New York Mets Quiz: 1) Who was the manager in 1976,
following Yogi Berra and Roy McMillan? 2) Who replaced Joe
Torre after the 1981 season? 3) Who has the most hits, career?
4) How many years have the Mets won 100 games? Answers
below.
Marshall Tucker
One of the cool things about going to school in the South during
the 70s was catching all the great Southern Rock of that era.
Yup, we”d sit on the wall overlooking the quad at Wake Forest,
watch the world go by (“Hey editor, aren”t you supposed to be in
class?” “Dohh!”), and listen to Marshall Tucker, Charlie
Daniels, the Allman Brothers, and all the rest. Actually, what
is Southern Rock? Charlie Daniels, himself, defines it thusly:
“It was The Allman Brothers Band, which is kind of a blues
band. Lynyrd Skynyrd, which is a pure rock band. Marshall
Tucker Band, which was kind of a country sort of a band. And
us, which were lost out in the ozone somewhere. I think
basically where the cohesiveness came was that most of the
people that were involved in it all came from the same type
background. About the same type financial background, the
same type of educational background and social background.
We had a close camaraderie with each other.”
For the next few chats around here, I”ll spend a little time on the
above four groups. Then maybe further down the road we”ll get
into Wet Willie, The Outlaws, Grinderswitch, and the Atlanta
Rhythm Section.
My personal favorite is Marshall Tucker. But in preparing for
this piece, I was shocked to learn that the group only has two
Billboard Top 40s, “Fire On The Mountain” (#38) and “Heard It
In A Love Song” (#14). And it”s not like they did any better on
the Country charts. But let”s face it, this was a FM-radio group if
ever there was one.
Of course there isn”t really a “Marshall Tucker.” Rather the
group was comprised of 6 boys from Spartanburg, SC, led by
Toy and Tommy Caldwell. The Caldwells and the other 4 who
would form the group (including main singer Doug Gray) were
just your basic good old boys. All 6 went into the army, with no
thought of avoiding Vietnam, and both Toy and Doug served in
Southeast Asia. By the time everyone”s service hitch was over it
was 1970 and they got down to the business of making music.
The band picked up the name Marshall Tucker from the piano
tuner at the rehearsal hall and by 1972 they were already making
a name for themselves as the opening act for the super-hot
Allman Brothers.
But it was hard to describe just what kind of music Marshall
Tucker was playing. While the Allman Brothers stressed a blues
element, each member of Marshall Tucker had a different way of
describing their own music. Toy Caldwell, the lead guitarist,
main songwriter, and guiding force, called it “progressive
country,” while Tommy and others called it “country-jazz,”
“bluesy rock ”n” roll,” or described themselves as “an American
rock ”n” roll band which plays traditional American music.”
While Marshall Tucker”s fan base was in the South, word of their
music spread nationwide and they had big followings in the
Northeast and West as well. During these early years the group
would play 250-300 concerts a year. It wasn”t the money that
drove them, they just wanted to please their fans, and the early
LPs sold well. Toy Caldwell also began to develop a reputation
as a terrific songwriter and Waylon Jennings had a top-5 hit with
Toy”s “Can”t You See.”
By 1977 the LP “Searchin” for a Rainbow” went platinum and
then they produced perhaps their most consistent work, “Carolina
Dreams,” which had “Heard It In A Love Song” as well as the
editor”s favorite, “Desert Skies.” [My overall fave is “This Ol”
Cowboy.”] But by 1978, success was beginning to wane and
after 7 hard years of touring, the group began to have its first
real personality conflicts. Nonetheless, they hung together.
Then tragedy struck.
Toy and Tommy”s brother, Tim (who wasn”t part of the group),
was killed in a car crash in 1980. Just one month later, Tommy”s
own car hit a stalled vehicle in downtown Spartanburg, Tommy”s
car flipped over the other, and he suffered severe head trauma,
dying 6 days later. Big brother Toy was crushed and he never
was the same after, though the group kept going, replacing
Tommy with an old friend of the group”s.
Toy eventually tried his hand at a solo career, but in February ”93
he became ill with a bronchial flu. The evening of February 24,
Toy woke up in the middle of the night with a bad cough. He
told his wife Abbie that he was going to sleep on the sofa so she
could get some rest, but Abbie let him stay in the bed while she
left to go into one of the girls” rooms. That morning, Abbie went
into the bedroom and called Toy”s name. No reply, he was dead.
[Viral myocarditis, a disease that attacks the heart muscle.] The
Southern Rock world was devastated. More Wednesday.
[Sources: “Southern Rockers,” Marley Brant; “Country Music:
The Encyclopedia,” Stambler & Landon]
Animals Rule
–Well, there I was, boring you with all the Guam snake stories
while I was there this past May and some of you probably
thought, “Yeah, right. There”s no way it”s that bad.” Ahem.
Try NBC Nightly News on Saturday, and the tale of the brown
tree snakes of Guam. The report said the island has killed 50,000
the past two decades, but has millions, yes, millions, left. There
are 20 of these 7-ft., mean SOBs per acre, a greater concentration
than you would find in the Amazon jungle.
–Thanks to Johnny Mac for passing along another Massachusetts
tale of terror, with this time the culprit being a raccoon. It would
seem that in Winthrop, a raccoon tore through a closed screen
door, went through the kitchen (ignoring the food), and made a
beeline upstairs for the bedroom, where a 10-year-old boy had
earlier climbed into bed with his parents.
Suddenly, at 2:30 AM the boy screamed in pain. The mother
tried to lift his leg and she couldn”t.because this raccoon had
bitten into two of the kid”s toes and was clinging to his foot.
Well, they eventually got the beast to release its death grip and
animal control experts were summoned to do their thing.
Luckily, the raccoon wasn”t rabid. But like all the other animal
stories these days, this was one bold attack, probably under the
direction of the black bears. [Source: Boston Globe]
–And then there is the case of the 85-year-old woman in Florida
who was out walking her dog in the backyard when she fell and
was unable to move due to some broken bones. Her 35-pound
dog dutifully lay on top of her for a spell.
But the problem with this whole situation was that 2 alligators
had been spotted earlier in a canal about 12-feet from where the
woman fell. As the lady was lying there, in her semi-conscious
state, the dog leaped off and went towards the water. A terrific
fight ensued. The woman could only imagine what was
happening. After an hour, her son arrived at the house and
eventually discovered his mother lying there, along with the dog.
“Ol” Blue” had multiple bite wounds but is going to survive, as is
the woman. I think we have our Dog of the Year winner.
Stuff
–Get ready, Bill Clinton”s back. Oh brother. If you don”t live in
the New York area, count yourself lucky for an additional
reason. On Monday Clinton takes up his new office space in
Harlem and the local television stations were doing reports all
weekend, let alone what we”ll have Monday evening.
I can hear him now. “This is where I belong!” “And to all you
bake shops and coffee shops in the neighborhood, get ready,
because I”ve got a big appetite! Yuck, yuck, yuck.”
–Tiger Woods has committed to participate in 4 of the next 5
Skins Games, an excellent career move as it should give him a
chance to show off a different side of his personality, and the
once moribund ratings for this event will skyrocket.
–Not for nothing, but the Arizona Diamondbacks” Luis Gonzalez
could easily win the Triple Crown.
–Arnold Palmer shot 84 in the first round of the British Senior
Open and once again said he was about to permanently pack it in
(except for the Masters). Don”t do it Arnie! I carded a 114 on
the same course 8 years ago!
–The official Bar Chat golfer, Joe Ogilvie, didn”t fare too well
this weekend, but at least he made the cut in the John Deere
tournament. Remember, Joe, you need a top ten before we can
officially place you in the Bar Chat Hall of Fame. [Joe is
featured in the current issue of Sports Illustrated, thereby proving
that we know how to pick ”em here.] Also, congrats to David
Gossett. Between Gossett and Charles Howell, we have some
new blood that could make the tour pretty exciting.competition
for Woods, Duval, Sergio and Mickelson.
–I saw where 10 million pints of Guinness are quaffed each day
around the world, which means that when I”m in Ireland, I make
up .000001% of the total market, quite an achievement, if I may
say so myself.
Baseball and Payrolls
I was just curious how the teams with the highest and lowest
payrolls are faring. [As of Saturday]
Top 5 Payrolls (at the start of the year)
1. New York Yankees: $109.7 million 63-41.1st
2. Boston: $109.5 mm 59-44.wildcard contender
3. L.A. Dodgers: $108.8 mm 61-44.WC contender
4. New York Mets: $93.1 mm 48-57.suck
5. Cleveland: $91.9 mm 60-43.1st
Bottom 5 Payrolls
1. Minnesota Twins: $24.3 mm 60-44.WC contender
2. Oakland A”s: $33.8 mm 55-49.WC contender
3. Montreal Expos: $34.7 mm 45-60
4. Florida Marlins: $35.5 mm 52-51.WC contender
5. Kansas City Royals: #35.6 mm 41-63
Conclusion: It is still possible to compete with a low payroll.
Top 3 songs for the week of 7/29/72: #1 “Alone Again
(Naturally)” (Gilbert O”Sullivan.perhaps the most depressing
song of the 70s.geezuz, get me a beer) #2 “Brandy (You”re A
Fine Girl)” (Looking Glass) #3 “Too Late To Turn Back Now”
(Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose).
BRIAN WILSON”S COMEBACK CONTINUES!!!!
I forgot to mention on Friday that there was a pretty
extraordinary moment in New York radio Thursday afternoon
when Brian Wilson popped into the WCBS-FM studios with DJ
Bob Shannon. I was shocked.as was Shannon. As you
hopefully are aware, the Beach Boys” Wilson is in the midst of a
spectacular comeback and he was blabbing away about the
past.all in great form.
God does work in strange ways. Who would have thought Brian
would be the surviving Wilson brother, let alone the fact that he
is back touring? And folks, seriously, he sounds terrific. If any
of you saw the TNT Fourth of July show honoring Brian, you
know what I mean. That same band, by the way, is his touring
group and, as my friend Wayne at Record Town said the other
day, “Man, do they kick ass or what?”
I mention all this because you Beach Boys fans out there have an
assignment. Go out and get “Brian Wilson: Live at the Roxy
Theatre,” a double-CD of past hits that he recorded in L.A. last
fall. I”ve been listening to it all weekend and it”s great.
And if you”re like me, you”re praying that he has just one more
album in him of original, “Pet Sounds”-type material. Get those
good vibrations going. Maybe he can pull it off.
New York Mets Quiz Answers: 1) Joe Frazier became manager in
1976. 2) George Bamberger replaced Joe Torre after 1981.
3) Ed Kranepool still has the most hits as a Met, 1418. For
his career, the Krane hit .261 with 118 HR and 614 RBI. #7 on
the field, #1 in your hearts. 4) The Mets have won 100 games 3
times. 1969 (100-62), 1986 (108-54), 1988 (100-60).
Mets tidbits:
–Nolan Ryan still holds the club record for most walks in a
season (1971), when he walked 116 in 152 innings. He also hit
15 that year. [Actually, he “only” struck out 137, while going
10-14.]
–Felix Millan whiffed just 14 times in 518 ABs in 1974.
Next Bar Chat, Wednesday…Johnny Mac baseball and Charlie
Daniels.
