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George Lucas' first film was 'THX 1138'. It was a total disappointment. Francis Ford Coppola had then told him to make something 'warm and funny', and not 'weird'. So.. he made American Graffiti. His ... View MoreGeorge Lucas' first film was 'THX 1138'. It was a total disappointment. Francis Ford Coppola had then told him to make something 'warm and funny', and not 'weird'. So.. he made American Graffiti. His 'love letter' to the Fifties and his hometown of Modesto.
'American Graffiti' involves the audience. A nice piece of nostalgia. In fact, it was 'American Graffiti' that had paved the way for 'Star Wars'.
Now, you remember the TV show, 'Happy Days' starring Ron Howard, who had also starred in 'American Graffiti'. Since 'Happy Days' had premiered only five months after the release of 'American Graffiti', it is assumed by many to have been a spin off. Not so.
'Happy Days' had originated as a segment in the TV series 'Love American Style'. I've not seen it in years, but if memory serves, it was pretty much the same characters as in the 'Happy Days' TV program, minus Tom Bosley as Howard Cunningham.
Lucas has originally wanted to shoot 'American Graffitti' in Modesto.. but the town had changed too much. He had then chose San Rafael, California to represent early 1960's Modesto.
Unfortunately, after only one day of shooting, the city said no. One member of the film crew was arrested for growing Marijuana, and, because of street closures for filming, there were a lot of complaints by those businesses. And so the crew had moved twenty miles North to Petaluma.
In the early 1960's, Wolfman Jack was all over Southern California radio, and was a big part of George Lucas' childhood.
George Lucas himself had chosen what the soundtrack would be, using his sister's 45 RPM record collection from the late 50's and early 60's. Lucas has said that he had written specific scenes to go with specific songs. Now you've really got to love that.
Oh, and at the end of the film, where Bob Falfa finally had opportunity to race John Milner, the local drag racing king, and during the race, Falfa blows a tire and crashes. That's actually based on a true story in Lucas' life.
Growing up in Modesto, George was apparently heavily into the local drag racing scene. During a particular race, Lucas had flipped his car and nearly died. This had prompted him to go to film school instead.
The soundtrack album had sold well over three million copies. It includes 41 or the 43 songs used in the film, arranged on the album in the order they appear in the movie. 'Gee' by the Crows and 'Louie Louie' by Flash Cadillac and the Continental Kids are the only two excluded.
Speaking of the soundtrack, noticeably absent.. is Elvis. The reason being, is that Universal had offered and flat rate to all the labels involved. RCA, Elvis' label, had refused. Therefore, no Elvis.
A sequel to the film, 'More American Graffiti', was released in 1979. There were three, double set record albums released.. 'American Graffiti', 'More American Graffiti', and 'American Graffiti Vol. 3'.
Imagine what's being played on those car radios. I like to imagine everything from, The Five Keys to Hank Williams, Little Richard, B.B. King, The Crows, Flamingos, Elvis Presley, Del-Vikings, El Dora... View MoreImagine what's being played on those car radios. I like to imagine everything from, The Five Keys to Hank Williams, Little Richard, B.B. King, The Crows, Flamingos, Elvis Presley, Del-Vikings, El Dorados, Wynonie Harris, Johnny Cash, Etta James, Hank Ballard & The Midnighters, The Chords, Moonglows, Everly Brothers...
Man, all that truly wonderful music..being played in this atmosphere, on those old AM car radios. If I could go back in time.. this is where I'd be. And of course, you know what I'd be doing.. I'd be on the air at the local AM (they didn't have FM or Stereo radio back then), spinning those original 45s!
Rock & Roll, Rhythm & Blues, Doo Wop, Country & Western, Be Bop.. walk down to the soda fountain for a Cherry Coke. Friday and Saturday nights.. kids cruisin' the streets.. listening to the radio.. stop by the drive-in for a burger basket.. others at the drive-in theatre on the outskirts of town.
Maybe a Humphrey Bogart or James Cagney double feature for the older crowd.. maybe John Wayne. For the younger set.. James Dean in 'The Wild One' backed with 'Rebel Without A Cause'!
Then on Sunday morning, everyone is in a peaceful, solemn atmosphere.. the sound of birds singing, church bells.. everyone getting ready for church. Maybe a picnic afterward... Peace, serenity and contentment.
Dee and Robert, 'Come On On'. From 1965, it's a pretty cool little record. It was also released on HIT Records, which I've always considered to be a budget 'sound-alike' label. I wasn't too sure about... View MoreDee and Robert, 'Come On On'. From 1965, it's a pretty cool little record. It was also released on HIT Records, which I've always considered to be a budget 'sound-alike' label. I wasn't too sure about SPAR until I'd found this one with the 'D.J. Not For Sale' imprint... Always thought of it as a 'sound-a-like' label like HIT.
I honestly don't know much about Dee and Robert, save to say, from what I've gathered, Bobby Russell born in Nashville, April 19, 1941, and was a writer of both Pop and Country songs, and had produced several hit records in the 1960s and 70s.
His first song to make an impact was the 1966 release by Brian Hyland, 'The Joker Went Wild'. Two years later, he had written 'Little Green Apples', a song we're all familiar with, but many of us know it as by L. C. Smith. This, though, was a Country version performed by Rogers Miller!
I need to find a copy of that. I'm curious what that would sound like. It had reached the top ten. L. C. Smith had released a version a bit later, and that's the version that I'm familiar with. Robert's next hit was recorded by Bobby Goldsboro, 'Honey'. That particular single had reached the #1 position on BOTH the Pop AND Country charts.
'Dee', is apparently D. Bergen White, long-time Nashville arranger, producer, conductor, musician, composer and singer, born July 18, 1939 in Miami, Oklahoma. In fact, I had found this record in Southwest Missouri, which is close to Miami, Oklahoma. I used to have family in Miami years ago.
'Dee' is the son of a Baptist music minister, and, in his teenage years, was singing in church choirs led by his father, where White had learned harmony and the rudiments of arranging vocals. 'I don’t even remember learning to read music,' he said. 'It just happened.' The family had moved quite frequently, and when he was fourteen, the family had wound up in Nashville.
While there, White had become friends with classmate Bobby Russell, who himself, had musical aspirations. 'Bobby is responsible for getting me into the music business,' White said... Now, here's where we get to the SPAR and HIT Records association.
White was teaching high school in nearby Fairview, Tennessee, when Russell had recruited him to sing harmony on a session of 'sound-alike' records, which copied the big hits of the day and issued them at a discount price.
Also, in the mid 60s, he had co-written a couple of songs by Jan and Dean, as well as touring and recording with Ronny and The Daytonas. White was also able to release a couple of singles under his own name for the Monument label, and, in 1969, had recorded and released, what has apparently become a cult favorite, 'For Women Only', an album of lush, romantic Pop music. That was for Shelby Singleton's SSS label. It was also reissued in 2004 on CD.
Robert had passed away November 19, 1992, after suffering a heart attack. He was posthumously inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1994. To my knowledge, 'Dee' Bergen White, is still around, and active.
As for SPAR Records, the label was founded in 1961 by record men Alan Bubis and William Beasley. They had been partners in the Tennessee and Republic labels in the 1950s and had eventually gotten into record distribution as well. The SPAR imprint was soon followed by budget labels.
And from what I gather, many of these 'discount' labels had some of Nashville's finest performers on them! The SPAR label had gone out of business in the mid 1970s, but left behind this wonderful legacy of classic Nashville music. They also owned the HIT label.
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