I call it shuffling the deck . . .
Everything's going along just fine - life seems to make sense,
and then
W H A M !
Suddenly it's all turned upside down.
As if someone had shuffled the deck; the life you'd known
is gone, and things are never the same again.
It happens all the time . .
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| JOHN GILBERT |
In the 1920's John Gilbert was one of the top (silent) movie stars in Hollywood, and one of the most famous men in the world.
By the end of the 20's 'talking' pictures had
shuffled the deck and his career was over.
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| LOCKHEED 'CONSTELLATION' |
From the late 40's through the 1950's, Lockheed's propeller-driven Constellation ruled the trans-Atlantic skies as the ultimate in commercial air travel.
And then the 'jet age' arrived in 1958 which shuffled the deck, and Lockheed's Constellation was summarily relegated to far less glamorous duties and soon forgotten.
Right about the time I had my entire music collection
transferred to 8-track tape, the deck was shuffled -
Everything switched to cassette!
shuffle, shuffle, shuffle . . .
and then, well - you know.
S O ,
 |
| HAND-WRINGING |
if it (shuffling the deck) happens all the time; why, then
all this hand-wringing over the fate of the stars of the
1963 Dick Clark Caravan of Stars tour, when - in fact . .
The Beatles' arrival in February, 1964 essentially shuffled the deck of the U.S. popular music industry.
Everyone (including John Gilbert) saw 'sound' pictures coming a few years before they completely eclipsed the demand for silent pictures.
 |
| May 14, 1954 | | |
Boeing rolled out their 707 in 1954, but the first commercial flight wasn't until October of 1958.
Everyone saw the 'jet age' coming . .
 |
| STEREO COMBO: AM/FM RADIO/TURNTABLE/CASSETTE PLAYER/8-TRACK PLAYER |
And, 8-track tapes co-existed with cassette tapes for many years before the inevitable switch to cassettes exclusively.
We all saw it coming . .
The difference between these three random examples and
The Beatles' arrival is WARNING!
The phenomena that was The Beatles came without warning
Many American popular music stars (including those on
Dick Clark's 1963 tour) that were on top of the world in '63
found themselves virtually unemployable a year later.
So what became of the stars of that '63 tour
after The Beatles' arrival on U.S. soil?
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Little Eva with Carole King & Gerry Goffin
|
Originally from Bellhaven, North Carolina - Eva Boyd travelled to New York in 1962 and ended up employed as a babysitter for the song writing team of Gerry Goffin & Carole King.
Just 20 years old
when she joined the '63 Caravan of Stars tour, Little Eva brought with her several hit records.
Her 1962, #1 hit, "The Locomotion," by Gerry Goffin & Carole King was originally written with Dee Dee Sharp in mind, but after having their babysitter, Eva Boyd record the demo; they decided to release her version, and 'Little Eva' was born.
Listen to "The Locomotion" here"
http://youtu.be/HJmwFU0kr94
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| LITTLE EVA APPEARS ON THE LLOYD THAXTON SHOW |
Her follow-up was a
#12 hit called,
"Keep Your Hands Off My Baby"
(Another King/Goffin composition, and my favorite Litttle Eva song)
To listen to
"Keep Your Hands Off My Baby"
click on this link:
http://youtu.be/FCUNa_RIIxE
Little Eva's third release,
"Let's Turkey Trot" reached #20 in early 1963.
Listen to "Let's Turkey Trot" here"
http://youtu.be/2F1kqx7KbRo
Little Eva was paired up with labelmate Big Dee Irwin to record a version of Bing Crosby's 1944 hit, "Swinging On A Star."
The song stalled at #38 in the summer of '63, but rose to #7 in the UK by the end of the year.
Listen to it:
http://youtu.be/lhefVWM9EEI
She just missed the top 40 in late summer, 1963 with
another King/Goffin single called,
"Old Smokey Locomotion"
which rose to #48.
Listen to
"Old Smokey Locomotion"
http://youtu.be/tD4lbXqCJHU
There was a Christmas album released in 1963 with
Big Dee Irwin
which featured the single,
"I Wish You A Merry Christmas"
Listen to it here:
http://youtu.be/O7R7ViWzXww
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| BRIAN HYLAND & LITTLE EVA UK TOUR 1963 |
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In early 1963 Little Eva toured England with Brian Hyland. They would meet again in the fall of '63 as part of Dick Clark's
Caravan of Stars tour.
1964 found Little Eva recording a novelty single called, "Makin' With The Magilla," for an episode of the Hanna-Barbera cartoon The Magilla Gorilla Show.
Listen to this song here:
http://youtu.be/rtg7xXdsYiw
Once The Beatles played The Ed Sullivan Show
THERE WOULD BE NO MORE HITS FOR LITTLE EVA
but she would continue to tour for several years
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LITTLE EVA APPEARS ON A 1965 EPISODE OF SHINDIG! |
Watch a great video of her performing "The Locomotion" on the television show Shindig! (1965)
http://youtu.be/xufxKCC1NJ8
Little Eva also performed "Let's Turkey Trot" on the same 1965 Shindig! show.
Watch it here:
http://youtu.be/TkypxqxxGTs
Also in 1965, Little Eva recorded a version of 'Stand By Me' for Amy Records which went nowhere.
To listen to 'Stand By Me' click here"
http://youtu.be/ZQI3JYTyXZg
A move to Verve in 1967 produced a few records - most notably 'Bend It,' but no hits were forthcoming.
To listen to 'Bend It' click here:
http://youtu.be/VpXOiu4Cpxs
With Spring Records she recorded under her married name,
Little Eva Harris. This cover of the Motown classics
'Get Ready - Uptight' proved unsuccessful.
TO LISTEN TO 'GET READY - UPTIGHT' CLICK HERE:
http://youtu.be/cRqY9XZcLNY
In 1971, following the death of her mother;
Little Eva decided to quit the business.
Broke and divorced - the mother of three returned
with her children to Bellhaven, North Carolina.
Back where she started; Eva Boyd returned to the
church and sought employment at menial jobs -
sometimes depending on welfare to feed her family.
Throughout the 1970's and into the 80's she
languished in obscurity. Along the way she
reunited with her husband who would die in 1983.
She did not benefit in any way when Grand Funk Railroad took their version of 'The Locomotion' to #1 in 1974.
TO LISTEN TO GRAND FUNK RAILROAD'S 'THE LOCOMOTION' CLICK HERE:
http://youtu.be/jxyU4W8iyeI
It wasn't until 1987 that the public came looking
for the Little Eva they remembered from 1962.
The renewed interest was prompted by Australian
singer, Kylie Minogue's version of 'The Locomotion'
which was released in 1987 and became an international hit.
TO LISTEN TO KYLIE MINOGUE'S, 'THE LOCOMOTION' CLICK HERE:
http://youtu.be/TkN4J2l1UaA
In late summer of '87 reporters from several newspapers and People Magazine descended on sleepy little Kinston, North Carolina looking to interview the original voice of
'The Locomotion'
They found her working the counter at a soul food
restaurant called Hanzie's Grill.
"I don't locomote no more," she told a reporter from The Tuscaloosa News, but added that she was considering making
a comeback and a new record.
Encouraged by the attention, Little Eva
joined several other stars of her era on the
burgeoning 'oldies' concert tour circuit.
The following is rare rehearsal footage from a 1991
Richard Nader Oldies concert at The Meadowlands:
Little Eva 1991 rehearsal ("Locomotion") for concert @ The Meadowlands
http://youtu.be/6WH3tRpoUP0
Litte Eva 1991 rehearsal ("Keep Your Hands Off My Baby") for concert @ The Meadowlands
http://youtu.be/MtueM9-se8A
The 'oldies' circuit kept her busy until October 2001 when
she was diagnosed with cervical cancer.
She succumbed to the disease 18 months later at the age of 59.
Here's a bit of irony . .
The Beatles recorded a version of "Keep Your Hands Off My Baby" for a BBC radio show in January of 1963, and it was released in 1994 on the album Live At The BBC
Listen to it here:
http://youtu.be/px1IwwZvKOo
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
L I N D A S C O T T
Linda Scott parlayed a regular guest spot on Arthur Godrey's radio show into a recording contract with Canadian-American Records in 1961.
1961 would prove to be a BIG year for Linda Scott
Her recording of the Oscar Hammerstein II/
Jerome Kern standard,
'I've Told Every Little Star' soared to the top of the charts in early 1961 - peaking at #3.
Listen to this song - click here:
http://youtu.be/6QYtyyKgqp0
It would prove to be a huge international hit -selling over one million records, and receiving a gold disc.
By the summer of '61 she'd followed up her first hit with a self-penned composition called, 'Don't Bet Money Honey' which rose to #9 on the Billboard Charts.
LISTEN TO THIS SONG - CLICK HERE:
http://youtu.be/14gRfFkpQKA
By the fall of '61 Linda Scott had recorded
another standard.
'I Don't Know Why'
rose to #12.
LISTEN TO 'I DON'T KNOW WHY' CLICK HERE:
http://youtu.be/2RMWRXF7YhQ
Linda Scott
was a
very
popular
young
lady . . .
Performing at
Palisades Park as DJ
'Cousin Brucie' (Bruce Morrow) looks on.
 |
| LINDA SCOTT SINGS 'YESSIREE' IN 'DON'T KNOCK THE TWIST' |
1962 found her co-starring in the Chubby Checker
movie vehicle, "Don't Knock The Twist."
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| LINDA SCOTT & DIANE RENAY |
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|
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| LINDA SCOTT & PAUL ANKA |
Although she remained popular and continued to release records until 1971, she was never able to place another song in the Top 40
Based on the power of her three hit records, she was signed on to Dick Clark's 1963 Caravan of Stars tour
Following the Caravan of Stars tour,
Linda Scott appeared on American Bandstand
February 1, 1964 performing her latest release -a Hal David and Burt Bacharach composition called,
"Who's Been Sleeping In My Bed?"
One week later The Beatles arrived in New York
* * * * * * * * * * * *
In 1965 Linda Scott was tapped (along with Steve Alaimo) to co-host Dick Clark's new American Bandstand spin-off called
Where The Action Is!
Here's a clip of Linda Scott performing
'I'll Never Find Another You' on Where The Action Is!
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| LINDA SCOTT & STEVE ALAIMO | | | |
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LINDA SCOTT, STEVE ALAIMO & WHERE THE ACTION IS! CREW ARRIVE IN HAWAII
|
Linda Scott was 20 years old when the show
premiered in '65, and it ran until 1967
Once the show ended she worked for a few years as a backing vocalist before leaving the business entirely in the early 70's to pursue theological studies.
In my next post I'll continue examining the
impact the 'British Invasion' had upon the stars of the
'63 Caravan of Stars tour . .
* * * * * * *
'Devil Or Angel' 
'The Night Has A Thousand Eyes'
