Skip to main content

Reflections of a Wonderful Summer with the Happy Together Tour

We want to thank all our fans for helping make The Happy Together 25th Anniversary Tour a huge success! We are blessed to play alongside so many talented entertainers, including The Turtles' Flo and Eddie, the great ones, Micky Dolenz and Mark Lindsay, The Grass Roots' Rob Grill, Dusty Hanvey and Mark Dawson, and the exceptional guitar of Wayne Avers.

Touring for many weeks with our friends gave us great opportunities to catch up and experience the joy of an exciting tour, reminiscent of the whirlwind schedule we kept in 1967. No matter how many times we sing our songs, we sing them new for you each concert. We thank you for the opportunities to be, again, a part of your lives in song. It was a privilege to meet many of you after the show, and many emotional, poignant moments were shared when you brought vinyl albums and pictures from our 'first' tours in the late 1960s. Its humbling to be a part of your greatest memories, and we appreciate you honoring us, yesterday and today, choosing our music as part of the soundtracks of your lives. It was also rewarding to find many new fans among teenagers and young adults who grew up hearing our music on their parents' stereos, and later CD players.

We were very fortunate to work with one of the most professional, fabulous bands this tour. We salute Godfrey Townsend on Guitar and vocals, John Montagna on Bass and vocals, Manny Focarazzo on Keyboards and vocals, and Steve Murphy on Drums and vocals. They accompanied us with the same pro style they've shown with the Alan Parsons Project and numerous outstanding touring artists. Their backing vocals were an added bonus, and they brought enthusiasm that recreated the fun of the 1960s tours again. You can hear them again as the Yellow Submarine (thanks, JM) is on the road for Hippiefest throughout the country right now.

No tour can be successful without a professional crew...Jason Craig, Earl Driggers, Warren Fambrough and Larry Green were integral to our success, worked quickly and tirelessly to make each show happen and then packed it up and got on the road--their days and nights were endless as they traveled less glamorously between shows, yet they're pros, and kept a bright outlook, even at the most demanding times.

Our producer and tour production manager, Ron Hausfeld, ran a tight ship and kept everything running smoothly. Ron was a gracious director of the Happy Together Tour, and a great gentleman with whom it was a pleasure to work.

Once again, thanks to all of you, our fans, who keep our music alive for coming out to the show and supporting us. Because of you, we are confident there will be another Happy Together tour.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Remembering Frank Tesinsky, Beloved Chicago Musician, Key to The Buckinghams' Characteristic Sound

Each time the opening notes to “Kind of a Drag” come on the air, whether it’s your car radio, your phone, or choice of streaming media, the first 23 notes you hear inform you immediately that not only are you hearing “Kind of a Drag,” but you are hearing The Buckinghams. That instant recognition, in turn, is thanks to the talent of musician Frank Tesinsky, who arranged the iconic tune for producers Dan Belloc and Carl Bonafede in a 1966 recording session in Chicago’s Chess Studios. The Buckinghams family was greatly saddened to learn of Frank’s passing on November 9. Catherine Johns, his wife of 32 years, was a beloved part of his life and part of Chicago radio as well. In February 1967 "Kind of a Drag" was #1 on the Billboard charts for two weeks, and it forever defined the sound of five young men from the northside of Chicago. Just 27 notes, right? And yet, it defined the magic of what would become known as “the horn sound” that The Buckinghams are b...

What Celebrating 50 Years Since Reaching #1 on Billboard Means in the World of The Buckinghams

Everyone who is a fan of the band The Buckinghams can easily name all the songs that were Top 10 hits, Top 20 hits, and Billboard Top 100 chartmakers. You have several songs that have personal, special meaning for you. But the song that took the native Chicagoans out of the basements of the band members' homes was the one USA Records released last, almost as an afterthought. "Kind of a Drag" has the distinction of being the song that took this band to the national level. Many wonderful bands are part of Chicago history, and they are as beloved today as they were in their time. But this one song, "Kind of a Drag" took flight and went to #1 on Billboard 50 years ago today, February 18, 1967. Imagine what it was like for five young men to hold a copy of "Billboard" in their hands. For a few years, Carl and Jon-Jon had gone to the newsstand each week, buying a single copy of "Billboard" and reading it cover to cover. These days you hear about ...

In Memory of John Poulos, March 31, 1947 - March 26, 1980

Five days before his 33rd birthday, we lost John Poulos, a dear friend who was like a brother to us, as well as The Buckinghams’ drummer. Often described as the heartbeat of our band, he was known to most Buckinghams’ fans of the 60s simply as Jon-Jon. To know John was to love him. With his outgoing personality, he never met a stranger. His talent is remembered best in the style he displayed on drum fills and riffs on our hits, including “Don’t You Care,” “Hey Baby, They’re Playing Our Song,” and “Kind of a Drag.” It’s not surprising that Jon-Jon was included as one of the Top 10 drummers in Modern Drummer Magazine. Contemporary MySpace profiles of aspiring amateur and professional musicians today include the name John Poulos among their musical influences. That’s an honor both fitting and accurate for a musician who was truly one of a kind. Nick and I recall that one of John’s own musical influences was Bobby Elliot, drummer for The Hollies, whose signature beret and tossing of his he...