jim henson

The vocal A-side to this old 45 single reached #2 in the US record charts in 1963.

The origins of girl-group The Jaynetts goes back about ten years prior, with many changes in personnel (and the number of credited members) occurring during their recording history.

Present for the 'Sally' recording session were likely vocalists Johnnie Louise Richardson, Ethel Davis, Mary Sue Wells, Yvonne Bushnell, and Ada Ray.

A teenage Buddy Miles was the drummer.

Producer Abner Spector's odd arrangement for the song included some
proto-psyche flourishes that were unconventional for the era.

Those qualities combined with the 'jump-rope' rhymes of the lyrics to leave the song open for various interpretations, and the song has remained steeped in a curious mystique ever since.

Some of that mystique may or may not be evident on the 'gimmick' B-side instrumental version.

It's not quite a true instrumental, as you can hear some bleed-through of the vocal track in the background.
Sort of like some old
Lee 'Scratch' Perry dub remix...

I think the surface noise clinging to the slightly off-pitch grooves of this seasoned 45 only enhances the vibe, don't you?

Sure it does...

Listen to:
The Jaynetts - Sally Go 'Round the Roses (instrumental)
(Tuff Records 45, 1963)
(click for audio)

- - This is Part Two of my previous post:
"She's Bunny, 'The Queen of The In Crowd!'" - 1960's 'Teen' comics from Harvey - -

Follow the link ⬆ to dig the nitty of the gritty on Bunny and her zoovy pals!

MEANWHILE, while Bunny's band of low-rent fashion followers were cavorting through their adventures in the main portion of the funnybooks, the back-up features in 'Bunny' comics were just a bit more off the beaten track.

- First up is Stanley Humbert, a.k.a. Sooper Hippie ⬇ - - A reading experience sorta kinda maybe almost like a blend of Austin Powers and Wonder Warthog, still within Harvey Comics' 'cheap knockoff' framework...

(click on links to open pages in a new window ⬇⬇)

⬅ Sooper Hippie in
'Flower People',
from issue #5 (1968)
⬇

(page 1)
(page 2)
(page 3)
(page 4)
(page 5)
(page 6)
(page 7)
(page 8)
(page 9)








⬅ Sooper Hippie in
'Love Beads',
from issue #7 (1969)
⬇

(page 1)
(page 2)
(page 3)
(page 4)
(page 5)
(page 6)
(page 7)
(page 8)
(page 9)
(page 10)
(page 11)






- Bunny's "afro-tastic" special friends The Soular System ⬇ (Marcy, Gideon, Bomby and Randolph) are a happening band that appear to be filling a musical niche somewhere between The Fifth Dimension and Sly and the Family Stone.

(See 'Bunny Orbits With The Soular System' in part one of this post.)



⬅ The Soular System in
'The New Look',
from issue #13 (1970)
⬇

(page 1)
(page 2)
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(page 4)
(page 5)
(page 6)
(page 7)
(page 8)
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(page 10)







- And then there's Fruitman... (sigh) ⬇
Proving that it's not necessarily the powers, it's the commitment - - fruit vendor Percival Pineapple fights evil-doers everywhere with his unique ability to turn into various pieces of fruit (and rattle off bad puns).



⬅ Fruitman in
'The Cruise',
from issue #16 (1970)
⬇

(page 1)
(page 2)
(page 3)
(page 4)
(page 5)
(page 6)
(page 7)
(page 8)








- - And finally,
the pièce de résistance:
Not a dream, not a hoax, prepare yourself for...

⬅ 'Fruitman in Israel',
from issue #13 (1970)
⬇

(page 1)
(page 2)
(page 3)
(page 4)
(page 5)
(page 6)
(page 7)
(page 8)
(page 9)




See also:
- Click over to The Comics Bin 'Fruitman's Vacation', a story from Bunny Comics #6.

- ADDENDUM, 2.02.09: Found another one!
Follow link to read The first appearance of Fruitman, from Bunny Comics #3.

Musician John Stewart passed away in San Diego this past weekend, at age 68.

Before his long solo career and a string of albums, Stewart had been part of the folk music revival of the late 1950's.
From 1961 - 1967 he was a member of The Kingston Trio, replacing original member Dave Guard.

From growing up in Mill Valley, California, I have many memories of John Stewart.

I went to elementary school with his kids, and the Stewarts lived right around the corner from my family for several years.
I'll guess that it was after the divorce that Mrs. Stewart and the children moved across town.
I saw less of them afterwards.

Jeremy Stewart and I used to play together sometimes prior to that; we were in the same grade.

I remember his Dad came in to our classroom to visit and perform for us a couple of times in first or second grade.

I still remember one of those times in the classroom, being fascinated by the leather fringe on his coat and his voice that reminded me of Johnny Cash. I also remember it feeling strange that I had just seen him on TV the night before on the Smothers Brothers show (or some such).

Over the many years following you'd spot him occasionally around Mill Valley. Kinda silver-haired, maybe sporting a big 'ol cowboy hat. Just another townie. Sometimes he'd perform at The Sweetwater, the local nightclub.

I've always liked his earlier solo albums, especially the song 'Never Goin' Back', off of the
'California Bloodlines' LP from '69.

He'd pretty much fallen off my radar by the time of his small resurgence of popularity in the '80's, but in recent years it'd been nice to see him attain something of a 'venerable' status in his career.

See also:
- John Stewart's obituary from the New York Times.

- ChillyWinds.Com - The official John Stewart homepage

- From YouTube - - John Stewart with The Kingston Trio performing 'Where Have All the Flowers Gone?' and 'The Early Morning Rain' on TV in 1966.