Christmas With The Beatles

1964 started with the Beatles on Ed Sullivan watched with my family

           If you are a baby boomer like me your Christmas memories probably include something about the Beatles.  The band’s Christmas tradition in the USA kicked off in December 1965 with the release of one of their greatest singles: “We Can Work It Out”and “Day Tripper.” The picture sleeve (remember them?) of the 45rpm single depicted the boys looking cold and winter weary in their black coats but the music was both raucous and reflective.  Perfectly capturing the essence of the band.

            Then came “Rubber Soul, “ an album so good each of my sisters insisted on having their own copy.  So did I.  The music was more acoustic than electric, the title was mysterious and the songs absolutely gorgeous. Especially John Lennon’s poignant “In My Life” and Paul’s lovely “Michelle” the Grammy Song of the Year.

            At the end of 1967 The Beatles released “Magical Mystery Tour,” and of course it sounded nothing like their previous records.  I remember looking through the album’s picture book by the lights of the Christmas tree, trying to make sense of the strange photos taken from the movie of the same name.  This is a record I’ve grown to appreciate, especially side two. “Hello Goodbye,” “Strawberry Fields””Penny Lane””Baby You’re A Rich Man”and “All You Need Is Love.” On one side of an album!  That’s a career for most bands.  

          The ultimate Fab Four Christmas present had to be “The Beatles,” the two-record opus commonly known as “The White Album.”  The kind of gift that had kids calling each other on Christmas day with a million questions. Why was the cover blank? Why had The Beatles stopped shaving? Was that Yoko Ono on the poster that came with the album?  What the heck was “Revolution #9” about?  How come “Back In The USSR” sounded like The Beach Boys?  Years later people still have questions about the album Bono of U2 called “the complete encyclopedia of rock and roll.”  He’s right.  There’s just about every style of music, from the country of Ringo’s “Don’t Pass Me By” to the acid rock of Paul’s “Helter Skelter.”  “Dear Prudence” might be the prettiest melody John Lennon ever wrote while George’s “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” left no doubt of his songwriting strength.

            “The White Album” was the hot topic when I returned in January 1969 to Raymond Elementary School in Fullerton.  The Beatles were at the top of their game but something seemed off.  We heard about their surprise rooftop concert in London and later the rumors of their impending breakup.  When “Abbey Road” came out in September everyone agreed it was their best album ever.  I personally think it’s the greatest album of all time.  It was also the last one they recorded together and a few months later the band imploded.

Greatest Music Group Of All Time

A Holy Grail for collectors: The Beatles Christmas Album

         Although it broke my heart, I knew deep inside they were doing the right thing by splitting up in 1970.  The Beatles as a band belonged to the sixties and the sixties belonged to the Beatles.  Their music, however, remains timeless.  With so much holiday cheer in their history its surprising to note The Beatles never recorded any Christmas music.  Unless one digs a bit deeper into their catalog and discovers the existence of “The Beatles Christmas Album.”  This LP was made available exclusively to members of The Beatles fan clubs in the UK and USA in 1970.  Quirky bits comprised of song parodies and musical skits that showed the band at their most unguarded.

         You might find a copy on eBay.  Its not available on iTunes.  Thankfully, everything else you could want by the Beatles is now available digitally. As the Beatles would say: Happy Christmas!

TV Fall Schedule Is Hard To Trust

Elizabeth Mitchell

Jason as Mitt is always a gas!

Recognize anyone on the latest "Survivor?"

    It's been a helluva entertaining year.  It started with a thrilling football Super Bowl followed by a riveting futbol Champions League finale.  Then the Grammys with Adele's return to the stage and the reunited Beach Boys return to touring.  England was all over the calendar with the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and London Olympics.  We survived three Friday the 13th's and a partial lunar eclipse, not to mention a Transit of Venus. Even a Perigee Moon in May, so big it gave me the creeps.  Outer space came down to Earth when the space shuttle Endeavour flew over my house last week.

    On the down side, a suicide (Junior Seau), a drug overdose (Whitney Houston) and unexpected death (Davy Jones) surprised the nation.  The NFL referee strike is ruining the integrity of the league.  Did I mention there's a presidential election in November?

    So it's hard to get excited about the upcoming Fall Television Schedule.  Especially after getting burned the last couple of years on highly touted shows that were abruptly canceled.  It bothers me to get hooked on a show, and then its gone without resolution.  Its already happened this year with "Alcatraz" on Fox.  Before that was "Flash Forward" and "Life On Mars", shows that started with good ratings which tapered off when ABC put them on an unexplained "hiatus."  I've learned to hate that word. It means the show is going to end after one year.  At least ABC gave the sci-fi series "V" a partial second season, allowing me to get a crush on Elizabeth Mitchell.

    Who is currently featured on the latest futuristic show to catch my eye: "Revolution" on NBC.  The premise is simple: something causes the electric power grid to shut off around the world.  It never comes back on.  Chaos and anarchy prevail.  15 years later a plucky band of survivors try to make their way through a devastated landscape.  Perfect setting for an arrow-shooting teenage girl (an obvious "Hunger Games" conceit) trying to find her kidnapped brother.  Obviously I like these kind of shows.  For some reason the networks keep bankrolling them.  Then they drop them like a toxic loan.  I hope they keep this one around long enough to tell us why things went wacky (something "Alcatraz" and "Flash Forward" failed to do.)

    Other new shows on my radar: "Vegas" with Dennis Quaid (CBS) because any series with "Vegas" in the title gets my attention.  "Last Resort" about a renegade submarine crew sounds interesting but its on ABC and I don't trust ABC.  Thank goodness CBS renewed "Person Of Interest" currently my favorite show which now has "Two And A Half Men" as a lead in, a show I will always watch as long as Jon Cryer is winning Emmys.  The best reality show "Survivor" has former baseball MVP Jeff Kent and TV star Lisa Whelchel and is off to a good start.  Saturday Night Live is always funny in an election year especially with Jason Sudeikis dong Mitt Romney.  There's even a behind the scenes show about my favorite soccer team called "Being Liverpool" that's been fun to watch.

    Throw in the NFL channel which has finally been added to my Time Warner Cable lineup and my TV will be busy this fall.  I'm just hoping the new shows I'm watching right now will be given a chance to find their audience.
     But I doubt it.      

London Olympics Had The Music, NBC Didn't!

Ray Davies singing "Waterloo Sunset" had him trending on Twitter all day long. NBC TV viewers did not get to see it!

The Who were not shown on the NBC prime time telecast! How do you leave out the Grand Finale?

Somehow The Spice Girls made it on the TV broadcast but MUSE did not!

    What's the deal with NBC? Talk about a love/hate relationship with your audience. They start out by showing some of the London Olympics live on the internet but not all of it. Especially the Opening Ceremonies. I mean, if you're gonna go for the gold then go all the way! There was so much grumbling that NBC changed their policy at the last minute and decided to show the Closing Ceremonies live on their web channels. Great idea since that topic trended all day long Sunday on Twitter and Facebook. They had people chirping during the day in the USA about the extravaganza as it happened live and then at night while NBC showed it on TV tape delay. Sounds like a win-win situation for everybody. So what's the problem?
    Seems like they cut out some of the best musical moments from the TV broadcast.  All day long I heard how great Ray Davies of the Kinks sounded singing his love song to London: "Waterloo Sunset." Ditto for Kate Bush singing the obvious Olympic anthem: "Running Up That Hill."  So I made rum and cokes and prepared to stay up until midnight PDT to hear those performances. I never saw them. Not only did NBC see fit to omit those great artists, they even left out Muse singing "Survival" - THE OFFICIAL SONG OF THE 2012 OLYMPICS!
    Hello? Ferris? Bueller? Anyone?
    Around 10:30pm when I realized I was not going to see the above songs I dozed off. I awoke to see some sort of sitcom on the tube. Later found out it was a pilot for a new NBC show called "Animal Practice." According to Twitter, it's now the most-hated sitcom on TV. Music fans who stayed up until midnight in California became outraged when NBC butchered the Who's performance at the Closing Ceremonies by making them sit through "Animal Practice" and the local news. Then returning to a promised "grand finale" which only included part of The Who's medley of "Baba O'Riley," See Me Feel Me" and "My Generation."
    It doesn't make any sense. NBC pays billions to televise the Olympics, does a good job for two weeks, then drops the baton on the final lap of the race.  I understand why they showed many of the athletic events on tape delay because they need the prime-time revenue advertising dollars.  I'm fine with that. I'm not fine with knowing the rest of the world was able to see Ray Davies and The Who and that the USA television did not get that chance.

The Beach Boys Are Better Than Ever!

The 5 Beach Boys gather for "Add Some Music To Your Day" with Foskett in the shadows

Brian, David, Mike, Al

Thanks for the pass, Foskett!

Johnston, Foskett, Love, Jardine in 1984

    If you went to college I'm pretty sure you remember your first week on campus.  Whether orientation week was an endless parade of parties or diligent preparation for upcoming classes (yeah, right!), it was all new.  For most of us it was our first time living on our own, with choices to be made, both bad and good.
    One of the best choices I ever made happened on Sept. 26, 1974, a Thursday night at UC Santa Barbara.  I was a seventeen year-old freshman having the time of my life and looking forward to the Jackson Browne & Honk concert the following night.  Then a girl named Gina said a band was playing in front of a dorm so I followed her on my bike until I heard the unmistakable sounds of The Beatles' "Day Tripper."  In '74 college kids were not nostalgic about the 60s, we lived through them if only through the eyes of our older siblings.  Most local bands, like the ones I played with in high school, favored current Allman Brothers guitar rock over the complex vocal harmonies of the Fab Four.
    When the band known as The Reverie Rhythm Rockers finally took a break I was waiting for them with tons of questions. How did they get so good? Did they love The Beatles as much as I did? The guitarist with the big smile and perfect falsetto introduced himself as Jeffrey Foskett and I think we talked rock trivia between every break they took!
    It was the start of a long and fruitful friendship.  On Jan. 31, 1979, my band Norman Allan's first gig was opening for  Foskett's band the Death Eggz.  Foskett had to loan me a bass so I could make the gig! By then the New Wave/Punk invasion had convinced every cover band to write their own songs.  My band had a couple good ones, Foskett and partner Randall Kirsch had so many they got serious and changed their name to The Pranks, the perfect non-serious name.
    Then one day Foskett was asked to join the Beach Boys and invited me to a few shows where I took photos, some of which I sold to the band.  I still have my laminated photo pass and many cherished memories from those days in the early 80s.
    Why am I telling you this?  Because I just saw Jeffrey Foskett perform with The Beach Boys on their 50th Anniversary Tour and he kicked ass.  While everyone is excited to see the surviving members of "the boys" back on stage together, make no mistake.   Foskett is the 6th Beach Boy, whose duties include singing those famous high falsettos and handling the intros at the start of the show.  On stage Al Jardine called Foskett the "hardest working man in show business."  He was the reason I was at the show on May 26th 2012 at Fantasy Springs Casino outside of Palm Springs.
    For the casual fan it was a night of fun, fun fun.  For a hardcore fan like me with personal connections it was a night I saw my whole life flash before me.  From Jeff's wonderful spotlight on "Don't Worry Baby" which always reminds me of my three sisters, to the encore of "Kokomo" which takes me back to working as a DJ in Santa Barbara.  The tributes to Dennis and Carl Wilson had me near tears, since I got to spend time with both of them in the early 80s.  Their brother weighed 300 pounds when I first met him back then.  Now Brian Wilson is belting out classics like "Sail On Sailor" right in front of me and sounding damn good.  Who would've believed he'd outlive his younger brothers?
    This is the Beach Boys concert every fan wanted, not just the hits, but choice "album cuts" like "This Whole World" and the gorgeous "All This Is That."  Mike Love has never sounded better on the surfing and car songs, and kills on "Be True To Your School."  Jardine gets his obvious turn on "Help Me Rhonda" but also the surprise "Cottonfields."  David Marks plays the original guitar riffs with just the right touch of distortion.  The only thing missing was Bruce Johnston singing "Disney Girls," a song performed earlier in the tour.  The band is powered by drummer John Cowsill (I jammed with him and his dear departed brother Barry many times back in the 80s) and 8 other talented musicians.  They are tight, the harmonies are spot on, and they keep the songs coming at break neck speed.
    The Beach Boys played 44 songs that night, or 44 memories for me.  Almost as many years as I've known Jeffrey Foskett.  Even if you've never met a Beach Boy, you know The Beach Boys.  You need to see this tour because it may never happen again.
    The Beach Boys sing "All This Is That:" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wG8Vz9EZQvY
  

       
   

Frampton Comes Alive...Again!

The first time I saw Peter Frampton in concert he was the opening act for ELO in 1973! I was so impressed I went out and bought both of his solo albums and the ones he did with Humble Pie. Two years later I drove 300 miles with my college girlfriend Mary Blackwell to see him headline at the Marin Civic Auditorium. That show was recorded and some it ended up on an album called Frampton Comes Alive. You may have heard of it since it sold over six million copies to become the biggest selling live album of all time.

After that he made a series of terrible career decisions. He appeared shirtless on the cover of Rolling Stone, took the starring role in the ill-fated Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band movie and released a syrupy ballad "I'm In You." Then a string of bad luck, including a near-fatal car wreck in the Bahamas and a plane crash which destroyed his touring equipment, nearly finished him. In the five years since I first discovered him, Frampton went from being a hot-shot guitarist admired by few to a laughing stock derided by many. I always defended him because I loved his music and his guitar work. So did people like David Bowie, who asked Frampton to tour with him in 1987 and helped revive his career.

Since then he's won a Grammy for the 2007 album Fingerprints and last year began a tour celebrating the 35th anniversary (that really makes me feel old) of Frampton Comes Alive. I came close to seeing one of those shows and to my relief, I finally caught one at Pechanga Casino last month. I was happy to see that ol' Pete looks good (despite a shaved head instead of his once famous tresses) and his guitar work is still mind-blowing. He showed a good sense of humor and a greater sense of showmanship, performing for over two hours and concluding with a moving version of The Beatles' "While My Guitar Gently Weeps."

It was like spending time with an old friend and I'm happy this one has got his act together, both on and off the stage.

Davy Jones More Than A Monkee

Davy Jones was a guy who was always in the right place at the right time. Growing up in Manchester, England Jones landed a role in a British soap opera at the age of 14. Four years later he found himself in New York City watching from the wings as The Beatles made their historic appearance on the Ed Sullivan show. A member of the touring cast of the musical "Oliver!," Jones made his American TV debut the same night as the Fab Four. In front of a record TV audience of 75 million people. You might say he was destined for stardom.

Small in stature, Davy Jones was good looking and a genuine nice guy. He could sing too. My favorite Monkees song when I was a kid was "I Wanna Be Free." The title and Jones' heartfelt vocals pretty much described how I felt when I became a teenager. I watched The Monkees every week on NBC and bought all their albums as soon as they were released. It was a time when the Beatles had stopped touring which brought a halt to Beatlemania. Once again Davy Jones was in the right place at the right time. His group ended up selling over 65 million records and are still heard on the radio today.

In March of 2001, before the world went upside down, I was in Las Vegas and heard The Monkees were in town. At least three of them since Mike Nesmith abstained from this reunion. I said "if I win $50 before the show starts I will buy a ticket!" Thank my lucky stars I won $100 in an hour playing blackjack so I hustled down to the MGM Grand. I made it to the small showroom and ended up at a front table for no extra charge. Now I was at the right place at the right time. Because The Monkees delivered a terrific show which featured all the phases of their career. Peter Tork turned out to be a multi-instrumentalist while Micky Dolenz hit all the notes when he wasn't hitting the drums.

It was Davy Jones who held it all together and radiated the same charisma in 2001 that he had in 1966. He did not sing "I Wanna Be Free" (though he heard my request) but to hear him sing "Daydream Believer" blew my mind. Right in front of me was a guy who represented all the good things I enjoyed while growing up in the 60s.

The news of his death shocked everybody. He was one of those ageless guys, always in the right place at the right time. Something tells me he still is!