Pittsburgh Pirates Quiz: 1) Most games, career? 2) Most hits,
career? 3) Most homers, righthanded, career? 4) Most
strikeouts, season? [Hint: Post-1950] Answers below.
First Top Twenty Tune Quiz
Name the first Billboard Top Twenty single for the following:
Prince, Gary Puckett / The Union Gap, Queen, Eddie Rabbitt,
Rare Earth, The Rascals, Helen Reddy, REO Speedwagon, Paul
Revere / The Raiders, The Righteous Brothers, Johnny Rivers.
Answers below.
The Allman Brothers Band, Part I
As was the case with so many of the great Southern Rock groups,
tragedy is intertwined throughout their stories, with the Allman
Brothers certainly having their own share. But with much to tell,
we”re going to break this up into the relatively happy start, and
then on Monday we”ll get into the bad stuff.
The Allmans were certainly the founders of classic Southern
Rock as we know it, setting the stage for Marshall Tucker,
Charlie Daniels, and Lynyrd Skynyrd, among others. And of
course the leaders were Gregg and Duane Allman.
Born in Nashville, Tennessee, Duane (b. 11/20/46) and Gregg (b.
12/8/47) saw their father die early when he was murdered (oops,
early tragedy) while on leave during the Korean War. Their
mother then packed up the family and moved to Daytona Beach.
Duane and Gregg didn”t reveal any great interest for music, early
on, though Gregg was the first to get a guitar. Duane was more
interested in motorcycles, until he crashed one, and eventually he
got a guitar of his own. He soon learned he had some real
ability, and thus began a musical odyssey that would see the
brothers together, then apart; together, then apart.
Having formed The Kings in Daytona Beach in 1960, they then
became The Allman Joys in 1965. Thereafter they moved to Los
Angeles where they tried to make it as Hourglass, recording two
nondescript albums, whereupon they moved to Muscle Shoals,
Alabama, and then back to Florida. [You need to get the map out
and use stick pins for these guys.]
In Florida, Duane and Gregg joined the 31st of February (but I
thought February.), whose drummer was Butch Trucks.
However, Gregg was called back to L.A. to honor a contract for
more material. Duane then stayed in Jacksonville. While in
L.A., Gregg played with The Second Coming, a group that
included guitarists Dickey Betts and Berry Oakley (no relation to
Charles).
But just as he was going to join his brother in L.A., Duane,
whose guitar ability was becoming well known, was called to
Nashville, where he helped out Wilson Pickett on that artist”s
1969 hit, “Hey Jude”. Duane thus became a leading session
guitarist in Nashville, recording for the likes of Aretha Franklin,
King Curtis, and Percy Sledge. He then signed a solo contract
for Atlantic and eventually recruited Trucks, Oakley, Betts, and
Gregg. Then they all moved to Macon, Georgia and formed The
Allman Brothers Band. [Against the wishes of the others, Duane
insisted on Gregg being the lead vocalist. Good move.]
And so it came to pass (whenever you are stuck with your next
thought, always use this phrase to jumpstart the old brain) that
the band worked on its own, unique style of blues, R&B,
country, and gospel. Gregg, the main songwriter, began penning
tunes like “Whipping Post.”
Phil Walden, who later formed the Capricorn label, became the
group”s manager. There would be many problems with him
down the road, and he always claimed he was responsible for the
band in the form it took shape, not Duane.whatever.
nonetheless, Walden got the boys booked up in Boston for their
first gig outside the South, opening for The Velvet Underground.
Some rock agents thought the band”s music was great, but that
they weren”t entertaining enough. The feeling was that Gregg,
with his good looks (chicks digged it back then, I guess) should
be up front instead of hiding behind his keyboard, but the other
members would have none of that.
The Allman Brothers would end up touring about 250 times
those first few years, playing mostly for free, just looking for
exposure and the first big contract. When they were off the road,
Macon remained their home. And they loved to party,
psychedelic mushrooms being their drug of choice. In fact they
loved ”shrooms so much they all had mushrooms tattooed on
their calves. They also loved to go down to the cemetery, where
they smoked joints and played music. Degenerates! Once,
Dickey Betts was looking for a title to a tune he was penning and
he glanced over at a tombstone, and so it was titled, “In Memory
of Elizabeth Reed.”
The group received a huge break when they met promoter Bill
Graham, proprietor of Fillmore East in New York. Graham
booked them to open for Blood, Sweat and Tears in November of
”69. While the audience didn”t particularly get into their act
(they were there to see the headliners, after all), Graham did.
And that”s all that really mattered.
People began to come around with the release of the first album,
“The Allman Brothers Band” (very original), and while it wasn”t
a huge seller nationwide, folks in the South lapped it up and
began to take note of Gregg”s “soulful” voice, as well as the
guitar work of Duane, Betts, and Oakley. Of course the band
also continued to party like there was no tomorrow, lots of drugs
and groupies.
Then one night in Buffalo, road manager Twiggs Lyndon got in a
fight with the owner of Aliotta”s Lounge. Twiggs was trying to
get more money for the band than the man was willing to cough
up, they got in a fight, and Twiggs stabbed the guy 3 times. In
an hour he was dead. Well, that”s not exactly a great way to
wrap up an evening, so the guys made sure Twiggs had legal
representation and proceeded to hop into the Winnebago for their
next gig. [Lyndon was put in a mental hospital for 6 months and
later emerged as the road manager for The Dixie Dregs,
whereupon he went skydiving one day in 1979 and the parachute
failed to open. Splat!]
The Allman Brothers then released their second album, “Idlewild
South” and this had far more nationwide success. On July 4,
1970, they took part in the 2nd Annual Atlanta Pop Festival,
performing with Jimi Hendrix, Bob Seger, Johnny Winter, Richie
Havens, and Jethro Tull.not a bad ticket, if you ask me, and
being the local boys, the crowd loved their act. Graham then had
them open that December for Canned Heat at Fillmore East and
they were so magical that the headliners didn”t hit the stage until
3:30 AM. I think it was a school night, too. What an
irresponsible generation. And this makes for a good place to
stop the story. More Monday.
Tales from the Deep
Continuing with little tidbits gleaned from “The Encyclopedia of
the Sea,” by Richard Ellis…with a focus on tales of disaster and
mayhem:
Broadbill Swordfish: This fish”s smooth, flattened sword is
much longer and wider than most other billfish. Mr. Broadbill
uses his mostly for defense, as he slashes and debilitates his prey.
But there are also many recorded instances of the broadbill
attacking boats, including a famous case in 1967 where the
submersible “Alvin” (which had set a world record for deep
dives) was attacked by a swordfish that impaled itself. The craft
was brought to the surface, with the fish still attached. Alas, it
was eaten by the crew and a good time was had by all.
**So I was thinking, I wonder what the beer of choice was for
washing down Mr. Broadbill? According to beer expert Michael
Jackson, some of the better picks would be Bitburger Premium
Pils (actually, this is brewed in Bitburg, Germany, and politics
junkies will recall how much trouble a visit to the Bitburg
cemetery caused Ronald Reagan). Next…Cristal Alken (a
Belgian Pilsner), or, closer to home, a Harry K. favorite,
Ontario”s Creemore Springs Premium Lager. “It has a
deliciously fresh malt aroma; a smooth, clean, textured, lightly
nutty body; and an elegant balance of hoppy dryness.” Mmmm,
Creemore..now where were we?
Chiloe: This isn”t a true sea story, but Ellis chose to write about
it, and it”s really quite terrifying. Chiloe is an island off the coast
of Chile (about two-thirds of the way down). On May 22, 1960,
the largest earthquake of the century (9.5 on the Richter scale)
struck near this island. The force was such that it generated
lethal tsunamis all the way to the shores of Hilo, Hawaii and
Hokkaido, Japan, some 10,000 miles from the epicenter. As
Ellis describes it, “The Chilean shoreline (sank) 6-12 feet,
leaving it open to the waves, 12-15 feet high, which flooded
towns, destroyed buildings, and ”hissed out” again, returning in a
26-foot-high wall of green water traveling at 125 mph.” Eegads!
Now just contemplate this scene. The town of Ancud on Chiloe
was completely destroyed. In all, 5,000 perished.
Chum salmon: Also known as the dog salmon because it is fed to
sled dogs.
Cigar Shark: The smallest of all sharks, the adult is just 8 inches.
I imagine the Tipparillo (sp?) girl didn”t like handling these.
Octopus: The common octopus is easily trainable and it has been
said that it has the intelligence of a house cat. I didn”t know that.
Guess that”s how they came up with the title for the Bond flick,
“Octopussy.” Or maybe not.
Eels: Never call an eel a snake, it”s a fish. Calling it a snake
makes them snap.
Other Stuff
–New Jersey has had a bat problem in Hunterdon County, with a
surge in attacks.at least 10 encounters with people in the past
few weeks, though no one has contracted rabies. But what I
didn”t know, boys and girls, is the fact that bats can live up to 30
years! Goodness gracious.
–And then there is the case of the 18-year-old girl who was
observing the hippo exhibit at the Kiev Zoo this week, when she
decided to join mother hippo and child for a swim. Ah, not
exactly a good idea. Somehow she survived (as of this writing)
when zoo workers noticed the mauling that was taking place and
managed to pull her out. As we always tell you here at Bar Chat,
never, ever, swim with a hippo.or as Johnny Mac told me,
“Never, ever..,” I better leave out the rest, seeing as I don”t
want to lose my International Web Site license.
Top 3 songs for the week of 8/3/68: #1 “Hello, I Love You”
(The Doors) #2 “Classical Gas” (Mason Williams) #3 “Stoned
Soul Picnic” (The 5th Dimension)
First Top Twenty Song Answers (with peak position)
Prince – I Wanna Be Your Lover 12/79 #1
Gary Puckett / The Union Gap – Woman, Woman 12/67 #4
Queen – Killer Queen 3/75 #12
Eddie Rabbitt – Suspicious 7/79 #13
Rare Earth – Get Ready 4/70 #4
The Rascals – Good Lovin” 3/66 #1
Helen Reddy – I Don”t Know How To Love Him 5/71 #13
REO Speedwagon – Keep On Loving You 12/80 #1
Paul Revere / The Raiders – Just Like Me 12/65 #11
The Righteous Brothers – You”ve Lost That Lovin” Feelin”
12/64 #1
Johnny Rivers – Memphis 6/64 #2
Pittsburgh Pirates Quiz Answers: 1) Games: Roberto Clemente,
2433 2) Hits: Clemente, 3000. 3) Homers, righthanded: Ralph
Kiner, 301. 4) Strikeouts, season: Bob Veale, 276 in 1965.
Next Bar Chat, Monday…conclusion of the Allman Brothers
story.
