When you get to be an old coot (coot=geezer) you sometimes remember isolated experiences from the past with more accuracy than you do your own phone number. If you're a coot who also writes a blog, chances are good that those old memories will show up there sooner or later because you're also less inhibited. … Continue reading You Snooze You Lose
It's no secret that entertainers often come up with stage names to simplify their real names, but that's not the case with singer Jimmy Jones, who was born in Birmingham, Alabama, as James Jones, so the "Jimmy" was just a natural nickname. We can forgive him for that. Jones was a singer and songwriter, but … Continue reading Jimmy Jones Was For Real
It's been over four years since our last Five Star Fav so I probably should explain that it's a special feature that spotlights one of my favorite recordings. It's similar to Anatomy of a Song, but instead it focuses on a specific version of a particular song, one that I like so much that I've … Continue reading Five Star Fav – It Began As A Blues Standard
It always fascinates me to run across odd musical stories, and Pat Upton, the star of the pop group, Spiral Starecase (no, that name isn't mispelled), has a good one. Upton was Alabama-born, and first made his mark in music in the mid-sixties when he joined the Fydallions, a Sacramento-based band formed by a bunch … Continue reading Pat Upton’s Brush With Fate
Like most music lovers, I'm a fan of Wolfie - Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theuphilus Mozart, as he was baptized - so my ears always prick up when I hear something about him. (Do ears actually do that?) But it took me a while to warm to a strangely hypnotic song that became a world-wide hit … Continue reading A Strange Taste Of Mozart
Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong were busy and successful music pros who wrote a lot of memorable songs for the Temptations. But one that they avoided for a couple of years would end up as a #1 hit for the group and become a signature song. Written in 1969, "just My Imagination" was a ballad, … Continue reading Anatomy Of A Song – A Surprising Super Hit
You probably remember Johnny Nash's 1972 number-one hit "I Can See Clearly Now" (you can hear it below), but it has added meaning for me because I hope to sing it myself in the not too distant future. (Well, at least hum it -- my singing voice is something along the lines of the sound … Continue reading In Pursuit Of Seeing Clearly
I remember Hank Snow's "I've Been Everywhere" from back in the early Sixties when it was a number-one hit for him. It's all about a travelin' man who has been all over the map, and he proceeds to rapidly list all the places he's been, many of them with colorful or odd names. But it … Continue reading Saluting Silly Songs – A Travelin’ Man
Monkees "Theme Song" Monkees "Last Train to Clarksville" Monkees "Valleri" Monkees "(I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone" (Originally Paul Revere and the Raiders) Jay & the Americans "Come a Little Bit Closer" Curtis Lee "Pretty Little Angel Eyes" Little Anthony & the Imperials' "Hurt So Bad" Fats Domino "Be My Guest" Boyce & Hart "I Wonder … Continue reading Masters Of Sunshine Pop
You wouldn't normally think of Akron, Ohio, an average Midwestern city, as the birthplace of a R&B group with a number-one hit in the 1960's, but that's exactly what happened when Ruby and the Romantics hit the top. Their 1963 recording of "Our Day Will Come" was a huge success, topping the charts in the … Continue reading Ruby And The Romantics – The Pride Of Akron
Geezer Music Club 