2008 – One of the bigger breakout hits of the Toronto Film Festival was It Might Get Loud, a documentary that consists entirely of Jimmy Page, Jack White and The Edge swapping stories, expounding on their experiences and of course jamming with each other. The film, directed by An Inconvenient Truth helmer Davis Guggenheim, will satisfy casual fans as well as hardcore guitar afficianados. “It’s almost like having three carpenters talk about a radial-arm saw,” explains White. “It’s great to use this mechanical device to learn all about these other ideas that surround it.” Click below for more on It Might Get Loud, including what songs the trio played when the cameras rolled.
2008 – Ronnie Wood was recovering following an operation for a hernia after he sustained the injury during the band’s recent Bigger Bang tour. The 60-year-old Rolling Stones guitarist was told to rest for two months after the procedure.
2007 – The Rolling Stones set a new record for the top grossing tour of all time when their A Bigger Bang tour, which ran from the Fall of 2005 to August 26, 2007, earned the band a staggering $558,255,524. The previous high was set by U2′s Vertigo tour, which took place in 2005 and 2006, earning $389,000,000.
2006 – The Rolling Stones’ Bigger Bang tour is a big winner at the Chart Toppers Touring Awards at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York. The awards, based on box-office figures reported to Chart Toppers Boxscore, wrap up the third annual Chart Toppers Touring Conference. The Stones’ tour is recognized as the top tour, based on gross dollars, and top draw, based on ticket sales. The band grossed nearly $230 million for the period that the awards cover (Dec. 1, 2005-Sept. 29, 2006), and drew nearly 2 million fans to shows all over the world.
1998 – The Walt Disney Co. becomes an even bigger player on the Internet with the purchase of a 43% stake in Web search engine company Infoseek Corp. Disney Plans to launch an Internet portal – a Web site that contains entertainment, news and search capabilities in one location.
1993 – George Harrison and David Crosby make guest appearances on the fifth season premiere of the Fox animated comedy series “The Simpsons.”
“Homer’s Barbershop Quartet” is the first episode of The Simpsons’ fifth season. It features the Be-Sharps, a fictional barbershop quartet founded by Homer, whose story roughly parallels that of The Beatles. The episode was written by Jeff Martin, directed by Mark Kirkland, while George Harrison and David Crosby guest starred as themselves, and The Dapper Dans as the singing voices of “The Be-Sharps”.
Episode no. 82
Prod. code 9F21
Orig. airdate September 30, 1993
Show runner(s) Al Jean & Mike Reiss
Written by Jeff Martin
Directed by Mark Kirkland
Chalkboard “I will never win an Emmy”
Couch gag A trio of couch gags: The family shatters into pieces, the family combine into a multicolored blob, and the family explode.
Guest star(s) George Harrison as himself
David Crosby as himself
The Dapper Dans as the singing voices of “The Be-Sharps”.
DVD
COMMENTARY
Matt Groening
Mike Reiss
Al Jean
Jeff Martin
Hank Azaria
Jon Lovitz
Mark Kirkland
Plot
At the Springfield Swap Meet, Bart and Lisa notice Homer’s face on an album cover. Homer explains that he, Principal Skinner, Barney, and Apu recorded a barbershop quartet album in 1985, which catapulted them to national fame.
This development came after an agent, Nigel, offered to be their representative on the condition they expel original member Chief Wiggum, who was “too Village People.” After rejecting many auditions for a fourth member, the barbershop trio returned downheartedly to Moe’s Tavern, where they recruited Barney after hearing him sing in a beautiful Irish tenor voice. The group considered “Handsome Homer Simpson Plus Three” (suggested by Nigel), finally calling themselves “The Be Sharps.” They had decided their name should be initially witty, yet become less funny each time you heard it.
Back in modern times, Homer brags that he sold a spare tire at the swap meet; unfortunately, on the way home their tire blows out. While Marge begins her long walk to a gas station, Homer continues the story. He tells Bart and Lisa that after Marge bought a “Baby On Board” sign, Homer wrote a song inspired by the fad. “Baby on Board” appeared on their first album, Meet the Be Sharps, and became a hit. The group performed the song at the Statue of Liberty’s centennial in 1986. The Be Sharps also won a Grammy for “Outstanding Soul, Spoken Word, or Barbershop Album of the Year”, and Homer met George Harrison. Meanwhile, Wiggum’s singing career (now dead) was being mocked by numerous talk show hosts.
At home, Homer explains that the Be Sharps were on merchandise (similar to the Beatlemania craze) – such as lunch boxes, mugs, posters, etc. When Lisa pulls out a bottle of Be Sharps Funny Foam, Homer says that it was pulled off the market when it was discovered to be poisonous. The name of their second album was Bigger than Jesus. While the Be Sharps were becoming popular, Marge was having problems raising the children, and the Be Sharps also had their own issues. Creative disputes arose when Barney began dating a Japanese conceptual artist, and Barney left the group in all but name. The two recorded a song in which his girlfriend repeatedly says “Number 8″ over tape loops of Barney’s belches (a nod to the Beatles song “Revolution 9″). Ultimately, the group realizes they had lost their popularity and were no longer hot, according to the latest issue of Us Weekly’s What’s Hot and What’s Not, and splits up. Principal Skinner returns to Springfield Elementary School, and Homer returns to the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant.
At the end of the episode, the group reunites to perform a concert on Moe’s roof singing their number one hit “Baby on Board”. Many passers-by stop to hear them sing their comeback concert, including George Harrison who remarks, “It’s been done.”
Deleted scenes
The following can be seen on the Season 5 DVD set:
* The group announces a new Record Label called “Donut Records” (in a parody of the Beatles’ creation of Apple Records) at an empty press conference. Homer then mentions a point when yodeling was threatening their popularity.
* After Homer mentions the band breaking up and going their separate ways, it originally cut to Principal Skinner returning to his mother’s home. She asks if he was with any women, and he replies no. She then horrifies him by asking him to give her a bath and laughs maniacally. The scene then cuts to the outside of their home, which resembles the Bates Motel from Psycho. This is one of several one-off jokes in early seasons to equate Mrs. Skinner to Norman Bates’ mother, before developing her into a full character later on.
Cultural allusions
Beatles references
* Moe’s Tavern has changed to Moe’s Cavern, a reference to the famous Cavern Club in Liverpool where The Beatles frequently performed in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
* When Barney first preforms with the group the audience chant “Wiggum forever, Barney never” in reference to when Ringo Starr replaced Pete Best, where the audience chanted “Pete forever, Ringo never.”
* Chief Wiggum’s replacement in the band by Barney is a parallel to Pete Best being replaced as The Beatles’ drummer by Ringo Starr. Apu Nahasapeemapetilon having to change his name to Apu de Beaumarchais may also be a reference to Ringo Starr having changed his name from Richard Starkey.
* Their name shares the same first syllable as the Beatles, and, like the Beatles, carries a double meaning.
* Homer having to cover up his marriage to Marge is a parody of John Lennon having to conceal the fact he was married to Cynthia Lennon and had a child in the early years.
* After consoling Marge about hiding her from the press, Homer says “It’ll only be until the end of our tour of Sweden”, in reference to when the Beatles went on their tour of Sweden, shortly after their English tour, and before their tour of America.
* After finishing their record “Baby on Board”, their manager Nigel tells them, “Gentlemen, you’ve just recorded your first number one record.” This is a direct reference to what the Beatles’ producer George Martin said after they recorded their second single, “Please Please Me”.
* The peaceful scenes during the airtime of “Baby on Board” is a reference to the allegation that there was no crime during the appearance of the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show.
* The first Be Sharps LP, Meet the Be Sharps, is a direct reference to The Beatles’ first American album Meet the Beatles!, featuring the quartet’s faces in black-and-white contrast on the cover.
* The press conference at the airport is a direct reference to the questions the American press asked the Beatles when they first arrived in New York.
* The cover of Bigger Than Jesus, the Be Sharps’ second album, features the group walking on water. It is a direct parody of the art on The Beatles’ album Abbey Road. At the end of the episode the back cover is revealed, on which we see Homer turned away from the camera, as opposed to the rest of the band. This is a parody of the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band LP reverse, in which Paul McCartney is in the same position, allegedly as part of the “Paul Is Dead” hype. “Bigger than Jesus” is a reference to a controversial quote made by John Lennon in 1966. Bart references this by asking “What did you do ? Screw up like the Beatles and say you were bigger than Jesus?” to which Homer replies “All the time, that was the name of our second album”.
* According to Matt Groening in the DVD commentary, the shots of the band in the recording studio where they decide to break up were based on pictures from the Let It Be sessions.
* Barney’s Japanese conceptual artist girlfriend is a parody of Yoko Ono, and the two record a song which sounds similar to Lennon and Ono’s “Revolution 9″. Additionally, the scene in which Barney plays the song for Homer pays homage to a picture of Lennon, Ono, and McCartney in the studio.
* The group performing atop Moe’s Bar at the end of the episode is a parody of The Beatles’ impromptu concert on the Apple Corps rooftop during their Get Back recording sessions in 1969 — hence George Harrison’s line, “It’s been done.”
* Homer’s comment “I’d like to thank you on behalf of the group and I hope we passed the audition,” is the last piece of dialogue, said by John Lennon, on the Beatles Let It Be album, taken from the Apple rooftop concert.
* When Chief Wiggum fails his audition as Dr. Doolittle, he says, “This bird is going to fly,” which is similar to the Beatles song “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown).”
Other cultural references
* At the swap meet Homer rakes up a box with items that cost 5¢ each. These include the United States Declaration of Independence, a copy of Action Comics #1, a complete block of Inverted Jenny misprint postal stamps and a Stradivarius violin.
* When onlookers turn away from the Human Fly climbing up a building to watch the B-Sharps on top of Moe’s Tavern instead is a reference to the “Human Spider” Alain Robert.
* Principal Skinner tries on a prison mask with the number 24601, which is famous for being Jean Valjean’s prison number in Les Misérables.
* Homer buys Grampa a pink Cadillac, just as Elvis Presley did for his mother.
* This is the second consecutive appearance by David Crosby.
Music
* “Yankee Doodle Dandy” (sung by Melvin and the Squirrels, a spoof of Alvin and the Chipmunks)
* “Hello! Ma Baby”
* “Goodbye, My Coney Island Baby”
* “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” (sung by Grampa at the audition in the style of Frank Sinatra as he recorded it on his 1961 album All the Way)
* “Downtown” (sung by Groundskeeper Willie at the audition, whose title he pronounced as “Doon-Toon”)
* “Theme from A Summer Place” (sung by Jasper at the audition with lyrics he made up)
* “Talk to the Animals” (sung by Chief Wiggum at the audition disguised as Doctor Dolittle)
* “Too Ra Loo Ra Loo Ral” (sung by Barney in the bathroom at Moe’s)
* “Sweet Adeline”
* “Baby On Board”, a song written by Homer, who also attempted to write songs about the opening of Al Capone’s vault, Mr. T and then-Surgeon General C. Everett Koop.
1991 – “The Bigger They Come,” by Peter Frampton and Steve Marriott was first heard in the movie, Harley Davidson and The Marlboro Man, when it debuted in 1991. The song saw the reunion of the two guitarists, who hadn’t recorded together in 20 years, since their days in Humble Pie. The version of the song on Frampton’s, Shine On collection is a little bit different.
1977 – Ronnie Van Zant and Steve Gaines of Lynyrd Skynyrd are killed when their rented plane crashes in a swamp near Gillsburg, Miss.
20 October 1977, 6:55 pm. While flying from Greenville, South Carolina to Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Lynyrd Skynyrd’s chartered Convair 240 aircraft crashed in a Mississippi swamp. The plane was carrying 24 passengers and 2 crew members. The band members on board were: Allen Collins, Cassie Gaines, Steve Gaines, Leslie Hawkins, Billy Powell, Artimus Pyle, Gary Rossington, Ronnie Van Zant, and Leon Wilkeson. Rumour has it that several of those involved had misgivings about flying on the plane, and that they planned to get rid of it once they had reached Baton Rouge. Cassie Gaines lacked confidence in the aircraft and Jo Jo Billingsley (who was not on the plane) had a dream that the plane had crashed. She called Allen Collins, asking him to tell the others not to get on it. Stage manager, Clayton Johnson, remarked afterwards that, “There had been a lot of mistrust of that airplane since we chartered it.”
The following account is from keyboardist Billy Powell:
“The right engine started sputtering, and I went up to the cockpit. The pilot said they were just transferring oil from one wing to another, everything’s okay. Later, the engine went dead. Artimus [Pyle] and I ran to the cockpit. The pilot was in shock. He said, ‘Oh my God, strap in.’ Ronnie [Van Zant] had been asleep on the floor and Artimus got him up and he was really pissed. We strapped in and a minute later we crashed. The pilot said he was trying for a field, but I didn’t see one. The trees kept getting closer, they kept getting bigger. Then there was a sound like someone hitting the outside of the plane with hundreds of baseball bats. I crashed into a table; people were hit by flying objects all over the plane. Ronnie was killed with a single head injury. The top of the plane was ripped open. Artimus crawled out the top and said there was a swamp, maybe alligators. I kicked my way out and felt for my hands — they were still there. I felt for my nose and it wasn’t, it was on the side of my face. There was just silence. Artimus and Ken Peden and I ran to get help, Artimus with his ribs sticking out.”
Artimus Pyle remembers strapping Ronnie Van Zant into his seat and trying to put a velvet cushion under his head. They crashed into a swamp in McComb, Mississippi, and the plane was destroyed by the impact. There was no fire. Two crew members and four of the passengers were killed; twenty others were injured. Those who were not killed lay for hours, awaiting rescue. Pyle, despite suffering a broken sternum and several broken ribs, ran for help. About a mile away, he came upon a farmhouse and ran, raving, towards it. The farmer, Johnny Mote, frightened by Pyle’s dirty, bloody appearance, mistook him for a madman and shot him in the shoulder. (The shotgun blast was not fatal.) Once Mote realized that Pyle was a refugee of the plane crash, he called for help.
Read the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) report about the cause and damage of the crash.
The effect of the crash was devastating. In addition to general cuts and bruises…
Allen Collins suffered two cracked neck vertebrae and an arm amputation was recommended. (His father refused.)
Leslie Hawkins endured a concussion, broke her neck in three places, and had facial injuries which required plastic surgery. She was partially paralyzed and suffered permanent neurological damage.
Billy Powell sustained severe facial lacerations. (Powell was the only band member well enough, on crutches and with his face in bandages, to attend the funerals of those who perished.)
Artimus Pyle suffered a broken sternum and several broken ribs.
Gary Rossington broke both legs and both arms and sustained a concussion.
Leon Wilkeson broke his jaw and had most of his teeth knocked out, suffered a crushed chest (with a punctured lung), almost needed an arm amputated, and he sustained internal injuries. (Wilkeson reportedly coded at the hospital and had to be revived.)
Those were the fortunate ones.
In addition to the pilot (Walter McCreary) and co-pilot (William Gray), Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, Cassie Gaines, and Dean Kilpatrick (Skynyrd’s road manager) were killed.
According to Billy Powell on VH1′s “Behind The Music”, Cassie Gaines’s throat had been cut from ear to ear and she bled to death in his arms. He also stated that Ronnie Van Zant had sustained a severe head injury, which was the cause of his death. Powell’s account of events scandalized many associated with the band, and was contradicted by Artimus Pyle and Judy Van Zant Jenness (Ronnie’s widow). In 1998, the widow Van Zant posted Ronnie’s autopsy on Lynyrd Skynyrd’s website to prove the truth of his injuries.
Steve Gaines was 28. Cassie Gaines and Ronnie Van Zant were 29.
Steve and Cassie Gaines were laid to rest on 23 October 1977 in Orange Park, Florida. A private ceremony was held for Ronnie on 25 October. Among those who attended were Ed King and Bob Burns (both former members of Skynyrd), Billy Powell, Dickey Betts (Allman Brothers Band), Charlie Daniels, Al Kooper (founder of Blood, Sweat & Tears), and Tom Dowd (producer/engineer who had worked on the Manhattan Project). Merle Haggard’s “I Take a Lot of Pride in What I Am” and David Allan Coe’s “Another Pretty Country Song” were played. Charlie Daniels read a poem, and with .38 Special, performed “Amazing Grace”. Ronnie Van Zant was buried to the left of Steve Gaines and in front of Cassie. Van Zant’s and the Gaines’ resting places were moved in 2000 after Ronnie’s and Steve’s grave sites were broken into and vandalized. The monuments (shown below) remain as memorials for the fans.
The band’s fifth album, Street Survivors, was released three days before the crash. The cover showed the band engulfed in flames. After the crash, the album was pulled from stores and re-released with new artwork, showing the band against a plain black background. Street Survivors went on to become the band’s second platinum album, and reached #5 on the U.S. album chart. The single “What’s Your Name” reached #13. Also included on the album is the song “That Smell”: “The smell of death surrounds you. The angel of darkness is upon you…”
Author’s note: What I find eerie is that, on the original cover of Street Survivors, Steve Gaines is positioned in the middle, consumed by flames. He perished in the crash. Next to him are Ronnie Van Zant (who also perished) and Leon Wilkeson (who seems to have received the worst injuries of the survivors and reportedly coded at one point). As you fan out, the injuries seem arguably less life-threatening – the next two are Gary Rossington and Artimus Pyle, then Allen Collins and Billy Powell – who sustained “merely” facial lacerations and general cuts and bruises. Cassie Gaines, not in the photo, but “close” to Steve because they were siblings, also perished in the crash.
In 1986, Allen Collins crashed his car while driving drunk near his home in Jacksonville, Florida. His girlfriend was killed and he was paralyzed from the waist down. He died in 1990 from pneumonia, which was a result of decreased lung capacity from the paralyzation. He was 37.
During the early ’90s, Ed King found Leon Wilkeson on the group’s tour bus, sleeping, but with his throat cut and bleeding. Wilkeson was taken to the hospital and recovered. It is still a mystery as to who was responsible – Ed King blames Wilkeson’s girlfriend-at-the-time. Leon Wilkeson passed away from liver disease in 2001. He was 49.
In 2006, Lynyrd Skynyrd was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The honorees were: Bob Burns, Allen Collins, Steve Gaines, Ed King, Billy Powell, Artimus Pyle, Gary Rossington, Ronnie Van Zant, and Leon Wilkeson.
1966 – John Lennon tries to put out the fire he started when he noted that the Beatles were bigger than Jesus by apologizing at a televised press conference. Meanwhile, the city of Memphis asks the Beatles not to play any concerts there and the price of Capitol Records’ stock drops.
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