On July 22nd, my college buddy (music major too!) and I enjoyed a groovy night of The Happy Together Concert at a fantastic outdoor venue, Humphrey's-By-The-Bay, in San Diego. Back by popular demand, this year's tour featured regulars like Flo & Eddie of The Turtles and The Grass Roots, as well as The Buckinghams, The Association, Mark Lindsay (former lead singer of Paul Revere & The Raiders), and first-timers, The Cowsills. While I've had the opportunity to see The Turtles and The Grass Roots perform together three years ago, it was a real treat hearing these other great artists as well! The backing band was made up of stellar musicians who helped lock in the sound of the original recordings we all know and love. No doubt the crowd at this sold-out event was really diggin' the perfect weather and classic tunes!
Our view from the back of the relatively intimate venue. Loved the location right next to the harbor in Point Loma (photo during The Association's set).
The first act of the evening was The Buckinghams, and not only did they sound great, they looked pretty good too! Featuring original members Carl Giammarese and Nick Fortuna, I loved hearing all their hits from "Kind of a Drag," "Susan," "Mercy Mercy Mercy," "Don't You Care," and "Hey Baby (They're Playing Our Song)." It was a crack-up when lead singer Carl brought out an old, retro jacket he wore in concerts in the '60s; he claimed he had to buy it back on eBay! Did I mention his voice sounded superb?! Love this Sunshine pop from Chicago! Here's The Buckinghams' #1 hit from 1967, "Kind of a Drag."
On their debut year with The Happy Together Tour, the next act featured the wonderful Cowsill siblings,
Susan, Paul and Bob, whose hits include "The Rain, the Park and the Other Things," "Hair," and "Indian Lakes," to name a few. They even performed "Love American Style," which was the theme they recorded for the 1970s show of the same name. The Cowsills proved they can still harmonize beautifully and were fantastic addition to the Tour. Since the other songs mentioned have already been featured on this blog, here's a classic promo video of The Cowsills' "We Can Fly," a #21 hit in 1967.
Before intermission, we rocked out to Mark Dawson and Dusty Hanvey who have returned to carry on the music of the The Grass Roots. As mentioned in my concert recap from three years ago (here), these guys never disappoint and covered all the great ones including "Let's Live For Today," "Temptation Eyes," "Wait a Million Years," and "Midnight Confessions." I love their moving a cappella tribute to Vietnam vets, particularly to the ones who did not return home. Although it's been featured a few times before on this blog, here's rare footage of The Grass Roots performing their #5 hit "Midnight Confessions" from 1968 (Rob and Warren are enjoying themselves way too much, ha). Love this tune!
Kicking off the second half of the show, The Association continued with the talents of Del Ramos (brother of the late Larry Ramos), Jim Yester, and Jules Alexander (although a 4th member joined them this particular night and I can't remember who! Maybe Russ Giguere? Feel free to chime in if you were there too!). Performing their four big hits like "Windy," "Along Comes Mary," "Cherish," and "Never My Love," the whole crowd was singing along, no matter that the vocal group didn't have the tightest of harmonies as they did in the '60s. It was a lot of fun and the guys looked cute in their matching white suits.
Because you've got to check out this clever and classic opening from this live performance, here's The Association playing "Along Comes Mary" at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967.
For the next set, you could feel the crowd's love for Mark Lindsay, original lead singer for Paul Revere & The Raiders. While this guy not only sounds pretty good, he had incredible energy and can still kick higher than a Radio City Rockette. This Raider covered the hits like "Kicks," "Hungry," and "Good Thing," as well as "Arizona" from his solo career in the early '70s. I couldn't
help but laugh at the ecstatic audience when he performed "Indian Reservation." I get this was a #1 hit in 1971, but I have never liked that song for some reason. Sorry, guys! Still a well-done performance for a happy crowd. Considering how much these guys were on TV, it's surprisingly hard to find good quality footage, but here's Mark Lindsay performing the #6 US hit "Hungry" with Paul Revere & The Raiders in 1966.
The night concluded with the entertaining Flo & Eddie (Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan) of The Turtles, who are responsible for keeping this Happy Together Tour together each year. After beginning their set by poking fun at the "lousy" music of today (in this case, Flo wearing a snowman suit and lip-syncing a bit to a certain popular Disney song), the guys jumped into their early folk rock hits like "You Baby" and "It Ain't Me Babe," followed by "Elenore" from the late '60s. They also condensed snippets from their solo show including nods to Frank Zappa and Bruce Springsteen (which I likely would have missed if I hadn't seen their show 3 years ago). Of course, this wouldn't be the Happy Together Tour without their quintessential '60s hit of the same name. Finally, the concert was recapped when each group hopped back onstage and performed a quick segment from one of their top songs, concluding with an all-hands "Happy Together" singalong (The Turtles' #1 hit in 1967). Also a great cover version by Johnny Cash, here's The Turtles performing the Bob Dylan-penned "It Ain't Me Babe" on Shindig! in 1965 (#8 in the US).
What a fun night hearing all the classics! Thanks to Humphrey's for hosting these great groups!
And thanks to my buddy, Jenny, for being a good sport as my concert buddy. :)
On a side night, this night holds the record for the most comments about my white go-go boots. I even had someone ask me if these were my original boots that I had kept all these years. Why, yes, thank you. I do look pretty good for 65!
As we continue with more songs backed by the fabulous Wrecking Crew session musicians, this next one was a transatlantic hit and a signature song for singer/actress Nancy Sinatra (yes, daughter of that famous crooner Frankie). Written by Lee Hazelwood (who wrote and produced most of her hits), "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" reached #1 on the US and UK charts after its release in February 1966. Arranger and conductor (also WC guitarist) Billy Strange used two basses together, Carol Kaye on electric bass and Chuck Berghofer on double bass, to provide the notable bass line (Ms. Kaye, pictured on the right, played on almost all hit records out of L.A. at that time and was the only woman in the Wrecking Crew). The session also included Hal Blaine on drums (as usual), and Al Casey, Tommy Tedesco, and Strange on guitars, along many others. During TV news coverage in '66/'67, this song was aired as soundtrack as a camera focused on US infantrymen on patrol in the Vietnam, and around that same time, Sinatra herself traveled to South Vietnam to perform for the troops. Here's the promo video featuring Nancy Sinatra's trademark look, synonymous with go-go boots.
Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass could have been named Herb Alpert
& The Wrecking Crew. Yep, trumpeter Alpert needed a team of crack
session musicians and used the WC members to record his music, including five #1 hit albums in the 1960s. Released the same year (and equally as popular)
as Whipped Cream and Other Delights, their second 1965 album, Going Places, included enduring tunes like "Tijuana Taxi" and "Spanish Flea." Reaching #1 on the US chart, "Spanish Flea"
was composed by Alpert's friend and mariachi band leader, Julius
Wechter, who also played percussion and marimba with the Wrecking Crew
musicians (he also went on to form the Baja Marimba Band, at Alpert's
encouragement). Featuring Alpert's trumpeting over a Latin rhythm backing, this instrumental song was used as "The Bachelor's Theme" for the long-running TV show The Dating Game (my dad was on that show in the '70s!). Using his touring band, here's excellent TV footage of Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass performing "Spanish Flea."
Popular singer, songwriter, and guitarist Johnny Rivers also used the talents of the Wrecking Crew during his peak success in the '60s. Breaking away from his "Go-Go sound," River moved into the pop-soul style with the release of "Poor Side of Town" in 1966. Written by Rivers with L.A producer Lou Adler (Mamas & the Papas), this #1 hit in the US and in Canada uses a soulful melody based on Californian pop with some strong folk elements and a lovely string arrangement. Along with WC session musicians, the backing vocals were provided by The Blossoms (singers for producer Phil Spector) including Darlene Love (more on her in a future WC post). Although Rivers had quite a string of hit songs in the mid- to late-'60s, this tune was his biggest success and only chart-topping record. Aside from Rivers' guitar playing, all WC musicians were used in the original recording heard in this TV footage.
As a friend and apprentice to producer Phil Spector, Sonny Bono was no stranger to the recording studio, often hanging out and contributing to sessions with the Wrecking Crew. Writing and producing songs for his aspiring duo with 18-year-old backup singer Cher, Bono composed "Baby Don't Go" in 1964, and had to borrow and raise money to cover the cost of the recording session. According to Cher, pianist Leon Russell (yes, the same Leon Russell who later had a solo career), guitarist Barney Kessel, and keyboardist Don Randi participated in the recording at no cost. The single only became a local hit in L.A., but after the success of the duo's 1965 single, "I Got You Babe," "Baby Don't Go" was re-released in September of '65 and peaked at #8 in the US, #11 in the UK, and #1 in Canada. Featuring the Wrecking Crew's handy work of a rolling piano-and-bass line, harmonica-driven riff, and shimmering mandolin part, here's Sonny & Cher on the TV show Hollywood-A-Go-Go.
Like many of the popular L.A. groups, The Association also looked to the Wrecking Crew to cover some of the instrumental playing in their recordings. On one of the top-selling records of 1967 in the US, the sunshine pop band elected to use these top session musicians on Insight Out, including Hal Blaine on drums, Joe Osborn on bass, Larry Knechtel on keyboards, Al Casey on guitar, and Mike Deasy on guitar and sitar. Featuring the impressive vocals by The Association, this album produced two iconic US hits "Windy" and "Never My Love," which reached #1 and #2 on the charts respectively.
Since both of these tunes have been previously featured on this blog, I'm going back one year to the group's first hit with "Along Comes Mary" in 1966. Even in a group with talented musicians and multi- instrumentalists, the studio recording of this beat/baroque pop tune included prolific WC drummer Hal Blaine (seriously check out the list of songs he's played on here!). Performing on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, here's "Along Comes Mary" with a creative introduction (with exception of the intro, only the vocals are live in this performance).
Sunshine Pop: Part 2
Well, it's officially summer and the weather is fantastic in Southern California (my apologizes to those suffering in the heat waves across the country), so looks like it's only appropriate to continue with this sunny series.
One of the essential Sunshine pop tunes from this era is definitely "Up, Up And Away" by The 5th Dimension. Themed around images of hot air ballooning, this single was a breakthrough hit for the Los Angeles-based group, reaching #7 in mid-1967 and earning the vocal quintet several big Grammy Awards including Song of the Year and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. Written by young songwriter Jimmy Webb (while actually skipping a Music Theory class!), this song also features those excellent session musicians known as the Wrecking Crew (to be featured soon), including Tommy Tedesco and his Latin-flavored flourishes on nylon-string guitar. With those beautiful leading ladies Marilyn McCoo and Florence LaRue, this airy anthem is pure '60s sunshine pop.
From Delevan, New York, The Free Design was vocal group known for their sunshine pop and baroque pop music. Made up of siblings from the Dedrick family (originally Chris, Sandy, and Bruce, and later, sisters Ellen and Stefanie), their trademark sound incorporated complex vocal harmonies with folk, jazz, and classical elements. Although Chris did most of the songwriting, this ironically sunny tune, "Umbrellas," was written by brother Bruce and was featured on their debut album Kits Are Fun in 1967. Unfortunately, no live performance here, but you will hear how effectively this song evokes the subject matter with light sprinkles in the beginning, a cloudburst in the middle, followed by the sun coming out and the rain fading away at the end.
From the East Coast, The Cyrkle also fall into the sunshine pop genre, particularly with their biggest hit "Red Rubber Ball" in 1966 (previously featured here). That same year, they followed up with that #2 hit with "Turn Down Day," which managed the Top-20 at #16. Although this tune sounds a bit more melancholic than most sunshine pop songs, it still fits the category (as well as drawing from folk rock and surf rock) with its well-arranged production, extensive pop smarts, and warm harmonies. Although their career was short-lived in the mid-'60s, this "summer goof-off" anthem is another essential Cyrkle song. Plus, check out that multi-neck guitar (actually a Gretch guitar/bass combo, pretty cool!), and although it's a mimed performance, you gotta love the drummer's showmanship.
Created by Curt Boettcher (who worked with Sagittarius from our last post), The Millennium was an L.A.-based group consisting of psychedelic rock musicians that incorporated sunshine pop harmonies. In 1968, they released their first and only album, Begin, which became notorious for being the most expensive album that Columbia Records had released at the time. Despite its poor sales, critics agree that it was money well spent, and it is now generally considered to be a classic of sunshine pop. Featuring the first two tracks from the album in this audio clip, you'll notice "Prelude" begins with a very harpischord-heavy, baroque pop-ish sound (turning into a dream-like carnival), but around around 1:20, "To Claudia on Thursday" starts subtle and evolves into an impressive and beautiful work of sunshine pop.
Today's final group associated with the sunshine pop genre is, well, The Association, of course, also based in California. A benchmark in this style of pop music, their 1966 debut album released two singles that gave the six-man group their national break: "Along Comes Mary" (#7), followed by the even more successful "Cherish." Skillfully produced by Curt Boettcher (hey, there's that name again!), "Cherish" reached #1 on the Billboard chart for three weeks, and features their trademark sound of tight vocal harmonies and lush instrumentation (much like the amazing "Never My Love," previously featured here). Written by founding member Terry Kirkman, this shimmering tune is widely regarded as one of the greatest love songs ever written, and their original version still receives a lot of airplay today. Although members of this multi-instrumentalist group were classically trained, the Wrecking Crew studio musicians were used in most of The Associations' recordings. However, here's a truly live performance from 1967 (although the video quality is a little dark).
Flower Power: Part 4
Each of the four bands in this post have been featured a few times before here at The '60s Beat, but what can I say? They have many great tunes! While Flower Power is not actual genre of music, these songs continue to represent the various sounds of Flower Power.
During the '60s, Tommy James & the Shondells released six 1-million-selling gold records, one of which was "Crystal Blue Peruasion," a groovin', gentle-tempoed tune from June 1969. Composed by Tommy James with Eddie Gray and Mike Vale, the song is built around a prominent organ part with gentle lines by an acoustic guitar, a very understated arrangement. While some listeners thought this song was about drug use, James explains where he came up with the title: "I took the title from the Book of Revelation in the Bible, reading about the New Jerusalem. The words jumped out at me, and they're not together; they're spread out over three or four verses. But it seemed to go together; it's my favorite of all my songs and one of our most requested" (Hitch magazine, 1985). Reaching #2 on the charts, its clear the lyrics are expressing that "love is the answer." Although there are no live performances by Tommy James & the Shondells (not until more recent years), here's a primitive, non-representative music video that was made showing images of late 1960s political and cultural unrest (okay, the footage is a bit wild, but we're here for the music anyway).
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Although this next song was released a year prior to the infamous Summer of Love (1967), it seems to appear on nearly every Flower Power CD set. After a string of folk-flavored pop hits, The Lovin' Spoonful's biggest hit was "Summer in the City," which scored #1 on the Hot-100 chart in August of 1966. This song was actually written by the brother of band leader John Sebastian, Mark Sebastian (along with band member Steve Boone) who had submitted the lyrics as a poem for a literary magazine while in boarding school. John kept the title and refrain ("but at night, it's a different world..."), but changed the slower verses to be more upbeat. During the instrumental bridge of this song, a series of car horns are featured (beginning with a VW Beetle horn and ending with a jackhammer) to represent the city sounds in the summer. This is another one of those classics included on the Rolling Stones' list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Although this TV footage is a little grainy, you can't miss the band's enjoyment (nor John Sebastian's huge mutton chops!).
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Another band with numerous hits at or near the top of charts in the late '60s, The Association enjoyed several success in 1967. After having the unique honor of being the first act to perform at the Monterey Pop Festival that June (kind of a lead-off concert to the Summer of Love), they also scored big with their singles "Windy" and "Never My Love" (already featured here). Reaching #1 on the charts in July and remaining there for four weeks, "Windy" was the group's second U.S. #1, following "Cherish" in 1966. During the session (knowing they were in the middle of recording a hit), The Association members called in the song's writer, Ruthann Friedman, and asked her to sing on the fade at the end. This footage comes from a live performance at the 1967 Ravinia Festival in Highland Park, Illinois (complete with a blond Windy being cute. Where can I find a white, ruffle bathing suit?).
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- And we'll conclude with one of my favorite British groups, The Zombies, who will always remain a mystery (to me) as to why they were more popular in the U.S. than their native England. Unfortunately after the release of their album Odessey and Oracle in 1968 (considered to be one of the greatest albums of all time), the group disbanded, but a few singles managed a U.S. release at the urging of new A&R rep Al Kooper. First recorded in Abbey Road Studios in 1967, "Time of the Season" was finally released as a single in November 1968 and made a breakthrough in early '69, reaching #3 in the U.S. and #1 in Canada. Written by keyboardist Rod Argent, the lyrics of this psychedelic pop song perfectly depicted the emotions surrounding the Summer of Love, and is remembered for its call-and-response verses like "What's your name? (What's your name?) / Who's your daddy? (Who's your daddy?)." The uniqueness of lead singer Colin Blunstone's voice, the memorable bass line (similar rhythm to Ben E. King's"Stand By Me"), and Argent's psychedelic improv on the keyboard make this a masterpiece, so much that it is regularly used in pop culture (film and TV) to represent the late 1960s. As The Zombies were long broken-up by the time of its release, they were no live performances of "Time of the Season" during this decade.
American Response: Part 6
In 1961, The Cyrkle was a pop band formed by lead singers Don Dannemann and Tom Dawes while studying at college in Easton, Pennsylvania. Originally a garage rock group called The Rondells, they were later discovered and managed by Brian Epstein (The Beatles' manager) in 1965, renaming them The Cyrkle (John Lennon suggested the unique spelling). In the summer of 1966, the group joined The Beatles on their U.S. tour and performed as one of the opening acts, including The Beatles final concert at Candlestick Park. Earlier that year in April 1966, they had released their biggest hit, "Red Rubber Ball," co-written by Paul Simon (who offered this song to the group while they were on tour with Simon and Garfunkel) and Bruce Woodley (of The Seekers). Reaching #2 on the charts, this classic still receives lots of airplay on the 'oldies' station today, leading listeners to mistake them for another one-hit wonder, although they did have another Top-40 hit. After The Cyrkle disbanded, both Dannemann and Dawes went on to be professional jingle writers, with Dawes writing the famous "plop plop fizz fizz" Alka-Seltzer jingle and Dannemann penning the original 7Up Uncola song.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Speaking of Simon & Garfunkel, this great American pop/folk duo is no stranger to The '60 Beat. Known for their vocal harmonies, singer-songwriter Paul Simon and singer Art Garfunkel released some of the most popular music in the 1960s and are ranked #40 of the 100 greatest artists of all time by Rolling Stone magazine. Rising to fame with the folk rock movement that grew out of the British Invasion, the group gained further popularity in 1967 when their music was featured in the landmark film The Graduate. An early version of "Mrs. Robinson" appeared several times throughout the movie, while the complete song was recorded and released in 1968 on the album Bookends. The film's producer asked Simon to write three songs for the movie, but by the time it was nearly edited, the group had been too busy touring and Simon had only written one new song. The producer begged for more, so Simon just played him a different song he had been writing that had nothing to do with the movie, "about past times, Mrs. Roosevelt, Joe DiMaggio, and stuff." The director advised Simon, "It's now about Mrs. Robinson, not Mrs. Roosevelt." Here's a live performance of the song that earned the duo a Grammy Award for Record of the Year.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ In 1965, The Association formed in Los Angeles and went on to have several big hits, eventually becoming the lead-off band at the Monterey Pop Festival of 1967. With their music in the sunshine pop genre , they started out playing many gigs all over L.A., but had difficulty getting a record label contract due to their unique sound. After signing with Valiant Records, the group got their national break with the release of "Along Comes Mary" in 1966, followed by a string of hits, however, my absolute favorite song by these guys is "Never My Love," a great tune that hit #1 on the Cashbox chart in 1967. With dual vocals by Terry Kirkman and Larry Ramos, this baroque pop/sunshine pop classic is "laid-back and dreamy, [yet] sleek and sophisticated," and according to BMI (Broadcast Music Incorporated) in 1999, it was the second most-played song on American radio and television of the 20th century. After this song's release, the group become a top concert act in high demand by TV variety shows, specials, and talk shows, eventually performing this hit on about thirteen shows, including The Ed Sullivan Show (shown below). I have yet to tire of this beauty.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From Union City, Indiana, The McCoys were a rock band that first formed in 1962 by guitarist Richard Zehringer (known as Rick Derringer) and his brother 'Randy Z' on drums. After adding a bassist, saxophonist, and keyboardist to their line-up, The McCoys scored a #1 hit with "Hang On, Sloopy" in October of 1965. It has since become the official rock song of the state of Ohio, the MLB team the Cleveland Indians, and Ohio State University, which carries on the Saturday tradition of playing this song at football games ever since the university marching band blasted this tune in 1965. Penned by songwriters Wes Farrell and Bert Russell, it was named for singer Dorothy Sloop, who used the name "Sloopy" on stage. Originally titled "My Girl Sloopy," this song was first recorded by The Vibrations in 1964, followed by several other groups including The Ventures, The Supremes, The Kingsmen, The Yardbirds, and Jan & Dean, however, The McCoys, with their 16-year-old leader, will always be remembered for making this tune a fun success.
