Ida "B" Blackburn Beach Boys Interview 1964

[Mikie]

One time after one of his sax solos, Mike tossed the sax into the drink on the side of the stage. Don't know if it was on purpose - don't think it was. Somebody had to go retrieve it out of the lake or pond or whatever it was.

[rn57]

I found this by accident, thought it was pretty funny. Mike 'Sax' Love (how that sounds..) reincarnated:




 

I wonder if Charles Lloyd had taken Mike to a Rahsaan Roland Kirk show....

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[Mikie]

No no no!  Please continue.  I'm enjoying your little debate there....

[I. Spaceman]

Jan Berry did a lot of the same things Zappa did later, in terms of genre satire that also stands as a great example of said genre. J&D did parody/tributary doo-wop long before Freak Out was released.

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[KittyKat]

This is only slightly related to the topic (terrific video of the early BB), but where exactly did the phrase "Little Old Lady from Pasadena" originate?  Did the song start it, or did it start before the song? It seems that I have vague memories of seeing old footage of comedians referencing a little old lady from Pasadena, like it was some kind of running joke. Maybe old footage of Jack Benny, Bob Hope, Johnny Carson, or some other comedians or even sitcoms of the past.

[Alan Smith]

Edit - as per I.Spaceman on page 3 -

From Le Wiki, noting said article does not cite any references or sources - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Old_Lady_from_Pasadena

"The little old lady from Pasadena" was a kind of folk archetype in Southern California in the mid-20th century. Early in the century, many white couples from the Midwest had moved to the region, especially to Pasadena, California. The trend was accelerated by the Dust Bowl, the Great Depression and World War II. Since men tended to die earlier, Pasadena became known for its high percentage of elderly widows. As political columnist and language expert William Safire has noted, the phrase "little old ladies in tennis shoes" was used in the 1960s to refer to social and political conservatives in Southern California.

Part of this lore was that many an elderly man who died in Pasadena would leave his widow with a powerful car that she rarely if ever drove, such as an old Buick Roadmaster, or a 50-some-odd Cadillac, a vintage Ford, an old Packard, Studebaker, DeSoto, or a La Salle. Used car salesmen in California, so the story went, would tell prospective buyers that the previous owner of a vehicle was "a little old lady from Pasadena who only drove it to church on Sundays," thus suggesting the car had little wear. This joke became part of the material of some comedians based in Los Angeles (notably Johnny Carson, who often used it on his frequent trips to tape The Tonight Show in L.A. before settling there permanently), and because of television, the phrase "little old lady from Pasadena" became familiar to a national audience.

From this premise came the comic song, about a little old lady from Pasadena who had a hot "Super Stock Dodge" a 1964 Dodge Polara or Dodge 330 in her garage. (These vehicles had low production number "Max Wedge" (Maximum Performance Wedge Engine) lightweight race specials built in 1964 for drag racing. These are highly collectible today.) The twist was that unlike in the usual story, this little old lady not only drove the hot car, but was a peerless street racer."

Go Granny, GO!

[I. Spaceman]

I quoted all of that on the previous page.

[Alan Smith]

(Doh!!!) So you did, thanks for pulling me up - sorry - A

[KittyKat]

D'oh to me for not reading the whole thread. I may be thinking of Jack Benny talking about Cucamonga. There's something about the name of some Southern California towns that lend themselves to being jokes. Also, I do remember seeing an episode of the old Andy Griffith show where Barney buys a car from Ellen Corby, playing a little old lady who only drove the car to church and didn't need it anymore (and it wound up being a scam she was pulling with junk cars). The little old lady and her car trope made the rounds in the '60s.

[bgas]

D'oh to me for not reading the whole thread. I may be thinking of Jack Benny talking about Cucamonga. There's something about the name of some Southern California towns that lend themselves to being jokes. Also, I do remember seeing an episode of the old Andy Griffith show where Barney buys a car from Ellen Corby, playing a little old lady who only drove the car to church and didn't need it anymore (and it wound up being a scam she was pulling with junk cars). The little old lady and her car trope made the rounds in the '60s.

she was probably a member of the The Anaheim, Azusa & Cucamonga Sewing Circle, Book Review And Timing Association

[MBE]

Did Brian take credit for too many J&D hits?

That's what I was thinking.  I mean, he co-wrote a few of them, but Berry and Christian and Altfield also had a big hand in them too!

My wife wondered what the heck was up when I played her some Jan and Dean stuff the first time. Once she realized it was satire (OK after I told her with bemusement) she grew to like it.


I wonder what that lady had with "Little old lady...". Brian didn't write any of it...



But the guys seem so down to earth and nice. None of them acted like a c*cky as$hole. I kinda like hem.

They may have played Little Old Lady in the set that night. I assumed that was why she kept mentioning it.

Was that song really popular? In my ears it is utterly awful. Was music about grannies considered 'hip'? people really were square back then if they liked stuff like that. No wonder they had a square image from playing tunes like that when they could've played their own material which was usually far better.

It's called satire.

[Micha]

From it I found out that balance (3/4) & the guts (another quarter) are what surfer needs to have.

I surfed last summer and to me it's 3/4 paddling and 1/4 balance. Maybe I don't have enough respect for waves.

It looks like he's trying to play both the "Kokomo" solo and the "Shut Down" solo at the same time! 

That's a good one!

[Andrew G. Doe]

OK, question - how old does everyone here think Ida was at the time of the interview ?

[Cam Mott]

OK, question - how old does everyone here think Ida was at the time of the interview ?

Thirty eight?

[Paulos]

OK, question - how old does everyone here think Ida was at the time of the interview ?

I'm gonna go with 27, women in the sixties always seemed to look older than they actually are.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Her son - who is the director of the Oklahoma Historical Society, btw - was born in about 1951, so she'd be roughly 35-38.

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[Ian]

Not sure her age-but I know she continued to host a TV show throughout the 1970s and is still alive today

[rn57]

OK, question - how old does everyone here think Ida was at the time of the interview ?

Not too old for Dennis.

But to answer question - Intelius.com indicates she is 83, making her 34 or 35 at the time of the interviews.

[Amy B.]

OK, question - how old does everyone here think Ida was at the time of the interview ?

I would have guessed around 40. She definitely looks like she could be Carl's (young) mom.