A tip o’ the Dog Rat toupee to Denro for pointing out this item. It explains what the object is on the back of the Beatles “Now and Then” single, and its surprising connection to the song.
Phone rings. It’s Paul, reminding me of this third song that was on the cassette tape with Real Love and Free As A Bird. He said, ‘The song, it’s called Now And Then.’ I’m standing there with the phone… looking at the clock that said, ‘Now And Then’, and I was sort of dumbfounded.
Bob Dylan went electric in 1965, turning the Newport Folk Festival into the Newport Rock Festival. Playing the organ on “Like a Rolling Stone” was Al Kooper, the same guy who played it in the studio.
Kooper is now in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Much to my surprise, for some 30 years he’s been living in Somerville, MA.
Al Kooper got Columbia Records subsidiary Date Records to release “Odessey and Oracle” by the Zombies in America, with “Time of the Season” becoming a surprise Top Ten hit in 1969. The band had already broken up by then, due to the lackluster response to the album in England.
“Odessey and Oracle” is now regarded as one of the finest albums of all time, and the Zombies were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019. Without Al Kooper’s influence, it’s uncertain what the album’s fate would have been.
When my life was turned upside down by my father’s stroke, leading me to finalize my retirement, I listened to “Odessey and Oracle” every day. I did that, often more than once daily, through his death and my recovery from melanoma surgery.
According to Jim Dawson, this was one of the early recordings produced at the legendary Gold Star Studios in Hollywood. Jim says co-founder David Gold is still alive.
Dick Clark Productions has officially released video of Green Day’s performance from New Year’s Eve.
September will mark the 20th anniversary of Green Day releasing their superb album American Idiot. As much time as there was between the original LP release of Sgt. Pepper and its first appearance on CD?!
Andrew Sandoval is well known for his association with the Monkees. He has also worked extensively with Ray Davies on reissues of the Kinks catalog. Andrew’s favorite Kinks album is The Village Green Preservation Society, and I own Andrew’s deluxe vinyl box set from five years ago. It’s still available, but the price tag will make you gulp hard.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GJ397BS/
Here. You can listen to the official online copy for free, with some extra tracks. The opening of “Do You Remember Walter” reminds me of the opening to ELO’s “Mr. Blue Sky”. I doubt it’s entirely coincidental.
Muswell Hillbillies is my favorite Kinks album. I like it so much, I have a copy in 24-bit/96 kHz lossless FLAC format. This playlist is likewise an extended edition.
