Tina and I just back from the Sixties Spectacular at the Tarrytown Music Hall. We both enjoyed it, but I liked it a little more than did Tina, for reasons which will become clear in this review.
Bob Miranda, the original lead singer of The Happenings, opened the show. He was in pretty good voice, and the back-up singers and band were excellent. The group's best known songs from the 1960s - especially "I've Got Rhythm" and "See You in September" - always appealed to my love of harmony. Not only that. Stu Nitekman (later known as Jonathan Hatch) and I wrote a song (one of our first), "Please Don't Cry Little Dove," which was very much in The Happenings style. So much so that the late Tash Howard took us into a studio and recorded a demo. He got us and the song a couple of bites from record companies, but no contract. Here it is, in case you like that kind of sound (that's Stu singing lead, I'm doing falsetto, and Ira Margolis a lower harmony - we called ourselves The New Outlook):
Next up were The Vogues, with original lead singer Bill Burkette, and two other guys whose harmony was tight as a drum and a fine rendition of the original Vogues. "You're the One," the first hit for the Vogues, was always one of my favorite songs. So much so that, yes, I wrote a song for The Vogues (words and music) -- "Unbelievable (Inconceivable) You" -- sold it to a big publisher, and they actually recorded it and planned to release it as a single. Until Reprise Records bought them out from Co & Ce Records, and decided that The Vogues should go in a more easy-listening direction. They did have some huge hits with that new sound. But I never cared for it, especially given that it meant that my song would never be released by them. But here's a rough mix of the original master:
Dennis Tufano, the original lead singer of The Buckinghams, then took the stage. I have no personal or professional connection with the group. But I'll say that I always thought that they had great harmonies and arrangements, and the tritest lyrics on Earth. Their song Susan typifies that, but the sound is so good that it's always been one of my favorite records.
Terry Sylvester of The Hollies was at the British Invasion concert we saw at the Tarrytown Music Hall a few years ago. He was good then, and pretty good tonight. He hits most of the notes, and The Hollies' songs - especially "He Ain't Heavy" - are good to hear again, and live.
And then there were The Lovin' Spoonful - or, what they've now become. Steve Boone, the original bass player and sometimes vocalist, was the only original member in original place. The reason I put it that way is that Joe Butler, the original drummer, was also on stage tonight - but not as drummer. As lead. And though he sounds close enough to John Sebastian, he's just not.
This is no one's fault. It's life getting in the way, as it often does. Zal Yanovsky died way too young in 2002. And John Sebastian's voice is no longer as magical as it was (see the 2017 performance below). But - yeah, I would have rather seen him sing lead tonight than Joe Butler, even though Butler did a very good job on the vocals. Tina and I both loved the Spoonful, but I was little less put off by Sebastian's absence than was she.
Anyway ... here's Sebastian singing "You Didn't Have to Be So Nice" this past August. And, yeah, Stu and I wrote a song very much in the Spoonful style - "Sunshine's Mine" - this time with me doing lead, and Stu and Ira the harmony. And of course I'll put it here right after Sebastian's performance, thanks for asking.
Bob Miranda, the original lead singer of The Happenings, opened the show. He was in pretty good voice, and the back-up singers and band were excellent. The group's best known songs from the 1960s - especially "I've Got Rhythm" and "See You in September" - always appealed to my love of harmony. Not only that. Stu Nitekman (later known as Jonathan Hatch) and I wrote a song (one of our first), "Please Don't Cry Little Dove," which was very much in The Happenings style. So much so that the late Tash Howard took us into a studio and recorded a demo. He got us and the song a couple of bites from record companies, but no contract. Here it is, in case you like that kind of sound (that's Stu singing lead, I'm doing falsetto, and Ira Margolis a lower harmony - we called ourselves The New Outlook):
Next up were The Vogues, with original lead singer Bill Burkette, and two other guys whose harmony was tight as a drum and a fine rendition of the original Vogues. "You're the One," the first hit for the Vogues, was always one of my favorite songs. So much so that, yes, I wrote a song for The Vogues (words and music) -- "Unbelievable (Inconceivable) You" -- sold it to a big publisher, and they actually recorded it and planned to release it as a single. Until Reprise Records bought them out from Co & Ce Records, and decided that The Vogues should go in a more easy-listening direction. They did have some huge hits with that new sound. But I never cared for it, especially given that it meant that my song would never be released by them. But here's a rough mix of the original master:
Dennis Tufano, the original lead singer of The Buckinghams, then took the stage. I have no personal or professional connection with the group. But I'll say that I always thought that they had great harmonies and arrangements, and the tritest lyrics on Earth. Their song Susan typifies that, but the sound is so good that it's always been one of my favorite records.
Terry Sylvester of The Hollies was at the British Invasion concert we saw at the Tarrytown Music Hall a few years ago. He was good then, and pretty good tonight. He hits most of the notes, and The Hollies' songs - especially "He Ain't Heavy" - are good to hear again, and live.
And then there were The Lovin' Spoonful - or, what they've now become. Steve Boone, the original bass player and sometimes vocalist, was the only original member in original place. The reason I put it that way is that Joe Butler, the original drummer, was also on stage tonight - but not as drummer. As lead. And though he sounds close enough to John Sebastian, he's just not.
This is no one's fault. It's life getting in the way, as it often does. Zal Yanovsky died way too young in 2002. And John Sebastian's voice is no longer as magical as it was (see the 2017 performance below). But - yeah, I would have rather seen him sing lead tonight than Joe Butler, even though Butler did a very good job on the vocals. Tina and I both loved the Spoonful, but I was little less put off by Sebastian's absence than was she.
Anyway ... here's Sebastian singing "You Didn't Have to Be So Nice" this past August. And, yeah, Stu and I wrote a song very much in the Spoonful style - "Sunshine's Mine" - this time with me doing lead, and Stu and Ira the harmony. And of course I'll put it here right after Sebastian's performance, thanks for asking.
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