"I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman" #20 6/3/1967

There were some oddball records that became hits in the 60's. Certainly one of the oddest, and a Top 5 UK single, was credited to Whistling Jack Smith, who didn't exist. Some say it was actually Noel Walker, the record's producer. Others claim it was done by British session singer John O'Neill, who also sang the the theme to TV's "Wagon Train." Regardless, the live gigs were lip synched (whistle synched?) by Coby Wells. BTW, a batman (note the lower case) is English slang for a military valet. Much of the song's US popularity was mistakenly attributed to a guy in a cape and tights. Video is from the German "Beat Club" show.

"Creeque Alley" #5 6/3/1967

The sixth Top 5 for the Mamas and the Papas was an autobiographical look at how they got started. The real Creeque Alley (pronounced "creaky") is in Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands, one of the places the group honed their sound. There's a website, creequealley.com that explains the song much better than I could, line by line. Papa John Phillips told a slightly different version of their island days, though, in a radio interview years ago with Howard Stern. He said somehow American Express sent him, a starving musician, a card with no credit limit. The catch was that the balance had to be paid in full each month. He had no intention of ever making any payments, so the group ran up all their expenses on that card for a few months until they finally landed a record deal. There was a deadline to sign the contract in L.A., yet they only had $200 total between them. Papa John went to the AMEX office for a cash advance (no ATM's!) to get back to the mainland, but the card was immediately revoked. $150 got them as far as San Juan, Puerto Rico, so Papa John took their last $50 to a casino and sat down at the blackjack tables. A couple of hours and $2,000 in winnings later, they were off to L.A. in style. I don't know how true that was, but it's a hell of a story!

"Respect" #1 6/3/1967

One for the ages, and the ultimate feminist anthem. An absolutely iconic song from Aretha Franklin, one she heavily rearranged from the fine original by Otis Redding. Yes, Aretha came up with the arrangement and played piano here. She inserted the term "propers," later shortened to "props" meaning R-E-S-P-E-C-T, which became part of our lexicon. The outrageous sax solo by King Curtis was actually appropriated from a Sam and Dave song in the same key recorded the previous night. It worked. Sockittomesockittomesockittomesockittome...

"Michael (Row The Boat Ashore)" #1 9/9/1961

A folk music revival took place in the early 60's on college campuses. This version of a 19th century work song became a #1 hit for the Highwaymen in September 1961. It was sung by slaves rowing to the mainland from islands off the Georgia coast. When Steve Trott left the band for law school, he was replaced by Gil Robbins, father of actor Tim Robbins. Trott went to Harvard and became Associate Attorney General under Ronald Reagan. This band sued the country supergroup using that name (Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson) but dropped the claim when both groups shared a Hollywood concert stage in 1990.

"Wooden Heart" #1 9/2/1961

Elvis did a German folk song, "Muss i denn" on the "G.I. Blues" soundtrack, singing to a puppet in the movie. For that reason RCA wouldn't release it as a single, fearing it would damage the King's image. Joe Dowell took the song to #1 in September of 1961. Ray Stevens played the organ here. According to Songfacts the session was rushed, as on the same day producer Shelby Singleton also recorded Ray's "Ahab The Arab" and Leroy Van Dyke's "Walk On By."

"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"/"With A Little Help From My Friends"

The album that ushered in the Summer of Love. It would not be an understatement to say this completely changed the music industry. They were less than five years removed from "Love Me Do" and "yeah yeah yeah" but once again, the Beatles didn't just break the rules, they wrote new ones for everybody else to follow. Released on June 1, 1967 in the UK and the next day in America, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" was totally unlike anything else up to that point. At a time when acts were expected to crank out two or three LP's per year, the Fab Four went an unheard-of 10 months between albums. No singles were released from the LP until the 70's. "Penny Lane" and "Strawberry Fields Forever" were intended for "Pepper" but instead were issued as a stand-alone single. George Martin said in hindsight that omitting those tracks from the finished album was a huge mistake. Part way through, Paul came up with the concept that since they would never perform the songs live, why not develop alter egos (as part of a psuedo-military band complete with pastel uniforms) and use as many musical styles as possible? From there, the idea took on a life of its own. The front and back cover art, printed lyrics, the photographs inside - we take all that for granted now, but those things were groundbreaking in 1967. This was the band's first LP to finally have the same running order in the US and UK. We shall touch on each track over the next few months. The title song segues seamlessly into Ringo's vocal on "With A Little Help From My Friends." No one had ever tied album tracks together without leaving a pause between the grooves. It wasn't a true concept album, but the songs had enough common threads. And they did it all on a four-track console! Our video is from the 2014 50th anniversary tribute to the Beatles' first appearance on Ed Sullivan in 1964 and featured Paul and Ringo, the two surviving members.

"Portrait Of My Love" #36 5/27/1967

The final Top 40 record for the Tokens was first done in 1960 by Matt Monro and became a hit for Steve Lawrence in 1961, the same year "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" reached #1 for these guys. Lead singer Jay Siegel sang backup on Robert John's cover of "Lion" in the early 70's. Jay and several other Tokens formed a band called Cross Country, who had a minor hit in the 70's covering "In The Midnight Hour."