by Robert Wilkinson
Our Fabulous Friday musical offering has some great performances tonight, from country to psychedelia to jazz rock to the best of Bert Bacharach and Hal David!
We’ll open with the music of the great Brenda Lee (born Brenda Mae Tarpley; December 11, 1944)! She was one of the greats who hit the charts in the late 50s and had 47 US chart hits during the 1960s. During the 60s, she was outsold by only Elvis, the Beatles, and Ray Charles. She was a musical prodigy, singing from age 3, and loved by millions throughout her entire career.
Her breakthrough came when she was introduced on stage by the legendary Red Foley, who was dumbstruck by her talent. From Wikipedia, what Red said about that night:
I still get cold chills thinking about the first time I heard that voice. One foot started patting rhythm as though she was stomping out a prairie fire but not another muscle in that little body even as much as twitched. And when she did that trick of breaking her voice, it jarred me out of my trance enough to realize I'd forgotten to get off the stage. There I stood, after 26 years of supposedly learning how to conduct myself in front of an audience, with my mouth open two miles wide and a glassy stare in my eyes.The audience erupted in applause and refused to let her leave the stage until she had sung three more songs.
For your entertainment and enjoyment, heeeere’s Ms. Brenda Lee!
Her first recording! "Jambalaya”
Her first hit on the country charts! “One Step at a Time”
Her next hit in 1957 gave her the nickname “Little Miss Dynamite!” “Dynamite”
Here are a few of her country hits!
"Sweet Nothin's" (#4) I Want to Be Wanted" (#1) "All Alone Am I" (#3) "Fool #1" (#3)She moved into the pop charts with these hits!
"That's All You Gotta Do" (#6) "Emotions" (#7) "You Can Depend on Me" (#6) "Dum Dum" (#4) "Break It to Me Gently" (#2) "Everybody Loves Me But You" (#6)She went to #1 in 1960 with “I’m Sorry”
In 1963 she gave us "Losing You" (#6), and in 1964 released "As Usual" (#12 US, #5 UK)
Also from 1964, the fantastic “Is It True" (#17 US and UK). Here’s the studio version, featuring Jimmy Page on guitar. Yes, THAT Jimmy Page! “Is It True”
We’ll close with her 1958 Christmas hit, played on radios all over the nation as you read this! “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”
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Our next short set of our Fabulous Friday show comes courtesy of Denny Dias (December 12, 1946) one of the founders of Steely Dan. Donald Fagan and Walter Becker were the first to show up, and they, along with others, recorded the first 3 albums before Fagan and Becker decided to use only studio musicians after that. While Denny continued to contribute guitar licks for the next three albums by that group. For your enjoyment, a short set featuring the work of the great Denny Dias!
Can’t Buy A Thrill (1972)
Countdown to Ecstasy (1973)
Pretzel Logic (1974)
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Our third set of the night features the “garage rock” of the Blues Magoos! December 12 was the birthday of Ralph Scala (Dec 12, 1947), keyboardist and vocalist for the group. Other than Emil “Peppy” Theilhelm (aka Peppy Castro, June 16, 1950), one of the guitarists and vocalists, and Ron Gilbert (Apr 25, 1946), there’s almost no biographical information on the group except that Mike Esposito was born in 1943.
They were one of the truly original psychedelic groups, and I had the privilege of seeing them 3 times when they were huge! One show they came out in leather jackets and pants, trimmed with glowing and flashing neon tube lights sewn into the fabric. After blowing all the fuses in the auditorium three times, they turned off their neon flashing outfits and finished the show in regular clothes. Whether you think this is psychedelic or grunge garage rock, this music is exciting!
From their first album released in 1966, Psychedelic Lollipop, here’s a lip-synched “performance” of their first big hit! “We Ain’t Got Nothing Yet”
Here’s a great loud and raucous live performance on the Jack Benny Show of another tune from the first album, the John D. Loudermilk classic “Tobacco Road”
Here are 3 more from that album!
“Sometimes I Think About (High)”
Here’s the entire album! Psychedelic Lollipop
Live on the Smothers Brothers in 1967, their hit from their second album Electric Comic Book, “Pipe Dream”
Also from that album, the studio versions of “There’s A Chance We Can Make It” and “Albert Common is Dead”
Here’s a link to the entire album! Electric Comic Book
From their third album Basic Blues Magoos, we have 4! First, the very driving and hypnotic “There She Goes” which we’ll follow with “I Want To Be There.” We’ll take it into “Accidental Meditation” and finish with the Roy Wood tune when he was with The Move, “I Can Hear The Grass Grow.”
Here’s the full album! Basic Blues Magoos
Here’s an interesting interview with Ralph about the backstory of these teens who hit it in a major way and then broke up not long after. Gary James’ interview with Ralph Scala of the Blues Magoos
After all these years, they’re still rocking strong! You can find out more by going to their website The Blues Magoos
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We’ll close the show with one of the legendary talents of the 60s, one of the only ladies who ever contended with Aretha for the title of “First Lady of Soul,” Ms. Dionne Warwick (December 12, 1940). From Wikipedia, she’s “an American singer, actress, and television show host who became a United Nations Global Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization and a United States Ambassador of Health.
Warwick ranks among the 40 biggest hit makers of the entire rock era, based on the Billboard Hot 100 Pop Singles Charts. She is second only to Aretha Franklin as the most-charted female vocalist of all time, with 56 of her singles making the Billboard Hot 100 between 1962 and 1998, and 80 singles making all Billboard charts combined.
Once she signed with Bert Bacharach and Hal David’s production company, the hits just kept on comin’! For your enjoyment, Ms. Dionne Warwick!
Her first hit! “Don’t Make Me Over” (1962 - #21 pop, #5 R&B)
“Anyone Who Had A Heart” (1963 - #8 pop, #6 R&B)
“Walk On By” (1964 - #6 pop, #1 R&B)
From Thunderball, “Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang”
“Message to Michael” (1966 – #8 pop, #5 R&B)
“Trains and Boats and Planes” (1966 - #22 pop, #49 R&B)
“I Just Don’t Know What to Do with Myself” (1966 - #26 pop, #20 R&B)
“Alfie” (1967 - #15 pop, #5 R&B)
“I Say A Little Prayer” (1967 - #4 pop, #8 R&B)
“(Theme from)Valley of the Dolls”
“Do You Know the Way to San Jose” (1968 - #10 pop, #23 R&B)
(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me"
"Promises, Promises" (1968 - #19 pop, #47 R&B)
"This Girl's in Love with You" (1969 - #7 pop, #7 R&B)
"The April Fools" (1969 - #37 pop, #33 R&B)
"You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" (1969 - #16 pop, #13 R&B)
"I'll Never Fall in Love Again" (1969 - #6 pop, #17 R&B)
"Make It Easy on Yourself" (1970 - #37 pop, #2 Oz)
"Then Came You" (with the Spinners) (1974 - #1 pop, #2 R&B)
"I'll Never Love This Way Again" (1979 - #5 pop, #18 R&B)
We’ll close this show with a tune she did early on that later became a huge hit for Dusty Springfield! Here’s Dionne’s version of "Wishin' and Hopin' "
For the encore, a live medley accompanied by Bert on piano! “Walk On By,” “I Say A Little Prayer,” and “Do You Know the Way to San Jose”
© Copyright 2019 Robert Wilkinson
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