Friday Blog

I recently came across a “Rolling Stone” archive ranking the 100 all-time greatest rock songwriters. Here are the magazine’s top ten: 10) At age 13, Stevland Hardaway Morris became the youngest solo artist to top the Billboard Hot 100 with his single, “Fingertips”. “Stevie Wonder” would write and record many more sixties hits including “Uptight”. In the early seventies, Stevie became the only artist to win the best album Grammy with three consecutive albums: “Innervisions”, “Fulfillingness First Finale” and “Songs in the Key of Life”. Stevie’s prolific songwriting has continued during the eighties and beyond. 9)  Joni Mitchell’s eleven Grammy awards are very impressive and I understand why she is so beloved. However I question her making the top ten. “Both Sides Now” and “Big Yellow Taxi’ are outstanding compositions but this rock fan can only name a handful of other Mitchell songs. 8) I’m not a huge admirer of Paul Simon’s post- “Simon and Garfunkel” work but I concur with his being named #8.. His sixties compositions such as “Homeward Bound” and “Scarborough Fair” are superb while “The Sounds of Silence” and “Bridge Over Troubled Water” are transcendent. 7) The body of work written by Carole King and her collaborator/husband Gerry Goffin is extraordinary. Carole wrote the melodies while Gerry wrote the lyrics to many iconic songs. “Up on the Roof,” “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow” and “I’m into Something Good” are just three of the many hits the duo wrote. John Lennon observed “When Paul and I first got together, we wanted to be the British Goffin and King.” After her divorce from Goffin, Carole recorded the seminal album “Tapestry” which included her compositions ‘So Far Away” and “You’ve Got a Friend”. 6) Clocking in at number six is the team of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. Like Lennon/McCartney, Jagger and Richards didn’t always write together. “Happy” was all Keith while “Brown Sugar” was all Mick. But, overall, both songwriters had an imprint on the Stones’ top hits. 5) Smokey Robinson’s first successful composition was the 1960 hit, “Shop Around”. He would go on to write sensational songs such as The Temptations’ “My Girl” and ironically Mary Wells’ “My Guy”. Smokey composed a dozen Top 20 hits for “The Miracles” including the epic “Tracks of My Tears”. Paul McCartney said that “Smokey was like God in our eyes”. Bob Dylan called Smokey “the greatest living poet”. 4) In the 1950s, Chuck Berry switched from playing the blues to creating “songs of novelties and feelings of fun and frolic”. Chuck transformed a country song “Ida Red” into his first top single “Maybellene”. His influence over sixties artists was profound. Bob Dylan based the cadence of “Subterranean Homesick Blues” on Berry’s “Too Much Monkey Business” while Jagger and Richards borrowed from Berry’s “30 Days,” to create “Satisfaction”. John Lennon opined “If you gave rock & roll another name, you might call it Chuck Berry.” 3) John Lennon set an example for sixties rock groups by incorporating lessons learned from the great fifties artists including Berry, Elvis, Buddy Holly and Little Richard. After driving through Colorado and hearing non-stop Beatles on the car radio, Dylan realized “they were pointing the direction where music had to go.” 2) The aforementioned Mr. Dylan says of Paul McCartney, “I’m in awe of McCartney. He’s about the only one that I’m in awe of.” John Lennon observed “Even in the early days we used to write things separately because Paul was always more advanced than I was.” 1)  “Blowin in the Wind”, ”The Times They are a Changing” and “Like a Rolling Stone” are a good start to the discussion. Those songs deeply effected many songwriters including Stevie Wonder, Johnny Cash and Sam Cooke. Dylan has written hundreds more songs that are sometimes entertaining but almost always thought provoking. BTW, the Dylan biopic, ‘A Complete Unknown” is terrific. In case you were wondering: “Rolling Stone” places Bob Marley # 11. He is immediately followed by Brian Wilson, Hank Williams, and Springsteen.     Have a great weekend. Rock On !!!!

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January 31 marks the 106th anniversary of the birth of Jack Roosevelt Robinson. Jackie was born in Cairo, Georgia and raised in Pasadena, California. A major influence on young Jackie was his older brother Mack who became a member of  the 1936 U.S. Olympic track team despite struggling with a heart condition. Mack won a silver medal when he finished second to Jesse Owens in the 200-meter race. Sufficiently inspired, young Jackie set his sights set on competing in the 1940 games which unfortunately were canceled due to the outbreak of World War II. Jackie enrolled at UCLA and became the first “Bruin” to letter in four sports. In addition to baseball and track, he starred in basketball and football. In both of his basketball seasons Jackie was the leading scorer in the Pacific Coast Conference. He led the UCLA football team in rushing yards and his career punt return average of 18.8 yards ranks fourth in NCAA history. In his spare time, Jackie won several amateur tennis titles. Robinson’s first professional job was playing semi-pro football for the Honolulu Bears. His last game with the team was at Pearl Harbor on December 5, 1941, just two days before the Japanese attack. Soon after,  Robinson was drafted into the Army where he became friends with fellow recruit, Joe Louis. The world famous boxer used his influence to help Jackie and several other black soldiers gain entrance into the Army Officer Candidate School after they had been denied admission because of their race. In 1944, Jackie was arrested and court martialed for refusing to sit in the back of a military bus. He was later acquitted on all charges and received an honorable discharge. In 1945, Jackie played his first professional baseball game for the Negro League’s Kansas City Monarchs. The following year, Brooklyn Dodgers’ General Manager Branch Rickey selected Robinson to break Major League Baseball’s color barrier.  On April 15, 1947, after having finished one season with a Dodger’s farm team, the 28-year-old Robinson made his major league debut. Several teams canceled exhibition games in protest.  A few Brooklyn Dodgers players launched a petition to keep Robinson off their team. The petitioners were stunned when star shortstop, Pee Wee Reese who grew up in segregated Louisville, Kentucky, not only refused to sign but also took Jackie under his wing.  During an early season game Reese put his arm around Robinson, as a signal to white players and fans to accept his barrier-breaking teammate. Robinson was voted the National League’s Rookie of the Year and two seasons later was voted the league’s MVP.  During his ten year career Robinson compiled an impressive 311 batting average. More importantly, Jackie paved the way for other Black players as 150 Blacks entered the majors during the next  five years. Astoundingly, eleven  of the fourteen National League MVPs from 1949 through 1962 were Black. In 1962, Robinson became the first Black player inducted into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. That was only one of Robinson’s many firsts. He became the first black vice president of a major American corporation (Chock Full o’ Nuts). In 1964, Robinson helped found Harlem’s Freedom National Bank, an institution that was established because of the financial industry’s discrimination against African Americans. In 1965 he joined ABC-TV Sports as baseball’s first Black announcer. Jackie Robinson died of a heart attack in 1972 at the age of 53. Pallbearers at his funeral included Pee Wee Reese, other Dodger teammates, and basketball legend Bill Russell. Robinson’s number, 42, was retired by Major League Baseball on April 15, 1997, the 50th anniversary of his breaking the league’s color barrier.  Later, UCLA  announced that number 42 would be retired across all sports. Every April 15 all major league baseball players wear number 42. It would be impossible to go overboard in honoring Jackie Roosevelt Robinson (BTW, his middle name was in honor of another great American, Teddy Roosevelt). He first set the example of how a Black athlete should carry himself and eventually became an example for all Americans. Have a great weekend. BTW, If you haven’t seen the movie “42” you should check it out on Amazon.

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On January 25, 1890, Nellie Bly arrived back home in New York City after a trip around the world that was accomplished in an astounding (at the time) 72 days. The boisterous crowds attested that Nellie had become an American icon. Born Elizabeth Jane Cochran in Pennsylvania in1864, her father Michael had escaped poverty and became owner of a profitable mill. Michael had ten children with his first wife and five more with his second. Elizabeth was Michael’s thirteenth daughter. The family struggled financially after Michael’s death  and Elizabeth was forced to drop out of college. Soon after, she read a column in the Pittsburgh Dispatch which argued that a woman’s place was in the home. Elizabeth wrote an impassioned response under the pseudonym “Lonely Orphan Girl”. The Dispatch’s editor was so impressed that he publicly asked the writer to identify herself. Elizabeth responded and was hired to write a regular column. Nellie Using her penname “Nellie”, she wrote investigative articles on the travails of female factory workers. When factory owners complained to her editors, Nellie was reassigned to cover fashion and society. Determined “to do something no girl has done before”, Nellie traveled to Mexico and wrote about the plight of Mexico’s poor. Authorities were outraged and threatened to arrest her. Nellie returned to Pittsburgh and was once again covering fashion for The Dispatch. She decided to seek her fortune in NYC.   New York newspapers had little use for female reporters. After four months of rejection, Nellie landed an undercover assignment with the New York World. She agreed to feign insanity to investigate reports of brutality at the Women’s Lunatic Asylum. Nellie checked into a boarding house called “Temporary Homes for Females”. She avoided sleep to give herself a crazy, wide-eyed look. She terrified fellow boarders until police came and took her to the asylum. After ten days, the asylum released Bly at The World’s request. Her reports detailing the abuse of inmates prompted the asylum to implement significant reforms, Now famous, Nellie proposed that Joseph Pulitzer, editor of The World finance her trip around the world. Her goal was to emulate the odyssey of Phileas Fogg as depicted in Jules Vernes’ novel “Around the World in 80 Days”. Pulitzer told Nellie “No one but a man can do this”. She replied, “Start the man, and I’ll start the same day for some other newspaper and beat him.” Pulitzer acceded. Rival news executive Brisben Walker heard about Bly’s plans and decided that his new publication Cosmopolitan should jump on the bandwagon. Walker called in 28-year-old editor Elizabeth Bisland. After an hour-long discussion, Bisland accepted the assignment. She headed west from NYC just hours after Bly’s east-bound departure.   After a brutal trans-Atlantic crossing Nellie headed to Amiens, France where she met with a welcoming Jules Verne.  She traversed the world by train, steamship, rickshaw, horse and donkey. Reporters eagerly wrote about the race between the two intrepid women. Bly traversed Europe and the Mideast, completely unaware that she had a challenger. When she reached Hong Kong Bly learned that she not only had a competitor, but that Bisland had left Hong Kong three days earlier. After sailing from Asia to San Francisco, Nellie boarded a train chartered by Pulitzer. Jubilant throngs greeted Nellie as her train whizzed through the countryside. Meanwhile, Bisland endured a difficult crossing from England back to America. She arrived in NYC four days after Bly. Post-Voyage Five years later, 31-year-old- Nellie married 73-year-old millionaire Robert Seaman. She left journalism to attend to her husband’s failing health. Upon Robert’s death, Nellie succeeded him as head of Iron Clad Manufacturing, a producer of steel containers. Embracing her role as a prominent female industrialist, Bly provided employees with generous benefits including healthcare. Unfortunately, the company went bankrupt because of her poor management and embezzlement committed by a key employee. Returning to journalism, Nellie covered the women’s suffrage movement and World War I. Bly was the first woman to visit certain war zones and was briefly arrested as a suspected British spy. Nellie left the world too soon when she died of pneumonia at age 57.  A century later, she still inspires. Have a great weekend.

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January 17 marks the 126th anniversary of Al Capone’s birth. Everyone know the name of the notorious criminal but few are aware that the legendary hoodlum ran his infamous empire for only six years and only spent 48 years on our planet. Alphonse Capone was the fourth of nine children born to Italian immigrant parents in Brooklyn. The son of a barber and a seamstress, Al did well in school until at age fourteen he punched a teacher in the face. Al stopped going to school and worked at a candy store and a bowling alley. He made quick money as a pool hustler and was a star pitcher for a Brooklyn semi-professional baseball team. He also belonged to street gangs that specialized in petty crime. He was hired as a bartender and bouncer at a saloon owned by gangster Johnny Torrio.  One night, Capone allegedly insulted the sister of a local felon who promptly slashed Al with a pocketknife. The damage inflicted resulted in Capone’s nickname: “Scarface”. ln 1918, the eighteen-year-old married Mae Coughlin. The couple had one child and remained together until Al’s death.  Soon after the wedding, Capone followed his mentor Torrio, to Chicago where they became part of a criminal network headed by Big Jim Colosimo. Torrio took over the enterprise after the violent death of Colosimo (probably a hit ordered by Torrio). A few years later Torrio was shot outside his  home. He survived the attack but left Chicago after naming his 26-year-old aide Capone as his replacement. Capone’s crime syndicate pulled in an estimated $100 million a year from illegal activities ranging from bootlegging to prostitution. Capone became an international celebrity because he won over reporters with his charm and extravagant lifestyle. He claimed that he merely provided a “public service”, stating “Ninety percent of the people of Cook County drink and gamble and my offense has been to furnish them with those amusements.” On February 14, 1929, seven men affiliated with the George “Bugs” Moran gang were shot to death inside a Chicago garage. Capone was in Miami at the time but there was ample speculation that he had masterminded the murders. The crime was never solved and Capone was never charged. Meanwhile the wily gangster generated favorable publicity by opening a soup kitchen that served 2.000 Chicagoans per day in the midst of a world-wide depression. For many years, Capone managed to avoid prosecution by threatening witnesses and paying off police and public officials. He finally was criminally convicted in 1929 after being arrested on a concealed weapon charge in Philadelphia. He was freed from prison in March 1930 just before the Chicago Crime Commission released its first-ever list of the city’s worst criminals with Capone named as Public Enemy Number One. The famous prohibition agent, Elliot Ness was diligently trying to get Capone indicted for his  bootlegging operations. However under instructions from President Herbert Hoover  the federal government focused on charging the mob boss for income-tax fraud.  A jury found the gangster guilty of five charges  He was sentenced to eleven years in prison and fined $50,000. In 1932, 33-year-old Capone began his sentence at the U.S. penitentiary in Atlanta. Two years later, Capone was transported to the recently opened federal penitentiary on Alcatraz Island. Prison officials were pleasantly surprised by Capone’s good behavior- So much so, they allowed the gangster to play his banjo in the inmate band, the Rock Islanders. Soon after Capone’s move to Alcatraz, he began showing signs of neurosyphilis and was later diagnosed with syphilis of the brain. The disease stemmed from Capone not getting treated properly when he contracted the disease as a young man. In 1939 he was released from Alcatraz and was admitted to a Baltimore hospital where doctors concluded that Capone had the mental capacity of a twelve-year-old. Capone was allowed to return to his Miami home where he died of heart failure at the age of 48 in 1947. I guess if there is anything positive we can take from Al Capone’s life it is the importance of regular medical checkups. Other than that, I am stumped. Have a great weekend and remember “crime doesn’t pay”.

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On December 24, 2024, Bill Thilly, a renowned professor of toxicology passed away at age 79. Thilly received Bachelor’s and Doctorate degrees from MIT in the early 1970s. He captained MIT’s rugby team and found time to co-found the New England Rugby Football Union. He was acclaimed for his research into the origins of disease-causing mutations in humans. MIT’s Thilly Laboratory is named in his honor. In addition to his important scientific accomplishments, Thilly leaves a legacy with the masses because he is the inventor of Apple Jacks cereal. In 1965, Bill was working as a college intern at Kelloggs Headquarters  when a food experiment exploded and covered an entire laboratory with liquid cheese. Thilly led an after-hours clean-up of the lab. His bosses were so impressed with Bill’s initiative that they gave him free reign to create his own product. Thilly, who was raised on a farm, began working on an apple-centric creation. He added cinnamon and dried apple to an O-shaped cereal that had been discontinued. Applejacks was born.   Since I am not qualified to write about 95% of the subjects to which the accomplished professor dedicated his life, let’s talk about breakfast cereals: In 1876, John Harvey Kellogg became the superintendent of Michigan’s Battle Creek Sanitorium.  Kellogg combined his Seventh Day Adventist beliefs with his scientific knowledge to promote healthy living at the wellness facility. In 1894, Kellogg and his associates invented Corn Flakes. Kellogg passionately promoted the cereal because he believed the bland concoction would reduce people’s carnal desires. John’s brother William didn’t care about the virtuous qualities of the cereal. William founded the Kellogg Co.to sell corn flakes to the populace and much to the chagrin of John Kellogg, added sugar to the recipe. The company developed another best-selling ready to eat cereal: Granola. James Caleb Jackson had invented granola in 1863 but the product needed to be soaked in water before consumption. The Kelloggs’ version was much more convenient. Charles Post spent time at Kellogg’s headquarters and became inspired to launch Grape-nuts cereal in 1898,. Curiously his bland creation does not contain any grapes or nuts. The saying “breakfast is the most important meal of the day” was coined in 1944 to sell more Grape Nuts. A 2021 study indicated that the number one selling cereal was Cheerios (139 million Boxes).  Honey Nut Cheerios was a close second. The other three cereals that sold more than 100 million boxes annually were Frosted Flakes, Honey Bunches of Oats and Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Rounding out the top ten were Foot Loops, Lucky Charms, Frosted Mini-Wheats and Life. Less popular choices were Apple Jacks (41M boxes) and Corn Flakes (31 M boxes). What’s Healthy? If you are on a healthy eating kick, you should avoid Apple Jacks. The cereal is bursting with sugar and contains less than one gram of fiber. You might as well go with that chocolate donut. The great website “Eat This Not That” lists their top ten healthy cereals including: Cheerios – just two grams of added sugar per serving and more fiber than most brands.  Quaker Oatmeal Squares- Very tasty and contain five grams of fiber and six grams of protein per cup.   Post Shredded Wheat – 100% whole grain with zero sodium or sugar – also contain eight grams of fiber and seven grams of protein per serving   Centenarians Know Best I devoted a chapter in my book, “Get Smarter- Be Amazed” to “Health Secrets of Centenarians” (people who have reached 100 years old). Common themes among the group include the importance of positive mental attitude, daily routines, and adaptability. Their advice on diet is all over the map but one food was cited by centenarians over all others – Oatmeal.  The cereal is high in fiber and antioxidants. One study found that every ten grams of fiber added to your daily diet can reduce one’s risk of premature death by 11%. Men’s Health Magazine highly recommends” Bob’s Red Mill Quick Cooking Steel Cut Oats”. Terry and I heartily agree – just make sure to buy the quick cooking version. Have a Happy and Healthy New Year.

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December 21st would have been the 79th  birthday of Carl Wilson, lead guitarist for The Beachboys. Carl was instrumental to the group’s early success with his backup harmonies and Chuck Berry influenced strumming. He later sang lead on the seminal Beachboys songs “God Only Knows” and “Good Vibrations”. After his older brother Brian left the group, Carl became the leader. Tragically, Carl died of cancer at the age of 51 but thankfully left us with many great memories. In honor of Carl, let’s explore a very interesting aspects of 1960s music: The synergistic relationship between The Beachboys and The Beatles. Most rock fans assume that the Rolling Stones were the Beatle’s chief competitor, but the Beatles identified their most significant competitor as The Beachboys. The California band became popular in the early sixties with upbeat surfing and car songs including “Surfin U.S.A.” and “Little Deuce Coupe”. The group combined Chuck Berry type rhythms with doo-wop harmonies. Meanwhile The Beatles were delighting Europeans with hits like “Please Please Me” and “Twist and Shout”.  In 1964, The Beatles topped the U.S. charts with “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and then triumphally appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show.” They immediately caught Beachboys’ leader, Brian Wilson’s attention: “It was like a shock went through my system. I immediately knew that everything had changed.” Brian had already grown tired of The Beach Boys’ schtick and wanted to explore new frontiers. He brought in Phil Spector’s accomplished studio musicians and soon recorded the Beachboys’ first Number One hit “I Get Around.” It was Brian’s most ambitious composition yet with multi-layered arrangements and complex harmonies. Meanwhile, The Beatles began their evolution after a 1964 meeting with Bob Dylan in New York.  Dylan’s influence can be seen in the 1964 “Beatles for Sale” album with songs like “I’m A Loser,” and “Every Little Thing”.   When The Beatles released “Rubber Soul”, rock music was forever changed. Before “Rubber Soul”, albums typically contained many filler songs to help groups sell albums rather than singles. When Brian Wilson heard “Rubber Soul”, he observed the album “went together like no album ever made before”. Later, Brian remarked, “Rubber Soul is probably the greatest record ever,” “[It] came out in December of 1965 and sent me right to the piano bench” The song that resulted from Brian’s trip to his piano was “God Only Knows” which Paul McCartney later called his favorite song of all time. Five months later, “Pet Sounds” was released and included tracks such as ‘Wouldn’t It Be Nice’ and the aforementioned “God Only Knows”. McCartney said, “Pet Sounds” blew me out of the water”. Within three months, The Beatles responded by releasing ‘Revolver’ ‘which featured  sophisticated lyrics and classical string arrangements. McCartney admitted that Revolver’s “Here, There and Everywhere,” was directly inspired by “Pet Sounds”. Two months later, in October 1966, The Beachboys released Brian’s highly ambitious single “Good Vibrations.” It had taken an astounding seven months to produce the complex epic.   The following Spring, the future of the Beachboys took a fateful turn. Brian was struggling to complete his group’s’ “Smile” album” when his mental health issues became intolerable. While driving under the influence of drugs, Brian heard the Beatle’s newly released ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ Brian thought ‘They did it already – what I wanted to do with “Smile”. He decided he couldn’t compete with ‘Strawberry Fields “and abandoned “Smile”.  Brian never attempted anything that ambitious again. Meanwhile the Beatles were developing ‘Sgt. Pepper”, another Beatles concept album inspired by ‘Pet Sounds’. Beatles producer, George Martin, stated “I believe that without Brian Wilson’s inspiration, Sgt. Pepper might have been less of the phenomenon that it became. Brian is a living genius of pop music.” The Beatles continued their unprecedented run with “The White Album”. The opening song “Back in the USSR” is a friendly parody of the Beachboys’ “California Girls”. Beachboy’s lead singer, Mike Love gave Paul some input for the parody. Because of Brian Wilson’s debilitation, Love and his bandmates became the group’s composers. Unfortunately. they would never be able to replicate Brian’s brilliance. Fortunately, the music of both bands lives on. Wishing you Happy Holidays and Good Vibrations. I’ll be back blogging in January. Last chance to get online to buy a last minute Christmas gift that trivia lovers will relish. Check out www.tedcurtinstories.com for links to order “Get Smarter-Be Amazed”.

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