NEWSREEL of the Boston World Premiere |
In Autumn, 1964,
Travis returned from Germany to begin the long process of recovery at Chelsea
Naval Hospital. Still on crutches following a bone graft operation,
he was contacted by the younger brother of the drummer from “The Jesters”
and asked to sing a few songs for “The New Jesters” at a Natick
High School talent show. Travis agreed and his father drove
him to the gig.
Travis' dad, quoted in the Tuesday, October 25, 1966 edition of The Boston Globe, said, “I went to a concert at Natick High School at which there were 1200 young people. When my son played his electrical guitar I could not understand all the furor. Girls shrieked and yelled their admiration. I said to myself, 'Is this my kid?'” So Jim decided to make “Feelin' Good,” released two years later to mixed reviews. In the Boston Record American of Friday, October 28, 1966, Peggy Doyle headed her review, “Hub-Bred 'Feelin' Good' Bright Teen Musical,” but another critic wrote “Luckily, a lot of music intervenes between dreary dialogue (is it camp-spoofy or just bad?) and silly situation.” He redeemed himself by continuing, “Travis Pike wrote eight of the film's songs — most of them imitative of current pop trends but unoffensively, even pleasantly tuneful — and sings them in a strong melodic voice.” |
