Music Deaths in 2022: Jim Sohns of The Shadows of Knight 'Gloria'

JIM SOHNS, 75

Died 29 July 2022

Lead vocalist with the Chicagoland band The Shadows of Knight who had a hit song with "Gloria."

The four original members attendd Prospect High School in Mt. Prospect, Illinois, near where I attended  school at Palatine High School.  Became the house band at The Cellar in Arlington Heights, Illinois.

Recorded "Gloria" which had originally been done by British band Them which featured Van Morrison.  It received big airplay on Chicago's two main pop stations, WLS and WCFL and went national, climbing to #10  in 1966.  It was followed up with "Oh Yeah"  (#39-1966).

We saw Jim Sohns at the Taste of Antioch back a few years ago which was his first performance after a stroke that he had.

Our 49th Wedding Anniversary-- Part 4: Hanging Out and Going to Dubuque

THURSDAY, AUGUST 25

There were three motorcyclists who stayed at the Grant Hills Motel last night and we said hello as they passed by, but as cyclists often are, they only wanted to talk with each other.  Not with car folk like us.

I sat out by the pool and wrote in the journal.  The clouds were gone, sunshining and actually getting hot.  Cars, trucks, motorcycles and lots of SUVs going by on US-20 (the U.S. Grant Highway)  The U-Haul trucks are parked by the side of the pool.  The motel also rents them.

Liz and I drove to Dubuque, Iowa.  US-20 from Main Street in Galena all the way up the hill is really torn up with construction.  Galena High School is called the Pirates and they have the same dopey-looking logo as our Palatine High School Pirates.

Anyone who thinks Illinois is a flat state need only drive US-20 from Freeport to Dubuque to change their mind.  Passed the Swiss Inn in East Dubuque, Illinois.  We have stayed there often and like it especially because there is a bar attached to it.

We crossed the Mighty Mississippi on the bridge and were expecting to find cheaper gas prices in Iowa.  From the bridge there is quite a climb up a hill to get to the main store area of Dubuque on US-20.

--RoadDog

POINTS TO PONDER:  Why do you fill out a form by filling it in?

Around Here: 2021 High School Football: Skyhawks, Rockets, Bull Dogs, Panthers, Pirates, Vikings

SATURDAY. OCTOBER 23

Well, Illinois high school football season ended and it was the second straight year that I didn't get to see any games.  I sure hope to start seeing them next year. 

Anyway, here are the final records of the teams I back:

Johnsburg:   3-6

Richmond-Burton:    9-0

Grant (Fox Lake):   2-7

Round Lake:  2-7

Palatine:  6-3

Fremd (Palatine):  1-8

Mt. Carmel (Chicago):  6-3

Goldsboro (North Carolina):  4-5

Some Good, Some Bad.  --RoadHigh

PREGNANCY QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS:  Q:  How long is the average woman in labor?  A:  Whatever she says divided by two.

1969 Anyone?-- Part 1: 'That's the Way Love Is'

This past Sunday, March 20, 2021, (Hey, Twenty Twenty Twenty-one!!), WXRT's Richard Milne went to the year 1969 on his Saturday Morning Flashback show from 9 am to noon.  That was a great year for me as I graduated from Palatine High School and that fall I started at Northern Illinois University.  These songs sure bring back the memories.

THE NIGHT THEY DROVE OLD DIXIE DOWN--  Band

NOTHING IS EASY--  Jethro Tull   (Hey, received the first Grammy for Heavy Metal)

MIDNIGHT SPECIAL--  Creedence Clearwater Revival

HOT SMOKE & SASSAFRASS--  Bubble Puppy   (Did Granny really say that while she was yelling at Jethro?)

PINBALL WIZARD--  Who

DREAMS--  Allman Brothers

ONE--  Three Dog Night    From the rock musical "Hair"

LIVE WITH ME--  Rolling Stones

THAT'S THE WAY LOVE IS--  Marvin Gaye

BADGE--  Cream

Name That Tune (from the above songs):  "No Is The Saddest Experience You'll Ever Know."  Answer below.  --RoadDog

"One"

1969 Anyone?

Chicago's WXRT, 93.1 FM's Saturday Morning Flashback is to that great music year for me, 1969.  They just kicked off with "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" by the Band (a song that always brings a tear to my eye.

Playing Jethro Tull right now.

It streams from 9 to noon CDST.

Time to tune in.

Liz and I graduated from Palatine High School in Palatine, Illinois, that year and I started freshman year at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb.  I lived at Lincoln Hall.  Liz went to Harper College in Palatine.

So, if 1969 means something to you, time to tune in.

--RoadDog

STUDENT TEST ANSWERS:  The pineapple is the fruit of the pine tree.   Why not?

The Songs of 1970-- Part 3: Break Ups, Break Throughs and the Rise of the Singer-Songwriter

But, if these songs brought people together, the bands that created them were falling apart.  Both Simon & Garfunkel and the Beatles broke up in 1970, as did Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.

Meanwhile, great new musicians and groups rose to take their place, including Elton John, the Jackson Five, the Carpenters and James Taylor, all of whom released breakthrough songs that same year.

Whole new genres emerged as well, making 1970 a unique year that will live forever in musical history -- and in our memories.

And, this was a prime college year for me.  My favorite music has always been that played during my high school and college years which would be Palatine High School in Palatine, Illinois, and Northern Illinois University in DeKalb and University of Georgia in Athens.

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SINGERS AND SONGWRITERS

"FIRE AND RAIN" (James Taylor)

It didn't just make James Taylor a star, this song kick-started a whole singer-songwriter movement.  By the next year, pop music was dominated by solo stars who both wrote and sang their own tunes, including Carole King, Carly Simon and Cat Stevens.

Taylor's song, which cracked the Top 5, contrasted sad lyrics -- inspired by his stay in a mental institution -- with the warmest possible vocal delivery.  Carle King later said her hit "You've Got a Friend" was her answer to Taylor's lyric. "I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend."  And, that's King playing piano on "Fire and Rain."

--RoadDog

TRIVIA TEASER: Which actor detailed his battle with Parkinson's disease in his 2003 memoir "Lucky Man"? 

(Michael J. Fox)

Where Were You in 1967?

Okay, 53 years ago.

I was a just getting ready to begin my junior year at Palatine Township High School in Palatine, Illinois.  My athletic career had been cut short the year earlier when I broke my leg in wrestling, but I joined the school newspaper as a sportswriter and became sports editor my senior year.

I met Liz at a party in November, and the rest, as they say, is history.  We are still married, celebrating our 47th anniversary this August 25.

Bob Stroud played 1967 on his Ten at Ten on Chicago's WDRV, 97.1, 96.9 FM on Wednesday, July 29.   It brought back some memories.

AIN'T NO MOUNTAIN HIGH ENOUGH--  Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
GIMME SOME LOVIN'--  Spencer Davis Group
FIXIN'-A-HOLE--  Beatles

SWALBR--  Cream
CARRIE ANNE--  Hollies
CASTLES MADE OF SAND--  Jimi Hendrix
DANDELION--  Rolling Stones

LITTLE BIT OF SOUL--  Music Explosion
WHITER SHADE OF PALE--  Procul Harum
I THINK WE'RE ALONE NOW--   Tommy James & the Shondells

That Real Fine Year--  Road'67

Back to the Summer of 1970 (July 5, 1970)-- Part 5: A Busy Summer for Me

From Bob Stroud's Root Salute to the Summer of 1970, part 2 that aired Sunday, July 5 on Chicago's WDRV, 97.1 FM, the Drive.  He will have two other Summer of 1970 shows the first Sunday of August and September.

And, just remember, there was no such a thing as the coronavirus back then so no social distancing or masks except at the masquerade parties.

These were the songs we were listening to on the radio (mostly AM) and were in our record collections (mostly albums and 45s) back fifty years ago.

At this time, fifty years ago, I was working my summer job at Burger King in Palatine (it was also my first job starting the summer between sophomore and junior year in high school) after having finished freshman year at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb.  I was also taking a class at Harper College in Palatine that summer as I wasn't sure I had passed a geography class at NIU and needed those credits to avoid getting drafted to go you-know-where in 1970.  I sure had a good time the second half of freshman year pledging Delta Sigma Phi fraternity.

Sadly, my dad had gotten transferred from the home office of Quaker Oats in Chicago to the Southern region office in Atlanta, so my family bought a house in Dunwoody, Ga. and sold the one I had lived in longer than any other home in my life, all the way from 7th grade to freshman year in college.

I would be going back to NIU, however, for my sophomore year while my family lived in Georgia.

The songs Bob was playing sure brought the memories flooding back to me.

Let the Music Play, Next.  --RoadDog

Welcome Summer 2020, One Long and Strange Trip We'll Have, It Won't Be Normal to Say the Least. Flashback to 1968 on WXRT Today

Summer officially arrived here last Saturday, and, believe me, has been long anticipated.  Between this virus thing and the Blacks wanting to tear down every Confederate statue and memorial, these have been some rough times with me.  And, I'm not sure which is worse in those departments.

Last night, Liz and I met Kevin and Kelly at Sunnyside Tavern in Johnsburg, Illinois, and WENT INSIDE!!!  This is the first time we've been inside for cocktails since March 16, when we were inside Sunnyside the last day it was open before virus closure.

We then started going to Sunnyside when they reopened for outside service on May 29.  And, we've been going back most every weekend when they're open from Friday to Sunday.   Good to see old friends whom we hadn't seen since March.

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This past Sunday, Bob Stroud had a heaping helping of Summer Songs on his Rock and Roll Roots show on Chicago's WDRV, 97.1 FM, the Drive.  I felt obliged to listen to it, because it ain't summer till that Bob plays that music.

Gets you into the  mood, you know.  I'll be listing those sand and water and concert songs in the next post.

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But, in the meantime, reminding everyone that in an hour, Chicago's WXRT, 93.1 FM, will be going back to 1968 on their Saturday Morning Flashback show from 9 am to noon, CDST.  It streams at www.wxrt.com.

So, if 1968 songs are your bag, this is where you want to be.  This was a high school year for me, junior-senior year.  Some great songs on the Senior Lounge jukebox at Palatine High School in Palatine, Illinois.  (Class of '69 and NOW, I am 69.)

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WXRT is now playing a great Grateful Dead, well, Jerry Garcia, song  "The Wheel."  I don't know how a group that had such great studio albums could be so bad in concert.  The worst concert I ever went to was a Grateful Dead concert back in the 80s with a buddy who is a Deadhead.  But, then again, I really hate jamming, especially excessive jamming.  (I'm more of a Parrothead.)

But their studio albums were works of art.

*********************************

Loving That Music--  RoadSong

THAT CRA-ZEE COUNTRY MUSIC:  "She Got the Ring, I Got the Finger."

Going Back to 1969 (BCV)-- Part 1: "In the Year 2525"

In case you're wondering about the (BCV) after 1969 in the headline, it means Before CoronaVirus.

This past Saturday, Chicago's WXRT, 93.1 FM did their Saturday Morning Flashback to 1969, a really great year for me as it marked senior year at Palatine High School in Palatine, Illinois, and freshman year at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb.

That means of course, those songs are some of the best ever made.  Of all the music I like, those tunes from 1964 to 1973, my junior high to end of college years the best.

This took me back, other than most of the commercials which were about you-know-what.

Richard Milne was the host.

SING A SIMPLE SONG--   Sly & the Family Stone
TIME OF THE SEASON--  Zombies
PRESENCE OF THE LORD--  Blind Faith

I'M FREE--  Who
IN THE YEAR 2525--  Zager & Evans
POLK SALAD ANNIE--  Tony Joe White

We Are Great, We Are Fine, We're the Class of __.  --RoadDog

Name That Tune (from the above songs):  "What's Your Name?  Who's Your Daddy?  Is He Rich Like Me?"  Answer below.  --RoadDog


"Time of the Season"

Well, It's High School Football Season Again

And, I missed the first one, let's just blame it on the afternoon game of the Cubs and $1.50 draft pints at Sunnyside Tavern in Johnsburg.  I go to them unless it is bad weather.

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Anyway, I back these six teams

RICHMOND-BURTON Rockets  Our local high school and where lots and lots of our money goes in property taxes.  I'm pulling for my money.

GRANT High School Bulldogs in Fox Lake, Illinois.  We kept out boat there and it was like our town all these years.

ROUND LAKE Panthers   I taught in Round Lake at the middle schools for 33 years and we lived in Round Lake Beach for 17 years.

PALATINE Pirates    Where Liz and I graduated in 1969

JOHNSBURG Skyhawks  We hang out a lot in Johnsburg these days and the school is just two miles directly south of our house.

MT, CARMEL Caravan, Chicago.  Ex-NIU quarterback Jordan Lynch is coach.

Where Else You Want To be On a Friday Night With Good Weather?  --RoadDog

STATE OF THE JOKE:  California    What is every Californians favorite part of winter.  Watching all the bad weather on TV.    (That is unless they aren't being shaken about or sliding off the hillside in a  mudslide.)

Music of 1968-- Part 1: A Year To Remember

From the Time Life Magazine/book "Music of 1968: Rock and Roll's Greatest Year.

I really enjoy these little magazine/books and spend more than I should on them.  Lots of great pictures, concise text an plenty of information and a surprising number of them of particular interest to me.  Most are just 100 pages long so they don't take too long to read.

Of course, I am really interested in music and especially music from 1968, which was a good high school year for at good old Palatine High School in Illinois (my junior/senior year).

Now that I am a year late, I will go through the magazine and write a little of what they said about each artist.

"1968:  A Year To Remember.

"Mick Jagger summed it up best:  "But what can a poor boy do, except to sing for a rock 'n' roll band?"

"For rock 'n' roll lovers, 1968 hit the mother lode.  Psychedelia ruled, and so did protest,  Motown and Johnny Cash's twang. The Rolling Stones blasted back onto the airwaves with "Beggars Banquet."  Heavy metal was ascendant."

Buy Me An Album.  --RoadDog

TRIVIA:  In which scandalous novel is literature professor Humbert Humbert obsessed with pre-teen Dolores Hazel?


"Lolita"

Caught Them!!!!

On December 8th, I wrote about the boys who destroyed a man's Christmas decorations and then tried to run him over while fleeing. See "These Boys Should Get Coal in Their Stockings."

I'm happy to report that they have been caught. I'm unhappy to say that three were from my old alma mater, Palatine High School in Illinois. The other three were from Fremd, also in Palatine and our arch rival.

However, the homeowner, Phil OBrill DECLINED to press charges saying that he was convinced of their remorse. He said that they hadn't been in trouble before and that "Kids make stupid mistakes."

OBrill gave a description of one of the vehicles and it was found in the Palatine High School parking lot. The tags were traced and the boy was interviewed and gave the names of the others.

About $1000 worth of damage was done, but everything was replaced and repaired within a few days thanks to help from the neighbors. The parents said that the teens would face discipline at
home.

Dec. 21st Chicago Tribune "Charges dropped in lights prank" by Jeff Long and Mark Shuman.

Hopefully, these kids learned their lesson and are truly remorseful, and not just sorry that they were caught. I say they should have to do at least 100 hours of community service. A great thing would be to have them put up Christmas decorations for elderly who can not do it themselves.

Teens Getting a Big Break. --RoadDog

Forty Good Years-- A Trip Down Memory Lane

This past Saturday, December 15th, marked the 40th anniversary of when I gave my wife Liz my ID bracelet on December 15, 1967, marking the beginning of a long relationship, that now has 34 years of marriage to boot.

Despite forecasts of, and snow coming down, we drove back to where it all started in Palatine, Illinois.

Liz had just transferred to Palatine from Madonna High School in Chicago. She took the Chicago & Northwestern train to Palatine every day until her parents got a rental house on Boynton Street while their home was being built by Winston-Muss Corporation on Patricia Lane.

We were both juniors and had first met at a party back in November when I mistook her for a girl I kind of liked and, along with another guy, picked her up and put her into a trashcan filled with ice. How's that for an ice-breaker? It's a wonder she ever had anything to do with me after that. But, that did not come to pass.

More on the Trip Later. --RoadDog

Where Were You November 25, 1968?

Bob Stroud did his Rock and Roll Roots Time Warp back on Nov. 25, 2007, the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Since Liz and I are doing "A Trip Down Memory Lane" these days to mark our 40th anniversary of "going together", I will list all the songs Stroud played.

These were all being played on Chicago's two major young people's station at the time. Both were AM radio as FM was just starting to get going. Those stations were WLS and WCFL. These are the charts Stroud used to compile his playlist.

I was a senior at Palatine High School, in Palatine, Illinois, slinging Whoppers at the Burger King on Northwest Highway for a buck an hour and having a great time with the other employees and boss, Bob Galloy, who was just about a kid himself. Didn't much like the other boss, Jerry, but did like their father, Mr. G.

I was sports editor of the Cutlass, the school paper (we were called the Pirates, get it, Cutlass) and sports editor of the yearbook as well.

Liz and I had been going together almost a year by then. She worked part time at General Finance Corporation in Evanston, Illinois, during breaks and holidays. Her dad, Amby, also worked there and they carpooled it from Palatine.

Both of us were living in different sections of the huge Winston Park subdivision. I was at 1102 Anderson Dr., across from St. Thomas School and church. Liz was living at 44 Patricia Lane.

Stroud's comments accompany as well. If in parentheses ( ), it is my comment. I didn't get any of Bob's comment the first thirty minutes as I was asleep. The songs:

Elenore-- Turtles-- (how do you beat that great harmony?)
Nobody-- Three Dog Night (a favorite blue-eyed soul group of mine.)
I Heard it Through the Grapevine-- Marvin Gaye-- (the definitive version of the Gladys Knight & the Pips version. I still can't hear this without envisioning those raisins doing their best soul moves.)

Shake-- Shadows of Knight-- (a local northwest suburb group more famous for "Gloria." This one, for some reason, is regarded as a Bubblegum song, even though it is a great rocker.)

Son of a Preacher Man-- Dusty Springfield--(Nashville song from British songstress)
White Room-- Cream--(second hit after "Sunshine of Your Love." One of my favorite groups and one where I immediately bought every album they released after Ronnie Creel let me listen to his "Fresh Cream" album on a trip to Goldsboro, NC.)

Quick Joey Small (Run Joey Run)-- Kastenetz-Katz Singing Orchestral Circus--Bubblegum music becoming the rage. (I always liked Bubblegum even though most of my friends didn't. How's that for a group name? I still have these original albums as brother Bob evidently did not like them and didn't wreck the albums.)

For Once in My Life-- Stevie Wonder-- has achieved standard status
Shame, Shame-- Magic Lanterns-- British group
Abraham, Martin and John-- Dion--hadn't been on the charts in a long time, then comes out with something completely different from his "Wanderer" type music.
Cinnamon-- Derek-- Top Ten song a long time before Neil Young had his "Cinnamon Girl."
I Can't Turn You Loose-- Chambers Brothers-- follow up to "Time Has Come Today." (Two of my all-time favorite songs.)
Things I'd Like to Say-- New Colony 6-- "B" side of "Come and Give Your Love to Me." Legend has it that Larry Lujac, dj at WLS, turned the 45 over and played this song. He immediately decided this would be the hit. (The Great Chicago Sound of the 60s. Former member Ronnie Rice still performs solo around the Chicagoland area as the "Human Jukebox." He sure knows a lot of songs.)

Kentucky Woman-- Deep Purple--Neil Diamond song and follow up to "Hush." (How to make a pop song into a heavy metal one.)

Both Sides Now-- Judy Collins-- written by Joni Mitchell
Magic Carpet Ride-- Steppenwolf-- (Nothing takes me back to Senior Lounge at Palatine High, right off the cafeteria, more than this song. Hey, is that a junior trying to sneak in?)

Run to Me-- Montanas-- Second hit after "You've Got to Be Lonely."
Love Child-- Supremes-- The Number 1 Song in Chicago by Cindy, Mary, and Diana. (A socially conscious song.)

Man, Did These Songs Take Me Back a Long, Long, Long Time Ago. --RoadDog