Saturday, January 21, 2017

KLEM FM

Ashley Judd recited a "Beat poem" at the Washington Women's March called "#NastyWoman." Intrigued, I looked for the original. I couldn't find the text but I did find a reading by the teenaged poet, Nina Mariah:


Where did the "Beat" label come from? Perhaps one of our beret-wearing readers can help me, daddio.

My first thought, as a codger, was:

Beatniks and politics, nothing is new
A yardstick for lunatics, one point of view


The song that went viral for The Strawberry Alarm Clock in 1967 was not sung by the drummer, but instead by 16 year-old Greg Munford, who was attending the recording session as a visitor.

Full lyrics after the jump. Test your knowledge/memory

Good sense, innocence, cripplin' mankind
Dead kings, many things I can't define
Occasions, persuasions clutter your mind
Incense and peppermints, the color of time
Who cares what games we choose?
Little to win but nothin' to lose
Incense and peppermints, meaningless nouns
Turn on, tune in, turn your eyes around
Look at yourself, look at yourself, yeah, girl
Look at yourself, look at yourself, yeah, girl, yeah, yeah!
To divide this cockeyed world in two
Throw your pride to one side, it's the least you can do
Beatniks and politics, nothing is new
A yardstick for lunatics, one point of view
Who cares what games we choose?
Little to win but nothin' to lose

[future Lynyrd Skynyrd guitar solo]

Good sense, innocence, cripplin' mankind
Dead kings, many things I can't define
Occasions, persuasions clutter your mind
Incense and peppermints, the color of time
Who cares what games we choose?
Little to win but nothin' to lose

Incense and peppermints
Incense and peppermints

Sha la la
Sha la la
Sha la la
Sha la la
Sha la la

[Fade]

12 comments:

chickelit said...

Here's an even groovier version with a Russ Meyer/Roger Ebert screenplay. link

chickelit said...

From the YouTube comments, I learned that a future member of Lynryd Skynyrd appears in that video. Which one is he?

The Dude said...

Looking for the source of the beat was an interesting trip on Wikipedia - who knew? Even though I was a big fan of Maynard G. Krebs, it wasn't until close to 40 years later that I obtained my first beret.

I didn't like that SAC tune then, like it even less now. Good thing that guy joined Lynyrd Skynyrd otherwise he might have had that hippy dippy crap as his only musical legacy.

ndspinelli said...

The Nasty Woman gave birth to Rob Dibble, Norm Charlton and Randy Myers, AKA: The Nasty Boys.

Rabel said...

King is the chubby one on the far left at 1:00.

Rabel said...

That would be Ed King, the Skynyrd guy. He got out before the crash.

edutcher said...

Always thought that song was phony, meant to sponge off the real psychedelic songs.

And I wasn't even into that stuff.

chickelit said...

edutcher said...
Always thought that song was phony, meant to sponge off the real psychedelic songs.

Phony like Monkees phony, yet the song endures. The Ed King connection ads value. He played that fuzz-out guitar solo which is not intrinsically bad.

Dig, he stuck a tuning fork in that solo! Wild!

chickelit said...

Many older boomers loathe the song and everything about it -- bubble gum psychedelia. I distinctly recall liking the song shortly after it came out. I was pretty young -- 7 or 8 -- hearing it on the radio only (probably WISM AM out of Madison). I even recall singing the misheard lyrics. The fact that real teenagers made it is icing on the cake. That's why I tied this to Judd's reading of teenaged angst. It's a weird reflection of the same thing, somehow.

edutcher said...

bubble gum psychedelia

Exactly what I was trying to say.

Thanks.

And I think it endures because the straight types think it embodies that period.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

I heard about "The Women's March" in passing but I know precisely nothing about it. I guess I'm sort of boasting about that so please forgive me for being obnoxious.

I used to have an album by Max Roach and Archie Shepp called "The Long March," IIRC. Kind of over my head. A bit tedious.

I think it was somehow political but I could be wrong about that.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

Woah!!! Stop! Have some pity. It's flipping Sunday morning.

That's too much, too soon: LINK.