Flashbacks – Page 118 – Motor City Radio Flashbacks

IN REMEMBRANCE OF GEORGE L. GRIGGS | 1949-2014

IN LOVING MEMORY OF GEORGE GRIGGS

It is with much sorrow and with great regret we wish to inform our friends here, George Griggs, curator of Motor City Radio Flashbacks, passed away peacefully Tuesday morning, October 28, 2014. He was 65.

Funeral arrangements are pending at this time. We will provide further information, here, as they become available.

Tuesday, October 28, 2014 2:54 P.M.

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HARRY J. WILL FUNERAL HOMES | 37000 W. Six Mile Rd., Livonia, MI 48152 734-591-3700

In Memory of

George Griggs
April 23, 1949 – October 28, 2014

Obituary

George “Butch” Griggs passed away on October 28, 2014 at his home with his family by his side. He was 65 years old. George was born April 23, 1949, in Detroit, to Mary (nee Perrin) and George M. Griggs.

George was a dedicated member of the United States Air Force before becoming a lab technician and scheduler for the Ford Motor Company.

George is survived by his loving wife Patricia of 39 years. His son Scott (Teresa) and daughter Gina (Geoff) Novack. His sisters Diane (Daniel) Giesin and Karen (Hilton) Ehrisman. His brother-in-law Gary (Dawn) Pedinelli, his nieces Rebecca Kolbicz, Danielle Giesin, Alessandra Pedinelli, and nephew Antonio Pedinelli.

Visitation will be held Thursday, October 30, 2014, from 2 to 8pm at Harry J. Will Funeral Home, 37000 Six Mile Road, in Livonia. A Funeral Service will take place on Friday, October 31, 2014 at 11am at Harry J. Will Funeral Home. Friends may visit the funeral home on Friday beginning at 10am.

HARRY J. WILL FUNERAL HOMES

Wednesday, October 29, 2014 7:34 P.M

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KEEPER OF THE RADIO FLAME

Reflections by Art Vuolo, Jr.

George L. Griggs, 65 has passed away, as reported in michiguide.com on Tuesday, October 28, 2014, he was only 65.

In recent weeks he had been fighting lung cancer, even though in over twenty years that I called George a close friend, I never saw him with a cigarette. People call me a radio archivist, but it was George, who in concert with Scott MacKinnon and a few other broadcast enthusiasts who started an amazing web site originally called “Detroit Radio Flashbacks” it is now known as “Motor City Radio Flashbacks” but is best accessed by the initials www.mcrfb.com.

It represents many years of his collecting audio clips and memorabilia from Detroit area stations, dating back the late 1950’s. He was an amazing man and I will miss him terribly.

Please visit the web site he founded at www.mcrfb.com for photos and audio memories.

The Detroit Radio community has lost the true “Keeper of the Flame” to the Motor City’s radio glory years. George may be gone, but his efforts and the signal will go on for years to come. Rest in Peace my friend.

Art Vuolo, Jr.

Wednesday, October 29, 2014 7:47 P.M.

George L. Griggs April 23, 1949 - October 28, 2014 — **George L. Griggs** *April 23, 1949 – October 28, 2014*

Art Vuolo, George Griggs, Michael Collins, Jimmy Hampton and Scott MacKinnon. Photos courtesy Jim Hampton October 28, 2014; 7:48 p.m. — Art Vuolo, George Griggs, Michael Collins, Jimmy Hampton and Scott MacKinnon. *Photos courtesy Jim Hampton* *(October 28, 2014; 7:48 p.m.)*

WHY MCRFB IS HERE. WITH A WARM, HEART-FELT ‘THANK YOU’

George Griggs with Scott MacKinnon — **George Griggs** with Scott MacKinnon
*(click on photo for largest view).*

LEE ALAN and GEORGE GRIGGS * Jimmy James Show * WPON-AM 1460

George Griggs. Scott MacKinnon. Motor City Radio Flashbacks

Motor City Radio Flashbacks had its first beginnings, some 10-years ago. And it all started with them. From 2004 to 2011, this website today, was the former Detroit Radio Flashbacks. In part, the fact we are here on the web is because of George Griggs.

This is his website.

If Motor City Radio Flashbacks holds any degree of success by your many, many frequent visits here (over 2 million 300,000 plus-page hits just short under a year), we are reminded that it was due to his passion, his love for Detroit radio which transcended well everything this website is about today.

Preserving memories of great Detroit radio. It’s glorious past. Remembered. All archived here. All here in one place. And to that end we are indebted to him, always.

Thank you, George, dearest of friends. For this wonderful website you gave us all.

— J i m F e l i c i a n o

Monday, October 27, 2014 12:06 AM

FROM THE MCRFB MUSIC COLLECTION: ’63 MEMORIES!

THE MAGIC BEHIND THE DETROIT MOTOWN SOUND! ’67

“MORE LOVE ” (INSTRUMENTAL) * Smokey Robinson & The Miracles * 1967

FROM THE MCRFB MUSIC COLLECTION: ’65 MEMORIES!

URBAN PROGRAMMER JOINS DETROIT WJZZ . . . MARCH 12, 1983

From the MCRFB NEWS archive: 1983

Jerry Boulding Joins WCHB/WJZZ Detroit

DETROIT — Veteran urban programmer and personality Jerry Boulding has joined the staff of WCHB/WJZZ here in the newly created position of operations manager.

“I’m looking forward to programming one of America’s premiere jazz stations, WJZZ, “ says Boulding, who adds that the station will retainits mass appeal jazz directionfor the time being. “I foresee no immediate changes there, but I think we’ve got some very exciting things planned for WCHB, one of the country’s first black-owned stations, in spite of the fact it’s on AM,” he says.

WJZZ switched to its current modern jazz format at some point in the early 1970s. The station was formerly WCHD-FM, Detroit. END

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(Information and news source: Billboard; March 12, 1983)

WJZZ-FM 105.9|GRANT GREEN “A DAY IN THE LIFE” ’70

OCTOBER ’68: FELICIANO ANTHEM PRESSED ON VINYL

O C T O B E R 1 7 , 1 9 6 8 : T O D A Y I N M U S I C H I S T O R Y

Jose Feliciano and his guide-dog, Trudy, 1968. — Jose Feliciano with his guide-dog, Trudy, 1968.

1 9 6 8 : On this date, October 17, RCA Records released Jose Feliciano’s rendition of the national anthem. Suggested by Detroit Tigers’ broadcaster Ernie Harwell that Feliciano perform the national anthem at Tiger Stadium, Detroit, before game 5 of the 1968 World Series (October 7), Feliciano instead sang his version of The Star Spangled Banner — away from the anthem’s traditional chords in “bluesy-like” fashion — thereafter drawing an immediate firestorm which the singer to this day has laid claim, that event alone, nearly ruined his career. Five weeks on the singles chart, the recording peaked at No. 50 on Billboard, November 30, 1968.

Today In Pop Music History: October 17, 1968

THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER * Jose Feliciano * RCA Records (1968)

Jose Feliciano in 1968. — **JOSE FELICIANO** *(Wikipedia link)*

FLASHBACK POP MUSIC HISTORY: OCTOBER 16

From the MCRFB music calendar:

Events on this date: OCTOBER 16

Litle Richard on Specialty Records; 1955 (click image for larger view) — Little Richard on Specialty Records; 1955 *(click image for larger view)*

1951: Jump-blues singer Richard Penniman, already going by the stage name Little Richard, makes his first recordings at Atlanta radio station WGST, though it would take four years and a move to clubs in New Orleans’ French Quarter to turn him into a rock and roll phenomenon.

1954: Elvis Presley, still stinging from his rejection at the Grand Old Opry in Nashville, joins the Shreveport, LA radio broadcast Louisiana Hayride, appearing weekly for the grand sum of eighteen dollars. The show, broadcast on local station KWKH-AM, represents Presley’s first major musical exposure and would prove invaluable to getting him noticed nationally.

1962: Motown launches its first “package tour,” a revue of the label’s artists featuring Marvin Gaye, The Miracles, The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, and Mary Wells, in Washington DC.

1966: Folk singer Joan Baez is among 124 antiwar protesters arrested for blocking entrance to an Army Induction Center in Oakland, CA. She is sentenced to ten days in jail.

1972: Internal strife between the three remaining band members — reportedly due to leader John Fogerty’s reluctance to give up creative control — lead to today’s public breakup of Creedence Clearwater Revival. The press statement tries to put the best possible face on the incident, “We don’t regard this as breaking up. We look at it as an expansion of our activities.”

Chuck Berry Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll! 1986 (Click image for larger view) — Chuck Berry Hail! Hail! Rock ‘n’ Roll! 1986 (Click image for larger view)

1986: Chuck Berry is the center of an all-star “60th birthday” bash in his hometown of St. Louis, a tribute concert — held three days before his actual 60th — where the legendary rocker is joined by Keith Richards, Bruce Springsteen, Eric Clapton, Etta James, Robert Cray, Linda Ronstadt, and many others on stage at the local Fox Theatre. The making of the concert and the show itself are filmed by veteran director Taylor Hackford for the critically acclaimed hits 1987 documentary Hail! Hail! Rock ‘N’ Roll.

1993: Aretha Franklin sings the US national anthem in Toronto before tonight’s World Series game between the city’s Blue Jays and the visiting Philadelphia Phillies.

2001: After Bob Dylan hires extra security guards in preparation for his comeback “Love And Theft” tour, two of the guards turn Dylan himself back when the singer forgets his own pass. The new guards are fired.

2002: Country legend Dolly Parton begins her first tour of the United Kingdom in nearly two decades.

2002: Billy Joel leaves the Silver Hill Hospital in New Canaan, CT, where it is rumored he’s been undergoing treatment for alcoholism.

2003: Simon and Garfunkel open their new “Old Friends” tour with a concert in Wilkes-Barre, PA.

Deaths: 1969: Leonard Chess; 1973: Gene Krupa; 1990: Art Blakey; 1999: Ella Mae Morse; 2001: Etta Jones

Births: 1911: Mahalia Jackson; 1923: Bert Kaempfert; 1935: Sugar Pie DeSanto; 1937: Emile Ford (Emile Ford and the Checkmates); 1938: Nico; 1942: Dave Lovelady (The Fourmost); 1943: C.F. Turner (Bachman-Turner Overdrive); 1947: Bob Weir (The Grateful Dead)

Releases: 1957: Sam Cooke, “You Send Me” 1971: Isaac Hayes, “Theme From Shaft”

Recording: 1941: Will Bradley, “Fry Me Cookie, With A Can Of Lard” 1951: Johnnie Ray, “Cry” 1965: The Beatles: “Day Tripper,” “If I Needed Someone” 1968: Jay and the Americans, “This Magic Moment”

Charts: 1976: Rick Dees and His Cast of Idiots’ “Disco Duck” hits No. 1 nationally on the charts 1976: Stevie Wonder’s album ‘Songs In The Key Of Life’ hits No. 1 nationally on the LP charts

And that’s just a few of the events which took place in pop music history, on this day . . . .

STARS SIGN ON FILMED TRIBUTE TO CHUCK BERRY . . . AUGUST 23, 1986

From the MCRFB NEWS archive: 1986

Stars Pays Homage to Chuck Berry On Film in Celebrating His 60th

(SEE ALSO: Flashback Pop Music History 1986: October 16)

LOS ANGELES — Feature film director Taylor Hackford has agreed to shoot “Chuck Berry: Hail! Hail! Rock-n-Roll,” a tribute concert that originally planned as a music video and has now escalated into a major Universal Studios theatrical project for release next year.

MCA Home Entertainment will fund the project, which will be produced in association with Connecticut-based Delilah Films. Delilah president Stephanie Bennett will produce. Rolling Stone Keith Richards will act as musical director and put the back-up band together, and former Band member Robbie Robertson will be creative consultant.

MCA will have pay-cable and home video rights, and MCA Records will issue the soundtrack.

Bennett produced “The Compleat Beatles,” “The Everly Brothers Reunion Concert,” “Girl Groups: The Story Of A Sound,” and “Blue Suede Shoes: A Rockabilly Session With Carl Perkins And Friends.” She has just wrapped an MCA Home Video original called “Women In Rock,” and, after the Berry film project is completed, plans are in the working stages to develop a feature film on the life of Janis Joplin.

Bennett says the project was first discussed as a home video and pay cable special but that the interest shown in it by major rock names and the involvement of Taylor Hackford made it feature film material.

The role model for the movie, Martin Scorsese’s “The Last Waltz,” the Band’s star-studded farewell concert. It won’t be strictly a concert film, though, says Bennett.

“Taylor Hackford believes Chuck Berry has never been properly shown on film doing anything other than his music,” she says.

A scene with Chuck Berry on stage in Taylor Hackford's 1987 film, 'Chuck Berry Hail! Hail Rock 'n' Roll.' (Click on image for largest view). — Chuck Berry on stage in Taylor Hackford’s 1987 release, *‘Chuck Berry Hail! Hail! Rock ‘n’ Roll.’* *(Click on image for largest view).*

“Everyone involved,” adds Bennett, “will be networking with artists who may appear.” Like Hackford, she is hoping that the concert will include the participation of major musical figures. “But the idea is not to solicit rock figures for name value. All the artists, such as Keith Richards, were strongly influenced by Chuck Berry. Fortunately, the lack of a Stones tour freed Richards to get involved.”

Hackford says, “This will be a complex film, a lot more than a concert film. Chuck Berry has the attributes of an actor. He’s moody. He has phenomenal presence. I want to get that on film.”

Hackford says the concert itself, with Berry the principal performer, will be shot in a stylized, brightly lit fashion.” He hopes to film on a concert stage in the Midwest as well as on location at Berry’s Missouri farm.

“I’d like to have five superstar guitarists and five major vocalists,” says Hackford. “I envision scenes of Chuck rehearsing with them at his farm and then cutting away to the concert. There will be vocal duets. One other element I’m planning is is visual dramatizations of Chuck’s songs interwoven into the film. I’d like to do it in a non-documentary style and break the cinema verite mold.”

Bennett says the concert will be shot sometime in the fall, possibly in September or October. Details on a venue is still being negotiated. Bennett surmise the film will be released to theaters possibly sometime in April 1987. END

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(Information and news source: Billboard; August 23, 1986)