Heh heh heh. So quipped My Lovely Wife this evening as we watched the above. That’s actually Ronnie Enos there in the middle (at least I THINK it is—reliable sources on this group’s personnel are rather thin on the ground), playing lead guitar for the fabulous Barbarians, with the legendary one-handed Victor “Moulty” Moulson pounding the skins, as they say. (Alas, they don’t play the song “Moulty” here, but their “Hey Little Bird” is a nice greasy slice of Standells-ish garage ebullience.) The hairstyles are just one reason I’m glad that Shout! Factory has finally issued a very decent legit DVD of The TAMI Show. Another reason is, of course, James Brown and his Famous Flames and their rendition of “Please, Please, Please,” still the greatest piece of showbiz schtick I’ve ever seen, and the revisiting of which was about the only thing that made me happy after a relatively miserable day. Also chortlesome and interesting are poor Mick Jagger’s attempts to follow Mr. Brown. All great stuff that you ought to get to know.
Can’t wait to finally see The TAMI Show! I’ve heard about it for years. Sounds like a good double bill with Soul Power.
hehehe… Anton Chigurh
Actually the Stones come off pretty good. Incredible how young Keith looks. I could have done without the Jan and Dean cheese and Lesley Gore. Teri Garr and Toni Basil are among the dancers.
Along with Beacon St. Union, Orpheus, The Barbarians were one of those bands from Beantown, who never quite made it.
‘Are You a Boy or Are You a Girl?’ was close but no cigar. ‘Moulty’ is a great listen if only for catchin’ the wicked pissah flavah of Moulty’s Boston accent, as he tells his story.
As for The TAMI Show, haven’t seen it since that day when I sat in the Coolidge Theatre, so many moons ago. Looking forward to the DVD.
Even if you are immune to the charms of Lesley Gore and Jan and Dean, the exasperated look on Smokey Robinson’s face as he’s clapping along (as part of the all-star backup) on “Judy’s Turn to Cry” is priceless.
PBS aired a truncated version during their last pledge drive. I also thought the Stones came off well, but it was unfortunate they followed Jame Brown, who is flat-out amazing. Chuck Berry, Beach Boys, The Supremes, Smokey Robinson… it’s a document that should be out.
Just to clarify, I don’t think the Stones come off badly AT ALL. They sound fantastic, for one thing, and Jagger’s in great voice. I just feel bad for young Mick having to follow the Godfather, and you can tell that, mastery over screaming teenage girls or not, he is very self-conscious about his moves—the little shuffle he does during “Around and Around,” the leap into the air at the beginning of “It’s All Over Now.” And that I find funny, or, as I said, chortlesome. It’s as if Jagger had been completely awed by Brown, knew that there was no way he could legitimately top him, but aware that he had to do SOMETHING anyway. Compare that to the cockiness of his Madison Square Garden performances in “Gimme Shelter” and you get some interesting views on the evolution of this particular showman.
My dad is a collector of the 60’s garage bands, so I’m quite familiar with The Barbarians tunes and in some way, I think their story was even better than their music. Can’t wait to get my hands on The Tami Show, I think I’ll really enjoy it, because I’ve heard so much about it, but I didn’t have the chance yet to buy it. Something tells me it’ll be my birthday present.
The story I’ve read is that Jagger stood in the wings watching James Brown – dancing the fastest he ever danced, according to The Man Himself – and thought, “How can I follow THAT??” So he decided to stand still for once. I think I actually like him better that way. (One of my fave moments is in the opening song, “They’re Coming From All Over the World,” when Jan and Dean sing, “The Rolling Stones from Liverpool are gonna be there.” I always imagine the songwriters, P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri, saying, “Ah, the heck with it – they’re English, they must be from Liverpool.”)