--

Stolf's Cool Oldies - Stolf, Cool 95.3 ----June Edition - Volume 2 - Issue 12

WHOSE YOUR COUSIN?

“I’m My Own Grandpa.” First recorded by Guy Lombardo in 1948, the best-known version is a countrified one by Lonzo & Oscar. The basic premise is simple: your grandmother’s husband is your grandfather. Sooooo...if you married your.... well, OK, the way the song does it: the narrator marries an older widow; then, his father marries her grown-up daughter. Thus, the narrator’s step-daughter (thru his wife) is also his step-mother (thru his father.) Now this would be enough: he is married to his step-grandmother (his step-mother/step-daughter’s mother), so it works. But to draw out the story, the narrator’s father has a son....you can take it from there, except of course these are half- and step- relations, and it is kind of sad, since if you’re your own grandpa, it’s up to you to teach yourself how to pitch horseshoes, and play the harmonica...and spit....

There are people who think of themselves, jokingly mostly, as related to themselves. For example, a professor (of social psychology no less!) at the University of Michigan calls himself his own cousin, owing to the fact that his maternal grandfather married the daughter of his (gramps’) first cousin. All this really means is he has “double cousins”: individuals who are his cousins thru 2 different lineages. Since everyone in one line is related to everyone in the other line, he’s “related to himself”, as far as that goes. Hey, it’s a free country.

Do you have a famous cousin, the “star” of your family? 73 years ago, along the Louisiana-Mississippi border, 3 famous cousins were born within a year of each other: Jerry Lee Lewis, Mickey Gilley, and Jimmy Swaggart. Well, they’re not actually first cousins, at least not collectively. And Jerry Lee went on to marry Myra Gale Brown, who, according to the Internet, was his “cousin”...either: first, first once removed, second, second twice removed, third, or third twice removed, take your pick.

Now even dictionaries will give contradictory definitions, but civil law, church law, genealogists and anthropologists all agree: second cousins have parents who are first cousins. Its just that simple. And on down the line: third cousins have parents who are second cousins, etc. It’s directly parallel to first cousins having parents who are siblings. In fact, if you’re mathematically inclined, you can think of siblings as “0th cousins”, and the numbers will always check. “Cousin” refers to relatives of your generation; they are descended, by the same number of steps as you, from the siblings of your parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, and on back.

Notice that if Joe is your second cousin, and thus Joe’s father and your father are first cousins, then Joe’s grandfather and your grandfather are brothers, and you share a common great-grandfather. So if someone tells you “We’re second cousins”, you can think to yourself: “His dad is my dad’s first cousin”...or “His grandfather and my grandfather are brothers” ....or “We have a great-grandfather in common”. All three are true. And for third cousins, everything shifts over one: “His dad is my dad’s second cousin”...or “His grandfather and my grandfather are first cousins”...or “His great-grandfather and my great-grandfather are brothers”...or “We have a great-great-grandfather in common”. This is how family trees spread out “sideways”.

But to complete this mini-review of Cousins 101: where does “removed” come in? It means a generation up or down (“removed”) from yours. Your “first cousin once removed” is either your father’s first cousin or your first cousin’s son. In other words, a 1C1R is like a second uncle or second nephew, and in fact a few families do use this terminology. The advantage is it distinguishes between your older 1C1R “ascending” and your younger 1C1R “descending”. Plus it’s convenient for your second cousin’s father to be your second uncle, although given Murphy’s law, people would probably start mistaking their second uncle for their fathers second cousin, not first cousin. You can’t win, but at least you can be accurate.
Getting back to the Big 3: they’re being “cousins” implies first cousins and you might even read that “their mothers were sisters.” But that’s wrong. Jerry Lee’s father Elmo had 3 brothers and 7 sisters. Sister Irene married Arthur Gilley and they had Mickey Gilley. Sister Ada married J. W. Swaggart and they had “Son” Swaggart, and Son is Jimmy’s father. So while Jerry and Mickey are first cousins to each other, they are first cousins once removed to Jimmy. Notice that removed generations can overlap: Son was called “Uncle Son” by his first cousins Jerry and Mickey, since he was the father of their “cousin”.

Unfortunately for you if all this is giving you a headache, there’s more. Son Swaggart’s wife was Minnie Bell Herron, a sister of Jerry Lee’s mother Mamie Herron! Thus Jimmy and Jerry are first cousins on the Herron side and first cousins once removed on the Lewis side. Another of Elmo’s sisters, Jane, married Henry Brown: they had 4 children, one of which was J. W. Brown, a guitarist who recruited Jerry Lee for his band. It eventually became Jerry Lee’s band, and he would marry Myra Gale Brown, J. W.’s daughter and thus Jerry Lee’s first cousin once removed.

And yes, I do have a semi-famous cousin. After Grand Funk Railroad fired their manager Terry Knight, he started up a new label called Brown Bag, and he signed Mom’s Apple Pie, a Chicago-type band from Warren, Ohio. My first cousin was one of their singers, and they live forever in infamy as having what many consider the most tasteless album cover in history. It wasn’t their idea but Terry’s, on the theory that bad publicity is publicity none-the-less. Embarrassed the entire extended family, I can tell you, and if you must you can see it on the Internet. Till next time, cousin, rock on!---

To Contact Him Please E-mail Us Here...

Stolf's Cool Oldies - Stolf, Cool 95.3 ----May Edition - Volume 2 - Issue 11

ROCKIN THE BOOB TUBE - part 2

What was the first appearance of a post-Beatle rock group on a TV series (not counting varieties shows.)? In last October’s column, I guessed it might have been the Standells on the short-lived Bing Crosby sitcom in January 1965. Well, I’ve found an earlier one, but before I reveal it as the reigning champ, let’s take a look at a couple contenders.

The Standells, of course. They were founded by Larry Tamblyn, who came from a show-biz family. His brother was Russ Tamblyn, who scored big as Jet leader Riff in 1961’s “West Side Story”. Russ had a hot career as a dancer and actor, till things petered out in the late 60s and he ended up doing biker films and a Japanese monster flick “War of the Gargantuas”. Much later, he re-appeared as Dr. Jacoby on the TV series “Twin Peaks”. And his daughter is Amber Tamblyn. Russ and Larry’s father Eddie was also in show business, as a dancer and child star on Broadway and in Vaudeville, and a dozen or so movies as he got older.

Plus the Standells’ lead singer was Dick Dodd, one of the original Mouskateers and they had a local following as the house band at the Hollywood nightclub PJ’s. So being cast as the “Love Bugs” on “The Big Crosby Show” episode that aired Jan 18 1965 seemed pretty natural. Exactly 2 months later, they made their most famous TV appearance, playing themselves on an episode of the “Munsters”, where they have speaking parts and perform 2 songs: “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and “Do the Ringo”. Then in March, they appeared as a night club band on a Ben Casey episode. But all of this wasn’t because they were nationally famous: its because they were from Los Angeles and had a good agent. “Dirty Water” wouldn’t be recorded till well over a year later. Movies like “Get Yourself a College Girl”, “Riot on Sunset Strip”, and “Zebra in the Kitchen” followed, and eventual immortality with the Red Sox Nation. It’s been said that the Standells had never actually been to Boston, and that’s sort of true: they opened for the Rolling Stones in April of 1966, not in Boston, but Lynn, a suburb.

An even earlier appearance is by the Enemies as a club band on an episode of “Burke Law” airing Jan 6 1965, with Annette Funicello as a go-go-dancer. The Enemies were another Sunset Strip house band, from the Whisky A-Go-Go, and also appeared in November of 1965 on a “Beverly Hillbillies” episode, doing that rock hoedown version of “Turkey in the Straw”, remember?. Their leader was Cory Wells, who went on to found Three Dog Night. Also in late 1965, the Spats played on “My Mother the Car”, and Les Brown Jr. and the Wellingtons were the Mosquitoes on “Gilligan’s Island”. Both were Los Angeles club bands. Notice the trend? Why spend money for a top hit-maker when you could just pull a band off the Strip? The one exception early on was Chad and Jeremy.

Astonishingly, Chad & Jeremy had only one moderate hit in the UK, although they were very successful in the US. The reason for this might seem odd to us: they were considered “upper-crust Nancy-boys” when a newspaper outed Jeremy Clyde as a descendent of the famed Duke of Wellington, educated at Eaton, and socially well-connected. Chad Stuart had a working class background, but the duo were frozen out by class system bias. America to the rescue. Phil Hartman’s brother John worked for the William Morris Agency and when he saw them on the “Hollywood Palace” in late 1964, he offered to represent them. Aggressive hustling got them on the “Dick Van Dyke Show “(as “The Redcoats”) and “Patty Duke Show”, both in February 1965. In fact, they both had acting aspirations, and would appear on “Batman”, “Laredo”, even “Hollywood Squares”, plus Jeremy by himself on “My Three Sons” and “Felony Squad”.

But who was first, Stolf? OK, sorry. On April 11 1964 (and this is the only one I’ve found for 1964) an obscure group called the Crocodiles appeared on the “Joe Bishop Show”. Now careful: this is not his late-night talk show which would come later, but a sitcom that ran from 1961 thru 1965. Remember the theme: “Joey Joey Joey....” Abby Dalton was his wife and he played (big surprise) a talk show host. In this episode, Joey dreamed he lead a band called the Grasshoppers ( = the Crocodiles), complete with Beatle-wig, appearing on the Tonight Show, with Ed McMahon, but no Johnny Carson.

BTW, another interesting tidbit about the “Joey Bishop Show” was a crossover by Don Knotts playing Barney Fife from Mayberry, Seems Joey was vacationing in Hoppowattomie Falls....must be somewhere near Mt. Pilot. Too bad this series isn’t in syndication; at least one season is available on DVD. But the episode with the Crocohoppers shows these guys were pretty quick off the mark, coming just 2 months after the Beatles on Ed Sullivan. Anything earlier? Lemme know! till next time, rock on!

To Contact Him Please E-mail Us Here...

Stolf's Cool Oldies - Stolf, Cool 95.3 ----April Edition - Volume 2 - Issue 10

5x5...A Quintet of Fifth Beatles

The Beatles. The Fab Four. For the ten years they were together, many individuals were tagged with the title “The Fifth Beatle.” I Googled that phrase, matched different names, and got a fairly reasonable ranking. The numbers represent thousands of hits.

17.8 George Martin....producer
16.5 Brian Epstein....manager
15.3 Billy Preston....keyboards
12.5 Stuart Sutcliffe...original bass-player
12.1 Pete Best...original drummer
11.3 Yoko Ono....sang on “Bungalow Bill”
9.3 Phil Spector...produced Let It Be LP
9.1 Tony Sheridan...German singer 1961
9.0 Geoff Emerick...engineer
8.9 Neil Aspinall ...road manager
8.8 Mal Evans....road manager
8.3 Astrid Kirchherr...friend of Klaus & Stu
8.2 Jimmy Nicol...fill-in drummer
8.1 Andy White....fill-in drummer
8.0 Linda McCartney....she sang some
7.8 Klaus Voormann....almost bass-player
7.6 Derek Taylor...press agent
7.1 Harry Nilsson....friend and musician
5.5 Eric Clapton...old slowhand
2.9 Murray the K ...disk jockey
0.7 Tommy Moore ...drummer pre-1960
0.5 Glyn Johns....engineer
0.1 Ed Rudy...docu-records...”its here, luv!!!”

Interestingly, the only “official” Fifth Beatle was Murray the K Kaufman, DJ at WINS in New York City. His aggressive pursuit of the Beatles resulted in mutual friendship: he broadcast live from backstage at concerts and with them in their hotel rooms. Recollections differ, but it was either George or Ringo who jokingly gave him the nickname, and he & the radio station ran with it.

Of the musicians, this article will highlight five, and let’s start at the beginning: during 1960-1961, the Beatles were a 5-member group. Stuart Sutcliffe was John Lennon’s best friend from art school, and although he could only play a little folk guitar, John convinced him to buy a bass guitar and join the group. His playing was said to be rudimentary but adequate. He quit the band in Hamburg, Germany (Paul taking over bass) and died of a brain hemorrhage a year later, April 1962. But Stu’s influence on the Beatles was profound: he and John came up with the Beatles name, and he got the band to grow their unique haircut, which he copied from German friend Klaus Voormann (more about him later).

So the quintet became a quartet. Peter Best was their drummer from 1960 till June 1962. He replaced Tommy Moore, a holdover from the Quarrymen days. His mother Mona owned the Casbah Club where the Beatle frequently played. When the Beatles auditioned for Parlophone Records, producer George Martin didn’t like Pete’s drumming, so Pete was replaced by Ringo Starr, drummer with Rory Storm and the Hurricanes.The switch was headline news in Liverpool newspapers, and fans revolted: “Ringo Never, Pete Forever!” Turns out, Pete was the real Beatle heart-throb in those days. He hung around the music business for a bit, released the deceptively titled album “Best of the Beatles”, then became a civil servant for 20 years, before gravitating back to music.

The next Fifth Beatle was also a drummer. When Ringo was hospitalized with tonsillitis in early June, 1964, Brian Epstein suggested session drummer Jimmy Nicol as a fill-in. He had played on a budget label LP called “Beatlemania” so he knew the tunes. He played ten concerts with the Beatles, and later admitted he was praying Ringo wouldn’t want to return. And of course the fans knew...maybe you called an emergency meeting of your Beatles Fan Club. Ringo rejoined the group in Australia, and Jimmy was paid 500 pounds, given an engraved gold watch, and had to give the suit back. It’s said that his catch phrase “It’s getting better” inspired the Sgt Pepper song.

Speaking of drummers, Martin wasn’t originally thrilled with Ringo’s skins either, and the common version of “Love Me Do” features studio drummer Andy White. A version with Ringo was the initial UK single release, but all LP and subsequent single releases used the Andy White take. Ringo’s wasn’t available in the US until the “rarities” album in 1980. And please don’t confuse Andy White with Alan White, the drummer with John’s Plastic Ono Band, and later a member of Yes, although I can see how it could happen.

Now with the Plastic Ono Band, we come to the most interesting Fifth Beatle, in my opinion: Klaus Voormann. (I know, we’ve always pronounced it with a “V” but its actually more like “four-man”). A German artist and musician, he got to know the Beatles thru Stu; in fact, when Stu quit the group, Klaus offered to replace him, but was told Paul had already bought a bass. Klaus migrated to England, and formed the group “Paddy, Klaus and Gibson”. (Gibson Kemp had been Ringo’s replacement with Rory Storm...small world, eh?) Produced by Brian Epstein, the trio had a UK hit with “Quick Before They Catch Us”, theme to a TV sitcom of the same name, and a great non-Beatle beat tune. After briefly joining the Hollies for some concerts, Klaus settled in as Manfred Mann’s bass-player, but stayed friends with the Fabs, designing the cover of their album Revolver, and much later, the Anthology series.

When Paul quit the Beatles in the Spring of 1970, there were published reports, apparently leaked by Apple, that Klaus would be his replacement, with the addition of Billy Preston on keyboards, in a new group called The Ladders. (In Brit-speak, ladders are runs in your nylons.) Nothing came of this, although Klaus was of course with the Plastic Onos, and the Ladder line-up -- John, George, Ringo, Klaus and Billy -- did record John’s song “I’m the Greatest” on Ringo’s 1973 “Ringo” album.

And now we come full circle: as the Beatles were nearing their breakup, John lobbied for Billy Preston to join as an official member, and they’d be again a quintet. On out-takes of the Let It Be sessions, you hear Paul’s objection: why bother, we’re about to split up anyway. Preston met the Beatles in 1962 when he was with Little Richard’s band; the “GET BACK” single is credited to “the Beatles featuring Billy Preston”, and he played on their last public performance, the famous London rooftop gig. Billy Preston died on 6/6/06, a beastly date.

So who IS the real Fifth Beatle? Well, in football the Seattle Seahawks’ retired number “12”, representing the fans, the “12th man”. Catch my drift?....till next time, rock on!

To Contact Him Please E-mail Us Here...

Stolf's Cool Oldies - Stolf, Cool 95.3 ----Mar Edition - Volume 2 - Issue 9

Ten Amazing Rock n' Roll Facts

(1) THE FIRST DJ TO PLAY ELVIS GOT HIS NAME WRONG. And he wasn't a raw rookie either, he was Dewey "Daddy-O" Phillips a top jock on WHBQ Memphis. When he first played "That's All Right Mama" on July 10th 1954, he said it was by "Elton Preston." At least that's the way fellow DJ Eddie Bond remembered it, and heckfire, we're sticking to that story. The Daddy-O had a wild screaming style, so who knows what he said. Elrod Pretzel? I wasn't there. We do know that Elvis was at the movies: he knew it was going to be on and was too nervous to listen.

(2) A HIT RECORD WRITTEN BY A VICE PRESIDENT? No, Spiro Agnew didn't pen "Incense and Peppermints", but Charles Dawes, Vice President under Calvin Coolidge, was a self-taught pianist and composer, and in 1912 wrote "Melody in A Major". In 1951, Carl Sigman added lyrics, and it was a hit for Tommy Edwards in 1958 as "It's All in the Game".

(3) THE SUPREMES GO SURFIN'. Not many blacks lived in the beach communities of Southern California, but some did, and some surfed, including legends Nick Galbadon and Frank Edwards. The Pyramids, whose hit was "Penetration", had a black guitarist named Willy Glover (check out his website). Still, you gotta hand it to the Motown Machine: they had all the bases covered, as Diana Ross and the Supremes sang "Surfer Boy" in the beach movie "Beach Ball" in 1965. You can catch this clip on YouTube, and its really a rockin' Holland-Dozier-Holland tune, 1000% better than the Four Seasons what-were-they-thinking classic "No Surfin' Today", flip side of "Dawn."

(4) THE STAR TREK THEME HAS LYRICS. This soaring melody was composed by Alexander Courage but he should have looked at the fine print in the contract. It gave Gene Roddenberry the option of adding lyrics, and thus collecting half the royalties every time the theme played, with or without any singing. Clever, huh? I haven't found a recorded version of the words, but they're pretty lame, sung from the POV of a girl who's space-boyfriend's "journey never ends...his star trek will go on forever..."

(5) THE BLUE OYSTER CULT IS FROM WATERTOWN. Well, not really, but the drummer is: Albert Bouchard met Long Island native and guitarist Donald Roeser when they were students at Clarkson and they played in Potsdam bands, eventually going their proverbial separate ways. When they reunited in Stony Brook, Roeser was now Buck Dharma, and the rest is history.

(6) CCR NEVER HAD A NUMBER ONE HIT. Strange but true...twelve Credence Clearwater Revival singles charted in Billboard, with five #2's, one #3, three more in the top 10. OK, "Lookin' Out My Back Door" was #1 in Cashbox, but that's like kissing your sister.

(7) BRIAN WILSON WAS DEAF IN ONE EAR. And still is, as far as I know. Almost no hearing in his right one. The reason is controversial: he says he was born that way, others say he was beaten as a child. Whatever, it sure didn't seem to slow him down. While I'm on the subject, I ought to point out that stereo and rock really never mixed. Stereo was invented to simulate the left-to-right placement of the instruments in a symphony orchestra, and really was irrelevant for other types of music with smaller combos. Ask Phil Spector. Ask the Beatles. Ask Brian Wilson.

(8) CHEVY CHASE, ROCK DRUMMER. Cornelius Crane Chase played drums with a band called Chameleon Church; they had an LP on MGM as part of the Boss-Town Sound promotion that fizzled. Earlier, at Bard College, he played with Walter Becker and Donald Fagen in a jazz group called The Leather Canary, which evolved into Stealy Dan, but without Chevy.

(9) JOHN "CHAD" DENVER ON CAMPUS. Yes, he really did replace Chad Mitchell in the satiric folk-group the Chad Mitchell Trio, renamed the Mitchell Trio. I mention this only because, with the election coming soon, visions of hanging chads may dance in our heads. As a first name, Chad could be short for Chadwick, but its actually an old Anglo-Saxon name in its own right. There was even a St. Chad. Look it up.

(10) THE REAL ROCK POLITICIAN. Sure, Huckabee can play bass, but John Hall is the real deal. Guitarist and songwriter for Orleans ("Still the One", Dance With Me"), he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 19th district in 2006, minus the beard, but now he wears a shirt. Till next time, rock on!

To Contact Him Please E-mail Us Here...

Stolf's Cool Oldies - Stolf, Cool 95.3 ----Feb Edition - Volume 2 - Issue 8

You Might Be a Baby Boomer If...

*--you paid more for your last car than your first house.

*--you wonder how that comic book company ended up making computers. (Sorry, it’s a different Dell!)

*--you say “a couple of years ago”, and it turns out it was 15 years. (Or maybe even 20...)

*--you remember Formosa. (Kids, it’s now called Taiwan.)

*--you didn’t have the benefit of Viagra; the best you could do was Vitalis.

*--you remember why the sides of double albums were numbered 1-4 and 2-3, instead of 1-2 and 3-4. (Forgot? It was so they’d play in the right order when stacked on the spindle of an automatic play record-player.)

*--you think “pre-paid” means you don’t have to pay for it, because it’s already been paid for. Duh. (And while we’re on the subject, the next time they offer something “on demand”, call ‘em up and demand you get it for free. Isn’t that what “demand” means?)

*--you remember when Six Flags meant over Texas, not over everywhere.

*--and there was only one variety of Hershey’s Kiss (instead of 497.)

*--and carob was the next big thing, replacing chocolate.

*--and you once accidentally called your mother “man”. (Ooops, sorry, man....I mean....)

*--you know the difference between Pea-nuts Hucko and Peanuts Lowrey.

*--you find it a sobering thought that John Lennon’s son is a has-been.

*--you remember where you were when postage when from 4 to 5 cents.

*--you hear “Kinko’s” and all you can think of is a perverted clown.

*--deep down in your heart of hearts you know the ground CAN cause a fumble. That’s the whole point: you’re on the ground and you don’t have the ball. You failed to DOWN the ball! El pelota libre! (And you throw something at the TV when someone scores one of those phony “nick the pylon” touchdowns.)

*--you look at those before-and-after weight-loss ads, and the “before” appeals to you more than the “after.”

*--you remember when changing the channel was good exercise.

*--you collected one or more of the following: match-book covers, milk-bottle caps, Christmas seals, troll dolls, miniature metal license plates, wire puzzles, political buttons, swizzle sticks, valentine cards, elongated pennies, or gum wrappers (which you then wove into gum wrapper chains, remember?)

*--you realize that when they say “infra- structure”, they mean “public utilities.”

*--the only time you were allowed to eat supper in the living room was when “The Wizard of Oz” was on.

*--the only time you saw a golden retriever was on your Dad’s “Field and Stream” calendar.

*--there was a time when everyone you knew owned a frisbee.

*--you ever drew on the entire Etch-a-Sketch screen to seen the mechanism underneath.

*--you remember when you could smoke in your hospital bed. (I did it...still can’t believe it.)

*--you “ruined” your bicycle by retrofitting it with high-rise handle-bars and a banana seat. (“Ruin” was the word your parents used.)

*--you go back to the days when the only man who wore an earring was Mr. Clean.

*--you miss Fizzies, greenie caps, Quisp & Quake, space-wheels macaroni, Ayds diet candy, bubble pipes, suicide Coke, color-by-number, Corn Diggers, butterfly sleepers, Cocoa Marsh, Hamilton’s Invaders, space food sticks, slot-cars, Odo-Ro-no, Flav-R straws, oleomargarine, Wink grapefruit soda, Beach-Nut Hot Shot gum, wiggle pictures, Sugar Chex, Testor’s Pla enamel, the Teaberry Shuffle, and “What? No Bosco?”

*--some or most of the following ring a bell (waaaaay off in the distance): David Suskind, Nani Darnell, Arnold Zenker, Fay Spain, Spain Musgrove, Jinx Falkenberg, Sir Monty Rock III, Snooky Lanson, Marlin Perkins, Gayla Peevey, Bash Kinnett, London Lee, Christine Jorgensen, Jon Gnagy, Penelope Tree, Pete Best, Freckles Brown, Wyomia Tyus, Billie Sol Estes, Winky Dink, Irish McCalla, Sylva Koscina, Gabriel Heater, Christian Herter, Suzy Knickerbocker, Ersel Hickey, Cookie Gilchrist, Skeeter Davis, Duke Carmel, Mamie Van Doren, Monique Van Vooren, Big Daddy Roth, Little Iodine, Elmer Sneezeweed, Hector Heathcote, and Clyde Crashcup, not to mention Biggy Rat and Itchy Brother.

And, in the final analysis, you are very likely a Baby Boomer if you understand, as I do, that if they’d had genetic counseling back in 1950, you wouldn’t be here. Till next time, rock on, geezer!

---Stolf



To Contact Him Please E-mail Us Here...

Stolf's Cool Oldies - Stolf, Cool 95.3 ----Jan Edition - Volume 2 - Issue 7

First, let me start the new year by thanking all my listeners who tune in to Cool-Oldies 95.3 every morning. If you’ve ever won a prize, or talked with me on the phone (1-877-979-9722) between 6 and 9am, I may have said goodbye with “Thanx for listening!” And trust me, I mean that from the bottom of my labonza. If you like this column each month, but have never listened in, give Cool-Oldies a try. 104.1 in Watertown. 100.1 in Lowville. 95.3 just about everywhere else. And channel 96 on Time-Warner Cable.

This month, I have some random thoughts about our music....”oldies”...the sound of the 1950’s, 60’s, and 70’s. And my first random thought it this: we are living in a Golden Age of Oldies. If you love this music, 2008 is a better time than back in the day when the music was new. Why do I say that? One word: availability. I remember my first year in college, there was a senior who had an enormous collection of old 45’s. I was blown away, because he had songs I hadn’t heard in ages. Mind you, these were tunes that you hear every day today on Oldies stations, or your tapes, CDs, or iPod.

But the fact is, when this music was new, IT WAS DISPOSABLE. On the radio for a few weeks, then gone forever. Sure, the top groups put out greatest hits LPs, but beyond that, if you didn’t buy it when it was new, you never heard it again. Today, what a difference! Everything’s out on CD, plus what I call “new oldies”: bonus tracks from the vaults, alternate takes, etc. Then there’s the internet and downloading. ‘Nuff said, except to give you a remarkable example.

There was a Grassroots clone called “Waiting Line” by Spyder’s Gang out in the early 70’s. Played a couple times on the radio, then out. I’ve been searching for this song ever since, and eventually found it...on YouTube! Yeah, there’s a guy who makes videos like this: he shows you an old 45, then places it on a turntable, and plays it! That’s the video he posts. Boring to watch, but a treasure trove of lost music. Then there’s the 365 project on the WFMU site, Check this out for the wildest, craziest stuff this side of Dr. Demento.

But beyond the availability of the sounds, there’s the research: hundreds of sites devoted to artists, genres, local bands, just about everything you could imagine regarding our music, including where it came from. Which leads to my second thought: weekday mornings at 8:50 on Cool-Oldies I have a feature I call “The Originals.” And that’s our motto: where our music comes from.

The format of the show is simple: 2 records: an original and a re-make. But within that format, there are many different categories: big hits that were originally done by someone else....instrumental hits that somebody tried putting lyrics to.... famous artists “before they were stars”....hit songs re-written with different lyrics....and on and on.

A perfect example is Three Dog Night’s “Mama Told Me Not to Come.” Now when you first heard it back on Top 40 radio in 1970, you might have said: Hey, that’s that old Eric Burdon and the Animals song, if you had bought their LP “Eric Is Here” back in 1967. I hadn’t, by the way. The song was written by Randy “Short People” Newman, and first recorded by P. J. Proby in 1966, but it’s the Animals version that clearly influenced Three Dog Night. Some listeners, when hearing them back to back on “The Originals”, have said they actually like the Animals’ version better.

And there are hundreds of fascinating examples. Maria Muldaur’s “I’m a Woman” originally recorded by Peggy Lee. Jack Jones putting lyrics to the Tijuana Brass’s “Lonely Bull”. (Interestingly, the label of the 45 says “orchestra directed by Herb Alpert”, but it on Kapp, not A&M.) Surfing songs from David Gates & Jim Messina “before they were stars.” Jerry Lee Lewis doing the original version of Kenny Rogers & First Edition’s “Just Dropped In”. Bobby Parker’s “Watch Your Step”, from which John Lennon borrowed the riffs for both “I Feel Fine” and “Daytripper”. (Doubt it? When his jukebox was auctioned by Christie’s in 1989, “Watch Your Step” was on in.) And did you ever notice that the version of “Mrs. Robinson” you hear while watching “The Graduate” is very different from the hit version on the soundtrack LP? Same with Lulu’s “To Sir With Love”.

One I found recently: the Rascals “Good Lovin’”, originally done by the Olympics of “Western Movies” fame. And you never know when another will pop up. Couple years ago, I bought a girl-group LP at a Library book sale by the Poppies: and there was the original version of Spiral Starecase’s “She’s Ready”, called “He’s Ready”. Dorothy Moore, who had the 1976 hit “Misty Blue”, was a Poppy. Like you, I miss listening in to my favorite station to hear new releases from my favorite artists, but the fact is, with all the discoveries and re-discoveries, the “new oldies” are out there for the enjoying.

One final random thought: didja know that Lesley Gore is 2 years older than Al Gore? Not for nothing, but we always think of her as the 16-year-old kid singing “Its My Party”, “Judy’s Turn to Cry”, and “Sometimes I Wish I Were a Boy”. That last one is ironic: several years ago she came out of the closet, although she said she didn’t know till she was in her twenties, long after her hit-making days were over.

Till next time, Rock on! ---Stolf


To Contact Him Please E-mail Us Here...

Stolf's Cool Oldies - Stolf, Cool 95.3 ----Dec Edition - Volume 2 - Issue 6

Play it Again Charlie Brown

If you enjoy watching “A Charlie Brown Christmas” each year, you no doubt, like me, pay more attention to the dialogue and the story than the music. And of course I also like listening to the soundtrack LP, but then without the pictures to distract me. But this leads to a disconnect: did you know that there is a lot of music on the show that isn’t on the soundtrack, and vice versa?. This article will compare the two.

First the soundtrack LP, issued coincide with the first airing of the TV show on Dec 9 1965. It contained 11 tracks, 3 of which appear nowhere on the show. “What Child Is This”, “The Christmas Song” and “My Little Drum”, good as they are, have nothing to do with the show. They were recorded to flesh out the LP release. In fact, “My Little Drum” is a re-recording of “Minino Pequero Da Batena”, a track on Vince Guaraldi’s “From All Sides” album recorded earlier in 1965 with Brazilian guitarist Bola Sete. When the LP was issued as a CD in 1988, a 12th bonus track was added: called “Greensleeves”, it’s just another version of “What Child Is This”.

The soundtrack cuts that do appear on the show included 3 standards: “Hark the Herald Angles Sing”, “O Tannenbaum” and Beethoven’s “Fur Elise.” (Funny, that always made me think of a fur-lined muff or bonnet Elise wore in the winter…in fact, “fur” is the German word for “for”.) Of the remaining 4 songs, only 3 were written for the special: “Christmastime is Here” (vocal & instrumental versions), “Skating”, and my personal favorite “Christmas is Coming”, which it is interesting to note, is heard on the show for a mere 17 seconds!. The soon to be famous “Linus and Lucy” dates from a previous animated project that never saw the light of day.

In 1963, Lee Mendelson produced a documentary for TV entitled: ”A Man Named Willie Mays”. It got good ratings (Charles Schulz saw it and liked it) and for his next project, Mendelson thought to profile another ballplayer: “A Boy Named Charlie Brown”. This live-action documentary had several minutes of Peanuts animation, and for that Mendelson went to Bill Melendez, who had done the Ford Falcon Peanuts commercials, which began airing Fall 1959.

For music, Mendelson hired jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi, after hearing his hit “Cast Your Fate To the Wind” on the radio. Vince wrote and recorded 9 pieces, including “Linus and Lucy”, and they were released in 1963 on an LP called “Jazz Impressions of a Boy Named Charlie Brown”. This music is currently available as a CD titled “A Boy Named Charlie Brown”, which should not be confused (but easily is) with the movie soundtrack recording of the same name. But here’s the rub: the documentary never aired! They couldn’t find a sponsor. (Parts of this 30-minute show were re-used in 1969 in the 60-minute “Charlie Brown and Charles Schulz”. And the original program is now available on DVD from the Charles Schulz Museum online.) “Linus and Lucy” dates from this first project, and again, ironically, was heard only briefly during the documentary, and then without the signature left-hand vamp. But let’s get back to the music from the “Charlie Brown Christmas” show that isn’t on the “Charlie Brown Christmas” soundtrack. You’ll see the connection in a minute, if you haven’t guessed already!

3 of the “Boy Named Charlie Brown” tunes are used as background in “Charlie Brown Christmas”. The most common is called “Charlie Brown Theme”: it has the third most screen-time after “Christmastime is Here-Instrumental” and “O Tannenbaum”, and you’ll hear it when Charlie Brown is giving directions as director of the school play. When he talks to Freda, a piece called “Freda (With the Naturally Curly Hair)” is heard briefly...naturally. And when Sally is paired with Linus, it’s “Happiness Is”. And altho these 3 songs were composed for the documentary, and are on the documentary soundtrack, only “Happiness Is” was used in the finished product. Go figure.

Several other pieces are heard during “A Charlie Brown Christmas”, but aren’t on the soundtrack.. The most striking is the jazzy combo number heard when Snoopy is decorating his doghouse. On the cue-sheets for the show, this tune is called “Air Music.” The next Peanuts special “Charlie Brown’s All-Stars” used this music extensively, and there it’s called “Surfin’ Snoopy”, since in the first scene using it, that’s what Snoopy’s doing. And its under this title that it was finally released in 1998 on the “Charlie Brown’s Holiday Hits” CD. Then there is the brief but funny jingle bells that Schroeder plays 3 ways for Lucy. And finally, the snappy snippet we hear when Snoopy dances on Schroeder’s piano. It always sounded to me like a break from “Linus and Lucy”, but doesn’t match the 2 breaks in the soundtrack version. Last year the mystery was solved...accidentally!

In 2006 Fantasy Records released a remastered soundtrack CD, with 4 bonus tracks, including a version of “Christmastime is Here” with the kids singing “loo loo loo” instead of the lyrics. But the version of “Linus and Lucy” was in fact an alternate track, included by mistake. And sure enough, it contains the lost Snoopy-dance music! But get this: Fantasy apologized for the error, and promised newer pressings would include the original version of “Linus and Lucy”! So if you’re a hardcore Peanuts music fan like me, and you don’t have the original pressing, there’s no way to know which one you’re buying, as far as I know. Maybe the Peanuts music internet sites have it figured out by now. The best are peanutscollectorclub.com and web.mit.edu/smcguire/www/peanuts-annimation.html. Till next time, good grief! and rock on!---

To Contact Him Please E-mail Us Here...

Stolf's Cool Oldies - Stolf, Cool 95.3 ----Nov Edition - Volume 2 - Issue 5

Nov 22, 1963...it was a Friday, less than a week till Thanksgiving. “26 Shopping Days Till Christmas.” Remember, back then we didn’t count Sundays.

Nov 22, 1963...The day British authors Aldous Huxley (“Brave New World”) and C.S .Lewis (“The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”) died, at ages 69 and 64 respectively. The day Hugh Millen was born in Des Moines, Iowa. He would play quarterback for several NFL teams from 1987-1995. At 11:15 am, JFK called John Nance Garner, VP under FDR, to wish him a happy 95th birthday. Also celebrating birthdays: Hoagy Carmichael 64, Rodney Dangerfield 42, Robert Vaughn 31, Billie Jean Moffitt (King) 20; Little Steven Van Zandt and Greg Luzinski became teenagers, and Jamie Lee Curtis turned 5.

Nov 22, 1963...Charles DeGaulle’s 73rd birthday; he ordered no official celebrations, please. (3 days later, he’d be attending a funeral in Washington DC.) Meanwhile, across the English Channel, Parlophone Records, as it did each Friday at 5pm, unveiled its newest releases, among them the Beatles’ 2nd album “With the Beatles”, which in condensed form became America’s “Meet the Beatles”.

Nov 22, 1963...Speaking of the Beatles, this morning CBS airs a report on the Beatles on their morning news with Mike Wallace, from 10-10:30am. It included an interview with the lads, as well as live concert footage, altho CBS dubbed in the studio version of “She Loves You.” (And of course you can see it on YouTube!) Predictably, London bureau chief Alexander Kendrick didn’t think much of them or their music. Pretty balmy, what? Plans to re-run the report on the evening news were scuttled as all regular programming ceased at 2pm EST, not to resume till the following Tuesday. (Re the timeline, it’s interesting to note that altho Dallas and Washington DC are over a thousand miles apart, they are in adjacent time zones, just one hour difference.)

This was not the first time America saw the Beatles. NBC’s Huntley-Brinkley Report had a similar story Nov 18, and ditto ABC Nov 19. The coverage was inspired by the news Ed Sullivan had signed them to appear in February. But unless they were home sick from school that Friday, Baby Boomers wouldn’t have seen the Beatles; impact for now was non-existent, not surprising considering the events to come that terrible day. Not so on Dec 10th, when Walter Cronkite re-edited the feature and ran it on the evening news. In his words: “In the wake of the assassination story, nothing else was happening...we had an opportunity to use it...I was not entirely thrilled with it myself...these tawdry-looking guys with their long hair and this crazy singing of theirs”. This time, the result was an uproar.

Capitol had planned to release “I Want to Hold Your Hand” in mid-January, but a Washington DJ got a copy brought over by a BOAC stewardess; tapes of the song circulated to radio stations across the country. Capitol’s lawyers asked them to embargo the song, but no dice, resulting in a rush release the day after Christmas. It sold a million copies in 10 days, and by B-Day (Feb 9, 1964) the Beatles were already #1 on America’s music charts.

Nov 23, 1963...Virtually all Saturday college football games are cancelled. About 40 major and minor games did go on, altho none on the East Coast; at least 9 Texas schools played, headed by Texas Tech. Friday night, no NHL games were scheduled, and all NBA games were postponed. Half the weekend games for the two leagues were played, due to scheduling considerations. All AFL games were postponed; all NFL games did go on, none televised. The Watertown Daily Times noted that Friday’s United Football League games were also cancelled. This was a minor league that included the Syracuse Stormers, coached by former Giants great Steve Owen. Just as well, as they finished the season 0-12. The UFL would be finished a year later.

Nov 24, 1963...As on Saturday, regular Sunday radio and TV programming was pre-empted. Ed Sullivan would have featured the Camenas, described as “head-balancers.” A special on NBC saluting Grammy winners would have included Vaughn Meader and his popular “First Family” routines; talk about a career disappearing literally overnight.

Nov 25, 1963...The Monday funeral, and John-John’s 3rd birthday; Caroline’s 6th birthday would be Wednesday. Can you imagine? A North Country connection was Major Lawrence Brady, an Army chaplain from Malone, who accompanied the casket down the Capitol steps to begin the march to St. Matthews for the funeral. He appeared, in white surplice, in some wire photos, but was blocked from view in Life magazine.

Nov 26, 1963...Everything back to normal, such as it was, on Tuesday. Bob Dylan performs a concert at St. Lawrence University, at the University Center Auditorium at 8:15pm. Don’t believe it? The Class of ‘64 yearbook has a page of photos, calling him “Bobby Dylan.” He was single then, but would marry on Nov 22, 1965. The show was well-attended, after a hockey-less weekend at SLU.

Bonus Trivia: Where was Richard Nixon when Kennedy was shot? He was definitely in Dallas the night before. His NYC law firm represented Pepsi Cola, and he spoke to a convention of bottlers Thursday night, saying that he wouldn’t run in 1964, but predicting LBJ would be dropped from the Democratic ticket. When the shots were fired the next day, Nixon claimed he was in the air flying back East, and only heard the news when he landed. Some reports quote Pepsi officials as saying he was meeting with them in Dallas all Friday afternoon. Who knows?...till next time, Rock on! ---Stolf

To Contact Him Please E-mail Us Here...

Stolf's Cool Oldies - Stolf, Cool 95.3 ----Oct Edition - Volume 2 - Issue 4

The Beatles Meet the Flintsones

I had intended to write a column about rock groups appearing on TV series back in the 60s, but once I got into the topic, I realized there's too much for just one article: Diana Ross & the Supremes as nuns on "Tarzan", Lesley Gore as Cat Woman's sidekick on "Batman", Tiny Tim performing on the "Ironside" pilot, etc. So in the coming months we'll be looking at various aspects and fond memories of our music on the Boob Tube.

But to get started, we baby boomers should realize that as earth-shattering as the Beatles first appearance was on the Ed Sullivan on Feb 10 1964 ("B-Day") may have seemed, the cultural impact, especially as reflected by what you saw on TV, was not immediate. Consider that "Shindig" didn't debut until Sept 16 1964, "Hullabaloo" 4 months after that. Even "Hootenanny" wasn’t on until Sept. 1964, and the closest they got to non-folk music was Johnny Cash.

We got an actual glimpse of the Moptops on the Jack Paar-hosted "Tonight Show" Jan 3 1964 when he aired a concert clip from the UK. And, of course, he poked fun at them, making snide remarks about their hair, the screaming girls, and the general state of British culture. Yes, to the mainstream viewing public, this long-haired yeah-yeah-yeah deal was just the latest kookie teen fad, and as such fodder for ridicule. I haven't yet pinpointed when that attitude changed. An educated guess: the success of the movie "A Hard Day's Night" released in America on Aug 11 1964.

One of the earliest Beatles references is in the movie "Bikini Beach" which came out July 22 1964. Frankie Avalon plays his standard character, plus a double role as a British pop star named Potato Bug, who is portrayed as a supercilious buffoon. On TV, the Standells appeared as the Love Bugs on an episode of the Bing Crosby show on Jan 18 1965; this was a short-lived sitcom not a variety show, but there must be something earlier than this. The Standells were active in TV and movies, not surprising since the group was lead by actor Russ Tamblyn's brother Larry, and based in Hollywood. Singer Dick Dodd was a former Mouseketeer.

An interesting time-line emerges when we examine episodes of "The Flintstones". Again, you must realize that this prime-time cartoon show, which ran for 6 seasons debuting in Sept. 1960, was aimed at adults, not children. Sure, eventually you had the breakfast cereals, the vitamins, a million marketing spinoffs, and endless Saturday morning incarnations (remember "Fred and Barney Meet the Thing", as in the Fantastic Four's Thing in 1979?) But for the initial prime-time run, The Flintstones was a suburban parody of "The Honeymooners." In case you doubt it, one of the sponsors for the first season was Winston Cigarettes! Log onto YouTube and you can see a 60-second commercial where Fred and Barney smoke Winstons and sing the jingle.

Not that ABC and the creators Hanna-Barbera weren't aware of the appeal to kids. In fact, in 1961, a LP was recorded by the cast singing various kiddie songs, including the original theme "Rise and Shine" complete with lyrics, and a tune called "Meet the Flintstones" (second verse: Meet the Rubbles), which would become the show's opening theme in the 3rd season. To quote the liner notes: "A curious twist is that though this program was designed for adults, it has become a tremendous favorite of children. " Well, duh.
But from its inception, the Flintstones gently spoofed American life and popular culture, including music: jazz, surf, barbershop, Sing-along with Mitch, the Twist (as the Twitch in 1962) and teen idols like Rock Roll and Hi-Fye (and don't forget Jet Screamer on the Jetsons, in the fall of 1962, voiced by Howard Morris, better known as Mayberry's Ernest T. Bass.) Guest voices included Mel Torme, Hoagy Carmichael, James Darren and Ann-Margaret. But it wasn't till Jan 22 1965, almost a full year after B-Day, that the Flintstones got in their first digs at the Beatles.

In this episode, the Gruesomes, neighbors who resemble the Addams Family, can't get rid of their hillbilly houseguests the Hatrocks. Fred discovers the Hatrocks hate what they call "bug music", so records from the Four Insects are played to chase the Hatrocks back to the hills. It's clear that all concerned think this music really sucks, and the squares who produced this episode provide guitar music that is actually surf-style, not Mersey-beat. And this aired after "A Hard Days Night"? Yes, but it was produced before, in July 1964.

A Sept. 1965 show finds Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm turned into singing stars by Eppy Brianstone (= Brian Epstein) and his hit group the Termites. In November, an English group the Way Outs are mistaken for outer-space invaders, due mostly to their weird hairdos.

Finally, on Dec 2 1965, in an episode called "Shinrock-A-Go-Go", (Shindig, get it?) the Flintstones finally embrace the now almost 2-year-old British Invasion with the appearance of the Beau Brummels, ironically one of the most "British" of the new American groups. As cartoon characters, they perform their hit "Laugh Laugh", with Wilma and Betty screaming and swooning like teenagers. (You can also catch this on YouTube.) This was, by the way, the show's final season. Go figure.

The moral of the story is: you don't have to like 'em, but you can't ignore 'em. Rock groups, real and fictitious, would be popping up on "My Thee Sons", "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.", "The Munsters", "F-Troop", "Mannix", and many others. Stay tuned!...And till next time, rock on! --

To Contact Him Please E-mail Us Here...

Stolf's Cool Oldies - Stolf, Cool 95.3 ----Sept Edition - Volume 2 - Issue 3

Oh Sibling Where Art Thou?

You might have been thumbing thru the bargain bin in a record store (remember record stores?) back in the day when you came upon an album (what’s an album?) with a picture of a guy lying on his back, all trussed up with ropes, and little guys standing all around, much like Gulliver’s Travels and the Lilliputians. Passed on it, huh? Even for the bargain price of $2.98? It’s not a bad album. It’s called “McGear” and it’s actually Wings with Paul’s younger brother on vocals. Peter Michael McCartney was born 2 years after James Paul McCartney and is one of the Sixties’ more accomplished, if not famous, younger siblings.

He goes by the name of Michael McCartney today, but back at the dawn of Beatlemania, he choose to use the name Mike McGear (“gear” as in “fab”) to distinguish himself from his brother. Musically, McGear formed a trio called the Scaffold and they specialized in clever little satiric songs, occasionally arranged or produced by Paul. “Thank U Very Much” actually charted in the USA in 1968, and “Lily the Pink” was also heard on these shores; both were charttoppers in the UK. The brothers got musical genes from their Dad Jim, but Mike also branched out into photography, taking snaps of the Beatles, and today Michael McCartney publishes books, has galleries, the whole nine yards. He just isn’t a knight.

A less prominent little brother was Chris Jagger, 4 years behind Mick. He dabbled in theater, both as actor and lighting technician, as well as fashion design, and journalism before recording two albums in the early 70s, “Chris Jagger” and “The Adventures of Valentine Vox the Ventriloquist”. Souring on the music biz, he picked up again with theater work, but eventually was back recording in 1993. Today, Chris Jagger’s zydeco-rock group Atcha has 3 CD’s available, the latest issued last year.

An even more obscure sibling is Leah Kunkel, skinny younger sister of the late Mama Cass Elliot (both were born “Cohen.”) She’s had a long career as a backup singer for the likes of James Taylor, Art Garfunkel, Jackson Browne, and many more, plus some solo recordings. She was also a member of the Coyote Sisters in the 80s. I remember her best for a wonderful sunshine-pop 45 in the late 60s she recorded under the nom du disque “Cotton Candy”. It was called “Billy” and was written by the same songwriting duo who penned “Temptation Eyes” for the Grass Roots.

Then we come to Eddie Simon. Inside the gatefold of the “There Goes Rhymin Simon” LP jacket, there’s a picture that may have puzzled you over the years, since it shows TWO Paul Simon’s, one with a beard, one without a beard. Actually, the one with the beard is Eddie Simon, not Paul’s twin but 4 years his junior. A more gifted musician than his brother, Eddie recorded in 1968 with a group called the Guild Light Cage, but has made his mark as a guitar teacher, and has worked behind the scenes on Paul’s career, as well as in the radio industry.

An interesting story is John Simon. He produced Simon and Garfunkel’s “Bookends” album, as well as the Cyrkle, Brian Epstein’s American group. Their biggest hit was “Red Rubber Ball” , a song Paul Simon wrote but never recorded. The Cyrkle also recorded Paul’s song “Cloudy” (as did, coincidentally, Eddie Simon and the Guild Light Cage.) And it was Paul Simon who encouraged John Simon to record a solo LP in 1970. But despite his last name and something of a physical resemblance, he’s no relation to Paul and Eddie. Baltimore Orioles fans may remeber the Robinson Bothers, Brooks and Frank. There ya go.

And talk about LITTLE little brothers, Simon Townsend is 15 years younger than famous big brother Pete. He began his recording career in the early 80s, and they’ve worked together both live and in the studio.

At this point you may be wondering what the OLDER siblings of popstars have been up to. James Taylor is one of 5 musicals sibs and the second oldest: his brother Alex was born a year earlier, and died in 2003. After James came Kate, Livingston, and Hugh. And Lucy Simon is 2 years older than Carly: they began their musical careers as the Simon Sisters and had a minor hit in 1964 with “Winkin’ Blinkin’ and Nod”, a nursery poem Lucy set to music.

But the most famous musical sibling of all never had a chance: Elvis Presley’s twin brother Jesse was stillborn. Now there’s an alternate time-line to contemplate! Till next time...rock on!--

To Contact Him Please E-mail Us Here...

Stolf's Cool Oldies - Stolf, Cool 95.3 ----Aug Edition - Volume 2 - Issue 2

Who Wants To Be A Monkee?

You remember the Monkees, right? Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith, and Stephen Stills. Who? Believe it or not, it almost happened. Can you imagine the Monkees doing “For What Its Worth”, “Bluebird”, or “Rock and Roll Woman?” It all started with an ad in Variety on Wednesday Sept. 8th 1965 that read: “Madness!...Auditions...Folk and Rock Musicians-Singers...For Acting Roles in New TV Series...Running Parts for 4 Insane Boys Age 17-21.” 437 hopefuls showed up for interviews. One who didn’t make the casting call was Charles Manson, despite the urban legend that he did. Los Angeles DJ Rodney Bingenheimer always claimed he saw Chuckles there, but he couldn’t’ve. Manson was in prison at Terminal Island, San Pedro, California, on a ten-year sentence for mail theft & forgery, and wouldn’t be paroled till 1967.

Who was there? Some would go on to success in the music biz: Harry Nilsson, John B. Sebastian, Van Dyke Parks, Neil Diamond, Danny Hutton of Three Dog Night, Keith Allison of the Raiders, and Ron Dante, the voice of the Archies. Paul Williams lost out to Micky Dolenz for a second time: Paul was runner-up to star in the TV series Circus Boy back in 1956, losing out to “Mickey Braddock”, son of George Dolenz, himself starring in the syndicated show Count of Monte Cristo.

Then there were: Tim Rooney (Mickey’s son), Paul Peterson (from the Donna Reed Show), Steve Young (who would write “Seven Bridges Road” for the Eagles), Brian MacLean (guitarist with Arthur Lee’s Love), Del Ramos (who would join the Association), John London (a Texas pal of Nez, later of his First National Band), and the latest rumor: author Stephen King (way unconfirmed). Mike Nesmith was the only eventual Monkee who actually saw the ad. Micky was told of the audition by his agent. Davy Jones was already under contract to the studio producing the series, and was pretty much assured a part. He had starred on TV in the British soap Coronation Street, and on Broadway in Oliver. In fact, Davy and the Oliver cast were on the same Ed Sullivan program that introduced the Beatles to America. Another coincidence: both Davy and Mike (as “Michael Blessing”) recorded for Colpix Records in 1965, but they never met. Then there was Peter Tork.

Except Tork wasn’t there either. He had a day-job, washing dishes at a club called the Golden Bear. But he was trained as a classical pianist, played guitar and banjo, and was in bands around L.A. with a friend from his Greenwich Village days. According to Tork, one day his friend called to tell him about a part in a comedy series he’d be perfect for. “Why not you?” asked Pete. His friend said he had tried out, and while they liked him, they felt he was too old, and wouldn’t look good on TV, with his thinning hair and crooked teeth. They asked if he knew anyone who looked like him. “I thought instantly of you, buddy!” said Pete’s pal, Stephen Stills!

Another enduring myth is that the Monkees couldn’t play their own instruments. Nesmith, Tork and Dolenz were all struggling musicians, although Micky was an actor too. Singing and guitar was his thing, but he learned to play the drums for the show. (“Which I had no problem with. I learned to ride an elephant for Circus Boy.”) But for the first season and the first couple of albums, Tommy Boyce, Bobby Hart, and their band the Candy Store Prophets provided the musical backgrounds, while the Monkees did the vocals. This irked them, and they ultimately revolted, firing musical director Don Kirshner, and taking the musical reins themselves. And remember, they did tour extensively (Jimi Hendrix was an opening act!), and while no Blood, Sweat & Tears, they performed competently.

But you have to wonder how the show and the group might have evolved differently, had it been Stephen Stills on bass. But wasn’t Stills too hip for the Monkees gig? Hey, it was business, not personal, Sonny. Hip or not, The Monkees won the 1966 Emmy as Best Comedy Show, beating out Top Ten hits like Andy Griffith, Lucy Show, Green Acres, Bewitched and Gomer Pyle. And while he might not have been as talented as Stills, Michael Nesmith was just as serious about his music, and he survived being a Monkee. Stills even played guitar on some later Monkees cuts, and don’t forget who co-wrote and acted in the Monkees feature film Head (hint: his initials are Jack Nicholson). If anything, the “musical revolt” might have happened sooner. Would you believe “Crosby, Stills, Nesmith & Tork”? Yipes...

Time for the shameless plug: hear what you’ve been reading about on Cool Oldies WGIX 95.3 Gouverneur on Zillion Dollar Friday from 6-9AM...its a Monkees Cattle-Call Special coming in August...til then, Rock On!---

To Contact Him Please E-mail Us Here...

Stolf's Cool Oldies - Stolf, Cool 95.3 ----July Edition - Volume 2 - Issue 1

Do-It-Yourself Sgt. Pepper

To paraphrase Johnny Rivers’ song “Summer Rain”: “Everybody keeps on playing Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”. June 1st marked the 40th anniversary of this legendary album’s release (I always liked the Magical Mystery Tour album better. Go Figure. ) That’s June 1st in the UK, June 2nd in the US, altho the album was in stores in England a week earlier, due to tremendous demand after it was first aired on pirate station Radio London on May 12th, and on the BBC May 20th. If you happened by the Youth Pavillion at the Montreal Expo on June 1st 1967, you were, the story goes, among the first to hear Sgt. Pepper in North America, as a friend of the pavillion host worked for Air Canada, and brought the album over before it was in stores on this side. Gilles Gougeon played it over and over on the loudspeaker system for twelve hours, till 2AM.

Anyhow, 40th anniversary. Seems like the perfect time for Capitol/EMI to release a special CD, with bonus tracks, no? But they’re not, perhaps due to Paul’s lack of interest in commemorating the event. He says he’s too busy. Of course, in this digial age of rip & burn, you can easily program your own customized Sgt. Pepper tribute CD. Here’s some background and suggestions...What eventually became the Sgt. Pepper LP began as an unnamed album centering on the theme of nostagia for Liverpool. Interesting, since the Beatles hadn’t lived there in over three years.

In November and December of 1966, the first three songs for this project were recorded. “Strawberry Fields Forever”, named after Strawberry Field, a boys Salvation Army orphanage located near John’s childhood home, where he would attend fun fairs in the summertime. (It closed, by the way, in May 2005.) Next came “When I’m 64”, a song Paul began writing in the pre-Fab days, and finished in time for his father James’ 64th birthday the previous summer. And finally, “Penny Lane”, named after a street in a suburb south of Liverpool. Then commerce intervened: the Beatles hadn’t put out a single since August 1966, and the suits were getting antsy. Brian Epstein consulted George Martin and “Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever” would be released as a double-A-sided single in February. Martin has said that leaving those two off the album was the biggest mistake he ever made, and he would have recommended using them to replace “When I’m 64” and “Lovely Rita” (!!)

Work then continued on the Liverpool concept with the recording of “A Day in the Life” in January 1967. It wasn’t until Feb. 1st, when Paul’s title track was recorded, that the idea of the album evolved into the Sgt. Pepper we know and love. Work concluded in March and April with completion of the remaining tracks, and also George’s “Only a Northern Song”. This was left off the album in favor of “Within You Without You”, altho it would surface (no pun intended) later for the Yellow Submarine movie.

So there you have the Sgt. Pepper sessions: the standard tracks, plus the “Strawberry Fields Forever/Penny Lane” single and “Only a Northern Song”. Since this is your own personal Sgt. Pepper project, you can leave off the songs you don’t like, re-arrange the order, it’s completely your call. It should be noted that an Abbey Road recording sheet exists with this side 1 track order: 1. “Sgt. Pepper/With a Little Help,” 2. “Mr Kite,” 3. “Fixing a Hole,” 4. “LSD,” 5. “Getting Better,” 6. “She’s Leaving Home.” Now to bonus tracks: true Beatlemaniacs are aware of the differences between the mono and stereo versions of the album, but the mono has never been released digitally. (A mono CD box set was planned for the 30th anniversary, but was abruptly cancelled.) Then there is “Inner Groove”, the bit of gibberish in the runoff plastic on the first British pressings, unavaliable in the US until the Rarities vinyl album in 1980, and the Sgt. Pepper CD in 1987. But for general consumtion, the most sensible extras to tack on would be the alternate versions of Pepper tunes found on the Anthology 2 CD, of which there are nine; “Penny Lane,” “Strawberry Fields,” “Sgt. Pepper Reprise,” “A Day In the Life,” “Mr. Kite,” “Good Morning Good Morning,” “Lucy in the Sky,” “Within You Without You,” “Only a Norhtern Song”
One final note...if you never cared for “Within You Without You”, you might listen to the interesting new mix on the recently released Love CD, a mash-up incorporating the music of “Tomorrow Never Knows.” Rock on!

You can program an hour of Zillion Dollar Friday, 7AM on Cool 95.3.... email me an arist, and a list of 10 of their songs, plus your name, town, and phone number to stolf@coololdies.us....I’ll play 6 or 7 of your choices, and I’ll let you know ahead of time when your favorite artist will be on. Hope to hear from you soon!...---stolf

To Contact Him Please E-mail Us Here...