1965

Throwback Thursday: Lennon’s Psychedelic Rolls Royce 1967

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Lennon Rolls Reddit Image One
John With Julian
Image Credit: Reddit

Fifty-six years ago, today…

John Lennon bought a 1964 Mulliner Park Ward Phantom V, finished in [Valentine Black]. Everything was black except for the radiator, even the wheels. Lennon asked for the radiator to be black as well but, Rolls-Royce refused. Originally, the car was customised from Park Ward with black leather upholstery, cocktail cabinet with fine-wood trim, writing table, reading lamps, a seven-piece his-and-hers black-hide luggage set and a Perdio portable television. A refrigeration system was put in the boot and it was one of the first cars in England to have tinted windows. In December 1965, Lennon made a seven-page list of changes […].

Wikipedia Summary
Lennon’s Phantom V

Rolling Stone B&W Image Two
Image Credit: Rolling Stone

“You swine! How dare you do that to a Rolls-Royce!”…so screamed an outraged Englishwoman as John Lennon’s Phantom V cruised past on London’s posh Piccadilly promenade in the Summer of 1967. The ornately decorated limousine, sprayed an electric yellow and bedecked with colorful floral tendrils, Romany scrolls and, zodiac symbols like a hallucinatory gypsy caravan, so offended her sensibilities that she briefly attacked it with an umbrella…or, at least, that’s the way Lennon always told the story.

Much as the length of the Beatles’ mop-tops had done, Lennon’s choice to express himself through his automobile triggered a generational clash, enraging those who felt the tripped-out paintjob had subverted a British icon.

In the 50 years since it outraged the Establishment, Lennon’s Rolls-Royce Phantom V is now embraced as a masterpiece of design and a jewel of the Swinging Sixties.

For all of the paperwork accumulated during the car’s construction, the total price of the vehicle is not recorded. [With] publicity at a premium and Lennon being one of the most famous people on the planet, odds are good that he received some sort of Beatle discount. Ironic considering the significant expenditure, Lennon was unable to drive when he first ordered the Phantom V. He wouldn’t pass his “L-Test” until February 15th, 1965 at age 24, becoming the last Beatle to do so. That same day, the Beatles began work on a new song, Ticket to Ride, a prophetic title considering the number of citations Lennon eventually racked up during his road hours. By all accounts, including his own, he was a horrendous driver, far too myopic to read signs, too distracted to recall routes and too impractical to troubleshoot even the simplest mechanical issue.

Graifer Phantom Image Three
Image Credit: Vadym Graifer’s Photography

Exactly how Lennon decided on the lurid Romany floral/zodiac hybrid is subject to some debate. [Les] Anthony recalls Ringo Starr planting the seed of the idea during a drive in early 1967. However, others say the idea was suggested by Marijke Koger, of the Dutch design collective The Fool, who would also paint Lennon’s piano that summer, after Lennon commissioned a refurbished 1874 gypsy caravan as a present for his young son, Julian.

After spraying the body of the car yellow, local artist Steve Weaver was tasked with painting the red, orange, green & blue art nouveau swirls, floral side panels and Lennon’s astrological symbol, Libra, on the roof. On May 24th, Weaver submitted an invoice for 290 pounds and, the following day [May 25], the car was ready for pickup.

“John Lennon chose an automotive piece as his canvas, using all the symbols of wealth and other messages that go along with the Rolls-Royces of that period. He was certainly getting fed up with conforming at that time. It was a classic artistic statement.”

Giles Taylor
Design Director
Rolls Royce

Reactions were mixed, depending on which side of the generation gap you happened to stand. The Daily Mail reported that the shrieking yellow vehicle elicited jeers from the assembled crowd and Beatles Book Monthly [July 1967] claimed that a local traffic official feared the loud colors would be a dangerous distraction to drivers on the road. Delivered days before the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was issued, its official maiden voyage took place on May 28th, leading a fleet of friends to Epstein’s new country home for a combined album release party and housewarming.

Rolling Stone (The Complete Article)
Jordan Runtagh
July 27, 2017

Additional:
The Story Behind John Lennon’s Psychedelic Rolls-Royce Phantom V (Vintage News Daily/January 6, 2019)
How John Lennon’s Rolls Royce Limousine Ended Up In This British Columbia Museum (Reader’s Digest Canada/Mike Lane)
John Lennon’s Rolls-Royce (Royal BC Museum/April 30, 2020)

Hans 2021 Song Draft: Round Four-Pick 13-Baker Street-Gerry Rafferty (1978)

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Baker Street Gerry Rafferty Blog Image One
Image Credit: ladiscothequeabob.blogspot.com

Hanspostcard has a song draft challenge. This is my Round Four pick.

I nearly abandoned the rest of the 1970s for the 1980s until Quinn’s pick. Listening, again, to Tears for Fears reminded me of how much I love a saxophone in rock music. I think I might stay in 1978 for a little while. It was a good year, musically…for me, anyway. I can remember buying this 45 at a Woolworths in my hometown’s only mall. I also remember playing it on my little suitcase record player. I was eleven at the time. There’s not much that Gerry Rafferty put out that I didn’t like. ~Vic

A Scotsman (I am from Clan MacPherson), Rafferty’s first band was The Humblebums (founded in 1965), joining comic Billy Connolly and Tam Harvey in 1969. Harvey departed shortly afterwards and, in 1971, Rafferty recorded his first solo album when he and Connolly parted company. In 1972, he joined with Joe Egan to form Stealers Wheel, their biggest hit being Stuck In The Middle With You from their first, self-titled album. After disbanding in 1975, legal issues over Stealers Wheel prevented him from releasing new material for three years.

Baker Street, the second track from the album City To City, was released February 3, 1978 or, possibly, January 20, 1978, depending and entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart the week of April 22, 1978. It made it to #2 the week of June 24, 1978 and stayed there, stuck behind Andy Gibb‘s Shadow Dancing, for six weeks (as a side note, my paternal aunt gave me the Shadow Dancing 8-track album for my twelfth birthday and it was shoved into a brand new stereo system from my parents):

Bill Wardlow & Cher Getty Image Two
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Bill Wardlow & Cher
September 18, 1976

“…Baker Street was a smash and it allegedly took some serious chart chicanery to keep it out of the #1 spot. [It] stalled out at #2 right as […] Gibb’s Shadow Dancing was in the midst of its seven-week run at #1. According to legend, the chart tabulators at Billboard had actually figured out that Baker Street had finally ascended to the #1 spot in one of those [seven] weeks and they’d called the new chart into the producers at Casey Kasem’s radio show, America’s Top 40 [sic]. But, because of a last-minute correction, Kasem had to re-record the end of that week’s show, putting Shadow Dancing back on top.

According to rumor, Bill Wardlow, Billboard chart director, made the call to keep Shadow Dancing at #1. Wardlow had supposedly gone to dinner with Andy Gibb’s managers and he’d mentioned that Baker Street had knocked Shadow Dancing out of the #1 spot. Gibb had been scheduled to perform at a Billboard-sponsored show in New York and his label threatened to pull him from the bill if Billboard didn’t keep Shadow Dancing on top…so that’s why Baker Street never got to #1. This is all pure speculation and hearsay but, it’s a good story. Record labels have been doing everything in their power to game the Billboard charts ever since those charts began and it certainly seems possible that Baker Street could’ve been a casualty of all that.

Tom Breihan
The Number Ones Bonus Tracks
Stereogum
September 22, 2020

“While doing a bit of research the other day, I found myself poking around the edition of Billboard dated February 17, 1973 (PDF), as one does.

Here’s some of what’s inside:
Willis “Bill” Wardlow has been named associate publisher of Billboard. Over the next several years, Wardlow would be responsible for occasionally jiggering the Billboard charts to reward or punish record labels and to do favors for industry friends. As we learned a few years ago, his manipulations led to Gerry Rafferty’s “Baker Street” spending only 12 hours at #1.”

J. A. Bartlett
The Only War
The Hits Just Keep On Comin’
February 24, 2021

Additional Reading:
40 Years Later: Gerry Rafferty’s Baker Street ~ The Most Controversial No. 2 Song Ever? (DJ Rob Blog/04-17-2018)
Baker Street: The Mystery of Rock’s Greatest Sax Riff (The Atlantic/Adam Chandler/12-17-2015)
Scott Paton: Billboard Insider Comment (The Hits Just Keep On Comin’ Website/AT40 From The Inside/09-16-2013)

Lyrics

Long Version

Smoking The Bible

TV Tuesday: A Boy Called Donovan 1966

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Donovan IMDb & Amazon Image
Photo Credit: IMDb & Amazon

Fifty-five years ago, today, the documentary A Boy Called Donovan aired on ITV in the UK.

From The TV Database:

A rare documentary by Scottish folk singer Donovan P. Leitch. Insights into his life with rare recordings from the beginning of his career as a folk singer. Portions of the film was [sic] filmed on St. Ives, Cornwall on Porthminster [B]each in 1966.

From Donovan-Unofficial:

It shows Donovan’s life before becoming famous, when he was busking and living in Saint Ives with his friend Gypsy Dave. And, then, when the fame came in with Ready Steady Go! Donovan and his friends are seen smoking marihuana [sic], very shocking for its time. This warned the police to keep him under surveillance and ended up arresting him for drugs [sic] possession in mid-1966.

From Rewind The Fifies:

Born Donovan Philips Leitch in Glasgow, Scotland on May 10, 1946, Donovan was part of the British folk scene and the British music invasion in America. His style was distinctive and incredibly eclectic. As a child, Donovan was vaccinated with the polio vaccine and contracted polio. Though the vaccine was later made safer with the Sabin oral vaccine, the disease and treatment left Donovan with a limp. The public never knew this.

Donovan Wikipedia & Wikimedia Image Two
1965
Photo Credit: Netherlands National Archives
Wikipedia & Wikimedia

He established close relationships with leading musicians of the time including Joan Baez, Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones and, the Beatles. He taught John Lennon and Paul McCartney […] his finger-picking guitar technique. On his first trip to the USA, he performed in New York with Pete Seeger, […] appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, Hullabaloo, and Shindig! He gained critical acclaim and acceptance when he performed at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965.

[E]arly on, he was compared with Bob Dylan […]. By 1966, [he] had become one of the first British pop musicians to adopt the flower power image. His music contained many drug references during this time. His recordings were also the first pop music to contain the sound of the sitar, later copied by other famed music groups. [He] was the first high-profile British pop star to be arrested for possession of marijuana. Though Donovan’s drug use appeared to have been moderate, and his drug use was not on the scale of others such as Jimi Hendrix and Brian Jones who later died from overdoses, his use of LSD is referred to in many of his lyrics. Public attention was drawn to his drug use by [the] TV documentary, A Boy Called Donovan, which was broadcast during that year and newspaper coverage of the drug scene in England.

The Hurdy Gurdy Man of the Psychedelic Sixties: Donovan Leitch
Felice Prager

Christmas Countdown 15.0

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This is my last countdown post. I’ve saved my favorite gingerbread house for last. I’ve been inside this place and you can feel its history. Unfortunately, I didn’t take any pictures when I was there. Before the world went insane, Ayr Mount would host Scottish Festivals. ~Vic

If you’d like to vote:
Homes for the Holidays 2020

Ayr Mount Gingerbread House Image One
Adult Category
12-09-2020
Click for a larger view.
Window Insert Image Two
Window Insert
Click for a larger view.
Ayr Mount From 1965 Image Three
Photo Credit: memory.loc.gov
February 1965
Wikipedia & Wikimedia

Additional Information:
Ayr Mount (Classical American Homes Preservation Trust)
Ayr Mount Celebrates 200th Birthday (The News of Orange)
Cèilidh Scottish Festival (Visit Hillsborough NC)


Christmas Countdown 14.0

Flick Friday: Just Plane Beep 1965

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Just Plane Beep Amazon Internet Animation Dbase Image One
Image Credit: The Internet Animation Database &
Amazon

Fifty-five years ago, today, the short, animated film Just Plane Beep was released. Produced by David DePatie & Friz Freleng and, directed by Rudy Larriva, Paul Julian was the uncredited voice of the Road Runner.

Synopsis from the Looney Tunes Fan Site (possible future broken link as Fandom is in the middle of a migration):

Wile E. Coyote chases Road Runner on foot but, Road Runner produces dust and runs off the side, smacking the coyote against a wall. While lying down on the ground, a paper for Acme War Surplus is blown towards the coyote and he sends a coupon in the mail. He receives a World War I bi-plane kit and plans to catch the Road Runner using it.

Needless to say, things don’t go well. ~Vic

Additional Reading & Sources:
Big Cartoon Database
IMDb
IMDb Movie Connections List
Internet Animation Database
SuperCartoons
Looney Tunes & Merrie Melodies Filmography 1965 (Wikipedia)
Wile E. Coyote & the Road Runner (Wikipedia)

Military Monday: USS Harmon DE-678 Commissioned 1943

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USS Harmon DE-678 Image One
Destroyer Escort USS Harmon
Circa August 1943
Image was censored and retouched.
Radar antennas removed.
Pennant added in its place.
Released for publication March 1944
Photo Credit: Naval History & Heritage Command
Wikipedia & Wikimedia

The USS Harmon was a U.S. Navy Buckley class destroyer escort named after Leonard Roy Harmon, a Mess Attendant (Messman) First Class that served aboard the USS San Francisco. It was the first U.S. warship to be named after a Black American. It was launched July 25, 1943, by Bethlehem Steel Company in Quincy, MA, sponsored by Harmon’s mother and, seventy-seven years ago, today, it was commissioned. She spent nearly a year serving as an escort ship near New Caledonia. After a short period at Pearl Harbor, she joined the Luzon Reinforcement Group. By March 1945, she was an escort and an anti-submarine screen off Iwo Jima. She returned to Pearl Harbor for training, then to Mare Island for a weapons upgrade and, when the war was over, she conducted training operations with submarines.

Leonard Roy Harmon Image Two
Commemoration Poster
Source: Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery
Photo Credit: Wikipedia & Wikimedia

Decommissioned March 25, 1947, she joined the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. She was stricken August 1, 1965 and sold for scrap January 30, 1967. She received three battle stars for her World War II service.

*************

Leonard Roy Harmon, born in Cuero, Texas, on January 21, 1917, enlisted in the U.S. Navy on June 10, 1939, as a Mess Attendant Third Class. He trained at the Naval Training Station, Naval Operating Base, Norfolk, Virginia and reported to [the] San Francisco (CA-38) on October 28, 1939. On November 12, 1942, [the] San Francisco was covering a force of transports disembarking reinforcements off Guadalcanal when Japanese land attack planes, carrying torpedoes, attacked. [The] enemy aircraft crashed into the ship causing “considerable damage and intense fires” that put the after anti-aircraft director and radar out of commission. One officer and 15 men were either killed outright or died of their injuries. Harmon rushed in to evacuate the wounded. He was then assigned to assist Pharmacist’s Mate Lynford Bondsteel in evacuating and caring for the wounded. While the ship was being raked by enemy gunfire, Harmon deliberately shielded Bondsteel in order to protect his wounded shipmate. Although Bondsteel managed to get his courageous shipmate below, Harmon died of his wounds soon afterward.

Democracy In Action Poster Image Three
Artist: Charles Henry Alston
Collection: National Archives at College Park
Office of War Information poster from 1943
Photo Credit: Wikipedia & Wikimedia

Harmon was awarded a Purple Heart and, in March 1943, the Navy Cross.

Citation Excerpt:

The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Navy Cross (Posthumously) to Mess Attendant First Class Leonard Roy Harmon (NSN: 3600418), United States Navy, for extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty in action against the enemy while serving on board the Heavy Cruiser U.S.S. San Francisco (CA-38) […]. With persistent disregard of his own personal safety, […] Harmon rendered invaluable assistance in caring for the wounded and assisting them to a dressing station. In addition to displaying unusual loyalty [on] behalf of the injured Executive Officer, he deliberately exposed himself to hostile gunfire in order to protect a shipmate and, as a result of this courageous deed, was killed in action. He gallantly gave his life for his country.

Addition Reading & Sources:
First US Ship Named For An African-American (History & Headlines August 31, 2016)
USN Ships: USS Harmon (DE-678) (Ibiblio Database)
Citation: Leonard Roy Harmon (Military Times)
Modern Ships: USS Harmon DE-678 (Naval History & Heritage Command)
Ship Histories: Harmon (DE-678) (Naval History & Heritage Command)
USS Harmon (DE-678) (Naval Warfare Blogspot)
World War Two: Told In A Museum (New Caledonia Site)
Leonard Harmon (Smithsonian)
Leonard Harmon, USN (USS San Francisco Site)
Leonard Roy Harmon (Wikipedia)
Naval Battle of Guadalcanal (Wikipedia)
USS San Francisco (Wikipedia)

Town Tuesday: Twin Chimneys 1768

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Another one of Hillsborough’s oldest homes. ~Vic

Twin Chimneys Image One
Photo Credit: Library of Congress
Historic American Buildings Survey
February 1965

Twin Chimneys, so named for the paired chimneys in each gable end, is sited on a hill on West King Street, directly across from the Colonial Inn and the Parks-Richmond House […]. An iron gate from Stewart Iron Works in Cincinnati, Ohio, separates the house from the pedestrian traffic of the sidewalk. [It] is reputedly a pre-Revolutionary house, however, the exact date of construction is not known. It is important to note that a house is sited at the exact location on the 1768 Sauthier Map of Hillsborough but, it cannot be assumed that the houses are the same.

Twin Chimneys Image Two
05-20-2019
Twin Chimneys Image Three
07-14-2020
Twin Chimneys Gate Image Four
Left side gate.
Photo Credit: Pinterest

This is a most delightful old house, with four huge chimneys and a second-floor balcony, from which a view of the busy thoroughfare, King Street, may have been enjoyed down through the years. The lot on which it stands was once owned by Edmund Fanning.

It is interesting to know that this house was the setting for the old romantic novel, “Joscelyn Cheshire.” According to the story, the heroine concealed her lover in the attic to protect him from Cornwallis’ army. The house served at one time as Hillsborough’s Post Office.

Archibald DeBow Murphey was a North Carolina politician known as the “Father of Education” in his state for his proposals that benefited public works and public education. [Murphey] died at Twin Chimneys in Hillsborough on February 1, 1832. He is buried at the Presbyterian Church […]. The town of Murphy, North Carolina (despite its spelling) was named after him.

Additional Information & Sources:
Twin Chimneys Photos (Library of Congress)
National Register of Historic Places Inventory (PDF) (North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources)
Twin Chiimneys (Open Orange NC)
Joscelyn Cheshire Full Text (Project Gutenberg)

Twin Chimneys Image Five
06-22-2018

TV Tuesday: It’s Not Me, It’s Them! 1965

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BBC2 Image
Image Credit: BFI

Up until this point, the only TV shows I have been posting were American. I will be branching out a bit. Naturally, the first non-American show I choose doesn’t have a lot of information written about it…or a video. ~Vic

Fifty-five years ago, today, the British comedy mini-series It’s Not Me, It’s Them! debuted on BBC2. Produced by Graeme Muir and written by Donald Churchill (The Hound of the Baskervilles), it starred Churchill, Norman Bird (Fawlty Towers), Jack Bligh (Doctor Who), George Betton (Coronation Street) and Anthony Dawes (Fawlty Towers).

Synopsis:

[This was] an early series from the pen of actor/writer Donald Churchill, focused on Albert Curfew, […] a young man unable to hold down a job for any length of time. The title came from a regular saying of Curfew’s every time he lost his job. Churchill (who also starred as well as wrote the scripts) claimed he based the series on a close friend of his. Guest stars in the single season show included Liz Fraser, Bill Kerr and Kate O’Mara.

BBC Genome Beta
BFI
British Comedy Guide
Episodes
Memorable TV

Throwback Thursday: Bloody Sunday 1965

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Bloody Sunday Image
Photo Credit: nbcnews.com

Fifty-four years ago, today, the First March of the Selma to Montgomery marches took place. The planned marches were a response to the murder of Jimmie Lee Jackson by Alabama State Trooper James Fowler. Fowler shot Jackson on February 18, 1965, during a clash between, approximately, 500 protestors walking to Perry County Jail for James Orange and, Marion police officers, sheriff’s deputies and the state troopers. Jackson died from his injuries on February 26. Other casualties that night were two UPI photographers and NBC News correspondent Richard Valereani.

Bloody Sunday Image Two
Photo Credit: usatoday.com

The death of Jackson motivated James Bevel “to initiate and organize the first Selma to Montgomery march to present a way for the citizens of Marion and Selma to direct the anger over Jackson’s death into a positive outcome.Amelia Boynton assisted with the planning.

As the demonstrators crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge, state, and county police, stopped the march and beat the protesters. Boynton was knocked unconscious and the photograph of her wounded body got the entire world’s attention.

The second march took place on March 9, referred to as Turnaround Tuesday. Though the march was peaceful due to a court order declaring no police interference, James Reeb was murdered that evening.

The third march to Montgomery spanned March 21 through March 24. By Thursday, March 25, the movement had reached the State Capitol Building. The murder of Viola Liuzzo was the final end to the violence and the 18 day struggle. Her murder, however, uncovered an FBI Informant, exposing J. Edgar Hoover‘s illegal activities.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was signed into law on August 6, 1965 and, the march route, the Selma To Montgomery Voting Rights Trail, is a designated National Historic Trail.