Carl Wilson ... didn't he drown and wasn't he a friend of Charles Manson?  Sounds like he made some poor choices.

Good questions Javan64, I'm afraid that I don't know all of the stuff that went on with the Beach Boys. I was mainly interested in Brian Wilson as he did most of the writing for the group plus he was lucky enough to come back from a serious drug problem.

Thanks for the info HessianWarrior. I checked out Fabian doing " Tiger ", nice lively song. As for Jerry Lee Lewis, well he is one of my favourites from way back. Ricky Nelson had out some nice songs as well, mind you some other Actors did some singing also. Tab Hunter had out a nice version of " Young Love " and of course Frankie Avalon had several hit songs.   

Sorry, I confused Brian Wilson (who died of cancer in 1998) with his brother Dennis, who drowned in 1983 and was acquainted with the Manson "family."

Carl, not Brian. 

Who would've believed that Brian would live the longest of those 3?

Actually, I don't think his problems had too much to do with drugs.  He did blame LSD for his eventual collapse, but as I recall he only took it once, and it seemed like he was already heading for a breakdown before then (the notorious panic attack on that airplane, for example).

My guess is that acid wasn't so much to blame for his condition as a guy named Murry. 

My bad! (stoopid keyboard!) At least I got Dennis' info correct!

Thanks for all of the recent posts and all of the info. A short time back I mentioned Frankie Avalon and I've just learned that he is out touring again including a few dates in Las Vegas. Nice to hear that he is still performing.

Also I recently heard a song that was put out by a very good young singer but she has not yet been able to get a second major hit. Tracy Chapman had out a beautiful bluesy type of song entitled " Give Me One Reason " ( or Give Me A Reason ? ). I hope that she can make a comeback soon. 

Earlier today I had the radio on and found out that there were a couple of notable birthdays occuring today. In Folk Music circles one of the surviving members of " Peter Paul And Mary " was born on this day ( I think it was Paul ). Also two members of " The Monkees " share today as their birthday. Mind you I was confused as to wether I should put this latter info here or in my thread on TV shows as " The Monkees " are not considered a real Band by some. However they did have some nice songs out as well as doing their TV show. 

Fie on all such purist dirtbags!

They had an abundance of fabulous ditties.  Such as the following, penned by Messr Nesmith himself:

Another great one (although the bass run on the choruses does get a bit annoying after a while...kinda like that "boxed in" feel on the chorus of "We Gotta Get Outta This Place"):

Many bands weren't "real bands." The Wrecking Crew were real instead, for them.

Thanks for the posts. AndyClifton I'm glad to see that you like The Monkees too. My favourite songs of theirs include " Last Train To Clarksville ", " I'm A Believer ", " Pleasant Valley Sunday " and of course their TV theme " Hey Hey We're The Monkees ". Another Band that didn't get the respect that I think they deserved are The Kinks, some people said they sounded too much like The Beatles. But I really like The Kinks doing " Lola ", " Sunny Afternoon ", " You Really Got Me " and " Louie Louie ". Of course there were a lot of versions of " Louie Louie " but I think that The Kinks did it just as well as anyone else ( and if people say that they sound a bit like The Beatles then I think that is a compliment ! ).

Yes Goldendog I see that Brian Wilson ( among others ) loves The Wrecking Crew Session Musicians. Another area of interest for me is Country Music ( Classic Country and Bluegrass etc; Long Live Rockabilly ! ) and I have a few VHS tapes of some Country Stars taped in the mid-1950's. One can see a similar type of thing happening in the back-up bands for the Stars there. For Example Chet Atkins was a Guitar player for some years for the Carter Family ( 2cnd version ) and Floyd Cramer was a pianist for Jim Reeves.

Often when I go over to Youtube to check on some music I have a hard time to leave there, so much Good music, so little time  lol. Just had a chance to watch Louis Armstrong in a live version of " Hello Dolly ", Great just Great is all I can say to that.          

Earlier taday I heard a interesting version of an old standard on the radio. Fats Domino had a hit with " I Hear You Knocking " and his version is the one that I've heard most often. However I heard the original version of that song today as done by Smiley Lewis. His voice is quite different from Fats Domino but the song was still played in a " Bluesy " New Orleans kind of style. Smiley Lewis had out a quite a list of songs including a very interesting version of " Big Mamou ".  

Whoo...Kinks!!!

One of my favorite video nuggets of all time:

This one manages to combine 2 of my favorite PopCult items:  The Kinks and American Family (which still somehow has never been released on DVD!).  The song starts around 1:00...

Stones...

Thanks for the recent posts. As for the debate between the Rolling Stones fans and the Beatles fans, well that one will go on forever I guess  lol.

Recently as I was rearranging some stuff here and I bumped into another of my old K-Tel records that I had forgotten about. It is entitled " Best Of Britain " and has quite a variety of music on the record. For example we have: Gary & The Pacemakers with Ferry Across The Mersey; Dave Clark Five with Bits And Pieces; The Kinks with Sunny Afternoon; Donovan with Universal Soldier and New Vaudville Band with Winchester Cathedral ( a personal favourite ). Warning: the British are coming the British are coming ---  

It is nice to get the first version of a hit song from the radio as one can get info on a variety of artists that may not be that well known today. Back in the early 1970s Janis Joplin had a hit with " Cry Baby ", a song that she really made into her own. However today I got to hear the original version of that song by Garnet Mimms & The Enchanters ( hard to decide which version is better  lol ). I also came across the artist who may have been the inspiration for Fats Domino, including even the name. Fats Waller was also terrific on the piano and not a bad singer either as can be seen on his big hit " Ain't Misbehaving ". Speaking of Piano Music I also heard the " Bumble Boogie " by B.Bumble & The Stingers, nice and lively !  

Also heard some sad info today at the passing of 90 year old Johnny Otis ( Willie And The Hand Jive ).     

Yeah, I love Fats Waller's stuff-- This Joint is Jumpin', Your Feet's Too Big, All That Meat and No Potatoes, etc.