Speaker 1: Wow, this is incredible. This is the Taking a Walk podcast.
Speaker 1: We're actually in person to Harry Jacobs, the King of
Speaker 1: the Music History Desk, playing us on. We're in the
Speaker 1: hills of Connecticut in person, which is even more special.
Speaker 1: And my god, I feel like I'm in a coffee house.
Speaker 2: This is this song that I wrote. I don't write
Speaker 2: any music at all, but I wrote a song twenty
Speaker 2: five years ago and was noodling around with it and
Speaker 2: never knew what to do with it.
Speaker 3: Is that right?
Speaker 2: Because I don't sing. And when you were looking to
Speaker 2: put some music at the beginning of Taking a Walk,
Speaker 2: I said, I got something.
Speaker 3: I think I got something.
Speaker 2: I got something for you.
Speaker 3: I think you got something. What was it?
Speaker 2: Inspired by it? It was supposed to have some it
Speaker 2: was supposed to promote some emotion.
Speaker 3: It's got that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So that's that's what it was. And I couldn't
Speaker 2: really ever do anything with it.
Speaker 1: So and I picture as we're looking at Taking a Walk,
Speaker 1: music History on foot photo logo and the birds flying
Speaker 1: sign and the birds are flying. One day we'll ask
Speaker 1: everybody do you know where that is? But I'm not
Speaker 1: going to tell anybody right now. I'm gonna just have
Speaker 1: you ask me, ask me what that taking a walk
Speaker 1: picture is from that day? You were to be happy
Speaker 1: to tell you privately if you reach out to me,
Speaker 1: so I can't.
Speaker 2: Ask you here who were you taking a walk with?
Speaker 2: I'm how to have you guests, but not right now.
Speaker 2: But take one guess. I think that's our friend Willy B.
Speaker 2: I think that's somewhere in parts unknown in Connecticut, n
Speaker 2: That's a good guess.
Speaker 1: That's incorrect, incorrect, but anyway, thank you for this opportunity
Speaker 1: to be with you in person, and thanks our friends
Speaker 1: Willie and Lynn Hoffmann as well for allowing us to
Speaker 1: be in the wonderful hills of Connecticut. A beautiful day.
Speaker 1: And it's a version of this Week in Music History
Speaker 1: for the week of July the seventh. So what do
Speaker 1: he have got Harry over at the music history desks.
Speaker 2: It's not the typical week that with a lot of
Speaker 2: content that we normally have, you know, with led Zeppelin
Speaker 2: and a lot of classic rock. It's an interesting week,
Speaker 2: almost leaning pop Elvis in nineteen fifty four, on July seventh,
Speaker 2: they released Teddy Bear, one of my favorites, hoky kind
Speaker 2: of the hokey.
Speaker 1: Elvis not my favorite, but not as hokey as Elvis
Speaker 1: would become later on in the bloated years.
Speaker 2: Pork Chops. What is now the Western Hotel, the Las
Speaker 2: Vegas Hilton, the Westgate Yeah, now the Westgate, Yeah, but
Speaker 2: which I love staying at the Westgate.
Speaker 1: A cool place, nice people there, very close to the
Speaker 1: Convention Center, which is why I really like it. But
Speaker 1: Elvis in the Teddy Bear era, Okay, Elvis in terms
Speaker 1: of the meaning of music history and all of that,
Speaker 1: Oh my god, are you kidding?
Speaker 2: The sixty eight comeback was so amazing. I just watched
Speaker 2: the documentary on that.
Speaker 1: Mister Spencer Prawford behind that absolutely incredible.
Speaker 2: Teddy Bear was played for the first time on July seventh,
Speaker 2: nineteen fifty four, on a radio station called w HBQ
Speaker 2: ware for all the cash and prizes on today's episode Buzz.
Speaker 3: Memphis, Tennessee.
Speaker 2: Get that man his doctor, shoul shoes and suave the
Speaker 2: ourn Thank you nineteen sixty five Sonny and Share It
Speaker 2: performed I Got You Babe on Shindig and this was
Speaker 2: the beginning of that chart topper. That's a song that's
Speaker 2: one of those that stands. It's like these boots by
Speaker 2: Nancy Sinatra older song, but it stands the test.
Speaker 3: Of time, stands the test of time.
Speaker 1: Yes, for me, A great thrill going to the Rock
Speaker 1: and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Cleveburg, Ohio,
Speaker 1: and I had never done that before. I was in
Speaker 1: the press room watching as you would have inductees or
Speaker 1: people who were presenters walked in there, and I remember
Speaker 1: the first one publicist comes out, or the Rock and
Speaker 1: Roll Hall of Fame person comes out.
Speaker 3: And they went in a moment, Share is coming in
Speaker 3: and I was like, what so Share comes in?
Speaker 1: I remember thinking does she really want to be in
Speaker 1: this room? And she comes to the mic and balls to.
Speaker 3: The wall, Share let it all go. She looked beautiful.
Speaker 1: Oh she you know who came out there with her
Speaker 1: look pretty beautiful as well.
Speaker 2: Do a loope? Who's doing? I don't, I don't know,
Speaker 2: do a loope? My god?
Speaker 1: But but Share unapologetic about anything.
Speaker 2: You gotta you gotta think she's out of her element
Speaker 2: in that room. This is a room with Peter Frampton,
Speaker 2: with Roger Daltrey, with Rock Royalty. You know, it's a
Speaker 2: it's a you know, it's it's one thing to to
Speaker 2: really think about including other genres. Share is a whole
Speaker 2: other world. It's apples and cinder blocks in a way.
Speaker 1: Look, that's a whole criticism people make of the Rock
Speaker 1: and Roll Hall of Fame. Still they always will. But
Speaker 1: I thought when Cher kind of said you have had
Speaker 1: number one songs for I think she said for six decades.
Speaker 1: That's a pretty remarkable thing to be able to say,
Speaker 1: even if you kind of go, all right, do.
Speaker 2: You believe that song?
Speaker 1: That's not really like what you think of for the
Speaker 1: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Speaker 2: But she revealed she said they were for so long.
Speaker 1: I was like, I don't give a blaye about this
Speaker 1: at all, and I guess her dear friend David Geffen
Speaker 1: said you need to do this, and I pulled the
Speaker 1: strings because Scher's whole point was you should have done
Speaker 1: this years ago, and Geffen said, just do this and
Speaker 1: there you go.
Speaker 3: So that's our share.
Speaker 2: This program has a connection to the Rock and Roll
Speaker 2: Hall of Fame taking a Walk. Certain episodes are curated,
Speaker 2: Yes huge, Yes. July seventh, nineteen sixty seven. The anthemic
Speaker 2: all you Need Is Love was recorded by the Beatles.
Speaker 2: That's a song I would defy you to walk into
Speaker 2: a room and hit play on your phone and see
Speaker 2: if there's anyone that doesn't tap their toes or nod
Speaker 2: their head a little bit.
Speaker 3: Or make you smile.
Speaker 2: Sure, exactly, Sure, just one of those feel good songs. Yeah.
Speaker 2: In sixty eight, the Yardbirds played their final gig and
Speaker 2: then everything would change. Jeff Beck splits, Eric Clapton splits
Speaker 2: everyone else. Who's what's the other name, what's the guy's name,
Speaker 2: Keith Relph, Keith Ralph, and they I don't know, and
Speaker 2: I'm a music nut splits out of that band. The
Speaker 2: band lays, you know, basically is dormant, and Jimmy Page says,
Speaker 2: I'm gonna hang on to the I'm going to hang
Speaker 2: on to the storefront, so to speak. It's like a
Speaker 2: restaurant closing and the dishwasher or a cook saying, you
Speaker 2: know what, don't take anything out of here. I'm gonna
Speaker 2: keep it. And that's what Jimmy Page did with the Yardbirds.
Speaker 2: And then he called his friend John Paul Jones. Those
Speaker 2: two guys had been working in music and they were
Speaker 2: session players. They were the wrecking crew of Great Britain,
Speaker 2: right and and John Bonham comes into play and they
Speaker 2: get Robert Plant. For a minute they were the new
Speaker 2: Yardbirds and then they became led Zeppelin.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the documentary Becoming led Zeppelin is sensational and it
Speaker 1: tells the you know, the beginnings and certainly traces the
Speaker 1: Yardbirds story.
Speaker 3: So brilliantly.
Speaker 1: Got this episode with the Professor of Rock where we
Speaker 1: talk about the becoming led Zeppelin. That is a nice
Speaker 1: discussion and with him. Loved talking to him about it.
Speaker 1: What impressed me so much about the documentary was the
Speaker 1: aging graceful nature of all the members of led Zeppelin.
Speaker 3: Of course that are still alive.
Speaker 2: Jimmy Page agent gracefully. He's got a real look about him.
Speaker 2: He listened, he went through a tough time. There was
Speaker 2: a time it was anything but regal.
Speaker 1: That's right, right, looks great smile on his face, dignified,
Speaker 1: agent gracefully.
Speaker 2: Same with Robert Plant, same with John Paul Jones. They've
Speaker 2: aged gracefully. You made an observation when we talked about
Speaker 2: it after you saw the movie, you said, would have
Speaker 2: been great if they were all in the same room
Speaker 2: at the same time.
Speaker 1: Yeah, even in some reveal that could have happened. Maybe,
Speaker 1: I don't know. It sounds kitchy, but maybe at the
Speaker 1: end or something. But I'm sure the artists themselves or
Speaker 1: current managers.
Speaker 3: Went, we're going to do this, but this is how
Speaker 3: we're going to do it.
Speaker 1: And I respect that because they yielded a great product
Speaker 1: in the documentary, and if that's the way it's going
Speaker 1: to come out, then make it happen that way.
Speaker 2: But excuse me, you guys spent nineteen sixty eight to
Speaker 2: nineteen eighty together making some of the most legendary music
Speaker 2: of all time, with all due respect getting them together.
Speaker 2: You know the story of the two right. Our friend
Speaker 2: Rich Kreswick, who ran arenas all over the world, was
Speaker 2: with a handful of people around that two show in
Speaker 2: twenty twelve. I believe led Zeppelin was offered essentially everything
Speaker 2: that they wanted, anything they could possibly want monetarily to
Speaker 2: do a handful of shows around the world. Can you
Speaker 2: imagine what that would have been like? Think about how
Speaker 2: great that two show was with Jason Bonham, incredible ten shows,
Speaker 2: twelve shows around the world. They would have paid him
Speaker 2: a half a billion dollars. They would have paid him
Speaker 2: whatever they wanted. They weren't feeling the magic, which is
Speaker 2: listen the thought of Jimmy Page grabbing his guitar. Legal alert,
Speaker 2: you know, legal alert.
Speaker 1: This is the equivalent of a watermak mark that I'm
Speaker 1: putting over this episode for you playing that. Okay, See
Speaker 1: one thing to close on about the documentary that I
Speaker 1: loved in particular about it. You know what they did
Speaker 1: that is the key to everything, including this podcast. The
Speaker 1: documentary left us wanting more.
Speaker 2: It sure did. And speaking of more, let's go to
Speaker 2: nineteen seventy six for the Jefferson Starship. They played in
Speaker 2: Central Park, fifty thousand people. You spent a lot of time.
Speaker 2: Your brother would take you from Stanford, Connecticut. We're not
Speaker 2: far from there. We're in parts unknown Connecticut right now,
Speaker 2: but from Stanford to the city, and you saw some
Speaker 2: concerts in Central Park.
Speaker 1: One of particular was Jefferson Airplane Free Show Mini Woodstock
Speaker 1: one hundred thousand people.
Speaker 2: That would have been around sixty seven sixty eight before
Speaker 2: we'd leave.
Speaker 1: It was sixty seven and so big airplane fan had
Speaker 1: seen the airplane at the Fillmore East and disappointed when
Speaker 1: the airplane ceased at that point. But when the Starship,
Speaker 1: early on for me, came on, it was still viable
Speaker 1: and really liked it because it had Grace Paul Cantner,
Speaker 1: it had the backbone.
Speaker 2: At that point, I'm pretty sure our dear friend you
Speaker 2: are mcalcin and.
Speaker 1: Had he had gone on all the other stuff hot Tuna.
Speaker 1: But that version of the Starship I liked that, you know,
Speaker 1: first version Papa John Creech, and I didn't like as
Speaker 1: much the pop that was.
Speaker 2: Miracles and Ride the Tiger. How about Rye the Tiger? Right,
Speaker 2: we played that on rock radio. Oh yeah, and then
Speaker 2: the Starship. You know, this is a band, you know,
Speaker 2: like Aerosmith and like a handful of others that have
Speaker 2: had multiple lives right over their period of time. But
Speaker 2: they went from that to we Built this City, right,
Speaker 2: think about that in nineteen eighty six ish, not their
Speaker 2: great pop song, but not their finest moment as a band.
Speaker 2: And Mickey Thomas I believe may have been around there
Speaker 2: Jane nineteen eighty eighty one. That's when Mickey steps in.
Speaker 2: But it really becomes very poppy at that time. Yeah,
Speaker 2: even though in that early period they still rocked. Yeah
Speaker 2: it was it was pop.
Speaker 1: But if you think about that and you go, okay,
Speaker 1: what does a band do to find new audiences? They
Speaker 1: have to find greater audiences via becoming pop slash popular.
Speaker 1: So I kind of get that. I don't take that
Speaker 1: completely away. It just wasn't my favorite period of that
Speaker 1: music because I was based on the more psychedelic side
Speaker 1: with the Jefferson.
Speaker 2: Airplane White Rabbit. You know, think about how powerful that
Speaker 2: opening lick is a lease in that song. I mean,
Speaker 2: it's just great. Another hallucinating as we speak. There you go.
Speaker 2: One quick note history note, Joan of Arc on this
Speaker 2: day in fourteen fifty six burned at the stake. How'd
Speaker 2: you know? I was going to even ask I was
Speaker 2: going to say this anyone in the room, and I
Speaker 2: was going to include Willy Beat. Does anyone in the room,
Speaker 2: including Willy b know how Joan of Arc was put
Speaker 2: to death?
Speaker 1: You would think by me saying that so quickly that
Speaker 1: we actually recorded this episode twice. We're three or four
Speaker 1: episodes versions of it two or three times before.
Speaker 2: Anyway, Joan of Arc was given a retrial on this date,
Speaker 2: twenty five years after her execution. This is forward thinking
Speaker 2: that in those days to give someone a retril. This
Speaker 2: is not Karen Reid, this is you know, and my
Speaker 2: understanding is Johnny Cochran represented her anyway, they burn her
Speaker 2: at the stake, and then like three hundred years and
Speaker 2: some change later, a whole bunch of us were in
Speaker 2: England and we decided to split. We'd come over to Boston.
Speaker 2: We got a tea party and the shit hits the fan.
Speaker 2: The next thing you know, here we.
Speaker 3: Are and the rest is history.
Speaker 2: Thank you very much. This is I'm embarrassed about this,
Speaker 2: but on this date in nineteen ninety six, the Spice
Speaker 2: Girls released want to Be. That was that whole if
Speaker 2: you want to Be? I love her song. I loved
Speaker 2: that song. I don't know what it was.
Speaker 1: Well, and I'm gonna tell a little inside story. The
Speaker 1: reason Harry has that deep, husky voice just like the
Speaker 1: late Brenda v Carro is because last night, well we
Speaker 1: were all together in the hills of Connecticut. Unfortunately, that
Speaker 1: Spice Girls song got blasted here on the speakers, and
Speaker 1: I think Harry was swaying along to it, so that's
Speaker 1: why he sounds like Brenda Vicarrol.
Speaker 2: It was an experience that those around me will not
Speaker 2: soon forget. A fat mob scarred, a fat, middle age,
Speaker 2: squishy in the middle, balding guy singing wanna be By
Speaker 2: the Spice Girls Offbeat. July ninth, nineteen sixty two, Dylan
Speaker 2: recorded Blown in the Wind at what was Columbia Studios
Speaker 2: in New York. You're a New York guy, where's Columbia Studios? Look,
Speaker 2: I'm gonna have to look at that seriously.
Speaker 1: And one time when I'm in New York in the future,
Speaker 1: when i have an idol walk somewhere, which I love
Speaker 1: doing in New York, I'm going to find where it is.
Speaker 1: It's going to be probably, you know, a Cumby's or
Speaker 1: something Comby. When you say combies, you're saying Cumberland Farm,
Speaker 1: Cumberland Farms. It'll be a Comby's and that'll be like,
Speaker 1: that's where Dylan recorded that. So I'm gonna report back
Speaker 1: on this. I let you know what's on that land
Speaker 1: right now. I know me too, be nice to know.
Speaker 1: And this was a great period for Dylan. This was
Speaker 1: at his height of the being a folk master.
Speaker 2: He's still my man. Nineteen seventy seven, Donna Summer released
Speaker 2: I Feel Love, lots of synthesizer, lots of cool like
Speaker 2: cool rhythm. That's one of those songs. If you and
Speaker 2: you know me, I'm a I'm a little soft spot
Speaker 2: in my heart for pop and for Donna Summer. That's
Speaker 2: a very rhythmic, very cool song.
Speaker 3: Are You Okay?
Speaker 2: Which I can't? Sorry, which I can't. It may be
Speaker 2: a bacid reflux, but that may that. That's an incredibly
Speaker 2: rhythmic kind of song.
Speaker 1: I believe we've discussed this previously, a great respect for
Speaker 1: the Donna Summer legacy. I believe, if I'm not mistaken,
Speaker 1: Giorgio Murraudo was involved with that production somehow.
Speaker 3: That name.
Speaker 1: We could look that up at a later date. And
Speaker 1: you had her daughter on taking a Walk Brooklyn Sedano. Yeah,
Speaker 1: interesting because she was talking about her mom and the
Speaker 1: documentary Delightful, the Delightful Young Lady.
Speaker 2: So many songs, so many songs from Donna Sumer on
Speaker 2: Cassiblanca Records. Yeah, on July eleventh. This is an interesting one.
Speaker 2: Nineteen fourteen, Babe Ruth becomes a Boston Red Sox pitcher,
Speaker 2: and six years later the Red Sox for a thousand
Speaker 2: dollars sold them to the Yankees thousand dollars and a
Speaker 2: three hundred thousand dollars loan that was connected to real estate,
Speaker 2: some hidden weird deal, but for four hundred Grand the
Speaker 2: Red Sox trade away maybe the greatest pitcher and a hitter.
Speaker 1: Of all time, and fast forward to now, Yeah, they're
Speaker 1: still doing dopey shit. This Rafael Devers thing has people
Speaker 1: upside down. They moved them to San Francisco and basically
Speaker 1: they didn't get enough in return.
Speaker 3: So I think it's kind of ironic.
Speaker 2: He was their best player.
Speaker 1: I think Rafael, if I'm not mistaken, started with the
Speaker 1: Red Sox at like seventeen years old or something like that,
Speaker 1: So I think it's kind of ironic to this day.
Speaker 1: They're still flubbing it when you say they're doing goofy
Speaker 1: shit or they're flubbing it as.
Speaker 2: You just did. Is this because you're a Cardinals fan?
Speaker 2: Because you're not a Red.
Speaker 3: Sox fan of.
Speaker 1: Fairly interested resident of the Boston area who is a
Speaker 1: Cardinal fan but kind of has no vested interest.
Speaker 2: Right, How did you feel after the Red Sox handed
Speaker 2: the Yankees the largest defeat and playoff baseball history and
Speaker 2: then they went on to play the Cardinals and humiliate
Speaker 2: the Cardinals?
Speaker 1: Kind of depressed at that moment? Yeah, I would imagine
Speaker 1: it wouldn't matter now to me.
Speaker 2: So anyway, the Red Sox sell Babe for what amounts
Speaker 2: to four hundred grand four boxes a ZD, as Tony
Speaker 2: Soprano would say. And then it took us eighty six years.
Speaker 2: People not far from where we're sitting right now. When
Speaker 2: the Red Sox were in the World Series, especially that
Speaker 2: last game, when they wrapped it up, grown men were
Speaker 2: bringing portable televisions to grave sites.
Speaker 3: It's nice. Actually it was living. It's nice.
Speaker 2: I shed a tear when the Red Sox won. I
Speaker 2: thought I was living my entire life without ever seeing it.
Speaker 3: No, it was nice. It's a nice time to be around.
Speaker 2: I want to wrap it up with something that happened
Speaker 2: on July thirteenth in nineteen seventy seven in New York City.
Speaker 2: This is a big deal. The city essentially collapsed that
Speaker 2: night because all the power in the city went out.
Speaker 2: Imagine being in that city at that time. We have
Speaker 2: no technology. It's not like you can put a cell
Speaker 2: phone on and watching that flicks. This is nineteen seventy seven,
Speaker 2: No remotes for TV, no technology, there's nothing. It was freaky.
Speaker 2: I wasn't there, but it was a freaky occurrence. I
Speaker 2: followed it.
Speaker 1: I think I was in Ohio then and then coinciding
Speaker 1: with that was the Son of Sam situation, which everybody
Speaker 1: was following. They were mesmerized by Son of Sam. I
Speaker 1: remember always being able to look at the Daily News
Speaker 1: or the New York Post, and in fact, I remember
Speaker 1: one time the dude.
Speaker 2: Who was the Daily News reporter, Jimmy Breslin, Jimmy.
Speaker 1: Breslin, I ran into what I ran into book by
Speaker 1: a phone booth and I look in there, I'm like,
Speaker 1: there's the legendary Jimmy Breslin, the guy who was like
Speaker 1: following the Son of Sam thing. And I'm sure by
Speaker 1: the way too, knowing the way Jimmy Breslin wrote, he wrote,
Speaker 1: I'm sure something we could look it up. That was
Speaker 1: a parallel piece to the blackout occurred at a time,
Speaker 1: so you know, I'm sure he put this all the
Speaker 1: dis things together.
Speaker 2: This was pre chat GPT. This is a guy who's
Speaker 2: you know, a cigarette smoking old white things are I.
Speaker 3: Don't mean to talk, yeah, people who smoke cigars.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Brenda Vacaro. The tampax tampon ladies. So I
Speaker 2: sound like, but this was a huge deal with Breslin,
Speaker 2: and then we can wrap this up. David Brooker which
Speaker 2: the serial killer is terrorizing the city, taking brunette women
Speaker 2: out along with whoever they're with on the streets in
Speaker 2: New York. And and at that time he's being talked
Speaker 2: to by in his opinion, the black lab who is Sam,
Speaker 2: in his own backyard. And this is happening at the
Speaker 2: same time that the lights go out in the city.
Speaker 2: City's being terrorized. My parents sent me the same thing.
Speaker 2: I think that's what began my true crime addiction. Every
Speaker 2: day there was someone else being attacked or every couple
Speaker 2: weeks with Son of Sam.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it was.
Speaker 1: It was quite a moment, and it was It's interesting
Speaker 1: thinking about how it would have been reported in today's world.
Speaker 1: I think if it was reported in today's world, and
Speaker 1: I don't want to really go down this hole, I
Speaker 1: think the blackout, specifically, not the Sam part, would be
Speaker 1: reported in conspiracy theory.
Speaker 2: Right, Yeah, you know it would. Yeah, absolutely, it did happen.
Speaker 2: By the way, you remember how Burkowitz was caught, right,
Speaker 2: What caught him, What nailed him? He was getting people
Speaker 2: in parked cars on the street.
Speaker 1: You got a parking ticket, got a parking ticket, That's
Speaker 1: exactly right, got a parking ticket.
Speaker 2: That's how they tracked them down again pre technology. But
Speaker 2: there's the week, there's the week in music and pop,
Speaker 2: and just a couple of history stories.
Speaker 1: I am exhausted from it, possibly exhausted from last night
Speaker 1: as well, but really exhausted from this episode. I'm kidding.
Speaker 1: I loved every second of it. Harry, would you play
Speaker 1: us out please?
Speaker 2: I am absolutely good.
Speaker 1: Have you ever been played on and played off for
Speaker 1: a first time? It is always a first time. So
Speaker 1: thanks for listening to the Taking a Walk podcast. Thank
Speaker 1: you Harry Jacobs for this episode of This Week in
Speaker 1: Music History.
Speaker 2: Goodbye Bus,