My husband Tim and I live in a small piece of Los Angeles that juts into Culver City. We can vote for L.A. mayor, while living within the postal limits of trendy Culver City—the best of both worlds! He's a retired radio engineer. I am a freelance library consultant and teach library science. Our frequent partner-in-crime is Karen, my best friend since college.
The Grammy Museum has featured exhibits on the individual Beatles, but never on the group as a whole. That is, until now. A new exhibition, called "Ladies and Gentlemen . . . The Beatles!," opened today on the 2nd floor of the Museum. We, of course, were there.
Small, but nonetheless fun, the exhibit focuses on the band's early years, directly before and after they became famous and performed in the U.S. There's a short video of several women who saw the Beatles live on the Ed Sullivan Show, plus interviews with a handful of men who helped produce the show. Seeing the Beatles in-person and working with them, that unforgettable night on Sullivan, remains an obvious high point of all their lives.
There's also lots of memorabilia from the Beatles' heydays—posters, a lunchbox, and even candy bars—some of which I remember, but some I'd never seen. The exhibit is a nice overview for non-fans, who may not know all that much about early Beatlemania. Still, even old veterans, like Tim and me, learned at least a couple of new things.
I wouldn't fly into L.A. just to see the exhibit. But if you already live here, there's no excuse, especially if you've never been to the Grammy Museum. Recommended!
Cake and champagne to celebrate Sinatra's birthday
One of the things that drew Tim and me together, 30 years ago, was a common love of Frank Sinatra. We both grew-up listening to his music and watching his films. His infatuation with Ava Gardner was romantically epic; plus he was, for a little while at least, a friend of the Kennedys. What's not to love?
Yesterday would have been Frank's 100th birthday. To celebrate, we schlepped over the hill to see John Pizzarelli—another favorite singer—perform iconic Sinatra songs at the Valley Performing Arts Center. We were certainly among peers: everyone there was either our age or older. Cake and champagne were served during intermission, after we all sang "Happy Birthday" to the one-and-only Chairman of the Board.
BTW, if you're a fan, there's an interesting Sinatra exhibit running through February 2016 at the Grammy Museum. Lots of film-clips and memorabilia to see and a good overview of his career.
On Wednesday night, Tim and I
attended a special screening of the documentary All Things Must Passat the Grammy Museum.Directed by
Colin Hanks, the film
chronicles the rise of the mega-record-store-chain,Tower Records,from a small phonograph collection at the back of a Sacramento drugstore, to
its sad demise in 2006. A Q&A panel followed afterward with Hanks and store
founder Russ Solomon.
As a kid, I bought all my
LPs and 45s at local discount stores (does anyone else remember Zodys? ) and a small record shop on Burbank’s
“golden mall.” But once I became a young adult, I started shopping at the legendary Tower Records on Sunset Blvd., where I often
stopped on my way home from classes at UCLA. The store was enormous. Even though I
only ever bought pop and rock albums, the inventory was tremendous: everything
from movie soundtracks to jazz to Top 40 to classical to world music. The staff
wasn’t the friendliest bunch on the planet, but they certainly knew their
music.
Favorite memory: Not knowing what else
to do, I drove up to the Sunset Towerthe day after John Lennon was killed. I guess I just needed to be with other people who loved John. His music was playing overhead and someone had pulled
together an exhibit of his albums. Otherwise, it was business as usual--which
in its own way was comforting. It was good to know the entire world hadn’t gone as crazy as I was feeling.
The film is fabulous--completely evocative of the period and the Tower Records experience. Still, Hanks hasn’t yet found a distributor and so is showing the doc at festivals
and small venues, like the Grammy Museum. If you’ve ever bought anything at
Tower Records—hell, if you listened music, any
kind of music, during the 1960s, ‘70s or ‘80s—you must see this movie.
Like everyone else my age,
I own a copy of The Beatles’ Second Album,
but it was never one of my favorites. Cobbled together by the Beatles’ record
company to capitalize on their blockbuster success, the album features several
“covers” of rock standards, which I didn’t like as much as the Beatles’ own
original music. So I rarely listened to it. Tim, however, loves the album for
all the reasons I didn’t: hard-rockin’ versions of Little Richard’s “Long Tall
Sally,” Chuck Berry’s “Roll Over Beethoven,” Smokey Robinson’s “You Really Got
a Hold on Me,” and Barrett Strong’s “Money”—all songs that I, of course, now
love. In fact, fans and critics alike agreethat the Second
Album is the Beatles’ best pure rock ‘n roll record ever released.
The Grammy Museum
celebrated the album’s 50th anniversary, last night, with a good
old-fashioned record listening party. The host was Marvin Etzioni,
who provided a bit of historical context—including playing the truly dreadful
“Sie Liebt Dich,” the
Beatles’ “She Loves You” in German—before dropping the needle on a vinyl copy
of The Beatles’ Second Album, in
glorious monaural. It was almost as good as being 10 years old again, listening
at home alone in my bedroom.
Surprisingly, the 200-seat
theater was nearly full. The audience obviously dug the music, applauding after
every song. But I noticed it was mostly people of a certain age (e.g., us) who really
rocked out. Air drums seemed to be the instrument of choice. (Guilty!)
Afterwards, Etzioni led an animated Q&A session with Jack Oliver, former
president of Apple Records,
and Brian Kehew, co-author of the book Recording the Beatles. They explained why the record was released exclusively in the U.S., briefly debated the differences between the British and American versions of the Beatles' albums, and
described the advantages of mono vs. stereo,
among lots of other things. What a perfect way to spend a Tuesday evening.
I was 14 when I attended my first rock concert. It was 1968 and the venue was the Hollywood Bowl—back then, the only place in town to see large concerts. The headlining act was the Rascals, the #1 rock group at the time. My “date” was an older friend of the family, who I couldn’t stand. But he had a driver’s license and a car of his own, so I agreed to go with him. I was too young to see the Beatles play the Bowl in the early 1960s. I was not going to miss the Rascals.
Originally called the Young Rascals, the group started as an East Coast cover band that mostly played other people’s songs, like “Mustang Sally” and “Good Lovin’.” They also wore ridiculous Buster Brown outfits, for which they were probably most famous. (See Steven Van Zandt’s tribute below.) By the time I became a fan, the Rascals were singing their own songs and had abandoned their knickers.
The four band members—Eddie Brigati (vocals), Felix Cavaliere (keyboards), Gene Cornish (guitar), and Dino Danelli (drums)—went their separate ways in the early 1970s. Felix, in particular, achieved legendary status among rock aficionados who still mourned the loss of the Rascals, while Dino went on to become one of the greatest drummers in the history of rock-n-roll. Then, in 1988, everyone but Eddie reunited briefly for a national tour. Tim and I saw them at the old California Theater in San Diego. They played their hearts out, even though there were only about 100 people in the audience. Theirs was one of the best concerts I’ve ever seen.
Last year, the entire band got back together again for Once Upon a Dream, a “bioconcert” that incorporates film clips, a narrative, and live performances by the Rascals. After playing on Broadway, the show is now touring the U.S., with a stop later this week at L.A.’s Greek Theater. The Grammy Museum hosted a very special interview event with the group, Monday night. Needless to say, it was historic. The woman sitting in front us burst into tears as soon as the guys took the stage.
Bob Santelli, executive director of the museum, conducted the interview in the sold-out 200-seat Clive Davis theater. They talked about the New Jersey music scene in the 1960s and how the Rascals evolved into one of the best blues/rock bands of its time. At one point, Santelli mentioned their Hollywood Bowl appearance in 1968 and asked the audience if anyone had been there. I was the only person who raised her hand.
“Did anyone see the Rascals play the Hollywood Bowl?” he asked again, as the houselights went up.
“ME!” I yelled, waving my hand. “I SAW THEM AT THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL!”
“How was the concert?” Santelli then asked, as all four Rascals peered my way.
“Yes, and the Shondells!” I echoed, suddenly remembering the third group I saw 45 years ago! “YOU GUYS WERE WONDERFUL!!”
After all the talking ended, the band took the stage and played four songs, plus an encore. They sounded phenomenal (see snippet below). I can hardly wait to see them again on Thursday at the Greek Theater.
"It's a Beautiful Morning" at the Grammy Museum
P.S. It's now Friday morning and I have a rock-n-roll hangover. The concert at the Greek was fabulous. My head is swimming in Rascals music.
On the way to our seats, we ran into two separate sets of friends. "I knew it was going to be nothing but old people here tonight!" one friend (our age) said, laughing.
A week ago, we would have worn shorts and tanktops. Last night, it was all sweatshirts and wool scarves. But it didn't matter. We loved the Rascals and they loved us right back. Like the song says, the concert was absolutely WONDERFUL!
When you are happy
Every place feels like home
'Cuz you're never alone.
There's much to be said
But it's all in your head.
IT'S WONDERFUL!
AIN'T IT GROOVY?
"It's Wonderful" (album cut)
"How Can I be Sure?"—the show-stopper and the song
One of the perqs of being
members of the Grammy Museum is that we’re occasionally invited to members-only
events, including the openings of their special exhibits. In the past, the
Museum has featured exhibits on John Lennon and George Harrison.
Now it’s Ringo's turn—yay!
The exhibit, “Ringo: Peace & Love,” opened last week. We were among the
first to see it.
Needless to say, I love
Ringo.
Of all the Beatles, he’s the one who has been the most matter-of-fact about his
life, growing up poor in post-war Liverpool and then suddenly, in the 1960s,
being thrust onto the world stage as part of history’s most influential
pop-rock band. The exhibit touches on his early days as the drummer for Rory Storm and the Hurricanes as well as the far more famous years that followed. There are photos, letters,
album covers, lots of videos, two drum kits, and even a booth where you can
sing-along with Ringo on “Octopus’s Garden.” But think twice about pushing the record button: you may just discover how terrible a singer you are. Thank goodness the booth is soundproof.
Below are just a few of
the many items we saw, before Tim was yelled at for taking pictures. The event
was crowded, so I’ll be returning this summer during a slow weekday when I can have
Ringo all to myself.
