Johnny Yen's One Hit Wonders: "Deep Purple," by April Stevens and Nino Tempo

Steve Van Zandt once observed that it's harder to create "Louie, Louie" than "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band"-- it's harder to produce a memorable three-minute pop masterpiece than it is to write an entire classic album. One-hit wonders have always had a special place in my heart. They frequently have interesting stories-- for instance, the fact that the singer on "Louie, Louie" was not the singer toured with subsequent to "Louie, Louie" charting. More on that another time. I'll occasionally feature One-Hit Wonders and their stories.

My first One-Hit Wonder is April Stevens and Nino Tempo's "Deep Purple." April Stevens and Nino Tempo were actually brother and sister Carol and Antonio LoTempio, who hailed from Niagara Falls, New York. They took an old big band standard that had been popularized in the 1930's, and covered in a doo-wop style in the '50's, and added their lovely melodies. In the demo tape of the song, Stevens forgot the lyrics to the second verse and recited the lyrics as her brother sang. The producer thought that her spoken interludes were "cute" (I'd probably say "sexy" is a better description) and kept it in the song, over brother Nino's objections-- he didn't like the idea of someone talking over his singing. The harmonica was reportedly awful on the demo, and was kept in (rerecorded) over the producer's objections. Happily, both made the final cut, and are key parts of the song.



Though both Stevens and Tempo continued to work in the music business, "Deep Purple" was their only big hit, hitting #1 in the Billboard "Adult Contemporary" chart in late 1963, the week before John Kennedy's death, despite being tagged, amusingly, as "rock and roll." The song was awarded the 1963 "Best Rock and Roll Song" Grammy the next year.

After nearly 50 years, the songs still stands as a great little piece of pop candy.

There are three bits of interesting trivia about the song. The song was originally the B-Side of the single. The original A-Side was "I've Been Carrying A Torch For You So Long That I Burned A Great Big Hole In My Heart," and is the longest-titled flip-side to a number 1 single ever. The group "Deep Purple" was later to get their name from the song because Ritchie Blackmore's grandmother, who loved the song, repeatedly asked if his band was going to perform the song. Also, the song would later become a hit for one more brother and sister duo-- Donny and Marie Osmond had a top twenty hit with their cover of it in 1976.

First Winter Day Friday Random Ten

I took out the recycling this morning-- in shorts, t-shirt and sandals-- and realized winter has arrived here in Chicago, though the official beginning is not until December 20th or so. There's a sprinkling of snow on the ground and it's 20 degrees.

I had my last class, other than the final on Monday, yesterday. It was basically a big study hall while the teacher took us one by one and gave us our exit conferences.

I heard some nice things in my conference. I think my teacher enjoyed having me as a student as much as I enjoyed having her as a teacher. I've really come to realize I'm doing the right thing.

This weekend, I'll do a little studying for my final. But today, I'll do a little cooking and a little reading and indulge myself a little.

1. Fire- The Ohio Players
2. Just The Two Of Us- Grover Washington, Jr. and Bill Withers
3. Carefree Highway- Gordon Lightfoot
4. Who'll Stop The Rain- Creedence Clearwater Revival
5. Singing Winds, Crying Beasts- Santana
6. Lorelei- Styx
7. Miracle Man- Elvis Costello
8. Machine Gun- Jimi Hendrix and the Band of Gypsies
9. Avalon Hideaway- ZZ Top
10. Killing An Arab- The Cure


Notes:
1. This song got lumped in with disco, but it's actually really a friggin' great R and B song.
2. One of the great seduction songs ever written
3. Lightfoot was part of the early sixties folk scene
4. CCR's commentary on the Vietnam War
5. A great instrumental on the terrific "Abraxas" album that seques into "Black Magic Woman."
6. Styx when they didn't suck.
7. I should list the artist "Elvis Costello and the News;" Costello's backup band on his angry first album was Clover, Huey Lewis' backup band.
8. Hendrix with his army buddy Billy Cox and R and B great Buddy Miles.
9. From their 1976 "Tejas" album, still one of my favorites.
10. The Cure's first hit, based on an Albert Camus "The Stranger," still sounds good 30 years later.

"It's A Beginning"

These last few months have been productive, but stressful. I've gotten the hang of nursing school-- my test grades have increased with the last three tests, and I'm feeling good heading into the final. On the other hand, our financial road has been rocky. We hadn't counted on Kim being unemployed for nearly six months.

There were definitely some breaks we got, with no small thanks to President Obama: were it not for the health insurance COBRA subsidy that the federal government provided, that expired today, we would not have been able to continue the insurance we got from Kim's last job. As the end of that loomed-- and the end of Kim's unemployment benefits-- we were getting nervous, and trying to figure out a way for me to stay in nursing school. Fortunately, Kim got a new job, with good salary and great medical benefits, a couple of weeks ago.

We're still not out of the woods. I'd hoped to keep working my waitering job for another year and a half while I was in school. The money is generally good and the hours work out so that I can work around my school schedule and still spend time with my kids. Last week, we discovered that the owners have put the business and building up for sale.

In this economy, it might be a while before they sell. Still, I'm going to begin looking for a new job immediately; I don't want to be in a position of having to find a new job with a week's notice. I'm barely holding my head over the financial water as it is.

Today, I realized that the stress was getting to me. And I decided to fall back on an old stress-reliever-- running. A couple of my favorite bloggers (Skyler's Dad and Churlita) and also one of my study partners, who are all in my general age demographic, have inspired me.

So tonight, after finishing some schoolwork, I put off my nightly couple of glasses of red wine and dug the sweats and pair of Reeboks that had been gathering dust in my closet, put on my Ipod shuffle and got out and ran nearly two miles. When I got back, my daughter mentioned that I hadn't been gone that long. I told her that I ran a little over a mile and a half. It wasn't much, I pointed out. But it's a beginning.

And now I'm enjoying that glass of red wine.

The Non-Black Friday Random Ten

My wife braved the Black Friday crowds today. Not me. I start scouting deals from about August on, on-line. By Mid-December or so, I'm sitting there in the catbird seat, Christmas shopping done, no sweat.

We had the proverbial "Thanksgiving dinner that couldn't be beat" with our friends Guido and Wendy, a tradition that is now two years old. I actually love to cook and look forward to when school is done and I can do a Thanksgiving dinner here at our place. Until then, enjoy the randomness of my Itunes random shuffle.

1. Gary Gilmore's Eyes- The Adverts
2. Hands Off, She's Mine- The English Beat
3. Into The Mystic- Van Morrison
4. Anytime At All- The Beatles
5. The Rumor- The Band
6. Lord Grenville- Al Stewart
7. Because The Night- Patti Smith Group
8. I Left My Heart In San Francisco- Tony Bennett
9. Independence Day- Bruce Springsteen
10. It's Too Late To Turn Back Now- The Cornelius Brothers and Sister Rose

Nursing School Update, Thanksgiving Time

I have class tomorrow for a couple of hours, and no clinical this week because of Thanksgiving. After that, a few more classes, then a cumulative final.

We had a test yesterday. A couple of my fellow students I talked to didn't feel good about it. Happily, I was not in that category. I knew I'd done well on it.

As my first semester of nursing comes to a close, I had some reflections.

At the beginning of the semester, I was a nervous wreck. Before tests and clinicals, I was nearly at the point of hyperventilating. The last two tests I was calm. The last two clinicals-- particularly my last one-- I've been good.

My clinical group is, except for one classmate, who missed it because her husband is being deployed to Afghanistan, in the picture at the top of the post. The instructor is the lady in the center. They are, as you can see, quite a diverse group. Eric, the guy at the left, top just graduated from high school a few years ago. I'm at the top right. At 48, I'm the oldest person in the clinical group (and the class).

I've ended up working with Karen, the woman at the top, second from the left, several times in clinical. She's a great partner-- we learned a lot from one another working together-- learning to read charts, doing "head to toe" assessments of patients, etc. She reminded me several times of something important: listen. I have a tendency to fill in silences. Sometimes with a patient, patience with a long silence ends up yielding valuble information.

In our last day of clinical we had a patient who was a 65 year old woman who was in for severe vomiting. We'd looked over her charts and seen the things we'd expect-- parentaral (IV) fluids, anti-nausea drugs and pain meds. After checking in with our instructor and talking to our patient, who was doing much better, we discussed clinical concerns. With vomiting and diahrrea, loss of electrolytes, particularly potassium, is an issue. We'd noticed before seeing her that her potassium was low. After talking to her, it wasn't clear to us that a potassium supplement had been given. We asked the instructor to open up the patients chart again so that we could check for the missing potassium supplement.

The instructor had a little smile when she opened up the chart for us. Later, I realized what was going on; we'd shown the ability to think critically. We knew what to look for in the situation. I realized later that when we went to ask her if we could go back and check on the potassium supplement, we'd passed our clinicals. Our instructor was confident in us.

And we did find the potassium supplement when we checked back on the MAR.

In a couple of weeks, we register for next semester's classes. It's done by lottery-- you get your choice of class assignment (and instructor) by your lottery number. I have number 59 out of about 115. I would prefer to have my current instructor, but may have to take my second choice.

Whatever class I end up in, I've had a good time with this group. As far as study partners, I've gravitated toward the two who share my general demographics, my clinical partner Karen and Cyd, bottom left in the picture. We're all married, in our forties and have kids. But the class, with 20 people in it, became a very tight group. We helped one another with studying, emergencies, missed classwork, etc. I've come to realize that over the years, as we finish school and head into the profession, we'll run into one another. There will be a special place in our hearts for the people who shared the very first steps of this journey with us.

The Day John Kennedy Died

I was only two when John Kennedy was assassinated. I obviously have no recollection of it happening or the time around it. I do know though that it deeply affected my parents and most other people who were around then.

In 1983, I was a senior at Eastern Illinois finishing up my Bachelor's Degree in Political Science. My parents were still living here in Illinois, so I drove up to have Thanksgiving dinner with them.

One of the things I remember about the 180 mile drive back to Chicago from my school was that around Kankakee, about 50 miles south of Chicago, we could start picking up WXRT, the FM "progressive rock" station I'd grown up listening to. On that trip, not long after 'XRT came up on the car radio of my green Volkswagon Beetle, Lou Reed's song "The Day John Kennedy Died" was played. I realized that it was November 22, the twentieth anniversary of President Kennedy's death.

I've never forgotten that moment and that song. Reed's recollections of hearing of Kennedy's death while in college are sad and moving.

Later, when I discovered the music of Phil Ochs, I heard a couple more great songs about it, "That Was The President," and "Crucifixion." I found the Lou Reed song on Youtube. I was able to find someone doing a nice cover of "That Was The President," and a clip of Phil Ochs himself doing part of "Crucifixion" in Stockholm in 1969. I think that part of the despair that drove Ochs to suicide was seeing so many of his heroes-- Medgar Evers, John Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Bobby Kennedy-- murdered.

We don't live in a perfect society, but it's a hell of a lot better than it was in 1963. In 1960, John Kennedy's Catholicism was a big deal. 20 years later, in 1983, if someone had told me that we'd have a black president in my lifetime, I wouldn't have believed it. A lot of people paid the price to get to a place where a black President, a female Secretary of State, a latino governor, or an openly gay Chicago Alderman could happen. Today is as good a day as any to remember that.

The Day Late Wi-Fi Cafe Saturday Random Ten

As my semester ends, my schedule's been crushing. Had my last clinical on Thursday, have a test on Monday, and then have to start getting ready for a cumulative final in a couple of weeks. I'm taking shelter from the preparations for a birthday party (my daughter's 13th) in a cafe with Wi-Fi, while I study and post this. I've got a bunch of posts running around my head, including some thoughts about school, and some current events as well. I'll try to post here and there until my holiday break returns my life to normal-- for a few weeks.

1. In My Life- Jose Feliciano
2. Hey Mister, That's Me Up On the Jukebox- James Taylor
3. Fifteen Minutes Too Late- The Caesars
4. Baby Should Have Known Better- Palmayra Delran
5. I Do- Lisa Loeb
6. I Wanna Be Your Lover- Bob Dylan
7. Goin' Back- The Byrds
8. Ruby Tuesday- The Rolling Stones
9. Streets of Fire- Bruce Springsteen
10. All The Voices- INXS


Notes:
1. A lovely rendition of a song that was one of the most lovely ever to begin with.
2. Grew to love this song as a kid listening to my father's copy of "Mudslide Slim and the New Horizon."
3. A "Little Steven's Underground Garage" discovery.
4. This was "Song of the Year" last year on Little Steven's Underground Garage. It got my vote for sure.
5. Great nineties heartbreak song.
6. A Dylan outtake from the terrific "Biograph" collection.
7. One of many great songs Carole King has written, performed by others. A short list: "I'm Into Something Good," by Herman's Hermits, "Up On the Roof," by the Drifters and "Pleasant Valley Sunday" by the Monkees.
8. A song about a groupie.
9. This song is actually not in the movie "Streets of Fire," which is probably a good thing. The movie looked like a real stinker.
10. From "The Swing," which is, along with Prince's "Purple Rain" and Springsteen's "Born In The USA," one of my favorite albums of 1984.

Another Lucky Friday the 13th Random Ten

I've always laughed at the "13" superstition. I remember back in 1985, at the late great punk bar "Over Easy" at 63rd and Pulaski, on a Friday the 13-- they set up a ladder you had to walk under to get in the place. Of course, six months later, the landlord refused to renew their lease and the place closed. But for me, 13 has been lucky. My son had #13 last year, which was his last year in little league, and ended up not only playing the position he'd always wanted-- pitcher-- but pitching in the league championship.

Had a great Friday the 13th--I had no work, no school today. My father and I both finally figured out how to use Skype and webcams and had a nice long video chat today. My wife, who was laid off her old job in June, is starting her new job on Monday. And to top it off, Netflix sent me "You Weren't There: A HIstory of Chicago Punk, 1977-1984" today. It had been listed as being on a "Long Wait." I watched the first ten minutes and saw a dozen people I knew in it, including my old drinking buddy Johnny Mo, who worked at Le Mere Vipere, Chicago's first punk club. Can't wait to watch it tonight.


1. Vicious- Lou Reed
2. Glass Onion- The Beatles
3. Gary's Got a Boner- The Replacements
4. Money Changes Everything- The Brains
5. For The Good Times- Jim Reeves
6. A Boy Named Sue- Johnny Cash
7. It's All Over Now- The Rolling Stones
8. Bloodletting (The Vampire Song)- Concrete Blonde
9. I've Been Working- Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band
10. Birds of Paradise- The Pretenders

...and one more-- "Hell In a Bucket"- The Grateful Dead


Notes:
1. This one was actually on the jukebox at Over Easy, the bar I mentioned at the beginning of this post.
2. From the fabulous "White Album."
3. When I was in college, we used to annoy my friend Gary by playing this song.
4. Cyndi Lauper did a nice cover of this, but the original is still my favorite.
5. "We have both kinds of music here-- Country AND Western!"
6. A huge hit for Johnny Cash. Written by Shel Silverstein. One of my favorite childhood memories was walking my 3rd grade friend Cathy home and singing this song with her.
7. I love the Rolling Stones' cover, and recently discovered the Valentinos' original-- Bobby Womack and his brothers.
8. Concrete Blonde, as always, good for some angst.
9. I would argue that the "Live Bullet" album, which this is from, is the best live album ever. Just my opinion.
10. From The Pretenders' second album. One of their lesser-known songs, but one of my favorites. "This is the life they say/That dreams are made of..."

...one more-- "I may be going to hell in a bucket, but at least I'm enjoying the ride."