♪ Back to the ways of Pooh … ♪*
What were we doing in May, 1971? We started paying an exorbitant $0.08 for a first-class stamp … highway robbery, right?! Oh my … little did we know what the future would hold.
What may have seemed like a whimsical, innocuous tune reminiscing the past, *“House at Pooh Corner“ was a wistful seventeen-year-old Kenny Loggins’ way of lamenting the loss of our short childhood. (*See the Featured Radio Survey info.) The budding high school senior’s chat with Pooh first hit the charts as a Nitty Gritty Dirt Band tune, 50 Years Ago this Month …
Rat-a-tat, rat-a-tat, rat-a-tat, tat, BANG! It’s Drum Month. Although no official link appears with this special day, if you have a hankering to “bang the drum” (insert your own interpretation), or just listen to some drum-based Oldies, including “The Drum” (Bobby Sherman) sitting at #24 on a WEEX/Easton, Pennsylvania, May 1971 survey, just sing … ♪ Boom ba boom ba boom | Your turn to dance will come … ♪
May 13th:
Speaking of boomin’, hey Boomers, do you recall that we nearly lost a
dynamic voice in Rock & Roll on
this date? Grace
Slick of Jefferson Airplane-turned Jefferson
Starship, made a foolish decision (gee, none of us have ever done
that). She learned the hard way that drag racing belongs on a monitored strip,
not in a tunnel near San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge.
Grace and fellow
band member, Jorma
Kaukonen, felt a need for speed and both jammed the gas pedals to over a
hundred miles per hour. Only very lucky can describe the outcome
of their defying odds to bring us musical joy for many more years.
Be adventurous! What’s your tuneful favorite? The hard beat of a drum, the strum of a guitar, or the high hum of Wilson’s favorite piccolo? As they say, “music soothes the soul.” You don’t have to be good, just enjoy the moment!
May 31st: We end the month with a
missive of world strife. If you believe in “one world,” you will recognize
former Beatle George Harrison’s 1971 message. A territory of Pakistan striving
to shed oppression, declared this date the birth of the Bangladesh government.
Why is this important to popular music? Artists
have been making musical political statements for nearly a century. Following its
early pro-democracy struggle March through May 1971, which ultimately became
the Bangladesh Liberation War, George Harrison felt strong
enough about their rights to produce a song (“Bangla-desh” released July 28th) and New York City concert (August 1st) to help
their cause.
MAY 1971 ~ Pooh may have tinkered with our inner child, but it was “Me and You and a Dog Named Boo” that captured a spot in the top five of the charts, by a guy called Lobo (Roland Kent LaVoie).
From a dirty band to a peanut gallery, to a dinosaur and a handful of fuzz, we loved our crazy ‘70s psych artist and band names. Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, P-Nut Gallery, T-Rex, and Fuzz, respectively, kept company on WEEX’s chart with Tin Tin, Daddy Dewdrop, and of course, Three Dog Night. Cool.
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LinDee Rochelle is a writer and editor by trade, and author by way of Rock & Roll. Two books (of three) are published in her Blast from Your Past series, available on Amazon (eBook and print): Book 1 – Rock & Roll Radio DJs: The First Five Years 1954-1959; and Book 2 – Rock & Roll Radio DJs: The Swinging Sixties. Coming soon … The Psychedelic Seventies!
Note: FYI – All links in the BFYP site are personally visited, verified, and vetted. Most are linked to commonly accessed sites of reputable note. Occasionally, since I often feature real people and/or singular sources there may be an unsecured link. As with everything cyber-security, use at your own discretion and risk. No compensation is received for any mentions of businesses, products, or other commercial interests. *All holiday and special event days are found at Brownielocks.com’s calendar site. Enjoy!
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