Professor Mikey’s OLD SCHOOL

Old School Special: RetroRanch Christmas

In the wake of Gene Autry's 1949 holiday success with "Rudolph, the. Red Nosed Reindeer," the genre of fantasy Christmas in the Wild West got a huge shot in the saddle.  Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesterYule, when the new sheriff in town wore red suspenders, herded reindeer, and had spurs that went jingle jangle jingle bells.  Ernest Tubb, George Jones, Buck Owens, Loretta Lynn, and even little Miss Gayla Peevey launch into a holiday hoedown sure to unhinge some maverick memories and make room for new ones.  Always time for a plug before we get the fire going. Subscriptions to the Retrofit newsletter are free for now, so that should fit in with most budgets. Click the little doodads to find out more. Also my book "The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Old West" is still out there, Pony Express should get it to you by Twelfth Night.Now let’s saddle up and take to a tinsel trail full of rowdy rarities, seasonal sensations, and St. Nicholas nuggets.  Load your Red Ryder carbine action 200-shot air rifles a get ready for visions of sagebrush sugarplums! Happy Holiday trails, it's the all new RetroRanch Christmas!Playlist: Artist. “Title” Album. Label, Year.* Gene Autry. "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" Gene Autry Sings Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town. LaserLight, 1949* Buck Owens and His Buckaroos. "Jingle Bells" Christmas with Buck Owens and his Buckaroos. Sundazed, 1965* Tex Ritter. "Christmas Carols by the Old Coral" I'm Gonna Lasso Santa Claus. Viper, 1945.* Bill Monroe. "Christmas TIme's A-Coming" Hillbilly Holiday. Rhino, 1951.* Ernest Tubb. "I'll Be Walking the Floor This Christmas" Blue Christmas. Decca , 1964.* Jody Levins. "Jingle Bells Boogie" Rockabilly Xmas. Buffalo Bop, 1954* Brenda Lee. "I'm Gonna Lasso Santa Claus" Rockin' Little Christmas. MCA, 1956.* Michael Landon. "Santa Got Lost in Texas" Bonanza Christmas on the Ponderosa. RCA, 1962.* Lorne Greene. "Stuck in the Chimney" Bonanza Christmas on the Ponderosa. RCA, 1962.* Johnny Horton. "They Shined Up Rudolph's Nose" Christmasville USA. Mapletone, 1959.* Buck Owens and His Buckaroos. "Santa's Coming in a Stagecoach" Christmas with Buck Owens and His Buckaroos. Sundazed, 1965* Gene Autry. "Santa's Coming in a Whirlybird" Here Comes Santa Claus. Varese Saraband, 1957* Sonny Cole. "Santa to the Moon" Rockabilly Christmas. Buffalo Bop, 1958* Jimmy Dean. "Little Sandy Sleighfoot" Billboard Greatest Country Christmas Hits. Rhino, 1957* Eddy Arnold. "Will Santa Come to Shanty Town?" Christmas with Eddy Arnold. RCA, 1962.* Ferlin Husky. "Lonely Christmas" Christmas All Year Long. Capitol, 1967. :* Hank Thompson. "Gonna Wrap My Heart in Ribbons" Hillbilly Holiday. Rhino, 1965.* Gayla Peevey. "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" Dr. Demento Presents the Greatest Christmas Novelty CD of All Time. Rhino, 1952.* Jimmy Boyd. "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" Christmas with Jimmy Boyd. Philips, 1952* George Jones. "My Mom and Santa Claus" Hillbilly Holiday. Rhino, 1961.* Loretta Lynn. "To Heck with Old Santa Claus" Hillbilly Holiday. Rhino, 1967.* Little Joey Farr. "Big White Cadillac" Rockabilly Xmas. Buffalo Bop, 1958* Tennessee Ernie Ford. "Christmas Dinner" Christmas on the Range. Capitol, 1951.* Johnny Cash. "Christmas As I Knew It" Christmas with Johnny Cash. Sony Legacy, 1963Thank you for reading RETROFIT. This post is public so feel free to share it.Professor Mikey’s OLD SCHOOL is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.© 2023 Mike Flanagan This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit professormikey.substack.com/subscribe

OLD SCHOOL #59 ”Under the 1969 Tree”

1969 was a blazing year, the last year of the 60s. The year man walked on the moon and women swam at Woodstock. There were no thoughts of disco, or punk, or post punk, or any of the musical revelations that were just around the corner.Still you could spend $2.99 on a single album ($15.99 for a double album, don’t forget those 18 minute songs) and make someone really happy. You might say someone with a turntable. But  dog, everybody had a turntable. It may not have been a Tharen’s TD 124. Or a Gerard 401 with a Transcriptor Tone Arm. It might have come from Sears. Regardless, when you dropped the needle on the Stones Let It Bleed or the Beatles Abbey Road, you were transformed into a new universe of artful rock and roll.Aw heck. The first 2 Led Zeppelin albums came out in 1969. If you were gifted any of these wonder classics, you would have felt cool and loved by someone who had pretty radical tastes in lots of different kinds of music. Everything you are about to hear came out in one incredible year. It begins with a song appropriately titled 1969. It is from the 1969 album The Stooges. Iggy Pop was about to become a household name, along with many of the people in this so cool its cold playlist. This is Old School #59, Underneath the 1969 Tree.It would be easy to go to a Billboard list for 1969 and give you a show of hits, but I want to think about this one as if I were shopping for presents before the 70s changed music forever. I want to give a handful of cool gifts, and in the hundreds of albums released in 1969 you can find some great stuff. So great, in the next 90 minutes you might find yourself ready to move back a few years.It’s the time of the season to share the love. As David Crosby would soon tell us, music is love.Speaking of 4th grade Prince watching Sly on TV, little Michael Jackson couldn’t get enough The godfather of soul always on point. His band hitting beats that are going to be sampled in ways no one could imagine at the time. Sure there was a lot of rocking around the Christmas tree in 1969, but as the snows of winter, a never ending war, and a widening space we would call the generation gap began to fall, there was plenty of time for introspection. Leonard Cohen was a new face, with a second album. The super group Blind Faith assembled for one album. Pink Floyd was not only recording across the hall from the Beatles, they too were playing live on the BBC. And then there’s a cold weather sound from Jefferson Airplane, and the chances of getting lost at sea with Procol Harum. Kick back for a good old FM underground radio set.Pink Floyd originally presented Cymballine for the motion picture soundtrack to More. What we heard was indeed a live performance on the BBC. Good Shepherd occupied the post Woodstock headspace of Jefferson Airplane. A Salty Dog , the mysterious sea tale, came from the third Procol Harum album and featured guitarist Robin Trower.Our penultimate discovery Under the 1969 tree was also visual and psychedelic, around seven years before Buckingham and Nix joined Fleetwood Mac. It represents a fascinating chapter in the life of Peter Green. He plays a Ramirez classical acoustic guitar as well as an electric guitar, bass guitar, cello, timpani, and clash cymbals. It is one of the great theme songs on which to unleash your imagination. My own mental setup is that it is setting the stage for some epic battle among Ninjas in a vast dessert beneath a sun that is much closer than 93 million miles.PLAYLIST1969 The Stooges/THE STOOGESRUNAWAY CHILD, RUNNING WILD The Temptations/CLOUD NINE     BADGE Goodbye/CREAMSON OF A PREACHER MAN Dusty Springfield/Dusty in MemphisBORN ON THE BAYOU Creedence Clearwater Revival/Bayou Country ELLA GURU Capt Beefheart and His Magic Band/TROUT MASK REPLICAPEACHES EN REGALIA Frank Zappa/HOT RATSDARK EYED WOMAN Spirit/CLEAR SPIRITSOUTH CALIFORNIA PURPLES Chicago Transit Authority/CTASTAND! Sly and the Family Stone/STAND!SAY IT LOUD I’M BLACK AND I’M PROUD James Brown/SAY IT LOUDYOU KNOW WHO I AM Leonard Cohen/SONGS FROM A ROOMCAN’T FIND MY WAY HOME Blind Faith/BLIND FAITHCYMBALINE Pink Floyd/THE EARLY YEARS 1967-1972 CRE/ATION GOOD SHEPHERD Jefferson Airplane/VOLUNTEERSA SALTY DOG Procol Harum/A SALTY DOGOH WELL PART TWO Fleetwood MacAFTER HOURS Velvet Underground/VELVET UNDERGROUND Eighteen songs that would have been welcomed under anybody’s Christmas tree in 1969. It’s a desert island year, provided you could get service in the middle of the Pacific of memories from the great beyond.Any music you may have heard in this session resides within the public domain or is used within the guidelines of fair use provided for in Section 107 of the copyright act of 1976. The YouTube version may have been edited beyond recognition by more rules than could ever apply to rock and roll. Full uncut versions can be found on the Professor Mikey Old School podcasts on Apple, Spotify, Stitcher, Pandora or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening, I’ll see you next time in whatever year the tonearm lands. The closing song was penned by Lou Reed to conclude the third Velvet Underground album. He said he couldn’t sing it because it needed a voice innocent and pure. So drummer Maureen Tucker sings our farewell to 1969. I’m Professor Mikey, subscribe if you are so moved. Join us again soon for Old School where the past is a blast. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit professormikey.substack.com/subscribe

OLD SCHOOL Single: ”AVENGING ANNIE” Andy Pratt (1973)

There has to be a better category for the enigmatic Andy Pratt other than “one hit wonder.” The song he is best known for appeared like a comet on the pop music horizon in 1973, bristling with the buzz and excellence of a new discovery.“Avenging Annie” is a power ballad on the level of the kinds of things Elton John was producing at that time, alongside Yes and the Bob Welch era Fleetwood Mac.Annie’s time in the spotlight was brief if you only listen for chart positions splash. Yet there is something about this song that packs a wallop, not only of memory but of deliverance as we drop the needle a half century away from this magnificent obscurity.The saga of Andy Pratt began with a self titled album in 1973, and progressed through one called Resolution in 1976 that Rolling Stone said “has forever changed the face of rock.” After that, he pretty much disappeared, but it wasn’t for lack of being unique.  He was educated at Harvard, attended Boston’s Life Institute, converted to Christianity, married a Dutch woman in 1988, and moved to Belgium in 1996, where he lives today. He says his best wish is for his music to offer inner healing.  Here’s Andy Pratt, back in ’73, with the amazing Avenging Annie…I wrote "Avenging Annie" in the summer of 1972 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, at my mother's 1926 Steinway B Baby Grand piano. I had broken up with my first wife[.] ... I was stoned on marijuana. On my turntable was the The Byrds' Sweetheart of the Rodeo, in particular the Woody Guthrie song "Pretty Boy Floyd." You can clearly hear that the first part of "Avenging Annie" is an altered version of "Pretty Boy Floyd." I shut off the record and began playing "Pretty Boy Floyd." I was going into a creative trance, and I altered Woody's words, then out came a Bach-like piano riff which I liked, so I began singing to it in falsetto, taking the part of a woman I called Avenging Annie. A whole story came out, which was a fantasy version of my relationship with [my ex-wife], combined with the outlaw theme of the American West. I worked on the song for a few weeks and played for other people who liked it. I made a demo with Rick Shlosser and Bill Riseman, which became a hit at Brown University Radio WBRU. This new fame led to me being whisked away by John Nagy of Earth Opera, Clive Davis of Columbia Records, and Nat Weiss of The Beatles, being wined and dined in New York City and given star treatment at the famous Black Rock on 6th Avenue. Once recorded and released on Columbia, "Avenging Annie" took on a life of its own, which has never really stopped. My version was given extensive radio play, became a number one single in New Orleans and Providence, and reached about number eighty-five in the national charts. I did a successful tour of the East Coast, where Jimmy Buffet opened for me at Max's Kansas City, an Andy Pratt show was broadcast from Boston's Jazz Workshop over WBCN radio, and many other wonderful things happened. The Andy Pratt record, with "Avenging Annie" is still available on various web sites, including www.amazon.com.Roger Daltrey covered "Avenging Annie" in 1974, and his version appeared first on his One of the Boys album as well as other collections he released. My opinion of his version is that he was afraid to play the role of a woman in the song, and his band did not play the syncopations that we played in our version. I prefer my version. Still, I am grateful for his recognition of the song, and the added exposure that he helped me to gain.Carmenica Diaz wrote a book called "Avenging Annie" and credits the song as the book's inspiration, for which I thank her. —Andy Pratt, Sept 6, 2006We ran the through hills and forestsAs two under a spellHe was a city boy, Floyd the outlawBut I thought I knew him wellLong after that great summerWhen I first came into my fameAnd the Avenger from OklahomaWas added to my nameThe Avenger I became[Verse 1]Well, they call me Avenging AnnieI'm avenger of womanhoodI spend my whole life telling liesLead you on and mess you over goodI take all you spoiled young hippiesRunning around, playing gamesMess around in your bed, I'll blow your headI'll put you through a changeWhat you've done to othersI'll do unto you[Verse 2]And then I met my sensitive outlawHe was the best thing I had ever seenI wanna be his wife forgiving my lifeI was so blind I could never have seen, noSo I joined up with my outlawAnd headed for CaliforniaVerse 3]He treated me worse than I ever imaginedHe even say he don't want me aroundKept it up so long, I couldn't be strongHe run me right into the groundAfter five long yearsHe picked me up and then he slapped me down[Verse 4]When I told my friends about himThey all were on my sideAnd I could see through the haze he looked so crazyI put my head right down and I criedFor my poor loverI cried like a mother for my poor loverVerse 5]Well, I felt so sad about itBut I knew I couldn't do him no goodHe was so far gone while standing all aloneI left him, I knew I shouldI knew I couldn't do him no good[Verse 6]And now I live out on a mountain topAnd I'm almost thirty-fiveAnd I've found my peace and I've found my releaseAnd I'm happy just to be aliveAnd I might go back to my FloydIf I think it's the thing to doHe gave up murder and theft right after I leftAnd you know I still love him too[Outro]Just like your woman loves youJust like your woman loves youJust like your woman loves youJust like your woman loves youJust like your woman loves youJust like your woman loves youJust like your woman loves youJust like your woman loves youJust like your woman loves youJust like your woman loves youJust like your woman loves youJust like your woman loves youJust like your woman loves youJust like your woman loves youJust like your woman loves youWell, they call me Avenging AnnieI'm avenger of womanhoodI spend my whole life telling liesLead you on and mess you over, yeah This is a public episode. 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Encore: Old School Thanksgiving ”In the MOOD for FOOD!”

Yes it is a holiday rerun. But we have more people around the OLD SCHOOL table than we did at this time last year. So let’s feast on some fascinating tunes, all written by hungry people from different eras and angles. Some became hits, some were forgotten, but each was delicious upon first listen, no matter in what millennia the needle dropped.Chances are you will be spending the holiday around people with whom you don’t usually sample music. You know Uncle Harry’s politics, and what he thinks of little Suzy’s tat, but what does he listen to?This show works great during the dinner prep, but could also serve as background chomping music. Elvis, Dee Dee Sharp, Hank Williams, Jimmy Buffett, the Kinks, Cab Calloway, Talking Heads, Paul Revere and the Raiders, the Beach Boys, Doris Day and many, many more. Professor Mikey goes for the eclectic salad around the holiday. No holiday makes you rounder than Thanksgiving.If you’ve never seen the newsletter, take out a free subscription at professormikey.substack.com. If you don’t do podcasts go over to Professor Mikey’s Old School on YouTube and flip through the stacks. Theme shows, singles, odd takes, rarities, skips, pops. Think of it as radio unplugged.Anyway, this is not a show for quiet eating, although if you turn it down low I suppose it will work. This is an episode about getting in that kitchen and making some noise with the pots and pans, like Big Joe Turner says in “Shake, Rattle and Roll.”Food prep is a joyous time. You’ve got to keep a lot of plates in the air, then fill them up with goodies. Yes we have songs about turkeys and mashed potatoes, but there’s also some lively tunes about hamburgers, hot dogs, and pizza, thanks to Dean Martin.So here is what you hear when you are In the Mood for Food. Check that ham, baste that turkey, shake that salt, and get her done. I’m on holiday so I’m going to put down the microphone and pick up the fork. The playlist is on the newsletter at Professormikey.Substack.Com. Pretty sure you also have a phone that can tell you what is playing. I have to check my pecan pie. I burnt the out of the one last year.Have a bountiful holiday that puts a yummy in your tummy.Let’s rock that kitchen…1LET’S TURKEY TROT Little EvaFOOD The TurtlesJAMBALAYA Hank WilliamsCRAWFISH Elvis PresleyTURKEY IN THE STRAW Burl IvesSWITCHEN IN THE KITCHEN Don CovayEGGS AND SAUSAGE (IN A CADILLAC WITH SUSAN MICHELSON) Tom WaitsBEANS AND CORNBREAD Louis JordanHAM ‘N’ EGGS A Tribe Called QuestMASHED POTATO TIME Dee Dee SharpEVERYBODY EATS WHEN THEY COME TO MY HOUSE Cab CallowayCALL ANY VEGETABLE Frank Zappa & The Mothers of InventionVEGETABLES The Beach BoysHE’S A CHEF Rocket from the CryptTHAT’S AMORE Dean MartinSUPPER TIME Barbra StreisandSHAKE, RATTLE AND ROLL Big Joe TurnerHUNGRY Paul Revere and the RaidersSTAY HUNGRY Talking HeadsTACOS, ENCHILADAS AND BEANS Doris DayMOMMAS IN THE KITCHEN BUT WE’VE GOT POP ON ICE Slim GailardCHEESEBURGER IN PARADISE Jimmy BuffettHOT DOGS AND HAMBURGERS John MellencampCHEESECAKE Louis ArmstrongFOOD, GLORIOUS FOOD Oliver! Original Broadway SoundtrackYES, WE HAVE NO BANANAS Louis PrimaMAXIMUM CONSUMPTION The KinksDcYUM, YUM, YUM Joe TexSUPPERTIME Levi Stubbs, Little Shop of Horrors Original Motion Picture SoundtrackGROCERIES, SIR The DukesBREAKFAST FOR TWO Country Joe McDonaldCHRISTMAS DINNER Tennessee Ernie FordProfessor Mikey's OLD SCHOOL is a reader-supported publication. Consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. And have a bountiful and safe holiday! This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit professormikey.substack.com/subscribe

Old School #58 “PRE-ROCK PRE-ROLL”

On the day rock and roll was born, it made no news. That’s because the event itself wasn’t exactly a birth, but a morphing of so many different styles of music, it confused the most hardcore rock historians. Rock and Roll was a true clash down by the river. It was a cosmic fusion of African American rhythm and blues with elements of swing, boogie-woogie, urban blues, Latin rhythms, Country, Western, Rockabilly, and Tin Pan Alley. Bringing that together in bits and pieces was a fresh new blank generation of teens who had to rebel against something after World War II. To be young in the mid-’50s to early ’60s and not be a rock fan was to be “square.“The term itself can be found back among the flappers and the drugstore cowboys in the Roaring Twenties. The forgotten but fabulous Trixie Smith recorded “My Baby Rocks Me with One Steady Roll” in 1922. Cleveland disc jockey Alan Freed took to the airwaves in 1951 with a rhythm and blues radio show “Moondog’s Rock and Roll Party.” Today we rev up the Old School time machine magic bus to hover around the very early 50s, long before Elvis recorded Hound Dog in 1956. For many years that was considered the first rock and roll song, even though Elvis fans could make a better case with That’s All Right Mama recorded at the yellow Sun Records in Nashville studio on July 5, 1954.But for this lesson we reach back to 1951 and only go up to 1954. And I think all these songs are rock and roll. Think of this show as the Pre Rock Pre Roll. Professor Mikey here. Take your seats unless you feel like dancing.You know when they dig for mummies in Egypt, the newer mummies are closer to the top? Crazy Man Crazy is not the first rock record but it is certifiable and well as verifiable that it is the first recognized rock and roll recording to appear on the national Billboard American charts, peaking at #12 on their Juke Box chart[1] for the week ending June 20, 1953, and #11 for two weeks on the Cash Box chart beginning for the week of June 13.Much of the mystery we have been tracking on this episode of Old School “Pre Rock Pre Roll” has had to do with terminology and trying to track down what was being called when. Exactly how the term rock and roll was popularized shook out over time. It is also important to note that not everyone was embracing the new sound that cut across many lines. I wanted you to hear a little Alan Freed while we are swimming in the early 50s waters. Freed was a recording artists with a local reputation, but his real fame came from his making the new music the centerpiece of his radio show. The music was new and enthusiastic but an old and boring cultural disease was at the root of much of the controversy.This sound byte was recorded May 4, 1957–four months before Clark also started appearing on 21-inch living room glass screens. THE BIG BEAT hosted by Alan Freed was the first national broadcast of a rock music television show.   You’ll hear the showman himself, bursting with promotion and enthusiasm as he introduces 14 year old Frankie Lymon with his group The Teenagers. What you won’t hear, or see, is young Lymon dancing with a member of the audience who happened to be white and female. That was enough to get the show cancelled by the network only four weeks after it premiered.Jumping back into this rather loose chronology, things start getting hot in 1954 for this genre in search of a perfect title. Here is Etta James and she is sweet 16.Of all the tunes we will listen to on this episode, that one is 1957, after that rock and roll term was officially adopted by millions of music lovers around the world.The Clovers from 1954, a great year for Cadillacs. Professor Mikey here. Today we have heard just a handful of the songs that were probably rock and roll before the term was officially adopted. It was and exciting time for music, as well as the world. The Americans as well as the Russians were testing bigger and better bombs every week. On a different scale, down in Montgomery Alabama, Rosa Parks was about to decide she wasn’t going to give up her bus seat to any more white men. In Minnesota, Bob Dylan was thinking about moving to New York. The times they were a changing.The kind of music that would transcend into real rock and roll was filling the airwaves. There was too much experimenting going on to think about formalities and trivial naming ceremonies. The music was fun, great to dance to, and deserving of the volume control turned up to 11. Completely unexpected was what rock and roll was doing for society, bringing people together on 33, 45, and 78. It was surely a time of pre rock and pre roll.Any music you may have heard in this session resides within the public domain or is used within the guidelines of fair use provided for in Section 107 of the copyright act of 1976. Podcast carriers compensate artists directly. If you are an artist who feels your work has been improperly used or misrepresented, please contact our producers at professormikey.substack.com and we will file your music in files labeled what might have been.Unexpurgated episodes of Old School are available on Apple, Spotify, Stitcher, Pandora or wherever you get your podcasts. Several episodes are also ready to rock and ready to roll on Professor Mikey’s Old School on YouTube.One more question that doesn’t have a definitive answer. What was the first rock and roll song? Many of our current music scholars point to one song, coming out of Sam Phillips Sun Studio that was recorded in 1951, long before Elvis walked in the door. Lets take a ride in a Rocket 88.Thanks for listening, let the whole episode play especially in traffic and join us again soon for Old School where the past is a blast.PRE-ROCK PRE-ROLL PlaylistCRAZY MAN CRAZY Bill Haley and His Comets (1953)BEBOPPER Hank Jones Trio and The Gordons (1951)SHAKE RATTLE AND ROLL Big Joe Turner (1951)LOVIN’ JIM Little Mickey Champion (1952)HOUND DOG Big Mama Thornton (1953)MONEY HONEY Clyde McPhatter  (1953)BAM BALAM The Dewdroppers (1953)MYSTERY TRAIN Junior Parker (1953)WHY DO FOOLS FALL IN LOVE Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers (1957) THE WALLFLOWER Etta James (1954)WOODCHUCK Billy the Kid Emerson (1954)I JUST WANT TO MAKE LOVE TO YOU Muddy Waters (1954)MELLOW DOWN EASY Little Water (1954)YOUR CASH AIN’T NOTHING BUT TRASH The Clovers (1954)ROCKET 88 Jackie Brenston and the Delta Cats (1951)SPECIAL:“THE BIG BANG OF ROCK AND ROLL” This is a public episode. 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Old School Single ”Bridge of Sighs” ROBIN TROWER (1974)

Robin Trower Timeline🎸1945 (March 9): Robin Trower is born in Catford, London, England.1962: Trower starts his music career and joins a band called The Paramounts.1967: Joins Procol Harum as the replacement for original guitarist Ray Royer.1967–1971: Trower gains fame as the lead guitarist for Procol Harum. He contributes to albums like “Procol Harum” (1967), “Shine on Brightly” (1968), “A Salty Dog” (1969), and “Home” (1970).1971: Leaves Procol Harum to pursue a solo career.1973: Releases his debut solo album, “Twice Removed from Yesterday.”1974: Releases the highly successful album “Bridge of Sighs,” which includes the acclaimed title track and contributes to establishing him as a solo artist.1970s to 1980s: Continues releasing successful albums, including “For Earth Below” (1975), “Long Misty Days” (1976), “In City Dreams” (1977), “Caravan to Midnight” (1978), and “Victims of the Fury” (1980).1980s to 1990s: Trower continues to release albums regularly, including “B.L.T.” (1981), “Truce” (1982), “Back It Up” (1983), “Passion” (1987), “Take What You Need” (1988), and others.2000s: Releases albums like “Go My Way” (2000), “Living Out of Time” (2003), “Another Days Blues” (2005), and “Seven Moons” (2008) with Jack Bruce.2010s: Continues his musical career with albums like “The Playful Heart” (2010), “Roots and Branches” (2013), “Something’s About to Change” (2015), and others.The sun don't shineThe moon don't move the tides,To wash me cleanThe sun don't shineThe moon don't move the tides,To wash me cleanWhy so unforgiving and why so coldBeen a long time crossing bridge of sighsCold wind blowsThe Gods look down in anger,On this poor childCold wind blowsAnd Gods look down in anger,On this poor childWhy so unforgiving and why so coldBeen a long time crossing bridge of sighsBridge of Sighs Lyrics as written by Robin TrowerLyrics © BMG Rights ManagementLyrics powered by LyricFindFamous 17th CenturiansCertainly, here are ten famous individuals who lived in the 17th century, along with their birth and death years:1. William Shakespeare (1564–1616) - English playwright, poet, and actor.2. Galileo Galilei (1564–1642) - Italian astronomer, physicist, and mathematician.3. Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675) - Dutch painter known for his masterful use of light and color.4. Rene Descartes (1596–1650) - French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist.5. Oliver Cromwell (1599–1658) - English military and political leader.6. Rembrandt van Rijn (1606–1669) - Dutch painter and one of the greatest artists in history.7. John Milton (1608–1674) - English poet, best known for his epic poem “Paradise Lost.”8. Blaise Pascal (1623–1662) - French mathematician, physicist, and philosopher.9. Molière (1622–1673) - French playwright and actor known for his comedic plays.10. Sir Isaac Newton (1643–1727) - English mathematician, physicist, and astronomer, famous for his laws of motion and universal gravitation. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit professormikey.substack.com/subscribe

Old School Singles ”We Love You” THE ROLLING STONES (1967)

As the Rolling Stones were entering their psychedelic phase, they received a maximum hassle from the police.  After being arrested as part of an allegedly framed drug bust in February 1967 at Keith Richards' estate, Mick Jagger penned the lyrics to "We Love You" from a holding cell, offering  thanks to the band's supporters, fans, and the editorial page of the London Times. In his flower-power portrait, the authorities are neo-fascists, the rockers are above it all: "We don't care if you hound we/And love is all around we/ You will never win we/Your uniforms don't fit we/We forget the place we're in 'cause we love you."  Nicky Hopkins pounds the piano, John Lennon and Paul McCartney sing in the background, and you can even hear the jail door slam at the beginning.  The Stones.  We Love You…BONUS Pulp Non Fiction:HOW THE ACID KING HELPED BUST THE STONES[Intro]We don't care if you only love weWe don't care if you only love we[Verse 1]We love youWe love youAnd we hope that you will love we too[Verse 2]We love theyWe love theyAnd we want you to love they too[Bridge]We don't care if you hound weAnd love the dogs around weLove can't get our minds offWe love you (We love you)You will never win weYour uniforms don't fit weWe forget the place we're in'Cause we love you (We love you)Of course we do[Verse 3]I love youI love youAnd I hope that you are grooving, tooThank you for reading Professor Mikey's OLD SCHOOL. This post is public so feel free to share it. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit professormikey.substack.com/subscribe

Old School Single: ”Double Yellow Line” MUSIC MACHINE (1967)

By the time The Music Machine released their third single, the glory days of “Talk Talk” from just a year before was a quickly fading memory.  It was April of 1967, things were gearing up for the summer of psychedelics although the press would call it the Summer of Love.  A song about tooling down the highway, written by lead vocalist Sean Bonniwell with one hand on the wheel on the way to a recording session, would seem out of place with the times.  Too bad, it’s a garage classic.  Here’s The Music Machine farewell, which rose to number 111 on the Billboard pop charts, “Double Yellow Line.” 1967Want you, strung out on your memoryMiss you, more than you believeNeed you, half of me I left behindWith you, when I had to leaveNow my mind's across, the double yellow lineHang-ups, everybody's got a littleHang-up, so how're you gonna actChanges, I hope you know I'm going thoughChanges, put me where I'm atWith my mind across, the double yellow lineWasting, timeGot to, findA way back, across the, double yellow lineWant me, anyway a little bitMiss me, keep me in your mindNeed me, but baby let me warn you thoughDon't cross, the double yellow lineDon't cross the double yellow lineDouble yellow lineDouble yellow lineDon't cross, the double yellow lineDouble yellow lineDouble yellow lineDouble yellow lineDouble yellow lineHey Kids! Attend Old School online classes anytime on YouTube! This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit professormikey.substack.com/subscribe

Old School Set: ”Setting Your Clocks Back”

Setting the clocks back in autumn is always mysterious. But the idea of what it mans for time to actually change calls for an appropriate imaginary radio set.That’s it. Bits, pieces, and surprises woven into a talk free 23:25 segment to welcome the seasonal change, and that necessary extra hour of sleep. Enjoy what comes next!~Professor Mikey This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit professormikey.substack.com/subscribe

Old School Single ”DAWGMA” David Grisman (1980)

David Grisman plays many instruments besides the mandolin, but that’s the one that made him famous.  While attending NYU back in 63, he joined the Even Dozen Jug Band which included Maria Muldaur and John Sebastian.  From there he was one of the Kentuckians, then part of the highly progressive Earth Opera.  Then he met Jerry Garcia and started appearing with the Grateful Dead.  The David Grisman Quintet began life in 1976.  Today we pick up on them in 1980 after a few personnel changes, in the band at this point are violinist Darol Anger as well as Mark O’Connor who played anything that could be strung.  Grisman called his music “new grass” at this point, as well as dawg music, that being d-a-w-g.  It’s acoustic and fast.  The David Grisman Quintet and Dawgma… This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit professormikey.substack.com/subscribe