"Lots of names we know from coast to coast are included," said Bill, "with pictures, wonderful new stories, memories, and even 'where are they now,' whenever possible." Awesome tribute. My humble thanks, Bill! He has much more on his site; from flying to some great Bill G. airchecks! Take a break and have fun at BillGardnerOnTheRadio.com.
Update for BFYP Book 2 DJ, Neale Blase! His rollicking
autobiography, Radio on the Run was selected for the
Library/Archive of the Rock & Roll Radio Hall of Fame!
Always News: BFYP Rock and Roll Radio
DJs: Book 1 (1950s) and Book 2 (1960s) ready at Amazon to walk you down Memory Lane, to the Golden Age of Rock & Roll
Radio! Enjoy the moment ... again.
And now, flip on the mic, let’s Rock On …
Dog Days of Summer Distraction
Today, there are so many devices and distractions
to help take your mind off the heat. August
1967 … not so much. We did have the radio, though. And this month, 50 Years Ago, we were properly
distracted …
Dinner table conversations, summer BBQs, and breaks
in our cruisin’ the drag, always included the questions, “What do you think
Billie Joe McAllister and his girlfriend threw off the Tallahatchie Bridge?”
and, “Oh, why did Billie Joe jump off
the bridge?”
Bobbie Gentry’s haunting song, “Ode to Billie Joe,” whispered across heatwaves and followed us into refreshing swimming
pools. While July radio listener surveys gave us a “Pleasant Valley Sunday”
(Monkees), “Ode” hit the top of the charts early August, for stations like KFRC/San Francisco; though KEXO/Grand Junction, Colorado, took ‘til
month’s end to run it up into the top twenty. (Featured Survey)
Throughout August
1967, we all had our suspicions. Just not all the same ones—flowers?
engagement ring? drugs? even a baby, were popular theories—and Gentry let us
speculate wildly, without comment.
It was a super-summer distraction though! Couple of
fun facts:
♪
Says the storyline at PerformingSongwriter.com, before Capitol
Records cut it down for release, “Ode” rivaled “Light My Fire,” at seven minutes long, and graced the flipside of “Mississippi Delta.” That was also, “… the days when DJs still had minds of their own, and
as in the stories of so many classic hits, the B-side became the A-side.”
♪
The song’s title is spelled with “Billie” but the
resulting movie in 1976, switched it to “Billy.”
♪ The old Tallahatchie Bridge barely reached twenty feet above the water; hardly enough height to
cause death. But it kept local cops busy throughout the summer, plucking
wayward folks intent on death, from the river.
♪
Gentry didn’t want us to go off on a tangent about what was thrown off the bridge. Her
point, was the narrating family’s unfeeling, detached chatter at the dinner table that
reflected how she felt about society. "Well, Billie Joe never had a lick
of sense; pass the biscuits, please …”
♪
Rumor has it that Gentry wrote the song, loosely
based on a local true story from a decade-plus before. But there is no
definitive proof, and the reclusive lady’s not talkin’.
Do we ever learn the answers to the questions? Uh …
no. Like, “what happened to Bobbie Gentry” after Billie
Joe’s success … we may never know what they tossed off the bridge, or why he
jumped … or where the songwriter retired to and why she left the music biz.
So … what distractions kept you and your radio station cool in August 1967?
Featured Radio Survey: KEXO’s streetfront window was pretty
hip for a 1,000-watts-to-250-watts-at-sunset, station. It kept Grand Junction hoppin’ in its early Rock & Roll days. Were
you listening to KEXO, August 26,
1967? Who was your fave jock? Cousin Phil, Ron Conley, or … there’s more …
Celebrate AUGUST 1967: 50 Years Ago and … Rock On!
♪ ♪ ♪