Oh lawd, have moicey…this “Bacon Fat” is show nuff greasy! I listened to Taj Mahal’s 1969 double album Giant Step earlier this week for the piece I wrote on his cover version of “Take A Giant Step.” The album also has a version of the song “Bacon Fat” that is credited to J.R. Robertson and […]
Today in Rock History – January 23
1964, The Searchers were at number one on the singles chart with the Sonny Bono song “Needles And Pins.” 1965, The Who play the Corn Exchange at Chelmsford and then an all-night rave at the Club Noreik in Tottenham. Opening for The Who at the all-night rave is The Muleskinners featuring future Small Faces’ keyboardist, […]
Song Of The Day – “Classical Gas” by Mason Williams
It’s an album that starts with an Overture. No, it’s not a Broadway Cast album or film soundtrack to a musical; however, it is an album with lofty levels of conceit and pretension that could only have been recorded in the late ‘60s by Mason Williams. And for The Mason Williams Phonograph Album, it all […]
Song Of The Day – “Little Bitty Pretty One” by Thurston Harris
It starts off so simple. Just a bunch of guys humming in harmony over an infectious backbeat, and that was the only hook “Little Bitty Pretty One” ever needed to be propelled into the pop charts and to be forever known as a golden Rock ‘n’ Roll classic. And if you’re going to be a […]
Today in Rock History – January 10
1964, The first US Beatles album, Introducing The Beatles, was released on Vee-Jay records. The album cover showed John, Paul and George with their now famous “mop top” haircuts, but Ringo had yet to convert. Vee-Jay would be forced to stop selling the disc by the end of the year because of legal complications, but […]
Song Of The Day – “Woo Hoo” by The Rock-A-Teens
Every so often, when I’m jonesin’ for some ‘50s rockabilly or some good old rock ‘n’ roll, I need not look any further than Rhino’s exceptional Loud Fast & Out Of Control: The Wild Sounds Of The ‘50s box set. The set was compiled by Gary Stewart, James Austin and Bill Inglot and released in […]
Today in Rock History – January 8
1966, The Beatles started a six week run at number one on the album chart with Rubber Soul, the group’s seventh chart topper, which went on to spend 56 weeks on the chart. The group also started a three week run at number one on the singles chart with “We Can Work It Out” the […]
New Year’s Eve Song Of The Day – “In The Year 2525” by Zager and Evans
Denny Zager and Rick Evans met in college in Nebraska in the early 1960s and began playing music together. They wrote the song in 1964 and recorded it and released it on the local Truth record label in 1968. Once the song became a regional hit on radio stations in Nebraska, the duo was picked […]
Today in Rock History – December 28
1968, The three day Miami Pop Festival took place, the first major rock festival held on the East Coast of the US, with Chuck Berry, The McCoys, Joni Mitchell, Fleetwood Mac, Marvin Gaye, The Turtles, The Box Tops, Steppenwolf, Three Dog Night, Pacific Gas and Electric, Procol Harum, Canned Heat, Iron Butterfly and The Grateful […]
Song Of The Day – “Whole Wide World” by Wreckless Eric
“If it ain’t Stiff, it ain’t worth a f*ck.” “The world’s most flexible record label.” “Undertakers to the industry.” “We came. We Saw. We Left.” “In ’78 everyone born in ’45 will be 33-1/3.” “When you kill time, you murder success.” “If they’re dead, we’ll sign them.” The above non-sequitors were all slogans for one […]
