Ruth Eckerd Hall on Saturday night was a majestic flashback to the heyday of rock and roll. The Flower Power disciples of Peace & Love manifested throughout a sold out Hall. These weren’t Bankers and Attorneys dressed up to resemble what they once adored in the days of their youth. Remarkably the crowd was the genuine persona. You felt the love flowing from every direction. There was even an optimist with a painted smile on her face carrying a sign that read “Free Hugs” as she walked up and down every row carrying out her humanitarian task of harmony.
The show itself formatted perhaps to resemble the prodigious entertainment distinction of Burt Sugarman’s The Midnight Special or Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert in the 70’s -nevertheless a clever and inspiring compilation for producing high quality entertainment.
In other words …I was Blown Away; the concert was Outta Sight Man!
The first of (5) legendary performers to grace the Ruth Eckerd stage Saturday evening was Felix Cavaliere lead vocalist and keyboardist of the blue-eyed soul group The Young Rascals. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997.
Sitting behind his keyboards Cavaliere appeared and sounded hip as he should while reminiscent of his first television appearance on Hullabaloo in 1965. Felix inaugurated the evening with The Young Rascals 1967 hit “I’ve Been Lonely Too Long” followed by a couple of Wilson Pickett classics “In the Midnight Hour” and “Land of 1000 Dances.” Then his number one hit song from 1967 “Groovin’” with a cavalcade of soulful cover tunes mixed-in followed by “People Got to Be Free” and the finale crowd pleaser “Good Lovin.” It was a persuasive performance that hastened the crowd out of their seats and into dancing in the aisles. The Young Rascals may have been responsible for launching so many legendary groups. Bands like Bruce Springsteen and The J Geils Band to name a few.
After Cavaliere’s set it was time for Bradenton resident/Ohio native Rick Derringer to set a tone of electric solos and hard-driving rock and roll. Derringer’s been on the road a lot lately finishing up a European tour with Ringo Starr & His All- Starr Band. Derringer opened with “Still Alive and Well” a song he wrote and album he produced for Johnny Winter. He was also the Producer of Edgar Winter’s They Only Come Out At Night which spawned the classic hits “Frankenstein” and “Free Ride.” Then Rick saluted our troops with his electrified rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner” and “Real American.” Derringer finished his set strong with as he pointed out, “the full- unedited version” of The McCoys Number One hit tune from 1965 “Hang On Sloopy” (The official rock song of the state of Ohio) and then a thunderous performance of “Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo” that lifted the entire crowd up on its feet. Rick has always been a crowd pleaser and he always leaves with you wanting more.
Next on the bill was Gary Wright.Gary had already joined Rick on stage for his finale. Wright looked great. He opened with a couple of Spooky Tooth tunes “Waiting For The Wind” and “Better By You, Better Than Me.” Then Wright sang his huge Top 2 signature solo hit “Dreamweaver” to its perfection. His voice never sounded better, it was incredible. But the crowd ignited to their feet with the finale, a funky space jam called “Love Is Alive.” The song also reached into the Top 2 on the charts. Wright is also an alumnus of Ringo Starr and His All-Star Band.
After one of only a few short intermissions it was Grand Funk Railroad’s guitar hero and inspirational leader Mark Farner’s chance to rock the house down. All the performers on the Hippiefest bill were fantastic but Mark Farner took it up a notch or two. Farner’s energy was reminiscent to his days of playing high school football. He was in terrific shape and his voice superb. Farner opened his set with the Grand Funk Railroad tune “Footstompin’ Music” by singin’, playin’ his guitar and jammin’ on keyboards. The opening lyrics from that classic tune “Come on everybody, we’re gonna’ have a good time, yea” set the jovial tone for his overwhelming performance. Mark Farner followed with the Little Eva cover “The Loco-motion” which was a Number One hit for Grand Funk in 1974 and “Sins a Good Man Brother” from the album Closer To Home.” Mark stopped and thanked everyone at one point during his performance for all the thoughts and prayers from everyone for his son Jesse. Mark’s son Jesse (at 21) fell and sustained a near fatal- fracture to the C-5 vertebra in his neck.
Farner’s impeccable performance resumed with “Bad Time” and “Some Kind of Wonderful” both huge hits from Grand Funk’s 1974 release All the Girls in the World Beware. Mark Farner’s finale which he dedicated to our troops “I’m Your Captain” (Closer To Home) was the highlight of the evening. If you had closed your eyes you’d swear that you were at Shea stadium at that monumental concert in 1971, a show that sold out in only 72 hours breaking The Beatles record.
Everyone at Ruth Eckerd Hall stood and mimicked Mark’s inspirational lyrics. As I gazed around the Hall I witnessed the faces and you just knew that during the span of the song everyone reflected on what their lives were like at the time when the song was first heard and what their lives were like today, and man, how life flies by.
After another short intermission Dave Mason walked on stage with his own band. Mason is a true legend in the music biz. He opened his set with “Let It Go, Let It Flow” from the Let It Flow album. Mason’s voice seemed a bit strained during the tune. After the song he made the announcement that he had begun to catch a cold from the air-conditioning. Because his voice was compromised he changed up his setlist for the evening. He immediately jumped into playing some great blues demonstrating why he’s considered among the elite guitar players of the world and the reason why all those legendary guitarist wanted to jam with Mason. Mason’s voice seemed to improve with his classic tune “Only You Know and I Know.” Nevertheless the band was tenacious and the crowd rocked.
Mason surprised the crowd with Bob Dylan cover “All Along The Watchtower.” Mason actually played his 12-string acoustic guitar on the classic Jimi Hendrix version and also sang on “Crosstown Traffic”- both from the Electric Ladyland album. Mason and Hendrix were great friends.
The monumental moment was when everyone joined Dave Mason on stage for the finale of his signature tune “Feelin Alright.” It was reminiscent to that great performance on stage at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame after being inducted with Traffic in 2004. Mason’s musical abilities overshadowed any problems he may have had with his voice. It was still a phenomenal performance.
Hippiefest was an exciting and fulfilling rock and roll and cultural experience. Let’s hope there are more Hippiefest-type shows in the future because it was A Real Gas Man!
Also special thanks to everyone at Ruth Eckerd Hall for their generous hospitality. Bobby Rossi you’re the man!
Order author Ray Shasho’s new book called Check the Gs –The True Story of an Eclectic American Family and Their Wacky Family Business at http://rayshasho.com/
“I found Check the Gs to be pure entertainment, fantastic fun and a catalyst to igniting so many memories of my own life, as I too am within a few years of Ray. So to all, I say if you have a bit of grey hair (or no hair), buy this book! It’s a great gift for your “over-the-hill” friends, or for their kids, if they are the history buffs of younger generations trying to figure out why we are the way we are.”
~~Pacific Book Review
Contact Ray Shasho at rockraymond.shasho@gmail.com
Hippiefest 2011 cruises into Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater on Saturday August 27th with a Groovy stage lineup of Legendary Classic Rock Musicians. Grand Funk Railroad’s Coolest singer/guitarist/songwriter Mark Farner will join Dave Mason(“We Just Disagree,” “Hole In My Shoe,” “Feelin' Alright,” “Only You Know and I Know”), Rick Derringer (“Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo,” “Hang On Sloopy”), Felix Cavaliere (“Good Lovin',” “Groovin'” and “People Got To Be Free”) and Gary Wright (“Dream Weaver,” “Love Is Alive” and “Really Wanna Know You”) for an outta sight night of kicking out the Jams.
So load up the van let the hot chick ride shotgun and get truckin’ over to Clearwater and “Let’s Party Man!”
Hippiefest 2011 launches August 3rd from San Diego.
Mark Farner was the inspirational leader for the hard rock band Grand Funk Railroad. The band along with Black Sabbath is considered to be the Grandfathers of Heavy Metal music. The string of hits that the band produced included “We’re An American Band,” “I’m Your Captain,” “Heartbreaker,” “Footstompin’ Music,” “Mean Mistreater,” “Walk Like A Man,” “Some Kind of Wonderful” and “The Loco-Motion” to name only a few.
The band has sold over 50-million records worldwide. Mark Farner accepted an invitation to play with Ringo Starr’s All Starr Band in 1995.
Here’s my recentinterview with Grand Funk Railroad legend Mark Farner.
Hi Mark, how are you doing?
“I’m doin’ but not mildewin’.” (Lot’s of laughter from both of us)
I’m calling from little Michigan. The Sarasota/Bradenton area here in Florida probably has more Michiganites than Florida natives living here. How’s everything?
“Good Brother got a sunny day here in Michigan and it’s almost 70.”
Mark, the first thing I’d like to talk about…I have a 23 year old son and when I first heard the news about Jesse I was heartbroken. How is Jesse’s progress? (Mark Farner’s world turned upside- down when his son Jesse (at 21) fell and sustained a near fatal- fracture to theC-5 vertebra in his neck. The last update before this interview was that he remained paralyzed but was starting to show improvement by lifting his head off of the pillow).
“Jesse is doing good. He’s got a little movement now in his shoulders. He can actually when he’s sitting in the chair, he can actually lift his shoulders up which is, he wasn’t able to move this when he came home from the hospital. He couldn’t even move his head so he’s gaining on it little by little, but the best gain is the fact that his night nurse and him have fallen in love.”
Wow Mark you’re kidding me that's awesome.
“No dude it is like unbelievable. But it’s happening and it’s real. She was engaged to be married when she first started working here and she is of course no longer engaged to be married and she’s just goo goo ga ga over Jesse and he’s the same way about her. I’m not kidding you, these two wow… and it’s just unbelievable.”
That’s a great love story. You know I’m an author, I just wrote a book maybe I can write the story. How old is she Mark?
“She’s 25 I believe and he just turned 22 so she’s got a few years on him but that’s all to his benefit.”
That’s great news Mark, I’m very happy because I was really worried and my heart and prayers go out to Jesse and your family. And I wasn’t aware that he could sit up in the chair at this point?
“Oh yea, he’s got the puff and sip, we use a sling to get him from the bed into the chair and during that time he has to be disconnected from his life support and so it’s a swift motion and we’ve got the Hoyer lift in the ceiling, we got one used, you know medical equipment is expensive, I don’t care if it’s used or not. We got this to make it as easy as we can on him, get him into the chair and once he’s in the chair he can drive it with his puff and sip that he put’s in his mouth with a straw and he can manipulate that thing and turn it around on a dime. It’s amazing to see what he can do with that chair.”
It sounds like to me that he’s going to come out of this, it may take a little time but the progress he’s made so far is extremely encouraging and again my prayers are with your whole family.
“I appreciate it Brother Ray.”
I think Hippiefest 2011 is one the best lineups ever.
“I appreciate that yea, I can’t wait to throw down with these Brothers. You know Rick Derringer and I are buddies from way back.”
Yea, Rick lives about 10 minutes from me here in Bradenton. You’ll have to come down after the tour and visit with him.
“If I ever get a chance I’ll be there because I am a fishing fool. I love Florida fishing.”
One guy I could see you hanging out with would be Ted Nugent.
“You know our schedules are such we’ve always wanted to be hanging out together, we do on the phone and we even collaborate a little bit but as far as doing the governor’s hunt, when I would do the hunt he would be on the road and when he would do the hunt I would be on the road. It’s just the way it worked out.”
You had a supportive family growing up because you quit school to go into music?
“Actually I was laid off. Yea, I was laid off from high school and this was Flint Michigan you know, the town that invented layoffs. But I was asked to leave; it was because of an altercation with one of the teachers who was the football coach. I use to play ball before I played music. When I was on the team that team was tight we were all buddies that hung together and we never lost a game. We were just undefeated because we were tight. We played together. Anyway we got into a confrontation and he threw me up against the wall and my head busted open on this brass picture frame and I reached back and felt the blood and when I pulled my hand around to in front of my face and I saw the blood on my hand it just immediately went into a fist and started traveling for the teachers eye. And you know I mean seriously that is what it was, it was reaction to aw man I’m hurt BAM -you know and that was it. Then I went to night school after I was asked to leave school because I went to the school board meeting after the algebra teacher who was the football coach said if they let me back in school (because I went with an attorney to this meeting to get back into school after I was thrown out) and he said if they let me back in he was going to quit his job. He didn’t want me back in that school dude.”
I really felt that the rock and roll hall of fame should have been in Michigan. Not only were there so many legendary rock artists that hailed from Michigan, there was also the genius of Motown.
“Yea, I hear ya. The music that came out of this state, it was like a music capital in America. And I think largely due to the fact that people from every state in the union moved into Michigan to get the jobs, auto factory jobs and higher paying jobs. My mother and her family moved from Leachville Arkansas where my granddad had a tailor shop down there he was a tailor, but moved to Michigan to get a job at Buick. And Turnsted was hiring, Fisher body was hiring, my mother was the first female welder to weld on Sherman tanks made by Fisher body in Flint Michigan. And my dad was a tank driver in the 7th Armored Division.”
It’s such a shame what has happened to cities like Flint and Detroit economically.
“It is coming back more like Ann Arbor or a college town and the University of Michigan, The Mott Foundation putting a lot of money into Flint, God Bless them. But we need more than anything is money that works for us, the money that we use works for the families that own the Federal Reserve, the European families that have no patriotic interest in this country what so ever. And you think about the Federal Reserve bank in New York is owned by five merchant banks in London that were chartered by the bank of England and the bank of England started in 1694 under the crown of those families surrounding the crown that were the descendants of those families that control this country by the issuance of our currency. And if you think about it, it’s the same powers that we declared ourselves independent from in 1776, but they’ve been whipping our butts ever since 1913 for telling the king to go shove it up his.
Our money doesn’t work for us it works for foreigners. And until our money works for us again we’re just going to watch this thing keep going down, down, down, down, down. When we finally wake up and say hey we got to have our money system back and work for this country and we got to patronize our factories and our products and we got to protect our workers and not allow all this crap that’s going on but that’s the reflection of those who are actually governing those families who owned the Federal Reserve that are actually governing this country and even using the war machine against their enemies.”
I watched an interview you did with Mike Huckabee on Fox news. As you know he’s decided not to run for president disappointing many of his followers, do you have anyone in mind that you may support for the next presidential election?
“If Ron Paul ran again at least he’s somebody that wants to audit the Fed which is pointing in the right general direction. Our money has to work for us and if it did we would be exporters of peace and goodwill because this is the collective heartbeat of the majority of us Americans. When we get the collective heartbeat of this country back, that’s what I petition for with my music, I want to provoke people to think about this.”
I should probably turn my Q&A from politics into the music. How did Grand Funk Railroad get their gig at the Atlanta Pop Festival that led to your first record contract in 1969? (An estimated 180,000 rock fans- jammed the Atlanta International Speedway to watch the two-day event).
“Attorney’s that we were using at the time which was the same attorney’s as our manager Terry Knight - there in was the big conflict but they had some legal work, it was there law firm in New York City that was doing the legal work for this concert. And they proposed to those who were putting this concert on that Grand Funk Railroad opened the event at noon and go on for free. They didn’t even have to pay us, just let us go on and open and so they agreed to it and the rest his history Brother. It worked!”
I heard on the way to the Festival your U-Haul carrying all the equipment flipped over?
“Yea, a friend of ours lent us the van and we rented where they use to chain that bumper hitch to your bumper and you would pull the U-Haul places, well that’s what we had. And I woke up, I was sleeping and riding shotgun and I’m up there at the front end of this van and the guy says I’m fine, I’m fine so I try to catch a little snooze and I look up and say “Dude that’s I-75 that way.” So he turns right at the same speed that we we’re going and tried to make the turn and that U-Haul didn’t fare so well. It came off the chains rolled down through the ditch…oh my God.”
You guys must have been panicky.
“Oh man because we knew that stuff was pretty fragile, you know tube amplifiers with big heavy transformers on the chassis. Well the transformers completely ripped right off the chassis of the amps. Our roadies had to solder those amps back together and the transformers were left outside sitting on top of the boxes. And they just made the wires work. So they soldered it all back together and when we went on stage it was amazing but that stuff was working, it was pumping.”
Grand Funk’s original manager-producer Terry Knight, was it a safe assumption to say that he was both good and bad for the band?
“Yea, he was an excellent promoter, his scruples were just bad. He could take advantage of someone without conscious. You know, I’m just not made that way, that ain’t the way I roll so it’s offensive to me to have encountered some people like that but it sure has been a lesson. And now I kind of know what I’m kind of looking for and I have spiritual discernment, thank God to head some of it off at the pass. But you can’t take away from the guy’s creativity; my God, you know the album covers and the presentation of Grand Funk Railroad to the people and his hype. But the idea of keeping us from the press to create a mystique that was really giving him the opportunity to tout himself as being the mentor and creator of Grand Funk Railroad. And it backfired in a lot of ways because critics just hated us. But for him it was successful in that it gave him that platform, he took out a Billboard/ Cashbox ad, a full page you know where you open up with the centerfold of him flipping the bird to everybody. That was his ego, the money that he made I don’t know what it cost him but that was a lot of scratch for that ad. It’s too bad about that but it kind of indicates a personality flaw there.
Did he mess you guys up at all with receiving royalties for your music?
“Well, yea, he published all my songs and told me that I needed to publish my songs through his company which he had affiliations throughout the world and what have you, I didn’t know I was twenty years old my mother had to sign the contract because I wasn’t legal. But if he would have just come right out and said, “Do you want all your money or half of it,” I think I could have made a pretty sane decision based on that. Outside of that and anything short of that I got snookered."
Mark, I need a good rock and roll story from back in the day?
“I’ll tell you one about Janis Joplin getting into the helicopter after we played West Palm Beach, The Stones were supposed to close out the show. So we went back in the helicopter with Janis because she’d stayed and watched the Grand Funk show. She played prior to us. We watched her and she stayed and Janis and I always hung together. So I’m down and I’m going up to the hotel and went where’s Janis? Where’s Janis? And nobody knew where she was, so I go back down to the chopper and it was darker than inside of a boot and I look up in there and she’s rubbing on the seat and I crawl up on the ladder and I said, “What the hell are you doing?” and I looked and she’s got Hershey bars and she’s smearing chocolate all over those seats and I said, “What the hell are you doing?” She said, "Well The Stones are on next and I want to mess up Mick’s britches," because they all used to wear those white satin pants.
And there was this brown spot on the back of his white pants, there was no way to avoid it.”
(Laughing hard) That was a great story.
I think Grand Funk Railroad’s appearance at Shea Stadium in 1971 was a monumental point in the band’s career. You sold-out the show in just 72 hours breaking The Beatles record. And your magnificent performance of I’m Your Captain/ Closer To Home ranks in my Top 10- defining moments in rock and roll history. Talk a little bit about the Shea Stadium experience.
“Well we were picked up on a heliport at east river, took off and flew directly over Shea stadium. Humble Pie was on stage which was set up at second base. And as we flew over you could see the bleachers were flexing with the rhythm of the music. I didn’t know what song it was but I could tell they were rockin’. Man I had goose bumps on my goose bumps upon goose bumps. And when we landed in the parking lot where the limousine was supposed to have met us it was empty. And I asked the guy. “Are you sure this is where we’re supposed to be?” So one of the guys that was with us ran down to the corner phone booth, this was long before cell phones, and he makes the call and within two or three minutes the parking lot was full of cops with lights and sirens going. We all jumped in cop cars and rode into Shea stadium with the lights and sirens going and when we got out the people went nuts. It was crazy.”
The performance by Grand Funk Railroad, especially by you Mark was so electrifying.
“I appreciate it. Yea they energized with that compassion, there’s something about when you have something that has brought people together a song like I’m Your Captain, when they started singing they were loader than the PA I guarantee you and this was the day before monitors.”
Could you hear yourselves playing, I know The Beatles use to have a hard time hearing themselves over the screaming crowds.
“It was a little difficult but with our West amplifiers we could hear. But when we started singing “I’m getting closer to my home,” the audience and sheer volume overcame the PA system. It was louder than we were.”
I’ve been to hundreds and hundreds of concerts Mark, and I’ve never seen a crowd so in sync to the show like that Shea stadium crowd was.
“Well it was a very fulfilling moment and the emotional continuity, the synergy, because there were a lot people thinking in the same direction right there in New York City that night. And that’s what makes this consciousness, the evolution in our consciousness and moments like that. We were all elevated to this place. To be there was like Woodstock II, another consciousness another moment that brought people a little closer to reality.”
Mark thank you very much for everything you do man. And again my thoughts and prayers go out to Jesse and your family. No doubt he’ll get stronger and stronger every day.
“Say a prayer for him. Thank you Brother Ray.”
Watch Mark Farner perform all of his Grand Funk Railroad classic hits at Hippiefest on Saturday August 27th at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater. Tickets for the show can be purchased right here. It’s Gonna be a Gas Man!
I want to thank Jeff Albright from The Albright Entertainment Group for arranging this interview and so much more.
It just keeps getting better at Tampa Bay’s hottest venue. Ruth Eckerd Hall has recently announced more great Rock favorites to arrive at the Hall this Fall Season.
First, it’s Rick Springfield with Mickey Thomas and Starship on Saturday September 3rd. Tickets go on sale this Friday July 15th at Noon. The Aussie-born Springfield is best known for Top10 classics “Jessie’s Girl” (Peaked at #1 on Billboard’s Top 100) and “I’ve Done Everything For You.” Rick Springfield followed with a string of hits that included “Don’t Talk To Strangers” and “Affair of the Heart.”
Mickey Thomas was the lead singer of the Jefferson Starship through the 80’s and 90’s. His distinct sound can be heard on classic rock hits like “Jane,” and Starship classics, “No Way Out,” “We Built This City,” “Sara.” and “Nothing Gonna Stop Us Now." Thomas was also lead vocalist on the mega-hit “Fooled Around And Fell In Love” with The Elvin Bishop Band.
Then Queensryche will be arriving in Clearwater on Sunday November 20th for their Thirtieth Anniversary tour. The band has sold more than 20 million albums worldwide. Queensryche’s Progressive /Heavy Metal influence began to astonish fans with their 1988 critically acclaimed concept album- Operation: Mindcrime.
Their following album Empire was the band’s most commercially successful release. The album sold over two million copies primarily due to the haunting ballad “Silent Lucidity” composed by guitarist Chris DeGarmo. The song is believed to be based upon the act of lucid dreaming. The tune became the band’s first top 10 single.
In 1994, Queensryche released Promise Land which eventually became certified platinum. A follow- up to Operation: Mindcrime was announced in July of 2004. The band then hit the road with “An Evening with Queensryche tour.” The band embarked on the second leg of the tour in 2005 and followed with the third leg of the tour supporting Judas Priest. Operation: Mindcrime II was released in March of 2006. Ronnie James Dio appeared on the album providing the vocals as Dr. X, the villain. The album was their first to be released on their new label Rhino Entertainment.
In 2007 Queensryche released Sign of the Times, a greatest hits album.
Also that year, the band released a cover album dedicated to Queen, U2, The Police, Black Sabbath and Pink Floyd.
The band’s 11th studio effort was another concept album called American Soldier in 2009. Ironically the band was present during an attack on a U.S. military position in Iraq in 2010. Initial reports said that members of the band were injured from the attack but the reports turned out to be false. Queensryche was in Iraq to entertain the troops.
Dedicated to Chaos is the band’s latest release. Queensryche is currently on tour with Judas Priest for their Epitaph Tour before beginning the Thirtieth Anniversary tour. George Thorogood And The Destroyers will take the stage at Ruth Eckerd Hall on Tuesday November 29th.
The Wilmington Delaware native Thorogood is a Blues- rock guitarist best known for his 1982 trademark song “Bad to the Bone.” The band’s self titled debut album was released in 1977. Their second album was called Move It On Over and was released in 1978. The album included the Hank Williams remake title track and Bo Diddley cover tune “Who Do You Love?”
George Thorogood And The Destroyers (Sometimes called the Delaware Destroyers) supported The Rolling Stones on their U.S. tour in 1981.
Thorogood’s version of “Bad to the Bone” and “Who Do You Love” (Appearing on Samuel Adams beer commercial) has enjoyed enormous financial success for use on advertisements, TV shows and movies. 2120 South Michigan Avenue is George Thorogood’s 15th studio album and set to be released on July 12th. The album includes cover songs from Blues legends Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, Howlin' Wolf, Buddy Guy, Sonny Boy Williamson, Little Walter and other Chess Records greats, as well as new original songs written by Thorogood.
George Thorogood And The Destroyers will also be one of the bands performing on the Rock Legends Cruise on December 1st-headlined by ZZ Top.
Tickets are currently not available online for both George Thorogood and Queensryche. Please call the ticket office to check on current availability – (727) 791-7400. Or check back for updates right here.
Elvis Costello and The Imposters "The Revolver Tour" -The Return of the Fabulous Spinning Songbook was just announced during the publication of this article. The concert is scheduled for Sunday September 17th at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater. Call the ticket office for availability or check back here for updates.
Order my new book called Check the Gs– The True Story of an Eclectic American Family and Their Wacky Family Business. Available NOW at http://rayshasho.com/
“I found Check the Gs to be pure entertainment, fantastic fun and a catalyst to igniting so many memories of my own life, as I too am within a few years of Ray. So to all, I say if you have a bit of grey hair (or no hair), buy this book! It’s a great gift for your “over-the-hill” friends, or for their kids, if they are the history buffs of younger generations trying to figure out why we are the way we are.”
Blondie featuring the enticing and voluptuous New Wave Songstress Deborah Harry will be performing for the first time at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater on Saturday September 24th.
Blondie’s 9th studio album called Panic of Girlsis set to be released on September 13th. Debbie Harry, Clem Burke and Chris Stein, along with newer band members Leigh Foxx, Tommy Kessler and Matt Katz-Bohen, will kick off the tour on September 4th.
Tickets went on sale Friday July 8th and are available for purchase right here.
Blondie was formed in 1974 by original guitarist Chris Stein and Miami- born Deborah Harry (now 66 years old). The band amassed huge Punk followings at New York’s famed CBGB’S, Max’s Kansas City (Debbie Harry was once a waitress there) and Mothers. Blondie’s overwhelming popularity led them to the studio where they recorded their first album called Blondie in 1976 - under the Private Stock label.
The band toured in 1977 with Iggy Pop and David Bowie in support of their first album.
In the summer of 1977 Blondie released their second album called Plastic Letters, followed by a tour of Europe and Asia.
They were considered to be a New Wave -underground band until the release of their third studio album called Parallel Lines. The album considered to be their best effort spawned huge hits like- “Hanging on the Telephone,” “Sunday Girl,” “One Way or Another,” and their Billboard Hot 100 number #1 mega hit “Heart of Glass.” The song was sneered at by Blondie faithful as a sellout to their rooted Punk and New Wave principals for entering the commercially successful world of Disco music. Nevertheless, the Harry/Stein penned chart topper went Gold and became Blondie’s trademark tune.
During my stint in radio as a deejay, “Heart of Glass” and Peaches and Herb’s “Reunited” became the most requested songs on the airwaves at that time.
Of course we were told to play the censored version of Heart of Glass... “Soon turned out I had a heart of glass”
And not the original album version of the song...“Soon turned out to be a pain in the ass.”
The uncensored version seemed minuscule compared to today’s FCC standards across the radio airwaves.
Over the next several years, Blondie became known for their eclectic music styles. While maintaining a New Wave base, the group ventured into Disco, Pop, Rap and Reggae.
In 1979, Blondie released their fourth studio album called Eat to the Beat. The album generated the hits “Dreaming” #2 in the U.K., Atomic #1 in the U.K. and “Call Me” (theme song from the movie American Gigolo) spent 6 weeks at #1 in the U.S. and became their biggest hit song.The album also went certified Platinum.
Blondie’s fifth album, Autoamerican spawned the Reggae-ish tune “The Tide is High,” another #1 hit in the U.S. and U.K. and “Rapture” another #1 hit. Released in 1981, Rapture was considered crucial in formulating Rap music. It was the first single with rap content to be a chart-topper in the U.S. The album went Platinum.
After the release of their sixth studio album called The Hunterin 1982, the band split-up and Deborah Harry pursued a solo career. The album produced their final U.S. hit called “Island of Lost Souls” before Chris Stein fell ill with a rare and often fatal genetic disease which led to the band’s breakup. Harry cared for Stein who eventually recovered.
Blondie reformed in 1997 and regained their popularity with the release of their seventh album called No Exit. The album produced the #1 hit single in the U.K. and 14 other countries called “Maria.” The album sold more than 2-million units worldwide.
Albums that followed were Live in New York, Livid, The Curse of Blondie, Live by Request, Live, Best Live and Live in Toronto.
Blondie celebrated their 30th anniversary in 2006 with their induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the release of Greatest Hits: Sound & Vision, a best-of collection that contained all their classic videos.
Blondie has sold more than 40 million records worldwide.
Their brand new album called Panic of Girls is set to be released on September 13th.
Blondie LIVE at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater is surely a rare and exciting event -and this show will definitely sell-out fast!
Buy my new book called Check the Gs –The True Story of an Eclectic American Family and their Wacky Family Business Order your copy NOW at http://rayshasho.com/ “Check the Gs is a delightful, heartwarming portrayal of an American family that lived the dream in their own animated, humorous and bazaar way.” … Melissa Brown Levine Independent Professional Book Reviewers
The Beach Boys brilliant Composer, Singer, Musician, Producer and Arranger Brian Wilson will be performing at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater on Saturday August 6th. Get ready for a night of Beach Boys classics and critically acclaimed solo accomplishments.
Wilson, besides being the catalyst for The Beach Boys foundation, was also the bands keyboardist, bass player, and provided lead and backing vocals (harmonizing in falsetto). Brian demonstrated a remarkable gift for harmonic invention and complex vocal and instrumental arrangements.
In 1961, the three brothers – The oldest Brian, Carl and Dennis Wilson - were joined by their cousin, Mike Love, and schoolmate, Alan Jardine (who was replaced by David Marks, before rejoining). The Pendletones changed their name to The Beach Boys and celebrated their first hit song called “Surfin’” on the local airwaves in their home state of California.
Surfin’ Safaritheir first album with Capitol Records reached #32 on the Billboard Album’s chart the following year. “Surfin’ Safari” became their first Top 20 hit.
In 1963, “Surfin’U.S.A.” became the Beach Boys’ first top 5 hit. The Surfin’ U.S.A. album became their first Gold-certified album hitting #2 on the Billboard charts. The Beach Boys released two more albums that same year (Surfer Girl,Little Deuce Coupe) again reaching Gold- certified status.
After President Kennedy was assassinated on November 22nd, Brian Wilson and Mike Love wrote “The Warmth of the Sun” as a musical reaction to the tragedy on the following day.
The Beach Boys began touring outside the United States in January of 1964. The Beatles first shows in America were on February 9th at The Ed Sullivan Theater and first live appearance at the Washington Coliseum in DC on February 11th of 1964.
In 1965, “Help Me Rhonda” became the group’s second #1 hit.
On May 16th of 1966, The Beach Boys masterpiece- Pet Sounds was released, spawning the Top 40 hits “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” and“God Only Knows.” The album is still considered one of the most influential records in popular music history.
Also in 1966,one of the most expensive productions for that era, “Good Vibrations” was completed. The single became their third #1 hit and first Platinum-certified million selling single.
After going to England, The Beach Boys were declared as the only true rivals to The Beatles.
Throughout the 70’s, The Beach Boys solidified themselves as America’s number one- fun and favorite band, giving us unprecedented releases like The Beach Boys In Concert and the double album compilationEndless Summer.
Throughout the 80’s and 90’s, The Beach Boys headlined (4) Independence Day shows on the Washington Monument grounds. On July 4, 1985, they played to an afternoon crowd of an estimated one million in Philadelphia and that evening they performed for over 750,000 people on the Mall in Washington DC. The Beach Boys also played at the Live Aid Concert, Farm Aid concerts, the Statue of Liberty’s 100th Anniversary Salute and the Super Bowl.
The Beach Boys were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988. Brian Wilson returned to the studio in 1988 to release his first solo album called Brian Wilson.
In 1997, Wilson collaborated with his two daughtersCarnie and Wendy and released the album The Wilsons.
Brian’s release of Smile was the return to an earlier state of brilliance. The critics hailed the project. And in 2005, the track “Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow (Fire)” won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental. Brian’s most recent endeavors are the release of That Lucky Old Sun in 2008 and most recently Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwinfeaturing the classic songs of George and Ira Gershwin – "reimagined" by Brian in his inimitable style.
Brian Wilson’s show at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater should not be missed. It’s a rare opportunity to catch a glimpse of a legendary songwriter and a genuine pioneer of popular music.
Tickets for the August 6th show can be purchased right here.
Please don’t forget to order my new book calledCheck the Gs –The True Story of an Eclectic American Family and Their Wacky Family Business. Order your copy NOW at http://rayshasho.com/
THE TURTLES featuring Flo (Short for “The Phlorescent Leech” and who is really Mark Volman) and Eddie (Who is really Turtles frontman Howard Kaylan) are headlining the Happy Together Tour 2011. Remarkably, the tour recently celebrated its 25th anniversary and still remains one of the highest grossing tours.
The Turtles were one of the most unprecedented bands of the swinging psychedelic sixties. Despite the accustomed music biz entanglements with management and record executives (White Whale records) the group’s aptitude for creating idealistic feel-good music pacified millions during turbulent times.
The Turtles have sold over 60-million records worldwide and remain a mainstay on classic hits radio. They generated countless Top 40 radio classics. “It Ain’t Me Babe” “Happy Together”“She’d Rather Be With Me” “You Baby” “Elenore” “She’s My Girl” and “You Showed Me” are just a few of their continual string of chart topping hits.
After The Turtles disbanded in 1970,Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan became members of Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention. The tenacious duo went on the road as Flo & Eddie, then became radio stars, and continued as session’s players for legendary performers like John Lennon, Marc Bolan and T. Rex, Stephen Stills, Keith Moon, Alice Cooper, Bruce Springsteen, Blondie, Duran Duran and The Ramones to name just a few.
At the age of 44, Mark Volman decided to go back to school. In 1997, he graduated Magna Cum Laude and Valedictorian at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. While touring and teaching at LMU, he finished his Masters in Fine Arts with an emphasis in Film Studies and Screenwriting. Mark is now Professor Volman and Coordinator of the Entertainment Industry Studies program at Belmont University in the Mike Curb School of Entertainment and Music Business.
The Happy Together Tour 2011 will be unpacking and setting up for a terrific show on July 19th at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater. Headlining this year’s tour is -The Turtles featuring Flo & Eddie. Other legendary performers on the tour are -The Association(“Windy” “Cherish” “Along Comes Mary”), The Grassroots, (“Let’s Live for Today” “Midnight Confessions”) The Buckinghams(“Kind of a Drag” “Don’t You Care” “Susan”) and Mark Lindsay former lead singer of Paul Revere & the Raiders (“Kicks” “Just Like Me” “Good Thing” “Indian Reservation” “Arizona”).
Tickets and further information aboutthe Happy Together Tour 2011 can be found here.
I was able to speak with Mark Volman and Mark Lindsay of Paul Revere & the Raiders courtesy of Jeff Albright from the Albright Entertainment Group. Here’s my interview with Professor Mark Volman of The Turtles/Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention.
Professor Volman, thank you for spending some time with me today. I think it was admirable that you went back to school after a brilliant career in show biz.
“I’d never imagine that it would end up the way it has. I didn’t have a plan to do it that way, I think once I got into school everybody sort of pointed me in that direction. The University pointed me in that direction in terms of realizing the possibilities of being able to do it because the school was open for it. That really kind of opened the door with that opportunity and at that point, I finished my Bachelor’s degree and was approached by the Dean at one of the LA Universities who said that they would really like me to teach there but I would need to have a Masters. I was really excited about teaching there so I made the commitment to continue with my Masters and with that commitment I was allowed to teach as long as I was going for my Masters.”
You went back to school when you were around 45 years old right Mark?
“I think so, because I graduated with my Bachelor’s degree in 1997 and I was 50. It took me about four and half years to finish my Bachelor’s degree. And then I did two years of Masters.”
You were also class Valedictorian correct?
“That was totally a shock. I was a Valedictorian in 1997; I graduated on the Dean’s list for four years and I was actually Magna Cum Laude, then I was Alpha Sigma Nu, which is the Jesuit equivalent of Phi Beta Kappa, there’s only 4% of a graduating class that makes that, so I think there was two of us in our graduating class. And all of that was quite a shock to me because I had done so poorly in high school.
Yea, my first few years of high school were no picnic for me either. I hung around the long haired guys, skipped school, and all I cared about was going to rock concerts.
“I was very much involved in the surfing part of it; the guys that were the surfers were the hip guys and they didn’t care about school. That’s where I got all my drive to be a failure.
It was a lot better going back to college because I think I reached a maturity in education and it really helped me accomplish a lot. And I had a reason, the end result in front of me was significant, and that was a big thing instead of saying that I was going to college to get a degree, I was getting a college degree so I could teach.
I really didn’t understand the politics of academia but once I got into it, it definitely was an eye opener and it helped me in the music business because it made me realize that the politics in the music business weren’t really that different then the politics that were going on at the university. And now that I’m at the university and the job I have now, I’m part of the problem. I’m an entire chair and I run a department instead of just being one of the professors who can kind of come in -which I really love doing which was coming to work, teaching and leaving. I have a lot more administrative responsibilities in terms of hiring professors and actually creating courses for the major that I have been given this responsibility for and so that has been an eye opener and has really made me long for the days when I can get back to just teaching.”
A lot of professors can teach the theory behind the topic or major that they are teaching, but you actually lived it.
“I’m the manager of The Turtles since the last three decade and the fact that we’re out on a 30-city tour with all of these artists, and the fact that we’re going out with Dweezil Zappa, the fact that we’re repackaging our music and on a year to year basis I’m living exactly what I’m teaching.”
Do most of the students know about your history with The Turtles and Frank Zappa?
“Well the university sort of plays that on when there promoting the university for the parents who are considering spending their money. I think that part of the foundation that they use is we are a university that prides ourselves for having people in place that actually are in the music business so I am one of the things that they use as part of the propaganda, there’s no doubt about that. I’m actually getting paid to go to other universities to teach because now people are realizing financially that there is a reason why Belmont had been so successful. We have 1500 students studying one part of the music industry. Weather its songwriting, entertainment industry or technical, the technical aspect with the engineering; I think a lot of universities are starting to realize that they can do that from where they are.”
Between all your duties as a College Professor and managing and touring with The Turtles, it doesn’t sound like you have much leisure time.
“I think my wife said the other night, it was the first time in our eleven years of being married that I had like one month off and it really bugged her. It’s much better when I’m either touring or at school because I can do the things she does. These months it’s sort of like I wake up and go okay what are we doing?”
What is your take on the music business today as compared with the 60’s?
“It’s moved on so much. I think you and I grew up in a time that is an antiquated system now. I don’t think the systems are worst, they are different. I think the phase that we are in is much faster, the entertainment system gets to the immediacy and that’s what they have today that we didn’t have. A movie being released now and within almost three weeks it’s available on DVD. Then a CD will be available from the movie and then a video game and everything else. I mean that is the fantastic part of what the music business is today. I think we have to stop referring to it as the music business and open up the scope to the concept of entertainment industry business. If we can just take the semantics of the language than the music business is doing well. It really is. The sales of music is up for the artists today, the live concert business is booming, I mean The Eagles, Lady Gaga…I mean the biggest tour in the world is still out there drawing people, I mean McCartney is packing houses, U2 is making over a half a billion dollars by the end of this year. So I think the music business has just changed.
All of the genre’s are now a very healthy part of television, commercials, motion pictures, and video games, I think today is probably bigger and more successful than it’s ever been. I think it’s an exciting time for a young entrepreneur as long as he doesn’t restrict himself to making a record and going out doing 14 concerts and seeing if the record starts to do good. I think it’s more of… I’m going to get into the entertainment industry as an entrepreneur; I have to think of myself now in that respect because I can’t count on the big companies to pick me up and make me big. I think that’s the one thing that we’re sort of seeing is that the demand now is for a young musician, singer or songwriter, performer, touring, show, all of those things have to have a lot more of a plan to it. And I think that’s what I’m sort of basing my classroom study on. I want my students to think way beyond the recording art form.
I think a music star is only successful because he lets the people around him become successful and he will become a byproduct of that.”
The Happy Together Tour celebrated 25 years recently.
“Song for song, entertainment dollar value, it’s probably one of the best tours to see. It’s close to three hours of recognizable hit songs performed by the voices that recorded them. And the key is that it’s by people who still enjoy doing it. And it’s a low priced ticket compared to everything else out there. And so if you’re a fan of music from that particular era this is where you get your money’s worth. And there are a lot of memories that are kind of unleashed.”
Ringo Starr and his All Starr band are only on their 11th year; do think Ringo got the idea for his tour from you guys?
“Of course he did. That was not his idea that was not even our idea. I mean that was Dick Clark’s idea. Those package tours, the reason they’re great is that you get a lot of bang for your buck. And even then you take the tour that we have and put it up against Ringo’s… I think our tour for the price is a better tour.
Howard and I when we put Happy Together we wanted to have a show that had artist who didn’t just show up, they came and they performed with an energy and vitality because they care about being there.”
The Turtles were one of my favorite bands ever, you guys were American and you dressed liked we did but were a lot cooler. And so many great Top 40 Hits on my favorite station- WPGC Good Guys radio. My favorite Turtles song was “She’s My Girl.”
“We were like every other high school band. We didn’t have like a superstar look; we didn’t have a 16 magazine cover, I think what we did have that played out in the background of everything was we were on such a small record label which had positive elements and negative elements. The negative elements were we didn’t have the promotions and financial fire power to compete against The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. The Buckinghams were on CBS, Mark Lindsay was on Columbia and CBS, The Grass Roots were on ABC Dunhill. The Turtles were on White Whale. I think the benefit of the small record was that our records were not made by studio musicians. So the positive was because we didn’t have any money the record company couldn’t afford to do anything but make our own record. So we played on every record that made it to the radio. There’s no Hal Blaine, there’s no Larry Knechtel, there’s none of that -Tommy Tedesco all those famous people who have books written about them because they played on every record. I mean The Grassroots are the same band that made The Byrds records and those records were made by the same guys who made The Beach Boys records. We didn’t have that luxury, I think that because of that there’s an endearing quality to The Turtles. Probably like The Beatles, that endearing quality is that we played the music that became our signature.
Entrepreneurship was not taught in universities when we came up. We had to understand Entrepreneurship with The Turtles break up and becoming singers with Frank(Frank Zappa) then coming out and becoming Flo & Eddie, and working with kid’s music like Strawberry Shortcake and writing commercials for record companies and becoming disc jockey’s. Howard and I became exactly what you and I were speaking about. We wrote comedy at NBC, we created music for Strawberry Shortcake, we worked for Miss Universe productions and we were writing for radio. It was a unique experience but without that experience in the recording business we might not have had the career that we had.”
Have you written your memoirs, plans for writing a book?
“Howard and I are doing exactly what you would imagine and that is we’re each writing a book. I think Howard’s book will be a little bit more traditional, as it will be kind of a tell-all on the Turtles history. I think my philosophy on the book that I’m working on is about a middle aged ex rock & roll star who decides to go to college at the age of 44 and why? And the fact that I went from a1.9 high school GPA to class valedictorian at the age of 50. I think that’s a very unique story that I want to tell.”
And your parents got to see you do that right?
“My folks watched me graduate in May of the year 1997 and then my mother died in July and my father died in November. So they did get see their dream to see at least a son in college.
I’m fascinated over the relationship that you and Howard have held all these years. It’s amazing that you’ve stayed together, you’ve worked as a business, as a team, and that’s really difficult to do.
“And I think the third part of that is I truly believe we’re still really good friends. But I think it has a lot to do with that we’ve put our lives in such a place where our touring, our ownership of our recordings, our reissuing of our songs, and the success that it has had on-line and the fact that we own our music has given us a prospective that a lot of artists don’t get. The fact that we can license a song and we actually benefit from the reissue and the fact that it’s on-line when somebody downloads our music we actually get it, we are the record company.”
You guys actually sued a few hip hop acts for playing your music right? (De La Soul)
“I think there’s a difference of opinion when it comes to ownership but I don’t think that’s limited to hip hop artists. I think there’s a lot of people who are uneducated about what illegal downloading and intellectual property is. My feeling on that is that we as an education system don’t teach that and because of that young people download and don’t understand who their undermining. I think it’s gotten better but I think the problems have gotten bigger. The problems are not just with music now; the problem is now in books, motion pictures, television, and the reproduction of a lot of things. I think the problem is that there are a lot of threats about illegal downloading but we don’t do anything really about it.”
What was the transformation like from the commercially successful top40 airplay Turtles to Frank Zappa’s experimental - progressive rock/Jazz fusion Mothers of Invention?
“I think there are kind of two answers there. All the success factors that we had with The Turtles, I think that made it not as big a change as you’d imagine. Frank was just so big; I mean he was such an enigmatic individual and he was such a bona fide genius. I think there probably in rock & roll maybe three really geniuses of our maybe lifetime and I would have to say Frank because of his unique genre, there’s never been anybody like him, before him, or after him.
For the creative part of it, I think that we probably grew more as singers and performers than we knew we were capable of. In The Turtles we were always good Pop band, sang great music on stage, had a great show, but I think when it went to the Frank Zappa era the show part of it -we learned more about theatrical parts of our abilities in terms of improvisation on stage, the elements that took place onstage tying together the visual and auditory parts of our show. We did some music that we sang in other languages, there was a tremendous testing in terms of integrity and how much we could bring to this. Frank really gave us so much room, it wasn’t just Frank Zappa, it was Frank kind of said join me in doing this thing and so we all really brought what we did to it and that was a really interesting band. I mean there was George Duke and Ian Underwood, Aynsley Dunbar; Donnie Preston I mean it was a very unique group of individuals brought together.”
Professor Volman, I could talk with you all day, you’re a fascinating man and I’m in awe of all of your incredible accomplishments in life thus far. Thank you so much for spending your afternoon with me today and I look forward to meeting with you in person on July 19th at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater for the Happy Together 2011 Tour.
“Ray, it’s been my pleasure, I’ll see you at the show.”
Don’t forget to order my new book called Check the G’s –The True Story of an Eclectic American Family and Their Wacky Family Business. Order your copy TODAY at http://rayshasho.com/
You'll LIVE it!
