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Every week, we present “ROCK REMEMBERED,” a deep dive into the hidden history of rock & roll, the stories behind the artists and songs that changed the world. Join host, “Boomtown Bill” Cross each Wednesday at 7 pm (Eastern) with an encore broadcast on Saturday at noon (Eastern).
Join us this Saturday as we introduce you to some "Famous Songs Inspired by Famous People!"
Every Baby Boomer remembers Mister Ed, the talking horse who caused trouble for his owner Wilbur Post. But Ed was actually a rip-off, a cheap TV imitation!
Before Ed ever opened his mouth there was Francis the Talking Mule!
Frances was created by U.S. Army Captain David Stern III. He was in charge of an Army newspaper during WWII. Bored by a lack of news one afternoon, Stern wrote four pages of fanciful dialogue between a U.S. solider and a stubborn Army mule. Intrigued, he expanded the idea into a series of short stories that were subsequently published by Esquire magazine. Stern wrote the stories in the first person and adopted as a pen name, Peter Stirling, the 2nd lieutenant who Francis befriended in the stories.
After the war, Stern adapted three of them into a Francis novel. Universal Pictures bought the film rights. In 1950, Francis (no, “the Talking Mule” was not a part of the title) debuted in movie theaters and became a solid money maker for the studio.
The first film set the formula for the series. Legendary song and dance man, Donald O’Connor played Peter Stirling. Veteran cowboy actor, Chill Wills (uncredited) provided Francis’ voice. Initially in each picture, Francis would only talk to Stirling. Stirling would take advice from Francis, complications would arise, hilarity would ensure, only to resolve itself when Francis would finally speak in front of others. Closing credits. Fade out. At the start of the next picture, the world would conveniently forget there was ever a talking mule and the cycle would repeat itself.
The initial Frances film spawned 6 sequels:
- Francis Goes to the Races (1951)
- Francis Goes to West Point (1952)
- Francis Covers the Big Town (1953)
- Francis Joins the WACS (1954)
- Francis in the Navy (1955)
- Francis in the Haunted House (1956)
Stern actually wrote a sequel to his first Francis novel called Francis Goes to Washington, but for reasons long forgotten, that novel was never adapted into a movie.
O’Connor and Willis left the series after Francis in the Navy with Mickey Rooney and Paul Frees assuming their roles. Most agree that Francis and the Haunted House was the weakest of the series.
Francis was actually played by a female mule named Molly, who got the part because she was easy to train and had a very gentle personality.
The Francis series was popular enough to spawn a bit of merchandise including a Dell comic book that ran for 17 issues.
After the series ran out of gas in movie theaters, the director Arthur Lubin and trainer Les Hilton wanted to bring Francis to TV. When they found they couldn’t secure the rights, they discovered another series of books about a talking animal. Those rights Lubin was able to purchase. The character in those books was a talking horse named “Mister Ed.”
And the rest in television history!
All 7 Francis films are available on home video. While not on the level of, say, Abbott & Costello’s best, they are serviceable little comedies made in a time when talking out of an ass was not such a bad thing!
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Somehow I doubt you'd still find these at Woolworth's. As a matter of fact, it's probably pretty difficult to even find a Woolworth's these days.
With rare exception, most rock bands of the 1960s came out of nowhere, burned brightly for a year or two, and then faded away. The Turtles fit the first two parts of that formula, but they have stubbornly refused to fade away.
The band was born in the surf music craze of the early 1960s. A bunch of students at Westchester High in Los Angeles put together a little combo in 1963 that went by the name of the Crossfires. Unlike most high school rock bands, they actually continued to play together even after their members moved on to college.
By 1965, folk rock had definitely replaced surf music, so taking a page from the Byrds, the band renamed itself, the Tyrtles. The problem was most people had trouble pronouncing that name correctly, so the band settled on the conventional spelling, and the Turtles were on their way.
They signed with the tiny White Whale Records and found their first success (like the Byrds) in covering a Bob Dylan tune, “It Ain’t Me Babe.” Between 1965 and 1969, they placed 9 singles in the Top 40, with 5 reaching the Top 10. Their biggest hit was their only #1, “Happy Together,” and it became their signature tune.
Despite all their achievements on the singles charts, the band could not sell albums. Only the LP containing the aforementioned “Happy Together” and their first Greatest Hits package even charted. By 1969, the band was fighting with their record label and fighting with each other, so they packed it in.
But that was not the last we would hear of the band. The group's two singers, Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman, stayed together and, along with Turtles’ bass player, Jim Pons, joined Frank Zappa, resulting in the most commercially successful version of the Mothers of Invention. In fact, the Mothers’ live act during that time would culminate with the band actually playing “Happy Together,” always bringing down the house!
Kaylan & Volman became better known as Flo & Eddie. They hosted several nationally syndicated radio shows and found steady work as session players (singing back up on Bruce Springsteen’s “Hungry Heart” and several of Alice Cooper’s tracks, among others). Along the way, the duo also bought the rights to the Turtles' original recordings and has done an excellent job of keeping the band’s catalog in print.
Starting in 2010, Flo & Eddie formed a new version of the Turtles and took to touring the oldies circuit. Unfortunately, Kaylan has passed away, but Volman continues with well-known session singer Ron Dante (“Sugar, Sugar,” “Traces,” “Leader of the Laundermat”) stepping in to keep the Turtles performing into their 7th decade.
We all know modern society is more disconnected than the world we grew up in. That is especially true as we age.
Isolation is different than simple loneliness. Isolation means emotional and physical disconnection with friends and family members, and researchers say it affects more than 8 million Americans over the age of 50.
Prolonged isolation can contribute to poor health. A recent study suggests it's as bad as smoking 15 cigarettes!
To find out your risk of isolation, AARP has posted a quiz online on its website. If you'd like to take the quiz, click here.