What if you drove a truck for a living? And what if you went from driving a truck to singing in a band. And what if your band did so badly that you were told to go back to driving a truck? That’s probably happened more than once in America. But most of them weren’t this famous truck driver. Maybe you already know which … Read the rest…
Tag Archives: music history
Income tax brackets. Now, those three words should never go together. Because when they do, they inevitably invite confusion, envy, and thievery. And even knucklehead, one-track-mind musicians can figure that out. In fact, income tax brackets influenced the name of a #1 album. That album was called “Atlantic Crossing.” And it was number one on the UK charts on this day (August 30) back … Read the rest…
I read about a guy, named Andreas Cornelius van Kujik, who promoted the occasional medicine show, or carnival, or other cheap entertainment. One of those interesting shows was called “The Great Parker Pony Circus.” And another was called “Tom Parker and His Dancing Turkeys.” Now, that’s not just a medicine show, folks. That’s entertainment! Andreas Cornelius van Kujik was a Dutch immigrant. And if … Read the rest…
I wasn’t even a teenager, and rock music, for the most part, wasn’t played in my Dad’s house. How’s that for an icebreaker? Well, that scenario sets up something that happened back in 1966. A band, named Cream made their live debut in Manchester, England. Just three guys. But they put out some heavy, hard-hitting music. And they had the distinction of having the … Read the rest…
At the end of the summer, in 1972, I drove my ’65 Plymouth Fury back to Texas from Kansas. And a lot of the drive was on highways 69 and 75 through Kansas, into Oklahoma, and then from Tulsa, Oklahoma on down to Houston. It was a long, 12 to 14 hour drive. And I passed the time listening to Honky Chateau, Harvest, and … Read the rest…
54 years ago, today, something stupid happened. And a few people made a bunch of money because of it. Yeah, apparently there were lots of people in America and England who played a part in this event. In fact, I’m sure there were plenty of them who celebrated it. And it wasn’t the only time something stupid happened like that. But I’m not gonna … Read the rest…
John Lennon, that slightly famous Beatles guy, once said the Beatles were more popular than Jesus. And I actually think he might’ve been taken a little out of context by reporters and fans at the time. Because I’ve checked into what he said, and it appeared to not be a statement made out of arrogance. But the way it was blown out of proportion … Read the rest…