Flamboyant Bandleader entertains!
Paul Schaffer made a delightful appearance over the weekend at KQED (PBS) in San Francisco, to tout a collection of classic Rock 'n Roll clips lifted from the Golden Era of Television - and specifically - the Ed Sullivan Show.
What a nostaglic trip down memory lane that turned out to be!
Ironic, too, when you consider that Paul Schafer shuffles off to the CBS studio each night to head up the orchestra on the nightly Dave Letterman Show at the very same theatre where all the historic live performances were taped each Sunday night for broadcast.
Schaffer looked real spiffy in a tweed suit with velvet trim featuring one wide lapel in midnight blue - and matching slacks - smartly paired with a black dress shirt and elegant tie (in a monochromatic hue which tied the ensemble together).
The blue-tinted shades with the cool square rims were the tip off.
The zany band leader was breathing life into an original piece of mod rocker-style wardrobe once donned by Manfred Man fans way back at the height of the golden era of the sixties during the British Invasion.
The flashy entertainer turned up at the KEQD studio in an unselfish effort to help rustle up donations for the public broadcasting (arts-dominated) studio - and to push segments from the Ed Sullivan Show being offered up in CD and DVD sets s by way of a high-profile fundraiser.
The three discs have been divided into genres with the first covering R& B Greats, Legends of Soul, Sounds of the Cities (more soul) and Fabulous Females.
The second package offers up Folk Rock, Groovy Sounds (Young Rascals, Turtles, Fifth Dimension, etc.) West Coast Rock, and a full segment on the Mamas & the Papas.
The third takes a searing look at the Bad Boys of Rock 'n' Roll (Stones, Brown, the Animals, Bo Diddley and Jerry Lee Lewis), Gone Too Soon (Elvis, Janis Joplin, the Carpenters, etc.), the Lennon & McCartney Songbook (artists covering the Beatles' catalog) and Great Groups.
The Canadian musician waxed nostalgically that Sunday night was a much-anticipated one at the Schaffer home in Thunder Bay (Ontario) each week as his parents prepared to switch on the weekly variety show.
"The neighborhood kids usually plopped down in the living-room along with my parents and me to excitedly catch the poplular band featured on the show that night," he recalled poignantly to the PBS host.
"My parents were conservative. Dad, a lawyer. And, my mother, a homemaker. But, they were both quite cultured people, well educated folks, who knew everything about the music that was going to be performed live that night on Ed's talent hour."
At this juncture, Paul recalled a handful of the acts that also appeared over the golden years.
"Usually, there was a segment with plate-spinners, or something like that, before the headlining band performed," Paul chortled fondly, as the station cut away to a shot of a couple of magicians spinning plates on the end of long thin sticks.
PBS negotiated a deal with MY MUSIC to put together the eclectic CD sets of the original recordings (and a handful of DVD's featuring actual footagege from the original Ed Sulllivan broadcasts) to be traded off for modest donations during teasers broadcast live on the grossly entertaining two-hour show.
One collection highlighted the British Invasion that was of particular interest to Mr. Schaffer.
The memorable clips of Herman & the Hermits, the Rolling Stones, and Petula Clark - were still captivating to the zany entertainer - and literally brought a smile to the face when looking back.
The psychadelic era - where my musical roots sprang from - included on-stage performances by the heavyweight headliners of the day such as Janis Joplin, The Zombies, the Turtles, the Doors, the Mamma's & the Pappas, and the Beach Boys (to name a few).
The popular surf band appeared on stage in white suits with bold eye-catching ties etched with bright splashy colors as they performed a remarkable rendition of "Good Vibrations".
The host noted that Brian Wilson's (lead singer & composer) mother believed that dogs could tell if a person was good or not by their vibration - a curious theory - that ended up being the inspiration for the chart-topper "Good Vibrations".
As the music churned out, the screen filled up with split images of each band member, walking, laughing, running.
I became friends with Dennis Wilson (the drummer with a mischievous grin) a decade later when I moved to California.
I penned a post last year on the troubled artist.
Post: 11/30/07http://ijulian.blogspot.com/2007/11/dennis-wilsonbeach-boy-blues.htmlThe show touched on the Jim Morrison controversy, too.
When it was decided that the band would perform - Light my Fire - Ed Sullivan was quite adamant that the "boys" refrain from singing the then-controversial lyrics - "Baby, we can't get much higher" - which were an obvious reference (in his mind) to drug use, promiscuous sex, and the notorious hippie lifestyle a rage across the country.
Initially, Morrison - clad in sexy black leather shirt and slacks (tight-fitting) - agreed.
But, once the highly-sexed lead singer started writhing on stage, he proceeded to scream out the words passionately at the top of his lungs, with nary a thought.
Backstage later, when an exec demanded to know why he disobeyed orders, Morrison shrugged.
"We always do it that way. It just popped out."
Consequently, the "Doors" were banned from the Ed Sullivan show in the future.
Ah, it was great publicity for the band, though.
The Doors took their name from a best-selling book by Aldous Huxley which was titled the "Doors of Perception".
In that trippy tome, Huxley explored his creativity in the tipsy-topsy world of pshychaelic drugs.
I penned a post on Huxley, the Doors, and the book last year.
Post: 05/21/07http://ijulian.blogspot.com/2008/05/aldous-huxleyon-mescalin-doors-of.htmlThe PBS collection is being hailed as a cultural anthropothogical look at youth.
The clips, if anything, represent a historical foray into a truly explosvive decade of real (lasting) change.
"Those clips - and the Ed Sullivan Show - were my entree to the fabulous music of the sixties," Schaffer enthused to everyone within earshot.
"When I recently caught the clips once again, the experience took me right back to that moment in the sixties (in Thunder Bay)."
Michelle Phillips of the "Mamma's & Pappa's" applauded Ed Sullivan for his passion and vision.
"Look who he brought on the show. He knew talent and was in control."
When Eric Burdon and The Animals swaggered onto the stage, a multitude of American music fans were introduced to the "blues" for the first time.
The Animals cut quite a fashion swath, too, in their black & white checked suits, black T's, and nifty leather boots.
And, who could forget the images of those teenage girls swooning deliriously in their seats, as handsome Peter Noon sang "Mrs. Brown you've got a lovely Daughter" while hamming it up on camera with eyelashes bashing and a sly wink to boot.
Of course, the appearance of the Beatles (the most-watched entertainment segment in TV history) was a landmark musical event, not soon forgotten by anyone who tuned in to the old boob tube that day to catch their mesmermizing performance on the Ed Sullivan stage.
Sly & theFamily Stone made quite a splash, too, when they stepped into the limelight in Ed's halcyon days.
When the Afro-American lead man - draped in a red sequin vest and baring a lot of flesh -jumped into the audience to dance with the startled guests - all heaven and hell broke loose.
Once he screamed out - "Thank you for letting us be ourselves" - I somehow knew in my gut that life in the entertainment business (and in America, for that matter) would never be the same!
A barrier was crossed that day, thanks to Ed Sullivan, and Americans have never looked back since.
Next time the Ed Sullivan Rock 'n Roll Classics Show broadcasts on PBS definitely catch it.
You won't be disappointed.
As the host piped up at one point:
Celebrate you connection with public television and keep it alive!
InfoKQED.org
Toll Free1-800-568-9999
