ARNOLD & FLY STANG MUSIC

More idle musings and thoughts on a beautiful sunny day in May;

Usually I have a definite subject matter in mind, but I’m not sure if I’m suffering from rookie writers block or what, so we will discuss a few general things that have popped in and out of my crainium the last few days.

A little more personal info to share with my cyber space buddies that I’ve never met, is besides listening to and sharing my thoughts on music, is that Johnny 99 loves to read. I am a non fiction guy whose reading tastes usually include books on music, sports, or politics.

Currently I’m reading “Thank You( Faletteinme Be Mice Elf Again ), A Memoir by Sly Stone. The book is very enjoyable, easy to read, and quite informative. It got me thinking( which is a dangerous matter on its own ) regarding bands, their longevity, their memory and the mark they leave on society. The music business and John Q Public’s musical attention span as seen through the years, goes through multiple changes, even within a 10 year period.

Let’s look back at the 1950’s. You start the decade with Jazz and Country Music as being arguably the popular music of the day. Thank You Charlie, Miles, Lester, and many others, along with the Country artists like Hank Williams, Chet Atkins, Bill Monroe, Bob Wills, Tex Ritter, and Gene Autry. Move the calendar forward to 1955 and the world starts to discover Elvis, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran, and Gene Vincent just to name a few. Some scholars might even consider this the beginning of Rock and Roll. By the end of the 1950’s, Elvis was inducted into the army, Chuck Berry had been arrested, and Buddy Holly would die in a plane crash near Clear Lake Iowa. Eddie Cochran would survive the 1950’s, only to die in a car crash while on tour in England in 1960 ( almost the exact spot that would claim Marc Bolan’s life 17 years later ) and Gene Vincent who was in the car with Eddie Cochran, yet survived, basically fell out of favor with his audience ( You rockabilly rebel Gene, Gene, Gene. ).Oh yeah, I almost forgot about  Jerry Lee Lewis marrying his 13 year old cousin, which as the 50’s ended would severely curtail his career for a few years.

The early ‘60’s would bring us the likes of Fabian, Frankie Avalon, Pat Boone( a holdover from the ‘50’s ), Neil Sedaka, Bobby Vinton, Cliff Richard, and a whole slew of crew cut homogenized male singers that all looked and sounded ( to me at least ) the same. Thank God for the likes of Bob Dylan, Peter, Paul, and Mary and a few other folkies that at least were making music at the time that actually made its listener’s think a bit.

Four years later in 1964, all hell would break loose, when in February, courtesy of the Ed Sullivan Show, we were introduced to the Beatles. THE WORLD WOULD NEVER BE THE SAME. The British Invasion was on !!!! By 1967 most of the original invasion groups had either broken up or could not keep up with the brilliance of the Beatles. Even a great band like the Yardbirds, with 3 of the greatest guitar players ever were considered passé as the Summer of Love and  avant- guarde bands like Pink Floyd were the new in thing. In 1967, the two best places to be were Haight Ashbury in the U.S. and  “Swinging London” in England.

The balance of the decade was dominated by the Beatles, along with The Rolling Stones, the Who, the Kinks( artistically, not financially ) and American bands such as the Doors, the bands from San Francisco, and oh yeah, some left handed black dude named Jimi, who played guitar like no one had seen or heard before.

I’m going to stop now and next month we will review the many various musical trends of the 1970’s, along with whatever other potpourri that might find its way out of my brain, thru my hands, and ultimately into this column.

That’s it. Johnny 99 is over and out !!!!