music Archives - Page 11 of 263 - Ramblin' with Roger

1965 Hot Rhythm and Blues Singles

the back of Jet magazine

Here are the 1965 Hot Rhythm and Blues singles, mostly from Billboard. From November 30, 1963, through January 23, 1965, Billboard eschewed the R&B single, assuming it was not significantly different from the pop charts. The sources I’ve been checking used the Cash Box Top 50 in R&B locations for that period.

The Billboard category changed to Top Selling Rhythm and Blues singles on June 5, 1965.

I have a book called Across The Charts: The 1960s from Record Research, written by the late Joel Whitburn. Let’s see the crossover of these songs.

I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch) – Four Tops, nine weeks at #1; two weeks at #1 pop

Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag (Part 1) – James Brown and the Famous Flames, eight weeks at #1; #8 pop. When I was a kid, James Brown dominated the charts in the back of Jet magazine, which my family got every week for several years. Many of these songs I had never heard on the pop radio stations in Binghamton, NY, at all.

My Girl – The Temptations, six weeks at #1; #1 for one week pop

I Got You (I Feel Good) – James Brown and The Famous Flames, six weeks at #1; #3 for three weeks pop

Rescue Me – Fontella Bass, four weeks at #1; #4 pop

Shotgun – Jr Walker and the All Stars, four weeks at #1; #4 pop

Got To Get You Off My Mind – Solomon Burke, three weeks at #1; #22 pop

We’re Gonna Make It – Little Milton, three weeks at #1; #25 pop

I Want To (Do Everything For You) – Joe Tex, three weeks at #1; #23 pop

Hold What You’ve Got – Joe Tex, two weeks at #1 per Cash Box; #5 pop

Single week at #1

Back In My Arms Again – The Supremes; #1 pop for one week

I’ll Be Doggone – Marvin Gaye; #8 pop

In The Midnight Hour – Wilson Pickett; #21 pop

Ain’t That Peculiar – Marvin Gaye; #8 pop

The Jerk – The Larks, as reported by Cash Box, #7 pop

Music composed by Francis Johnson

Lafayette and Queen Victoria?

In an online article, I read “Tyler Diaz… played music composed by Charles Francis Johnson, University of Pennsylvania, in 1824 for Lafayette’s visit. This was an exceptional honor for a Black composer.” A Black American composer in the first quarter of the 19th century?

The reference was in Peter Feinman’s Institute of History, Archaeology, and Education piece titled July 3, 1825/July 3, 2025: Lafayette’s ‘Naturalizes’ Americans at Federal Hall.

There is a Wikipedia page: “Francis ‘Frank’ Johnson (June 16, 1792 – April 6, 1844)… wrote more than two hundred compositions of various styles—operatic airs, Ethiopian minstrel songs, patriotic marches, ballads, cotillions, quadrilles, quicksteps and other dances. Only manuscripts and piano transcriptions survive today.

“Johnson was the first African American composer to have his works published as sheet music. He was also the first African American to give public concerts and the first to participate in racially integrated concerts in the United States. He led the first American musical ensemble to present concerts abroad, and he introduced the promenade concert style to America.”

Victoria!

I don’t know this guy at all! More info from here:

“Johnson’s band toured here and abroad, and, in 1837, played before Queen Victoria at Buckingham Palace. The young queen was so impressed that she gave Johnson a silver bugle as a memento.

“Besides entertaining white audiences abroad, Johnson performed at African American churches in Philadelphia, Boston, and New York. In 1841, he organized a performance of Haydn’s Creation at the First African Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia.

“Francis Johnson died in 1844 in Philadelphia at 52. During his funeral march, hundreds of mourners, including his brass band, followed his casket, on which his silver bugle was placed.”

Six-minute video by Krystal Thomas

U Penn bio

The innovations of a forgotten genius who laid the groundwork for the nation’s signature music (Smithsonian)

Some music:

A Soundtrack to Antebellum Black Philadelphia

A Collection Of New Cotillions (1818) – Donald Lee III, piano

Honour To The Brave: General Lafayette’s Grand March

Johnson’s March

Dirge – the last three: Performed by The Chestnut Brass Company and Friends. Diane Monroe, Violin. Tamara Brooks, Conductor.

Maybe I can intrigue one of my blogger buddies, who knows way more about classical music than I, to find out more about Francis Johnson.

July rambling: the Sin of Condemnation

The 1934 National Firearms Act unconstitutional?

The Stones in Our Hands: Misreading John 8 and the Sin of Condemnation

‘Motherhood Should Come With a Warning Label’

CBS News’ John Dickerson Takes on Paramount Settlement: “Can You Hold Power to Account After Paying It Millions?” (especially from 36:45) Dan Rather calls it “a Sell-Out to Extortion.” Steve Kroft tells Jon Stewart that it was a “shakedown.”

“The regime is gutting scientific research into climate and atmospheric science for political reasons; at the very time, we need a much better understanding of it,” said one environmentalist. “This is so reckless and dangerous.”

A 2024 report published by Texas A&M University found that extreme rainfall events in the state have already increased by about 10 percent due to climate change. That number could double in the coming decades, reaching a 20 percent increase compared to a century ago.

Deep cuts erode the foundations of the US public health system, end progress, and threaten worse to come.

Kelly has links, including the sad closing of the Ontario Science Centre, which my family LOVED when we went to Toronto in 2011.

VeggieTales creator Phil Vischer released a viral video about race in America in 2020, just after George Floyd was killed. If anything, it’s more relevant now.

Meet the Moon Mammoths, the baseball mascot masterminded by John Oliver’s show

Now I Know: The Bovine Unity of Milk and Glue? and Brunch: Because We Like the Party and Why the National Animal of Scotland is… Wait, Really? and This Airport SUX

Leading to the semiquincentennial

Full interview: Ken Burns on “Face the Nation” about his new film on the American Revolution and the importance of telling the story of American history.

July 4th in the Face of Fascism: Moral resources for Americans who know we’ve been betrayed – Our Moral Moment w/ Bishop William Barber & Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove

“If fireworks ring hollow, you’re not alone. Light a candle instead.”

HCR: The MAGA Ideology That Brought Us to This Moment. It’s Our Job to Make Sure People Know the Truth

I am the man on Fifth Avenue.

Americans Have Never Been Less Proud of Their Country

Retired Supreme Court justice gripes about the hot mess he helped create

“While the lighthouse shining the way is admittedly hard to make out through the cruel fog that envelopes us, it is out there, sturdy upon the shore, and still blazing brightly. We must trust that we will rediscover its guiding power and, together, steer this ship safely home. We’ll do it together, and in our strong and welcome company, we will find the courage and conviction we need.” – Jay Kuo

Purblind bunny boiler

Heather Cox Richardson: “Within hours of [FOTUS] signing the [OBUB] into law, Gun Owners Of America and… other pro-gun organizations filed a lawsuit claiming the measure makes the 1934 National Firearms Act (NFA) unconstitutional. That law regulated machine guns and short-barrel guns by imposing a tax on them and making owners register their weapons. The Supreme Court upheld that law as a tax law. The budget reconciliation bill ended those taxes and thus, the plaintiffs’ claim, the constitutional justification for the law.”

10 Charts to Understand the 900-Page Budget Bill

GOP budget bill would give top 1% over $1 trillion in tax breaks, analysis finds. It will steal from the poor and give to the rich.

FOTUS/DOGE foreign aid cuts could cause 14 million deaths by 2030, study warns

The trolling is coming from inside the White House

Cold as ICE

A surge in ICE detentions of those with no criminal record, despite stated priorities. Still, “as a result of the agency’s stonewalling, the Guardian, alongside the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, last week filed a lawsuit against ICE for unlawfully withholding documents that represent a clear and overwhelming matter of public interest.”

FOTUS ramps up deportation spectacle with new stunts and ICE funding

He only has ICE for you. And: ICE Agents Deserve No Privacy. Attempts by the public to keep tabs on ICE are provoking predictable and pathetic responses from the government.

MUSIC

Lou Harrison’s Pacifika Rondo

Coverville 1539: Carly Simon Cover Story and 1540: The Blondie Cover Story III

Mockingbird – Weavers Gallery

Chorale and Shaker Dance by John Zdechlik

Another Day of Sun, the opening number from La La Land.

Sit Down, John from 1776

Weird Al Medley (A CAPELLA) White & Nerdy, Party in the CIA, Like A Surgeon, Tacky, Eat It – Jared Halley

Sussudio – Phil Collins

The Longest Time – Boyz II Men and Billy Joel

Sunday Stealing — Spill It!

JEOPARDY!

Welcome to Sunday Stealing. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves!

This week is less a steal than a cheat. These are AI-generated responses to the request: “What should I ask to get a stranger to open up?”

Spill It!

1. If money wasn’t an issue, would you move to a new home?

I hate moving. I’ve moved north of 30 times in the last three scores and ten plus years. You know, I hate moving. I grew up in the first house I lived in for about 18 years. Now, I’ve been here in this house for a quarter of a century. I hate moving, going through, and getting rid of stuff. There will probably be a point in my life where I’ll have to move, and I will hate it. I suppose I should mention the fact that I hate moving.

2. Do you listen to different music when you’re happy than when you’re sad?

I have had some depressing music I would play when I was sad, but in general, I play what’s in the queue, tied to either some artists’ birthdays or Irish music around Saint Patrick’s Day, movie soundtracks the month of the Oscars, original soundtracks around the time of the Tonys in June, et al.

3. What’s your favorite way to unwind after a tough day?

Reading a book, a magazine, or a newspaper in a very comfortable chair, preferably with something to keep my legs up on.

4. What’s the first book you remember from childhood?

Play The Game, which I mentioned here.

Charisma

5. What made you smile today?

The picture above. This requires some context. I taped a couple of segments of JEOPARDY in Boston in mid-September 1998. Since it was relatively close by, WTEN-TV (Channel 10) in Albany, which airs the show, had sent a crew to the taping at the Wang Theater, much to my surprise.

From here: “When [WTEN’s] Bianca de la Garza had interviewed me before the show, I noted that just passing the test didn’t guarantee being on the show. So here’s the Bianca voiceover: ‘He had to have something else.’ Roger, talking: ‘It must be charisma, I don’t know.’ (I laugh.)

“Charisma. Apparently, enough people saw this [which aired in the days before the show aired on November 9] to make this the running joke in the office, not for a couple of days, or a few months, but for four or five YEARS, especially from Jinshui.”

So, somebody gave me this picture. It was buried with some other artwork in my house before my annual hearts game in March, but since then, it’s been sitting on my bookshelf in my office, not far from my desk.

Thank you for playing! Please come back next week.

#1 Hot Country Singles for 1965

Eddy Arnold, Sonny James, Jim Reeves

Here are the #1 Hot Country Singles for 1965. While I only owned one of the songs on this list – Roger Miller, naturally – I always had a great affection for Buck Owens. I liked to watch him on TV long before he was on Hee Haw. It’s partly a function of the fact that he was on Capitol Records, and I got to read the song list of his albums from the record sleeves of my Beatles albums. I loved that Bakersfield sound.

Before You Go (Don Rich-Buck Owens)- Buck Owens (Capitol), six weeks at #1

I’ve Got A Tiger By The Tail (Harlan Howard-Buck Owens)- Buck Owens (Capitol), five weeks at #1

King Of The Road (Miller)- Roger Miller (Smash), five weeks at #1

You’re The Only World I Know (Bob Tubert-Sonny James) – Sonny James, “the Southern Gentleman” (Capitol) four weeks at #1

Is It Really Over (Reeves)- Jim Reeves (RCA Victor), three weeks at #1.

Hello Vietnam (Tom T. Hall)- Johnny Wright [with his his wife Kitty Wells] (Decca), three weeks at #1

Make The World Go Away (Hank Cochran) – Eddy Arnold (RCA Victor), three weeks at #1. Other than King Of The Road, the song I best remember from this list.

This Is It – Jim Reeves (RCA Victor), three weeks at #1

Behind The Tear (Ned Miller and Sue Miller) – Sonny James, three weeks at #1

Girl On The Billboard (H. Mills-W. Haynes) – Del Reeves (United Artists), two weeks at #1

What’s He Doing In My World (Carl Belew, Billy Joe Moore, Eddie Bush) -Eddy Arnold (RCA Victor), two weeks at #1

The guy hawking breakfast sausages

The First Thing Ev’ry Morning (And The Last Thing Ev’ry Night) (J. Dean-R. Roberts)- Jimmy Dean (Columbia), two weeks at #1

Yes, Mr. Peters – Roy Drusky and Priscilla Mitchell (Mercury), two weeks at #1

May The Bird Of Paradise Fly Up Yur Nose (N. Merritt)=”Little” Jimmy Dickens (Columbia), two weeks at #1

Buckeroo (Bob Morris)- Buck Owens and his Buckeroos (Capitol), two weeks at #1. Instrumental

Ribbon Of Darkness (Gordon Lightfoot)- Marty Robbins (Columbia). I got my first Marty Robbins album, The Essential Robbins, 1951-1982, from my late FIL’s CD collection

The Bridge Washed Out -Warner Mack (Decca)

Only You Can Break My Heart (Owens)- Buck Owens and his Buckeroos (Capitol)