothers …)

WHAT THEY DID WAS:  Hmmm … wonder whatever happened to these bands?

This first one spawned a coupla stars.  It was a folk-soul trio called Bobby Taylor and the Vancouvers.  Now, while Bobby made it pretty well on his own, it’s the dude on the leftthat broke away from the music scene, grabbed a bong and some primo and hit the road with a different partner!  (Any idea yet?  Okay … here’s a hint:  Think Cheech and _____!)

Now, I actually had this next LP, and the quasi-psychedelic band, Chamaeleon Church, was pretty good.  Some of their tracks had some decent hooks (like Blueberry Pie), and the drummer kept a strong backbeat.

Ahhhh, yes … the drummer!  As Ferguson says, “Remiiind you of anyone??”  Okay … here’s a hint:  You could hear them Friday night on the radio, or, if they were playin’ near you, on Saturday night, live.

Uh-huh … it’s actor/comedian Chevy Chase!

Okay … with that, I’m gonna take a break (y’see, when I finish here, I start my duty as ‘inner-eyelid inspector’ for a six-hour shift [aka go to sleep]).  But stay tuned … there’s more to come in less than 24!

See ya on the flip side!

What the …???  I mean, that … that topic sounds like a sentence, but … but whatzit haveta do with rock??

Well, if you’ll just hang on, yardbirds, you’ll see how it allll fits together, okay??  Here we go:

TEMPTATIONS:  They’ll be singing the National Anthem before the Final Four championship game on Monday night …

TO CALL THE POT:  In a recent interview, guitar legend Carlos Santana has called upon President Obama to legalize marijuana!  He said it was “really way overdue, like the prohibition with the alcohol and stuff like that.” But he goes further, saying “You will see a transformation in America.”

Now, this is where you come in, oh ye faithful readers:  What do you think the Prez oughtta do? Should pot be legalized?  I’d be interested in readin’ your input on this (and I’ll even put some of yer comments on this site - with your oh-so-kind permission, natch!), so just drop me a line by email or leave a message at the sound of the beep … er, comment section below.

BLACK (as in “Jay”)

Jay Black (formerly of Jay & the Americans) was supposed to perform in Westbury, NY, on Saturday (today), but he has an upper respiratory infection and has to postpone.  But not to worry, students; makeup day has been scheduled for June 13.

By the way … didja know that Jay Black (nicknamed “The Voice” – and, listen: If you ever get to hear this man in concert, I guarantee you’ll see why he has that nickname!) is actually the second person to be the “Jay” in “— & the Americans”?  The first was Jay Traynor — and it’s his voice you hear on their first hit, “She Cried”.  Also, this Jay (actually, David Blatt) is also a stand-up comedian!
Goin’ back to what I said a few sentences back:  If you ever get a chance to hear him do the song “Cara Mia”, you’ll hear the most amazing long note in rock music history (and don’t forget: this dynamo is 70 years old now!).  Totally mind-blowing (can ya tell I’m a fan??)!!

MACCA SPILLS THE TM BEANS

In a news conference with fellow-former-Fab-Four-friend Ringo Starr, Sir Paul McCartney told reporters that transcendental meditation actually stabilized The Beatles!  He and Starr will perform together on Saturday to raise funds for children to learn their meditative techniques.

“It was a great gift that Maharishi gave us,” McCartney says. “For me, it came at a time when we were looking for something to kind of stabilize us toward the end of the crazy ’60s.”

Okay … ya know what the topic title means now, right??  Goooood!  So, with that, I’m gonna shut ‘er down for the night and, since it’s still a bit early, get a hot cuppa and tackle some of these files. 

OH!!  (Geez … I almost forgot!)  A reader wanted to know where he could get a copy of John Lennon’s first book, In His Own Write.  Yeah, I’ve read it (it’s one of my faves, actually); it’s a mix of comic genius, wit, things that’ll make ya think, and has some cool drawings by Lennon himself!
So — printed for the first time since the 1960s — I’m gonna give you the link to a spot where you can buy it (and at a great price).  It’s comin’ up right after the sign-off, so hang on!

That being said,  stay tuned, campers … I’ll be back with more in about 24!  Until then, keep your eyes on the skies, your feet on the ground, your heart with the music …and I’ll see ya on the flip side!

THE FORE: A SPECIAL GIG IN BROMLEY

On Sunday, 15 March, the lads will be appearing onstage at Market Square in Bromley as they proudly debut their newest member, the popular Nathan Persad!  He’ll be manning the drums for The Fore as they hit the stage for three hours of non-stop rock!
Actually, it’ll be more like a homecoming as Nathan was with the band a few years ago as rhythm guitarist.  But, trust me, yardbirds — he’s as great a drummer as he is a guitarist!  With a great set of pipes (for you older folks, that means “vocal cords” [c’mon … get with th’ program!]), a fab personality and some great looks, he’s gonna knock yer socks off (ummm … unless ya go barefoot [???? in this weather?? Suuuure …]).
So if yer in the UK as ya read this, it’s definitely worth your time to make the trip! Remember: the gig’s from noon until 3 PM …

A FAB FIND 4 SURE

FOUND: An alternate take of “Revolution 1” off The Beatles’ immortal White Album! Recently leaked across the internet (and subsequently pulled by EMI when that was discovered), “Revolution 1 (Take 20)” blends a doo-wop version with elements of the album cut “Revolution 9”, which, some say, was the apex of the Beatles’ musical experimentation.  On this one, though, Yoko Ono even makes a brief appearance towards the end.

A lot of music collectors are considering the track to be the biggest find so far in rock history.  Supposedly, there were only two copies of the recording (done on 3 June, 1968) in existence: one owned by John Lennon, and the other one by an anonymous collector.

Last year Sir Paul McCartney talked about another lost Beatles’ track called “Carnival of Light”, and he ably described the 14-minute experiment (where John, Paul, George and Ringo went about the studio playing, beating or banging on everything randomly) as “more plink-plonky”.
“I mean, I like it, but it’s not to everyone’s taste,” he said.

FOR THE FAITHFULL FEW

One of the best-known female artists to come out of the UK in the Sixties, Marianne Faithfull, has just released a new CD called Easy Come Easy Go.  And, while ya might think, after decades of rough living and addictions, she’s destined for the bargain bins and grocery-store Muzaks, this CD is actually pretty good!
A jazz-flavored mix of oldies (not hers), Marianne has help in the backing vocals of artists like Sean Lennon, Rufus Wainwright, Cat Power … even Keith Richards joins her in harmony on the country classic, Sing Me Back Home.
Yes, her voice is a bit raspy, and a little “throatier”.  But at 62– and after all she’s put herself through — for her to make this kind of “comeback” is admirable.

If ya need but one track to prove it, listen to her rendition of Smokey Robinson’s Ooh, Baby, Baby.  With falsettos handled by Antony Hegarty (the transgendric leader of Antony and the Johnsons), she handles the classic with an emotion that does the original justice!

By the way, she’s agreed to a movie being done about her life, based on her 1994 autobiography Faithfull. “It won’t happen right away but we have found a director who I trust who wants to make a film of the book,” she said.
If the movie sticks with the book, it’s bound to make a great showing at the box office. Stay tuned … I’ll letcha know more about its development as I get the word.

Well, this issue’s a wrap … but stay tuned, ’cause there’ll be more in less than 24! So, until then, remember to
keep your eyes on the skies, your feet on the ground, your heart with the music … and I’ll see ya on the flip side …

While my office computer’s bein’ worked on, enjoy this little gem from the Rockfiles:

First, can ya name this SONG?:

”Well you’re the cutest thing that I did ever see
I really love your peaches/wanna shake your tree
Lovey dovey, lovey dovey all the time”

I’ll give you the answer at the end of this post.

THE MAN WAS THE SONG:

Unless you live in the UK, you’ve probably never heard of Tony Burrows — but you’ve definitely heard his voice before. As the lead vocalist with several “studio” bands, he appeared on several Top 40 hits from these pseudo-groups:

“Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)” - (Edison Lighthouse)
“My Baby Loves Lovin’” - (White Plains)
“Gimme Dat Ding” - (The Pipkins)
“United We Stand” - (Brotherhood Of Man)
“Beach Baby” - (First Class)

Tony was a member of a British band (The Flower Pot Men) who had a #4 hit in England (“Let’s Go To San Francisco”). Two other members of that band (Jon Lord and Nick Semper) went on to be founding members of another UK band that had a little more success…Deep Purple

Those background noises you hear on “Telstar”by the Tornadoes were pulled off by producer Joe Meek.
The sounds intended to symbolize radio signals were actually produced by Meek by

• running a pen around the rim of an ashtray, and
• the “rocket launch” was actually the sound of a flushing  toilet.

In both cases the recordings were then played in reverse to create the desired effect.

In 1975, Carly Simon lived in a house on Rockingham Drive in Brentwood, California–the same house which, 20 years later, would become infamous as the residence of accused murderer O.J. Simpson.

Hey … didja like the late Bobby Darin’s big hit, Dream Lover?  Well, didja know that Neil Sedaka played piano on this rock classic?
Or that Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan of the Turtles sang backing vocals on “Bang A Gong (Get It On)” by T. Rex?

Because so many of you have written in sayin’ that you loved the show — and in tribute to Wendy Richard (Miss Brahms), who passed away this week of cancer –
here’s the first of a three-parter from Are You Being Served?
CAMPING IN (Pt. 1 of 3)

Okay … that’s it for this run. See ya tomorrow, same time, same … er, station. Until then,
see ya on the flip side …
(* The name of the song was Lovey Dovey by the Clovers. If ya thought The Joker, you’re also right. Y’see, Steve Miller used lines from the 1954 Clovers hit when he sings “Really love your peaches, wanna shake your tree / Lovey dovey, lovey dovey all the time”)

Now, this is somethin’ every fan’s gonna want to see:

A set of never-before-seen photos from the final concert before the tragic plane crash that took the lives of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper went on display at the concert’s famous site (the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa) yesterday. The seven photos — taken February 2, 1959 by (at the time) a 16-year-old girl — were unveiled in a special ceremony Thursday night.

One of them shows Buddy Holly playing drums for Dion & the Belmonts (replacing their drummer, who had dropped out of the tour earlier with frostbite).

Incidentally, of all survivors who were involved in that last tour, only Dion DiMucci has refused to pay tribute to Holly, Valens and Bopper (J.P. Richardson).

Hey … remember when I mentioned that Hugh Laurie’s band, Band From TV, was releasing a CD called Hoggin’ All The Covers”? Well, they made their television talk show debut January 16, 2009 on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno — and it resulted in a 500% jump in sales — with all of the proceeds being donated to charity!

“Hoggin’ All the Covers” shot up to a #1 sales ranking in Amazon’s music store and still maintains a steady top 15 sales position within the online retailer’s music store. That translates into mega-bucks to help charities the band — which is made up of TV stars, with Laurie on keyboards and vocals — promotes! GREAT job, mates!

And it looks like ‘The Boss’ is owning up to a mistake! In an interview with the New York Times, Bruce Springsteen says he shouldn’t have made a deal with Wal-Mart. The store started exclusively selling a Springsteen greatest hits CD this month.

Fans were angry and a little confused because Springsteen has always been a supporter of worker’s rights — and Wal-Mart seems to ignore those.

Bruce told the Times that he “dropped the ball on it.”  He went on to say: “It was a mistake. Our batting average is usually very good, but we missed that one. Fans will call you on that stuff, as it should be.”

HERE’S THE PROMO VID FOR HOGGIN’ ALL THE COVERS

Now … since it’s almost 5:00 (AM) here (hey … it’s gotta be 5:00 Somewhere, right??), I’m gonna catch a quick 360. But stay tuned … there’s more in less than 23+1! Until then, I’ll just …

see ya on the flip side!