Keener 13

Radio enthusiasts who grew up listening to the superb execution of 60s rock n rollers like WKNR have a particular affinity for Johnny Rivers‘ Soul City Records. The label was the first to sign Jimmy Webb and spawned the careers of Al Wilson and the Fifth Dimension. Part of Johnny Rivers’ genius was his ability to bake good compositions, talented artists and electrifying arrangements into hit records. Listen to California Soul, Aquarius and Summer Rain and you get a feel for the hit making personality you could expect when you bought a 45 with the Soul City logo on it. One of my favorite Soul City smashes was the October, 1968 debut single from Al Wilson: The Snake. From the opening guitar riff and the Ludwig octoplex tom toms to the verses that build to a climax with key modulation and perfectly layered horns and background vocals, The Snake is a song you can listen to over and over again, finding another Rivers nuance each time. Add to the mix, Johnny’s innate understanding of how to build a mix that sounded just as hot on your Fisher stereo system as it did on your 6 inch car radio speaker and you have an exquisite example of an artist at the peak of his creative powers. Here’s a link to a good stereo rendition of The Snake.. Skip through the wannabe intro who over acts the part of a DJ.. turn your speakers up loud..?and enjoy!

Steve Wonder attracted “a true rainbow coalition who came from city and suburb, of all races and surprisingly, more than just baby boomers.” Susan Whitall covers his return to Detroit and Mitch Albom shares an appreciation that approaches poetry.

When Jim Jeffries left Keener for WQXI, part-timer Steve Robbins assumed the overnight chores. He was at the station for less than a year and had the distinction of writing a music column in one of the interim newspapers that published duing the 1967 newspaper strike. In January, the Monkees were riding high on the WKNR music guide, at number one with I’m a Believer. Their national tour was due to make a stop in Detroit the night after this aircheck was recorded on Friday, January 6th. In the top ten that week was an eclectic mix including Snoopy vs The Red Barron, Georgy Girl, Words of Love, Tell It Like It Is, Karate, Good Thing, Love’s gone Bad, I’m Gonna Miss You and Nashville Cats.

Like him or not, there’s no question that Elvis Presley still is a phenomenon. New generations, born long after he “left the building” are fascinated with his life and career, his recordings still sell at a brisk pace, and Elvis impersonators represent a measurable showbiz segment, wherever gamblers congregate, from the pueblos of New Mexico to the glitter of Las Vegas. August 16th marks 30 years since the King’s death. From the Freep, here is Terry Lawson’s Essential Elvis.

For those of us who grew up listening to WKNR in the 60s, Faygo was as much a part of the culture as Ballpark Franks, Strohs Beer and the Ernie Harwell. What you might not know is that it was Faygo?that coined the term “pop” after the sound made when you open a Faygo bottle. Or that Faygo’s national popularity happened after they started advertising on Detroit Tiger radio broadcasts. Or that Harold Peary, the frustrated store owner who repeated the long list of Faygo flavors only to have the kid select “Red Pop”, was best known as radio’s Great Gildersleeve. Faygo TV ads are some of the most memorable of the Keener era. Here’s a link to the original Faygo Kid spot, along with a YouTube connection to the “remember when you were a kid” ad that was shot on the BobLo boat, celebrating some of the best of Detroits cultural magic.

He was best known as the writer/producer of Nancy Sinatra’s 1966 break through “These Boots Are Made For Walking”, but Lee Hazlewood, who died this week at age 78, put his imprint on a number of Keener hits. The former Arizona disk jockey charted twice as a singer. A pair of duets with Sinatra, “Jackson” and “Some Velvet Morning”, made their way to the WKNR Music Guide in 1967. But his work behind the scenes had a longer reach. He co-wrote Duane Eddy’s smash “Rebel Rouser”, worked as producer for Dean Martin, Dusty Springfield, Dino, Desi & Billy and Petula Clark and handled the controls when?Sinatra Senior asked him to?produce?the?Frank and Nancy top 5 classic “Something Stupid”. The songs he wrote provided a lifetime of financial security that allowed Hazlewood to thumb his nose at the record company establishment. Yet he kept recording until the end. His?final collection “Cake or Death” was released last year. Here’s how NPR showcased his life and career.

Pattie Boyd, the woman every hardcore Beatle fan knows as the British model who married George Harrison, leaving him for Eric Clapton, is releasing a juicy autobiography. What was her connection to the film “Hard Day’s Night”? Was Pattie the cause of Clapton’s heroin addiction? Is she the woman Harrison was thinking about when he wrote the smash “Something”? Were there other affairs involving Beatle spouses? And why release the book now? Susan Whitall tells the tale along with sound bytes and music clips in the Detroit News. Here’s Claptons take from the Times of London

“I’m not braggin babe so don’t put me down, but I’ve got the fastest set of wheels in town.” With that sentence, Brian Wilson and Roger Christian kicked off one of the most popular car songs of all time. Little Deuce Coupe was actually a B-Side, released on the flip of Surfer Girl in July of 1963, three months before WKMH became WKNR. Along with the album of the same name, Little Deuce Coupe cemented the Beach Boys’ reputation as THE hot rod band of the 60s. But none of this would have happened if Capitol Records had not tweaked Brian Wilson’s ire. That same summer, the Beach Boys’ label released a car compilation entitled “Shut Down” that featured the Boys’ single of the same name along with 409 and a host of other non-Beach Boy material. It happend without Brian Wilson’s involvement or approval and he immediately decided that the band should fire back with a hot rod album of their own. Brian, along with DJ Christian, polished the lyrics of a half dozen new car songs and the band rushed into the studio in September, recording 8 new automotive tinged tracks, tacking on the previously released Deuce Coupe, Our Car Club and Shut Down and topping off the production with Be True To Your School. The album was released in October, only 12 weeks after the Surfer Girl collection (with Little Deuce Coupe on board) hit the record stores. The single peaked nationally at number 4. Little Deuce Coupe, the LP, eventually went platinum and is still available today on CD, coupled with All Summer Long. The album is also notable as the last time we hear David Marks’ rhythm guitar. Al Jardine had returned during the Deuce Coupe sessions becoming Marks’ permanent replacement. It’s one of those Keener anomalies that while the Beach Boys charted 21 times on the station, “Be True To Your School” was the only tune from Deuce Coupe that made it to the WKNR Music Guide. There’s a Detroit connection to the iconic blue and white Deuce Coupe that’s featured on the album cover. Read Susan Whitall’s fascinating story for the details.

In April of 1968, Stephen Stills was fresh from the breakup of Buffalo Springfield and in the final throws of a romance with Judy Collins. After a late night session helping her record the sound track for “The Subject Was Roses”, Stills paid the studio engineer to hang around and unpacked his guitar. Keener13.com curator Scott Westerman tells what happened next.

He wrote musicals and hits for an eclectic mix of artists. His most popular, “For Once In My Life” was recorded over 270 times. Here’s the AP obit from the Detroit News.

In the summer of 1967 chaos broke out in the streets of Detroit. After five days of violence 43 were dead, thousands were injured and over 4000 people had been arrested. WKNR Contact News covered it all and chronicled the events in an album of news highlights released early in 1968. This summer, forty years later, Michigan Radio takes an in-depth look at the deadliest riot of the 1960s. Why did the riots begin? What fueled them? And, have we ever really recovered? Ashes to Hope: Overcoming the Detroit Riots will explore how the riots affected people, neighborhoods and even music. And will address questions such as: Whether it was truly a riot? Or, a rebellion? Is the white-flight that we see today in Detroit a consequence of the riots? Did the riots cripple the relationship between the state of Michigan and Detroit? And, could rioting happen again? In addition to Michigan Radio reporters, WKNR’s News Director Philip Nye contributes context to the story, along with Contact News air checks from the center of the storm. The program begins Tuesday evening, July 17th at 9:00 PM with an encore July 23rd at 3:00 PM. For more information, visit MichiganRadio.org

On July 3rd, The Frost’s Dick Wagner suffered what his website describes as a “massive heart attack”. Here’s more information, along with a blog post about his involvement with AliceCooper. The Frost Music?LP?spent seven weeks on the Keener album charts in May of 1969. Their superb single, Mystery Man, had a one week chart run on the AM side, but was an oft requested album cut on WKNR-FM. Hear it here.