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Dub Taylor
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Dub Taylor (February 26, 1907 - October 3, 1994) was a prolific American character actor who worked extensively in Westerns.

Taylor was born Walter Clarence Taylor III in Richmond, Virginia, in 1907. His name was usually shortened to "W" by his friends, and "Dub" was derived from that. His family moved to Augusta, Georgia, when he was five years old and lived in that city until he was thirteen. During that time he befriended Ty Cobb's son and namesake, Ty Cobb, Jr.[1]

A vaudeville performer, Taylor made his film debut in 1938, playing cheerful ex-football captain Ed Carmichael in Frank Capra's You Can't Take It With You. The following year, Taylor appeared in The Taming of the West, in which he originated the character of "Cannonball," a role he continued to play for the next ten years, in over fifty films. "Cannonball" was a comic sidekick to "Wild Bill" Saunders (played by Bill Elliott), a pairing that continued through 13 features, during which Elliott's character became Wild Bill Hickok. During this period, a productive relationship with Tex Ritter as Elliott's co-hero began with King of Dodge City (1941). That partnership lasted through ten films, but Taylor left after the first one, carrying his "Cannonball" character over to a new series with Russell "Lucky" Hayden. ("Wild Bill" brought in Frank Mitchell to play a very different character, also named "Cannonball," in the remainder of his shows with Tex Ritter.) Taylor moved again to a series of films starring Charles Starrett, who eventually became "The Durango Kid", once again, playing his sidekick, "Cannonball". These films had been produced at Columbia, Capra's studio, and had a certain quality of production that seemed to be lacking at the Monogram lot, where Taylor brought his "Cannonball" character in 1947. There he joined up with Jimmy Wakely for a concluding run of 16 films (in two years). These final episodes may have been unpleasant experiences for Taylor, as he never wanted to talk about them thereafter. After 1949, Taylor turned away from "Cannonball," and went on to a busy and varied career, but for many growing up in this period, this character is the one they call to mind when they remember Dub Taylor.

His acting roles, even during his "Cannonball" period, were not confined to these films. He had bit parts in a number of classic films, including Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), A Star Is Born (the 1954 version), and Them! (1954), along with dozens of television roles. He joined Sam Peckinpah's famous stock company in 1965's Major Dundee as a professional horse thief, and appeared subsequently in that director's The Wild Bunch (1969), as a prohibitionist minister who gets his flock shot up by the title outlaws in the film's infamous opening scene, Junior Bonner (1972), The Getaway (1972), and Pat Garrett and Billy The Kid (1973), as an aging, eccentric outlaw friend of Billy's.

Despite his extensive career as a character actor in a wide array of varying roles, Taylor's niche seemed to be in Westerns, having appeared in dozens of them over his career.

He is probably best remembered for his trademark bowler hat, which he wore in most of his appearances. He was also known for his wild gray hair, an unshaven bristly face, squinty eyes, and his raspy voice and cackle. He put that voice to use, alongside fellow Western veterans like Jeanette Nolan and Pat Buttram, in the Disney animated feature The Rescuers, as Digger the mole.

Taylor later appeared playing a cartoonish villain in a series of Western-themed "Hubba Bubba" bubble gum commercials in the early 1980s.

Arguably, his most memorable role was playing the father of Michael J. Pollard's C.W. Moss in Bonnie and Clyde (1967). He continued a prolific career as a character and bit actor until his death of heart failure in October 1994. His last appearance was in the movie Maverick.

His son, Buck Taylor is also an actor.

In early 2006, filmmaker Mark Stokes began directing a feature length documentary on the life of Dub Taylor, "That Guy: The Legacy of Dub Taylor," [2] which has recieved support from the Taylor Family and many of Dub's previous co-workers, including Bill Cosby, Peter Fonda, Dixie Carter, Don Collier, Cheryl Rogers-Barnett, as well as many others. The project is scheduled to have it's World Premiere at Taylor's Childhood Hometown of Augusta on April 14, 2007. The project is from Executive Producers Stokes and James Kicklighter from JamesWorks Entertainment and Professor Pauper Productions.

Jackie Gleason
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Birth name Herbert John Gleason
Born February 26, 1916
Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York United States
Died June 24, 1987 age 71

Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Notable roles The Jackie Gleason Show,
Ralph Kramden in The Honeymooners

Herbert John "Jackie" Gleason (February 26, 1916 - June 24, 1987) was American comedian and actor.

One of the most popular stars of early television, Gleason was respected for both comedic and dramatic roles. However, his major legacy is a brash visual and verbal comedy, especially as delivered as the character Ralph Kramden on the pioneering sitcom, The Honeymooners.





Biography

The early years

One of two sons of a father who abandoned the family (a brother died when Jackie was a boy), Gleason was raised by a loving but troubled, overworked mother who died when he was 19. (Gleason sometimes pushed the date of death back three years; biographer William A. Henry III [a longtime media critic] has written of Gleason's tendency to both exaggerate and obscure his hardscrabble childhood.) His first recognition as an entertainer came on Broadway, when he appeared in Follow the Girls. By the 1940s, Gleason was seen in films such as two featuring swing legend Glenn Miller and His Orchestra; Gleason played the band's bassist in Springtime in the Rockies and Orchestra Wives. He also appeared in Navy Blues (credited as Jackie C. Gleason), which starred Ann Sheridan and Martha Raye.

But Gleason-whom Orson Welles in due course tagged "The Great One"-didn't make a strong impression in Hollywood at first. At the same time, he developed a well-enough liked nightclub act which included both comedy and music. He also became somewhat known for hosting all-night parties-swapping stories, flanked by attractive women-at his hotel suite. "Anyone who knew Jackie Gleason in the 1940s," wrote CBS historian Robert Metz, "would tell you The Fat Man would never make it. His pals at Lindy's watched him spend money as fast as he soaked up the booze." Metz also noted the legend that held Gleason one night hiring a full orchestra just to keep him company. Henry has written that Gleason had a reputation as a paradox even then: a man who could be excessively generous one moment and excessively cruel the next.


Enter television

Gleason's first big break arrived in 1949, when he landed the role of blunt but softhearted aircraft worker Chester A. Riley for the first television version of radio hit The Life of Riley. (William Bendix originated the role on radio, but was unable to take the television role, at first, due to film commitments.) The show received modest ratings but positive reviews, but Gleason-according to Metz-left the show thinking he could do better things. (The Life of Riley finally became a television hit in the early 1950s-with William Bendix in the role he popularised on radio.) By now, Gleason's nightclub act had attention from New York City's inner circle and the small DuMont Television Network.


"And awa-aa-ay we go!"

Gleason was hired to host DuMont's Cavalcade of Stars variety hour in 1950, balancing glitzy entertainment and his comic versatility. He framed the show with splashy dance numbers, developed sketch characters he would refine over the next decade, and became enough of a presence-his show was one of DuMont's only major hits-that CBS wooed and won him over to their network in 1952.

Renaming the program The Jackie Gleason Show, Gleason soon had the country's second highest-rated television show. He amplified the show with even splashier opening dance numbers, inspired by the Busby Berkley screen dance routines and featuring the precision-choreographed June Taylor Dancers. Following these, he performed an opening monologue. Then, accompanied by "a little travelin' music", he would shuffle toward the wing, clapping his hands inversely and hollering, "And awa-a-aay we go!" The phrase became one of his trademarks and a national catchphrase.

Gleason, in real life, was a hard drinker ("Some drink to forget, some drink to remember-me, I drink to get bagged," he told one interviewer many years later), but he once told of a six-hour talk session with Richard Nixon where both drank Scotch. At the end of the evening, Gleason said he could barely stagger from the room, while Nixon walked out "as straight as a soldier".

Gleason's comic characters included the understated Poor Soul, played silently and capable of coming to grief or to surprised pleasure in the most otherwise mundane scenarios; loquacious Joe the Bartender (these routines-later including singer-comedian Frank Fontaine as off-centered Crazy Guggenheim-may have been inspired by the radio hit Duffy's Tavern, which featured a Guggenheim prototype named Finnegan); another silent character, a straw-hatted drunk known as Rum Dum (Gleason's body and eye movements when doing this character had to be seen to be appreciated); loud, obnoxious, and barely competent Rudy the Repairman; and, the character biographer William A. Henry III once cited as Gleason's personal favorite: Reginald Van Gleason III, a top-hatted millionaire with an exaggerated brush mustache, perpetual self-satisfied look, zest for the good life, and permanent access to liquid refreshment. ("Mmmmmmmmmmmm-boy, that's good booze!")


A regular riot: The Honeymoon begins

While Gleason's Ralph Kramden was a bus driver, he was never seen actually driving a bus in the series.By far his most popular character was blustery bus driver Ralph Kramden, who lived with his tart but tenderhearted wife, Alice Kramden, in a two-room Brooklyn walkup, one apartment beneath his best friend, sense-challenged New York City sewer worker Ed Norton ("The first time I took the test for the sewer I flunked-I couldn't even float!") and his likewise tart wife, Trixie. Norton was portrayed from the start by Art Carney.

Possibly inspired by another radio hit, The Bickersons, and largely drawn from Gleason's harsh Brooklyn childhood ("Every neighborhood in Brooklyn had its Ralph Kramdens," he said years later), these sketches became known as The Honeymooners, and customarily centered around Ralph's incessant get-rich-quick schemes, the tensions between his ambitiousness and Norton's scatter-brained aid and comfort, and the inevitable clash ("Bang! Zoooooom!"; "One of these days . . . one of these days . . . pow! right in the kisser!; "I'll give you the world of tomorrow, Alice-you're goin' to the moon!") when sensible Alice tried pulling her husband's head back down from the clouds.

The Honeymooners first turned up on Cavalcade of Stars on October 5, 1951, with Carney as Norton (although Carney played a cop in the first sketch) and spirited character actress Pert Kelton as Alice. Darker and fiercer than they later became with Audrey Meadows as Alice, the sketches proved popular with critics and viewers. In these, Gleason as Kramden played a frustrated bus driver with a battle-axe wife in harrowingly realistic arguments; when Meadows (who was nineteen years younger than Kelton) took over the role after Kelton was blacklisted, the tone softened considerably. The early sketches come as something of a shock to some modern critics.

When Gleason moved to CBS, Kelton wasn't part of the move: her name turned up in Red Channels, the book that listed and described reputed Communists and/or Communist sympathisers in television and radio. Gleason reluctantly let her leave the cast, with a cover story for the media that she had "heart trouble." He also turned down Audrey Meadows as her replacement---at first. Meadows wrote in her memoir that she slipped back to audition again and frumped herself up to convince Gleason that she could handle the role of a frustrated but loving working class wife (although this story has been disputed repeatedly). Rounding out the cast with an understated but effective role, Joyce Randolph played Trixie Norton. (Elaine Stritch had first played the role as a tall and attractive blonde, in the first sketch, but she was immediately replaced by the physically plainer Randolph ?- some critics have speculated that Gleason didn't want Carney's character to have a more attractive wife ?- and Randolph made the character her own, just as Meadows did with Alice.)

The Honeymooners sketches proved popular enough that Gleason gambled on making it a separate series entirely in 1955. These are the so-called Classic 39 episodes-but they became classic only years after they aired: the show didn't draw strongly in the ratings. But they were filmed with a new DuMont process, Electronicam, allowing live television to be preserved on high-quality film. That turned out to be the most prescient move the show made: beginning a decade after they first aired, the half-hour Honeymooners in syndicated reruns built a loyal and growing audience that made what was once a rating bust into a television icon. So much so that, today, a life-sized statue of Jackie Gleason in full uniform as bus driver Ralph Kramden stands outside the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York City.


The mood musician

Throughout the 1950s and early-1960s, Gleason enjoyed a secondary music career, lending his name to a series of best-selling "mood music" albums with jazz overtones for Capitol Records. Gleason could not read or write music in a conventional sense; he was said to have conceived melodies in his head and described them vocally to staff help. He did likewise with the well-remembered themes of both The Jackie Gleason Show ("Melancholy Serenade") and The Honeymooners ("You're My Greatest Love"). There has been some controversy over the years as to how much credit Gleason should have received for the finished products; Henry has written that beyond the possible conceptualising of many of the songs, Gleason had no direct involvement such as conducting in the making of these recordings.

Some of that music turns up once in awhile today. "It's Such a Happy Day," which often turned up as a theme behind numerous Gleason television sketches, turned up as the music for a jaunty scene involving heart transplant recipient Minnie Driver bicycling around her Chicago neighborhood in the 2000 romantic comedy Return to Me.


The American Scene Magazine

Gleason restored his original variety hour-including The Honeymooners-in 1956, but abandoned the show in 1957, leaving weekly television for a year. He returned in 1958 with a half-hour show that featured Buddy Hackett (Carney and Meadows were not part of this program). But this version of the Gleason show did not catch on.

His next foray into television was with a game show, You're in the Picture, which survived its disastrous premiere episode only because of Gleason's now-legendary on-the-air apology in the following week's time slot. ("It laid . . . the biggest . . . bomb!") For the rest of the scheduled run, the program became a talk show (again named The Jackie Gleason Show).

In 1962, he resurrected his variety show with a little more splashiness (the June Taylor Dancers' routines became more elaborately choreographed and costumed than before) and a new hook-a fictitious general-interest magazine through whose format Gleason trotted out his old characters in new scenarios. He also added another catchphrase, ("How Sweet It Is!"), which which he first uttered in a 1962 film, Papa's Delicate Condition, to the American vernacular.

The Jackie Gleason Show: The American Scene Magazine was a hit and endured in the format for four seasons. Staple sketches included revived Joe the Bartender routines, speaking to the unseen Mr. Dennehy about an article he read in the fictitious "American Scene" magazine, holding a copy across the bar (It had two covers -- one with featuring New York buildings, the other, from after the Florida move, featuring palm trees), before the barkeep would bring out Fontaine as Crazy Guggenheim for cracked banter and, inevitably, a sentimental ballad sung in a lilting tenor. (Fontaine had played the same sort of goofy Brooklynite character, then called "John L. C. Sivoney," on radio's The Jack Benny Program; his wider exposure on Gleason's show resulted in the release of his recordings of 'old standards' on the ABC/Paramount record label.) Comedian Alice Ghostley was another regular cast member.

He also restored The Honeymooners, first with Sue Ane Langdon and then with Sheila MacRae as Alice and with Jane Kean as Trixie. By 1964, Gleason had moved the production from New York to Miami Beach, reputedly because he liked the year-round access to the golf course at nearby Inverrary, where he built his final home. (His closing line became, almost invariably, "As always, the Miami Beach audience is the greatest audience in the world!") In 1966, he finally abandoned the American Scene Magazine format and converted the show into hour-long musical episodes of The Honeymooners alternating with standard variety hours. This was the format of the show until its cancellation in 1970, except for the 1968-1969 season, which had no hour-long Honeymooners episodes. In that season, The Honeymooners - as in the beginning - were only presented in short sketches.

At first the musicals pushed Gleason back into the top five ratings-but it wasn't long before the audience began declining. The reasons varied, from McRae and Kean being seen as less than equal to Audrey Meadows and Joyce Randolph (a comparison easily makeable with the Classic 39 building its own syndicated audience) to increasing recycling of old Honeymooners plots into new musical settings. In the last original Honeymooners episode aired on CBS, "Operation Protest," Ralph encounters the youth-protest movement of the late-1960s and early-1970s.

According to Metz, Gleason-who had signed a deal in the 1950s that included a guaranteed $100,000 annual payment for twenty years even if he never went on the air-wanted The Honeymooners to be just a portion of his format, but CBS wanted another season of nothing but The Honeymooners. The network had just cancelled mainstay variety shows hosted by Red Skelton and Ed Sullivan because they had become too expensive to produce. Gleason simply stopped doing the show by 1970 and finally left CBS when his contract expired, "anxious," as Metz noted, "to get a deal more to his liking than another year of The Honeymooners."


Dramatic Gleason

Gleason had a dramatic side that the comic pathos of the Poor Soul hinted at often enough. He earned acclaim for live television drama performances in The Laugh Maker on CBS' Studio One (where he played a semi-autobiographical role as fictional TV comedian Jerry Giles), and in William Saroyan's The Time of Your Life, also for CBS, as an episode of the legendary anthology Playhouse 90.

But he won acclaim plus a hardware nomination for his portrayal of Minnesota Fats in the 1961 Paul Newman movie The Hustler, in which Gleason (who had hustled pool growing up in Brooklyn) made his own pool shots. He earned an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor for the role. He was also well-received as a beleaguered boxing manager in the movie version of Rod Serling's Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962), which also featured Anthony Quinn, Mickey Rooney, and (under his birth name, Cassius Clay) Muhammad Ali. Gleason also played a world-weary Army sergeant, with Steve McQueen supporting him as a Gomer Pyle-like private and Tuesday Weld as his love interest, in Soldier in the Rain (1962). He played the lead in the Otto Preminger all-star flop Skidoo (1966), co-starring Groucho Marx, in which Gleason's character and half the cast is imprisoned in Alcatraz and trips on LSD (including the guards, played by Slim Pickens and Fred Clark).

More than a decade passed before Gleason had another hit film. Then, he turned up as vulgar sheriff Buford T. Justice in the popular Smokey and the Bandit series. (After Burt Reynolds declined to do a third film in the series, Gleason was signed up for a dual role as Smokey and the Bandit, but preview audiences are said to have been confused and Jerry Reed's role from the first two movies was promptly beefed up to replace Gleason's footage as the Bandit and make up for Reynolds' absence.)

In the 1980s, Gleason earned positive reviews playing opposite Laurence Olivier in the HBO dramatic two-man special, Mr. Halpern and Mr. Johnson. He also delivered a critically acclaimed performance as an infirm but acerbic and somewhat Archie Bunker-like character in the Tom Hanks comedy-drama Nothing in Common (Gleason had turned down the All in the Family television series in the previous decade).


The Honeymoon wasn't over yet

Gleason did two Jackie Gleason Show specials for CBS after giving up his regular show in the 1970s, including "Honeymooners segments" and a Reginald Van Gleason III sketch in which the gregarious millionaire was shown as a clinical alcoholic. When the CBS deal expired, Gleason signed with NBC, but ideas reportedly came and went before he ended up doing a round of Honeymooners specials for ABC. This time, he reunited the Classic 39 cast, after reuniting with Audrey Meadows on a televised Dean Martin roast. The foursome did four such ABC specials during the mid-1970s. Gleason and Art Carney also made a television movie, Izzy and Moe, which aired on CBS in 1985.

In 1985, three decades after the Classic 39 began filming, Gleason revealed he had carefully preserved kinescopes of his live 1950s programs in a vault for future use-including Honeymooners sketches with Pert Kelton as Alice. These "Lost Episodes," as they came to be called, were initially previewed at the Museum of Television and Radio in New York City, then first aired on the Showtime cable network in 1985 and were later syndicated to local TV stations. Some of them include earlier and arguably livelier and fresher versions of exactly the same plotlines later copied for the Classic 39 episodes. One of them, a Christmas holiday episode duplicated several years later with Audrey Meadows as Alice, delivered every one of Gleason's best-known characters-Ralph Kramden, the Poor Soul, Reginald Van Gleason, Joe the Bartender-in and out of the Kramden apartment, the storyline hooking around a wild Christmas party being thrown up the block from the Kramdens' building by Reginald Van Gleason at Joe the Bartender's place.


Death

Nothing in Common proved to be Gleason's final film role; he was fighting colon cancer and liver cancer even while he worked on the film. He was hospitalised at one point in 1986-87 but checked himself out and died quietly at age 71 at his Inverrary home. In the same year, Miami Beach honored his contributions to the city and its tourism by renaming the Miami Beach Auditorium-where he had done his television show once moving to Florida-as the Jackie Gleason Theater of the Performing Arts. Jackie Gleason is interred in an outdoor mausoleum at Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Cemetery in Miami, Florida.


Tributes

On June 30, 1988, the Sunset Park Bus Depot in Brooklyn was renamed the Jackie Gleason Bus Depot in honor of the native Brooklynite. (Ralph Kramden worked for the fictitious Gotham Bus Company.) A statue of Gleason as Ralph in his bus driver's uniform was dedicated in August, 2000 in New York City, by the cable TV channel TV Land. The statue is located at 40th Street and 8th Avenue, at the entrance of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey bus terminal. Another such statue stands at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame in North Hollywood, California, showing Gleason in his famous "And awa-a-ay we go!" pose.

Local signs on the Brooklyn Bridge, which indicate to the driver that they are now entering Brooklyn, have the Gleason phrase "How Sweet It Is!" as part of the sign.

A city park with raquetball & basketball courts as well as a children's playground was named 'Jackie Gleason Park' near his home in Inverrary, Florida.

A television movie called Gleason was aired by CBS on October 13, 2002, taking a deeper look into Gleason's life; it took liberties with some of the Gleason story but featured his troubled home life, a side of Gleason few really saw. He had two daughters by his first wife (Gleason's daughter Linda is the mother of actor Jason Patric); they divorced, and Gleason endured a brief second marriage before finding a happy union with his third wife, June Taylor's sister Marilyn. The film also showed backstage scenes from his best-known work. Brad Garrett, from Everybody Loves Raymond, portrayed Gleason (after Mark Addy had to drop out) and Garrett's height (6'8") created some logistical problems on the sets, which had to be specially made so that Garrett did not tower over everyone else.

In 2003, after an absence of more than thirty years, the color, musical versions of The Honeymooners from the 1960s Jackie Gleason Show in Miami Beach were returned to television over the Good Life TV (now AmericanLife TV) cable network. In 2005, a movie version of The Honeymooners appeared in theatres, with a twist-a primarily African-American cast, headed by Cedric the Entertainer. (There had been reports a few years earlier that Roseanne co-star John Goodman would bring The Honeymooners to film, playing Ralph, but these plans never materialized). This version, however, bore only a passing resemblance to Gleason's original series and was widely panned by critics.

Tony Randall
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Born February 26, 1920
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Died May 17, 2004
New York City, New York

Tony Randall (February 26, 1920 - May 17, 2004) was an American comic actor.





Early life

He was born as Arthur Leonard Rosenberg to a Jewish family in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the only child of Mogscha Rosenberg, an art and antiques dealer, and his wife, Julia Finston.


Show business

He was first attracted to show business when a ballet company played in Tulsa. He attended Northwestern University for a year before traveling to New York City to study at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre. He studied under Sanford Meisner and choreographer Martha Graham around 1935. Under the name Anthony Randall, he acted in radio soap operas and worked onstage opposite stars Jane Cowl in George Bernard Shaw's Candida and Ethel Barrymore in Emlyn Williams's The Corn Is Green. Tony then served for four years with the United States Army Signal Corps in World War II, refusing an entertainment assignment with Special Services. Then he worked at the Olney Theatre in Montgomery County, Maryland before heading back to New York City.

A noted raconteur, Randall co-wrote (with Mike Mindlin) a collection of amusing and sometimes racy show business anecdotes called Which Reminds Me.



Acting career

Randall began his career on the stage, appearing in minor roles on Broadway, and supporting roles on tours. His first major role in a Broadway hit was in Inherit the Wind in 1955. In 1958 he played the leading role in the musical comedy Oh, Captain!, taking on a role originated on film by Alec Guinness. Oh, Captain! was a critical failure, but a personal success for Randall, who received glowing notices for his legendary dance turn with prima ballerina Alexandra Danilova.

He is perhaps best known for his work on television. His breakthrough role was as gym teacher Harvey Weskit in Mr. Peepers from 1952-1955. After a long hiatus from the medium, he returned in 1970 as fussbudget Felix Unger in The Odd Couple, opposite Jack Klugman, a role he would keep for five years. Subsequently, he starred in The Tony Randall Show and Love, Sidney. In the TV movie that served as the latter show's pilot, Sidney Shorr was written as a gay man, but his character was neutered in the show. Disappointed by this turn of events and the series' lack of acceptance, Randall stayed away from television thereafter.

Randall's film roles included Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957), Let's Make Love (1960), Boys' Night Out (1962), The King of Comedy (1983), and Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990).

He also played the title role(s) in the cult classic The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao.

He appeared in Pillow Talk (1959), the first of three movies in which Doris Day, Rock Hudson and Randall all starred, and, by all accounts, ended up with the best lines ('It takes an early bird to take a worm like me'; on the crying Doris Day: 'I never knew a woman such a size had so much water in her', etc). The other two are Lover Come Back and Send Me No Flowers. Elements from the plots of these films, particularly Pillow Talk, were parodied in the 2003 comedy Down With Love, with Renée Zellweger in the Doris Day role, Ewan McGregor in the Rock Hudson, and David Hyde Pierce as the Tony Randall character. Randall's final role was a cameo in this film.

In 1991, he founded the National Actors Theatre (ultimately housed at Pace University in New York City) where he gave his final stage performance in Luigi Pirandello's "Right You Are." Periodically, he performed in stage revivals of The Odd Couple with Jack Klugman including a stint in London in 1996.

He was a frequent and popular guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and often spoke of his love of opera, claiming it was due in no small part to the salaciousness of many of the plotlines. He also admitted to (actually bragged about) sneaking tape recorders into operas to make his own private bootleg recordings. He would often chide Johnny Carson for his chain-smoking, and was generally fastidious and fussy, much like his Felix Unger characterization. He seemed to have a wealth of facts and trivia at his disposal, and he told Carson that the secret was simply "to retain everything you were supposed to have learned in elementary school."

In keeping with his penchant for both championing and mocking the culture that he loved, during the Big Band Era revival in the mid-1960s he produced a record album of 1930s songs, Vo Vo De Oh Doe, inspired by (and covering) The New Vaudeville Band's one-hit wonder, "Winchester Cathedral." He mimicked (and somewhat exaggerated) the vibrato style of Carmen Lombardo, and the two of them once sang a duet of Lombardo's signature song "Boo Hoo (You've Got Me Crying for You)" on the Carson show.


Marriages

He was married to Florence Gibbs from 1942 until her death from cancer in 1992 and then, from November 17, 1995 until his death, to Heather Harlan, with whom he had two children, Julia Laurette Randall (b. 1997) and Jefferson Salvini Randall (b. 1998). To say the least, Randall became a father late in life but Heather talked of how he adored his children and how loving he was with them. She said he faced death bravely, but his greatest sorrow was leaving them behind.


Death

At the age of 84 Tony Randall died in his sleep of complications from pneumonia, which he contracted following bypass surgery in December 2003. He is interred at the Westchester Hills Cemetery in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York.

Awards

He was nominated for five Golden Globe awards and two Emmys, winning one Emmy in 1975 for his work on the sitcom The Odd Couple.
In 1993, Mr. Randall received The Hundred Year Association of New York's Gold Medal Award "in recognition of outstanding contributions to the City of New York."
Received an honorary degree, Doctor of Fine Arts, from Pace University in 2003.

Miscellany


In 1974, Tony Randall and Jack Klugman appeared in television spots endorsing a Yahtzee spinoff, Challenge Yahtzee. Although not identified as Felix and Oscar, the impression they left was clearly that of those two characters, especially as the TV spots were filmed on the same set as The Odd Couple.
In 1984, Randall endorsed the game Word Quest where the objective was to guess the proper definition of a given word.
He starred as nearly all of the leading characters in the 1963 film 7 Faces of Dr. Lao. The film received an Oscar for William Tuttle's makeup artistry, but many believe Randall never received proper acknowledgement for his versatile performances in the film, which required him to provide several different voices and portray a variety of characters.
Randall, along with John Goodman and Drew Barrymore was one of the first guests on the debut episode of Late Night with Conan O'Brien on September 13, 1993. He would also appear in Conan's 5th Anniversary Special with the character PimpBot 5000.
Was one of the earliest advocates against smoking, and often would chide celebrities in person on the air for the habit.
Randall is mentioned in "Maximum Homerdrive", an episode of The Simpsons, for being one of the two men to ever finish Sirloin A Lot, a 16-pound steak. He is also mentioned in the "Lisa the Beauty Queen" episode, in which Bob Hope introduces Little Miss Springfield (Lisa) to an audience at Fort Springfield, and before they rush the stage a la Apocalypse Now, enraged reservists are heard to say "Little Miss Springfield?! First Tony Randall cancels, and now this!"
In September 2003, Randall joked that if President George W. Bush or Vice President Dick Cheney should come to his funeral, they were to be turned away. [1]
Bikini Kill have a song based on him, also named "Tony Randall".
Tony Randall named Felix Unger's TV children after himself (Leonard) and his sister (Edna).
In 2005, Jack Klugman published Tony And Me: A Story of Friendship, a book about his long friendship with Randall, of their long working relationship and how good Randall had been to Klugman after his cancer operation.
A fine game player, Randall appeared frequently on What's My Line?, Password, The Hollywood Squares, and The $10,000 Pyramid. He also sent up his somewhat pompous image with a single appearance as a "contestant" on The Gong Show in 1977.

Betty Hutton
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Betty Hutton, (born Elizabeth June Thornburg on February 26, 1921 in Battle Creek, Michigan) is a former American actor and singer.

Raised by a single mother, Hutton (along with her sister, Marion Hutton) started singing in the family's speakeasy at age 3. Related troubles with the police kept the family on the move, and eventually they moved to Detroit. When interviewed as an established star appearing at the premiere of Let's Dance (1950), her mother (arriving with her, and following a police escort) commented "This time the police were in front of us." Hutton sang in several local bands as a teenager, and at one point visited New York City hoping to perform on Broadway, where she was rejected.

A few years later, she was scouted by orchestra leader Vincent Lopez, who gave Hutton her entry into entertainment. In 1939 she appeared in several musical shorts for Warner Bros., and appeared on Broadway in Panama Hattie and Two for the Show, both produced by Buddy DeSylva.

When DeSylva became a producer at Paramount Pictures, Hutton was signed to starring role in The Fleet's In in 1942. She made 14 films in 11 years during the 1940s and early 1950s, including Annie Get Your Gun for MGM, which hired Hutton to replace an exhausted Judy Garland in the role of Annie Oakley. The film and the leading role, retooled for Hutton, was a smash hit, with the biggest critical praise going to Betty, but Hutton, like her closest movie musical rival -- Garland -- was earning a reputation for being extremely difficult.

In 1942, she signed with Capitol Records, one of the first artists to do so, but was unhappy with their management, and then signed with RCA Victor. Her time as a Hollywood star came to an end due to contract disagreements with Paramount following The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) and Somebody Loves Me (1952), a biopic of singer Blossom Seeley.

Hutton worked in radio, appeared in Las Vegas and in nightclubs, then tried her luck on the new medium of television. An original musical TV "spectacular" written especially for Hutton, Satin 'n Spurs (1954), was an enormous flop with the public and critics. Desilu took a chance on Betty and in 1959 gave her a sitcom The Betty Hutton Show, which quickly faded. Her last TV outing was a brief guest appearance in 1975 on Baretta.

In 1967, she was signed to star in two low-budget Westerns for Paramount, but was fired shortly after the projects began. Afterwards, Hutton had trouble with alcohol and substance abuse, eventually attempting suicide after losing her singing voice in 1970, and having a nervous breakdown. She divorced her husband jazz trumpeter Pete Candoli and declared herself bankrupt. However, after regaining control of her life through a church, she converted to Roman Catholicism and went on to teach acting and to cook at a rectory in Rhode Island.

She replaced Dorothy Loudon as the evil Miss Hannigan in Annie on Broadway for a limited run in 1980. Her last known performance in any medium was on Jukebox Saturday Night, which aired on PBS in 1983. She was interviewed by Robert Osborne for TCM's "Private Screenings" in April 2000. Married four times with three daughters, as of 2006, Hutton resides near Palm Springs, California.

Fats Domino
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



Background information

Birth name Antoine Dominique Domino
Also known as Fats
Born February 26, 1928
New Orleans, Louisiana, United States

Genre(s) R&B, Rock and Roll
Occupation(s) Singer, Songwriter
Instrument(s) Piano
Years active 1949-1985
Label(s) Imperial, ABC, Mercury, Broadmoor, Reprise, Sonet, Warner Bros. Records, Toot Toot

Antoine Dominique "Fats" Domino (born February 26, 1928 in New Orleans, Louisiana), is a classic R&B and rock and roll singer, songwriter and pianist. He was the best-selling African-American singer of the 1950s and early 1960s. Domino is also a pianist with an individualistic bluesy style showing stride and boogie-woogie influences. His congenial personality and rich accent have added to his appeal.




Biography

Domino first attracted national attention with "The Fat Man" (1949, Imperial Records), credited by some as being the first rock and roll record, featuring a rolling piano and Domino doing wah-wah vocalizing over a fat back beat. The record, a reworking of "Junker's Blues" by Champion Jack Dupree, was a massive hit, selling over a million copies and peaking at #2 on the Billboard R&B Charts. It has been estimated that Domino has sold in excess of 110 million records.

Domino then released a series of hit songs with producer and co-writer Dave Bartholomew, saxophonist Alvin "Red" Tyler and drummer Earl Palmer. Other notable and long-standing musicians in Domino's band were saxophonists Reggie Houston, Lee Allen, and Fred Kemp who was also Domino's trusted bandleader. Domino finally crossed into the pop mainstream with "Ain't That a Shame" (1955) which hit the Top Ten, though Pat Boone characteristically hit #1 with a milder cover of the song that received wider radio airplay in a segregated era. Domino would eventually release 37 Top 40 singles, including "Whole Lotta Loving", "Blue Monday".

His 1956 uptempo version of the old song "Blueberry Hill", reached #2 in the Top 40, was #1 on the R&B charts for 11 weeks, and was his biggest hit. The song had earlier been recorded by Gene Autry, and Louis Armstrong among many others.

Fats appeared in two films released in 1956: Shake, Rattle & Rock![1] and The Girl Can't Help It.[2] On 18 December 1957, Domino's hit "The Big Beat" was featured on Dick Clark's American Bandstand.

Domino continued to have a steady series of hits for Imperial through early 1962, including the 1960 "Walkin' to New Orleans written by Bobby Charles. Twenty-two of his Imperial singles were double-sided hits -- that is, both the A-side and the B-side of the single charted (i.e., 44 songs). After he moved to ABC-Paramount in 1963, however, Domino's chart career was drastically curtailed. He managed one top 40 hit for ABC (1963's "Red Sails In The Sunset"), but by the end of 1964 the British Invasion had changed the tastes of the record-buying public, and Domino's chart run was over.

Despite the lack of chart success, Domino continued to record steadily until about 1970, and sporadically after that. He also continued as a popular live act for several decades. He was furthermore acknowledged as an important influence on the music of the sixties and seventies by some of the top artists of that era; Beatles song "Lady Madonna" was reportedly written by Paul McCartney in an emulation of Domino's style. Domino did manage to return to the "Hot 100" charts one last time in 1968. Ironically, it was with a cover of The Beatles' "Lady Madonna", which appeared at exactly #100 for two consecutive weeks.

In the 1980s, Domino decided he would no longer leave New Orleans, having a comfortable income from royalties and a dislike for touring, and claiming he could not get any food that he liked anyplace else. His induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and an invitation to perform at the White House failed to get Domino to make an exception to this policy. He lived in a mansion in a predominantly working-class Lower 9th Ward neighborhood, where he was a familiar sight in his bright pink Cadillac. He makes yearly appearances at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and other local events. Domino was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1987. In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked him #25 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.[3].


When Hurricane Katrina was approaching New Orleans in August 2005, Domino chose to stay at home with his family, due to his wife's poor health. His house, located in New Orleans' Lower 9th Ward, was in an area that was heavily flooded. He was thought to be dead, with someone spray-painting a message on his home, "RIP Fats. You will be missed," which was shown in news photos. On September 1, Domino's agent Al Embry announced that he had not heard from the musician since before the hurricane had struck.

Later that day, CNN reported that Domino was rescued by a United States Coast Guard helicopter. His daughter, gospel singer Karen Domino White, identified him from a photo shown on CNN. The Domino family was then taken to a Baton Rouge shelter, after which they were picked up by JaMarcus Russell, the starting quarterback of the Louisiana State University football team, and Fats' granddaughter's boyfriend. He let the Dominos stay in his apartment. The Washington Post reported that that on Friday, September 2, the Dominos had left Russell's apartment after sleeping three nights on the couch. "We've lost everything," Domino said, according to the Post story.[4]

By January 2006, work to gut and repair Domino's Lower 9th Ward home and office had begun.

Domino was the first artist to be announced as scheduled to perform at the 2006 Jazz & Heritage Festival, although he was too ill to perform and was only able to offer the audience an on-stage greeting. Domino also released an album Alive and Kickin' in early 2006 to benefit the Tipitina Foundation, which supports indigent local musicians. The title song was recorded after Katrina, but most of the cuts were from unreleased sessions in the 1990s.


Business

His career has been produced and managed since the 1980s by multimedia entertainment purveyor and music producer Robert G. Vernon. During Vernon's tenure, Domino's earnings have increased 500%.

Since 1995, Vernon and Domino have been partners (with many other companies, such as Dick Clark Productions) in the Bobkat Music Trust. Bobkat Music is an entertainment group that manages the careers (some posthumous) of Fats Domino, Randy Pringle (writer), and others.


Trivia

In 1999, National Public Radio included Ain't That A Shame in the "NPR 100," in which NPR's music editors sought to compile the one hundred most important American musical works of the 20th century.
The singer Chubby Checker's stage name was a play on Fats', although Checker is not particularly chubby. Another play is the name of the gospel music group Fetz Domino, which means in mixed German and Latin "Groove for the Lord". Domino was so well known in the 1950s-60s that the American humor magazine Mad, ran a cartoon spread that included fictitious artists with similar name variations, such as "Pudgy Parcheesi". 50s blues singer Skinny Dynamo had a brief career.
In the popular 1970s sitcom "Happy Days", set in the 1950s, lead character Richie Cunningham, played by Ron Howard, would often sing "I found my thrill..." (the first line of Domino's "Blueberry Hill") in reference to pretty girls he dated or wanted to date.
Domino had 66 U.S. Hot 100 chart hits, the second-most by any artist who never had a #1 hit. (James Brown had 99.)
The fictional girl band in the television series Rock Follies threatened to revolt if they had to sing "Blueberry Hill" one more time.
Domino has always had strong links to The Beatles, who recorded a version of "When the Saints Go Marching In" in Germany, two years after Fats' version on Imperial Records. When they auditioned for Decca, one of their songs was another standard in Domino's repertory: "The Sheik of Araby".
In his song, "I Want to Walk You Home", Domino used the words "I want to hold your hand" which may have inspired Lennon and McCartney when writing their song of the same title. In 1968, the Beatles modelled their song, "Lady Madonna", on Fats Domino's style, combining it with a nod to Humphrey Lyttelton's 1956 hit "Bad Penny Blues", a record which Joe Meek had engineered. They also played some hits of the 1950s and early 1960s, including Domino's "Kansas City", during the Get Back album sessions.
Domino returned the compliment in 1970 by covering not only "Lady Madonna", but two other Beatles songs, for his Reprise LP Fats is Back. Since then, both John Lennon and Paul McCartney have recorded Fats Domino songs.

Johnny Cash
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



Background information

Born February 26, 1932, Kingsland, Arkansas, USA
Died September 12, 2003 (age 73)
Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Genre(s) Country, Blues, Rock 'n' Roll, Folk
Occupation(s) Singer, songwriter, actor
Website www.johnnycash.com

Johnny Cash (born J. R. Cash, February 26, 1932 - September 12, 2003) was an influential American country and rock and roll singer and songwriter. Cash was the husband of country singer and songwriter June Carter Cash.

Cash was known for his deep, distinctive voice, the boom-chick-a-boom or "freight train" sound of his Tennessee Three backing band, his dark clothing, and demeanor, which earned him the nickname "The Man in Black." He started all his concerts with the simple introduction "Hello, I'm Johnny Cash."

Much of Cash's music, especially that of his later career, echoed themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption. His signature songs include "I Walk the Line", "Folsom Prison Blues", "Ring of Fire", and "Man in Black". He also recorded several humorous songs, such as "One Piece at a Time", "The One on the Right Is on the Left", and "A Boy Named Sue"; rock-and-roll numbers such as "Get Rhythm"; and various train-related songs, such as "The Rock Island Line".

He sold over 50 million albums in his nearly 50 year career and is generally recognized as one of the most important musicians in the history of American popular music.



Early life


"The Man in Black" was born J. R. Cash in Kingsland, Arkansas, and raised in Dyess, Arkansas. By age five, he was working in the cotton fields, singing along with his family as they worked. The family farm was flooded on at least one occasion, which later inspired him to write the song "Five Feet High And Rising."[1] His older brother Jack died in a tragic accident, while working a high school shop table saw, in 1944.[1] His family's economic and personal struggles during the Depression shaped him as a person and inspired many of his songs, especially those about other people facing similar difficulties.

Cash's early memories were dominated by gospel music and radio, hence his unique sound. Taught by his mother and a childhood friend, Johnny began playing guitar and writing songs as a young boy. In high school he sang on a local radio station. Decades later, he would release an album of traditional gospel songs, called "My Mother's Hymn Book". Traditional Irish music that he heard weekly on the Jack Benny radio program, performed by Dennis Day, influenced him greatly.[2]

He was reportedly[citation needed] given the name J. R. because his parents could not agree on a name, only on initials. Giving children such names was a relatively common practice at the time. He enlisted as a radio operator in the United States Air Force. The military would not accept initials as his name, so he adopted John R. Cash as his legal name. When he signed for Sun Records in 1955, he took "Johnny" Cash as a stage name. His friends and in-laws generally called him John, and his blood relatives often still called him by his birth name, J. R. and his close friends called him John John.


Early career

After basic training at Lackland Air Force Base and technical training at Brooks Air Force Base, both in San Antonio, Cash was sent to a U.S. Air Force Security Service unit at Landsberg Air Base, Germany. There, he founded his first band, the Landsberg Barbarians.[3]

After his term of service ended, Cash married Vivian Liberto, whom he met while training at Brooks. In 1954, he moved to Memphis, Tennessee, where he sold appliances while studying to be a radio announcer. At night, he played with guitarist Luther Perkins and bassist Marshall Grant. Perkins and Grant were known as the Tennessee Two. Cash worked up the courage to visit the Sun Records studio, hoping to garner a recording contract. After auditioning for Sam Phillips, singing mainly gospel tunes, Phillips told him to "go home and sin, then come back with a song I can sell." Cash eventually won over Phillips with new songs delivered in his early frenetic style. His first recordings at Sun, "Hey Porter" and "Cry Cry Cry," were released in 1955 and met with reasonable success on the country hit parade.

Cash's next record, Folsom Prison Blues, made the country Top 5, and "I Walk the Line" became No. 1 on the country charts, also making it into the pop charts Top 20. Following "I Walk the Line" was Johnny Cash's "Home of the Blues," recorded in July 1957. In 1957, Cash became the first Sun artist to release a long-playing album. Although he was Sun's most consistently best-selling and prolific artist at that time, Cash felt constrained by his contract with the small label. Elvis Presley had already left Sun, and Phillips was focusing most of his attention and promotion on Jerry Lee Lewis. The following year, Cash left the label to sign a lucrative offer with Columbia Records, where his single "Don't Take Your Guns to Town" would become one of his biggest hits.

Cash's first child, a daughter, Rosanne, was born in 1955. Although he would have three more daughters, Kathleen in 1956, Cindy in 1959, and Tara in 1961 his constant touring and drug use put intense strain on his marriage. Vivian and John divorced in 1966. Cash would marry June Carter in 1968.


Drug addiction

As his career was taking off in the early 1960s, Cash began drinking heavily and became addicted to amphetamines and barbiturates. For a brief time, Cash shared an apartment in Nashville with Waylon Jennings, who was heavily addicted to amphetamines. Cash used the uppers to stay awake during tours. Friends joked about his "nervousness" and erratic behavior, many ignoring the signs of his worsening drug addiction.

Although in many ways spiraling out of control, his frenetic creativity was still delivering hits. His rendition of "Ring of Fire" was a major crossover hit, reaching No. 1 on the country charts and entering the Top 20 on the pop charts. The song was written by June Carter and Merle Kilgore and originally performed by Carter's sister, but the signature mariachi-style horn arrangement was provided by Cash, who said that it had come to him in a dream. The song describes the personal hell Carter went through as she wrestled with her forbidden love for Cash (they were both married to other people at the time) and as she dealt with Cash's personal "ring of fire" (drug dependency and alcoholism).

Cash sometimes spoke of his erratic, drug-induced behavior with some degree of bemused detachment. In June 1965, his truck caught fire due to a defective exhaust, triggering a forest fire that burnt down half of Los Padres National Forest in California. When the judge asked Cash why he did it, Cash said in his characteristically flippant style of the time, "I didn't do it, my truck did, and it's dead so you can't question it."[1] The fire destroyed 508 acres, burning the foliage off three mountains, and killing 49 of the refuge's 53 endangered condors. Cash was unrepentant -- "I don't care about your damn yellow buzzards." [4] The federal government sued him and was awarded $125,127. Johnny eventually settled the case and paid $82,000. In his autobiography, Johnny Cash said he was the only person ever sued by the government for starting a forest fire.

Although he carefully cultivated a romantic outlaw image, he never served a prison sentence, although he landed in jail seven times for misdemeanors, each stay lasting a single night. His most serious and well-known run-in with the law occurred while on tour in 1965, when he was arrested by a narcotics squad in El Paso, Texas. The officers suspected that he was smuggling heroin from Mexico, but it was presciption narcotics and amphetamines that he had hidden inside his guitar case. Because they were prescription drugs rather than illegal narcotics, he received a suspended sentence.

He was arrested the following year in Starkville, Mississippi, for trespassing late at night onto private property to pick flowers. (This incident gave the spark for the song "Starkville City Jail", which he spoke about on his live At San Quentin prison album.)

The mid-1960s saw Cash release a number of concept albums, including Ballads Of The True West (1965), an experimental double record mixing authentic frontier songs with Cash's spoken narration; and Bitter Tears (1964), with songs highlighting the plight of the Native Americans. His drug addiction was at its worst at this point, however, and his destructive behavior led to a divorce from his first wife and canceled performances.


Folsom Prison Blues

While an airman in West Germany, Cash saw the B-movie Inside the Walls of Folsom Prison (1951), which inspired him to write an early draft of one of his most famous songs, "Folsom Prison Blues".

Cash felt great compassion for prisoners. He began performing concerts at various prisons starting in the late 1950s.[1] These performances led to a pair of highly successful live albums, Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison (1968) and Johnny Cash at San Quentin (1969).

The Folsom Prison record was introduced by a powerful rendition of his classic "Folsom Prison Blues," while the San Quentin record included the crossover hit single "A Boy Named Sue," a Shel Silverstein-penned novelty song that reached No. 1 on the country charts and No. 2 on the US Top Ten pop charts. The AM versions of the latter contained a couple of profanities which were blipped out in that more-sensitive era. The modern CD versions are unedited and uncensored, and thus also longer than the original vinyl albums, giving a good flavor of what the concerts were like, with their highly receptive audiences of convicts.

Apart from his performances at Folsom Prison and San Quentin, and various other U.S. correctional facilities, Cash also performed at the ?-steråker Prison in Sweden in 1972. The live album På ?-steråker ("At ?-steråker") was released in 1973. Between the songs Cash can be heard speaking Swedish which was greatly appreciated by the inmates.

After he quit using drugs in the early 1970s, Cash rediscovered his Christian faith, taking an "altar call" in Evangel Temple, a small church in the Nashville area. Cash chose this church over many other larger, celebrity churches in the Nashville area because he said he was just another man there, and not a celebrity.


"The Man in Black"

From 1969 to 1971, Cash starred in his own television show, The Johnny Cash Show, on the ABC network. The singing group The Statler Brothers opened up for him in every episode. Notable rock artists who appeared on his show included Neil Young, James Taylor, and Bob Dylan.

Cash had met with Dylan in the mid-1960s, and became closer friends when they were neighbors in the late 1960s in Woodstock, New York.Cash was enthusiastic about reintroducing the reclusive Dylan to his audience. Cash sang a duet with Dylan on Dylan's country album Nashville Skyline, and also wrote the album's Grammy-winning liner notes.

Another artist who received a major career boost from The Johnny Cash Show was songwriter Kris Kristofferson. During a live performance of Kristofferson's "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", Cash made headlines when he refused to change the lyrics to suit network executives, singing the song with its controversial references to marijuana intact: "On the Sunday morning sidewalks / Wishin', Lord, that I was stoned."[citation needed]

By the early 1970s, he had crystallized his public image as "The Man in Black". He regularly performed dressed all in black, wearing a long black knee-length coat. This outfit stood in stark contrast to the costumes worn by most of the major country acts in his day: rhinestone and cowboy boots. In 1971, Cash wrote the song "Man in Black" to help explain his dress code: "I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down, / Livin' in the hopeless, hungry side of town, / I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime, / But is there because he's a victim of the times."

He and his band had initially worn black shirts because that was the only matching color they had among their various outfits.[1] He wore other colors on stage early in his career, but he claimed to like wearing black both on and off stage. He stated that, political reasons aside, he simply liked black as his on-stage color.[1] To this day, the United States Navy's winter blue service uniform is referred to by sailors as "Johnny Cashes", as the uniform's shirt, tie, and trousers are actually solid black in color.

In the mid-1970s, Cash's popularity and hit songs began to decline, but his autobiography (the first of two), titled Man in Black, was published in 1975 and sold 1.3 million copies. A second, Cash: The Autobiography, appeared in 1997. His friendship with Billy Graham led to the production of a movie about the life of Jesus, The Gospel Road, which Cash co-wrote and narrated. The decade saw his religious conviction deepening and he made many public appearances in an evangelical capacity.

He also continued to appear on television, hosting an annual Christmas special on CBS throughout the 1970s. Later television appearances included a role in an episode of Columbo. He also appeared with his wife on an episode of Little House on the Prairie entitled "The Collection" and gave a stirring performance as John Brown in the 1985 Civil War television mini-series North and South.

He was friendly with every U.S. President starting with Richard Nixon. He was least close with the last two, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, because of a personal distrust of both men and because of his declining health. He was probably closest with Jimmy Carter, who became a very close friend[1]. None of these friendships were about politics, as he never particularly supported any administration, but was just friendly with the nation's leaders. He stated that he found all of them personally charming, noting the fact that it was probably essential to getting oneself elected.[1]

When invited to perform at the White House for the first time in 1972, President Richard Nixon's office requested that he play "Okie from Muskogee" (a Merle Haggard song that negatively portrays youthful drug users and war protesters) and "Welfare Cadillac" (a Guy Drake song that derides the integrity of welfare recipients). Cash declined to play either song and instead played a series of his own more left-leaning, politically-charged songs, including "The Ballad of Ira Hayes" (about a brave Native-American World War II veteran, one of the men memorialized on the famous photograph "Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima" who was racially mistreated upon his return to Arizona), "Man in Black," and "What is Truth?" Cash claimed that the reason for denying Nixon's song choices were due to him not knowing them and having fairly short notice to rehearse them, rather than for any political reason.[1]

Highwaymen

In 1980, Cash became the Country Music Hall of Fame's youngest living inductee at age forty-eight, but during the 1980s his records failed to make a major impact on the country charts, although he continued to tour successfully. In the mid-1980s he recorded and toured with Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, and Kris Kristofferson as The Highwaymen, making two hit albums.

During this period, Cash appeared as an actor in a number of television films. In 1981, he starred in The Pride Of Jesse Hallam. Cash won fine reviews for his work in this film that called attention to adult illiteracy. In 1983, Cash also appeared as a heroic sheriff in Murder In Coweta County, which co-starred Andy Griffith as his nemesis. This film was based on a real life Georgia murder case; Cash had tried for years to make the film, which would win him acclaim.

Cash relapsed into addiction after a serious abdominal injury in 1983 caused by an unusual incident in which he was kicked and critically wounded by an ostrich he kept on his farm. He was administered painkillers as part of the recovery process, which led to a return to substance abuse.[5] During his recovery at the Betty Ford Clinic in 1986, he met and befriended Ozzy Osbourne, one of his son's favorite singers.[1]

At another hospital visit in 1988, this time to watch over Waylon Jennings (who was recovering from a heart attack), Jennings suggested that Cash have himself checked into the hospital for his own heart condition. Doctors recommended preventive heart surgery, and Cash underwent double bypass surgery in the same hospital. Both recovered, although Cash refused to use any prescription painkillers, fearing a relapse into dependency. Cash later claimed that during his operation, he had what is called a "near death experience". He said he had visions of Heaven that were so beautiful that he was angry when he woke up alive.

Cash's recording career and his general relationship with the Nashville establishment was at an all-time low in the 1980s. He realized his record label of nearly 30 years, Columbia, was growing indifferent to him and wasn't properly marketing him (he was "invisible" during that time, as he said in his autobiography). So, in a real-life scenario reminiscent of the Mel Brooks movie The Producers, Cash recorded an intentionally awful song, a self-parody. "Chicken in Black" was about Johnny's brain being transplanted into a chicken. Ironically the song turned out to be a larger commercial success than any of his other recent material. Nevertheless, he was hoping to kill the relationship with the label before they did, and it was not long after "Chicken in Black" that Columbia and Cash parted ways.

In 1986, Cash returned to Sun Studios in Memphis to team up with Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins to create the album, Class of '55. This was not the first time he had teamed up with Lewis and Perkins at Sun Studios. On December 4, 1956, Elvis Presley dropped in on Phillips to pay a social visit while Perkins was in the studio cutting new tracks with Lewis backing him on piano. The three started an impromptu jam session and Phillips left the tapes running. He later telephoned Cash and brought him in to join the others. These recordings, almost half of which were gospel songs, survived and have been released on CD under the title Million Dollar Quartet. Tracks also include Chuck Berry's "Brown Eyed Handsome Man," Pat Boone's "Don't Forbid Me," and Elvis doing an impersonation of Jackie Wilson (who was then with Billy Ward and the Dominoes) singing "Don't Be Cruel."

In 1986, Cash published his only novel, Man in White, a book about Saul and his conversion to become the Apostle Paul.


American Recordings

After Columbia Records dropped Cash from his recording contract, he had a short and unsuccessful stint with Mercury Records from 1987 to 1991 (see Johnny Cash discography).

In 1991, Cash sang lead vocals on a cover version of "Man in Black" for punk band One Bad Pig's album, "I Scream Sunday."

His career was rejuvenated in the 1990s, leading to unexpected popularity and iconic status among a younger audience not traditionally interested in country music, such as aficionados of indie rock and even hip-hop. In 1993, he sang the vocal on U2's "The Wanderer" for their album Zooropa. Although he was no longer sought after by major labels, Cash was approached by producer Rick Rubin and offered a contract with Rubin's American Recordings label, better known for rap and hard rock than for country music.

Under Rubin's supervision, he recorded the album American Recordings (1994) in his living room, accompanied only by his guitar. The album featured several covers of contemporary artists selected by Rubin, and saw much critical and commercial success, winning a Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album. Cash wrote that his reception at the 1994 Glastonbury Festival was one of the highlights of his career. This was the beginning of a decade of music industry accolades and surprising commercial success.

Cash and his wife appeared on a number of episodes of the popular television series Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman starring Jane Seymour. The actress thought so highly of Cash that she later named one of her twin sons after him. He did a cameo in an episode of The Simpsons, playing the voice of a coyote that guides Homer on a spiritual quest. In 1996, Cash released a sequel, Unchained, and enlisted the accompaniment of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, which won a Grammy for Best Country Album. In 1997, Cash believing he did not explain enough of himself in his 1975 autobiography Man in Black wrote another autobiography entitled Cash: The Autobiography.


Sickness and death

In 1997, Cash was diagnosed with the neurodegenerative disease Shy-Drager syndrome, a diagnosis that was later altered to autonomic neuropathy associated with diabetes. The illness forced Cash to curtail his touring. He was hospitalized in 1998 with severe pneumonia, which damaged his lungs. The albums American III: Solitary Man (2000) and American IV: The Man Comes Around (2002) contained Cash's response to his illness in the form of songs of a slightly more somber tone than the first two American albums. The video for "Hurt", a cover of the Nine Inch Nails song, and generally recognized as 'his epitaph' [6], from American IV received particular critical and popular acclaim.

June Carter Cash died of complications following heart valve replacement surgery on May 15, 2003 at the age of seventy-three. June had told Cash to keep working, so he continued to record, and even performed a couple of surprise shows at the Carter Family Fold outside Bristol, Virginia. (The July 5, 2003 concert was his final public appearance). At the June 21, 2003 concert, before singing "Ring of Fire", Cash read a statement about his late wife that he had written shortly before taking the stage. He spoke of how June's spirit was watching over him and how she had come to visit him before going on stage. He barely made it through the song. Despite his health issues, he talked of looking forward to the day when he could walk again and toss his wheelchair into the river near his home.

Less than four months after his wife's death, Johnny Cash died at the age of 73 due to complications from diabetes, which resulted in respiratory failure, while hospitalized at Baptist Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee. He was interred next to his wife in Hendersonville Memory Gardens near his home in Hendersonville, Tennessee.

On May 24, 2005, Rosanne Cash's 50th birthday, Vivian, his first wife and mother to Rosanne, died from surgery to remove lung cancer.

In June of 2005, his lakeside home on Caudill Drive in Hendersonville, Tennessee, went up for sale by the Cash estate. In January 2006, the house was sold to a corporation owned by Bee Gees vocalist Barry Gibb for $2.5 million. The listing agent was Cash's younger brother Tommy Cash.

One of Johnny Cash's final collaborations with producer Rick Rubin, entitled American V: A Hundred Highways, was released posthumously on July 4, 2006. The album debuted in the #1 position on Billboard Magazine's Top 200 album chart the week ending July 22, 2006. The vocal parts of the track were recorded before Cash's death, but the instruments were not recorded until about 2005. American VI is expected to be released in early 2007.


Legacy

From his early days as a pioneer of rockabilly and rock and roll in the 1950s, to his decades as an international representative of country music, to his resurgence to fame as both a living legend and an alternative country icon in the 1990s, Cash has influenced countless artists and left a body of work matched only by the greatest artists of his time. Upon his death, Cash was revered by many of the greatest popular musicians of his time.

Cash nurtured and defended artists on the fringes of what was acceptable in country music, even while serving as the country music establishment's most visible symbol. At an all-star concert in 1999, a diverse group of artists paid him tribute, including Bob Dylan, Chris Isaak, Wyclef Jean, Norah Jones, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, and U2. Two tribute albums were released shortly before his death; Kindred Spirits contains works from established artists, while Dressed in Black contains works from many lesser-known artists.

In total, he wrote over a thousand songs and released dozens of albums, a box set, titled Unearthed, was issued posthumously. It included four CDs of unreleased material recorded with Rubin, as well as a Best of Cash on American retrospective CD.

In recognition of his lifelong support of SOS Children's Villages, his family invited friends and fans to donate to that charity in his memory. He had a personal link with the SOS village in Diessen, at the Ammersee-Lake in Southern Germany, near where he was stationed as a GI, and also with the SOS village in Barrett Town, by Montego Bay near his holiday home in Jamaica. The Johnny Cash Memorial Fund was founded and contributions can be made here.

In 1999, Cash received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked him #31 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.[7]

In tribute of Cash's death, country music superstar Gary Allan included the song "Nickajack Cave (Johnny Cash's Redemption)" on his 2005 album entitled Tough All Over. The song chronicles Cash hitting rock bottom, and subsequently resurrecting his life and career.

For a period of time, there was a museum called the "House of Cash", but it is no longer in operation. Highway 31E, Hendersonville's Main Street, is known as "Johnny Cash Parkway".


Portrayals

In 1998, country singer Mark Collie portrayed Cash for the first time in a short film, "I Still Miss Someone". Shot mostly in stunning black and white it captures a moment in time for Cash during his darkest years of the mid 1960's.

Walk the Line, an Academy Award-winning biopic about Johnny Cash's lifetime starring Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash (for which he won the 2006 Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Comedy/Musical), and Reese Witherspoon as June Carter Cash (for which she won the 2006 Best Actress Oscar), was released in the U.S. on November 18, 2005 to considerable commercial success and great critical acclaim. Both Phoenix and Witherspoon have won various other awards for their roles, including the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy and Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy, respectively. They both performed their own vocals in the film, and Phoenix learned to play guitar for his role as Johnny Cash.

Ring of Fire, a jukebox musical of the Cash oeuvre, debuted on Broadway on March 12, 2006 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, but closed due to harsh reviews and disappointing sales on April 30, 2006.


Lists of accomplishments

Cash received multiple Country Music Awards, Grammys, and other awards, in categories ranging from vocal and spoken performances to album notes and videos. For detailed lists of music awards, see Johnny Cash discography

In a career that spanned almost five decades, Cash was the personification of country music to many people around the world, despite his distaste for the Nashville mainstream. Cash was a musician who was not tied to a single genre. He recorded songs that could be considered rock and roll, blues, rockabilly, folk, and gospel, and exerted an influence on each of those genres. Moreover, he had the unique distinction among country artists of having "crossed over" late in his career to become popular with an unexpected demographic, young indie and alternative rock fans. His diversity was evidenced by his presence in three major music halls of fame: the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame (1977), the Country Music Hall of Fame (1980), and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1992). Only ten performers are in both of the last two, and only Hank Williams Sr. and Jimmie Rodgers share the honor with Cash of being in all three. His pioneering contribution to the genre has also been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame[8]. He received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1996.

Cash stated that his induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1980 was his greatest professional achievement.[1]

Cash was the father of musicians Rosanne Cash and John Carter Cash, and stepfather to Carlene Carter. See Johnny Cash family

Michael Bolton
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia




Background information

Birth name Michael Bolotin
Born February 26, 1953
New Haven, Connecticut, United States
Genre(s) Pop
Pop rock
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter
Years active 1968-present
Associated
acts Blackjack
Website MichaelBolton.com

Michael Bolton (born Michael Bolotin on February 26, 1953) is an American pop, rock and adult contemporary singer-songwriter and tenor known for his soft rock ballads and powerful singing voice.

His achievements include selling 53 million albums, eight top ten albums, nine number one singles on the Billboard charts, and awards from both the American Music Awards and Grammys.



Background

Bolton was born in 1953 to a Jewish family in New Haven, Connecticut. Bolton found his biggest success in the mid-eighties and early nineties as a singer in the contemporary/easy listening genre. Unbeknownst to many, however, Bolton received his first record label contract at the age of 15. His band once toured with heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne. He began recording as Michael Bolton in 1983, after gaining his first major hit as a songwriter, cowriting "How Am I Supposed To Live Without You" for Laura Branigan, previously best-known for singing the disco-pop classic "Gloria". Narrowly missing the pop Top 10, Branigan took the song to number one on the Adult Contemporary charts for three weeks. The two sought to work with each other again, and their next of several associations was when Bolton co-wrote "I Found Someone" for Branigan in 1985. Her version was only a minor hit, but two years later, Cher resurrected the song, and with it her own singing career. Bolton cowrote several other songs for both singers.

Ironically, one of the prolific songwriter's first major successes as a singer was with his interpretation of someone else's composition, the Otis Redding classic, "(Sittin' On) the Dock of the Bay." Always interested in soul and Motown classics, that song's success encouraged him to tackle the standard "Georgia On My Mind," with which he had another hit. Most of Bolton's recordings are original material, however, and he has also written songs for such artists as Barbra Streisand, KISS, Kenny Rogers, Kenny G, Peabo Bryson and Patti LaBelle. Bolton's early songwriting collaborators included Doug James and Mark Mangold, and as his fame grew he began to cowrite with higher-profile writers such as BabyFace, Diane Warren, and Bob Dylan. As a singer, he has performed with Plácido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, Renee Fleming, Zucchero, Patti LaBelle, Celine Dion, Ray Charles, Percy Sledge, Wynonna Judd, and BB King.

Bolton is the father of three daughters (Isa, Holly and Taryn) born during his 1975-1990 marriage to Maureen McGuire. Between 1993 and 1995, he dated Knots Landing actress Nicollette Sheridan after his marriage to McGuire fizzled and hers with actor Harry Hamlin did as well. In 2006, it was noted that he and Nicollete were back together after he accompanied her to the 2006 Primetime Emmy Awards in January. In late February it was announced that Bolton and actress Sheridan were engaged after she proposed in the Bahamas.

In 1993, he established the Michael Bolton Foundation (now the Michael Bolton Charities) to assist women and children at risk from the effects of poverty and emotional, physical, and sexual abuse. The foundation has provided over $3.7 million in funding to local and national charities.

Bolton also serves as the honorary chairman of Prevent Child Abuse America, the national chairman for This Close for Cancer Research, and a board member for the National Mentoring Partnership and the Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital.

In March 2003, Bolton joined with Lifetime Television, Verizon Wireless, and many others to lobby on behalf of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, urging legislation to provide more assistance for victims of domestic violence, such as affordable housing options.

Bolton has received the Lewis Hine Award from the National Child Labor Committee, the Martin Luther King Award from the Congress of Racial Equality, and the Ellis Island Medal of Honor from the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations. The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce also recognized Bolton with a star on the "Walk of Fame" for his musical and charitable contributions.

Just in case you weren't feeling old enough today, just read this.
Each year the staff at Beloit College in Wisconsin puts together a
list to try to give the Faculty a sense of the mindset of this
year's incoming freshman.

Here is this year's list:



The people who are starting college this fall across the nation
were born in 1985.

They have no meaningful recollection of the Reagan Era
and probably did not know he had ever been shot.

They were prepubescent when the Persian Gulf War was waged.

There has been only one Pope in their lifetime.

They were 8 when the Soviet Union broke apart
and do not remember the Cold War.

They are too young to remember the space shuttle blowing up.

Tianamen Square means nothing to them.


Bottle caps have always been
screw off and plastic.


Atari predates them, as do vinyl albums.

The statement "You sound like a broken record" means nothing to them.
They have never owned a record player.


They have likely never played Pac Man
and have never heard of Pong.


They may have never heard of an 8 track.
The Compact Disc was introduced when they were 1 year old.

They have always had an answering machine.

Most have never seen a TV set with only 13 channels, nor
have they seen a black and white TV. They have always had cable.

There have always been VCRs, but they have no idea what BETA was.

They cannot fathom not having a remote control.



They don't know what a cloth baby diaper is, or know about the
"Help me, I've fallen and I can't get up" commercial.


Feeling old Yet? There's more:


They were born the year that the
Walkman were introduced by Sony.


Roller skating has always meant inline for them.

Michael Jackson has always been white.

Jay Leno has always been on the Tonight Show.

They have no idea when or why Jordache jeans were cool.



Popcorn has always been cooked in the microwave.

They have never seen Larry Bird play.


The Vietnam War is as ancient history to them as
WW I, WW II and the Civil War.

They have no idea that Americans were ever held hostage in Iran.

They can't imagine what hard contact lenses are.

They don't know who Mork was or where he was from.
(The correct answer, by the way, is Ork)

They never took a swim and thought about Jaws.


They never heard:
"Where's the beef?",
"I'd walk a mile for a Camel," or
"De plane, de plane!"

They do not care who shot J.R. and have no idea who J.R. was.

Kansas, Chicago, Boston, America, and Alabama are bands, not places.

There has always been MTV.

They don't have a clue how to use a typewriter.

Hawkman, welcome back to WA2K radio, Boston. We always learn something from your bio's, buddy.

Well, folks, there are a couple of things that I don't know from Bob's list. One is Pong and the other is Larry Bird. Thanks, again Bob and we are glad that all is well with you and your lady Nair.

Until our Raggedy gets here, there are a couple of poems that I would like for our listeners to here inspired by the notables:

Buffalo Bill's defunct

Buffalo Bill's
defunct
who used to
ride a watersmooth-silver
stallion
and break onetwothreefourfive pigeonsjustlikethat
Jesus
he was a handsome man
and what i want to know is
how do you like your blueeyed boy
Mister Death

-- E. E. Cummings

Poems of Victor Hugo

THE GRAVE AND THE ROSE
VICTOR HUGO.

The Grave said to the Rose,
'What of the dews of dawn,
Love's flower, what end is theirs?'
'And what of spirits flown,
The souls whereon doth close
The tomb's mouth unawares?'
The Rose said to the Grave.

The Rose said, 'In the shade
From the dawn's tears is made
A perfume faint and strange,
Amber and honey sweet.'
'And all the spirits fleet
Do suffer a sky-change,
More strangely than the dew,
To God's own angels new,'
The Grave said to the Rose.


THE GENESIS OF BUTTERFLIES
VICTOR HUGO.

The dawn is smiling on the dew that covers
The tearful roses; lo, the little lovers
That kiss the buds, and all the flutterings
In jasmine bloom, and privet, of white wings,
That go and come, and fly, and peep and hide,
With muffled music, murmured far and wide!
Ah, Spring time, when we think of all the lays
That dreamy lovers send to dreamy mays,
Of the fond hearts within a billet bound,
Of all the soft silk paper that pens wound,
The messages of love that mortals write
Filled with intoxication of delight,
Written in April, and before the May time
Shredded and flown, play things for the wind's play-time,
We dream that all white butterflies above,
Who seek through clouds or waters souls to love,
And leave their lady mistress in despair,
To flit to flowers, as kinder and more fair,
Are but torn love-letters, that through the skies
Flutter, and float, and change to Butterflies.

On this day in 1998 - A Texas jury rejected an $11 million lawsuit by Texas cattlemen who blamed Oprah Winfrey for price drop after on-air comment about mad-cow disease. (Oprah gained 64 lbs the following week in celebration)

UhOh, dys, I'm afraid Letty remembers that one, folks

Firewater


throw your caution to the wind, boys
coins are falling from the trees
and moderation is a sin, boys
whats a little hoof & mouth disease?
and nothing you can teach her
about a double feature
let the blood and whiskey flow
because tonight you are a player
tomorrows never there
in the dog & pony show
so take your whistles to the wolves, girls
they've all got pistols in their paws
but dont you go a runnin till they shoot, girls
cause every contract has a hidden clause
so ride on while you're able
find us in the stable
honey you just never know
every wheel's a spinner
and everyone a winner
in the dog & pony show
so come out in and grab a table
its your lucky day
all the drinks are on the house
until we hoist your bones away
dont tip the waitress
she looks famous
back on the rodeo
and welcome to the notorious and legendary
dog & pony show
put em with the other stiffs, boys
take the pennies from his eyes
and seal the deal with a kiss, boys
cause suits and coffins come in every size
dressed up and they'll show ya
how far they can throw ya
funny how the money goes
well you took em to the cleaners
with all the other dreamers
at the dog & pony show

Good afternoon. Picture time.

William Frawley, Madeleine Carroll, Dub Taylor; Jackie Gleason, Tony Randall; Betty Hutton, Fats Domino; Johnny Cash and Michael Bolton

Well, there's our Raggedy, folks. Love her collages of the celebs, and we may know most of them, PA, but for some reason I searched our archives for Michael Bolton songs because someone, somewhere said that they did not like him. Never heard him sing, but here is one from his Vintage album that I know.


Artist: Michael Bolton
Song: When i fall in love
Album: Vintage


When I fall in love it will be forever
Or I'll never fall in love
In a restless world like this is
Love has ended before it's begun
And too many moonlight kisses
Seem to cool in the warmth of the sun

When I give my heart it will be completely
Or I'll never give my heart
And the moment I can feel that you feel that way too
It's when I fall in love with you

And the moment I can feel that you feel that way too
It's when I fall in love with you

The Big Beat
Fats Domino



Big beat keeps you rockin' in your seat,
Big beat keeps you rockin' in your seat,
Clap your hands and stomp your feet
You got to move when you hear this beat
Big beat keeps you rockin' in your seat

Big beay keeps you rockin' in your seat,
Ol' grandpa just make it 80 years old
Maim and scream, puff and rock'n roll.
The big beat get in your soul
Make you jump, and make you roll.
Ol' grandpa just make it 80 years old.

Peg-leg Joe just throw his crutches away.
Big beat makes you act this way.
C'mon gang lets swing the swing
The big beat makes you act this queer
Peg-leg Joe just throw his crutches away.

Big beat keeps you rockin' in your seat,
Big beat keeps you rockin' in your seat,
Clap your hands and stomp your feet
You got to move when you hear this beat
Big beat keeps you rockin' in your seat

Jerry Lee Lewis - Ivory Tears

When lonliness lays her hurting hands on me,
There's a place I always can go
I'll pour out my soul, to my old piano
And I let those old ivories cry for me

Ivory tears, ivory tears,
my old piano cries for me,
Ivory tears, ivory tears,
dripping from every melody

Some lonely people, they turn to the jukebox,
Others turn to whiskey and wine
But, when it's crying time for me,
well, I turn to my ol' piano
And I let those old ivories cry for me

Ivory tears, ivory tears,
my old piano, it's crying, crying
Ivory tears, ivory tears,
dripping from every melody

edgar, Love old Fats. I think he may have a charmed life, Texas. Your IvoryTears by Jerry Lee Lewis reminds me of this one.

Dedicated to my oldest sister, my son, and my daughter.

Artist/Band: Nelson Willie
Lyrics for Song: Blue Eyes Cryin' In The Rain
Lyrics for Album: Live at Billy Bob's Texas

In the twilight glow, I see her
Blue eyes cryin' in the Rain
When we kissed goodbye and parted
I knew we'd never meet a-gain

Love is like a dying ember;
Only memories re- main.
And thru the ages I'll re-member
Blue eyes cryin' in the rain.

Someday when we meet up yonder,
We'll stroll hand in hand a- gain.
And in a land that knows no parting,
Blue eyes crying in the rain.

You know, folks, creative people need a keeper, but somehow, when times are at the worst, they seem to come on back, especially Willie and Fats and Jerry Lee. Of course, Little Richard has taken to doing commercials, but he is still funny and talented.

The End
Earl Grant

[Words and Music by Sid Jacobson and Jimmy Krondes]

At the end of a rainbow, you'll find a pot of gold
At the end of a story, you'll find it's all been told
But our love has a treasure our hearts always spend
And it has a story without any end

At the end of a river, the water stops its flow
At the end of a highway, there's no place you can go
But just tell me you love and you are only mine
And our love will go on 'til the end of time

At the end of a river, the water stops its flow
At the end of a highway, there's no place you can go
But just tell me you love and you are only mine
And our love will go on 'til the e-end of time

'Til the end of time

Sorry (I Ran All The Way Home)
The Impalas

[Words and Music by Harry Giosasi and Artie Zwirn]

Sorry, sorry
Oh, so sorry
Uh-oh

I ran all the way home
Just to say I'm sorry (sorry)
What can I say
I ran all the way
Yay, yay, yay

I ran all the way home
Just to say I'm sorry (sorry)
Please let me stay
I ran all the way
Yay, yay, yay

And now I'm sorry, sorry, sorry
I didn't mean to make you cry
Let's make amends
After all, we're more than friends
Yay, yay, yay

I ran all the way home
Just to say I'm sorry (sorry)
What can I say
I ran all the way
Yay, yay, yay

Do Nothin' 'Til You Hear From Me
Woody Herman

[Music and Lyrics by Duke Ellington and Bob Russell]

Do nothin' till you hear from me
Pay no attention to what's said
Why people tear the seams of anyone's dream
Is over my head
Do nothin' till you hear from me
At least consider our romance
If you should take the word of others you've heard
I haven't a chance
True I've been seen with someon new
But does that mean that I'm untrue
when we're apart the words in my heart
Reveal how I feel about you
some kiss may cloud my memory
And other arms may hold a thrill
But please do nothin' till you hear it from me
And you never will

Good morning, WA2K listeners and contributors.

edgar, thanks for the lyrics and memories, Texas. Somehow, folks, this song arose in my mind as I noticed that the rains have finally come to our part of the world. Heard from a good friend of our wee cyber station, and we may have an announcement to make later on.

Interesting song, done by many:

Walk me out in the morning dew my honey
Walk me out in the morning dew today;
Can't walk you out in the morning dew my honey
Can't walk you out in the morning dew today!

Thought I heard a young girl cry mama,
Thought I heard a young girl cry today-
You didn't hear no young girl crying mama,
You didn't hear no young girl cry today!

Thought I heard a young man cry mama-
Thought I heard a young man cry today-
You didn't hear no young man crying mama
You didn't hear no young man cry today!