Podcasts about The Shirelles

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The Shirelles

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Best podcasts about The Shirelles

Latest podcast episodes about The Shirelles

Reel Dealz Movies and Music thru the Decades Podcast
SPOTLIGHT SERIES-MUSIC-"GIRL GROUPS"- SHIRELLES & CHIFFONS

Reel Dealz Movies and Music thru the Decades Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 27, 2026 63:09


Send us a textOn this Episode Tom and Bert continue  "The Spotlight Series" on entertainment influencers thru the decades!There are Stories to tell and the Guys will cover and discuss the beginnings and the careers of some of the greatest influencers throughout ALL of the entertainment industry.Today's Podcast will cover 2 Legends of the Music scene from the 1960's that led the way for the "Girl Groups" era. These are 2 iconic Groups from the 1960's era. We present ........The Shirelles and The Chiffons!Listen in as we cover and discuss these music pioneers.CHAPTERS:(1:07) Shirelles!These 16 and 17 year old high school Girls from Passaic, New Jersey took the rock n roll "Girls Groups" moniker and ran with it!  With big time Chart Busting Hits like, "Will You Love me Tomorrow", "Baby It's You", "Mama Said" and "Soldier Boy"  these Girls were a sensation back in the 1960's. Listen to their incredible journey through the World of Music! (41:31) Chiffons!These 13 to 15 year old  high school Girls from the Bronx in New York , had short career but they had 3 knockout songs. "He's so Fine", "One Fine Day" and "Sweet Talkin' Guy" were all top 10 Chart Hits. Get on board for a ride with The Chiffons!Enjoy the Show!You can email us at reeldealzmoviesandmusic@gmail.com or visit our Facebook page, Reel Dealz Podcast: Movies & Music Thru The Decades to leave comments and/or TEXT us at 843-855-1704 as well.

That Driving Beat
Episode 388: You Betta Be Sure

That Driving Beat

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 23, 2025 119:40


It's almost Christmas, but there's no Christmas music on this episode. It's just business-as-usual 1960s (and a few 50s and 70s) upbeat soul and R&B dancers on vinyl 45s! The Shirelles, Bertha Tillman, B.B. King, Jackie Shane, Lou Johnson, Jackie Wilson, Bobby Bland, Maxine Brown, and more! Anybody know who Wade and Jamie were? -Originally broadcast December 21, 2025- Willie Mitchell / That Driving BeatThe Shirelles / Too Much of a Good ThingBarbara Mason / You Got What It TakesThe Romancers / What About LoveSuzy & The Copycats / No Other Love (Like Yours)Bertha Tillman / Lovin' TimeThe Duvals / What Am I?Little Johnny Taylor / You Win, I LoseDimples Harris / If You'll Be TrueB.B. King / I'd Rather Drink Muddy WaterJimmy Smith / Got My Mojo Workin' (Part 1)The Rustix / When I Get HomePeggy Scott & Jo Jo Benson / Lover's HolidayThe Casualeers / You Betta Be SureThe Pat Rebillot Exchange / Oh Happy DayJackie Shane / Stand Up Straight and TallLou Johnson / If I Never Get to Love YouVerdelle Smith / Walk TallThe Goodees / Condition RedThe Temptations / You've Got to Earn ItThe Platters / Sweet, Sweet Lovin'Al Haskins and the Mastertones / You Got MeRalph Lamar / What I Never Had I'll Never MissThe O'Jays / Looky Looky (Look at Me Girl)Bobby Harris / Password Is LoveJackie Wilson / Nothing But Blue SkiesPeter Jarett & The Fifth Circle / Run Baby, Baby RunBobby Bland / A Piece of GoldThe Uniques featuring Joe Stampley / Not Too Long AgoMitch Ryder / Blessing In DisguiseHoward Tate / Half a ManChris Kenner / Come Back and SeeAndy & The Marglows / Superman LoverSoul Sisters / I Can't Stand ItWade and Jamie / Don't Put Off 'Till TomorrowMaxine Brown / I Don't Need You No MoreLee Dorsey / Do-Re-MiErnie K-Doe / Real ManRufus & Carla Thomas / We're TightSoul Partners / Lose The One You LoveJames Duncan / Mr. Goodtime Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Pitcher List Baseball Podcasts

Ellen Adair and Eric Gilde discuss the 2001 film "61*." They introduce the film (1:10), with an overview of the story, the cast, and filmmakers, and review the 20-80 baseball scouting grades for rating the film, with a new metaphor (5:51). In Amount of Baseball (14:41), they discuss the use of actual Mark McGwire footage, the strength of this tool throughout, and the impact of the authenticity. There is a player comp. Baseball Accuracy (20:39) starts off with discussion of Billy Crystal as Mantle's friend and "Rain Man" on set, and then delves into the history, talking about Ford Frick, Fay Vincent, and the asterisk itself, Roger Maris and Babe Ruth plate appearances, Maris and Mantle's relationship with the press, Pascual or Ramos, the imbalanced AL/NL in 1961, Babe Ruth breaking Ned Williamson's record, Maris trade rumors, Mantle running to first in three seconds, Joe DiMaggio Jerk-o-meter, Moose Skowron, Elston Howard, Billy Martin escapades, Maris signing an X on a ball, Rogers Hornsby, Casey Stengel and Mantle, the slick nickname, Mantle's arm injury, Hoyt Wilhelm and Tom Candiotti. Storytelling (54:16) considers everything added by the inclusion of the McGwire framing device, the function of Claire Ruth and Pat Maris in the story, the opening day scene, and the handling of exposition. There are a few small instances of Shakespearing. The scouts discuss the nuanced depiction of male friendship, the character of the media, the character of Bob Cerv, and the cinematography and lighting. The Score Tool (1:24:53) discusses the main theme, the volume of the score, and songs by The Ventures, Bobby Darin, and the Shirelles. Why TF is there a Lyle Lovett song? Acting (1:31:20) pretty much worships Barry Pepper, Thomas Jane, Bruce McGill, Michael Nouri, Richard Masur, Peter Jacobson, Seymour Cassel, Chris Bauer, Anthony Michael Hall, Christopher McDonald and Joe Grifasi, plus the rest of the ensemble. Delightfulness of Catcher (1:51:17) considers 17% of Yogi Berra and not enough Elston Howard. Delightfulness of Announcer (1:52:44) revels in both the accuracy and the high delight of the depictions of Phil Rizzuto, with all of his Rizzuto catchphrases and digressions, and Mel Allen trying to reign him in. Ellen has a (Rizzuto-esque?) digression into a comparison with "Eight Men Out." In Lack of Misogyny (1:59:51), they discuss Mantle's womanizing, and how it's tempered with Maris's point of view, consideration of Pat's perspective, and the existence of female fans. No spoilers on the following segments: Yes or No (2:04:31), Six Degrees of Baseball (2:07:28), Favorite Moment (2:08:09) Least Favorite Moment (2:11:04), Scene We Would Have Liked to See (2:12:52), Dreamiest Player (2:15:49), Favorite Performance (2:16:30), and Next Time (2:19:05).  Join Our Discord & Support The Show: PL+ | PL Pro - Get 15% off Yearly with code PODCASTProud member of the Pitcher List Fantasy Baseball Podcast Network Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Sound Flave
John Lennon-Nobody Told Me 11:20:25 1.54 PM

Sound Flave

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 20, 2025 2:17 Transcription Available


Story by: Gail NoblesKeyboardist: Gail NoblesPhoto: Wikipedia Public DomainHey there, music lovers! Let's talk about a fantastic track called "Nobody Told Me" by the legendary John Lennon. This hit had quite a journey, climbing its way to the top of the charts. In January 1984, it made a splash in the UK, peaking at number 6, and in the US, it hit number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was Lennon's last brand-new single to break into the top 10 before he left us, and that makes it extra special!The song features some memorable lines: "Nobody told me there'd be days like these / Strange days indeed / Most peculiar, mama." These words twist the old saying, "My mama told me there'd be days like this," which is famously sung by The Shirelles in "Mama Said." While the Shirelles gave us a sense of warning about life's ups and downs, Lennon flips it around, expressing surprise at how unpredictable life can be.So, if you haven't given "Nobody Told Me" a listen, do yourself a favor and check it out. It's a catchy, thought-provoking tune that reminds us of the surprises life throws our way, all delivered in Lennon's unmistakable style.I'm Gail Nobles. Thank you for listening to Sound Flave!Music and Melody

Whole 'Nuther Thing
Episode 979: Whole 'Nuther Thing November 1, 2025

Whole 'Nuther Thing

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 2, 2025 119:09


Today's program features tuneage from Zephyr, Moby Grape, Bob Dylan, Traffic, Spirit, Jefferson Starship, Grateful Dead, Small Faces, Simon & Garfunkel, Yes, The Who, Larry Coryell, John McLaughlin, Jeff Beck, Van Morrison, Laura Nyro, Johnny Rivers, Curtis Lee, The Shirelles, Dion, Del Shannon, Lesley Gore and Lee Michaels.

Books Podcast
Tom Doyle – Ringo: A Fab Life

Books Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 26, 2025 52:34


In the 70's, he was a happy drunk … by the 80's, he was just miserable! It is 1962. Ritchie Starkey – better known by his stage name of Ringo Starr – is widely acknowledged as the best drummer in Liverpool. His current gig is with Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He evenhas a featured star slot singing the old Shirelles number ‘Boys'. He is a professional musician. Then two scruffy Beatles turn up and invite him to jump ship and join them. Ringo's response: Well, I've got this gig here at Butlins with Rory for the summer season; I can't just drop everything and leave them in the lurch. … Continue reading →

Word Podcast
The Zombies' Colin Blunstone – a psychedelic showpiece then ‘washed up' aged 21

Word Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 17, 2025 36:59


The Zombies formed before the Stones and had huge hits with She's Not There and Time Of The Season. Their baroque masterpiece Odessey and Oracle now gets ranked beside Revolver and Pet Sounds. Colin Blunstone has a solo tour in 2026 and looks back here in his wood-panelled den at the first shows he played, the people he met and being No 1 in America aged 19. This too … … when your career starts at 16 “and you think it's over at 21” … seeing the Beatles at Luton Odeon and the Stones at Studio 51 Leicester Square “sitting on stools playing acoustic R&B” … winning the talent contest that got them a record deal and a worldwide hit with “the third song Rod ever wrote” … playing Murray the K's Christmas Show when No 1 in America with “all our heroes” - the Shirelles, Patti LaBelle and Ben E King … his father's warning when he wanted to go to Art School … the misspelling of Odessey And Oracle and its rushed recording at Abbey Road – “in mono when everyone wanted stereo!” … “only Kenny Everett and Penny Valentine liked it”: the album's afterlife, “now ranked alongside Revolver and Pet Sounds” … how he still hits “my suicidal top notes” and the old trick of pointing the mic at the audience if you don't want to sing them … life in an insurance office when the Zombies split and “the three writers had made all the money” … and Al Kooper, Denny Laine, Russ Ballard, Rod Argent and the time Mike Hurst inexplicably relaunched him as ‘Neil MacArthur'. Order tickets for the Believe In Miracles Tour here: https://www.colinblunstone.net/Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Word In Your Ear
The Zombies' Colin Blunstone – a psychedelic showpiece then ‘washed up' aged 21

Word In Your Ear

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 17, 2025 36:59


The Zombies formed before the Stones and had huge hits with She's Not There and Time Of The Season. Their baroque masterpiece Odessey and Oracle now gets ranked beside Revolver and Pet Sounds. Colin Blunstone has a solo tour in 2026 and looks back here in his wood-panelled den at the first shows he played, the people he met and being No 1 in America aged 19. This too … … when your career starts at 16 “and you think it's over at 21” … seeing the Beatles at Luton Odeon and the Stones at Studio 51 Leicester Square “sitting on stools playing acoustic R&B” … winning the talent contest that got them a record deal and a worldwide hit with “the third song Rod ever wrote” … playing Murray the K's Christmas Show when No 1 in America with “all our heroes” - the Shirelles, Patti LaBelle and Ben E King … his father's warning when he wanted to go to Art School … the misspelling of Odessey And Oracle and its rushed recording at Abbey Road – “in mono when everyone wanted stereo!” … “only Kenny Everett and Penny Valentine liked it”: the album's afterlife, “now ranked alongside Revolver and Pet Sounds” … how he still hits “my suicidal top notes” and the old trick of pointing the mic at the audience if you don't want to sing them … life in an insurance office when the Zombies split and “the three writers had made all the money” … and Al Kooper, Denny Laine, Russ Ballard, Rod Argent and the time Mike Hurst inexplicably relaunched him as ‘Neil MacArthur'. Order tickets for the Believe In Miracles Tour here: https://www.colinblunstone.net/Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Word In Your Ear
The Zombies' Colin Blunstone – a psychedelic showpiece then ‘washed up' aged 21

Word In Your Ear

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 17, 2025 36:59


The Zombies formed before the Stones and had huge hits with She's Not There and Time Of The Season. Their baroque masterpiece Odessey and Oracle now gets ranked beside Revolver and Pet Sounds. Colin Blunstone has a solo tour in 2026 and looks back here in his wood-panelled den at the first shows he played, the people he met and being No 1 in America aged 19. This too … … when your career starts at 16 “and you think it's over at 21” … seeing the Beatles at Luton Odeon and the Stones at Studio 51 Leicester Square “sitting on stools playing acoustic R&B” … winning the talent contest that got them a record deal and a worldwide hit with “the third song Rod ever wrote” … playing Murray the K's Christmas Show when No 1 in America with “all our heroes” - the Shirelles, Patti LaBelle and Ben E King … his father's warning when he wanted to go to Art School … the misspelling of Odessey And Oracle and its rushed recording at Abbey Road – “in mono when everyone wanted stereo!” … “only Kenny Everett and Penny Valentine liked it”: the album's afterlife, “now ranked alongside Revolver and Pet Sounds” … how he still hits “my suicidal top notes” and the old trick of pointing the mic at the audience if you don't want to sing them … life in an insurance office when the Zombies split and “the three writers had made all the money” … and Al Kooper, Denny Laine, Russ Ballard, Rod Argent and the time Mike Hurst inexplicably relaunched him as ‘Neil MacArthur'. Order tickets for the Believe In Miracles Tour here: https://www.colinblunstone.net/Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Music in Me
R&B Girl Groups – Queens of Harmony and Soul

The Music in Me

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 8, 2025 19:35


In this episode of The Music in Me, I'm diving into the unforgettable world of R&B girl groups, the queens of harmony, style, and attitude. From the groundbreaking elegance of The Supremes to the fierce anthems of Destiny's Child, the edgy swagger of TLC, and the fresh vibes of Chloe x Halle, we're celebrating the voices that defined eras, broke records, and gave us songs we still can't stop singing. I'll share the history, the fashion, the cultural impact, and some fun, little-known facts that might surprise even the biggest fans. Whether you grew up dancing in your bedroom to 90s hits or are discovering these legendary groups for the first time, this episode is all about sisterhood, empowerment, and music that sticks with you for a lifetime.GROUPS AND SONGS MENTIONED...The Shirelles"Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow"The Ronettes"Be My Baby"Martha and the Vandellas"Dancing in the Street"The Supremes"Stop! In the Name of Love""You Can't Hurry Love"En Vogue"Free Your Mind""Don't Let Go (Love)"SVW - Sisters With Voices"Weak"TLC"Waterfalls""No Scrubs"Xscape"Just Kickin' It""Who Can I Run To"Destiny's Child"Say My Name""Survivor""Bootylicious"3LW"Playas Gon' Play""No More (Baby I'ma Do Right"Danity Kane"Show Stopper"Chloe x Halle"Do It"From Lullabies to Giggles: Songs for Little Ears Episode 86What did you think of this episode? Support the showKeep listening, keep grooving, and let the music in you continue to shine. Thank you, and see you soon!CONTACT TERI:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/terirosborg/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/teri.rosborgYouTube: The Music in MeTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@terirosborgPodcast Facebook Page: The Music in Me Podcast Facebook pageTHEME SONG BY: Hayley GremardINTRODUCTION BY: Gavin Bruno

Deeper Roots Radio Podcast
Episode 30: Sixties Songbirds

Deeper Roots Radio Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 19, 2025 118:49


From the cool and sultry lounge sounds smothered in smoke to the soul venues that celebrated love and all its pitfalls, we bring you the songbirds this week. We'll be exploring vocalists, known and unknown, that delivered the goods in the first few years of the 1960s. Rock ‘n roll was finding its foothold at the same time as soul music was beginning to bust out in a big way. You'll be hearing some you know and some you don't in this week's Deeper Roots. Yeah, we've got The Chordettes, Brenda Lee and The Shirelles but we've also got some very special gems from Helen Shapiro, Judy Thomas, Kitty Ford and Betty O'Brian this week. We'll run a chronological marathon from 1960 to 1963, ignoring the genre guardrails as we make our way along. Hope you can join in on the fun.

We Will Rank You
The Quarrelmen Beatles podcast debut! Please Please Me ranked at Abbey Road Studios

We Will Rank You

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 17, 2025 63:39


Adam: You may have heard me talking here a couple of weeks ago about the Quarrelmen Beatles miniseries I'm doing. It's my birthday so I'm birthing it everywhere you get your podcasts plus I'm putting the first episode here too to tempt you into subscribing. You're not gonna be able to resist after hearing this episode that we did at none other than Abbey Road Studios when my band Stones n Roses was on tour there back in 2021. I told the other We Will Rank You hosts I'd have all the Beatles albums ranked within a year. Four years later, I've only recorded about half of them but here they come!  You're not going to see any more episodes here until the one where all four OG hosts ranked- Well I'm not telling you which one. You'll have to wait and see and if you want to hear Jim and I rank an album in Liverpool, you'll just have to figure out how to spell Quarrelmen and go subscribe, won't you? WON'T you? We're on Facebook, Instagram and Threads too so do the thing. Breaking up the band to start a solo career? Nah but, for now, here's the Fab Four…. THE QUARRELMEN PODCAST #1Please Please Me ranked at Abbey RoadWhat's your most loved and least favorite song on the first Beatles album?! One, two, three, FAH! The Quarrelmen Beatles podcast miniseries kicks off with England's own Richard Merrett (Airhead/the Wilsons) and his young sons Frank and George Merrett ranking Please Please Me in the most famous studio in the world.  Recorded back in 2021 at the end of the last Stones n' Roses UK tour, the California band recorded a version of "Revolution 9" with 1960s microphones used by "the boys" and Beatles Anthology, Rock Band and Love engineer Chris Bolster with Joe Wyatt (now Giles Martin's assistant). After a quick photoshoot of the band walking across THE street, singer Adam Gimbel welcomed the Merretts into the cozy Gatehouse studio to record the very first episode of the Quarrelmen. He had no idea it would be four busy, crazy years before the world would hear it. The kids are now senior citizens. The results are, quite simply, the most endearing Beatles podcast episode ever immortalized at Abbey Road....or anywhere else. Decades of fandom and childlike wonder collide with memories and a ranking of least and most favorites on the 1963 classic debut. Listen at QuarrelmenPod.com, Apple, Spotify and...a place.Follow us and weigh in with your favorites on Facebook, Instagram & Threads @quarrelmenpod.SPOILERS/FILE UNDER:Abbey Road, Airhead, Arthur Alexander, Anna (Go to Him), Ask Me Why, Baby It's You, Burt Bacharach, the Beatles, Chris Bolster, Boys, Cavern Club, Chains, coffee, the Cookies, debut, Do You Want to Know a Secret, EMI, England, Adam Gimbel, harmonica, George Harrison, I Saw Her Standing There, Isley Brothers, Carol King, John Lennon, Liverpool, London, Love Me Do, George Martin, Paul McCartney, Frank Merrett, George Merrett, Richard Merrett, Misery, Nirvana, Roy Orbison, piano, Please Please Me, Pretty Green, P.S. I Love You, Revolution 9, Ride, sha la la la la, The Shirelles, Ringo Starr, Stones n Roses, A Taste of Honey, There's a Place, Twist and Shout, Andy White, the Wilsons, Joe Wyatt, zoos, 1963.US: http://www.QuarrelmenPod.comhttp://www.WeWillRankYouPod.com wewillrankyoupod@gmail.comNEW! Host tips: Venmo @wewillrankyoupodhttp://www.facebook.com/QuarrelmenPodhttp://www.instagram.com/QuarrelmenPodhttps://www.threads.net/@QuarrelmenPodhttp://www.StonesnRoses.comhttp://www.AbbeyRoad.com

Rock's Backpages
E209: David Nathan on Dionne Warwick + the Bee Gees + Michael Lydon R.I.P.

Rock's Backpages

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 26, 2025 79:27


In this episode we invite David Nathan to look back on his illustrious 60 years as "the British Ambassador of Soul". Our guest commences by recalling his gateway into Black American music: the covers of Shirelles and Miracles classics included on the first two Beatles albums. He furthermore describes the thrill of seeing Motown star Mary Wells supporting the Fab Four at Kilburn's State Cinema in October 1964, followed by his founding of the Nina Simone Appreciation Society. We hear about the Soul City record store David ran with the legendary Dave Godin – and about John Abbey's trailblazing Blues & Soul magazine, for which our guest began writing in 1968. Barney quotes from David's 1968 B&S profile of Aretha Franklin, with whom he later enjoyed a long friendship. The release of Make It Easy on Yourself – a box set David compiled of Dionne Warwick's immortal Scepter recordings – is the cue for us to hear clips from his 2012 audio interview with the Bacharach & David muse... and to learn about another "soulful diva" who became his close friend. We bring our guest's story more up-to-date with his reflections on yet another diva/pal, the one and only Chaka Khan. Mention of the former Rufus frontwoman's favourite producer, Arif Mardin, leads to discussion of Main Course, the Mardin-helmed album on which the Bee Gees "went disco" 50 long summers ago. David then reminisces about his own disco dalliances in '70s New York and his mid-'80s coastal switch to L.A.  We wrap up by paying tribute to another key white writer on Black R&B and soul: the late Michael Lydon, whose voice can be heard in this episode introducing his fabulous 1977 audio interview with the wicked Wilson Pickett. Mark and Jasper talk us out with their thoughts on (and quotes from) pieces recently added to the RBP library, including Jim Farber's 1978 interview with Earth, Wind & Fire's Maurice White and Ian Winwood's 2001 trashing of Creed live in Louisville. Many thanks to special guest David Nathan. Visit his website at davidnathan.com. Dionne Warwick: Make It Easy On Yourself – The Scepter Recordings 1962-1971 is out now on SoulMusic Records. Pieces discussed: Aretha Franklin: Aretha's Artistry, Dionne Warwick (2012), Chaka Khan: Back...From Back In The Day, Back on course with the Bee Gees, How the Bee Gees got into Disco: An Oral History of Main Course, Arif Mardin: Producer, Wilson Pickett (1977), Return of the Wicked Pickett, Top Tunes: The Beach Boys, Bobby Womack: Bobby's got Understanding, Earth Wind & Fire: Extraterrestrial R&B, Creed live and From Kingston with love.

Trax FM Wicked Music For Wicked People
Relax With Rendell Show Replay On Trax FM & Rendell Radio - 2nd August 2025

Trax FM Wicked Music For Wicked People

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 2, 2025 119:52


**It's The Relax With Rendell Show Replay On Trax FM & Rendell Radio. Rendell Featured Soul & Boogie/Rare Groove/80's & 70's Grooves/Easy Listening Cuts From Turee Ft Paula Gill, Supremes, Shirelles, Roz Ryan, Pleasure Sekkers, Patti Austin, Marc Reed, Khemistry, Gonzalez, Doni Hagen, Brenda Russell, Affair & More. #originalpirates #soulmusic #disco #reggae #raregroove #easylistening #boogiefunk Catch Rendell Every Saturday From 8PM UK Time On www.traxfm.org The Stations: Trax FM & Rendell Radio Listen Live Here Via The Trax FM Player: chat.traxfm.org/player/index.html Mixcloud LIVE :mixcloud.com/live/traxfm Free Trax FM Android App: play.google.com/store/apps/det...mradio.ba.a6bcb The Trax FM Facebook Page : https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100092342916738 Trax FM Live On Hear This: hearthis.at/k8bdngt4/live Tunerr: tunerr.co/radio/Trax-FM Radio Garden: Trax FM Link: http://radio.garden/listen/trax-fm/IEnsCj55 OnLine Radio Box: onlineradiobox.com/uk/trax/?cs...cs=uk.traxRadio Radio Deck: radiodeck.com/radio/5a09e2de87...7e3370db06d44dc Radio.Net: traxfmlondon.radio.net Stream Radio : streema.com/radios/Trax_FM..The_Originals Live Online Radio: liveonlineradio.net/english/tr...ax-fm-103-3.htm**

History & Factoids about today
June 10-Iced Tea, Hattie McDaniel, Howlin' Wolf, Judy Garland, The Shirelles, Elizabeth Hurley, Faith Evans

History & Factoids about today

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 10, 2025 13:52


National Iced Tea day.  Entertainment from 1982.  Benjamin Franklin flew his kite with the key tied to it, Loud Parrot interupts Andrew Jacksons funeral, Lidice Massacre.  Todays birthdays - Hattie McDaniel, Howlin' Wolf, Judy Garland, Shirley Owens, Randee Heller, Elizabeth Hurley, Faith Evans, DJ Qualls, Leelee Sobieski.  Ray Charles died.Intro - God did good - Dianna Corcoran   https://www.diannacorcoran.com/ Big ol sweet iced tea - Anita RenfroeHold on - Wilson PhillipsLove without end amen - George StraitBirthdays - In da club - 50 Cent    http://50cent.com/Smokestack lightning - Howlin' WolfSomewhere under the rainbow - Judy GarlandWill you still love me tomorrow - The ShirellesNever gonna let you go - Faith EvansHit the road jack - Ray CharlesExit - Famous - Elyse Saunders   https://www.elysesaunders.com/cooolmedia.comcountryundergroundradio.com

La Gran Travesía
Cosecha de 1959.

La Gran Travesía

Play Episode Listen Later May 30, 2025 119:14


Hoy en La Gran Travesía viajamos hasta el año 1959 en un programa donde podréis escuchar a Buddy Holly, Ray Charles, Isley Brothers, The Shirelles, Lloyd Price, Link Wray, Eddie Cochran, Barrett Strong, Elvis Presley, Dion and the Belmonts, Chuck Berry, Nina Simone, Billie Holiday... entre muchos otros. También recordaros que ya podéis comprar La gran travesía del rock, un libro interactivo que además contará con 15 programas de radio complementarios, a modo de ficción sonora... con muchas sorpresas y voces conocidas... https://www.ivoox.com/gran-travesia-del-rock-capitulos-del-libro_bk_list_10998115_1.html Jimi y Janis, dos periodistas musicales, vienen de 2027, un mundo distópico y delirante donde el reguetón tiene (casi) todo el poder... pero ellos dos, deciden alistarse al GLP para viajar en el tiempo, salvar el rock, rescatar sus archivos ocultos y combatir la dictadura troyana del FPR. ✨ El libro ya está en diversas webs, en todostuslibros.com Amazon, Fnac y también en La Montaña Mágica, por ejemplo https://www.amazon.es/GRAN-TRAVES%C3%8DA-DEL-ROCK-autoestopista/dp/8419924938 ▶️ Y ya sabéis, si os gusta el programa y os apetece, podéis apoyarnos y colaborar con nosotros por el simple precio de una cerveza al mes, desde el botón azul de iVoox, y así, además podéis acceder a todo el archivo histórico exclusivo. Muchas gracias también a todos los mecenas y patrocinadores por vuestro apoyo: Gin1975, Alberto Velasco, Poncho C, Don T, Francisco Quintana, Gastón Nicora, Con,, Dotakon, Tete García, Jose Angel Tremiño, Marco Landeta Vacas, Oscar García Muñoz, Raquel Parrondo, Javier Gonzar, Poncho C, Nacho, Javito, Alberto, Pilar Escudero, Blas, Moy, Dani Pérez, Santi Oliva, Vicente DC,, Leticia, JBSabe, Flor, Melomanic, Arturo Soriano, Gemma Codina, Raquel Jiménez, Pedro, SGD, Raul Andres, Tomás Pérez, Pablo Pineda, Quim Goday, Enfermerator, María Arán, Joaquín, Horns Up, Victor Bravo, Fonune, Eulogiko, Francisco González, Marcos Paris, Vlado 74, Daniel A, Redneckman, Elliott SF, Guillermo Gutierrez, Sementalex, Miguel Angel Torres, Suibne, Javifer, Matías Ruiz Molina, Noyatan, Estefanía, Iván Menéndez, Niksisley y a los mecenas anónimos.

Pacific Street Blues and Americana
Episode 377: A Musical Journey Along Hadrian's Wall 2025 (part 2 of 3)

Pacific Street Blues and Americana

Play Episode Listen Later May 17, 2025 75:25


Northern Soul / [Brit Box / George Gently]  Beatles / She Loves You (yeah, yeah, yeah)  - 60s girl groups: Shirelles, The Cookies,  - 50s Rockers: Chuck Berry, Larry Williams, Eddie Cochran, Buddy Holly  - The Everly Brothers  Arthur Alexander / Soldier of Love  (Anna)  The Shirelles / Baby, It's You  British Radio The Three Degrees / When Will I See You Again  ELO / Mr. Blue Sky  Rock Music  Little Steven & the Disciples of Soul / We Gotta Get Outta This Place- recorded live in Newcastle  Animals / House of the Rising Sun [Percy St & Handyside Arcade]  Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers / Don't Bring Me Down  [Club a Gogo: Keith Moon w/ John Entwistle (The Who), Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page] Led Zeppelin / Traveling Riverside Blues (Robert Johnson)  Led Zeppelin / What is and What Should Never Be  Jeff Beck Group / Beck's Bolero  Duran Duran / Thank-You (Led Zeppelin) Andy Taylor  Dunston, County Durham / Brian JohnsonAC/DC / You Shook Me All Night Long Wallsend: Russ Tippins / JosephineAnimals/ buskingJimi Hendrix in Tyneside (Chas Chandler, Linda Keith, Paul Kossoff)  Jimi Hendrix / EXP intro Jimi Hendrix / Fire (Let me stand next to your fire: Mitch Mitchell)  Sting / The Wind Cries Mary(feat John McLaughlin)

The BVW Mixtape Music Vault Podcast
Episode 452: Mother's Day Mix

The BVW Mixtape Music Vault Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later May 10, 2025 71:14


A mix of songs all about mom! Artists include The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Scissor Sisters, Mat Kearney, Genesis, Queen, The Shirelles, Quiet Riot and more! (R)

Music Matters with Darrell Craig Harris
Bobby Delvecchio is an acclaimed drummer, a successful businessman, and a motivational speaker who has significantly impacted the franchise business landscape in the United States.

Music Matters with Darrell Craig Harris

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 2, 2025 33:24


Bobby Delvecchio currently represents The Franchise Consulting Company and has founded, and acts as CEO/President for Drumming Up Business, which conducts motivational seminars for organizations and corporations. And the Beat goes on… As a World Class Drummer; Bobby was the Featured Drummer on Dick Clark's “Caravan of Stars” and Rich Nader's “1950's Rock-n-Roll Revival,” backing major music artists such as Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Chubby Checker, Ricky Nelson, Jackie Wilson, Bo Diddley, The Dovells, The Shirelles, The Coasters, The Drifters, The Five Satins and Gary U.S. Bonds. He has played with The Edgar Winter Group, Rick Derringer, and Hall & Oates. He is passionate about giving back, through his “Beating The Odds” Foundation. Beating The Odds Foundation provides financial and therapeutic support for children with cancer and other debilitating diseases through the healing power of rhythm. website https://www.BobbyDelvecchio.com  About Music Matter with Darrell Craig Harris Music Matters Podcast is hosted by globally published music journalist, Pro musician, and Getty Images photographer Darrell Craig Harris! Music Matters with Darrell Craig Harris is now on Spotify, iTunes, Podbean and more! Darrell interviews globally known artists, musicians, music journalists, music business insiders, and more on a weekly basis!  https://www.MusicMattersPodcast.com https://www.Twitter.com/musicmattersdh contact: musicmatterspodcastshow@gmail.com   

AINTE Show
MixTape 114 - Classic Oldies Favorites

AINTE Show

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 28, 2025 96:31


"MixTape 114 Classic Oldies Favorites" TRACK 1 AUDIO TITLE "Stand By Me" PERFORMER "Ben E. King" INDEX 01 00:00:00 TRACK 2 AUDIO TITLE "The Sound of Silence - Acoustic Version" PERFORMER "Simon & Garfunkel" INDEX 01 02:46:70 TRACK 3 AUDIO TITLE "All I Have to Do Is Dream" PERFORMER "The Everly Brothers" INDEX 01 05:31:35 TRACK 4 AUDIO TITLE "All You Need Is Love - Remastered 2009" PERFORMER "The Beatles" INDEX 01 07:41:11 TRACK 5 AUDIO TITLE "Ring of Fire" PERFORMER "Johnny Cash" INDEX 01 10:36:31 TRACK 6 AUDIO TITLE "Suspicious Minds" PERFORMER "Elvis Presley" INDEX 01 13:00:26 TRACK 7 AUDIO TITLE "Sugar, Sugar" PERFORMER "The Archies" INDEX 01 17:01:33 TRACK 8 AUDIO TITLE "Travelin' Man - Remastered" PERFORMER "Ricky Nelson" INDEX 01 19:36:73 TRACK 9 AUDIO TITLE "Splish Splash" PERFORMER "Bobby Darin" INDEX 01 21:52:10 TRACK 10 AUDIO TITLE "Do You Love Me - Mono Single" PERFORMER "The Contours" INDEX 01 23:49:50 TRACK 11 AUDIO TITLE "Runaway" PERFORMER "Del Shannon" INDEX 01 26:21:04 TRACK 12 AUDIO TITLE "Johnny B. Goode" PERFORMER "Chuck Berry" INDEX 01 28:23:33 TRACK 13 AUDIO TITLE "Tutti Frutti" PERFORMER "Little Richard" INDEX 01 30:49:36 TRACK 14 AUDIO TITLE "I Walk The Line - Single Version" PERFORMER "Johnny Cash, The Tennessee Two" INDEX 01 33:06:73 TRACK 15 AUDIO TITLE "Only the Lonely" PERFORMER "Roy Orbison" INDEX 01 35:20:16 TRACK 16 AUDIO TITLE "Dream Lover" PERFORMER "Bobby Darin" INDEX 01 37:35:34 TRACK 17 AUDIO TITLE "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" PERFORMER "The Shirelles" INDEX 01 39:53:17 TRACK 18 AUDIO TITLE "Brown Eyed Girl" PERFORMER "Van Morrison" INDEX 01 42:17:71 TRACK 19 AUDIO TITLE "You Never Can Tell" PERFORMER "Chuck Berry" INDEX 01 44:58:04 TRACK 20 AUDIO TITLE "I'm a Believer - 2006 Remaster" PERFORMER "The Monkees" INDEX 01 47:27:06 TRACK 21 AUDIO TITLE "Runaround Sue" PERFORMER "Dion" INDEX 01 49:57:73 TRACK 22 AUDIO TITLE "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" PERFORMER "Nancy Sinatra" INDEX 01 52:11:36 TRACK 23 AUDIO TITLE "Don't Be Cruel" PERFORMER "Elvis Presley" INDEX 01 54:34:24 TRACK 24 AUDIO TITLE "Bye Bye Love" PERFORMER "The Everly Brothers" INDEX 01 56:26:43 TRACK 25 AUDIO TITLE "Misirlou" PERFORMER "Dick Dale" INDEX 01 58:20:52 TRACK 26 AUDIO TITLE "Then He Kissed Me" PERFORMER "The Crystals" INDEX 01 60:24:66 TRACK 27 AUDIO TITLE "(What A) Wonderful World" PERFORMER "Sam Cooke" INDEX 01 62:45:16 TRACK 28 AUDIO TITLE "Do Wah Diddy Diddy - 2007 Remaster" PERFORMER "Manfred Mann" INDEX 01 64:44:71 TRACK 29 AUDIO TITLE "Be My Baby" PERFORMER "The Ronettes" INDEX 01 67:02:23 TRACK 30 AUDIO TITLE "Mambo Italiano (with The Mellomen) - 78rpm Version" PERFORMER "Rosemary Clooney, The Mellomen" INDEX 01 69:23:33 TRACK 31 AUDIO TITLE "Let's Twist Again" PERFORMER "Chubby Checker" INDEX 01 71:23:31 TRACK 32 AUDIO TITLE "Wipe Out - Hit Version / Extended Ending" PERFORMER "The Surfaris" INDEX 01 73:36:28 TRACK 33 AUDIO TITLE "Great Balls Of Fire" PERFORMER "Jerry Lee Lewis" INDEX 01 75:32:13 TRACK 34 AUDIO TITLE "Think" PERFORMER "Aretha Franklin" INDEX 01 77:16:50 TRACK 35 AUDIO TITLE "California Dreamin' - Single Version" PERFORMER "The Mamas & The Papas" INDEX 01 79:20:31 TRACK 36 AUDIO TITLE "Mrs. Robinson - From "The Graduate" Soundtrack" PERFORMER "Simon & Garfunkel" INDEX 01 81:42:59 TRACK 37 AUDIO TITLE "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" PERFORMER "The Animals" INDEX 01 85:02:61 TRACK 38 AUDIO TITLE "Oh, Pretty Woman" PERFORMER "Roy Orbison" INDEX 01 87:09:29 TRACK 39 AUDIO TITLE "Always On My Mind" PERFORMER "Elvis Presley" INDEX 01 89:59:40 TRACK 40 AUDIO TITLE "I Got You Babe" PERFORMER "Sonny & Cher" INDEX 01 93:19:73

Reel Dealz Movies and Music thru the Decades Podcast
MUSIC- SONGWRITERS WHO WROTE SONGS FOR OTHER SINGERS P2

Reel Dealz Movies and Music thru the Decades Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 18, 2025 49:53


Send us a textOn this episode, Tom and Bert bring you Part 2 of the Songwriters who wrote HIT SONGS for other Singers.They discuss 3 of the Greatest Songwriters in Music History. All 3 are Rock n Roll Icons that were inducted into the Writers HOF. Stevie Wonder, Prince and Carole King are the songwriters and they were ALL also inducted into the Performers Category of the Rock n Roll HOF.Below are few of their hits. Featured  Chapters:(2:52) "It's a Shame"  by the Spinners, written by Stevie Wonder(6:25) "Until you come back to Me"  by Aretha Franklin, written by Stevie Wonder(17:52) "Manic Monday"  by The Bangles  written, by Prince(22:26) "Jungle Love"  by The Time, written by Prince(25:27) "The Loco-motion"  by Little Eva, written by Carole King(28:30) "Up on the Roof"  by The Drifters, written by  Carole King(30:14) "Will you love me Tomorrow"  by The Shirelles, written by Carole King(33:04) "Hi-De-Ho"  by Blood, Sweat and Tears, written by Carole King(37:55) "Some Kind of Wonderful"  by The Drifters, written by Carole King(39:39) "You've got a Friend"  by James Taylor, written by Carole King(41:04) "A Natural Woman"  by Aretha Franklin,  written by Carole KingThese and many more!!Enjoy the Show!You can email us at reeldealzmoviesandmusic@gmail.com or visit our Facebook page, Reel Dealz Podcast: Movies & Music Thru The Decades to leave comments and/or TEXT us at 843-855-1704 as well.

MUNDO BABEL
Brill Building. La Fábrica de Sueños

MUNDO BABEL

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 30, 2024 119:46


A finales de los 50, principios de los 60, hacer llegar al público una cancion en EEUU tan sencillo como acercarte a un edificio en el 1619 de Broadway en la calle 49 de Manhattan, en Nueva York. Once pisos con todo lo necesario, músicos, autores, editores, salas de ensayo...una autentica "fabrica de sueños" comandada por Don Kirshner. Nombres establecidos como Jerry Leiber y Mike Stoller o jovenes promesas como Goffin&King , autores de “¿Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow ?“ para las Shirelles como Jeff Barry y Ellie Greenwich de ”Be My Baby” para las Ronettes.Una miriada de famosos desconocidos como Barry Mann-Cynthia Weil, Doc Pomus-Mort Shuman o Bacharach y David, la inequívoca señal de que estabas en el lugar adecuado. Te asombrará saber las maravillas que produjeron y cómo. Puedes hacerte socio del Club Babel y apoyar este podcast: mundobabel.com/club Si te gusta Mundo Babel puedes colaborar a que llegue a más oyentes compartiendo en tus redes sociales y dejar una valoración de 5 estrellas en Apple Podcast o un comentario en Ivoox. Para anunciarte en este podcast, ponte en contacto con: mundobabelpodcast@gmail.com.

Cover Me
No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature - The Guess Who

Cover Me

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 12, 2024 104:10


The Guess Who's back on Cover Me. Tell a friend! Covers by: Gary and The New Travellers, Steel Wool, The Shirelles, Angeles, Mia Martini, Eve of Destruction, Frankenstein 3000 Tidal playlist here

In The Past: Garage Rock Podcast
I Met Him On A Sunday

In The Past: Garage Rock Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 28, 2024 125:49


This episode: all THREE versions of "I Met Him on a Sunday" by The Shirelles: the 1958 snap 'n' clap original (when they were in high school!!), the '64 re-do, and the '66 Wall of Sound version (with FUZZ!)! But that's not all - 3 boffo renditions by The Orlons (1962), Reparata & the Delrons (1970), and Laura Nyro & Labelle (1971). The only thing we don't talk about is what happened to Lew Conetta!!!!!

The Roger Ashby Oldies Show
RAOS Podcast July 27 2024

The Roger Ashby Oldies Show

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 16, 2024 7:02


Roots of Rock - Carl Perkins Connect the Dots This Week in Music History 5 Second Quiz Behind the Hits - Will You Love Me Tomorrow by The Shirelles

Live at the Bop Stop
Clint Bleil with the Bryan Kennard Octet

Live at the Bop Stop

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 15, 2024 58:07


All music used with permission by Clint Bleil with the Bryan Kennard Octet.   Ten time award winning composer, arranger and saxophonist Clint Bleil sits in for a night of large group arrangements with the Bryan Kennard Octet. Clint has performed along side luminaries such as Randy Brecker and Dave Holland, and has worked with acts as diverse as The Shirelles and the Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra.   Heard here with the Bryan Kennard Octet in this June 4th, 2023 performance, it's Clint Bleil – Live at the Bop Stop.  Live at the Bop Stop is made possible by The Music Settlement – serving Northeast Ohio by offering music instruction, music therapy, and early childhood education since 1912. The Music Settlement's mission is to welcome all to our music and arts community to learn, create, inspire, and heal.   This program is recorded at the Robert Conrad Studios at the Bop Stop in Cleveland, Ohio, and the studios of WBWC FM on the campus of Baldwin-Wallace University in Berea, Ohio. Additional production at the Bop Stop is provided by Graham Rosen. Technical editing for the program is provided by Dr. Pete Naegele, Shawn Gilbert, and Darren Thompson through Gilazar Media.   The executive producer and writer is Daniel Peck, with additional consulting production on behalf of The Music Settlement by Bryan Kennard.   For extended versions of all of our shows, our Live at the Bop Stop podcast can be found on your favorite podcast app or visit our website at www.themusicsettlement.org and click the Bop Stop link.   To reach out directly, email liveatthebopstop@gmail.com. I'm Daniel Peck. Join me again next time... Live at the Bop Stop. Want to Support The Bop Stop?  Donate here!   Contact us here

Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia
Be My Baby-Baby-Baby Edition Part 2

Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia

Play Episode Listen Later May 31, 2024 52:21


Girl groups have long been underestimated—even by the producers and managers who created them. For women listeners, girl groups narrated profound emotions and expressed personal freedom—even when the singers were not so free themselves. For male listeners, girl groups provided inspiration, and a way to express matters of the heart. And for all listeners across rock and soul history, girl groups pushed music forward. In the '60s, the Shirelles, Marvelettes, Ronettes and Shangri-Las kept rock afloat between Elvis Presley and the Beatles. In the '70s and '80s, girl groups from the Emotions to Exposé rebooted dance music. In the '90s, En Vogue, TLC and Destiny's Child fused hip-hop style with old-school soul—and the Spice Girls fired up a new generation through Girl Power. Join Chris Molanphy as we shimmy and strut through decades of bops to give girl groups the respect they deserve. You'll love them tomorrow, because friendship never ends. Podcast production by Kevin Bendis. Want more Hit Parade? Join Slate Plus to unlock monthly early-access episodes. Plus, you'll get ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/hitparadeplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia
Be My Baby-Baby-Baby Edition Part 2

Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia

Play Episode Listen Later May 31, 2024 49:25


Girl groups have long been underestimated—even by the producers and managers who created them.For women listeners, girl groups narrated profound emotions and expressed personal freedom—even when the singers were not so free themselves. For male listeners, girl groups provided inspiration, and a way to express matters of the heart.And for all listeners across rock and soul history, girl groups pushed music forward. In the '60s, the Shirelles, Marvelettes, Ronettes and Shangri-Las kept rock afloat between Elvis Presley and the Beatles. In the '70s and '80s, girl groups from the Emotions to Exposé rebooted dance music. In the '90s, En Vogue, TLC and Destiny's Child fused hip-hop style with old-school soul—and the Spice Girls fired up a new generation through Girl Power.Join Chris Molanphy as we shimmy and strut through decades of bops to give girl groups the respect they deserve. You'll love them tomorrow, because friendship never ends.Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.Want more Hit Parade? Join Slate Plus to unlock monthly early-access episodes. Plus, you'll get ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/hitparadeplus to get access wherever you listen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Slate Culture
Hit Parade: Be My Baby-Baby-Baby Edition Part 2

Slate Culture

Play Episode Listen Later May 31, 2024 63:22


Girl groups have long been underestimated—even by the producers and managers who created them. For women listeners, girl groups narrated profound emotions and expressed personal freedom—even when the singers were not so free themselves. For male listeners, girl groups provided inspiration, and a way to express matters of the heart. And for all listeners across rock and soul history, girl groups pushed music forward. In the '60s, the Shirelles, Marvelettes, Ronettes and Shangri-Las kept rock afloat between Elvis Presley and the Beatles. In the '70s and '80s, girl groups from the Emotions to Exposé rebooted dance music. In the '90s, En Vogue, TLC and Destiny's Child fused hip-hop style with old-school soul—and the Spice Girls fired up a new generation through Girl Power. Join Chris Molanphy as we shimmy and strut through decades of bops to give girl groups the respect they deserve. You'll love them tomorrow, because friendship never ends. Podcast production by Kevin Bendis. Want more Hit Parade? Join Slate Plus to unlock monthly early-access episodes. Plus, you'll get ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/hitparadeplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Slate Culture
Be My Baby-Baby-Baby Edition Part 2

Slate Culture

Play Episode Listen Later May 31, 2024 49:25


Girl groups have long been underestimated—even by the producers and managers who created them.For women listeners, girl groups narrated profound emotions and expressed personal freedom—even when the singers were not so free themselves. For male listeners, girl groups provided inspiration, and a way to express matters of the heart.And for all listeners across rock and soul history, girl groups pushed music forward. In the '60s, the Shirelles, Marvelettes, Ronettes and Shangri-Las kept rock afloat between Elvis Presley and the Beatles. In the '70s and '80s, girl groups from the Emotions to Exposé rebooted dance music. In the '90s, En Vogue, TLC and Destiny's Child fused hip-hop style with old-school soul—and the Spice Girls fired up a new generation through Girl Power.Join Chris Molanphy as we shimmy and strut through decades of bops to give girl groups the respect they deserve. You'll love them tomorrow, because friendship never ends.Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.Want more Hit Parade? Join Slate Plus to unlock monthly early-access episodes. Plus, you'll get ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/hitparadeplus to get access wherever you listen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Slate Daily Feed
Be My Baby-Baby-Baby Edition Part 2

Slate Daily Feed

Play Episode Listen Later May 31, 2024 49:25


Girl groups have long been underestimated—even by the producers and managers who created them.For women listeners, girl groups narrated profound emotions and expressed personal freedom—even when the singers were not so free themselves. For male listeners, girl groups provided inspiration, and a way to express matters of the heart.And for all listeners across rock and soul history, girl groups pushed music forward. In the '60s, the Shirelles, Marvelettes, Ronettes and Shangri-Las kept rock afloat between Elvis Presley and the Beatles. In the '70s and '80s, girl groups from the Emotions to Exposé rebooted dance music. In the '90s, En Vogue, TLC and Destiny's Child fused hip-hop style with old-school soul—and the Spice Girls fired up a new generation through Girl Power.Join Chris Molanphy as we shimmy and strut through decades of bops to give girl groups the respect they deserve. You'll love them tomorrow, because friendship never ends.Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.Want more Hit Parade? Join Slate Plus to unlock monthly early-access episodes. Plus, you'll get ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/hitparadeplus to get access wherever you listen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia
Be My Baby-Baby-Baby Edition Part 1

Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia

Play Episode Listen Later May 17, 2024 60:26


Girl groups have long been underestimated—even by the producers and managers who created them.For women listeners, girl groups narrated profound emotions and expressed personal freedom—even when the singers were not so free themselves. For male listeners, girl groups provided inspiration, and a way to express matters of the heart.And for all listeners across rock and soul history, girl groups pushed music forward. In the '60s, the Shirelles, Marvelettes, Ronettes and Shangri-Las kept rock afloat between Elvis Presley and the Beatles. In the '70s and '80s, girl groups from the Emotions to Exposé rebooted dance music. In the '90s, En Vogue, TLC and Destiny's Child fused hip-hop style with old-school soul—and the Spice Girls fired up a new generation through Girl Power.Join Chris Molanphy as we shimmy and strut through decades of bops to give girl groups the respect they deserve. You'll love them tomorrow, because friendship never ends.Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.Want more Hit Parade? Join Slate Plus to unlock monthly early-access episodes. Plus, you'll get ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/hitparadeplus to get access wherever you listen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia
Be My Baby-Baby-Baby Edition Part 1

Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia

Play Episode Listen Later May 17, 2024 63:22


Girl groups have long been underestimated—even by the producers and managers who created them. For women listeners, girl groups narrated profound emotions and expressed personal freedom—even when the singers were not so free themselves. For male listeners, girl groups provided inspiration, and a way to express matters of the heart. And for all listeners across rock and soul history, girl groups pushed music forward. In the '60s, the Shirelles, Marvelettes, Ronettes and Shangri-Las kept rock afloat between Elvis Presley and the Beatles. In the '70s and '80s, girl groups from the Emotions to Exposé rebooted dance music. In the '90s, En Vogue, TLC and Destiny's Child fused hip-hop style with old-school soul—and the Spice Girls fired up a new generation through Girl Power. Join Chris Molanphy as we shimmy and strut through decades of bops to give girl groups the respect they deserve. You'll love them tomorrow, because friendship never ends. Podcast production by Kevin Bendis. Want more Hit Parade? Join Slate Plus to unlock monthly early-access episodes. Plus, you'll get ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/hitparadeplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Slate Culture
Hit Parade: Be My Baby-Baby-Baby Edition Part 1

Slate Culture

Play Episode Listen Later May 17, 2024 63:22


Girl groups have long been underestimated—even by the producers and managers who created them. For women listeners, girl groups narrated profound emotions and expressed personal freedom—even when the singers were not so free themselves. For male listeners, girl groups provided inspiration, and a way to express matters of the heart. And for all listeners across rock and soul history, girl groups pushed music forward. In the '60s, the Shirelles, Marvelettes, Ronettes and Shangri-Las kept rock afloat between Elvis Presley and the Beatles. In the '70s and '80s, girl groups from the Emotions to Exposé rebooted dance music. In the '90s, En Vogue, TLC and Destiny's Child fused hip-hop style with old-school soul—and the Spice Girls fired up a new generation through Girl Power. Join Chris Molanphy as we shimmy and strut through decades of bops to give girl groups the respect they deserve. You'll love them tomorrow, because friendship never ends. Podcast production by Kevin Bendis. Want more Hit Parade? Join Slate Plus to unlock monthly early-access episodes. Plus, you'll get ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/hitparadeplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Slate Culture
Be My Baby-Baby-Baby Edition Part 1

Slate Culture

Play Episode Listen Later May 17, 2024 60:26


Girl groups have long been underestimated—even by the producers and managers who created them.For women listeners, girl groups narrated profound emotions and expressed personal freedom—even when the singers were not so free themselves. For male listeners, girl groups provided inspiration, and a way to express matters of the heart.And for all listeners across rock and soul history, girl groups pushed music forward. In the '60s, the Shirelles, Marvelettes, Ronettes and Shangri-Las kept rock afloat between Elvis Presley and the Beatles. In the '70s and '80s, girl groups from the Emotions to Exposé rebooted dance music. In the '90s, En Vogue, TLC and Destiny's Child fused hip-hop style with old-school soul—and the Spice Girls fired up a new generation through Girl Power.Join Chris Molanphy as we shimmy and strut through decades of bops to give girl groups the respect they deserve. You'll love them tomorrow, because friendship never ends.Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.Want more Hit Parade? Join Slate Plus to unlock monthly early-access episodes. Plus, you'll get ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/hitparadeplus to get access wherever you listen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Slate Daily Feed
Be My Baby-Baby-Baby Edition Part 1

Slate Daily Feed

Play Episode Listen Later May 17, 2024 60:26


Girl groups have long been underestimated—even by the producers and managers who created them.For women listeners, girl groups narrated profound emotions and expressed personal freedom—even when the singers were not so free themselves. For male listeners, girl groups provided inspiration, and a way to express matters of the heart.And for all listeners across rock and soul history, girl groups pushed music forward. In the '60s, the Shirelles, Marvelettes, Ronettes and Shangri-Las kept rock afloat between Elvis Presley and the Beatles. In the '70s and '80s, girl groups from the Emotions to Exposé rebooted dance music. In the '90s, En Vogue, TLC and Destiny's Child fused hip-hop style with old-school soul—and the Spice Girls fired up a new generation through Girl Power.Join Chris Molanphy as we shimmy and strut through decades of bops to give girl groups the respect they deserve. You'll love them tomorrow, because friendship never ends.Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.Want more Hit Parade? Join Slate Plus to unlock monthly early-access episodes. Plus, you'll get ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/hitparadeplus to get access wherever you listen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Slate Daily Feed
Hit Parade: Be My Baby-Baby-Baby Edition Part 1

Slate Daily Feed

Play Episode Listen Later May 17, 2024 63:22


Girl groups have long been underestimated—even by the producers and managers who created them. For women listeners, girl groups narrated profound emotions and expressed personal freedom—even when the singers were not so free themselves. For male listeners, girl groups provided inspiration, and a way to express matters of the heart. And for all listeners across rock and soul history, girl groups pushed music forward. In the '60s, the Shirelles, Marvelettes, Ronettes and Shangri-Las kept rock afloat between Elvis Presley and the Beatles. In the '70s and '80s, girl groups from the Emotions to Exposé rebooted dance music. In the '90s, En Vogue, TLC and Destiny's Child fused hip-hop style with old-school soul—and the Spice Girls fired up a new generation through Girl Power. Join Chris Molanphy as we shimmy and strut through decades of bops to give girl groups the respect they deserve. You'll love them tomorrow, because friendship never ends. Podcast production by Kevin Bendis. Want more Hit Parade? Join Slate Plus to unlock monthly early-access episodes. Plus, you'll get ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of the Hit Parade show page. Or, visit slate.com/hitparadeplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sensibly Cynical
Ané On Her Career, Life as a Shirelle, & More

Sensibly Cynical

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 21, 2024 36:46


Singer-Songwriter Ané (pronounced Ah-Nay) joins Sean for Episode 250 of Sensibly Cynical! Ané talks about her career to date, Life as a member of The Shirelles, and more!

Yours, Mine, & Theirs
Podcast 77: One Katie Summer

Yours, Mine, & Theirs

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 19, 2024 147:43


Saturday, January 8, 2022 "I love that scene where they're slow dancing and the Bear is just looking on like in his silent, drunken approval." The very fine Katie Rockwood joins us for the first time with three movies in tow that are completely related to each other through her love rather than all the hang-tens, wipeouts, and surfwax.0:00 -- Intro15:06 -- Big Wednesday36:17 -- Back to the Beach50:04 -- North Shore1.14:08 -- Katie reasoning1.17:07 -- Podcast awards and rankings2:10:59 -- Future business2.24:20 -- Outro and outtakesHey! Be sure to watch The Towering Inferno, Flash Gordon, and Ghostbusters for next time! "I thought Jon was gonna love this or hate this. I think you fear this."Hey! "Sunless Saturday" by Fishbone!Hey! "Blue Hotel" by Chris Isaak!Hey! "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" by The Shirelles!Hey! "California Sun" by Connie and Frankie!Hey! "Wipeout" by Herbie HancockHey! "Aeiou Sometimes Y" by EBN-OZN!Hey! Leave us a voicemail at (801) 896-4542!Hey! Subscribe in iTunes!Hey! Check out the Facebook page and vote on the next category!Hey! Check out Jon's YM&T Letterboxd list!Hey! Check out Roy's YM&T Letterboxd list!Hey! Email us at yoursminetheirspodcast@gmail.com! Send new topics! Send new theme songs!

FYI: The Murphy Brown Podcast
3.08: Rootless People

FYI: The Murphy Brown Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 15, 2024 77:48


Murphy is kidnapped by 90s heartthrob Craig Bierko, and the Gang doesn't believe her! Is this episode a bottle episode? What is a bottle episode? Jesi and Lauren take the test to find out. Other topics include The Shirelles' history, eco-terrorism, and why a pink donut box is so closely associated with LA and sitcoms!

Toppermost Of The Poppermost
March 1964 (side C)

Toppermost Of The Poppermost

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 10, 2024 65:33


More from March of 1964. Even more Beatles on the charts, but figures including Lenny Welch, The Shirelles, Tony Bennett, Bobby Goldsboro and others you may or may not remember continue to make appearances. #madeonZencastr

In The Past: Garage Rock Podcast
No Sugar Tonight

In The Past: Garage Rock Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 30, 2024 140:04


This week we pick a Canuck classic that's two songs in one - "No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature" by The Guess Who. The lyrics are faux-profound, but Burton Cummings' pipes and scattin' will spike your blood sugar. We scoured the record bins for our second version - a dirtbag bubblegum version by Steel Wool. They bring the song back to perfect popsong length by axing "New Mother Nature", but the guitar stings might be too long. The third in the pack definitely isn't sugar-free - The Shirelles and their 1971 version is "so sweet" and superfunky. For dessert, an Italian confection by the amazing Mia Martini. She gives BC a run for his money, sounding like a vampire fronting Led Zeppelin - a real Saskatoon-to-Sicily transformation! She's gettin' us all!!!

Frank Buckley Interviews
Re-release: The History of Girl Groups of the 1960's

Frank Buckley Interviews

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 6, 2024 35:13


This episode was originally released September 27, 2023.Laura Flam is one of the authors of the book "But Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?"The book serves as an oral history of the girl groups that made up the 1960's music scene. The girl group sound, made famous by acts like The Ronettes, The Shirelles, The Supremes, and The Vandellas, took over the airwaves by capturing the mixture of innocence and rebellion emblematic of America in the Sixties. While many girl group songs rose to the top of the charts and shaped the trajectory of pop music in the process, many of the artists remain all but anonymous to most listeners. In this episode of the podcast, Frank discusses the young women behind some of the country's most popular songs. Flam reveals the challenges many of the artists faced while navigating the music industry at such a young age, and at a time when America was just beginning to reconcile a history fraught with racism. Flam also shares what became of many of the members of girl groups after music tastes changed. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In The Past: Garage Rock Podcast
The Gruesomes Salute The Five Royales!

In The Past: Garage Rock Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 16, 2023 153:53


We know Pastronauts love it when  John & Bobby of The Gruesomes visit our podcast, but this one's extra exciting because it's two episodes in one! John has picked two of his favourite songs by the unsung Five Royales ("Think" and "Dedicated to the One I Love"), and then the four of us talk about 2 cover versions. This means versions by James Brown (who did "Think" twice!), The Shirelles, and The Mamas and Papas.  Top notch analysis from two esteemed scholars of Garage Studies, plus those no-goodniks Erik & Weldon!

Stateside from Michigan Radio
Stories behind the Motown Girl Groups

Stateside from Michigan Radio

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 1, 2023 20:17


You can't talk about Motown sound without giving respect to the girl groups of the 60s. Hits from Martha and the Vandellas, and The Supremes have resonance, even now. But we might not have hits like “Can't Hurry Love” without some of the earlier acts that ushered in the sound of the girl group — ensembles of very young women, like the Chantels and The Shirelles. "But Will You Love Me Tomorrow?: An Oral History of the '60s Girl Groups" chronicles stories of these early, iconic groups. GUESTS: Emily Sieu Liebowitz, co-author of "But Will You Love Me Tomorrow?: An Oral History of the '60s Girl Groups" Laura Flam, co-author of "But Will You Love Me Tomorrow?: An Oral History of the '60s Girl Groups" ___ Looking for more conversations from Stateside? Right this way. If you like what you hear on the pod, consider supporting our work. Music from Blue Dot Sessions and Audio Network.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

City Lights with Lois Reitzes
“BUT WILL YOU LOVE ME TOMORROW? An Oral History of the ‘60s Girl Groups” / Dancer Alex Spitzer / "Rigoletto"

City Lights with Lois Reitzes

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 6, 2023 51:54


Beverly Lee, founding member of The Shirelles, discusses the new book, “BUT WILL YOU LOVE ME TOMORROW? An Oral History of the ‘60s Girl Groups.” Plus, Alex Spitzer takes the spotlight in our series, “Speaking of Dance,” and Atlanta Opera's artistic director Tomer Zvulun details their production of Verdi's “Rigoletto,” on stage at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre November 4 through 12.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A History Of Rock Music in Five Hundred Songs
Episode 168: “I Say a Little Prayer” by Aretha Franklin

A History Of Rock Music in Five Hundred Songs

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 28, 2023


Episode 168 of A History of Rock Music in Five Hundred Songs looks at “I Say a Little Prayer”, and the interaction of the sacred, political, and secular in Aretha Franklin's life and work. Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode. Patreon backers also have a forty-five-minute bonus episode available, on "Abraham, Martin, and John" by Dion. Tilt Araiza has assisted invaluably by doing a first-pass edit, and will hopefully be doing so from now on. Check out Tilt's irregular podcasts at http://www.podnose.com/jaffa-cakes-for-proust and http://sitcomclub.com/ Resources No Mixcloud this week, as there are too many songs by Aretha Franklin. Even splitting it into multiple parts would have required six or seven mixes. My main biographical source for Aretha Franklin is Respect: The Life of Aretha Franklin by David Ritz, and this is where most of the quotes from musicians come from. Information on C.L. Franklin came from Singing in a Strange Land: C. L. Franklin, the Black Church, and the Transformation of America by Nick Salvatore. Country Soul by Charles L Hughes is a great overview of the soul music made in Muscle Shoals, Memphis, and Nashville in the sixties. Peter Guralnick's Sweet Soul Music: Rhythm And Blues And The Southern Dream Of Freedom is possibly less essential, but still definitely worth reading. Information about Martin Luther King came from Martin Luther King: A Religious Life by Paul Harvey. I also referred to Burt Bacharach's autobiography Anyone Who Had a Heart, Carole King's autobiography A Natural Woman, and Soul Serenade: King Curtis and his Immortal Saxophone by Timothy R. Hoover. For information about Amazing Grace I also used Aaron Cohen's 33 1/3 book on the album. The film of the concerts is also definitely worth watching. And the Aretha Now album is available in this five-album box set for a ludicrously cheap price. But it's actually worth getting this nineteen-CD set with her first sixteen Atlantic albums and a couple of bonus discs of demos and outtakes. There's barely a duff track in the whole nineteen discs. Patreon This podcast is brought to you by the generosity of my backers on Patreon. Why not join them? Transcript A quick warning before I begin. This episode contains some moderate references to domestic abuse, death by cancer, racial violence, police violence, and political assassination. Anyone who might be upset by those subjects might want to check the transcript rather than listening to the episode. Also, as with the previous episode on Aretha Franklin, this episode presents something of a problem. Like many people in this narrative, Franklin's career was affected by personal troubles, which shaped many of her decisions. But where most of the subjects of the podcast have chosen to live their lives in public and share intimate details of every aspect of their personal lives, Franklin was an extremely private person, who chose to share only carefully sanitised versions of her life, and tried as far as possible to keep things to herself. This of course presents a dilemma for anyone who wants to tell her story -- because even though the information is out there in biographies, and even though she's dead, it's not right to disrespect someone's wish for a private life. I have therefore tried, wherever possible, to stay away from talk of her personal life except where it *absolutely* affects the work, or where other people involved have publicly shared their own stories, and even there I've tried to keep it to a minimum. This will occasionally lead to me saying less about some topics than other people might, even though the information is easily findable, because I don't think we have an absolute right to invade someone else's privacy for entertainment. When we left Aretha Franklin, she had just finally broken through into the mainstream after a decade of performing, with a version of Otis Redding's song "Respect" on which she had been backed by her sisters, Erma and Carolyn. "Respect", in Franklin's interpretation, had been turned from a rather chauvinist song about a man demanding respect from his woman into an anthem of feminism, of Black power, and of a new political awakening. For white people of a certain generation, the summer of 1967 was "the summer of love". For many Black people, it was rather different. There's a quote that goes around (I've seen it credited in reliable sources to both Ebony and Jet magazine, but not ever seen an issue cited, so I can't say for sure where it came from) saying that the summer of 67 was the summer of "'retha, Rap, and revolt", referring to the trifecta of Aretha Franklin, the Black power leader Jamil Abdullah al-Amin (who was at the time known as H. Rap Brown, a name he later disclaimed) and the rioting that broke out in several major cities, particularly in Detroit: [Excerpt: John Lee Hooker, "The Motor City is Burning"] The mid sixties were, in many ways, the high point not of Black rights in the US -- for the most part there has been a lot of progress in civil rights in the intervening decades, though not without inevitable setbacks and attacks from the far right, and as movements like the Black Lives Matter movement have shown there is still a long way to go -- but of *hope* for Black rights. The moral force of the arguments made by the civil rights movement were starting to cause real change to happen for Black people in the US for the first time since the Reconstruction nearly a century before. But those changes weren't happening fast enough, and as we heard in the episode on "I Was Made to Love Her", there was not only a growing unrest among Black people, but a recognition that it was actually possible for things to change. A combination of hope and frustration can be a powerful catalyst, and whether Franklin wanted it or not, she was at the centre of things, both because of her newfound prominence as a star with a hit single that couldn't be interpreted as anything other than a political statement and because of her intimate family connections to the struggle. Even the most racist of white people these days pays lip service to the memory of Dr Martin Luther King, and when they do they quote just a handful of sentences from one speech King made in 1963, as if that sums up the full theological and political philosophy of that most complex of men. And as we discussed the last time we looked at Aretha Franklin, King gave versions of that speech, the "I Have a Dream" speech, twice. The most famous version was at the March on Washington, but the first time was a few weeks earlier, at what was at the time the largest civil rights demonstration in American history, in Detroit. Aretha's family connection to that event is made clear by the very opening of King's speech: [Excerpt: Martin Luther King, "Original 'I Have a Dream' Speech"] So as summer 1967 got into swing, and white rock music was going to San Francisco to wear flowers in its hair, Aretha Franklin was at the centre of a very different kind of youth revolution. Franklin's second Atlantic album, Aretha Arrives, brought in some new personnel to the team that had recorded Aretha's first album for Atlantic. Along with the core Muscle Shoals players Jimmy Johnson, Spooner Oldham, Tommy Cogbill and Roger Hawkins, and a horn section led by King Curtis, Wexler and Dowd also brought in guitarist Joe South. South was a white session player from Georgia, who had had a few minor hits himself in the fifties -- he'd got his start recording a cover version of "The Purple People Eater Meets the Witch Doctor", the Big Bopper's B-side to "Chantilly Lace": [Excerpt: Joe South, "The Purple People Eater Meets the Witch Doctor"] He'd also written a few songs that had been recorded by people like Gene Vincent, but he'd mostly become a session player. He'd become a favourite musician of Bob Johnston's, and so he'd played guitar on Simon and Garfunkel's Sounds of Silence and Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme albums: [Excerpt: Simon and Garfunkel, "I am a Rock"] and bass on Bob Dylan's Blonde on Blonde, with Al Kooper particularly praising his playing on "Visions of Johanna": [Excerpt: Bob Dylan, "Visions of Johanna"] South would be the principal guitarist on this and Franklin's next album, before his own career took off in 1968 with "Games People Play": [Excerpt: Joe South, "Games People Play"] At this point, he had already written the other song he's best known for, "Hush", which later became a hit for Deep Purple: [Excerpt: Deep Purple, "Hush"] But he wasn't very well known, and was surprised to get the call for the Aretha Franklin session, especially because, as he put it "I was white and I was about to play behind the blackest genius since Ray Charles" But Jerry Wexler had told him that Franklin didn't care about the race of the musicians she played with, and South settled in as soon as Franklin smiled at him when he played a good guitar lick on her version of the blues standard "Going Down Slow": [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "Going Down Slow"] That was one of the few times Franklin smiled in those sessions though. Becoming an overnight success after years of trying and failing to make a name for herself had been a disorienting experience, and on top of that things weren't going well in her personal life. Her marriage to her manager Ted White was falling apart, and she was performing erratically thanks to the stress. In particular, at a gig in Georgia she had fallen off the stage and broken her arm. She soon returned to performing, but it meant she had problems with her right arm during the recording of the album, and didn't play as much piano as she would have previously -- on some of the faster songs she played only with her left hand. But the recording sessions had to go on, whether or not Aretha was physically capable of playing piano. As we discussed in the episode on Otis Redding, the owners of Atlantic Records were busily negotiating its sale to Warner Brothers in mid-1967. As Wexler said later “Everything in me said, Keep rolling, keep recording, keep the hits coming. She was red hot and I had no reason to believe that the streak wouldn't continue. I knew that it would be foolish—and even irresponsible—not to strike when the iron was hot. I also had personal motivation. A Wall Street financier had agreed to see what we could get for Atlantic Records. While Ahmet and Neshui had not agreed on a selling price, they had gone along with my plan to let the financier test our worth on the open market. I was always eager to pump out hits, but at this moment I was on overdrive. In this instance, I had a good partner in Ted White, who felt the same. He wanted as much product out there as possible." In truth, you can tell from Aretha Arrives that it's a record that was being thought of as "product" rather than one being made out of any kind of artistic impulse. It's a fine album -- in her ten-album run from I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You through Amazing Grace there's not a bad album and barely a bad track -- but there's a lack of focus. There are only two originals on the album, neither of them written by Franklin herself, and the rest is an incoherent set of songs that show the tension between Franklin and her producers at Atlantic. Several songs are the kind of standards that Franklin had recorded for her old label Columbia, things like "You Are My Sunshine", or her version of "That's Life", which had been a hit for Frank Sinatra the previous year: [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "That's Life"] But mixed in with that are songs that are clearly the choice of Wexler. As we've discussed previously in episodes on Otis Redding and Wilson Pickett, at this point Atlantic had the idea that it was possible for soul artists to cross over into the white market by doing cover versions of white rock hits -- and indeed they'd had some success with that tactic. So while Franklin was suggesting Sinatra covers, Atlantic's hand is visible in the choices of songs like "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" and "96 Tears": [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "96 Tears'] Of the two originals on the album, one, the hit single "Baby I Love You" was written by Ronnie Shannon, the Detroit songwriter who had previously written "I Never Loved a Man (the Way I Love You)": [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "Baby I Love You"] As with the previous album, and several other songs on this one, that had backing vocals by Aretha's sisters, Erma and Carolyn. But the other original on the album, "Ain't Nobody (Gonna Turn Me Around)", didn't, even though it was written by Carolyn: [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "Ain't Nobody (Gonna Turn Me Around)"] To explain why, let's take a little detour and look at the co-writer of the song this episode is about, though we're not going to get to that for a little while yet. We've not talked much about Burt Bacharach in this series so far, but he's one of those figures who has come up a few times in the periphery and will come up again, so here is as good a time as any to discuss him, and bring everyone up to speed about his career up to 1967. Bacharach was one of the more privileged figures in the sixties pop music field. His father, Bert Bacharach (pronounced the same as his son, but spelled with an e rather than a u) had been a famous newspaper columnist, and his parents had bought him a Steinway grand piano to practice on -- they pushed him to learn the piano even though as a kid he wasn't interested in finger exercises and Debussy. What he was interested in, though, was jazz, and as a teenager he would often go into Manhattan and use a fake ID to see people like Dizzy Gillespie, who he idolised, and in his autobiography he talks rapturously of seeing Gillespie playing his bent trumpet -- he once saw Gillespie standing on a street corner with a pet monkey on his shoulder, and went home and tried to persuade his parents to buy him a monkey too. In particular, he talks about seeing the Count Basie band with Sonny Payne on drums as a teenager: [Excerpt: Count Basie, "Kid From Red Bank"] He saw them at Birdland, the club owned by Morris Levy where they would regularly play, and said of the performance "they were just so incredibly exciting that all of a sudden, I got into music in a way I never had before. What I heard in those clubs really turned my head around— it was like a big breath of fresh air when somebody throws open a window. That was when I knew for the first time how much I loved music and wanted to be connected to it in some way." Of course, there's a rather major problem with this story, as there is so often with narratives that musicians tell about their early career. In this case, Birdland didn't open until 1949, when Bacharach was twenty-one and stationed in Germany for his military service, while Sonny Payne didn't join Basie's band until 1954, when Bacharach had been a professional musician for many years. Also Dizzy Gillespie's trumpet bell only got bent on January 6, 1953. But presumably while Bacharach was conflating several memories, he did have some experience in some New York jazz club that led him to want to become a musician. Certainly there were enough great jazz musicians playing the clubs in those days. He went to McGill University to study music for two years, then went to study with Darius Milhaud, a hugely respected modernist composer. Milhaud was also one of the most important music teachers of the time -- among others he'd taught Stockhausen and Xenakkis, and would go on to teach Philip Glass and Steve Reich. This suited Bacharach, who by this point was a big fan of Schoenberg and Webern, and was trying to write atonal, difficult music. But Milhaud had also taught Dave Brubeck, and when Bacharach rather shamefacedly presented him with a composition which had an actual tune, he told Bacharach "Never be ashamed of writing a tune you can whistle". He dropped out of university and, like most men of his generation, had to serve in the armed forces. When he got out of the army, he continued his musical studies, still trying to learn to be an avant-garde composer, this time with Bohuslav Martinů and later with Henry Cowell, the experimental composer we've heard about quite a bit in previous episodes: [Excerpt: Henry Cowell, "Aeolian Harp and Sinister Resonance"] He was still listening to a lot of avant garde music, and would continue doing so throughout the fifties, going to see people like John Cage. But he spent much of that time working in music that was very different from the avant-garde. He got a job as the band leader for the crooner Vic Damone: [Excerpt: Vic Damone. "Ebb Tide"] He also played for the vocal group the Ames Brothers. He decided while he was working with the Ames Brothers that he could write better material than they were getting from their publishers, and that it would be better to have a job where he didn't have to travel, so he got himself a job as a staff songwriter in the Brill Building. He wrote a string of flops and nearly hits, starting with "Keep Me In Mind" for Patti Page: [Excerpt: Patti Page, "Keep Me In Mind"] From early in his career he worked with the lyricist Hal David, and the two of them together wrote two big hits, "Magic Moments" for Perry Como: [Excerpt: Perry Como, "Magic Moments"] and "The Story of My Life" for Marty Robbins: [Excerpt: "The Story of My Life"] But at that point Bacharach was still also writing with other writers, notably Hal David's brother Mack, with whom he wrote the theme tune to the film The Blob, as performed by The Five Blobs: [Excerpt: The Five Blobs, "The Blob"] But Bacharach's songwriting career wasn't taking off, and he got himself a job as musical director for Marlene Dietrich -- a job he kept even after it did start to take off.  Part of the problem was that he intuitively wrote music that didn't quite fit into standard structures -- there would be odd bars of unusual time signatures thrown in, unusual harmonies, and structural irregularities -- but then he'd take feedback from publishers and producers who would tell him the song could only be recorded if he straightened it out. He said later "The truth is that I ruined a lot of songs by not believing in myself enough to tell these guys they were wrong." He started writing songs for Scepter Records, usually with Hal David, but also with Bob Hilliard and Mack David, and started having R&B hits. One song he wrote with Mack David, "I'll Cherish You", had the lyrics rewritten by Luther Dixon to make them more harsh-sounding for a Shirelles single -- but the single was otherwise just Bacharach's demo with the vocals replaced, and you can even hear his voice briefly at the beginning: [Excerpt: The Shirelles, "Baby, It's You"] But he'd also started becoming interested in the production side of records more generally. He'd iced that some producers, when recording his songs, would change the sound for the worse -- he thought Gene McDaniels' version of "Tower of Strength", for example, was too fast. But on the other hand, other producers got a better sound than he'd heard in his head. He and Hilliard had written a song called "Please Stay", which they'd given to Leiber and Stoller to record with the Drifters, and he thought that their arrangement of the song was much better than the one he'd originally thought up: [Excerpt: The Drifters, "Please Stay"] He asked Leiber and Stoller if he could attend all their New York sessions and learn about record production from them. He started doing so, and eventually they started asking him to assist them on records. He and Hilliard wrote a song called "Mexican Divorce" for the Drifters, which Leiber and Stoller were going to produce, and as he put it "they were so busy running Redbird Records that they asked me to rehearse the background singers for them in my office." [Excerpt: The Drifters, "Mexican Divorce"] The backing singers who had been brought in to augment the Drifters on that record were a group of vocalists who had started out as members of a gospel group called the Drinkard singers: [Excerpt: The Drinkard Singers, "Singing in My Soul"] The Drinkard Singers had originally been a family group, whose members included Cissy Drinkard, who joined the group aged five (and who on her marriage would become known as Cissy Houston -- her daughter Whitney would later join the family business), her aunt Lee Warrick, and Warrick's adopted daughter Judy Clay. That group were discovered by the great gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, and spent much of the fifties performing with gospel greats including Jackson herself, Clara Ward, and Sister Rosetta Tharpe. But Houston was also the musical director of a group at her church, the Gospelaires, which featured Lee Warrick's two daughters Dionne and Dee Dee Warwick (for those who don't know, the Warwick sisters' birth name was Warrick, spelled with two rs. A printing error led to it being misspelled the same way as the British city on a record label, and from that point on Dionne at least pronounced the w in her misspelled name). And slowly, the Gospelaires rather than the Drinkard Singers became the focus, with a lineup of Houston, the Warwick sisters, the Warwick sisters' cousin Doris Troy, and Clay's sister Sylvia Shemwell. The real change in the group's fortunes came when, as we talked about a while back in the episode on "The Loco-Motion", the original lineup of the Cookies largely stopped working as session singers to become Ray Charles' Raelettes. As we discussed in that episode, a new lineup of Cookies formed in 1961, but it took a while for them to get started, and in the meantime the producers who had been relying on them for backing vocals were looking elsewhere, and they looked to the Gospelaires. "Mexican Divorce" was the first record to feature the group as backing vocalists -- though reports vary as to how many of them are on the record, with some saying it's only Troy and the Warwicks, others saying Houston was there, and yet others saying it was all five of them. Some of these discrepancies were because these singers were so good that many of them left to become solo singers in fairly short order. Troy was the first to do so, with her hit "Just One Look", on which the other Gospelaires sang backing vocals: [Excerpt: Doris Troy, "Just One Look"] But the next one to go solo was Dionne Warwick, and that was because she'd started working with Bacharach and Hal David as their principal demo singer. She started singing lead on their demos, and hoping that she'd get to release them on her own. One early one was "Make it Easy On Yourself", which was recorded by Jerry Butler, formerly of the Impressions. That record was produced by Bacharach, one of the first records he produced without outside supervision: [Excerpt: Jerry Butler, "Make it Easy On Yourself"] Warwick was very jealous that a song she'd sung the demo of had become a massive hit for someone else, and blamed Bacharach and David. The way she tells the story -- Bacharach always claimed this never happened, but as we've already seen he was himself not always the most reliable of narrators of his own life -- she got so angry she complained to them, and said "Don't make me over, man!" And so Bacharach and David wrote her this: [Excerpt: Dionne Warwick, "Don't Make Me Over"] Incidentally, in the UK, the hit version of that was a cover by the Swinging Blue Jeans: [Excerpt: The Swinging Blue Jeans, "Don't Make Me Over"] who also had a huge hit with "You're No Good": [Excerpt: The Swinging Blue Jeans, "You're No Good"] And *that* was originally recorded by *Dee Dee* Warwick: [Excerpt: Dee Dee Warwick, "You're No Good"] Dee Dee also had a successful solo career, but Dionne's was the real success, making the names of herself, and of Bacharach and David. The team had more than twenty top forty hits together, before Bacharach and David had a falling out in 1971 and stopped working together, and Warwick sued both of them for breach of contract as a result. But prior to that they had hit after hit, with classic records like "Anyone Who Had a Heart": [Excerpt: Dionne Warwick, "Anyone Who Had a Heart"] And "Walk On By": [Excerpt: Dionne Warwick, "Walk On By"] With Doris, Dionne, and Dee Dee all going solo, the group's membership was naturally in flux -- though the departed members would occasionally join their former bandmates for sessions, and the remaining members would sing backing vocals on their ex-members' records. By 1965 the group consisted of Cissy Houston, Sylvia Shemwell, the Warwick sisters' cousin Myrna Smith, and Estelle Brown. The group became *the* go-to singers for soul and R&B records made in New York. They were regularly hired by Leiber and Stoller to sing on their records, and they were also the particular favourites of Bert Berns. They sang backing vocals on almost every record he produced. It's them doing the gospel wails on "Cry Baby" by Garnet Mimms: [Excerpt: Garnet Mimms, "Cry Baby"] And they sang backing vocals on both versions of "If You Need Me" -- Wilson Pickett's original and Solomon Burke's more successful cover version, produced by Berns: [Excerpt: Solomon Burke, "If You Need Me"] They're on such Berns records as "Show Me Your Monkey", by Kenny Hamber: [Excerpt: Kenny Hamber, "Show Me Your Monkey"] And it was a Berns production that ended up getting them to be Aretha Franklin's backing group. The group were becoming such an important part of the records that Atlantic and BANG Records, in particular, were putting out, that Jerry Wexler said "it was only a matter of common decency to put them under contract as a featured group". He signed them to Atlantic and renamed them from the Gospelaires to The Sweet Inspirations.  Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham wrote a song for the group which became their only hit under their own name: [Excerpt: The Sweet Inspirations, "Sweet Inspiration"] But to start with, they released a cover of Pops Staples' civil rights song "Why (Am I treated So Bad)": [Excerpt: The Sweet Inspirations, "Why (Am I Treated So Bad?)"] That hadn't charted, and meanwhile, they'd all kept doing session work. Cissy had joined Erma and Carolyn Franklin on the backing vocals for Aretha's "I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You": [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You"] Shortly after that, the whole group recorded backing vocals for Erma's single "Piece of My Heart", co-written and produced by Berns: [Excerpt: Erma Franklin, "Piece of My Heart"] That became a top ten record on the R&B charts, but that caused problems. Aretha Franklin had a few character flaws, and one of these was an extreme level of jealousy for any other female singer who had any level of success and came up in the business after her. She could be incredibly graceful towards anyone who had been successful before her -- she once gave one of her Grammies away to Esther Phillips, who had been up for the same award and had lost to her -- but she was terribly insecure, and saw any contemporary as a threat. She'd spent her time at Columbia Records fuming (with some justification) that Barbra Streisand was being given a much bigger marketing budget than her, and she saw Diana Ross, Gladys Knight, and Dionne Warwick as rivals rather than friends. And that went doubly for her sisters, who she was convinced should be supporting her because of family loyalty. She had been infuriated at John Hammond when Columbia had signed Erma, thinking he'd gone behind her back to create competition for her. And now Erma was recording with Bert Berns. Bert Berns who had for years been a colleague of Jerry Wexler and the Ertegun brothers at Atlantic. Aretha was convinced that Wexler had put Berns up to signing Erma as some kind of power play. There was only one problem with this -- it simply wasn't true. As Wexler later explained “Bert and I had suffered a bad falling-out, even though I had enormous respect for him. After all, he was the guy who brought over guitarist Jimmy Page from England to play on our sessions. Bert, Ahmet, Nesuhi, and I had started a label together—Bang!—where Bert produced Van Morrison's first album. But Bert also had a penchant for trouble. He courted the wise guys. He wanted total control over every last aspect of our business dealings. Finally it was too much, and the Erteguns and I let him go. He sued us for breach of contract and suddenly we were enemies. I felt that he signed Erma, an excellent singer, not merely for her talent but as a way to get back at me. If I could make a hit with Aretha, he'd show me up by making an even bigger hit on Erma. Because there was always an undercurrent of rivalry between the sisters, this only added to the tension.” There were two things that resulted from this paranoia on Aretha's part. The first was that she and Wexler, who had been on first-name terms up to that point, temporarily went back to being "Mr. Wexler" and "Miss Franklin" to each other. And the second was that Aretha no longer wanted Carolyn and Erma to be her main backing vocalists, though they would continue to appear on her future records on occasion. From this point on, the Sweet Inspirations would be the main backing vocalists for Aretha in the studio throughout her golden era [xxcut line (and when the Sweet Inspirations themselves weren't on the record, often it would be former members of the group taking their place)]: [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "Ain't Nobody (Gonna Turn Me Around)"] The last day of sessions for Aretha Arrives was July the twenty-third, 1967. And as we heard in the episode on "I Was Made to Love Her", that was the day that the Detroit riots started. To recap briefly, that was four days of rioting started because of a history of racist policing, made worse by those same racist police overreacting to the initial protests. By the end of those four days, the National Guard, 82nd Airborne Division, and the 101st Airborne from Clarksville were all called in to deal with the violence, which left forty-three dead (of whom thirty-three were Black and only one was a police officer), 1,189 people were injured, and over 7,200 arrested, almost all of them Black. Those days in July would be a turning point for almost every musician based in Detroit. In particular, the police had murdered three members of the soul group the Dramatics, in a massacre of which the author John Hersey, who had been asked by President Johnson to be part of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders but had decided that would compromise his impartiality and did an independent journalistic investigation, said "The episode contained all the mythic themes of racial strife in the United States: the arm of the law taking the law into its own hands; interracial sex; the subtle poison of racist thinking by “decent” men who deny they are racists; the societal limbo into which, ever since slavery, so many young black men have been driven by our country; ambiguous justice in the courts; and the devastation in both black and white human lives that follows in the wake of violence as surely as ruinous and indiscriminate flood after torrents" But these were also the events that radicalised the MC5 -- the group had been playing a gig as Tim Buckley's support act when the rioting started, and guitarist Wayne Kramer decided afterwards to get stoned and watch the fires burning down the city through a telescope -- which police mistook for a rifle, leading to the National Guard knocking down Kramer's door. The MC5 would later cover "The Motor City is Burning", John Lee Hooker's song about the events: [Excerpt: The MC5, "The Motor City is Burning"] It would also be a turning point for Motown, too, in ways we'll talk about in a few future episodes.  And it was a political turning point too -- Michigan Governor George Romney, a liberal Republican (at a time when such people existed) had been the favourite for the Republican Presidential candidacy when he'd entered the race in December 1966, but as racial tensions ramped up in Detroit during the early months of 1967 he'd started trailing Richard Nixon, a man who was consciously stoking racists' fears. President Johnson, the incumbent Democrat, who was at that point still considering standing for re-election, made sure to make it clear to everyone during the riots that the decision to call in the National Guard had been made at the State level, by Romney, rather than at the Federal level.  That wasn't the only thing that removed the possibility of a Romney presidency, but it was a big part of the collapse of his campaign, and the, as it turned out, irrevocable turn towards right-authoritarianism that the party took with Nixon's Southern Strategy. Of course, Aretha Franklin had little way of knowing what was to come and how the riots would change the city and the country over the following decades. What she was primarily concerned about was the safety of her father, and to a lesser extent that of her sister-in-law Earline who was staying with him. Aretha, Carolyn, and Erma all tried to keep in constant touch with their father while they were out of town, and Aretha even talked about hiring private detectives to travel to Detroit, find her father, and get him out of the city to safety. But as her brother Cecil pointed out, he was probably the single most loved man among Black people in Detroit, and was unlikely to be harmed by the rioters, while he was too famous for the police to kill with impunity. Reverend Franklin had been having a stressful time anyway -- he had recently been fined for tax evasion, an action he was convinced the IRS had taken because of his friendship with Dr King and his role in the civil rights movement -- and according to Cecil "Aretha begged Daddy to move out of the city entirely. She wanted him to find another congregation in California, where he was especially popular—or at least move out to the suburbs. But he wouldn't budge. He said that, more than ever, he was needed to point out the root causes of the riots—the economic inequality, the pervasive racism in civic institutions, the woefully inadequate schools in inner-city Detroit, and the wholesale destruction of our neighborhoods by urban renewal. Some ministers fled the city, but not our father. The horror of what happened only recommitted him. He would not abandon his political agenda." To make things worse, Aretha was worried about her father in other ways -- as her marriage to Ted White was starting to disintegrate, she was looking to her father for guidance, and actually wanted him to take over her management. Eventually, Ruth Bowen, her booking agent, persuaded her brother Cecil that this was a job he could do, and that she would teach him everything he needed to know about the music business. She started training him up while Aretha was still married to White, in the expectation that that marriage couldn't last. Jerry Wexler, who only a few months earlier had been seeing Ted White as an ally in getting "product" from Franklin, had now changed his tune -- partly because the sale of Atlantic had gone through in the meantime. He later said “Sometimes she'd call me at night, and, in that barely audible little-girl voice of hers, she'd tell me that she wasn't sure she could go on. She always spoke in generalities. She never mentioned her husband, never gave me specifics of who was doing what to whom. And of course I knew better than to ask. She just said that she was tired of dealing with so much. My heart went out to her. She was a woman who suffered silently. She held so much in. I'd tell her to take as much time off as she needed. We had a lot of songs in the can that we could release without new material. ‘Oh, no, Jerry,' she'd say. ‘I can't stop recording. I've written some new songs, Carolyn's written some new songs. We gotta get in there and cut 'em.' ‘Are you sure?' I'd ask. ‘Positive,' she'd say. I'd set up the dates and typically she wouldn't show up for the first or second sessions. Carolyn or Erma would call me to say, ‘Ree's under the weather.' That was tough because we'd have asked people like Joe South and Bobby Womack to play on the sessions. Then I'd reschedule in the hopes she'd show." That third album she recorded in 1967, Lady Soul, was possibly her greatest achievement. The opening track, and second single, "Chain of Fools", released in November, was written by Don Covay -- or at least it's credited as having been written by Covay. There's a gospel record that came out around the same time on a very small label based in Houston -- "Pains of Life" by Rev. E. Fair And The Sensational Gladys Davis Trio: [Excerpt: Rev. E. Fair And The Sensational Gladys Davis Trio, "Pains of Life"] I've seen various claims online that that record came out shortly *before* "Chain of Fools", but I can't find any definitive evidence one way or the other -- it was on such a small label that release dates aren't available anywhere. Given that the B-side, which I haven't been able to track down online, is called "Wait Until the Midnight Hour", my guess is that rather than this being a case of Don Covay stealing the melody from an obscure gospel record he'd have had little chance to hear, it's the gospel record rewriting a then-current hit to be about religion, but I thought it worth mentioning. The song was actually written by Covay after Jerry Wexler asked him to come up with some songs for Otis Redding, but Wexler, after hearing it, decided it was better suited to Franklin, who gave an astonishing performance: [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "Chain of Fools"] Arif Mardin, the arranger of the album, said of that track “I was listed as the arranger of ‘Chain of Fools,' but I can't take credit. Aretha walked into the studio with the chart fully formed inside her head. The arrangement is based around the harmony vocals provided by Carolyn and Erma. To add heft, the Sweet Inspirations joined in. The vision of the song is entirely Aretha's.” According to Wexler, that's not *quite* true -- according to him, Joe South came up with the guitar part that makes up the intro, and he also said that when he played what he thought was the finished track to Ellie Greenwich, she came up with another vocal line for the backing vocals, which she overdubbed. But the core of the record's sound is definitely pure Aretha -- and Carolyn Franklin said that there was a reason for that. As she said later “Aretha didn't write ‘Chain,' but she might as well have. It was her story. When we were in the studio putting on the backgrounds with Ree doing lead, I knew she was singing about Ted. Listen to the lyrics talking about how for five long years she thought he was her man. Then she found out she was nothing but a link in the chain. Then she sings that her father told her to come on home. Well, he did. She sings about how her doctor said to take it easy. Well, he did too. She was drinking so much we thought she was on the verge of a breakdown. The line that slew me, though, was the one that said how one of these mornings the chain is gonna break but until then she'll take all she can take. That summed it up. Ree knew damn well that this man had been doggin' her since Jump Street. But somehow she held on and pushed it to the breaking point." [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "Chain of Fools"] That made number one on the R&B charts, and number two on the hot one hundred, kept from the top by "Judy In Disguise (With Glasses)" by John Fred and his Playboy Band -- a record that very few people would say has stood the test of time as well. The other most memorable track on the album was the one chosen as the first single, released in September. As Carole King told the story, she and Gerry Goffin were feeling like their career was in a slump. While they had had a huge run of hits in the early sixties through 1965, they had only had two new hits in 1966 -- "Goin' Back" for Dusty Springfield and "Don't Bring Me Down" for the Animals, and neither of those were anything like as massive as their previous hits. And up to that point in 1967, they'd only had one -- "Pleasant Valley Sunday" for the Monkees. They had managed to place several songs on Monkees albums and the TV show as well, so they weren't going to starve, but the rise of self-contained bands that were starting to dominate the charts, and Phil Spector's temporary retirement, meant there simply wasn't the opportunity for them to place material that there had been. They were also getting sick of travelling to the West Coast all the time, because as their children were growing slightly older they didn't want to disrupt their lives in New York, and were thinking of approaching some of the New York based labels and seeing if they needed songs. They were particularly considering Atlantic, because soul was more open to outside songwriters than other genres. As it happened, though, they didn't have to approach Atlantic, because Atlantic approached them. They were walking down Broadway when a limousine pulled up, and Jerry Wexler stuck his head out of the window. He'd come up with a good title that he wanted to use for a song for Aretha, would they be interested in writing a song called "Natural Woman"? They said of course they would, and Wexler drove off. They wrote the song that night, and King recorded a demo the next morning: [Excerpt: Carole King, "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman (demo)"] They gave Wexler a co-writing credit because he had suggested the title.  King later wrote in her autobiography "Hearing Aretha's performance of “Natural Woman” for the first time, I experienced a rare speechless moment. To this day I can't convey how I felt in mere words. Anyone who had written a song in 1967 hoping it would be performed by a singer who could take it to the highest level of excellence, emotional connection, and public exposure would surely have wanted that singer to be Aretha Franklin." She went on to say "But a recording that moves people is never just about the artist and the songwriters. It's about people like Jerry and Ahmet, who matched the songwriters with a great title and a gifted artist; Arif Mardin, whose magnificent orchestral arrangement deserves the place it will forever occupy in popular music history; Tom Dowd, whose engineering skills captured the magic of this memorable musical moment for posterity; and the musicians in the rhythm section, the orchestral players, and the vocal contributions of the background singers—among them the unforgettable “Ah-oo!” after the first line of the verse. And the promotion and marketing people helped this song reach more people than it might have without them." And that's correct -- unlike "Chain of Fools", this time Franklin did let Arif Mardin do most of the arrangement work -- though she came up with the piano part that Spooner Oldham plays on the record. Mardin said that because of the song's hymn-like feel they wanted to go for a more traditional written arrangement. He said "She loved the song to the point where she said she wanted to concentrate on the vocal and vocal alone. I had written a string chart and horn chart to augment the chorus and hired Ralph Burns to conduct. After just a couple of takes, we had it. That's when Ralph turned to me with wonder in his eyes. Ralph was one of the most celebrated arrangers of the modern era. He had done ‘Early Autumn' for Woody Herman and Stan Getz, and ‘Georgia on My Mind' for Ray Charles. He'd worked with everyone. ‘This woman comes from another planet' was all Ralph said. ‘She's just here visiting.'” [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman"] By this point there was a well-functioning team making Franklin's records -- while the production credits would vary over the years, they were all essentially co-productions by the team of Franklin, Wexler, Mardin and Dowd, all collaborating and working together with a more-or-less unified purpose, and the backing was always by the same handful of session musicians and some combination of the Sweet Inspirations and Aretha's sisters. That didn't mean that occasional guests couldn't get involved -- as we discussed in the Cream episode, Eric Clapton played guitar on "Good to Me as I am to You": [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "Good to Me as I am to You"] Though that was one of the rare occasions on one of these records where something was overdubbed. Clapton apparently messed up the guitar part when playing behind Franklin, because he was too intimidated by playing with her, and came back the next day to redo his part without her in the studio. At this point, Aretha was at the height of her fame. Just before the final batch of album sessions began she appeared in the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, and she was making regular TV appearances, like one on the Mike Douglas Show where she duetted with Frankie Valli on "That's Life": [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin and Frankie Valli, "That's Life"] But also, as Wexler said “Her career was kicking into high gear. Contending and resolving both the professional and personal challenges were too much. She didn't think she could do both, and I didn't blame her. Few people could. So she let the personal slide and concentrated on the professional. " Her concert promoter Ruth Bowen said of this time "Her father and Dr. King were putting pressure on her to sing everywhere, and she felt obligated. The record company was also screaming for more product. And I had a mountain of offers on my desk that kept getting higher with every passing hour. They wanted her in Europe. They wanted her in Latin America. They wanted her in every major venue in the U.S. TV was calling. She was being asked to do guest appearances on every show from Carol Burnett to Andy Williams to the Hollywood Palace. She wanted to do them all and she wanted to do none of them. She wanted to do them all because she's an entertainer who burns with ambition. She wanted to do none of them because she was emotionally drained. She needed to go away and renew her strength. I told her that at least a dozen times. She said she would, but she didn't listen to me." The pressures from her father and Dr King are a recurring motif in interviews with people about this period. Franklin was always a very political person, and would throughout her life volunteer time and money to liberal political causes and to the Democratic Party, but this was the height of her activism -- the Civil Rights movement was trying to capitalise on the gains it had made in the previous couple of years, and celebrity fundraisers and performances at rallies were an important way to do that. And at this point there were few bigger celebrities in America than Aretha Franklin. At a concert in her home town of Detroit on February the sixteenth, 1968, the Mayor declared the day Aretha Franklin Day. At the same show, Billboard, Record World *and* Cash Box magazines all presented her with plaques for being Female Vocalist of the Year. And Dr. King travelled up to be at the show and congratulate her publicly for all her work with his organisation, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Backstage at that show, Dr. King talked to Aretha's father, Reverend Franklin, about what he believed would be the next big battle -- a strike in Memphis: [Excerpt, Martin Luther King, "Mountaintop Speech" -- "And so, as a result of this, we are asking you tonight, to go out and tell your neighbors not to buy Coca-Cola in Memphis. Go by and tell them not to buy Sealtest milk. Tell them not to buy—what is the other bread?—Wonder Bread. And what is the other bread company, Jesse? Tell them not to buy Hart's bread. As Jesse Jackson has said, up to now, only the garbage men have been feeling pain; now we must kind of redistribute the pain. We are choosing these companies because they haven't been fair in their hiring policies; and we are choosing them because they can begin the process of saying, they are going to support the needs and the rights of these men who are on strike. And then they can move on downtown and tell Mayor Loeb to do what is right."] The strike in question was the Memphis Sanitation Workers' strike which had started a few days before.  The struggle for Black labour rights was an integral part of the civil rights movement, and while it's not told that way in the sanitised version of the story that's made it into popular culture, the movement led by King was as much about economic justice as social justice -- King was a democratic socialist, and believed that economic oppression was both an effect of and cause of other forms of racial oppression, and that the rights of Black workers needed to be fought for. In 1967 he had set up a new organisation, the Poor People's Campaign, which was set to march on Washington to demand a program that included full employment, a guaranteed income -- King was strongly influenced in his later years by the ideas of Henry George, the proponent of a universal basic income based on land value tax -- the annual building of half a million affordable homes, and an end to the war in Vietnam. This was King's main focus in early 1968, and he saw the sanitation workers' strike as a major part of this campaign. Memphis was one of the most oppressive cities in the country, and its largely Black workforce of sanitation workers had been trying for most of the 1960s to unionise, and strike-breakers had been called in to stop them, and many of them had been fired by their white supervisors with no notice. They were working in unsafe conditions, for utterly inadequate wages, and the city government were ardent segregationists. After two workers had died on the first of February from using unsafe equipment, the union demanded changes -- safer working conditions, better wages, and recognition of the union. The city council refused, and almost all the sanitation workers stayed home and stopped work. After a few days, the council relented and agreed to their terms, but the Mayor, Henry Loeb, an ardent white supremacist who had stood on a platform of opposing desegregation, and who had previously been the Public Works Commissioner who had put these unsafe conditions in place, refused to listen. As far as he was concerned, he was the only one who could recognise the union, and he wouldn't. The workers continued their strike, marching holding signs that simply read "I am a Man": [Excerpt: Stevie Wonder, "Blowing in the Wind"] The Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the NAACP had been involved in organising support for the strikes from an early stage, and King visited Memphis many times. Much of the time he spent visiting there was spent negotiating with a group of more militant activists, who called themselves The Invaders and weren't completely convinced by King's nonviolent approach -- they believed that violence and rioting got more attention than non-violent protests. King explained to them that while he had been persuaded by Gandhi's writings of the moral case for nonviolent protest, he was also persuaded that it was pragmatically necessary -- asking the young men "how many guns do we have and how many guns do they have?", and pointing out as he often did that when it comes to violence a minority can't win against an armed majority. Rev Franklin went down to Memphis on the twenty-eighth of March to speak at a rally Dr. King was holding, but as it turned out the rally was cancelled -- the pre-rally march had got out of hand, with some people smashing windows, and Memphis police had, like the police in Detroit the previous year, violently overreacted, clubbing and gassing protestors and shooting and killing one unarmed teenage boy, Larry Payne. The day after Payne's funeral, Dr King was back in Memphis, though this time Rev Franklin was not with him. On April the third, he gave a speech which became known as the "Mountaintop Speech", in which he talked about the threats that had been made to his life: [Excerpt: Martin Luther King, "Mountaintop Speech": “And then I got to Memphis. And some began to say the threats, or talk about the threats that were out. What would happen to me from some of our sick white brothers? Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. So I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord."] The next day, Martin Luther King was shot dead. James Earl Ray, a white supremacist, pled guilty to the murder, and the evidence against him seems overwhelming from what I've read, but the King family have always claimed that the murder was part of a larger conspiracy and that Ray was not the gunman. Aretha was obviously distraught, and she attended the funeral, as did almost every other prominent Black public figure. James Baldwin wrote of the funeral: "In the pew directly before me sat Marlon Brando, Sammy Davis, Eartha Kitt—covered in black, looking like a lost, ten-year-old girl—and Sidney Poitier, in the same pew, or nearby. Marlon saw me, and nodded. The atmosphere was black, with a tension indescribable—as though something, perhaps the heavens, perhaps the earth, might crack. Everyone sat very still. The actual service sort of washed over me, in waves. It wasn't that it seemed unreal; it was the most real church service I've ever sat through in my life, or ever hope to sit through; but I have a childhood hangover thing about not weeping in public, and I was concentrating on holding myself together. I did not want to weep for Martin, tears seemed futile. But I may also have been afraid, and I could not have been the only one, that if I began to weep I would not be able to stop. There was more than enough to weep for, if one was to weep—so many of us, cut down, so soon. Medgar, Malcolm, Martin: and their widows, and their children. Reverend Ralph David Abernathy asked a certain sister to sing a song which Martin had loved—“Once more,” said Ralph David, “for Martin and for me,” and he sat down." Many articles and books on Aretha Franklin say that she sang at King's funeral. In fact she didn't, but there's a simple reason for the confusion. King's favourite song was the Thomas Dorsey gospel song "Take My Hand, Precious Lord", and indeed almost his last words were to ask a trumpet player, Ben Branch, if he would play the song at the rally he was going to be speaking at on the day of his death. At his request, Mahalia Jackson, his old friend, sang the song at his private funeral, which was not filmed, unlike the public part of the funeral that Baldwin described. Four months later, though, there was another public memorial for King, and Franklin did sing "Take My Hand, Precious Lord" at that service, in front of King's weeping widow and children, and that performance *was* filmed, and gets conflated in people's memories with Jackson's unfilmed earlier performance: [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "Take My Hand, Precious Lord (at Martin Luther King Memorial)"] Four years later, she would sing that at Mahalia Jackson's funeral. Through all this, Franklin had been working on her next album, Aretha Now, the sessions for which started more or less as soon as the sessions for Lady Soul had finished. The album was, in fact, bookended by deaths that affected Aretha. Just as King died at the end of the sessions, the beginning came around the time of the death of Otis Redding -- the sessions were cancelled for a day while Wexler travelled to Georgia for Redding's funeral, which Franklin was too devastated to attend, and Wexler would later say that the extra emotion in her performances on the album came from her emotional pain at Redding's death. The lead single on the album, "Think", was written by Franklin and -- according to the credits anyway -- her husband Ted White, and is very much in the same style as "Respect", and became another of her most-loved hits: [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "Think"] But probably the song on Aretha Now that now resonates the most is one that Jerry Wexler tried to persuade her not to record, and was only released as a B-side. Indeed, "I Say a Little Prayer" was a song that had already once been a hit after being a reject.  Hal David, unlike Burt Bacharach, was a fairly political person and inspired by the protest song movement, and had been starting to incorporate his concerns about the political situation and the Vietnam War into his lyrics -- though as with many such writers, he did it in much less specific ways than a Phil Ochs or a Bob Dylan. This had started with "What the World Needs Now is Love", a song Bacharach and David had written for Jackie DeShannon in 1965: [Excerpt: Jackie DeShannon, "What the "World Needs Now is Love"] But he'd become much more overtly political for "The Windows of the World", a song they wrote for Dionne Warwick. Warwick has often said it's her favourite of her singles, but it wasn't a big hit -- Bacharach blamed himself for that, saying "Dionne recorded it as a single and I really blew it. I wrote a bad arrangement and the tempo was too fast, and I really regret making it the way I did because it's a good song." [Excerpt: Dionne Warwick, "The Windows of the World"] For that album, Bacharach and David had written another track, "I Say a Little Prayer", which was not as explicitly political, but was intended by David to have an implicit anti-war message, much like other songs of the period like "Last Train to Clarksville". David had sons who were the right age to be drafted, and while it's never stated, "I Say a Little Prayer" was written from the perspective of a woman whose partner is away fighting in the war, but is still in her thoughts: [Excerpt: Dionne Warwick, "I Say a Little Prayer"] The recording of Dionne Warwick's version was marked by stress. Bacharach had a particular way of writing music to tell the musicians the kind of feel he wanted for the part -- he'd write nonsense words above the stave, and tell the musicians to play the parts as if they were singing those words. The trumpet player hired for the session, Ernie Royal, got into a row with Bacharach about this unorthodox way of communicating musical feeling, and the track ended up taking ten takes (as opposed to the normal three for a Bacharach session), with Royal being replaced half-way through the session. Bacharach was never happy with the track even after all the work it had taken, and he fought to keep it from being released at all, saying the track was taken at too fast a tempo. It eventually came out as an album track nearly eighteen months after it was recorded -- an eternity in 1960s musical timescales -- and DJs started playing it almost as soon as it came out. Scepter records rushed out a single, over Bacharach's objections, but as he later said "One thing I love about the record business is how wrong I was. Disc jockeys all across the country started playing the track, and the song went to number four on the charts and then became the biggest hit Hal and I had ever written for Dionne." [Excerpt: Dionne Warwick, "I Say a Little Prayer"] Oddly, the B-side for Warwick's single, "Theme From the Valley of the Dolls" did even better, reaching number two. Almost as soon as the song was released as a single, Franklin started playing around with the song backstage, and in April 1968, right around the time of Dr. King's death, she recorded a version. Much as Burt Bacharach had been against releasing Dionne Warwick's version, Jerry Wexler was against Aretha even recording the song, saying later “I advised Aretha not to record it. I opposed it for two reasons. First, to cover a song only twelve weeks after the original reached the top of the charts was not smart business. You revisit such a hit eight months to a year later. That's standard practice. But more than that, Bacharach's melody, though lovely, was peculiarly suited to a lithe instrument like Dionne Warwick's—a light voice without the dark corners or emotional depths that define Aretha. Also, Hal David's lyric was also somewhat girlish and lacked the gravitas that Aretha required. “Aretha usually listened to me in the studio, but not this time. She had written a vocal arrangement for the Sweet Inspirations that was undoubtedly strong. Cissy Houston, Dionne's cousin, told me that Aretha was on the right track—she was seeing this song in a new way and had come up with a new groove. Cissy was on Aretha's side. Tommy Dowd and Arif were on Aretha's side. So I had no choice but to cave." It's quite possible that Wexler's objections made Franklin more, rather than less, determined to record the song. She regarded Warwick as a hated rival, as she did almost every prominent female singer of her generation and younger ones, and would undoubtedly have taken the implication that there was something that Warwick was simply better at than her to heart. [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "I Say a Little Prayer"] Wexler realised as soon as he heard it in the studio that Franklin's version was great, and Bacharach agreed, telling Franklin's biographer David Ritz “As much as I like the original recording by Dionne, there's no doubt that Aretha's is a better record. She imbued the song with heavy soul and took it to a far deeper place. Hers is the definitive version.” -- which is surprising because Franklin's version simplifies some of Bacharach's more unusual chord voicings, something he often found extremely upsetting. Wexler still though thought there was no way the song would be a hit, and it's understandable that he thought that way. Not only had it only just been on the charts a few months earlier, but it was the kind of song that wouldn't normally be a hit at all, and certainly not in the kind of rhythmic soul music for which Franklin was known. Almost everything she ever recorded is in simple time signatures -- 4/4, waltz time, or 6/8 -- but this is a Bacharach song so it's staggeringly metrically irregular. Normally even with semi-complex things I'm usually good at figuring out how to break it down into bars, but here I actually had to purchase a copy of the sheet music in order to be sure I was right about what's going on. I'm going to count beats along with the record here so you can see what I mean. The verse has three bars of 4/4, one bar of 2/4, and three more bars of 4/4, all repeated: [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "I Say a Little Prayer" with me counting bars over verse] While the chorus has a bar of 4/4, a bar of 3/4 but with a chord change half way through so it sounds like it's in two if you're paying attention to the harmonic changes, two bars of 4/4, another waltz-time bar sounding like it's in two, two bars of four, another bar of three sounding in two, a bar of four, then three more bars of four but the first of those is *written* as four but played as if it's in six-eight time (but you can keep the four/four pulse going if you're counting): [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "I Say a Little Prayer" with me counting bars over verse] I don't expect you to have necessarily followed that in great detail, but the point should be clear -- this was not some straightforward dance song. Incidentally, that bar played as if it's six/eight was something Aretha introduced to make the song even more irregular than how Bacharach wrote it. And on top of *that* of course the lyrics mixed the secular and the sacred, something that was still taboo in popular music at that time -- this is only a couple of years after Capitol records had been genuinely unsure about putting out the Beach Boys' "God Only Knows", and Franklin's gospel-inflected vocals made the religious connection even more obvious. But Franklin was insistent that the record go out as a single, and eventually it was released as the B-side to the far less impressive "The House That Jack Built". It became a double-sided hit, with the A-side making number two on the R&B chart and number seven on the Hot One Hundred, while "I Say a Little Prayer" made number three on the R&B chart and number ten overall. In the UK, "I Say a Little Prayer" made number four and became her biggest ever solo UK hit. It's now one of her most-remembered songs, while the A-side is largely forgotten: [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "I Say a Little Prayer"] For much of the

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Frank Buckley Interviews
Laura Flam, Author of "But Will You Love Me Tomorrow?"

Frank Buckley Interviews

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 27, 2023 35:12


Laura Flam is one of the authors of the book "But Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?"The book serves as an oral history of the girl groups that made up the 1960's music scene. The girl group sound, made famous by acts like The Ronettes, The Shirelles, The Supremes, and The Vandellas, took over the airwaves by capturing the mixture of innocence and rebellion emblematic of America in the Sixties. While many girl group songs rose to the top of the charts and shaped the trajectory of pop music in the process, many of the artists remain all but anonymous to most listeners. In this episode of the podcast, Frank discusses the young women behind some of the country's most popular songs. Flam reveals the challenges many of the artists faced while navigating the music industry at such a young age, and at a time when America was just beginning to reconcile a history fraught with racism. Flam also shares what became of many of the members of girl groups after music tastes changed.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Song of the Day
Corvair - Right Hook

Song of the Day

Play Episode Listen Later May 26, 2023 4:00


Corvair - Right Hook from the 2023 self-released album Bound to Be. Portland duo Corvair describe themselves as “Scorpio weirdo power duo serving up lush guitar pop w/ sharp incisors,” which this fellow Scorpio can certainly appreciate. Made up of Brian Naubert (Ruston Mire, Tube Top, Pop Sickle, The Service Providers) and Heather Larimer (Eux Autres), the romantic, as well as musical, duo are veterans of the Portland music scene. They released their debut self-titled album in 2021 and are following it up with their sophomore full-length Bound to Be on June 23rd. The lead single off the record is “Right Hook,” explores a dark night in a relationship where the protagonist is ready to fight. “On this record, I pushed myself to be more exposed and unfiltered,” explains Larimer of the song. “I can unfortunately be an ugly fighter and I wondered what would happen lyrically if I just owned up to it. The things I do that I am ashamed of and the toll it takes on everyone involved.” “The musical spine of this song was me thinking about Tears for Fears meets King Crimson,” Nuebert says of the instrumentation. “But then Heather wrapped that art rock foundation in a Blondie-meets-Shirelles pop energy. It's a strange combination that fits the story–out of control emotions that end in shame and regret.” Watch the video for "Right Hook" and read the full post at KEXP.org.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Rich Redmond Show
Music is in the Blood - Tony Morra

The Rich Redmond Show

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 20, 2023 90:57


Tony started his professional career in the music industry in 1980 at the age of 16 years old. Playing drums since the age of 3 Tony had been pounding on his dad's 1948 Radio King drum set that was a fixture in the basement of his Queens, NY home! Not only was Tony's dad a professional musician but his grandfather and his great grandfather back in Italy were as well.  It seems that music was Tony's destiny. With so many musicians in the family, Tony's listening palette was broad and wide! Opera and Big band jazz were the main stays on the turntables back then. As was the Beatles, Bee Gee's, James Taylor and all the pop artists of the day. One influential film Tony remembers was “The Glenn Miller Story”. In the story “Glenn” is searching for that “sound”. Tony's Mom would often refer to this, as Tony would come up from the basement looking for that “sound” on his drums - bewildered as to how the drums sounded so big and fat on the records. The quest was on for the “Holiest of Grails” a great drum sound!  As time passed, Tony went on to work in the Studio and Live concerts with the likes of Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Selena Gomez, Carrie Underwood, Ramone, Diane Warren, Keith Thomas, Kip Winger, Bruce Springsteen, Michael Broening, Amy Grant, Donna Summer, Roberta Flack, Paul Taylor, Discrete Drums Loop Series, Toby Mac, Cindy Bradley, Jay Soto, Stephanie Smith, Ayeisha Woods, Rebecca Saint James, Britt Nicole, Stevie B, Sweet Sensation, Kathy Troccoli, Regie Hamm, Crystal Lewis, Avalon, John Elefante, Van Zandt and on.  His career has taken him from NYC to LA to his current residence in Franklin, TN. (A quaint city 14 miles outside of Music Row in downtown Nashville.) Tony is a successful session drummer and producer in Nashville. After years of touring, he had the good fortune to get into the session scene in town. The scene was healthy but still changing. Session work was going through some severe changes due to budgets and technical changes.  After an encounter with LA session musician J.R Robinson, Tony was convinced that the future of tracking was going to be done in the home. Now for a gtr track or vocal overdub maybe so, but drums? Here we go again searching for that “sound” in a 25 x 25 Garage built for storing cars and gardening equipment not killer drum sounds. With much investigation and a great builder with vision, they turned the Garage and Utility room into what now is one of the busiest drum tracking rooms in town.  For 8 years now Tony Morra has been tracking drums for demos, custom records, indie projects. Sounds about right, but NO! There's more!( Billy Mayes moment) Tony is tracking drums for Masters, Television, Film, Loop Libraries you hear on TV and on radio everyday. Tony is one of the leaders in home recording through the Internet since it was possible to do so! He has been a beta tester for many online programs that make it easier to do sessions in real time. What was thought to be a little drum room for some extra work has turned into a livelihood. Tony's clients span the world! These sessions are done at his home with the sounds rivaling those done in the largest and most expensive studios.  A big part of Tony's career was happening when he thought he had no career! In between gigs and tours in NY when work was lean, Tony would find work as an assistant engineer at jingle studios for jingle writer friends of his. He would also get to play live drums for them from time to time, but this was when the industry was moving to drum machines and loops. These experiences, which he took for granted in that he was just “collecting a check when gigs were slow”, gave him a wealth of knowledge of the recording industry and working with midi and sequencers. Mind you this is before Pro Tools! All editing was done with a razor and a prayer. Oh and he knows how to align a tape machine!  That knowledge has paid huge dividends in that beyond being an accomplished musician, he is an accomplished tracking engineer. Still Tony will bring in Top Nashville engineers to help dial in new sounds and experiment with gear.  His room is outfitted with the best gear there is, Daking, API, GML, Avalon, Neve EQ's, DBX 160's, Distressors, Telefunken Pre's, vintage Orbans and so on! The mics are no joke; Neumann U47, AKG's, Audio Technica, KM 184's, modified Ribbons.........and a ProTools HDX system.  It's a new world and a new frontier in recording. Tony's embracing it! Using what's available to make the finest quality Drum Tracks available for those who might never have been able to afford to do so and for those where budget is not even a concern.  Some Things That Came Up:  -3:00 Italian Family Legacy  -7:00 Music was in the family blood.  -10:30 Sitting in with Margaret Manning.  -11:45 Compliments to Tony's drumming Dad  -13:45 George Lawerence now has Tony's Dad's Big Band Charts  -14:50 Playing drums while Mom did housework -18:30 Worked at The Modern Drum Shop in NYC and studying with Joe Cusatis -19:50 The Ted Reed Book and The Bellson Book  -20:00 Cusatis Method: Play any rhythm with the right hand and fill in the triplets with the left.  -24:05 The lost art of teaching swing  -27:00 Trying to impress music teacher at private school  -29:45 Auditioning for Queens College  -30:10 Danny Gottlieb, Rod Morgenstein in the neighborhood  -31:55 Tympani Tuning Incident  -35:00 Driving vans for a zipper company  -36:00 Drinking Grappa with Marco Soccoli -38:00 Hanging with world class drummers at Manny's Music  -38:30 Drum Programming inspired by Sammy Merendino  -39:00 Wedding bands in NYC were a right of passage  -40:33 Intern for “The Jingle Queen of NY” at age 23, learning engineering, MIDI  -43:00 Incorporating clicks and loops. The early days  -47:00 Getting the gig with SWEET SENSATION  -48:00 Playing with The Shirelles, The Platters, The Coasters as well as singer songwriters like Lisa Loeb at The Bitter End. Playing with Dee Dee Ramone at CBGB's.  -50:00 Living next to John Gotti, the prevalence of drugs in the neighborhood.  -52:00 Moving to Nashville in 1997 and meeting Tony at a Virgil Donati clinic.  -53:50 The California Connection  -55:40 Living at Dianne Warren's house.  -1:00 Temptations vs. Spiritually Aided Faith -1:01 Working with Kathy Troccoli -1:06 Chatting with John Robinson -1:08 MD. Hiring Musicians. CCM World. Paul Chapman -1:11 Genesis of creating The Downtown Batterie -1:19 The FAST Five! Rush, Pink Floyd, Journey… -1:20 Music and Sports analogies    Follow:  www.downtownbatterie.com Twitter: @TonyMorra4 IG: @ajmorra