Pop Culture Safari!

New music releases June 30, 2017: Beach Boys; Raymond Scott; Nilsson

Click the links to order items from Amazon.

The Beach Boys / 1967 - Sunshine Tomorrow

The Beach Boys / Wild Honey - Stereo Mix (Vinyl)

Raymond Scott / Three Willow Park: Electronic Music From Inner Space 1961-1971

Gotta Get Up! The Songs of Harry Nilsson 1965-1972

Pop Culture Roundup: Paddington; Kirby 100; James Bond; Mad Magazine; Disneyland

From 1962: The Hipsters Coloring Book.

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So long Michael Bond, creator of Paddington, who died at age 91 this week.

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A campaign is underway to honor Jack Kirby, co-creator of the Marvel Universe, with a Google Doodle in honor of his 100th birthday Aug. 28.

... Kirby fans to send an e-mail to proposals@google.com with the subject line of "Google Doodle for Jack Kirby – August 28, 2017." In the body of the message, explain why Jack deserves this honor.

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Via Kid Robson: Hard Case Crime is publishing for the first time a story Donald E. Westlake originally created as a James Bond script.

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Cartoonist and co-founder of Bongo Comics Bill Morrison is the new editor of Mad Magazine.

On his hiring, Morrison said, “I don’t know anyone who loves and respects MAD as much as I do. I’ll definitely have my work cut out for me, but I’m dedicated to upholding the high standards of absurd and irreverent humor that the public has come to expect from MAD. I’ve been asked if I will continue to include artist Al Jaffee in the magazine; as soon as I find out who he is, I’ll let everyone know.”

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An original presentation map of Disneyland sold for $708,000 at auction.

The original map, created by Walt Disney and Herb Ryman, was used to secure the initial funding for Disneyland in 1953.

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Bob Dylan played a bit of "Freebird" after an audience member at a Berkeley show called out a request.

Coming up: "Filet of Soul Redux: The Rejected Master Recordings" by Jan and Dean

Out Sept. 1. Pre-order now from Amazon.

Details:

In 1965, Jan (Berry) & Dean (Torrence), the California Sound pop-duo from Los Angeles, had outgrown its small independent record company and was striving to obtain more control over its career, including adding more comedy to their act. Having charted five Top 10 records in the past two years (including the anthem defining surf classic “Surf City”), the successful duo was now reaching for the silver screen and more. They would be starring in their own movie (Easy Come Easy Go) and would soon have their own television show, to be produced by William Asher (Bewitched). But they owed their label one more record and really didn’t want to waste any of the “good material” with them. Enter the idea of a live album… unfortunately the suits were not that interested as Jan & Dean had previously released one in early ’65, so the duo, who had been fine tuning their wise-ass shtick since high school, delivered a “live” album with comedy… label execs were appalled and rejected the album.

Sadly, on April 12, 1966, Jan Berry was involved in a tragic automobile accident that more or less derailed the duo’s career. Berry was miraculously alive but in a coma. Soon thereafter, the “suits” now saw an opportunity to exploit the Jan & Dean story all over again and deconstructed the original Filet Of Soul into another live album titled Filet Of Soul – A “Live” One.

Now, 50 years after their original vision was rejected, Omnivore Recordings is proud to release Filet Of Soul Redux: The Rejected Master Recordings, as it was originally intended… a live cutting-edge comedy album with great music interspersed with sound effects, studio skits and comic banter. Torrence, along with Endless Summer Quarterly publisher David Beard supply informative liners and studio ephemera from the sessions.