by Robert Wilkinson
Our early Friday show features a lot of different musical birthdays from May, so for your enjoyment we have an eclectic hodgepodge of all kinds of great tunes, including some classics!
We’ll have a one hit smash by the Angels, move into some very eclectic musical offerings featuring David LaFlamme of “It’s a Beautiful Day,” go back to some early 60s classics produced by Kal Mann, enjoy the unique voice of Johnny Maestro of the Crests and the Brooklyn Bridge, drop by the Flatlanders featuring Austin/Lubbock legend Jimmie Dale Gilmore, and finish big with the great Bob Seger!
May 4 was the birthday of someone most haven’t heard of, but she gave us one of the great dance songs of all time! From a video clip on The Ed Sullivan Show, here’s Ms. Peggy Santiglia (May 4, 1944), lead singer in the Angels, three ladies dressed in white with helmet hair snapping their fingers, giving us a jaw dropping video of their #1 hit “My Boyfriend’s Back” Wow. To think we survived that era....
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It was also the birthday of remarkable violinist David LaFlamme (born Gary Posie May 4, 1941-August 6, 2023), who gave us some great music in the late 60s. For your enjoyment, a live performance in 1970 at Tanglewood by David LaFlamme and It’s a Beautiful Day giving us their hit “White Bird”
Here’s the whole 50 minute show! It’s a Beautiful Day Live At Tanglewood 1970
From their amazing first album, the studio versions of two of their most memorable! Deep Purple ripped this off to create “Child in Time,” so here, for your enjoyment, is the iconic sound of “Bombay Calling” and the magnificent building tension of the closing song on that album, “Time Is” (Sort if like The Mothers of Invention meets Talking Heads.)
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May 6 was the birthday of lyricist Kal Mann (May 6, 1917 – November 28, 2001), who gave us some twist classics performed by some of the best!
We’ll begin in 1957 with the King giving us Kal’s “Teddy Bear”
We’ll now jump to 1961, where Chubby Checker made a gigantic hit out of Kal’s “Let’s Twist Again” and “Limbo Rock”
Kal also gave us the Dovells’ classic hits “The Bristol Stomp” and “You Can’t Sit Down”
Kal wrote three huge hits for the Orlons! “Wah Watusi,” “Don’t Hang Up” and “South Street”
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Today we also celebrate the birthday of one of the most famous voices of the 50s and 60s, the great Johnny Maestro! (Born John Peter Mastrangelo, May 7, 1939 – March 24, 2010). He was front man for the Crests, one of the first interracial groups in history at the peak of the doo wop era, and later went on to front for the Brooklyn Bridge. Our short set has some classic hits!
Their monster hit which went to #2 in 1959! “16 Candles”
Performing on tv, the Crests deliver another of their biggest hits to a backing track. From 1959, “The Angels Listened In”
Here’s another tv performance by the Crests and their doowop mastery! From 1960, “Step by Step”
We’ll close this short set with his monster #3 hit from 1968 with the Brooklyn Bridge! “The Worst That Could Happen”
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Another birthday boy used to be an old friend of mine from Austin, Jimmie Dale Gilmore (May 6, 1945). Here he’s on Austin City Limits - Live from Austin with the Flatlanders and John Reed giving us his most famous composition, “Dallas”
From the Texas Connection in 1990, the Flatlanders giving us “If You Were A Bluebird.” From the same gig, “Heartache” and "I'm Gonna Love You."
Here's his exquisite studio offering of the Grateful Dead classic, "Ripple"
Here's an intimate video of Jimmie doing "On The Banks of the Colorado"
We'll close this brief set with his appearance in 1994 on Conan, where Jimmie Dale gives us the Elvis classic "I Was The One"
For our encore, an entire 43 minute show featuring Willie Nelson, John Hiatt, Billy Joe Shaver, and Jimmie Dale Gilmore! "Legends of Country Music – Willie Nelson, , John Hiatt, Billy Joe Shaver, and Jimmie Dale Gilmore
For our second encore, the Flatlanders (Jimmie Dale, Butch Hancock, and Joe Ely) in 2001 at an Albany gig giving us 11 minutes of "West Texas Waltz" and "Julia."
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Our final birthday early show set comes from none other than Bob Seger (May 6, 1945), who has given us some of the grittiest roadhouse music ever written!
From his 1968 album, the first song of his I ever heard, and it knocked me off my feet! Here’s the very edgy antiwar “2+2 is on my Mind” and also from his earliest days, a rare live tv clip of the Bob Seger System in 1970 cranking out “Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man”
Live in San Diego in 1978, “Still the Same” which we’ll follow with “Old Time Rock and Roll.”
While last year I had the SD 1978 performance of this song, it’s disappeared. So instead, here’s a rousing version from Chicago in 2011 of “Hollywood Nights”
From the 70s, a live performance of “Fire Lake”
Here’s a great extended live audio-only performance in Orlando in 1973 of “Turn the Page”
One of my favorites! Live at the Whiskey in 1975, a great audio-only performance of "Katmandu"
Live in Largo in 1980, videos of “Against the Wind,” followed by “Hollywood Nights” and we’ll close with the classic “Turn the Page”
From Atlantic City in 2011, a live performance of "Travelin' Man" and "Beautiful Loser" (“Travelin’ Man” is not the Ricky Nelson #1 hit, but a different song entirely.)
Here’s a great 1996 live performance of the majestic “Roll Me Away”
We’ll close with Bob, the Boss and the E Street Band in 2010 at MSG cranking out “Old Time Rock and Roll”
For the first encore, One of the classic live albums. Bob Seger played Detroit in 75 and this historic album was the result! Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band Live Bullet - 1975
One of last year’s encores was an hour and 26 of Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band Live in Largo 1980, but it’s disappeared except for the few clips offered above. There is very little live footage from that era, but I found this audio of Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band Live in Detroit in 1980. So for our second encore, a show that rocks hard from the first note!
Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band Live in Detroit 1980 – Pt. 1 (43 min.)
Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band Live in Detroit 1980 – Pt. 2 (62 min.)
Last year’s hour and 50 in Ohio in August 2017 is gone, but I did find this hour and 18 from St. Paul in December 2018 showing he still rocks as hard as ever! Roll me away indeed! Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band Live in St. Paul - 2018
© Copyright 2024 Robert Wilkinson
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