EP. 135 BREAKFAST WITH BEN - No Ties For Dad And No Mercy For Bad Wi-Fi

Saturday morning starts simple: I’m adjusting the mic, talking breakfast, and chasing the kind of easy conversation that feels like radio you can actually live inside. Then the calendar gives us two perfect springboards for stories: World Martini Day and American Eagle Day. One leads to a memory of a great martini party, the other to Alaska, zip lines, and the moment you realize those “little golf balls” in the trees are bald eagles.

From there we roll into music history and pop culture, the stuff classic rock fans can’t resist. I dig into June 20 milestones like Stars on 45, the jaw-dropping reality of 147-date tours, the Ronettes getting royalties back from Phil Spector, and the Led Zeppelin “Stairway to Heaven” riff controversy. If you love music trivia, band lore, and the business side of rock, there’s plenty to chew on.

Things get more personal when I talk podcast process: a fun recap of my buddy Raul taking over a music-centric conversation, plus a behind-the-scenes look at a guest recording that kept failing with Michael T. Ross from Aldo Nova’s band. And the heart of the show is my push to interview Angel Rico, a 100-year-old veteran, because World War II stories are disappearing fast and they deserve to be heard the right way.

We close with a quick vinyl record haul, a few deep-cut recommendations, and a Father’s Day run-down of songs about dads plus my best advice: skip the tie and just show up. If you enjoyed the mix of storytelling, classic rock, vinyl collecting, and real-life podcasting, subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find the show.

Thanks for listening! Follow me on Instagram: benmaynardprogram 
and subscribe to my YouTube channel: THE BEN MAYNARD PROGRAM
I also welcome your comments. email: pl8blocker@aol.com

Transcript

Saturday Morning Welcome

SPEAKER_00 0:14

Hey there. Let me get this microphone up here. There we go. Let's try it again. Hey there. Good morning, everyone. Welcome into the Ben Maynard program. Thanks for being here. It's uh it's a Saturday morning. It is, and it's you and me. And actually, right now it's just me. Um, but yeah, thanks for uh thanks for spending some time with me this morning. Maybe you are having some uh having some bacon and eggs or some biscuits and gravy, uh, maybe just coffee and avocado toast or something, whatever, whatever it is you're having for breakfast. Thanks for sharing it with me. Uh thanks for sharing a little bit of this time. I was trying to get in uh uh uh a podcast last night, and uh that just wasn't gonna happen. There was too much stuff going on, and I wasn't gonna make it home in time. So I thought, well, I still need to get out an episode, so why can't I just do it in the morning? I record in in the morning on on Saturdays anyway, so why not just uh make this a live stream, right? So anyway, so thanks for being here. It is breakfast with Ben. Yes, it is, you and me. And uh I won't keep you here very long. We'll just have a little bit of fun, go over some stuff, and uh I'll let you get about your day. I know dad you probably have the yard, uh, you know, yard work to do. Moms, maybe you've got some some cleaning, maybe you've got a yoga class to hit. Um, you know, but whatever it is, I'll uh cut you loose in time to get all that stuff done. All right. So let's see what kind of uh let's see what kind of trouble we get into this morning. I'll just start off. It's gonna be kind of normal. Let me double check. Yeah, ringer, uh, ringer's off. Yeah, it is. Okay. Should have no uh no interruptions. So let's just start right here. Let's open this up. Come on. It's not come on, let's go. There we go. Uh let's see.

World Martini Day Memories

SPEAKER_00 2:35

So today, that was yesterday. Today is you guys are gonna like this world, world, not just national world martini day. So, what exactly does that mean? I don't know. But whether you enjoy your martini shaken or stirred, um, either way, doesn't matter. Um, just pop an olive in it, and um, you know, maybe even a little vermouth, maybe a whisper. You just whisper across the glass of vermouth. And uh, you know, you can make a great day out of it. Um, so uh that just reminds me. Um we talked about it, Catherine and I did a couple weeks ago when we when we had the um uh we oh that we did we did the tasting on the savage rabbit stuff, the vodka, the tequilas, and uh we talked about a martini party that we had. So that that was always that uh when I you know hear the word martini, that's what I always think of, and um just reminds me of that party. It was such a good time, all these little uh mini martinis all over the place. But anyhow, so today is World Martini Day. So if that's your drink of choice and joy, what else is it? Oh yeah, it's come on, go back. There we go. Go back and do this. Love this. Seriously, now it wants to verify that I'm a human. I was just on your website, you knuckleheads.

American Eagle Day And Alaska

SPEAKER_00 4:28

Today is American Eagle Day. That's right, the national bird of the United States of America, and uh what an absolutely beautiful bird it is, an incredible bird. Um I've been to I've been to Alaska two times and um just eagles all over the place. And I remember um I remember the first time I was there and I was going on a uh zip lining tour, and you know, you have if you've if you've never done zip lining, you'll you I'll explain it, but if you have, you know what I'm talking about. In order to get to each spot, you're generally climbing up a very tall tree, and you're getting into the canopy, and and uh there's usually a big platform up there, that kind of stuff. So we're at one station, we're at the top of a tree, and the tour guide says, Hey, look out that way. And you look out, and there's all these just just beautifully green pine trees, nothing but pine trees. And he says, You see all those little those little golf balls, the thing that look like golf balls in the trees there, and it's all these little white spots. He says, All those little golf balls are bald eagles. Uh, and and the tree was just like full, the trees, I should say, were full. It was awesome, it was so good. Anyway, so listen, if you have an herb, wear it today. Jewelry, shirts, uh, whatever it might be, wear it. Have at it. Celebrate the American Eagle. Um, all right, so let's do this.

This Day In Music History

SPEAKER_00 6:38

Let's all right, let's look at how about if we look at this day in music history. All right, I'm gonna go back, I won't go back too too far, but we'll hit a few things here. There we go. There we go. On this day in 1981, stars on 45 went to number one on the U.S. singles charts. A medley of Beatles songs set to a disco beat. Yeah, that's right. It was the start of a flood of stars on hits, including stars on Stevie Wonder, Punk Song, Status Quo, and Chaz and Dave. Now, I'm not familiar with any of the other ones, but uh that stars on 45 Medley, which was the original, or well, actually, that wasn't the original title. The original title was every single song title that was in the medley. That would that would uh create an incredibly long song title. So they just shortened it to Stars on 45 Medley. And what is really unique about that, not the fact that it was recorded to kind of like a disco beat, and it I don't know if I would consider it a disco beat, um, but you could definitely tell that it was um um it's certainly a dance beat. Anyhow, what was really incredible about it was all of the the all of the vocals, all the songs were actually sang by real artists that were sounding like the Beatles, except for the very first track. The very first track was um uh uh Sugar Sugar by the Archies. And uh, or if you really want to get technical, it was Ron Dante. But um yeah, aside from that, the rest of the um song was all Beatles tracks, and in an incredible um just incredible recording because all of like I said, all of these um songs were sang by real artists and they sound just like the Beatles. It was uh it was amazing, amazing. So um, yeah, I I remember that one. Good stuff. So stars on 45 hits number one in 1987 on this date, which if you're not familiar, it is June 20th. Um Aerosmith appeared at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas the first night of their permanent vacation tour. 147 dates. That's crazy. Over the years, the venue has been home to the Texas Jam, which has featured Deep Purple, Boston Journey, Ted Nugent, Scorpions, Cheap Trick Band Halen Blue, Oyster Cult, Sammy Hagar, Rush, Nazareth Sticks, Fogat Santana, the Eagles, Eric Clapton notably held his first massive three-day crossroads guitar festival here in 2004. Ugh, that was a mouthful right there. But what I thought was crazy, 147 dates. You don't see tours that are 147 dates anymore. Um, it just doesn't happen. It doesn't matter who the artist is, it doesn't matter what genre it is or the age. You just don't see tours like that anymore. But that's how touring was back then. I mean, when you went out on tour, you were gone for a while. Uh in let's see, in 2000, the Ronettes, you remember the Ronettes, right? The Ronettes were awarded $2.6 million in back earnings from Phil Spectre. New York judge Paula Omanske ruled that the legendary producer had cheated them out of royalties. Well, knowing what we may know or what we do know about Phil Spectre these days, is it surprising? I don't think so. Let me hit this right. Where is it? There it is. Let me hit that right there. So everyone knows. Um okay. Uh uh, let's see. Oh, right here. Uh let's see. In 2006, this is a jump, this website I'm looking at, it's jumpy. But in 2006, Charles Smith, co-founder and lead guitarist of Cool and the Gang, died at the age of 57 after a long illness. You guys know this one. They had the 1981 number one hit with celebration. They've also had a minimum of like 15 other top 40 hits. You guys know if you've been if you've been listening to this podcast for any measure of time, you guys know that I love Me Some Cool in the Gang. All right, a little bit more music history here. In 2016, lawyers for Led Zeppelin asked a judge to throw out a case accusing the band of stealing the riff for Stairway to Heaven. You guys might remember this one. Singer Robert Plant and Jimmy Page and Warner Music argued that the claimants had failed to make their case after three days of testimony. The band were accused of basing Stairway to Heaven on the 1968 Spirit song Taurus. Well, I've heard those in comparison, and um I don't know. I mean, I I kind of actually kind of tend to lean towards the uh the writer of the song Taurus. I I kind of lean their way. I I hear exactly what was going on. And um, you know, I mean, look, I I know there's only so many notes in music, right? So someone's gonna copy the same notes or um put them in the same type of arrangement. Um I did hear something about that that Torres had opened a show for Led Zeppelin or something along those lines, and and that maybe that um that's how I don't know, that's how the riff got got stuck in whether it was Jimmy Page's head or Robert Plant or somebody else, it just got stuck in their head, and so they kind of wrote their own version of it. I don't know, whatever it is, but didn't matter because the judge ruled in their favor, anyhow. All right, so let's see.

Celebrity Birthdays Quick Hits

SPEAKER_00 14:10

How about some celebrity birthdays? Let's go back here. This one's really cool. I like this one a lot. James Tolkien. Um yes, waiting for me. Bye. Have fun. All right, that's uh that's my beauty queen right there. Catherine. She's taken off. She's going to uh I think she's going to yoga. Um so in 1931, James Tolkien, actor, actor James Tolkien, I'll I'll give you, I'll give you three movies that he's known for: Top Gun, Back to the Future, and Cobra. He was born on this day in Calamut, Michigan. Unfortunately, he died just a couple months ago. You guys may or may not remember that. But James Tolkien, remember, uh, if you've seen Back to the Future, he was the principal in Back to the Future, bald guy. Um we see Top Gun. He was, I don't remember what his rank was, but he was the the guy who sent Goose and Maverick to Top Gun School. So now it's probably probably uh ringing a bell with you guys. All right, and then let's see on this day in 1942. Where is it? There it is. American singer, songwriter, vocal arranger, and producer Brian Wilson. Where's Brian Wilson from? The Beach Boys. He was born in Inglewood, California on this day in 1942. Um, and unfortunately, Brian passed away just a year ago. Almost exactly a year ago. Uh I like this one. In 1943, Andy Etchabaron. You guys aren't gonna know that name unless you're about my age and you're, you know, a huge fan of baseball. Andy Etchebaron, he was a catcher for the Baltimore Orioles and a World Series champion in 1966 and 1970. He was also an all-star in uh 1966 and 1967. He was born in my hometown, my stomping grounds of Whittier, California. Good on you, Andy. And unfortunately, Andy died in 2019. Uh, let's see if we could get something a little more recent here. Uh well, John Goodman, actor John Goodman, was born on this day in 1952. He's uh mainly known for uh being Dan Connor on Roseanne and um uh the Connors. Let's see. A couple more here, then we'll move on. Let's see if we can find something here. There's always somebody born on you know there we go. Uh there's something a little more recent. Come on. I hate these websites. They just like they just like they jump all over the place. Okay, no, that's probably gonna be it. Alright. So moving on. Um yeah, that's enough of that. Hui anyway.

Raul’s Guest Spot Afterglow

SPEAKER_00 18:01

So I wanted to talk about the last the last episode with uh with my buddy Raul. Um, if you guys haven't seen it or you haven't listened to it yet, you you really got to check it out. It was so much fun. Um, you know, this was something that that Raul and I had talked about. Um, he wanted to come on the podcast, and I you know, I just told him, I said, you know, it's your thing, whatever you want to do. He wanted to, I thought it was gonna be a little bit different. I really didn't, I didn't realize it was gonna be so music-centric, but that's what it was. It was his show. Um I had no preparation on it or for it. Um, and uh we just had so much fun, so much uh, so much good discussion, certainly on music, of course. And uh, but it was his show. He was in control, and I had no idea what was coming up, but we had a lot of fun. It you know, it Raul is such a natural and he has such a big personality. Um, and I thought he did such a fantastic job. But um he's getting, oh, this is great. He's getting offers to do other podcasts, to guest on other podcasts now. I think it's I think it's great. I think it's fantastic. But uh, so we'll see what happens. Um, we'll see what happens to uh to that. We'll see what happens for Raul. All good stuff. I don't know that he's looking to, you know, do podcasting, but um, but yeah, you know, I know he's getting offers to do them. So okay, there you go. Well we had a we we did. We had a lot of fun. And uh again, if you haven't if you haven't heard that episode, then um yeah, go and and check it out. It was just a ton of fun. Two knuckleheads sitting in a studio, just you know, talking about all things music.

The Interview That Kept Dropping

SPEAKER_00 20:24

Um and then actually it was the day before, uh, it was so it was uh a week ago, yesterday, I had a guest on the the episode hasn't published, and I'll tell you why. But I had a guest on, I probably told you a couple weeks back, about meeting uh Michael T. Ross, who is the keyboardist in Aldo Nova's band. And and when I met him, we just had a brief conversation, a couple minutes, and and and uh he said, Yeah, I want to come on your podcast. Okay, great. And we exchanged information, and um there you go. And I think I don't remember, I can't remember who texted who first, but um I got this text message that says, Hey Ben, you know, it's uh it's Michael here, and and I'm available to do the podcast. Let me know uh what dates you have, so on and so on. And so we got it set up and we went and started recording. Uh well, okay, peek behind the curtain here. Whenever I have a guest on, uh usually what I do is they'll I bring them into the studio and we just chit chat for a few minutes. I want him to get comfortable with me, so I'll just Kind of tell them, hey, this is what I want to do, this is what I want to talk about. And then maybe they'll kick around a few things also. That kind of stuff. And it's just a very loose conversation. Most of the time, uh, most of the time, there's there's a lot of content that goes on than those conversations that never no one ever gets to hear about. Um, there's just such good stuff. But um I don't record those. I don't record those at all. And um, it's probably why it's so much more loose. Um, so Michael and I get going. I I um I get him in in the studio here, and we're just talking and kind of getting to know each other. And so we get ready to to hit record and do that, start recording, and like five, six minutes into it, um he drops out. Now that's happened before, and people will come back in the studio, whatever it is, but he wasn't coming back in. His side went blank or went black, I should say. His his his side of this the screen went black. And uh we tried and we tried. So then um I called him on the phone and we're talking and couldn't get reconnected at all. Don't know what was going on. So said, hey, listen, let's try it in a little bit. All right, let's try it at like five o'clock or whatever. Okay, no problem. Let's take a break and uh let's uh let's reconvene at five o'clock. So five o'clock rolls around, same thing. We get going, hit record, and got a nice conversation going on. And this we got like 25 minutes this time, and it went down. I don't know what it was. It wasn't on my end. I checked everything. Um, so there's something we have to fix with um, I don't know, maybe the um the Wi-Fi or something at on Michael's end, but uh we got some good stuff in there and just couldn't finish it all. So um, we're gonna try it again. Um Michael and I we talked we talked uh earlier this week, and and uh he says, hey, uh I'm going to uh where's he going to Milwaukee or something like that? And then he's he's got a couple shows this week uh with Aldo. I think he has he had one last night, as a matter of fact. Oh uh yeah, Summerfest in Wisconsin. And I think they were opening for sticks. So uh uh that was probably a ton of fun. And then they have a show tonight. Uh I think it's in the St. Louis area at the Arcada Theater, which is a legendary theater, it's just an amazing theater. Um so yeah, we just talked, said, Yeah, let's this, you know, we're gonna make it work, just figure it out, and and we'll get it done in the future. It's I've obviously, you know, uh I've had those kind of issues before, and and people have dropped out and they reconnect and that kind of stuff, and it's not a big deal, but boy, man, we were struggling on this one, it just wasn't working. So um very frustrating. But you know what? We'll get it done, and when we do, it'll get out there, you guys will see it. I you know, I I I was thinking about you know posting a a clip or something from it, um, and I might still do it, just a minute, minute and a half clip, um, just kind of a precursor to when when we do get the official um you know episode out there. So we'll see. We'll see how it goes.

Chasing A World War II Story

SPEAKER_00 26:20

Um and then I don't know if I shared with you guys, but um a few weeks ago, um when I'm I was I was at work and I was delivering to this um senior-assisted living facility, and outside the kitchen in the hallway, uh on on the wall there, they've got uh pictures of uh military veterans hanging on the wall. Okay. So I started looking at them because I love our veterans, and I see I see one here. Uh it was on a, I think they had two rows. It was on the bottom row. I see this gentleman, his name is Angel Rico. And so I asked this young lady, I said, Hey, can you tell me about these uh the veterans here? Are they are they uh current residents or have you know they passed on? And she says, No, no, no, no, no. Most of them are still, most of them are still residents here. Yes, a few of them have passed away, you know, but you know, those are our veterans. And I said, Well, tell me about this guy here. And I pointed to his picture. And she says, Oh, Angel, no, no, he still lives here. He's, you know, he's uh he's a hundred years old and he's you know, still pretty vibrant and that kind of thing. And I said, Okay, great. And um, so I'd trying to get information and uh trying to get it set up to where I can have Angel on the podcast. And I've I've met with like an activities director, I've called the front desk, I've done, I've done all kinds of things. I haven't gotten anywhere yet. So last Thursday, uh or this this past Thursday, a couple days ago, I get off work and I said, I said to myself, okay, I'm headed, I'm I'm gonna head over there and just go see Angel. So um, so I get over there and I had I had taken, you guys have seen them in the past. I've taken uh I I took the photographs that I have of my my dad and uh my grandfather's and they're their military pictures. And so I thought, well, if I see Angel, I can show him this stuff so he kind of knows that I'm I'm I'm legit. I'm not here to to to swindle him out of anything or to cause him any harm. And so I just I go right right in, go to the front desk, I ask, hey, I'm here to see Angel Rico. Oh, okay. Well, sign in right here. Great, sign in, and I get the visitor little sticker, and they say, Yeah, he's you know, upstairs, they give me the room number and all that. So I I I go up and I knock on his door, and uh, you know, look, the guy's a hundred years old, okay, so he's not gonna just pop up and get right to the door. So it took a little bit, and uh he opens the door, and he's you know, he's peeking, peeking out a little bit, and um I introduced myself to him and I said that I was there to thank him for his service and that I wanted to talk to him about that, I wanted to hear his stories. So he invites me into his room and says, here, sit down right here, you know. Okay, so I sit down and we just start talking. Now I showed him the photos that I had, and he thought that was really cool. Um, and he starts telling me about some of his experiences. And uh I said, I I told him I said, listen, I want to I want to get you on my podcast, and I want you to share your stories about this. I want to talk about this, I want everybody to hear about this. And look, I don't expect him to know what a podcast is, okay? But I told him I want to interview him, and he was up for it. So I said, Well, let me call downstairs to the director. I want to just, you know, run it past them and make sure everything's gonna be okay. So I called down to the front desk and they said, Oh, the director wants you to come downstairs. And uh I said, okay, no problem. And and as I'm finishing up that that conversation with the front desk person, two guys come into the room, like you know, that like they're the big heavies, like just to make sure everything's okay. And I haven't uh tried to to harm or kidnap Angel. Um, and I told him everything, you know, I told him it's it's on the up and up, and and I told him what my intentions were, and they thought, oh, that's actually pretty cool. So I had gone downstairs and spoken to the director and and somebody else, um, you know, high up, and I explained what it is that I want. So they thought and they think that it's a fantastic idea, but they need to have the blessing of Angel's family. Um, he has one person that's uh that's kind of makes all his decisions for him. And I totally understand that. I've you know, I get it. I get it. It's fine. There, you know, there's a lot of there's a lot of weird people out there, and there's a lot of um there's a lot of individuals that have um, you know, bad intentions, and especially when it comes to elderly folks, just people in general, but when it comes to elderly folks, you know, they just have bad intentions. And so I I understand I don't have a problem with people asking me questions, wanting to get more information, anything like that. What I'm gonna ask you guys to do is just, you know what, just pray about it, you know. And I I um I want to get as many veterans telling their stories about their service time as I can because they this these stories need to be heard. You guys know in the past we've had um um Vietnam veterans on the program, and we've had some just awesome conversations. But World War II veterans we have not had, and the World War II veterans are few and far between. I mean, these guys are up there, they are, you know. I I I don't I can't think of any World War II veteran that would not be um at least a hundred years old. So for my dad, he would have been 103 if he were still alive. And as you guys know, in the past I've said that he didn't share any of his stories. So I am looking for that World War II veteran that will be willing to share his stories, his experience, anything about that period of time. So uh yeah, just you know, just you know, say a prayer out there and hope that it happens. I I'm not expecting to have Angel on for Veterans Day. You know, that would be great. Um, but being that he's a hundred years old and I don't want to sound morbid, but he might not be around for Veterans Day. That's still what? That's still like five months away. I want to get him on to celebrate the 250th birthday of our nation. I think that would be a wonderful way to celebrate it. So I'm really hoping it happens. I have one window. One window to get it done, and it's next week. So cross your fingers, say a prayer, uh, and let's hope that it happens. All right. I don't know. I'm trying here. I'm trying. But we'll we'll just uh we'll see what happens. Um where are we? Let's see, where are we right now? Okay, no, we're good. I'm not like I said, I'm not gonna keep you guys too long. But you know what? I want to share some of this with you uh real quick, and then we'll get into our final bit, and that'll be it. Oh, you like that? That was good. That was good. I didn't even try. Um all right, hang on. I'm going off mic, I gotta reach down here for something. All right.

Record Store Haul And Vinyl Talk

SPEAKER_00 35:38

So you guys know that I've been doing some record store shopping the last you know a few weeks. Wanna have some time. And uh I have I have not found and I have yet to find specific things that I'm looking for, but in the process, um, I have found what I believe to be some good gems. So thought I would share them with you really quick. If you are listening to this, then I'm sorry you can't see this. If you're watching, then this is really gonna be some some nice stuff. So the first one I picked up, well, I don't know if it was the first one, but the first one I'm gonna show you anyway, is right here. Check it out. Okay, it's Rod Stewart, A Night on the Town. Okay. This is uh I think this is 1975, is it? Let me see if I find the date. Oh, 1976. This is from 1976. What I think that you saw that was the front cover there. Rod looking very uh you know, very handsome with his hat on and he's holding a drink in his hands. Being that it's World Martini Day, we're gonna say that it's a martini. Um, and actually just might be. But this song features um what is it? Uh definitely two two big hit songs for Rod. Um uh Tonight's the Night, big one, and the first cut is the deepest. Now, what I think is cool about it is instead of it saying side one or side two or side A and side B, it says the slow side and then the fast side. So you know you're getting more, you get you're getting soft songs or ballads on that first side. Okay. Rod's just telling you right there. I love it. It's great. Um, but when you take the album out uh on the inner sleeve, we get a nice shirtless rod right here. Looks like he's wearing kind of a it almost looks like a like an American Indian type uh necklace or choker. And it looks like it has I don't know, claws dangling from it. I'm not sure. Interesting, interesting, and it looks like Bra just uh um came out of the swimming pool with wet hair, and there's like water dripping off. I'm sure the ladies were loving this um record sleeve when they bought the record. Alright, so that's that one right there. Uh the next I picked up I picked up this one right here. It's the second album from the band Asia, and it's the Alpha album. Asia was um a lot like Journey. One word titles for their albums, except that um, let me see. Uh I know the first few, at least the first two or three, that actually had a title on them. I mean, a the the debut album was just titled Asia. This one here is titled Alpha. The next one was titled Astra. So you get it? They're all they all start with A. I don't remember what came after that, but I don't think they were all there were one-word titles, but they're they weren't all A's. So, but this one has uh two the uh two hit singles that were released off of it. Um, Don't Cry, Dynamite song, what a killer song, and uh, and then the uh the smile has left your eyes. Both of those, um well, let's see, Don't Cry, I think, went to number 10 on the Billboard uh top 40 in 1983, and then the smile has left your eyes. I don't think it was quite as successful. I do think it broke the top 20. I can't recall, but um if you're unfamiliar, this uh this band featured Jeff Downs on keyboards, Steve Howe on guitars, uh Jeff Downs and Steve Howe both uh members of Yes, one time or another, and in and out of the band multiple times. Carl Palmer from Emerson Lake and Palmer on drums, and then John Wetton, who is from um uh King Crimson, and Uriah Heap as well. He's on vocals and bass. Um, good stuff, good production on this, um, especially when you're talking about producers like Mike Stone, who have been known for producing bands like Journey as well. So uh yeah, I liked it, thought it was good. I don't have I've never owned the album before. So I thought, you know, what a good pickup. And one of these days when I do get a turntable, I'll be able to enjoy it. Let's see, next. I think I only have yeah, I only have like four. Um I'm gonna try to take this one out of this, out of the this plastic sleeve. I like when the record stores when they put when they put the the albums in um plastic sleeves. I like that. It shows me that they care. Right here. Aerosmith Live Bootleg. This is from 1978. It's a fantastic album. It's um obviously you can see like with the cover, it's supposed to look like you know, a bootleg. Um, there's nothing special to it, but you know, coffee stains or rings on the back cover of the album here, and just the way it's printed, it you know, gives it that look that it's an actual uh real um bootleg. But um, you know, the song feature or the album features songs. Uh side one is Back in the Saddle, Sweet Emotion, Lord of the Thighs, uh, one of my favorites. Uh Toys in the Attic, um, side two, Last Child, come together, walk this way, sick as a dog. Um side three uh has Dream on Chip Away at the Stone, another fantastic song. Sight for Sore Eyes, Mama Kin and SOS. And then side four is I Ain't Got You. That is so good. Mama uh Mother Popcorn and then Train Kept Her Rolling. Um it's so good. Uh I used to I used to listen to this album over and over again as a kid. Um you open up uh the out the gatefold and you've got all these photographs here. Yes, I'm covering my face. I already know it. Um, you know, all these live shots from the band. And I don't know if I've said it before, so I'll say it now. But, you know, being the huge KISS fan that I was as a kid, um every other band felt like it was a threat to my KISS fandom. But Aerosmith was like the next band that I let in. Um so yeah. And I I I remember having this album. There's the inside, there, there's the record sleeve itself, you know, pictures of each of the band members, and then on the back side, it'll give you the songs from uh from that particular album. What is this side one and side two? And then, of course, some uh liner notes and some credits, that kind of stuff. But the album itself was not like a single recording from one concert or a few concerts, it was just multiple recordings that were out there of the band live. I think even some of them are sound checks, stuff like that. So, but it's all packaged together. It sounds good, it sounds really good, and uh it's a fantastic, fantastic album. I'll worry about putting the plastic sleeve on that later. And then the last one I'll share with you before we close out is let me take this one out as well, is uh from one of my all-time favorite bands, Uriah Heap. It is the fifth album in their catalog, Magician's Birthday, and it's one of my favorite albums. This one is the follow-up to Demons and Wizards, which is their biggest album in their catalog. Um, you open up the gatefold, and it's got some nice shots of the band members, and then on the um the left side as you open it up, it's uh it's kind of got a little thing here written by Ken Hensley, who is a guitarist, keyboarders, vocals, uh, not lead vocals, but vocals and uh um songwriter in the band. Um uh just talking about he had written a short story called The Magician's Birthday, and that evolved into an album here. It's uh a great, it's a great record. This particular one, because I used to have I used to have this one on on uh on vinyl when I was a kid, um, and my sleeve did not did not have this. It actually um trying to remember what it looked like, but my album actually came with a uh with uh a sheet that had the uh all the song lyrics on there and the uh song credits and stuff. But this one here, and and record companies did this a lot back in the in the 70s. Um this was on Mercury Records. So they are it's basically it's kind of a a one-page ad uh or two-page if you count both sides for their other artists and their and their records. And you've got uh Rod Stewart, never a dull moment, uh Chuck Mangioni. There's there's Demons of Wizards right there from Uriah Heap. Um, you know, Buddy Miles, uh what uh Henry Buckle, whoever Henry Buckle is, I'm not sure. Um on this side, another Chuck Mangioni, another Rod Stewart, Gasoline Alley. Oh, another Rod Stewart record right here. Um, every picture tells a story. Um, what else? Yeah, so they just you know, chilling for their other artists, but uh fantastic, fantastic album by Uriah Heap. Um, it's got one of my all-time favorite songs, which is The Magician's Birthday. It's just so so so good. Um, if you are unfamiliar with Uriah Heap and me talking about them on this program hasn't uh hasn't gotten you to check them out. Well, do it now. And I'll say this if you like Deep Purple, then you're going to like your right heap. Um they there were a lot of comparisons between the two bands way back when, and um yeah, just so good. Uh I think vocally very different because you had David Byron, uh, who is a different singer than um uh Ian Gillen, but um yeah, but I think musically was very similar. Um, so if you do like yourself some deep purple, you will definitely definitely will like some Uriah Heap. And um I love me some Uriah Heap. So there you go. All right. So look, let's just finish this up right now.

Father’s Day Songs And What Dads Do

SPEAKER_00 49:38

Tomorrow, June 21st, is Father's Day, right? It is. And um, I was looking, I I wasn't I was looking up some I guess some Father's Day songs, and or not Father's Day songs, but some songs about dads, fathers, whatever. And so I ran across a list and I thought I would jot some down. And um yeah, it's really cool. Oh, come on. See, this is what happens when you have Louise. There we go. Come on. All right. Um, so I thought I would jot these down and share them with you a little bit. Uh the first one is how sweet it is to be loved by you by James Taylor. You guys are all familiar with that one. Uh let me look. Oh, there it is. Yeah. Um, yeah, I it doesn't really say much about why uh how James Taylor came up with it, why he wrote it, but uh but how sweet it is to be loved by a great dad and to love him back just as fiercely. So um then uh oh yeah, then this one here. It was is Daddy come. Wait, was it Daddy Come and Get Me from Dolly Parton? I don't know that I've ever heard that song before, but this 1981 ballad, so I mean, yeah, I guess it's old because it's like 45 years old, but I I still don't consider that stuff to be very old. Um, but this 1981 ballad tells a story of a woman pleading for her dad after her husband commits infidelity. What a jerk! Who would do that to Dolly? But he also not only did he commit infidelity, but he checked her into a mental institution. But uh the song shows no matter how old you get, you're never too old to need your dad. So good stuff from Dolly. I'll bet it's like a tearjerker. Dolly Parton um is an incredible songwriter. Uh When Beneath My Wings, easily one of the more emotional songs. This one, uh, a Bet Midler hit from the movie Beaches. It touches on the deep admiration a child can have for her father, and the foundation that a father provides to help said child go after their dreams and soar, right? Um this one, I like this one too. Uh, where is it? Let me find it here on the list. Boom boom boom, come on. Oh, that's right there, right there. How about isn't she lovely from Stevie Wonder? Stevie wrote the lyrics of this song to celebrate the birth of his daughter, Aisha. And if you listen closely, you can hear a recording of Stevie bathing Aisha as an older toddler, mixed into the final section of the song. Now, how sweet is that? But this one might be my favorite that I ran across. Um, leader of the band from Dan Fogelberg. I love this song. This this uh folk rock song was written as a tribute to Dan's father, also a musician and leader of a band, with lyrics like Papa, I don't think I said I love you near enough, and I'm just a living legacy to the leader of the band. You can truly feel the respect that he had for his father in this song. It really is good. I'm sure most of you are familiar with that one as well. Good stuff there, and um, yeah, I just want to say that again, tomorrow, June 21st, is Father's Day. You know what? It's also it's also my buddy Bob's birthday, childhood friend, known each other for uh 50 years, and uh it's his birthday tomorrow. So he gets like uh you know a double dose, you know, the birthday and father's day all wrapped up in one. So good on you, Bob. But um, you know, if you're uh if you still have your your dad around, uh just you know, love on him. Don't buy him a tie. Don't, don't, don't, don't get him a tie. Don't get him a or a pair of socks or underwear, anything like that. Those those things that were so typical, you know, Father's Day gifts. Um I'm sure dad's capable of buying his own underwear. But um, you know what the cool part is too? Is that Father's Day is late enough in June that the kids are out of school. So, you know, like when when us dads were a lot younger, you know, the kids didn't come home with macaroni picture frames or you know, you know, cheesy pictures that you had to put up on the refrigerator, stuff like that. Not that that stuff's cheesy, you know what I'm I'm just teasing here. But um, but yeah, definitely no ties, okay? No ties, no socks, no underwear for for dad. But just, you know, take him out, love on them, you know, go visit, go visit your dad, whatever it is. Um, you know, I said I've said this before, you know, mothers are obviously so vitally important for the nurturing of children, you know, they whether they're working mothers or not, maybe they're just um I don't want to say just because it's not just, but you know, housewives, homemakers, which is such a vital and important role um in the household. But mothers make the house work, okay? They make the household run, they run things, they they have the everything scheduled out, okay, and they nurture children and they teach children uh uh you know to love, okay. Um mothers are absolutely fantastic. Um dad's role, dad's dad's there to to teach discipline, to uh to be the disciplinarian in the in the family, in the home. You know, that's why there was that's where there's that saying, you know, wait till your father gets home. Mama say, oh, you're gonna get it. Wait till your father gets home. You know, um, but you know, dads are there to teach you to build things, um, work with your hands, uh, teach you about respect for others. Um, that kind of stuff. Dads play it there. Look, the role between mother and father, they're different. There's a lot of similarities, but there are a lot of differences, and um each is so tremendously important to the nuclear family. So um just love on your dad, celebrate your dad, um play one of these songs for him, whatever it is. Um, and just get out there and have a fantastic day with dad tomorrow. Okay, everyone. Um, yeah, that that's really all I can say. Just it's you know, dads are the best, dads rock. So uh maybe that's why there's that stuff called dad rock now, right? Um, better to have dad rock than a dad bod. I don't know. But uh anyway, so um have a great one. Thanks for spending a little bit of time with me this

Final Thoughts And Sign-Off

SPEAKER_00 59:25

morning. Go out and take care of your business, uh, do your stuff. I'll see you guys next time. All right. Um, love to you all, and happy Father's Day to each and every one of you dads out there. Okay. This is the Ben Maynard program. Tell a friend.