Unusual Rock Trivia?

[roccobass]

Steve Cropper regarding Otis Redding’s
audition at Stax Records…

“We were standing outside the record shop, outside the studio and this car pulls up with Georgia plates. And this big tall guy gets out the driver’s seat, takes the keys and walks around the back of the car, opens the trunk and starts getting out amps and microphones.

“I thought he was a roadie. I thought he was Johnny Jenkins’ driver or valet. But he was actually the singer in the band and we didn’t know that.”

Redding pestered MG’s drummer Al Jackson for an audition and Jackson asked Cropper to listen.

“So he comes down and I say: ‘Play something, whatever you want to do. And he said ‘I don’t play piano, I play a little gut-tar. That’s what he said. So I played piano and he went: ‘These arms of mine...’ And hairs and goose bumps stood up on my arms.”

Cropper fetched Stax Records co-founder Jim Stewart. “Jim heard him and said: ‘We’ve got to cut this right now.’”

“We cut it, ‘These Arms of Mine’ and the next morning ... we cut a B-side called ‘Hey Baby,’” said Cropper. “That was Otis Redding, That was his first record and he had 17 hits in a row.”

 

[IMMusicRulz]

The gatefold sleeve of Emerson Lake and Palmer's classic 1972 album, Trilogy, was actually taken at Epping Forest in London.

 

[SubHuman]

Tommy James made a rough mix of "Crimson and Clover" to show to Roulette Records executive Morris Levy for evaluation. The band was still intending to improve on the mix with ambient sound and echo. A few days later, James stopped at Chicago radio station WLS, where he had previously had a positive experience, to get their reaction. After an interview discussing the single, he was persuaded to play his copy of the rough mix off-air for WLS. Unbeknownst to James, the station recorded the song which they aired with little delay – in November 1968 – as a "world exclusive". In other words they boot-legged the unfinished tape and played it on air before it was finished and polished in the studio.

Morris Levy had initially pleaded with WLS not to play the record prematurely, before its release, but listener response changed his mind. Roulette Records produced a specially pressed single and shipped it to listeners who called about the song. Eight hundred copies were also sent to WLS for promotional purposes. Levy refused to let James produce the final mix he wanted, and the single was released using the rough mix, with "Some Kind of Love" as its B-Side.

"Crimson and Clover" entered the U.S. charts on December 14, where it stayed for 16 weeks on Billboard Hot 100 and 15 weeks on Cash Box Top 100. Following a performance of the song on The Ed Sullivan Show on January 26, it became number one on February 1, 1969, a position held for one week on Cash Box Top 100 and two weeks on both Billboard Hot 100 and Record World 100 Top Pops.

 

[RichardW]

The gatefold sleeve of Emerson Lake and Palmer's classic 1972 album, Trilogy, was actually taken at Epping Forest in London.

The site of the famous battle...

 

[Richland123]

One day, Dave Clark from the Dave Clark Five received a phone call from Ed Sullivan. The US TV host had caught the DC5’s performance on Sunday Night at the London Palladium on the telly in the transit lounge of London airport. Would they fly to America to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show? “I didn’t know who Ed Sullivan was,” says Clark, who turned him down. Weeks later, Sullivan tried again, offering them $10,000 ($90,000 today), plus their air and hotel fares. They went. “The rest was history,” says Clark. Over their career they appeared on the show 18 times, performing to 70 million viewers each time. Soon, crowds of 30,000 fans were waiting for them at JFK Airport.

Dave Clark Five first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show March 8, 1964

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[IMMusicRulz]

David Bowie played a character named Lord Royal Highness, clearly modelled after one of the Blue Meanies from the Beatles movie Yellow Submarine, in the SpongeBob SquarePants episode Atlantis SquarePantis, which originally aired on Nickelodeon on November 12, 2007.

 

[IMMusicRulz]

The album cover for The Who’s 1974 compilation album Odds and Sods was actually taken by photographer Graham Hughes, who is the cousin of Roger Daltrey.

 

[SubHuman]

Queen has unveiled a previously unheard song recorded with Freddie Mercury!

Months after guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor teased the release of a rediscovered track recorded with the legendary vocalist during sessions for Queen's 1989 The Miracle album, the song — a powerful ballad called "Face It Alone" — was released on Thursday.

"We'd kind of forgotten about this track, but there it was, this little gem," said Taylor, 73, in a press statement. "It's wonderful, a real discovery. It's a very passionate piece." It really is a good song if you like Queen!

 

[IamGroot]

Tommy James made a rough mix of "Crimson and Clover" to show to Roulette Records executive Morris Levy for evaluation. The band was still intending to improve on the mix with ambient sound and echo. A few days later, James stopped at Chicago radio station WLS, where he had previously had a positive experience, to get their reaction. After an interview discussing the single, he was persuaded to play his copy of the rough mix off-air for WLS. Unbeknownst to James, the station recorded the song which they aired with little delay – in November 1968 – as a "world exclusive". In other words they boot-legged the unfinished tape and played it on air before it was finished and polished in the studio.

Morris Levy had initially pleaded with WLS not to play the record prematurely, before its release, but listener response changed his mind. Roulette Records produced a specially pressed single and shipped it to listeners who called about the song. Eight hundred copies were also sent to WLS for promotional purposes. Levy refused to let James produce the final mix he wanted, and the single was released using the rough mix, with "Some Kind of Love" as its B-Side.

"Crimson and Clover" entered the U.S. charts on December 14, where it stayed for 16 weeks on Billboard Hot 100 and 15 weeks on Cash Box Top 100. Following a performance of the song on The Ed Sullivan Show on January 26, it became number one on February 1, 1969, a position held for one week on Cash Box Top 100 and two weeks on both Billboard Hot 100 and Record World 100 Top Pops.

Tommy James shares his stories of mobsters and drugs

The relationship between Tommy James and crime figure Mo Levy is definitely worth reading. Tommy was lucky not to wind up in a 55 gal bbl.

 

[IMMusicRulz]

Pop singer Nicolette Larson was one romantically linked to film director Cameron Crowe and Weird Al Yankovic for a short time in the Eighties.

 

[IMMusicRulz]

James Hetfield, the lead singer for Metallica, actually played a fictionalized version of himself on an episode of American Dad!

 

[IMMusicRulz]

The Paul McCartney album London Town was primarily recorded in 1977 on a rented motorboat in the British Virgin Islands.

 

[IMMusicRulz]

The Yes song Wonderous Stories, from their classic 1977 album Going For The One, was featured in a 2006 Cadillac car commercial.

 

[roccobass]

Tommy Chong on how C & C picked their moniker during an interview.


How did you get the name Cheech & Chong?

We won a battle of the bands without playing a single note! We did 45 minutes of comedy and the crowd loved us. That night we were driving home in the rain. I asked Cheech what his nickname was. He said, “Yeah, it’s Cheech.” Cheech & Chong! Perfect. I was going, “Cheech & Chong, Cheech & Chong,” and that was it.

 

[IMMusicRulz]

Jackie Fox, the original bassist for the Runaways, retired from music after the group split up in the Eighties. She went on to become a highly successful attorney, and even appeared on 4 episodes of Jeopardy! in 2018, winning over $87,089.

 

[SubHuman]

A rare rehearsal video of Dylans 30th anniversary concert 1990…Clapton, Harrison, Petty all of the greats. Great upright bass player too! Too bad vocals are muffled. I love to see the pros have to “learn” songs too.

Here’s the final result…

 

[Jeff K]

A rare rehearsal video of Dylans 30th anniversary concert 1990…Clapton, Harrison, Petty all of the greats. Great upright bass player too! Too bad vocals are muffled. I love to see the pros have to “learn” songs too.

Here’s the final result…

Great clips! But that's Duck Dunn playing electric bass, not upright. Must've been a fun stage to be on that night!

 

[SubHuman]

Great clips! But that's Duck Dunn playing electric bass, not upright. Must've been a fun stage to be on that night!

A splendid time was guaranteed by all...That definitely would've been a great concert.

I was multitasking last night after a few brews, and I had 2 video threads going simultaneously.
After I posted I realized my comment was for the other video below.

Carl Perkins with a fantastic ensemble. Some of the "Greats" sounding great.
Another good one to watch and see how many musicians you can recognize in the video.

 

[Jeff K]

A splendid time was guaranteed by all...That definitely would've been a great concert.

I was multitasking last night after a few brews, and I had 2 video threads going simultaneously.
After I posted I realized my comment was for the other video below.

Carl Perkins with a fantastic ensemble. Some of the "Greats" sounding great.
Another good one to watch and see how many musicians you can recognize in the video.

That's a great clip. I saw parts of it before, but never the entire 7+ minutes. Carl Perkins was a huge influence on George Harrison.

Just a little bit of trivia: Carl Perkins lived in Jackson, Tennessee, about an hour East of Memphis. I was driving to Nashville one day with a co-worker. He had a sister-in-law that also lived in Jackson, so we stopped in for coffee. She lived in the same neighborhood as Carl. We're driving by his house and there he is out in the yard mowing the grass. The normalcy of it just made me smile...

 

[Skokiaan]

A splendid time was guaranteed by all...That definitely would've been a great concert.

I was multitasking last night after a few brews, and I had 2 video threads going simultaneously.
After I posted I realized my comment was for the other video below.

Carl Perkins with a fantastic ensemble. Some of the "Greats" sounding great.
Another good one to watch and see how many musicians you can recognize in the video.

This Perkins show was shot for UK televsion in 1985 and was released on video (VHS, DVD) and, oddly, 10" vinyl.
I met Carl in 1994 and he signed my copy (not shown).