Sept 27th in Pop History
On this day in:
• 1964 - The Beach Boys made their TV debut on Ed Sullivan, singing I Get Around & Wendy.
Nothing captured that California sound of the 1960s like The Beach Boys. This music was the fun stuff! Putting on their record or tape made (still makes) you want to go for a ride in a fun car, eat burgers and fries, and go to the beach.
The Beach Boys’ tight vocal harmonies, Chuck Berry rhythms, and songs about the Southern California life-style were a direct response to the British Invasion. In the Beach Boys, America had found a band they could call their own, a sentiment that continues today.
The original group consisted of brothers Brian Wilson (keyboard and bass guitar), Carl Wilson (guitar), Dennis Wilson (drums), their cousin Mike Love (lead vocals and saxophone), and friend Al Jardine (guitar). All hailing from Southern California, they wrote songs about cute girls, big waves and hot rods that were instant hits even in land-locked states.
On this date, September 27, 1964, The Beach Boys were the headliners on the season premiere of The Ed Sullivan Show, (following the previous season with the historic appearances by The Beatles). Taking the stage with hot rods, bright lights, and a slew of screaming girls, the boys set out to prove that America still had a rock and roll heartbeat that not even The Beatles could take away. That evening, they performed their smash hit, I Get Around (Number One on the charts for 13 weeks) and Wendy. (Source: edsullivan.com)
In the next couple of years that followed, The Beatles and The Beach Boys came to have a professional respect for one another. Paul McCartney got to know Mike Love (of The Beach Boys), when they were both traveling in India. According to McCartney, Mike Love gave him an idea for a new song, which Paul took to heart and ran with.
The idea was to have a song based on the Chuck Berry classic Back in the USA, but to tweak it to be back in the USSR. It was designed to be a fun, tongue-in-cheek record, nothing really political or profound. So Paul created the song Back in the USSR, which was included on the Beatles’ White Album. It is a great song, with Chuck Berry style rock guitar riffs, and Beach Boys style harmonies, mimicking Beach Boys songs like Surfin’ USA and California Girls. But with Back in the USSR, instead of California girls, it’s girls from the Ukraine and Moscow. Though the Soviet Union (USSR) government hated The Beatles, the young kids and teens in Russia loved them, and knew all their songs, but especially this one. If you get a moment, listen to Back in the USSR, (link below) and see if you can hear The Beach Boys’ sound, via Beatles’ vocals.
Anyway, The Beach Boys went on to become one of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful bands of all time selling over 100 million records worldwide. They held their own through the onslaught of the British Invasion, to become international superstars, and an American institution!
Give them a listen, on Spotify: (link below)
Endless Summer by The Beach Boys
Now, The Beatles spoofing The Beach Boys:
Back in the USSR by The Beatles
And continuing on Sept. 27th…
• 1938 - Singer/Comedian Bob Hope premiers a new song, Thanks for the Memories on NBC Radio, which became his signature song
• 1967 - The Beatles record I am the Walrus (a John song) and Fool on the Hill (a Paul song)
Also, on this day in…
• 2004 - Phil Spector (eccentric and revolutionary music producer who transformed rock music with his "Wall of Sound" method) was formerly charged with the murder of Lana Clarkson, and later convicted in 2009, sentenced to 19 years to life. Spector had produced the Beatles’ Let it Be album. While incarcerated in Stockton, California, Spector died this past January 2021. His daughter Nicole attributed her father's death to complications from Covid-19, with which he was diagnosed in December 2020. He had been hospitalized and intubated. He would have been eligible for parole in 2024
• 2011 - Tony Bennett became the oldest living person (@ 85 years old!) to top the US album chart when his Duets II album went to # 1. Bennett recently (on my birthday, Aug. 3rd) turned 95
