Musical recollections from my early childhood mostly revolve around the scratchy 78s that were often played at our house, but my memory is notoriously porous so I can't always remember specific records. Or to be more accurate, I can't remember them until I stumble across a song and am instantly transported back, which is what happened when I recently rediscovered "Twilight Time" by the Three Suns. Although the trio would in later years go through various personnel changes, the original Three Suns came together in the late 1930s. Brothers Al and Morty Nevins (who played - [...]
When I was a kid I'd sometimes get a little puzzled while watching a movie that was supposed to be about someone famous, because often I'd never heard of them. Of course, I was spectacularly clueless in those days (still am, for that matter) but the reason for the confusion was usually just a generational thing. A good example would be a Doris Day film titled Love Me Or Leave Me , the story of prohibition-era musical star Ruth Etting, who was probably very well-remembered by the adult members of the movie audience - if not for her music, [...]
Although there have always been performers who defied the odds and became overnight successes, most have had to spend years working their way up the ladder of fame. Still, not many have had the perseverance of Freddie Hart, who didn't really hit it big until he was in his mid-forties and "Easy Loving" topped the 1971 country charts. Born as one of fifteen kids in an Alabama sharecropper's family, young Frederick Segrest grew up during the Great Depression, surrounded by poverty but also immersed in the musi c of rural America. He picked up his first guitar when [...]
Even if you think about the sheer number of silly songs that have shown up in pop music through the years, you still have to classify 19602s "Alley Oop" as one of the most unusual. The idea came from producer/musicians Gary Paxton and Kim Foley, a couple of experienced pros who'd formed a studio band they called the Hollywood Argyles. The platter (which was rumored to have been made while most of the guys were drunk) rocketed to the top of charts so quickly that they then had to scramble to form a real group. The [...]
Regular readers will recall that I've been a Kindler since late 2010 and also just received a Kindle Fire tablet as a Christmas gift. Mrs. BigGeez has a Kindle of her own too, so we're a three-Kindle household. In light of all that it would be a natural subject to write about, but I've resisted the temptation because this is supposed to be a nostalgia-themed music blog. However, I also write about what's currently attracting my interest, and I am certainly spending a lot of time with my new tablet. I'm also discovering that there's one aspect of it that [...]
I've written several times about musicians who lost long stretches of their prime performing years to their struggles with drugs and fought their way back, but there were some who didn't do so well. A good example might be Harold 'Tina' Brooks, a supremely talented hard-bop tenor saxophonist who ran into trouble at the height of his career and spent the last decade of his life unsuccessfully trying to find his way back. While growing up in Fayetteville, North Carolina, young Harold Floyd Brooks was often called 'Teeny', and by the time his family moved to [...]
A while back I wrote a piece about childhood memories of my attempts to learn how to throw a knife like characters in movies. At the risk of sounding like someone who is spending way too much time thinking about sharply pointed objects, I thought I'd pass along the fact that I've now recalled another childhood knife fascination, and I don't think I'm the only one intrigued by this particular variety, judging from how often it's appeared in movies. That's right, I'm talking about the switchblade, the steel implement that became so notorious and wickedly evil-appearing that it was eventually [...]
I've always enjoyed well-written TV sitcoms with likable characters, and one of my favorites from the 1990s was Coach , which starred Craig T. Nelson, Shelley Fabares, and Jerry Van Dyke. It has been rerun fairly often through the years and Mrs. BigGeez and I have tuned in a number of times, but she had to remind me that the lady on the screen was also once a teen idol who not only had a number-one hit record, but even co-starred in several movies with Elvis Presley. While growing up in California, young Michele Marie Fabares [...]
What is the deal with this weather? Twice in January our region of the central Midwest has been treated to daytime temperatures in the 60s and full-fledged thunderstorms at night, complete with strong winds and downed powerlines. At least we haven't had the tornadoes experienced by some folks, but still. . . I guess some would say it's all related to global warming but I'm not going to get in the middle of that free-for-all. At least we haven't gotten to the point where the weather has completely reversed itself by generating a snowstorm in June. But actually [...]
Not every country music performer hails from the rural heartland. Joe Val spent many years as one of the most respected country artists around, and he was an Italian/American (real name: Joseph Valiante) who was born and raised in the Boston area. But New England has always had a strong tradition in country music, including the kind Joe loved - bluegrass - so maybe it's not that surprising. Growing up during the Great Depression in the blue-collar Boston suburb of Everett, young Joe Valiante thrived on the music of radio stars like Bill Monroe. He began [...]
I was sorry to read about the death of Etta James, although it wasn't unexpected because she'd been in ill health for quite a while. But even though I was a fan, her life story is being well-covered everywhere so I thought I'd go in a different direction. Thinking about some of the problems she encountered in her life caused me to once again consider the many musical stars whose careers have been affected by substance abuse - guys like Frank Morgan, an alto sax wizard who lost three decades of his prime to drugs, but eventually managed to rebuild [...]
Like most kids of my generation, I was always fascinated by the knife-throwing scenes that seemed to show up regularly in the action movies I watched. Whether flipped by an evil assassin lurking in the shadows or the valiant hero acting in desperation, it seemed as if almost anybody could grab any kind of knife and throw it with deadly accuracy, instantly stopping someone in their tracks. Hollywood has always been good at fooling impressionable kids (and sometimes adults) so I guess it's not surprising that I wholeheartedly bought the idea that throwing a knife was easy. In [...]
Judas Priest Title TBC Epic Records ETA Autumn 2012 What they're saying: 2011 was a turbulent year for Judas Priest - indeed, it was a year which could have very easily ended their decades-long career. When the Epitaph World Tour was announced back in December 2010 , everything sounded a bit final. We've left their use of [...]
Most of us remember the Monkees, a 1960s group that was cobbled together for TV and went on to become a veritable hit machine, eventually rising above its origins to become a respected musical combo. But what you might not remember is how music supervisor Don Kirshner went on to create another pop music success, one that was inspired by a cartoon show spun off from a comic book. It might sound strange to us now, but when Kirshner was hired to bring music to the cartoon show based on the Archie comics, it seemed to [...]
Although he might not be as well remembered as the guys we mentioned in a recent piece about accordions (Lawrence Welk and Myron Floren), Art Van Damme had some distinctions of his own. In addition to a long career in radio and TV, he was a respected jazz musician with an international reputation, and he continued to entertain fans right up until his death in 2010 - at age 89. Born in the Michigan Upper Peninsula, Van Damme picked up his first accordion as a child, and when his family [...]
So I was parked in a supermarket lot today waiting for Mrs. Big Geez to do her grocery shopping thing, an activity for which - imagine this - she doesn't want my assistance, when I spotted a geezer in a big car, sporting whitewall tires. (The car, not the geezer.) They were the narrow kind, and - heaven help me - I instantly remembered a time when those were considered really cool when compared to the older-style wide whitewalls. It also occurred to me how rare it is to see any kind of whitewall tires these days, [...]
One of the mainstays of early rock and roll was the tearjerker song, especially the kind that spoke of a sadly departed lover. There were plenty of memorable ones around, including "Teen Angel" and "Tell Laura I Love Her," but one of the earliest - and best - was "Endless Sleep," a million-seller for Jody Reynolds in 1958. Reynolds was born in Colorado but raised in Oklahoma, where he grew up surrounded by country music and inspired by Western swing legend Bob Wills. By the time he reached adulthoo d in the early 1950s, he was a proficient [...]
I quit smoking over thirty years ago, and even though the urge hung around for a surprisingly long time I eventually got to the point where I didn't miss it. And I can confidently say that I still don't, but I realized something the other day - I kind of miss the gadgety aspect of the cigarette lighters I used to carry. Regular visitors to the GMC will remember that I'm all about gadgets and gizmos (even referring to myself as Inspector Gadget in a recent piece ) so it probably [...]
Although I believe that a person's spiritual beliefs are a private thing, I will confess that I'm not a regular church-goer - in fact, the last time I attempted to sing a hymn my voice probably hadn't yet changed. But I've found that there are certain kinds of gospel music that really appeal to me, mostly because it just sounds good. Gospel music is defined by wikipedia as 'music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life. . .' which covers a lot of territory. By that definition you [...]
It's cold. 32° cold. I have my Christmas tree to take down today so I won't be going anywhere. I'm always sad when the tree goes. I miss the aroma of pine and the beauty of the lights. My living room reverts to drab and ordinary. The tree disappeared magically when I was a kid. It was there when I went to school, but when I got home, it was gone. I guess it was like the Elves and the Shoemaker. At first I struggled for something to write. That happens sometimes. I thought a while [...]
Geezer Music Club
Thrash Hits
Keep the Coffee Coming
Clive Davis Cancels Pre-Grammy Party After Whitney Houston’s Death
Watch: Trailer for Dave Grohl’s documentary, Sound City
Retro-Review: Stellastarr*- Stellastarr*
