Monday, May 1, 2017

May 1st, 1967


Nancy and Frank Sinatra return to the #1 spot this week with their killer duet "Somethin' Stupid", dropping The Monkees to the #4 position.  Jumping up three spots each, to #2 and #3 respectively, are "The Happening" by The Supremes and "Sweet Soul Music" by Arthur Conley.  Mega-hits "Happy Together" by The Turtles and "I Think We're Alone Now" by Tommy James and the Shondells hold down the #5 and #6 positions as The Buckinghams return to The Top Ten with their latest, "Don't You Care", up from #11 to #7.  Right behind them are The Dave Clark Five, up four places from #12 to #8 with "You Got What It Takes", followed by "I'm A Man" by The Spencer Davis Group and "Close Your Eyes" by Peaches and Herb, one of the big movers of the week, up from #19 to #10.  

The Hollies have a bullet for the #11 song, "On A Carousel", up five places from #16, as do "I Got Rhythm" by The Happenings" (#25 to #14), "Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon" by Neil Diamond (#23 to #15), "Friday On My Mind" by The Easybeats (#22 to #17), "Groovin'", which takes a HUGE leap from #48 to #19 and "When I Was Young" by Eric Burdon and the Animals, the #20 record, up from #26.  

Other big movers within The Top 40 include "Release Me" by newcomer Engelbert Humperdinck (#36 to #23), "Respect" by Aretha Franklin (up 32 places from #57 to #25), "Here Comes My Baby" by The Tremeloes (#41 to #27), "Casino Royale by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass (#37 to #29), "Somebody To Love" by Jefferson Airplane (up from #42 to #30), the autobiographical "Creeque Alley" by The Mamas and the Papas (another huge leap from #68 to #31), "Shake A Tail Feather" by James and Bobby Purify (#43 to #32), "Dead End Street" by Lou Rawls (#46 to #35), "Happy Jack" by The Who (#51 to #36), "Making Memories" by Frankie Laine (#47 to #37) and "Yellow Balloon" by The Yellow Balloon, which jumps from #45 to #38.  





"More Of The Monkees" holds at #1 on the album chart for the 13th straight week. 

This year's Emmy Nominations are announced and The Monkees are up for two awards … Outstanding Comedy Series  and Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy.  That afternoon Peter Tork's buddy Stephen Stills sits in on a Monkees recording session.  Stills, you may recall, originally auditioned for a role in The Monkees television series but was passed over because he had "bad teeth".  So, he went back to The Village and told his buddy Peter Tork to try out for the role, as they both had a similar look.  Tork (with evidently better dental hygiene) landed the role.  

Elvis Presley marries long-time, live-in girlfriend Priscilla Beaulieu in Las Vegas at the Aladdin Hotel.  The ceremony takes place in the second floor suite of Colonel Parker's friend, owner Milton Prell.  Nevada Supreme Court Justice David Zenoff presides over the ceremony.  (Ironically exactly one week later Ann-Margret will marry actor Roger Smith in Las Vegas as well.  The couple is still together, fifty years later ... while Elvis and Priscilla will divorce six years later.)  


The marriage license, obtained at 3:30 that morning at The Clark County Courthouse, cost $15.  However Elvis spent $4000 on Priscilla's wedding ring, a three karat diamond surrounded by twenty smaller diamonds.  

Joe Esposito and Marty Lacker acted as Elvis' "dual" best men … but the rest of his so-called "Memphis Mafia" were not invited to the wedding.  (Priscilla's maid of honor was her sister, Michelle.)  

A press conference is held after the ceremony.  The couple will spend two days in Palm Springs before returning home to Memphis on May 4th.  


The two met when Presley was stationed in Germany in 1959 and Priscilla was just 14 years old.  When Elvis completed his Army service, Priscilla moved to Elvis' Graceland mansion in Memphis with her family's full blessing.  

Ironically exactly ten years earlier, to the day, Elvis appeared on the cover of the very first "16" Magazine.  The marriage lasted six years, during which time they had one daughter, Lisa Marie.  





Carl Wilson of The Beach Boys, filing as a conscientious objector to The Viet Nam War,  is arrested on charges of avoiding the military draft and refusing to take the Oath of Allegiance.  He will go to court a few days later but will be released in time to join the rest of the band in Ireland for their European tour.  (The Beach Boys will make music news the following day when Capitol Records announces that SMiLE will not be released as their next album as planned.)  

In the recording studio today (in different parts of the world):  Linda Ronstadt and The Stone Poneys record the Mike Nesmith tune "Different Drum" (their first hit) at Capitol Records in Hollywood … while The Hollies record "Carrie Anne" at Abbey Road Studios in London.  (In his autobiography, Graham Nash says that "Carrie Anne" was originally "Marianne" and written about Marianne Faithfull, who all of The Hollies had  crush on … but at the last minute they "chickened out" and changed the lead character's name to "Carrie Anne" instead.)