Jo Stafford

Jo Stafford, one of the best known singers of the big band era, passed away on July 16, in California. She was 90.

The obituary from The New York Times can be found here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/19/arts/music/19stafford.html.

Stafford was a wonderful singer. One of my favorite songs is 1941’s “Let’s Get Away From It All,” by the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. The song featured Frank Sinatra, Connie Haines, and the vocal group The Pied Pipers; Jo Stafford was, at the time, a member of The Pied Pipers.

Here is a brief excerpt of the record, featuring Stafford and The Pied Pipers. In the excerpt, Stafford sings both alone, and with the group; she is the first voice heard on the recording.

The excerpt comes from the album "The Dorsey/Sinatra Sessions, Volume 2," RCA Records, 1982.

http://029b257.netsolhost.com/images/Let_s_Get_Away_from_it_All,_segment.wav

S.S. United States, and the Pompton Lakes Library

A new documentary, which has been airing on PBS stations throughout the country, concerns the S.S. United States, the ocean liner which plays a part in The Lucky Strike Papers. The film is called S.S. United States: Lady In Waiting. DVDs of the film can be purchased via the film’s web site:

http://www.bigshipfilms.com/bsf_final/#


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I mentioned the S.S. United States, when I spoke about The Lucky Strike Papers on June 30th, at the Pompton Lakes (New Jersey) Public Library. I’ve lived in Pompton Lakes since the fall of 2002.

June 30th was a day of great significance at the Library—the last day at work for the Library’s longtime director, Dr. Margaret Freathy. She had overseen the Library for 18 years.

I enjoyed speaking with a small group of Library patrons and staff members (including Dr. Freathy).

When I referred to the S.S. United States, a gentleman in attendance told me the following: he said he was unsure, but he believed that the S.S. United States was the ship featured in the 1957 film An Affair to Remember, starring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr.

I had not heard this, and so, last week, I rented the film. There were, in the film, many exterior shots of the ship; the ship plays a prominent part in the film. As one who has seen many photos of the S.S. United States (and took two tours of it, in the year 2000, on the Philadelphia waterfront), I was sure the gentleman at the library was right: it looked, I thought, just like the United States.

However: in an image of the bow of the ship, in the film, one sees the name “Constitution.” I thought, though, that perhaps the liner was still the United States, but that it had been renamed for the purposes of the film.

Yet so often today, of course, DVDs include additional footage and features, and one newsreel-type feature, on the DVD, concerned a 1957 event related to the film’s debut, an event which took place on the S.S. Constitution— the ship, the narrator noted, that had been featured in the film.

Radio shows

From 1995 until 1997, as mentioned in the previous post, I was the host of a talk show on radio station WINA-AM in Charlottesville, Virginia. Last week, I appeared on WINA again, by phone; I was interviewed by Coy Barefoot, the host of the station’s talk show “Charlottesville—Right Now!”

I have wonderful memories of working at WINA, think of Charlottesville with great affection, and it was a delight appearing on Coy’s program.

Coy, by the way, has written a number of books. Here’s a link to one of them, which is about Thomas Jefferson:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Jefferson-Leadership-Executive-Lessons/dp/0452283116/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1215400310&sr=1-4

As my thoughts turn regularly to Charlottesville, they also turn very often to New England, where I am from.

And so I was of course so pleased to be able to appear last weekend (Saturday night/Sunday morning) on Jordan Rich’s overnight show on Boston station WBZ-AM. Jordan has a warm and engaging style as an interviewer. I also enjoyed talking with the several callers who phoned in.

Coming up, on July 15th: an interview on “The Sam Greenfield Show,” on northern New Jersey station WVNJ (1160 AM). The interview will begin at 8:30 a.m.

In the next several days

This Saturday night/Sunday morning (after the 2 a.m. news), I'll be appearing on "The Jordan Rich Show," on WBZ Radio in Boston, to talk about "The Lucky Strike Papers." Jordan's show airs three nights each week: overnight on Friday/Saturday, overnight on Saturday/Sunday, and on Sunday evening between 10 p.m. and midnight. (Jordan's web address is: http://jordanrich.com/)

Yesterday, too, I taped an interview which will be airing this coming Monday (June 30th), between 11 and 11:30 a.m., on Newton, Mass. radio station WNTN (1550 AM). I enjoyed speaking with Sybil Tonkonogy, who has been a talk show host at the station for many years--and was particularly pleased to be able to appear on the show (called "1550 Today"), in that I grew up in Newton.

Also on Monday, between 10:30 and 11:30 a.m., I'll be discussing "The Lucky Strike Papers" at the Pompton Lakes (New Jersey) Public Library, as part of the Library's "Bagels & Books" series. The library is located at 333 Wanaque Avenue, in Pompton Lakes. For further information about the event, contact the Library's Joan McGrath at 973-835-0482.

In addition: on Wednesday, July 2nd, between 4:30 and 5:00 p.m., there will be an interview on station WINA-AM in Charlottesville, Virginia. The show, "Charlottesville--Right Now!", is hosted by writer Coy Barefoot. Between 1995 and 1997, it so happens, I was the host of a weekday afternoon talk show at the station. I'm looking forward to being on the station again, if only briefly.

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.