Keener 13

By Bob Berry

This is so totally cool-and it took the coolest guy in the room to do it.

Bloomfield Hills’ Roger Penske had a parade on Woodward Thursday. And not just any, but a parade of the SIXTEEN Indianapolis Pace Cars he has won in his legendary racing career!

Now that’s cruisin’ Woodward!

And who did he get to drive those cars? How about names like 4-time winners Rick Mears and Al Unser, 3-time winners Helio Castroneves and Bobby Unser?  Plus 2-time winner Al Unser Jr. .and Rochester Hills’ Brad Keselowski, the 2012 NASCAR Champion.  To name a few.

Proving why he’s the boss, “The Captain”, a former sports car racing champion, smartly put ’em all in his rear-view mirror, leading the parade with  a 1972 Cutlass 442. That car was his first Indy Pace Car “trophy”, collected after winning that year’s race with the late Mark Donohue.

Roger Penske has made a huge impact on Metro Detroit over the years, going back to his dealership on Telegraph Road, his ownership of Detroit Diesel, and his vision-which helped bring the Super Bowl to The D and the annual Indy Car race to Belle Isle.  Read all about the Thursday’s parade and learn what drives Roger Penske with this story from ESPN. Or check the video, and go fishtailing with “Bad Brad” and WXYZ-TV Action News.

By Bob Berry

It’s Woodward Dream Cruise Weekend in the Motor City, and we couldn’t be more excited! Excited to see old friends, re-tell old tales, and celebrate the very essence of why we are The Motor City:

The cars! The ones we owned, dreamed of, restored or in the case of my friend of 55 years, Bob Karakashian, the ’69 1/2 Dodge Six-Pack he bought at 19 and never sold!

There’s an emotional, almost spiritual, tie to these cars, and while we’re spotlighting the great Keener generation muscle cars; those same feelings can be stirred at the sighting of a chopped and channeled ’41 Willys, a ’59 Cadillac, or yes, a “Little Deuce Coupe“!

So here we go, five favorites (actually 4 more) that always turn your head, and make you wish it was yours!

The Boss 302 Mustang. Sure, the original Mustang invented a category, captivated millions and inspired The D’s Sir Mack Rice to write “Mustang Sally“. And a fave of Keener’s Scott Westerman.

But ask a Ford guy or gal, they’ll tell ya, you can’t beat The Boss! The classic fastback, nice engine combo, Trans-Am racing superstar, and most importantly, The Answer to a Z-28 Chevy Camaro!

The Pontiac G.T.O. Inspired by the great “Royal Bobcats” of Ace Wilson’s Royal Pontiac. Inspiration for one of the great garage band car tunes of all-time, “Little G.T.O.”. The place where John DeLorean found Jim Wangers, and with the help of “3 deuces and a 4-speed and a 389” (and a lot of talented Pontiac people) created the car that defines the term “muscle car”.

Put a Tiger in your tank, baby!

My pal Lynn Henning of The Detroit News suggested this one: The 1967 Dodge Charger. In Lynn’s words, “My cousin got one right after he got out of the Navy. Canary yellow, with black vinyl top. Car absolutely smoldered“.  Hidden headlights, full fastback. And since Lynn didn’t specify, we’re gonna go with a 440 Magnum engine smoldering under the hood.

It was the original Dodge Boys’ leader of the Dodge Rebellion.

And finally, one close to the heart of this born and raised Chevy Guy.

The 1969 Chevy Malibu SS. The “squarish” Chevelle look was long gone. Front fenders flowing to the kicked up rear, merging with the semi-fastback roofline. Cool wheels mounted on BF Goodrich T/A’s. And while it’s nice that the Beach Boys sang about the “409” that was old school.

My SS has the 396/325 horsepower Big Block with 4-speed thank you.

See you at The Hunter House, and we can “discuss matters”! 🙂

Leave a comment and tell us about your favorites. And drive safely, everyone!

By Bob Berry

I got to thinking about cruising music today, “gotta-have’s” for the roll-up to Saturday’s Woodward Dream Cruise. Motown, done. Beatles, done. Soul, from Memphis and Muscle Shoals, Philly, New Orleans.

And hey, load up the local heroes! The Rationals. The Shy Guys. Tim Tam and The Turn-on’s, SRC, The Woolies and The Underdogs! Plus Key Man of Music Pat St. John’s fave: Richard the the Young Lions!

But what about something to cut through revs and the rumble of a well tuned set of Hedman Headers? Try some Dave Clark Five, the British Invasion version of the Big Block V-8 on those woofers and tweeters!

Dave just pounding his drums into the floor. Mike Smith’s great lead vocals (with lots of reverb). Denis Payton blowing up his saxophone, plus Lenny Davidson’s lead guitar and Rick Huxley’s fat bass,  all mixed with an extra touch of compression that even the Motown engineers would have been proud of!

Yeah, the DC5 were Go Big or Go Home LOUD! And they sounded great at The Totem Pole and Ted’s and they’ll sound great Saturday. Here’s a reminder, in 2:41.

By Bob Berry

What an extraordinary life!

College All-American, in Los Angeles for the USC Trojans. An All-Pro, MVP, Hall of Fame career with the New York Football Giants.

A King of New York, when he retired in 1964

What an extraordinary life Frank Gifford led, and he was only getting started.

Broadcasting, first for CBS Sports, part of the “Tiffany Network. And then the legendary years at ABC Sports, the Tiffany of Network  Sports. Monday Night Football, Evel Knievel at Wembley Stadium, the Olympics, Summer and Winter, downhill skiing with Bob Beattie. And yes, some off the wall stuff for Wide World Of Sports, because Roone Arledge expected his boys to cover it all. And, oh by the way, Frank Gifford filled-in as host for Good Morning America.

Call it King of New York, Volume 2.

Frank Gifford passed away this morning, a week shy of his 85 birthday. What an extraordinary life. And the damndest thing was, he made it all look so easy.

R.I.P., Giff.

By Bob Berry

It’s amazing what can happen in the digital age, and this may be a topper.

Elvis went to London’s Abbey Road Studios!

More accurately, the voice-tracks of some of Elvis’ most iconic recordings went to Abbey Road, and a new album, If I Can Dream: Elvis Presley With The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is coming October 30th.

Think about that. Elvis, gone nearly 40 years. Tracks that go back up to 50 years or more. Brought to London, to the home of The Beatles, and with newly imagined arrangements with the RPO, new recordings will soon be in our hands. The 14-song LP will include “Burning Love”, “It’s Now Or Never”, “Love Me Tender” and “In The Ghetto”, plus-get this!, Michael Buble’ on a duet of “Fever”, and guitar legend Duane Eddy on “American Trilogy” and “Bridge Over Troubled Water”.

Priscilla Presley said the project “would have been a dream come true for Elvis”. While we wait for the dream to become reality, here’s the first single release from the new album, “If I Can Dream”, originally recorded for the ’68 Comeback Special. Enjoy!

And for comparison, the original. I read where the update has been called “not a new version, but a fuller version”. That sounds about right to me-see if you agree.

If I Can Dream: Elvis Presley With The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra will be released as a single CD, double LP vinyl and on digital services.

By Bob Berry

August 7, 1967. One of my “desert island” songs,  “Itchycoo Park” by The Small Faces, was released.

And not just any desert island song, but an “anytime, anywhere, can’t get enough of it, always fresh when I hear it, played it too loud in the car, let’s play it louder!” song.

Written by Small Faces Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane, brilliantly engineered by Glyn Johns; “Itchycoo Park” was a sonic marvel of it’s time. Play it loud, and you’ll discover it still is.

And “all too beautiful”, indeed.

As you probably know, The Small Faces, Marriott on guitar and vocals, Lane backup vocals and bass, plus Kenny Jones on drums, and Ian McLagan in Hammond B-3, morphed into what became The Faces, when Steve Marriott left to form Humble Pie in 1969. Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood of the Jeff Beck Group joined the remaining “Smalls”, and over the course of the next 6 years, created a marvelous musical legacy.  All were inducted, and both groups honored, with induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012.

Happy Friday from all of us who “groove about and feed the ducks” at Keener 13.com!

By Bob Berry

I came across a picture from my Orlando radio days of Dennis Edwards at Walt Disney World, and a light bulb went on!

“TBT with The Temptations on Keener!”. The psychedelic soul/social consciousness/Norman Whitfield-Barrett Strong-song Temptations!

Dennis bringing some sauce to the Fab Five’s vocal mix, and the Funk Brothers, in their own full funky flower; from the opening notes of Bob Babbitt’s bass line, to the snap and fills of Uriel Jones’ drums. The incredible multi-lead voices of Dennis, Eddie Kendricks, Paul Williams and Melvin (“and the band played on”) Franklin. And let us not forget Tempts co-founder Otis Williams doing what he did, harmonizing with his guys.

By now, you may have guessed I’m thinking of “Ball of Confusion”. Released in May of 1970, and Top 5 on Keener over that summer, it was the climatic song of a 20-month run that began with “Cloud Nine” in the fall of 1968, and included “Runaway Child Running Wild”,  “I Can’t Get Next To You” and “Psychedelic Shack”. Incredible music, with lyrics that spoke of the day, a new sound for the “Sound of Young America”.

As I say, they were all incredible songs. But..where else can you get Dennis Edwards shredding his vocal cords, calling out “Great Googamooga, can’t you hear me talkin’ to ya”?

By Bob Berry

He was part of the legendary Wrecking Crew, helping Phil Spector shape his Wall of Sound.  His Hammond B-3 helped The Beach Boys pick up on “Good Vibrations”. He played with The Mamas and Papas, The Fifth Dimension and The Carpenters, and David Gates and Bread.

His barrel-house piano kick-started “Rockin’ Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu” for Johnny Rivers

He was an extraordinary keyboard player, who happened to play guitar so well, that he supplied the bass tracks for The Doors’ “Light My Fire“!

His name was Larry Knechtel, and today would have been his 76th birthday. Here is his “greatest hit”, a beautiful, gospel-inspired piano that helped make the title song to Simon and Garfunkel’s Bridge Over Troubled Water album the Record and Song of the Year in 1971.

That’s who “that guy on keyboards” was.

By Bob Berry

A Heads-up for McCartney Fans: Save the date!

Sir Paul will re-release two of his notable solo albums, Tug Of War and Pipes Of Peace on October 2nd. Both albums are being re-mixed and re-masterd and will be available in multiple formats on digital audio and video discs, digital downloads and 2-LP vinyl.

Tug of War, released in 1982, was a world-wide smash, hitting # 1 in the U.S. and the U.K. The first McCartney project after the breakup of Wings, it featured Linda McCartney, “Wings-man” Denny Laine and Ringo Starr, plus Motown’s own Stevie Wonder, on “Ebony and Ivory”, which was #1 for seven weeks!

Pipes of Peace, released a year later, also featured Linda, Denny and Ringo, though it was a relatively less successful album, hitting Top 5 in the U.K, but only #15 in the U.S. This, in spite of two songs featuring Michael Jackson, including the #1 world-wide single “Say, Say, Say”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QC2Grms55Fw

You know, it’s never too early to start writing down the Christmas Wish List.

By Bob Berry

An American Treasure celebrates a birthday today.

Tony Bennett is 89 joyful years young.

And all of us at Keener13.com wanted to say thanks, for the artistry, for waking us, via MTV Live, to the music of the Great American Songbook, and for the gracious collaborations with artists of all generations and genres.

We’re very glad you’ve been part soundtrack of our lives.

By Bob Berry

The fifth Mission Impossible movie, “Rouge Nation“, starring Tom Cruise opens today. Lots of action, effects, and stunts, the MI theme and lots of the Tom Cruise formula. Tom Long in today’s Detroit News calls the movie a “happy meal“.

Is that a bad thing? Perhaps, if as Mr. Long suggests, you remember when Tom Cruise made really good movies. Or perhaps not, for those of us who enjoyed the original TV show for the escapist drama it was.  But in the end, I always remember the immortal words of Dobie Grey’s 1966 Keener classic “The In Crowd”:

“The original is still the greatest“. And so, they can re-mix, re-invent and re-imagine all they want. But for my money, there will never be a better theme song than the theme to the original Mission: Impossible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lih-z4G4jY

And, while we’re at it, check out this PBS clip on the original TV show, with some fun facts and cool stories:

By Bob Berry

Today is the anniversary of The Beatles album Yesterday and Today starting 5 weeks at Number One in the U.S. back in 1966.

And in celebration of the LP that gave us “Nowhere Man”, “We Can Work It Out”, “Yesterday” and 7 other great tunes, I wanted to share an amazing website with you: “Inside Abbey Road“, presented by Google.

It’s an extraordinary, interactive website, with layer upon layer of photos, videos and anecdotes of perhaps the greatest-certainly the most famous, recording studio in the world.The place where The Beatles and so many others (The Hollies, Pink Floyd, The London Symphony Orchestra) made music history.

Here’s the preview, click the link above, or here, to go “Inside Abbey Road”.