Author: chimesfreedom

Editor-in-chief, New York.

The Beatles: “Blackpool Night Out” Live Performance

Beatles Help On August 3, 1965, the Beatles released the album Help! in the United Kingdom, releasing it ten days later in the United States on August 13.  During this time in their careers, the Fab Four were reducing their promotional appearances. So they only appeared on only one U.K. television show to promote the new album, Blackpool Night Out.

ABC TV made Blackpool Night Out, filming the show at the ABC Theatre in Blackpool, a summer seaside resort city with other connections to John Lennon.  The live broadcast with the Beatles ran from 9.10 pm to 10.05 pm.

The Beatles performed several songs on the Sunday, August 1, 1965 show.  They started with “I Feel Fine,” “I’m Down,” “Act Naturally,” and “Ticket To Ride.”

Next, Paul McCartney sang “Yesterday” by himself in the song’s first performance on British television.  The band returned, with Lennon carrying flowers and joking, “Thank you Ringo, that was wonderful.”  The band closed with “Help!” Below you may watch and hear the 1965 show.

Although some thought the video of the show was lost, a video of the show popped up on YouTube recently.

The album Anthology 2 (1996) included fours songs from this performance, “I Feel Fine,” “Ticket To Ride,” “Yesterday,” and “Help!”

What is your favorite Beatles TV appearance? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    John Prine and Susan Tedeschi: “Color of the Blues”

    Color of the Blues

    We recently reported on John Prine’s upcoming album of duets For Better, For Worse and his duet with Iris DeMent on “Who’s Gonna Take the Garbage Out.”  Now, you may listen to another track on the album, “Color of the Blues.”

    Susan Tedeschi joins Prine on the song.  Check out their recording of “Color of the Blues,” which is played over a promotional video for the album.

    The song about a lover’s letter on blue paper was written by George Jones and Lawton Williams. Jones released his original version of “Color of the Blues” on January 15, 1958.

    Below is the original version by Jones.

    Jones recorded the song more than once, and artists such as Loretta Lynn and Elvis Costello have covered it.

    Prine’s album For Better, Or Worse features duets with women artists such as Miranda Lambert, Kacey Musgraves, Lee Ann Womack, Holly Williams, and Alison Krauss. It hits stores and the Internet on September 30, 2016.

    Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    The 1966 Otis Redding TV Special

    Otis Redding LIve

    On September 16, 1966, The Otis Redding Special aired in the U.K. as part of the Ready, Steady, Go! series. In a little more than a year, Otis Redding would be dead in a plane crash, but on this special he showed TV audiences why he was The King of Soul.

    The series Ready, Steady, Go! ran from 1963 to 1966 in the U.K. on Friday evenings at 6:00-7:00 p.m with the slogan, “the weekend starts here.” Keith Fordyce, Michael Aldred, and Cathy MacGowan hosted Ready, Steady, Go! at various times (alone or co-hosting). MacGowan, who became a trendsetter at the time, hosted from 1964-1966 (Fordyce left in 1965), and you may see MacGowan at the beginning of the video.

    In the Otis Redding Special episode, British singer Chris Farlowe and The Animals’ Eric Burdon also appeared on the show.

    During the broadcast, Redding performed, “Satisfaction,” “My Girl,” “Respect,” “Pain in My Heart,” I Can’t Turn You Loose,” “Shake,” and “Land of 1000 Dances.”

    Burdon and Farlowe joined Redding on the last two songs. Additionally, Burdon performed “Hold On I’m Coming,” and Farlowe performed “This Is A Man’s World.” Check out the video where both Redding and the audience appear to be having a blast.

    Redding was born on September 9, 1941. A recent birthday celebration concert featured St. Paul & The Broken Bones, a reunion of the Reddings, and Andra Day. Proceeds from the show helped the Otis Redding Foundation and the DREAM Academy.

    In other Redding news, a 6-CD set Live At The Whisky A Go Go: The Complete Recordings was released on October 21, 2016. The collection expands on the classic Redding album with all of Redding’s performances over three nights at the Sunset Strip club.

    What is your favorite performance on the Otis Redding Special? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Which “Beer Run” Song Came First?

    There are two songs called “Beer Run” that are very similar. Did the George Jones and Garth Brooks version steal from Todd Snider’s “Beer Run”?

    Beer Making Kit Singer-songwriter Todd Snider tells a funny story about his song “Beer Run” and how his song may or may not have been co-opted by other songwriters. A song with a similar title as Snider’s song was later recorded by Garth Brooks and George Jones.

    Having heard both songs, I initially thought the George Jones and Garth Brooks song was a cover of the Todd Snider song. But it is a different song.

    Todd Snider’s “Beer Run”

    First, check out Todd Snider’s “Beer Run.” Snider’s song appeared on his 2001 album New Connection, and a live version of the song appears on his 2002 CD Near Truths and Hotel Rooms.

    This Todd Snider version is from March 2007, with Snider performing at Front Porch House Concerts in Boulder Colorado.

    The Garth Brooks and George Jones “Beer Run”

    In 2001, Garth Brooks and George Jones recorded their version of the song called “Beer Run.” The Garth Brooks song appeared on Brooks’s 2001 album Scarecrow, and it was written by Kent Blazy, Kim Williams, Amanda Williams, Keith Anderson, and George Ducas.

    Like Snider’s song, the Garth Brooks one uses spelling of the phrase (“B double E double are you in” [get it? r-u-n]) in the chorus.

    And here is George Jones joining Garth Brooks singing “Beer Run”:

    Even though George Jones is one of the greatest singers of all-time, the Todd Snider song “Beer Run” is much superior to the other version, at least in my estimation.

    Todd Snider’s Response

    But what does Snider think about the rip-off of his song? In the video below, after telling the funny story of the two songs, Snider shows how he can play the same game.

    Thus, Snider sings “his” new song that just happens to have a similar title to “If Tomorrow Never Comes,” one of Garth Brooks’s recordings that Brooks wrote with Kent Blazy (one of the “Beer Run” songwriters). The video is from the same March 2007 Colorado performance as above.

    Although at one point, both sides thought the other side stole “Beer Run,” they eventually agreed to assume they both were written independently.  Snider did later have a brief encounter with Blazy about the song.

    But Snider has no animosity toward Garth Brooks.  The superstar treated Snider well when he planned to use one of Snider’s songs for his Chris Gaines project.

    Which “Beer Run” do you prefer? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Rolling Stones Sing About Rice Krispies

    Rolling Stones Commercial
    In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones recorded a jingle for Rice Krispies.  In the television commercial, Mick Jagger sings about “Rice Krispies for you and you and you.”

    Folks think the ad was made around 1963 or 1964. That places the commercial around the time of the first albums by the Rolling Stones, including 1964’s The Rolling Stones (called England’s Newest Hitmakers in the U.S.) and 1964’s U.S. album 12 X 5.

    Although the Stones themselves do not appear in the commercial, the ad includes what looks like screaming fans at a rock concert. And the voice is unmistakable. Check it out.



    Leave your two cents in the comments.

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