Frank Beacham's Journal

John Wesley Harding — the eighth studio album by Bob Dylan — began production 54 years ago today in Columbia's Studio A in Nashville

John Wesley Harding — the eighth studio album by Bob Dylan — began production 54 years ago today in Columbia's Studio A in Nashville.

After only three recording sessions, it was released in December, 1967 by Columbia Records. Produced by Bob Johnston, the album marked Dylan's return to acoustic music and traditional roots, after three albums of electric rock music.

John Wesley Harding shares many stylistic threads with, and was recorded around the same time as, the prolific series of home recording sessions known at the Basement Tapes. Those tapes, made with the Band, were released in 1975.

John Wesley Harding was well received by critics and enjoyed solid sales, reaching #2 on the U.S. charts and topping the UK charts.

The commercial performance was considered remarkable considering that Dylan had kept Columbia from releasing the album with much promotion or publicity.

Less than three months after its release, John Wesley Harding was certified gold. "All Along the Watchtower" became one of his most popular songs after it was covered by Jimi Hendrix the following year.

Bob Weir is 74 years old today

Bob Weir, Lockn’ Music Festival, Arrington, Virginia, 2013

Photo by Will Rawls

Bob Weir is 74 years old today.

A singer, songwriter and guitarist, Weir is best known as a founding member of the Grateful Dead.

After the Dead disbanded in 1995, Weir performed with The Other Ones, later known as The Dead, together with other former members of the Grateful Dead.

Weir also founded and played in several other bands during and after his career with the Grateful Dead, including Kingfish, the Bob Weir Band, Bobby and the Midnites, Scaring the Children, RatDog, and his newest band, Furthur, co-led by former Grateful Dead bassist, Phil Lesh.

During his career with the Grateful Dead, Weir played mostly rhythm guitar and sang most of the band's rock-n-roll tunes (Jerry Garcia sang The Dead's more melodic tunes).

He is known for his unique style of complex voice leading, bringing unusual depth and a new approach to the role of rhythm guitar expression.

On April 23, 2014, The Other One: The Long, Strange Trip of Bob Weir premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Here, Weir and friends perform a full two-hour concert at TRI Studios in San Rafael, California

Nico was born 83 years ago today

Nico was born 83 years ago today.

Born as Christa Päffgen, Nico was a German singer, lyricist, composer, musician, fashion model and actress. She initially rose to fame as a Warhol Superstar in the 1960s.

Nico is known for both her vocal collaboration on The Velvet Underground's debut album, The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967), and her work as a solo artist from the late 1960s through the early 1980s.

She also had roles in several films, including a cameo in Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita (1960) and Andy Warhol's Chelsea Girls (1966), as herself.

Nico died in July 1988 at age 49, as a result of injuries sustained in a cycling accident while vacationing in Ibiza with her son.

Nico has influenced many musicians, including Siouxsie and the Banshees, Bauhaus, Stevie Nicks, Elliott Smith, Patti Smith, Morrissey, Björk, Coil, Jocelyn Pook, Fabienne Shine (who covered "All Tomorrow's Parties"), Dead Can Dance, Marcus Reeves as well as numerous contemporary goth bands.

Here, with the Velvet Underground, Nico performs “Femme Fatale,” 1975

John Mayer is 44 years old today

John Mayer is 44 years old today.

A pop and blues rock musician, singer-songwriter, recording artist and music producer, Mayer attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston. He moved to Atlanta in 1997, where he refined his skills and gained a following.

Now living in New York City, Mayer’s first two studio albums, Room for Squares and Heavier Things, did well commercially, achieving multi-platinum status.

Mayer began his career performing mainly acoustic rock, but gradually began a transition towards the blues genre in 2005 by collaborating with renowned blues artists such as B. B. King, Buddy Guy and Eric Clapton. He also formed the John Mayer Trio.

The blues influence can be heard throughout his 2005 live album, Try!, with the John Mayer Trio and his third studio album, Continuum, released in September 2006.

Mayer’s fifth album, Born and Raised, was released in May, 2014. He has sold over 10 million albums in the U.S. and 20 million albums worldwide.

Mayer recounted that in 2011 he happened upon a song by the Grateful Dead while listening to Pandora, and that soon the band's music was all he would listen to.

In February, 2015, while guest hosting The Late Late Show, Mayer invited Grateful Dead guitar player Bob Weir to join him in a studio performance. Weir, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann (surviving members of the Grateful Dead) were preparing for their Fare Thee Well: Celebrating 50 Years of the Grateful Dead tour, and invited Mayer to join them. He began practicing the band's catalog of songs.

That August, they formed the group Dead & Company, along with Jeff Chimenti and Oteil Burbridge, and began a fall tour in the United States. The tour was well received (Billboard called it "magical"), and continued to tour the U.S. into 2016.

Here, Mayer performs “Free Fallin’” at the Nokia Theatre, New York City, 2008

The Bob Dylan 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration at Madison Square Garden in New York City was held 29 years ago tonight

The Bob Dylan 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration at Madison Square Garden in New York City was held 29 years ago tonight.

The concert is preserved in a live double-album release in recognition of Bob Dylan's 30 years as a recording artist.

Recorded on October 16, 1992, the recording captures most of the concert, which featured many artists performing classic Dylan songs, before ending with three songs from Dylan himself.

The house band for the show were the surviving members of Booker T. and the MG's: Booker T. Jones on organ, Donald "Duck" Dunn on bass and Steve Cropper on guitar.

Joining them was drummer, Anton Fig, filling in for the late Al Jackson, plus drummer, Jim Keltner. Longtime Saturday Night Live bandleader, G. E. Smith, served as the musical director.

The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration, which reached #40 in the U.S. and went gold, was released in August, 1993 just before Dylan was about to deliver his second folk studio set inside of a year, World Gone Wrong.

The concert was dubbed "Bobfest" by Neil Young at the beginning of his "All Along the Watchtower" cover.

I watched every moment of that show in the audience. Here is “My Back Pages” from that memorable night

Barry McGuire, singer-songwriter best known for the hit song, "Eve of Destruction," is 86 years old today

Barry McGuire, singer-songwriter best known for the hit song, "Eve of Destruction," is 86 years old today.

Born in Oklahoma City, McGuire moved to California in early childhood, when he was two years old. At age 16, he joined the United States Navy, but was discharged ten months later for being under age.

After working as a commercial fisherman, and then going on to become a journeyman pipe fitter, McGuire got a job singing in a bar. He formed a duo with Barry Kane (who died in 2013) called Barry & Barry. The new duo folk act performed their own brand of original folk arrangements at The Ice House, a small folk club in Pasadena, CA. before moving on to The Troubadour in Hollywood in the spring of 1962.

At The Troubadour, they both joined The New Christy Minstrels, a large folk group performing there. They continued to perform their separate duo act there as well as performing with The New Christy Minstrels.

They cut their first and only album as Barry & Barry — Here And Now. It contained songs such as "Gold Wedding Ring," "Land Of Odin," "Another Man," "Summer's Over," "You Know My Name," "Bull 'Gine Run" and "Far Side Of The Hill."

It also included "If I Had A Hammer," released three months after the release of the same song by folk trio, Peter, Paul and Mary. Here And Now, as an LP on vinyl, eventually went out of print. It has since been digitally remastered and re-released on CD.

As a folk rock solo singer in the 1960s, he was best known for his hits, "Eve of Destruction" and "Sins of the Family," both written by P.F. Sloan. The depressing message of “Eve of Destruction” was later answered by another hit song, “Dawn of Correction,” by The Spokesmen. "Eve of Destruction" sold over a million copies.

McGuire's LP, The Eve of Destruction, reached its peak of #37 on the Billboard 200 chart during the week ending September 25, 1965. That same week the single of that name went to #1 on both charts. McGuire was never again to break into the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100.

In the 1980s, McGuire left the music industry, and settled for a time in New Zealand with his New Zealand wife, Mari. She was the former secretary of McGuire's Agape Force associate, Winkie Pratney.

McGuire returned to the United States in the 1990s, teaming up with Terry Talbot and recording as Talbot McGuire. The duo released four albums between 1996 and 2000. McGuire did a brief stint with The New Mamas and the Papas in 1997-1998.

Here, Barry McGuire performs “Eve of Destruction” in 2011

Marv Johnson, first artist on what would become the Motown label, was born 83 years ago today

Marv Johnson, first artist on what would become the Motown label, was born 83 years ago today.

An R&B and soul singer, Marvin Earl Johnson was born in Detroit. He began his career singing with a doo-wop group called the Serenaders in the mid 1950s. With budding talents not only as a singer but as a songwriter and pianist, he was discovered by Berry Gordy while Johnson performed at a carnival.

Gordy had already decided to form his first record label, Tamla, and Johnson's recording of their song, "Come to Me," became the label's first single in May, 1959.

The fledgling label did not have national distribution and so the song was released by United Artists. It reached #30 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Johnson would co-write another four songs with Gordy.

Between 1959 and 1961, Johnson would issue nine Billboard Hot 100 singles including two Top 10s. The first of them was "You Got What It Takes," which reached #10 in the U.S. and #7 in the UK Singles Chart. It sold over a million copies and was awarded a gold disc.

"I Love The Way You Love" reached #9. He scored his final U.S. Top 40 single in 1960 with "(You've Got To) Move Two Mountains." It also sold a million copies, giving Johnson his second gold disc.

Johnson enjoyed many hits in Australia where he racked up a total of eight Top 40 hits, including three chart-toppers. "Come To Me" was released in Australia on EMI's London Records (as were most of his Australian releases) and reached #16 on the 2UE Top 40 in Sydney.

"You Got What It Takes" was his biggest Australian hit, topping the national charts for over 16 weeks in 1960.

After "I Love The Way You Love" became a national Top 10 hit in the mid 60s, Johnson flew to Australia to meet entrepreneur and Big Show creator, Lee Gordon, and performed in his September Big Show, "Twist It Up."

At the top of the bill were Bobby Rydell, Chubby Checker and James Darren with Jackie Wilson, Johnson and Barry Mann. They were supported by Johnny O'Keefe, The Delltones and Col Joye.

After issuing his final Motown singles in the U.S. in 1968, Johnson remained with Motown working on sales and promotion throughout the 1970s. He also wrote songs for Tyrone Davis and Johnnie Taylor.

Johnson continued singing into the 1990s, releasing a solo album on the London based Motorcity Records label.

Johnson died of a stroke on May 16, 1993, in Columbia, South Carolina, at the age of 54.

Here, Johnson performs “You Got What It Takes”

A hurricane that changed music and culture...

Before the climate change-driven massive storms we are witnessing today, hurricanes and floods have long shifted society and its buildings. These major natural calamities also permanently shifted culture and music.

One occurred on Oct 15, 1954 — 67 years ago today. That was when Hurricane Hazel made landfall at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Hitting hard from Jamaica to Canada, Hazel killed more than 400 people and caused over $1 billion in damages.

Most of the old ocean-front homes in Myrtle Beach rented by young people in the summers were wiped out— and with them the era of early beach music and the dance, The Shag.

After leaving Myrtle Beach, Hazel moved along the U.S. coast to North Carolina and Virginia. Though coastal towns suffered the worst damage, even cities far from the ocean were affected.

In Raleigh, North Carolina, winds were recorded at over 100 miles per hour. In Wilmington, Delaware, a woman was killed when winds picked her up and slammed her into a trolley car.

The old homes in the Myrtle Beach area would be replaced by high-rise buildings and hotels, changing the nature of beach culture to this day.

Photo by Jack Thompson

Love of dance and the welcome atmosphere at Charlie’s Place, the black night club in 1950’s Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, attracted not only men but top white female dancers like Clarice Reavis

Love of dance and the welcome atmosphere at Charlie’s Place, the black night club in 1950’s Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, attracted not only men but top white female dancers like Clarice Reavis.

Reavis — later to become a much celebrated female show dancer often called the “Queen of Shag” — minced no words in telling me what drew her to black music.

“I like the nigger blues, honey. They are so slinky, low down.”

Then, concerned that I had interpreted her description of the music as racist, she grabbed my arm and whispered, “You can call it ‘black music’ if you want in your book — if it will make people feel better. When I called it ‘nigger’ music, they called it ‘nigger’ music. There’s more feeling in there.”

Lining the walls of Fat Harold’s Beach Club in North Myrtle Beach are letters and mementos of the pioneers of the Shag. Among them is an iconic image of the era —a seductive pose by Reavis, among the first inductees into the Shaggers Hall of Fame.

Reavis, naked and partially covered only by a small mink stole, is seated on a towel. It was a simple photograph, taken on a whim, but it became a powerful pin-up coveted by American soldiers at the end of World War II.

“She was voluptuous and beautiful and completely alluring, and a bunch of 17 and 18-year-olds fell in love with her,” writer Bo Bryan said of Reavis’s allure. “She was strong as train smoke. You take a deep breath, she’d knock you out.”

The photo was made one night in 1945 when Reavis and a female friend were clowning at her home.

While in the bathroom, Reavis said she grabbed the small mink “and just draped it around me…not even fixing it…but it just happened to cover everything. My friend backed out of the bathroom with the camera just so she could get all of me in the picture.”

In the area surrounding Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, Reavis said she gave away thousands of the photos to soldiers who had seen it at various USOs and wanted one for themselves.

“Those were just young boys,” she said. “I was going to send one to my husband, but then the thing (the war) ended in 1945 and I didn’t get around to sending it.”

Clarice Reavis is featured in “Charlie’s Place,” on the Ku Klux Klan’s attack on black music after World War II.

Charlie’s Place is featured in the fourth edition of my book, Whitewash: A Southern Journey Through Music, Mayhem and Murder.

On this day in 2006 — 15 years ago — CBGB, the legendary New York punk club credited with discovering Patti Smith and Ramones, closed after a final gig by Smith herself

On this day in 2006 — 15 years ago — CBGB, the legendary New York punk club credited with discovering Patti Smith and Ramones, closed after a final gig by Smith herself.

Blondie and Talking Heads also found fame after performing at the club, which helped launch punk music.

The venue first opened in December, 1973. It’s full name CBGB OMFUG stands for "country, bluegrass, blues and other music for uplifting gormandizers."

Photo: New York Times