[From Cleveland, OH]
Golf Quiz: Tiger Woods has ten majors but just two second-
place finishes in a major. Name the nine who have at least six
second-place finishes in golf’s big four events. [I really feel
obligated to give you one…Harry Vardon with six.]
Rock On!!!!
So I just spent three hours in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame here
in Cleveland and I’ve got to tell you, it’s as good a museum as
you’ll find anywhere in the world.
It opened in Sept. 1995 and, being the good boss that I was, back
then I met one of our wholesalers (this was when I was at
PIMCO) in Cleveland for a meeting with a broker/dealer and
afterwards, of course, I dragged the guy to the Hall of Fame.
[I also did that years earlier when I was in Memphis. “Hey,
John, let’s knock off early. We’re goin’ to Graceland!” And did
I ever tell you how I knew I was going to quit for quite a while
but set up a wholesaler meeting at Pinehurst, complete with a
round on #2, as my parting gift to the gang? But enough about
me and how I took advantage of my position from time to time.]
Anyway, the point was that back in 1995 I wasn’t that impressed
with the Hall, but I guess they were ironing out a few kinks then.
What I do remember from that first visit was I asked a
salesperson in the gift shop why they were playing a lot of Todd
Rundgren music and he said “Because Todd Rundgren is in the
building!”
Well, 11 years later and you could easily spend four hours here.
For starters you have three different theatres playing clips.
Currently, one of them is showing “Concert for Bangladesh” and
I watched Leon Russell do a great number, as well as George
Harrison and Dylan.
One of the things I’m most into, though, is reading the concert
bills. Boy, if you have any posters from old events, whatever
you do save them and at least pass them down to someone who
might appreciate the history. [Like moi.]
For those of you who grew up in the New York area, for
example, I got a kick out of a concert bill from Laurels Hotel and
Country Club in Monticello, NY…the Catskills…with this one
featuring Sam Cooke and Dick Shawn. Now that would have
been a fun couple of hours.
You had a concert at Cleveland Stadium featuring the Beatles,
the Ronnettes, the Cyrkle, and the Remains. How awesome
would that have been?
And even though the Dave Clark Five isn’t in the Hall of Fame
as inductees, there are a few bills for their first trip to America,
including a concert at the Westchester County Center with
Cousin Brucie and Scott Muni emceeing. Cost? Try $4.00 for
orchestra seats.
In fact did you know the DC Five were on Ed Sullivan 18 times?
Yet it’s practically impossible to find them on anyone’s video,
the prime reason being that Dave Clark has kept such a tight hold
on the rights.
Clark was also such an innovator the Hall of Fame has a side
exhibit with his custom console and they play non-stop Dave
Clark Five music. So admit the group, for crying out loud!
Ooh baby…Michelle Phillips’ little dresses and blouses. [I’d
venture to say half my male audience over the age of 40 is
drooling right now.]
Oh, how’s this for a 1963 Motown concert at the Fox Theatre in
Detroit….Little Stevie Wonder, the Miracles, Marvin Gaye,
Martha and the Vandellas, and Mary Wells….$3.00.
I’ll have a little more next chat, but in preparation for this trip I
wrote up a few things earlier.
Rick Nelson
So I was searching my archives, over and over, knowing I had
done a piece a while back on Rick Nelson. But just where was
it? It turns out I posted it in Oct. 1999, before I started archiving
all my columns. [The first Bar Chat was actually Feb. ‘99.]
Thankfully, I have a hard copy of everything I’ve ever done.
This was important for me because I had heard there was a Rick
Nelson exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and I figured
the following would make for a good complementary piece.
[Great little display, it turns out…and as I was looking at it I
overheard a couple say, “I didn’t know that.” Well, your editor
jumped all over this. “Excuse me, here’s my card. Check out
the ‘Bar Chat’ link on Thursday. You’ll get a kick out of it.”]
I always felt Ricky Nelson was one of the more underrated
musicians of the last 45-50 years. Born in Teaneck, NJ in 1940,
Nelson was the second son of showbiz couple Ozzie and Harriett.
Ricky appeared as himself in 1952 when the “Ozzie and Harriett
Show” started airing on television and he immediately became a
teen heartthrob.
Nelson had no musical ambitions until a girlfriend said she was
in love with Elvis. ‘Oh yeah? Well, I’m going to cut a record
too,’ Nelson replied (or something like that). Actually, at the
time he really had no plans but shortly he did do a recording. In
1957, he sang Fat’s Domino’s “I’m Walking” and teenagers went
crazy. So in May of that same year he released “A Teenager’s
Romance” and with the exposure of television the record sold
60,000 copies in just three days (“I’m Walking” was on the B-
side). Both songs climbed into the Top Twenty and sales
eventually hit one million. But the Verve label that Ricky was
recording on was withholding royalties and Ozzie initiated a
lawsuit.
[The perception always existed that Nelson wasn’t a great
musician and he admitted he faked it on guitar in his early years
because he was too scared to play. Mostly he was able to get
away with this because the teenyboppers were screaming so
loudly they couldn’t hear him anyway. But later he did become
an accomplished guitarist.]
In 1958, Nelson’s debut album “Ricky” topped the U.S. charts
for two weeks. He formed a band and by August, “Poor Little
Fool” hit #1. [His only other #1 was “Travelin’ Man,” May
1961.] In 1959, Ricky branched out into movies and starred in
the John Wayne / Dean Martin hit, “Rio Bravo.”
Nelson would go on to accumulate 26 Top Twenty singles, with
some of the others being “Be-Bop Baby,” “It’s Late” and “Hello
Mary Lou.” But by 1966, Nelson was itching to do some
country; being a huge fan of Johnny Cash and Jim Reeves. It’s a
little-known fact that Rick (he was now too old for “Ricky”) was
one of the first country-rock artists. He won critical acclaim,
particularly for his first album “Bright Lights & Country Music,”
but unfortunately he garnered few sales. Some of his peers,
however, like John Fogerty, did appreciate his music. Nelson
formed the Stone Canyon Band, which had one Randy Meisner
(Eagles) as a founding member.
By 1971, Rick Nelson was a touring fool but meeting little
commercial success after those super early days. He agreed to
do a “Rock ‘n’ Roll Revival” concert in Madison Square Garden
on Oct. 15, 1971, that included oldies favorites like the Shirelles,
Bo Didley, and Chuck Berry.
But Nelson had changed his look from his TV days. He had long
hair and he also decided that this was a chance to play some of
his new material (as well as a few standards).
Unfortunately, when he played the Stones’ “Honky Tonk
Women” he was booed unmercifully. No one in the audience
wanted to hear the “New Rick Nelson.” In an interview
afterwards, Nelson said “I really didn’t want to do the show. I’m
not into that whole rock ‘n’ roll revival concept, but I had never
played Madison Square Garden and the idea of playing there
before 20,000 people sounded interesting.”
At least Rick sat down to write of this debacle and the result was
the 1972 hit “Garden Party.”
“When I got to the Garden Party
They all knew my name
But no one recognized me
I didn’t look the same.”
Through the ‘70s and early ‘80s, Nelson was on the road some
250 nights a year. He toured England for the first time and fans,
including Elton John and Cliff Richard, turned out in droves and
accepted his new direction.
Then on Dec. 31, 1985, it all came to an end. Rick Nelson was
killed, along with his fiancé, engineer and four band members
when a chartered DC-3 carrying them between concert dates in
Guntersville, AL and Dallas, TX caught fire in mid-air and
crashed. The pilot and co-pilot survived.
Immediately, the story spread that the fire onboard was caused
by occupants freebasing cocaine. One of his former band
members, John Beland, told a reporter, “There were drugs. It’s a
national problem and it touched Rick. But he would never
freebase.” Nice going, John. Why didn’t you just keep your
mouth shut?!
But after a long investigation, the National Transportation Safety
Board cleared Nelson of the drug accusation. It was just a shame
it ever came up.
In January 1987, Rick Nelson was posthumously elected to the
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. His twin sons, Matthew and Gunnar,
found commercial success as “Nelson.”
In preparing for my trip to Cleveland, I was just thumbing
through Timothy White’s “The Nearest Faraway Place” on the
Beach Boys and found this. It’s a good little anecdote.
“Murry (sic…Wilson, the father) was the first to exhibit the
rounded bearing of the Korthof diet. Brian required
conscientious stuffing, due to his height and fast metabolism,
while Carl was, well, a piece of cake. Dennis declined to bulge.
On select Saturdays, Audree would whip up a huge batch of
Aunt Jemima pancakes as a main supper course, heaping each
helping with piles of butter and double drafts of maple syrup.
The sweet tooth that all her Wilson men had was transported by
this ‘treat’ – except Dennis’s. Surrounded at the kitchen’s
Formica dinette table by the frenetic forks of his kin, Dennis
would squirm and slip away.
“A more unifying factor on Wednesday evenings was CBS-TV’s
popular half-hour sitcom, ‘The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.’
On April 10, 1957, the series featured an unprecedented episode
in which seventeen-year-old Ricky Nelson sang Fats Domino’s
‘I’m Walkin’.’ If Elvis Presley was the king of white rock and
roll, Ricky instantly became the student prince, and the youth of
America looked up from its D.C. Comics to egg him on. Brian
was no different. He began stomping around the room in time to
Ricky’s courteous R&B, thrilled that TV’s quintessential
American family gave their son free rein to rock. And because
the Nelsons’ middle-class credentials were impeccable, even
Murry Wilson could admire this upstart. At the very least, Brian
Wilson understood the primary impulse behind Ricky Nelson’s
TV performance. Shy Ricky had let father Ozzie Nelson (who
created, wrote, and directed the series) talk him into doing the
song on the air since Ricky longed to impress a girlfriend. Ozzie
himself had no love for rock and roll, but since he had met his
wife, Harriet Hilliard, when she was a singer in his 1930s dance
band, his son’s hopes made sense for him.
“That Ricky would become one of rock and roll’s biggest stars
because of his television exposure could not have been more
incidental to his initial, almost guileless gesture. Since both rock
and roll and television were in their innocence, it was the
awkward ordinariness of his adolescent desires that electrified
the moment and gripped the imaginations of viewers like Brian.
Brian, too, had known stardom in his own living room, exciting
family and friends as he sketched the faint outline of his future in
their admiring faces. Maybe, with the consent of his parents,
Brian could turn his bungalow realities into a rock-and-roll
dream.”
Murry Wilson turned the garage into a music studio of sorts and
Brian began playing records by the Four Freshmen, the Everly
Brothers, Ricky Nelson, the Four Preps, and the Hi-Lo’s. Well,
you know the rest.
But technically, and in light of the recent Lucent – Alcatel
merger announcement, Timothy White noted the following:
“Coincident with Ricky Nelson’s maturation as rock minstrel
was mass acceptance of stereophonic sound. Two-channel stereo
sound experiments had been under way at Bell Laboratories [ed.
three blocks from my home in Murray Hill, NJ…and a division
of Lucent] since the 1930s, the two simultaneous channels
perfected in 1948 – just in time for implanting in Dr. Peter
Goldmark’s microgroove long-playing records for CBS.
Boasting 224 to 300 grooves per inch on a vinylite ten-inch or
twelve-inch disc, they delivered twenty-three minutes of
prerecorded music per side, bursting from a stereo turntable at
33 1/3 revolutions per minute.
“RCA Records introduced the 45, which it claimed was ideal for
sound reproduction of both popular hits and symphonic works,
though the company later conceded that CBS’s LP was best
suited to classical music, allowing listeners to enjoy a Bach
concerto without record-changer interruptions in the middle of a
phrase. But the 45 bore up masterfully under the two-minute
demands of Gene Vincent’s ‘Be-Bop-A-Lula’ or Ricky Nelson’s
million seller of 1957, ‘Be-Bop Baby.’”
[Additional sources: “Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock &
Roll,” “Encyclopedia of Pop, Rock & Soul” by Irwin Stambler.]
The Masters
All weekend you’re going to hear stories about 1986 and 1996;
the thrill of victory…and the agony of defeat. First 46-year-old
Jack Nicklaus and the ’86 Masters.
Golf Digest’s Guy Yocum:
“Nicklaus arrived at Augusta that week in a deep slump, having
missed the cut in three of seven tournaments that year. He had
withdrawn from a fourth. He stood 160th on the PGA Tour
money list. He hadn’t won a tournament in two years, and his
last major was six years distant. At age 46 and with 19 major
championships (including his two U.S. Amateurs), he seemed
just another long-shot contender.”
Nicklaus opened with a 74, then followed with a 71, and after 36
holes he was six strokes behind the leader, Seve Ballesteros.
To Nicklaus, though, they were his two best rounds of the year.
“On Thursday I had 11 putts inside 15 feet and made one. On
Friday I had it inside 15 feet 12 times and made four. I knew
that if I could make a putt, I could scare somebody – probably
me.”
Nicklaus shot 69 on Saturday to climb into a tie for ninth, four
strokes behind Greg Norman.
Greg Norman -6
Seve Ballesteros -5
Bernhard Langer -5
Donnie Hammond -5
Nick Price -5 [after a course record 63]
Tommy Nakajima -4
Tom Kite -4
Tom Watson -4
On Sunday, Nicklaus was in the fifth-to-last group. Nicklaus
told his boys he thought 66 would tie, 65 would win. Jack had
65 in mind.
But after going even par through the first 8 holes, Nicklaus was
six shots back before making his first birdie of the day. Well,
you know the rest.
9th…birdie (11 feet)
10th…birdie (25 feet)
11th…birdie (20 feet)
12th…bogey (miss from six feet)
13th…birdie (two-putt from 30 feet)
14th…par (chip to tap-in)
15th…eagle (12 feet)
16th…birdie (3 ½ feet)
17th…birdie (12 feet)
18th…par (two-putt from 40 feet)……65….
As Nicklaus was making par on 14, though, Seve was making an
8-foot eagle on 13 to move nine under and four ahead of Jack.
But as Nicklaus approached the 16th tee, the leader board read:
Seve Ballesteros -9 thru 14
Tom Kite -7 thru 14
Jack Nicklaus -7 thru 15
Tom Watson -6 thru 15
Greg Norman -5 thru 13
Nicklaus struck a beauty on the par-3. Jim Nantz was doing the
commentary at the hole, his first Masters’ telecast.
“The ball in flight looked so clear it was like a baseball. It was
flying right at my tower, which is perfectly in line with the slope.
It was clear when the ball was halfway there it was going to be a
good shot. And when it landed and took the slope toward the
hole, I felt certain it was going to be a hole-in-one.”
It came within a few inches of going in and slid by. They say the
roar when Jack made the 3 ½-footer is still the loudest cheer ever
at Augusta. Back in the 15th fairway, Tom Kite smiled at the
noise. Playing with him was Seve, who after waiting for the roar
to die down, promptly put his 4-iron approach in the water.
There was a little cheering when Seve’s ball went ker-plop, and
Seve was unnerved.
Seve went on to bogey the hole and Kite birdied. Coupled with a
Norman birdie at 14, there was a three-way tie for the lead, with
Nicklaus, Ballesteros and Kite all at 8-under.
Nicklaus hit a masterful approach at 17 after a poor drive and
Jack drained a 12-footer for the bird. CBS’ Verne Lundquist
exclaimed “Yes, sir!” He had never used that expression before.
Nicklaus had the lead.
Ballesteros lost a stroke to fall two back and Kite came to 18 one
behind after Nicklaus’s par on 18. Kite missed his 10-footer for
birdie to force a playoff and then Norman bogeyed 18 to finish
one back.
Jack Nicklaus…74-71-69-65…279
Tom Kite………70-74-68-68…280
Greg Norman….70-72-68-70…280
Seve……………71-68-72-70…281
Nick Price……..79-69-63-71…282
1996
Once again, Greg Norman was a central figure in this drama,
only this time he would blow a six-shot final round lead over
Nick Faldo. After Saturday’s round, Faldo’s attitude was
“There’s nothing to lose tomorrow. Just go out and play, and if it
comes off well it will put a lot of pressure on him.” [Sports
Illustrated] It would be known in the golf world as “Black
Sunday.”
After the first six holes of the final round, with the two paired
together, Norman had dropped a stroke to par, Faldo had picked
up one…Norman up by four. Six holes later, through 12,
Norman trailed by one, hitting some absolutely hideous shots.
On the par-3 16th, his tee-shot landed in the water, 20 yards from
the green.
Faldo went on to shoot 67 to Norman’s 78. When it was over,
Faldo, known to be a cold person, hugged Norman warmly.
“I don’t know what to say,” Faldo whispered to Norman. “I just
want to give you a hug. I feel horrible about what happened.
I’m so sorry.” Then with a nod to the press, he added, “Don’t let
the bastards get you down over this.”
After winning twice on the PGA Tour in 1997, Greg Norman
never won again. For his part, Faldo won only one other
tournament, the 1997 Nissan Open. As Sports Illustrated’s Alan
Shipnuck noted, “The swift demise of the two dominant players
of their generation coincided almost exactly with the emergence
of Tiger Woods.”
Stuff
–I have to admit…I couldn’t have cared less about the NCAA
title game, just not excited by that match-up. But congratulations
to Florida. Now, I’m going to give you my pick for next year,
today; it’s North Carolina.
–And congrats to the girls from Maryland for taking the
women’s championship.
–Gene Pitney, RIP: I don’t have all my books to do the story
justice, but Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Pitney died Tuesday
night after doing a show in England. He was just 65.
Pitney sang the great tunes “Town Without Pity,” “(The Man
Who Shot) Liberty Valance,” “Only Love Can Break A Heart”
and, my personal favorite, “It Hurts To Be In Love.” And
speaking of Rick Nelson, Gene Pitney wrote “Hello Mary Lou.”
I knew this news before I went to the Hall of Fame and I was a
little disappointed no one there seemed to know. I mean they
should have been playing a funeral dirge or something, know
what I’m sayin’?
–Here at Bar Chat, we are happy to see that Anna Benson has
decided to give Kris another chance. [Actually, I couldn’t care
less…but it’s always good to see her picture.]
–Well, I watched Barry Bonds on Opening Day…and I’ll
probably catch him as often as I can these first few weeks. I’m
as curious as the next guy, though I can do without Bonds butt-
boy Joe Morgan.
The New York Times’ Selena Roberts had her own thoughts.
“Bonds’s interests are always first. He could easily call his
amazing career a day before making a mockery of baseball’s
hallowed home run record, before replacing the dignified Hank
Aaron with his tainted presence.
“Bonds could make like Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa:
shrink and vanish. But Bonds is bigger than ever. He walked to
the plate on opening day with his outsized body and 10-gallon
hat size and the swing of a helicopter blade.
“ ‘You get big because of two kinds of drugs, anabolic steroids
and human growth hormone,’ said Dr. Gary Wadler, a member
of the World Anti-Doping Agency.
“Baseball does not test for HGH because players will not give
blood, the only valid testing method available. Players may
allow needles during physicals, but they will give up only a
Dixie Cup for the doping police.”
–Stay tuned next time for our exclusive early-season baseball
hitting predictions. You’ll recall we have a proprietary system
here at Bar Chat for extrapolating full year statistics out of just a
small sampling.
–Wake Forest is ranked #19 in the latest AP college baseball
poll! [South Carolina is #1]
–With the added length at Augusta, it’s going to be halfway
interesting to see how old-timers Charles Coody, Tommy Aaron,
Raymond Floyd and Gary Player do. I’d love to see Player hang
in there….though I realize this is wishing for too much.
–Charles Barkley, Dominique Wilkins, and Joe Dumars were
among those getting selected for the Basketball Hall of Fame.
But also getting in was Connecticut women’s coach Geno
Auriemma. Nothing wrong with this, except as the New York
Post’s Peter Vecsey notes, what about Phil Jackson and Pat
Riley? I’ll explore this in full in an upcoming chat….whether
you want me to or not.
[Dick Vitale also didn’t get the nod. Oh, let him in. You don’t
have to like the man to at least recognize his contribution to
college basketball.]
Top 3 songs for the week of 4/3/76: #1 “Disco Lady” (Johnnie
Taylor) #2 “Dream Weaver” (Gary Wright) #3 “Lonely Night
(Angel Face)” (Captain & Tennille)…and…#5 “Sweet Thing”
(Rufus, featuring Chaka Khan…great tune…) #7 “Dream On”
(Aerosmith…basically it all started with this one) #8
“December, 1963 (Oh, What A Night)” (The Four Seasons) #10
“Golden Years” (David Bowie)
Golf Quiz Answer: Second-place finishes in the four majors –
Jack Nicklaus, 19 seconds….18 major victories
Arnold Palmer, 10 seconds…7
Sam Snead, Greg Norman, 8 seconds…Snead 7, Norman 2
Tom Watson, 7 seconds…8
Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, Gary Player, Harry Vardon, 6
seconds….Hogan (9 wins), Nelson (5), Player (9), Vardon (7)
Next Bar Chat, Tuesday.
Shout out to LT!
*Off to get some good Polish food.
