Simon & Garfunkel: Bridge Over Troubled Water (1970)

In the history of rock and pop, there are watershed moments that one can look back on and say, "this was important". That also happened in year long blocks as well...stretches of time that a series of events occurred that shaped history. 1970 was one of those years, where between break-ups and death, the face of music changed forever. It was not a surprise that Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel were having problems and were going in totally different directions artistically. They had split once already when the song "Sounds of Silence" had been remastered...

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A note to fans of the blog....

First of all, to those who frequent the blog from all over the world,  thank you! After almost two months it has grown in a way that was hard to imagine at the first of the year, and all of you has made this possible. I do have a favor to ask, if you are a regular reader to the blog, could you either follow us with google connect or friend us on our facebook page. It would certainly be a pleasure to know who you are, and we would like to grow as an "Omnibus" family. Or if you don't feel comfortable with, just drop me a note at rockandrollomnibus@gmail.com...

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Sunday Morning Vault: Bill Amesbury--Virginia (Touch Me Like You Do) (1974

Bill Amesbury was a Canadian singer/songwriter who had quite a bit of success in his home country in the 70's. His only hit here in the states was a very catchy song called, "Virginia (Touch Me Like You Do)" which reached #59 in early late winter/early spring of 1974. It is most noted now for being the first release on Casablanca Records.  Due to sex reassignment surgery in the 80's,  Bill is now Barbra and still lives and works in Canada as a film maker. Have a great Sunday everyone...

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The Eagles: New Kid In Town (1977)

On this day in 1977, The Eagles hit No. 1 with this song. It was the first single off of the massive selling, "Hotel California"....enjoy your Saturday...

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Elvis Presley: I Forgot To Remember To Forget (1956)

On this day in 1956 Elvis celebrated his first major hit when, "I Forgot To Remember To Forget" hit #1 on the Billboard Country & Western charts. Of course, most people "forgot" this song, when a week later, "Heartbreak Hotel" made it's debut on the pop charts...and well... you know the rest...

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Roberta Flack: Killing Me Softly With His Song (1973)

Today in 1973, Roberta Flack reached No.1 with "Killing Me Softly With His Song" In Billboard Magazine dated June 22, 1974 (p. 53), writer Norman Gimbel explains the genesis of this song: "I came to California in the mid-sixties. I was introduced to the Argentinean born composer named Lalo Shifrin (then of Mission Impossible fame). I ended up writing songs to a number of his motion pictures. I suggested we write a Broadway Musical together. He gave me an Argentinean novel translated into English from the Spanish to read as a possible idea....

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Ed Ames: My Cup Runneth Over (1967)

Ed Ames has had a long and varied career. His had great chart success during the 50's with The Ames Brothers. After the break up of the quartet in 1960, he took up acting and was in several on and off Broadway productions. This led him to a role as the Native American Mingo on the TV show Daniel Boone, which was interesting since his background was Ukrainian.   (The clip is in Spanish...but you get the drift..) After TV he went back to music as a solo artist and had several hits including this one, which was his highest charting song...

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Happy Birthday Rusty Young from Poco...

The bus wants to say happy 65th birthday to Rusty Young who plays pedal steel for the country-rock group Poco. Let's celebrate by listening to one of his compositions, "Rose of Cimarron".....

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In Praise of: America

When growing up in the 70's it was cool for those of us in the hip "FM" crowd to put down groups like America. The lyrics didn't make a lot of sense (this coming from a progressive rock fan!), and the music just didn't ROCK. The truth was, I was a closet soft rock fan, and my ability to write music for that genre far exceeds my abilities to ROCK whatever that meant anyway. America crafted songs that were catchy and the lyrical imagery kept you off guard just enough to be interesting. We're gonna listen to several songs this morning including one...

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Looking at 1954 (Pt. 3)

On tonight's blog, we are going to look at several different early TV shows and an ad or two.....

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Ambrosia: Holdin' On To Yesterday (1975)

One of my confessions musically is a real love for 70's era progressive rock. Groups like King Crimson, Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Yes were a regular part of my playlist. Like other sub-genres of Rock, it had a few years of true popularity before falling back to cult status. There were a hand full of groups however in that decade that were successful in merging progressive rock ideas to pop forms. Ambrosia was one of these groups. Listen especially to their debut album, and you could hear that merging done about as perfectly as it could be...

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Sunday Morning Vault:: The Amazing Rhythm Aces (1975)--Third Rate Romance

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The Amboy Dukes: Journey to the Center of The Mind (1968)

In the late 60's, there were more than a few groups who experimented with lyrical content that was psychedelic in nature. Looking at it 40 years later much of that content was nonsensical, however several of those groups had one song that far exceeded the rest of their output..The Amboy Dukes were out of Detroit and had a very fervent following in the Motor City, but could only make that leap to the national charts one time. One thing this group had going for it that none of the others had was Ted Nugent. Yep boys and girls, if you didn't know...

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Nancy Sinatra: These Boots Are Made For Walking (1966)

It must be very difficult to attempt a career in which your parent became one of the best of all time. However, Nancy Sinatra had success doing just that. Her "big" years were 66-68, but recorded up until the mid-70's and also some in the early 80's. The breakout hit, and her signature song is the one your going to see here, but she had several top tens like, "Somethin' Stupid", a duet with her dad, "Sugar Town", and "How Does That Grab You, Darlin?". Enjoy your day........

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Looking at 1954 (Pt. 2)

We continue to look at some of the happenings of 1954 (via You Tube). Remember that the Rock and Roll Omnibus hosts "The History of Rock and Pop" at 3pm, 10pm, and 6am and this weeks show focuses on the first quarter of that great year. So....let's get started. First up we have our fashion segment featuring the ladies tonight....just absolutely fetching.... Before our feature film tonight....let's look at a trailer for future attractions.... Our feature film for the evening stars Gale Storm (gotta love the name) and her family as Chevy sponsors...

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In Praise of: Herb Alpert

Believe it or not, there was a time in the mid 60's that one could not go anywhere without hearing Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. They certainly were not The Beatles in regards to record sales, although they did very well. Even if you can't remember the titles, any of the songs off of, "Whipped Cream and Other Delights", or "Going Places" will be recognizable. So instead of doing a bio, I thought it would be more fun to list some facts that you might not know about him. 1. Because of the flavor of the music, it has been assumed by many that...

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Looking at 1954 (Pt. 1)

This week on "The History of Rock and Pop" is looking at the first quarter of 1954. In honor of that, thanks to You Tube, we'll see what went on during that year in news and culture. You can hear the radio show on Live365 at 3pm, 10pm, and 6am Central Time US. Hope you like this feature.... 1. First let's take a look at what men were wearing that year.... 2. If you and your gal want to take in a movie at the local drive-in...we have just the double feature for you..... 3. Before we leave you this evening, a musical interlude..brought to you...

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Was she as good as Aretha for a night?

On this date in 1969, hairdresser Vickie Jones was arrested for fraud in Flordia. It seems that one evening at a club in Fort Myers, Ms. Jones got on stage and for an entire concert made like she was Aretha Franklin! Can't find any information on this gig, but the great thing about it was that no one in the club asked for a refund. Now, the only thing I can figure out is that, a). She was so good that all the patrons were satisfied or b). they were so drunk/stoned/horny, there weren't paying enough attention to notice this wasn't the queen of soul....

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Valentine's Day: The Beatles--All You Need Is Love (1968)

Nothing much else to say today....but do something for the special someone today....Happy Valentine's Da...

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Valentines Day: Janis Ian--At Seventeen (1975)

Some of you might be saying, "What's up with this?". There is a sweet story that goes along with today's theme and this song.... There is a lyric in the song goes: I learned the truth at seventeen That love was meant for beauty queens And high school girls with clear skinned smiles Who married young and then retired The valentines I never knew Those who remember the entire song know it as a lament about the loneliness of being a teenager who isn't one of the "special" ones. I always found it a bit depressing, but not being a popular guy in...

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Sunday Morning Vault: Airwaves (1978)

Airwaves was a short lived group from Wales consisting of Ray Martinez (vocals, guitar), John David (bass), and Dave Charles (drums). "So Hard Livin' Without You" was a moderate hit in the summer of 1978...enjoy your Sund...

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The Miracles--Shop Around (1961)

On this day 50 years ago, The Miracles with Smokey Robinson had Motown's first million seller....check it out...

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Happy Birthday Gene Vincent.....

Happy Birthday Gene Vincent, who would have been 76 today.........

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Forgotten Artist: Arthur Alexander

Arthur Alexander is one of the many examples of someone who had the musical skills to make it, but through mismanagement and just plain bad luck never achieved the success due him. He wrote songs that were covered by many artists such as The Beatles, Stones, Hollies, but basically sold the rights to his songs without realizing the consequences. (Many artists in the 50's an 60's suffered the same fate). His abilities vocally were such that his first major record company really had no idea what to do with him and so attempted to peg him as a pop...

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The Love Unlimited Orchestra--Love's Theme (1974)

This blog becomes not only a place to share memories/ideas/information, but opinions and even confessions. This post falls into the latter category. I am not a fan of music invented for the sole purpose of dancing. Maybe it's my fundamentalist Christian background, or more likely the fact that I have no sense of rhythm from the waist down. However, I dig Barry White. His voice, the music, the persona is so over the top and so late-70's that  criticism is difficult....especially while getting into the music. Besides there are probably few people...

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Afrique: Soul Makossa (1973)

In 1972, Cameroon born sax player Manu Dibango recorded Soul Makossa. A nice funky sounding instrumental, it became a hit for him in Europe. However, a snafu in copywriting the song left it up for grabs and at least 20 copies of the song were recorded within the next year attempting to cash in on the mistake. Afrique was a group of 13 R&B session players which included David Walker (guitar), Chuck Rainey (bass), and Charles Kynard (organ). They came together to record Soul Makossa and some other tasty funk/soul numbers. This was their only...

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The Addrisi Brothers: We've Got To Get It On Again (1972)

Don (b. 1938) and Dick (b. 1941) Addrisi were born in Massachusetts and were part of the acrobatic group, The Flying Addrisis. They chose early on to forgo the family business and moved to California to pursue a career in music. As songwriters it was easy to see they adapted well to the musical surroundings. Their first hit, "Cherrystone" (1959) was in an Everly Brothers style. The late 60's/early 70's sound brought them bigger success having written, "Never My Love" for The Association and then the song we are to hear this morning. The biggest...

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Sunday Morning Vault: Johnny Adams (1978)

Johnny Adams, known for years as the "Tan Canary", is a living legend in New Orleans. Although not making a large dent on the charts, his strong voice with the distinctive falsetto has been entertaining folks for 50 years. He did a group of stellar albums for Rounder Records during the 80's and if you can find his singles, they are worth collecting as well. This was the last song that charted on the R&B for him in 1978 cover of the great Conway Twitty song, "After All The Good Is Gone". Hope you have a great Sunday and if your out traveling...please...

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A Little Jazz for a Saturday featuring the Cannonball.

Just a little Saturday night Jazz from the great Cannonball Adderley and Mercy, Mercy, Mercy (1967, #11) written by Joe Zawinul.........

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Happy 70th to a great soul songwriter........

The Bus wants to wish Barrett Strong a happy 70th birthday today. He was the first person to score a hit for Motown in 1960 with, (Money) That's What I Want. However, his main contribution was as a songwriter.....am going to play a few of my favorites in his honor.....everyone have a great Saturda...

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In Praise of Sister Rosetta....

    Being a history geek (or any other kind of geek for that matter), we are constantly enamored by the small bits that we find in our searches. Sometimes it's just small fragments that illuminate a larger picture. Other times, we find things that have been out there but WE have not found it ourselves. Take Sister Rosetta Tharpe for instance. I had never heard of her until just a few months ago. It's not like her story has changed...

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The first UK group to chart a #1 in the US (hint: it's not the Beatles)

Believe it or not, the Beatles were NOT the first UK band to chart in the US charts. Surprised? Just assumed this occurred during the British invasion. However the answer to our trivia today is The Tornados with "Telstar". There had been three occasions where Brits had been on the chart as solo acts. Vera Lynn in 1952, Laurie London in 1958 and Acker Bilk in 1962, however this was the first group so chart....so hear ya go and happy Thursday! &nb...

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The Day The Music Died (1959)

     It was the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa Feb 2, 1959. The Winter Dance Party featuring Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper, and Richie Valens had been miserable. A colder than normal winter, a bus that had faulty heat and long overnight trips had made it very difficult. This night Holly decided to take action, so he chartered a plane to take them to Fargo, North Dakota, from there they could catch a flight to Moorhead, MN. They left under clear skies, but no one had briefed the pilot of an impending blizzard just miles ahead. The...

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Rainy Days and Neil Sedaka

When Neil Sedaka hit the charts in a big way again in the mid-70's, I thought he was old. Of course, being in my mid-teens it didn't occur to me that he was very young when hitting it big the first time. In my way of thinking, anyone who recorded before the Beatles HAD to be old. Neil came up in that bumper crop of pop songwriters out of New York City such as Carole King, Jerry Goffin, and Neil Diamond. Along with many others, he was swept away in Beatlemaina but continued to write for others. Artists such as Captain & Tennille and Elton John...

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