DETROIT — Triangle Productions is bringing Judy Garland to Cobo Arena on September 29 for one performance . . . Johnny Trudell has become the leader of the Roostertail Orchestra. Lead trumpet player Trudell has played in the club’s orchestra for seven years and is also a staff musician at Motown Records . . .Diana Ross and the Supremes are scheduled to tape the Hollywood Palace TV show September 20-22 . . . Flint’s own the Fabulous Pack taped an ‘Upbeat’ TV show segment in Cleveland on August 19, featuring their new release “Wide Trackin” . . . The Grande Ballroom brought in the Chambers Brothers Friday and Saturday (September 1 and 2) . . . The Pop Series at the Detroit Masonic Auditorium for the 1967-1968 season Mantovani, Harry Simeone Chorale, New Christy Minstrels, Ferrante and Teicher and Victor Borge . . . Fred Saxon, Mercury promotion man here, is putting out a weekly newsletter for radio stations and press in the Detroit area. The newsletter gives information about new product releases in the Mercury Records family. END
The New Christy Minstrels on stage on the Ed Sullivan Show 1963
(Information and news source: Billboard; September 16, 1967).
DETROIT — Hot record acts Vaughn Meader and Allan Sherman were booked for upcoming Motor City concert appearances. Meader is slated for the Masonic Temple on January 27, with Sherman and his troupe due at the Ford Auditorium the evening of February 16 . . . Maynard Ferguson, in for his third session at the Minor Key Club within 15 months, spent off-hours shopping for a new car in the Detroit area . . . The Three Suns, usually Roostertail regulars, have crossed the river for a one-week stint at the Elmwood Casino in Windsor, Canada . . . looking ahead, Liberace has just been signed for a two-week engagement at the same Canadian supper club in March.
Following the New Year’s Eve bow-out of Jerry Murad and the Harmonicats, the Roostertail will be shuttered through mid-March for extensive alterations involving an addition which will house basement dressing rooms and an elevator to whisk the acts backstage. END
Addendum: Below, “My Son The Nut.” Allan Sherman’s third comedy LP from 1963.
(Information and news source: Billboard; January 12, 1963).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hN_9a0LPFhY
Allan Sherman’s ‘My Son The Nut,’ shot straight to the top on the Billboard LP chart, August, 1963. Note just three weeks on the charts — No. 1! (Click image for larger view)
DETROIT — Producer Jack Richardson, who has worked with RCA’s Guess Who out of Toronto and most recently with Bizarre’s Alice Cooper, is recording in Chicago with Mitch Ryder and his band, Detroit. A new single and album will be out. The finished product will be mixed in Toronto. Ryder follows the sessions with his first tour in six months, covering most of the northwest from April 13 to 25.
Ted Nugent, lead guitarist of Polydor’s Amboy Dukes, married in Florida. He spent his honeymoon touring radio stations in the south talking about the group’s latest album, ‘Survival Of The Fittest.’Nugent and the Amboy Dukes and Brownsville Station will work together at the Whiskey-A-Go-Go in Los Angeles April 21 through 25. It marks the West Coast debut of both groups, although the Amboy Dukes have been there with different personnel and a different show . . . New Jersey’s Wadsworth Mansion, now booked out of Diversified Management Agency in Detroit presently taping ‘The Dating Game,’ ‘American Bandstand’ and other TV shows on the West Coast. The group starts touring March 12 going through North Carolina, Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania, Michigan, Georgia, Louisiana, Tennessee, Arkansas and into Canada April 16, 17, 18 for dates and TV shots.
Ted Nugent aka the ‘Motor City Madman.’
Ike and Tina Turner plan to work on a new album June 1-10 following a two-week stint in Las Vegas. That’s to be followed by 15 one-nighters. They’ll be on the Pearl Baily show Saturday, March 20 . . . Damnation will head into their Cleveland studios for their third United Artist album . . . . Alice Cooper, along with Ted Nugent and the Amboy Dukes and Brownsville Station, goes to Pittsburgh March 31, Atlanta April 1, Miami April 2 and 3, ten one-nighters to Baton Rouge, Birmingham, Tampa, Jackson, Memphis, Little Rock and winding up at Orlando, Florida April 11. The second-half tour of the 20-day tour is not completed as yet. The swing is booked out of DMA in Detroit . . . . The Stooges begin recording their third Elektra LP Monday, March 22 in Los Angeles. The working title for the album is ‘Big Time Bum.’ The group, featuring Iggy, has taken time off from recording and touring to prepare an entirely new act, to be debuted sometime in April . . . .
Local favorites Sunday Funnies will have their first album out for Rare Earth Records. Andrew Oldham, discoverer and early producer of the Rolling Stones, produced the album. The album was recorded in the Motown studios in Detroit.
. . . Jam Band, led by pianist Mike Quatro, took to the stage at the Roostertail as part of the Pop Cycles series put on to help bring young people closer to classical music . . . . Janus’ Teegarden & Van Winkle are working in their home studios for an early April single release. A second Janus album will follow. . . . Savage Grace will come home to Detroit after living in Los Angeles for six months will they worked on their second album with Reprise. A May tour is planned for the group through DMA, to coincide with the release of the album . . . .
Windsor’s CKLW are currently into their concert promotion field. Their first venture, with Three Dog Night, sold out within five days of tickets going on sale. It took place at the University of Detroit. The next CKLW announcement is expected to be a Steppenwolf – Alice Cooper show for Detroit’s Olympia April 17. . . . The Supremes are playing a rare local engagement at Windsor’s Elmwood Casino. END
(Information and news source: Billboard; March 20, 1971).
A WKNR presentation:The Jimi Hendrix Experience, photographed here performing live on stage at the Masonic Auditorium in Detroit on February 23, 1968. Jimi Hendrix dons the hat and white guitar. (Click image for larger view).
DETROIT — The Jimi Hendrix Experience performed at the Masonic Auditorium, Friday, February 23. The show presentation event was sponsored by WKNR “Keener 13” . . . Ernie Durham, WJLB disk jockey who has for years hosted a Sunday night record hop at the 20 Grand for those 17 and over, will begin a weekly Friday night hop at the club for teenagers 14 to 17. In addition to presenting popular recording acts, Durham also plans to sponsor talent shows on those evenings. . . . Sylvia Burton Christopher, originator of Arthur, the popular discotheque in New York City, is opening a similar establishment here called the Woodward Street Car. . . . The Four Seasons performed a Detroit concert Friday, February 23. . . . Sammy Davis, Jr., will entertain at the annual Fight For Freedom dinner to be held at Cobo Hall, April 28. Cleveland’s Mayor Carl Stokes will be the principal speaker at that affair. . . . Marian Anderson performed at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s last Kresge Concert at the Ford Auditorium, Tuesday, February 13. . . . Count Basie, Mariam Makeba, Wes Montgomery and the Jimmy Smith Trio, the Oscar Peterson Trio, and social comedian Richard Pryor performed together for a one-night jazz concert at Cobo Arena, Friday, February 23. . . . Diana Ross and the Supremes are doing one-nighters across the northern United States, including college campuses. . . . The Temptations, Stevie Wonder and Martha Reeves and the Vandellas left town recently to participate in the Motortown Revue Japanese Festival which will tour Japan for one month. The artists have been scheduled for TV appearances, concerts, and will entertain U.S. troops stationed in areas in and around Japan. . . . The Pop Concert Committee of Wayne State University has scheduled its first pop concert for Friday, March 22, at the Ford Auditorium. Dionne Warwick has been chosen to headline the concert, along with other acts still to be determined. . . . Robbie Dee, disk jockey on WCHB, has been promoted to production manager at that station. . . . Hello People are booked into the Chessmate for one week, beginning March 12. . . . Leon Issac is the new early afternoon disk jockey for WJLB. . . . Currently in progress is the Memphis Sounds Show at the Riviera Theater through Thursday, March 29. Among the artists on that show are J. J. Barnes, Pat Lewis, the Holidays, Eddie Floyd, Pig Meat Markham, Ruby Andrews and Barbara Mercer. END.
(Information and news source: Billboard; March 2, 1968).
Detroit’s own Parliaments in 1967. George Clinton is facing west on the extreme right.(Click on image for larger view).
DETROIT — The Delfonics have just ended a 10-day engagement at the 20 Grand Club, with the Vibrations and BarbaraMason the current attraction at that night spot. This is Miss Mason’s first appearance in Detroit. . . . The Phelps Lounge presented a somewhat Motor-town revue of sorts May 24 – June 2 including Jimmy Ruffin, the Parliaments, the Bandwagon, BettyLavette, Jimmy Delphs, Little Carl Carlton, and Louis Curry. The recording of “Baby Make Your Sweet Music” by the Bandwagon was one of the first to break as a result of a promotional film. The record was listed as a national breakout here after an initial four weeks of TV film exposure. . . . Diana Ross and the Supremes have just completed a six-day engagement at the Fisher Theater, located in the Fisher Building on W. Grand Blvd., just several blocks away from the Motown studios. . . . From Detroit has come two productions on the popular phrase “here comes the judge.” One is by the Buena Vistas on the local Marquee Records and the other hit is by Shorty Long on Motown’s own Soul records subsidiary. . . . Florence Ballard, formerly of the Supremes and now recording for ABC Records, appeared last Thursday, June 6, on the Swingin’ Time TV show for host Robin Seymour on CKLW TV 9.
Ex-Supreme Florence Ballard signed with ABC Records in 1968.
WCHB Radio will present its annual “WCHB Talent Contest” on Saturday, June 22 at the Fox Theater. Each year the station holds auditions for new local talents and presents the best acts in one show along with various artists of the Motown stable. The Motown acts chosen to perform this year have not been announced as of yet.
. . . . The June Jazz Festival is booked into the Masonic Temple Auditorium for Saturday, June 22. Jazz artists scheduled to appear include Donald Byrd and his Quintet, Quartet Tres Bien. Jean DuShon, Stanley Turrentine, and the Shirley Scott Trio. . . . Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass will appear in concert on Monday, June 17, at the Cobo Hall Arena. . . . WKNR-FM has initiated a progressive rock format, slated officially commencing Monday, June 10, and reports excellent reaction after only a few days of operation, according to WKNR-AM and FM music director Paul Cannon. END
ADDENDUM (Update): Donald Byrd, legendary jazz man from Detroit, died February 7, 2013 at age of 80. For more on this obit/story, go here, courtesy the freep.com online.
Jazz great Donald Byrd entertaining NYC subway transits in 1959. Years later Byrd would entertain Detroiters at the Masonic Auditorium in June, 1968
(Information and news source: Billboard; June 15, 1968).
Detroit — Columbia Records, Tom and Jerry Schoenith’s Upper Deck of the Roostertail and CKLW combined Monday, July 3 in an all-out promotion for Columbia’s Moby Grape. Columbia Records promotion man Russ Yerge brought the Grape into town that day and arranged with the Schoenith’s to have a special Moby Grape night at their club, which is normally closed Mondays. The public was admitted free. Paul Drew, program director of CKLW, co-operated in promoting the evening with a barrage of spot announcements about the free show. Drew also put the group’s single “Omaha” on his CKLW Big 30 playlist. All of the CKLW deejays, including Tom Shannon and CKLW-TV personality Robin Seymour, were on hand at the Upper Deck to introduce the Haight-Ashbury San Francisco band. The new group earlier in the day appeared on Seymour’s TV show. . . . Terry Knight is booked into the Chess Mate for two weeks beginning Monday, July 10. . . . The Bee Gees are coming into Detroit on a promotion trip Thursday, July 13. . . . Gordon Lightfoot is playing at the Living End the week of July 17. . . . Nanett (Fabray) was in Detroit Tuesday, July 4 to promote her Canusa record, “The Look Of Love.” END
The Grape in 1966.San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury band Moby Grape in 1967.(Michael Ochs Archives).
(Information and news source: Billboard; July 8, 1967).
The Monkees’ Concert was canceled at Detroit’s Olympia Stadium, Saturday, July 29, 1967.
DETROIT — The Monkees concert originally scheduled for July 29 at Olympia Stadium which was canceled due to the riots, was rescheduled for August 13. WKNR, alongwith its promotion and production department, heavily advertised and was sponsor to the Detroit sold-out event, in conjunction with Dick Clark Productions. . . . The Pleasure-Seekers, an all-girl group from Grosse Pointe, are booked into Trude-Heller’s in Manhattan and have signed with Associated Bookings in New York. . . . The Grateful Dead played at the Grande Ballroom, a psychedelic ballroom-venue here owned by Russ Gibb, on Friday and Saturday, August11 – 12. . . . . CKLW-TV personality Robin Seymour is hosting a series of ‘Celebrity Nights’ at the Upper Deck at the Roostertail on Mondays. He opened on Monday, August 7 with the Rationals, Deon Jackson and Chris Peterson. . . . MGM promotion manager here, Larry Benjamin, is hosting a party for the Paupers to meet disk jockeys and the press at the Pontchartrain Hotel Wednesday, August 16. . . . The Kingsmen are booked to perform at the University of Detroit, Saturday, August 26. . . . “Bearskin Rug Sounds,” an album of readings by CKLW disk jockey Tom Shannon, did so well locally that it will be distributed nationally on the Sound label. . . . Walsh Allen has joined WJLB as operations manager. He spent three years as program director at Cleveland’s R&B WABQ. . . . The Jimi Hendrix Experience makes its first Michigan appearance at the Fifth Dimension in Ann Arbor on Tuesday, August 15. . . . The Spencer Davis Group is in concert at the Ford Auditorium here, slated for Thursday August 24. . . . The Motown Records sales convention takes place here August 25 – 28. END
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(Information and news source: Billboard; August 19, 1967)
A MCRFB Note: For more on the WKNR 1967 “MonkeesIn Detroit” concert, see our previous MCRFB March 3, 2012 feature, here.
For more on Tommy Shannon’s “Bear Skin Rug” Music LP, see our previous MCRFB May 4, 2012 featurehere.
The Monkees in 1967. WKNR and Dick Clark sponsored the (re-scheduled) Monkees’ Concert at the Olympia on August 13, 1967.Legendary CKLW great Tom Shannon was host to “Bearskin Rug” in 1966.(Photo courtesy Tom Shannon)
DETROIT — The Stan Kenton Orchestra will kick off the annual Town and Country and Gown Celebrity Series at the University of Detroit, Sunday, August 29. . . . Count Basie, Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck, Dizzy Gillespie, Jimmy Smith and Carmen McRae and their respective groups are due here Sunday for George Wein’s first Festival Prelude at Cobo Hall. . . . Singers Lesley Gore, Stevie Wonder, The Shangri-Las, Coasters, Sunliners, Dis-Coquettes Dancers, along with the Choker Campbell Orchestra Band will team up in a special show “The Swingin’ Kind,” on WXYZ, emceed by 1270 deejay Lee Alan. It is tentatively slated for the ABC television network. . . . Musical comedy star Tessie O’Shea opened Monday, August 16 as headliner at the Elmwood Casino across the Detroit river in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. END
Bandleader Stan Kenton of the Stan Kenton Orchestra.
(Information and news source: Billboard; August 21, 1965).
Janis Ian appeared Friday, February 2 in concert at the Masonic Auditorium…. The Sam and Dave Revue opened Friday, February 2, at Cobo Hall, including an 18-piece orchestra and other acts from the Stax/Volt stable of artists…. Rhetta Hughes appeared in the Roostertail’s main dining room during the week of January 18 through 24.
…Red Buttons headlined at the Roostertail Supper Club for 10 days through February 3, and the Four Tops are scheduled to open there Monday, February 12…. MGM Records will present their new artist Every Mother’s Son as part of a promotional campaign at the Roostertail’s Upper Deck for Robin Seymour’s celebrity night on Wednesday, February 14…. Bob Harper is the new disk jockey at WKNR, filling the all-night spot…. The all-night hours at Detroit’s super-soul station WCHB is now being filled by Ron White, and Leon Ivan is the new early afternoon deejay at WJLB….
The beautiful Queen of Soul in 1968. (Click on image for larger view).
…Dave Shafer, formerly with CKLW, is now head promotion man for Records Distributors here…. Tom Shannon, top disk jockey at CKLW, has scheduled his second TV production at WJBK Channel 2 for Friday, February 16. The format of the show will consist of discussion about radio with other Detroit area disk jockeys. Representing the other stations in the area for Shannon’s discussion will be Ernie Durham for WJLB, Dick Purtan for WKNR, Hank O’Neal for WJBK, and Bill Williams for WCHB. Video tapes will be shown of performances by the Temptations, Marvin Gaye and Every Mother’s Son…. Laura Lee is currently performing at the Phelps Cocktail Lounge, and James Carr has just closed there…. CKLW Channel 9 plans to begin a weekly taping of live, nightclub type shows at the 20 Grand Driftwood Lounge, to be telecast on Thursdays.
…Aretha Franklin will perform her first Detroit concert Friday, February 16, at the Cobo Hall Arena. With her will be Erma Franklin and the Young-Holt Unlimited…. Al Williams will present the “Memphis Sounds Show” at the Riviera Theater for seven-days, February 23-29. This show will include Eddie Floyd, Barbra Merger, Pat Lewis, J. J. Barnes, Pig meat Markham, the Cassanovas, Dusty Williams, Denis Thomas, Ruby Andrews and Timmy Willis.
Detroit Solid Hitbound Producer, Don Davis.
…Don Davis, formerly the music director for Solid Hitbound Productions here, has set out to start his own operation under the name of Groovesville Records. One of the first acts signed on WCHB, has been appointed production manager for that station.
…Motown Record Company has filed suit for $1 million against a theater here which recently opened, calling itself the “Beverly Motown Theater.” Motown contends the name is a fraud on the public and an “unlawful infringement” on the Motown trade name…. MGM’s Orpheus is set for the Chessmate through Sunday, February 18. Philips Records 4 Seasons are scheduled for a Detroit Concert this coming Friday, February 16. END
(Information and news source: Billboard; February 10, 1968).
The Who played two shows June 14 at an Ann Arbor teenage club, The Fifth Dimension, before heading over to the Monterey Pop Festival…. Capitol artists Sadler and Youngbooked into the Roostertail for two weeks, beginning June 26, to be followed by another Capitol artist Peggy Lee, the week of July 10…. Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky, Ohio, had a Martin and Howard Day, June 11, in honor of the morning disc jockey team on WXYZ 1270 in Detroit….Only the least expensive seats ($5.50, $4.50) are left for Frank Sinatra’s July 9 Cobo Hall Arena appearance.
Volt recording artists Otis Redding and the Bar-Kays to appear at Expo ’67, July 3-4…. Deon Jackson begins a two-week tour of Army bases beginning June 30…. Martha Reeves and the Vandellas recorded a live album at the 20 Grand Club June 6-8…. English female vocalist Kelly Michaels has been signed by Ollie McLaughlin. A release on his Karen label is due shortly…. The Supremes made their debut at the Coconut Grove in Los Angeles June 13…. The Herman’s Hermits tour with the Who and the Blues Magoos were signed for the Atwood Stadium in Flint, August 23.
Charles D. Fitz, vice-president and general manager of WXYZ Radio and President of the Michigan Association of Broadcasters, presided at the MAB sponsored Fifth Annual Congressional Dinner in Washington. John E. Campbell, vice-president and general manager of WXYZ-TV and WXYZ editorial director, Joe Vaughn, also attended the dinner for Michigan congressional representatives…. Baby Jane Holzer was in Detroit to promote her new Atco single “Rapunzel.” She did the Robin Seymour CKLW-TV show…. WKBD-TV, Channel 50, Detroit, will carry “Upbeat” from Cleveland on Saturday mornings at 9:30 beginning July 1…. The Monkees will be in Detroit at Olympia Stadium on July 29. The Olympia concert event will be sponsored by WKNR…. Capitol Records hosted a party for Lou Rawls after his sellout concert at Masonic Auditorium in Detroit recently. END
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(Information and news source: Billboard Magazine: June 24, 1967)
WHEN THE WHO PERFORMED SOUTHFIELD HIGH IN 1967!
A MCRFB Note: This picture (above; below) was taken when the Who performed at the Southfield High School auditorium, Wednesday, November 22, 1967. Opening for the headlining British group were two local Detroit bands. The Unrelated Segments and The Amboy Dukes. Tickets were $3.00 dollars at the door.
For more on this incredible 1967 SHS event, click here to former CKLW and WKNR alumnus Pat St. John’s personal website. Pat will recount his personal involvement in this little-known event (with the Who) in this amazing Detroit rock ‘n’ roll back-story!
A ticket stub to The Who performance at Southfield High, 1967. (Photo credit; thanks: Judy Evans, Facebook (used here by her permission)
From the MCRFB news archive: 1967
