2020

School is never out here in The Mermaid Lounge. We are here every day giving you all the news that’s fit to print. Of course, you know we post early for Wednesdays as retail slavery starts early.

***Taj Mahal 1968, one of our favorites here in The Mermaid Lounge.***

Here’s today’s lesson:

December 2, 1957: Sam Cooke proves third time’s a charm when You Send Me becomes his first hit on the Billboard Pop chart.

December 2, 1962: The Beatles are the opening act for a gentleman named Frank Ifield. However, contrary to his calm crooning style, the Fab Four were pounding out blistering rock n’ roll, prompting some in the crowd to tell them to “turn it down.”

December 2, 1963: Roy Orbison released the single “Pretty Paper.”

Also on this day, the Beatles performed This Boy, All My Loving, and I Want To Hold Your Hand for the UK’s Morecambe & Wise Show.

December 2, 1967: Gladys Knight & The Pips hit #1 on the R & B chart with a remake of Marvin Gaye’s I Heard It Through The Grapevine.

Also on this day, Donovan had one of the hottest songs on the charts with Wear Your Love Like Heaven.

December 2, 1968: The Bee Gees released the song I Started A Joke. They made some fine fucking music before turning disco. After that? Nah.

December 2, 1969: George Harrison joined Delaney & Bonnie on stage at Colston Hall in Bristol, England.

Also on December 2, The Rolling Stones stop by Muscle Shoals Recording Studios in Alabama on their way to their ill-fated Altamont show on December 6. There, they record Wild Horses, You Gotta Move, and Brown Sugar over a three-day session.

December 2, 1971: Taj Mahal plays for death row inmates at North Carolina’s Wilmington State Penetentiary.

December 2, 1972: The Temptations’ version of Papa Was a Rolling Stone gives them their fourth US #1 song.

Steely Dan made The Billboard 200 for the first time with their debut album, Can’t Buy A Thrill. The album’s name is taken from a line in the Bob Dylan song, It Takes A Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry.

And Cat Stevens’ album, Catch Bull At Four, continued at #1 for a third week. This would also be Cat’s most commercially successful album.

Born On This Day

December 2, 1941: Tom McGuinness, bass guitarist with Manfred Mann, was born in Wimbledon, London, England.

December 2, 1942: Ted Bluechel, drummer for The Association, was born in San Pedro, California.

And that’s it for today from The College of Rock n’ Roll Knowledge!

Happy Thanksgiving From the College of Rock n’ Roll Knowledge: 11/26/2020

Good Morning, Music Lovers, and Happy Thanksgiving from your friends in The Mermaid Lounge! We have our Thanksgiving tradition coming up at 10:00 a.m., so be watching for the back story to Alice’s Restaurant in this blog entry.

***Arlo Guthrie and his wife Jackie, on their wedding day. Arlo followed in his father’s footsteps, becoming a great storyteller, as you will see later this morning!***

Here’s today’s entry from the College:

November 26, 1955: Bill Haley’s Rock Around The Clock reaches #1 in the UK, and is considered to be the first rock n’ roll song to accomplish that feat.

November 26, 1962: The Beatles record their second single, Please Please Me, in 18 takes at London’s EMI Studios. They also record the B-side, Ask Me Why.

November 26, 1964: The Zombies record Tell Her No.

November 26, 1965: After having Thanksgiving dinner in a church in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, a young Arlo Guthrie and a friend returned to clean up. When they can’t find an open dump, the two dump their trash down a hill. They are arrested, fined $25 each, and are forced to clean up the trash again. When they return to the church, Arlo writes the Alice’s Restaurant Massacree, in which he embellishes some of the events. Nevertheless, it is a moment in musical history that we musicologists will not forget.

November 26, 1966: You Keep Me Hangin’ On by the Supremes took over the #1 slot on the R & B charts.

Also on November 26 of 1966, I’m Losing You by The Temptations enters the R & B charts and will become the band’s fourth straight #1 hit.

November 26, 1967: The promo clip of The Beatles’ Hello Goodbye was aired on The Ed Sullivan Show.

November 26, 1969: John Lennon works on a Beatles song for the final time when he mixes You Know My Name (Look Up The Number) at Abbey Road Studios. It is the B-side of their Let It Be single.

Also on November 26, 1969, The Band receives a Gold Record for their second album, The Band, one of the greatest albums ever recorded from one of the greatest bands on the planet.

November 26, 1977: Linda Ronstadt becomes one of only a handful of singers who manages to have two singles in the Top Ten simultaneously with Blue Bayou and It’s So Easy.

Also on this day in 1977, Fleetwood Mac’s Rumors album held the #1 slot for a then-record 29 weeks.

November 26, 2010: Willie Nelson was arrested for possession of six ounces of weed found on his tour bus travelling from LA to Texas. The prosecutor recommended no jail time because of the small amount, and instead suggested a $100 fine and that Willie sing Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain for the court.

Born On This Day

November 26, 1944: Alan Henderson, bassist with the Northern Irish band, Them, was born in Belfast. For those who do not know the band, Them had the 1965 UK hits Baby, Please Don’t Go and Here Comes The Night with Van Morrison on lead vocals.

November 26, 1945: Another bassist, John McVie, with Fleetwood Mac and John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers, is born in London.

And that is it for today’s lesson! We will be back in just a bit with today’s Thanksgiving Day line-up!

Petty Month Continues, We Have Our Album of The Week, and The Temptations in The Spotlight, Thursday, October 8, 2020

Good Morning, Musicologists. We’ve got a great programming line-up today in between all that open stream we run 24/7, including a smattering of Motown.

Here’s today’s tempting line-up:

11:00 a.m. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Take The Highway Live!

If you had the opportunity to see The Heartbreakers live, then you know how good they actually were. Their chemistry as a band was off the fucking charts. This live interlude was recorded live over two shows: November 23, 1991 at the Lawlor Events Center and the University of Nevada, and November 24 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.

3:00 p.m. Album of The Week: Waiting for Columbus by Little Feat

Time is running down on our Album of the Week. We have one more airing after today before a new album is chosen. So, be sure to tune this in. It’s one of the finest performances by any band at any time in music history.

7:00 p.m. In The Spotlight: The Music of The Temptations NEW!

We’re building new playlists here all the time. This is one of them. Today we give The Temptations, a classic Motown band, their due here in The Mermaid Lounge.

We’re here 24/7, and we don’t know what it takes to get the people from the U.S. to join in, just like the rest of the revolution going on in the world. Everywhere except here. Perhaps you need to wake up on several levels.

www.tinyurl.com/Ungovernable-Radio

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Live, the DJ’s Favorite R & B Stream, and Our Album of The Week, Thursday, September 17, 2020

Good Morning, Ungovernables! We have some great stuff on tap today here in The Mermaid Lounge, and we’re wishing Heartbreakers’ bassist Ron Blair a belated birthday!

Here’s your Thursday line-up:

11:00 a.m. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Live at The Grand Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, October 16, 2002

We’re a day late, but today we are celebrating Heartbreakers bassist Ron Blair’s 72nd birthday (yesterday). He was an original founding member of the group who left, then came back after the death of Howie Epsein.

Their concert in 2002 after the release of The Last DJ, and turned out to be one of their strongest concerts ever.

The set list for this show appears under the Playlist tab on the blog.

3:00 p.m. Album of The Week: The Lost Tapes by Valerie Carter

Another airing of this great collection of never-before-released songs by the little girl with the big voice. Valerie Carter is a joy to behold.

7:00 p.m. DJ’s Choice: My Favorite R & B Stream

We’ve got a great couple of hours of music here, including cuts from The Temptations, Aretha Franklin, Al Green, James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Martha & The Vandellas, Jackie Wilson, Bill Withers and many more!

This is about 7 hours of programming in a 24-hour day. The rest and in between is all wide-open streaming of the best music of your lives. No lie. We’re free. No commercials. And no useless chatter.