50 Years Ago Today: “W.T” from Oak Park asked The Free Press action line, “Is there really a Wichita Lineman?”
The Glen Campbell tune, written by the Jimmy Webb in 1968 was a hit that fall, but still on the minds of Detroiters on February 8, 1969. Here’s their answer:
Yep. But he sings ”I’m a lineman for Kansas Gas and Electric.’· Sedgwick County (Wichita.) doesn’t hire guys to ride around singing songs and looking for electrical overloads. Wichita is the second city Jim Webb and Glen Campbell have spotlighted. “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” started it and there’s a big country to cover. Next will be “Galveston”.
Under The Covers: Back in the early days of rock and roll, it was a common practice to expropriate the work of others. Original artists, many African American, didn’t have the savvy or the money to protect their work. In time, that changed, but imitation of the originals is still the sincerest form of flattery. Sometimes “Cover Tunes” are better. Sometimes they are worse. Here are a few originals and some remakes we thing land on the cool side of the scale.
Originals:
Big Mama Thornton – Hound Dog (1952)
Richard Berry & the Pharaohs – Louie Louie (1957)
Remakes:
Rod Stewart – Day After Day (2006)
Huey Lewis & Gwyneth Paltrow – Cruisin (2000)
Eric Clapton – Layla – Acoustic (1982)
Quick Takes:
Long serving Michigan Congressman John Dingell passed away yesterday. In retirement, he became known for his candid, often acerbic tweets. Here are some of the best.
The Harvard Business Review’s argument for why you should work less and spend more time on hobbies. I argue that if you can find the right gig, hobby and career blur.
NY Cops are asking Waze to remove DUI Checkpoints from their maps. Not sure the drunks I’ve seen at record hops could change up their driving to avoid them.
Albert Finney 1936-2019.
Is it possible to live without Goggle & Amazon in our lives? We are linked at the hip to many of the tech giants who are selling what we reveal about ourselves to advertisers, the FBI and others. Here’s how one hacker tried to block the big boys without losing his Internet experience.
12 simple strategies all memorable brands use to leave a lasting impression. Via Canva.
How Tech disruption is like a cover tune. Via Jacobs Media.
This Date In History:
1942, Congress advises FDR that, Americans of Japanese descent should be locked up en masse so they wouldn’t oppose the US war effort.
1945, From our “I didn’t know that” department, Paul Brown agrees to coach the new American football expansion team in Cleveland, which would later be named The Cleveland Browns after their coach.
1964, On their first full day in New York, The Beatles (minus George who had a sore throat), went for a photo-opportunity walk around Central Park. Over 400 girl fans followed The Beatles and extra police were called in to control them. Later in the day The Ronettes interviewed The Beatles for radio.
1965, President Johnson deploys 1st US combat troops to South Vietnam, with 3500 marines sent to protect key US airbase near Da Nang.
1968, “Planet of the Apes” premieres in New York City.
1969 The Saturday Evening Post publishes it’s final edition. It was first printed in 1897.
1973, Max Yasgur died of a heart attack aged 53. He was the owner of the dairy farm in Bethel, New York that was home to the Woodstock Music and Art Fair was held in August 15 of 1969.
1976, “Taxi Driver” directed by Martin Scorsese, starring Robert De Niro and Jodie Foster, is released.
Happy Birthday to: Terry Melcher, 1942 (d. 2004); Creed Bratton (Grass Roots – The Office), 1943; Paul Wheatbread (Union Gap), 1946; England Dan Seals, 1948 (d. 2009); John Grisham, 1955
Much More Music:
1965, The Supremes release “Stop In the Name of Love”. The choreography for this song involved one hand on the hip and the other outstretched in a “stop” gesture. Paul Williams and Melvin Franklin of The Temptations taught the girls the routine backstage in London, before the Supremes’ first televised performance of the single on the Ready Steady Go! special “The Sound of Motown,” hosted by Motown enthusiast Dusty Springfield.[citation needed] They also performed the song on an episode of the ABC variety program Shindig! which aired on Wednesday, February 24, 1965. (Video)
1967, Peter (Asher) & Gordon (Waller) discontinue their singing partnership. Asher’s sister, Jane dated Paul McCartney between 1963 and 1968. He later became head of A&R for Apple Records, continuing his career as a recording executive in California, where he managed and produced Linda Ronstadt and James Taylor throughout the 1970s and 1980s.Their million sellers included “World Without Love”, “Nobody I Know”, “True Love Ways”, and “Lady Godiva”. The duo reunited later for a number of concert appearances until Waller’s death in 2009. (Video)
1990, Suffering from depression American singer songwriter Del Shannon died of self inflicted gunshot wounds. He scored the 1961 No.1 single ‘Runaway’, plus nine other Top 40 singles. In 1963, he became the first American to record a cover version of a song by the Beatles: his version of ‘From Me to You’ charted in the US before The Beatles’ version. Shannon had been working with Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne and was rumoured to be replacing Roy Orbison who had recently died, in the Traveling Wilburys supergroup. (Video)
Today’s Quote Worth Re-quoting: “Always forgive your enemies – nothing annoys them so much.” ~Oscar Wilde
Sometimes some of the best cover tunes are often done by the original artists. Up above, we presented Eric Clapton’s acoustic version of “Layla” as first heard on MTV’s “Unplugged”. We leave you with a rollicking remake of The Turtles‘ “Elenore“, as re-imagined by “Flo & Eddie“Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan, the two artists who were the band’s heart and soul. Turn this one up and tell me if you don’t agree that it supercharges your day.
