Frank Zappa on the Steve Allen Show - (1963)

Much has been written and said about the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Beatles legendary first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. But, eleven months before that occasion, Steve Allen was already looking for the next big musical sound. In this March 4, 1963 broadcast Mr. Allen looks on as Frank Zappa, later of the Mothers of Invention, plays a pair of bicycles with drumsticks, proving that percussion can be found anywhere.

And, as if that isn't enough to impress the audience, he then proves that a bicycle’s handlebars can also be used as a wind instrument. The result on the audience is comical, and Mr. Allen is, of course, making sport of the whole thing. But watch Frank Zappa.

Throughout the whole ordeal; which at times it must have been; he has a gleam in his eye, as if he can already see and hear the future direction which pop music will take in just a few more years. Those discordant sounds emanating from the bicycles are the birth cries of a new genre of music called Heavy Metal. 

The cacophony of sound made on the Steve Allen Show that night would pale in comparison to the later sounds of super groups such as The Who, Led Zeppelin, and Cream. But, listen closely; you can hear the train of musical change coming in this unique performance by Frank Zappa. He was a most unusual man…

"Something In the Air" - Thunderclap Newman (1969)

"Something In the Air” is one of those songs which linger in my memory from 1969. The band was formed with help from Pete Townshend of The Who, along with Speedy Keen, a musician friend of Mr. Townshend’s, who produced their first album. There is a great jazz piano break near the end of this song, which acts as a bridge. The song itself is fairly radical for the times, and was even used in the end scene of “The Magic Christian” with Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr. It’s the scene at the end, the one which illustrates just how far people will go to have money.

The 1960’s was a time when values, particularly in England, were changing world wide. The difference was that in England the British had had such a rough time of it that the older generation was afraid for the younger generation, concerned only with security. The fact that this quest for security came at a time when England was still on rations; which they were into the early 1960’s; never occurred to them as a contradiction. The young saw it as ludicrous; I mean if you can’t have enough food and gasoline, then what security are you speaking of; the security of want?

Here in America, where we had been virtually untouched by war, the young merely wanted to avoid being drafted and sent to war. They wanted artistic freedom and musical change. And that’s where all of the music entered into the equation. The people in power had the money, but the young people had the music, which could be converted into money by the artists, making them somewhat equal with those in power.

Ever since Elvis visited Nixon in the White House, there has been a steady stream of performers; from Bono to Michael Jackson; and no President gets elected without the support of un-elected celebrities to support them and bring in the youth vote. Even if you don’t like it, you have to acknowledge it.

"Who I Am" by Pete Townshend (2012)

Art schools, or colleges, in England during the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, produced some of the most influential musicians of the modern age. From the Beatles to groups such as the Kinks, Rolling Stones and even the Who, these “art schools” played a tremendously important part in the cultural upheaval that defined the 1960’s. With it came the friction between 2 generations; one tested by 2 world wars and an economic Depression; the other born after those hard days were over. It’s almost as if, after fighting for so long, the older generation had to fight with someone, and so the new enemy became the new youth culture.

“A Quick One”, performed on “The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus”, was the initial influence for the later creation of the rock opera “Tommy”. The song had been born of necessity as the group had 10 minutes left to fill an album, prompting Pete Townshend to write the 10 minute “mini-opera”. It is largely autobiographical, as were parts of “Tommy.” This was a very fascinating section of the book for me, as I have always been a fan of “A Quick One”, and having its meaning explained in terms of the author’s own experiences growing up makes it even more enjoyable to listen to. The story involves Mr. Townshend’s growing up in a very dysfunctional home, with his mother having an intense affair, which split the family apart and had Pete living with his grandmother, who was also equally dysfunctional. It was during this period of his youth that he was molested. These early years would come to define much of his life and the choices he made regarding his expressions of anger and violence in his work.

Exploring the early work of bands such as The Small Faces; later The Faces with Ronnie Wood and Ronnie Lane; Mr. Townshend is able to paint a vivid picture of the arts scene in England at the time, and which would then reverberate around the world. His work on his solo albums, as well as the story behind his all too brief collaboration with Ronnie Lane on “Rough Mix” was of special interest to me. That album, which is one of my favorites, encompasses folk, country, rock and even a wonderful number called “Street in the City”, in which Mr. Townshend accompanies an orchestra with his acoustic guitar to create a musical portrait of a city street on a “working day.” I was surprised at the many characters in that song who come from the author’s own childhood.

This is also the story of Jim Marshall and the creation of the Marshall Stack amplifiers, which were a great leap forward as they allowed the musician to recreate, in person, the power formerly relegated to the studio.  Also of great interest are Mr. Townshend’s own contributions to the fusion of light and sound in order to bring to life the visions in his own head and create a “new” form of musical expression.

In so many ways The Who enabled the arrival of bands such as Led Zeppelin, and even Jimi Hendrix, who first came to Pete Townshend for help in creating his sound using the Marshall Stack system. But the music scene was a two-way street, and Mr. Townshend freely admits his admiration for groups such as The Kinks, and their early attempts at rock operas such as “The Village Green Preservation Society” and their later album “Arthur-The Fall of the British Empire”, as influences on his own work.

From Mods and Rockers, and on through “Quadrophenia”, Mr. Townshend hacked out a new avenue of approach to the music of a younger generation. His destruction of musical instruments as a form of aggressive expression became a mainstay of the earlier Who performances, and the author credits the beginnings of his hearing loss to the explosion on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in 1967.

Through his manic depression, drinking, and limited use of LSD, the author is honest and candid about his own failings, and unflinching in his criticism of others when they deserve it. In exploring his beginning interest in the teachings of Meher Baba; which eventually became his spiritual haven; he lends a unique insight into one of the world’s most well-known rock icons.

Surprisingly, though they were all close friends, they never did seem to share the camaraderie of let’s say the Beatles, or even the Rolling Stones. Mr. Townshend puts that down to two things; the first being that he is, by nature, a loner; the next being that he has never been comfortable with co-writing anything, let alone a song. In spite of their many differences over the years, the 4 men remained close until the untimely deaths of both Keith Moon and John Entwistle.

The author has penned one of the better rock autobiographies, and this book stands tall, right alongside them all. Being a rock star has a certain allure, but beneath it all, they suffer from  the same insecurities which afflict us all.

The Blues Mcgoos - Kraft Music Hall (1967)

The Blues Magoos are one of those bands that receive very little credit for the hard musical turn that rock and roll took in the late 1960’s. Hailing from the Bronx amid the British Invasion, you had to have something more potent than just Dion and the Belmonts, as the "times, they were a changin’.”

I’m in the middle of reading Pete Townshend’s autobiography, and in it he recounts the beginnings of the acid-rock scene in London about 1966. He was introduced to Ron Gilbert and Ralph Scala; two members of the Blues Magoos;  and  who were also  interested in the extraterrestrial conspiracy theories of George Adamski, who is considered to be the first human being contacted by aliens from another universe. That event happened on November 20, 1952. It was an incredible claim for the time; and still would be today. That event made him famous but also drew the ire of the military and corporate world, both of which went out of their way to heap ridicule upon him in an attempt to discredit his claims. His works are still studied by UFO enthusiasts today.

At the same time as this, Pete Townshend was also reading “The God Man”, a landmark book by British author Charles Purdom; which chronicles the life of Meher Baba; a Hindu mystic who passed away in 1969. He claimed to be a direct descendant of one of the Supreme Deities, and amassed quite a following during the 1940’s and on through his death in 1969. He believed that man is part God, and was also very opposed to the use of psychedelic drugs as a means to expand the mind.

While all of this may seem to be a bit rambling and unconnected to the video above; it’s not. The 1960’s was a very turbulent decade, one in which people all over the world were exploring their intellectual limits. Some called it expanding their minds, while some just tuned in, turned on and dropped out; and still others went on to achieve a self-satisfaction and inner peace unattainable through ordinary means. For some that meant drugs; and for others it meant spiritualism.

I suppose the only relation that all of this does have to the video concerns the conversation between Jack Benny and the band at the end of their wildly lit rendition of “Tobacco Road.” While it may seem as if the band is putting Mr. Benny on concerning the fusion of light and sound, they were deadly serious. All over the world people were looking at new ways to create the sounds of a new age. More about that in next weeks review of Pete Townshend's autobiography, which brought my attention to the Blues Mcgoos as an influential rock band. Until now I had always considered them merely average, so perhaps, along with Jack Benny, I just didn't "get" it either!