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Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Easy Come Easy Go” by Cass Elliot

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45-adapter-logo2CassElliot

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Easy Come Easy Go” by Cass Elliot

Only in the 1960s could someone as robust as Cass Elliot become an equally big star. Sure, she had talent to burn and a set of unrivalled pipes, but in this day of the thinner than thin in showbiz, she just would not have stood a chance…and a shame it would have been indeed.

The former Ellen Cohen was born in Maryland and got her start as part of the folk trio, The Big Three along with James Hendricks, whom she was married to for a time in an effort for him to avoid the draft, and Tim Rose. When Rose left the group in 1964, future Lovin’ Spoonful member Zal Yanovsky and Denny Doherty joined their ranks and they became The Mugwumps.

Shortly thereafter, Yanovsky joined forces with John Sebastian while Doherty joined The New Journeymen who counted John Phillips and his wife Michelle amongst their ranks. After Cass joined the fold, the group would soon become The Mamas And The Papas. Of course you can listen to their track,“Creeque Alley” to have the blanks filled in for you.

It would only be a matter of time before Cass, the ultimate hippy chick would record on her own, and with the help of extensive television work, she began to have her own hits. Her records were pure pop affairs cut at Western Recorders in LA in the late 60s and early 70s featuring a who’s who of Wrecking Crew favorites including on this track Hal Blaine, Joe Osborne, Larry Knechtel, Steve Barri and Phil Kaye.

Today’s song of the day is better known for Bobby Sherman’s version than Cass’, but I think the 1971 production values and arrangements on this version make it much better. It is originally from her album Bubble Gum, Lemonade &…Something For Mama whose cover image was framed in chewed bubble gum. Elliot died in London in 1974 of a heart attack (and not from choking on a ham sandwich) in the same flat that Keith Moon would die, at the same age four years later.

Song Of The Day – “Easy Come, Easy Go” by Cass Elliot

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CassElliotOnly in the 1960s could someone as robust as Cass Elliot become an equally big star. Sure, she had talent to burn and a set of unrivalled pipes, but in this day and age of the thinner than thin in showbiz, she just would not have stood a chance…and a shame it would have been indeed.

The former Ellen Cohen was born in Maryland and got her start as part of the folk trio, The Big Three along with Tim Rose and James Hendricks, whom she was married to for a time in an effort for him to avoid the draft. When Rose left the group in 1964, future Lovin’ Spoonful member Zal Yanovsky and Denny Doherty joined their ranks and they became The Mugwumps who cuts some sides for Warner Bros. Records the same year.

Shortly thereafter, Yanovsky joined forces with John Sebastian while Doherty joined The New Journeymen who counted John Phillips and his wife Michelle amongst their ranks. After Cass joined the fold, the group would soon become The Mamas And The Papas. Of course you can listen to their track,“Creeque Alley” to have the blanks filled in for you.

Cass was the ultimate hippy chick and center of the hip L.A. cognoscenti moving in the same circles as David Crosby, Steve Stills, and Graham Nash. In fact according to Stills, the trio first sang together while at a party at Cass’ house (although Nash and Crosby insist that the meeting took place at Joni Mitchell’s house). Nevertheless, it would only be a matter of time before Cass would record on her own, and with the help of extensive television work, she began to score hits. Her records were pure pop affairs cut at Western Recorders in LA in the late 60s and early 70s featuring a who’s who of wrecking crew favorites including on this track Hal Blaine, Joe Osborne, Larry Knechtel, Steve Barri and Carol Kaye.

This song is better known for Bobby Sherman’s version than Cass’, but I think the 1971 production values and arrangements on this version make it much better. It is originally from her album Bubble Gum, Lemonade &…Something For Mama whose cover image was framed in chewed bubble gum.

Elliot died in London in 1974 of a heart attack (and not from choking on a ham sandwich) in the same flat that Keith Moon would die, at the same age four years later.

Today in Rock History – October 7

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1966, The Rolling Stones made their last appearance on UK TV Pop show Ready Steady Go!

1966, Johnny Kidd was killed in a car crash while on UK tour in Radcliffe, Manchester. He was 27. Kidd had the 1960 UK number one single “Shakin’ All Over.”  The Guess Who covered it in 1965, and the following year it became a number one hit in Canada, and a number twenty-two hit in the US.

1966, Smiley Lewis, New Orleans R&B singer, died of stomach cancer. He wrote “One Night” covered by Elvis Presley and “I Hear You Knocking,” a 1955 US number two for Gale Storm, plus a UK number one and a US number two for Dave Edmunds.

1967, Cass Elliot from The Mamas And The Papas spent the night in a London jail after being accused of stealing from a hotel. A TV and concert appearance had to be cancelled.

1967, The Beatles rejected an offer of $1 million (£625,000) from promoter Sid Bernstein to make a second appearance at New York’s Shea Stadium. Bernstein had originally brought the group to Shea in August 1965.

1967, Pink Floyd performed at the Victoria Rooms in Bristol, England.

1968, Jose Feliciano performed a controversial version of The Star Spangled Banner before the fifth game of the World Series between the Detroit Tigers and the St. Louis Cardinals. As a result of his slow, Bluesy delivery, many radio stations refused to play his songs, and his career suffered.

1970, The Rolling Stones performed at Grugahalle, Essen, Germany.

1970, The Who appeared at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester, England.

1971, The Allman Brothers Band headlines at Santa Fe Downs in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Cowboy, along with Cheech and Chong were support.

1971, Fairport Convention played at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago.

1971, The Moody Blues performed at the St. Louis Arena in St. Louis, Missouri.

1972, David Bowie played at the Auditorium Theatre, Chicago.

1973, The Allman Brothers Band appear at the State Fairgrounds, Hamilton, New Jersey.

1974, Rick Wakeman plays the Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto.

1975, Gary Wright performed at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto

1976, John Lennon was awarded his “Green Card,” permanent residency status, at a hearing in New York which overturned previous efforts by the US Government to deport him. The three judge panel of the US Court of Appeals ruled that his 1968 arrest in Britain for possession of marijuana was “contrary to US ideas of due process, and was invalid as a means of banishing the former Beatle from America.”

1976, The Who perform at the Sports Arena in San Diego. Mothers Finest is the opening act.

1977, The Grateful Dead plays the University Arena, also known as “The Pit” at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.

1977, Aerosmith performed at the Memorial Coliseum, Fort Wayne, Indiana.

1978, US Music magazine Billboard reported that Marvin Gaye had twice filed bankruptcy papers earlier in the year, with debts of $7 million.

1978, The film soundtrack to Grease, featuring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John started a 13 week run at number one on the UK chart.

boston-don't-look-back1978,  Boston’s Don’t Look Back reclaimed the number one spot on the US album charts after knocking off the Grease soundtrack.

1979, Van Halen performed at The Forum, Inglewood , California.

1980, Blue Oyster Cult appeared at Wings Stadium, Kalamazoo, Michigan.

1981, The Rolling Stones played at Jack Murphy Stadium, San Diego, California.

1982, Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page was given a 12-month conditional discharge after being found guilty of possessing cocaine.

1983, ZZ Top appeared at The Summit, Houston, Texas.

1984, Rod Stewart performed at the Hollywood Sportatorium, Pembroke Pines, Florida.

1995, Alanis Morissette went to number one on the US album chart with Jagged Little Pill. The album went on to become the biggest selling album ever by a female artist with sales over 30 million units.

2002, Mick Jagger donated £100,000 ($150,000) to his old grammar school in Dartford to help pay for a music director and buy musical instruments. The new center was also named after Mick Jagger.

2007, Bruce Springsteen went to number one on the UK album chart with Magic, the singer-songwriter’s 15th studio album and 7th UK chart topper. It was also number one on the US charts.

2009, Barbra Streisand surprised many music industry watchers when she topped the Billboard Hot 200 for the ninth time with her latest release, “Love Is the Answer.” The CD extended Streisand’s lead as the female act with the most chart toppers in the history of the Billboard Hot 200.

Born on October 7: Al Marino, singer (1927); Colin Cooper, Climax Blues Band (1939); Kevin Godley 10cc, Godley & Creme (1945); David Hope, Kansas (1949);  John Cougar Mellencamp (1951); Tico Torres, drums, Bon Jovi (1953); Yo-Yo Ma, cellist (1955); David Taylor, Edison Lighthouse (1959); Simon Cowell (1959); Toni Braxton (1967) Thom Yorke, Radiohead (1968); Taylor Hicks (1976)

Get more Today in Rock History

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Easy Come Easy Go” by Cass Elliot

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Only in the 1960s could someone as robust as Cass Elliot become an equally big star. Sure, she had talent to burn and a set of unrivalled pipes, but in this day of the thinner than thin in showbiz, she just would not have stood a chance…and a shame it would have been indeed. The former Ellen Cohen was born in Maryland and got her start as part of the folk trio, The Big Three along with James Hendricks, whom she was married to for a time in an effort for him to avoid the draft, and Tim Rose. When Rose left the group in 1964, future Lovin’ Spoonful member Zal Yanovsky and Denny Doherty joined their ranks and they became The Mugwumps. Shortly thereafter, Yanovsky joined forces with John Sebastian while Doherty joined The New Journeymen who counted John Phillips and his wife Michelle amongst their ranks. After Cass joined the fold, the group would soon become The Mamas And The Papas. Of course you can listen to their track,“Creeque Alley” to have the blanks filled in for you. It would only be a matter of time before Cass, the ultimate hippy chick would record on her own, and with the help of extensive television work, she began to have her own hits. Her records were pure pop affairs cut at Western Recorders in LA in the late 60s and early 70s featuring a who’s who of wrecking crew favorites including on this track Hal Blaine, Joe Osborne, Larry Knechtel, Steve Barri and Phil Kaye. This song is more well known for Bobby Sherman’s version than Cass’, but I think the 1971 production values and arrangements on this version make it much better. It is originally from her album “Bubble Gum, Lemonade &…Something For Mama” whose cover image was framed in chewed bubble gum. Elliot died in London in 1974 of a heart attack (and not from choking on a ham sandwich) in the same flat that Keith Moon would die, at the same age four years later.

Jose Feliciano: Light My Fire b/w California Dreamin’

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45-adapter-logo2josefelicianolightmyfire45 josefelcianocaliforniadreamin45

Song of the Day by Eric Berman – The Jukebox Series #37 – Jose Feliciano: “Light My Fire” b/w “California Dreamin’” – RCA Victor 45 RPM Single 47-9550 1968 (P4/Q4)

Two songs from the 1960s that are unquestionably classics today…and Jose Feliciano had a hand in making them so…

The Doors’ “Light My Fire” topped the US charts in July of 1967, at the height of the Summer of Love. Along with Iron Butterfly’s “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida,” It became one of the most covered songs by bar bands of the late 1960s.  A year later, the song found its way again on the pop charts peaking at the #3 position as covered by Jose Feliciano as the A-side of today’s single.

Song writer Robby Krieger said in an interview about the cover: “It’s really a great feeling to have written a classic. I think I owe a big debt to Jose Feliciano because he is actually the one, when he did it, everybody started doing it. He did a whole different arrangement on it.” (Wikipedia – James, Gary (1994). “Interview With Robby Krieger”. Classic Bands. Retrieved January 18, 2011.) Feliciano’s version won two 1969 Grammy Awards, for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance and Best New Artist and firmly established him with the American record buying public.

The flip of today’s single is Feliciano’s take on The Mamas & Papas’ “California Dreamin’.” The also song made the rounds as another one of the most covered of its era including versions by Wes Montgomery, The Carpenters, The Four Tops, Melanie, Bobby Womack, Hugh Masekela, The Seekers, Raquel Welch, The Beach Boys , Wilson Phillips, and it still gets regularly licensed for use in film and commercials today.

Puerto Rican born Jose Feliciano was permanently blind from his birth in 1945. As a child he learned to play guitar at an early age and was influenced by classical guitarist Andres Segovia, jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery and Ray Charles for his vocal skills.

Feliciano came up from the same fertile Greenwich Village folk ground as Bob Dylan, Fred Neil, John Sebastian and Joan Baez, and he signed with RCA Victor Records in 1964 to begin his long and legendary recording career. He was a virtuoso Latin guitarist whose early records ran the gamut from traditional Latin tunes and pop hits of the day performed in a crossover folk, pop, jazz and soul bag.

By 1967, Feliciano relocated to Los Angeles. He was already a household name in Latin America and RCA teamed him up with producer Rick Jarrod who had worked with Jefferson Airplane and Harry Nilsson to record the both sides of today’s classic single and the 1968 album Feliciano!

The album is one of the quintessential albums of the late sixties and features near definitive versions of often covered sixties classics including Gerry & The Pacemakers’ “Don’t Let The Sun Catch Your Crying,” Bacharach & David’s “Always Something There To Remind Me,” Bobby Hebb’s “Sunny,” Tom Paxton’s “The Last Thing On My Mind” and of course the requisite Beatles covers “In My Life,” “And I Love Her,” and “Here, There And Everywhere.”

Musicians on the record included José Feliciano on guitar, vocals, arrangements, Ray Brown on bass, jazz percussionist Milt Holland, Jim Horn on alto flute, recorder and Harry Nilsson’s production team of producer Rick Jarrod, George Tipton providing orchestration, string & woodwind arrangements and  Perry Botkin Jr with song arrangements. The single and album were recorded in November 1967 and January 1968 at RCA Victor’s Hollywood studios.

By 1968, Feliciano’s superstardom from the Grammys, hit records and numerous TV appearances was short lived.  Feliciano’s star fell quickly after performing an impassioned and very personal performance of “The Star Spangled Banner” before Game 5 of the 1968 World Series which proved very controversial to many Middle Americans who were never exposed to Latin music. As a result, radio stations stopped playing his records for several years after.

After scoring a surprise hit with his self-penned Christmas classic “Feliz Navidad” in 1970, his career seemed to stall in America, however he has constantly continued to be a strong draw in Latin American countries. During the 1960s and 1970s, he appeared on dozens of TV variety and came back in 1976 with his hit theme from the TV show Chico and the Man. He also composed music for the 1970s TV shows McMillan & Wife and Kung Fu.

Feliciano is a perennial of the summer shed circuit and continues to perform around the world today. His “Feliz Navidad” has become a regularly played as a Christmas holiday staple during the last months of every year. His latest release is a tribute album to Elvis Presley released in 2012 on the Select-O-Hit record label called The King.

“The Jukebox Series” focuses on the 80 records that inhabit my 1963 Seeburg LPC1 jukebox. I’ve had my jukebox (or as I like to call it “the prehistoric iPod”) for a little over 14 years and in that time I’d like to think that I’ve perfected the mix of 45s within.

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – The Jukebox Series #37 – Jose Feliciano: “Light My Fire” b/w “California Dreamin’” – RCA Victor 45 RPM Single 47-9550 1968 (P4/Q4)

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josefelicianolightmyfire45josefelcianocaliforniadreamin45

 

 

 

 

 

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – The Jukebox Series #37 – Jose Feliciano: “Light My Fire” b/w “California Dreamin’” – RCA Victor 45 RPM Single 47-9550 1968 (P4/Q4)

“The Jukebox Series” focuses on the 80 records that inhabit my 1963 Seeburg LPC1 jukebox. I’ve had my jukebox (or as I like to call it “the prehistoric iPod”) for a little over twelve years and in that time I’d like to think that I’ve perfected the mix of 45s within.

Two songs from the 1960s that are unquestionably classics today…and Jose Feliciano had a hand in making them so…

The Doors’ “Light My Fire” topped the US charts in July of 1967, at the height of the Summer Of Love. Along with Iron Butterfly’s “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida,” It became one of the most covered songs by bar bands of the late 1960s.  A year later, the song found its way again on the pop charts peaking at the #3 position as covered by Jose Feliciano as the A-side of today’s single.

Song writer Robby Krieger said in an interview about the cover: “It’s really a great feeling to have written a classic. I think I owe a big debt to Jose Feliciano because he is actually the one, when he did it, everybody started doing it. He did a whole different arrangement on it.” (Wikipedia – James, Gary (1994). “Interview With Robby Krieger”. Classic Bands. Retrieved January 18, 2011.) Feliciano’s version won two 1969 Grammy Awards, for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance and Best New Artist and firmly established him with the American record buying public.

The flip of the single is Feliciano’s take on The Mamas & Papas’ “California Dreamin’.” The also song made the rounds as another one of the most covered of its era including versions by Wes Montgomery, The Carpenters, The Four Tops, Melanie, Bobby Womack, Hugh Masekela, The Seekers, Raquel Welch, The Beach Boys , Wilson Phillips, and it still gets regularly licensed for use in film and commercials today.

Puerto Rican born Jose Feliciano was permanently blind from his birth in 1945. As a child he learned to play guitar at an early age and was influenced by classical guitarist Andre Segovia, jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery and Ray Charles for his vocal skills.

Feliciano came up from the same fertile Greenwich Village folk ground as Bob Dylan, Fred Neil, John Sebastian and Joan Baez, and he signed with RCA Victor Records in 1964 to begin his long and legendary recording career. He was a virtuoso Latin guitarist whose early records ran the gamut from traditional Latin tunes and pop hits of the day performed in a crossover folk, pop, jazz and soul bag.

By 1967, Feliciano relocated to Los Angeles. He was already a household name in Latin America and RCA teamed him up with producer Rick Jarrod who had worked with Jefferson Airplane and Harry Nilsson to record the both sides of today’s classic single and the album Feliciano!

The album is one of the quintessential albums of the late sixties and features near definitive versions of often covered sixties classics including Gerry & The Pacemakers’ “Don’t Let The Sun Catch Your Crying,” Bacharach & David’s “Always Something There To Remind Me,” Bobby Hebb’s “Sunny,” Tom Paxton’s “The Last Thing On My Mind” and of course the requisite Beatles covers “In My Life,” “And I Love Her,” and “Here, There And Everywhere.”

Musicians on the record included José Feliciano on guitar, vocals, arrangements, Ray Brown on bass, Jazz percussionist Milt Holland, Jim Horn on alto flute, recorder and Harry Nilsson’s production team of producer Rick Jarrod, George Tipton providing orchestration, string & woodwind arrangements and Perry Botkin Jr with song arrangements. The single and album were recorded in November 1967 and January 1968 at RCA Victor’s Hollywood studios.

By 1968, Feliciano’s superstardom from the Grammys, hit records and numerous TV appearances was short lived.  Feliciano’s star fell quickly after performing an impassioned and very personal performance of “The Star Spangled Banner” before Game 5 of the 1968 World Series which proved very controversial to many Middle Americans who were never exposed to Latin music. As a result, radio stations stopped playing his records for several years after.

After scoring a surprise hit with his self-penned Christmas classic “Feliz Navidad” in 1970, his career seemed to stall in America, however he has constantly continued to be a strong draw in Latin American countries. During the 1960s and 1970s, he appeared on dozens of TV variety and came back in 1976 with his hit TV theme to Chico And The Man. He also composed music for the 1970s TV shows McMillan & Wife and Kung Fu.

Feliciano is a perennial of the summer shed circuit and continues to perform around the world today.His “Feliz Navidad” has become a regularly played as a Christmas holiday staple during the last months of every year. His latest release is a tribute album to Elvis Presley released last year on the Select-O-Hit record label called The King.