"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free." - President Ronald Reagan
Maybe the Mets needed some hitting? On this day in 1971, the Mets traded a very young Nolan Ryan to the Angels for Jim Fregosi, a former AL All Star. To be fair, Ryan had been a bit wild as a young pitcher plus the Mets were very deep with Seaver, Koosman and Gentry. They felt that Fregosi could add some punch to their lineup. The trade paid off because the Mets won the NL pennant in 1973. On the other hand, the Angels had to wait until 1979 for a championship. Ryan was a strikeout king for much of the 1970's before signing with the Astros and ending his career with the Rangers.
Otis Redding was killed in a plane crash in Wisconsin on this day in 1967. I remember this event quite well. We had heard on the radio that Otis Redding would play in Madison. His sudden death was quite a shock for many of us. Otis Redding recorded "Dock of the Bay" a few days before his death. It became a #1 song the following spring. What a talented performer! You can get his music HERE.
Three Dog Night had many hits, from "One" to "Joy to the world" to "Black and white". My favorite was released in November 1971. "An old fashioned love song" was a Paul Williams' composition. It peaked at # 4 in the US and # 2 in Canada.
We remember Mario Puzzo who was born in New York City on this day in 1920. He died in 1999. His book "The Godfather" was published in 1999 and the story turned into a movie in 1972.
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By 1965, Che Guevara had faded from public life. His disappearance created all kinds of speculation about Che’s relationship with Fidel and Raúl Castro. After all, some close to Castro in 1959 had been killed in accidents, like Camilo Cienfuegos, or stuck in political prisons, like Huber Matos. Cienfuegos’s plane was never found, and Matos was eventually released in some prisoner exchange. Matos spent the rest of his life in exile.
Che reappeared in 1966 in Bolivia, where he hoped to bring about a revolution. How did he get there? Who paid his bills? Why did he suddenly leave Cuba? Many believe that Fidel and Raúl wanted him out, and starting a revolution in Bolivia was the exit. I think it’s fair to say that Che had worn out his welcome with the Castro brothers, specially after they saw how popular he was with the international left. As we learned, there is only one “popular” person in Cuba, and that’s Fidel.
Fifty-five years ago this week, Che was captured and executed by Bolivian troops operating with the CIA. It happened very fast. As we learned in hisdiary, Che and his men lacked food and medicine and were barely surviving in the jungle. It’s possible that Che would have died of bad health and no medical care. He was battling asthma attacks constantly. Also, they were not getting a lot of help from Cuba, either by design or because the supplies could not reach them. My guess is that Che was happy to get captured and hoped for some prison time and then a return to Cuba. He did not get his wish.
Che subsequently became “the image” on all those t-shirts. He became the ultimate anti-U.S. symbol, the image that every left-wing group goes to when its members have a gripe against the U.S.
Ironically, he was captured because the campaign in Bolivia failed miserably. It failed for two reasons, as Humberto Fontova explained in Exposing the Real Che. Read the book for more details, but it went down like this:
1) Bolivia was not Cuba.
2) The natives in Bolivia never bought into the idea that a band led by a guy from Argentina and Cubans was there to save them. In the end, it was the villagers he was trying to “liberate” who turned him in. Again, the Bolivian campaign was a total failure. The locals never read the memo about Cuban health care, I guess.
Che was a murderer and a man who said awful things about blacks, for example. This is from Guillermina Sutter Schneider:
In his diary, he referred to black people as “those magnificent examples of the African race who have maintained their racial purity thanks to their lack of an affinity with bathing.” He also thought white Europeans were superior to people of African descent, and described Mexicans as “a band of illiterate Indians.”
Today, we would call him a racist and a homophobe! We’d cancel him from universities. Twitter would delete his account.
So I still remember my father saying in Spanish that they got him. Indeed they did, and many champagne bottles popped in the Cuban exile community this week in 1967.
Today, we remember The Beach Boys, my favorite group after The Beatles, The Bee Gees and The Rolling Stones.
"Good vibrations" was so ahead of its time that it still sounds innovative today. It was released in October 1966 and moved to # 1 by December! It is rare for a "pop song" to get better with age.....this one does everyday! It was the first single after the "Pet Sounds", or the greatest Beach Boys LP ever released in the early summer of 1966. Over time, it became the 6th best song ever, according to Rolling Stone's Top 500 songs! It also came in as # 24 in Songs of the Century. "Good Vibrations" was followed by "Heroes and Villains", another one of my all time favorites. Aren't those harmonies amazing? Cheers for Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Dennis Wilson, Carl Wilson and Al Jardine!
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Ruth was arguably the greatest professional athlete of the 20th century. He saved baseball in the 1920's after the White Sox World Series scandal. It was Ruth and his majestic home runs that put people back in the seats.
Ruth set the all time record home run record, a mark that stood until Aaron passed him in 1974. We remember # 60 in 1927!
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Jim Palmer and the Orioles made a little history on this day in 1971. He won his 20th and joined teammates Mike Cuellar, Dave McNally & Pat Dobson as 20-game winners. A few days later, the O's swept the A's in the ALCS. Then they lost to the Pirates in the World Series. A great moment in O's history: Four 20-game winners in one staff!
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Jackie broke with the Angels in 1965. He played 9 seasons and hit .208 over 618 games. His best season was 1969 when he played 145 games with the expansion Royals. Jackie played for the Pirates in all 7 games of the 1971 World Series.
On September 1, 1971, Jackie made history as one of the 8 black position players who took the field for the Pirates.
After the majors, Jackie played in Mexico and died in Miami in 2019.
On this day in 1971, Gibson pitched a no hitter against the Pirates. He struck out Willie Stargell to end the game.
Gibson won 251 games with a 2.91 career ERA! He pitched 56 shutouts with 255 complete games. In 1968, he went 22-9, with a 1.12 ERA and 13 shutouts! Awesome pitcher!
On this day in 1971, Gibson pitched a no -hitter against the Pirates. He struck out Willie Stargell to end the game.
Gibson won 251 games with a 2.91 career ERA! He pitched 56 shutouts with 255 complete games. In 1968, he went 22-9, with a 1.12 ERA and 13 shutouts! Awesome pitcher!
P.S. You can listen to my show. If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.
Like some of you, I caught the "rent a video" bug in the mid-1980's.
I remember going to the store one weekend and finding a British movie called "Melody" from 1971. I read that it featured the music of The Bee Gees so that was enough to rent and watch the movie. I don't think that the movie was released in the US. Frankly, it turned out to be one of the most enjoyable movies that I've ever seen. It did not win any awards or get inducted in some Hall of Fame but it was entertaining. "Melody" was the story of a boy and girl living that "moment" when we all figure out that boys and girls are different. You can call it your "first crush" moment! Remember that time when you kept looking at some girl across the room? Remember how she looked back? Remember the Friday night dance with all of the boys on one side and the girls on the other? "Melody" was very nice and the music was fabulous, specially "First of May", one of the greatest songs from The Bee Gees' repertoire. Rent "Melody" and you will enjoy it, specially if you were once a 12-year old boy with a crush on a cute girl in school.
We remember this week in 1971. It was a pretty good list in the very early 1970's. At # 16, Chicago and the "45" version of "Beginnings". The LP version was actually released in 1968 in that great LP simply called "Chicago Transit Authority". The original version was very long, as I recall. So here is the Top 20 at WABC New York: 1. How Can You Mend a Broken Heart The Bee Gees (Atco) 2. Draggin' the Line - Tommy James (Roulette) 3. You've Got a Friend - James Taylor (Warner Brothers) 4. Indian Reservation (The Lament of the Cherokee Reservation Indian) - The Raiders (Columbia) 5. Bring the Boys Home - Freda Payne (Invictus) 6. Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) - Marvin Gaye (Tamla) 7. Take Me Home, Country Roads - John Denver (RCA) 8. It's Too Late - Carole King (Ode) 9. Mr. Big Stuff - Jean Knight (Stax) 10. Hot Pants (She Got to Use What She Got to Get What She Wants) Pt. 1 - James Brown (People) 11. Spanish Harlem - Aretha Franklin (Atlantic) 12. Don't Pull Your Love - Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds (Dunhill) 13. What the World Needs Now Is Love/Abraham, Martin & John - Tom Clay (Mowest) 14. Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get - The Dramatics (Volt) 15. K-Jee - The Nite-Liters (RCA) 16. Beginnings - Chicago (Columbia) 17. Signs - The Five Man Electrical Band (Lionel) 18. Sooner or Later - The Grass Roots (Dunhill) 19. Ain't No Sunshine - Bill Withers (Sussex) -- 20. Sweet Hitch-Hiker - Creedence Clearwater Revival (Fantasy)
Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb had the # 1 song in the US back in August 1971. In fact, it was # 1 for several weeks and their first # 1 in the US. Of course, they had more in the 1970's..........9 in total.
Louis Armstrong was one of the greatest performers ever. I've always enjoyed his unique style as a vocalist and instrumentalist. He was born on August 4, 1901 and died July 6, 1971! P.S. Check out my blog for posts, podcasts and videos. If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.
"For whom the bell tolls" by Ernest Hemingway tells one side of the story. It is a partisan recount of the story. Nevertheless, it is a look back at the bloody struggle known as The Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939. P.S. You can listen to my show. If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.
On this day in 1971, Reggie Jackson hit a massive home run off the Pirates' Dock Ellis. It hit the power generator on the right-field roof at Tiger Stadium. By the way, the 1971 game was an amazing collection of future Hall of Famers: Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Willie Stargell, Willie McCovey, Johnny Bench, Ron Santo, Lou Brock, Roberto Clemente, Steve Carlton, Ferguson Jenkins, Juan Marichal, Tony Oliva and Tom Seaver. Jackson's shot stole the headlines to say the least.
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Jim Morrison died on this day in 1971. It happened months after Jimi Hendrix and Janis Japlin also died. And on the second anniversary of Brian Jones' death. It was a sad two year period for rock. According to news reports, he was found dead in the bathtub of his Paris apartment. He was 27. As I recall. "Riders on the storm" was on the radio at that time.
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The Seekers are a folk group from Australia. They are Athol Guy, Judith Durham , Keith Potger and Bruce Woodley.
They were the first Australian band to have big success in the US and UK. I love their sound. A few years ago, The Seekers were reunited for a tour. However, Judith Durham has enjoyed a solo career as well.
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