DIG THIS WITH BILL MESNIK AND RICH BUCKLAND- THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS

10-4 GOOD BUDDY

Say what you will about America, you cannot deny that, against all odds, fortunes can be made by good old American entrepreneurial invention. Submitted for your approval: advertising executive Billie Dale Fries, aka CW McCall, and his monster radio hit “Convoy”.

If you were sentient during 1975 there was no escaping the ubiquitous Citizen’s Band modulated, clarion voice of the fictional trucker, CW McCall as he barreled across the highways of America, calling out to his fellow haulers, inspiring them to break through the barricades of the “Smoky Bears”, going 98 mph.  It was number one on the Billboard top 100, and number 2 in the UK - proving that everybody in the English speaking world loved CW’s rebel attitude.

It all started when Adman Billie Dale was working on a campaign for the Bozell and Jacobs agency, to sell “Old Home” bread. He invented a series of spots portraying the flirtations between trucker CW and waitress Mavis, whenever the hauler made his bread deliveries to the “Old Home Filler Up an’ Keep on Truckin’ Cafe”. The catchiness of the spots led Billie Dale to the notion that a radio hit trading on the CB craze might connect with folks, and boy howdy, was he ever spot on.

CW McCall (whose initials stood for “Country and Western,” and whose last name came from a copy of McCall’s magazine that was on Billie Dale’s desk) was so popular that more albums and movies followed, and later, flushed with Clios and cash, CB bought a vacation home in Ouray, CO, where he ran for mayor and served for 6 years. Shortly before his death at the age of 93, Billie Dale Fries gave his blessing to the “Freedom Convoy” protesters in Canada to use his anthem in solidarity. “BREAKER BREAKER, RUBBER DUCKIE, LOOKS LIKE WE GOT US A CONVOY!” 

We've got a cure for this winter's Seasonal Affective Disorder: the sunny Samba stylings of master Sax-smith Stan Getz along with the sensual murmurings of Astrud Gilberto - in one of the most "audio-erotic" recordings of all time: THE GIRL FROM IPANEMA.

Jobim's masterpiece started  the Bossa Nova craze, and became on of the most covered songs in history, and your dogged musicologists, Bill and Rich, will attempt to uncover why. 


From: https://theculturetrip.com/south-america/brazil/articles/the-mystery-behind-the-girl-from-ipanema/

So who was the girl that inspired such beautiful lyrics? She was Heloísa Eneida Menezes Paes Pinto (now Heloísa Pinheiro) who was just 17 years old at the time. She lived in Ipanema and would go out shopping or to the beach, often accompanied by wolf-whistles from locals. Morales later wrote a book called Revelação: a verdadeira Garota de Ipanema – Revealed: The Real Girl from Ipanema – where he describes Pinheiro and the effect she unintentionally had on him and Jobim. He says she is the true paradigm of a Carioca girl, “the golden girl, mixed with flower and mermaid, full of light and grace but whose vision is also sad, because she carries with her, on the way to the sea, the feeling of what passes, of beauty that is not only ours – it is a gift of life in its beautiful and melancholy and steady flow.”

This song propelled Pinheiro into the spotlight where she became a successful model, including modeling as a Playboy Playmate in 1987 and again in 2003 when aged 58. “The Girl from Ipanema” was also used during the opening ceremony of the 2016 Olympics in Rio, which consequently led to the song being streamed on Spotify an incredible 40,000 times a day seeing it once again entering the Billboard charts in the U.S.

ONE IF BY LAND, TWO IF BY SEA

PAUL REVERE AND THE RAIDERS GREATEST HITS by Paul Revere and the Raiders (Columbia, 1967)

This group, this record: they were fundamental elements in the experience of the 13 year old Captain Billy. My band, The Full House, played a smokin’ cover of “Steppin’ Out”; Dick Clark’s WHERE THE ACTION IS tv show was a can’t miss, daily after-middle school check in; I coveted those Vox amps and Mark Lindsay’s ponytail. And, re-listening to this setlist 56 years later verifies that this band kicked hard and tight. Just ask Quentin Tarantino, who included two of the cuts for the soundtrack of ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD. 

America’s answer to the British Invasion actually started earlier, in 1958, in Boise Idaho, when keyboardist Paul Revere and sax player Mark Lindsay met and collaborated in the instrumental group The Downbeats. Revere was the organist’s actual name, so the subsequent donning of Revolutionary outfits was a natural, if cringey gimmick. The fact that Mark Lindsay was also one of America’s best rock singers was a secret weapon.

The initial bombshell was dropped in April, 1963, in Portland, Oregon, when the group recorded the seminal rock standard “Louie Louie” in the same year and the same studio as the Kingsmen (the version everybody remembers): The Northwestern Motion Pictures and Sound Recordings, Inc. studio. But, that didn’t matter. Yes, The Kingsmen’s recording was a one hit mega-wonder, but, the Raiders became a national institution with a string of 12 top 30 hits. 

The first incarnation of the Raiders dissolved around the same time that this collection came out, but they kept reforming in various line ups until Revere’s death from cancer in 2014. Like their contemporaries, The Monkees, there was a media hyped, manufactured quality (Producer Terry Melcher fattened their sound with the help of The Wrecking Crew), but the Raider’s street cred as musicians was impeccable, and very few could wail like Mark Lindsay. 

Margaret Wycherly (1881-1956) was an English stage actress who appeared in one silent film at the age of 38 (The Thirteenth Chair, 1929, dir. Todd Browning). 12 years later she reemerged as Ma York in Sgt. York opposite Gary Cooper, and was nominated for an Oscar.

But in White Heat, as the conniving and murderous Ma Jarrett, mother to psychopathic killer Cody Jarrett, played by James Cagney, she positively electrifies the screen every moment she appears.

The plot hinges on her throughout, and at the end Cody dies calling her name. This performance is for the ages!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Wycherly

Margaret Wycherly was born in London, England on October 26, 1881. She was predominately a stage actress, continuing stage work even after performing in films. Her first film role came when she appeared in The Fight (1915) at 34 years old. It was not until 1929 that audiences got another glimpse of her in The Thirteenth Chair (1929). Playing largely character roles, one of her finest performances was as Gary Cooper's mother in Sergeant York (1941). She later gave stellar performances in The Yearling(1946) and Forever Amber (1947). She appeared on the then-new medium of television on The Philco Television Playhouse (1948). After a small role in The President's Lady(1953), Margaret retired at age 72. Three years later, on June 6, 1956, she died at age 74.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: Denny Jackson & MO

This British actress, born in 1881, is probably best remembered as the mother in her two best-known roles, Sergeant York (1941) opposite 'Gary Cooper' and White Heat (1949) opposite James Cagney who closes out the film screaming "Made it, Ma! Top of the world!" as he goes to a fiery death. Margaret spent her early acting days on stage touring across England, and later working with stock theatre companies in the US, before making the jump to Broadway. There she starred in two memorable plays, Tobacco Road, a successful commercial play, and The Thirteenth Chair which proved to be a critical success. Her performances caught the attention of the studios and she wound up reprising her role in the The Thirteenth Chair (1929) film adaptation opposite Bela Lugosi. Returning to the stage, she periodically returned to Hollywood, making the film Midnight(1934), followed by roles in 17 movie films. The most notable being Sergeant York (1941) for which she earned an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: Keith Burnage [email protected], & MO

WHAT THE F**K WAS THAT ALL ABOUT?

HOW NOW DOW JONES by The Original Cast (RCA, 1967)

This is the second Broadway soundtrack that Captain Billy has covered, the first being Lerner and Loewe’s Camelot, and even though as a small child I had memorized my parent’s Oliver, The Sound of Music, and My Fair Lady albums, after Rock, Folk and Soul music entered my life, I lost interest in the musicals of the Great White Way completely. As I explained in previous episodes, many of the carts in my collection were not chosen by me; they arrived in big lots, and the experience of discovering some of these hidden treasures is akin to sticking one’s hand into a bag of….. (fill in the blank). 

Despite its catchy title, this show was totally unknown to me, although it did run for 220 performances. It was produced and directed by Broadway titans David Merrick and George Abbott.  It was film scorer Elmer Bernstein’s only Broadway composition; the book was by Max Shulman, of Dobie Gillis fame, and the lyrics were by Carolyn Leigh — a totally respectable crew.  The cast included Woody Allen’s avatar, Tony Roberts, and the whiskey throated Brenda Vaccaro in the leads, and there was even a Tony awarded to featured actor Hiram Sherman for his turn as a crusty stock broker. Yet, somehow the collective memory of this musical was lost to the ozone pretty quickly. 

Maybe it’s the complicated plot- (It was always part of the charm of these albums to try and imagine the story as I listened) - but here the labyrinthian plot and convoluted conjunction of characters - (tycoons, stock brokers, government officials, suicidal, mismatched lovers, tour guides, and “the voice of Wall Street”) - had my Pandemic-addled brain yearning for a YouTube training video.

There was a hit that emerged from the chaos,  “Step to the Rear”, which you might recognize: it was even used in a Lincoln-Mercury campaign, and there is a charming video of Tony Roberts with a stage full of investor ladies from the suburbs marching around the stage to the song.

Give this recording a try, and see if you can figure it all out. 

As he walks on, the Man doesn’t feel happy or sad, but balanced. Who he is is still left to be determined, and that is fine with him. 

“Monks, these two extremes ought not to be practiced by one who has gone forth from the household life. There is addiction to indulgence of sense-pleasures, which is low, coarse, the way of ordinary people, unworthy, and unprofitable; and there is addiction to self-mortification, which is painful, unworthy, and unprofitable.”   — The Buddha

Georgie Fame, born Clive Powell in Leigh, Lancashire, June 1943 is one of British R&B music’s founding fathers. Fame is the only British star to have scored three number one hits with his only Top 10 chart entries – ‘Yeh Yeh’ in 1964, ‘Get Away’ in 1966 and ‘Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde’ in 1967. But it’s more important to acknowledge his cultural influence. Fame popularized and educated in equal measure. The black music he championed with his band The Blue Flames brought new sounds to Swinging London and bossed venues like the Flamingo Club and the Marquee where he turned the English mod movement on to a whole bag of soul and authentic US urban and country sounds and also the ska and early reggae he heard in the Jamaican cafes and clubs in the Ladbroke Grove area of London. Like his great friend and collaborator Van Morrison, Georgie Fame found himself raised on jazz and blues with a penchant for Mose Allison and Willie Mabon and of course Ray Charles, not to overlook a grounding in the sophisticated rock and rollers like Chuck Berry who defied categorization.

With Latin pop also part of his skill set, Fame can turn his hand to just about anything and since his piano and Hammond organ keyboard brilliance – he is also a fine guitarist – is matched to a gorgeously relaxed vocal style he takes audiences on a melodic journey that combines the sweetest nostalgia with the most up to date interpretations of great songs and songbooks. As a sideman, he has recorded with many artists, including Gene Vincent, Prince Buster, Muddy Waters, Eric Clapton, Joan Armatrading, Andy Fairweather-Low, Bill Wyman and Van Morrison. Ever on the road, Georgie Fame continues to perform his unique blend of jazz/rhythm and blues for live audiences at clubs and music festivals throughout Europe. He is revered in Scandinavia and Germany and even took a local version of the Blue Flames to Australia where he escaped the English winter and built a rapport with fellow players from another hemisphere.

Having taken piano lessons at an early age the man born Clive Powell in the cotton weaving area of Leigh, Lancashire became a professional musician in the 1950s playing at holiday camps before departing to London aged 16 to seek his fortune. He touted his talents up and down the legendary Tin Pan Alley area of Denmark Street just off Soho where he was spotted by impresarios Lionel Bart and Larry Parnes who christened him Georgie Fame – somewhat against his will. Working with touring rock and rollers like Joe Brown, Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran young Fame became battle-hardened and was snapped up by Billy Fury in 1961 to lead his backing band The Blue Flames for whom he arranged and sang. The Blue Flames and Fury parted company and so Georgie took over and secured a three-year residency at the Flamingo Club. The debut Rhythm and Blues at the Flamingo came out in 1963 and was engineered by Glyn Johns and produced by Cliff Richard’s console maestro Ian Samwell. After promoting himself via the offshore pirate radio stations Fame struck gold with his version of “Yeh, Yeh”, a tune first recorded by Mongo Santamaria in the Cuban style. The next significant hit, “Get Away”: was another #1 in 1966 with production from Denny Cordell and a Clive Powell writing credit. The perfect sound for the emerging summer of love

A singer-songwriter, cartoonist, screenwriter, award-winning children’s writer, and actor, Shel Silverstein grew up in Chicago. He started out as a cartoonist, publishing work in Playboy and the military publication Stars & Stripes, before turning to children’s books. Silverstein is the author and illustrator of numerous books, including The Giving Tree (1964), Where the Sidewalk Ends (1974), A Light in the Attic (1981), and Falling Up (1996). His books have been commended for their appeal to both adults and children.

Silverstein’s poems are often darkly humorous, irreverent, and populated with invented characters, such as the “Bloath” in Where the Sidewalk Ends, who dwells “[i]n the undergrowth” and “feeds upon poets and tea.” Silverstein’s poems and stories are accompanied by his simple yet energetic pen-and-ink illustrations. The Giving Tree, a fable about a lifelong relationship between a boy and a tree, has become a classic in the canon of children’s literature and has sold over five million copies.

As a songwriter, Silverstein wrote “The Cover of the Rolling Stone,” recorded by Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show; “Unicorn Song,” for the Irish Rovers; “A Boy Named Sue,” for Johnny Cash; and “Queen of the Silver Dollar,” which Emmylou Harris covered on Pieces of the Sky. Silverstein collaborated with playwright David Mamet on the screenplay Things Change (1988), and they and Elaine May staged a series of one-act plays called Oh, Hell (1991).

WHEN GOOD THINGS HAPPEN FOR BAD PEOPLE

METAMORPHOSIS by The Rolling Stones (ABKCO, 1975)

Where to begin? Briefly, Allen Klein (1931-2009), the notorious wheeler-dealer who managed both the Beatles and the Stones, put out this collection in order to grab some shekels during a contentious negotiation with his disaffected cash cows. (Jagger studied at the London School of Economics, so he had gotten wise, but not early enough). Klein’s bagatelle paid handsomely - the album made it to #8 on the US Billboard chart. The Stones got some back royalty payments, but couldn’t break free of Klein’s ironclad contract. 

Mr. Klein’s portfolio was extensive, and a mire I don’t want to wade through here. Suffice it to say that this collection of oddities is worth experiencing, especially if you are a die-hard Stones fan. Even the Kafkaesque cover art elicits morbid delight. 

Compiled originally by Bill Wyman, the Stone’s bassist, the album is comprised of some demos intended for other artists, and outtakes from the Beggar’s Banquet, Let it Bleed, and Between the Buttons sessions. Versions of the familiar “Out of Time” and “Heart of Stone” are especially fascinating here, embellished with orchestra, choral voices, and pedal steel.  Listening to Mick sing Stevie Wonder’s “I Don’t Know Why” made me smile. 

Jimmy Page, John Bonham, Nicky Hopkins, and other luminaries are lending their support here, and the musicianship is great throughout. In fact, as the track list progressed, I had the feeling that I was on a safari across a vast Savanna of the Stone’s influences and influence, and entertained the quixotic notion that their trash had become treasure in the hands of a mercenary.

As the man stands in front of his former home, he is confronted with the thought that, perhaps, things are better left as they are. 

…The spirit-world around this world of sense

Floats like an atmosphere, and everywhere

Wafts through these earthly mists and vapours dense
 A vital breath of more ethereal air.

Our little lives are kept in equipoise

By opposite attractions and desires;

The struggle of the instinct that enjoys,

And the more noble instinct that aspires…

(from Haunted Houses by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)