"Java" #4 2/29/1964 Bonus

Trumpeter Al Hirt was famous in his hometown of New Orleans when he covered this one, making it a #1 easy listening hit and a Top 5 on the pop charts in late February '64. It was written and first recorded as a piano-based song by another Big Easy music legend, Allen Toussaint. Famed Nashville piano man Floyd Cramer also covered this. Big Al owned a popular jazz club in the French Quarter and was an original minority owner of the NFL's New Orleans Saints.

Al Hirt - Java

"The Tip Of My Fingers" #43 8/27/1966

Including this Top 5 country record, Eddy Arnold had 147 entries on that chart, more than anyone except George Jones. He was one of the first to take that genre uptown, without the twang and with a much more polished "Nashville Sound" in an effort by country labels to appeal to pop audiences. They used to call this style "countrypolitan." Today's song was done by numerous folks over the years (Roy Clark's version is quite good) and was written and originally recorded in 1960 by "Whispering" Bill Anderson.

Eddy Arnold - The Tip Of My Fingers

The Beatles' Last Concert

On August 29, 1966, the Beatles' last concert occurred at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. (I'm not counting the impromptu rooftop appearance during the '69 "Let It Be" sessions.) Even in late summer it was a cold, windy, foggy night at the Stick. In a bit of irony one of the opening acts, Bobby Hebb, performed his hit "Sunny." The 45,000 seat ballpark was just over half full because allegedly the fire marshal limited ticket sales, but that has never been confirmed. There wasn't any big announcement - the Fab Four figured it would gradually dawn on people they would do no more live appearances. Knowing this was their last public show, the boys took selfies on stage with real cameras, mind you. The craziness of performing on four continents, working virtually nonstop for over five years with just one break of any length, having to arrive and depart the shows in armored cars, and constantly being mobbed by shrieking fans finally caught up to them and pushed John, Paul, George and Ringo to quit touring. On the flight home to England, George said, "That's it, then. I'm not a Beatle any more." Of course that didn't happen, but that's how the guys felt. They took three months off before starting work on their "Sgt. Pepper" masterpiece. In 2014 Paul returned to Candlestick to play the last concert prior to its demolition.

"Alfie" (Cher) #32 8/27/1966

From the soundtrack of "Alfie," the Bacharach/David title song had a checkered history. This version by Cher from the closing credits barely made the Top 40, while the bigger hit by Dionne Warwick (which wasn't in the film) wouldn't appear for another nine months. Yet another version for the British movie release became a hit in the UK, done by Dionne's nemesis Cilla Black. The flick was remade in the early 2000's with Cher recording an updated theme. It was pulled from the new soundtrack and her effort was replaced by Joss Stone after audiences at advance screenings broke out in uncontrollable laughter.

Cher - Alfie

The Beatles' Penultimate Live Gig 8/28/1966

The next-to-last Beatles concert took place August 28, 1966 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. As happened a lot on this US tour, a number of seats were empty - 10,000 short of a full house of 56,000 on this night. The wild scene after the show was more pronounced than usual this time. The getaway car couldn't pass through the outfield gates due to the screaming masses overrunning security, so it spun around and the boys made a mad dash into the dugout and the Dodgers' clubhouse. They even tried to sneak out in an ambulance, but couldn't. They finally left several hours later with lots of police assistance, and departed the next day for San Francisco and their last-ever gig.

"Summertime" #10 8/27/1966

Today we feature a very different interpretation of a George Gershwin song from 1935's "Porgy and Bess." According to Wikipedia there are something like 25,000 recordings of this tune. Janis Joplin's take is wonderfully compelling but none are quite like Billy Stewart's version here, which contains several freelance passages - definitely unusual for the rock charts at the time. Billy crossed paths with Marvin Gaye when they grew up singing in Washington, DC, and was discovered by Bo Diddley.

Billy Stewart - Summertime

"See You In September" #3 8/27/1966

An end-of-summer song done originally in 1959 by a Pittsburgh vocal group called the Tempos. Bobby Vinton was in a forerunner of that outfit. It was covered numerous times, but the hit version featured today was by the Happenings. They sounded somewhat like the Tokens ("The Lion Sleeps Tonight"), who didn't mind since they owned the Happenings' record label. The Four Seasons' producer Bob Crewe was also behind the controls here. I like this one!

Happenings - SeeYou In September

"Love You To" Album cut

Complex songs like this from "Revolver" were part of the reason why the Beatles decided to stop touring. People weren't quite sure what to make of this track. George had been intrigued by the music of India since filming "Help!" in '65, even including a sitar on "Norwegian Wood." He hooked up with some Indian musicians living in London for this track. Several months later the boys were headed home from a Far East concert tour and stopped in Delhi for a few days to sample the culture. They would return a couple of years later for an extended stay with the Maharishi.

Beatles - Love You To

"Southtown, U.S.A." #15 2/22/1964 Bonus

This is where the pop music scene was in America when the Beatles arrived on our shores. The Dixie Belles (or Dixiebelles) were a girl group from Memphis that for whatever reason had a definite New Orleans vibe going on. Like their previous record "Down At Papa Joe's," this one from February '64 had quite the Dixieland arrangement, what with the horns and clarinet and rollicking piano. It was their second and last hit.

Dixiebelles - Southtown, U.S.A.

"What Kind Of Fool (Do You Think I Am)" #9 2/22/1964 Bonus

Still playing catchup from early '64 with stuff I missed getting my blog and FB posts in sync. From February of that year, one by the Tams that became a mainstay on the Carolina beach music scene. The roots of that sub-genre can be traced to Myrtle Beach just after WWII. You didn't have to be from that part of the country to play that type of music or to appreciate it...but it helped. This one was redone more uptempo and still in the beach music style a few years later by Bill Deal and the Rhondels from Virginia Beach.

Tams - What Kind Of Fool (Do You Think I Am)

"Out Of Time" Bonus

This was originally done by the Rolling Stones and appeared on their 1966 UK LP "Aftermath." However, the song didn't show up in the States for almost another year, and even that was a remix. In between, Chris Farlowe took it to #1 in the UK in July of '66 with Mick Jagger as producer - a Stones-approved cover, if you will. Apparently Chris's version was never released in America.

Chris Farlowe - Out Of Time

"Sweet Dreams" (Tommy McLain) #15 8/20/1966

I remember a number of different country takes of this song. The original was by its writer, Don Gibson, and many others covered it from Faron Young to Emmylou Harris. Reba McEntire would do it a-capella in concert. No instruments, either. I saw Reba perform this twice. You could tell she listened to a whole lot of Patsy Cline, who had the most well known version though hers wasn't released until after she died in a 1963 small plane crash. Admittedly, I wasn't familiar with this swamp rock version by one-hit wonder Louisiana native Tommy McLain. Check out the spacey vibraphone.

Tommy McLain - Sweet Dreams

"I Couldn't Live Without Your Love" #9 8/20/1966

Probably one of my all-time Top 5 favorite British Invasion tunes, and a #1 easy listening hit as well. Every time I hear this record, in my mind it conjures up Swinging London and everything that entailed. My Austin Powers moment, if you will. Groovy, baby. Petula Clark was backed as usual by the Breakaways, the best British studio girl group you never heard of. She was in the middle of 15 straight Top 40 hits in the States. Written by Pet's mentor/producer Tony Hatch along with his mistress Jackie Trent...long story, but those two eventually got married and moved to Australia.

Petula Clark - I Couldn't Live Without Your Love

"Sunny" #2 8/20/1966

Bobby Hebb was certainly one of the few people, if not the only one, to work with both country music legend Roy Acuff and the Beatles. He once appeared on a local TV show in his hometown of Nashville, and that got him a job in Mr. Acuff's band. Bobby thus became one of the first African-Americans to take to the Grand Ole Opry stage, long before Charley Pride. When this song was on the charts, he was one of the opening acts on the Fab Four's last concert tour. Quite the daily double.

Bobby Hebb - Sunny

The Beatles' Last Tour, continued...

We continue the saga of the Beatles and their final concert tour. On August 20, 1966, they missed a live gig for the first and only time, getting rained out at the old Crosley Field in Cincinnati. The boys wanted to play, but their sole roadie (imagine that today!) plugged in an amp and was zapped halfway across the stage, which was covered by a single leaky canvas tarp. They made up the show the next afternoon, then flew to St. Louis for their scheduled concert that night at the relatively new Busch Stadium, just recently torn down. It rained again but this time they were under a corrugated tin roof that also leaked. Afterward they dodged screaming fans rushing the stage by jumping into a van with no seats and nothing to hold onto. The boys looked around while careening down the street as if to say, "Really? It's come down to this?" That was the proverbial last straw for any future live appearances after this tour. They next had a free day in NYC and another chance for John to explain his "we're bigger than Jesus" comment to the press corps before a return to now-razed Shea Stadium, site of their triumphant sold out (55,000+) '65 concert. This time there were over 10,000 empty seats. Then it was out to LA for a day off, a quick trip to the Seattle Center Coliseum (now Key Arena) and back to La-La Land and a rented house near the Sunset Strip for a couple more days off. Two more gigs remained on the tour. To be continued...

"All I've Got To Do" Album cut

The Fab Four loved Motown. Growing up in Liverpool where sailors brought back records from the States, they were exposed to far more American musical influences than the average Brit. This track from "Meet The Beatles!" was written primarily by John, who admitted he was trying to channel Smokey Robinson. Certainly it's one of the first songs to feature the bass being played using chords. Kind of revolutionary for the time, thanks to Sir Paul. If you listen to this on earbuds or headphones, the squeak from Ringo's bass drum pedal comes through. They apparently never played this song live - the starts and stops would've been lost in all the screams.

Beatles - All I've Got To Do

"Over Under Sideways Down" #13 8/13/1966

Today's tune is from the Yardbirds, one of the most influential groups in rock history. Their original lead guitarist was Eric Clapton, who left just as they became successful. This was their last single featuring his replacement, Jeff Beck, by himself on lead guitar. They brought studio legend Jimmy Page into the band to share the lead parts on the next single, creating a chain of events that gave rise to Led Zeppelin several years later. Yes, it's kind of convoluted, and a story best left for another day.

Yardbirds - Over Under Sideways Down

"This Door Swings Both Ways" #12 8/13/1966

Our feature today snapped a streak of nine straight Top 10's in America for Herman's Hermits. It came close, though - a pretty good effort from Peter Noone and the blokes. In 1966 nobody thought twice because it didn't mean this at the time, but today the phrase "swings both ways" has quite the different meaning, doesn't it?

Herman's Hermits - This Door Swings Both Ways

"Somewhere My Love" #9 8/13/1966

This #1 easy listening hit by the Ray Conniff Singers was based on "Lara's Theme" from the movie "Doctor Zhivago" which won six Oscars in 1966, including Best Musical Score. Bits and pieces of said theme showed up throughout the picture, but the full version heard here did not. That's called a leitmotif, music theory fans. Ray was primarily an arranger at Columbia Records, and in the studio he put together many hits by Johnny Mathis as well as the Marty Robbins classic "A White Sport Coat (And A Pink Carnation)." He and/or his group of singers recorded nearly 100 albums.

Ray Conniff Singers - Somewhere My Love

"Mother's Little Helper" "Lady Jane" #8 and #24 8/13/1966

We give you both sides of the latest Rolling Stones single, each peaking this week in '66. "Mother's Little Helper," an ode not to Valium but the tranquilizer meprobamate reached #8, while the B-side got to #24. Although not applicable in this song, "Lady Jane" was used in the controversial book "Lady Chatterley's Lover" to describe lady parts. Go figure...Mick Jagger tied into that subject. Gasp!

Rolling Stones - Mother's Little Helper

Rolling Stones - Lady Jane

"They're Coming To Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!" #3 8/13/1966

The 60's had some profoundly weird records that people actually bought. This might be the most obnoxious of them all, yet it made the Top 5. Recording engineer Jerry Samuels used the alias of Napoleon XIV here with only a seven-second snare drum loop, a tambourine and some very odd vocal effects. He said he smoked some weed before coming up with the idea - and it showed. I remember seeing kids dance to this on "American Bandstand." Hilarious. It took off rapidly but fell off the charts faster than any previous record, as a lot of radio stations quickly stopped playing the single. They feared a backlash over possibly goofing on mental illness. The even more obnoxious B-side was the A-side played backwards, so the label's preferred "song" would be featured. It was titled "!aaaH-aH ,yawA eM ekaT oT gnimoC er'yehT"

Napoleon XIV - They're Coming To Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!

"Summer In The City" #1 8/13/1966

Perhaps one of the all-time great summer songs, this was the only #1 record for the Lovin' Spoonful. It contains various sounds of the city, like a jackhammer and a Volkswagen Beetle horn. Our video has scenes of wild chases through crowded city streets and features silent film comedian Harold Lloyd, known for such things. He was a Mason and a Shriner (as am I) and Harold was Past Potentate of Al-Malikiah Shrine Temple in Hollywood. That building is now owned by Disney and is currently used for Jimmy Kimmel's late night TV show.

Lovin' Spoonful - Summer In The City

The Beatles' Last Tour

On this date in 1966, the Beatles began the last leg of what proved to be their last-ever concert tour. It was dogged by controversy in every town over John's "we're bigger than Jesus" remarks. He had to apologize at a press conference prior to the first stop at the old International Amphitheatre on the South Side of Chicago, which truly is the baddest part of town. Even though "Revolver" had just been released, they played nothing from that album since their music was now so complex. A number of ballpark gigs were booked, but there were quite a few empty seats. Most of those venues are now demolished. From Chicago they went to the Detroit Olympia (former home of the Red Wings), Cleveland Stadium (the old Mistake by the Lake), DC (now RFK) Stadium in Washington, JFK Stadium in Philadelphia (now the site of the Wells Fargo Center), Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens, Suffolk Downs horse racing track near Boston, and a disastrous show at the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis. At that Bible Belt gig, death threats were made beforehand, numerous protesters were outside and someone threw a firecracker on stage. The boys looked at each other to see which of them had been shot. Paul was the lone holdout for still playing live, but that incident sealed the deal for them to stop touring. To be continued...

"This Boy" "All My Loving" Album cuts

A two-fer today from early '64 and "Meet The Beatles!" "This Boy" was the B-side of the UK "I Want To Hold Your Hand" and since their singles generally didn't appear on albums over there at the time, it only first showed up on that format in England in 1988. An instrumental version called "Ringo's Theme" was in the movie "A Hard Day's Night." "All My Loving" was the first song they performed on their initial Ed Sullivan appearance, and that became America's first widespread image of them. Who can forget that? Not me. Our first video today is from a 1964 British TV show starring comedians Morecambe and Wise...and there's no screaming! The second video is from their first concert in America with lots of screaming! It took place several days prior to that Ed Sullivan show at the former Washington Coliseum in DC, which the last I heard is now a trash recycling facility.

Beatles - This Boy

Beatles - All My Loving

"It's All In The Game" #25 2/15/1964 Bonus

Even though he was bigger than the Beatles in England for a while, Cliff Richard had almost no real success in America for the longest time. Most of his singles were never even released in the States. However, Cliff did all right at home, as he had 20 British Top 10 hits up to this point in '64. Our song today became his only US Top 40 appearance previous to 1976 and "Devil Woman." Tommy Edwards scored big with his version in 1958.

Cliff Richard - It's All In The Game

"For You" #6 2/15/64 Bonus

We'll go back to February '64 over the next few days. Today's tune was from the Broadway show "42nd Street" and originally done by Glen Gray in 1930. Perry Como and Dean Martin also recorded it, among many others. The hit version, though, was by Ricky Nelson. Thanks to the British Invasion, this was pretty much it for his music career until 1972's "Garden Party" save for two minor Top 40 efforts. The TV sitcom starring his parents Ozzie and Harriet ran for 14 seasons until it was canceled in September 1966. Ricky usually had a musical segment at the end of each episode. He was the first rock and roller to succeed directly as the result of appearing on a weekly TV show.

Ricky Nelson - For You

"Pretty Flamingo" #29 8/6/1966

Since having initial success with "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" in '64, Manfred Mann continued with the hits in their native UK, but most of their singles weren't even released in America. Those that came out over here generally didn't do much. Here's a former UK #1 that struggled in the States. Jack Bruce played bass, as he was briefly with these guys before forming Cream with Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker. I like this one a lot!

Manfred Mann - Pretty Flamingo

"Taxman" Album cut

It was 50 years ago today that "Revolver" was released in America. Ten months would pass until their next album, an unheard-of time frame in the days when two or three LP's per year were expected from an act. Once again, the Beatles not only broke the rules but wrote new ones for everyone else to follow. I think this was the only time a George Harrison song kicked off any Fab Four album. It's a scathing rebuke of the ridiculous British taxation system of the 60's (since radically amended) when the rate for top earners was 95% - "one for you, 19 for me." George very much wondered where the band's earnings were going. A few years later, almost all their outside business ventures would seriously hemorrhage cash. Once again, Paul played lead guitar here in addition to his outrageous bass part. The unauthorized homemade video used today completely sucks but it's the only clean audio version of this tune I could find. So ignore the pictures and enjoy!

Beatles - Taxman

"Trains And Boats And Planes" #22 8/6/1966

Burt Bacharach and Hal David wrote this song with Gene Pitney in mind. Gene turned it down, saying it wasn't one of their better efforts, and later regretted doing so. Brian Epstein was given the tune and in turn gave it to his clients Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, who took the record to moderate success in the UK. Dionne Warwick's later version is what we have for you here today, one of so many Bacharach/David songs she recorded over the years.

Dionne Warwick - Trains and Boats and Planes

"Li'l Red Riding Hood" #2 8/6/1966

Owwwwoooo! I mean, baaaahh! Baaaahh?? Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs never quite seemed to be able to break out of the rut of doing novelty songs. After the success of "Wooly Bully" for whatever reason their label always gave them nonsensical material to record. Sam did eventually make an album with Duane Allman appearing as a session guitarist. The last I heard, Sam (Domingo Samudio) was a motivational speaker.

Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs - Li'l Red Riding Hood

"Harlem Shuffle" #44 2/8/1964 Bonus

Here's the original version of this one from February '64, done by the second incarnation of this duo. They consisted of Bobby Byrd and Earl Nelson - Mr. Byrd also recorded as Bobby Day, who hit in 1958 with "Rockin' Robin" before going solo full time. Earl then recruited Bobby Reif, and those are the two heard here. Sounds like Bob and Earl may have influenced Sam and Dave a lot, among others. Earl later used the name Jackie Lee, and had a novelty record in '65 called "The Duck." Our song today was redone in 1986 by the Rolling Stones, who stayed pretty true to the original, which was arranged by a 19-year-old Barry White. Yes, THAT Barry White.

Bob and Earl - Harlem Shuffle

"Where Were You When I Needed You" #28 7/30/1966

This gets a tad confusing. P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri were writer/producers at Dunhill Records and composed "Eve Of Destruction" for Barry McGuire. They were the first to record today's song in '65, calling themselves the Grass Roots. However, the label didn't want them to be in an actual road band, so a Bay Area group named the Bedouins was hired to become the Grass Roots. Two of those guys appeared on this remake, but almost the whole band quit when they weren't allowed to record original songs. P.F. and Steve hired yet another group, the LA-based 13th Floor, to then become the Grass Roots. It was that version with Rob Grill on lead vocals that had virtually all the hits. Got that? Good.

Grass Roots - Where Were You When I Needed You

"I Want You" #20 7/30/1966

As mentioned in this space previously, it took a long time for me to come around on Bob Dylan. I was 10 years old when this record came along, and it sounded like a jumbled tangle of words. Only much later did it all began to make sense. The video clip today appears to be some sort of Italian production. Maybe the Italians understood him way sooner than I did. I passed on using another clip that was sort of R-rated.

Bob Dylan - I Want You

"Sweet Pea" #8 7/30/1966

An early example of bubblegum music from Tommy Roe. Yeah, it was kind of lightweight, but the 60's welcomed all sorts of music styles. Tommy was part of the Georgia music scene that also produced Ray Stevens, Billy Joe Royal, Joe South, the Classics IV and later, the Atlanta Rhythm Section. Producer Bill Lowery was involved with just about all those folks. Lots of great music came out of Hot 'Lanta.

Tommy Roe - Sweet Pea

"Hungry" #6 7/30/1966

Like the last hit for Paul Revere and the Raiders ("Kicks") this was written by the husband and wife team of Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. And just like "Kicks" this garage band classic made the Top 10. Hard to imagine what the 60's would've sounded like without Barry and Cynthia's contributions. Check out their discography at mann-weil.com and see for yourselves. Pretty amazing stuff.

Paul Revere and the Raiders - Hungry