The Back Pages Bring the 1960s to Life

The Back Pages at Maltby's on March 22, 2013, blue-lit

I grew up listening to the radio in the 1960s. It was AM on a tinny little receiver until the last couple of years of the decade, but I ate it up. I listened in the morning and after school and especially at night in my room.

I remember hearing the first Beatle songs on the radio--songs like I Want to Hold Your Hand and She Loves You. I also had records, including Meet the Beatles as an 11th birthday present and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band when my mother brought it home in mid 1967.

But the most important thing was the variety and the familiarity, yet surprise when new songs appeared. That's what you get when you go listen to The Back Pages. This long established San Francisco Bay Area band can knock out a series of Beatles, Rolling Stones, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Yardbards, Van Morrison, and more. And they do a great job of keeping the sound pretty close to the original.

Just tonight I heard them for the second time. Slightly different from the last show, they were lacking their keyboard player and featured a substitute guitarist. Lucky for them, and the audience, it was the highly skilled Bill Zupko filling in. Bill, who plays Beatles and other favorites with Ticket to Ride, knows how to break down a song and learn the parts perfectly, so I heard George Harrison leads played the way George played them.

Getting to hear a variety of this "classical" music is a treat for me, but also means that younger people can get a sense of the excitement of the sound. I never heard these songs done live myself, but with the energy and careful reproduction the band obviously has worked to create, it's a worthwhile experience.

It was made all the better by taking place in Maltby's, a nice restaurant and tavern in Los Altos, California. My lamb sandwich went well with the brown ales available on tap from the friendly bartender. During the evening, small groups jumped onto the small dance floor and shook themselves about to the beat.

There are lots of tribute bands out there, but when you have to reproduce a reasonably close version of songs by a variety of artists, it takes special skill. I've seen several good local groups, but The Back Pages may be the best of the bunch--and they're great guys, too.

The Back Pages play Maltby's again tomorrow night--and are regulars, so you can catch them again soon--if you're in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Love Those Forgotten Songs

The 5th Dimension are known for a few blockbuster hits, such as "Up, Up and Away" (1967) and Aquarius (1969). But what about Carpet Man from 1968? I just heard it today, and I don't think I can even remember it!

It's a Jimmy Webb composition, like Up, Up and Away, so it has a good pedigree, but just didn't spark the popular imagination.

What about Tomorrow by the Strawberry Alarm Clock--known for their Incense and Peppermints smash? That's a favorite of mine that you hardly ever hear. After wading through the Stones' Satisfaction you can hear "Dandelion" once in a while, with the Beatles singing backup.

That's the main incentive for lingering on SiriusXM Channel 6--the Sixties oldies channel.

Motormouth! - Fast Talkin' DJs from the 60s - and Today

If you're of a certain age, you enjoy at least an occasional walk through yesteryear's happy memories. I have to confess that I take those strolls more often than I really should. I like the accidental quality of radio, where you wade patiently through the familiar and the popular for that moment of surprise when they play your favorite old song--or maybe one that you'd forgotten about.

Now I have an iPod so I can download whatever I want--and I have. But there are plenty more nuggets out there. Just today, I heard the beautiful Bowling Green by the Everly Brothers--their last song to get Top 40 airplay. That was 1967 -- you almost NEVER hear it.

Often, on afternoon drives home, I hear the crazy DJ that works that slot--Terry Motormouth Young, on Channel 6 on Sirius XM. The guy made a reputation for talking faster than anyone else. Now, he mumbles more and sometimes sounds a little lonely and even nutty, but he does conjure up the wild DJs of yore in between the songs. He also complains about being underpaid (satellite radio has been a money loser since it started) and being lonely while picking on his ex-wife. All well and good. That's entertainment.

He also likes to insert those boings, bongos and braking sounds that you'd hear in Hanna Barbara cartoons like the Flintstones, into some of the songs. Sometimes it's hilarious--often just annoying. But I still tune in to lift my spirits when I'm tired and driving in commute traffic.

The iPod plays my 2,533 songs in a perfect shuffle, but there's nobody stirring the pot. That's what these crazy DJs do, with their scrambled song contests, name that voice competitions, and historical brain teasers. It's fun.

Then, I'll switch to the Pulse, channel 10, for something from the last decade to clean out my brain. Or maybe to classical on Channel 76. My iPod can shuffle all these genres too.

Happy listening!