From 1967: The Beer That Made Milwaukee Famous (And The Commercial That Made My Heart Go A-Flutter)

Somebody get me that time machine, because this is the version of adulthood in which I want to live.

Just two career gals...Sally and Janet, we'll call them...two bachelor gals living together in their own fifth-floor walk-up apartment, in The Big City, and all that that implies.  

They don't plan on being in the secretarial pool at Dewey, Cheatem, and Thensome forever, of course.  In fact, they both have great hopes for the two young go-getters from the accounting department at the office...Stan and Hal, we'll call them...who are coming around for chips and dip and maybe a lively game of Scrabble, perhaps a bit of dancing to the records Sally and Janet so carefully set out on the Hi-Fi.  Everyone likes Stan Getz, right?  Sure they do.  And that "Corcovado" song is just right for slow dancing, should things go well.

Carefully coiffed, nine thousand gallons of hairspray used between the two of them to lacquer their looks into place, Sally and Janet are no floozies.  Sure, they're modern girls, and both like a good time.  They'll invite a suitor or two into their apartment for some laughs.  But try some Funny Business, and you'll be shown the door.  A girl has to have morals, after all, even if it is the Space Age.  Men don't buy the cow when they can drink the milk for free!

Or, apparently, drink mind-boggling amounts of Schlitz.  I don't think neither Stan nor Hal are very marriage-minded at all, bringing that much beer to the party like Sally and Janet are a couple of good-time floozies!  A girl always prefers pretty flowers to a couple of six-packs, fellas!

"Can you believe that Stan?  He tried to cop a feel while we were dancing!"  Sally huffed, as she took off her pearls.

"And he seemed like such a doll at the Christmas party," said Janet.  Then she sighed, unhooked her left stocking, and daintily yanked it from her leg.

Voodoo Child: Susan Cowsill

At the tender age of eight, Susan Cowsill appeared with "family band" The Cowsills on The Ed Sullivan Show.  You read that right: she was eight years old.

 She may have been a kid, but she works that tambourine and sings like she was born to be in the band with her brothers and mother.   You can't take your eyes off of her.  Whatever "it factor" was or is, little Susan had it, and in spades.  She was a groovy little chick, a real voodoo child.  And when that young lady started dancing?  Forget it.  The girl had moves.

CBS flubbed the audio on the first verse and chorus in this clip.  Stick with it; when the mikes get switched on properly, you get to hear the band's remarkable vocals.

All of the Cowsill children were the victims of their militant, domineering father, Bud.  The Cowsills were so liked by Ed Sullivan, he wanted them for an unheard-of TEN guest appearances for the show.  However, because of the audio flub by CBS at the beginning of the song, Bud had a huge argument with the Sullivan people.  

The Cowsills would only appear once more on the show.

UPDATE from October 2014: I found this clip, a medley of tunes showcasing each individual member.  Little Susan belts out "Sweet-talkin' Guy." 

Susan Cowsill today.  (She's still a groovy chick.)

From 1967: Quick-Cooked In Dragon Fire!

That's Jim Henson's voice and dragon Muppet.

From September 1967: Beatle Cartoons Theme, Season Three

A curious mix of the "old" Beatles look, 
with the "Sergeant Pepper" changes.

John Lennon did not like this song, "And Your Bird Can Sing," referring to it as a "throwaway."

The signature dual-harmony electric lead guitar parts were played live (without overdubbing) by Harrison and McCartney. Lennon played the rhythm in the "D major" position with the capo on the 2nd fret (to account for the song being in the key of E).

An excellent article about The Beatles cartoon series.

Both John Lennon and George Harrison were big fans of the show, and there is a persistent rumor that John and George provided their own voices to at least one episode of the cartoon series...uncredited, of course.

September 12, 1967: Dusty Brings Motown To Merry Olde England

I think the song is rather apt for these days, too.

From 1968: The Most Haunting Song Ever Recorded

Today Billy Joe MacAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge...

On The Smothers Brothers Summer Show in July 1968, Bobbie Gentry performs her hit "Ode To Billy Joe" live.



It captured the mood that had engulfed the nation at that point: Bobby Kennedy had been murdered a mere month before, Martin Luther King, Jr., had been gunned down in April, racial unrest continued to tear the very fabric of the United States apart, and disenchantment among young and old alike about the Vietnam War continued to spread. And roughly a month after this broadcast, Chicago would erupt in violence at the Democratic National Convention.

"Ode To Billy Joe" was a smash hit in 1967, this odd little song with just Bobbie Gentry's sweet voice and her guitar accompaniment. There is speculation even today as to what the narrator and Billy Joe were "throwin...off the Tallahatchie Bridge."

Some say it was a veiled antiwar anthem; that the girl and Billy Joe were throwing his draft notice into the murky waters, and that Billy Joe committed suicide rather than be deployed to Vietnam.

A more common interpretation is that it is a tale of love gone wrong; that the narrator had had an illegal abortion, ostensibly Billy Joe's child, and that after throwing the aborted fetus off the bridge into the murky waters that would keep their secret, Billy Joe committed suicide in remorse.

Whatever the scenario, whatever the song's meaning, the ending is just perfect:

And me, I spend a lot of time pickin' flowers up on Choctaw Ridge
And drop them into the muddy water off the Tallahatchie Bridge

Wow.

The Dreams That Filled Stadiums

From 1964, Brian Epstein appears as "Mr. X" on the popular television program What's My Line?

An immensely charming and intelligent man, Brian never had any sort of real happiness in his life, aside from his association with The Beatles as their manager. And even then, whatever happiness he managed to glean from that role was fleeting and unsatisfactory.

His interest in the group stemmed from his romantic interest in John Lennon, an interest that is said to have been reciprocated on several occasions. The two men took a vacation together to Barcelona, Spain in April 1963. Peter Brown reports in his excellent Beatle biopic The Love You Make that Lennon went along because he "...wanted to see what fucking a bloke was like."

John Lennon was often cruel to Brian Epstein about his homosexual proclivities. When Epstein wrote and published his autobiography in 1964, titled A Cellarful of Noise, Lennon's only reaction to the book was to snarl at Brian that the title should have been A Cellarful of Boys.

Brian Epstein died in his home on the 27th of August, 1967, from an accidental drug overdose. A notorious insomniac, one of the components in his sleeping tablets, carbitol, had built up to a lethal amount. Brian Epstein's heart simply stopped as a result.

In the end, I think Peter Brown put it best in The Love You Make:

"Here was a man whose passions had sparked an entertainment phenomenon, who had influenced the course of history, but the world would only remember his unhappiness and not the dreams that filled stadiums."

From 1967: More Precious Memories Involving Dristan

Quick question:
Where should I send my sinuses? I'm absolutely miserable with sinus problems right now and I'm smack dab in the middle of the Grand Canyon State!

I might send my sinuses to Nevada. Playing Pai Gow always seems to make them feel better, and maybe if I get them drunk, laid, and a couple of tickets to one of those Cirque du Soleil shows, they will behave.

From 1967: Thank You, Neil Diamond

From a first season episode of The Monkees, "Monkees At The Movies," featuring teen idol Bobby Sherman. Listen carefully to the backing vocal; you can clearly hear Neil Diamond, who wrote this song.

From 1967: Pay No Worship To The Garish Sun

When he shall die, take him and cut him out in little stars and he will make the face of heaven so fine that all the world will be in love with night and pay no worship to the garish sun.
William Shakespeare

On December 9, 1967, Redding and his backup band, The Bar-Kays, made an appearance in Cleveland, Ohio on the local "Upbeat" television show. This recording is of that performance.

The next afternoon, December 10, 1967, Redding, his manager, the pilot, and four members of The Bar-Kays were killed when Redding's Beechcraft 18 airplane crashed into Lake Monona in Madison, Wisconsin.

The cause of the crash was never precisely determined.

All hail, The King of Soul.

From 1967: Better Living Through Soup

Life

July 7, 1967

(a beautiful double-clicker)

From 1967: Dollface

Beautiful Mia Farrow in 1967, when she was still Mrs. Frank Sinatra

Despite a quite acrimonious divorce in 1968 (Frank famously served her papers in her flower-child trailer on the set of Rosemary's Baby, and she cried so hard that she was unable to shoot for days afterward) and a union that lasted merely two years, Mia and Sinatra remained very close until his death, and she is still on excellent terms with the remainder of the Sinatra family.

Frank and Mia arrive at Truman Capote's famous Black and White Ball:

Frank and Mia's wedding day at The Sands in Vegas, July 19, 1966:

A still from the Life article:

From 1967: When Bands Rip Off The Sgt. Pepper Cover

From 1967: Gorgeous Is Your Dior

Just a really lovely ad, I think.

You can close your eyes and imagine how happy that elegant woman is to receive a bountiful bouquet of trembling pink and white blossoms. Freesia, perhaps?

I believe it was illustrated by the legendary artist Rene Gruau,
who created all of Christian Dior's stunning fashion illustrations for decades.

From 1967: Stunning Ad For A Fragrance Icon

A wonderful article about Arpege

Famous women who wore Arpege include Jayne Mansfield, Rita Hayworth, Jacqueline Bisset, Sandra Dee, and Sharon Tate.

From 1967: Quicksilver Messenger Service At Monterey Pop

I am avoiding calling my doctor out of fear that she will make good on her promise (threat?) to put me in the hospital if my lung infection didn't clear up with the first round of antibiotics and week of bedrest (it hasn't; if anything, my cough is worse and I am running a fever again while shivering so hard I could easily be mistaken for a junkie in need of a fix).

And I really don't want that to happen, you know. The equation goes a little something like this:

Laura Beth + Hospital = Bad.

To take my mind off being sick, I am perusing the wonderful and surprisingly bountiful collection of Monterey Pop clips on YouTube. Holy Christ, that is the definition of Laura Linger Heaven: wall to wall hippies just tokin' the sweet leaf, listenin' to the tunes, and lovin' one another. The song said it best: all those who come to San Francisco, summertime will be a love-in there. Beautiful.

Here is one of my favorites, from Quicksilver Messenger Service.

From 1966: Otis, Go-Go Dancers, And White People With A Pathetic Sense Of Rhythm

Ready, Steady, Go!

1966

The man had so much soul in him, it was a felony.

Remembering Otis

There Are So Many Things To Love In This One Picture

Cass Elliot, Michelle Phillips, and Jimi Hendrix

Backstage at Monterey Pop, June 1967

Note that Michelle is holding a joint,

Jimi is wearing love beads,

and Cass was the grooviest funniest most beautiful flower child who ever lived.