Something Was in the Water on October 28

Today, October 28, is an incredibly signficant day in the history of pop music.
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On Oct. 28, 1956, Elvis Presley made the second of his famous appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, and on that night, Sullivan presented the new rock and roll star with a gold record for "Love Me Tender".
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Exactly one year later, on Oct. 28, 1957, after a show at the Pan Pacific Auditorium in Los Angeles, local police told Elvis that he couldn't wiggle his hips onstage. The next night, the police filmed Presley's entire show to study his performance.
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.One year later, on Oct. 28, 1958, Buddy Holly appeared on Dick Clark's "American Bandstand", and it was Holly's last major television appearance. On Feb. 3, 1959, Holly died in a plane crash and the day was forever after known as "The Day The Music Died".
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.Three years later, on Oct. 28, 1961, Raymond Jones, a customer in the NEMS Record Store in Liverpool, England, asked the store manager, Brian Epstein, for a record by a group called The Beatles which had recently been released in Hamburg, Germany. Epstein wasn't familiar with the record, but promised he would try to obtain information about it. Epstein claims that on that day he wasn't familiar with The Beatles, although later claims, including those made by The Beatles, themselves, disputed Epstein's story, saying that had been hearing about The Beatles for several months.
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.Exactly one year later, on Oct. 28, 1962, The Beatles, with new manager Brian Epstein in tow, appeared for the first time at The Empire Theatre, Liverpool's largest theater. Eight other acts were on the bill that night, including America's Little Richard. Also by now, Ringo Starr was a member of The Beatles, having replaced drummer Pete Best the previous year..
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.Two years later, on Oct. 28, 1964, The "T.A.M.I. Show" premiered at the Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica, California with Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, The Beach Boys, Chuck Berry, Marvin Gaye, The Supremes and The Rolling Stones. The two night concert was filmed by director Steve Binder and was released as a theatrical film.
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The concert is most notable for the performance of James Brown who showcased his wildly energetic and unique dance moves. Brown's performance was so electrifying that it is not only considered one of the greatest rock and roll performances of all time, but years later, The Rolling Stones would say that to try to follow Brown that night on stage was the biggest mistake of their lives. In addition to the big name stars in the film, one can also spot a very young Toni Basil and Teri Garr as background go-go dancers. The legendary The Wrecking Crew was the house band for the concert and included drummer Hal Blaine, guitarist Glen Campbell and pianist Leon Russell.
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We don't know what it is about the day of October 28 that makes for such legendary moments in pop music history, but whatever it is, we think that if we were new singers about to release a new single or album, or perform a concert, we might schedule everything to happen on this day.

When I'm 64... or 70

It must be difficult to be a celebrity who was born on October 9 in that he's never going to get any real attention because it's also John Lennon's birthday. It's sort of like being a celebrity on a plane which is going down in a crash and knowing that you won't be the lead story on the news because someone even more famous is on the plane.

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And this year there's been an especially large outpouring of attention for John Lennon's birthday because today he would have been 70. For the past three days, every self-respecting television network and radio station has done some sort of tribute to the music legend.

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Lennon's life story is so well known, there's no need to relate it here. But can you imagine in just a few more years someone will actually have to have it explained to him who Lennon and The Beatles were? That will surely spell the end of civilization as we know it. Or maybe, on second thought, that day is not that far off. According to Sharon Angle and some of the other crazy Tea Baggers, the Muslims are taking over America, and when that happens, they'll surely wipe out all traces of Western Culture. Right?

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Anyway, we digress. We've read so many books and articles over the years about Lennon and The Beatles that we often feel as though there's nothing new we can learn about them. Lennon was a ragtag working class kid who idolized Elvis and Little Richard and wanted to be like them so badly that he started his own band. That band eventually became The Beatles and became the most popular band the world has ever seen. The Beatles broke up, Lennon launched a very successful solo career, and along the way, he left his first wife, Cynthia, for Yoko Ono. Lennon and Ono lived in New York City for several years until one day in December 1980, a crazed fan shot Lennon to death outside his apartment building, The Dakota, beside Central Park.

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Everyone knows that basic story, but we heard something yesterday on NPR that we'd never heard before. A few years ago, history professor Jon Wiener spent fourteen years trying to get access to John Lennon's FBI file. He was repeatedly rebuffed, told that the information in the file would threaten national security. Where have we hard that one before? Finally, Wiener sued, his case going all the way to Supreme Court before the FBI gave in. Wiener went on to write a book called "Gimme Some Truth", and the book contains some really priceless golden nuggets. Lennon had met some of the more prominent anti-Vietnam war activists shortly after moving to New York, (Jerry Rubin, Bobby Seale, Abbie Hoffman, etc.), and he wanted to join the movement. President Nixon was running for re-election at this same time, in 1971, and his notoriously paranoid administration was made even more paranoid by the threat of someone as popular as Lennon becoming one of the anti-war voices. His hit, "Give Peace a Chance", had already chilled the spines of many a Republican war monger. Lennon finally backed down after Nixon threatened to have Lennon, a British citizen, deported.

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Some of the funnniest parts of Wiener's book are the stories of prominent Republicans, like Strom Thurmond, sending memos to Nixon suggesting that Lennon be deported. The irony is hilarious that someone like Strom Thurmond, a former member of the KKK, considered John Lennon to be "subversive" and a threat to the United States. Some things, like the extent to which the Repubican Party is completely out of touch with the reality of American society, never change.

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Another great story we just heard is that when Lorne Michaels was making his famous pleas on "Saturday Night Live" in the 1970's for The Beatles to reunite on the show, which was really just a comedy bit, Lennon and McCartney were actually watching those shows. And they actually discussed taking Michaels up on his offer. Can you imagine if they had? Wow.

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Happy Birthday, John Lennon. We most definitely miss you.

You Cannot Be Serious!

Okay, so it was a boring Sunday afternoon today, and when the U.S. Open was rained out, we were forced to channel surf. At one point, we stumbled across VH1's "Greatest Artists" show. Full disclosure: we never take these "Rankings" shows very seriously, and neither should you. There is no real way to "rank" the importance of artists, albums, songs, etc., and even if all the critics could agree, then everyone in the general public still has their own varied opinions, and they're entitled to those opinions. This is still America, right? Well, at least until the Republicans take over Congress.
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Anyway, we were watching this countdown of the 100 "Greatest Artists", and we came in somewhere in the 80's. Immediately we knew something was amiss. They had Janis Joplin and Otis Redding ranked in the 80's. What? Joplin was one of the most important and influential female rock singers of all time, and ditto for Otis Redding in the evolution of R&B. The 80's? Stop it. But then came the most ridiculous cut of all. Justin Timberlake was ranked as a "greater artist" than Joplin and Redding. Stop, stop, stop the madness! It was at this point that we almost lost a lung retching up our breakfast. Okay, we know we just said that you cannot take these lists seriously, but seriously, come on! Justin Timberlake is a "greater artist" than Janis Joplin and Otis Redding? It was at that point that we turned the channel, knowing that VH1 just lost what little credibility it might have had on this topic. And even if Timberlake might have, at one point, been on his way to "greatness", oh please, we can't stop laughing, he lost that trajectory when he made "The Love Guru". There is no way in hell that Joplin, Redding, Dylan, Hendrix, Jagger, etc. would have ever donned a speedo and done "The Love Guru". What is it with Timberlake and his generation that they have absolutely no sense any longer of what it means to be "cool". To be considered a great artist, you have to have an innate sense of "cool", not be a laughing stock. Bitch, please!
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Okay, and now, with that rant out of the way, we happened to turn the VH1 show back on, just now, to catch the "Top 5". Michael Jackson was ranked #2 and The Beatles were #1. Okay, we can handle that, but the #1 greatest pop musical artist of all time is still, and always will be, Elvis Presley. Sorry haters, but it's true. And that's not coming from a generational prejudice, Presley actually came before our time. But when you consider his world-wide popularity at his peak, his influence on other artists, his helping to create rock and roll itself, and his success in other mediums, i.e. film, television, etc., no one, not even Michael Jackson or The Beatles ever equaled him. Even now, thirty years after his death, he's one of the top selling musical artists in the business, and his following is still cult-like. Say what you will, but thousands of fans aren't gathering to remember Jackson or The Beatles, and they certainly won't be gathering years from now to worship Justin Timberlake's speedo. Thank you, Jesus.

He Was No Hank Snow

September 4 marks another important day in the history of popular music.
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On September 4, 1954, Elvis Presley made his first appearance at the venerable Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. In 1954, rock and roll hadn't caught on yet, and the crowd that night was there to hear more traditional country music. The audience reception for Elvis was so poor that the Opry manager, Jim Denny, told Elvis that he should go back to driving a truck. Denny sounds like the Simon Cowell of his day.
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Also on this day in 1962, The Beatles made their first formal recordings at the famous Abbey Road studios. They recorded six songs, including "Love Me Do" and "Please Please Me".

One Day You're In, and the Next Day You're Out

Many historians have noted that, for some odd reason, an inordinate amount of important world and national events tend to occur in August. And in the world of music, it's no different. On this day in 1958, August 14, Elvis Presley's mother, Gladys, died and the rock and roll star was devastated. Two days later, 500 policeman had to stand guard at the funeral to keep a gigantic crowd of the singer's fans at bay.

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(above: Vernon, Elvis and Gladys Presley;
upper left: Gladys' funeral)

On August 14, 1962, John, George and Paul, of The Beatles, and their manager, Brian Epstein, decided to kick drummer Pete Best out of the group. Many biographies have been written about the most famous band of all time, and thus, there are many varying theories as to why Pete was given the boot. The most interesting one is the theory which many people believe, that John and Paul were jealous of Pete's extraordinary good looks; that Pete was getting more attention from female fans. Ringo Starr was asked to join the group, and four days later, on August 18, he appeared for the first time as a Beatle.
 

(above: Pete Best is second from the right)

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And finally, on August 14, 1965, Sonny and Cher began a three week run at #1 with their first smash hit, "I Got You Babe".

Alan Livingston 1917-2009

We throw around terms like "legend" and "genius" all too often, but Alan Livingston, who died this week at 91, was truly an entertainment legend. Just consider his resume. After serving in World War II, Pennsylvania native and former college band leader Livingston hitched a ride to Los Angeles where he took a position as a writer/producer at Capitol Records. In an effort to create Capitol's children's records division, he created the iconic character Bozo the Clown, whose recordings became smash hits and let to the first "Bozo's Circus" t.v. show on a local Los Angeles television station. Livingston also wrote the 1951 hit song "I Tawt I Saw a Puddy Tat" for Mel Blanc's Tweety Pie character.

(betty hutton and livingston wed in 1955 with

Desert Inn owner wilbur clark watching)

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Next Livingston signed a career slumping Frank Sinatra to Capitol Records and was the man who persuaded Sinatra to record with Nelson Riddle. The legendary Sinatra/Riddle recordings revived Sinatra's career and helped to increase Capitol's sales from $6 million per year to over $100 million per year. If that wasn't enough, Livingston is also credited for coming up with the idea for the famous Capitol Records Tower, the world's first circular office building.

Livingston left Capitol for NBC where he greenlighted the monster t.v. hit, "Bonanza". (Alan's songwriting brother, Jay, wrote the memorable Bonanza theme song.) After five years at NBC, Livingston returned to Capitol Records as President, and later Chairman of the Board. During his tenure, Capitol became more interested in rock-oriented music, signing The Beach Boys, Steve Miller and The Band. Most famously, though, Livingston was the man who signed the Beatles to Capitol Records, selected their first U.S. release, "I Want to Hold Your Hand" in 1963 and brought them to America in 1964.

(alan livingston with the beatles)

Livingston was first married to actress Betty Hutton, and later married "Sunset Boulevard" Oscar-nominated actress Nancy Olson.