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(Duke Ellington - aka: National Treasure)

As part of our Fundraising week, I thought I would offer something completely unique and special. A previously unheard and unknown, recently discovered performance by Duke Ellington and his Famous Orchestra, along with members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic live at Hollywood Bowl from August 25, 1966.

This has never been commercially made available and you are the first ones to hear it since it was recorded that August night.

Get comfortable and have a listen.

And don't forget to hit the "donate" button lurking around on the site. It costs to remaster these things.

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(Them with Van Morrison - short lived, but burned bright)

There was a time when, if you had a band or were getting a band together, you were more or less obliged to play one of two songs - Gloria or Mystic Eyes. If Van Morrison never recorded another song in his life, those would be the two songs he would forever be remembered by. Them were only together for two years - a nanosecond by all accounts. Even though the band were from Belfast Ireland, they were considered part of the British Invasion from 1964 until their demise (at least with Van Morrison) in 1966. Morrison went off to greener pastures and has never looked back. The rest of the band soldiered on a few more years before packing it in around 1971. A lot of people who have become familiar with Van Morrison the last twenty or so years don't really remember much about his period with Them, aside from maybe the above mentioned songs. The first album was a massive seller, but the second one didn't fare as well. Probably because the band had broken up by the time the album was released, and Morrison was well on his way to a solo career by the end of the year. Them Again was a sort of post script to a band that made some wonderful music and some indelible impressions. One of the tracks off that album, featured here tonight is the opening of Them Again, Could You Would You, a Morrison penned track that captures the visceral energy of his voice and the heartfelt soul of the band backing him.

Some things just weren't destined to last.

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(Nguyen Cao Ky and LBJ in 1966 - Tea leaves in the eye of the beholder)

Since the talk this week centers on the endless war in Afghanistan, I thought it might be a good idea to visit another endless war from another time; Vietnam.

Like Afghanistan, Vietnam wasn't instantly met with derision and questions over our involvement. Like Iraq though, we were also sold a somewhat leaky bill of goods and goaded into pledging lives and untold millions over an involvement that had no timetable and no real plan.

The difference between Iraq and Afghanistan is Iraq bears some resemblance to an organized country. Where Afghanistan is one big grab-bag of tribes, sects and factions that have been over-run, quasi-colonized and fought over for hundreds, if not thousands of years.

Just like Vietnam.

In 1966 we were still getting our feet wet in Vietnam, having gone from "advisers" to "troops on the ground" in a little over a year. Support and the "domino theory" were still very much alive and our presence increased on an almost daily basis.

But also in 1966 there were the seeds of questions being sown - what was the plan? How long was it going to take? When it is supposed to end? How many troops are needed? What really was the government of South Vietnam all about?

Just like Afghanistan.

And so on June 21, 1966 Eric Severeid delivered a fifteen minute commentary on our state of siege in Vietnam.

Eric Severeid: “A crucial question: Whether our resistance in Vietnam is preventing the spread of Chinese dominance in other Asian countries, through their propaganda infiltration and subversion. The Administration points to Indonesia, where the powerful Chinese-inspired Communist apparatus was smashed not long ago. That would never have happened, we like to think were we not there in Vietnam. If this is true, all of us would feel very much better about this war in Vietnam. My personal opinion is that it’s not true.”

Needless to say, those questions only grew in number and intensity over the next several years as our justifications grew less and less feasible. It would seem we are heading in that direction again.

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(The future, it would appear, is one wild idea right after the other)

I always get a kick out of listening to programs discussing the future, especially when it's the year 2000 as viewed from the perspective of 1966.

Part of the Second Sunday radio series for NBC, newsman Chet Huntley did some in-depth crystal ball gazing and came up with some bizarre ideas as to what the future, 34 years from the comfort zone of 1966, would look like.

For example - computers:

I.A. “Bud” Lewis (computer tech for NBC): “There will be this society of the computer programmer. The man who will tell the machine how to perform its task. See, the thing about a computer is, that it is the first, I think, universal machine. It is the machine which can perform any task, as a matter of fact, it doesn’t even know what it’s supposed to do until you tell it what to do. The telling of a machine what it’s to do, that is the program. And it is the programmer who really controls the means of production. It seems to me that, if we must have as I suggested before, an ethos in which work is not important then we must also have a kind of a noblese oblige in which certain electronic elite people realize it as their duty to help to supervise the economy.”

There's always the "things we could never dream" asides as well as the tons of leisure time all Americans are supposed to have.

Some of the predictions are eerily spot-on while some are just hilarious.

But remember; this is 2000 as seen through 1966 eyes. And we are a scary bunch - even then.

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(Bobby Hebb - sayin' it)

What a day. Kennedy, Dunne and Greenwich all in 24 hours. The only thing I could think to play was something I always relied on when it all got out of hand. Everybody knows Bobby Hebb by way of his hit "Sunny", but this one, "A Satisfied Mind" always tore me up - always put everything in perspective - always spelled it out in big block letters.

I figured it would be good to share a bit of that tonight.

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(The Blues Project - sometimes referred to as the Greenwich Village Grateful Dead)

The Blues Project were a staple in the diet of Free-form FM radio programming beginning in the late 1960's. Even though the band had broken up by 1967, they left an indelible mark on music for years after. One of the most popular tracks by them was Flute Thing, a six minute improv/instrumental. Even though he wasn't a founding member, Al Kooper was a pivotal member of the band from the 1966 period and co-wrote this track.

And the rest is history.

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(Sorry - no photo this time. Use your imagination)

L.A. was a hotbed of activity in the 1960's as far as recording studios went. One of the biggest was Gold Star Recording Studios on Santa Monica Boulevard in Hollywood. It wasn't huge, like Columbia Records studios up the street on Sunset, or Capitol on Vine, but it hosted some of the most famous sessions from the early days of rock to its eventual demise in 1983.

So when a studio had a reputation as the place to be, everybody had to record there - as if cutting a session at the same place The Who laid basic tracks down assured you of stardom.

Some cases that was true and others go under the heading of might've been's.

One such group was Limey & The Yanks, a local L.A. band who, like a lot of bands, were a fixture on the L.A. club scene and whose brush with fame consisted of a handful of singles for the Loma label between 1966 and 1967. The group featured Steve Cook (aka Limey) Bob Gay, Wally Downing and Darrell Devlin. They're classified under that great sub-heading "garage band" - those bands who had maybe one or two hits, were very raw. Technical proficiency that ranged from excellent to nonexistant and usually a band that played a lot of covers of other more established bands. Many went on to illustrious careers while others gave it up and went home.

This track "When I Come Home" is from a four song session the band did in 1966 at Gold Star. It's not clear if they were signed to Loma at the time or not - there's no indication on the tape box. But if you're familiar with them this will probably come as a pleasant discovery because it's not likely these tracks were issued. Certainly not issued in stereo as they are here.

So here's a little rarity to start your weekend off with.

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(Sen. Al Gore with Rep. John Moss - Next time you're digging around the National Archives, thank the guy on the right.)

On March 30, 1965, California Representative John Moss introduced legislation in Congress that would give the public access to the inner workings of the government. It was met with a lot of resistance. LBJ swore to veto it if it arrived on his desk. The idea that a government that was transparent, that actually would be accountable, where the press would actually have access to documents seemed very abstract to some.

And it wasn't until 1966, when LBJ had a change of heart (or a change of some provisions in the bill) that The Freedom of Information Act was finally signed into law.

A lot of attempts have been made to stymie the law, including a Bush Executive Order which rendered it null for the better part of 8 years. Still, the bill came from someplace and it was someone's idea that the people were entitled to know the truth.

So here is a report by Fred Morrison from March 30, 1965, outlining the reactions on Capitol Hill to the newly introduced bill.