Now here's a highlight from Coast to Coast AM on iHeartRadio.
And welcome back to Coast to Coast. We are back with Harvey Kuberneck, author of many books including Turn Up the Radio, Canyon of Dreams, Docs, Dot Rock, Jimmy Hendrix, Voodoo Child, and a number of others. He is an expert on the music world and is back with us on Coast to Coast. Hey, Harvey, how you.
Been doing great? Just always delighted to be invited to your program, and I know your listeners occasionally like to take a little departure from area fifty one to Harvey fifty one.
Exactly, and we're going to do that. You're still out there on the West Coast.
I sure am.
I'm in Saint Louis. But had I been back in Los Angeles, we would have had you physically in the studio.
Well, you know, I sort of. I spent a lot of time going by your studio in Sherman Oaks, California. We'll do it in the future.
We will do that. Indeed, how did you get so involved in music? Harvey?
You know, it's the question I'm asked a lot. A part of it is geographically, you know, I'm a native of Los Angeles. I'm born in I'm born literally in East Hollywood on the corner of like Sunset and Alvarado, overlooking the Hollywood One on one Freeway at the Queen of Angels Hospital, and I start the journey there. And at the time Los Angeles, and I don't think people really realized that, although I certainly detail it in my
book Turn Up the Radio. You know, there were many R and B radio stations in LA in the fifties, way into the sixties. There were jazz radio stations. There was so much music. It was a thriving, vibrant community. You know, sorry, folks, it all wasn't New York City and Chicago. And you're just inundated with even before the transistor radio arrived. It's just blaring in front of you.
And then, you know, with my parents and my brother Kenneth, I end up, you know, leaving like downtown Los Angeles and Coliseum Street Elementary School and Crenshaw Village and Merk Park, and I end up in Culver City right near MGM Studios, and somehow end up in West Hollywood going to high school all through the late sixties. So it's so in front of me, and you know, maybe I've become this messenger and I mirror it out to other people as well. It's just been part of my DNA.
Good for you. Did you ever know our old friend who's passed away, our Gary Patterson?
No, I know we have a mutual friend in the late Russ Reagan, but I didn't know the other guy.
Yeah, he was good. He did a great job. You reminded me of you and just so excitable about the music scene in the world and stuff like that.
Well, it's been my salvation, you know, you know, we turned to music, you know, in happiness and decision making situations just following you know, the Beach Boys. God only knows, you know, I've been privileged to know Brian Wilson for half a century. He must have done twelve interviews with him, and I even, I mean, I've been fortunate. I was able to say, Brian, what is it about? God only knows? What is it? Why does it still impact fifty seven
years after you did it? And he'd say something like, when I first did it, I was wondering would radio ever play a song that had God in the title? And then here I am being greeted or following the declaration as you're using it as interstitial music. But think about him, you know, having concerns almost two thirds of a century ago about a song title, as well as concerns about would the record label actually let the word God be you know, in the package, artwork and everything. We've come a long.
Way, I think, yeah, we sure have. Well, let's have some fun talking about music. We'll take calls next hour as well, Harvey. And you know, I'm a product of Detroit. I'm a Motown guy. I've seen it all in Motown and they continued to do a great job. Barry Gordy still kick him.
Oh. I was just at a Motown event a week ago and they honored Marvin Gay in the fifty third anniversary of his album Let's Get It On. Robinson was on the panel at the Grammy Museum in LA And I spent some time with Smokey. I was just filmed for a documentary with Smokey, but I spent some time with him, and it became even more clear to me what the city of Detroit gave to all of us.
Sure we know about general motors, and I mean people like you, you know about the Detroit Tigers or al Kayline or you know what.
I'm sure in all that world, but the music scene look out well.
Even Smokey said on the panel about Detroit and especially Motown, it could never happen again. I'm sure it's a brand now. And Barry Gordy, who's ninety two or ninety three, he's still involved. It's still He's still involved emotionally and fiscally. But the music still continues, whether it be TV shows
or soundtracks. And I mean for somebody like you who was there with Casey case and we're hearing it like with the DJ's name was like Robin Seymour back there, you know, yeah, I mean you were ground floor watching something that's really informed the world and brought us all closer together. And the music it just even in streaming platforms or even you know, when you hear it, even in elevators or something. Every time you hear a Motown recording,
you discover something different about it. And it was our friend Russ Reagan who worked for Motown and Joe Batten and it was involved with, you know, bringing Motown to the West Coast. He was a promo man and worked with Barry Gordy sixty to sixty three. He introduced the world to like Please Mister Postman by the Marvelette. Russ said he learned one thing from Barry. You can always smell the opening of a motown record by the hooks you you get brought into it still connects.
It really does. We had Smokey Robinson on the show The Coast The Coast program several months ago Harvey, and he was just wonderful.
Well, what was that like for you? That's oh, that was as that's your soul. Brother.
I try not to get so excitable like a kid, but deep down inside it's there.
I mean, I mean, listen, I've done interviews with him. I just did a documentary, I was filmed with him. I've seen him in markets. I then I said, smoke I need about thirty seconds with you. I've got to ask you a question. He said, no, what do you need, man? What do you need? And I just said, that song Tears of a Clown yep. And I just said when I heard that, when I was I don't know, seventeen or eighteen, I never heard somebody reference and use the
term pagliachi in the song lyric. You know, clown and he just laughed and he said, well, why didn't you get a thesaurus and look it up?
Hew?
You was classic. And he's touring now.
He's playing He had COVID a while ago, but he's rebooked a bunch of dates and he's working until next year. And he's featured in a wonderful documentary that's currently broadcast on Showtime TV called Hitsville The Making of Motown, And it's just so fantastic to hear him discuss songs and songwritings. And I mean, I know, you know, Barry always said Smokey is the guy, because Barry started as a songwriter. But Smokey the wisdom of the songs, the direction you
take from the lyrics. And he had a lot of co writers and people who worked with him. But I mean, you were their ground floor, hearing shop around and hearing these these seminal audiosnic gems that changed the world. But you in Detroit, who you know sings and understands music. It must be amazing for you as you see how Motown expanded globally because to somebody like you, it's something on what w K L, c W or whatever that that station was over there. Look how it spread.
Yes, Bob was the one who had played the Beatles first song.
Right, and was Georgie Woods a disc jockey over there? I think it was more Philadelphia. But what a network of disc jockeys that ushered the music to us?
Oh my god. Absolutely, We've got a couple of great artists who listened to Coast as often as they can. Billy Gibbons from zz Top and John Fogerty and great guys.
Yeah, and their very roots, you know, driven, you know, artists and performers, and they their lives began, you know, on the AM radio dial as kids and his fans. And look how they were ushered into the world too.
Absolutely. Let's talk about some artists that are not with us right now. Johnny Cash, what's happening there?
Well, it's September third, mark the twentyth anniversary of Johnny Cash's physical passing. It's been twenty years that long already. Yeah. I have a bond with Johnny partially because we share a February twenty sixth, you know, day at date of birth, and maybe I saw him in June twenty five thirty
times over, you know, forty or fifty years. But Johnny Cash, there's a book coming out in November, a Life in Lyrics, and starting very soon and going into next year, there's a very there's an estate authorized touring exhibition of Johnny Cash, like the Johnny Cash Concert Experience, which his son, John Carter Cash is very involved in. That's touring all over the United States where you hear Johnny's music. There are excerpts from his television program and so it's not an
oldies but goodies kind of show. It's more of an event and a tribute and a salute to Johnny. But he's actually involved as far as you know, products and recordings and in videotapes. So Johnny continues, the records keep going. His impact is still there, and you know it's to me he was always like a voice of America. It still resonates to me.
I will always remember when he was at fulsome Prison.
What I have three different configurations of the life from Fulsome Prison album. And you know, you start seeing people like Johnny Cash, you know, initially they're on TV or you see them touring, and then there's documentaries or in the case of Johnny Cash, there's you know, walk the Line theatrical movies, just like Elvis. All of a sudden, there's biopics on Elvis. You know, you're seeing the growth of this Southern music much like Detroit that reached global ears.
Well, that is so true. It is so true. And I'll always remember Johnny Cash coming out going Hello, everybody, I'm Johnny Cash.
That's how it all started.
What a talent, I mean, what's beautiful? What caught him on? Because initially when you first hear him, you know, he's kind of laid back, He's not like an Elvis, but he caught on what sparked his career.
You know, he had such drive and determination to get his music out there, and he was also guided by maybe some of the right people, initially Sam Phillips at Sun Records and then ending up at Columbia Records and working with the producer Don Law and he you know what I always find interesting about Johnny Cash, and I've written a lot about him. There's a big article I've
just posted on him on a Kavehollywood dot com. I don't think people realize from like late nineteen fifty nine or sixty to nineteen sixty six, Johnny Cash was based in southern California, kind of living in the Ventura area, even had an office on Hollywood Boulevard. You don't really realize he did six years in southern California. It wasn't
always you know, Memphis or Nashville. And so he was again he's coming in the heart of Hollywood or making records when he's living out here, and he was always like fighting for the underdog and having concerns about Native American rights. I mean, he's just part of the fabric of our world.
That is truly remarkable. I do the first Sunday of every month on Coast to Coast Harvey, and I end the program with Disturbed with David the Diamond, the singer Yes of singing sounds of Silence, and that is so haunting. It gives me goosebumps every time I hear it.
And when we hear Johnny Cash, you know, it might be I walk the Line, or it might be a boy named Sue or some of the other things. You actually stop for a minute when you are confronted hearing the voice because there's this like a he's sort of like this guide. I don't know, I guess for me, you know, when I'm six, seven or eight, and Johnny Cash is in the newspaper and I and I realized, you know, they used to listen to people's day to birth or where they lived or sometimes there's street addresses
in the old newspapers. And when I realized that he had the same birthdays as me, oh, Fat's Domino. You know, guy said, wow, you know who's Fats Domino. I got to invest in Johnny Cash. We we're like February people. I even said that the Smokey Robinson he said, hey, man, I said, both born in February, and he'd go nineteenth and I'll go twenty six. I know, it's sort of a comical bond we have, but it brings people together.
And so Johnny this twenty years since he left, it kind of shows you how quick life goes as well.
Absolutely, it's truly remarkable. One of my favorite Johnny Cash songs is it Ain't Me Babe. That's one of his classics.
Well, he did that at the Newport Folk Festival. It was a cover of a Bob Dylan song, singing out with June right yes and kind. I saw him do it the Troubater one time in West Hollywood and he brought a lot of people's songs forward. You know, he kind of exposed people like Chris Christofferson and popularized Bob Dylan.
Plus he was a very early supporter of Bob Dylan at Columbia Records when Bob Dylan was first on the label and his debut album didn't do very well, and Johnny really lobbied for the executives and the promotional people to really stick with this guy. And when Cash had his you know, Johnny cash TV show on ABC between sixty nine and seventy one, Bob Dylan was the first guest on his TV series. And that stuff's all available
like on a double DVD. I encourage people to check out that the Johnny Cashow DVD is just wonderful to see the kind of people that Johnny put on a show, from the Monkeys to Ray Charles. I mean, just think about him and Buffy, Saint Marie. I mean, just giving forum to these kind of people. This is a nineteen sixty nine a year. This is a pre cable TV world. There's only three like networks happening. Ronnie brought people to our attention.
You're going to get a kick out of this. I met a couple months ago Paul Anka, Well.
Where do you want to start? From Diana on down?
I mean plus my way. He wrote that for Frank Sinatra.
Who did He is beyond a survivor. I think he's also overlooked in history. I've had some conversations years ago with him because people forget what a businessman he has been, whether it be artist management or starting as a teenager from Canada, and you know, and I also think maybe, I mean I wasn't present, but when you're coming from Canada and in your Lebanese right with Elevenese, I think yes, I mean, I'm not going to say they were inherent, you know, odds against him, but he comes to like
Culver City or his first record label as a teenager, and he ends up being the songwriter. He's a teen idol initially with these wonderful puts your head on my shoulder, and then he becomes this Vegas icon and he's still out there touring and you realize, you know what, the guy has had a sixty five year old career. You know, when he started in the fifties, people always sort of looked at rock and roll and said, oh, it's a
two or three year career. Maybe go back to college, get a day job, and look at him two thirds of a century later, just out there in doing it. And he has a very devoted fan base.
Oh absolutely, And he's a class guy and a nice guy too, Harvey. Yes, when we come back after the break, let's talk a little bit about Wayne Newton and how old is Mick Jagger? Eighty eighty years old and he's still singing. They're coming out with a new album in another month or two, aren't they.
In late October and today they issued a single from this album. Rock and roll isn't just for kids anymore. There are grandfathers on stage performing.
Listen to more Coast to Coast AM every weeknight at one am Eastern, and go to Coast to coastam dot com for more