Sunday Showcase Review October 6, 1963

I'm going way back for this Sunday Showcase review, 57 years back to 1963. I wasn't born yet. The Beatles were months away from hitting it big in America. President John F. Kennedy was still alive and well. The world was a much different place. The folk music boom of the late Fifties was cooling down, but was still very popular. The Kingston Trio were coming to play Municipal Auditorium soon.

This is the second version of The Kingston Trio with John Stewart having replaced Dave Guard in the group. 

Greenback Dollar which came out later in 1963

This portion of the Sunday Showcase review is brought to you by Buckley's Discount Record Shop which was located at 1707 Church Street. Buckley's Record Shop has an interesting history which The Emperor of Grooves has detailed. I would end up spending many hours at 1707 Church Street when the location was Lucy's Record Shop.

If you read the Emperor of Grooves story you would learn that Harvey's Record Department was actually also a Buckley's run part of the retail colossus that was Harvey's. The ad smartly promotes Kingston Trio records. The legendary Ray Charles was coming to town on October 22 and you could pick up your tickets at Kelly Drug Co. which seems strange to me. Ray Charles has been a favorite since I was a small child.

Ray Charles live in Brazil 1963

Another piano player was coming to Nashville before Ray Charles. Roger Williams would be at War Memorial Auditorium on October 16. 

Roger Williams "Exodus" 1963

We end this short, but sensational, review with Nashville's Top 10 records. Some would have you believe that popular music in the US was a wasteland before The Beatles, but this is revisionist history that is simply not correct. Just dig this amazing Top 10. It is full of great songs. Let's spotlight a few of these songs.  The doo-wop "I Can't Stay Mad At You" written by Goffin and King performed by Skeeter Davis is wonderful. You are automatically on your way to an awesome time if you're listening to the Curtis Mayfield penned "Monkey Time" by Major Lance. Artist Andy Warhol was said to have been obsessed by "Sally Go Round The Roses" by The Jaynetts. Garnett Mimms & The Enchanters "Cry Baby" is a wailer of a tune. Number 1 is Bobby Vinton's "Blue Velvet." The song had been a Top 20 hit for Tony Bennett in 1951. Vinton's version would later gain fame when it was featured in David Lynch's Blue Velvet film. 

I Can't Stay Mad At You

The Monkey Time

Sally Go Round The Roses

Cry Baby

Blue Velvet