Podcasts about three dots

This episode features a conversation with Kevin Beary, beverage director for Three Dots and a Dash, The Bamboo Room, and Sushi-san in Chicago. During our interview we talk about cutting your teeth as a bartender on a dinner cruise boat, how he manages a rum list of over 300 bottles and then we also fall into a very specific conversation about foam.Kevin's InstagramThree Dots and a Dashhttps://www.johndebary.com/@jnd3001 on IG and TikTokTheme music is "Space Jazz"Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/Episode Copyright Hypernoticer Media, 2024 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You may not know Kevin by name but you definitely know Kevin's work. As Beverage Director of Three Dots and a Dash in Chicago, Kevin has helmed a cultural revolution in Tiki cocktails over the last decade. Today we sit down to discuss the essential elements of an iconic beverage program, the value in a blockbuster non alcoholic offering, and the future of the bar industry.  For more on Kevin and his bar, visit ​​https://www.threedotschicago.com/. ____________________________________________________ Full Comp is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out our other content: Yelp for Restaurants Podcasts Restaurant expert videos & webinars

Do tropical drinks actually make for gnarly hangovers? What have been the major advancements in distilling in the last century? What happens when a college kid has drink-slinging know-how and unfettered access to booze? In this week's episode of Joiners, we explore big questions with none other than Kevin Beary, the sagacious beverage director behind River North tiki treasure Three Dots and a Dash. He tells us about his journey from underage bartending in Philadelphia to working towards his master's degree in distilling science. Listen now for a history of the perennial tiki fascination, a deep dive into what makes good rum, beverage direction wisdom, and much more.

This weeks guest is Tyler MacLellan who joins us from Chicago, Illinois. Tyler is currently one of the managers at 3 Dots And A Dash bar in Chicago - a tropical themed speakeasy. Tyler was originally born in California, but grew up in Appleton, Wisconsin. This is where Tyler got his start in hospitality, starting from the ground up and working in all positions before moving into management. Eventually, Tyler began curating and overseeing beverage programs in the Appleton area. Eventually, Tyler decided to move on to other cities and worked as the bar manager at Town Council Kitchen & Bar in Neenah, Wisconsin and also the opening bar director for a tropical cocktail bar on the rooftop of a Milwaukee hotel called Pufferfish. During Tyler's current stint at Three Dots he was also a part of the Cocktail Apprenticeship Program class of 2023 and excited to be accepted back to be a part of the class of 2024. And a big thank you to this weeks sponsor - Civil Pours - A ready to pour, premium cocktail program that blends the highest quality, proprietary ingredients into shelf stable, top selling cocktails delivered to you in draft-ready kegs. All you do is pour, serve, and savour a seamless experience designed to captivate your customer and smooth your service. To get in touch contact sales@civilpours.com or check the website civilpours.com Links @trader_ty @threedotsandadash @sugarrunbar @babylonsistersbar @the_industry_podcast email us: info@theindustrypodcast.club Podcast Artwork by Zak Hannah zakhannah.co

A particular psychic dream, a tyrant who was not amused, and yet another "yes" - there are many things that science cannot explain. And one of these included the recent absence, of my boss.... _______ ep 165. Three Dots notes - 4/9/2024 _______ 12 step, Adult Children of Alcoholics: https://adultchildren.org/ _______ National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, Hours: Available 24 hours. Languages: English, Spanish. 1-800-273-8255 ____ National Sexual Assault Hotline Hours: Available 24 hours 1-800-656-4673 _____ POD DESCRIPTION: This is The House on Valencia Street. This is a place where ghosts & psychics, with PTSD, exist, & I'm talking about it. Share time with a rare survivor, walking back to haunted rooms and space being claimed from long ago. This is from the survivor's perspective, communicated as I see fit, in a way that feels right, for me. I do not offer advice here, I share what worked for me. I am not a professional therapist, this is just one case study, one perspective. Please seek professional help, if mental health issues need attention. This podcast is intended for entertainment purposes only, and I am a commentator. USE YOUR DISCERNMENT. Language is explicit. Names may or may not be changed, to protect some. Content Warning: ghosts, psychic ability, rape, incest, foster care, murder, emancipation, BDSM, therapy, lightning strikes, personal responsibility, Buddhism, LGBTQIA+, recovery, codependency, comedy, domestic violence - and inappropriate humor, most likely. Picture inset: This is me, so many years ago, standing in front of my mother's Impala, and the House on Valencia Street. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mohmah/support

Tyler MacLellan is currently one of the bar managers at Three Dots & a Dash in Chicago Illinois. Tyler has worked in bars & restaurants all around Wisconsin including being one of the opening bar managers for PufferFish, a tropical cocktail bar that is currently on the roof of Hotel Metro in downtown Milwaukee.  Tyler talks with us about his experience in bars, hospitality, Brandy Sweets, and his love for Voodoo Chicken. ----------Don't miss out on any of the action!  Head to www.bardtender.com to stay up to date with all of the Bardtender content, find resources for mental and physical wellbeing, get access to education materials, and check out what all of our bards are up to! 

We're breaking away from this season's “duos” theme and bringing you a TRIO! R.J., Jerrod, and Molly Melman are the sibling trio behind Lettuce Entertain You Restaurants, a privately held, family-owned restaurant group with more than 110 restaurants and 60 unique concepts nationwide, including; the RPM Restaurants, Sushi-san, Aba, Ramen-san, Bub City, Miru, The Oakville Grill & Cellar, Summer House Santa Monica, Three Dots & a Dash, and more. In this episode, we discuss the ups and downs of the restaurant industry, and how reimagining one of their failed restaurant/club spaces, ultimately got converted into one of the city's hottest concepts with multiple locations. They also share lessons learned from having the legendary restaurateur Rich Melman as their dad.The Melmans and Lettuce Entertain You are one of the most generous restaurant groups in America. In addition to the number of organizations Lettuce works with, R.J., Jerrod, and Molly each have causes close to their heart such as Israel Cancer Research Fund, Metropolitan Family Services, Share Our Strength, The Pink Agenda, and Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Enjoy this episode as we go Beyond the Plate… with R.J., Jerrod, and Molly Melman. This season is brought to you by Fords Gin, a gin created to cocktail.Check out our #BtPlatePodcast Merch at www.BeyondthePlateMerch.com Follow Beyond the Plate on Facebook and TwitterFollow Kappy on Instagram and Twitter

This week, we're joined by acclaimed chef Doug Psaltis, who has worked in some of the world's most prestigious kitchens alongside legendary chefs. As a partner at Lettuce Entertain You, Doug opened some of Chicago's hottest restaurants, including RPM Italian, Bub City Chicago, Three Dots & A Dash tiki lounge, and more. Now at Eat Well Hospitality, he brings decades of experience combined with an infectious enthusiasm for hospitality. Doug reflects on lessons learned from mentors like Keller and Ducasse, the importance of culture and team, and a back-to-basics approach he champions today. He shares insights into his latest projects like Andros Taverna and Asador Bastion, staying true to his ethos of impeccable sourcing and heartfelt service. Join us for a wide-ranging exploration of a life richly lived in restaurants.

It was a busy food week for the Fats. Jay and Hope were childless this week, and they took advantage with several new spots, including Bartaco in Wicker Park and Three Dots and a Dash on Clark in Chicago. Rick, meanwhile, tried a few new places. Southern Cafe in St Charles provided some great breakfast, while Chamber Red Chinese Bistro continues Rick's transition to an Asian food fan. YOUTUBE: ⁠youtube.com/c/imfatpodcast⁠ MERCH: ⁠imfatmerch.com⁠ SPONSORS: ⁠Charlie the Bacon Guy⁠, ⁠Frato's Culinary Kitchen⁠ (use code IMFAT to save 10% on online orders), ⁠Mazda of Orland Park⁠, Nik and Ivy Brewing Co. in Lockport SUPPORT: ⁠https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/im-fat-podcast/support⁠ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/im-fat-podcast/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/im-fat-podcast/support

It was a busy food week for the Fats. Jay and Hope were childless this week, and they took advantage with several new spots, including Bartaco in Wicker Park and Three Dots and a Dash on Clark in Chicago. Rick, meanwhile, tried a few new places. Southern Cafe in St Charles provided some great breakfast, while Chamber Red Chinese Bistro continues Rick's transition to an Asian food fan. YOUTUBE: ⁠youtube.com/c/imfatpodcast⁠ MERCH: ⁠imfatmerch.com⁠ SPONSORS: ⁠Charlie the Bacon Guy⁠, ⁠Frato's Culinary Kitchen⁠ (use code IMFAT to save 10% on online orders), ⁠Mazda of Orland Park⁠, Nik and Ivy Brewing Co. in Lockport SUPPORT: ⁠https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/im-fat-podcast/support⁠ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/im-fat-podcast/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/im-fat-podcast/support

Cory Starr got his tiki on bartending in Hawaii, took his skills to Chicago's Three Dots & A Dash, & then moseyed his way to Austin to become the beverage director of the incredible Tiki Tatsu-Ya. He tries plays metal when his daughter isn't demanding Bad Bunny. Check out his zombified playlist here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4n1VsKmrlh81Gi6yWmzq7y?si=3f53a227d1d54a0b

On this episode of THE COCKTAIL GURU PODCAST, hosts Jonathan & Jeffrey Pogash visit the heart of the American Midwest to talk tropical cocktails with celebrated bartender Kevin Beary, Beverage Director at Chicago's Three Dots and a Dash and its acclaimed Tiki bar within, The Bamboo Room! All brought to you by Tipxy.com Tipxy, sip something new. Get 10% off all Tipxy orders June 1 - August 31st with code: Cocktail Guru To see all the show notes for this episode, visit TheCocktailGuruPodcast.com THE COCKTAIL GURU PODCAST is produced by ⁠⁠1st Reel Entertainment⁠⁠ and distributed by ⁠⁠EatsDrinksTV⁠⁠, a service of the⁠⁠ Center for Culinary Culture⁠⁠—Home of The Cocktail Collection, and is available wherever fine podcasts can be heard. The Center for Culinary Culture—Telling the Story of Food & Drink…One Taste at a Time. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thecocktailgurupodcast/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thecocktailgurupodcast/support

Today Rob Carlton Tell Us About His Amazing Acting on Aussie Soaps, We Chat To Jack Gunston About His First Season As A Brisbane Lion and We Add Some More Rules To The M CommandmentsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We're jetting off to Barbados today on Cocktail College to explore one of the island's most beloved drinks, The Corn ‘n' Oil. Joining us to do so is Kevin Beary, a rum enthusiast and beverage director of Chicago's award-winning Three Dots and a Dash, and The Bamboo Room at Three Dots and a Dash. Listen on to learn Beary's Corn ‘n' Oil recipe — and don't forget to like, review, and subscribe! Kevin Beary's Corn ‘n' Oil Recipe Ingredients - 2 ounces rum, such as Foursquare 2010- ½ ounce Falernum- 4 dashes Angostura Bitters- Garnish: lime coin Directions 1. Add all ingredients to a double Old Fashioned glass with a large, 2x2 inch ice cube. 2. Stir thoroughly to dilute and chill. 3. Express 10-15 drops of a lime coin. 4. Add lime coin to the glass, give one last stir, and stir. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Whoa, we crested the hour mark in the first time in an age, but its a good one, enjoy: (17:39) Poker Face (https://www.peacocktv.com/stream-tv/poker-face) (29:36) Hogwarts Legacy (https://www.hogwartslegacy.com/en-us) (39:00) Chicago Trip: Anderson Pens (https://chicago.andersonpens.com/) Atlas Stationers (https://www.atlasstationers.com/) Museum of Science and Industry (https://www.msichicago.org/) Three Dots and a Dash (https://www.threedotschicago.com/) (55:55) Pask Makes (https://www.youtube.com/@PaskMakes) Kumiko Coffee Table (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxG-NbUzMVE) Drinks! Adam - Ardent Pilsner (https://untappd.com/b/ardent-craft-ales-ardent-pilsner/2685212) Mike - Triple Crossing Nectar and Knife (https://triplecrossing.com/collections/cans/products/nectar-and-knife-dipa?variant=38162930860184) Followup and Footnotes Break: J.I.D & Lute - Ma Boy (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkIz2_ivR10) Merch: Shirts, mugs, and more (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088011/) Romancing the Stone (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8gz0rUzTAY) Missions Impossible (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117060/) Out of Sight (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120780/)

We're learning a new language — that of morse code — at Cocktail College today, all told through the lens of a classic, if slightly lesser-known tiki drink, the Three Dots and a Dash cocktail. Anton Kinloch, owner of New Paltz's Fuschia Tiki Bar is taking class, enlightening us on the irrefutable delights of allspice dram, Velvet Falernum, and this drink's merits as a cocktail template. Listen on (or read below) to learn Kinloch's Three Dots and a Dash recipe — and don't forget to like, review, and subscribe! Anton Kinloch's Three Dots and a Dash Recipe Ingredients - 2 dashes Angostura bitters - ¼ ounce allspice dram - ½ ounce Velvet Falernum - ½ ounce honey syrup (2:1)- ¾ ounce lime juice - 1 ounce fresh orange juice - ½ ounce Guyana rum, such as Hamilton 86 - ½ ounce Jamaican Rum, such as Appleton 8 Year - 1 ½ ounces of Rhum Agricole, such as J.M. Blanc - Garnish: one pineapple frond and three cocktail cherries Directions 1. Combine all ingredients in a shaker tin with pebble ice. 2. Shake until well chilled. 3. “Dirty dump” the contents into a chilled Pilsner glass. 4. Garnish with a pineapple frond and three cocktail cherries. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Prayer is not meant to be a grocery list... Prayer is communication with the God of the universe who calls Himself our parent and longs for a deeper fellowship." Ever seen those three dots? They pop up in your text messaging app when you're waiting for a response from someone...they appear, they disappear, they reappear, and still...no answer comes. Prayer can feel like that sometimes. You ask, you please, you beg, and still...nothing. In today's episode, Pastor Paul and Mark look at some of the reasons our prayers might go unanswered, as well as steps we can take to make sure we are in the right place with God before we even begin to pray. They'll cover topics like: actually asking for what we want during prayer to help us understand the deeper purpose ensuring that we are relationally right with God whenever we go to him in prayer examining our motives for prayer refusing to quit praying even when it seems the answer we want will never come praying in Christ's name alone, and why this seemingly obvious step is really important; and doing our own part during the process of prayer. Our series on prayer continues with even more vital information on how our prayers can be more effective, more focused, and more powerful. Thanks for joining us for another episode of A Fresh Take. :: VIDEO PODCAST :: Not into the audio podcast format? Check out A Fresh Take on YouTube, too! :: FIND OUT MORE :: Trinity Church | Take 5 :: FOLLOW TRINITY :: Facebook | Instagram | YouTube

A famous drink. A famous bar. An infamous bartender. Pod Tiki Rum Poet Surfside Sips

Thanks to my monthly patrons! Check out my page and become one today. Kelsey Ramage and Erin Hayes are the co-founders of Black Lagoon.Kelsey co-founded Trash Collective, which in part focuses on sustainability in hospitality. Check out their sustainability recipe tips. She's also worked at bars like Supernova Ballroom and Dandelyan Erin is currently the beverage director at Fairmont Century Plaza and has worked at bars like Lost Lake and Three Dots and a Dash.  Check out Erin's ready-to-drink (RTD) cocktail called "Rocket Queen" from Livewire, which won best-in-show at the 2022 San Francisco World Spirits Competition.For tiki drinks, Erin recommended checking out Jeff Berry and Shannon Mustipher. You should also check out Chockie Tom of Doomersive.  Tying into both Kelsey's work with Trash Collective and Erin's comments about the improved quality of RTDs, many bartenders are now turning to things like "fake lime juice". Check out Kelsey's Spotify and Erin's for their Halloween tunes.One drink you can expect at the popup is a riff on the Kingston Negroni. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingcocktails.substack.com

Rodrigo Serrano worked at casino bars in Guatemala and later found himself in the Florida temple of tiki, the legendary Mai Kai. A move to Chicago landed him at a modern classic: Three Dots & a Dash, and its speakeasy, the Bamboo Room. But he isn't just about tiki, he truly loves the classics... be it cocktails or rock. Want some Pink Floyd with your negroni? He's got you. And he's got bar music for you too: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0vE5RpEzFSsZ235HmLVp8y?si=a378e9d2584f405b

On the heels of Chicago's Rum Fest, Crain's contributor David Manilow talks with host Amy Guth about the spirit, and he'll share highlights from his recent conversation with Three Dots and a Dash beverage director Kevin Beary. Plus: DePaul names new president, School of the Art Institute faculty move to join union effort, Three Chicago-area hospitals get 21 straight As for safety, and Ken Griffin and Michael Sacks give $27.5 million to train police leaders.

On today's show, a lawsuit regarding ivermectin and Washington County jail detainees moves forward. Plus, understanding why we vote, a new blues exhibit at the Pryor Center, and much more.

On this episode of THE COCKTAIL GURU PODCAST, Jeff "Beachbum" Berry, bar owner and restaurateur, acclaimed drinks historian and author, and a globally recognized authority on Tiki culture, tells hosts Jonathan & Jeffrey Pogash the technicolor tale of how the Los Angeles native went from writing for the screen in Hollywood to becoming the North Star of the tropical cocktail galaxy and slinging drinks in New Orleans. Brought to you by Plantation Rum, Denizen Rum, and J.P. Wiser's Canadian Whisky. THE COCKTAIL GURU PODCAST is produced by 1st Reel Entertainment and distributed by EatsDrinksTV, a service of the Center for Culinary Culture—Home of The Cocktail Collection, and is available wherever fine podcasts can be heard. The Center for Culinary Culture—Telling the Story of Food & Drink…One Taste at a Time. GUEST BIO One of Imbibe's “25 Most Influential Cocktail Personalities of the Past Century,” Jeff “Beachbum” Berry is the author of seven books on vintage tropical drinks, which published for the first time anywhere the lost recipes of Tiki's golden age—from the original Zombie, Jet Pilot, and Pearl Diver to the Navy Grog, Saturn, Three Dots & A Dash, and many others. Esquire calls Jeff “one of the instigators of the cocktail revolution” and Food & Wine “one of the world's leading rum experts,” while The New York Times cites him as “the Indiana Jones of Tiki drinks” and The Los Angeles Times as “A hybrid of street-smart gumshoe, anthropologist, and mixologist.” Jeff's been featured on the Travel Channel's “Food Paradise” TV series, The Discovery Channel, PBS Television, and National Public Radio; he's also been profiled in The Washington Post, USA Today, The New York Times, and Wine Enthusiast. Jeff's original cocktail recipes have been printed in publications around the world, from Bon Appétit and The Huffington Post to over 20 international recipe books, including the venerable Mr. Boston Official Bartender's Guide. And now Jeff's drinks are being served at his restaurant in New Orleans, Beachbum Berry's Latitude 29, which has won critical acclaim in Esquire, Playboy, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, The Houston Chronicle, GQ, Travel + Leisure, Town & Country, Southern Living, New Orleans, and the Food Network. With Martin Doudoroff, Jeff co-created Total Tiki for iPad and iPhone, a drink recipe app which Macworld calls “beautifully rendered and, thanks to Berry's tireless reporting, impeccably sourced.” Jeff's also co-created a line of Tiki barware with Cocktail Kingdom, which Imbibehails as “especially notable because it revives old styles of essential glassware that were previously almost impossible to find.” While this is all way too much work for a bum, Jeff also contributed 29 entries to The Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails and lectures about tropical drinks across the US, Europe, and Latin America. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/thecocktailgurupodcast/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thecocktailgurupodcast/support

Holding the Middle while on a Compromised Journey isn't easy... Especially if Russia just invaded your house. Frank and Dave talk Ukraine, Three Dots, and more on this episode.

What is the pandemic's lasting impact on the restaurant industry?  Anson interviews restaurant executive Chris Vestal about his career in restaurants around the country, as well as his thoughts on the current state of restaurants in the covid era, and its lasting impact.  Then, Chris and Anson talk about their recent trip to a tradeshow in Chicago and a couple of nights eating and drinking at some Chicago institutions including Three Dots and a Dash, Revival Food Hall, The Billy Goat Tavern, Au Cheval, Le Colonial, and the Michelin two-starred Smyth.    --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

It's Episode 19 of Season 16. Our correspondence sounds the warning about audio horrors.   "Knocking After Midnight" written by LP Hernandez (Story starts around 00:04:00) Produced by: Jesse Cornett Cast: Duke - Jesse Cornett, Clancy - Atticus Jackson, Peggy - Erin Lillis, Jorge - Mick Wingert, Jim - Jeff Clement, Nancy - Sarah Ruth Thomas, Hank - Elie Hirschman, Female Voice - Sarah Olivia "Exanimate" written by Jessica Saul (Story starts around 00:27:20) Produced by: Jesse Cornett Cast: Narrator - Wafiyyah White, 911 Caller - Peter Lewis "Three Dots, Three Dashes, Three Dots" written by Jarvellis Rogers (Story starts around 00:38:45) Produced by: Jeff Clement Cast: Martin - David Ault, Andy - Andy Cresswell "Dear Laura - Chapter 2" written by Gemma Amor (Story starts around 00:53:45) Produced by: Phil Michalski Cast: Narrator - Kristen DiMercurio, Laura - Mary Murphy, Mrs. Scott - Nikolle Doolin, Mrs. Eveleigh - Erin Lillis, X - David Cummings "It's Just the Wind" written by Eddie Ihlan (Story starts around 00:53:50) Produced by: Phil Michalski Cast: Narrator - Nichole Goodnight, Podcast Host - Dan Zappulla "Tribute" written by Michael Fallon (Story starts around 01:14:15) Produced by: Phil Michalski Cast: Doug Cutler - Graham Rowat, Tess cutler - Mary Murphy, Boyd Cutler - Matthew Bradford "Be Safe, Be Good" written by Marcus Damanda (Story starts around 01:39:10) Produced by: Phil Michalski Cast: Matty Kussmann - Mike DelGaudio, Gabrielle - Nikolle Doolin, Sadie Covington - Jessica McEvoy, Max - Elie Hirschman Click here to learn more about The NoSleep Podcast team   Click here to learn more about the podcast, "Give It Away"   Click here to learn more about LP Hernandez   Click here to learn more about Jessica Saul   Click here to learn more about Jarvellis Rogers   Click here to learn more about Marcus Damanda   Click here to learn more about Gemma Amor     Executive Producer & Host: David Cummings Musical score composed by: Brandon Boone "Knocking After Midnight" illustration courtesy of Krys Hookuh Audio program ©2021 - Creative Reason Media Inc. - All Rights Reserved - No reproduction or use of this content is permitted without the express written consent of Creative Reason Media Inc. The copyrights for each story are held by the respective authors.

This week, we dig into the best way to think about margin and padding in your component system. In The Sidebar, we break down the basics of design advising and angel investing.Golden Ratio Supporter:AroundAround is a better way to video call. It's designed specifically to make it easier to gather small groups together to collaborate in real time, without all the distracting and frustrating interfaces that comes with most video chat software. We love the small floating heads and emphasis on making it easy to work alongside the video call, rather than constantly having to app switch.You can get started for free by signing up at Around.co!Latest VIP Patrons:Graham ConnellEmily KimSjur GrønningsæterVincent Salamanca-GagnonFranckDominic KennedyRohan BondiliTomáš TrejdlJames GoncalvesClay CrenshawJack LoLiam FergusonThe Sidebar:The Sidebar is an exclusive weekly segment for our Patreon supporters. You can subscribe starting at $1 per month for access to bonus content going forward! Sign up at patreon.com/designdetails.Followup:Manny tweeted: What is the official name for the “three dots”…? I've heard “three dots”, “more icon”, “ellipsis” and “overflow” from different peopleWe replied: Yeah, it's a bit confusing, but to my understanding, Android is “Overflow” and iOS is “Ellipsis,” but the label is typically “More,” so we just went with “Three Dots” to keep it generic

This week, we talk about a ubiquitous design crutch: the three dot menu. We examine the spread of this pattern and discuss potential solutions to avoid it. In The Sidebar, we recap WWDC 2021 and dive deep into our favorite announcements.Golden Ratio Supporter:AroundAround is a better way to video call. It's designed specifically to make it easier to gather small groups together to collaborate in real time, without all the distracting and frustrating interfaces that comes with most video chat software. We love the small floating heads and emphasis on making it easy to work alongside the video call, rather than constantly having to app switch.You can get started for free by signing up at Around.co!Latest VIP Patrons:Trí NguyễnMichael WangJustin WattsMichael GoliverBaruch PiTara UrsoThe Sidebar:The Sidebar is an exclusive weekly segment for our Patreon supporters. You can subscribe starting at $1 per month for access to bonus content going forward! Sign up at patreon.com/designdetails.Followup:Sean Sullivan tweeted: IMO Software can be finished. Think about software that ships on non Internet connected devices. We used to always ‘finish' software products pre-SaaS. Big examples today would be secure embedded software systems.Charmie Kapoor mentioned us as one of her top 3 podcasts for design and product – thank you!Main Topic:This week, we talk about three dot menus, the now-ubiquitous interface element that can be conveniently used to hide secondary and tertiary functions. We rant about the spread of the three dot virus and discuss potential alternatives to avoid it.Cool Things:Brian shared the Pride Edition Braided Solo Loop, a gorgeous, albeit expensive, band for your Apple Watch.Marshall shared Inside, a New Tragedy from Bo Burnham. It's beautifully written and performed, but very sad and poignant. A masterpiece.Design Details on the Web:

Beverage Director of Three Dots and a Dash, Kevin Beary calls in to discuss the artistry behind the cocktails made at this speakeasy/tiki bar, including a drink made with a little help from local blacksmiths. Beary also delves into the origins of the bar’s name and style, giving us the history on the “Father of […]

In this happy hour, we had the absolute pleasure of speaking with Erin Hayes. She is currently a Partner, and Director of Sales and Trade Advocacy for Westward Whiskey. She is also known to be a true professional behind the pine working for award winning bar programs such as Three Dots and a Dash, The Gage, and Lost Lake in Chicago, Illinois. Do you want to know how to truly execute a Tiki Bar, and Tiki Cocktails? Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a brand ambassador and travel the world? Why do some companies spell whiskey without the e? And, a good friend of the show gets a huge shout out in "Fill The Seats". We find out how she went from Chicago to L.A., with a stop at Disney along the way. All that and much more in this brand new Bar Stars Happy Hour! Support the show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/barstarspodcast)

In this session you will learn the basics on how to create compelling concepts, find great partners, build a team that is set up for success. After doing record business at Three Dots and a Dash, Julian went on to run several restaurant concepts for Tartine in LA, SF, and Korea. We will touch on techniques to run high volume and increase your revenue. He will share the secrets of how to navigate contracts to set your business up correctly and protect your work. Sour Peche Kid 1 1/2 oz Sipsmith Gin 3/4 oz lime 1/2 oz Dekuyper Peachtree Schnapps 1/4 oz Dekuyper Apple 1 1/2 tart apple cordial (see below) Egg white Method: combine ingredients and dry shake Add ice and shake until cold. Double strain and garnish with lime twist, sour patch kids and a tiny sprinkle of Malic acid Tart Apple Cordial 6 oz Apple juice 1/4 tsp ascorbic acid ( to mitigate browning) 1/2 tsp malic acid 2 Tbs sugar Juice apples and combine ingredients.

Journey Church Loganville Podcast

Hey Folks, I hope everyone is being safe and doing well! We will always have shows and information for you to educated and entertain you as well in these times. And oh...like our new look...logos and headers are new so don't get confused!!! Besides, I'm sure you wanted to see our smiley faces!!! On today’s show, we will be talking about a legend Don the Beachcomber and his Cobra’s Fang cocktail. This was not as famous as the Zombie or the Three Dots and a Dash cocktails but it was on his 1941 menu and was priced for a $1 (today's world that is like $8-9). This unique tiki drink contains over-proofed rum, Falernum, Absinthe, bitters and even an ingredient called Fassionola. What is Absinthe? Listen to find out!! Another recipe: The Sidewinder's Fang was The Lanai restaurant's version of a Cobra's Fang cooler. The video for the Sidewinder’s Fang and the garnish video is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdE4UWG8vMM Fassionola is a tiki ingredient that through time has lost its popularity for several reasons: 1) it was seasonal so it was only and still is available on certain times of the year; 2) costs as passion fruit juice and syrups were much cheaper and easier to find on the market to make the drink. Fassionola also was in the original Hurricane cocktail but through time passion fruit replaced it. Here are the links to Fassionola recipe: https://www.thrillist.com/how-to/how-to-make-fassionola-the-lost-tiki-ingredient Here is the link to make Falernum (video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4upubVlZYk The recipe from the book Hawai'i: Tropical Rum Drinks & Cuisine By Don the Beachcomber and also Tiki Drinks: Tropical Cocktails For The Modern Bar Hardcover written by Nicole Weston and Robert Sharp (this is a great starter book to tiki drinks as it shows a full photos of the drink, menu and even tips such as the cobra fang garnish). The book can be found on our cool links page: https://tikicentralcanada.ca/cool-links/ We also discuss just what is over-proofed rum and how did it start? We give you a few samples of brands to look for and also keep as its value grows (Bacardi 151 uncracked). On “Mailbag” segment: we are asked just where someone can find the secret or special ingredients needed to make tiki drinks. Online shopping currently is a great way to do so and we have several locations for you to find things: Monins syrups: www.monin.com (this is for any kind of syrups suck as orgeat, cream of coconut, passion fruit,etc.) Awesome Drinks Inc.: https://awesomedrinks.com/ (this is where you can get some nice bar tools, syrups, and mixes) Cocktail Emporium: https://www.cocktailemporium.com/ This is a Canada site that supplies bar tools, glassware, syrups and mixes as well. Jeff “Beachbum” Berry’s site: https://beachbumberry.com/ This is USA only and they have books, recipes and syrups like orgeat and falernum to order online. Don’t forget our #Hashtag competition which ends on every last day of the month, winner will be selected on the 1st of each month to be the “Drink of the Month”.

In this episode we discuss tips and strategies to help you achieve inbox zero with Gmail. We discuss the use of inbox types, filters, integration with Google Calendar, Google Tasks, and Google Keep, and so much more!Please share this episode with others and subscribe to our podcast using your favourite podcast app. Also be sure to visit our EduGals website for more detailed show notes.Leave us feedback on our FLIPGRID!Show NotesNews and UpdatesGlobal Google Educator Group (GEG) - Social Media and WebsiteScreencastify - New app-smashing library (EdPuzzle, Wakelet, and Remind) and form for suggestionsFeatured ContentGmail is a powerful beast! There are lots of great ways to tame the beast and take control of your inbox.How to get to your main settings panel in GmailInbox types - Default, Unread First, Important First, Starred First, Priority Inbox, and Multiple InboxesHover over the Inbox tab and click on the drop down menu for easy access to inbox types!Default Tabs - Primary, Social, Promotions, Updates, Forums, StarredPriority inbox settings - Important and Unread, Starred, Empty, Everything ElseConfigure each with the drop down arrowsFilters setup and suggestions:Use for sorting emails like notifications into labels so that they skip your inboxFilter options: Skip the inbox, (Mark as read), Apply a label, and Apply filter to matching conversations Use Delete it if you dare!Nudges - annoyingly good remindersTurn on in Settings > General - also turn on your Send and Archive button here!Templates (aka Canned Responses)Save: Three dots > Templates (Compose window)Delete your signature before saving to avoid doubles!Enable templates under Settings > Advanced (also custom keyboard shortcuts, unread icon, and right-side chat here too)Other options in the compose window - Three Dots > Label emails and Request Read ReceiptIntegration with other Google ToolsGoogle Calendar - create an event from an emailGoogle Tasks and Google Keep - add as a taskSnooze button for emails and your well-being - hover over an email to access the snooze buttonStarred emails - use sparingly for the most important messages!Desktop notifications - turn it on/off in Settings > GeneralShoutout to Lisa Support the show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/edugals)

TW: Attempted suicide.Things get personal at the Dam when Max gets too emotionally invested in a cancer patient faced with a tough decision... all of which takes a backseat to Reynolds’ birthday. Emily invites you to the Feldman Family zoom chat, and Polly messages Charles Barkley on LinkedIn.

Hello and welcome back for the sixth weekly episode of PSA. This week we are visited by Will Buetow, who marched at Avon, Crown, Bluecoats and Rhythm X, and now teaches at Rhythm X and Crossmen! We weren’t able to fit this whole conversation in one whole episode, so we actually have a second half of this that will be on our Patreon on Tuesday afternoon! If you would like to find PSA online you can do so below: PSA's Twitter | PSA's Instagram | PSA's Patreon If you would like to find our hosts and guest on social media you can do so below: Will: Twitter | Instagram Josh: Twitter | Instagram Graham: Twitter | Instagram Tony: Twitter | Instagram

What happens when millions of minimum byte packets start pinging off your network every few seconds? Bandwidth is a restriction most network engineers are familiar with. It's less often they have to think about packets per second. Teresa shares an awesome story of how a new feature for AOL Instant Messenger, AIM for you 90s nerds, turned up the heat on AOL's servers.After regaling us with war stories from the days of dial-up internet, we chat about what the job of a chief product officer is today. At a place like Stack Overflow, how do you unite functional departments across the company - from marketing to sales to engineering? How do you figure out the right incentives, so that the data you're measuring against is aligned with the long term health of the company and the community?"I don't focus on shipping, I focus on impact," Teresa told us. "That's where product management, engineering, and design come together. Product management is focused on value. Engineering is focused on quality, and design is focused on usability. If you think of that as Venn diagram, impact is where those three things overlap and happen."Lastly, we chat about the incredible velocity with which new coding languages and development frameworks emerge in the tech industry. Teresa shares her philosophy for encouraging an engineering team to level up and learn new skills while ensuring that this kind of continuous evolution doesn't create a lot of friction for the overall organization."That which we measure, we incentivize towards," is one of her favorite sayings, and Teresa applies it to scoping an overall product roadmap for a company, including what tools, new and old, to use along the way.

What happens when millions of minimum byte packets start pinging off your network every few seconds? Bandwidth is a restriction most network engineers are familiar with. It's less often they have to think about packets per second. Teresa shares an awesome story of how a new feature for AOL Instant Messenger, AIM for you 90s nerds, turned up the heat on AOL's servers.After regaling us with war stories from the days of dial-up internet, we chat about what the job of a chief product officer is today. At a place like Stack Overflow, how do you unite functional departments across the company - from marketing to sales to engineering? How do you figure out the right incentives, so that the data you're measuring against is aligned with the long term health of the company and the community?"I don't focus on shipping, I focus on impact," Teresa told us. "That's where product management, engineering, and design come together. Product management is focused on value. Engineering is focused on quality, and design is focused on usability. If you think of that as Venn diagram, impact is where those three things overlap and happen."Lastly, we chat about the incredible velocity with which new coding languages and development frameworks emerge in the tech industry. Teresa shares her philosophy for encouraging an engineering team to level up and learn new skills while ensuring that this kind of continuous evolution doesn't create a lot of friction for the overall organization."That which we measure, we incentivize towards," is one of her favorite sayings, and Teresa applies it to scoping an overall product roadmap for a company, including what tools, new and old, to use along the way.

Welcome to episode forty-seven of A History of Rock Music in Five Hundred Songs. This one looks at “Goodnight My Love” by Jesse Belvin, and at the many groups he performed with, and his untimely death. . Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode.  Patreon backers also have a ten-minute bonus podcast, on “In the Still of the Night” by the Five Satins.—-more—- Resources As always, I’ve created a Mixcloud streaming playlist with full versions of all the songs in the episode. My principal source for this episode was this CD, whose liner notes provided the framework to which I added all the other information from a myriad other books and websites, including but not limited to Jackie Wilson Lovers, Marv Goldberg’s website, and Etta James’ autobiography. But as I discuss in this episode this is one of those where I’ve pulled together information from so many sources, a full list would probably be longer than the episode itself. Patreon This podcast is brought to you by the generosity of my backers on Patreon. Why not join them? Transcript   Before we begin, a quick content warning. This episode contains material dealing with the immediate aftermath of a death in a car crash. While I am not explicit, this might be upsetting for some. Jesse Belvin is a name that not many people recognise these days — he’s a footnote in the biographies of people like Sam Cooke or the Penguins, someone whose contribution to music history is usually summed up in a line or two in a book about someone else. The problem is that Jesse Belvin was simply too good, and too prolific, to have a normal career. He put out a truly astonishing number of records as a songwriter, performer, and group leader, under so many different names that it’s impossible to figure out the true extent of his career. And people like that don’t end up having scholarly books written about them. And when you do find something that actually talks about Belvin himself, you find wild inaccuracies. For example, in researching this episode, I found over and over again that people claimed that Barry White played piano on the song we’re looking at today, “Goodnight My Love”. Now, White lived in the same neigbourhood as Belvin, and they attended the same school, so on the face of it that seems plausible. It seems plausible, at least, until you realise that Barry White was eleven when “Goodnight My Love” came out. Even so, on the offchance, I tracked down an interview with White where he confirmed that no, he was not playing piano on doo-wop classics before he hit puberty. But that kind of misinformation is all over everything to do with Jesse Belvin. The end result of this is that Jesse Belvin is someone who exists in the gaps of other people’s histories, and this episode is an attempt to create a picture out of what you find when looking at the stories of other musicians. As a result, it will almost certainly be less accurate than some other episodes. There’s so little information about Belvin that if you didn’t know anything about him, you’d assume he was some unimportant, minor, figure. But in 1950s R&B — among musicians, especially those on the West Coast — there was no bigger name than Jesse Belvin. He had the potential to be bigger than anyone, and he would have been, had he lived. He was Stevie Wonder’s favourite singer of all time, and Etta James argued to her dying day that it was a travesty that she was in the rock and roll hall of fame while he wasn’t. Sam Cooke explicitly tried to model his career after Belvin, to the extent that after Cooke’s death, his widow kept all of Cooke’s records separate from her other albums — except Belvin’s, which she kept with Cooke’s. Marv Goldberg, who is by far the pre-eminent expert on forties and fifties black vocal group music, refers to Belvin as the genre’s “most revered stylist”. And at the time he died, he was on the verge of finally becoming as well known as he deserved to be. So let’s talk about the life — and the tragic death — of Mr Easy himself: [Excerpt: Jesse Belvin, “Goodnight My Love”] Like so many greats of R&B and jazz, Belvin had attended Jefferson High School and studied music under the great teacher Samuel Browne, who is one of the great unsung heroes of rock and roll music. One of the other people that Browne had taught was the great rhythm and blues saxophone player Big Jay McNeely. McNeely was one of the all-time great saxophone honkers, inspired mostly by Illinois Jacquet, and he had become the lead tenor saxophone player with Johnny Otis’ band at the Barrelhouse Club, and played on records like Otis’ “Barrel House Stomp”: [Excerpt: Johnny Otis, “Barrel House Stomp”] As with many of the musicians Otis worked with, McNeely soon went on to a solo career of his own, and he formed a vocal group, “Three Dots and a Dash”. Three Dots and a Dash backed McNeely’s saxophone on a number of records, and McNeely invited Belvin to join them as lead singer. Belvin’s first recording with the group was on “All That Wine is Gone”, an answer record to “Drinking Wine Spo-De-O-Dee”. [Excerpt: Big Jay McNeely with Three Dots and a Dash, “All That Wine is Gone”] After recording two singles with McNeely, Belvin went off to make his own records, signing to Specialty Records. His first solo single, “Baby Don’t Go”, was not especially successful, so he teamed up with the songwriter Marvin Phillips in a duo called Jesse and Marvin. The two of them had a hit with the song “Dream Girl”: [Excerpt: Jesse and Marvin, “Dream Girl”] “Dream Girl” went to number two on the R&B charts, and it looked like Jesse and Marvin were about to have a massive career. But shortly afterwards, Belvin was drafted. It was while he was in the armed forces that “Earth Angel” became a hit — a song he co-wrote, and which we discussed in a previous episode, which I’ll link in the show notes. Like many of the songs Belvin wrote, he ended up not getting credit for that one — but unlike most of the others, he went to court over it and got some royalties in the end. Marvin decided to continue the duo without Jesse, renaming it “Marvin and Johnny”, and moved over to Modern Records, but he didn’t stick with a single “Johnny”. Instead “Johnny” would be whoever was around, sometimes Marvin himself double-tracked. He had several minor hit singles as “Marvin and Johnny”, including “Cherry Pie”, on which the role of “Johnny” was played by Emory Perry: [Excerpt: Marvin and Johnny, “Cherry Pie”] “Cherry Pie” was a massive hit, but none of Marvin and Johnny’s other records matched its success. However, on some of the follow-ups, Jesse Belvin returned as one of the Johnnies, notably on a cover version of “Ko Ko Mo”, which didn’t manage to outsell either the original or Perry Como’s version: [Excerpt: Marvin and Johnny, “Ko Ko Mo”] Meanwhile, his time in the armed forces had set Belvin’s career back, and when he came out he started recording for every label, and under every band name, he could. Most of the time, he would also be writing the songs, but he didn’t get label credit on most of them, because he would just sell all his rights to the songs for a hundred dollars. Why not? There was always another song. As well as recording as Marvin and Johnny for Modern Records, he also sang with the Californians on Federal: [Excerpt: The Californians, “My Angel”] The Sheiks, also on Federal : [Excerpt: The Sheiks, “So Fine”] The Gassers, on Cash: [Excerpt: The Gassers, “Hum De Dum”] As well as recording under his own name on both Specialty and on John Dolphin’s Hollywood Records. But his big project at the time was the Cliques, a duo he formed with Eugene Church, who recorded for Modern. Their track, “The Girl in My Dreams” was the closest thing he’d had to a big success since the similarly-named “Dream Girl” several years earlier: [Excerpt: The Cliques, “The Girl in my Dreams”] That went to number forty-five on the pop chart — not a massive hit, but a clear commercial success. And so, of course, at this point Belvin ditched the Cliques name, rather than follow up on the minor hit, and started making records as a solo artist instead. He signed to Modern Records as a solo artist, and went into the studio to record a new song. Now, I am going to be careful how I phrase this, because John Marascalco, who is credited as the co-writer of “Goodnight My Love”, is still alive. And I want to stress that Marascalco is, by all accounts, an actual songwriter who has written songs for people like Little Richard and Harry Nilsson. But there have also been accusations that at least some of his songwriting credits were not deserved — in particular the song “Bertha Lou” by Johnny Faire: [Excerpt: Johnny Faire, “Bertha Lou”] Johnny Faire, whose real name was Donnie Brooks, recorded that with the Burnette brothers, and always said that the song was written, not by Marascalco, but by Johnny Burnette, who sold his rights to the song to Marascalco for fifty dollars — Burnette’s son Rocky backs up the claim. Now, in the case of “Goodnight My Love”, the credited writers are George Motola and Marascalco, but the story as it’s normally told goes as follows — Motola had written the bulk of the song several years earlier, but had never completed it. He brought it into the studio, and Jesse Belvin came up with the bridge — but he said that rather than take credit, he just wanted Motola to give him four hundred dollars. Motola didn’t have four hundred dollars on him, but Marascalco, who was also at the session and is the credited producer, said he could get it for Belvin, and took the credit himself. That’s the story, and it would fit with both the rumour that Marascalco had bought an entire song from Johnny Burnette and with Belvin’s cavalier attitude towards credit. On the other hand, Marascalco was also apparently particularly good at rewriting and finishing other people’s half-finished songs, and so it’s entirely plausible that he could have done the finishing-up job himself. Either way, the finished song became one of the most well-known songs of the fifties: [Excerpt: Jesse Belvin, “Goodnight My Love”] Belvin’s version of the song went to number seven in the R&B charts, but its impact went beyond its immediate chart success. Alan Freed started to use the song as the outro music for his radio show, making it familiar to an entire generation of American music lovers. The result was that the song became a standard, recorded by everyone from James Brown to Gloria Estefan, the Four Seasons to Harry Connick Jr. If John Marascalco *did* buy Jesse Belvin’s share of the songwriting, that was about the best four hundred dollars he could possibly have spent. Over the next year, Belvin recorded a host of other singles as a solo artist, none of which matched the level of success he’d seen with “Goodnight My Love”, but which are the artistic foundation on which his reputation now rests. The stylistic range of these records is quite astonishing, from Latin pop like “Senorita”, to doo-wop novelty songs like “My Satellite”, a song whose melody owes something to “Hound Dog”, credited to Jesse Belvin and the Space Riders, and released to cash in on the space craze that had started with the launch of the Russian satellite Sputnik: [Excerpt: Jesse Belvin and the Space Riders, “My Satellite”] That featured Alex Hodge of the Platters on backing vocals. Hodge’s brother Gaynel Hodge, who like Belvin would form groups at the drop of a hat, joined Jesse in yet another of the many groups he formed. The Saxons consisted of Belvin, Gaynel Hodge, Eugene Church (who had been in the Cliques with Belvin) and another former Jefferson High student, Belvin’s friend Johnny “Guitar” Watson. Watson would later become well known for his seventies “gangster of love” persona and funk records, but at this point he was mostly making hard electric blues records like “Three Hours Past Midnight”: [Excerpt: “Three Hours Past Midnight”, Johnny “Guitar” Watson] But when he worked with Belvin in the Saxons and other groups, he recorded much more straightforward doo-wop and rock and roll, like this example, “Is It True”: [Excerpt: The Saxons, “Is It True”] The Saxons also recorded as the Capris (though with Alex Hodge rather than Gaynel in that lineup of the group) and, just to annoy everyone who cares about this stuff and drive us all into nervous breakdowns, there was another group, also called the Saxons, who also recorded as the Capris, on the same label — at least one single actually came out with one of the groups on one side and the other on the other. Indeed, the side featuring our Saxons had previously been released as a Jesse Belvin solo record. Anyway, I hope in this first half of the story I’ve given some idea of just how many different groups Jesse Belvin recorded with, and under how many different names, though I haven’t listed even half of them. This is someone who seemed to form a new group every time he crossed the street, and make records with most of them, and a surprising number of them had become hits — and “Goodnight My Love” and “Earth Angel” had become the kind of monster perennial standard that most musicians dream of ever writing. And, of course, Belvin had become the kind of musician that most record companies and publishers dream of finding — the kind who will happily make hit records and sell the rights for a handful of dollars. That was soon to change. Belvin was married; I haven’t been able to find out exactly when he married, but his wife also became his songwriting partner and his manager, and in 1958 she seemed to finally take control of his career for him. But before she did, there was one last pickup group hit to make. Frankie Ervin had been Charles Brown’s replacement in Johnny Moore’s Three Blazers, and had also sung briefly with Johnny Otis and Preston Love. While with Brown’s group, he’d developed a reputation for being able to perform novelty cash-in records — he’d made “Dragnet Blues”, which had resulted in a lawsuit from the makers of the TV show Dragnet, and he’d also done his Johnny Ace impression on “Johnny Ace’s Last Letter”, a single that had been rush-released by the Blazers after Johnny Ace’s death: [Excerpt: Johnny Moore’s Three Blazers, “Johnny Ace’s Last Letter”] Ervin was looking for a solo career after leaving the Blazers, and he was put in touch with George Motola, who had a suggestion for him. A white group from Texas called The Slades had recorded a track called “You Cheated”, which looked like it could possibly be a big hit — except that the label it was on wasn’t willing to come to terms with some of the big distributors over how much they were charging per record: [The Slades, “You Cheated”] Motola wanted to record a soundalike version of the song with Jesse Belvin as the lead singer, but Belvin had just signed a record contract with RCA, and didn’t want to put out lead vocals on another label. Would Ervin like to put out the song as a solo record? Ervin hated the song — he didn’t like doo-wop generally, and he thought the song was a particularly bad example of the genre — but a gig was a gig, and it’d be a solo record under his own name. Ervin agreed to do it, and Motola got Jesse Belvin to put together a scratch vocal group for the session. Belvin found Johnny “Guitar” Watson and Tommy “Buster” Williams at a local ballroom and got them to come along, and on the way to the session they ran into “Handsome” Mel Williams and pulled him in. They were just going to be the uncredited backing vocalists on a Frankie Ervin record, and didn’t spend much time thinking about what was clearly a soundalike cash-in. But when it came out it was credited as “The Shields” rather than Frankie Ervin: [Excerpt: The Shields, “You Cheated”] That’s Belvin singing that wonderful falsetto part. Frankie Ervin was naturally annoyed that he wasn’t given the label credit for the record. The recording was made as an independent production but leased to Dot Records, and somewhere along the line someone decided that it was better to have a generic group name rather than promote it as by a solo singer who might get ideas about wanting money. In a nice bit of irony, the Shields managed to reverse the normal course of the music industry — this time a soundalike record by a black group managed to outsell the original by a white group. “You Cheated” ended up making number twelve on the pop charts — a massive hit for an unknown doo-wop group at the time. Ervin started touring and making TV appearances as the Shields, backed by some random singers the record label had pulled together — the rest of the vocalists on the record had been people who were under contract to other labels, and so couldn’t make TV appearances. But the original Shields members reunited for the followup single, “Nature Boy”, where they were joined by the members of the Turks, who were yet another group that Belvin was recording with, and who included both Hodge brothers: [Excerpt: “Nature Boy”, the Shields] That, according to Ervin, also sold a million copies, but it was nothing like as successful as “You Cheated”. The record label were getting sick of Ervin wanting credit and royalties and other things they didn’t like singers, especially black ones, asking for. So the third Shields record only featured Belvin out of the original lineup, and subsequent recordings didn’t even feature him. But while Belvin had accidentally put together yet another million-selling group, he had also moved on to bigger things. His wife had now firmly taken control of his career, and they had a plan. Belvin had signed to a major label — RCA, the same label that Elvis Presley was on — and he was going to make a play for the big time. He could still keep making doo-wop records with Johnny “Guitar” Watson and Eugene Church and the Hodge brothers and whoever else, if he felt like it, but his solo career was going to be something else. He was going to go for the same market as Nat “King” Cole, and become a smooth ballad singer. He was going to be a huge star, and he actually got to record an album, Just Jesse Belvin. The first single off that album was “Guess Who?”, a song written by his wife Jo Anne, based on a love letter she had written to him: [Excerpt: Jesse Belvin, “Guess Who?”] That song made the top forty — hitting number thirty-three on the pop chart and managed to reach number seven on the R&B charts. More importantly, it gained Grammy nominations for both best R&B performance and best male vocal performance. He lost to Dinah Washington and Frank Sinatra, and it’s not as if losing to Dinah Washington or Frank Sinatra would have been an embarrassment. But by the time he lost those Grammies, Jesse was already dead, and so was Jo Anne. And here we get into the murkiest part of the story. There are a lot of rumours floating around about Jesse Belvin’s death, and a lot of misinformation is out there, and frankly I’ve not been able to get to the bottom of exactly what happened. When someone you love dies young, especially if that someone is a public figure, there’s a tendency to look for complex explanations, and there’s also a tendency to exaggerate stories in the telling. That’s just human nature. And in some cases, that tendency is exploited by people out to make money. And Jesse and Jo Anne Belvin were both black people who died in the deep South, and so no real investigation was ever carried out. That means that by now, with almost everyone who was involved dead, it’s impossible to tell what really happened. Almost every single sentence of what follows may be false. It’s my best guess as to the order of events and what happened, based on the limited information out there. On February the sixth, 1960, there was a concert in Little Rock Arkansas, at the Robinson Auditorium. Billed as “the first rock and roll show of 1960”, the headliner was Jackie Wilson, a friend of Belvin’s. Jesse had just recorded his second album, “Mr Easy”, which would be coming out soon, and while he was still relatively low on the bill, he was a rising star. That album was the one that was going to consolidate Belvin’s turn towards pop balladry in the Nat “King” Cole style, but it would end up being a posthumous release: [Excerpt: Jesse Belvin with the Marty Paich Orchestra, “Blues in the Night”] It was an all-black lineup on stage, but according to some reports it was an integrated audience. In fact some reports go so far as to say it was the first integrated audience ever in Little Rock. Little Rock was not a place where the white people were fans of integration — in fact they were so against it that the National Guard had had to be called in only two years earlier to protect black children when the first school in Little Rock had been integrated. And so apparently there was some racial abuse shouted by members of the audience. But it was nothing that the musicians hadn’t dealt with before. After the show they all drove on towards Dallas. Jackie Wilson had some car problems on the way, and got to their stop in Dallas later than he was expecting to. The Belvins hadn’t arrived yet, and so Wilson called Jesse’s mother in LA, asking if she’d heard from them. She hadn’t. Shortly after setting off, the car with Jesse and Jo Anne in had been in a crash. Jesse and the drivers of both cars had been killed instantly. Kirk Davis, Belvin’s guitarist on that tour, who had apparently been asleep in the back seat, was seriously injured but eventually came out of his coma. And Jesse had apparently reacted fast enough to shield his wife from the worst of the accident. But she was still unconscious, and seriously injured. The survivors were rushed to the hospital, where, according to Etta James, who heard the story from Jackie Wilson, they refused to treat Jo Anne Belvin until they knew that they would get money. She remained untreated until someone got in touch with Wilson, who drove down from Dallas Texas to Hope, Arkansas, where the hospital was, with the cash. But she died of her injuries a few days later. Now, here’s the thing — within a fortnight of the accident, there were rumours circulating widely enough to have been picked up by the newspapers that Belvin’s car had had its tyres slashed. There were also stories, never confirmed, that Belvin had received death threats before the show. And Jackie Wilson had also had car trouble that night — and according to some sources so had at least one other musician on the bill. So it’s possible that the car was sabotaged. On the other hand, Belvin’s driver, Charles Shackleford, had got the job with Belvin after being fired by Ray Charles. He was fired, according to Charles, because he kept staying awake watching the late-night shows, not getting enough sleep, and driving dangerously enough to scare Ray Charles — who was fearless enough that he used to ride motorbikes despite being totally blind. So when Jesse and Jo Anne Belvin died, they could have been the victims of a racist murder, or they could just have been horribly unlucky. But we’ll never know for sure, because the institutional racism at the time meant that there was no investigation. When they died, they left behind two children under the age of five, who were brought up by Jesse’s mother. The oldest, Jesse Belvin Jr, became a singer himself, often performing material written or made famous by his father: [Excerpt: Jesse Belvin Jr, “Goodnight My Love”] Jesse Jr. devoted his life to finding out what actually happened to his parents, but never found any answers.

Welcome to episode forty-seven of A History of Rock Music in Five Hundred Songs. This one looks at "Goodnight My Love" by Jesse Belvin, and at the many groups he performed with, and his untimely death. . Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode.  Patreon backers also have a ten-minute bonus podcast, on "In the Still of the Night" by the Five Satins.----more---- Resources As always, I've created a Mixcloud streaming playlist with full versions of all the songs in the episode. My principal source for this episode was this CD, whose liner notes provided the framework to which I added all the other information from a myriad other books and websites, including but not limited to Jackie Wilson Lovers, Marv Goldberg's website, and Etta James' autobiography. But as I discuss in this episode this is one of those where I've pulled together information from so many sources, a full list would probably be longer than the episode itself. Patreon This podcast is brought to you by the generosity of my backers on Patreon. Why not join them? Transcript   Before we begin, a quick content warning. This episode contains material dealing with the immediate aftermath of a death in a car crash. While I am not explicit, this might be upsetting for some. Jesse Belvin is a name that not many people recognise these days -- he's a footnote in the biographies of people like Sam Cooke or the Penguins, someone whose contribution to music history is usually summed up in a line or two in a book about someone else. The problem is that Jesse Belvin was simply too good, and too prolific, to have a normal career. He put out a truly astonishing number of records as a songwriter, performer, and group leader, under so many different names that it's impossible to figure out the true extent of his career. And people like that don't end up having scholarly books written about them. And when you do find something that actually talks about Belvin himself, you find wild inaccuracies. For example, in researching this episode, I found over and over again that people claimed that Barry White played piano on the song we're looking at today, "Goodnight My Love". Now, White lived in the same neigbourhood as Belvin, and they attended the same school, so on the face of it that seems plausible. It seems plausible, at least, until you realise that Barry White was eleven when "Goodnight My Love" came out. Even so, on the offchance, I tracked down an interview with White where he confirmed that no, he was not playing piano on doo-wop classics before he hit puberty. But that kind of misinformation is all over everything to do with Jesse Belvin. The end result of this is that Jesse Belvin is someone who exists in the gaps of other people's histories, and this episode is an attempt to create a picture out of what you find when looking at the stories of other musicians. As a result, it will almost certainly be less accurate than some other episodes. There's so little information about Belvin that if you didn't know anything about him, you'd assume he was some unimportant, minor, figure. But in 1950s R&B -- among musicians, especially those on the West Coast -- there was no bigger name than Jesse Belvin. He had the potential to be bigger than anyone, and he would have been, had he lived. He was Stevie Wonder's favourite singer of all time, and Etta James argued to her dying day that it was a travesty that she was in the rock and roll hall of fame while he wasn't. Sam Cooke explicitly tried to model his career after Belvin, to the extent that after Cooke's death, his widow kept all of Cooke's records separate from her other albums -- except Belvin's, which she kept with Cooke's. Marv Goldberg, who is by far the pre-eminent expert on forties and fifties black vocal group music, refers to Belvin as the genre's "most revered stylist". And at the time he died, he was on the verge of finally becoming as well known as he deserved to be. So let's talk about the life -- and the tragic death -- of Mr Easy himself: [Excerpt: Jesse Belvin, "Goodnight My Love"] Like so many greats of R&B and jazz, Belvin had attended Jefferson High School and studied music under the great teacher Samuel Browne, who is one of the great unsung heroes of rock and roll music. One of the other people that Browne had taught was the great rhythm and blues saxophone player Big Jay McNeely. McNeely was one of the all-time great saxophone honkers, inspired mostly by Illinois Jacquet, and he had become the lead tenor saxophone player with Johnny Otis' band at the Barrelhouse Club, and played on records like Otis' "Barrel House Stomp": [Excerpt: Johnny Otis, "Barrel House Stomp"] As with many of the musicians Otis worked with, McNeely soon went on to a solo career of his own, and he formed a vocal group, "Three Dots and a Dash". Three Dots and a Dash backed McNeely's saxophone on a number of records, and McNeely invited Belvin to join them as lead singer. Belvin's first recording with the group was on "All That Wine is Gone", an answer record to "Drinking Wine Spo-De-O-Dee". [Excerpt: Big Jay McNeely with Three Dots and a Dash, "All That Wine is Gone"] After recording two singles with McNeely, Belvin went off to make his own records, signing to Specialty Records. His first solo single, "Baby Don't Go", was not especially successful, so he teamed up with the songwriter Marvin Phillips in a duo called Jesse and Marvin. The two of them had a hit with the song "Dream Girl": [Excerpt: Jesse and Marvin, "Dream Girl"] "Dream Girl" went to number two on the R&B charts, and it looked like Jesse and Marvin were about to have a massive career. But shortly afterwards, Belvin was drafted. It was while he was in the armed forces that “Earth Angel” became a hit -- a song he co-wrote, and which we discussed in a previous episode, which I'll link in the show notes. Like many of the songs Belvin wrote, he ended up not getting credit for that one -- but unlike most of the others, he went to court over it and got some royalties in the end. Marvin decided to continue the duo without Jesse, renaming it "Marvin and Johnny", and moved over to Modern Records, but he didn't stick with a single "Johnny". Instead "Johnny" would be whoever was around, sometimes Marvin himself double-tracked. He had several minor hit singles as "Marvin and Johnny", including "Cherry Pie", on which the role of "Johnny" was played by Emory Perry: [Excerpt: Marvin and Johnny, "Cherry Pie"] "Cherry Pie" was a massive hit, but none of Marvin and Johnny's other records matched its success. However, on some of the follow-ups, Jesse Belvin returned as one of the Johnnies, notably on a cover version of "Ko Ko Mo", which didn't manage to outsell either the original or Perry Como's version: [Excerpt: Marvin and Johnny, "Ko Ko Mo"] Meanwhile, his time in the armed forces had set Belvin's career back, and when he came out he started recording for every label, and under every band name, he could. Most of the time, he would also be writing the songs, but he didn't get label credit on most of them, because he would just sell all his rights to the songs for a hundred dollars. Why not? There was always another song. As well as recording as Marvin and Johnny for Modern Records, he also sang with the Californians on Federal: [Excerpt: The Californians, "My Angel"] The Sheiks, also on Federal : [Excerpt: The Sheiks, "So Fine"] The Gassers, on Cash: [Excerpt: The Gassers, "Hum De Dum"] As well as recording under his own name on both Specialty and on John Dolphin's Hollywood Records. But his big project at the time was the Cliques, a duo he formed with Eugene Church, who recorded for Modern. Their track, "The Girl in My Dreams" was the closest thing he'd had to a big success since the similarly-named "Dream Girl" several years earlier: [Excerpt: The Cliques, "The Girl in my Dreams"] That went to number forty-five on the pop chart -- not a massive hit, but a clear commercial success. And so, of course, at this point Belvin ditched the Cliques name, rather than follow up on the minor hit, and started making records as a solo artist instead. He signed to Modern Records as a solo artist, and went into the studio to record a new song. Now, I am going to be careful how I phrase this, because John Marascalco, who is credited as the co-writer of "Goodnight My Love", is still alive. And I want to stress that Marascalco is, by all accounts, an actual songwriter who has written songs for people like Little Richard and Harry Nilsson. But there have also been accusations that at least some of his songwriting credits were not deserved -- in particular the song "Bertha Lou" by Johnny Faire: [Excerpt: Johnny Faire, "Bertha Lou"] Johnny Faire, whose real name was Donnie Brooks, recorded that with the Burnette brothers, and always said that the song was written, not by Marascalco, but by Johnny Burnette, who sold his rights to the song to Marascalco for fifty dollars -- Burnette's son Rocky backs up the claim. Now, in the case of "Goodnight My Love", the credited writers are George Motola and Marascalco, but the story as it's normally told goes as follows -- Motola had written the bulk of the song several years earlier, but had never completed it. He brought it into the studio, and Jesse Belvin came up with the bridge -- but he said that rather than take credit, he just wanted Motola to give him four hundred dollars. Motola didn't have four hundred dollars on him, but Marascalco, who was also at the session and is the credited producer, said he could get it for Belvin, and took the credit himself. That's the story, and it would fit with both the rumour that Marascalco had bought an entire song from Johnny Burnette and with Belvin's cavalier attitude towards credit. On the other hand, Marascalco was also apparently particularly good at rewriting and finishing other people's half-finished songs, and so it's entirely plausible that he could have done the finishing-up job himself. Either way, the finished song became one of the most well-known songs of the fifties: [Excerpt: Jesse Belvin, "Goodnight My Love"] Belvin's version of the song went to number seven in the R&B charts, but its impact went beyond its immediate chart success. Alan Freed started to use the song as the outro music for his radio show, making it familiar to an entire generation of American music lovers. The result was that the song became a standard, recorded by everyone from James Brown to Gloria Estefan, the Four Seasons to Harry Connick Jr. If John Marascalco *did* buy Jesse Belvin's share of the songwriting, that was about the best four hundred dollars he could possibly have spent. Over the next year, Belvin recorded a host of other singles as a solo artist, none of which matched the level of success he'd seen with "Goodnight My Love”, but which are the artistic foundation on which his reputation now rests. The stylistic range of these records is quite astonishing, from Latin pop like "Senorita", to doo-wop novelty songs like "My Satellite", a song whose melody owes something to "Hound Dog", credited to Jesse Belvin and the Space Riders, and released to cash in on the space craze that had started with the launch of the Russian satellite Sputnik: [Excerpt: Jesse Belvin and the Space Riders, "My Satellite"] That featured Alex Hodge of the Platters on backing vocals. Hodge's brother Gaynel Hodge, who like Belvin would form groups at the drop of a hat, joined Jesse in yet another of the many groups he formed. The Saxons consisted of Belvin, Gaynel Hodge, Eugene Church (who had been in the Cliques with Belvin) and another former Jefferson High student, Belvin's friend Johnny "Guitar" Watson. Watson would later become well known for his seventies "gangster of love" persona and funk records, but at this point he was mostly making hard electric blues records like "Three Hours Past Midnight": [Excerpt: "Three Hours Past Midnight", Johnny "Guitar" Watson] But when he worked with Belvin in the Saxons and other groups, he recorded much more straightforward doo-wop and rock and roll, like this example, "Is It True": [Excerpt: The Saxons, "Is It True"] The Saxons also recorded as the Capris (though with Alex Hodge rather than Gaynel in that lineup of the group) and, just to annoy everyone who cares about this stuff and drive us all into nervous breakdowns, there was another group, also called the Saxons, who also recorded as the Capris, on the same label -- at least one single actually came out with one of the groups on one side and the other on the other. Indeed, the side featuring our Saxons had previously been released as a Jesse Belvin solo record. Anyway, I hope in this first half of the story I've given some idea of just how many different groups Jesse Belvin recorded with, and under how many different names, though I haven't listed even half of them. This is someone who seemed to form a new group every time he crossed the street, and make records with most of them, and a surprising number of them had become hits -- and "Goodnight My Love" and "Earth Angel" had become the kind of monster perennial standard that most musicians dream of ever writing. And, of course, Belvin had become the kind of musician that most record companies and publishers dream of finding -- the kind who will happily make hit records and sell the rights for a handful of dollars. That was soon to change. Belvin was married; I haven't been able to find out exactly when he married, but his wife also became his songwriting partner and his manager, and in 1958 she seemed to finally take control of his career for him. But before she did, there was one last pickup group hit to make. Frankie Ervin had been Charles Brown's replacement in Johnny Moore's Three Blazers, and had also sung briefly with Johnny Otis and Preston Love. While with Brown's group, he'd developed a reputation for being able to perform novelty cash-in records -- he'd made "Dragnet Blues", which had resulted in a lawsuit from the makers of the TV show Dragnet, and he'd also done his Johnny Ace impression on "Johnny Ace's Last Letter", a single that had been rush-released by the Blazers after Johnny Ace's death: [Excerpt: Johnny Moore's Three Blazers, "Johnny Ace's Last Letter"] Ervin was looking for a solo career after leaving the Blazers, and he was put in touch with George Motola, who had a suggestion for him. A white group from Texas called The Slades had recorded a track called "You Cheated", which looked like it could possibly be a big hit -- except that the label it was on wasn't willing to come to terms with some of the big distributors over how much they were charging per record: [The Slades, "You Cheated"] Motola wanted to record a soundalike version of the song with Jesse Belvin as the lead singer, but Belvin had just signed a record contract with RCA, and didn't want to put out lead vocals on another label. Would Ervin like to put out the song as a solo record? Ervin hated the song -- he didn't like doo-wop generally, and he thought the song was a particularly bad example of the genre -- but a gig was a gig, and it'd be a solo record under his own name. Ervin agreed to do it, and Motola got Jesse Belvin to put together a scratch vocal group for the session. Belvin found Johnny "Guitar" Watson and Tommy "Buster" Williams at a local ballroom and got them to come along, and on the way to the session they ran into "Handsome" Mel Williams and pulled him in. They were just going to be the uncredited backing vocalists on a Frankie Ervin record, and didn't spend much time thinking about what was clearly a soundalike cash-in. But when it came out it was credited as "The Shields" rather than Frankie Ervin: [Excerpt: The Shields, "You Cheated"] That's Belvin singing that wonderful falsetto part. Frankie Ervin was naturally annoyed that he wasn't given the label credit for the record. The recording was made as an independent production but leased to Dot Records, and somewhere along the line someone decided that it was better to have a generic group name rather than promote it as by a solo singer who might get ideas about wanting money. In a nice bit of irony, the Shields managed to reverse the normal course of the music industry -- this time a soundalike record by a black group managed to outsell the original by a white group. "You Cheated" ended up making number twelve on the pop charts -- a massive hit for an unknown doo-wop group at the time. Ervin started touring and making TV appearances as the Shields, backed by some random singers the record label had pulled together -- the rest of the vocalists on the record had been people who were under contract to other labels, and so couldn't make TV appearances. But the original Shields members reunited for the followup single, "Nature Boy", where they were joined by the members of the Turks, who were yet another group that Belvin was recording with, and who included both Hodge brothers: [Excerpt: "Nature Boy", the Shields] That, according to Ervin, also sold a million copies, but it was nothing like as successful as "You Cheated". The record label were getting sick of Ervin wanting credit and royalties and other things they didn't like singers, especially black ones, asking for. So the third Shields record only featured Belvin out of the original lineup, and subsequent recordings didn't even feature him. But while Belvin had accidentally put together yet another million-selling group, he had also moved on to bigger things. His wife had now firmly taken control of his career, and they had a plan. Belvin had signed to a major label -- RCA, the same label that Elvis Presley was on -- and he was going to make a play for the big time. He could still keep making doo-wop records with Johnny "Guitar" Watson and Eugene Church and the Hodge brothers and whoever else, if he felt like it, but his solo career was going to be something else. He was going to go for the same market as Nat "King" Cole, and become a smooth ballad singer. He was going to be a huge star, and he actually got to record an album, Just Jesse Belvin. The first single off that album was "Guess Who?", a song written by his wife Jo Anne, based on a love letter she had written to him: [Excerpt: Jesse Belvin, "Guess Who?"] That song made the top forty -- hitting number thirty-three on the pop chart and managed to reach number seven on the R&B charts. More importantly, it gained Grammy nominations for both best R&B performance and best male vocal performance. He lost to Dinah Washington and Frank Sinatra, and it's not as if losing to Dinah Washington or Frank Sinatra would have been an embarrassment. But by the time he lost those Grammies, Jesse was already dead, and so was Jo Anne. And here we get into the murkiest part of the story. There are a lot of rumours floating around about Jesse Belvin's death, and a lot of misinformation is out there, and frankly I've not been able to get to the bottom of exactly what happened. When someone you love dies young, especially if that someone is a public figure, there's a tendency to look for complex explanations, and there's also a tendency to exaggerate stories in the telling. That's just human nature. And in some cases, that tendency is exploited by people out to make money. And Jesse and Jo Anne Belvin were both black people who died in the deep South, and so no real investigation was ever carried out. That means that by now, with almost everyone who was involved dead, it's impossible to tell what really happened. Almost every single sentence of what follows may be false. It's my best guess as to the order of events and what happened, based on the limited information out there. On February the sixth, 1960, there was a concert in Little Rock Arkansas, at the Robinson Auditorium. Billed as "the first rock and roll show of 1960", the headliner was Jackie Wilson, a friend of Belvin's. Jesse had just recorded his second album, "Mr Easy", which would be coming out soon, and while he was still relatively low on the bill, he was a rising star. That album was the one that was going to consolidate Belvin's turn towards pop balladry in the Nat "King" Cole style, but it would end up being a posthumous release: [Excerpt: Jesse Belvin with the Marty Paich Orchestra, "Blues in the Night"] It was an all-black lineup on stage, but according to some reports it was an integrated audience. In fact some reports go so far as to say it was the first integrated audience ever in Little Rock. Little Rock was not a place where the white people were fans of integration -- in fact they were so against it that the National Guard had had to be called in only two years earlier to protect black children when the first school in Little Rock had been integrated. And so apparently there was some racial abuse shouted by members of the audience. But it was nothing that the musicians hadn't dealt with before. After the show they all drove on towards Dallas. Jackie Wilson had some car problems on the way, and got to their stop in Dallas later than he was expecting to. The Belvins hadn't arrived yet, and so Wilson called Jesse's mother in LA, asking if she'd heard from them. She hadn't. Shortly after setting off, the car with Jesse and Jo Anne in had been in a crash. Jesse and the drivers of both cars had been killed instantly. Kirk Davis, Belvin's guitarist on that tour, who had apparently been asleep in the back seat, was seriously injured but eventually came out of his coma. And Jesse had apparently reacted fast enough to shield his wife from the worst of the accident. But she was still unconscious, and seriously injured. The survivors were rushed to the hospital, where, according to Etta James, who heard the story from Jackie Wilson, they refused to treat Jo Anne Belvin until they knew that they would get money. She remained untreated until someone got in touch with Wilson, who drove down from Dallas Texas to Hope, Arkansas, where the hospital was, with the cash. But she died of her injuries a few days later. Now, here's the thing -- within a fortnight of the accident, there were rumours circulating widely enough to have been picked up by the newspapers that Belvin's car had had its tyres slashed. There were also stories, never confirmed, that Belvin had received death threats before the show. And Jackie Wilson had also had car trouble that night -- and according to some sources so had at least one other musician on the bill. So it's possible that the car was sabotaged. On the other hand, Belvin's driver, Charles Shackleford, had got the job with Belvin after being fired by Ray Charles. He was fired, according to Charles, because he kept staying awake watching the late-night shows, not getting enough sleep, and driving dangerously enough to scare Ray Charles -- who was fearless enough that he used to ride motorbikes despite being totally blind. So when Jesse and Jo Anne Belvin died, they could have been the victims of a racist murder, or they could just have been horribly unlucky. But we'll never know for sure, because the institutional racism at the time meant that there was no investigation. When they died, they left behind two children under the age of five, who were brought up by Jesse's mother. The oldest, Jesse Belvin Jr, became a singer himself, often performing material written or made famous by his father: [Excerpt: Jesse Belvin Jr, "Goodnight My Love"] Jesse Jr. devoted his life to finding out what actually happened to his parents, but never found any answers.

Welcome to episode forty-seven of A History of Rock Music in Five Hundred Songs. This one looks at “Goodnight My Love” by Jesse Belvin, and at the many groups he performed with, and his untimely death. . Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode.  Patreon backers also have a ten-minute bonus podcast, on “In the Still of the Night” by the Five Satins.—-more—- Resources As always, I’ve created a Mixcloud streaming playlist with full versions of all the songs in the episode. My principal source for this episode was this CD, whose liner notes provided the framework to which I added all the other information from a myriad other books and websites, including but not limited to Jackie Wilson Lovers, Marv Goldberg’s website, and Etta James’ autobiography. But as I discuss in this episode this is one of those where I’ve pulled together information from so many sources, a full list would probably be longer than the episode itself. Patreon This podcast is brought to you by the generosity of my backers on Patreon. Why not join them? Transcript   Before we begin, a quick content warning. This episode contains material dealing with the immediate aftermath of a death in a car crash. While I am not explicit, this might be upsetting for some. Jesse Belvin is a name that not many people recognise these days — he’s a footnote in the biographies of people like Sam Cooke or the Penguins, someone whose contribution to music history is usually summed up in a line or two in a book about someone else. The problem is that Jesse Belvin was simply too good, and too prolific, to have a normal career. He put out a truly astonishing number of records as a songwriter, performer, and group leader, under so many different names that it’s impossible to figure out the true extent of his career. And people like that don’t end up having scholarly books written about them. And when you do find something that actually talks about Belvin himself, you find wild inaccuracies. For example, in researching this episode, I found over and over again that people claimed that Barry White played piano on the song we’re looking at today, “Goodnight My Love”. Now, White lived in the same neigbourhood as Belvin, and they attended the same school, so on the face of it that seems plausible. It seems plausible, at least, until you realise that Barry White was eleven when “Goodnight My Love” came out. Even so, on the offchance, I tracked down an interview with White where he confirmed that no, he was not playing piano on doo-wop classics before he hit puberty. But that kind of misinformation is all over everything to do with Jesse Belvin. The end result of this is that Jesse Belvin is someone who exists in the gaps of other people’s histories, and this episode is an attempt to create a picture out of what you find when looking at the stories of other musicians. As a result, it will almost certainly be less accurate than some other episodes. There’s so little information about Belvin that if you didn’t know anything about him, you’d assume he was some unimportant, minor, figure. But in 1950s R&B — among musicians, especially those on the West Coast — there was no bigger name than Jesse Belvin. He had the potential to be bigger than anyone, and he would have been, had he lived. He was Stevie Wonder’s favourite singer of all time, and Etta James argued to her dying day that it was a travesty that she was in the rock and roll hall of fame while he wasn’t. Sam Cooke explicitly tried to model his career after Belvin, to the extent that after Cooke’s death, his widow kept all of Cooke’s records separate from her other albums — except Belvin’s, which she kept with Cooke’s. Marv Goldberg, who is by far the pre-eminent expert on forties and fifties black vocal group music, refers to Belvin as the genre’s “most revered stylist”. And at the time he died, he was on the verge of finally becoming as well known as he deserved to be. So let’s talk about the life — and the tragic death — of Mr Easy himself: [Excerpt: Jesse Belvin, “Goodnight My Love”] Like so many greats of R&B and jazz, Belvin had attended Jefferson High School and studied music under the great teacher Samuel Browne, who is one of the great unsung heroes of rock and roll music. One of the other people that Browne had taught was the great rhythm and blues saxophone player Big Jay McNeely. McNeely was one of the all-time great saxophone honkers, inspired mostly by Illinois Jacquet, and he had become the lead tenor saxophone player with Johnny Otis’ band at the Barrelhouse Club, and played on records like Otis’ “Barrel House Stomp”: [Excerpt: Johnny Otis, “Barrel House Stomp”] As with many of the musicians Otis worked with, McNeely soon went on to a solo career of his own, and he formed a vocal group, “Three Dots and a Dash”. Three Dots and a Dash backed McNeely’s saxophone on a number of records, and McNeely invited Belvin to join them as lead singer. Belvin’s first recording with the group was on “All That Wine is Gone”, an answer record to “Drinking Wine Spo-De-O-Dee”. [Excerpt: Big Jay McNeely with Three Dots and a Dash, “All That Wine is Gone”] After recording two singles with McNeely, Belvin went off to make his own records, signing to Specialty Records. His first solo single, “Baby Don’t Go”, was not especially successful, so he teamed up with the songwriter Marvin Phillips in a duo called Jesse and Marvin. The two of them had a hit with the song “Dream Girl”: [Excerpt: Jesse and Marvin, “Dream Girl”] “Dream Girl” went to number two on the R&B charts, and it looked like Jesse and Marvin were about to have a massive career. But shortly afterwards, Belvin was drafted. It was while he was in the armed forces that “Earth Angel” became a hit — a song he co-wrote, and which we discussed in a previous episode, which I’ll link in the show notes. Like many of the songs Belvin wrote, he ended up not getting credit for that one — but unlike most of the others, he went to court over it and got some royalties in the end. Marvin decided to continue the duo without Jesse, renaming it “Marvin and Johnny”, and moved over to Modern Records, but he didn’t stick with a single “Johnny”. Instead “Johnny” would be whoever was around, sometimes Marvin himself double-tracked. He had several minor hit singles as “Marvin and Johnny”, including “Cherry Pie”, on which the role of “Johnny” was played by Emory Perry: [Excerpt: Marvin and Johnny, “Cherry Pie”] “Cherry Pie” was a massive hit, but none of Marvin and Johnny’s other records matched its success. However, on some of the follow-ups, Jesse Belvin returned as one of the Johnnies, notably on a cover version of “Ko Ko Mo”, which didn’t manage to outsell either the original or Perry Como’s version: [Excerpt: Marvin and Johnny, “Ko Ko Mo”] Meanwhile, his time in the armed forces had set Belvin’s career back, and when he came out he started recording for every label, and under every band name, he could. Most of the time, he would also be writing the songs, but he didn’t get label credit on most of them, because he would just sell all his rights to the songs for a hundred dollars. Why not? There was always another song. As well as recording as Marvin and Johnny for Modern Records, he also sang with the Californians on Federal: [Excerpt: The Californians, “My Angel”] The Sheiks, also on Federal : [Excerpt: The Sheiks, “So Fine”] The Gassers, on Cash: [Excerpt: The Gassers, “Hum De Dum”] As well as recording under his own name on both Specialty and on John Dolphin’s Hollywood Records. But his big project at the time was the Cliques, a duo he formed with Eugene Church, who recorded for Modern. Their track, “The Girl in My Dreams” was the closest thing he’d had to a big success since the similarly-named “Dream Girl” several years earlier: [Excerpt: The Cliques, “The Girl in my Dreams”] That went to number forty-five on the pop chart — not a massive hit, but a clear commercial success. And so, of course, at this point Belvin ditched the Cliques name, rather than follow up on the minor hit, and started making records as a solo artist instead. He signed to Modern Records as a solo artist, and went into the studio to record a new song. Now, I am going to be careful how I phrase this, because John Marascalco, who is credited as the co-writer of “Goodnight My Love”, is still alive. And I want to stress that Marascalco is, by all accounts, an actual songwriter who has written songs for people like Little Richard and Harry Nilsson. But there have also been accusations that at least some of his songwriting credits were not deserved — in particular the song “Bertha Lou” by Johnny Faire: [Excerpt: Johnny Faire, “Bertha Lou”] Johnny Faire, whose real name was Donnie Brooks, recorded that with the Burnette brothers, and always said that the song was written, not by Marascalco, but by Johnny Burnette, who sold his rights to the song to Marascalco for fifty dollars — Burnette’s son Rocky backs up the claim. Now, in the case of “Goodnight My Love”, the credited writers are George Motola and Marascalco, but the story as it’s normally told goes as follows — Motola had written the bulk of the song several years earlier, but had never completed it. He brought it into the studio, and Jesse Belvin came up with the bridge — but he said that rather than take credit, he just wanted Motola to give him four hundred dollars. Motola didn’t have four hundred dollars on him, but Marascalco, who was also at the session and is the credited producer, said he could get it for Belvin, and took the credit himself. That’s the story, and it would fit with both the rumour that Marascalco had bought an entire song from Johnny Burnette and with Belvin’s cavalier attitude towards credit. On the other hand, Marascalco was also apparently particularly good at rewriting and finishing other people’s half-finished songs, and so it’s entirely plausible that he could have done the finishing-up job himself. Either way, the finished song became one of the most well-known songs of the fifties: [Excerpt: Jesse Belvin, “Goodnight My Love”] Belvin’s version of the song went to number seven in the R&B charts, but its impact went beyond its immediate chart success. Alan Freed started to use the song as the outro music for his radio show, making it familiar to an entire generation of American music lovers. The result was that the song became a standard, recorded by everyone from James Brown to Gloria Estefan, the Four Seasons to Harry Connick Jr. If John Marascalco *did* buy Jesse Belvin’s share of the songwriting, that was about the best four hundred dollars he could possibly have spent. Over the next year, Belvin recorded a host of other singles as a solo artist, none of which matched the level of success he’d seen with “Goodnight My Love”, but which are the artistic foundation on which his reputation now rests. The stylistic range of these records is quite astonishing, from Latin pop like “Senorita”, to doo-wop novelty songs like “My Satellite”, a song whose melody owes something to “Hound Dog”, credited to Jesse Belvin and the Space Riders, and released to cash in on the space craze that had started with the launch of the Russian satellite Sputnik: [Excerpt: Jesse Belvin and the Space Riders, “My Satellite”] That featured Alex Hodge of the Platters on backing vocals. Hodge’s brother Gaynel Hodge, who like Belvin would form groups at the drop of a hat, joined Jesse in yet another of the many groups he formed. The Saxons consisted of Belvin, Gaynel Hodge, Eugene Church (who had been in the Cliques with Belvin) and another former Jefferson High student, Belvin’s friend Johnny “Guitar” Watson. Watson would later become well known for his seventies “gangster of love” persona and funk records, but at this point he was mostly making hard electric blues records like “Three Hours Past Midnight”: [Excerpt: “Three Hours Past Midnight”, Johnny “Guitar” Watson] But when he worked with Belvin in the Saxons and other groups, he recorded much more straightforward doo-wop and rock and roll, like this example, “Is It True”: [Excerpt: The Saxons, “Is It True”] The Saxons also recorded as the Capris (though with Alex Hodge rather than Gaynel in that lineup of the group) and, just to annoy everyone who cares about this stuff and drive us all into nervous breakdowns, there was another group, also called the Saxons, who also recorded as the Capris, on the same label — at least one single actually came out with one of the groups on one side and the other on the other. Indeed, the side featuring our Saxons had previously been released as a Jesse Belvin solo record. Anyway, I hope in this first half of the story I’ve given some idea of just how many different groups Jesse Belvin recorded with, and under how many different names, though I haven’t listed even half of them. This is someone who seemed to form a new group every time he crossed the street, and make records with most of them, and a surprising number of them had become hits — and “Goodnight My Love” and “Earth Angel” had become the kind of monster perennial standard that most musicians dream of ever writing. And, of course, Belvin had become the kind of musician that most record companies and publishers dream of finding — the kind who will happily make hit records and sell the rights for a handful of dollars. That was soon to change. Belvin was married; I haven’t been able to find out exactly when he married, but his wife also became his songwriting partner and his manager, and in 1958 she seemed to finally take control of his career for him. But before she did, there was one last pickup group hit to make. Frankie Ervin had been Charles Brown’s replacement in Johnny Moore’s Three Blazers, and had also sung briefly with Johnny Otis and Preston Love. While with Brown’s group, he’d developed a reputation for being able to perform novelty cash-in records — he’d made “Dragnet Blues”, which had resulted in a lawsuit from the makers of the TV show Dragnet, and he’d also done his Johnny Ace impression on “Johnny Ace’s Last Letter”, a single that had been rush-released by the Blazers after Johnny Ace’s death: [Excerpt: Johnny Moore’s Three Blazers, “Johnny Ace’s Last Letter”] Ervin was looking for a solo career after leaving the Blazers, and he was put in touch with George Motola, who had a suggestion for him. A white group from Texas called The Slades had recorded a track called “You Cheated”, which looked like it could possibly be a big hit — except that the label it was on wasn’t willing to come to terms with some of the big distributors over how much they were charging per record: [The Slades, “You Cheated”] Motola wanted to record a soundalike version of the song with Jesse Belvin as the lead singer, but Belvin had just signed a record contract with RCA, and didn’t want to put out lead vocals on another label. Would Ervin like to put out the song as a solo record? Ervin hated the song — he didn’t like doo-wop generally, and he thought the song was a particularly bad example of the genre — but a gig was a gig, and it’d be a solo record under his own name. Ervin agreed to do it, and Motola got Jesse Belvin to put together a scratch vocal group for the session. Belvin found Johnny “Guitar” Watson and Tommy “Buster” Williams at a local ballroom and got them to come along, and on the way to the session they ran into “Handsome” Mel Williams and pulled him in. They were just going to be the uncredited backing vocalists on a Frankie Ervin record, and didn’t spend much time thinking about what was clearly a soundalike cash-in. But when it came out it was credited as “The Shields” rather than Frankie Ervin: [Excerpt: The Shields, “You Cheated”] That’s Belvin singing that wonderful falsetto part. Frankie Ervin was naturally annoyed that he wasn’t given the label credit for the record. The recording was made as an independent production but leased to Dot Records, and somewhere along the line someone decided that it was better to have a generic group name rather than promote it as by a solo singer who might get ideas about wanting money. In a nice bit of irony, the Shields managed to reverse the normal course of the music industry — this time a soundalike record by a black group managed to outsell the original by a white group. “You Cheated” ended up making number twelve on the pop charts — a massive hit for an unknown doo-wop group at the time. Ervin started touring and making TV appearances as the Shields, backed by some random singers the record label had pulled together — the rest of the vocalists on the record had been people who were under contract to other labels, and so couldn’t make TV appearances. But the original Shields members reunited for the followup single, “Nature Boy”, where they were joined by the members of the Turks, who were yet another group that Belvin was recording with, and who included both Hodge brothers: [Excerpt: “Nature Boy”, the Shields] That, according to Ervin, also sold a million copies, but it was nothing like as successful as “You Cheated”. The record label were getting sick of Ervin wanting credit and royalties and other things they didn’t like singers, especially black ones, asking for. So the third Shields record only featured Belvin out of the original lineup, and subsequent recordings didn’t even feature him. But while Belvin had accidentally put together yet another million-selling group, he had also moved on to bigger things. His wife had now firmly taken control of his career, and they had a plan. Belvin had signed to a major label — RCA, the same label that Elvis Presley was on — and he was going to make a play for the big time. He could still keep making doo-wop records with Johnny “Guitar” Watson and Eugene Church and the Hodge brothers and whoever else, if he felt like it, but his solo career was going to be something else. He was going to go for the same market as Nat “King” Cole, and become a smooth ballad singer. He was going to be a huge star, and he actually got to record an album, Just Jesse Belvin. The first single off that album was “Guess Who?”, a song written by his wife Jo Anne, based on a love letter she had written to him: [Excerpt: Jesse Belvin, “Guess Who?”] That song made the top forty — hitting number thirty-three on the pop chart and managed to reach number seven on the R&B charts. More importantly, it gained Grammy nominations for both best R&B performance and best male vocal performance. He lost to Dinah Washington and Frank Sinatra, and it’s not as if losing to Dinah Washington or Frank Sinatra would have been an embarrassment. But by the time he lost those Grammies, Jesse was already dead, and so was Jo Anne. And here we get into the murkiest part of the story. There are a lot of rumours floating around about Jesse Belvin’s death, and a lot of misinformation is out there, and frankly I’ve not been able to get to the bottom of exactly what happened. When someone you love dies young, especially if that someone is a public figure, there’s a tendency to look for complex explanations, and there’s also a tendency to exaggerate stories in the telling. That’s just human nature. And in some cases, that tendency is exploited by people out to make money. And Jesse and Jo Anne Belvin were both black people who died in the deep South, and so no real investigation was ever carried out. That means that by now, with almost everyone who was involved dead, it’s impossible to tell what really happened. Almost every single sentence of what follows may be false. It’s my best guess as to the order of events and what happened, based on the limited information out there. On February the sixth, 1960, there was a concert in Little Rock Arkansas, at the Robinson Auditorium. Billed as “the first rock and roll show of 1960”, the headliner was Jackie Wilson, a friend of Belvin’s. Jesse had just recorded his second album, “Mr Easy”, which would be coming out soon, and while he was still relatively low on the bill, he was a rising star. That album was the one that was going to consolidate Belvin’s turn towards pop balladry in the Nat “King” Cole style, but it would end up being a posthumous release: [Excerpt: Jesse Belvin with the Marty Paich Orchestra, “Blues in the Night”] It was an all-black lineup on stage, but according to some reports it was an integrated audience. In fact some reports go so far as to say it was the first integrated audience ever in Little Rock. Little Rock was not a place where the white people were fans of integration — in fact they were so against it that the National Guard had had to be called in only two years earlier to protect black children when the first school in Little Rock had been integrated. And so apparently there was some racial abuse shouted by members of the audience. But it was nothing that the musicians hadn’t dealt with before. After the show they all drove on towards Dallas. Jackie Wilson had some car problems on the way, and got to their stop in Dallas later than he was expecting to. The Belvins hadn’t arrived yet, and so Wilson called Jesse’s mother in LA, asking if she’d heard from them. She hadn’t. Shortly after setting off, the car with Jesse and Jo Anne in had been in a crash. Jesse and the drivers of both cars had been killed instantly. Kirk Davis, Belvin’s guitarist on that tour, who had apparently been asleep in the back seat, was seriously injured but eventually came out of his coma. And Jesse had apparently reacted fast enough to shield his wife from the worst of the accident. But she was still unconscious, and seriously injured. The survivors were rushed to the hospital, where, according to Etta James, who heard the story from Jackie Wilson, they refused to treat Jo Anne Belvin until they knew that they would get money. She remained untreated until someone got in touch with Wilson, who drove down from Dallas Texas to Hope, Arkansas, where the hospital was, with the cash. But she died of her injuries a few days later. Now, here’s the thing — within a fortnight of the accident, there were rumours circulating widely enough to have been picked up by the newspapers that Belvin’s car had had its tyres slashed. There were also stories, never confirmed, that Belvin had received death threats before the show. And Jackie Wilson had also had car trouble that night — and according to some sources so had at least one other musician on the bill. So it’s possible that the car was sabotaged. On the other hand, Belvin’s driver, Charles Shackleford, had got the job with Belvin after being fired by Ray Charles. He was fired, according to Charles, because he kept staying awake watching the late-night shows, not getting enough sleep, and driving dangerously enough to scare Ray Charles — who was fearless enough that he used to ride motorbikes despite being totally blind. So when Jesse and Jo Anne Belvin died, they could have been the victims of a racist murder, or they could just have been horribly unlucky. But we’ll never know for sure, because the institutional racism at the time meant that there was no investigation. When they died, they left behind two children under the age of five, who were brought up by Jesse’s mother. The oldest, Jesse Belvin Jr, became a singer himself, often performing material written or made famous by his father: [Excerpt: Jesse Belvin Jr, “Goodnight My Love”] Jesse Jr. devoted his life to finding out what actually happened to his parents, but never found any answers.

Here is another great episode on tiki cocktails with this one featuring a classic: Three Dots and a Dash. This cocktail is a Don the Beachcomber's original (who is Don the Beachcomber?...well listen and we will go through his career and what he has done for tiki culture). The cocktail: 3 dots and a dash was made during World War II and was a Morse code for "V". What is the significance of the "V"? It meant victory and was also used by Winston Churchill who popularized the symbol and eventually converted into a sign for peace. When making a cocktail using the "grandma pasta sauce process", you might have to tweak it to your liking. How do you do that? The "Straw" test is the answer. We'll go through this process and why is the bartender sucking on a straw when he makes my drink...well you will find out. This drink has a cool garnish: 3 cherries and a pineapple spear. How do I make crushed ice for cocktails? Find out. There is a cool tool with link on the website to buy one. I want one LOL. Where did all these tiki cocktail recipes come from if there were secretive? Find out about Jeff the Beachbum Berry...we will list his books on the website as well. Hey Do you know your Tiki? Let's see what cool facts we have about Don. And hey if you haven't figured it out yet...there is a bonus outtake at the end of the show so now give it a listen. and I almost forgot ...next episode we will announce our WINNER for the contest we ran during Oct/Nov and we will be running another in December as well...

Kevin Beary and the crew from Three Dots and a Dash in Chicago dropped through Indianapolis on their way back from the Woodford Reserve Distillery to check out The Inferno...

In this episode we discuss Matts presentation at the sky fall conference and a pretty interesting story that happened while watching it. Our history is a bigger lie than most of us realize. Matt goes for the fastest marriage proposal record in history. Halloween flat smacking ideas along with other flat earth topics. A disturbing message from the great Iru Landucci. Curious Jay drops in a message form his interment camp and much more. Matts Skyfall conference https://youtu.be/8NE8X9_5rEY DITRH Dot Dot Dot https://youtu.be/OI1WTtEVAjE Mole hole and Deliver us from Hell. Free Your Mind YouTube https://youtu.be/AZwEGZP3tEk ISS drop screw. https://youtu.be/7BBWKMpm0KQ Matts sun video https://youtu.be/WxZqHi-Oz98 The anti gravitic airships of the 1800's https://www.facebook.com/TheFlatEarthPodcast/videos/491397434690236/ Brian Mullen's Balls out Physics https://paulontheplane.com/balls-out-physics-brian-mullin/ The HEX Podcast #SaveHoustonWhite https://youtu.be/7T0TiqOxD_w Space the final junkyard propaganda video https://youtu.be/Wu0wg2UpzqM Song by LazyDiamond369 Remember Tesla https://youtu.be/TrjXtsS-IBo Amazon hoodie link https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=the+flat+earth+podcast www.TheFlatEarthPodcast.com

Leaves tumble and turn through the cold and crisp air. Seasons change, as do we... Chicago's Kevin Hsia has prepared a special mix for Canopy Sounds 23, exploring the depths of house. Expect to here digital and vinyl cuts alike! Kevin Hsia is an avid record collector and DJ traversing classic and modern jazz/soul/funk to the deep and underground house stylings of Chicago, Detroit, and New York. This classically trained instrumentalist (clarinet/sax) has built up quite a resume here in Chicago with 10 years of experience in the industry. He can be found spinning as the a resident at the beautiful SOHO House Chicago, located in the west loop. Other rotating gigs include Free Rein, Celeste (nightclub), and the Three Dots and a Dash. Tune in to Lumpen Radio( 105.5FM WLPN-LP Chicago) online every third Sunday of the month from 12p - 2p for Sunday Record Club, an all vinyl radio show where Kevin and friends dive deep into music history, eclectic mix sessions and of course, vinyl. Follow Kevin on Social Media @kevinjhsia https://www.facebook.com/kevinjhsia https://www.instagram.com/kevinjhsia/ https://www.mixcloud.com/kevinjhsia/ Stay tuned for news from Canopy Sounds and our family: www.facebook.com/rmcanopysounds/ www.instagram.com/canopysounds/?hl=en

On Today's Speakeasy Damon talks with Kevin Beary, Beverage Director at Three Dots and a Dash in Chicago. Kevin Beary his first taste of bartending while shaking and pouring colorless liquid as a minor. His first official gig was aboard a Delaware River cruise in Philadelphia, where 500 thirsty passengers would board the ship most nights and drink tickets would start flying. Beary worked in restaurants while attending La Salle University and rose to beverage director of Hyatt at the Bellevue, whose Library Lounge is the home of the Clover Club cocktail. In 2012, he transferred to Chicago’s Park Hyatt to oversee the property’s beverage program and open its cocktail bar, NoMi Lounge, until he took over the juggernaut tiki program that is Three Dots and a Dash. Beary revamped every aspect of prep, installing industrial cold press juice machines and centrifuges to ensure consistency and quality in every one of the 2,000-plus cocktails his team serves on Saturday nights. Beary is a great lover of rum, so much so that he led his 16 bartenders through an 11-week rum course, and he’s working on a master’s degree in brewing and distilling. Together they discuss batching drinks, tiki cocktails, seasonality, and more. The Speakeasy is powered by Simplecast.

If you want to teach your kids some early American history, there is no better place to start than the birthplace of the American Revolution...Boston. But there is so much more to do on a visit to Beantown and this week we interview local Leah Klein to get her tips on visiting Boston with kids. ON THE PODCAST 00:39 - Talking with Tamara about Boston 03:15 - Boston CityPASS 05:30 - Favorite things to do in Boston 10:11 - Talking with Leah about Boston 13:30 - Must do things in Boston 16:09 - Good age for the Freedom trail 16:45 - The Tea Party Ships & Museum 18:05 - Activities on the water 19:25 - Planning a longer trip to the east coast 22:45 - Best way to get around 24:43 - Where to stay in the city 30:55 - Leah’s favorite restaurants 36:20 - Money saving tips 38:18 - CityPASS 39:33 - Best place to take a family photo 41:28 - Favorite travel gear 44:20 - App of the week 44:48 - WINNERS for Lonely Planet book giveaways ABOUT LEAH KLEIN Leah lives across the river from Boston, in Cambridge where she raises her family. She is always looking for the next thing to do in the city or on her next family trip. Leah writes about food, family, and city living. Follow Leah on Twitter and Facebook. TIPS FOR VISITING BOSTON WITH KIDS The Freedom trail is 2.5 mile red line that goes past a lot of historical sights. It walks you through some of the events that happened in the beginning of the American Revolution. CityPASS covers the Aquarium, Boston Museum of Science, Harbor cruise, you can also go up to the top on the Prudential building. If you are traveling with young kids, you should definitely visit the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum. If you have in the middle school and up range, you may want to check out doing the Freedom Trail with their phone app or even a Harbor cruise. Fenway Park is a great mix to get a little bit of sports and history. Salem is easy to get either by driving or by taking the ferry. Even if you are not interested in the history of witches, there are plenty of other things to visit and explore in the area. Lawn on D is a great place to hang out, with a lot of activities and events. The North End is great for pizza, canoles, gelato, etc. BEST PLACE TO TAKE FAMILY PHOTO Taking a picture with the Make Way for Ducklings sculpture is cute. If you like a more water related, any of the pedestrian bridges have great backdrops of the water. FAVORITE TRAVEL GEAR Leah has a rule when she travels, no jeans and no workout shoes. They are bulky to pack and make packing harder. She likes to wear her ‘Sarah Campbell’ pants, which is a local designer. Pairing them with ‘Three Dots’ or ‘Splendid’ tops that are made of really comfortable fabric. APP OF THE WEEK Freedom Trail app MENTIONED ON THE PODCAST Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum Fun Things to do in Boston in the Winter Bewitched by Salem, but not why you think FOLLOW US AND SPREAD THE WORD! If you liked this show, please be sure to subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play and leave us a review! Have a question or comment? Send us an email or leave us a voicemail at +1.641.715.3900, ext. 926035# You can also follow our travels on Stuffed Suitcase and We3Travel, or follow the Vacation Mavens on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter. Thanks for listening! Pin this This post contains affiliate links. If you click on a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small commission.

Whether it's from sugar cane or molasses, rum has captured the hearts of many, including our own Steve Dolinsky.  On this episode, Rick Bayless and Steve Dolinsky take a deep dive into rum with bartender Paul McGee.  He's behind the successful Tiki themed bars Three Dots and a Dash and Lost Lake and the beverage director for Cherry Circle and the 8 seat Milk Room at the Chicago Athletic Association.

Come explore romantic relationships and how they can go so so wrong or feel so hard at times. But don't worry - you'll also get to hear about what works. From some brave souls at the bar, you'll hear stories of single, partnered, divorcing and “it's complicated”. We'll also hear from Dr. Robert Solley, a well seasoned couple therapist in San Francisco. Join us as we dive into adult attachment! Produced By: Lily Sloane Theme Song By: Topher M. Lewis "Friends Till the End" By: Derailed Freight Train "The End of Love" Excerpt Written and Read By: Pilar Dellano Special thanks to The Little Shamrock and Zeitgeist in SF, The White Horse Bar in Oakland, and Three Dots and a Dash in Chicago.

This week the team looks at the recently released PTR notes for patch 3.2.2

This week, the gang discusses the obvious topic. Patch 3.2 baybee.