All posts by Old Rocker

Shindig, Hootenany, and Hullabaloo

Shows
Hootenany opening title
Hootenany opening title

Shindig, Hootenany, and Hullabaloo were early TV rock music programs. Hootenany was first to air on ABC from April 1963 to September 1964. It was a variety show format and featured mostly folk music type acts. Early 1963 shows were 30 minutes, expanding to 60 minutes when the new season started in the Fall.

Hootenany was a big hit and by 1964 it was ABC’s second most popular program. In the TV industry, that’s a sure sign that there will be spin offs and copycats, and there were. Hootenany magazine and ABC-TV Hootenany were soon on store shelves.

As a side note, Hootenany ran into some controversy when it was rumored that they blacklisted Pete Seager and his group The Weavers. At the time, Seaver Seager had been convicted of contempt of Congress for refusing to testify at the House Un-American Activities Committee (which was later overturned). This was the same committee that subpoenaed Jerry Rubin and Abbie Hoffman of the Yippies in 1967 and 68.

Hootenany taped many of their episodes at college and university campuses. Frequent guests included The Journeymen, The Limeliters, the Chad Mitchell Trio, The New Christy Minstrels, The Brothers Four, Ian & Sylvia, The Big 3, Hoyt Axton, Judy Collins, Johnny Cash, The Carter Family, Flatt & Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys, The Tarriers, Bud & Travis, and the Smothers Brothers.

Shindig logo
Shindig logo

Shindig was next. As the folk music scene faded out, Shindig was brought in as a replacement in 1964. Shindig was more rock oriented. Popular repeat performers included Lesley Gore, Bo Diddley, Sonny and Cher, The Beach Boys, James Brown and The Ronettes. There were several shows at the beginning of the British Invasion taped in Britain that included The Who, The Rolling Stones and The Beatles.

House band and performers included many artists that went on to be stars on their own. Shin-digger dance troupe regulars included Teri Garr and Toni Basil. The house band Shindogs included later to be famous Glen Campbell, Billy Preston, James Burton, Delaney Bramlett, Larry Knechtel, Leon Russell , and Glen D. Hardin. Regular vocalists also included some young talent: Donna Loren, Jackie DeShannon and Bobby Sherman. Darlene Love was one of the back up singers.

Next on TV was Hullabaloo, a NBC musical variety on in prime time. It had a bigger budget and more polished look. There was a different host every week, usually a top name artist, singing a couple of their own songs and acting as MC for the show.

Hullabaloo was a broadcast in color for those lucky few that had color TVs in the 60s, but most of the surviving footage is in Black and White. Many of the Hullabaloo and Shindig shows are still available on DVD and some streaming services.

Powder Ridge Rock Concert

Shows
Powder Ridge Rock Concert Poster
Powder Ridge Rock Concert Poster

I didn’t make it to Woodstock, so when Powder Ridge came along just a short distance from my home, I didn’t want to miss it. The 1970 Powder Ridge Rock Festival was scheduled to be held July 30 through August 2, at the Powder Ridge Ski Resort in Middlefield, Connecticut. 30,000 people showed up, some of them even remember being there, but there was very little entertainment, no food, and no bathrooms. There were, though, plenty of drug dealers.

Tickets were sold by mail for $20 each and the schedule looked great:
Day 1: Eric Burdon & War, Sly and the Family Stone, Delaney & Bonnie, Fleetwood Mac, Melanie, Mountain, J.F. Murphy and Free Flowing Salt, Allan Nichols, James Taylor
Day 2: Joe Cocker, Allman Brothers, Cactus, Little Richard, Van Morrison, Rhinoceros, Ten Wheel Drive, Jethro Tull, Tony Williams Lifetime, Zephyr
Day 3: Janis Joplin, Chuck Berry, Bloodrock, Savoy Brown, Chicken Shack, Grand Funk Railroad, Richie Havens, John B. Sebastian, Spirit, Ten Years After

Local residents were concerned with the impact of the crowd on their small town and obtained an injunction against the festival just days before it began. When the ski resort owner tried to contact the promoters to tell of the injunction, they could not be found, so it looked like the event was never going to happen anyway.

It was a disappointment (I was one who never made it all of the way). Police posted warning signs on every highway leading to Middlefield saying: “Festival Prohibited, turn back”. Somewhere around 30,000 people showed up anyway, although most of the performing acts didn’t, with the exception of Melanie and a few local bands.

Here’s what was written in the Wikipedia about the festival scene:
Drugs were openly sold and commonly consumed at the festival. The famed rock doctor William Abruzzi (also at Woodstock) was there to treat bad LSD trips, and said there were more bad trips at Powder Ridge per capita than at any other music festival he’d ever worked. He attributed some of the problems to the barrels of “electric water” that were available for free public consumption; people were invited to drop donations of drugs into these barrels, creating drug cocktails of unknown strength and composition.

The concert, or non-concert, received extensive coverage from the New York Times. The promoters originally promised to reschedule at a different location, but it never happened.

Chuck Berry

Artists

We have all seen Back to the Future right? Remember that classic scene near the end where Marty suddenly bursts into a fantastic rendition of ‘Johnny B Goode’? Despite dancing for a while, the whole room quickly falls quiet and looks stunned at something they had never heard before. Despite this being a movie, this was the exact attitude back in the 1950s. They weren’t ready for the crazy music that Chuck Berry was going to be pumping out, although just a few short years later, he was a pioneer of the ‘Rock’ craze, and the face of music would be changed completely forever. Let’s take a little look at his contribution that he made to the music industry.

Chuck Berry
Chuck Berry

If there ever was a pioneer of Rock Music back in the 1960s, it was Chuck Berry. Whilst in the past, rhythm and blues music was rather toned down, Chuck practically reinvented the genre. Not only did he make the music much more upbeat, but he crafted lyrics that were able to appeal to the younger generation. Gone were the slow rock ballads declaring undying love for somebody, in were songs which talked about culture, cars and life at school, all in a fairly humorous way. It really is easy to see how the great man was able to touch a generation. This is a practice which continues to today.

This isn’t all though. Chuck Berry was one of the first musicians ever to take a guitar beyond a simple instrument. There is no denying that Chuck was a great guitarist, he still appears on lists of some of the greatest guitarists of all time right now, however, up until that point guitar took a back seat in much music. It was there, but you just didn’t really think about it. However, Chuck turned this completely on its head. He started to breath life into the guitar, he started incorporating guitar solos into his music, and showmanship like had never been seen before. Who can honestly forget his ‘duck walk’? All rock music since then has incorporated guitars in this way. No longer is it that uncool instrument that takes a back seat. It is often the driving force behind most modern rock music, and one of the most popular instruments in the world. It all started with Chuck, and almost all music nowadays will use variations of licks that Chuck Berry created. He really was that great at changing the face of the genre.

Chuck Berry was one of the pioneers of rock and roll music, and his influence on the genre cannot be overstated. He was known for his energetic performances, catchy guitar riffs, and clever lyrics that often spoke to the experiences of teenagers at the time.

In recognition of his contributions to rock and roll, Chuck Berry was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986. The Hall of Fame, which is located in Cleveland, Ohio, was established in 1983 to celebrate and preserve the legacy of rock and roll music.

Berry’s induction into the Hall of Fame was a fitting tribute to a man who had helped shape the course of popular music. He was one of the first musicians to incorporate elements of rhythm and blues, country, and swing into his music, creating a sound that was uniquely his own.

Throughout his career, Chuck Berry had numerous hits, including “Johnny B. Goode,” “Roll Over Beethoven,” and “Maybellene.” His music continues to be celebrated today and has influenced countless musicians who followed in his footsteps.

In addition to his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Chuck Berry received many other honors during his lifetime, including a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1984. He passed away in 2017, but his music and legacy live on.

More on Chuck Berry:  We’ve posted a transcript of an interview with John Brewer who directed the 1998 film “Chuck Berry” here.

Chubby Checker

Artists

 

Chubby Checker is an American rock icon. He became the father of the Twist with his 1960 hit cover of a Hank Ballard’s tune. “The Twist” never hit it big for Ballard but from September 2008 until August 2013, “The Twist” topped Billboard’s list of the most popular singles in the Hot 100 of all time.

The Twist’s main claim to fame was that it was the first popular modern dance where partners danced apart to the beat. Chubby takes credit for the change and said “Anyplace on the planet, when someone has a song that has a beat, they’re on the floor dancing apart to the beat. And before Chubby Checker, it wasn’t here.”. As if the Twist wasn’t enough, he also pioneered “The Jerk”, “The Hully Gully”, “The Boogaloo” and “The Shake”. And he was part of the power behind “The Fly”, “The Pony”, “The Hucklebuck”, and “The Limbo”.

Chubby Checker Twist Album
Chubby Checker Twist Album

 

I had a chance to see Chubby in concert in 2014. He’s still going strong at 70 and devotes a section of his performance to how “The Hucklebuck” was written and why he was never able to perform it on stage. The dance involves pelvic movement that was censored in the 60s but acceptable now.

Chubby’s dominance of the pop record scene was so great that he still holds the distinctions of:
-Having five albums in the Top 12 at the same time, a feat that hasn’t been matched to this day.
-Being the only artist to have a song hit #1 twice.
-And being the only artist to have 9 double sided hits.

Born as Ernest Evans in Spring Gulley, South Carolina, his family moved to South Philadelphia. He put together a street-corner harmony group later took piano lessons at Settlement Music School. He clowned around by mimicking some of the big voices of the time, Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Fats Domino.

How Chubby Checker Got His Name

His boss at the meat market where he worked was impressed with his impressions and contacted Dick Clark. It didn’t lead to a show appearance right away, but Dick Clark recorded some of his imitations in 1958 as a novelty Christmas tune that he used as a Christmas greeting. The tune, called “The Class” won him a recording contract and was released to the public. At the recording session, Barbara Clark asked him if he had a nickname to record under. He said that his friends called him “Chubby” and, as he had just been mimicking Fats Domino, Barbara suggested Chubby Checker. He had a new name!

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Controversy

Despite all of his hits and dance creations, Chubby has been passed over by The Rock and Roll hall of Fame and he’s not happy about it. I can’t blame him! In the July 28, 2001 issue of Billboard Magazine, he bought a full page ad that he addressed to “the Nobel Prize nominators and the nominators of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, TV, radio, motion pictures, entertainment, entertainers, and the general public at large, world wide.” It rambles a bit but finishes up with “I want my flowers while I’m alive. I can’t smell them when l’m dead. The people that come to see the show have given me everything. However l will not have the music business ignorant of my position in the industry. Dick Clark said, and l quote, “The three most important things that ever happened in the music industry are Elvis Presley, the Beatles and Chubby Checker”. Now l ask you. Where is my more money and my more fame? God bless and have mercy. You know I love you.”

Chubby was in the news again in 2013 when he sued Hewlett-Packer for an app named “The Chubby Checker” that estimated a guy’s penis size based on his shoe size. Someone should have known better, especially in a company as big as HP. The App is gone, Chubby is happy to see it go, and I can imagine that HP is still embarrassed over it.