Tag: Bob Dylan

Good Morning From The College of Rock n’ Roll Knowledge: 1/19/2021

We return to retail slavery, so we’re getting a jump on the day today

The Pretenders have their first #1 hit with Brass In Pocket.

Here’s your lesson:

January 19, 1957: Fats Domino’s Blueberry Hill moves up to #2 on the charts.

Also on this day, Elvis Presley recorded It’s No Secret, Blueberry Hill (speak of the devil), Have I Told You Lately That I Love You, and Is It So Strange.

January 19, 1962: Jackie Wilson spent a sixth week at #1 with Lonely Teardrops.

January 19, 1963: The Beatles made their first national TV appearance in the UK, performing Please Please Me on Thank Your Lucky Stars.

January 19, 1966: Simon & Garfunkel released Homeward Bound.

January 19, 1967: The Beatles began recording A Day In The Life at Abbey Road Studios. They lay down the rhythm track, John Lennon’s vocal, and the alarm clock sound used in the song.

Also on this day, Pink Floyd and Marmalade play a bill at The Marquee Club in London.

January 19, 1970: The Easy Rider soundtrack, featuring The Byrds (The Ballad of Easy Rider) and Steppenwolf (Born To Be Wild) is certified Gold.

January 19, 1971: The Beatles song Helter Skelter is introduced as evidence and played at Charles Manson’s murder trial. He claims it’s about a race war and led to his murderous acts.

January 19, 1973: The Moody Blues released I’m Just A Singer (In A Rock n’Roll Band).

January 19, 1974: Jim Croce is still at #1 with You Don’t Mess Around With Jim.

Also, two shows by Bob Dylan and The Band are so popular that they cause a nine-mile traffic jam.

January 19, 1976: The Beatles turn down a $30 million offer by promoter Bill Sargeant to reunite. By now they don’t need the money.

January 18, 1980: The Pretenders have the new #1 song in the UK with the great Brass In Pocket.

And Pink Floyd reaches #1 with The Wall after just six weeks of release.

January 19, 1998: Rock & Roll legend Carl Perkins (who wrote Blue Suede Shoes) dies at the age of 65 after suffering three strokes over two days.

Born On This Day

January 19, 1939: Phil Everly (of the Everly Brothers) was born in Chicago, Illinois.

January 19, 1943: The great Janis Joplin was born in Port Arthur, Texas.

January 19, 1946: Dolly Parton (the fourth of twelve children) was born in Sevier County, Tennessee.

January 19, 1952: Dewey Bunnell of America was born in Harrogate, Yorkshire, England.

And that is it for today, my friends. We’ll be back with the line up soon.

Bob Dylan Owns the Album of The Week, and The Sixties Playlist Returns on Sunday, January 17, 2021

Good Morning, Musicologists. This is one of my favorite days here in The Mermaid Lounge because the Sixties are back once again with all the great music that goes with it.

Bob Dylan never ceases to amaze.

11:00 a.m. Album of The Week: Rough and Rowdy Ways by Bob Dylan NEW!

Bob Dylan released his 39th album a bit earlier this year at the age of 79. The man never ceases to amaze. He has been at this for nearly 60 years, and he remains as in touch with the world around him now as he was when he was young. I include this review because it says it all perfectly, and prevents me from writing a tome here.

3:00 p.m. The Sixties, Volume Two: Various Artists

This is, without a doubt, my favorite playlist (along with Volume One, which we aired last time around. You can sing along with The Beatles, The Grateful Dead, The Rolling Stones, Big Brother & The Holding Company, Jefferson Airplane, The Zombies, Buffalo Springfield, The Doors, Otis Redding, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and all the rest of the artists that inspired the creation of #BecomeUngovernable Radio.

Tune in. Turn on. Drop out. Good advice for a Sunday. Do it.

www.tinyurl.com/Ungovernable-Radio

It’s Sunday Funday From The College of Rock n’ Roll Knowledge: 1/17/2021

Happy Sunday, Musicologists! We are here in The Mermaid Lounge where we never sleep and the music never stops. It has been running 24/7 since February of 2017.

Joni Mitchell released the amazing album, Court & Spark, on this day in music history.

Here’s Sunday’s musical lesson:

January 17, 1963: The Beatles played their usual lunchtime gig at The Cavern Club, and then at the Majestic Ballroom in Birkenhead in the evening. The Majestic tickets all sold in advance. With literally hundreds of fans turned away, it was definitely time to look for a bigger venue.

January 17, 1964: The Rolling Stones released their first EP, which included You Better Move On, Poison Ivy, Bye Bye Johnny, and Money.

January 17, 1966: The Turtles released the song You Baby on this day. By the way, The Turtles were a great little band.

January 17, 1967: The Daily Mail ran a story about a local council survey finding 4,000 holes in the road in Lanashire, inspiring John Lennon’s contribution to the Beatles’ amazing A Day In The Life.

Also on this day, the Jimi Hendrix Experience recored a session for Radio Luxembourg’s Ready Steady Radio. The band ran up a $6.21 bar bill which they could not afford to pay. That would change soon.

January 17, 1970: The Doors performed the first of several concerts at the Felt Forum in New York City.

Also on this day, Led Zeppelin II would take over the #1 Album spot from Abbey Road after an 11-week run.

January 17, 1972: Neil Young released the great single Heart of Gold, with friends Linda Ronstadt and James Taylor singing background vocals.

Meanwhile, Paul Simon released his hit Mother and Child Reunion.

And a section of Highway 51 in South Memphis, Tennessee, was renamed Elvis Presley Boulevard. It was intended to be the entire road, but a church objected to their section being named after Elvis the Pelvis. No sense of humor.

January 17, 1974: Joni Mitchell’s amazing album, Court and Spark, was released on this day.

Bob Dylan also released Planet Waves on this day.

January 17, 1975: Bob Dylan released another great album on this day a year later called Blood On The Tracks.

Born On This Day

January 17, 1927: The amazing Eartha Kitt was born on this day in North, South Carolina.

January 17, 1949: Mick Taylor, guitarist for both John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers and the Rolling Stones, was born in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, England.

January 17, 1955: Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Steve Earle was born in Fort Monroe, Virginia. Johnny Cash, Emmylou Harris, Gretchen Peters, and Shawn Colvin have covered his tunes.

And that is it for today’s lesson. Back with the line-up soon.

It’s Friday in The College of Rock n’ Roll Knowledge: 1/15/2021

Good Morning from The Mermaid Lounge! It is Friday here, and we’ve got some great music coming your way! But first, our lesson.

The Original Supremes, formerly known as The Primettes. That’s Barbara Martin on the left, the only one that was legally ‘of age’ to sign the Motown contract in 1961. Find out more below.

Here’s your lesson!

January 15, 1958: Elvis Presley records Hard Headed Woman, Trouble, New Orleans, King Creole, and Crawfish. All in a day’s work for The King.

January 15, 1961: The Supremes sign on with Motown Records. At this time there are four Supremes (once called The Primettes): Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, Florence Ballard, and Barbara Martin. All but Martin are under 18 and require parental permission before signing. Diana Ross was just sixteen. Martin sings on their first album, but leaves the group after a year and is not replaced.

January 15, 1964: The Beatles play live at Cinema Cyrano in Versailles, France, in front of an audience of 2,000 people. It’s a warm up for a three-week engagement at the Olympia Theatre that would begin the following night.

Meanwhile, back in Chicago, a legal shitshow is taking place between Capitol Records and Vee Jay Records. Capitol filed an injunction that prohibited Vee Jay from manufacturing or distributing any more Beatles records. Vee Jay, in turn, files suit against both Capitol and Swan Records, which owned the rights to She Loves You. Most of the contracts in the early days of rock n’ roll revolved around individual releases. You can read all the details here in The Beatles Bible, which is my personal bible for Beatles information.

January 15, 1965: Bob Dylan recorded Maggie’s Farm at Columbia Recording Studios in New York.

Also on this day, The Who’s first single, I Can’t Explain, is released in the UK. Jimmy Page helps The Who out on guitar on this one.

January 15, 1966: The Supremes song My World Is Empty Without You enters the charts.

January 15, 1967: Before The Rolling Stones appear on The Ed Sullivan Show, Mick Jagger agrees to change the line “let’s spent the night together” to “let’s spend some time together.” He is obviously visibly annoyed when he is sings the altered lyrics.

January 15, 1971: George Harrison released My Sweet Lord in the UK.

January 15, 1972: Don McLean’s epic American Pie hits #1 in the US. It runs 8:36 seconds long, and you have to flip the 45 record over to hear the whole thing. (I remember that.)

January 15, 1977: Hotel California by The Eagles goes to #1 on the Album charts.

Born On This Day

January 15, 1941: Don Van Vliet, also known as Captain Beefheart, was born in Glendale, California.

January 15, 1948: Ronnie Van Zant, vocalist with Lynyrd Skynyrd, was born in Jacksonville, Florida.

January 15, 1952: Melvin Gayle, cellist with Electric Light Orchestra, was born in London.

And that is today’s lesson from the college. We’ll be back shortly with the line-up.

New Song Additions to The Standard Rotation Completed

We’ve just completed a new round of upgrades to the Standard Rotation, adding some brand new artists and bolstering the song collection of others.

We’ve added the music of Harry Chapin to our standard rotation.

Here’s the breakdown:

New Additions: Harry Chapin, Mitch Ryder, John Hartford, Glen Campbell, The Move (pre-ELO for Jeff Lynne), Eric Andersen, Cilla Black, Brenda Lee, Dion & The Belmonts, The Blues Project, The James Gang, Basia, Solomon Burke, and Quicksilver Messenger Service.

Additional Material: Cat Stevens, Kate & Anna McGarrigle, and Buddy Guy. We’ve also now put Bob Dylan’s entire catalogue in with the exception of his Christmas album. This includes his latest release, Rough and Rowdy Ways, which is coming up soon as our Album of The Week.

We are already working on pulling together material for another update and will keep you informed.

www.tinyurl.com/Ungovernable-Radio

Greetings & Salutations From The College of Rock n’ Roll Knowledge: 1/13/2021

Goo d Morning, Music Trivia Lovers! Here’s all the information that’s fit to print from The Mermaid Lounge!

Jimi Hendrix performed at the Bag O’Nails Club in London on this day with Paul McCartney and Ringo in the audience.

Here’s today’s lesson:

January 13, 1962: Bob Dylan performed at the San Remo Coffee House in Schenectady, New York.

January 13, 1965: The first day of recording sessions for Dylan’s album Bringing It All Back Home began on thiis day. He recorded Subterranean Homesick Blues and It’s All Over Now Baby Blue.

Also on this day, The Who release their first single, I Can’t Explain.

January 13, 1966: The Rolling Stones receive their third Gold record for the album December’s Children, which contains Get Off My Cloud, As Tears Go By, and I’m Free.

Also on this day, The Beach Boys enter the Billboard Top 100 for the 23rd time with the song Barbara Ann. it was recorded “live” at a party staged in a recording studio, and actually features Dean Torrance of Jan & Dean on lead vocals.

January 13, 1967: Jimi Hendrix performed at the Bag O’Nails Club in London. Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr attended the show.

January 13, 1968: The Beatles remained at #1 for a third week with Hello Goodbye. In just four years, The Beatles had spent 40 weeks at #1 with fifteen #1 songs.

Smokey Robinson & The Miracles went to #1 on the R & B chart with I Second That Emotion on this day.

January 13, 1969: Elvis Presley returned to American Sound Studios in Memphis to record Suspicious Minds.

January 13, 1972: Aretha Franklin performs the first of two concerts at the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles. It is recorded for her live album, Amazing Grace, which sells over two million copies when released in June.

January 13, 1973: Carly Simon’s album, No Secrets, with her hit song You’re So Vain, goes to #1 in America.

Born On This Day

Nobody we give a fat rat’s ass about.

It’s Tuesday Bluesday With Our House Blues Playlist and Linda Ronstadt’s WE RAN as Our Album of The Week, January 12, 2021

Good Morning, Musicologists. It is definitely Tuesday Bluesday in The Mermaid Lounge with our house blues playlist, and with Linda Ronstadt dropping by later.

Here’s today’s programming:

11:00 a.m. Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blues: Various Artists

This is a great, eclectic blues playlist that runs for just over four hours! You will hear Slim Harpo, Long John Baldry, Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Eric Clapton, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Buddy Guy, Cream, Foghat, Johnny Winter, Koko Taylor, Bonnie Raitt, Maria Muldaur, Canned Heat, Delbert McClinton, and more!

7:00 p.m. Album of The Week: We Ran by Linda Ronstadt

Our second airing of what I consider to be one of Ronstadt’s most eclectic works, interpreting the songs of Bob Dylan (for the first time since early in her career), John Hiatt, Naomi Neville and others. The standout song? Undoubtedly, Ruler of My Heart. Brilliant.

Tune us in, people. We’re about to expand our general rotation again and you have no idea what you are missing! No other radio station rotates a 27,000-song playlist on its best day.

www.tinyurl.com/Ungovernable-Radio

Jefferson Airplane Live at The Matrix, Our Expanded Folk Music From A to Z, and Our Album of The Week, on Thursday, January 7, 2021

Good Morning, Music Lovers. We are here in The Mermaid Lounge setting you up for a great day musically with new material and an update of some old.

Joan Baez has our Album of The Week, and appears in our Folk Music From A to Z Playlist.

Here’s today’s line-up:

11:00 a.m. Jefferson Airplane Live at The Matrix, San Francisco, February 1, 1968 NEW!

We are kicking out the day with some psychedelic rock! Shows by these guys are tough to come by, but we’ve got some others on the way! This one was broadcast on KMPX Radio back in the day.

3:00 p.m. Album of The Week: Joan Baez by Joan Baez

Winding down with our third airing this week. We will have one more some time Saturday before we reveal our new selection on Sunday!

7:00 p.m. Folk Music From A to Z UPDATED AND EXPANDED!

We’ve really expanded this playlist wth the recent addition of new music, and we intend to expand it even further, like we did our British Invasion, Blues, and Sixties playlists. You can hear Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Richie Havens, The Beatles, Tim Hardin, Jesse Winchester, John Prine, Tom Rush, James Taylor, Pete Seeger, Odetta, Woody Guthrie, Eric Andersen, Harry Chapin, and more!

Come on, children. It’s time for you to catch up to the rest of the world and pull up that tab. It’s amazing the world that awaits, because you’ll be instantly connected with music at no charge — no credit card or personal information required. And, no. You don’t have to worry about us. We’re not Illuminati. We’re not tracking your every move. We’ve got nothing to sell you.

Come on. You know you want to.

www.tinyurl.com/Ungovernable-Radio

All the Pertinent Details From The College of Rock n’ Roll Knowledge: 1/5/2021

It is another day in the College of Rock n’ Roll Knowledge, and we’re getting a jump on all things musical today. It’s a fairly active day on the trivia front.

Jesse Winchester left the U.S. for Canada to avoid the draft. But when he left the planet, the world lost one of its best songwriters ever.

Here’s today’s lesson:

January 5, 1954: Elvis Presley recorded a 10-minute demo tape at Memphis Recording Studios.

January 5, 1959: Buddy Holly released It Doesn’t Matter Anymore, his final release before his death.

January 5, 1961: The Beatles played at Literton Town Hall in Liverpool. Two members of Rory Storm & The Hurricanes were on hand to watch — Johnny Guitar, and drummer Ringo Starr. Paul McCartney played bass for the first time with the band as Stu Sutcliffe remained at home.

January 5, 1965: The Supremes recorded Stop! In The Name of Love at Motown Studios in Detroit. Soon after, they depart on the first Motown revue tour in Europe.

January 5, 1967: Jesse Winchester, one of the finest singer-songwriters ever to grace this planet, moves from the U.S. to Canada to avoid the draft and serving in Viet Nam.

Also on this day, Paul McCartney recorded his vocal for Penny Lane which was planned (but actually never included) on the upcoming Sargent Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band album.

Tommy James & The Shondells released their single, I Think We’re Alone Now.

Pink Floyed played in concert at The Marquee Club.

January 5, 1968: Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits album is certified Gold.

January 5, 1969: Creedence Clearwater Revival releases the album Bayou Country.

January 5, 1973: Bruce Springsteen released his debut album, Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J.

January 5, 1974: Jim Croce remained at #1 with the song Time In A Bottle, rated one of the Top 500 Songs of the Rock Era.

Bruce Springsteen plays the song Rosalita for the first time in concert at Joe’s Place in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It becomes a fan favorite and is often played as his encore.

January 5, 2004: John Guerin, one of the most respected and prolific session drummers who worked with Joni Mitchell, Elvis Presley, Linda Ronstadt, The Byrds, Willie Nelson, and many more, died from pneumonia on this date in West Hills, California. He was 64.

Born On This Day

January 5, 1923: Sam Phillips, the founder of Sun Records, who discovered Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Johnny Cash, was born near Florence, Alabama.

January 5, 1929: Wilbert Harrison, who wrote and recorded the great classic Kansas City in 1959, was born in Charlotte, North Carolina.

January 5, 1934: Phil Ramone, songwriter, violinist, recording engineer, and legendary producer who made albums with Billy Joel, Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, Ray Charles, and many others, was born in South Africa.

And that just about sums it up from The College of Rock n’ Roll Knowledge!

It’s Sunday Funday in the College of Rock n’ Roll Knowledge: 1/3/2021

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.