The Grassroots Permalink
It’s hard to pin the Grassroots down long enough to find out what’s happening with them. Last January, royalty checks in hand, they all marched out and bought fantastic new cars—and have been driving them around ever since. Warren and Creed went all out and each bought a very big, very beautiful German Mercedes Benz. Rickey bought a fastback hardtop MGB (a what???) and Rob stayed conservative, and expensive, with a big brand-new Cadillac. What a great way to go!
Newly married Creed and his attractive bride are settling down to life in a “weird” hill house in Beverly Glen Canyon. It’s weird because the rooms are placed in the oddest places—but it’s darling. And of course they also have their two white dogs with them—a Samoyed and a German Shepherd.
Warren reports that March will probably find them in Italy where they’re going for a promotion tour. It seems like their record, “Tip of my Tongue” was picked as the theme of a bunch of discotheques in Italy called the “Piper Clubs” (similar to Cheetah) and now the Grassroots are very popular there. “It’ll be great going back,” says Warren. “The last time Creed or I were there we were flat broke and had to sing on street corners to keep from starving.”
And right about now a brand new album should be coming out. “It’s more hard rock than we usually play,” says Warren. The new sound sounds great—listen for it!
The Penny Arkade Permalink
If you missed out when Tiger Beat intro’d the super-groovy Penny Arkade then we’re giving you a first look at these handsome four. The Arkade really started with Chris and Craig who originally did a TV pilot together and found out that their personalities and talents grooved so much they had to stay together.
They headed out for the big golden State (of California) and set up equipment. Like a lot of musicians ahead of them they started the folk-singing rounds, and somehow kept running into Mike Nesmith. The Monkee was so impressed with their talents that he took them under his wing. After adding a drummer named Denny (from Mike’s old home town in Texas), and a Bass guitarist named Marvel they went out and recorded a whole album.
But before the album happens the Arkade are playing some local spots around the Strip like Gazzari’s and The Galaxy—keeping in practice until their first record hits and they make it big. And when you hear them, you know they will be up on top of the charts.
The four are always together practicing. They used to practice up in Chris’ house which is stuck on top of some poles in the hills of Hollywood. “My roommate is John London of the Lewis and Clarke Expedition,” says Chris. “We used to take turns practicing up there. But all the neighbors started complaining—and then they started sending up the police. So we stopped playing there completely.”
Listen for them!
Them Permalink
Them, who like to be known as “The British Group,” and have called Amarillo, Texas home for the last little while are moving lock, stock and guitar to Los Angeles. “All the action’s there,” says lead singer Ken McDowell. “Sure, recording expenses are practically zero here in Texas, but we do so much stuff in Los Angeles that it costs us more in plane fare anyway.”
Poor Ken is still recovering from a tonsil operation that he had late in January. The groovy lead singer is really taking it slow with his vocal chords—he’s making sure nothing’s happening to them!
Jim Armstrong’s going to be moving to the “Sun City” with his wife and their tiny daughter of two months! It’s going to take some time to find exactly the kind of place that each of them wants. One thing, they don’t care how close they are to each other—they see so much of each other when they play or go on the road that they joke about not caring if they ever see each other in between times.
On stage, Them, who’ve always been very flashy performers and can hold audiences breathless through their numbers are adding a lot more new to their sounds. Now they’ve really discovered Indian music in a big way and they’re bringing the exotic sitar and other Indian sounds more and more into their repertoire.
Lovin’ Spoonful Permalink
What’s been happening with the Lovin’ Spoonful is all very groovy and good. They took a long rest around News Years time after finishing their album called, “Everything Playing”—which everybody is crazy about.
John Sebastian is one of the first Spoonful to really find a permanent home. He bought a big beautiful mansion in the very exclusive section of Sag Harbor, Long Island. It overlooks the ocean. But for weekday recording sessions in the city he still holds on to an apartment.
No sooner had John moved in than he became a father—13 times over. His male Golden Retriever and his Saint Bernard now have 13 adorable puppies. Over New Year John didn’t even have time to answer the phone, he was too busy feeding!
At the same time Jerry (Yester) was down in South America digging around. No, really! One of his passions is archeology and he spent his vacation on an authentic archeological dig.
But right now it’s tour time for the Spoonful and they’ll probably be hiting [sic] your town during their nation-wide treking. But one thing fame has done for the Spoonful, as John will tell you, “We only have to tour from Thursday until Sunday and then come back home to New York for the rest of the days. We used to travel seven days a week. But we’ve had that… we like to loaf!”
Sonny and Cher Permalink
March fifth is the magic date when Cher starts work on the very first dramatic role in her short film career. In “Chastity,” she plays the role of a young girl in search of herself, and gorgeous Cher should do a knock-out acting job, especially with super-talented husband Sonny at the helm doing the directing chores. By the way, Sonny, whose talents are surprising everyone and who wows ’em in every new project he tries, wrote the story “Chastity” that wife Cher’s starring in.
Friends say that the reason Sonny is letting Cher go it more and more alone in the star spotlight is that he wants to give his wife a real chance to develop her own show biz personality without depending on him. Besides, he’s proving so good in just about everything he does that he may steer her whole career from the sidelines. And the way Cher is shaping up into one of the most beautiful girls in Hollywood you know she’ll be a star for many years to come.
Jon Provost Permalink
For the outasite Jon, March 12th is the BIG date in his life. “I’ll be 18 years old and that means I’m finally legal,” beams Jon. To a teenage actor becoming legal means a social worker doesn’t have to stand guard on the set, a school teacher isn’t needed, and Jon’s mother no longer is bound legally to be on the set when he’s filming. “It’s a fantastic relief,” says Jon. “When you’re 12 or 13 you don’t mind all those rules so much. But it seems a little ridiculous when you’re 17.”
Jon just got back from a wild stay in the Philippines where he was starring in the movie, “Has Anyone Seen Chris?” Even though they worked practically 18 hours a day Jon still had time for romance. He met a girl he became interested in when he’d been there just a short time. She’s the daughter of an officer at Clark Air Force Base, and is blonde, blue-eyed, a lovely 5'2" and just 16. But in Manila there isn’t really that much to do for dates, so Jon escorted her to the Officer’s Club, and even went once to a discotheque in downtown Manila. But as he says, “It’s so different from the States you can’t even imagine.”
Right now he’s working with Sal Mineo and Nancy Sinatra in the pic, “Flower Children” which is being shot almost entirely on Alcatraz Island (off San Francisco). It’s a great part for Jon who unfortunately comes to a very sad end in the picture. Otherwise Jon can be seen all over Hollywood and Beverly Hills. There are a few girls he dates here and many of his evenings are spent at his favorite hang-out in Beverly Hills, called the Hamburger Tavern.
Kurt Russell Permalink
Ever since Kurt’s father gifted him with a ’56 Thunderbird at Christmas-time no one in the family’s seen much of the fantastic young actor. He and his best friend are off “cruising” most of the time—that is when they’re not in school or Kurt isn’t playing one or another of his sports—which is most of the time.
Right now Kurt’s warming up on the semi-professional men’s baseball team he plays with—and that’ll keep him busy on through the summer. But he’ll probably take off one month, or so he says now, to go to Maine and stay with his Grandparents who live there. If things work out right his parents will be along too. Kurt’s been spending a month in Maine for as many summers as he can remember.
Career-wise, Kurt and (Walt) Disney are a pretty close combination. Now that he’s finished “Year of the Horse” at that studio, they’ve got him on tap for at least two more pictures in ’68.
And as far as TV goes, 5'9" Kurt has been offered a lot of things, but as his father, Bing Russell, says, “I wouldn’t want him to do a series. It’s like wearing out your welcome. He’s doing great right now, and he doesn’t have too much td do so he can enjoy everything—that’s the way it should be.”
The Rolling Stones Permalink
The five Stones are always in the middle of some kind of controversy and it’s always hard to pin them down about future plans. Their last album, “Their Satanic Majesties Request” left the five pretty satisfied, for once, and critics raved about how it’s the best thing they’ve done to date.
Ladies man Mick, who’s now settled exclusively with Marianne Faithful for awhile, holds court daily in a flat close to London’s Royal Academy of Music which he’s furnished in a very haphazard fashion. A Mao Tse-tung poster decorates the wall and books are scattered everywhere—from T.S. Elliot to Sophocles.
Mick talks about some things that may happen for him in the near future. “There are several film projects being considered both by the group and myself, but until contracts are signed and the deal’s closed it’s best to keep quiet.”
Charlie (Watts) says, “To all the Stones, recording is the most important thing—that’s the way we can express ourselves, and our views and values of the world. Entertaining is boring; communication is everything!”
Herman Permalink
Herman has so much going for him these days that it’s hard to keep up. First he’s coming back to the United States for, what to him, is a long stay. He was picked to play the role of “Pinocchio” for a fabulous one and a half hour TV spectacular. It’s scheduled to hit the TV screens the Christmas of ’68. The filming began in the Walt Disney Studios at the end of January and should go on for at least a month.
The doll-faced singer is in fantastic demand all over the world. His plans will undoubtably include returning to the U.S. when his full length film for MGM, “Mrs. Brown, You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter” premieres at Easter. And more currently Argentina wants him for a return engagement for eight days of concerts and TV starting February 28.
Poor Herman has so much going for him he doesn’t have time to take a breather—or any time out for social life. That’s what he gets for being super-talented!
