Danny Davis

Danny Davis, who achieved great prominence with his Grammy Award-winning musical group “Danny Davis and the Nashville Brass,” died on June 12th in Nashville. He was 83.

Davis, who founded the Nashville Brass in the late 1960s, was born George Nowlan, in Dorchester, Mass. During the big band era, he played trumpet with the orchestras of Gene Krupa, Art Mooney, and others. In 1951, he played with Freddy Martin’s orchestra, on Martin’s NBC-TV series, and was one of the “Martin Men,” the show’s vocal group, made up of sidemen from the band. He also sang solos on the show, and appeared in the show’s commercials for Hazel Bishop lipstick, the show’s sponsor.

Later--before founding the Nashville Brass--he became a well-known record producer.

Above: pictures of Danny Davis. The black and white photo is a Polaroid picture I took today, of a video I have, made from a 1951 “Freddy Martin Show” kinescope. The picture is of Davis—at the time, still known as George Nowlan—singing the show's Hazel Bishop jingle.

To read more about Davis: http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080612/TUNEIN/80612124/1005/ENTERTAINMENT

Image of "The Freddy Martin Show" used by permission of NBC Studios, Inc.

Magazine photograph, 1960

At left: A photograph from a July, 1960 magazine article about my mother. At the time—this being several years after the end of her network TV career—she was the host of a Sunday afternoon movie program on Boston’s Channel 7 (WNAC-TV), called Cinema 7. My brother is to the left; I am to the right. At the time the magazine story came out, I was four; my brother was seven (although I believe the picture was taken the year before, in 1959).

Hit Parade radio show, 1952

In 1951, when my mother joined the cast of Your Hit Parade, on NBC (at first, to sing in the TV show’s Lucky Strike commercials—known as “extravaganza” commercials, in that they were presented as full production numbers—and then, later, becoming a featured vocalist on the program), the radio and TV versions of the show were both broadcast on Saturday nights. The radio show was broadcast first, and then the same singers, an hour after the conclusion of the radio show, appeared on the television version.

In the fall of 1951, the radio show was altered: it no longer featured the TV cast, and it was moved to Thursday nights. The new radio version, still sponsored by Lucky Strike cigarettes, starred the Guy Lombardo Orchestra; the TV orchestra continued to be led by bandleader Raymond Scott. Each week, on the new radio version, a guest female vocalist—the show’s “Lucky Star of the Week”—was featured. In 1952, my mother made two guest appearances on the radio show.

Seen here: an article from a Madison, Wisconsin newspaper, about one of those appearances. The program, that night, celebrated the radio show’s 17th anniversary.

Diane Sinclair

Someone on ebay is selling this 1953 picture of dancer Diane Sinclair, taken at the time she was appearing on NBC's Dave Garroway Show, with her dance partner Ken Spaulding.

Sinclair and Spaulding were the featured dance team on Kay Kyser's NBC-TV show; they joined the show in 1950. Interviews with both Diane Sinclair, and the late Ken Spaulding, appear in The Lucky Strike Papers.

In 1954, Diane Sinclair was featured on the cover of Life Magazine, as part of a photo-essay about Sinclair and Spaulding. The photographer for both the photo-essay, and the cover, was Gordon Parks.

Here's the link, for the ebay item:

http://cgi.ebay.com/DIANE-SINCLAIR-PHOTO-TV-ENTERTAINMENT-DANCER-VINTAGE_W0QQitemZ110237945481QQihZ001QQcategoryZ197QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1638Q2em118Q2el1247

Morgan White, Jr., & the S.S. United States

I had a terrific time appearing on Boston radio station WBZ on Sunday night—and not simply because, having grown up in the Boston area, I listened to the station throughout my childhood, and beyond.

The show’s guest host—Morgan White, Jr.—conducted a wonderful interview.

And I learned, during our conversation, about a point of intersection, regarding family history.

I have written, in previous posts, about the ocean liner the S.S. United States. It made its first voyage–from New York to England—in 1952. The last broadcast of NBC’s Your Hit Parade, for the 1951-1952 TV season, originated from the ship; this was five days before the ship’s maiden voyage. It turned out—though she did not know it at the time—that my mother’s appearance on the S.S. United States was to be her last appearance on Your Hit Parade.

During the interview, Morgan told me that his grandfather, in the 1950s, had been a steward on the S.S. United States. I loved learning about this—that we both have a once-removed connection to this legendary American ship.

More about WBZ

This Sunday (April 20), at midnight, I'll be appearing as a guest, via phone, on Boston's WBZ NewsRadio (1030 AM). I'll be interviewed about The Lucky Strike Papers by guest host Morgan White, Jr. He's sitting in that night for host Steve LeVeille.

As I mentioned in the preceding two posts, my mother hosted a show on WBZ-TV, "The Sue Bennett Show," in 1954 and 1955. In 1956, the year I was born, she was co-host of another TV show on the station, a weekday morning program, "Morning Playhouse." Her co-host was the legendary Boston TV personality Rex Trailer.

(Above right: advertisement from TV Guide, September, 1956, for "Morning Playhouse")

Boston, & "The Sue Bennett Show"

Seen here is a 1954 story from the Boston Globe's Sunday magazine, during the time my mother was singing on her weekly "Sue Bennett Show," on Boston's WBZ-TV; this was two years after she sang on NBC's "Your Hit Parade." My parents had left New York--and my mother had left behind her network TV career--at the start of 1953.

The year-old son referred to in the story's headline is my brother, who was born in 1953. I came along later, in 1956.