White Room by Cream

It was back to work today. Nothing all that exciting happened so I think I will resume my posting of color songs. One of my favorites has to be White Room by Cream with some fantastic guitar playing by Eric Clapton. As you can see from Youtube, this was from the album Wheels of Fire which I bought back in 1968. The cover of the initial release of the album which I still have was in a glossy silver color. Later issues had a dull gray cover. Facebook friends can hear the song at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGZeqwdWoeo .

Beat Expo in Stamford, Ct Today

Yours truly is posing with Clay Cole who hosted a television dance show in New York City from 1959-68. Clay also met Alan Berman, the Dean of oldies radio listeners. Both of us bought autographs of Clay's new book titled "Sh-Boom! The Explosion of Rock n Roll 1953-68." I will likely write a review of this book in Bruce's Journal.

The show was devoted to the Beatles and featured some tribute bands including Octopus's Garden and the Beatles Forever Band. Guests included Peter Tork of Monkees, Butch Patrick of the Monkees, and Sid Bernstein who brought the Beatles to America in 1964. Sid was selling his book titled "It's Sid Bernstein Calling ... The Promoter Who Brought the Beatles to America. Sid looked quite well for a man of age 92. I attended a session where Sid was interviewed about some of circumstances of how the Beatles came to Carnegie Hall in 1964 and to Shea Stadium in 1965 and 1966. It is heard to believe that one could buy a ticket to a Beatles concert for $3.50 back then. Salaries were also much lower in 1965.

We also saw a film of Beatles performances from 1964. Much of the space in the hotle was devoted to a vendors/dealers room where one could purchases records, tapes CDs, videos and other Beatles memorabilia. Of course someone was trying to sell copies of the rare Yesterday and Today Butcher Cover for thousands of dollars.

Besides Alan, I ran into Bill Dilane, Fred Velez, and Annie K. Kolenberg Cross. Photos may be seen at http://picasaweb.google.com/bigtownman/BeatExpo2009. You will see a photo of Lee with Butch Patrick who starred in the Munsters.

Recording of Cousin Brucie playing my song request last night

I would like to publically thank Andrea Wiener, the Oldies Diva, for recording my request of I'm Gonna Be a Wheel by Fats Domino on Sirius/XM last night. Here is the link: http://www.4shared.com/file/162081917/920c1f34/Im_Going_to_be_a_Wheel_Someday.html

Cousin Brucie played my request tonight

It has been impossible to get through to Cousin Bruce on the phone while he does his show on Sirius/XM. I sent him an e-mail requesting I'm Gonna Be A Wheel by Fats Domino. An hour later he played my request. His show alone is worth the subscription to Sirius/XM. He also acknowledged that I was the first to get him involved with Facebook. My friends there can see the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0gFdDFg7jY

The Blind Side

We decided to stay close to home today and just walk over to the local multiplex to see the Blind Side with Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw. It was about a family who supported a poor and undereducated football player as he attended high school and was recruited by major colleges in the south. I recommend it highly. You can access the Internet Movie Database for more information about this film

Black Friday at the Brooklyn Museum

The closest I got to a shopping mall today was the bus stop by Macy's and Old Navy in downtown Flushing. We took the subway to the Brooklyn Museum to see the exhibit Who Shot Rock & Roll: A Photographic History, 1955 to the Present. I am sure that my readers are familiar with album covers and famous photographs of rock stars, but few including myself know of the photographers. The one above of Tina Turner was taken by Henry Diltz. The exhbit at the museum featues 175 works by 105 photographers including:

• Richard Avedon
• Annie Leibovitz
• Barry Feinstein
• Don Hunstein
• Mark Seliger

We purchased the companion volume to the exhibit to have a permanent record of what we saw today. We did have time to take in some other exhibits including the Luce Center for American Art, the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art and the period rooms on the 4th floor. We didn't have time to view any of the exhibits on the lower 3 floors. It would take two full days to take in the entire museum.

I was grateful that I did not have to fight crowds in the shopping malls. The worst part of shopping is standing in line when inevitably the person ahead of you has a big problem. Not today for me.

What do Bob Dylan and Micky Dolenz have in Common?

It is obvious that both of them are recording artists. There is another common thread between the two regarding radio. Micky Dolenz did the morning show on WCBS-FM from January 2005 until June 3, 2005, the day the turkeys (and that is being polite) who ran CBS radio brought the dreaded Jack format to 101.1 FM. That morning there was a celebration for Micky's 100th show.

Bob hosted the Theme Time Radio Hour on XM Radio for 3 seasons. The series ended after 100 shows last spring. XM is running repeats of the shows, but there has been no official announcement of the end of the series, but I think that is safe to assume that it will not return.