२३ डिसेंबर, २०२१

"Fonda kept insisting on telling people that he knew what it was like to actually be dead, in a misguided attempt to reassure George Harrison, who he wrongly believed was scared of dying..."

"... and insisted on showing them his self-inflicted bullet wounds. This did not go down well with John Lennon and George Harrison, both of whom were on acid at the time. As Lennon later said, 'We didn’t want to hear about that! We were on an acid trip and the sun was shining and the girls were dancing and the whole thing was beautiful and Sixties, and this guy – who I really didn’t know; he hadn’t made Easy Rider or anything – kept coming over, wearing shades, saying, "I know what it’s like to be dead," and we kept leaving him because he was so boring! … It was scary. You know … when you’re flying high and [whispers] "I know what it’s like to be dead, man."' Eventually they asked Fonda to get out, and the experience later inspired Lennon to write ['She Said, She Said']. Incidentally, like all the Beatles songs of that period, that was adapted for the cartoon TV series based on the group, in this case as a follow-the-bouncing-ball animation. There are few things which sum up the oddness of mid-sixties culture more vividly than the fact that there was a massively popular kids’ cartoon with a cheery singalong version of a song about a bad acid trip and knowing what it’s like to be dead."

From "Episode 139: 'Eight Miles High' by the Byrds" (on the podcast "A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs"). I excerpted something about The Beatles, but the episode is ostensibly about The Byrds. That said, there's also plenty about John Coltrane and Ravi Shankar. And Sonny and Cher.

३५ टिप्पण्या:

Dave Begley म्हणाले...

Peter Fonda graduated from the University of Omaha.

Kylos म्हणाले...

I’ve read that story before here at Althouse.

CJinPA म्हणाले...

I've begun listening to this podcast based on these posts. Listened to Simon & Garfunkel and now on to the somewhat tragic story of Bobby Fuller.

Looking forward to the Byrds episode.

gilbar म्हणाले...

['She Said, She Said']. Incidentally, like all the Beatles songs of that period, that was adapted for the cartoon TV series based on the group, in this case as a follow-the-bouncing-ball animation.

hmmm

Comparison contrast
She Said, She Said
Sugar, Sugar

She Said, She Said never even made the charts (the Album it was on was #1 for 6 weeks)
Sugar, Sugar was NUMBER ONE, for TWENTY TWO WEEKS and Best Song of 1969

Fernandinande म्हणाले...

I was just listening to Leo Kottke's version of "Eight Miles High".

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

The Fondas are boring. over-rated and boring. Jane is a commie hugging twat.

Kay म्हणाले...

She Said is one of my favoritest Beatles tunes and I’ve always loved that it’s secretly based on this true story. I love the idea of a song that appears to be about one thing but is secretly delivering another more subversive message.

Kay म्हणाले...

I remember also reading once that Got to Get You Into my Life is actually about cannabis.

Carol म्हणाले...

Easy Rider wasn't all that either. It was just one of the first movies to acknowledge the counterculture.

It didn't seem authentic to me at all. Not sure an accurate movie has ever been made.

John henry म्हणाले...

Still working my way through the podcast, I am up to 101 Telstar now. This sounds like something to look forward to.

I am REALLY, REALLY, REALLY enjoying the podcast in spite of Hickey's insufferable, at times, wokeness. He is really knowledgable and brings in details that I probably would find nowhere else.

Thank you Ann for telling me about this podcast.

John LGBTQBNY Henry

Howard म्हणाले...

Fonda playing the Jonah on the Good Ship Lollypop.

mikee म्हणाले...

Cheech and Chong did the skit of two high dudes better than this.

rhhardin म्हणाले...

CUNEGONDE
Oh.
Is it you?
Candide!
Dear, my love!
(They fall into each other's arms.)

CANDIDE
Dearest, how can this be so?
You were dead, you know.
You were shot and bayoneted, too.

CUNEGONDE
That is very true.
Ah, but love will find a way.

- Candide (libretto)

Mark O म्हणाले...

I love that podcast.

Scott Patton म्हणाले...

In the meantime, big sister Jane was running around saying, I know what it's like to be red!

Joe Smith म्हणाले...

'The Fondas are boring.'

Classic examples of Hollywood nepotism.

Neither Peter nor Jane can act their way out of a paper bag.

But Bridget Fonda was a serious hottie.

She hasn't acted for years though...

who-knew म्हणाले...

I love "The History of Rock..." but I'm not a podcast guy so I'm just reading the transcripts and listening to the songs via streaming. I'm also a little OCD so I'm reading them in order and am up to #71. As far a Eight Miles High goes, just listen to McGuinn's guitar solo on that song. For that alone he should be in the top ten of every list of best rock guitarists.

Lloyd W. Robertson म्हणाले...

I don't really want to watch the new Beatles doc, and I don't really do podcasts. But I do like picking up odds and ends of showbiz stories. Bassist Leland Sklar has been doing some kind of podcast from home throughout Covid time--playing songs on which he worked, sometimes playing bass over top, which is a bit off-putting. Anyway, one story. Lee knew the Eagles, or at least Henley and Frey, as studio musicians in L.A., I think mainly backup vocals. One of them, probably Henley, chatted with Lee and said they were thinking of forming a band, and they were thinking of calling it the Eagles. Did Lee think this was a stupid name. Lee apparently said: I thought the Beatles was a stupid name, so I'm the wrong guy to ask.

Drago म्हणाले...

Howard: "Fonda playing the Jonah on the Good Ship Lollypop."

If you're referring to Jonah Goldberg, the Bard of Goucher, you are right in more ways than you know.

gilbar म्हणाले...

John henry said...
I am REALLY, REALLY, REALLY enjoying the podcast in spite of Hickey's insufferable, at times, wokeness.


i Too, would like to thank Professor Althouse (and Mr Hickey) for alerting me to (and making) his podcast.
Somehow, i made it 59 years of my life, without knowing the tune I Gotta Know

I gone out and bought 3 Wanda Jackson albums; and when i'm not listening to Sugar, Sugar
i'm probably asking "If Our Love's the Real Thing... Where is MY wedding ring??"

Scotty, beam me up... म्हणाले...

Gilbar said at 8:43 am:

Comparison contrast
She Said, She Said
Sugar, Sugar

She Said, She Said never even made the charts (the Album it was on was #1 for 6 weeks)
Sugar, Sugar was NUMBER ONE, for TWENTY TWO WEEKS and Best Song of 1969
=======================================================================

Apples (pun intended) to Oranges comparing “She Said, She Said” to “Sugar, Sugar” as to being at the top of the Top 40 / Hit 100 charts. “She Said, She Said” was never released as a single off of the “Revolver” album so it could never have made #1 whereas “Sugar, Sugar” was always looked at as a single by Don Kirshner and the record label it was released on, Calendar.

BTW - Don Kirshner wanted The Monkees to record and release “Sugar, Sugar”. The Monkees rebelled as they wanted to record their own material instead of bubble gum pop songs. It was given to a group of studio musicians under the name of The Archies as a tie in to the Saturday morning cartoon “The Archie Show”, featuring the show characters in a band called…”The Archies”.

wild chicken म्हणाले...

That was the worst thing about those days, the weird fuckers who would spout off like that when you're high.

guitar joe म्हणाले...

"Sugar, Sugar was NUMBER ONE, for TWENTY TWO WEEKS and Best Song of 1969" It was on the Billboard 100 for 22 weeks, number 1 for four weeks. It was Billboard's number 1 single for the year, but it didn't receive any Best Song designation anywhere--no Grammy, for example. Afternoon Delight was # 1 in 1977 and received 3 Grammy nominations. Neither song is anything like a classic.

guitar joe म्हणाले...

I think the first four Byrds LPs are among the very best rock albums of the time, comparable to what the Beatles, Stones, Who and the rest were doing. The records that followed were also very good.

Narr म्हणाले...

I wasn't fonda Fondas. And "Easy Rider" is tripe.

"Authentic counterculture movie." I can't even imagine what that would be like.

Assistant Village Idiot म्हणाले...

I gave up on that 500 Songs series around episode 30. It's what happens when a complete prick does a lot of research. If you mentally write a parody of him, with special emphasis on his pronunciation of "racism" and constant repetition of same, it becomes harder and harder to listen to him.

It was a great idea.

gilbar म्हणाले...

Billboard's Top 5 Songs of 1969

"Sugar, Sugar" by The Archies
"Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" by The 5th Dimension
"I Can't Get Next to You" by The Temptations
"Honky Tonk Women" by The Rolling Stones
"Everyday People" by Sly & the Family Stone

The number one song of 1969 in the United States was by a cartoon group. The Archies' "Sugar, Sugar" beat out hits by the Beatles, Elvis Presley, and Stevie Wonder. It spent 22 weeks on the US Billboard Hot 100

Heartless Aztec म्हणाले...

It was a great time to learn how to play guitar. With visions of chicks dancing in my heard. The building of E chord progression was more prosaic and in the end more meaningful. That said, toking up some good Jamaican and playing guitar to tunes off the
Beatles Rubber Soul was happening. Long time ago now.

madAsHell म्हणाले...

And "Easy Rider" is tripe.

The best part was at the end of the movie.......Thank God!! There won't be a sequel!!!

Although, I did enjoy Roger McGuinn's soundtrack. The soundtrack promised so much, and the movie delivered SOOOOOO little.

Lurker21 म्हणाले...

Fonda's mother's first husband had been Clare Boothe Luce's first husband (Remember her from yesterday?). Clare took LSD and had mystical experiences. Peter's mom, Frances Seymour Fonda, ... she took a razor.

It was Henry Fonda's first wife, Margaret Sullavan, who took enough pills to do herself in. Sullavan's kids by Leland Hayward, the Haywire brood, were likewise messed up. Brooke Hayward was married to Peter Fonda's pal Dennis Hopper. I guess it was a small world with big pathology.

It all goes some way to explaining Jane Fonda.

Tina Trent म्हणाले...

Fonda supported and helped hide cop killers. Fuck him and his dolt daughter, who was a Stalinist. We might as well call them Nazis, only their civilian body count was comparably ten time Hitler's.


All human life is equal, right, or some ethnic groups count more than other. Stop playing word games and tell us what you really believe.















Tina Trent म्हणाले...

Jews and gays are no better than others before the law. No matter what you enjoy indulging. When we prick, we been bleed. Cut the identity privilege. It's grotesque.

effinayright म्हणाले...

I always laughed seeing a young Homer Simpson ignoring a broadcast of Neil Armstrong announcing "that's one small step...." to listen on headphones to "Yummy Yummy Yummy, I've got love in my tummy", by Ohio Express, who also gave us such immortal tunes as "Chewy Chewy" and "Sweeter than Sugar".

Back then "Big Sugar" was waging war against health advocates who pointed to sugar's many ill effects on children and grown-ups alike.

Hmmm...makes ya wonder.....were the Archies and Ohio Express musical mouthpieces for the nefarious American Sugar Alliance?


PM म्हणाले...

Loved the Byrds. And of all the great Byrds' songs, "5D" is perfection.

Mark म्हणाले...

I enjoy this podcast but he should rename it to, "A History of Rock and Roll in 500 Trigger Warnings".