Free Republic

Yesterday’s classic song of the day was the 5th Dimension’s recording of “Puppet Man.” Sticking with the puppet theme, today’s classic song of the day is “I’m Your Puppet” by James & Bobby Purify. Released in September of 1966, the single went to #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #5 on Billboard’s R&B chart. It was also nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Group Performance, losing to the now-forgotten “Hold It Right There” by Ramsey Lewis. James & Bobby Purify were a pair of singing cousins from Florida, James Purify and Robert Lee Dickey. They...

Chubby Checker will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on Nov. 8, but the singer has made clear he won't be in attendance. And interestingly, the Rock Hall is on board with that. At Checker's July 27 concert in Des Plaines, Illinois, the organization presented him with his induction trophy early. Additionally, Checker then explained from the stage in an interview that he purposely had his manager book him a concert for the evening of Nov. 8. "I told my manager, 'Make sure when we go to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the...

The group followed ‘Surfin’ Safari’ with the first song Brian Wilson ever wrote.The Beach Boys caught a wave and rode it into the US Top 10 for the first time in May 1963, when “Surfin’ U.S.A.” reached No.3. After an earlier Top 20 single with “Surfin’ Safari,” Brian Wilson’s adaptation of Chuck Berry’s melody really established the group as nationwide names. But the choice of follow-up single was going to be crucial. By August, following some singles co-written with Mike Love, it was time for Brian to get his initial credit as a solo writer, and for the first time...

Based on a childhood memory, the song became one of the most popular pop country tracks of the late 1960s.Laying the foundations for Westward expansion through dangerous, highly skilled labor, the lineman – a gender-inclusive term within the industry – fills a similar cultural role to that of the cowboy. With a small band of brothers (and now sisters), linemen do what needs to be done to keep the lights on and the phones ringing in their communities. The position isolates this expert technician from family and friends, forcing them to take risks to complete the job, doing so...

The group’s self-titled album represented the antithesis of 60s protest rock.The Bloomington, Illinois, quintet Spanky And Our Gang took their name from Hal Roach’s 30s comedies Our Gang, known in latter-day times as Little Rascals. That escapist implication suited their music, which was commonly referred to as “sunshine pop”: a hybrid of close-control harmony singing with elements of nostalgic show tunes and a whiff of sweet bubblegum pop. Step forward Elaine “Spanky” McFarlane, Nigel Pickering, Paul “Oz” Bach, Malcolm Hale, and John “The Chief” Seiter. In a way they represented the antithesis of 60s protest rock: at a time when...

The song delivered a jolt of reality to pop music listeners all around the world.It was 1965: A year in which Malcolm X was assassinated, American combat troops were sent to Vietnam, anti-war protests erupted, and civil rights demonstrators were attacked by Alabama State Troopers. A collective sense of uncertainty and doom hung in the air. But that July, as “Unchained Melody” by The Righteous Brothers and “Do You Believe in Magic” by The Lovin’ Spoonful were rising in the charts, “Eve of Destruction,” a missive written by P.F. Sloan and recorded by Barry McGuire, delivered a jolt of reality...

The Billboard Hot 100 dated July 4, 1964 showed the Beach Boys climbing to the top of the chart with ‘I Get Around.’It’s one of those lovely poetic facts that the band who have come to represent the spirit of America had their first US No.1 on Independence Day. The Billboard Hot 100 dated July 4, 1964 showed the Beach Boys climbing to the top of the chart with “I Get Around.” The song that it replaced at the summit was one of the early non-Beatles bestsellers from the British Invasion of that year, Peter & Gordon’s “A World...

ANTI WAR PROTESTERS FLYING THE NORTH VIETNAMESE FLAG, RED WITH GOLD STAR; THE FLAG OF THE VIET CONG IS THE ONE THAT’S RED ON TOP AND BLUE ON BOTTOM WITH GOLD STAR

As we age, our balance, stability and coordination can decline. One way to counteract this is to build strength with functional workouts. Functional exercises mimic everyday actions and strengthen the muscles we use regularly, which can help us move well for longer. And when we keep our bodies strong and agile, we are less prone to injury and chronic health conditions. But this doesn’t mean spending hours in the gym or doing complicated workouts.

The Hag’s seventh No.1 featured such great players as James Burton and Jim Gordon.Merle Haggard’s reputation as the champion of the working class was further cemented on May 16, 1969. That day, he was at Capitol Records’ studios in Hollywood with an A-list of musicians that comprised the Strangers, recording the great “Workin’ Man Blues.” It went on to become the seventh in an incredible total of 24 country No.1s amassed by “The Hag” in just ten years. Haggard’s tough upbringing, including time in San Quentin for a robbery conviction, and his unshakeable principles as a man of the people,...

This BBC film examines the myth behind the sixties, which was itself created before the decade was even out but has since lingered in all of our minds. What we have lived with however is merely a mirage and this documentary sets about exposing the truth, suggesting that we are living on borrowed time as a result of those who indulged whilst an unchecked Britain experienced an industrial decline. Looking back on old archived footage and the political atmosphere of the time a case is built against the decade we all consider to be filled with dreams

Dusty Springfield made her way into the heart of 1960s swinging London with the British trio The Springfields. Her solo hits include "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me" (1966) and "Son of a Preacher Man" (1969). After a bout with drugs and alcohol, she saw her career resurrected with the 1987 Pet Shop Boys song "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" and the soundtrack to the 1988 film Scandal.

The quartet were missing the warmth of Los Angeles, but turned that into a gold-certified classic.By the spring of 1966, the Mamas and the Papas were big news in the United States. They’d gone Top 5 with “California Dreamin’’’, released the previous December 8, and were climbing fast with the follow-up, ‘Monday, Monday.’ That was on its way to a three-week stint at No.1 in the US when, on the chart for April 28, the vocal quartet appeared on a British chart for the first time. “California Dreamin’’’ made a tentative first showing in the Top 50 that week at...

In 1966, the remote Spanish village of Palomares found that the "nuclear age had fallen on them from a clear blue sky". Two years after the terrifying accident, BBC reporter Chris Brasher went to find what happened when the US lost a hydrogen bomb. On 7 April 1966, almost 60 years ago this week, a missing nuclear weapon for which the US military had been desperately searching for 80 days was finally found. The warhead, with an explosive power 100 times that of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima, was carefully winched from a depth of 2,850ft (869m) out of the...

The Youngbloods reached widespread recognition in 1969 with the release of "Get Together."Jesse Colin Young, the co-founder and vocalist for ‘60s folk-rockers The Youngbloods, has passed away at the age of 83. Young’s passing was announced by his wife and manager, Connie Young, who confirmed that he died at his Aiken, South Carolina home on Sunday (March 16). No cause of death was given alongside the announcement. Born Perry Miller in New York City in 1941, Young grew up in a musical household and was encouraged by his parents to learn piano from a young age. Attending Massachusetts’ Phillips...

Peter Yarrow who was part of the legendary 1960s folk trio Peter, Paul, And Mary who are best known for iconic song Puff The Magic Dragon is dead at 86. The controversial musician passed away after battling bladder cancer for four years his publicist confirmed. He was the lead vocalist of the hit track Puff The Magic Dragon - which was released in 1960 - as he denied that the song was about drugs for years which is what many had believed. Yarrow staunchly denied that it was about drug taking and has maintained that the actual meaning of the...

Tony Soprano once famously said, “'Remember when' is the lowest form of conversation.” This never dawned on Kiss’ Gene Simmons, whose recent “rock is dead” rant amounted to little more than waxing nostalgic about the days when his band ruled the roost — and revealed his ignorance and disinterest in the current state of the genre. Simmons made his latest proclamation on an episode of The Zak Kuhn Show. When asked if he believed rock was still dead, Simmons replied: "It is. And people don't understand how I can say that when we all have our favorite songs and we...

Vic Flick, the famed British session guitarist who picked out the twangy riff for the James Bond theme song introduced to moviegoers on Dr. No, has died. He was 87. His death on Thursday after a battle with Alzheimer’s disease was announced by his family on Facebook. Flick also played on No. 1 hits for Peter and Gordon (“A World Without Love”) and Petula Clark (“Downtown”); performed on Tom Jones’ “It’s Not Unusual” and “Ringo’s Theme” (This Boy) for A Hard Day’s Night (1964); and collaborated with the likes of Jimmy Page, George Martin, Herman’s Hermits, Cliff Richard, Eric Clapton,...

Late in 1969, CCR closed out the decade on brilliant form as they released their fourth album.Could you imagine a modern-day band releasing three studio albums in ten months and seeing each of them later be certified at least platinum? That was the incredible pace that Creedence Clearwater Revival were setting at the end of the 1960s. Late in 1969, they completed the sequence, and saw out the decade, as they released their fourth album Willy and the Poor Boys, issued on November 2, 1969. Produced by lead singer and writer John Fogerty, this was the record that featured...

Fuller and his group’s version of ‘I Fought The Law’ is a classic rock’n’roll record, but always risks being upstaged by the macabre circumstances of his death.No matter how memorable was Bobby Fuller’s signature hit – and his version of “I Fought The Law” is inarguably a classic rock’n’roll record of any era – it always risks being upstaged by the macabre and never-explained circumstances of his death. Born on October 22, 1942 in Baytown, Texas, Fuller became a noted performer in the El Paso, Texas area to which he and his family relocated. His first appeared on disc...