Sunday Drive: Cara Mia

His voice was an American treasure, and still a thrill sixty years later. Jay and the Americans perform their hit record on Shindig, 1965. 

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Sunday Drive: This Magic Moment

One never forgets the first rosy dawn of love - even after fifty years.

Beach Mix, 8/26/18

Let's have a beach party!

Sunday Drive is on summer hiatus while I offer some favorites from the mid-sixties for fun in the sun and tans on the sands.

What memories do these songs bring back for you?


Barbara Ann, Beach Boys, Jack Benny Hour, 1965




Ain't That Peculiar Marvin Gaye, 1965




When You Walk in the Room, Jackie DeShannon, 1964




The Teaberry Shuffle, Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, 1966




Cara Mia, Jay and the Americans, 1965

Sunday Drive: More from 1969

A few more hits from 1969 that I was fond of then, for one reason or another, some of which bring back poignant memories now.

The 5th Dimension had a big hit that year with this groovy medley of the opening and closing numbers - I only just now learned that from Wikipedia - from the smash Broadway musical Hair:




If you were alive in '69, you must remember how irresistible the theme from Hawaii Five-O was, the Ventures' last hit single, I believe - this, of course, was before instrumental tunes were outlawed on the radio.




This lovely song, by Jay and the Americans, reminds me of a girl I dated for a few weeks that year - puppy love, and of course impossible for all the obvious reasons, but a sweet little romance while it lasted - an awakening to the possibilities of life:




The Grass Roots, an underrated band in my view, were riding high that year, with the studly Rob Grill as lead singer - he's the mustached one in this cover photo:




And it was a banner year for CCR and their swamp-rock sound, which reconnected rock with its country roots. These guys weren't Southern boys, but they should have been - they sure sounded like they were: