The Promised Land

1

If this were still the sixties and you asked me my favorite album of all time I’d say Jan & Dean’s "Command Performance".

From the time I was a tyke my mother used to take us to Jennings Beach on Long Island Sound.  We’d pile into the early fifties faded green Chevrolet, I’d stand up in the front seat, head touching the liner on bumps, and in ten minutes we’d be there.  My mother would spread a blanket that was too ratty to still be used on a bed, she’d unpack shovels, buckets and sifters, and we’d dig and swim until the sun went down.  Sometimes my father would meet us there with Kentucky Fried Chicken and doughnuts.

One of the big thrills of the beach was walking to the pavilion with a quarter to buy refreshments.  That’s all we got, twenty five cents.  You could blow it all on a hot dog.  Or an ice cream and some candy.  But what enticed me, what ENRAPTURED me, was the french fries.  Even though it was blisteringly hot, the sight of people walking by me with those golden-fried potatoes with blood red ketchup strung on top sparked a desire in my heart that wouldn’t wane until I had my own serving.

I’d walk past the pit, where the teenagers hung out, the sand sometimes blistering my feet, and finally make it to the concrete structure.  Where I’d struggle to peer over the counter, to catch the attention of an adult, to get them to sell me my french fries.  And while I waited, while high schoolers elbowed me out, I’d be exposed to the music blaring from the giant transistor radio suspended in the air.  And the one song that was almost as good as the french fries, that I couldn’t get over, was "The Little Old Lady From Pasadena".

Oh, the VOCALS!  Even at this tender age, I knew the song was stupid.  But the changes, they were akin to orgasms, if I’d known what orgasms were.  I needed to own this record.  But I couldn’t rationalize 45s.  They just weren’t a good deal.  I figured I’d buy an ALBUM!  And get a whole DISH of Jan and Dean.  So I bought "Command Performance".

Two girls for every boy!

The only popular music my father ever liked was the Moody Blues’ "Days Of Future Passed".  But he couldn’t get over, was FASCINATED by, my addiction to "Surf City".  Every morning, as soon as I woke up, I’d drop the needle on "Command Performance" and the above lines, amidst the sound of screaming girls, would come pouring out of the speakers.  My father would walk by my door smiling and say TELL ‘EM I’M SURFING!  It made me feel good all over, that somehow listening to this record was APPROVED, ENCOURAGED!

Yes, the version of "Little Old Lady From Pasadena" on "Command Performance" was a live one.  But that didn’t bother me.  The record had so much ENERGY!  But the one song I discovered on "Command Performance" that I’d never heard before, that hooked me, was "The Theme From The T.A.M.I.  Show".  Yes, Jan & Dean hosted this concert movie, featuring the greatest acts on earth, which never seemed to play in my town, but if only I could SEE IT, my life would be complete.

I can sing every line of "The Theme From The T.A.M.I. Show", the lyrics are in my DNA.  And when I peered out the window of the Mammoth Mountain Inn at 6:30 this morning and saw the stream of skiers striding toward the lift, I started to sing THEY’RE COMING FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD!

2

Rattlesnake speedway in the Utah desert

Sure, "Darkness On The Edge Of Town" is a New Jersey album, but every time I hear the above line I think of Southern Utah.  A place you never want to stop, even in the burgs with McDonald’s restaurants and gas stations.  It’s flat and desolate and hot.  It’s the kind of place you die.  That’s what I think of when I think of the desert.  I don’t think of Southern California.  But just shy of Mojave Felice looked at the instrument panel and said IT’S A HUNDRED AND FOUR DEGREES!

We were cruising along in air-conditioned comfort.  Towering mountains in the distance.  I figured it was in the sixties.  Temperatures over a hundred degrees in the middle of nowhere are SCARY!  And then, when it hit 108, I told myself they DO call it the Mojave Desert.

Stopping in the towns along the way I endured heat as hot as I’ve ever experienced in these United States.  It made no sense, it was a disconnect, how could we be going SKIING?

But that was what we were doing.  Here two days after the first day of summer.  It made no sense, it didn’t compute.  Felice didn’t really believe we’d find snow.  But I knew they wouldn’t be open if there wasn’t a substantial base.  This was going to work.

And when we finally made it to the Mammoth Mountain Inn it was still seventy degrees.  But there were ribbons of snow all over the mountain, I started to feel my heart beat faster, I was EXCITED!

3

It’s early in the morning
Don’t you know it’s early in the morning
Early in the morning
I ain’t got nothin’ but the blues

One of the great albums of all time, which has been completely forgotten, is "Nilsson Schmilsson".  Famous for the big hit cover of Badfinger’s "Without You" and "Coconut", it’s the ALBUM TRACKS that enrapture you.  Listen to "Gotta Get Up" and "Jump Into The Fire" and you’ll know why John Lennon wanted to work with Harry.

But if you buy "Nilsson Schmilsson" on my recommendation, and you should, be sure to check out "Early In The Morning".  It’s the song you imagine is playing in the background when Harry is opening the refrigerator door in the black and white photograph on the cover of the album.

I’ve been going to bed earlier recently.  Between 1:30 and 2.  For years it was four a.m.  So, you can imagine what it’s like for me to wake up at 6:30.  But the desk clerk said the snow no longer froze, it never got below the forties at night, and we should hit the slopes when they opened, at 7.

4

So, at 7:30, after Felice had rented skis, we found ourselves in a lift line with a bazillion ski racers, out of school wearing their stretch outfits.

But it wasn’t only them.  There were Japanese tourists, dressed so heavily they were prepared for a blizzard.  These people all lived in an alternative universe, where the primary thing one does in one’s life is ski, it’s paramount, it’s the only thing that really matters.

I used to be this way.  This is not the first time I’ve skied in the summer.  But it’s been literally DECADES since I’ve done this.  Then I met Felice.  Although she went to Vail every Christmas with her family, she hadn’t been on snow for a decade.  But I told her she had to get back out there, I INSISTED she get back out there, that that was the most important thing, BEING OUT THERE!

You feel so fucking great, so alive.  I could be back in L.A., sitting in front of my computer, but instead I’m way up here in the Sierras, with two planks strapped to my feet, feeling the gentle cool breeze.

Felice caught the bug.  She keeps saying she’s worried she’s going to forget how to do it, that we need to go.  I say it’s like riding a bike, but you know what it’s like to be involved with someone who wants to DO THINGS??  People get older and they find excuses.  Stepping out the front door is too much of a risk.  So, I pick up on Felice’s suggestions and we GO!

And as we started to slide down, we were laughing.

Not that it was too good.  Hell, on the slide of the slope, there were even rocks.

But then we hit the saddle.  It was HEAVENLY!

We covered all the lower mountain runs, before they got cooked out, and then we took the gondola to the top.  Where we skied a narrow strip of snow akin to a roller coaster drop and found ourselves atop Cornice Bowl.  Where I couldn’t help but WHOOP as I flew down.  We did it again.  And then I thought it was time.  Time for Felice to ski with the big boys.  Time to tackle Climax.

Climax is a double black.  With rocks in the middle.  So steep that it slid back in April.  Yup, an AVALANCHE.  Thank god no one was buried.  And you’ve got to drop in off a lip.  And there are a zillion bumps once you’re committed.  And Felice slid in and started turning through the giant clumps of Maypo on this slope steeper than anything they even HAVE at Vail and I become elated.  This kind of girlfriend you can’t FIND!

We alternated.  Cornice, then Climax again.  We couldn’t believe it.  It was summer and we were out here SKIING!  And it was DAMN GOOD!

5

And we’re skiing and looking at the clock and it’s like being in an alternative universe.  Usually I’m ASLEEP at this hour.

And just shy of 11, Felice had had it.  She was tuckered out.  She needed a break.  I told her to walk up to the sundeck, which we had to walk DOWN TO in April, and I’d go back to the top and make one more run and then join her.

It wasn’t quite the same without her.  I didn’t have quite the same zest, the same zeal.  But, after picking my way down, I placed my skis in the snow and went up to the sundeck too.

And the speakers are blasting sixties music.  Yup, what comes on but "I Get Around".

That’s one of the reasons I BOUGHT "Command Performance", it had a cover of "I Get Around".  Oh, I eventually bought the Beach Boys’ "All Summer Long", but I couldn’t afford EVERY record.

And there’s not a cloud in the sky.  And on one side of us people are sliding down the snow and to the other tourists are walking in flip-flops and the only sensation I had was HOW FUCKING GREAT IT IS TO BE ALIVE!

We sat and listened to the music, eating lunch, and then we buckled our boots, strapped on our skis and got back on the lift.  It was just too fucking good.

3 Responses to The Promised Land »»


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  1. Comment by Larry Sloven | 2006/06/26 at 19:01:39

    The writer of "The Theme from the TAMI Show (From All Over the World)", PF Sloan, has a new album coming out on Aug 22 on HighTone Records. It contains new versions of some of his great songs from the ’60s including "Eve of Destruction," "The Sins of a Family", "Where Were You When I Needed You" and "Halloween Mary." BTW, he still seems slightly embarrassed by his mention of "The Rolling Stones from Liverpool" in "The Theme from the TAMI Show."

    PF Sloan was a mythical figure from my youth in Los Angeles who reappeared (to me) about six months ago with an incredible new CD and some great stories from the golden age of LA rock. He started in the surf genre with the Fantastic Baggys (he wrote the classic "Summer Means Fun" which was later covered by Bruce (Johnston) and Terry (Melcher) and the Legendary Masked Surfers whose members included Leon Russell and Brian Wilson). He sang the falsetto lead on Jan and Dean’s "Little Old Lady from Pasadena" and a number of other Jan and Dean hits.

    When a transformation in the scene occured in the mid 60s, PF made the transition to folk rock and was the key creative force at Dunhill Records behind artists such as Barry McGuire (wrote and produced), the Grassroots (sang lead and produced), and the Mamas and the Papas (played guitar on their hits), and on his own as one of the original, what we now call, singer-songwriters. He made two brilliant albums for Dunhill under his own name. Oh—and just for good measure, he wrote "Secret Agent Man."

    He pretty much disappeared from the music business for over 30 years, but I am happy to say he is back with wonderful new songs, and finally about to start live touring for the first time in his career (tour starts August 24 at Joe’s Pub in NYC).

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  3. Comment by Fred Vail | 2006/06/26 at 19:02:24

    Hi, Bob,

    What a delight to receive your e-mail regarding Jan and Dean’s fabulous ‘live’ album, "Command Performance." While not quite as legendary as The Everly Brothers, nor, perhaps, as influential, Jan & Dean were–at one time–easily the #1 vocal duet in the country and Jan, along with longtime partner, Lou Adler, was one of the first artists to step out from behind the microphone and into the control room, where they produced many of those fabulous hit songs of the late 50’s, early and mid-60’s.

    What you may not know, however, is how the "Command Performance" album came about. Back in the early 60’s, and prior to "Surfin’ USA," "Little Deuce Coupe" and "Surfer Girl," The Beach Boys actually opened for Jan and Dean. That billing would be reversed during the late spring and summer of 1963, but the fact is that Jan and Dean (and Jan and Arnie) actually predated The Beach Boys by nearly three solid years.

    I had first met Jan & Dean nearly three years before I produced my first of hundreds of Beach Boys concerts, May 24, 1963, at the Sacramento Memorial Auditorium. Just one year prior to that, on May 24, 1962, I had presented Jan and Dean, along with Johnny Crawford, Bobby Freeman, and Smokie Robinson and The Miracles, at a school assembly at El Camino High School in the afluent north area of Sacramento. I was the school Commissioner of Entertainment and, as such, was responsible for putting on the school dances, assemblies, and pep ralleys. I had just turned 18.

    Two years prior to that–in 1960–I had met Jan & Dean when Dick Clark took his American Bandstand on the road to Treasure Island Naval Shipyard–across the Bay from San Francisco. I was working as a gopher at KXOA Radio, a ‘Top 40’ station, along with working weekends as an ‘announcer’ at KXRQ-FM, a jazz station. Only the Top 40 guys were called ‘deejays’ in those days, the other formats used the term "announcer."

    After the May 24, 1963 Sacramento Beach Boys concert I was hired by ‘beach dad’ Murry Wilson as the band’s first ‘advance man,’ setting up concerts and dances throughout the west coast. In fact, I was the first ’employee,’ per se, of The Beach Boys.

    Like you, Bob, I got into radio and records because, first and foremost, I loved great music and I loved being around all those great singers, songwriters, and bands who were making the music– a passion that has continued for well over 50 years.

    In fact, after bringing the ‘boys’ on stage, I would typically go out into the audience and take in as much of the show as I could. The Beach Boys–in their white pants and stripped shirts–were fabulous on stage and the girls would scream at every song and gesture–much like the audiences would do less than a year later when The Beatles exploded on the scene.

    After producing and promoting a dozen or so Beach Boys concerts, including a ‘dance and show’ on November 22, 1963–the day of the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy–I approached Murry and Brian with an idea. To me, it was a ‘no-brainer,’ but to Murry–who was approximately twenty years my senior–and to Brian, it was met with a bit of skepticism. My idea was to record a Beach Boys concert and release it as a ‘live’ album.

    Recording a ‘live’ album, in and off itself, was not an original idea. "The Kingston Trio From The Hungry-I" had been released in January 1959, and two years later, Capital had recorded and released "Judy At Carnegie Hall," the historic Judy Garland two record set that won five Grammy Awards, including Best Album," of 1961. Jazz musicians had recorded numerous ‘live’ albums. However, recording and releasing a ‘live’ rock and roll album had not been done.

    I suggested that we record the album in Sacramento, the city that had really established The Beach Boys as a headlining attraction. I produced the first of two recorded concerts on December 21, 1963. It was the third appearance the group had made in Sacramento in barely seven months, not including the November 22 concert in Marysville, California, 50 miles north of Sacramento. Brian decided to record a ‘second’ Sacramento concert that summer, combining the two for the August 1964 "Beach Boys In Concert" release. It was the group’s first Gold album and their first #1 album.

    Barely a month later I received a phone call from Jan Berry. "Fred, I want to do what you did for Brian and ‘the boys.’ " "You mean you want to record a "live" album in Sacramento," I asked. "Yes," Jan said. "We love that city and the girls scream their asses off up there," Jan replied. Then he added, "work out all the details with Lou (Adler) and lets get started."

    Jan & Dean recorded their ‘live’ album on October 24, 1964. I introduced popular Los Angeles deejay (and a Brian Wilson/Jan Berry co-writer) Roger Christian, who, in turn, introduced Jan & Dean:

    "Fella’s hold on to your girls; girls–just ‘hold on.’ Here’s America’s #1 duet, Jan & Dean." Since the duo often lipsynched at shows, they had me assemble a band for this particular concert. Hal Blaine on drums, Steve Berry on bass, Phil (PF) Sloan on keyboards, and another popular LA session player, Glen Campbell, on lead guitar.

    The Sacramento concert was combined with tracks from "The T.A.M.I Show," and "Command Performance" was born.

    "And now," as Paul Harvey would say, "you know the rest of the story."

    Have a great week, Bob. Always great to get your daily mail.

    Fred Vail
    Treasure Isle Recorders, Inc.
    Nashville, TN

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  5. Comment by Dean Torrence | 2006/07/01 at 14:17:22

    Hello Bob,

    It was a big surprise to see that your favorite album from the sixties was Command Performance

    It was so much fun recording it, it was our first live recording, seemed to work out ok

    And how ironic, just yesterday my 12 year old daughter was poking thru the DVDs and discovered
    The TAMI show, she was torn between watching Sponge Bob or The TAMI Show.
    Being the great parent I am I talked her into The TAMI Show, mainly because I hadn’t seen it in over 20 years
    What a cool piece of film!

    It was great to read about Nilsson Schmilsson, do you know who took that black & white photo on the front cover?

    Just signed up for your news letter, looking forward to receiving it

    Dean Torrence

    PS To find out the answer to the Nilsson album cover question
    log on to jananddean.com
    click on kittyhawk
    click on chapters
    click on chapter 4
    and or
    click on portfolio
    scroll down album covers
    enjoy!


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  1. Comment by Larry Sloven | 2006/06/26 at 19:01:39

    The writer of "The Theme from the TAMI Show (From All Over the World)", PF Sloan, has a new album coming out on Aug 22 on HighTone Records. It contains new versions of some of his great songs from the ’60s including "Eve of Destruction," "The Sins of a Family", "Where Were You When I Needed You" and "Halloween Mary." BTW, he still seems slightly embarrassed by his mention of "The Rolling Stones from Liverpool" in "The Theme from the TAMI Show."

    PF Sloan was a mythical figure from my youth in Los Angeles who reappeared (to me) about six months ago with an incredible new CD and some great stories from the golden age of LA rock. He started in the surf genre with the Fantastic Baggys (he wrote the classic "Summer Means Fun" which was later covered by Bruce (Johnston) and Terry (Melcher) and the Legendary Masked Surfers whose members included Leon Russell and Brian Wilson). He sang the falsetto lead on Jan and Dean’s "Little Old Lady from Pasadena" and a number of other Jan and Dean hits.

    When a transformation in the scene occured in the mid 60s, PF made the transition to folk rock and was the key creative force at Dunhill Records behind artists such as Barry McGuire (wrote and produced), the Grassroots (sang lead and produced), and the Mamas and the Papas (played guitar on their hits), and on his own as one of the original, what we now call, singer-songwriters. He made two brilliant albums for Dunhill under his own name. Oh—and just for good measure, he wrote "Secret Agent Man."

    He pretty much disappeared from the music business for over 30 years, but I am happy to say he is back with wonderful new songs, and finally about to start live touring for the first time in his career (tour starts August 24 at Joe’s Pub in NYC).

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    1. Comment by Fred Vail | 2006/06/26 at 19:02:24

      Hi, Bob,

      What a delight to receive your e-mail regarding Jan and Dean’s fabulous ‘live’ album, "Command Performance." While not quite as legendary as The Everly Brothers, nor, perhaps, as influential, Jan & Dean were–at one time–easily the #1 vocal duet in the country and Jan, along with longtime partner, Lou Adler, was one of the first artists to step out from behind the microphone and into the control room, where they produced many of those fabulous hit songs of the late 50’s, early and mid-60’s.

      What you may not know, however, is how the "Command Performance" album came about. Back in the early 60’s, and prior to "Surfin’ USA," "Little Deuce Coupe" and "Surfer Girl," The Beach Boys actually opened for Jan and Dean. That billing would be reversed during the late spring and summer of 1963, but the fact is that Jan and Dean (and Jan and Arnie) actually predated The Beach Boys by nearly three solid years.

      I had first met Jan & Dean nearly three years before I produced my first of hundreds of Beach Boys concerts, May 24, 1963, at the Sacramento Memorial Auditorium. Just one year prior to that, on May 24, 1962, I had presented Jan and Dean, along with Johnny Crawford, Bobby Freeman, and Smokie Robinson and The Miracles, at a school assembly at El Camino High School in the afluent north area of Sacramento. I was the school Commissioner of Entertainment and, as such, was responsible for putting on the school dances, assemblies, and pep ralleys. I had just turned 18.

      Two years prior to that–in 1960–I had met Jan & Dean when Dick Clark took his American Bandstand on the road to Treasure Island Naval Shipyard–across the Bay from San Francisco. I was working as a gopher at KXOA Radio, a ‘Top 40’ station, along with working weekends as an ‘announcer’ at KXRQ-FM, a jazz station. Only the Top 40 guys were called ‘deejays’ in those days, the other formats used the term "announcer."

      After the May 24, 1963 Sacramento Beach Boys concert I was hired by ‘beach dad’ Murry Wilson as the band’s first ‘advance man,’ setting up concerts and dances throughout the west coast. In fact, I was the first ’employee,’ per se, of The Beach Boys.

      Like you, Bob, I got into radio and records because, first and foremost, I loved great music and I loved being around all those great singers, songwriters, and bands who were making the music– a passion that has continued for well over 50 years.

      In fact, after bringing the ‘boys’ on stage, I would typically go out into the audience and take in as much of the show as I could. The Beach Boys–in their white pants and stripped shirts–were fabulous on stage and the girls would scream at every song and gesture–much like the audiences would do less than a year later when The Beatles exploded on the scene.

      After producing and promoting a dozen or so Beach Boys concerts, including a ‘dance and show’ on November 22, 1963–the day of the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy–I approached Murry and Brian with an idea. To me, it was a ‘no-brainer,’ but to Murry–who was approximately twenty years my senior–and to Brian, it was met with a bit of skepticism. My idea was to record a Beach Boys concert and release it as a ‘live’ album.

      Recording a ‘live’ album, in and off itself, was not an original idea. "The Kingston Trio From The Hungry-I" had been released in January 1959, and two years later, Capital had recorded and released "Judy At Carnegie Hall," the historic Judy Garland two record set that won five Grammy Awards, including Best Album," of 1961. Jazz musicians had recorded numerous ‘live’ albums. However, recording and releasing a ‘live’ rock and roll album had not been done.

      I suggested that we record the album in Sacramento, the city that had really established The Beach Boys as a headlining attraction. I produced the first of two recorded concerts on December 21, 1963. It was the third appearance the group had made in Sacramento in barely seven months, not including the November 22 concert in Marysville, California, 50 miles north of Sacramento. Brian decided to record a ‘second’ Sacramento concert that summer, combining the two for the August 1964 "Beach Boys In Concert" release. It was the group’s first Gold album and their first #1 album.

      Barely a month later I received a phone call from Jan Berry. "Fred, I want to do what you did for Brian and ‘the boys.’ " "You mean you want to record a "live" album in Sacramento," I asked. "Yes," Jan said. "We love that city and the girls scream their asses off up there," Jan replied. Then he added, "work out all the details with Lou (Adler) and lets get started."

      Jan & Dean recorded their ‘live’ album on October 24, 1964. I introduced popular Los Angeles deejay (and a Brian Wilson/Jan Berry co-writer) Roger Christian, who, in turn, introduced Jan & Dean:

      "Fella’s hold on to your girls; girls–just ‘hold on.’ Here’s America’s #1 duet, Jan & Dean." Since the duo often lipsynched at shows, they had me assemble a band for this particular concert. Hal Blaine on drums, Steve Berry on bass, Phil (PF) Sloan on keyboards, and another popular LA session player, Glen Campbell, on lead guitar.

      The Sacramento concert was combined with tracks from "The T.A.M.I Show," and "Command Performance" was born.

      "And now," as Paul Harvey would say, "you know the rest of the story."

      Have a great week, Bob. Always great to get your daily mail.

      Fred Vail
      Treasure Isle Recorders, Inc.
      Nashville, TN

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      1. Comment by Dean Torrence | 2006/07/01 at 14:17:22

        Hello Bob,

        It was a big surprise to see that your favorite album from the sixties was Command Performance

        It was so much fun recording it, it was our first live recording, seemed to work out ok

        And how ironic, just yesterday my 12 year old daughter was poking thru the DVDs and discovered
        The TAMI show, she was torn between watching Sponge Bob or The TAMI Show.
        Being the great parent I am I talked her into The TAMI Show, mainly because I hadn’t seen it in over 20 years
        What a cool piece of film!

        It was great to read about Nilsson Schmilsson, do you know who took that black & white photo on the front cover?

        Just signed up for your news letter, looking forward to receiving it

        Dean Torrence

        PS To find out the answer to the Nilsson album cover question
        log on to jananddean.com
        click on kittyhawk
        click on chapters
        click on chapter 4
        and or
        click on portfolio
        scroll down album covers
        enjoy!

      This is a read-only blog. E-mail comments directly to Bob.