May 9, 2011 - Claudine Longet "Love is Blue"

 Don Graham and I  were driving  through Malibu recently and he remembered being in a recording session for Claudine Longet ("She Whispered") -  Good Memories.

Claudine Georgette Longet (born 29 January 1942) is singer and recording artist who was popular during the 1960s and 1970s. She is also an actress and a dancer. Born in Paris, France, Longet was married to pop singer Andy Williams from 1961 until 1975. She has maintained a private profile since 1977, following her conviction for misdemeanor negligent homicide  in connection with the death of former Olympic skier "Spider" Sabich. 

Longet and Williams met in Las Vegas in 1960 when she was 18 and he was 32. Longet was experiencing problems with her car and had pulled over to the side of the road. Driving by, Williams stopped to offer assistance. She was the lead dancer of the Folies Bergère revue at the Tropicana Resort & Casino. They married on 15 December 1961 in Los Angeles,  and had three children: Noëlle (born on 24 September 1963), Christian (born on 15 April 1965), and Robert ("Bobby") (born on 1 August 1969). They legally separated in 1970  and divorced in January 1975. According to Williams, they remain "very good friends" to the present day.

After about a one-year hiatus, Longet resumed her professional career in late 1962. Her first appearances as an actress on television were in two 1963 episodes of the comedy series McHale's Navy. She also acted in the 1964 theatrical feature film of the same title. Many of her acting roles during the 1960s were in episodes of television adventure series that included Twelve O'Clock High, Combat!, The Name of the Game, The Rat Patrol and Hogans Heroes Episode #20: It Takes a Thief ... Sometime.  She appeared many times on The Andy Williams Show series and specials. She also occasionally appeared as a singer on other variety and music programs, including those of singers Bobby Darin and Tom Jones. Williams called Longet — a beautiful, athletic, slender, petite sleek brunette with large doe eyes — "my favorite French singer."  Her career breakthrough occurred in 1966. She had a guest-starring role in the season-one finale of the NBC television adventure series Run for Your Life, which starred Ben Gazzara. In the episode "The Sadness of A Happy Time," she performed her English-French bilingual rendition of Jobim's bossa nova song "Meditation" ("Meditação"), singing with a very soft angelic voice filled with longing and melancholy but also with a cheerful optimism. The episode was first broadcast on 16 May 1966. A&M Records cofounder Herb Alpert was among the viewers whom Longet charmed with her performance of "Meditation." When Alpert met Longet by happenstance at a club in New Orleans later in 1966, he offered her a recording contract with his company.  Longet recorded singles, and five albums, for A&M Records between 1966 and 1970. "Meditation" was Longet's first single release for A&M. Other Jobim compositions that she has recorded include "A Felicidade," "How Insensitive" ("Insensatez"), and "Dindi."  In 1968, Longet costarred with Peter Sellers in the MGM motion picture The Party, a box office hit that Blake Edwards wrote, produced, and directed. Elvis Presley reportedly identified The Party as his favorite film.  Longet sang "Nothing to Lose" (music by Henry Mancini and lyrics by Don Black) in the film. In 1971, she joined Williams' Barnaby Records label. She released singles and two albums for Barnaby, We've Only Just Begun in 1971 and Let's Spend the Night Together in 1972. She also recorded songs for a projected third album for Barnaby that went unreleased. Many of the songs for the planned third album finally appeared on the 1993 compact disc release titled Sugar Me, after the Lynsey de Paul song that Longet covered in the early 70's but the masters for some of the other songs are missing and presumed lost.  In 1975, she appeared as "The Flower" (a nonsinging role) with Richard Burton, Jonathan Winters, and others, on the children's album The Little Prince, based on the Antoine de Saint Exupéry novel. The album won the Grammy Award for Best Album for Children in 1976.  She has enjoyed success on the music popularity charts. Her 1967 debut album, Claudine, peaked at #11 on the Billboard pop albums chart in the United States. Claudine became a RIAA-certified gold album, selling more than 500,000 copies. Subsequent albums The Look of Love peaked at #33 in 1967 and Love is Blue peaked at #29 in 1968 on the Billboard pop albums chart in the U.S. Longet's musical cohort on her charting albums was arranger Nick De Caro. He also arranged her other two albums on A&M, Colours (1968) and Run Wild, Run Free (1970), and We've Only Just Begun on Barnaby.  She also has had hit singles in America on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. Her charting singles include "Here, There and Everywhere" (music and lyrics by John Lennon and Paul McCartney), "Hello, Hello" (composed by Terry MacNeil and Peter Kraemer), "Good Day Sunshine" (composed by Lennon and McCartney), "Small Talk" (music and lyrics by Garry Bonner and Alan Gordon), and "Love is Blue" (music by André Popp and French lyrics by Pierre Cour [Pierre Lemaire]). Another song, "Wanderlove" (music and lyrics by Mason Williams), went to #7 on the singles charts in Singapore and still occasionally gets airplay on Asian radio. She remains popular in Japan, where all of her original albums were reissued on compact disc.

Longet and Andy Williams were close friends of Robert F. "Bobby" Kennedy and his wife, Ethel Kennedy. During the mid-1960s, they regularly socialized at Longet's and Williams's residences in Bel Air and Palm Springs and at the Kennedys's residences at Hickory Hill and New York City. They also took summer cruises on the Salmon River in central Idaho and on the Colorado River.  On or before 4 June 1968, the day of the 1968 Democratic Party presidential primary in California, Kennedy — a contending Democratic presidential candidate — and his wife made tentative arrangements with Williams and Longet to visit a trendy local disco called The Factory. According to Williams, Robert Kennedy told them that he would make a hand signal at the conclusion of his televised speech at the Ambassador Hotel to confirm their get-together. Shortly after midnight on 5 June, Longet and Williams watched Senator Kennedy's televised primary victory speech in Kennedy's suite in his hotel. When they saw Kennedy make the "little hand gesture." Williams rushed down to the hotel ballroom, he heard loud noises on the hallway and learned that Kennedy had been shot. Longet and Williams eventually joined Kennedy's family and friends at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles, where doctors were trying to save the Senator's life. They stayed at the hospital for about 24 hours. After Kennedy died during the early morning hours of 6 June, Longet and Williams went into his hospital room and saw Ethel Kennedy asleep near her husband. Longet and Williams attended Senator Kennedy's funeral Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City on 8 June. A television camera captured Williams consoling a sobbing Longet during the Mass. After Kennedy's brother Edward M. "Ted" Kennedy delivered a brief and emotional eulogy, Williams and a choir sang "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" in what a Washington Post reporter described as a "hauntingly slow tempo." Outside the cathedral on the streets of New York, thousands of people were listening to the Mass over loudspeakers. When they heard Williams singing, they began singing with him.  After the funeral Mass, Longet and Williams boarded the 21-car funeral train that took Senator Kennedy's body to Washington, D.C. and Arlington National Cemetery for burial. Longet and Williams were with Senator Kennedy's body, Ethel Kennedy, Ted Kennedy, and other Kennedy family members in the end car of the train. The front page of the 9 June 1968 edition of the Washington Post has a large photograph that depicts Ted Kennedy and Longet standing together on the rear platform of the funeral train as it passed through North Philadelphia.  Longet and Williams named their son Bobby (who was born in August 1969) in remembrance of Robert Kennedy.  Longet was arrested and charged with fatally shooting her boyfriend, Olympic skier Vladimir "Spider" Sabich, at his Aspen, Colorado, home on 21 March 1976. At trial, Longet said the gun discharged accidentally as Sabich was showing her how it worked. Williams publicly supported Longet throughout the trial, even escorting her to and from the courthouse. The Aspen police made two procedural errors that aided Longet's defense: Without warrants, they took a blood sample from her and confiscated her diary. According to prosecutors, the sample showed the presence of cocaine in her blood, and her diary reportedly contradicted her claim that her relationship with Sabich had not soured. In addition, the gun was mishandled by non-weapons experts. As they were unable to cite any of the disallowed material, prosecutors did use the autopsy report to suggest that when Sabich was struck he was bent over, facing away, and at least 1.80 m (6 ft) from Longet, which would be inconsistent with the position and relative distance of someone demonstrating the operation of a firearm.  The jury convicted her of a lesser charge — misdemeanor criminal negligence — and sentenced her to pay a small fine and spend 30 days in jail. The judge allowed Longet to choose the days she served, believing that this arrangement would allow her to spend the most time with her children, and she chose to work off most of her sentence on weekends. (Critical reaction to the verdict and sentencing was exacerbated when she subsequently vacationed with her defense attorney, Ron Austin, who was married at the time; Longet and Austin later married and still live in Aspen.) After the criminal trial, the Sabich family initiated civil proceedings to sue Longet. The case was eventually resolved out of court, with the proviso that Longet never tell or write about her story.  Longet has never performed again; her public appearances since the trial have been limited to writing liner notes for a 2005 CD compilation and providing voiceover (off-camera) commentary for a 2003 A&E Biography documentary about Williams. Interest in her music has resurged in recent years following several CD releases, inclusion of her songs on television and film soundtracks, and expressions of admiration by several young performers. Her musical legacy is rarely referenced, however, without allusion to the events that took her out of the public eye.

Pop culture references

• Season 1, Episode 12 (18 January 2001) of Gilmore Girls features Rory's friend Lane having bought an eclectic range of CDs. Rory responds, "I must listen to anyone named Claudine Longet." They play Longet's version of the song "God Only Knows" (composed by Brian Wilson and Tony Asher), and Lorelai, on discovering to whom they are listening, says: "... the chick who shot the skier? Wow, Renaissance woman." Season 5, Episode 22 (15 May 2005 season finale) of the show features Longet's recording of "I Think It's Going To Rain Today" (composed by Randy Newman, who played piano at the session).

• Longet's version of "Love is Blue," the title song of one of her albums, is heard in the background of a scene in the 2008 film Pineapple Express.

• Season 1, Episode 18 of Saturday Night Live featured a skit titled "The Claudine Longet Invitational," which parodied the shooting incident, showing skiers making runs down the slopes until they are "accidentally" shot by Claudine Longet, resulting in abrupt wipeouts. Longet's attorneys wrote a cease-and-desist letter to Lorne Michaels and an apology was given in the next week's show.

• Mick Jagger wrote a song about the murder of Spider Sabich in 1980 that was intended to be on the Rolling Stones album Emotional Rescue. The song, titled "Claudine," carried lyrics that painted a graphic picture of some of the more salacious aspects of the affair and killing. However, it was deemed too controversial and it was removed. It can now be found on several bootleg Rolling Stones albums

CLAUDINE LONGET  "LOVE IS BLUE"  (A&M)

May 7, 2011 - " Rocky Mountain High"

 

 
"Rocky Mountain High" is a folk-rock song written by John Denver and Mike Taylor about Colorado, and is one of the two official state songs of Colorado.  Recorded by Denver, it went to number nine on the US Hot 100 in 1973. (The song also made #3 on the Easy Listening chart, and was played by some country music stations.) Denver told concert audiences in the mid-1970s that the song took him an unusually long nine months to write "Rocky Mountain High" is primarily inspired by John Denver's move to Aspen, Colorado, United States three years earlier and his love for the state. The seventh stanza makes a reference to destruction of the mountains' beauty by commercial tourism. The song was considered a major piece of 1970s pop culture, and became a well-associated piece of Colorado history.  The song briefly became controversial that year when the U.S. Federal Communications Commission was permitted by a legal ruling to censor music deemed to promote drug abuse. Numerous radio stations cautiously banned the song until Denver publicly explained that the "high" was his innocent description of the sense of peace he found in the Rockies. In 1985, Denver testified before Congress in the Parents Music Resource Center hearings about his experience: This was obviously done by people who had never seen or been to the Rocky Mountains, and also had never experienced the elation, celebration of life, or the joy in living that one feels when he observes something as wondrous as the Perseid meteor shower on a moonless, cloudless night, when there are so many stars that you have a shadow from the starlight, and you are out camping with your friends, your best friends, and introducing them to one of nature's most spectacular light shows for the first time In 2005, the song was performed by a soloist at the NBA all-star game in Denver. After years as an unofficial anthem for Colorado, on March 12, 2007, the Colorado General Assembly made "Rocky Mountain High" one of two official state songs, sharing the honor with "Where the Columbines Grow". The song was also used in an advertisement for Colorado-based Coors beer. In late 2007, the John Denver Sanctuary drew some controversy after the last lines of the song were removed from the 'Rocky Mountain High" stone. The song was used a warning for death in the 2000 film Final Destination, referencing John Denver's death in a plane crash and leading the main character to believe that "the plane's gonna explode!"  Snowmass ski resort, near Aspen, named a run "Rocky Mountain High" in honor of John Denver.

Chart (1972)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	9
U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks	3
Canadian RPM Top Singles	8

John Denver "Rocky Mountain High: (Live)

May 6, 2011- A&M Records Presents Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass 1966

This extremely rare stunning video was shown around the 1966 era. Video compiles of Tijuana Taxi, The Lonely Bull, Taste of Honey and Zobra the Greek.  

A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division. A&M Records was formed in 1962 by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss. Their first choice for a name was Carnival Records, under which they released two singles before discovering another label had taken the Carnival name first. The company was subsequently renamed A&M, after Alpert's and Moss's initials. From 1966 to 1999, the company's headquarters were on the grounds of the historic Charlie Chaplin Studios at 1416 North La Brea Avenue, near Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood.  Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, A&M had such acts as Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, Baja Marimba Band, Burt Bacharach, Sérgio Mendes & Brasil ’66, We Five, The Carpenters, Chris Montez, Elkie Brooks, Lee Michaels, The Captain and Tennille, Quincy Jones, Marc Benno, Liza Minnelli, Toni Basil, and Paul Williams. Folk legends Joan Baez, Phil Ochs, Laramy Smith, and Gene Clark also recorded for the label during the 1970s. Billy Preston joined the label in 1971, followed by Andre Popp and Herb Ohta in 1973. In the late 1960s, through direct signing and licensing agreements, A&M added several British artists to its roster, including Cat Stevens, Joe Cocker, Procol Harum, Humble Pie, Fairport Convention, Free, The Move, and Spooky Tooth. In the 1970s, under its manufacturing and distribution agreement with Ode Records, A&M released albums by Carole King, Hummingbird, and the comedy duo Cheech and Chong. Other notable acts of the time included Nazareth, Y&T, the Tubes, Styx, Supertramp, Rick Wakeman, the Ozark Mountain Daredevils, Squeeze, and Peter Frampton. On March 10, 1977, A&M signed the Sex Pistols after the band had been dropped by EMI. However, A&M dropped the band within a week.^[1] A&M sustained its success during the 1980s with a roster of noted acts that included Falco, Atlantic Starr, Janet Jackson, the Police, Jim Diamond, Chris De Burgh, Suzanne Vega, Oingo Boingo, Sharon, Lois & Bram, Annabel Lamb, Bryan Adams, Vital Signs, Joe Jackson, and Scottish rock band Gun. Within a decade of its inception, A&M became the world's largest independent record  compan . A&M releases were initially issued in the United Kingdom by EMI's Stateside Records label, and then under its own name by Pye Records until 1967. A&M releases were also issued in Australia through Festival Records until 1989. A&M Records Ltd.  was established in 1970, with distribution handled by other labels with a presence in Europe. A&M Records of Canada Ltd.  was also formed in 1970, and A&M Records of Europe in 1977. In 1979, A&M entered a distribution agreement with RCA Records (which later became BMG) in the USA, and with CBS Records (whose successor Sony Music Entertainment later absorbed BMG) in many other countries. Over the years, A&M added specialty imprints: Almo Internationa for middle of the road; Omen Records (1964–1966)   for soul; Horizon Records    for jazz (1974–1978); AyM Discosm  for Latin-American; Vendetta Records^[for dance music (1988–1990); and Tuff Break Records for hip-hop music  (1993–1995).

 A&M was bought by PolyGram in 1989. Alpert and Moss continued to manage the label until 1993. The sale to PolyGram stipulated that Alpert and Moss had an integrity clause allowing them to control the label's image through 2009. In 1998, Alpert and Moss sued PolyGram for breach of the integrity clause  In 1991, A&M launched Perspective Record   as a joint venture with producing team Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Jam and Lewis stepped down as CEO's of the imprint in 1997, but they remained on as consultants. In 1999, the label was absorbed into A&M. In the mid-1990s, A&M began distributing its PolyGram sister label Polydor Records in the USA. During the 1990s, the company continued to release albums by Soundgarden, Extreme, Amy Grant, John Hiatt, Sting, Blues Traveler, Barry White, and Aaron Neville, as well as material from new artists Sheryl Crow, Therapy?, CeCe Peniston, and the Gin Blossoms. The company released the soundtracks Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, The Three Musketeers, Sabrina, The Living Sea, Demolition Man, and Lethal Weapon 3.

 In 1998, PolyGram was bought by Seagram and merged with its MCA Records family to create Universal Music. A&M was subsequently merged into Universal Music Group's then newly formed Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group. Its Canadian division was absorbed into Universal Music Canada that time, which included Jann Arden alongside other artists from Canada. Bryan Adams continued to record on that label.

The A&M lot on La Brea Avenue was shut down in January 1999. During the farewell celebration, the company's staff placed a black band over the A&M sign above the main entrance, indicating the death of the company. Most of the company's workforce, some of whom had been with the company for a decade or more, were let go, while many of its artists were dropped. Al Cafaro stated,

"This isn't about Universal or Seagram. The record business is changing fundamentally. Don't think that there are calm seas on the other side of this threshold. If the quake that devoured A&M and Geffen is a 6.0 on the Richter scale, there is a 7.0 coming in this industry. It's a Wall Street world now. Get ready."

Alpert and Moss sued Universal Music Group in 2000, claiming that they had violated a contractual agreement stating that A&M Records would be allowed to retain its corporate culture  The suit was later settled. The first multi-platinum A&M Records release under Universal Music Group and Interscope was Sting's 1999 album Brand New Day.  The old A&M studios and executive offices are now the home of Jim Henson Productions, which operates Henson Recording Studios.  A&M catalog albums that did not fit the current pop music format (which also includes rock, rap, and R&B) of their new parent division were transferred to other Universal divisions for management - for example, Verve Records now manages A&M's jazz catalog, not including Herb Alpert's recorded output which Alpert acquired in the settlement with Universal Music and are licensed to Shout! Factory (however, Verve does manage the Horizon Records catalog)   In February 2007, Interscope-Geffen-A&M partnered with Octone Records to relaunch the A&M label, now headed by James Diener and called A&M/Octone Records with worldwide distribution handled by parent Universal Music Group. The existing Octone roster was transferred to the A&M/Octone label and all new artist signings are made under the A&M/Octone joint venture. Rare A&M Promotional Video


 

May 2, 2011 - "I Fought the Law"

 
 One of the great "Rock & Roll Mysteries" as Bobby Fuller died just as his first hit was becoming a Pop Classic - It would later be covered by "The Clash".  He was 23.

Robert Gaston "Bobby" Fuller (October 22, 1942 – July 18, 1966) was an American rock singer, songwriter, and guitar player best known for his singles "I Fought the Law" and "Love's Made a Fool of You," recorded with his mid-1960s group, the Bobby Fuller Four.. Just after "I Fought The Law" became a Top 10 hit, Fuller was found dead in an automobile parked outside his Hollywood apartment. The Los Angeles deputy medical examiner, Jerry Nelson, performed the autopsy. According to Dean Kuipers:  "The report states that Bobby's face, chest, and side were covered in "petechial hemorrhages" probably caused by gasoline fumes and the heat. He found no bruises, no broken bones, no cuts. No evidence of beating." Kuipers further explains that boxes for "accident" and "suicide" were ticked, but next to the boxes were question marks. Despite the official cause of death, some commentators believe Fuller was murdered.
Confusion has reigned over Fuller's death, with many misinterpreting the coroner's verdict of asphyxiation and the police's report: “Deceased was found lying face down in front seat of car: a gas can, 1/3 full, cover open; windows were all rolled up and doors shut, not locked; keys not in ignition." This has been construed by some as Fuller swallowing gasoline when, in fact, asphyxiation would have been caused by a deadly build-up of gasoline fumes in a sealed environment.  Erik Greene, a relative of the late singer Sam Cooke, has cited similarities in the deaths of Cooke and Fuller. The only one which survives scrutiny is that both attended the same night club. Fuller bandmate, Jim Reese, suspected that Charles Manson may have had something to do with Fuller's death but has never provided credible evidence. A sensationalist crime website has speculated that the LAPD may have been involved because of Bobby's connection to a Mafia-related woman. Fuller is buried in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles.   Bobby Fuller on "Shindig"

May 1, 2011 - Connie Stevens - "Sixteen Reasons"

Here's another of the dozens of hits Don Graham worked on  -
I  think Connie owes him a few bucks!

Sixteen Reasons (Why I Love You) is a song written by Bill and Doree Post which in 1960 reached #3 via a recording by Connie Stevens. The composers: Bill and Doree Post, were a husband-and-wife team from Kansas who had several single releases on Crest Records but their own version of "Sixteen Reasons" was not released until 1963: Doree Post was then deceased having been claimed by stomach cancer on 24 July 1961.  Stevens' single - arrangement and accompaniment by Don Ralke  was issued in December 1959 with the Robert Allen composition "Little Sister" being the intended A-side - another version of the last-named song by Cathy Carr was issued as a single at the same time  - but it was as "Sixteen Reasons" that Stevens' single debuted at #89 on the Billboard Hot 100 dated 1 February 1960,  to reach #3 on the chart dated 9 May 1960.   "Sixteen Reasons" also afforded Stevens' a hit in the UK over the spring and summer of 1960 despite at least three cover versions by British singers, specifically Sheila Buxton, Shani Wallis and Marion Ryan. After reaching #9 - its overall UK peak - in May 1960^[,  Stevens' single re-entered the top 20 at #17 that June, spending 12 weeks on the chart in all.   Total sales for Connie Stevens' "Sixteen Reasons" single are estimated at two million units. The sheet music for the song was also a bestseller in both the US and the UK. "Sixteen Reasons" was a popular song on the American Forces Network in Germany that summer. A recounting of sixteen reasons for being in love, beginning "The way you hold my hand", "Sixteen Reasons" was Stevens' second Top 40 hit, the precedent being a duet with  "77 Sunset Strip" co-star Edd Byrnes: '"Kookie, Kookie (Lend Me Your Comb)'", a novelty spoken word number which reached #4.  Stevens' had her success with "Sixteen Reasons" despite her label Warner Bros. handicapping her promotion of the single: as the song was not published by MPHC the label refused to allow Stevens to perform the song on Hawaiian Eye and also prevented her from singing it on The Ed Sullivan Show.  Although Stevens' would continue to record for Warner Bros until 1972 - with a brief tenure at MGM Records in 1968 - none of her singles subsequent to "Sixteen Reasons" would reach the Top 40; her last appearance on the Billboard Hot 100 would be in 1965. Professionally Stevens has downplayed her identity as the singer of a "golden oldie", stating in 2005: "I never did 'Sixteen Reasons' in my stage act. It was really a kids' song aimed at 12-year-old girls. It would be a little silly for me to do it now."                ^{CONNIE STEVENS - "Sixteen Reasons"}

April 30, 2011 - Les Crane - "Desiderata"

 
(This one of the many hit records that veteran record promoter Don Graham worked on. Despite serious efforts, we were unable to locate a live performance by Les Crane, who passed away in 2008. Below is the song with some imagery.)

Desiderata (Latin: "desired things", plural of desideratum) is a 1927 prose poem by American writer Max Ehrmann (1872-1945). It exhorts the reader to "be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be", and to "keep peace with your soul". "With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams," wrote Ehrmann, "it is still a beautiful world." The text, largely unknown in the author's lifetime, came to the attention of the public first for its usage in a church hymnal which dated it, mistakenly, to the 17th century, then for its being found on the bedside table of Adlai Stevenson upon his death in 1965, and then Les Crane's spoken-word recording in 1971 and 1972. The poem was actually written in 1927.  In approximately 1959, the Reverend Frederick Kates, rector of Saint Paul's Church in Baltimore, Maryland, used the poem in a collection of devotional materials he compiled for his congregation. At the top of the handout was the notation: "Old Saint Paul's Church, Baltimore A.D. 1692." In the 1960s, the poem was widely circulated with the claim that it had been found in Baltimore, Maryland's Saint Paul's Church, and that it had been written by an anonymous author in 1692, the year of the founding of Saint Paul's.  When Adlai Stevenson died in 1965, a guest in his home found a copy of Desiderata near his bedside and discovered that Stevenson had planned to use it in his Christmas cards.  The publicity that followed lent widespread fame to the poem, and to the poem's connection with Saint Paul's Church of Baltimore. In late 1971 and early 1972, Les Crane's spoken-word recording of Desiderata was a major hit in the United States and Great Britain, peaking at #8 on the Billboard charts and #6 on the Melody Maker such. The makers of the record assumed, as had many others, that the poem was very old and in the public domain, but publicity surrounding the record led to clarification of Ehrmann's authorship, and his family eventually received royalties. In August 1971, the poem was published in Success Unlimited magazine, again without authorization from Ehrmann's family. This led to a lawsuit against the magazine's publisher, Combined Registry Company. In 1976, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the copyright for the poem had been forfeited due to the poem's authorized publication in the 1940s without a copyright notice. Thus the court ruled that the poem is, in fact, in the public domain.  "Desiderata" - Les Crane"

April 28, 2001 - "Peppermint Rainbow"

 The group visited the WRKO studios many times and the late Skip  Harris loved playing in the control room.  "Will You Be Staying After Sunday?" was one of Bill Drake's famous "Top of the Hour" hits.  (This is the only performance clip which exists and is a portion of the "King Family"  TV Show -  cuts out at end)

The Peppermint Rainbow were an American sunshine pop group from Baltimore, Maryland. They formed in 1967 under the name New York Times, and played local gigs in the mid-Atlantic states before changing their name to the Peppermint Rainbow in 1968. They were signed to Decca Records at the behest of Cass Elliot, who saw them play and sang with them on-stage when they performed a medley of The Mamas & the Papas tunes.  Under Decca the group was produced by Paul Leka; their first single was "Walking in Different Circles" b/w "Pink Lemonade", but it did not chart. Their second single, "Will You Be Staying After Sunday", hit the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at #32 in 1969. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. Their third release, "Don't Wake Me Up in the Morning, Michael", hit #54 the same year. Their LP, Will You Be Staying After Sunday, barely missed the Top 100 of the album charts, peaking at #106, and in 1970 the band split up.  The group made an appearance on The Generation Gap television quiz show.        "Will You Be Staying After Sunday?" - From "King Family TV Show

• Bonnie Lamdin - vocals
• Pat Lamdin - vocals
• Doug Lewis - guitar
• Anton Corey - percussion
• Skip Harris (deceased) - bass