Good Morning, Music Maestros! Here we are kicking off another week from The Mermaid Lounge at #BecomeUngovernable Radio! We’ve got some great programming today mixed in with all that Open Stream!
One of my favorites here, The Lovin’ Spoonful, led by John Sebastian (right).
Here’s today’s musical line-up:
11:00 a.m. The Association Live at The Salt Palace, Salt Lake City, Utah, April 3, 1970 NEW!
Here we are with one of the more underrated bands of the sixties. I think The Association is one of the most intriguing bands of sixties, hard to pin down, and with a really nice sound. I wasn’t intending on a Haiku. Sorry.
3:00 p.m. The Shadow: 06 House of Horror NEW!
Okay, here’s the deal: A mad scientist steals a gorilla from the zoo. (How is that possible?) There’s also a brain transplant involved, but I’m not giving you the details. By now, you are so on the edge of your seat that you just have to tune this one in. While I won’t reveal the details, I will say that I think The Three Stooges also did this episode.
7:00 p.m. In The Spotlight: The Music of The Lovin’ Spoonful
“In a coffee house Sebastian sat, and after every number they’d pass the hat…” Those are the lyrics from The Mamas & The Papas song, Creeque Alley, the story of the Laurel Canyon days. They also talk about McGuinn (The Byrds) and McGuire (Eve of Destruction), but Sebastian is John of The Lovin’ Spoonful, a great little sixties jug band. Those were the days.
Well, you have a lovely day in spite of the fact that it is Monday. You could always improve your attitude by tuning us in. We’re free. We don’t ask for your info or your credit card number. And we certainly don’t want your personal details. We’ve got nothing to sell you.
Good Morning, Students! It’s another happy Monday here in The College, and we’re delivering all the musical news that’s fit to print:
One year before her explosion on the music world, Linda Ronstadt opened for Neil Young on tour and stole the shows. Literally.
Here’s today’s lesson:
January 4, 1936: The first pop music chart based on national sales was introduced by Billboard.
January 4, 1950: RCA Victor announces that they will manufacture long playing (LP) records.
January 4, 1954: (Just about one month before I was born.) A young truck driver named Elvis Presley pays to record two songs at the Memphis Recording Service (MRS). It’s his second visit, and this time MRS head Sam Phillips gets his name and number. Later, he phones Elvis and asks him to record for his Sun label.
January 4, 1957: Solomon Burke makes his debut on The Steve Allen Show.
January 4, 1967: The Doors release their self-titled debut album.
Also on this day, the Jimi Hendrix Experience played the first of what would be over 240 gigs when they appeared at the Bromel Club in Bromley.
January 4, 1969: Marvin Gaye extended his stay at #1 to four weeks with I Heard It Through The Grapevine. Again, I reiterate, Marvin Gaye remade the song, not Gladys Knight & The Pips. She released it a year earlier than Marvin Gaye did, and it went to #1 then as well. They don’t mention that. They call hers the remake.
January 4, 1970: George Harrison recorded the second guitar solo and McCartney, Harrison and Starr re-recorded vocals for Let It Be. This is the final recording session for The Beatles. John Lennon isn’t even present for the session. The last time all four Beatles were together in a studio was August of 1969.
January 4, 1973: Lamar Williams joined The Allman Brothers Band, replacing the late Berry Oakley.
Also on this day, Neil Young kicked off his Time Fades Away tour in Madison, Wisconsin, with Linda Ronstadt as the opening act. Ronstadt is used to playing the club scene and has never performed in an arena setting. Nevertheless, she wows the audiences througout the tour with that fucking amazing voice, literally stealing the show along the way. The following year, she releases Heart Like A Wheel and begins her meteoric rock n’ roll rise.
January 4, 1974: Bruce Springsteen played the first of three nights at Joe’s Place in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Born On This Day
January 4, 1942: John McLaughlin (The Mahavishnu Orchestra) was born in Doncaster, England. In 2010, Jeff Beck called him ‘the best guitarist alive.’
January 4, 1946: R & B singer Arthur Conley, best known for his 1967 hit Sweet Soul Music, was born in Atlanta, Georgia.
And that is the end of today’s lesson! Back with the line-up soon.
Good Morning, Music Lovers! How the hell are you this fine Sunday? We have a great line-up today sprinkled in all that Open Stream which, we are again expanding as we speak (or as I write).
Here’s today’s line-up:
11:00 a.m. Album of The Week: Joan Baez by Joan Baez NEW!
This album has great historical significance to music. In 2015, the album was placed into the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress for special recognition and preservation as one of the sound recordings in over 130 years of recording history that has “cultural, artistic and/or historical significance to American society and the nation’s audio legacy” It was recorded in the summer of 1960 and released the same year. Later re-issues contained bonus tracks, but this is the original 13 songs and nothing more.
3:00 p.m. Tom Petty’s Peculiar Picks: The Best of The Buried Treasure Show NEW!
Tom Petty had a side gig. He was a DJ on The Buried Treasure Show, which debuted on Sirius XM’s Deep Tracks channel, then moved to Tom Petty Radio. Tom Petty shared not only some pretty great music (some of it buried and pretty obscure), but his knowledge about its history and how it influenced the influencers. Those of us who listen beyond the catchy tune stage consider this show a national treasure, and agree totally with the sentiment expressed in this article.
7:00 p.m. In The Spotlight: The Music of Lukas Nelson & Promise of The Real
Yeah. He’s Willie’s boy. And he’s pretty damned good. POTR, as they are affectionately known, also has a side gig as Neil Young’s touring band. Can’t get a much better endorsement than that.
I have no clue what any of you are up to today but — whatever it is — you should have this station tuned in. After all, it’s Sunday Funday. And we’re really fun and won’t cost you a dime.
Good Morning from the College of Rock n’ Roll Knowledge where the inhabitants of The Mermaid Lounge rarely sleep. Or so it seems. This is a pretty busy day in rock n’ roll, as you will see.
On this day in 1987, Aretha Franklin became the first woman inducted into the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame. It’s ridiculous that it took women this long, and it’s ridiculous that it took Linda Ronstadt until 2014, when she could no longer sing, to be inducted.
Here are the facts, children:
January 3, 1955: 20-year-old Elvis Presley appeared live in Boonesville, Virginia. He was still only a regional success but, by the end of 1956, he would explode into a national sensation.
January 3, 1957: Fats Domino records I’m Walkin’ (one of the greatest songs ever made, in my opinion). He wrote the song after his car broke down and he heard a fan yell, “Hey, look at Fats Domino, he’s walking!” The song would reach #4 on the US Pop chart and #1 on the R & B chart.
January 3, 1963: After placing 30 songs on the Billboard chart with Imperial Records, Rick Nelson signed a $1 million, 20-year contract with Decca (you know, the label that turned the Beatles down). He would generate six more Top 40 hits for Decca before his tragic death.
Speaking of The Beatles, they kicked off a five-day tour of Scotland on this day at the Two Red Shoes Ballroom in Elgin.
January 3, 1964: The Beatles were seen on television for the (first? second?) time (nobody has the definitive answer except them) when a BBC clip from a show called The Mersey Sound showing the band singing She Loves You was released on the Jack Paar Show. Old Jack, of course, made fun of them, particularly their hair cuts. In short order, The Beatles would teach them a lesson and shut them the fuck up.
January 3, 1967: The Beach Boys’ Carl Wilson refused to report to his local draft board after receiving his draft notice. He would eventually win conscious objector status. In the meantime, Good Vibrations was in its fourth week in the #1 slot.
January 3, 1970: The Beatles’ final recording session was held at Abbey Road Studios on this day. The final song they played together was I Me Mine, which would also be the title of George Harrison’s autobiography ten years later.
Also on this day, Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head, from the Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid soundtrack, would become B.J. Thomas’ third US Top 10 hit, and his first #1.
January 3, 1972: Don MacLean’s American Pie receives a Gold record. It reached #1 in both America and the UK, eventually selling three million copies.
January 3, 1974: Bob Dylan & The Band reunite for a US tour. Dylan was promoting his Planet Waves LP, while The Band had just released Moondog Matinee (last week’s Album of The Week) and the single Ain’t Got No Home. The tour was chronicled six months later with the release of the double album set Before The Flood.
January 3, 1976: Bob Dylan’s song about former boxer Rubin ‘Hurricane’ Carter (called Hurricane), which peaked at #33 on the Billboard chart, caused enough negative publicity to eventually get Carter released from prison. The song protested Carter’s innocence and his wrongful conviction on murder charges, as well as the authorities’ failure to even consider another perpetrator because Carter was black.
January 3, 1987: Aretha Franklin becomes the first woman inducted into the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame. It seems like ridiculous amount of time for women to get the recognition they deserved in this business, and consider that it would take Linda Ronstadt until 2014 to be inducted, one of the biggest travesties in the music business.
Born On This Day
January 3, 1926: Sir George Martin, British record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, audio engineer and musician who nurtered The Beatles’ creative side and was known appropriately, according to McCartney, as The Fifth Beatle, was born in Highbury, London.
January 3, 1943: Van Dyke Parks, songwriter and producer who worked with Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys on the Smile album (a great album, by the way), played keyboards on The Byrds’ Eight Miles High, and produced Ry Cooder, Randy Newman, and Judy Collins, was born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
January 3, 1945: Stephen Stills, singer-songwriter who was a member of Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Manassas, and who released an album with Neil Young as The Stills-Young Band, was born in Dallas, Texas.
January 3, 1946: John Paul Jones, bassist, keyboardist, and producer with Led Zeppelin, was born in Sidcup, London.
And that is all today from The College. We’ll be back with the line-up in a bit.
Good Morning, Music Lovers! It’s time for the British Invasion to make a return trip to our shores! We’ve also got a brand new Live Dead tonight and the final airing of Van Morrison’s brilliant Moondance this afternoon.
The Grateful Dead. No matter what kind of shit Bob Weir tries to sell you, there is no Dead without Jerry Garcia.
Here’s today’s line up:
10:00 a.m. The British Are Coming: Various Artists
Yes, it’s that time of month. We have the British back on our shores with more than five hours of uninterrupted stream of British Invasion music and then some. Hear The Beatles, The Dave Clark Five, The Searchers, Lulu, Gerry & The Pacemakers, The Kinks, Cream, The Rolling Stones, and more. No commercials. No chatter.
7:00 p.m. Album of The Week: Moondance by Van Morrison FINAL AIRING!
This is your last chance to hear Van Morrison’s brilliant Moondance album. We’ll have a brand new selection tomorrow morning on the blog when you wake up.
10:00 p.m. Live Dead! The Grateful Dead Live at The Harding Theater, San Francisco, November 7, 1971 NEW!
It’s the world’s ultimate jam band back again with a brand new show. Even if they’re playing consecutive nights on the same tour, no two Dead shows ever sound the same.
Tune us in. It’s Saturday. Play us in the background. Around all this great programming, we have 24/7 live stream. We’re completely OUTSIDE the system.
Good Morning, Students! It appears that it was a very quiet day in rock n’ roll history. Of course, there’s more than this but, frankly, we dont’ give a shit about them.
The Whiskey a Go Go. The first real discotheque that ever lived.
Here’s your lesson. It’s an easy day:
January 2, 1964: The Rolling Stones perform I Wanna’ Be Your Man, written for them by Lennon & McCartney, on Britain’s Top Of The Pops.
January 2, 1965: The Beatles made it two weeks at #1 with I Feel Fine.
January 2, 1969: The Beatles began filming for the Let It Be documentary at Twickenham Studios in London.
Also on this day, Led Zeppelin and opening act, Alice Cooper, performed at the Whiskey a Go Go in Los Angeles, the first of four nights they would perform there.
January 2, 1971: The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (a fine band indeed) released a cover of Jerry Jeff Walker’s Mr. Bojangles, and it entered the Billboard Top 40 on this day, where it would peak at #9. The song remained on the charts for an amazing 36 weeks.
January 2, 1978: Jackson Browne released the song Running On Empty.
That is your very easy day from the College. We’ll be back soon with today’s musical line-up!
Good Morning, Music Lovers! We are kicking off 2021 with some great programming wrapped around a whole lot of Open Stream today. Today we feature our two house bands.
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: One of our House Bands.
Here’s your New Year’s Day line-up:
12:00 p.m. Tom Rush Live at Symphony Hall, Boston, MA NEW!
Tom Rush is a favorite here in The Mermaid Lounge and across New England. This is a compilation of two shows recorded at Boston’s Symphony Hall early in his career.
4:00 p.m. Petty Theft: The Covers
Nope. This isn’t other people covering Tom Petty. This is Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers covering their influencers. The same qualities that make them the best American rock n’ roll band make them arguably, the greatest cover band of all time.
8:00 p.m. The Beatles Complete Apple Rooftop Concert
One day, the Fab Four decided to go out and give a concert at lunch on the top of Apple Records headquarters on Saville Row. Needless to say, all hell broke loose, and it took the British Bobbies a bit of time to figure out just exactly what the hell was going on. This is that impromptu concert in its entirety.
10:00 p.m. The Shadow: 05 Hounds in The Hills
This is the final airing of this week’s episode. We’ll have a brand new one on Monday.
This is the start of a New Year. Maybe you want to join the rest of the world and tune us in.
Well, here we are coming up on another fun year in Empire. Of course, that’s propaganda, but I can promise you one thing: It’ll be a fun year here in The Mermaid Lounge.
The Fab Four are big on January 1.
Here’s today’s lesson:
January 1, 1940: NBC begins regular FM transmission from New York’s Empire State Building on W2XDG. Edwin Armstrong, the inventor of FM (Frequency Modulation), first demonstrated the technology to RCA’s executives and engineers in 1933.
January 1, 1953: Hank Williams, only 29-years-old, died of heart failure, brought on by the abuse of pills and alcohol, on the way to a show in Canton, Ohio. Incredibly enough, Williams had the #1 song on the Country chart at the time. It was called I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive.
January 1, 1956: RCA released Elvis Presley’s Heartbreak Hotel. In 1999, the song would be certified multi-platinum for a second time.
January 1, 1957: The Cavern Club in Liverpool opened its doors for the first time. It will forever be remembered as the place where The Beatles got their start.
January 1, 1960: Johnny Cash gave the first of many performances at San Quentin Prison. In the audience on this day was 19-year-old Merle Haggard who was serving 15 years for grand theft auto and armed robbery (he actually served just under three years).
January 1, 1961:Shop Around by The Miracles (soon to be Smokey Robinson & The Miracles) was #1 on the R & B chart.
January 1, 1962: The Beatles attend a New Year’s day audition for Decca Records where they record 15 songs. Decca would eventually reject the Beatles, telling Brian Epstein that guitar bands are “out.” Yeah. Kanye West is still saying that shit. Tell that to Eric Clapton, Mike Campbell, George Harrison, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, and Stevie Ray Vaughan, for starters.
January 1, 1964: The Beatles played two shows at the Olympia Theatre in Paris. They also received word from the U.S. that their first single, I Want To Hold Your Hand, was selling 10,000 copies an hour in New York City alone. The rest, as they say, is history.
Also on this day, The Dave Clark Five (another great British invasion band) had the #1 single in the UK with Glad All Over.
And, as if all of this wasn’t enough, The British show Top of The Pops debuted with The Rolling Stones, Dusty Springfield, and the Dave Clark Five.
January 1, 1965: The Beatles had three albums in the Top 10 on this day: Beatles ’65 at #1, A Hard Day’s Night at #6, and The Beatles Story peaking at #7.
January 1, 1966: Simon & Garfunkel hit #1 with Sounds of Silence.
January 1, 1967: The Rolling Stones release the great song, Ruby Tuesday.
January 1, 1969: Put this on the list of shows I wish I’d been at: Creedence Clearwater Revival and early Fleetwood Mac (before Nicks & Buckingham) at The Fillmore West in San Francisco.
January 1, 1971: George Harrison had the #1 album with All Things Must Pass and the #1 song with My Sweet Lord on this day.
Meanwhile, Radio Luxembourg aired over seven straight hours of continuous Beatles music (as a band and solo) in celebration of their 10th year in music.
January 1, 1972: Three Dog Night becomes the first rock band to appear on a Tournament of Roses Parade float.
January 1, 1975: Paul McCartney & Wings arrive in New Orleans to record the album Venus & Mars.
January 1, 1988: George Harrison hits #1 with the song Got My Mind Set On You.
January 1, 1997: Singer-songwriter, tortured poet, Townes Van Zandt dies at the age of 52. His music has been covered by Bob Dylan, Lyle Lovett, Alison Krauss, Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch, and many others. Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard both covered his amazing Pancho & Lefty and had #1’s. But hands down, the most beautiful version of that song was done by Emmylou Harris.
January 1, 2019: The Renton Highlands Post Office in Seattle, Washington, is renamed the James Marshall “Jimi” Hendrix Post Office. (I love this shit. I wish I lived there.)
Born on This Day
January 1, 1937: Bob Bogle, guitarist with The Ventures, was born in Wagoner, Oklahoma.
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