I post a weekly diary of historical notes, arts & science items, foreign news (often receiving little notice in the US) and whimsical pieces from the outside world that I often feature in "Cheers & Jeers".
OK, you've been warned - here is this week's tomfoolery material that I posted.
CHEERS to Bill and Michael in PWM, our Wyoming-based friend Irish Patti and ...... well, each of you at Cheers and Jeers. Have a fabulous weekend .... and week ahead.
ART NOTES — the golden anniversary of the National Portraits Gallery in Washington, D.C. will be celebrated by an exhibition of rare daguerreotypes— the forerunner to photography, invented by the French inventor Louis Daguerre in 1839 — which is opening today and running through June 2nd, 2019.
P.T. Barnum daguerreotypeDESPITE the USA, Italy and the Netherlands not qualifying for the World Cup that began this week in Russia — more games will be seen on broadcast (free) TV than ever before, on the Fox broadcast channel (where you watch The Simpsons and the NFL), with the rest on Fox Sports cable — and the schedule is listed at this link.
I HAVE NOT BEEN a fast food eater in years, but Wendy's sure has an aggressive Twitter guru. First, they chided Chick-Fil-A for its tweet asking "What could be better than one of our chicken sandwiches on a Friday?" with the reply, "One of ours …….. on a Sunday".
Now when IHOP just made a (publicity stunt?) ‘name change’ to IHOb (not breakfast, but instead ...... burgers ?!?) ... Wendy's chimed-in with another reply:
xNot really afraid of the burgers from a place that decided pancakes were too hard.
— Wendy's (@Wendys) June 11, 2018THURSDAY's CHILD is named Arthur the Cat— one of three finalists in Britain’s Most Caring Cat contest, who helps a 24 year-old woman adjust to everyday life (and living independently) after suffering from serious mental health issues.
Arthur the Caring CatTHIS WEEK the parliament in Argentina is considering whether to allow elective abortions, noting “Elective abortion is now legal for just 3% of women in Latin America and the Caribbean. If Argentina votes to allow it, that will rise to 10%. Women from neighboring countries might come to Argentina for abortions. Other countries might follow Argentina’s lead”.
And lo-and-behold: by a 129-125 vote, the lower house approved the measure, and although the Senate vote is unclear: if it does pass the upper chamber, Argentina’s president Mauricio Macri has said he will sign it into law (despite his own reservations).
EVEN THOUGH the Trumpster has no use for NATO, there may be a new member in the future: as one of the parts of the former Yugoslavia has now changed its name to North Macedonia (settling a dispute with Greece) which was the last hurdle for application to NATO.
SIGN of the APOCALYPSE as reported by The Economist this week (besides its excellent front-page cover illustration you should see):
Austria’s chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, proposed the creation of what he called an “axis of willing” among Germany, Italy and Austria to curb illegal migration. Critics wondered whether the word “axis” ... had quite the right historical ring to it.
FRIDAY's CHILD is named Awol the Cat— the second of three Most Caring Cat finalists, who helps a woman after the tragic loss of six close relatives and friends caused her to fall into deep depression and develop stress-related alopecia.
Awol the Caring CatHAIL and FAREWELL to three noted musicians: noted sideman (and Blues Brother), Matt “Guitar” Murphy, aged 88 ….. and to the drummer of the ‘psychobilly’ rock band The Cramps, Nick Knox— who has died at the age of 65.
Finally, to one of Britain’s greatest drummers ever, Jon Hiseman— who played rock, blues and jazz equally well, was in several major UK bands (Tempest, Colosseum, Graham Bond and John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers) and quit his day job as an accountant only after he was in high demand — who has died at the age of seventy-three.
HAPPY FATHER’S DAY to all whom this applies to (Ed Tracey Sr. left this Earth forty years ago) — and if there is a jazz station on your radio dial: sometime this weekend, Horace Silver’s classic Song for My Father has been played.
BRAIN TEASER — try this Quiz of the Week's News from the BBC.
OLDER-YOUNGER BROTHERS? — TV/film star Michael J. Fox as well as TV star Scott Wolf (“Party of Five”).
Michael J. Fox (born 1961) Scott Wolf (born 1968)...... and finally, for a song of the week ...........................… another entry from the “You may not know their name, but you’ve heard their songs” file — and this would be the songwriter and producer Jerry Fuller, who has written over 1,100 songs since 1957, including two which have reached #1 on the pop charts. He began as a small-time singer, and the past few decades he has had a lower profile, yet you’ll recognize his middle-period work if you are of-a-certain-age … and quite possibly, even if you aren’t.
Born in Fort Worth, Texas in 1938, he did come from a musical family: his father sang with Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys and his mother sang “just like Patti Page” and taught their children singing. She arranged for Jerry and his older brother to sing at talent shows and church functions as “The Fuller Brothers”. Jerry recorded some solo works in Texas (receiving some regional airplay) before moving to California at the beginning of 1959.
After working as a demo singer, he landed a contract with a subsidiary label of a company founded by Gene Autry, recording twenty-three songs (often backed by The Champs of “Tequila” fame, among whose members at the time were Seals & Crofts) with a cover version of the Tennessee Waltz reaching #63 in the charts.
While touring with the Champs in New Mexico that he was introduced to a young singer from Arkansas with Fuller saying, “It took about two minutes to realize his talent. I urged Glen Campbell to come to California, and a few weeks later he showed up on my doorstep”. (Glen later introduced Jerry to his future wife, now of 50+ years).
Jerry Fuller also was hired as a songwriter, and the back-story behind Fuller’s first #1 hit is the stuff of legends. He had written a 1961 song with Sam Cooke in mind, and recorded a demo tape (with Glen on guitar) to play for Sam’s manager.
After Jerry left, Cooke’s manager tossed the tape into the trash, but the bassist for a pop star had overhead the song in the next office and asked if they were going to use that song? “No — here, take it”, fishing it out of the wastebasket. Travelin’ Man became a #1 hit for Ricky Nelson, who asked to meet Jerry Fuller (who wrote over twenty songs for Nelson) before Fuller was drafted into the Army in 1961.
He was assigned to a base in New York, and upon his 1963 discharge, was asked to open up a New York office for Autry’s publishing company. On a solo gig in Albany in 1965, he was offered to have the pub’s house band back him up — and he was so impressed by the British Invasion-sound of the Knickerbockers that he mailed a demo tape back to LA, and received permission to bring the band west, where they were signed. Their hit single Lies hit #20 on the charts and later received the ultimate compliment: Paul McCartney hearing the song and asking, “When did we record that?”
Fuller took a producer post with Columbia Records on the west coast, and was unimpressed by a 1967 demo tape he heard of a band from Washington state (who dressed in Civil War-era uniforms). But upon hearing them in a San Diego bowling alley, he was taken by the voice of the lead singer and decided to sign Gary Puckett and the Union Gap.
Jerry Fuller heard Glen Campbell consider recording a country tune, but decided to record Jimmy Webb’s “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” instead, and Glen gave Fuller the OK to re-work the tune for the Union Gap. And thus Jerry Fuller (from mid-1968 to mid-69) wrote and/or produced songs that outsold the Beatles, Rolling Stones and Simon and Garfunkel combined during that year.
That re-worked tune Woman, Woman reached #4 in the charts, then Jerry Fuller wrote several other tunes for the band: Over You reached #7 and Lady Willpower made it to #2, just for starters. The band benefited mightily from Fuller’s songs and production, yet bristled over his domineering style (at a time when many rock musicians were seeking more creative control). They separated and the Union Gap never reached the heights again (although are now quite popular on the oldies circuit). Gary Puckett reflected two years ago:
“Jerry Fuller was a smart and talented writer and producer and knew how to guide us through those hits. “I wish that I had better foresight in that regard, but I didn't," he sighs. "I was a kid and a neophyte and I wanted to have a little more control over [the music]. But I’m in a good place now, and we’re friendly once again.”
Also in 1968, Jerry Fuller found a jazz singer who had sung with Count Basie, yet whose career had gone south. Convincing O.C. Smith to record some country-flavored material, Little Green Apples reached #2 in the charts: earning a Grammy nomination for Smith and two Grammys for the song’s composer (Bobby Russell).
In 1970, Fuller signed future country music star Mac Davis to his first contract (producing his first album) and one of the performers that he was producing at the time was the veteran singer Johnny Mathis. Jerry Fuller wrote a particular song specifically for him, hoping for a hit … yet Columbia promoted other singles more than that one, and so it languished.
The next year Fuller left Columbia to set-up his own music production/publishing company (Moonchild). And in 1973, he had a chance to use that song he wrote for Mathis: re-working Show and Tell for the singer Al Wilson that made it to #1.
Jerry Fuller (at the time of changing tastes in music) decided to cast his lot with the emerging country music scene, and has kept a lower profile since then .. although writing a #1 country hit for Collin Raye in 1991 with Love, Me that was co-produced …. by the DK legend John Hobbs.
Some of the other performers that Jerry Fuller has produced include Mark Lindsay (Arizona), Andy Williams, Ray Price, John Davidson, Roger Miller and … the Peanut Butter Conspiracy. Among those recording songs that he has written include Lou Rawls, The Kingston Trio, Cher, Ray Charles, Don McLean, jazzman Art Farmer, the Ventures, Dottie West, Barbara Mandrell, Vanessa Williams … across the spectrum.
Jerry Fuller turns age 80 later this year, has been nominated (although not yet inducted) into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and has lived in the same Sherman Oaks home for the past fifty years. And there is an album release entitled Four Decades: A Songwriter Sings His Hits— combining some of his early recordings (from Texas and California) with some more recent renditions of his hits.
Jerry Fuller as a young man ………... and later over the yearsOne of the hits Jerry Fuller wrote for the Union Gap was one that most people fell for due to the lyrics, harmonies and strong vocals by Gary Puckett. Yet it was the underlying, driving rhythms of the song that hooked me as a twelve year-old just learning to play the bass (and still move me, fifty years later).
Young Girl reached #2 on the charts and while it’s easy to imagine the police conducting a raid on the band members and record company personnel were this song to be released today: Gary Puckett recalls its origin differently.
“Most people wanted to think it was about a guy who was a bit shady. But that’s not the case. It was written by a guy who was upstanding and, ‘Hey, you told me you’re old enough to give me love and now I know the truth, so get out of my mind!’ That was the way I always thought about that song.”
Well, either way …………... you can hear it below.
With all the charms of a woman You've kept the secret of your youth You led me to believe you're old enough To give me love And now it hurts to know the truth
Beneath your perfume and make-up You're just a baby in disguise And though you know that it's wrong to be Alone with me That come-on look is in your eyes
Young girl get out of my mind My love for you is way out of line Better run, girl You're much too young, girl
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