Rock & Roll Historical Perspective

[Blues Songstres]

Originally Posted by myrosiedog

I probably shouldn't say this, but I do know the measurement equivilant of a "lid". I had much older brothers. Did I mention that?

I wasn't going to say anything about that since I haven't managed to comment on anything else up 'til now, but since you brought it up...

I remember when pot was sold in lids: 3-finger, 4-finger or 5-finger. Ask any one of the current crop of pot-smokers and they wouldn't know what the heck you are talking about. Of course, the pot you bought back then is nothing like the stuff they smoke nowadays. Not that I'd know. No, really. I've known a lot of smokers throughout my life.

[Google]

 

[myrosiedog]

Originally Posted by Blues Songstres

I wasn't going to say anything about that since I haven't managed to comment on anything else up 'til now, but since you brought it up...

I remember when pot was sold in lids: 3-finger, 4-finger or 5-finger. Ask any one of the current crop of pot-smokers and they wouldn't know what the heck you are talking about. Of course, the pot you bought back then is nothing like the stuff they smoke nowadays. Not that I'd know. No, really. I've known a lot of smokers throughout my life.

I didn't say I bought any. I said I had older brothers!!!!!

[Blues Songstres]

Originally Posted by myrosiedog

I didn't say I bought any. I said I had older brothers!!!!!

Guess I should have said "the pot one bought". Oh yeah. I had older brothers too.

[razorbacker]

I grew up in So. Cal. in the 60's & 70's so "lid" was part of the standard vernacular. Everybody I knew was either looking for one, trying to sell one, had just finished one or was making a bunch of new ones from the kilo they had just bought in San Diego for $130. Just keeping it real ya'll.

[myrosiedog]

Well it's funny how drug vernacular seeps into our conversation.

I still use the term: Jonsing, as in "I'm jonesing for some coffee right about now."

And bogart. "Don't be such a bogart with that bowl of popcorn".



Of course, that does give a lot away about my past too.

[Unklescott]

The one that tickles me is when someone says they "ate" an aspirin.

[razorbacker]

OK, it’s time to move on to the Billboard Top 100 for 1957. It would be the second year in a row to be dominated by Elvis. He had 4 #1 hits (All Shook Up was the top single of the year, Jailhouse Rock, Teddy Bear, all of these three were in the Top 4 singles interrupted only by Pat Boone’s Love Letters in the Sand, & Elvis' 4th was called Too Much).

The Top 10 Debut artists for the year were:

Ray Charles
Ricky Nelson
Connie Francis
Paul Anka
Brenda Lee
The Everly Brothers
Sam Cooke
Jackie Wilson
Johnny Mathis
Jimmie Rodgers

All the following artists had 1957 debut hits & have gone on to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: Brenda Lee, Lloyd Price, Ricky Nelson, The Everly Brothers, Jerry Lee Lewis, B.B. King, Bobby Blue Bland, Buddy Holly, Sam Cooke, Ray Charles & Jackie Wilson.

A Few other prominent debut artist in 1957 included:
Conway Twitty
Jim Reeves
And David Seville & The Chipmunks

The Top 10 Artists of the Year in yet another Male dominated year were:

Elvis Presley
Pat Boone
Fats Domino
Perry Como
Johnny Mathis
Ricky Nelson
Harry Belafonte
Nat King Cole
Patti Page
The Platters

1957 would have a total of 483 songs hit the Top 100 for at least 1 week. Top song of the year, as I said, was All Shook Up by Elvis which would spend 9 weeks at #1 & 30 total weeks on the charts. The song bringing up the rear at #483 was called So Strange by The Jesters. This was their first Top 100 song & it peaked at #100 for only 1 week.

1957 was the year of the Banana Boat Song, or some of you may remember it as Day O. The song was covered & became a hit for 6 different artists; The Tarriers, Harry Belafonte (thanks to Bettlejuice probably the most familiar), Fontane Sisters, Steve Lawrence, Sarah Vaughn, & Stan Freberg.

Always in years past, Instrumental songs were orchestra or piano driven. 1957, would bring forth the first guitar driven hit as Raunchy went all the way to #2 for Bill Justis.

9 new Christmas songs would chart in 1957. Leading the pack would be Bobby Helms with Jingle Bell Rock.

Winning the Academy Award for Best Song was All the Way from the movie The Joker is Wild.

More later if I come across some interesting stuff.

[razorbacker]

Rolling Stone Issue 41

Dated September 6, 1969 . Joe Cocker on the cover.

The next album tentatively titled Get Back by the Beatles has been pushed back while the band records an entirely different album. This one would turn out to be Abbey Road.

New albums expected in the next month include:
Janis Joplin - Cosmic Blues
The Rolling Stones - Through the Past Darkly
And new stuff from Credence & the Band.

Ex Monkee Peter Tork has formed a new band, no name or label affiliation yet though.

Guitar player Henry Vestine has been booted out of Canned Heat.

After his arrest for evading the draft & final classification as a conscious objector , 22 year old Beach Boy Carl Wilson has been ordered to report for two years of civilian duty.

There is a brief story about Blind Faith. The album has just come out & the controversy over the cover with the 11 year old British girl, naked from the waist up, & holding a model airplane is swirling. The band is excited about what they are doing & where they are going. Here is a quote from Clapton;” I’m much more excited about the future of Blind Faith than I was about Cream at the beginning.” Ooooops.

The manager for rock group MC5, John Sinclair, has been sentenced to 9 1/2 yrs. In prison for possession of 2 joints.

The Kinks, thought to be extinct, have recorded 9 new songs for a British TV drams called Arthur. And their second American tour is in the planning stages. Ray Davies is also in LA to produce the upcoming album by The Turtles.

The second death in just a three week time frame has occurred at the communal ranch owned by Timothy Leary. This time it is a 36 yr. old man & Psilocybin is being blamed.

Ads for groups or albums this issue:

The Stooges - The Stooges on Elektra

Free - Tons of Sobs on A&M Records

Hedge & Donna - All the Friendly Colors available on Capitol

Thunderclap Newman - Something in the Air on Atlantic…produced by Pete Townshend

The New Don Ellis Band - Goes Underground for Capitol Records

The Fugs - Belle of Avenue A Reprise Records

Album Reviews:

Blind Faith - Blind Faith
New rock groups need hype- so the thinking of these airborne companies goes - & Supergroups gotta have Superhype. Could the groups name be any more cynically truthful? Blind Faith is a fait accompli, more relaxed, more musical in some ways than it’s predecessors. The gnawing question remains, is the group doomed to quick extinction, or will they still be turning our heads around , perhaps saving our souls, when a year has gone by…Ed Leimbacher

Blind Faith, the reincarnation of Cream & Traffic has fallen upon us, & although their album is a good one it also exemplifies quite concretely what the star syndrome has done to rock. Actually, this is a decent listenable album, I repeat a decent album but by no stretch of the imagination is it a great or innovative album. The songs presented here show no growth in either composition or arrangement. I hope that Blind Faith will have a longer life together than either Cream or Traffic I wish them well. But deep inside I know that I really don’t care much one way or the other….Lester Bangs

Bread - Bread
Hi kids. Here’s another great great group, made just as you like em. Straight from LA, group capital of the world. You’re gonna love em. You’ve got to if you like The Beatles, Byrds, Bee Gees, Buffalo Springfield, Johnny Rivers, Van Dyke Parks, Randy Newman, or male clothes horses with giant collars. Of course there will be some cynical critics who’ll say the music is bland, repetitive, & even bubble gummy. But we need not listen to these malcontents, they’d probably rather watch some maniac smash his guitar to bits on his amplifier or something anyway. Buy this album today, you’re sure to get your money’s worth…Lester Bangs

Other albums reviewed:

Clarence Carter - Testifying

Fairport Convention - Fairport Convention

Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger & The Trinity - Streetnoise

A subscription now, will garner you a copy of the new Otis Redding album, Love Man.

[razorbacker]

We all know that we wouldn’t be where we are on the Rock & Roll timeline without artists having some very broad shoulders to stand on. So, in that spirit, I bring you some interesting (I hope) facts about the 1957 Billboard Charts.

1957 turned out to be a fight between good & bad. The good boy, Pat Boone. The bad boy, Elvis.

Pat had 3 #1 singles ( Love Letters in the Sand, April Love, & Don‘t Forbid Me) & spent a total of 14 weeks on the top of the charts.

Elvis had 4 #1 singles (All Shook Up, Jailhouse Rock, Teddy Bear, & Too Much) & he had a total of 26 weeks on top.

Between the two of them they had 7 of the 20 songs that hit the top & they had the #1 through #5 rated songs of the year. They dominated the charts by being on the top for 40 of 63 weeks. (63 weeks because a couple of these songs would bridge over two years)

There were 8 different artists that would watch their very first release go to #1:

Tab Hunter - Young Love
Jimmie Rodgers - Honeycomb
Sam Cooke - You Send Me
Charlie Gracie - Butterfly
Sonny James - Young Love
Paul Anka - Diana
Buddy Knox - Party Doll
Buddy Holly - That’ll Be the Day

Other artists to sit at the top:
Debbie Reynolds - Tammy
Everly Brothers - Wake up Little Susie
Andy Williams - Butterfly
Perry Como - Round & Round
Johnny Mathis - Chances Are

The 50’s were an interesting time in Pop music. It was not unusual to have multiple artists charting at the same time with the same song. In 1957 we had something really interesting happen twice.

At the end of March Andy Williams would spend 3 weeks at #1 with the song Butterfly. When his version dropped of it was replaced by the same song sung by Charlie Gracie his version lasted 2 weeks.

And in February Sonny James would go all the way to the top with Young Love, but his version lasted only 1 week & was immediately replaced by the more popular Tab Hunter who got 3 weeks out of his.

[AJane]

Janis Joplin - Cosmic Blues

My favourite Joplin album. I know the Kozmic Blues Band stuff was a big departure from her earlier work, but I think this album showcased the raw emotion of her voice just brilliantly. I still can't listen to "Little Girl Blue" without tearing up.