April 20, 2019 - GJ- Mid-April '60, '65, '70, '75.

  

Rockin' Remnants

Rockin' Remnants is broadcast from WVBR-FM Ithaca. Check out our webpage, like us on Facebook, and tune in to 93.5 or stream the show every Saturday night from 6-9pm! (Or download the WVBR+ app now available for iOS and Android!)

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Date:  April 20, 2019
Host:  Gregory James
Feature:  Songs on your radio in mid-April of 1960, 1965, 1970 and 1975.


 Birthday Calendar

April 14
Ritchie Blackmore (1945): Deep Purple, Rainbow

April 15
Dave Edmunds (1944)

April 16
Bobby Vinton (1935)
Dusty Springfield (1939) (d. 3/2/1999)
Gerry Rafferty (1947) (d. 1/4/2011): Stealers Wheel

April 17
Roy Estrada (1943): Captain Beefheart, Mothers of Invention, Little Feat

April 18
Mike Vickers (1940): Manfred Mann
Lennie Baker (1946) (d. 2/24/2016): Danny and the Juniors, Sha Na Na
Skip Spence (1946)  (d. 4/16/1999): Quicksilver Messenger Service, Moby Grape, Jefferson Airplane

April 19
Alan Price (1942): The Animals keyboardist 
Mark Volman (aka Phlorescent Leech) (1947): The Turtles, Flo and Eddie, Mothers of Invention

April 20
Jimmy Winston (1945): Small Faces
Craig Frost  (1948): Grand Funk Railroad, Silver Bullet Band

Playlist

·     yellow song titles are YouTube links

·     songs with * were requests

·     all chart information comes from the Billboard Top 100 (for chart dates before/during July 1958) or Billboard Hot 100 (for chart dates during/after Aug 1958) unless otherwise noted

·     a glossary of terms is below the playlist

 6-7pm 

OPENING THEME:  Good Old Rock ‘n’ Roll – Cat Mother & the All-Night Newsboys (1969, #29, produced by Jimi Hendrix)

Ooh Poo Pah Doo   Jessie Hill   #72  (4/17/60)    Minit
Soon after its 1960 release, it became favorite song at Mardi Gras, and there are over 100 cover versions of the song.

Birds and the Bees  Jewel Akens  #13  (4/17/65)      Era 
The myth that the song was written by a 12 year old has never been substantiated. It was recorded at Gold Star studios with Leon Russel and Hal Blaine playing.

*Gimme Some Lovin’  Request!
Spencer Davis Group  Peak: #7  12/31/66     United Artists
According to bassist Muff Winwood, the song was conceived, arranged, and rehearsed in half an hour. 

Give Me Just a Little More Time   Chairmen of the Board  #19 (4/20/70)  Invictus 
The debut single for the group with General Johnson on lead vocals (and lip trills) with the Funk Brothers backing.

Wildfire   Michael Murphey and Amy Grant  #68 (4/19/75) Columbia 
The song came to Murphey in a dream and he wrote it the next morning. The piano intro on the original studio version is by Jac Murphy (no relation). The version I played was his duet with Amy Grant recorded in 2018--long after the song's original release--so not really a Remnant, but a darn nice recording.

Let the Little Girl Dance   Billy Bland  #26 (4/17/60) 
Old Town     
Bland was recorded demonstrating to someone else how to sing the song and his version got released.

I’ll Never find Another You  The Seekers   #14 (4/17/65)  Capitol  
A song written by Tom Springfield (Dusty’s brother). The group hailed originally from Melbourne Australia.

*White Silver Sands Request!
Bill Black Combo  #12  (4/17/60)    Hi
Black learned to play the upright bass at the age of 14 on an improvised cigar box with a board nailed to it and strings attached. By the age of sixteen, Black was performing honky-tonk on acoustic guitar in local bars.

Cecelia Simon and Garfunkel  (4/20/70) #38         Columbia 
The song's origins were at a late-night party at which Paul and Art and their friends began banging the song’s distinctive rhythm on a piano bench.

Stuck On You     Elvis Presley #17 (4/17/60)       RCA             
This track was Elvis’ first hit single after his two years in the Army. The Jordanaires sing back up, Scotty Moore plays lead guitar and Floyd Cramer plays piano,

Sail On Sailor     Beach Boys  #82  (4/19/75)      Reprise 
There seems to be a variety of opinions about the composers of the song, but one thing is certain: the lead singer is Blondie Chaplin after both Dennis and Carl Wilson attempted the lead vocal first.

Before the Next Teardrop Falls  Freddie Fender
#10  (4/19/75)   ABC 
"The recording only took a few minutes," Fender once told an interviewer. "I was glad to get it over with and I thought that would be the last of it.” It reached #1 on both the country and pop charts.

Tired of Waiting for You  Kinks      #7 (4/17/65)         Reprise 
Dave Davies said of the song, "It was a change of style for us, we got a bit posher! Our material started to get a bit more melodic after that.”

Woodstock         CSNY            # 17 (4/20/70)      Atlantic 
"Woodstock" was one of the few Déjà Vu tracks where Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young all performed their parts in the same session. Later Stephen Stills’ original lead vocal by was partly re-recorded by Stills who recalled: "I replaced one and a half verses that were excruciatingly out of tune." 

You Don’t Know Me Lenny Welch  #60 (4/17/60) Cadence     Written by Cindy Walker, this song has been recorded by at least 75 artists.

Instant Karma     John Lennon  (4/20/70)      #4   Apple 
Produced by Phil Spector, the track was written by Lennon in one hour and was released ten days later.

Go Now        Moody Blues #10  (4/17/65)      London 
The single was promoted on television with one of the first purpose-made promotional films (or music videos) of the pop era.

I’ll Be Doggone  Marvin Gaye #20  (4/17/65)     Tamla 
This was Gaye’s first million seller. Lead guitarist was Marv Tarplin who also co-wrote the song.

Shaky Ground    Temptations  #40  (4/19/75)      Gordy 
Funkadelic guitarist Eddie Hazel plays lead guitar and co-wrote the song.

Lady Marmalade       LaBelle  #11 (4/19/75)       Columbia 
Patti LaBelle, who did not speak French at the time, insists that she did not know the meaning of “voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir.”

7-8pm

 *Blueberry Hill   Request!
Fats Domino   Peak: #2   (10/6/56)          Imperial
Domino sold more than 65 million records. Between 1955 and 1960, he had eleven Top 10 hits. “Blueberry Hill” sold more than 5 million copies worldwide in 1956 and 1957. 

Since You Been Gone   Ritchie Blackmore and Rainbow  Peak: #57  11/17/79  Polydor
The song was composed by Argent guitarist Russ Ballard. Rainbow’s cover version was named the 82^nd Best Hard Rock Song of All Time by VH1.

Get It Right Next Time  Gerry Rafferty and Stealers Wheel     Peak: #21    8/11/79  United Artists

I Only Want to Be With You    Dusty Springfield  
Peak: #12  1/25/64  Philips
Dusty Springfield was the second artist of the “British Invasion” in the U.S. (after the Beatles) to have a hit, entering the Billboard chart at number 77.

Easy to Slip Little Feat (w/ Roy Estrada) Warner Brothers   From the1972 album “Sailing Shoes,” this track did not chart.

Ain’t That Peculiar (Alan Price Set)  Decca
A cover of the Marvin Gaye classic from Price’s 1966 album “The Price to Play The Alan Price Set” not released in the U.S.  

You Baby     Mark Volman/The Turtles   White Whale
Peak: #20     2/5/66  

Stop! In the Name of Love Supremes   Motown
#2 (4/17/65) 
For me, the vibes (played by Jack Ashford) are really what make this song work as well as it does.

Puppy Love        Paul Anka #2  (4/17/60)      ABC Paramount 
Anka wrote the song for Annette Funicello with whom he was having an affair, or so they say. Wait, what?

Love or Let Me Be Lonely Friends of Distinction  RCA 
#8  (4/20/70)       
This song did well on three charts: Hot 100, R&B and Adult Contemporary.

She’s About a Mover   Sir Douglas Quintet  #39 (4/17/65)  Tribe 
This regional smash became a break out national hit for the group. The organ riffs are by Augie Meyers and the vocals are by Doug Sahm.

She’s a Woman  Beatles  Peak: #4  (12/5/64)   Capitol
While Paul McCartney wanted to imitate Little Richard on this track, the Sir Douglas Quintet paid homage to the Beatles with “She’s About a Mover.”

Step by Step              Crests    #18    (4/17/60)    Coed One story, possibly apocryphal, about this multi-racial doo-wop group is that they were discovered singing in the New York City subway. Never can tell what you will find down there.

Easy Come, Easy Go         Bobby Sherman #11  (4/20/70)   Metromedia
Sherman got to this song after it was recorded by Cass Elliot six months earlier.

8-9pm

Fannie Mae  Buster Brown      #43  (4/17/60)      Fire  

Brown, who plays harmonica on this track, was almost 50 years old when he recorded it.

Just a Little Beau Brummels   #81  (4/17/65)      Autumn 
Produced by Sly Stone and released as their second single (after “Laugh Laugh”), it was the group’s highest charting U.S. single.

The Last Time Rolling Stones  #16 (4/17/65)       London 
The first single written by the group, the distinctive opening guitar riff  (which continues throughout the song) was written and performed by Brian Jones.

I Could Write a Book   Jerry Butler   #53  (4/20/70) Mercury 
A fine solo effort by the Ice Man (so dubbed because he is so cool).

Let It Be Me   Everly Brothers  #48 (4/17/60) Cadence     
The song was originally composed in French in 1955 and, although there was an English version recorded in 1957, the Everlys brought it unforgettably into the American consciousness in 1960. This was their first recording made in New York rather than Nashville.

Farther On Down the Road  Joe Simon  #89 (4/20/70) Sound Stage 7  
Written by Taj Mahal who headlines the 2019 Grass Roots festival.

I’ll Play for You  Seals and Crofts  #59  (4/19/75)  Warner
From the album of the same name, this single was an international hit in the U.S., Canada and New Zealand.

All I Have To Do IsDream Bobby Darin and Petula Clark
Watch the video of Darin and Clark singing into each other’s faces.

Rainy Day People Gordon Lightfoot #49 (4/19/75)
Reprise 
A Canadian national treasure with a distinctive and unmistakable baritone voice.

Subterranean Homesick Blues   Bob Dylan   Columbia
#65 (4/17/65)
Dylan’s first top 40 hit in the U.S. inspired, according to Dylan, by the Beat poet Jack Kerouac, Chuck Berry and scat songs of the 1940’s. Dylan has been quoted by judges and lawyers in court and legal briefs more than any other songwriter. This is an alternate take with some lyrics changed.

Come Running   Van Morrison   #43 (4/20/70)     Warner
This song, which dates from the time of his “Astral Weeks” album, was recorded several times at different studios and was part of his hugely successful Moondance LP. You heard a live version recorded at the Troubadour.

Come And Stay With Me   Marianne Faithfull     London  
#26  (4/17/65)       
Written by Jackie DeShannon for Faithfull who was a prominent figure in the swinging London scene at the time—and a casualty of it.

The Letter    Joe Cocker   #72  (4/20/70)      A&M 
This track was Cocker’s first top 10 single in the U.S. and featured Leon Russel (who also produced) on piano.

We’re Gonna Make It   Little Milton   #52  (4/17/65)  Checker 
This civil rights themed track spent three weeks at the top of the U.S. R&B chart and was the only top 40 chart appearance by Little Milton.

Cut the Cake Average White Band #58  (4/19/75)
Atlantic 
From the group’s third album of the same name, the single eventually made it to #10.


CLOSING THEME:  Sleepwalk – Santo & Johnny (1959, #1 for two weeks)


Glossary of Terms:

dnc = did not chart

nr = not released as a single at the time

AC = Billboard’s chart for “Adult Contemporary” records

BB = Billboard Magazine, which publishes the Hot 100 chart (previously known as the Top 100), along with several other charts

Bubbling Under = songs that were ranked but fell below the top 100

C&W = Billboard’s chart for “Country & Western” records

R&B = Billboard’s chart for “Rhythm & Blues” records

RRHOF = Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
RS500 = Rolling Stone Magazine’s ranked list of the top 500 singles of all-time



Host Next Week (4/27/19):  Kim Vaughan and Gregory James with a spotlight on 1957, 1967 and 1977.


Thanks for tuning in! You can listen to Rockin' Remnants every Saturday night from 6-9 pm (Eastern) on WVBR (93.5 FM in Ithaca, NY) or streaming here.

Thanks again to our sponsors Island Health & Fitness and Rasa Spa for their support every week!