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He was singing in a non-descript band named Hobstweedle (I’ve seen it Obs-Tweedle as well). Jimmy Page had been urged to check out their singer by Terry Reid, who’d declined Page’s invitation to join his new band. Jimmy checked them out, and thought the music was flashy and overdone. But the singer, a 19 year…
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I love trivia about the charts. Things like Billy Idol’s cover of the Tommy James song “Mony Mony” being knocked out of the #1 spot by another Tommy James song, Tiffany’s cover of “I Think We’re Alone Now.” I was looking back at the #1 albums of 1974 earlier. Paul McCartney hit #1 with Band…
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Born 124 years ago today, in Reading, Pennsylvania, the tremendous Roy Smeck. I became aware of Roy from a 1992 reissue on Yazoo, Roy Smeck Plays Hawaiian Guitar, Banjo, Ukulele and Guitar. The stuff is incredible. He isn’t widely known in the present day, but his status and influence as a musician is second-to-none. His…
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I really want to go to New Orleans. I can’t believe I’ve never been. I’ve had a couple of chances over the years, but I didn’t want to go with the people that suggested the trip at the time. But there’s someone I’d definitely go with now. It’s too bad we wouldn’t be able to…
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60 years ago today, at RCA Studios in Hollywood, Sam Cooke records the seminal “A Change Is Gonna Come.” He was backed by a full string section, 5 vocalists, French horn, trumpet, 3 trombones, bass, percussion, piano, and drums played by Earl Palmer. See our 1/16/24 blog post for more on Earl: https://somethingishappeningdotblog.com/2024/01/16/i-played-fair-with-you-baby-lucille-lee-allen-and-earl-palmer/ It wasn’t…
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I spent a lot of time in Dobbs Ferry, NY as a kid, rarely of my own volition. I could have stayed home, would have stayed home, would rather have stayed home. Someone who had more say in it wasn’t having it. Seems it was more important for me to listen to 5 women play…
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60 years ago today, Buck Owens records both A and B sides for an upcoming single, “My Hearts Skips a Beat,” and “Together Again.” “Together Again” would bump “My Heart Skips a Beat” out of the #1 spot on the Country Singles chart. In turn, “My Heart Skips a Beat” would bump “Together Again” from…
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64 years ago today, Giant Steps, the 5th album from John Coltrane, is released on Atlantic Records. The producer was Nesuhi Ertegun, brother of Atlantic Records co-founder Ahmet. It would go on to sell 500,000 copies over time, and be honored by the Library of Congress in the National Recording Registry. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is such…
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I’m thinking about Charlie Watts today. To my mind, he is one of the three greatest drummers of the modern era, along with Levon Helm and Jim Keltner. Charlie played the songs, he didn’t simply play the drums. It wasn’t the “less is more” approach, because he had a lot going on at any given…
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I’d lost track of how many years I’d wanted to go to a music festival but hadn’t done it yet. I spotted an article on Jambase about The Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion festival in the Birthplace of Country Music, Bristol, Tennessee. Financially speaking, I had no business even thinking about it. But I wasn’t…
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