Tonight's Musical Guest, Today
The Beatles on Ed Sullivan. Nirvana on Saturday Night Live. Warren Zevon on David Letterman. Sometimes, late-night TV musical performances live on forever. Most don’t. But we still want to talk about them.
Each week on “Tonight’s Musical Guest, Today”, long-time friends Alex Beaton and Jon Hillman dive in on the music and cultural memory of a band through the arc of their late-night TV performances. Watch along with Alex and Jon as they examine and react to these musical history moments preserved in the amber of time alongside two celebrity guests and a talk show host.
From Conan to Colbert, Letterman to Leno, or SNL to MadTV, there is no shortage of iconic late-night musical moments. And no end to the ones you don’t remember.
Tonight's Musical Guest, Today
1960s Aretha Franklin
T-M-G-T-P-O-D! Find out what it means this week! We're going way back into the era of bright light variety specials to talk the Queen of Soul. It's 1960s ARETHA FRANKLIN week!
The guys discuss Aretha’s intense upbringing amid the civil rights movement and on the black gospel circuit before watching a 1964 Steve Allen clip that captures her jazzy Columbia Record's era. Aretha crushes with Respect and Chain of Fools on a crazy time-capsule variety special called Woody Allen Looks at 1967. Plus her 1968 and 1970 appearances on variety shows hosted by Sammy Davis Jr. and Tom Jones, featuring duets with each.
Want to watch along with us? Check out the links below for the performances discussed this week!
Lover Come Back to Me/Rock a Bye Your Baby/Won't be Long/Skylark/Evil Gal Blues, 5/19/64 on The New Steve Allen Show
Do Right Woman, 11/1/67 on The Merv Griffin Show
Respect/Chain of Fools (14:03 mark), 12/27/67 on Kraft Hall Music Presents Woody Allen Looks at 1967
Say a Little Prayer for You/Come Back Baby/Medley with Sammy Davis Jr. (Think, Respect, What'd I Say) (33:04 mark), 11/2/68 on The Hollywood Palace with Sammy Davis Jr.
Say a Little Prayer for You/It's Not Unusual/Seesaw with Tom Jones/Spirit in the Dark with Tom Jones, 10/9/70 on This is Tom Jones