By Brad Gallagher:
Have you ever had one of those times when you were making a meal just for yourself and you had a strong hankering to add some bacon to it? Like maybe a small salad, or a fried egg sandwich? But, you didn’t really want to cook up a whole pound of bacon just for this one small meal, so you went to the pantry and grabbed that little jar that read “Bacon Bits”, opened the lid and sprinkled. Well, that is what today’s post is like. These stories aren’t necessarily complex enough to warrant a full post, but they are still interesting “bits”, as it where, that can be told at a party or at the dinner table without boring anyone to tears. So..
As The Story Goes:
Back before Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel formed the group we now refer to as “Simon and Garfunkel”, they performed under the name “Tom and Jerry”. Some say it was a dog and pony show, but I think it was more of a cat and mouse thing.
Do you know how Elton John and his lyricist Bernie Taupin named their song “The Bitch Is Back”? Well, there are two theories out there, but both have to do with the relationship between Elton John and Bernie’s wife. In one story, whenever Elton was in one of his “moods”, Taupin’s wife, Maxine Feibelman, would say, “The bitch is back!”. Conversely, it is said that whenever Taupin and John were in a room and Feibelman wound enter the room, John would say, “The bitch is back!”. I have heard the story both ways. You be the judge. Either way, it sounds like quite an interesting relationship.
Also, did you know that Jimmy Buffet wrote the song, “Margaritaville” about the events that transpired as he walked home from a bar one afternoon? The song is about his true life experiences on that walk, complete with blowing out his flip flop on a pop top and cutting his heal, only in the real story it was the top off of a beer bottle. But, “stepped on a beer bottle top” doesn’t really flow so that must be why he went with “pop top”.
I’ll bet you didn’t know that Joe Walsh of “The James Gang” and later “Eagles” and Ringo Star of the “Beatles” are related, did you? As it turns out, on December 8th, 2008, Joe Walsh married a lady named Marjorie Bach who’s sister, actress Barbara Bach, has been married to Ringo Star since 1981. So, Walsh and Star are brother-in-laws.
Back in the 1970’s, Alice Cooper formed a drinking club along with Keith Moon of “The Who”, Ringo Star, Micky Dolenz of “The Monkeys”, and Harry Nilsson. They would meet quite frequently in a small loft at the Rainbow Bar and Grill in West Hollywood. They called themselves “The Hollywood Vampires”. The only requirement for becoming a member of the Hollywood Vampires was the ability to out drink all of the other members. Once a person did that, they were in. And although these five were the primary members of the club, there were a few others who joined as time went on. Some of the other members were actor John Belushi, Keith Emerson of “Emerson, Lake, and Palmer”, John Lennon, and Bernie Taupin. And even though there is a very famous photo of Anne Murry with the Hollywood Vampires, she was not a member. Sorry to disappoint.
From 1963 through 1967, Steve Winwood was the lead singer of “The Spencer Davis Group” who’s songs included “Gimme some Lovin”, which went to #5 on the charts, and “I’m A Man”, which hit #10. Steve was only 15 years old when he became their lead singer. Child prodigy, maybe?
Led Zeppelin recorded their song “Ocean” in a house. And if you listen to it carefully, at exactly 1 minute and 37 seconds into the song you can hear a telephone ring in the background, and again a few seconds later.
As talented as Ronnie Van Zant of Lynyrd Skynyrd was, he had equally talented brothers. His younger brother, Jonnie, became the lead singer in his place after he died, and his other brother, Donnie, had a group of his own. And, as the story goes, Donnie’s group was rehearsing one night when they realized the door to the building they were rehearsing in got locked somehow from the outside and they were locked in. They called the cops, as all upstanding young men should do in such a situation, and when the cop showed up he said, ” I have a .38 SPECIAL. I’ll just shoot the lock off like the old west days.” And that is how the group “38 Special” got it’s name.
Did you know that famous actor, Chevy Chase, was also a very accomplished drummer. In fact, he almost went into music instead of acting. You see, back in the 1960’s he attended Bard College along with Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. There in college he was known to play drums with Fagen and Becker in their on-campus rock group, but when they told him that they were going to try to go professional with their music and asked him to be their drummer he declined and continued on to a degree in English. So, Chevy Chase “almost” became the drummer for “Steely Dan”, but not quite.
John Lennon once said that he and Paul never had a legal agreement between them. According to Lennon, they just agreed verbally when they were 15 years old that they would put both of their names on whatever they wrote together. It seems to have been a very successful verbal agreement.
And did you know that Alice Cooper grew up in a Christian household before going into music? Both his father and his grandfather were pastors. And his wife’s father was also a pastor. But, Alice wanted to be a rock star and perused a career in the limelight. However, years later he realized that there is much more to life than fame and fortune, and admitted that even with all of his success his life was empty. So, after years of rock and roll and bad living he came back to God and now he is a devout Christian and prays daily and attends church on a regular basis with his wife and family. He equates his life story to that of the Prodigal Son in the Bible. Kudos to you Alice.
And finally, “Bad Company” was the first rock band to name both a hit song, and the album that it was featured on after the name of the band. The song, Bad Company, rose to #2 on the Billboard charts and the album, Bad Company, peaked at #1 on the charts. It was all Paul Roger’s idea, and a good one at that.
So there you have it. A few pieces of trivia, as it were, that you can use to impress your friends at your next gathering.
Come back and see me soon right here on: As The story Goes.
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AS THE STORY GOES 