WA2K Radio is now on the air

My goodness, Eva. You startled me right out of my reverie. Roy Clark is a neighbor of yours? Tell him to play a song or two for us here on our radio.<smile>

Used to get Roy confused with Kenny Rogers, folks.

When I went to my favorite one stop shop place, I asked Mr. Patel if he knew the lyrics to Song of India. I even sang a small portion for him. He loves music, but I don't think he recognized that; however, I did get a mini lecture on karma, and I was delighted. His wife's name is Uma and she is a smile a minute.

Inspired by the travelogue forum, I thought of my mom today. So, here is her song:

Queen of Chesapeake Bay

'Round the bend I hear the chuggin' of the steamboat dear,
Heading here for this pier,
You'll catch it if you hurry don't you ever fear,
It's that old Dominion line.
We'll she seems real pretty as she hugs the shore,
Heading for Baltimore.
Everybody's yearning
To hear the paddles churnin'
She's the Queen of the Chesapeake Bay.

Come on Miss Nancy put your best dress on
Come on Miss Nancy 'fore that steamboat's gone.
The banjos are strumming the same old tune
Up on the deck there's a place to spoon
Settle down close 'neath the silvery moon
Sailing on the Chesapeake bay.

Come on Captain we must catch that boat,
We can't swin and listen we can't float
The banjos are strumming the same old tune
Up on the deck there's a place to spoon
Settle down close 'neath the silvery moon
Sailing on the Chesapeake bay.

Incomplete lyrics, I think.

Back later with another inspiration.

I have that Little Richard album on vinyl, and also the follow up. Some of my favorite music. I was just today listening to the new duets album by Jerry Lee Lewis (Last Man Standing) and getting a kick out of Little Richard and Jerry doing the Beatles' I Saw Her Standing There. The album has BB King, Bruce Springsteen, Mick Jagger, Neil Young, Robbie Robertson, John Fogerty, Ringo Star, Merle Haggard, Rod Stewart, George Jones, Eric Clapton and several other greats. BB King, of course can still play Lucille the guitar very well, but can no longer vocalize. Some of the songs are, Just a Bummin Around, Honky Tonk Woman, Couple More Years, Ol Glory, Trouble in Mind and Lost Highway.

Oops, hamburger, you're as quiet as St. Nick. Thanks for the picture and reminder, Canada.

Also, thanks to POM on Reyn's thread, I was able to find a tribute to James Taylor by Sting. It seems that the man is still playing and singing, listeners, and has a new cd of Christmas songs.

I guess my favorite will always be Fire and Rain, Reyn. <smile>

Here's one that James does, folks:

Have yourself a merry little Christmas,
Let your heart be light
From now on,
our troubles will be out of sight

Have yourself a merry little Christmas,
Make the Yule-tide gay,
From now on,
our troubles will be miles away.

Here we are as in olden days,
Happy golden days of yore.
Faithful friends who are dear to us
Gather near to us once more.

Through the years
We all will be together,
If the Fates allow
Hang a shining star upon the highest bough.
And have yourself A merry little Christmas now.

Hey, Pogo. I love "Trouble in Mind"

This one is for you, Texas:


Lyrics for Song: Trouble In Mind
Lyrics for Album: Last Man Standing
(Richard M Jones)

[Chorus:]
I'm troubled in mind, I'm blue
But I won't be blue always
You know the sun gonna shine
On my back door some day

I'm going down to the river
Take my old rockin' chair
If the blues don't take me
Gonna rock away from here

[Chorus]

I'm gonna lay my head
On some lonesome railroad line
And let the two nineteen
Satisfy my troubled mind

[Chorus]

You know the sun gonna shine
In my backdoor some day

Hmmm. I believe Jerry Lee did that one a mite differently as well.

Shall we decorate our studio now?

Gentle On My Mind
Glen Campbell

Well it's knowin' that your door is always open
And your path is free to walk
That makes me tend to leave my sleepin' bag rolled up
Stashed behind your couch
And it's knowin' I'm not shackled by
forgotten words and bonds
And the ink stains that have dried upon some lines
That keeps you in the back roads
By the rivers of my memory
And keeps you ever gentle on my mind

It's not clingin' to the rocks and ivy
Planted on their columns now that bind me
Or somethin' that somebody said because
They thought we fit together walkin'
It's just knowin' that the world
Will not be cursin' or forgivin'
When I walk along some railroad track and find
That you're movin' on the back roads
By the rivers of my memory
And for hours you're just gentle on my mind

Though the wheat fields and the coal mines and the junkyards
And the highways come between us
And some other woman's cryin' to her mother
'Cause she turned and I was gone
I still might run in silence
Tears of joy might stain my face
And the summer sun might burn me till I'm blind
But not to where I cannot see
You walkin' on the back roads by the rivers
Flowin' gentle on my mind

I dip my cup of soup
From some gurglin', cracklin' cauldron
In some train yard
My beard a roughenin' coal pile
And a dirty hat pulled low across my face
Through cupped hands 'round a tin can
I pretend to hold you to my breast and find
That you're wavin' from the back roads
By the rivers of my memory
Ever smilin', ever gentle on my mind

Are you a good grinch or a bad grinch, dj? Yes, Canada. Gentle on my mind.

I liked this song by Glen for the sound in the background as well as for his voice and guitar:

Wichita Lineman

I am a lineman for the county.
And I drive the mainroad.
Lookin' in the sun for another overload.

I hear you singing in the wire.
I can hear you thru the whine.
And the Wichita Lineman,
is still on the line.

I know I need a small vacation.
But it don't look like rain.
And if it snows that stretch down south,
won't ever stand the strain.

And I need you more than want you.
And I want you for all time.
And the Wichita Lineman,
is still on the line.

Sorry I startled you, Miss Letty.

Hope I haven't done it again!

"Gentle On My Mind" was one of Glen Campbell's signature songs, but it was written by John Hartford...one of my all-time favorite performers. I wonder if anyone else remembers him?

http://www.johnhartford.com/biography.cfm

Good early morning, WA2K listeners and contributors. My goodness. I am surprised that Miss India hasn't rushed in with an admonition about my early rising, or done a song from Guys and Dolls.

Hey, Eva. You didn't really startle me, honey. I was just lost in meditation. What a surprise to find out this about John Hartford, gal.

Artist: John Hartford Lyrics
Song: I am a Man of Constant Sorrow Lyrics
(In constant sorrow through his days)

I am a man of constant sorrow
I've seen trouble all my day.
I bid farewell to old Kentucky
The place where I was born and raised.
(The place where he was born and raised)

For six long years I've been in trouble
No pleasures here on earth I found
For in this world I'm bound to ramble
I have no friends to help me now.

[chorus] He has no friends to help him now

It's fare thee well my old lover
I never expect to see you again
For I'm bound to ride that northern railroad
Perhaps I'll die upon this train.

[chorus] Perhaps he'll die upon this train.

You can bury me in some deep valley
For many years where I may lay
Then you may learn to love another
While I am sleeping in my grave.

[chorus] While he is sleeping in his grave.

Maybe your friends think I'm just a stranger
My face you'll never see no more.
But there is one promise that is given
I'll meet you on God's golden shore.

[chorus] He'll meet you on God's golden shore.

One of my favorites from O Brother Where Art Thou, and I must admit that George Clooney did a marvelous lip sync on that one.

I always liked John Hartford. He played good and wrote good songs.

Good morning, John Hartford rocks, but is your name…

Gloria
Laura Branigan Lyrics

Gloria, you're always on the run now
Running after someone, you gotta get him somehow
I think you've got to slow down before you start to blow it
I think you're headed for a breakdown, so be careful not to show
it

You really don't remember, was it something that he said?
all the voices in your head calling, Gloria?
Gloria, don't you think you're fallin'?
If everybody wants you, why isn't anybody callin'?
don't you have to answer
Leave them hangin' on the line, oh-oh-oh, calling Gloria
Gloria (Gloria), I think they got your number (Gloria)
I think they got the alias (Gloria) that you've been living
under (Gloria)
But you really don't remember, was it something that they said?
all the voices in your head calling, Gloria?

A-ha-ha, a-ha-ha, Gloria, how's it gonna go down?
Will you meet him on the main line, or will you catch him on the
rebound?
Will you marry for the money, take a lover in the afternoon?
Feel your innocence slipping away, don't believe it's comin'
back soon

And you really don't remember, was it something that he said?
all the voices in your head calling, Gloria?
Gloria, don't you think you're fallin'?
If everybody wants you, why isn't anybody callin'?
don't you have to answer
Leave them hangin' on the line, oh-oh-oh, calling Gloria
Gloria (Gloria), I think they got your number (Gloria)
I think they got the alias (Gloria) that you've been living
under (Gloria)
But you really don't remember, was it something that they said?
Are the voices in your head calling, Gloria?

(Gloria, Gloria, Gloria, Gloria, Gloria)
(Gloria, Gloria, Gloria, Gloria, Gloria) ...

Good morning, Try. My name ain't Gloria, nor John, but Paul Simon sings a song of mistaken identity. (odd that coincidence)

A man walks down the street
He says why am I soft in the middle now
Why am I soft in the middle
The rest of my life is so hard
I need a photo-opportunity
I want a shot at redemption
Don't want to end up a cartoon
In a cartoon graveyard
Bonedigger bonedigger
Dogs in the moonlight
Far away my well-lit door
Mr. Beerbelly Beerbelly
Get these mutts away from me
You know I don't find this stuff amusing anymore
If you'll be my bodyguard
I can be your long lost pal
I can call you Betty
And Betty when you call me
You can call me Al

A man walks down the street
He says why am I short of attention
Got a short little span of attention
And wo my nights are so long
Where's my wife and family
What if I die here
Who'll be my role model
Now that my role model is
Gone gone
He ducked back down the alley
With some roly-poly little bat-faced girl
All along along
There were incidents and accidents
There were hints and allegations

If you'll be my bodyguard
I can be your long lost pal
I can call you Betty
And Betty when you call me
You can call me Al
Call me Al

A man walks down the street
It's a street in a strange world
Maybe it's the third world
Maybe it's his first time around
He doesn't speak the language
He holds no currency
He is a foreign man
He is surrounded by the sound
The sound
Cattle in the marketplace
Scatterlings and orphanages
He looks around, around
He sees angels in the architecture
Spinning in infinity
He says amen! and hallelujah!

If you'll be my bodyguard
I can be your long lost pal
I can call you Betty
And Betty when you call me
You can call me Al
Call me Al

Joyce Kilmer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Alfred Joyce Kilmer

Born: 6 December 1886
New Brunswick, New Jersey United States of America
Died: 30 July 1918
near Seringes, France

Alfred Joyce Kilmer (6 December 1886 in New Brunswick, New Jersey (USA) - 30 July 1918 near Seringes, France) was an American journalist and poet; his best-known work is a poem entitled "Trees" (1913) which was first published in a collection entitled Trees and Other Poems in 1914.






Biography

Kilmer was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, the son of Annie Ellen Kilburn (1849-1932) and Dr. Frederick Barnett Kilmer (1851-1934), a physician and chemist employed by the Johnson and Johnson Company and inventor of the company's famed Baby Powder. He was named Alfred Joyce Kilmer after the Rev. Drs. Alfred Stowe and Elisha Brooks Joyce, two rectors of Christ Church, the oldest episcopal parish in New Brunswick, where the Kilmer family were parishioners.[1] Rector Joyce, who served the parish from 1883 to 1916, (Stowe served from 1839 to 1883) baptised the young Kilmer. Kilmer would later convert from the Anglican church to Roman Catholicism in 1913.

His birthplace in New Brunswick, where the Kilmer family lived from 1886 to 1892[2] is still standing, housing a small museum to Kilmer, and a few Middlesex County government offices.

After attending and graduating from the Rutgers College Grammar School (now Rutgers Preparatory School) in 1904, he continued his education at Rutgers College from 1904 to 1906. Unable to complete the rigorous mathematics requirement in the curriculum at Rutgers, Kilmer transferred to Columbia University in New York City, completing his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1908. Shortly after graduation, on 9 June 1908, he married Aline Murray (1888-1941) a fellow poet, and had five children: Kenton Sinclair Kilmer (1909-1995), Michael Barry Kilmer (1916-1927), Deborah Clanton Kilmer (1914-1999), Rose Kilburn Kilmer (1912-1917), and Christopher Kilmer (1917-1984).

From 1909 to 1912, he worked on the staff of "The Standard Dictionary" published by Funk and Wagnalls and became a special writer for the New York Times Sunday Magazine. He then moved to Mahwah, New Jersey, where he resided until his service and death in World War I.

Kilmer enlisted in the United States Army in April 1917, and quickly rose to the rank of Sergeant in the 69th Volunteer Infantry Regiment (better known as the "Fighting 69th" and later redesignated the 165th Infantry Regiment), of the 42nd "Rainbow" Division. Originally a statistician, Kilmer was assigned duty as an Intelligence observer, requiring patrols deep behind enemy lines to gather information about the enemy. At the Second Battle of Marne, during one mission at Muercy Farm, beside the Oureq River near the village of Seringes, in France, Kilmer was killed in action by a sniper on 30 July 1918 at the age of 31. For his valour, Kilmer was posthumously awarded the Croix de Guerre (Cross of War) by the French Republic.

Kilmer was buried in the Oise-Aisne Cemetery, Fere-en-Tardenois, France. Although Kilmer is buried in France in an American military cemetery, a cenotaph is located on the Kilmer family plot in Elmwood Cemetery, in New Brunswick, New Jersey.


"Trees"

Joyce Kilmer is chiefly known for a poem entitled "Trees" first published in a book entitled Trees and Other Poems (1914). The poem is believed to have been written in 1913, while Kilmer was in Chicago, however, other sources state it was written on 2 February 1913, in Mahwah, New Jersey[3]

The poem is notable for its anthropomorphism: the tree in the poem presses its mouth to the earth's breast and looks at God and raises its leafy arms to pray. The poem was given a musical setting that was quite popular in the 1940s and 1950s.

Local tradition in New Brunswick, New Jersey, states that Kilmer wrote the poem "Trees" after a large white oak (Quercus alba) tree that was located on the outskirts of town on the campus of Cook College (the School of Agriculture), at Rutgers University. This tree, several hundred years old, fell down after being struck by lightning in the 1990s. Currently, sapplings grown from acorns of the historic tree are being grown at the site, throughout the Middlesex County area, and in major arborteums around the United States. The remains of the original Kilmer Oak are currently kept in storage at Cook College, Rutgers University.

Another tradition, though unsubstantiated, is that the location of the Kilmer home on a wooded hill in Mahwah, New Jersey inspired the poem.

Trees

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the sweet earth's flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

Works

Summer of Love (1911)
Trees and Other Poems (New York: Doubleday Doran and Co., 1914).
Main Street and Other Poems (New York: George H. Doran, 1917).
Literature in the Making by some of its Makers (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1917).
Poems, Essays and Letters in Two Volumes (Volume One: Memoir and Poems, Volume Two: Prose Works) (New York: George H. Doran, 1918 - published posthumously).
The Circus and Other Essays and Fugitive Pieces (New York: George H. Doran, 1921 - published posthumously).

Notable places and things named for Kilmer

Several municipalities across the United States have named parks, schools and streets in honour of Joyce Kilmer, including his hometown of New Brunswick, New Jersey, which renamed the street on which he was born "Joyce Kilmer Avenue."

Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest (3,800 acres/15km²) located in the Nantahala National Forest, near Robbinsville in Graham County, North Carolina. Dedicated in Kilmer's memory on 10 July 1936.
Camp Kilmer, opened in 1942 in what is now Edison, New Jersey, an embarcation center for soldiers going to the European theatre during World War II. Many of the original buildings remain, and it is now the location of the Livingston campus of Rutgers University where a library is named after him.
The State of New Jersey and the New Jersey Turnpike Authority have named a rest area on the New Jersey Turnpike, located in East Brunswick Township after him.
The Philolexian Society of Columbia University, a collegiate literary society of which Kilmer was Vice President, holds the annual Joyce Kilmer Memorial Bad Poetry Contest in his honor.

Ira Gershwin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lyricist Ira Gershwin was born Israel Gershwin in New York City on December 6, 1896. He is considered one of the great lyricists of the 20th century. He composed the lyrics while his older brother, George, wrote the music. Early in their career, they created such great musical scores as "Funny Face" (1927) and "Strike up the Band" (1930) and adapted many of their works to film scores. They produced such memorable songs as "S'Wonderful", "I'll Build a Stairway to Paradise", "I've Got Rhythm", "The Man I Love", "Lady be Good", Fascinating Rhythm", "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off", and "They Can't Take That Away From Me".

George Gershwin died in 1937 but not before the two brothers wrote what some consider the greatest American opera, "Porgy and Bess" (1935). Despite its lackluster popularity at its debut, it has since become one of their most enduring compositions. Ira's lyrical talent produced such memorables as "I Got Plenty uh Nuttin", "I'm on My Way" and "Summertime". After the death of his brother, Ira continued to write lyrics for Hollywood but without the spark and luster of earlier times. Ira died in Los Angeles in 1983 at the age of 86.

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ira_Gershwin"

Agnes Moorehead
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



Birth name Agnes Robertson Moorehead
Born December 6, 1900
Clinton, Massachusetts, USA
Died April 30, 1974
Rochester, Minnesota, USA

Agnes Robertson Moorehead (December 6, 1900 - April 30, 1974) was an Oscar-nominated American character actress. Although she appeared in more than 70 films and on dozens of television shows during a career that spanned more than 30 years, she is most widely known for her role as the witch Endora in the television series Bewitched.





Early life

Moorehead was born in Clinton, Massachusetts of English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh ancestry, the only child of a Presbyterian minister. She later shaved six years off her age by claiming to have been born in 1906. She grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, and was graduated from Central High School in 1918.

Moorehead earned a bachelor's degree, with a major in biology, from Muskingum College in New Concord, Ohio in 1923. (She later received an honorary doctorate in literature from Muskingum, and served for a year on its board of trustees.) When her family moved to Reedsburg, Wisconsin, she taught public school for five years in Soldiers Grove, Wisconsin, while earning a master's degree in English and public speaking at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. She then pursued post-graduate studies at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, from which she was graduated with honors in 1929. Although Moorehead's New York Times death notice (May 1, 1974) states that she attained a doctoral degree from Bradley University, in fact Bradley University did not offer doctoral degrees in literature at the time. Moorehead did receive an honorary doctoral degree from Bradley University.


Career

During her career, Moorehead's varied performances established her as one of Hollywood's premier character actresses. She appeared in many of the best known films of the time including Citizen Kane, The Magnificent Ambersons, and Johnny Belinda. Her film debut was as the title character's mother in Citizen Kane. She famously won the New York Film Critics award as Best Actress for The Magnificent Ambersons, but was reduced to a nomination as Best Supporting Actress at the Oscars. She was nominated for multiple Academy Awards (1942, 1944, 1948, 1964), all as Best Supporting Actress, including a final nomination as the suspicious maid in Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte.

She skillfully portrayed puritanical matrons, neurotic spinsters, possessive mothers, and comical secretaries throughout her career. Moorehead was part of Orson Welles' Mercury Theater on the Air radio program in the 1930s and appeared in Broadway productions of Don Juan in Hell in 1951-1952, and Lord Pengo in 1962-1963. During the 1940s and 1950s, she was one of the most in demand actresses for radio dramas, and in 1943 starred in the legendary radio suspense play Sorry, Wrong Number, written by Lucille Fletcher. Moorehead played a selfish, neurotic woman who overhears a murder being plotted via crossed phone wires who eventually realizes she is the intended victim. She recreated the performance many times on the radio, recorded an album of the drama in 1952, and performed scenes from the story in her one-woman show in the 1950s.

While rarely playing leads in films, Moorehead's skill at character development and range earned her one Emmy, two Golden Globes, four Oscar nominations and six Emmy nominations. Moorehead's transition to television won acclaim and accolades for her work in drama and in comedy.


Private life

Moorehead married actor John Griffith Lee in 1930, and they divorced in 1952; they adopted an orphan named Sean in 1949, but it remains unclear whether the adoption was legal, although Moorehead did raise the child until he ran away from home. In 1953, she married actor Robert Gist, and they divorced in 1958. In the years since her death, rumors about Moorehead's being a lesbian have been widespread (most notoriously in the book Hollywood Lesbians); however, Moorehead biographer Charles Transberg (I Love the Illusion: The Life and Career of Agnes Moorehead, 2005) interviewed several of the actress' closest friends, including some who were openly gay, who all stated the rumor is untrue.

Moorehead was a devout Presbyterian and, in interviews, often spoke of her relationship with God. Shortly before her death, she returned to her fundamentalist roots and requested an audience with Bob Jones, Jr., perhaps reflecting her own heritage with the embattled Protestants in Northern Ireland, UK.

Agnes Moorehead died of uterine cancer in Rochester, Minnesota [1], not lung cancer as was long believed.

While never confirmed, some suspect that Moorehead's cancer was a result of having been exposed to radiation at a site previously used for nuclear testing while filming The Conqueror (1956) in Utah. Moorehead believed her cancer was related to this exposure, and commented in an interview shortly before her death, "I wish I'd never done that damn movie!" There is no definitive proof that the movie caused her illness.

Moorehead willed her 1967 Emmy for The Wild Wild West and her private papers to Muskingum College, including her home in Rix Mills, Ohio. She left her family's Ohio estate and farmlands, Moorehead Manor, to Bob Jones University, as well as some biblical studies books from her personal library. Her will stipulated that BJU should use the farm for retreats and special meetings "with a Christian emphasis," but the distance of the estate from the South Carolina school rendered it mostly useless. In May 1976, BJU traded the farmlands with an Ohio college for $25,000 and a collection of her library books. Moorehead also left her professional papers, scripts, Christmas cards and scrapbooks to the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research at the Wisconsin Historical Society.

In 1994, Agnes Moorehead was inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame.

She is interred at Dayton Memorial Park in Dayton, Ohio.

Dave Brubeck
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


David Warren Brubeck (born December 6, 1920 in Concord, California), better known as Dave Brubeck, is a U.S. jazz pianist. Often regarded as a genius in his field, he has written a number of jazz standards, including "In Your Own Sweet Way" and "The Duke". Brubeck's style ranges from refined to bombastic, reflecting his mother's attempts at classical training and his improvisational skills. Much of his music employs unusual time signatures.

His long-time musical partner, alto saxophonist Paul Desmond, wrote the Dave Brubeck Quartet's most famous piece, "Take Five", which is in 5/4 time. Brubeck experimented with time signatures through much of his career, recording "Pick Up Sticks" in 6/4, "Unsquare Dance" in 7/4, and "Blue Rondo à la Turk" in 9/8.[1]





History

Brubeck's mother studied piano in England and intended to become a concert pianist; at home she taught piano for extra money. Brubeck was not particularly interested in learning by any particular method, but preferred to create his own melodies and therefore avoided learning to read sheet music.

In college, Brubeck was nearly expelled when one of his professors discovered that he could not read sheet music. Several of his professors came forward arguing for his ability with counterpoint and harmony, but the school was still afraid that it would cause a scandal, and only agreed to let Brubeck graduate once he promised never to teach piano.[2]

After graduating from the University of the Pacific in 1942, Brubeck was drafted into the army and served overseas in George Patton's Third Army during the Battle of the Bulge. He played in a band, quickly integrating it and gaining both popularity and deference.

He returned to college after serving nearly 4 years in the army, this time attending Mills College and studying under Darius Milhaud, who encouraged him to study fugue and orchestration but not classical piano. (Oddly enough, most critics consider Brubeck something of a classical pianist playing jazz.)


After completing his studies under Milhaud, Brubeck signed with Berkeley, California's Fantasy Records. He started an octet and also a trio which included Cal Tjader. Later the trio became a quartet with Paul Desmond. Highly experimental, the group made few recordings and got even fewer paying jobs. A bit discouraged, Brubeck started a trio with two of the members, not including Desmond, who had a gig of his own, and spent several years playing nothing but jazz standards.[3]

Brubeck then formed The Dave Brubeck Quartet in 1951, with Paul Desmond on saxophone. They took up a long residency at San Francisco's Black Hawk nightclub and gained great popularity touring college campuses, recording a series of albums with such titles as Jazz at Oberlin, Jazz Goes to College and Jazz Goes to Junior College. In 1954 he was featured on the cover of Time Magazine, the first jazz musician to be so honored.

In the mid-1950s Bates and Dodge were respectively replaced by Eugene Wright and Joe Morello. Eugene Wright is African-American; in the late 1950s Brubeck cancelled many concerts because the club owners wanted him to bring a different bassist. He also cancelled a television appearance when he found out that the venue intended to keep Wright off-camera.

In 1959, the Dave Brubeck Quartet released Time Out, an album their label was enthusiastic about but nonetheless hesitant to release. The album contained all original compositions, almost none of which were in common time. Nonetheless, on the strength of these unusual time signatures (the album included "Take Five", "Blue Rondo à la Turk", and "Pick Up Sticks"), it quickly went platinum.

The quartet followed up its success with several more albums in the same vein, including Time Further Out (1961), Time in Outer Space, and Time Changes. These albums were also known for using contemporary paintings as cover art, featuring the work of Neil Fujita on Time Out, Joan Miró on Time Further Out, Franz Kline on Time in Outer Space, and Sam Francis on Time Changes. A high point for the group was their classic 1963 live album At Carnegie Hall, described by critic Richard Palmer as "arguably Dave Brubeck's greatest concert".

Apart from the Jazz Goes to College and the 'Time' series, Brubeck recorded several records featuring his compositions based on local music. Jazz Impressions of USA, Jazz Impressions of Japan, Jazz Impressions of Eurasia and Jazz Impressions of New York may not be his most famous works, but all are brilliant examples of the quartet's studio work.

In the early 1960's Dave Brubeck was the program director of WJZZ-FM radio. He achieved his vision of an all jazz format radio station along with his friend and neighbor John E. Metts, one of the first African Americans in senior radio management. From 1956 - 1965 Mr. Metts was the Vice President of an existing news station in Bridgeport, CT, call letters:WICC "Wicc600". In 1964 WJZZ switched to broadcasting the "Top 100" - most likely due to the British Invasion of Rock and Roll.


Dave Brubeck Quartet 1967The Dave Brubeck Quartet broke up in 1967 except for a 25th anniversary reunion in 1976; Brubeck continued playing with Desmond and then began recording with Gerry Mulligan. Desmond died in 1977 and left everything, including residuals and the immense royalties for "Take Five", to the American Red Cross. Mulligan and Brubeck recorded together for six years and then Brubeck formed another group with Perry Robinson on clarinet (or Jerry Bergonzi on saxophone), and three of his sons, Dan, Darius, and Chris, on drums, bass, and keyboards.

Brubeck converted to Catholicism in 1980, shortly after completing the Mass To Hope which had been commissioned by Ed Murray, editor of the national Catholic weekly Our Sunday Visitor. Although he had spiritual interests before then he indicates "I didn't convert to Catholicism, because I wasn't anything to convert from. I just joined the Catholic Church."[4] In 2006, Brubeck was awarded the University of Notre Dame's Laetare Medal, the oldest and most prestigious honor given to American Catholics, during the University's Commencement. He performed "Travellin' Blues" for the graduating class of 2006.

Today, Brubeck continues to write new works, including orchestrations and ballet scores, and tours about 80 cities each year, up to recently about 20 of them in Europe in autumn. From his 85th birthday his European appearances will be limited. His area of focus is the US, where he still premieres new works, like the Cannery Row Suite, and a project with a big band.

His quartet now includes alto saxophonist and flautist Bobby Militello, bassist Michael Moore (who replaced Alec Dankworth), and his long-time drummer Randy Jones and has recently worked extensively with the London Symphony Orchestra.

At the Monterey Jazz Festival in September 2006, Brubeck debuted his commissioned work, "Cannery Row Suite," a jazz opera drawn from the characters in John Steinbeck's American classic writing about Monterey's roots as a sardine fishing and packing town. His wife Iola co-authored the piece with him. His performance of this as well as a number of jazz standard with his current quartet was the buzz of the 49th Monterey Jazz Festival.

Bobby Van
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Bobby Van (December 6, 1928-July 31, 1980) was probably best known for his musical and acting career on Broadway in the 1960s and 1970s.

Bobby Van was born Robert Jack Stein to vaudeville parents in The Bronx, New York City, and grew up backstage to many memorable Depression-era acts. Originally, Van took King as his stage name (after his father's stage name, from the trio "Gordon, Reed and King"). He finally opted for Van, supposedly after seeing a Van Johnson poster hanging in his sister's bedroom.

Van began his career as a musician, playing trumpet. When his band played a venue in the Catskills, Van was asked to fill in as a song and dance man for another act. His act drew rave reviews, and gave Van a thrill out of performing live as a solo act.

In the early 1950s, while Van was married to starlet Diane Garrett, he appeared in several films and television shows, including the title role in The Affairs of Dobie Gillis (1953) and a role in the classic MGM musical Kiss Me Kate (1953). However, most of Van's roles involved singing and dancing, and the era of the Hollywood musical was waning.

In the 1960s, Van did comedy work with Mickey Rooney in films and television. He also did some choreography, as his father had years earlier. In 1968, Van married Broadway actress Elaine Joyce, and together they appeared on 1970s game shows like Tattletales and Match Game. Their only child, daughter Taylor, was born 1977.

Van's last television appearance was as the host for the "Mrs. America Pageant" in 1980, which he had emceed for several years. In 1979, Van was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor; he survived the initial surgery, but after a year-long battle with cancer, Van succumbed to the disease in Los Angeles at the age of only 51. Van is interred at Mt. Sinai Memorial Park in Burbank.

JoBeth Williams
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JoBeth Williams (born Margaret Jobeth Williams on December 6, 1948) is an American film actress.

JoBeth was born in Houston, Texas and attended Brown University. After graduating from college, she joined the Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, Rhode Island and was involved in local theatre. In 1976 - 1977, JoBeth played the role of temptress and news photographer, Brandy Shelloe on the television daytime drama, Guiding Light. In 1979, JoBeth had her film acting debut in Kramer vs. Kramer (1979).

JoBeth is most recognized with her role in Poltergeist (1982) and she reprised her character in the sequel, Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986). She has starred in a number of TV movies including It Came From the Sky in 1999 with Yasmine Bleeth and small films and has had supporting roles in larger budget films. Williams most recent role is that of a housewife in the Fox Network series 24.

In 1994, JoBeth directed On Hope (1994) which earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Short Film, Live Action. She is married to TV director John Pasquin and has adopted two children.

Tom Hulce
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Thomas Edward Hulce (born December 6, 1953) is an American actor.

Born in Whitewater, Wisconsin, he was raised in Plymouth, Michigan. He wanted to be a singer as a small child, but switched to acting when his voice changed. He is a graduate of Beloit College. Within a month of moving to New York City, he became the understudy for Peter Firth in the Broadway production of Equus. He was nominated for a Tony Award for A Few Good Men.

His first film role was in the James Dean-influenced film 9/30/55 in 1977. His next was in the highly popular National Lampoon's Animal House. In 1984, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance of Mozart in Amadeus, losing out to his co-star, F. Murray Abraham. Other films include Dominick and Eugene, Shadow Man, Parenthood, Those Lips, Those Eyes, Echo Park, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, and Slam Dance. He also played 1960s Civil Rights activist Michael Schwerner in the 1990 TV-movie Murder in Mississippi.