OLD SCHOOL Redux 4 (Episodes 11,12,13,14)

About once a year when Professor Mikey gets overloaded by projects and time tripping (human flight is possible, you must focus on the negative spaces) we revisit the early sessions of Old School when each episode included around four songs and ran about 15 min. Now that I’m told by the experts that podcast attention spans run about 45 secs I should be seeing the errors of my ways. Still, I hang on to the fantasy that listeners and audio explorers alike enjoy hearing whole songs, even though every Top 40 hit or Underground classic may hit the three minute mark, or even stretch into the unknown that comes with 7-minute tunes. Remember Alan Shepard’s first space flight was just 15 minutes, 22 seconds, two minutes shorter than Iron Butterfly’s “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida.”The original texts that accompanied these early episodes are included below and you can find those shows online at professormikey.substack.com. I think you will enjoy this foursome that includes LA garage, London prog rock, Memphis soul, original blues that inspired Led Zeppelin, excursions into the unknown, and the banshee bop from a St. Patrick’s Day jukebox.That’s the long and short of Professor Mikey’s preschool in the Old School episodes Eleven through Fourteen, where the Past is a Blast!SOMETIMES GOOD GUYS DON’T WEAR WHITE The StandellsThe Standells from Los Angeles will always be remembered for taking their garage sound all the way to number 11 on the pop charts with their ode to Boston “Dirty Water.” Lead singer/drummer Dick Dodd had been a Mousketeer on the Mickey Mouse Club. Larry Tamblyn, on the keyboards, was the brother of Russ Tamblyn who had starred in West Side Story. Tony Valentino had left Italy to go to Hollywood, and Gary Leeds eventually found himself in the Walker Brothers. They are caught on film in “Get Yourself a College Girl,” and “Riot on Sunset Strip” and even appeared in the TV sitcom The Munsters. As far as bands go, they have a great gritty sound and they really capture the summer of ’66, in that precious time after the British Invasion and before psychedelics. Here’s the Standells from their first album and Some Times Good Guys Don’t Wear White…BACK STREET LUV Curved AirCurved Air emerged on the prog rock scene in London in 1969 when members of the band Sisyphus added female singer Sonja Kristina Linwood. They took their name from a Terry Riley composition, “A Rainbow in Curved Air.” The vocals were the last step in their puzzle, but a very big part of their sounds were the sonic violin antics of Darryl Way. The band lasted from 1970 to 76, but time has not been particularly kind to this band. One of the reasons could be sloppy remasters of their CDs. With that in mind, we go back to the original vinyl and hear a forgotten masterpiece.SON OF SHAFT The Bar-KaysThe Bar-Kays were a Memphis soul ensemble that began life as an instrumental group, then faced the solemn task of rebuilding after major tragedy. Four members of the original group died in the plane crash that also claimed the life of Otis Redding in December of 1967. Trumpeter Ben Cauley survived the crash, bassist James Alexander had missed the flight. The group they assembled would back Isaac Hayes on his album Hot Buttered Soul. Cauley and his new guitarist Michael Toles also played on the Shaft soundtrack, which brings us to this cut, recorded Christmas Day 1971 with singer Larry Dodson.OLD SCHOOL #12 Led Zeppelin UncoveredThe Plebs 1964, Otis Rush 1956, Muddy Waters 1962Led Zeppelin is one of the most litigated bands in history. Like The Beatles, it is a big payday for any artist when a jury of their peers finds even a snippet of a song may originated elsewhere. Forget that Jimmy Page, John Bonham, Robert Plant, and John Paul Jones (the bassist who stole his name from a famous navy admiral), might have improved the original. Bottom line, when an artist sells nearly 300 million albums, there is a significant bottom line.The band maintains all titles were researched for proper accreditations. Memphis Minnie was listed as a songwriter for “When the Levee Breaks,” updated by Led Zep 1971, and received healthy residuals. Randy California of Spirit sued over “Stairway to Heaven,” claiming the opening notes were way to close to his instrumental composition “Taurus” from 1968. His heirs were still in court when California passed in 1997. The dispute ended in Zeppelin’s favor in 2020.For a good legal brief on Led Zeppelin in court, check out this testimonial from Rolling Stone.Today we hear three tunes from the first Zeppelin LP that were mostly controversy free. “Babe I’m Going to Leave You” came from a Joan Baez recording of a song written in the Fifties by Anne Breton. Here we get it from the pop prep rambling Plebs. Willie Dixon was correctly identified as the composer of the other two songs, as we hear pre-Zep versions of “I Can’t Quit You’ from Otis Rush and Muddy Waters on “You Shook Me.”The Retrofit Old School podcast is now available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, most anywhere you get your podcasts.BABE I’M GONNA LEAVE YOU The PlebsOne of the amazing things when you spend a lot of time in the Old School detention hall is that songs you always assumed were originals were really covers. That’s right, the walkin’ in the park every day knock out punch from Robert Plant was also the only release by The Plebs back in 1964. Stranger still, it’s a traditional folk song recorded two years before that by Joan Baez. But today we get it post-Joanie and pre-Robert Plant. The Plebs and “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You…”I CAN’T QUIT YOU Otis RushLeft-handed blues guitarist Otis Rush left his hometown of Philadelphia Mississippi when he was 14 years old. He headed straight for the South Side of Chicago, where he began playing in small clubs and working on the legend. In 1956 he was all of 21 when he signed with the Cobra label, where he stayed for three years until the label went bankrupt. Rush’s career went strong until a stroke sidelined him in 2004. British blues took a major page from the Otis Rush book. You can hear him in Eric Clapton and certainly in Led Zeppelin. Here he is from that first Cobra album in 1956, with a song that went to number 5 on the R & B Charts.YOU SHOOK ME Muddy WatersWillie Dixon’s song “You Shook Me” got covered twice in 1969. Once by the Jeff Beck Group featuring Rod Stewart, and another time on the debut album from Led Zeppelin. Dixon was 54 at the time and enjoyed the royalties, which were much more than he received when it was covered in 1962. Here’s that version, featuring Muddy Waters.OLD SCHOOL #13 St. Patrick’s Day JukeboxBelfast Gypsies 1967, Van Morrison 1973, John Lennon & Yoko Ono 1972, The Byrds 1966, Johnny Cash 2002It’s a great time for the St. Patrick’s Day Jukebox! There it is, up against a green wall in a green tavern, blasting out the tunes that made the holiday bubble like the Guinness Stout. Everybody wants an Irish song, so the jukebox is loaded. With quarters.The Old School Podcast begins with The Belfast Gypsies who sound like the Irish group Them with good reason. Brothers Jackie (the organist) and Pat (the drummer) McAuley had been along for that band’s string of successes that spotlighted lead singer Van Morrison. Somehow they hooked up with LA producer Kim Fowley in London in 1966, and formed a band that would produce one album, with the confusing title “Them Belfast Gypsies.”Since we heard Them without Van, it’s fitting we hear something from Van without Them. A lesson in recent Irish history comes next from John and Yoko. The “Mr. Tambourine Man”-era Byrds offer a Scottish/Irish ballad. The closer is from Johnny Cash. What’s a good memory filled holiday traditionally celebrated with alcohol without a cry in your beer tear jerker?Stick around for the videos. Ole Bing himself solves a holiday mystery centered around fashion and Irish cuisine. Roger Daltry and Sinead O’Connor rock steady with the Chieftains, the Pogues reminisce, the Irish Rovers and Dr. Dog sing about The Unicorn. Then get out the green handkerchiefs as Sinead returns to bid farewell to Molly Malone and St. Patrick’s Day.This is a free newsletter so share with your holiday wishes! Also download this episode on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts! Faith and begorrah y’all!GLORIAS‘S DREAM Belfast GypsiesLINDEN ARDEN STOLE THE HIGHLIGHTS Van MorrisonSUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY John Lennon, Yoko OnoWILD MOUNTAIN THYME The ByrdsDANNY BOY Johnny CashOLD SCHOOL #14 Muddy Rock Stars and the Rainbow VigilanteElliot Murphy 1973, Judee Sill 1973, Pete Seeger 1967, Gene Chandler 1963From that title you can probably guess it’s a mixed bag of beloved obscurities. Elliot Murphy released Aquashow in 1973 with a blowtorch of a rock roll onslaught appropriately titled “Last of the Rock Stars.” You are in the song, so don’t miss that.Judee Sill made it to 35. The music she left behind is haunting, beautiful, and full of the life mysterious. Someday somebody will make a movie about her, and it will have a sad ending.Pete Seeger was a lifelong folksinger who walked the walk in addition to singing the talk. He was belligerent and aggressive against anyone who wanted to ruin the earth, deny the human rights of human beings, screw the working man or woman, or send their children off to war. He popularized a song called “We Shall Overcome.” On this episode we have Pete, in trouble with the networks, for singing a tune that felt critical of President Johnson’s handling of the Vietnam War.Finally we get to Gene Chandler, loosening his tie, falling to his knees, and bringing an audience back alive, all by rocking a Rainbow.Thanks for tuning in! Whoever you get your podcasts from, click their equivalent of a 👍! Here are some visuals while you listen!LAST OF THE ROCK STARS Elliott Murphy (1949- )THE VIGILANTE Judee Sill (1944-1979)WAIST DEEP IN THE BIG MUDDY Pete Seeger (1919-2014)RAINBOW Gene Chandler (1939- )Professor Mikey's OLD SCHOOL is a reader-supported publication. This is the 4th collection of early, shorter episodes, and is a great way to introduce your friends to the podcast. Contribution is strictly up to you. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit professormikey.substack.com/subscribe