Thanks for all the hard work you do, Kent, to get this mail shot out so regularly, Just wish I'd found out about you before I did, but as they say. better late than never.Well done keep up the great work.
Take care,
Rockin' Lord Geoff (In England)
There are literally THOUSANDS of posts that folks discovering Forgotten Hits for the first time can still scroll back and read … both on the “Damn-Near Daily Blog” as well as the Archive site … and, with the built in search engine at the top, you can find what you’re looking for quickly. Each visit is guaranteed to open up a whole new viewing experience. (kk)
We’ve told you several times now about the Russian supergroup Leonid and Friends.
Their videos are all over YouTube featuring their INCREDIBLE covers of Chicago’s hits.
Well, now they’ve taken on The Ides Of March classic “Vehicle” … and it’ll blow you away!
From Jim Peterik himself …
Thanks to great folks like WGN radio icons Steve King and Johnnie Putman and Mark Hersh, a great photographer/ artist I met at the great One Of A Kind craft show at the Merchandise Mart in December, I was treated to dueling premiers of the Vehicle video by Russian Supergroup Leonid and Friends.
Mark told me about these friends of his back in December and Ron Onesti sings their praises as well. I loved their cover of 25 or 6 to 4.
But of course, now Vehicle is my hands down favorite - the most soulful and accurate cover I have ever heard, down to the note perfect rendition of my guitar solo. (Even Richie Sambora didn’t try to pull that off in the solo he did for the Bo Bice smash version!)
Here is a shot of Mark and I standing in front of one of his Chicago photo
mashups.
Thank you, Steve & Johnnie and Mark for sending this “soon to go viral” video on the 50th anniversary of our song’s release!”
Rock on!
Jimbo
I haven’t seen these guys yet but I hear they blow the doors off every time they play The Arcada Theatre. (They return again on June 27th for what is sure to be another sold-out show!)
Grab your tickets now … and then prepare to be blown away by this incredible group of musicians. (kk)
[Look for more Ides Of March info below]
Kent,
I happened upon a big Fire Fight Australia benefit concert on TV last night and was surprised to see Olivia Newton-John on stage singing with John Farnham and appearing quite healthy. By coincidence, I was listening to the Seventies on 7 on XM Radio this evening and the disc jockey reported that Olivia has stated she is cancer free. This is certainly good news for us ONJ fans. I/we were so lucky to see her great concert at the Genesee Theater! Thanks again for the tickets.
Bob Verbos
That concert earned our “Best Show Of The Year” award a few years back … she just keeps fighting back, no matter what the set-back may be.
The devastation to Australia and all the animals lost in these fires isn’t even measurable. I hope people will give to help rebuild their native habitat. Between this and the on-going CoronaVirus, the world is in a pretty sad state right now. We need to all pull together and make the world safe again. (Nearly 100,000 cases of infection have been confirmed worldwide … and I believe the total is CONSIDERABLY higher than that due to cases in China that have NOT been reported in the press … many well before the outbreak was made public. We need to DO something about this. Otherwise we’re wiping ourselves out with our own brand of chemical warfare!) kk
Hey, Kent -
I figured FH fans would dig these!
Ran across pictures of a 9/29/1965 Animals concert on a Facebook group page called Old Laurel (Mississippi) Memories, which gets credit for the pics. Wonder if Eric Burdon would remember the show? The Animals opened with “I’m Crying” (great song to begin a concert!) and closed with “House Of The Rising Sun.”
My now-wife attended that show. She was 13 and went with a friend and her friend’s cool mom. Check out the price of admission! The Laurel Civic Center only held about 3,000. Over the years Black Oak Arkansas, ZZ Top and many others played here at the Civic Center, which fell into disrepair, was demolished in the early 80’s and is now a downtown parking lot. Enjoy!
- Larry Cave
50yearsagoonthehot100.blogspot.com
VERY Cool, Larry … thanks for sharing! (kk)
>>>I love the Guess Who from Canada, our northern neighbor. However, I do have a problem with "American Woman." Sorry. I will say, though, that the guitar is very cool in the song. I can listen to it if I ignore the lyrics. (Sandy)
Coincidently, Ultimate Classic Rock ran a 50th Anniversary piece on “American Woman” the other day that included interviews with both Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings talking about the origins of this song.
The article explains:
The Guess Who can thank a bootlegger for their first-ever chart-topping Billboard single.
"American Woman" grew out of a loose jam session while on stage, as guitarist Randy Bachman played a riff while frontman Burton Cummings – who'd been ruminating on the differences between women in the U.S. and their native Canada – sang whatever came to mind.
They loved this embryonic idea, but likely had no hope of recreating it again in the studio. Then the band noticed someone out in the crowd with a recorder.
"We confiscated the tape from him and virtually learned 'American Woman' from the jam," Cummings told the Burlington County Times in 2017. "Had the events occurred differently, 'American Woman' would have been lost forever in the air of that night long ago."
Bachman broke a string during the show, held at a curling arena in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, and was tuning his guitar when the "American Woman" riff emerged. "Everybody's head snapped around," Bachman remembered in 2015.
"I said, 'Sing something.' The first thing [Cummings] sang was 'American woman.'"
The Guess Who continued working on "American Woman" for the next few shows, as all four members of the group – Cummings, Bachman, bassist Jim Kale and drummer Garry Patterson – earned songwriting credit. They recorded the song a couple of weeks later and then released it as a single in March 1970.
By then, "American Woman" had become a much bigger statement – about America, about the Vietnam War, and about their experiences while out on the road.
"It was never really meant to be political," Cummings told the Free Lance-Star in 2001. "It just came out that way. I had just made an observation that the girls in the states seemed to grow up faster, wore more makeup at an earlier age and were probably looser sexually than Canadian girls."
"No one sat down and wrote it to be like 'Eve of Destruction' or a Bob Dylan anti-war song," Bachman told the Free Lance-Star. The title "just happened to be a phonetic thing [Cummings] yelled out – none of us knew what it meant. Later, he put in stuff that meant something to us: 'The colored lights can hypnotize' was about Broadway, and we'd never seen a ghetto growing up in Winnipeg. The first we'd seen were in Georgia and Alabama. The poor part of the town we lived in was nothing like these shacks."
At the same time, the conflict overseas was an inescapable presence. "We would go into a town and there would be no young men our age," Bachman added. "They had all been drafted. It would be all girls at out concerts."
Some thought Cummings' American woman was the Statue of Liberty, others that he simply hated blondes. The band was forced to respond.
"The popular misconception was that it was a chauvinistic tune, which was anything but the case," Kale later argued. "After that one particularly grinding tour, it was just a real treat to go home and see the girls we had grown up with. Also, the war was going on, and that was terribly unpopular. We didn't have a draft system in Canada, and we were grateful for that. A lot of people called it anti-American, but it wasn't really. We weren't anti-anything."
None of it stopped "American Woman," which topped the Billboard charts in early May and remained there for three weeks. That made the Guess Who the first-ever Canadian band to reach No. 1. (Still not enough of a distinction to qualify them for The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, apparently. – kk) Ironically, the group was in the U.S. when they found out.
"The day we first heard about 'American Woman' was wonderful," Bachman told the Burlington County Times. "The four of us hugged and jumped and bounced on a bed in Milwaukee."
Incredibly, the song was still No. 1 when Randy Bachman played his last gig with the group on May 16, 1970 in New York City.
You can read the whole story here:
I can tell you this … “American Woman” will be one of the key tracks the two perform together when their reunion tour kicks off later this year. (Although the duo have several dates lined up for Canada in July, there are still no announced U.S. tour dates yet as far as I know … but we’ll keep you posted as this is my most highly anticipated concert of 2020!) I fully expect it to be either the kick-ass show-closer or the main encore feature. (Look for “Takin’ Care Of Business” to fall into this category, too!) It was The Guess Who’s biggest hit (by far), topping all three national charts in May of 1970. (kk)
Hi Kent ...
A couple of weeks ago you mentioned Billboard Magazine's top selling artists of all time. I hardly recognized the names. This information was compiled based on music sales, I believe. I am not sure what their current criteria is for reaching this conclusion. The reason these current artists have surpassed Elvis and the Beatles could be that there are more young people buying their music. I am wondering if Billboard's tabulation standards have been changed or skewed. I personally can’t tell the difference between a Jay Z and Big G or Beyoncé from Lil Kim and whoever.
Question ... How many of the songs and artists will have the staying power and be around for the next 50 or so years such as the artists that WE recognize as being the greatest of all time. Hmmm.
I will keep playing the music of those great artists for my grandkids that I grew up with.
Sandy
The latest Billboard list we ran was for the most Top 40 Hits … an unfair comparison to the charts compiled during our era where sales and airplay of released singles were measured. Today, kids can download any random tracks they choose, meaning that all 12 songs on the new Drake album, for example, all have the chance to make the chart … even if it’s just for a week or two when the album is first released. (It’s hardly the same criteria for measurement.)
In fact, airplay doesn’t even have anything to do with it anymore … as most of these tracks will never even be heard on the radio. (The argument there will be, “Yeah, well who listens to the radio anymore?” And, in the day of streaming, that’s becoming truer and truer for today’s kids downloading music … but again, just another reason why these stats should NOT be compared side by side.)
My beef isn’t with the way the charts are measured today … times change and a publication like Billboard needs to adapt to most accurately represent the music that is having the greatest impact at the time.
But by the same token there isn’t ANY publication that knows better than Billboard than to compare today’s charts with those of yesteryear … and they need to stop doing it!!! Compare today’s music against all music calculated the same way and leave it at that. Let the old charts stand as they are. Stop trying to rewrite history. (And PLEASE put Elvis’ first 26 hits back on the map!)
As for how much of today’s music will be remembered and revered fifty years from now, that’s anybody’s guess … but MY guess is that the music of the ‘60’s will outlive ALL of it … even fifty years from today. There simply is no comparison when it comes to melody and long-lasting appeal.
Will the grandparents of 2070 still be humming the tunes (? … key word “tunes”) of Lil Wayne and Nicki Minaj? Somehow I doubt it. (kk)
Been a while since I had made time here at work to head to the site and, as a result, wondered this morning what's new at FH so spent my first 90 minutes checking things out. Great stuff as usual - kudos, Kent!
I rarely am (or at least try not to be) self-serving but thought local readers might want to come to see a self-funded event the band is playing over in Morton Grove, where Bruce had his AmFam office for nearly a quarter century. NC6 only and adding some material we haven't done in decades and some, if ever. Plus, we are holding some sort of raffle of cool stuff that is to include an original hand-painted picture that even I have no clue on exactly what it will be but is being provided by noted portrait artist, Ron Steventon, and will be Colony related.
In addition, I have only TWO remaining tambourines from the last order I ever made --- way back in the late '60s --- and will donate one (albeit not hand-painted as the one auctioned a couple or more years ago for a benefit we did at the Arcada) --- but still, it is the second to last one left from "in the day."
We are writing a check to the American Legion and its amount will be based upon ticket sales so if we fill the room (and that will top out at only 175 folks), it will not only cover expenses but help our vet s... hopefully big time.
Anyway, the event takes place Friday, April 3rd, and will be an all ages performance. Hoping we might see you there and might make mention in a coming release.
Thanks, as always, for your unrelenting support of and love for us old guys. After my health fiasco last August, who knows how much longer NC6 can survive but, God willing, there will be a few more years of Cornerstones and at least the odd opportunity or six for the Colony to perform, but nothing is a given. Coincidentally, this concert occurs exactly SIX days following my 74th and my granddaughter, June Elizabeth Graffia's, #1 birthday. Be blessed as you continue to bless all of us who are "FHanatics"!
Ray
Sounds like a good cause … hopefully several of the “locals” on the list can turn out for this event (and see The New Colony Six in a rare full-length performance!!!) Looking forward to it. (kk)
I should also mention that The Cryan’ Shames have been added to the line-up at Ron Onesti’s new Club 210 out in Homewood, IL. They’ll be appearing on Sunday, May 17th.
The Ides Of March appear on March 14th (one day shy OF the Ides of March!) and Gerald McClendon (who we raved about after we saw him open for The Stylistics a few weeks ago) will be back on March 29th.
You’ll find a list of ALL upcoming shows here:
(We’ll be at The Ides Of March show at The City Winery tonight … with special guest Anthony Gomes) kk
And, speaking of The Ides, we got this message from FH Reader Steve Sarley …
I just saw something and I had to give you a call!
I’m driving east on the Eisenhower, right at 17th, and there’s one of those electronic video billboards over the expressway … and man, oh man, there’s a gigantic picture of Jim Peterik and the Ides of March … Jim, purple hair and all, and the writing says “The Ides Of March … April 18th, St. Joseph’s High School” and then “visit the website for more information” … and if that isn’t the coolest thing ever, seeing The Ides Of March about a hundred feet wide over rush hour traffic on the Eisenhower Expressway. I don’t know what’s cool if THAT isn’t cool!!!
Talk to you soon.
Love the work you’re doing … everything is wonderful
Steve
Special thanks to Carl Giammarese of The Buckinghams who invited us to be his guests at the completely sold out America concert at The Genesee Theatre this Friday Night.
This is going to be a night to remember ...
The Buckinghams are going to be doing an all-acoustic set, featuring Carl, Nick Fortuna and Dave Zane, bringing new dimension to their hits ... and helping to set the stage for the headliners, America. This is going to be a great show. Thanks for thinking of us, Carl! (kk)
Harvey Kubernik tells us about several 100th Birthday celebrations being held across the country to celebrate the life and music of Ravi Shankar.
More details here:
And are you ready for a brand new Jimi Hendrix documentary?
Our German Hendrix expert, Eckhard B, tell us about “Hendrix and the Spook” (2020) – a 1 hr 30 min documentary, drama, out 29 March 2020 in the UK spotlighting “The Last Hours Of Jimi Hendrix, Told By Those Who Shared His Life.”
And from Hendrix to Doo Wop … yep, we do this sort of thing ALL day long here in Forgotten Hits! (lol!)
Goldmine's 20 greatest doo-wop groups…
kk …
All of a sudden I feel another "JUKEBOX COUNTDOWN" coming on.
FB
What can you tell us about 'Eugene von Heitlinger'?
In the end credits of 'Guaridans of the Galaxy 2.' it says that ‘Lake Shore Drive’ was
written by him and not Skip Haynes, though performed by Aliotta, Haynes and Jeremiah.
Do you know the truth?
grrwaff
As far as I know … and have always known … “Lake Shore Drive” was written by Skip Haynes. (He even did a special feature with Forgotten Hits several years ago, tracing the origin of the tune.)
We received lots of comments and kudos after Skip’s story first appeared in Forgotten Hits in 2012 (Wow! Has it REALLY been that long ago already?!?!) …
Thanks so much for running the real story from Skip Haynes to clear up so many misconceptions about both the band and their best known song. I'll add a link to the Skip Haynes Part II segment on the "Lake Shore Drive" Songfacts page explaining that the comprehensive story can be found there. It's always great to hear from these guys and get their stories out there.
Another rumor I've heard floating around is that John Jeremiah from the band was the inspiration for the famous line "Jeremiah was a bullfrog," but some interviews with found with Hoyt Axton show that it was just something he made up.
Carl Wiser / Songfacts
I've seen that written many times, too, but to the best of my knowledge, Hoyt Axton never officially confirmed anything. John Jermiah DID, however, play in a bar band after Aliotta, Haynes and Jeremiah, called The Bull Frogs ... so who knows. (Then again, maybe we've all got it backwards ... perhaps John picked HIS band's name after the famous Hoyt Axton song!!!) kk
Great story by Skip Haynes regarding the true origins of 'Lake Shore Drive'. Like you, I always felt that I knew most of the story -- but Skip relates it in such an entertaining manner that it was a pleasure to hear it all again from this new perspective. (Who knew the band didn't really care for the song! Or that there were so many "happy coincidences" that helped bring it all to light!) A very interesting read.
Eddie
Hi Kent:
I always liked “Lake Shore Drive” and still do. It got some pretty decent airplay up here in Milwaukee in ’73 & ’75. Even more so in ’75 with the re-release of the 45. Interesting story, but leaves me with a bit of confusion. He says the song was recorded in 1972, which seems ok, but partly inspired by America’s “Lonely People” which is recorded in 1974. Seems a bit hazy there, but interesting anyway.
Ken
We got this one a few times ... check out the next two emails ...
Hey Kent,
Skip Haynes did a great job telling the story behind the classic Lake Shore Drive !
One question though ... Skip writes that the "musical inspiration" for the LSD came from "Mr. Bojangles" and America's "Lonely People". As far as "Lonely People," this couldn't be correct as that America song wasn't released until 1974, three years after Lake Shore Drive was written and released.
A minor point, but just thought I'd mention it for the record.
Dick Eastman
Antioch, IL
Kent,
I don’t mean to nitpick, but I do have to question one part of Skip Haynes's account of Lake Shore Drive. Haynes said the musical inspirations for this song were Jerry Jeff Walker’s Mister Bojangles and America’s Lonely People. I definitely hear the influence of Mister Bojangles, which is from 1968. But Lonely People was not recorded until April, 1974, so I doubt that it could have been in Haynes’s head in December of 1971. Nevertheless, it's a great story.
Dan Crabtree
I ran these emails past Skip Haynes to see if you could offer any kind of explanation / correction / clarification. Here's what I got back!!! (lol)
Hi Kent,
They're right ... Old drug injuries!
Remember, this was over 40 years ago and I wasn't paying attention - girls you know. Thank everybody concerned. Also, I didn't even know we got that kind of airplay in Milwaukee. Please thank Ken, Dick and Dan for me.
It's ony rock N' roll.
All the best -
Skip
Kent,
I LOVED the story on "Lake Shore Drive"!! I had no idea of all of the story and it fills a big void in my Chicago music knowledge. Now maybe you can get the story on TW4! They were the early incarnation of Styx and although no recordings have been released of this band, I am lucky enough to have heard some tracks recorded by TW4 and believe it or not, Styx took pieces of the TW4 songs and made some of these big parts of later Styx records!! Would love to hear the story of TW4 someday and why they Styx cut up parts of TW4 songs to make new songs for Styx instead of just rerecording the original, which are also quite good!
Clark Besch
Hi,
I am so happy to hear the story of how "Lake Shore Drive" came to be. My husband is the "oldies" nut, but he shows me your site when it's something I care about. I can't remember when I first heard this song as we live in Milwaukee, but it was probably in the mid-90's on Chicago radio somehow. It caught my attention from the first note and we looked hard to find out WHO and WHAT it was! A little research and we had our answers. Years later, I purchased a compilation of all Chicago-themed songs just to get "Lake Shore Drive". And funny, I was a big Jerry Jeff Walker fan in the late 70's so maybe that's why this song speaks to my heart. I never tire of it, and it can improve my mood instantly. In fact, for one of my birthdays, my husband Bob had our local oldies station play the song for me! I still have the (cassette!) tape of that intro and the song. So Lake Shore Drive will never be forgotten around here!
Thanks for all the good you do,
Barb Verbos
Great story! Thanks, Barb! (Hey, and you can check the site out once in a while on your own, too!!! We won't mind!!! lol) kk
That was just theeee best story about `Lake Shore Drive` ...
Thank you, Skip Haynes ... Thank you Kent ...
I’ve been to Paragon and it was the best studio in Chicago ...
I remember being impressed by all the sexy `Ohio Players’ record covers on the walls going up the stairs to the 3rd floor.
R.
Tampa Bay
Kent;
I want to congratulate you and all involved in The Story Behind "Lake Shore Drive" (Part Two) . What a great song and well written story. While our tastes often vary, this just knocked my socks off.
Reading all the details enhanced the song for me. What a trip! Strange that I don't recall ever hearing it before. My how the music business has changed. This should have been a national top ten record.
Amazing how it all came together and yes, the piano and strings were superb.
This is one song I wish I had for my own and hope the album had some additional gems on it.
Brilliant piece, thanks to all for sharing.
bdpoe
Orlando, FL
"Lake Shore Drive" caught on in every city that had one ... and, apparently there are HUNDREDS spread out across The United States, making this a very "relatable" song when it was first released (and grew in legend on the more progressive FM band.) The long-suspected drug reference kept it off most of the mainstream AM stations ... but this was PERFECT FM fare for this day and age. Great to see that new folks are still discovering this now classic tune. (kk)
Unfortunately, all three members of Aliotta, Haynes and Jeremiah are gone now … so there’s really nobody we can ask. (Ironically, Skip died in 2017, about the same time all of these posts started showing up on the internet … so I have to admit to being just a bit suspicious here.)
Skip told me that when he was invited to perform as part of the Cornerstones Of Rock PBS broadcast, that was the first time … in ALL these years … that he had ever played “Lake Shore Drive” WITH the violin accompaniment. (Now how cool is THAT?!?)
So, I dug a little bit deeper … and found THIS in Skip’s official obituary published in The Chicago Sun Times … which now explains it all!!!
Mr. Haynes was born Eugene Heitlinger, but a club manager told him early in his career there wasn’t enough room on the marquee for that. His grandfather called him Skippy, so he decided to take the name Skip Haynes.
So there you go … mystery solved. (My guess is that everything was reverted back to his real name so that future royalties could continue to go to his family after his passing.)
You had me stumped there for a minute … and more than a little concerned. (kk)
Ultimate Classic Rock is reporting that Genesis will announce today that they will be reuniting for the first time in 13 years … a UK tour is planned (and hopefully a new album will follow.)
And they are also announcing a Hollies US tour set to kick off in July (with a stop here in Chicago on July 18th at The Chicago Theatre)
Unfortunately, the only two original members involved are Guitarist Tony Hicks and Drummer Bobby Elliott. (No Allan Clarke, who is supposed to be releasing a brand new solo album any day now, Graham Nash, who’s been doing a number of solo shows of late … and not even Terry Sylvester, who seems to have picked up the reigns of late in an effort to keep the memory of The Hollies’ music alive.)
Instead, the band will be rounded out by bassist Ray Stiles, keyboardist Ian Parker, lead singer and guitarist Peter Howarth and guitarist Steve Lauri.
I’ve got mixed emotions about this one … the key to The Hollies’ sound was always those impeccable harmonies … and I’m just not sure how these other fill-ins are going to keep that image alive.
Still, I’ve never seen The Hollies is ANY capacity, so I hate the idea of missing what is likely the closest we’ll EVER come to any type of real Hollies reunion again. (Time will tell if we gamble on this one or not!) kk
Meanwhile, here is their US tour schedule:
July 8 - Saratoga, CA @ The Mountain Winery
July 10 - Los Angeles, CA @ Saban Theater
July 11 - Las Vegas, NV @ The Smith Center for the Performing Arts
July 12 - Phoenix, AZ @ Celebrity Theatre
July 14 - San Antonio, TX @ The Tobin Center - HEB Hall
July 15 - Irving, TX @ The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory
July 16 - Austin, TX @ The Paramount Theatre
July 18 - Chicago, IL @ The Chicago Theatre
July 19 - Huber Heights, OH @ Rose Music Center at The Heights
July 21 - Washington, D.C. @ Kennedy Center Concert Hall
July 23 - Red Bank, NJ @ Count Basie Center for the Arts
July 24 - Morristown, NJ @ Mayo Performing Arts Center
July 25 - Mashantucket, CT @ The Fox Theater at Foxwoods Resort Casino
July 26 - Boston, MA @ The Wilbur
Where have all the good times gone …?
The Smothers Brothers Comedy …
Gruß
Eckhard B.
