My Generation of Sun. 06 March: The Roulettes, Norman Beaker Blues Trio [Ed’s Show 2016-10]

Specials:  The Roulettes (Argent, Unit 4+2, Adam Faith), The Norman Beaker Blues Trio ** AND ALSO: The Royal Guardsmen, Bob Weir, Jerry Garcia, The Electric Prunes ** Radio 68: All the sounds and all the voices that made the sixties ** Happy To Be Different  
SHOWTIME Sundays at 12:00 noon  CET (UK: 11 a.m.), repeated 16:00, 20:00 and 24:000 hrs midnight CET (UK: 3 p.m., 7 p.m. and 11 p.m.). Ends 04:00 CET / 3 a.m. UK  (Monday morning)

MY GENERATION  & BLUESIDE: THE PLAYLISTS

NEW SHOW MY GENERATION: SPECIAL THE ROULETTES 
SPECIAL: THE ROULETTES: THE ROULETTES, ADAM FAITH,  UNIT 4+2, ARGENT ** AND ALSO: KALEIDOSCOPE ( 1969) **  MOBY GRAPE (1967) ** JULIE FELIX:  FLOWERS (1967) ** GINGER BAKER’s  AIRFORCE (1970)

NEW SHOW BLUESIDE:  SPECIAL THE NORMAN BEAKER BLUES TRIO
SPECIAL: THE NORMAN BEAKER BLUES TRIO: “Live in Belgrade” album  + Exclusive Radio 68 interview with Norman Beaker ** AND ALSO: CLARENCE GATEMOUTH BROWN (1973), CARLA THOMAS  (1966)** FREDDIE KING **


REPEATED SHOWS
MY GENERATION: SPECIALS SPECIAL THE ROYAL GUARDSMEN ** AND ALSO: JOE JONES ** ZOOT MONEY & THE BIG ROLL BAND ** DEE DEE SHARP  ** 13TH FLOOR ELEVATORS ** THE ELECTRIC PRUNES: cd  CALIFORNIA, 2004* *  NILS LOFGREN ** THE ROLLING STONES ** Voice Malcolm X
BLUESIDE: SPECIAL  BOB WEIR , JERRY GARCIA ** AND ALSO: THE JIMMY ROGERS ALL STARS feat.  Lowell Fulson  ** BLUES KARLOFF ** CHRIS FARLOWE **

MY GENERATION, incl. BLUESIDE: THE SHOW 
MY GENERATION: each week, a new 60 minute episode followed by the previous show, totalling two hours of all the sounds and the voices that shaped the 60s. Each show includes a special highlighting one artist, release, topic or trend. BLUESIDE: a new 60 minute episode every week, followed by the previous show, totalling two hours of the blues that influenced and inspired the sounds of the sixties – from the originators till the present day. Each show includes a special highlighting one artist, release, topic or trend.

SPECIALS 

THE ROULETTES

The Roulettes formed in May 1962 to act as Adam Faith’s backing band while he was touring or in the recording studio. Faith’s management encouraged The Roulettes to embark on their own recording career and by October 1962, the group had released “Hully Gully Slip ‘N’ Slide” b/w “La Bamba” on the Pye label. Initially Faith’s recordings were generally backed by layers of string instruments with The Roulettes sound barely audible, but the beat boom resulted in the group coming to the forefront of Faith’s presentation. The Roulettes warm-up act for Faith was basically R&B and the audiences went wild for the group.
Chris Andrews (who also cored as a solo artist, e.g.  Yesterday Man) became Faith’s major songwriter, composing beat style songs that increased Adam’s ratings in the charts. Russ Ballard and Bob Henrit were called upon to help former Roulette, Brian Parker, on  “Concrete and Clay” as part of Unit Four  plus Two with the single topping the UK chart and becoming a world-wide hit. Ballard and Henrit continued to play on releases of Unit Four Plus Two as well as maintaining membership in The Roulettes. Eventually, The Roulettes went their own way and recorded such seminal beat singles as “Bad Time” (Chris Andrews) and “The Long Cigarette” (Brian Parker, Tommy Moeller of Unit 4 + 2).
Bob Henrit and Russ Ballard joined Unit 4 + 2,  next helped form Argent with Rod Argent. Russ Ballard had a successful solo career, Bob Henrit played with The Kinks.
Source: https://www.45cat.com/biography/the-roulettes-uk

THE NORMAN BEAKER BLUES TRIO

Mijn recensie voor Back to the Roots magazine nr. 97, www.backtotheroots.be
“De voorbije veertig jaar speelden Norman Beaker en zijn groep in hoofdzaak voor begeleider. Hooggewaardeerd, maar begeleider. Sinds een poos, vlecht de Engelse zanger-gitarist en componist rustig  zijn eigen niche in elkaar. Naast de samenwerking met Larry Garner en de duo-cd “Between the Lines” met zijn trouwe bassist-arrangeur John Price,  startte hij het Blues Trio op met  die andere getrouwe, Steve Gibson, op drums. Alle Beaker-ingrediënten  geven present op deze authentieke bluesplaat: vakmanschap, een ruwe bluesstem, uitstekend gitaarwerk, een hechte ritmesectie plus ’s mans bijzonder oor voor muzikaliteit en dosering. De eerste twee nummers tonen die andere, vaak vergeten troef van Beaker, eigen composities die van het bluesidioom durven afwijken en zijn humoristische kant onderstrepen: het vrij directe “Only I Got What the Other Guys Want” en het melancholische “When the Fat Lady Sings”. Beaker heeft zich nog iets eigen gemaakt: eigenzinnige interpretaties van klassiekers, zoals “Sittin’ On Top of the World” (met een zinderende, opjagende  baspartij!) of een omgebouwd “Can’t Be Satisfied”. Het Blues Trio klinkt strak en bijwijlen hard, mede dank zij een stevige Gibson en een ronduit verbluffende John Price.”  © Eddy Bonte
Norman Beaker Blues Trio: Live in Belgrade, JNR, cat.no. JNR002 ** http://www.normanbeaker.com/

THE ROYAL GUARDSMEN

Mainly remembered for their novel tyhit “Snoopy vs The Red Baron”, The Royal Guardsmen originally played entirely different material. They were more of a tough beat band (now called ‘garage’) like The McCoys, at times they even producing  light psych, organ-based tunes.
Radio 68 plays those songs– and their hit…

“The Royal Guardsmen formed in Ocala, Florida in 1966 with Bill Balough on bass, John Burdette on drums, Tom Richards on guitar, Billy Taylor on organ, Barry Winslow on vocals and guitar and Chris Nunley on vocals. They started out, as many groups do, playing at proms, dances and at a local teen club called Johnson’s Beat.In the mid-to-late ’60s, Charles Schulz’s Peanuts comic strip was at its peak of popularity. This had a lot to do with its light-hearted philosophical edge that was in tune with the heightened awareness and social consciousness of the latter part of the decade. The unexpected focal point of the strip was Charlie Brown’s beagle Snoopy, who evolved into less of a pet than a voice of conscience. One of the recurring themes of the Snoopy strips was his fantasy exploits as a World War I flying ace trying to defeat Baron Von Richthofen, aka “The Red Baron.” His doghouse doubled as a Sopwith Camel biplane. One night, while opening for Monte Rock the Third in Tampa, The Royal Guardsmen were seen by a producer named Phil Gernhard, who had been involved in Maurice Williams and The Zodiacs hit, “Stay”. He approached the band backstage and handed them a legal pad with just the lyrics to “Snoopy Vs The Red Baron” with a note that said “give me a military feel or cadence.” After talking for a while, The Guardsmen agreed to give it a shot. They went back to Tommy Richards house and with a two track tape recorder running, laid the song down. When they played it back, the band members hated it, but still sent it Gernhard who loved it. The band re-recorded the song at a recording studio and Gernhard took it to Bob and Gene Schwartz at Laurie Records in New York, who were interested enough to release the song as a single”. Source: http://www.classicbands.com/royalguardsmen.html

BOB WEIR & JERRY GARCIA: two Grateful Dead guitarists
“Bob Weir was a rhythm guitarist for the legendary rock band the Grateful Dead from 1964 to 1995 and later reunited to tour with former members as The Other Ones. Guitarist Bob Weir was born on October 16, 1947 in San Francisco, California. In 1964, he started a band that was eventually called the Grateful Dead, with Jerry Garcia and Ron McKernan. In 1972, Weir put out his first solo album. He also performed with other bands throughout his time with the Dead. After Garcia died in 1995, Weir toured with RatDog, and later reunited with former Dead members to tour”. Source: http://www.biography.com/people/bob-weir-20878671

Jerry Garcia started as a banjo player, playing American folk music. He was known for his guitar playing with The Grateful Dead, but he really was a Multi-instrumentalist”: “He was known as Captain Trips for his prototypical psychedelic persona, and Uncle Jerry for his amiable onstage demeanor. He was adored by Deadheads and jeered by critics who considered his extended guitar jams with the Grateful Dead ponderous and aimless. But Jerry Garcia’s stinging, lyrical guitar sound was utterly distinctive, and his delicate, mournful, rough-around-the-edges vocals helped define the psychedelic music of 1960s San Francisco. He was a cultural and musical icon, his ethos and improvisatory style emulated and expanded on by generations of followers”. Source: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/jerry-garcia/biography#ixzz416F8tgKv

RADIO 68 PLAYS tracks from  Jerry Garcia’s solo album “Compliments” (1974) and Bob Weir’s solo anthology “Weir Here: The Best Of Bob Weir” (2004)