01x07 - Gentle And Soft: The Story Of The Blue Jean Committee (Part 2)

[bunniefuu]

[lively instrumental music]

♪ ♪

Let's go.

So you want to talk about the hall of fame?

Let's do it. Yeah.

I think you will find that most rock journalists Have a room like this in their house.

Come this way.

You know, I know some people are upset About how the blue jean committee Are getting inducted into the hall of fame, Even though they only made one great album.

Here's a room where vinyl lives.

Let's find the copy of "catalina breeze."

I spent a couple weeks with them in 1974.

I was there. I saw the magic happening.

Aha.

The blue jean committee.

Here's the original edition, first pressing.

Clark and gene, ladies and gentlemen.

If you listen to the records, you know about clark's voice, But what you aren't prepared for is if you see them live in 1974, What happens when he busts that voice out live.

It is a fuse that gets lit, and the whole place goes off.

And I--I just remember as a young journalist, seeing this, And going, you know, "holy sh*t.

"hold onto this moment. This is magic. These guys could change history."

And those were amazing shows.

I think the eau claire show Had the kind of feeling That if you had been at these shows, You wouldn't question it, And if you were at the eau claire show, Forget it.

It's cosmic.

That was a cosmic alignment.

[crowd cheering]

[upbeat rock music]

♪ ♪

- Hey!

We're the blue jean committee From chicago, illinois.

Make some noise, you jag-offs!

[cheers and applause]

This is called "the freeway."

Here we go.

♪ freeway, riding along ♪
♪ ♪
♪ freeway, riding along ♪

- Six hit singles in 72 hours, All recorded because some chicago knuckleheads Thought they were vegetarians.

Which I would like to reiterate was not true.

"crawdaddy" named "catalina breeze"

Album of the year.

It felt--it felt pretty great.

People were sucking our dicks And people were going nuts over the album, And gene was happy and...

You know, I'm just a kid from chicago Who, uh, went to sausage school, And then, uh, there you are talking about the music, And I mean, that's, uh, very moving, And it's, uh...

It's very enriching, And I'm very, very, uh, Fortunate that that happened to me.

[cheers and applause]

♪ freeway, riding along ♪

[song stops]

[cheers and applause]

[soft organ music]

♪ gentle and soft ♪

Thank you.

♪ ♪
♪ smooth and easy ♪
♪ gentle ♪

It's strange to have a band that big Disappear so quickly.

When people start as kids like they did, It's a real challenge to stay together, Because people as they mature, They go in different directions.

You become more of yourself.

♪ into a hurdle ♪

Tension ratchets up, And it's gonna explode, And it did.

♪ captain tom ♪
♪ points his compass ♪
♪ to the sun ♪

Sad to see.

It's so crazy, 'cause you look at their, you know, Album cover, they look so happy together.

- How happy are they? They're so happy.

- It's, like, such an iconic image.

♪ smooth and easy ♪
♪ gentle and soft ♪
♪ smooth and easy ♪

When they sang together, It was like nobody else.

There's never been a duo like 'em.

It's...

It's just a shame.

♪ smooth and easy ♪
♪ la, la, la ♪
♪ la, la, la ♪
♪ la, la, la ♪

- ♪ gentle and soft ♪

- ♪ la, la, la, la ♪
♪ la, la ♪
♪ la, la, la ♪
♪ smooth and easy ♪
♪ easy, easy ♪

Yeah, the older I get, the more I'm not mad at anybody, And I'm certainly not mad at clark.

I--I got no beef with him at all, Except, uh, chicago beef.

It's a little joke.

♪ smooth and easy ♪

Let's hear everybody.

♪ gentle and soft ♪

You sound beautiful tonight.

♪ smooth and easy ♪

Now just be quiet, everybody.

Just hear it in your head.

[feedback]

Isn't that pretty?

Good night.

If you don't mind-- I mean, I just don't...

I'd like to put a cap on, uh...

Talking about clark too much.

I love him, but there's other subjects.

Now let's talk about the roots of chicago blues.

And the roots of folk music and how they relate to each other, And it's all just american music in the end.

You want to talk about that or no?

You're just interested in clark.

My phones are just ringing off the hook.

Everybody wants to be in business with the bjc.

And then I get a call from wolf and res miller In los angeles.

They're putting together this huge l.A. Show.

Joni mitchell, jackson browne, Poco, david blue, america, And they want the bjc to close.

[cheers and applause]

The place was packed.

It was electric.

It was one of those vintage mid-'70s l.A. Rock nights.

- We get invited to this concert.

It's huge.

It's like the biggest names in california music, And so we're backstage and we're having a good time, And then this one lady walks up and says, "it's great to know the cause means so much to you guys."

And I'm like, "what?"

"what cause?"

In retrospect, I probably should have told the guys, But really it was just my job to get them there.

I run off, and I grab one of these little programs, And there it is, larger than life on the cover, "animal rights now."

Animals rights now?

Where the [bleep] are we?

All of the sudden, The california vibe just melted away.

I'd play an anti-abortion rally Before I play an animal rights now rally.

[bleep] you.

And they were just two chicago guys From sausage families.

Or as they'd be the first to tell you...

A long and noble meat tradition.

A long and noble meat tradition.

Before joni goes on, One of the activists starts this "meat is m*rder" chant.

I look over at the guys, And their eyes are just like lasers.

I mean, this wasn't about dogs and cats and stuff.

This was about being nice to cows and [bleep] pigs.

I mean, are you joking?

I mean, what world am I in right now?

We were kind of trapped in the middle, you know?

And wh--what are you gonna do, you know?

There's 100,000 people waiting to see you, you know?

And--and we were backstage, you know.

It was--it was kind of too late.

I really wasn't worried about clark.

I told him, if he went out there And said how he really felt, it was all over.

No more money.

So, yeah, I chose to put the band above my personal feelings.

Okay?

And then I just had to convince gene To play the gig.

Well, clark wanted to do it.

He didn't have a problem, apparently, Much to my surprise, And, uh, I'm a-- I'm a sausage man.

You know, for me, I--I just wanted to stick to my g*ns And--and be the sausage man who I am, And I just didn't want to turn my back On the sausage community.

I won't.

So they go on...

[cheers and applause]

Clark was fine, but something cracked inside of gene.

♪ ah ♪
♪ ♪

What's going on, man?

I--don't think we should have to do the whole song And do the whole show.

Sing the song, man.

We'll talk about this afterwards.

What are you doing?

This makes no sense at all, man.

Playing for these--

Just get the [bleep] away from me, man.

Hey, what's the matter with you?

[bleep] this, man.

[bleep] everybody here.

Whoa.

[bleep] everybody, man.

This is the wrong kind of show.

We should not be playing, And I've been carrying you too long, mother[bleep].

Carrying me too long?

Hey, next time you say that, you better bring a g*n, You [bleep] idiot.

Gene!

[audience booing]

All right. Hey.

Uh... Hey, everybody.

Hey, relax. Relax.

Why don't you pet your pet pig, you [bleep] animal.

All right, this next song is called "catalina breeze."

You might have heard it on the radio.

Two, three, four!

So when the show ends, They come off the stage, They didn't hit each other.

They took it out on each other's limos.

It was like watching demolition derby.

That was the end of that.

They had such a sound, you know.

It's just a shame That they still hate each other that much, That they can't get together one more time And just get that blend for us.

Well, it's the great "what if," you know?

It's like...

What if they would have done another "catalina breeze"?

If that hadn't have broken up, Can you imagine where they'd be today?

The blue jean committee, I love those guys.

Still do.

But they were the two dumbest mother[bleep] I ever met, And I work in the music industry.

I mean, I regret blowing up like that, But that must have been some show to see.

Boy, I'd like to see that a couple times, A group breaking up right in front of you.

We were the blue jean committee, Which means we're a group and we agree on things, And he turned out to be more of a kind of crooked ceo Doing his own thing.

And I said, uh, "I don't want to, you know, partake In this anymore."

After the band broke up, Gene completely stopped playing music altogether.

He moved in with me for a while, But then my husband, jim, had to kick him out, Because he caught him explaining the dorothy stratten m*rder To my eight-year-old daughter.

His mind was just sh*t.

So, yeah, they were saying, you know, "well, we lost gene. We don't have gene anymore.

What are we gonna do?"

And I thought, "well, luckily, I legally own the name "the blue jean committee And most of the publishing rights."

So in 1978, I did "reborn" with my cousins, Which no one liked.

I think the "rolling stone" review just said "no."

And it wasn't until 1986 that I was lucky enough To discover my true passion, Which was marketing and managing the blue jean committee's Back catalog.

I think a romantic would be disappointed In how it turned out.

Clark honus of course became a gazillionaire, And, uh, gene went back to the sausage factory Where he began.

It's--it's almost shakespearean In the size of the story.

Gene created the world; Clark sold it.

Great, so welcome to the, uh...The showroom.

This is where it all really started, right here, With the catalina coolers.

This is rhythm and blueberries.

Pretty amazing.

This is the original one.

This is the one that launched us right here.

That's just the catalina cooler, With the lime.

"why am I drinking this? Oh, I love that album."

[machine clicking]

That's big at dog tracks.

The blue jean concoction For the urban market.

I wouldn't drink it, but...

They seem to like it.

This is a guitar that, uh, I do not know how to play.

We got this.

This is a very exciting.

It's a co-sponsorship with jose cuervo.

This is a limited edition. Real nice.

This is what bought that pool out there.

They made action figures out of us.

There it is. You want to pop in on that?

There's--there's gene.

Yeah, that looks just like gene.

They did a good job.

All right, let's-- that's--

That's the, uh-- that's the showroom.

Enough of that.

[somber acoustic guitar music]

♪ ♪

I wa--I was never mad at clark, really.

You know, that's just, uh, it's like being kids again In school.

You just, you know, you say a lot, But you don't really mean it.

There's love there in, uh, at the bottom of it.

You know, I got my own life.

I'll always love him, but it's been a long time Since I've, uh, really thought about him.

Yeah, I heard about the award, And, uh, I don't know if I can make it.

I got a whole lot of work to do, But maybe.

I don't know.

♪ ♪

You know, they still play Our songs on the radio, And, I mean, I still get recognized I mean, there's a lot of fans out there, And, you know, it's about time That the rock and roll hall of fame, You know, took notice.

That's pretty incredible That they--they are getting that level of recognition For one record.

You know, some artists had been around 30 years And made dozens of hit records And don't even get invited to the party.

Well, you know, it's so rare That when a band goes into the hall of fame That there's a question about Literally what will happen when they meet.

I mean, you know, they haven't spoken in so long.

You know, will they talk?

Will they hug? Will they fight?

30 years they haven't spoken, right?

Who knows what's going to happen.

[indistinct chatter]

These guys truly showed me What it meant to sing harmony, What two guys against the world could do together, How sometimes soft and smooth Is stronger than hard.

[cheers and applause]

Now, some of you may know, I didn't always love these guys, personally.

In fact, I wouldn't mind taking a swing at clark tonight If I could get a good sh*t at him.

[laughter]

But when I hear these guys sing, That all goes away, And all I want to do is sing along.

Heck, sometimes I still want to be these guys.

Ladies and gentlemen, the blue jean committee.

[cheers and applause]

[laid-back rock music]

♪ ♪

How you doing, brother?

How you doing, man?

[both speaking indistinctly]

Uh, there's a lot of people, uh, We should, uh, thank here tonight.

Um, my question is is, uh, what [bleep] took you so long?

[laughter]

Oh, but, uh, we got, uh, our, uh, manager, The grand shyster himself, uh, alvin izoff, Who made us a lot of money.

[cheers and applause]

Uh, he did a good job.

And, uh, you know, I also want to thank this guy here.

[cheers and applause]

Gene.

[cheers and applause]

You might remember this one.

♪ when the going gets tough ♪
♪ yeah ♪
♪ when the weather gets rough ♪
♪ yeah ♪
♪ gonna strap 'em on, lace 'em up ♪
♪ put on my walking shoes ♪

[cheers and applause]

All right.

[indistinct chatter]

There he is.

There he is.

It's good to see you.

How you doing?

I'm real good.

Hey, that was good.

Yeah.

Yeah, it was all right.

Yeah, I thought, uh, sounded real good.

Yeah, it was all right. It was all right.

Oh, you're looking good and, uh...

Yeah, yeah, you too.

I haven't worn a tux in, uh, a long time.

Yeah.

The crowd-- it was a good crowd.

Same size that they have every other year.

Yeah, well, you look good.

You look good too.

Yeah, are you--

You come out to l.A. At all or--

No, not a whole lot.

You know, once in a while.

Well, I'll see you.

I get up to chicago sometimes.

Oh, yeah. Yeah, you got to give me a call.

I'll call you up.

Yeah, come by.

Yeah.

Yeah.

All right, good to see you again.

Oh, hold on. Wait.

The catalina coolers for you.

Wow, you really, uh...

Yeah. Well...

I'm happy for you. That's good.

Yeah, no, it's good.

Yeah, yeah.

Got it all worked out.

It was good seeing you.

Good to see you.

Good seeing you.

Good to see you. All right.

Bye. Thank you.

[soft acoustic guitar playing]

♪ catalina ♪

[sighs]

♪ ♪

I should probably--

I think we should go [indistinct].

♪ ♪
♪ ♪

Yeah, I don't know.

I think we just, uh--

I think we wanted different things, And that happens, And, uh, I like the california songs.

It enriched my life.

Am I at the right place?

But I like playing 'em here.

This is where I like playing 'em.

To a packed house, right there, mike?

♪ your philosophy's a ticket ♪
♪ from a high-class magazine ♪
♪ you're going to the movies ♪
♪ ♪
♪ catalina breeze ♪
♪ catalina breeze ♪
♪ ♪
♪ catalina breeze ♪
♪ catalina breeze ♪
♪ ♪

[scattered applause]

Thank you.

♪ wiseman say if you want to know a man ♪
♪ walk a mile in his shoes ♪
♪ don't know about you ♪
♪ but I'm more of a barefoot guy ♪
♪ I'm headed down that rough and bumpy road ♪
♪ less traveled ♪
♪ hope this b*at-up mind can soon last ♪
♪ till I'm paying my dues ♪
♪ when the going gets tough ♪
♪ yeah ♪
♪ when the weather gets rough ♪
♪ yeah ♪
♪ strap 'em on, lace 'em up ♪
♪ put on my walking shoes ♪