Hey, edgar. I like both those songs, buddy; Thanks for Mamma's advice and she was right.
Here's one by Billy Preston (from your area of the world) and we'll dedicate this to the economy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_DV54ddNHE&feature=related
Phil Harris
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Birth name Wonga Philip Harris
Born June 24, 1904(1904-06-24)
Linton, Indiana, USA
Died August 11, 1995 (aged 91)
Palm Springs, California, USA
Show The Jack Benny Program
Station(s) NBC, CBS
Style Comedian
Country United States
Phil Harris (born Wonga Philip Harris) (June 24, 1904 - August 11, 1995) was an American singer, songwriter, jazz musician, actor and comedian. Though successful as an orchestra leader, Harris is remembered today for his recordings as a vocalist, his voice work in animation and the radio situation comedy in which he co-starred with his second wife, singer-actress Alice Faye, for eight years.
Bandleader
Although he was born in Linton, Indiana, Harris actually grew up in Nashville, Tennessee, and identified himself as a Southerner (his hallmark song was "That's What I Like About the South"). His upbringing accounted for both his trace of a Southern accent and, in later years, the self-deprecating Southern jokes of his radio character. The son of two circus performers, Harris' first work as a drummer came when his father, as tent bandleader, hired him to play with the circus band.[1] Harris began his music career in earnest as a drummer in San Francisco, forming an orchestra with Carol Lofner in the latter 1920s and starting a long engagement at the St. Francis Hotel. The partnership ended by 1932, and Harris led and sang with his own band, now based in Los Angeles.
From December, 1936, through March, 1937, he recorded 16 sides for Vocalion. Most were hot swing tunes that used a very interesting gimmick; they faded up and faded out with a piano solo (probably these were arranged by pianist Skippy Anderson). This was a novel approach and quite unusual for the time.[citation needed]
On September 2, 1927, he was married to actress Marcia Ralston in Sydney, Australia, having met her while playing a concert date in that country.[1] The couple adopted a son, Phil Harris, Jr. (b. 1935). They were divorced in September, 1940.
Phil Harris played drums in Henry Halstead Big Band Orchestra in the 1920s.
In 1933, he made a short film for RKO called So This Is Harris!, which won an Academy Award for best live action short subject. He followed it up with a feature-length film called Melody Cruise. Both films were created by the same team that next produced Flying Down to Rio, which started the successful careers of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Additionally, he appeared in The High and The Mighty with John Wayne in 1954.[1]
Radio
In 1936, Harris became musical director of The Jell-O Show Starring Jack Benny (later renamed The Jack Benny Program), singing and leading his band and - when his knack for snappy one-liners became apparent - joining the Benny ensemble playing Phil Harris, scripted as a hipster-talking, hard-drinking, brash Southerner whose good nature overcame his ego. His trademark was his jive-talk nicknaming of the others in the Benny orbit. Benny was "Jackson," for example; Harris's usual entry was a cheerful "Hiya, Jackson!". He usually referred to Mary Livingstone as "Livvy" or "Libby". His signature song, belying his actual Hoosier roots, was "That's What I Like About the South." His comic persona -- that of musical idiot -- masked the fact that the Harris Band evolved into a smooth, up-tempo big band with outstanding arrangements.
Phil and Alice
Harris married Alice Faye in 1941; it was a second marriage for both (Faye had been married briefly to singer-actor Tony Martin). The Faye-Harris marriage lasted 54 years, until Harris's death. Harris engaged in a legendary fist fight at the Trocadero nightclub in 1938 with RKO studio mogul Bob Stevens over Alice Faye after Stevens ended a romantic relationship with Faye in favour of Sharon Gunn. In 1942, Harris and his entire band enlisted in the U.S. Navy and they served for the duration of World War II. By 1946 Faye had all but ended her film career. She drove off the 20th Century Fox lot after studio czar Darryl F. Zanuck reputedly edited her scenes out of Fallen Angel (1945) to pump up his protege Linda Darnell.
Harris and Faye were invited to join a radio program, The Fitch Bandwagon. Originally a vehicle for big bands, including Harris's own, the show became something else entirely when Harris and Faye became its breakout stars. Coinciding with their desire to settle in southern California and raise their children without touring heavily, Bandwagon evolved into The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show, a situation comedy with one music spot each for Harris and Faye.
Harris was the vain, language-challenged bandleading husband and Faye was his acid but loving wife on the air; off the air, as radio historian Gerald S. Nachman has recorded, Harris was actually a soft-spoken, modest man. Young actresses Jeanine Roos and Anne Whitfield played the Harris's two young daughters on the air; the series also featured Gale Gordon as their sponsor's representative, the versatile (actor-director-producer) Elliott Lewis as layabout guitarist Frank Remley, and Great Gildersleeve co-star Walter Tetley as obnoxious grocery boy Julius Abruzzio.
The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show debuted on NBC in 1948 and ran until 1954, by which time radio had all but succumbed to television. (Harris continued to appear on Jack Benny's show, along with his own, from 1948 to 1952.) Because the Harris show aired immediately after Benny's on a different network (Harris and Faye were still on NBC, whereas Benny jumped his show...including Phil Harris as his bandleader...over to CBS in 1949), Harris would only appear during the first half of Jack's show; he would then leave the CBS studio and walk approximately one block to his own studio down the street, arriving just in time for the start of his own program. He was succeeded as Benny's orchestra leader in the fall of 1952 by Bob Crosby.
After radio
After the show ended, Harris revived his music career. He made numerous guest appearances on 1960s and 1970s TV shows, including the Kraft Music Hall, The Dean Martin Show, The Hollywood Palace and other musical variety programs. He appeared on ABC's The American Sportsman hosted by Grits Gresham, and later sports announcer Curt Gowdy, which took celebrities on hunting, fishing, or shooting trips around the world.
Song hits by Harris included the early 1950s novelty song, "The Thing." The song describes the hapless finder of a box with a mysterious secret and his efforts to rid himself of it. Harris also spent time in the 1970s and early 1980s leading a band that appeared often in Las Vegas, often on the same bill with swing era legend Harry James.
Harris was also a close friend and associate of Bing Crosby; in fact, after Crosby died, Harris sat in for his old friend doing color commentary for the telecast of the annual Bing Crosby Pro-Am Golf Tournament. Harris said of Crosby's death: "I have grown up to learn that God doesn't make mistakes. Today, I'm beginning to doubt that." An old episode of The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show began with Harris telling the story of how he once won the tournament.
Voice acting
He worked as a vocalist and voice actor for animated films, with performances in the Disney animated features The Jungle Book (1967), The Aristocats (1970) as Thomas O'Malley, and Robin Hood (1973).
The Jungle Book was his greatest success in the years following his radio heyday. As Baloo the Bear, he sings one of the film's showstoppers, "The Bare Necessities", a performance that introduced Harris to a new generation of young fans who had no idea he was once a popular radio star. Harris also joins Louis Prima in "I Wanna Be Like You", delivering a memorable scat-singing performance.
The Aristocats features Harris as alley cat Thomas O'Malley, who joins in the film's showstopper, "Ev'rybody Wants to Be a Cat", with Scatman Crothers. In Robin Hood, Harris's Little John sings the popular anti-Prince John tune "The Phony King of England".
In 1989, Harris briefly returned to Disney to once again voice Baloo, this time for the cartoon series TaleSpin. He was later replaced by actor Ed Gilbert.
Harris's last animated film project was the 1991 film Rock-a-Doodle, directed by Don Bluth, in which he played the friendly, laid-back farm dog Patou.
Honoring his roots
Harris was a longtime resident and benefactor of Palm Springs, California, where Crosby also made his home. Harris was also a benefactor of his birthplace of Linton, Indiana, establishing scholarships in his honor for promising high school students, performing at the high school, and hosting a celebrity golf tournament in his honour every year. In due course, Harris and Faye donated most of their show business memorabilia and papers to Linton's public library.
Phil Harris died of a heart attack in Palm Springs 1995 at age 91. Alice Faye died of stomach cancer three years later. Two years before his death, Harris was inducted into the Indiana Hall of Fame. Both Harris and Faye are interred at Forest Lawn-Cathedral City in Riverside County, California. Phyllis Harris was last reported living in St. Louis (she had been with her mother at her father's bedside when he died), while Alice Harris Regan was reported living in New Orleans.
Harris remained grateful to radio for the difference it made in his professional and personal life, however. "If it hadn't been for radio," he was quoted as saying, "I would still be a traveling orchestra leader. For 17 years I played one-night stands, sleeping on buses. I never even voted, because I didn't have any residence."
The gratitude has probably been returned sevenfold: episodes of The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show turn up frequently on compact-disc collections of old-time radio classics, both on their own sets and amid various comedy collections. (A treat for collectors: at least half the surviving episodes of the show's final season include Harris's audience warmup routine, performed for ten minutes before the show was to begin recording.) Many consider the show at its best to have stood the test of time, thanks to above-average writing (mostly by the team of Ray Singer and Dick Chevillat) and, especially, the two stars who executed it with impeccable taste and timing.
Michele Lee
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Born Michelle Lee Dusick
June 24, 1942 (1942-06-24) (age 66)
Los Angeles, California, United States
Michele Lee (born on June 24, 1942) is a Tony and Emmy-nominated American singer, dancer, actress, producer, director and frequent game show panelist of the 1970s. She is best-known for her role as Karen Cooper Fairgate MacKenzie on the 1980s prime-time soap opera, Knots Landing. She also co-starred with Dean Jones in the 1969 Disney film, The Love Bug.
Stage actress
Lee began her career on television in an episode of the late 1950s sitcom The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis. When she was 18, she auditioned for the Broadway play Vintage '60. She soon began appearing in musicals, becoming a star on Broadway at the age of 19 in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying in the role of "Rosemary", opposite Robert Morse and the late Rudy Vallee, a role she reprised in the film version. She also appeared in more plays, such as the Los Angeles production of Jerry Herman's Parade and the Broadway productions of Bravo Giovanni and The Tale of the Allergist's Wife .
Film and TV work
After she sang and starred in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1967), she became known for her roles in the films The Comic and The Love Bug, the latter becoming the biggest blockbuster movie of 1969. That same year, she starred in a special television production of the Jerome Kern - Otto Harbach musical, Roberta, in which she sang "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes". After the birth of her son, she worked infrequently until accepting a role on Broadway in Seesaw, which netted her a Tony Award nomination in 1974. After her mother's death, she stopped working, wanting to spend time with her only son.
In addition to becoming a singer, Lee became one of the most in-demand guest actresses of the 1970s, appearing in Marcus Welby, M.D., Alias Smith and Jones, Night Gallery, Love, American Style, Fantasy Island and The Love Boat.
Lee's name would proved to be even more prominent by making numerous appearances on several game shows in the 1970s, such as: Hollywood Squares, Match Game, Celebrity Sweepstakes, This Is Your Life, The Movie Game, The $25,000 Pyramid, What's My Line, The Gong Show, Snap Judgment, among many others. She appeared on a pilot of a 1970s game show Cop-Out that have never been aired.
Television work
Knots Landing
In 1979, Lee accepted the role of Karen Fairgate on Knots Landing, a spin-off of the immensely popular Dallas. Though slow to start, the series eventually became a ratings hit and became one of the longest running primetime dramas ever, lasting for a total of 14 seasons from 1979 - 1993. Lee was the only performer to appear in all of the show's 344 episodes, which was a record for an actress - only recently surpassed by S. Epatha Merkerson on NBC's Law & Order.
Although Lee was having great success, her marriage to actor James Farentino was failing. She and Farentino separated around the same time Lee's onscreen husband, Don Murray, left the show. Lee thus played a single mother on Knots Landing at the same time she was becoming one in real life. Lee revealed that when her character took off her wedding ring in a 1982 episode, she was taking off her real wedding band.
During the fall of 1982, her character met M. Patrick "Mack" MacKenzie (Kevin Dobson), who became her screen husband the following year. They would continue working together until the end of the series. As one of the series' leads, Lee became very popular with fans, winning the Soap Opera Digest Award for Lead Actress five times, and being nominated for an Emmy Award in 1982 for "Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series". In 1983, the writers/producers of Knots Landing urged her to do a storyline based on prescription drug dependency which became one of her most prominent storylines. Six years later, Lee directed her first of several episodes of the series. Lee's friend and co-star Joan Van Ark has publicly praised her directing skills. In 1991, Knots Landing reached a milestone with its 300th episode. During the same season, Lee filmed her favorite scene from the series, known as the "Pollyanna Speech" among fans. In this scene, in which Lee had much input, Karen explains how she would like to be a Pollyanna and see the world through rose-colored glasses, but cannot be due to the real world around her.
As Knots Landing moved into the 1990s, its popularity began to wane. The big budget that the series once had was trimmed and in the final season, the higher paid cast members were asked to appear in only 15 of the season's 19 episodes, as the budget constraints had become so that the production company couldn't afford to pay them. Lee refused and appeared in all 19 episodes that season, doing her extra four episodes for "union scale" pay.
Other appearances
Since Knots Landing ended in 1993, Lee has appeared in many made-for-TV movies, including a biopic of late country star Dottie West ( Big Dreams and Broken Hearts: The Dottie West Story) and she became the first woman to star in, direct, and produce a TV movie for Lifetime, Color Me Perfect in 1996. She also starred in the reunion mini-series Knots Landing: Back to the Cul-de-Sac in 1997, and portrayed Hollywood novelist Jacqueline Susann in the television biopic Scandalous Me: The Jacqueline Susann Story in 1998. In 2004, she returned to feature films in the role of Ben Stiller's mother in Along Came Polly. She guest-starred alongside Chita Rivera in a February 2005 episode of Will & Grace. Also in 2005, she reunited with her Knots Landing co-stars for the non-fiction special Knots Landing: Together Again in which the stars reminisced about their time on the hit series.
Private life
In 1963, she met actor James Farentino on the set of the play, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and in 1964 they were married. Their son, David Farentino, was born July 6, 1969. She lost her father, Jack Dusick, in 1970 from a massive heart attack. In 1976, she lost her mother, Sylvia Dusick.
Lee and Farentino divorced in 1983, and she then met Fred Rappaport at a party. They were married in 1987.
Lee and her son David have since relocated to New York.
Arbitrator \ar'-bi-tray-ter\: A cook that leaves Arby's to work at McDonald's.
Avoidable \uh-voy'-duh-buhl\: What a bullfighter tries to do.
Baloney \buh-lo'-nee\: Where some hemlines fall.
Bernadette \burn'-a-det\: The act of torching a mortgage.
Burglarize \bur'-gler-ize\: What a crook sees with.
Counterfeiters \kown-ter-fit-ers\: Workers who put together kitchen cabinets.
Eclipse \e-klips'\: What an English barber does for a living.
Eyedropper \i'-drop-ur\: A clumsy ophthalmologist.
Heroes \hee'-rhos\: What a guy in a boat does.
Left Bank \left' bangk'\: What the robber did when his bag was full of loot.
Misty \mis'-tee\: How golfers create divots.
Paradox \par'-uh-doks\: Two physicians.
Parasites \par'-uh-sites\: What you see from the top of the Eiffel Tower.
Pharmacist \farm'-uh-sist\: A helper on the farm.
Polarize \po'-lur-ize\: What penguins see with.
I wish I had half of Billy Preston's hair.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtE4AtBo2AM
Here is Phil Harriss, playing poker. He has a good version of Boy Named Sue, also, but I didn't search for it.
First, allow us to acknowledge the hawkman and his contributions. Thanks, Boston, and your misplaced pronunciations were great. Love 'em.
Was particularly interested in the fact that Ambrose Bierce had a opera written about him. Need to check that out.
Hmmm, it just occurred to me that should Bob have a cat, it would probably be named Kitty Hawk.
edgar, love that Poker Club song, reminds me of "Dark Town Strutters Ball." Wow! where did that come from?
This is "advice from mamma day", so let's listen to some more, y'all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWMt5Hk0E-g
Ambrose, Phil and Michele:
Here's to you, Letty. Gregory Peck as Ambrose Bierce, the Old Gringo.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40A24x_Kwuc
and a Good Day to all.
Ah, Raggedy, that was a beautiful scene from "Old Gringo" and thank you for the trio of notables, PA.
Strange, folks, I just got through listening to a clip from the opera about Ambrose Bierce. It was called Nebula and was very eerie.
Many of you may not remember beedle squoink(I think that was his screen name) who used to be on our forum, and who is a marvelous guitarist and vocalist. Heard from him not too long ago and he seemed well and still in voice. He loved Ambrose Bierce and wrote a song about him.
Well, my goodness. No wonder I know Dark Town Strutter's Ball; it be dixiland jazz.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IP0SEXvhTDU&feature=related
I recall Darktown Strutters Ball, from years ago, but have forgotten which artist I listened to. I've spent the day lounging and recuperating from my labors. I am going to the archives now, to select a couple of songs to play for the listeners.
This song has been well done by other artists, but, here is my favorite version
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23NizGhd6Lc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1a7g6xDfXU
I fondly recall the Luke the Drifter recordings. Mom would be doing whatever it is Moms do in kitchens, listening to the radio, with me hanging nearby, singing to the music.
edgar, I listened to "Some Day Soon" a couple of times. Judy Collins' voice is lovely, and the meaning behind the song is so typical. The Rodeo is rather like the music business. Guys have priorities, no? Loved it.
Could not believe that Hank Williams talked a song, Texas. What a surprise, and the drifter theme reminded of this one.
This kid's voice is great. (like most of us, he ain't no kid no more) Sing it, Bobby.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cmf7A4wgIJc
Judy Collins is so great. I would love to see her in concert.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F56DHDL_Htw&feature=related
Now I got Bob Dylan, from the album, John Wesley Harding. A fine little tune called, I'll Be Your Baby Tonight. Notice how he gathers so may cliches together and makes a work of art out of it anyway.
Thanks, edgar, for the "jester" song via Mr. Harding. It was different.
Here's a plea by James Taylor, and I love it, folks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KU-T4bV5fnE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52n4K9g2hcw
Tonight I celebrate my love, as I do every night and day. Here is Roberta Flack and Peabo Bryson to sing about it.
What a beautiful duet and how very touching, edgar. I have loved Roberta ever since she did that tribute to Don McLean. Still love that man.
well, all, it's time for me to say goodnight, and I'm in a classical mood so this is perfect. I have also added the lyrics that were inspired by this beautiful concerto.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pmm6p9jjwbM
Full moon and empty arms
The moon is there for us to share
But where are you?
A night like this
Could weave a memory
And every kiss
Could start a dream for two
Full moon and empty arms
Tonight I'll use the magic moon
To wish upon
And next full moon
If my one wish comes true
My empty arms will be filled with you.
It has been a wonderful day.
From Letty with love
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYXIVOnzYVU&feature=related
My good night piece is by the Jaynettes, from the 1960s. Sally Don't Go Downtown. Good night letty and all you good people in radio land.
Thought I would stop in with a good night as well.
Bobby and Bill
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3K2N5ajruc&feature=related
Nite all
