I thought their version of the Holly standard was inventive with Jones's cut-loose harmonica, which made the song their own--it had a different energy than the original. Good in that it shows potential for the band to do more than successful covers in a confident manner. But its in keeping with the musical atmosphere of this period of the band, and overall, its refreshing to revisit this period of the group, when they were raw and challenging themselves. A song that in truth, should have been credited to the bad, as the longer version of this song, with the guitar solo bridge was said (I believe by pre/early Stones bassist & confidant Dick Taylor) to be the work of Jones.
As with The Beatles, the amount of covers is amazing. I do like this. What th--? The Origin of The Rolling Stones! Or is this the Origin of the Rolling Stones? Hmm....
50th Anniversary Viewing Scooby Doo, Where Are You! "What a Night for a Knight" Originally aired September 13, 1969 Series premiere OK, I don't plan to cover the whole series as 50th anniversary business, but since it came up in the Wiki timeline and is available on YouTube (broken into parts), I figured what the hell, why not check out the first episode in commemoration of its anniversary? Dogs are allowed in the theater, apparently. Shaggy and Scooby find the suit of armor in the driver's seat of the truck. When the gang goes to investigate at the museum, Scooby finds a pair of jeweler's glasses, also used by archaeologists, on a statue in the museum. This combined with being told of the disappearance of the archaeologist, Prof. Hyde White, motivates the gang to take their investigation further. Apparently being meddlesome kids involves breaking and entering into museums on a hunch. Huh, wouldn't have taken him for the athletic type. Shaggy also demonstrates skill in ventriloquism to create a distraction. After the armor starts roaming around (with only Shaggy and Scooby seeing it, of course), Shaggy notices a picture temporarily missing from the wall. The gang then find a secret room behind a mummy case where paintings are being copied. Of course, all sorts of over-the-top cartoon hijinks ensue, culminating in Shaggy and Scooby not only getting a biplane that was on display in the museum running, but flying it back and forth through the museum! There's a small concession to verisimilitude when the wings are ripped off as they're moving between exhibit halls. From the description, I initially called that the missing archaeologist, Prof. Hyde White, was in the armor. But it turned out to be the curator, Mr. Wickles...which makes some sense, since we met him onscreen early in the episode, whereas Hyde White wasn't found (tied up and camouflaged as a display) until the coda. (We saw him driving the truck in the first scene of the episode, but he wasn't clearly identified.) Unlike many an early installment of a live action series, most of the classic elements are in place from the get-go: The Mystery Machine, Scooby Snacks, the gang splitting up at the first opportunity, Zoinks! Was Thelma losing her glasses a regular thing? We didn't get an "And I would have gotten away with it too, if not for you meddlesome kids!" My practical memory of the show from childhood being pretty hazy, I have to wonder how often that actually came up...it certainly has become a widely spoofed quote. Also, I didn't notice whether or not we got a "Ruh-roh!" It was probably pretty common in the Saturday morning programs of my day, but it's kind of weird to hear a laugh track in a cartoon. "Scooby Doo was drawn before a live studio audience." _______ Pre-ordered the 50th anniversary edition of Abbey Road on iTunes this weekend, and got the preview tracks. "Something" is more gorgeous than ever in remastered form, especially in earbuds: Also available in advance: This time they're not doing a regular edition, deluxe edition, and super deluxe edition, they're just doing regular and super deluxe, and the super deluxe is only $30, so I'm getting that. The Super Deluxe Edition of The White Album was $70! _______ In the Beatles' defense, their originally sequenced early British albums tended to consist of less than half covers. On the Stones' debut album, only three of twelve are original, and they're not directly owning up to two of them. Could've sworn that had come up in these parts before, or maybe The Other Thread back in the day. Probably in relation to the Route 66 TV show. Rocketed to Earth on a radioactive rolling stone...
Now you're getting it! Its like that other band..what was their name? McCartney and the Sidekicks Three? That's the one!
Yay! Boo! He was a lot younger then. I seem to remember that happening a few times. I think that was probably played up more in later shows, like Fred's pathological obsession with traps, but I could be wrong. Maybe it's a cartoon audience-- composed of all the other Hanna-Barbera characters. Ahhh.... Also very nice. Definitely kind of a slow start. Yeah, I probably forgot. You know how it is.
55th Anniversary Album Spotlights A Hard Day's Night The Beatles Released June 26, 1964 (US version); July 10, 1964 (UK version) US chart debut: July 18, 1964 US chart peak: #1, July 25 through October 24, 1964 #388 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (UK version) The UK version is my easy favorite among the Fabs' pre-Rubber Soul albums, containing as it does all Lennon-McCartney originals. But the American version (which I don't own, so I'm going by the track listing on Wiki) dispenses with five non-soundtrack songs from side two of the UK version in favor of four George Martin instrumentals...and what was kept was resequenced, of course. It begins, as do the UK album and the film, with the title song, "A Hard Day's Night" (charted July 18, 1964; #1 US the weeks of Aug. 1 and 8, 1964; #1 UK; #153 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time). This is followed by "Tell Me Why," which is noteworthy for being the only song from the film that wasn't released as a single or B-side in the States, and I can understand why. While it's a perfectly enjoyable, energetic, poppy number, it always seemed relatively undistinguished to me compared to the surrounding material in the film and on the album. That being the case, it seemed better placed to me on the UK version as the penultimate song on side one. Next is the one non-film song on the album, "I'll Cry Instead" (charted Aug. 1, 1964; #25 US), which was the second song on side two in the UK. The US album then gives us our first George Martin instrumental, a rendition of "I Should Have Known Better". The last actual Beatles song on side one is George's "I'm Happy Just to Dance with You" (B-side of "I'll Cry Instead"; charted Aug. 1, 1964; #95 US). Side one closes with another Martin instrumental of "And I Love Her". Side two opens with the very enjoyable "I Should Have Known Better" (B-side of "A Hard Day's Night"; charted July 25, 1964; #53 US), which I'm used to being the second song on side one. I find it odd that United Artists put the two soft ballads from the film, "If I Fell" (B-side of "And I Love Her"; charted Aug. 1, 1964; #53 US) and "And I Love Her" (charted July 25, 1964; #12 US), back to back, and that Capitol followed suit on 45. On the UK version of the album, they were sensibly separated by the more upbeat "I'm Happy Just to Dance with You". As with side one, songs four and six are instrumentals: "Ringo's Theme (This Boy)" (charted July 25, 1964; #53 US) and "A Hard Day's Night". The track in-between and last Beatles song on the album is the one that closed the first side of the UK version...the hit single that preceded both the film and the album, "Can't Buy Me Love" (charted Mar. 28, 1964; #1 US the weeks of Apr. 4 through May 2, 1964; #1 UK; #289 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time), which is particularly noteworthy for having been at #1 the week that The Beatles held the top five spots on the Hot 100. While I much prefer the UK version of the album, the American record buyer of 1964 had little reason to complain about the collection of eight Beatles tracks that they got on its US counterpart. Something New The Beatles Released July 20, 1964 Chart debut: August 8, 1964 Chart peak (#2): August 22, 1964 This competing American album, released by Capitol, shares five songs with the United Artists A Hard Day's Night album covered above, and gives us three of the non-soundtrack songs from the UK version of AHDN that were left off its American counterpart, along with a few other odds and ends. Side one consists of non-soundtrack songs, opening with the familiar "I'll Cry Instead". Following that are three more of the songs from side two of the UK AHDN album. Paul's "Things We Said Today" is a strong, distinctive number, and probably my favorite on side two of the UK album. Had it been released as a single, it easily could have been a hit. John's "Any Time at All," which opened side two of the UK album, is a personal favorite going way back. I've always had a love/hate relationship with "When I Get Home"...it's a generally enjoyable John number, but the line "I'm gonna love her 'til the cows come home" always made me cringe. OTOH, it has the distinction of using the first five-syllable word in a Beatles song, "trivialities" (in a line that was later called out in the Yellow Submarine film). Side one is rounded out by two covers released on the Long Tall Sally EP in the UK, "Slow Down" (B-side to "Matchbox"; charted Sept. 5, 1964; #25 US) and "Matchbox" (charted Sept. 5, 1964; #17 US)...appearing first here before sharing a 45 in the States. Side two consists mostly of songs from the A Hard Day's Night soundtrack: "Tell Me Why," "And I Love Her," "I'm Happy Just to Dance with You," and "If I Fell". The album closes with the other German-language recording that the Beatles did, "Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand," which translates as "Come, give me your hand". The American record buyer of 1964 did have some reason to complain here, as they were being sold so many of the same songs on contemporaneous albums...but they still got a very enjoyable collection consisting entirely of Beatles songs, including several new goodies. With "You Can't Do That" having already been released in the US both as the B-side of "Can't Buy Me Love" and on The Beatles' Second Album, that leaves only one song from the British version of A Hard Day's Night that hasn't been released in the States, UK album-closer "I'll Be Back"...which will be included on the Fabs' next Capitol album, Beatles '65. Next up: 50th Anniversary Album Spotlight--The Soft Parade, The Doors _______ If I'd gotten the first reaction when I posted the series intro for the news item, I might have considered it. But does it sound like the '50s? This one always had a bit of a '50s vibe for me. That, and when I was a much newer Beatles fan, I thought it was a John song.
Back when AHDN was first released, my mother had a male friend who was in his 40's or 50's and liked nothing but straight ahead hard bop (jazz). He used to laugh at Beatles songs, which he considered completely inconsequential, and at me, my sister, and brother, because we liked them so much. Anyway, he liked A Hard Days Night (the song). We couldn't believe it. He would ask us to play it when he came over. Looking back on it, I think what he liked was the song's hard driving beat which was rather Motown-like. "I'll Cry Instead" was never one of my favorites. "I Should Have Known Better" was one of the few songs in life that I loved from the first time I heard it. Great shuffling beat and melody. Another really bad album title, but one of my favorite collections of their songs up to that point. It's an old country saying that I grew up hearing. I do member being a bit surprised to hear the Beatles use it. Yeah this is another of those rare songs that I loved from first hearing. The song had a one of those "smokey" sweet melodies that I just never tire of hearing. I consider Paul to be a melodic genius. This was one of the things that separated the Beatles from the Stones, neither Mick nor Keith had the gift of melody. Things We Said Today was such a great song, who could blame the Hollies for writing another version of it called "Bus Stop". Or maybe "inspired by" is more accurate. As Ringo once said, "I don't mind copping one, as long as it's a good one."
Seems a little low. Someday I'm going to have to look at these lists (and make proper revisions ). The negative fifth anniversary of the Moon landing. Because it's a cliche or too countrified? It's still in common use in this neck of the woods, if used a bit tongue in cheek. Like "this neck of the woods." They're growing more sophisticated (also five syllables). Actually, this seems to me to be the better album. Must have gotten lost in the quoting..... Now that you mention it, yes. I guess the Beatles vibe superseded the 50s vibe.
55th Anniversary Viewing 12 O'Clock High "Golden Boy Had 9 Black Sheep" Originally aired September 18, 1964 Series premiere It seems that it's been a couple of years since I started my watch-through of the series, and I didn't start doing regular write-ups until late in the first season. I vaguely recalled having posted something brief about the first episode, but it was even briefer than I remembered. So I guess it's fair game, then! Captain Joseph Gallagher (future series lead Paul Burke) fills the role that Hugh Marlowe's Lt. Col. Ben Gately played in the film--the storyline is pretty much identical, making me wonder why they changed the character's name. When we meet Gallagher, he has a reputation for being extremely risk-averse. The bearer of a military family tradition, his main concern is getting out of the war alive, and he takes any opportunity to abort a mission. This displeases General Savage (current series lead Robert Lansing) to no end, so using a pending promotion to Major and potential transfer to a desk job as leverage, he sticks Gallagher with a crew of the 918th's assembled slackers and misfits and orders Gallagher to name their bomber the Leper Colony. Now Gallagher's strategy for staying alive involves turning them into the best crew in the bomber group, so he rides them as hard as Savage rides him. Despite some initial mishaps they prove themselves in combat, and following the obligatory montage sequence of subsequent missions, Savage thinks that the crew have earned the right to change their bomber's name, but by then they've come to take pride in it. Savage also notices that the crew have bonded...he actually manages to crack a full smile. When Gallagher comes to his office concerning the transfer, Savage is ready to tear up the papers, but Gallagher informs Savage that he still wants out. But he also wants to go out with the best possible record, so he insists on being included in a very dangerous two-plane mission. Gallagher and his co-pilot are wounded by fighter fire during the mission, but the Colony's bombardier (Bruce Dern) manages to hit the target. The plane is in rough shape but Gallagher refuses to bail because his co-pilot (Joby Baker) is unconscious, so he flies the Colony home while fighting his own injury...dramatically barely clearing some stock footage of the White Cliffs of Dover. In the Epilog, Savage gives a cane-sporting Gallagher his promotion, and informs the newly minted major that his crew has earned a commendation. With Savage's blessing, Major Gallagher stays on with the 918th to take command of a squadron. The episode also gives us the first appearances of co-leads John Larkin as Maj. Gen. Crowe and Frank Overton as Maj. Stovall. Lew Gallo appears his first of fourteen times as Maj. Joe Cobb, another character from the film. _______ I'm well aware of the saying. I guess, as gblews indicates, it doesn't seem very Beatlesque. Banal and uncool, I'd say. Huh! I'd never noticed the similarity between those songs! Well, "Bus Stop" is certainly a good, classic song in its own right, especially the lyrics. There's a lot of stuff to cover on those lists, and given that The Beatles occupy four of the top ten spots on the albums list, I can't complain. Maybe...it doesn't have the two major singles from the film, the title song and "Can't Buy Me Love". And context matters...it was the second of the two albums and repeated too much of the same content. But the really better album is the British version of A Hard Day's Night: Side one "A Hard Day's Night" "I Should Have Known Better" "If I Fell" "I'm Happy Just to Dance with You" "And I Love Her" "Tell Me Why" "Can't Buy Me Love" Side two "Any Time at All" "I'll Cry Instead" "Things We Said Today" "When I Get Home" "You Can't Do That" "I'll Be Back" The Beatles as they were meant to be listened to!
Bus Stop is a great song and probably still my favorite by the Hollies. Someone pointed out the similarities between the songs to me a few years ago. To me, it speaks to how great and maybe underrated, "Things" was. Why must you torture us this way? It's like whoever was putting the albums together for Americans, thought they knew better than Brits about what people liked. I think they thought that American fans were somehow different from Brits. Plus, there was the greed factor.
Undoubtedly. Love the moody picture the instruments paint--very memorable song from an overloaded decade of music.
Definitely underrated...doesn't even seem to rank among their many well-known album tracks. Not just better than Brits in general, but better than The Beatles themselves and George Martin! AFAIK, they had complete control over the content and sequencing of their albums in the UK, whereas they had zero control over how Capitol and other record labels released their content outside the UK prior to Sgt. Pepper. But why be tortured? The UK albums have been the standard since The Beatles came out on CD in '87. Surely you've had a chance to upgrade your collection since then...?
Such a pleasant premise. Okay, that's better. Okay, somehow I was thinking that it had all the movie songs. My main reason for saying that was the instrumentals-- not just because of the Squiggy Rule, but because they weren't performed by The Beatles.
55 Years Ago This Week Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week: Leaving the chart: "And I Love Her," The Beatles (9 weeks) "How Do You Do It," Gerry & The Pacemakers (11 weeks) "Ringo's Theme (This Boy)," George Martin & His Orchestra (8 weeks total) "Walk, Don't Run '64," The Ventures (11 weeks) Recent and new on the chart: "Girl (Why You Wanna Make Me Blue)," The Temptations (Sept. 12; #26 US; #11 R&B) "I'm Crying," The Animals (#19 US; #8 UK) "I Like It," Gerry & The Pacemakers (#17 US; #1 UK in 1963) "You Really Got Me," The Kinks (#7 US; #1 UK; #82 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time) Total Beatles songs on the chart: 4 And new on the boob tube: 12 O'Clock High, "Follow the Leader" _______ On the subject of this past week's 12OCH episode, I should note that in the Epilog, the crew has transferred the Leper Colony name to a new bomber...so I guess that would explain the many lives of the Piccadilly Lily. Remind me when it comes up that I'm doing a Piccadilly Lily Crash Count this time around.
This just in from the Road: If I had to describe what I'm hearing differently...it sounds like I'm swimming in the bass.
Now there's a classic. Not unpleasant, but not memorable. Sounds okay, but not memorable. Kind of cute, but not memorable. Memorable! I wonder if 12 O'clock High counts as germ warfare.
50 Years Ago This Week A.k.a. the Lennon-McCartney song catalog. Their loss will eventually be Michael Jackson's gain. Coming out October 1 in the States, and Coming Soon to an Album Spotlight near you! The Old Mixer is the size of a cantaloupe...and his birthday #1 has entered the chart! Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week: Leaving the chart: "Birthday," Underground Sunshine (10 weeks) "Commotion," Creedence Clearwater Revival (8 weeks) "Give Peace a Chance," Plastic Ono Band (9 weeks) "Laughing," The Guess Who (11 weeks) "Polk Salad Annie," Tony Joe White (12 weeks) "Workin' on a Groovy Thing," The 5th Dimension (10 weeks) New on the chart: "Reuben James," Kenny Rogers & The First Edition (#26 US; #29 AC; #46 Country) "Mind, Body and Soul," The Flaming Ember (#26 US) "Baby, I'm for Real," The Originals (#14 US; #1 R&B) "Is That All There Is," Peggy Lee (#11 US; #1 AC) "Wedding Bell Blues," The 5th Dimension (#1 US the weeks of Nov. 8 through 22, 1969; #1 AC; #23 R&B; #16 UK) And new on the boob tube: Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, Season 3, episode 2 That Girl, "Mission Improbable" (Part 2) Ironside, "Goodbye to Yesterday" Get Smart, "Pheasant Under Glass" (Season 5 premiere) The Brady Bunch, "The Honeymoon" (series premiere) Hogan's Heroes, "Hogan Goes Hollywood" (Season 5 premiere) Adam-12, "Log 153: Find Me a Needle" _______ And the song is quite...memorable. An obscure, but I've been finding it enjoyable. Ah, now this is a minor British Invasion classic...very sign-o-the-fab-timesy. Brits apparently found it memorable...it was quite the hit over there, and I've seen the title referenced as a Mersey Sound catchphrase. Time to crank the Invasion up a little!
This song represents one of those quaint little 1960's music industry habits of "cloning" a previous hit. In this case it's the Drifters' hit, "Under the Boardwalk." In all the stuff I've read about the Beatles I've never read anything that made it clear exactly how this happened. I would love to know. God, this song brings back memories. Eddie Kendricks had one of the best falsettos of all time. He was featured a lot more prominently in the days when the group was singing mostly Smokey Robinson songs, and gave them a decidedly softer sound than they had after David Ruffin left. Really? I never liked the song either. Great song by a truly great band. I never was a big 5th Dimension fan, but I just loved Marilyn McCoo. She had one of my all time favorite female voices and was also a world class beauty. I used to look at her husband, Billy Davis, who was a nice enough looking guy with a good voice, and jealously mutter, "how the hell did he get her?" Marvin Gaye composition. You can easily hear him crooning it.
Happy Birthday! This is nice. I don't think I've ever heard it before. Nice sound, although the song is kind of mediocre. Meh. Ah, the classic ode to clinical depression. Another Laura Nyro classic. Who else could make me love a song about a plea for marriage? And of course the 5th Dimension's rendition is lovely. Better than a Top 40 classic.