Pat's Peeps Podcast
Ep. 115 Today's Peep Reflects on the Ford Blue Goose Adventure, Discusses Assassination Attempts on President Ford, Jack Black's A-Hole Bandmate, and a Monster of a Record Spin today.
Can a faulty truck door turn into an unforgettable childhood adventure? You bet it can! Join me on this episode of Pat's Peeps as I recount the hilarious and chaotic story of the old family truck, the Blue Goose, and how a leap out of a broken door became a legendary family tale. I also share a nostalgic walk down memory lane with simpler times, like haircuts at Gus's barbershop and meals at the Pink Panther, sprinkled with my eclectic taste in music, including a nod to Gary Puckett's timeless tunes.
But it's not all light-hearted banter. We dig into the weighty topics of presidential assassination attempts, reflecting on President Gerald Ford's composed testimony following two attempts on his life and how his calm demeanor and insistence on public discourse left a lasting impression. We also address the recent concerning news of an assassination attempt on Donald Trump, emphasizing the importance of factual reporting over speculation. Plus, listen to my thoughts on the controversial comment made by Kyle Gass of Tenacious D and its fallout. And don't miss my chat about the entertaining Mickey Dolenz from the Monkees and his upcoming gig in Sacramento. Tune in for a mix of humor, history, and heartfelt reflections!
Can a faulty truck door turn into an unforgettable childhood adventure? You bet it can! Join me on this episode of Pat's Peeps as I recount the hilarious and chaotic story of the old family truck, the Blue Goose, and how a leap out of a broken door became a legendary family tale. I also share a nostalgic walk down memory lane with simpler times, like haircuts at Gus's barbershop and meals at the Pink Panther, sprinkled with my eclectic taste in music, including a nod to Gary Puckett's timeless tunes.
But it's not all light-hearted banter. We dig into the weighty topics of presidential assassination attempts, reflecting on President Gerald Ford's composed testimony following two attempts on his life and how his calm demeanor and insistence on public discourse left a lasting impression. We also address the recent concerning news of an assassination attempt on Donald Trump, emphasizing the importance of factual reporting over speculation. Plus, listen to my thoughts on the controversial comment made by Kyle Gass of Tenacious D and its fallout. And don't miss my chat about the entertaining Mickey Dolenz from the Monkees and his upcoming gig in Sacramento. Tune in for a mix of humor, history, and heartfelt reflections!
We are back. It is the Pats Peeps podcast, thank you. Thank you so much for paying attention to the podcast. Try to do this as often as we possibly can. And today happens to be the 17th day of July 2024. And as I look out the studio windows into the beautiful foothills of Northern California today, thank goodness I will say this, even though I like the heat, thank goodness it's a little bit cooler. I goodness, I will say this even though I like the heat, thank goodness it's a little bit cooler. I'm not going to say way cooler. Obviously we're still into the probably mid to upper 90s, but at least it's not 108 or what have you. So a little bit of a respite from the heat, hoping you're doing well. Thank you again for following along with the podcast.
Speaker 1:Yesterday was really fun having Mickeykey dolan's on again for uh the the second conversation, part two, if you will. And mickey, I tell you he's a fun guy. I really appreciated him. I like his personality really good guy paid me a nice compliment. He said pat, you know what says uh I? I like talking to someone that knows their stuff. Now, he didn't say stuff, but he says but yeah, he appreciated the fact that I kind of know music and you know, know his background. So it was a great, it was an honor to have Mickey Dolenz of the Monkees on the show and don't forget to check him out If you're in the Sacramento area. That is, he'll be at the Crest Theater on July, the 31st. So that is from yesterday and I think the part one with Mickey I think it was 109 might have been the first of the Mickey Dolan conversation, if you will. So let's see.
Speaker 1:I want to get to a variety of things today. It might be a little bit of a shorter podcast today. I'm going to get to work. You know we have the RNC, the Republican National Convention, that's going on. Jd Vance is expected to speak tonight and that could happen during my show. For those of you who do not know and I'd just kind of like to remind you, I'm Pat Walsh, I also host my own show, the Pat Walsh Show, heard locally on KFBK, nationally and internationally on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1:Five to seven I mean, excuse me, seven to 10 pm, five days a week is what I meant to say, monday through Friday, and that's on your streaming platforms, as is Pat's Peep. So a bit of an extension of my show. You know there was an earlier podcast. I'm going to get back to where I realized later. I started to tell a story and I never quite finished it. You know that happens sometimes when you digress as often as I do. That's bound to happen. But I'm probably going to get a little bit shorter of a podcast today, only in that I need to get down and prep for the RNC.
Speaker 1:The Republican National Convention is, like I say, the vice president, vice presidential candidate, I guess that's the right, the running mate to Trump. We'll be speaking tonight and that's expected to happen during my show and I do like to give the listeners an opportunity to express themselves on my show. There are not many outlets where you can do that. You know I wish we could do that on this podcast. And again, I know I have a lot of goals and I tell you that all the time. Perhaps in the near future, maybe we'll make that happen in some way. Let me work on that.
Speaker 1:But you know, before I get to the story, that I did not finish. You know I was thinking still a little bit of fallout from what happened on Saturday. We all know, we've all seen the news. We've all been following the news since the assassination on Donald Trump, speaking of JD Vance's running mate, now the assassination attempt on Donald Trump by a coward.
Speaker 1:I want you to know that I am just never going to get into conspiracy theories. Now if you want to yell at me and say, well, you should explore the conspiracy theories because maybe a conspiracy theory might be right, well, I mean, it's like you know, let's throw it at the wall and see what sticks. I don't know, but I can only go with the facts as I know them. I can only make judgment calls based on what I know, research that I have done, the facts that I know. But I'm really not going to run wild with conspiracy calls because for the most part they are just that and they are always just that, no matter what it is. From JFK beyond, you know conspiracy theories that one's been around since November of 63. It will always be there. And now, of course, there will be conspiracy theories about this assassination attempt and all that. So I'm just not going to delve into that kind of stuff.
Speaker 1:But it did make me think about a couple of other assassination attempts and I think, like you know and I'm going to tie this into the story that I forgot to tell you about, but it made me think about the 38th president of the United States that would be Gerald Ford If you were around back then. You know, gerald Ford, that Chevy Chase would always make fun of him on the original Saturday Night Live the funniest of all the Saturday Night Lives back when it was actually called Saturday Night Live and not SNLC. There I go digressing once again and Chevy Chase would be Gerald Ford bumbling and stumbling around. You know that was the whole joke is that Gerald Ford was clumsy. But you know, when I think back on it, he comes into office as Richard Nixon resigns. So the guy's like oh, I'm in office. Oh, now, wait a minute, hold up, now I'm the president, mr, bumbling and stumbling me.
Speaker 1:Honestly, that's the only thing I really remember about Gerald R Ford. I mean 38th president. He served three years when Nixon resigned, from 74 to 77. He was the leader of the Republican Party in the US House of Representatives for a while, from 65 to 73. 40th vice president under President Richard Nixon, from 73 to 74. Remember Spiro Agnew? 68 to 72. Spiro Agnew, remember that guy that was always in the news. That's one of the most memorable vice presidents ever to me, I don't even know why Again, I digress Ford, by the way and then he was defeated for election full term in 76 by Jimmy Carter.
Speaker 1:But Ford's the only person to serve as a president without winning an election for president or vice president. Um, yeah, so when I think about him and me preside, he presided over the worst economy in four decades Okay, the worst economy since the Great Depression. He gave a presidential pardon to Nixon I remember that because of the Watergate scandal. He signed the Helsinki Accords that moved towards detente in the Cold War. And then there was the collapse of South Vietnam. If you remember, that was nine months into Gerald Ford's presidency. So the US involvement in the Vietnam War essentially came to an end at that point. And then in 76, in the Republican presidential primary, gerald Ford defeated Ronald Reagan for the Republican nomination but then, as I mentioned before, lost to Jimmy Carter in the election. It's just so.
Speaker 1:When I think back on Gerald Ford, I don't really remember any real huge controversies. Maybe, oh, he shouldn't have kind of, I don't know. I don't want to say milquetoast, because I actually like the guy, I really do. I would honestly say he may be an underrated president in terms of some of the things he accomplished, some of the things I just talked about, some of them, you know he had something to do with others, maybe not so much, and we can argue that, but that's not my point. My point is he really didn't seem to be that controversial and we've had presidents current president and the president before that and the president before that, maybe not as much Clinton for a period of time because of his sexual escapades. I'm going to say it one more time I did not have sex with that woman. Sorry, that's my thank you. Thank you very much, but anyhow. But like the controversy we have now, it's just amazing.
Speaker 1:But Gerald Ford, which brings to mind in assassination tips, why Gerald Ford? Twice, not once, but twice. They tried to assassinate Gerald Ford and not only that, both times were women. I still go back and I think about that. I'm like what on earth? Why? Why, of all people, gerald Ford. And one of those attempts happened with a former you probably remember this Charles Manson cult member, murderous cult, squeaky Frome, and she took a. Well, she was going to take a shot. She said there was no bullet in the chamber. She reaches out with the gun. Here you have again the 38th president, gerald Ford, walking from his hotel room in my hometown, sacramento, my home city, as well as el grove, uh. But he's walking from his hotel room on his beautiful sunny day over to the capitol building when, suddenly, squeaky, reaches out with a pistol.
Speaker 2:I noticed a person in the second or third row in a brightly colored dress, who appeared to want to either shake hands or speak, or at least wanted to get closer to me. I stopped because I was gradually moving toward the state capitol and that was my first impression of a person who had a dress on. I, of course, didn't know who it was.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and as you're going to find out, I mean, this is I think they might mention here, but this is the first time the sitting president gave oral testimony during a criminal trial.
Speaker 3:Ford said there was a gun two feet away from him.
Speaker 2:As I stopped, I saw a hand come through the crowd in the first row, and that was the only active gesture that I saw.
Speaker 1:Jeez, even as he's stammering and the way he speaks. It's so milquetoasty, but it's very gentle. It's seemingly very gentle and non-controversial In the hand was a weapon.
Speaker 1:Fromm didn't look so anyhow. So yeah, so Gerald Ford again. So Squeaky Fromm tries to assassinate him and then, in Sacramento, then, 17 days later, he's walking from a limousine I mean from a hotel room, excuse me to his limousine, a hotel room, to his limousine. And another woman, sarah Jane Moore, takes a shot, this time at Ford. The bullet lodges in the door of the hotel room that he's coming from, and many of us hear this of all people, just like Lennon's murder by a coward.
Speaker 4:Many people in America heard of this news from none other than Howard Cosell on Monday Night Football, as anyone would know, a football game, no matter how important in its sphere of reference, is a small thing when compared to a threat upon the life of our president. And that is why now we are going to take you to our distinguished host of the ABC Evening News and one of the great men of news in this country, mr Harry Reisner, for an up-to-the-minute report on the threat upon our president's life today.
Speaker 3:Thank, you, Howard. The president is now on Air Force One somewhere over the Midwest, a little more than an hour to go before he lands in Washington. Mr Ford is all right. He had a close call in San Francisco earlier today when a 45-year-old woman, Sarah Moore, allegedly tried to shoot him. She will be arraigned in San Francisco within the hour in the attempted assassination. For details on what happened there, here is ABC White House correspondent Steve Bell.
Speaker 5:It happened as the president was leaving the St Francis Hotel after his last scheduled appearance. The president appeared stunned momentarily, but he was not hit. He was quickly pushed into a crouching position into his limousine and in moments the motorcade was underway, rushing away from the trouble area toward the airport. The hero of the hour, a san francisco policeman named joseph curry. It was he who saw the gun in a woman's hands moments before she had a chance to fire. He struck her arm just as the gun went off and the bullet crashed into the pavement. The woman was quickly identified as sarah Moore, 45 years old, a known political activist in the San Francisco area. She had been part of that People in Need program, the massive food giveaway organized last year as part of the effort to free Patricia Hearst after she had first been kidnapped.
Speaker 3:President Ford is in the diplomatic reception room of the White House.
Speaker 2:After a quick flight from San Francisco, he's now talking is that I don't think any person as president or any person in any other major political office ought to cower in the face of a limited number of people out of 214 million Americans who want to take the law into their own hands. The American people expect and I approve of it, the fact that I think it's right want a dialogue between them and their president or other public officials, and if we can have that opportunity of talking with one another, seeing one another shaking hands with one another, something has gone wrong in our society, wow.
Speaker 1:Wow, wow. Gerald Ford, speaking the truth right there. I believe what he just said is so true. We have lost ourselves in society If we can't speak to one another, be diplomatic with one another. He seemed like such a gentle guy. Maybe you knew him in a different way or thought of him in a different way. Even like I say, the way he speaks is very to me. He communicates in a very gentle manner.
Speaker 2:I don't think these individuals who want to destroy our society and tear up our fabric of relationship representing us. The American people are good people Democrats, independents, republicans and others.
Speaker 1:Thank you, gerald Ford. We need more presidents speaking like that. Oh man, I don't know. That feels so refreshing to me. Thank you, sir. That was, I don't know. That's a nice response. You know what a not a nice response is. How about this POS? I'm going to try to play it here, this POS? So what? Jack Black and Tenacious D? And I'm not turning on Jack Black here, I don't think it was him, it was one of his band, his ass bandmates. They're in concert and I think, I think, that Jack Black even canceled his concerts, his tour, over this moronic comment from his ass bandmate. So here they are. And I don't know, it's one of the guys' birthday. Here you go, let's see. If the guy's birthday. Here you go, let's see, let's see if we can play this.
Speaker 5:Happy birthday to you.
Speaker 1:Make a wish Canada.
Speaker 2:Don't miss Trump next time.
Speaker 1:What a piece of crap. You're a scumbag. You're a freaking scumbag man. You kidding me? See, this is what's wrong with America right there. A piece of crap like that Thinking he's funny and you know what? At least I will say it seemed like Not. A lot of crap like that Thinking he's funny and you know what? At least I will say it seemed like not. A lot of people thought that was funny, didn't seem like they were just applauding that? Jack Black said he was blindsided by his tenacious D bandmate Kyle Gass' comment about the Trump assassination attempt and you know about the birthday wish. So he canceled his band's tour after that ridiculous statement and his comments came just hours after.
Speaker 1:Trump nearly missed being assassinated Avoided I. Trump nearly missed being assassinated Avoided, I should say, being assassinated At a rally, as we know, in Butler, pennsylvania. Someone else in attendee was killed there. Two others were critically wounded. So the original cowardly piece of crap and I keep using that term because I want to use others, but I'll find a different term Degenerate coward. You know, whatever this guy gets away with it, he gets away with getting up there and at least getting the shot off Hits Trump in the ear and now you have this douche. That's a good substitute, but it really disgraces douche.
Speaker 1:Blindsided by his remarks, says Jack Black. I was blindsided, he said, by what he said at the show Sunday. I would never condone hate speech or encourage political violence in any form. After much reflection, he goes on. I no longer feel it is appropriate to continue the Tenacious D tour. All of the future, creative plans are on hold.
Speaker 1:I'm grateful to the fans for the support and understanding, and this loser put out a statement, an apology, supposed apology Quote the line I improvised on stage Sunday night in Sydney was highly inappropriate, dangerous and a terrible mistake. I don't condone violence of any kind in any form against anyone. You know what? That's freaking great. He says what happened was a tragedy. I'm incredibly sorry for my severe lack of judgment. I profoundly apologize to those I've let down and truly regret any pain I got. Shoddy, if you're not smart enough to understand, something like that is asinine. You don't belong in public on a stage. We don't need to hear from you. I hate all these phony apologies. Don't give me the phony apology when you've been pressed into it because now a man's got to cancel a freaking tour. You're a loser you get. He needs to be fired immediately. You know, apology or not, he needs to be fired. So let me get off of that, because I get all crazy over that and I need to kind of make it short.
Speaker 1:I want to circle back around to I was talking about Gerald Ford. I also mentioned the story that I kind of forgot to finish. The story I was telling you, I don't know, back on one of the podcasts earlier. I don't even know how we got off talking about it. It was something about the appreciation of riding in an old, beat up truck going to the dump with your pops on a weekend AC Delco radio, in a truck that either works or doesn't work, completely obsolete for like a decade, 15 years, or maybe it does work and your uncle you're going to the dump or going somewhere with him out to the country and you're listening to some Merle Haggard, you're going to old school. Then you get there and I'll drink a Falstaff. You know what I'm saying? And my dad had.
Speaker 1:So I was talking about this fact that my dad had a 59 Ford. It reminded me of a Gerald Ford. Oh, yeah, that 59 Ford. So my dad had this 59 Ford. I told you we called it the Blue Goose and I had mentioned the passenger door when you were in the Blue Goose On occasion and it was a good you know it was a very high percentage of the time, not a high percentage. Let's just say this. There was a very good chance that if my pops would turn on a street, that door might fly open.
Speaker 1:Now, my dad was no mechanic. That's why I'm no mechanic. I never learned how to be a mechanic. I never learned that you don't want me working on your car. But why my dad never fixed that door, I don't know. Because there was six kids. So we would ride. I remember we used to ride in the back of that truck. I, like many, remember that we used to ride in the back of the pickup trucks, even on the freeway. That is crazy, but we used to do it. So the door would have an occasion. On occasion it would open.
Speaker 1:So one day middle afternoon I was talking about going to Gus's barbershop. Give him the works, gus, and he'd give us the haircuts. We'd go into the Pink Panther. It was all together with the Winchell's Donuts and, matter of fact, as a 14-year-old I remember sitting in the Winchell's because I'm working now on my'm an adult and I'm reading about Richard Nixon resigning and Gerald Ford becoming the new president.
Speaker 1:So, anyhow, one day my dad pulls in there and I'm in the passenger seat. He makes the left turn and he wants to beat the traffic that's coming towards us. One of the cars that's coming towards us is like a 1968 Biz Kane station wagon, you know, olives, oxidated, olive green, with the simulated wood grain paneling on the side. You got a lady with a beehive hairdo, wearing like those far side pointed glasses, and a dude chomping on a cigar. Yes, honey, bald. Dude hair on the side. Yes, darling, whatever you say, darling, I'll just keep moving, harry. Ah, dude hair on the side. Yes, darling, whatever you say, darling, I'll just keep moving, harry. My dad turns left.
Speaker 1:I go flying out the drug door into the middle of the intersection on Franklin Boulevard, catty corner, to this little mall. We were going to this little strip mall. I'll never forget the lady, my dad, as I'm flying out, he doesn't want me flying into traffic, so he goes to grab me by the shirt. He reaches out, he tries to grab me. He doesn't get me and I fly into the intersection. Here comes the biz cane, simulated wood grain paneling company, hits the skids, misses me. Lady gets out. Frank, oh my God, oh God, she gets out, comes over. She starts yelling at my dad. I saw you push him, you pushed him, you pushed that young man. Her beehive's all sweating. My dad says lady, it's the middle of summer. Lady, I didn't push him, I was trying to grab him. The door flew open oh sorry, remember this.
Speaker 1:I wasn't hurt. I skinned up elbow, whatever. I avoided death, thank god. But I'll never forget that lady coming to my rescue. Everything's okay, frank. Apparently try to grab it, but that's just dangerous. I remember afterwards my dad took me to the pink path. I got my hair cut like Opie Taylor. Everything's okay, frank. Apparently he tried to grab it, but that's just dangerous. I remember afterwards my dad took me to the Pink Panther. I got my hair cut like Opie Taylor Going to the Pink Panther and my dad's retelling him this story and someone felt bad for me. So someone goes oh, this will make you feel better. They put a bowl in front of me of tripe soup. I'm like what is this Tripe soup? What's tripe soup? Well, it's the stomach lining of a cow.
Speaker 5:No.
Speaker 1:Isn't that a weird memory to have? And in the background on the jukebox, here's what's playing in this dark, dingy bar, like one in the afternoon on a Sunday. Young girl, get out of my life. My love for you, you know, gary Puth, is way out of time. What was up with that dude? By the way, all of Gary Puckett's hits were about young girls. What is the one about? You're a woman now or something. Young girl, get out of my life. Hey now, anyhow, where was I? I love to digress. Where was I? Let's see what else is on. Please listen to my show tonight. I would love that. The Pat Wall Show. And, as I mentioned, on I heart everywhere. Let's see. Let's get to some music, because I got to wrap it up. We'll keep it at about 30 minutes.
Speaker 1:Today, when I pulled this song, called it from my rare 45 collection, I was so happy because I love this song, Didn't care for yesterday's song. Was it yesterday or the day before that? Whatever, last kiss, anyhow, this one was always one of my favorites In junior high and, to this day, always loved this song and it was a big hit. So one of the first times, I think, I've played an instrumental by an American band, featured in the 1972 album Well, I'm not going to tell you the name of the album because you'll probably get it if I tell you that right away but also released as an issue. Released as a single Song topped the US Billboard Hot 100. It topped it number one Going back to May 1973, baby, here's the big hit being replaced by Paul McCartney's my Love replaced it as the number one hit. This particular song sold over one million copies. It fared equally well in Canada where it reached number one Top singles chart following month. Same month, song peaked at number 18 in the UK. Following month peaked at number 10 in Mexico. Song peaked at number 39 in West Germany, remained on the chart for a week and the single was certified gold June 19, 1973.
Speaker 1:But the interesting thing is the background. So it's coined by the band's drummer, chuck Ruff. The song's title comes about I love this story from this massive editing of the original studio recording, so as the band deviated from the musical arrangement into less structured sort of jams and things. So the the song. It requires now all these edits to make it shorter. So then you have the final track and they splice all this stuff together. I mean they just cut it, all these various tracks that didn't belong together. They just cut it all together from many different selections of the original recording. So it was the same song, but it was just anyhow. They took all these parts and spliced it together, suffice it to say, and that's why it became sort of this lumbering beat and it became sort of a monster-like. You know where I'm going with this and it became sort of a monster-like. You know where I'm going with this and I'll tell you who it is. Well, I'll tell you the name of the album. Name of the album they Only Come Out at Night, which I love. This album, it's got other great songs. We all had a real good time. Anyhow, it's a great album. It's got Freeride. It's Edgar Winter.
Speaker 1:I'm holding in my hand a virgin copy. Literally I'm pulling it out of the sleeve and for a song that was played so many times. My friends, I'm here to tell you this version that I'm holding in my hands is an original version. One side is mono. It has a radio station stamp on it March 15th of 73. It was recorded February 21st of 73. They received this record on March 15th of 73 and put it on their record shelves, and right now I am pulling it out for the very first time since 1973. The other side is the stereo version. The stereo version on Epic Record is orange, the mono version on the flip side is white, and I mean to tell you again I keep stressing it, but this is the original, not on a best of, not on a compilation. This is the original 45 of this release and it's never been played. So let's play it for the first time here, shall we? I dig this song, edgar Winter, without further ado.
Speaker 1:The classic. Why is it okay when it's stitched together? What monster did they stitch together? Obviously, the classic frankenstein guitar solo. Now, again, I don't have the license to this. I'm educating people about the song, trying to educate. You know me, I'm trying to educate, always trying to educate. You know me, I'm trying to educate, always trying to educate. I guess you can get away with it if you're educating. Here we go, edgar on the horns. Yeah, also, kudos to Rick Derringer. There we go. You know who else is on this Ronnie Montrose, chuck Ruff on the drums, dan Hartman on the bass. Here's another pieced together part. So so I always liked this part as a kid, edgar Winner.
Speaker 4:Edgar Winner on the ARP 2600 synth.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to Pat's Peeps 115. Thank you for listening. Oh yeah, appreciate you. See you on the radio, you.