Month: February 2018
You of course remember and are a bit curious about the mercurial, reclusive, quiet, gum – chewing former Bass player for The Rolling Stones Bill Wyman? When it came to the success and fame of the Stones Bill was, at best indifferent . Bill avoided most of the trappings of a rock stars life, while he enjoyed a drink only once in a while and hardly touched POT Wyman claimed he was addicted to girls! In fact in 2001 Maxim magazine put him in the top 10 for bedding women, at that time Wyman asserts he had slept with over 1000 women. But, dear reader get out your calculator and slide rule cuz here’s where it gets complicated. Bill got married to his first wife Diane in 1959, they had a son Stephen Paul Wyman in 1962 and the couple was divorced by 1969.
On 2 June 1989, aged 52, Wyman married 18 YEAR OLD Mandy Smith, whom he had been dating since she was 13 and he was 47 years old. According to Smith, their relationship was sexually consummated when she was 14 years old! “YIKES” Their relationship was the subject of considerable media attention until it ended in 1993 when he met Susanne Accosta, 37 years his junior, married her and had three daughters!
Ahh, but here’s where it gets even stranger? Stephen Paul, Bill Wymans first son would grow up to Marry Mandy Smith’s Mother, Patsy Smith. You got that? Yep!, Bill Wymans son, grew up and married his Step- Mothers MOTHER!……or, you can say he married his dad’s “Mother in Law”! Stephen Paul Wyman was 31 Patsy was 49 !!!
We’d love to hear your opinion or story about Bill Wyman Or perhaps you were married to him ?
SMS 
February 24, 2018 Rick 0 Comments
Bill Wyman, The Rolling Stones
It was 50 years ago today, Feb 15th, 1968 when The Beatles, their wives and friends set off for the Ashram of The Maharishi Mahesh Yogi located in Northern India in the city of Rishikish. The plan was to spend THREE MONTHS with The Maharishi, unplug, decompress and be enlightened by this universally acclaimed guru!
Along for this now legendary ill-fated trip were The four Beatles, John’s wife Cynthia Lennon, George’s wife Patti Boyd, as well as Maureen, Ringo’s wife and Paul’s long time girlfriend Jane Asher, as well as roadies Mal Evans and Peter Brown, and friends, Mike Love from The Beach Boys, Donovan Leitch, actress Mia and sister Prudence Farrow. The original idea to make the trip came from George’s wife Patty Boyd, she was searching for some way to escape and detox from the high focus intense life they were leading, when she saw an advertisement placed in “The Daily Mail” touting The Maharishi and his Ashram! We don’t know about you, but we always were a little wary of Universal Guruh’s running adverts in our local paper?
Scepticism aside Patti happily convinced the gang and booked the 3 mos tour….( if your hearing the Gilligan’s Island theme in your head right now, You’re not alone! ) At first, everyone took a deep breath and felt good about the trip, but things began to deteriorate quickly. There were cleanliness and hygiene issues and problems with large bugs, spiders, and Scorpions and the food… hitting Ringo the hardest…..In fact by March second Ringo had all he could stand, argued that the “Ashram was nothing more than a child’s sleepover camp and was immediately outta there! Leaving John, Paul and George behind to do what they do best, write songs! And write they did. Between the remaining three Beatles they wrote 48 songs, most of which are featured on “The Beatles White Album” additionally it was here where Donovan introduced “Finger Picking” to the three guitar players. But as day’s passed The Beatles began noticing how the Maharishi was becoming less and less about Peace, Love and Enlightenment and more about Cash Commerce and the ladies in the group. Beginning with a conversation with Paul, when the Maharishi asked Paul..”.What is the best car for one to have”? Paul replied, I have a Mercedes-Benz and it’s great” The Maharishi replied, “Fantastic, I shall buy one tomorrow”…..not exactly the kind of “enlightenment” McCartney was looking for. Rapidly, it was clear that “Yogi” was determined to orchestrate and record every moment of The Beatles Trip! With photographers and cameras rolling, he began each day barking orders, and shouting directions like Cecil B. Demille….”Ringo! Get under the tent, JOHN, PAUL, “smile shake hands”….George, “Play your guitar” you get the drill. Peter Brown was the first to “Blow the Whistle on “Little Yogi” Brown soon discovered and revealed to all that The Maharishi had made a deal with American Broadcaster “ABC T.V.
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“Nam Yoho Renge Kyo”….or whatever the Little Yogi sez?…we think “YIKES” is perfectly appropriate!
The most infamous and timely tales of The Beatles in India surround The Maharishi and his sexual misconduct toward the female attendees. As the story is told, beyond the Maharishi’s obvious overtures, it was Beatle hanger on “Magic Alex” who claimed to have witnessed the Maharishi having his way with a woman who was more than resisting his advances, and SHE left the next day! Beyond the food, the bugs, the heat and “T.V. Special it was The hypocrisy and womanizing by the Maharishi that eventually drove the Beatles away, with Paul and girlfriend Jane Asher leaving two weeks after Ringo with George and John departing soon after!
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Lastly, as ghastly as the experience was Beatle fans were left with at least two of your favorite Beatle songs from their experience in India “Sexy Sadie” which was originally titled “Maharishi” but, upon George’s insistence John changed it! And “Dear Prudence” John’s plea to Mia Farrow’s sister Prudence to unlock her door and come out of her room. According to John, all Pridence wanted to do was sit in the dark in her room and meditate…..She stated very competitively “She was going to be “The first one to find GOD!…..Nobody knows?
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Our favorite moment from The Beatles trip to India was the final words between Lennon and The Maharishi as he and Cynthia were leaving; The Maharishi asks “Why are you leaving so early”? Lennon replies….”Well if you’re so enlightened YOU FIGURE IT OUT”
” BYE, BYE “…..
You must have a story?….We’d love to hear it…
Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!
February 15, 2018 Rick 5 Comments
Dear Prudence, India, Mia Farrow, Sexy Sadie, The Beatles, The Maharishi, The White album
Misunderstood and misinterpreted lyrics have been the subject of laughter, conversation, many books, films and T.V!
Take a look at a few hugely popular songs from the 60’s that YOU THINK YOU KNOW! However, after reading today’s post, you may question you’re own ears!
Here are three number one songs. Each one has enjoyed multiple recordings and each one suffered multiple interpretations…
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number 1) “Baby I Need Your Lovin
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At the bridge does the singer sing a) ” Every night I call your name”……Or do you hear b) “Empty nights echo your name”?
Only one is the correct copyrighted lyric! Which one did you hear?
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.number 2) “She’s Not There”
At the chorus does the singer sing a) “Well let me tell you ’bout the way she looks, the way she acts and the color of her hair”…..Or b) “Well let me tell you ’bout the way she looks, the way she accents the color of her hair”
Only one is the correct copyrighted lyric! Which one did you hear?
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Number 3) “House Of The Rising Sun”
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At the second verse does the singer sing a) “My mother was a “trade girl,” sold my new blue jeans”….. Or b) “My mother was a tailor, sewed my new blue jeans”
only one is the correct copyrighted lyric! Which one did you hear?
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There are plenty more, but were eager to know which of the above lyrics did you hear and do you have any more misunderstood lyrics from the greatest decade of music for all time…The 1960’s!
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Lets hear from YOU!…
February 9, 2018 Rick 13 Comments
60's songs, lyrics, Mis heard lyrics, The Animals, The Four Tops, The Zombies
“I punched my buddy in the nose after lunch”…Wha?…Hunh? Yep, that’s what the man said, that man? Robert Velline! However you know him as Bobby Vee, and that is the opening line of lyric from his fourth hit single “Stayin’ In” you may not remember him as well as some of the other Bobby’s, Jimmy’s Billy’s, or Frankie’s but Bobby Vee enjoyed 38 chart hits, 10 of them hitting the Top 20….And between 1960 and 1967 that’s more than the other Bobby’s, Jimmy’s and Billy’s combined….But, we’re getting ahead of ourselves. By the time you heard about Bobby “Cold Cocking” his best friend “In the cafeteria” Bobby already had 2-3 international smashes and it’s only 1962…Yeah in a little less than two years Bobby, was a certified international “Teen Idol!…Yes, the girls were swooning and fainting, but we all privately couldn’t resist the infectious quality and consistent appeal of the songs he would choose to record! Check this out, and admit it, you have at least one of these in your collection…Devil or Angel…”Rubber Ball”… “Take Good Care Of My Baby”…The nose punching “Stayin’In”…..The night has a Thousand Eye’s…”Run To Him” and in the later years “Come Back When You Grow Up Girl” “Please Don’t Ask About Barbara”and “Love you more than I can Say” Yes, way before Leo Sayer!….Staggering and we owned all of them!…Bobby Vee alone paid the rent and kept the lights on at the Brill Building! His earliest hits were penned by Gene Pitney and John D. Loudermilk with the great Carole King and Jerry Goffin delivering his later smashes…
Ah, but the plot thickens, Bobby’s Idol and influence was the great Buddy Holly, In fact the B-Side to “Rubber Ball was Bobby’s cover of Holly’s Everyday”….With many radio programmers believing it was Buddy, they began playing it confusing matters and distracting record buyers from “Rubber Ball” Bobby’s incredible A side! Furthermore Bobby’s hit “More Than I Can Say” was written by two of the members of Buddy’s band The Crickets, Sonny Curtis and Jerry Alison!
But here is the saddest, ironic and most important connection between Bobby Vee and Buddy Holly. You are all familiar with “The Day The Music Died” when a plane carrying Buddy, The Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens crashed after takeoff in a winter storm in Feb. of 59! Killing all four passengers on board. The plane was en route to Moorhead Minneapolis for the first of a 24 day tour called “The Winter Dance Tour. At that point Bobby had released a regional record he wrote called “Susie Baby” a record that was clearly inspired by Holly’s “Peggy Sue,”
as you can imagine the promoter of The Winter Dance Tour was panicking…24 dates to fill and NO BAND! But the promoter heard “Susie Baby” on the radio and called Bobby ( although he was still Robert Velline) and offered him the job, Bobby and his band “The Shadows” we’re in Fargo North Dakota, so they packed up their gear and headed to Moorhead where they headlined the second night of the ill-fated tour and several nights thereafter. These dates are considered the most important period in young , 15-year-old Bobby Vee’s career for two reasons. He was offered a record deal on the spot by Liberty records and he met a piano player named Elston Gunnn…yes, that’s Gunnn with 3 N’s…Gunnn had heard about this incredible band called The Shadows with a front guy who did a mean Buddy Holly, Elston was out of work and he approached Bobby to be the piano player for The Shadows. Total Strangers Bobby asked who Elston had worked with? Elston replied by saying he just got off a tour with Conway Twitty!. Bobby needed a piano player, but he was also familiar with who was on tour and where, and he was sure that this odd guy Elston may not be telling “The Whole Truth” but…..Bobby hired him regardless, Elston Gunnn was now the piano player in Robert Velline and The Shadows. The two quickly became friends with Elston, fresh out of high school and nearly three years Bobby’s senior became a kind of mentor to Bobby and his musical direction. Things went well, but didn’t last for more than six months, ya see Elston could only play in the key of “C”
Yes dear reader, here’s the payoff Elston’s real name is Robert Allen Zimmerman…YES! Bob Dylan!
Through the years Dylan has sung the praises of Bobby Vee and on several occasions performed Bobby’s “Susie Baby”….
Bobby spoke infrequently but respectfully about his relationship with Dylan and they remained friends until we lost Bobby Vee from complications due to Alzheimer’s in 2016……Here’s “Stayin In” https://g.co/kgs/qezXuL
Were you a Bobby Vee fan?…We know you love Dylan!….Strange bedfellows, INDEED!
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February 5, 2018 Rick 29 Comments
Bob Dylan, Bobby Vee, Elston Gunnn, Robert Velline, Robert Zimmerman, Staying In