Monthly Archives: July 2016

Festivals, Music et al, Music of the 60s, Woodstock Music and Art Fair

1969 Newport Jazz Festival

4 Comments

1969 Newport Jazz Festival

1969 festival #19
July 3 – 6

Newport, Rhode Island

I have limited my list of 1969 festivals to rock festivals. Why include a jazz festival?

The Newport Jazz Festival began in 1954 and, not surprisingly, was simply that: a jazz festival. Of course, the variety of styles within jazz are wide and varied. Any jazz festival can simply showcase one genre, or several.

1969 Newport Jazz Festival

Blurred borders

By 1969, the borders between both styles had blurred: some jazz artists crossed over to rock and visa versa. It made sense for a jazz festival, even one as established as Newport, to expand its lineup and include rock. In 1969, that is exactly what it did.

Looking at the lineup below, one of the first things to note is the inclusion of the Joshua Light Show. The Joshua Light Show formed in 1967 and is associated mainly with enhancing the concert atmosphere at Bill Graham’s Fillmore East.  Including the Joshua Light Show definitely brought a new vibe to a jazz festival.

1969 Newport Jazz Festival

Thursday all jazz

Thursday was all jazz, but reflected the jazz’s aforementioned variety . Simply looking at the opening act, George Benson, and the closing act, Sun Ra, demonstrates that range.

1969 Newport Jazz Festival

Friday changes

Even Friday afternoon is jazz, but things change for Friday night: Jethro Tull, Ten Years After, Blood, Sweat and Tears, and Jeff Beck loudly reminded the crowd that this wasn’t your ordinary jazz festival.

1969 Newport Jazz Festival

The unexpected

The idea of enhancing a jazz festival with rock was a great idea on paper and likely looked toward the ledger as well, but as Woodstock Ventures found out a month later, locals may not be as receptive to large numbers of youth excited and anxious to hear their music.

Friday night’s overflow created such tensions and fears that event organizer George Wein “cancelled” Led Zeppelin for Sunday in an attempt to dissuade the rock fans from staying. It worked to a degree. Zeppelin performed despite the announced cancellation.

1969 Newport Jazz Festival

“Mayhem“

A Newport newspaper article describes the mayhem:

1969 Newport Jazz Festival

In August, Johnny Winter, Ten Years After, Sly Stone, and Blood, Sweat and Tears experienced something even bigger but more peaceful in Bethel, New York.

The far more serene Newport Folk Festival and a moon walk awaited in the wings.

1969 Newport Jazz Festival

Next 1969 festival: Saugatuck Pop Festival

Anniversary, Music et al, Music of the 60s

Strangers In the Night

3 Comments

Strangers In the Night

Billboard #1 July 2 – 9, 1966

Strangers In the Night

“Strangers in the Night” by Bert Kaempfert

1966

1965 had been a tipping point for American popular music. Bob Dylan wasn’t working with Maggie no more. The Beatles had a rubber soul. Brian Wilson knew that God only knows.

So one might think that 1966 meant “our” songs at #1 all year long. Our albums, too.

Not the case.

Of course there were the Beatles, but there were also the Monkees. The Rolling Stones, but Petula Clark. The Troggs, but Tommy James, too. Percy Sledge’s “When a Man Loves a Woman”, but SSgt Barry Sadler’s “Ballad of the Green Berets.”

Sinatras

The Sinatras were there, too. Not quite the psychedelics we expected. Nancy had her #1 hit with the famous “These Boots Are Made for Walking” (didn’t we young hormonal teenager boys love to watch her sing that.

Strangers in the Night

Something in my heart…

But it was father Frank’s song that we’d listen to with our girlfriends on our transistor radios. “Something in my heart told me I must have you.”

Sinatra had begun singing professionally more than 30 years earlier and  like most artists, his career had its ups and downs. “Strangers In the Night” won the Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance and the Grammy Award for Record of the Year, as well as a Grammy Award for Best Arrangement Accompanying a Vocalist or Instrumentalist for Ernie Freeman. It became a gold record.

Avo Uvezian

The song’s origins are disputed. The melody is commonly attributed to Bert Kaempfert (he who recorded Tony Sheridan with the Beat Boys backing Sheridan. The Beat Boys were, of course, the Beatles), but cigar maker and jazz musician Avo Uvezian had stated that he originally composed the song for Frank Sinatra.

Strangers In the Night
Avo Uvezian, a cigar maker and Juilliard-trained musician, at his home in Orlando, Fla. Credit Jacob Langston for The New York Times

According to Uvezian, his song, originally called “Broken Guitar”, had different lyrics.

Sinatra didn’t like the lyric, studio composers created new lyrics, changed the title to “Strangers In the Night.” Sinatra reportedly hated the song, but with a #1 hit long behind him, He recorded it. The rest is disputed history.

Uvezian died on March 24, 2017.

The Beatles’ “Paperback Writer” preceded “Strangers In the Night” at #1. The Beatles’ “Paperback Writer” followed “Strangers In the Night” at #1.

Strangers In the Night
Anniversary, Music et al, Music of the 60s, Woodstock Music and Art Fair

Tim Hardin 1 album

2 Comments

Tim Hardin 1 Album

“Tim Hardin 1” album released July 1966

Tim Hardin 1 album

 

Ah, Tim Hardin

Born in Eugene, Oregon on December 23, 1941. High school dropout. Marine Corps enlistee. Heroin addict. New York City resident. Greenwich Village folk singer.

Not the same collection of events in every singer-songwriter’s resume, but familiar enough to merit a nod of recognition.

Many received the Village’s golden touch of success. Many. Not all.

Hardin didn’t feel that tap, surprising to others who knew him, loved his songs, and his talent.

At at time when composers were telling their tale with longer and more elaborate songs (Mr Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone” a prime example), Tim Hardin typically stuck with the short: verse > chorus > verse format.

Tim Hardin 1 album

On his first release, Tim Hardin 1, “Reason to Believe” is perhaps the best known of the album’s many wonderful song. Others have covered the song, Rod Stewart’s in 1971 is perhaps the best known.

If I listen long enough to you
I’d find a way to believe that it’s all true
Knowing, that you lied, straight-faced
While I cried But still I’d look to find a reason to believe
Someone like you makes it hard to live
Without, somebody else
Someone like you, makes it easy to give
Never think of myselfIf I gave you time to change my mind
I’d find a way to leave the past behind
Knowing that you lied, straight-faced
While I criedBut still I’d look to find a reason to believe
If I listen long enough to you
I’d find a way to believe it’s all true
Knowing that you lied, straight-faced
While I criedStill I’d look to find a reason to believe.

Woodstock Music and Art Fair

Those whom Woodstock Ventures invited to their festival and art fair in Bethel, NY ranged from the little known to the famous. “Little known” to some, but loved by many. Hardin was of the latter. Bob Dylan reportedly described Hardin as, ““the greatest songwriter alive.”

Side one
  1. “Don’t Make Promises” – 2:26
  2. “Green Rocky Road” – 2:18
  3. “Smugglin’ Man” – 1:57
  4. “How Long” – 2:54
  5. “While You’re On Your Way” – 2:17
  6. “It’ll Never Happen Again” – 2:37
Side two
  1. “Reason to Believe” – 2:00
  2. “Never Too Far” – 2:16
  3. “Part of the Wind” – 2:19
  4. “Ain’t Gonna Do Without” – 2:13
  5. “Misty Roses” – 2:00
  6. “How Can We Hang On to a Dream?” – 2:04

Personnel

  • Tim Hardin – vocals, guitar, keyboards
  • Gary Burton – vibraphone
  • Bob Bushnell – bass
  • Earl Palmer – drums
  • Buddy Salzman – drums
  • Jon Wilcox – drums
  • John Sebastian – harmonica
  • Phil Kraus – vocals
  • Walter Yost – bass

Woodstock Ventures also scheduled Hardin to open. First day. First performer.

Many wonder what it was like to be in that crowd of 400,000 on Max Yasgur’s 40 acre field, but few ask what it was like to perform in front of that throng. For Hardin the challenge was initially too great a burden and Richie Havens famously filled in.

Hardin did later perform in that day’s gloaming. His short songs filled his short set:

  • (How Can We) Hang on to a Dream
  • Susan
  • If I Were a Carpenter
  • Reason to Believe
  • You Upset the Grace of Living When You Lie
  • Speak Like a Child
  • Snow White Lady
  • Blue on My Ceiling
  • Simple Song of Freedom
  • Misty Roses

Left out and off

Not appearing on the Woodstock album, nor the movie, addiction, and sometimes leaving the country to seek medical help kept Hardin out of the public eye for years. The New York Times described him in a 1976 show, “he is a nervous, self‐absorbed performer who phrases in a wildly unpredictable manner. Sometimes his improvisations are exciting, but sometimes they are simply aimless.”

Hardin died four years later on December 29, 1980, 6 days after his 39th birthday. His addiction finally killed him, but his songs continue to inspire.

Tim Hardin 1 album