ROUTE 66 : COVER TUNE CLASSIC : WHICH DO YOU PREFER?

PLANNING ON A ROAD TRIP VACATION? 
WHY NOT GET YOUR KICKS ON ROUTE 66?  CHICAGO TO LA...

OH WE KNOW THE GAS PRICES ARE SO HIGH YOU MIGHT END UP STAYING IN TOWN WITH ONLY YOUR FANTACIES OF ESCAPE! 

BUT HOW ABOUT JUST A SMALL PORTION OF THIS 2000 + MILE HIGHWAY?

HISTORIC ROUTE 66 - THE OLDEST ROUTE 66 WEBSITE! " The Historic Route 66 web site is dedicated to provide free information for those who want to learn more about Route 66. It features a turn-by-turn road description, guiding the visitor from Chicago to Los Angeles. The forum is available for discussions regarding old 66 by the visitors of this site."

BOBBY TROUP ... who wrote the song as "(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66", in 1946.  


CHUCK BERRY ...
THE MANHATTEN TRANSFER ...

G- H- I LINKS CHECKED AND UPDATED and ERSEL HICKEY

In G- H-I we found that the  HOLLYWOOD WALK OF FAME LINK NEEDED AN UPDATE...  and we added THE GLARK GABLE FOUNDATION site!  GRAMMY ORG also needed an update...

TO CELEBRATE : ERSEL HICKEY!



USE THE SEARCH FEATURE EMBEDDED IN THE SIDEBAR TO BRING UP OUR POSTS ON HOLLYWOOD WALK OF FAME, Clark Cable, Grammy, or Ersel Hickey!

MITCH RYDER AND THE DETROIT WHEELS "DEVIL WITH A BLUE DRESS ON and GOLLY MISS MOLLY"

How many dress colors does the Devil wear?  There's the Devil with the Red Dress and then the Devil with the Blue... Does it have anything to do with being a Devil from Detroit, the Motor City?  Christine

Does Mitch Ryder have an official site?  You bet!  MITCH RYDER NET

KEEP ME HANGING ON! DO YOU LIKE THE SUPREMES, VANILLA FUDGE, or KIM WILDE'S VERSION BETTER?

KIM WILDE HIT in 1987 with her version.

(474) BOBBY DARIN RECORDED ON MOTOWN!

We think the writers at REISSUE THEORY did a great job of telling about Bobby Darin on MOTOWN, the label he was signed to at the time of his death (years later) that some of the recordings.

THE SECOND DISK : BOBBY DARIN THE MOTOWN YEARS link here!

EXCERPT: "At the time of his untimely death in 1973, Bobby Darin was signed to Motown Records, where he recorded one solo LP and enough material for a posthumous second LP. Despite their high quality, Darin’s Motown recordings have long been unavailable. Today’s Reissue Theory takes us back to 1970 and the final chapter in the life of the great Bobby Darin." 





LINKING TO A REALLY COOL SITE CALLED "THE OFFICIAL 60's SITE : SUPREMES PAGE!
DIANA ROSS AND THE SUPREMES !

(472) MOTOWN HITS THE SUNSET STRIP : THE FOUR TOPS : JOHNNY RIVERS

Released by the Four Tops in 1964, and a Motown hit for them, Johnny recorded the song and brought it to the West Coast in 1966. It was one of a few Motown songs Johnny covered, making the songs his own. Motown had an in-house song writing team and BABY I NEED YOUR LOVIN was written by the team called Holland-Dozier-Holland. This single put Motown into the Top 20 for the first time, in '64, and was a million seller.  It's been recorded by several other artists, including a British group.



THE BBC RUNS A FOUR TOPS BIO PIC! BBC RADIO DOCUMENTARY SOUL SATISFACTION in OCTOBER!

JOHNNY RIVERS A DECADE BEFORE THE WHISKY

 An early publicity photo of Johnny Rivers in New York City, where I met him in the late 1950's.  Johnny would go through some major changes as the 1960's went on in his appearance. What never changed was his determination.   I've posted a lot on Johnny, and you can find those posts using the Search feature on this Google Blogger!

NEIL YOUNG ON SONGWRITING : NOT THE TIME FOR INTERROGATION OR ANALYSIS

"When i write a song, it starts with a feeling.  I can hear something in my head or feel it in my heart.  It may be that I just picked up the guitar and mindlessly started playing.  That's the way a lodt of songs begin.  When you do that, you are not thinking.  Thinking is the worst thing for writing a song.  So you just start playing and something new comes out.  Where does it come from?  Who cares?  Just keep it and go with it.  That's what I do.  I never judge it.  I believe it.   It came as a gift when I picked up my musical instrument and it came through me laying with the instrument.  The chords and melody just appeared.  Now is not the time for interrogation or analysis.  Now is the time to get to know the song, not change it before you even know it.  It is like a wild animal, a living thing.  Be careful not to scare it away.  That's my method, or one of my methods, at least.   - Neil Young.

This quote and others from Neil Young are from his recent memoir.

(460) FOLK ROCK : A SYNERGY OF FOLK MUSIC and COUNTRY and ROCK AND ROLL

Country music, Folk music, Rock Music... In the mid 1960's music by the Turtles and the Byrds was recognized as something called FOLK ROCK.  Some say Bob Dylan's song "Mr. Tambourine Man," was the song that began the Folk Rock "revolution."

Let's go to the Encyclopedia Brittanica, where we got our definition for HARMONY, and see how the term is officially explained:

BRITANNICA : FOLK ROCK Link! 

The definition begins :  "As the American folk music revival gathered momentum in the 1950s and ’60s, it was inevitable that a high-minded movement that prided itself on the purity of its acoustic instrumentation and its separation from the commercial pop mainstream would be overtaken and transformed by pop music’s rapidly evolving technology. Rock music also was transformed by its intersection with folk. Although rock previously had been perceived and created almost exclusively as entertainment, it now began to take on folk music’s self-conscious seriousness of intent...

(459) THE BYRDS GIVE THE BEATLES A RUN FOR THE CHARTS

THE BYRDS OFFICIAL SITE  link here for their story their way!
David Crosby
Chris Hillman
Roger McGuinn
Gene Clark

Michael Clarke  (The Byrds official site has links for each of these musicians individually as well!)

ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME BYRDS PAGE link here!

The Byrds were predicted to give the Beatles a real run for the charts.  I remember talking to Elmer Bernstein and Bob Dylan about the Byrds one night on the Sunset Strip. Elmer was really excited about them. "They're better than the Beatles ! he cried out, as one of their songs was broadcast on the radio.

Bob just smiled.  He had placed songs with them and was already recieving money on their recordings of his songs, which were hits for them.  Look at that line up though.  Every name on that list was a unique talent if not creative genius and they all went on to write winning songs and make music with other groups after the Byrds.

"Turn Turn Turn" was written by PETE SEEGER.

(456) THE VOGUES : WOOING GENERATIONS

VOGUES OFFICIAL SITE - TOUR INFO - CD - HISTORY link  They are still performing and have a new CD out!

|Christine here.  The song "Turn Around Look At Me," which is a Classic Cover Tune if there ever was one, was recorded by many regional recording artists who had success with it.  (I think I first heard it on the radio as recorded by a group called The Skyliners.)  The Vogues song that especially stays with me is " You Are My Special Angel," which came out in '68. 

Dicography link FIVE OCLOCK WORLD : VOGUES DISCOGRAPHY


"Inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2001, The Vogues remain one of the top vocal groups on the oldies scene today."

TURN AROUND LOOK AT ME - WHO MADE THIS JERRY CAPEHEART SONG CLASSIC?

GLEN CAMPBELL
THEVOGUES TODAY  (It was their first million seller in 1968)
THE VOGUES ORIGINAL
THE BEE GEES?  
Or maybe ELVIS?

CAN'T TAKE MY EYES OFF YOU : CLASSIC COVER TUNE!

Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio were the songwriters. Frank Sinatra and Andy Williams covered it.  "Can't Take My Eys Off You" went high up to about #2 on the chart in 1967 for Frankie Vallie and the Four Seasons.  Here are versions by Lauren Hill and Muse.

Check out these covers.  WHICH ONE DO YOU LIKE BEST ?

GRAHAM NASH PLAYS ON BUDDY HOLLY'S OLD GUITAR

Graham NASH mentions the guitar cover inspired by Elvis's guitar cover. Buddy hand tooled the leather cover himself!  See our post about Rick Nelson's guitar cover... use the Google search feature... and AL SHELTON or RICK NELSON to bring up that older post!

DOO WOP : MY MUSIC CONCERT : A TERRIFIC CONCERT ON FILM

"Before Rock N Roll...Before R n B... there was Doo Wop."

This is the DVD made from the PBS special.  It features some archival film along with contemporary performance recorded at the Sands Casino and Hotel in Atlantic City New Jersey in 2005.  Created by T.J. Lubinsky, the DVD includes Jimmy Beaumont and the Skyliners (Since I Don't Have You!),  Herb Reed's Platters, The Duprees, The Cleftones,  Johnny Maestro and the Brooklyn Bridge, The Moonglows, the Bobbettes, and several other vocal groups that are keeping the Doo Wop music alive.

Excellent production, it was terrific to see, and most of these singers are still in great voice...

JOHNNY RIVERS : BABY I NEED YOUR LOVING

FRANK SINATRA and ELVIS PRESLEY : ELVIS ON THE WELCOME HOME SPECIAL

We've subbed in this historical music video of Elvis on the Frank Sinatra Welcome Home Elvis special... The other vide we posted is sounding warped... so... enjoy this one instead! (Thanks Bart for contacting us about the warp!) This is a longer video. ELVIS sings Jimmy Bowen's STUCK ON YOU!

(417) EVERYBODY LOVES SOMEBODY SOMETIME : ESPECIALLY DEAN MARTIN ! LINK TO DEAN'S OFFICIAL SITE

We're linking to DEAN MARTIN'S OFFICIAL WEB SITE.

On it you'll see that, around Valentine's Day this year, fans voted the song "EVERYBODY LOVES SOMEBODY SOMETIME" as their all time favorite Dean Martin song. The song is a Classic cover tune, and it's probably Dean's signature song, written by Ken Lane and Irving Taylor.

The producer was Jimmy Bowen, who was hired by Frank Sinatra for his Reprise record label. The arrangement was by Ernie Freeman for the record. The song went Gold in 1964 and was thought to have revived Dean's career. (In a few years Dean would also cover the songs Glen Campbell made famous, "By The Time I Get to Phoenix," and "Gentle On My Mind.")

From the distance of the years since then it's hard to believe that talents like Elvis Presley, Dean Martin, or Frank Sinatra were considered to have been "has beens" after years of ambition, hard work, chance taking, smart decisions, creativity, building a fan base, and all the rest that comes with negotiating a career. They (as well as Elvis Presley and Glen Campbell and so many others) had their ups and downs no doubt and in the end it all comes out CLASSIC!