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#JoeViglioneMedia™ Newsletter Rock and Roll Central™The Newsletter is Edited and Published by Joe Viglione e mail demodeal{@}yahoo.com The Demo That Got The Deal™ Radio Show Music reviews, photos, videos, we are THE music site for Boston and New England Rock and Roll. Read Joe Viglione's decades-long and celebrated History of New England Rock and Roll™ from the dedicated rock journalist. Faithfully we have edited the Club Bohemia newsletter to benefit Boston and New England area artists.
"WE'VE HAD THEM DOWN BEFORE, WE'LL HAVE THEM DOWN AGAIN!" BOB NELSON
GREAT NEWS!
Mr. Fix It Greg Walsh on @WMWMSalem@RadioRaccoon 2:32 pm #Saturday#March25 sounding terrific on #WhatsHappeningRadio WMWM hear on YouTube https://youtu.be/qwFZYmO1E70@tdawn1 Meet Your Maker 2:34 pm #davidminehan#JoeViglionemedia thanks #BobNelson#GregWalshNewGhosts#PopMusic
Epiphany #4 #SeanWalshe WMWM Salem 2:13 pm #Saturday #March25 2023 @RadioRaccoon What's Happening show @WMWMSalem on YouTube https://youtu.be/WvMYB6C6Qao @youtubemusic @PowderfingerPR tune in https://www.wmwmsalem.com/ @SeanWalsheMusic #Aaronborenstein #BobNelson 91.7 FM #robfraboni
As stated earlier in the saga of Norman Greenbaum, Malden native and singer/songwriter best known for the hit “Spirit in the Sky,” his Dr. West’s Medicine Show was a jug band that hit with a song based on a science fiction movie and comic books, much like a punk band, Unnatural Axe, that would do something similar 10 years later in 1978 with their notorious punk E.P. Science Fiction and comic books go hand in hand with rock and roll, but not necessarily jug band music, which was the strange twist — the seed, if you will, of the consciousness that gave the world “Spirit in the Sky.”
Now back to an interview with Greenbaum that is continued from last week’s edition of the Observer:
Q: Oh, very nice. How did the hit “Eggplant that ate Chicago” come about, writing wise?
Norman:
Well, it came from watching outer space type movies, I guess, and comic
books...the gist of the story came from the aliens from outer space
sort of thing...who knows how my worked then or now to tell you the
truth. You’re born with some kind of something but this silliness has
always existed there...at that time I found I was really proficient at
that...more so than sitting down and writing serious things.
I was a fan of comedy and I was able to express it
along with music. So I chose an outer space kind of thing, you know, a
song of doom...I don’t know where it came from exactly...but it was our
featured song and...
We auditioned for some
managers who managed The New Christy Minstrels, Jose Feliciano...amongst
other big acts, so they were pretty legit.
Q: That’s amazing that George Greif signed Dr. West. I’m very impressed. And then Dr. West ran its course?
A: All the other original members left the band for various reasons as I evolved and they were replaced by different people and the band itself sort of evolved into more electric music...got away from the silliness of the jug band-type material and we worked and recorded some more material but it sort of ran its course. And we disbanded.
A:
Oh really? He signed us! And that’s how it all got started; we went in
and recorded and made an album, he put the single out and surprisingly
enough of all things to happen it made the charts. I mean a jug band
record made the charts! So that was pretty interesting.
Q: So George Greif was the guy who got the deal with GO GO Records.
A:
Yes it is; they released a CD which has a ton of songs on it. Wish it
had more, to tell you the truth. I was told they couldn’t find them all.
There were some good ones they didn’t find. There were some good ones
they did find, believe me, I forgot I had actually written those songs.
Q:
We’ll have to get the audience out there watching this to put the hunt
on for the old Dr. West songs that are missing in action.
A:
No, it didn’t. I completely left that situation and the George Greif’s
management company and wanted to do something different and on my own. I
then went about putting together a band that was more in sync with folk
rock, rock, and was going to completely leave this jug band-type music
behind. I wanted to have, I was about to say the word “normal” band, but
there’s no such things, that’s mental, a regular type four piece band.
Doing
that, I had different players but at this point I was the leader and I
was calling all the shots. I wanted to do my material only the way I
wanted to do it. I had a configuration and we were playing at the
Troubadour and Eric Jacobsen happened to stop by and heard me and that’s
what started the next stage of my career because he signed me to a
writer’s contract to his company. And then...he had an open deal with
Warner Brothers to bring acts to them...’cause he had just finished
producing all the Lovin Spoonful records and Tim Hardin...so he got me a
deal with Reprise and then we recorded “Spirit in the Sky.”
Q:
A:
That wasn’t put out as a single at first, no, I believe “Jubilee” was
put out as a single first; it didn’t make it obviously. We did call the
album “Spirit in the Sky” ... the whole object was to have “Spirit in
the Sky” out as a single and it did finally get put out. There were a
little wary of putting it out at the time, it was very different. Very,
very, very different. It was also very long, all of four minutes but
compared to 2:20 for everything else. (The executives at Warner
Brothers/Reprise said,) “It’s like two songs, too long, they’ll never
play it.” But, you know, they did!
Q:
The beauty of it...that guitar just grabs you at the beginning...and
then the Gospel singers...everything is just perfect around the great
melody that you wrote.
A: That
was one of the things ...it came about, you know...I worked...the
lyrics came easy even though I wasn’t Christian. I was watching Porter
Wagoner do a country music show. He’d always do a country gospel lyric
song...I’d think “Gee, that’s kind of interesting. I never did anything
like that. I’m writing about Eggplants (laughs),” maybe I should go in
that direction, you know? Of course you’ve got to write about Jesus if
you’re going to write Gospel in America, so that was pretty easy to put
the lyrics together. And I worked on arrangements a few months and
finally said I’ve gotta do this one because my mind just keeps going
back to that beat. So... we got a band together because I was signed as a
single artist and so we put a studio band together in Northern
California out in San Francisco. We rehearsed, went in and recorded
quite a few songs. “Spirit in the Sky” stood out during the sessions —
it just came together. We had numerous people working on it. I said,
“Great, we’ll get the gospel singers.” We went to Oakland and found
these girls ...it just all came together — and it was quite
simple...and, in lieu of another word, it was sort of miraculous, you
know?
Q: It’s an amazing record; it’s a real work of art. Why go to San Francisco from Hollywood, what was the move?
A: Oh, well, he was based in San Francisco. Erik Jacobsen’s production company.
Q:A:Q:A:Q:
A:
The road was good, you know. It was like the culmination of what I
wanted to do. I had been on the road, of course, with Dr. West. So I
knew the road. But this was with a hit. It made a big difference. It
went well. Then we had to come back and we were... there wasn’t another
hit on the album.
And the problems
started...what do you follow-up with when you have a song like that just
took America by storm...and the world. The song was in the Top 5 in
just about everywhere you could think. Boy, how do you top it? I wasn’t
quite prepared. Mentally I was, but mentally for everybody else I
wasn’t. And that’s where it kind of started to fall apart...if you
wanted to use the words “fall apart.”
We
recorded a second album and did it kind of quick. Had to, that’s the
way it was...it wasn’t like, “OK, we’ll sit back for two years and work
on something” like you do now...uh uh, back then it was like “right
away.” So it was rushed. But...I had come up with and again...who knows,
my mind wanders, I guess, and when it came to writing it wandered
pretty good and here I was, “well, I don’t have (a new) “Spirit in the
Sky”...and it wasn’t on purpose that I kept writing about things that
were non-Jewish, it just happened to work out that way...but I was in
the grocery store with my wife and the people checking out in front of
us plopped down this 5 pound canned ham. Now being Jewish I had never
had or seen a canned ham in my life. Except if you go to the store and
you see one on the shelf. So here’s one right in front of my face — and
they seemed all happy about buying this canned ham. So out of nowhere I
looked at my wife, my ex-wife now, and said, “When are you going to buy
me a Canned Ham, baby?” It just came out. And I go, “Oh boy, that’s a
song.” So we did that and we put it out as a single. Now you gotta see
the faces on record executives because they had a hard enough time, you
know, trying to figure out if they were making the right move by putting
out “Spirit in the Sky.” That became a hit so here they are now faced
with the same dilemma again, with something crazier called “Canned Ham.”
I’m looking at them with a totally straight face going, “Yeah, that’s a
hit.” (You could see the executives thinking,) “Can’t you just come in
with another ‘Spirit in the Sky’?” But of course I’m going, “When I came
in with “Sprit in the Sky” you’re looking at me saying, “can’t you come
in with something else!” Anyway they put it out and it was a mediocre
hit.
Q:A:
Q: I remember the melody, I remember hearing it...so I guess 1,510, maybe Arnie Woo Woo.
A:
It got plenty of play but it wasn’t “Spirit in the Sky”...I still like
it myself. I get a lot of mail at my Web site which is
spiritinthesky.com and there’s a lot of people who really like that
song.
'Since You're Gone' by Sean Walshe @SeanWalsheMusic , @joeviglione at 9:20 AM and at 9:20 PM (Pacific Time) Thu, Mar 16, #NewMusic show #joeviglionemedia@KBRITZofficial@RobFraboni Featuring K Britz on backing vocals #Americana@PowderfingerPR
Thanks BTD Radio for the interview: https://www.btdradio.com/2022/07/28/artist-interview-with-boney-derrington/ and #BlockParty@BoneyDerrington@zionrock#joeviglionemedia@CommunityMedia3 ? Remember, It’s not that I believe in my music, it’s I know that my music believes in me. Distrokid: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/boneyderrington/profile-radio-edit Reggae #reggae
Thx BTD Radio interview: https://www.btdradio.com/2022/07/28/artist-interview-with-boney-derrington/#BlockParty@BoneyDerrington@zionrock#joeviglionemedia@CommunityMedia3 ? Remember, It’s not that I believe in my music, it’s I know that my music believes in me. #reggae Thanks #YFM@1043MYfm Johannesburg S Africa @RAOFMusicLLC
8:05 AM · Mar 15, 2023 29 Views #Blanktape from Greg Walsh's New Ghosts on @RevivalRadio thanks #SteveGarnett#NewMusicRadio from YOU TOOK MY SOUL BUT I KEPT THE HEART cd #Joeviglionemedia
6:48 AM Mar 15 2023 29 Views #CountingDownfromZerotoOne from Greg Walsh's New Ghosts on @tiorr_2 thanks #OnlyRockRadio from YOU TOOK MY SOUL BUT I KEPT THE HEART cd #Joeviglionemedia listen @Bandcamp here https://gregwalshsnewghosts.bandcamp.com/track/counting-down-to-zero-from-1#Spain#Compactdisc#Music#Grunge#DavidMinehan
5:11 am #March15 2023 @seanwalshemusic@RevivalRadio thanks #SteveGarnett#NewMusicRadio#joeviglionemedia@PowderfingerPR Highway 99 from #AmericanSon#RobFraboni#IvanNeville#Americana#Rock#OnlineRadio#kennyaronoff#BobDylan@RollingStones#Musicsupervisors#filmmusic#Pop
4:53 AM · Mar 15, 2023 33 Views #CountingDownfromZerotoOne from Greg Walsh's New Ghosts on @tiorr_2 thanks #OnlyRockRadio from YOU TOOK MY SOUL BUT I KEPT THE HEART cd #Joeviglionemedia listen @Bandcamp here https://gregwalshsnewghosts.bandcamp.com/track/counting-down-to-zero-from-1#Spain#Compactdisc#Music#Grunge#DavidMinehan
and the hits just keep on coming, Greg Walsh conquers Spain....5:37 PM · Mar 13, 2023 31 Views MR FIX IT on #OnlyRockRadio thank you @tiorr_1 from YOU TOOK MY SOUL BUT I KEPT THE HEART cd #Joeviglionemedia listen @Bandcamp here https://gregwalshsnewghosts.bandcamp.com/track/counting-down-to-zero-from-1 #Spain #Compactdisc #Music #Grunge #DavidMinehan
7:15 PM · Mar 11, 2023 38 Views @SeanWalsheMusic Highway 99 from #AmericanSon#RobFraboni#IvanNeville#Americana#Rock#OnlineRadio#kennyaronoff#BobDylan@RollingStones#Musicsupervisors#filmmusic#Pop
24 Views from #GregWalshNewGhosts thanks @tiorr_1#joeviglionemedia@lspinna read interview https://www.btdradio.com/2023/02/27/btd-music-interview-review-calling-all-ghosts-you-took-my-soul-but-i-kept-the-heart-by-the-greg-walshs-new-ghosts-band/ from @tdawn1 thanks #tiorrsend@tiorr_3#filmmusic#Musicsupervisors Greg Walsh You Took My Soul But I Kept the Heart
January Grey from #PhildaRosa on #GoodMusicRadio 2:40 PM · Mar 14, 2023
77 Views @lspinna @tdawn1 #tiorrsend @tiorr_3 #filmmusic
#Musicsupervisors #joeviglionemedia @phillydmusic check out
https://www.phildarosa.com/
Phil daRosa’s “January Grey” is a stunning showcase of his song
writing and musical talents. The upbeat tempo and catchy melody are
perfectly suited, uplifting!
Lyrics like “Own it today, The light of January Grey, I will pull you far away…
From the dark of January Grey“, encourages the listener to embrace self and never give up.
daRosa’s vocals are confident and dynamic, and his use of harmonies
and backing vocals adds depth and richness to the song. This track is a
testament to the power of positivity and perseverance and is sure to
inspire anyone who listens to it. The chorus of the song is particularly
powerful, with daRosa’s vocals soaring over the music as he sings, “I
will be here always!” This song is beautifully produced, with
arrangements that allows daRosa’s vocals and lyrics to take center
stage.
Overall, “January Grey” is a beautifully crafted song that showcases
Phil daRosa’s talent as a singer-songwriter. The song is a testament to
the power of music to express complex emotions and connect with
listeners on a deep level.
11:18 AM · Mar 14, 2023 30 Views B Who U R from #SeanWalshe@seanwalshemusic@Howiewoodpromo@PowderfingerPR#joeviglionemedia thanks #Nina#LonelyOakRadio#robfraboni#ivanneville#KennyAronoff#BlondieChaplin#filmmusic#musicsupervisors@robfraboni#Americana#AmericanSon CD
Highway 99 @seanwalshemusic 11:15 AM Mar 14 2023 30 Views #SeanWalshe@seanwalshemusic#joeviglionemedia thanks #Nina#LonelyOakRadio#robfraboni#ivanneville#KennyAronoff#BlondieChaplin#filmmusic#musicsupervisors@robfraboni#Americana#AmericanSon CD
7:56 am #Tuesday#March14 2023 @seanwalshemusic hear the #BTDRadio Block Party with Greg Walsh https://youtu.be/qwFZYmO1E70 thanks #OnlyRockRadio@tiorr_2#CountingDownFromZeroto1#joeviglionemedia#davidminehan#WoolyMammothStudio#PopGun#NewGhosts@tdawn1#filmmusic#PopMusic
5:45 am Mr Fix it on 5:43 am Mr Fix it on #Onlyrockradio Spain March 14 2023 7:56 am hear the #BTDRadio Block Party with Greg Walsh https://youtu.be/qwFZYmO1E70 thanks #OnlyRockRadio#CountingDownFromZeroto1#joeviglionemedia#davidminehan#WoolyMammothStudio#PopGun#NewGhosts@tdawn1
#filmmusic#Pop
11:22 PM · Mar 1, 2023 15 Views thanks #RadioWhat for playing Fortune Favors the Brave @SeanWalsheMusic#joeviglionemedia#robfraboni#ivanneville#KennyAronoff#BlondieChaplin#filmmusic#musicsupervisors@robfraboni#musicfilm#charts
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