Not their best work, and at this point, the group was having many interpersonal issues (plotting to dump Spencer Dryden for not having a "real", heavier rock drummer sound was a low point for the group--along with their neverending drug use). Gone were the creatively impressive days of Surrealistic Pillow.
Unfortunately, all was not peace, love, and understanding even then. This approach is not how you win friends and influence people. They were better off with their pure psychedelia. Which, of course, is an exercise in futility. Everybody was on such a hair trigger that any nuclear explosion anywhere would have set off a nuclear war like a room full of mouse traps-- or at least that was a common trope in fiction at the time. True enough, I guess. He loved his Mods. I'm almost positive that I learned about it from MAD magazine. I learned a lot of things from MAD magazine. I was thinking of 1960, but yeah. He has Ironside Syndrome. One of the great geniuses of the comic-strip world. Danny should have said that he'd only surrender to the Mod Squad. Hmm. Well, the idea of a female doctor would certainly have been old hat by then (Petticoat Junction notwithstanding-- and even that never made sense to me, since Granny was supposed to be a doctor, at least by the standards of The Hills), but I guess the notion of only male doctors for boys and female doctors for girls might have been the norm. Interesting that it was the adults who were schooling the children in how to be less chauvinistic. Greg and Marcia were not very hip.
No love for the Airplane record, I guess. Here, try this one... _______ 50th Anniversary Album Spotlight Let It Bleed The Rolling Stones Released December 5, 1969 Chart debut: December 6, 1969 Chart peak: #3, December 27, 1969 #32 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time The album opens on its strongest note with another one of those uber-stone-cold-classic tracks that you're surprised to learn was never a single, "Gimme Shelter" (#38 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time): Crank it, baby! The female vocals heard on the track are by soul and gospel singer Merry Clayton. The Stones then take it back to their blues roots with the only cover on the album, Robert Johnson's "Love in Vain". Slow was never my favorite flavor of Stones, I'm afraid. "Country Honk" is a country version of recent chart-topper "Honky Tonk Women". Things get rocking again with the raunchy "Live with Me". The first side closes with the album's title track, "Let It Bleed," a continuation of the country blues style explored on Beggars Banquet: Side two opens with the album's second-longest track, "Midnight Rambler," a blues rocker about the Boston Strangler that's more familiar to me from a live version that appeared on at least one compilation album: Country blues track "You Got the Silver" is the first Stones song to feature Keith Richards as solo lead vocalist. Rocker "Monkey Man" is a memorably distinctive album track: The album closes with its longest track and other uber-stone-cold classic, "You Can't Always Get What You Want" (#42 US in 1972; #100 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time): Between its length and its gradual build-up, this song is considered by some to be the Stones' answer to "Hey Jude". It was first released in shorter form earlier in the year as the B-side of "Honky Tonk Women". Overall I'd say that this album grabs me a little more than Beggars Banquet did, and Mick and the band are in peak form. But like its predecessor, Let It Bleed is nevertheless dominated by a couple of tracks that are significantly stronger and better known than the rest. Next up: Willy and the Poor Boys, Creedence Clearwater Revival _______ Ah yes...didn't look closely enough. There ya go! The girls were all for female doctors in general, and theirs in particular. It was the boys who were against that. _______ Happy New Old Years Everyone! 1965! 1970! The 1970s...!?!
This is such a great song. The first time I heard it I remember thinking, well, looks like the Stones aren't going to stand pat like I thought they would. Shelter had a different sound, to me. It was pretty far removed from their signature "3 chord" rock. Shelter was slinky and melodically interesting in a way I had not noticed about Mick and Keith's previous songs. Throw in Merry Clayton's impassioned gosplely backing vocals, the kind of thing you didn't hear from hard rock songs back then, and you have a masterpiece, IMO. This song always reminds me of my old friend, Elaine. This was her favorite on the album. She was a great person who had once had a nasty substance abuse problem but was, thankfully, in recovery. But, it always bothered me when she would put this song on whenever I visited her because the song was so dark and twisted that it made me think she was always on the verge of a relapse. She did eventually relapse, but managed to pull it together again, Hope she's okay. Lost touch a few years ago. Another great one. I thought this album put the Stones firmly on their own path, independent of Lennon/McCartney. I guess many would say they were probably always on a different path, though His Satanic Majesty's whatever, appeared to be the band's attempt to keep up with the Beatles. But this album set them up to mmove into the 70's on their own. Was Shelter the band's greatest album? Don't know, but it sure is my favorite.
I was referring to that particular song, but yeah, not a lot to get excited about with this one. Yeah, this is definitely one of the signature songs of the era and it's a great song, although not necessarily one of my favorite Stones' songs. Another great song, although I'm still reeling from the revelation that it wasn't a response to "Let It Be." Another great song, although I'd like to emphasize that this kind of behavior is atypical of Bostonians in general. Local Rock station WBCN, an FM pioneer back in the day, used to use a cue from this song (probably unsurprisingly) in a montage in one of its on-air promos-- it's the part, of course, where he actually says "Boston." Also, the station's morning DJ, Charles Laquidera, who was quite a local celebrity back in the day, actually auditioned for the role of the Strangler. He showed clips of the audition once when he used to host a midnight movie on Fridays for Channel 38. Yet another great song and definitely one of my favorite Stones' songs. Hmm, maybe. I don't remember that being particularly controversial, but I could be wrong. Should auld acquaintance be forgot? Nay. That's a ways off yet. We've still got about seven or so good years to go.
55th Anniversary Cinematic Special Goldfinger Directed by Guy Hamilton Starring Sean Connery, Honor Blackman, and Gert Frobe Premiered September 17, 1964 (UK); December 21, 1964 (US) 1965 Academy Award for Best Effects, Sound Effects (Norman Wanstall); 1965 Grammy nominee for Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television Show (John Barry) OK, just reading the film's Wiki page prior to watching it helped me to appreciate everything this film had going for it at the time. I'd still tend to think that it's just a tad overrated. I can see why it was the film that really exploded the series into a phenomenon at the time, though I still don't quite understand it's enduring appeal with so many more Bond films under the bridge. Maybe I'm just a Bond hipster...inclined to be more cynical about it because it's so popular. As with the other early Bond films, the plot is closely based on the source novel. In this case, where the film deviates from the novel, it actually improves the story...most notably the nature of Goldfinger's scheme. That scene where Bond is going into the details of how impractical it would be to steal the gold over mint julips is actually criticizing the novel, in which that was actually what Goldfinger was trying to do, via train! This is the first Bond film with a pre-credits sequence that actually features the real Bond in action. I think that the circular ceiling in the drug lab is a set piece from Dr. No. Bond taking off his drysuit to reveal a tuxedo underneath is a cool-to-iconic moment. Following that, we get the first credits sequence to use a title song instead of an instrumental--Shirley Bassey's "Goldfinger" (charts Jan. 30, 1965; #8 US; #2 AC; #21 UK): Cec Linder kicks off the trend of recasting Leiter for nearly every appearance, using vastly different actor types. Jack Lord didn't match the description of the character in the book, but was more believable as an opposite number of Bond's. Alas, it was because Lord wanted more money and a higher billing that they recast the character. Linder's Leiter comes off a little more like a local cop than a fellow secret agent. Austin Willis, who plays Simmons, the guy that Goldfinger is cheating at cards, was originally in line for the role. He's similar in type to Linder, which shows that they were definitely going for a different type than Lord. Jill Masterson, though she was in the book, is the beginning of the three-girl formula for the films. IIRC, in the book she survived in the short term, and Bond learned of her fate from Tilly later. "That's as bad as listening to the Beatles without earmuffs." Goldfinger was gonna let Bond and Jill go, but 007 didn't reckon with Oddjob being a huge Beatlemaniac. Fun fact: Margaret Nolan, who plays Bond's masseuse Dink, appeared as the "golden girl" in advertisements and the opening credits sequence. I wonder if Colonel Smithers from the Bank of England (Richard Vernon) told Bond and M about that time recently when he shared a train compartment with a certain group of long-haired musicians. Bond clearly wasn't very fond of them either. While Major Boothroyd had appeared in both of the previous films, and had been played by Desmond Llewelyn in From Russia with Love, it's the Q/Bond scene in Goldfinger that establishes the humorously antagonistic relationship that will become a beloved feature of the series: While Bond's DB Mark III in the book had a bit of lower-key gadgetry going on, the Aston Martin DB5 takes the gadgetry of the films to a new level, which will become increasingly outlandish in future installments. The larger scene includes an odd reference to Q having retired Bond's Bentley. In the books, the Bentley was Bond's personal car, not one assigned by Q Branch. Still another trendsetter for films to come: Harold Sakata's Oddjob as the seemingly superhuman chief henchman. There's an amusing exchange in the book in which Goldfinger is boasting that Oddjob knows X number of ways to kill Bond with one blow, and Bond retorts that he only knows X-2 ways to kill Oddjob with one blow. Tilly Masterson (Tania Mallet) is girl #2 in the formula. She was in the book, but contrary to the film formula she survived longer, and was involved in the gold heist with Bond. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and assert that while the DB5 is indisputably the iconic Bond car, its potential is wasted on the car chase sequences in this film, which are dark, claustrophobic, and backlot-ish. Compare and contrast to the Lotus chase in The Spy Who Loved Me--shot on beautiful seaside cliffs in broad daylight, with a helicopter involved in the chase, and continuing underwater! The chase sequence in TSWLM outdid the one in Goldfinger on every level. I read that lasers didn't exist at the time of the book in 1959. There, Goldfinger threatens Bond in a much more trite fashion--with a buzzsaw! So they were still pretty new-fangled when used in the film...hence Dr. Evil's use of air quotes in the Austin Powers films. Note that in a practice common for the Bond villains earlier in the series, Goldfinger's lines are dubbed by a separate voice actor, in this case Michael Collins. So credit where credit is due for the delivery of the iconic "No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!" line. The film seems to "open up" for me in the second half...which starts with the introduction of Pussy Galore. The book included an angle only vaguely hinted at in the film, that Pussy was a lesbian, as was Tilly. Tilly lived long enough in the story to become smitten with Pussy, and Bond's seduction of Pussy was an example of the outdated notion that all Pussy needed was to meet "the right man". Under the circumstances, the filmmakers definitely did the movie a favor in ditching that bit of business. Note that there's mention of Bond's attaché case having been damaged when examined. I've always assumed that it was a From Russia with Love model. Bond coolly describing to Pussy what her gun would do to the plane is a good Connery moment. The audible reactions of the hoods to Goldfinger's planning room transformation still make me cringe--they seem a bit too comic booky / radio show-ish. As I recall, in the book Goldfinger was actually recruiting the underworld types to help him pull off the gold heist scheme, as he needed their manpower and resources. The purpose of his demonstration to them in the film is a lot more vague. One could rationalize that he wanted to share the brilliance of his scheme with others who might appreciate it before he kills them to keep them from talking. The problem with that is that for the audience's benefit, he doesn't share with them the true nature of his scheme. IIRC, Mr. Solo (Martin Benson), who drops out of the scheme in the film and is subsequently killed by Oddjob and crushed inside the car, was a character in the book. Fleming apparently had a liking for that name, as he reportedly also came up with the name of Napoleon Solo when offering some basic ideas for The Man from UNCLE. After Bond escapes from his cell, you can hear Gert Frobe's actual voice while Bond is eavesdropping from under the model of Fort Knox. I read that Pussy's role was rewritten to make use of Blackman's knowledge of Judo from The Avengers. Bond figuratively fencing with Goldfinger while his prisoner is enjoyable. In the Fort Knox sequence, it stretches credibility that everyone was able to play dead so convincingly, particularly given the lack of serious accidents that one would expect if so many people were suddenly killed. The filmmakers weren't allowed to see the inside of the depository, so its depiction in the film was purely a product of production designer Ken Adam's imagination. The contribution of Ken Adam to the look and feel of the films can't be overstated. He'll later be giving us the iconic SPECTRE volcano lair and Stromberg's supertanker--for which a new stage had to be built because there wasn't an existing stage large enough to house it! The stage in question was named the 007 Stage. The final scene with a surviving villain taking one last shot at Bond is another trendsetter for the films. IIRC, this sequence was also adapted from the novel, though I don't think Bond was going to see the President in the book. THE END OF "GOLDFINGER" BUT JAMES BOND WILL BE BACK IN "THUNDERBALL" _______ No argument here. This and "You Can't Always Get What You Want" have me questioning if I should include such exceptional album tracks in my weekly playlists, which are based on charting singles. It's a shame to let such songs pass without inclusion in the weekly shuffle, but I'm not sure what methodology I'd use for inclusion. Even if I narrowed it down to the topmost positions on the album chart, albums can sometimes linger even that high much longer than the usual charting life of a single. There's actually a quote...on the song's Wiki page I think...where Mick said something at the time about doing a song similar to "Hey Jude" for their next album, so I think they were sticking to their "dark shadow of the Beatles" schtick here. But they're certainly going to have to fend for themselves and find their own identity in the '70s. It's possible that the Stones knew that the Beatles had a song called "Let It Be" in the can when they were making this album. The Get Back / Let It Be sessions had been back in January of '69. The boys were used to having a male doctor and were funny about letting a female doctor examine them; and the same in reverse for the girls with a male doctor. Even Carol overreacted to the boys' doctor paying a visit to the girls' room, not realizing who he was. Closer to eight, but it's hanging there, waiting for us. History tells us exactly what the new decade has in store. I should probably be making a bigger deal out of the '60s ending in 50th Anniversaryland, but (a) there'll be a lot of leftover '60s business going on in 1970, and (b) 55th anniversary retro kinda takes the bite out of it.
Not much. For the Rolling Stones, songs too off the beaten path were not selected as singles in this period. Commercial sensibility was still their greatest concern. But that kind of blues arrangement was one of the foundations of the group's method of playing/appeal from the start. Played more like an outtake of HTW. By the way, contrary to the handwaving of Jagger (including "Glimmer Twins"-friendly "music" rags), Jones actually played on early versions of "Honky Tonk Women", as his father--noted as despising his son's group and music--said Brian played an early version of it to him during one of the last meetings they had with each other. The group still hung over on "we're dark and weird--or into the dark and weird" with this track, but its rocking nature stood in opposition to the lyrics.One of Brian's last full performances on a RS record. Gritty and somber all at the same time, and painting a rather uncomfortable picture, if you believe what has been said to be the meaning of the track. A song that had been in one form of production to another since the fall of 1968. Of course, the song made its public debut as part of the set shot for the near-disastrous The Rolling Stones' Rock and Roll Circus on December 11-12, 1968. Ending the decade of the 60s, I've always believed that for pure innovation and band-defining tracks, Aftermath and Beggars Banquet are the best from the group. Arguably their best across their entire career (yes, even above the often-overrated Exile on Main St.).
Guess that's why I'm more of a Beatles man. According to the Wiki page for "Honky Tonk Women"... Maybe. Wiki again... I can guess what that's supposed to be, but would say that it's unfounded. Conceptually, the song is about how we're all primates, descended from common ancestors with apes. Which just places its genesis hot after the release of "Hey Jude" in August '68. Mind you, whatever the motivation/inspiration for the song, "You Can't Always Get What You Want" is a great song in its own right...the Stones definitely delivered something distinctive. I've never understood the love for Exile myself, but I guess I'll be getting around to examining it more closely when the time comes. _______ ETA: Looks like Ironside is now out of Cozi's lineup, so I'll only have episodes through the next season (1970-71) unless it pops back up somewhere. Also, Antenna now has... Diff'rent Strokes and The Facts of Life, recently staples of Me's weekday morning lineup, are now on Antenna as well, FWIW.
Well, it did largely define the Bond films-- and an entire genre, for that matter. I wonder what Fleming thought of that. A great and clever theme song. Okay, there's something I dislike a lot. Of course, we're talking about a series where the main character occasionally undergoes drastic changes in appearance, so if Bond is a Time Lord maybe Felix is a Time Duke or something. The world of Jack Lord: Goldfinger, starring JACK LORD as a supporting character, with sean connery as james bond. Probably technically true, but the principle was well known and there were probably prototypes. Great scene. Bond is really sweating that one out. I love the bit about Honor Blackman deliberately embarrassing interviewers. Possible, and comforting. It's very likely a valid story, I just don't remember ever hearing or seeing anything like it at the time, and there were certainly a lot of gender-role controversies being worked out at the time. And decades to come...
I was not talking about "Country Honk" (in any version, including the one finally selected for the album), but the actual sessions for "Honky Tonk Women", which Jagger and Richards have said at various times over the decades--that Jones never contributed anything to, the opposite of what Brian's father heard/said. What is known is that Jones--and Ry Cooder--contributed guitar to the early versions, but both had their parts replaced by that of Richards. It is interesting that HTW was added to the greatest hits album, Through the Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2) released in September, 1969, which also served as a dedication/tribute album to Jones (as it featured a number of his most famous contributions to RS songs). One camp believes HTW was added only to capitalize on the fact that a greatest hits album was a logical vehicle for the song, which had--up to that point--only been released as a single, while others have stated it was there because Jones worked on the early sessions. Some have said that's what the song is about, while others claim it was about the actual "junkies" the lyrics refer to Yep. Exile on Main St. is an okay record, but not the end-all "greatest" Rolling Stones LP, and certainly not one of the greatest of all rock records, as some music rags claim.
55 Years Ago This Week Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week: Leaving the chart: "Walking in the Rain," The Ronettes (11 weeks) "You Really Got Me," The Kinks (15 weeks) New on the chart: "The 'In' Crowd," Dobie Gray (#13 US; #11 R&B; #25 UK) "I Go to Pieces," Peter & Gordon (#9 US; written by Del Shannon) "Shake," Sam Cooke (#7 US; #2 R&B) "Tell Her No," The Zombies (#6 US; #42 UK) "The Jolly Green Giant," The Kingsmen (#4 US; #25 R&B) And new on the boob tube: 12 O'Clock High, "In Search of My Enemy" Gilligan's Island, "So Sorry, My Island Now" _______ So I've been told. We'll just have to deal with one crappy post-'60s decade at a time. The evidence you cited was the Jones had played the song for his father. "Country Honk" was worked on first and was practically the same song with a different arrangement and slightly different lyrics. Jones could have played it for his father after working on the "Country Honk" sessions, without having played on the recording for "Honky Tonk Women". "Honky Tonk Women" was their most recent #1 single. That it would be included on a hits collection requires no further explanation.
Wasn't the vocal version of From Russia With Love played over the opening credits of that movie? I'm sure it was played over the closing credits. Ha ha. The Mad Men character, Don Draper's, reaction to the Beatles, dismissive and bemused, always reminded me of Bond's reaction. The two characters had some similarities They were about the same age at about the same time, both former military, both loved booze and the ladies. I remember knowing (from the books) that the Bentley was Bond's personal car, but didn't recall this little bit of confusion caused by Q in Goldfinger. I didn''t recall Tilly lasting longer in the book, but I do remember liking the character in the book and liking her even more in the movie. Real tough and different from the usual Bond girl. Yeah, the car chase was much more detailed and drawn out in the book. Goldfinger was definitely, pre-Bullitt. Great scene. Iconic line. Great, now I'm going to be watching for cracks in the lip synching next time I see the movie. Seriously, did not know this. But Goldfinger's voice does have an odd quality to it. I guess I had some pretty progressive ideas even back in the 60's because it really bothered me that the movie downplayed, even erased, Pussy's sexual orientation. It bothered me even more that they show her succumbing to Bond's thrall. My daughter is a feminist of the first order and hates the Bond movies because of their takes on women, and I don't think she is even aware of the Pussy Galore situation.
Instrumental in the opening credits (with a good hunk of the "James Bond Theme" mixed in), vocal version in the closing credits. And FWIW, the Bentley appeared onscreen, briefly, in Bond's first scene in FRWL. They did this for some of the early main villains, as they tended to cast European actors whose delivery it was felt wouldn't be understood easily by American audiences. One particularly noticeable example: the guy who voiced Largo in Thunderball was the same guy who voiced Tanaka in You Only Live Twice.
I kind of drifted away. Not bad. Not great. Super groovy. WTF? No cease and desist letters from Jolly Green Lawyers? That's what I've been doing.
Absolute classic--easily one of the defining songs for the era. But Gray would come roaring back with the great "Drift Away" in 1973--another song with a sound that helped define that early 70s period. Okay track, but considering its author's sound, it does sound a bit older for the period. Not a fan. Criminally underrated band with a truly standout sound in the 60s. Missing the essential point: Lewis Jones knew the difference between "Country Honk" and "Honky Tonk Women"; he identified what his son played for him after the song was released. I've never heard anyone claim Brian played "Country Honk" for his father. The song was a massive hit as a single and needed no additional exposure, so adding it to a greatest hits album--one that was a tribute to Jones--speaks to his participation in the formative sessions of the song. The entire album's tracks were all pre-Taylor, so adding HTW--if Jones had no part in its final form--would have made no sense, considering the album's purpose.
50 Years Ago This Week This end-of-an-era moment was actually mislisted in Lewisohn's book as having happened January 4, though he corrected that in his liner notes for Anthology 3. The purpose of the session was to cut a studio recording of a song that George would be seen performing in rehearsal in the upcoming documentary film Let It Be. Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week: Leaving the chart: "Kozmic Blues," Janis Joplin (9 weeks) "Smile a Little Smile for Me," The Flying Machine (14 weeks) "Wedding Bell Blues," The 5th Dimension (15 weeks) New on the chart: "Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time)," The Delfonics (#10 US; #3 R&B; #22 UK) "Rainy Night in Georgia," Brook Benton (#4 US; #2 AC; #1 R&B; #498 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time) I couldn't find Brook Benton's version of "Rubberneckin'"--the other half of his double A-side--on YouTube or iTunes. And new on the boob tube: Mission: Impossible, "The Falcon: Part 1" Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, Season 3, episode 16 That Girl, "Opening Night" Ironside, "Dora" Get Smart, "House of Max: Part 1" The Brady Bunch, "54-40 and Fight" Hogan's Heroes, "Get Fit or Go Fight" Adam-12, "Log 34: Astro" _______ Meaning you got lost in his rock & roll, right? I fall somewhere in between. It's a nice, radio-friendly bit of pop, but I wouldn't praise it that highly. I think it sounds very much of its period--very British Invasion. Unlike Paul more recently, Del was bringing his A-game to Peter & Gordon. We'll be hearing from its lower-charting B-side, which has a lot more to say, very soon. Of the song, or of Sam Cooke in general? Now that's a defining artist of the era. Maybe if they'd managed to put out more than two albums in five years, they'd have made a bit more of a splash in their time. Nevertheless, I've never found their few hits lacking in exposure. Evidently not, but there was a songwriting credit dispute because it was a rewrite of an Olympics song called "Big Boy Pete". We're in my lifetime now, so I should say, "We'll just have to deal with one crappy post-'60s decade at a time...again." Perhaps I am being too hard on the '70s, when one considers the decades that followed. Gaudy and disappointing a decade as it turned out to be, pop culturally the 1970s is definitely a decade with a "half full" portion of the glass. We should endeavor to savor that for all it's worth. Did he? You'd previously said... If Brian's father despised his music, I doubt he would have been that knowledgeable about their catalogue. Likewise, he described it as an "early version" of "Honky Tonk Women". Given the production history of the song, that "early version" would have been the arrangement that was eventually released on the album as "Country Honk". Massive hits are exactly what you put on a hits compilation....
Very nice song. Absolute classic. Heh. Unfortunately not. It just didn't grab me. I think their sparsity of material and shortness of existence are definitely part of it. Also, I wonder if their sound was just a bit too singular to really catch on. It seemed odd that they could get away with using a company mascot like that, but I suppose it falls under the heading of protected-as-satire. Or maybe Green Giant just had a sense of humor. The 70s were actually a pretty cool time for music, as well as comics and TV and even movies for a while. There's a lot of classic and culturally iconic stuff coming up. But things did change a lot from the beginning of the decade to the end.
_______ 55th Anniversary Viewing _______ 12 O'Clock High "Those Who Are About to Die" Originally aired January 1, 1965 Sorry, that was the only one available on IMDb for this episode...from a third contributor of dubious writing skill. This episode features the return of Glenn Corbett as Lt. Tom Lockridge and Sally Kellerman as Lt. Libby MacAndrews (both previously featured in "The Men and the Boys"). Tom has been out of commission for at least six weeks. The next mission is long range with tight fuel limiting evasive action and at least three enemy fighter squadrons expected each way while the bombers are unescorted. At the Officers Club, Savage quietly shares the casualty estimate for the next mission with Stovall... Lockridge is feeling guilty about the idea of others having to go on that mission in his place, and is extra-sensitive that others may think he's faking his symptoms. Meanwhile, the weather delay causes tension to mount among the other men. The base provost marshal notes that some of the men seem to be getting into trouble specifically to get themselves grounded. Libby tries to talk Savage out of letting Tom go on the mission even if he says he's well. Then tries to talk Tom out of doing it. And after three days, Crowe offers to take the mission off the 918th's hands because of reduced efficiency, but Savage insists that they have to see it through for the long-term morale of the group. Crowe cautions that word is likely to get out that Savage, and not Staff, is keeping the group on the mission, because Doc Kaiser was in the office for part of their exchange. I guess he's not expected to read the signs posted about loose talk. At the Officers Club, Savage gets ahead of the problem and tells the men how he turned down Crowe's offer...and no sooner does he than Stovall comes in to announce that the weather is lifting and it should be clear in the morning. The next day the 918th takes to the skies. When the fighters attack, the men are clearly the better for having something to fight. The flight through enemy flak proves rough, with one pilot, Lt. Parmalee (Tom Skerritt) going into shock after his co-pilot is killed, and Lockridge losing a waist gunner with whom he goes back a long way. But when the mission's over, losses prove to be better than expected. One of the pilots in this episode, Lt. Jensen, is played by George Brenlin, who's been appearing as Duke on Adam-12 over in 50th Anniversaryland. _______ Gilligan's Island "Water, Water Everywhere" Originally aired January 2, 1965 The spring that serves as the castaways' only source of fresh water has dried up, and they've been using it to irrigate their crops with a bamboo bicycle pump. While they search for a new water source, Gilligan is put in charge of guarding the meager existing water supply. First Mr. Howell distracts him while Mrs. Howell steals some...then Ginger serves as a diversion for Mary Ann...the Skipper gets it all back...but Gilligan breaks the bucket with the new divining rod he's created to replace the Skipper's old one, which he broke. While the Skipper digs a well with another bicycle device, Mr. and Mrs. Howell try an Indian rain dance. Meanwhile, Gilligan follows a frog hoping to find its water supply, and falls down a hole into an underground cave full of fresh water. The others find a note he was writing that reads like a suicide note, so they go off looking for him. The Skipper falls into the cave while trying to talk to Gilligan. While they're trying to find a way out, Gilligan lights a match that sets off explosive gases, blowing the two of them up into a tree in cartoon fashion. _______ A good one. This one I hadn't been familiar with before I got it because it was on the RS list. Benton has a rich voice and the song's got a nice, mellow vibe to it. I was never under the impression that they didn't catch on. But if they weren't leaders of the pack, and rather got a bit lost among the invading hordes, then their lack of material likely contributed to that. By the time their second album came out, huge amounts of musical innovation had passed under the bridge in their absence. All that ho-ho-ho-in' ain't for nothin'.
50th Anniversary Album Spotlight Willy and the Poor Boys Creedence Clearwater Revival Released November 2, 1969 Chart debut: December 13, 1969 Chart peak: #3, January 10, 1970 #392 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time The album opens with the first half of its double-A-sided single, CCR classic "Down on the Corner" (charted Nov. 8, 1969; #3 US as double A-side w/ "Fortunate Son"; #31 UK), from which the title of the album is derived: Well, it doesn't appear to have been this appearance. Next is the playful "It Came Out of the Sky". Well, a crowd gathered 'round and a scientist said it was marsh gas Spiro came and made a speech about raising the Mars tax The Vatican said, "Woe, the Lord has come" Hollywood rushed out an epic film And Ronnie the Popular said it was a Communist plot Following that is a cover of folk/blues legend Lead Belly's "Cotton Fields" from back in 1940, rendered in CCR's distinct roots rock style: Wiki says that CCR's version hit #1 in Mexico. "Poorboy Shuffle" is a country/folk instrumental with a bit of studio chatter at the beginning. It segues directly into the last track on side one, "Feelin' Blue," which has a nice CCR groove. Side two opens with the other half of the double A-side, uber-classic rocker "Fortunate Son" (charted Nov. 8, 1969; #3 US as double A-side w/ "Down on the Corner"; #14 US charting separately; #99 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time): The next song, "Don't Look Now (It Ain't You or Me)"... The Wiki page for the song gets into more detail about what Fogerty was saying with the song. I'd say that he was making a pretty good point for the time. Following that is the album's second of two covers, "The Midnight Special": Lyrics for the song were first printed in 1905, and it was first commercially recorded in the 1920s. Lead Belly, the source of the album's other cover, notably recorded it in 1934. CCR's version, naturally enough, takes a turn for the swamp-rocky. The album's penultimate track is its second instrumental, "Side o' the Road". The album closes on a somber note with "Effigy": Overall, a pretty good listen in that it's an album full of CCR in their prime. In contrast to Green River, this one had a little less in the way of already-familiar originals to draw me in. Next up: 55th Anniversary Album Spotlight--Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes Featuring Veronica _______ ETA: Just signed up for CBS All Access as the Picard-related Short Trek comes out later this week. In addition to Mission: Impossible, they also have classic Hawaii 5-O...so Dragnet may have a Hiatus Catch-Up Viewing buddy this spring/summer....
For whatever reason, I remember having heard of the Jackson 5 before their debut. I thought the name was stupid. But I loved this song from the first time I heard it on the radio. Michael's rock tinged vocal style was a 180 degree turn from the usual Motown male vocal performances. i remember the Brummels. This was a really nice song. Still holds up quite well. It does sound British, but why? I mean, what makes it sound British? The harmonica? The harmonies? Don't know. Hated this song. Someone told me once that there was a sexual connotation to the song"s title, but I've never been able to figure it out. The Delfonics are still, IMO, one of the most underrated vocal groups of the rock era. They are part of the legacy created by the ink Spots on down through the Platters and other doo wop groups, through Smokey and the Miracles, through the the Stylistics and Blue Magic. To me, they are a separate strain of the genre from the Tempts and the Tops. "Mind" was another of the great compositions by master songwriter, Thom Bell along with the group's incomparable lead singer, William Hart. I'm sure we're going to see more of the great Philly International artists as the 70's kick off. Brook Benton was one of my mother and her friends' favorite artists. They used to laugh at us kids for listening to Motown, which they thought of as "bubblegum" music. "Georgia" is a beautiful song and a great performance, but my favorite memory of Brook Bennett was him being a bit tipsy at an award show presentation. He wasn't obnoxious on stage, but you could tell he'd had a few cocktails before he came out to give an award. I wasn't the biggest CCR fan but Fortunate Son and Down on the Corner were two of my favotites by the band.