Saturday, June 17, 2017

1967 Bonus #31


Next Saturday Night (June 24th) I’ll be back on Phil Nee’s WRCO  “Those Were The Days” radio program … this time counting down The Top 50 Chicagoland Biggest Hits from The Summer Of Love. 

A few years back we asked our FH buddy (and frequent contributor) Jack Levin to compile a list of the 50 Biggest Records for the months of June, July and August, 1967, by computing each record’s ranking on both the WLS and WCFL Charts.  (Chart Guru Randy Price did the same thing, utilizing his Super Charts, to determine the 50 Biggest National Summer Of Love Hits.) 

Both lists are permanently posted on The Forgotten Hits Website … http://forgottenhits.com/the_summer_of_love_countdown_the_biggest_hits_of_summer_1967

And next week Phil and I will count down the Chicago chart.  (I’ll also be posting clips of this broadcast so that those beyond the listening range of Richland Center, Wisconsin’s WRCO can also enjoy the list.  In fact, we’ll have it up for your listening pleasure the same time the program is going out live on the air!)  

We’ll send you new links once everything is all set to go.  

This is a who’s who list of songs and artists, many of whom have become regular Forgotten Hits readers and participants over the years.  (Phil has also interviewed a number of these folks … and he’ll be splicing in memories from many of them along the way.)  

A quick shout out to The Turtles, The Buckinghams, Tommy James and the Shondells, The Rascals, The Monkees, The Association, The Cryan’ Shames, The Grass Roots, Davie Allan, Paul Revere and the Raiders, The Hollies, The Fifth Estate, The Mauds, Yellow Balloon and The Beach Boys, ALL of whom will be featured during the countdown … along with The Beatles, The Four Seasons, The Doors, Bobbie Gentry, Jefferson Airplane, Van Morrison, The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, Wilson Pickett, The Fifth Dimension, Johnny Rivers, Spanky and Our Gang, Petula Clark, Aretha Franklin, Procol Harum and more.  

Be sure to check it out … next Saturday, June 24th.  (kk) 

FH Reader Clark Besch sent us this vintage report on The Monterey Pop Festival, written as it happened back in 1967 (so totally IN the moment of the festival)  
I think you'll find some cool stuff here.  Thanks, Clark.  (kk)

I am sure that Forgotten Hits will be featuring (arguably) the biggest "LIVE" event of 1967, which happened June 16 - 18, 1967! 

The show has been chronicled, criticized, glorified and examined in detail through all the audio and film footage taken then and released over many years in many forms of media.  

Below is an item that I really loved reading when I bought the Down Beat Magazine dated August 10, 1967, just six weeks after the First EVER Monterey Pop Festival became reality and launched many a great career.  


The photos below are from the magazine and the pages housing the article to follow. Unlike many reviews of the show, this article goes through the show chronologically day by day and gives a first hand account of what went on onstage without the 20/20 hindsight we can use today to reshape the thoughts or happenings as we may have wished to over the years.  

You can learn more about those "other" acts that were onstage, but no one really talked about later.















I have DVDs and CDs of much of the shows presented during the great three-day event and there are some terrific performances and some bad ones.  

So, in 50 year old hindsight, I think this is the best piece I have ever read on this monumental event.  I especially thought the mention of how Steve Miller's band used a tape recorder with sound effects to be interesting, as he went into the Hall of Fame after a career of using electronic sounds to help make his music popular for decades.  

Oh yeah, one more cool thing was the AUTHOR of this piece.  Barry Hansen went on to great fame and gave us many odd pieces of music that we likely would never have heard without him.  Barry Hansen eventually became better known as "Dr. Demento"!!!   

P.S.  Chet Coppock might see that the cover of Down Beat features an article on the great Chicago jazz legend, Red Saunders.  Red appealed to all and his local TV show never quite got off the ground, BUT the Cryan Shames taped "Up On The Roof" (if I remember correctly) for airing on the show!


Kent,

You'll also find a good retrospective also here:


Clark Besch



And I've got to recommend again Harvey Kubernik's book, which covers every event of the festival, day by day, with comments from many of the fans and artists who were there at the time.  It's the most detailed account I've ever seen … and once again BRILLIANTLY illustrated with amazing color and black and white photography … a true "coffee table book" in every sense of the word.  (kk)





By the way, when I searched for a cover photo of Harvey’s Monterey Book I googled “images A Perfect Haze” … and pages and pages and pages of beautiful, naked girls came up.  I was shocked … and wanted to let Harvey know right away … but it took a little bit longer to contact him than I had expected because, you know, it takes a long time to look thru all those naked photos!!! (kk)  

Wanna meet Harvey Kubernik?
He’ll be making an appearance Tuesday Morning, June 20th, at 11:30 am, at The California Historical Society in San Francisco.  After a short lecture on the 1967 scene, he’ll be available for book signings.  Pick up a copy of his new book while you’re there … and tell him Forgotten Hits sent you!  (kk)






Great newsletter!
I was contacted by a friend who is sending me a new 3-CD set called The Summer of Love .

The sleeve notes are by journalist Keith Altham … Very well known in the UK … he was the last one to interview jimi Hendrix five days before his death.

Regards

Geoff

Yeah, I think we’ve plugged this one a few times now.  (kk)



Hey Kent:

One of the records that most reminds me of the summer of 1967 is "(I Wanna) Testify" by The Parliaments. Back then I assumed they were British just like I first thought that about The Buckinghams. But apparently, they took the name of an American cigarette brand.

First charting in Cashbox on June 17, 1967, the single took two months to reach it's #18 peak in August (Billboard #20). The group had its beginnings in 1955 singing doo-wop. Their leader, George Clinton, was originally from Kannapolis, NC, (where I also pent my early youth). Clinton later became a songwriter and producer in Detroit. As The Parliaments’ lead singer he reorganized the group and released "Testify" on a minor record label.

On stage they wore shark-skin suits and emulated The Temptations. It seems to me the song was on the radio ALL that summer and I never grew tired of hearing it.

I can't find it on Chicagoland charts, but it was top three in Detroit, Cleveland, and NYC. It was HUGE in the Southeast, especially the Carolinas. 




Clinton went on to become a funk music legend. In 1997, he was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame along with other
Parliament - Funkadelic members.  I'm not sure I've heard “Testify" on the radio in fifty years!
Mike G

No, this one didn’t make any of our AM Pop Charts … but it’s a GREAT record so I’m happy to feature it again here today.  Thanks, Mike!  (kk)


Kent,

You might want to replace the version of "Carrie-Anne" you currently have up with the attached, which is a much better stereo mix.

– Randy

I can’t keep going back to previously published pages and updating them … as a rule, nobody’s really looking at them once we’ve moved on to the next day’s post … but what I CAN do is post these tracks here so folks still get a chance to hear them.  (kk)



I'm surprised no one called you out for using the (less-complicated, and more-commonly-heard today) album version of "Creeque Alley," as opposed to the (punched-up with horns) single version that likely was getting much more mileage on AM radio back then ... for those unfamiliar, there's been 'toob of the '45' around for years ...  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZHxoUd6HBo
BOB FRABLE
Actually, somebody did … and we addressed this a few weeks ago … but for those who need to hear it again, here is the superior single mix.  (kk)


 

We also replaced our version of “No Fair At All” (a Warner Brothers re-recording apparently) with the original Valiant single mix … so we might as well rerun that one now, too!  (kk)