Net Worth of Petula Clark, Fabian, Prince Jackson, Connie Francis and Gordon Lightfoot

Petula Clark – $10 Million

The Celebrity Net Worth website lists 80 year-old Petula Clark as being worth $10 million. Clark has now been singing for 74 years. When I think of Petula Clark I think of her hit song Downtown.

Fabian – $25 Million

Fabian Forte known only as Fabian by most rock and roll fans was 70 last February and although he may not have a lot of hit songs he made his mark in the movies, appearing in a total of 45 movies and TV shows from 1959-1996. Celebrity Net Worth lists Fabian’s net worth at $25 million.

Prince Michael Joseph Jackson – $100 Million

 

Prince Michael Joseph Jackson Jr. may be only 16, but he is already worth $100 million.. He may or may not have access to that money now, but his financial security is insured, if he doesn’t go through his money too fast.

Connie Francis – $25 Million

The net worth of Connie Francis is listed at $25 million despite the fact that she only had three No.1 hits in her 70 year career. The 74-year-old Francis had her first No.1 hit in My Heart’s Got A Mind Of Its Own in 1960. Her next No. 1 hit was released in 1961 when Together was No.1 on adult contemporary chart and her last No. 1 hit was Don’t Break The Heart That Loves You which reached No.1 on the Billboard charts in 1962. Francis has not even released an album since 1969.  One of her best known songs was Who’s Sorry Now, but it peaked at No.4 for her first Top 10 hit in 1957.

Her biggest regret was not marrying Bobby Darin, after her dad chased Darin out of a building at gunpoint. He then said Darin was out of their lives, when the news of his marriage was broadcast on the radio. Francis said she wished their car had been filled with water, while driving in the Lincoln Tunnel and hoping her father would both be killed.

Gordon Lightfoot in 1967 – $30 Million

The 74 year-old Gordon Lightfoot is listed as being worth $30 million.  Lightfoot has been singing since 1956 at the age of 18. Bob Dylan said Lightfoot was one of his favorite songwriters. He wrote Early Morning Rain, which was covered by many well-known singers including Elvis Presley.

His first No.1 song was If You Could Read My Mind, which reached No.1 in Canada in 1970. His other No. 1 hits on Canadian pop charts were Sundown in 1974 and The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald in 1976. Lightfoot had nine songs reach No.1 on the Canadian Adult Contemporary charts. Sundown was the only Lightfoot song to reach No.1 on the U.S. pop charts, but he placed four songs on the U.S. Adult Contemporary charts.

He released his last album All Live on Rhino Records in 2012. It includes most of his most well-known hits in this list from Wikipedia:

• “14 Karat Gold”
• “If You Could Read My Mind“
• “Fine as Fine Can Be”
• “Baby Step Back”
• “Early Morning Rain“
• “Restless”
• “A Painter Passing Through“
• “Rainy Day People“
• “Ringneck Loon”
• “Shadows”
• “Sundown“
• “Carefree Highway“
• “Christian Island”
• “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald“
• “Canadian Railroad Trilogy“
• “Let It Ride”
• “Blackberry Wine”
• “Song for a Winter’s Night“
• “Old Dan’s Records“

• All Songs Written By Gordon Lightfoot

Remembering Roy Orbison 25 Years After His Death

Roy Orbison 1936-1988

It doesn’t seem like this December will mark the 25th anniversary of the death of Roy Orbison. Orbison was born in Vernon, Texas on April 23, 1936 and died in Madison, Tennessee on December 6, 1988 at the age of 52.

Orbison has left behind a rich musical legacy with his signature songs like Crying, Only the Lonely and Oh, Pretty Woman. He also was a songwriter writing songs like Claudette, which was recorded by the Everly Brothers.

1960 would bring his first Top 10 hit Only the Lonely which reached No.2 on the Billboard charts. Orbison would release  his first No.1 hit in 1960, when he recorded Running Scared and then would also see Crying reach No.2 on the charts that same year.

His main hit in 1963 was  Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream) which topped out at No.4 on the Billboard charts. Blue Bayou, one of his better known songs only reached No.29 in the United States, but went to No.1 in Australia. Mean Woman Blues peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard charts that same year.  In fact he only had two No.1 songs on pop charts in the United States, but had nine No. 1 hits in Australia.

Oh, Pretty Woman was his last No.1 hit in 1964, but he released It’s Over, which topped out at No.9 on pop charts, but claimed the No.1 spot on adult contemporary charts in 1964.

Orbison would not record another No.1 hit in the United States in the last 28 years of his singing career.

Opened For Beatles In United Kingdom

Duane Eddy was scheduled to appear in United Kingdom in 1963, but he was replaced by Roy Orbison. He opened for the Beatles and he performed without moving and yet the fans liked him so much that they asked for encores fourteen times. By this time the Beatles finally had to physically hold him back, so they could go on stage.  The crowd was chanting “We want Roy” which was a surprise, since the fans came to see the Beatles that night.

Orbison didn’t even know who the Beatles were and asked what’s a beetle and John Lennon said “I am”. The Beatles and Orbison became good friends later as they admired Orbison for commanding a crowd, even though he hardly even moved.

Wife Has Affair With Contractor

Orbison’s wife Claudette had an affair with the contractor who built their Hendersonville, Tennessee home. Claudette did join him that fall on a tour to England. She gave Orbison the idea for his hit song Oh, Pretty Woman, when she told him that she was leaving for home. He asked her if she needed money and she said ” Pretty woman never needs money” and it was only 40 minutes later before the song Oh, Pretty Woman was finished.

Personal Tragedies

The first of a string of tragedies began for Orbison during a 1965 tour in UK.  He broke his foot in front of thousands of screaming fans and had to perform in a cast. He reconciled with his wife Claudette after the accident, but she would die the next year when she was hit by a semi-trailer while she and Orbison were riding home on separate motorcycles on June 6, 1966.

Tragedy struck Orbison again on September 16, 1968, when he learned his Hendersonville, Tennessee home had burned down and his two eldest sons had perished in the fire. Orbison had now lost his wife and two sons in 27 months time. He would marry Barbara Jakobs of Germany on March 25, 1969.

Orbison would have to have a triple heart bypass on January 18, 1978.

Career Revived in 1987

Roy Orbison started to revive his music career in 1987, after being pushed into the background by the British invasion. He joined the Traveling Wilburys, which played a major part in reviving his career. His stage name was Lefty Wilbury in honor of the late country music star Lefty Frizzell.

Death and Aftermath

Orbison would travel to Europe in November of 1988 and some observers noticed that he looked ill, but he continued to perform. He then returned to Hendersonville to rest, before embarking on another trip to London this time, to film two videos for the Traveling Wilburys.

However, the trip would never take place, because he would fly model airplanes with his son on December 6, 1988 and then visited his mother for dinner and died after dinner that night. Ironically his wife Barbara would die on the same date 23 years later on December 6, 2011 from pancreatic cancer.

Legacy

Roy Orbison left a rich musical legacy behind for his fans. Only Elvis Presley and Roy Orbison have had two Top 5 albums at the same time.  He will be forever remembered for singing while not moving, wearing his sunglasses and being dressed in black. His music is still being sung today as evidenced by Kree Harrison, an American Idol contestant sang Crying last Wednesday night, which reminded me of Orbison singing the original version which can be heard below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ls2lC7DQFMI

Ralph Emery : 79 And Still On Television

Ralph Emery in his early years on television.

 

Ralph Emery got his start with radio station WTPR in Paris, Tennessee in 1951, while earning a salary of $39.50 a week. By 1953 Emery was working for WSIX with shows on both radio and television in Nashville.

Emery has been in radio for 62 years and in television for 60 years and will be 80 on March 10 of this year.

I bought my first AM-FM radio stereo, which was about five feet wide in 1967 from Tony’s Appliance Center and  I remember listening to Ralph Emery on WSM out of Nashville. I enjoyed the way he interviewed the country stars and played the great country songs of that era. It was like being in another world, when listening to the most famous country music disc jockey ever in Emery. He would work briefly in 1956 for WLCS in Shreveport, Louisiana, before returning to Nashville.

 

Moves to WSM Radio in 1957

When Emery was hired by WSM radio in Nashville it was a huge career advancement. He was now being heard on a 50,000 watt station, that reached many areas of the country. He worked the graveyard shift at WSM from 1957-1972.

Emery was seen on WSM-TV off and on from 1963-1991 on various country shows that he hosted. He also hosted a syndicated show named Pop Goes the Country.

He brought country music to the forefront when he hosted Nashville Now on the The Nashville Network from 1983-1993.

Ralph Emery interviewing Merle Haggard on Nashville Now.

Nashville Now did more for country music, than any other television show before or since. Country music fans could see their favorite singers sing and be interviewed by the best country music host Ralph Emery. He was the glue that held the show together for 10 wonderful years.

One thing I will always remember is Randy Travis singing as Randy Ray on one show, then he appeared as Randy Travis the next time he appeared on Nashville Now. His real name is Randy Trawick, so finally settled on Randy Travis as his name.

Fans loved that the show was on five nights a week and gave them a chance to really know the singers, when they were interviewed by Emery. This show was a first class production with regular backup singers and musicians, which complemented the singing of the stars.

 

Emery Can Be Seen on RFD-TV

Ralph Emery started a new show Ralph Emery Live which started on the RFD television cable network in 2007.

For example last week T.G. Sheppard was on the show and Emery asked Sheppard about his days with the Memphis Mafia, that stayed at Graceland. Sheppard was then Bill Browder who worked promoting RCA artists. Elvis Presley was surprised to learn that Bill Browder was recording under the name of T.G. Sheppard. Elvis asked why he didn’t tell him and was told that Browder was afraid of being fired by RCA if the secret came out in the open. Elvis then says “I am RCA” inferring that Browder didn’t have a reason to worry about losing his job. Sheppard tells how he heard about the death of Elvis. He said he got a call from J.D. Sumner, which was unusual in itself, but he had an idea that Elvis had died and told Sumner he knew why he was calling.

Sheppard is then asked questions by viewers who call in to the show, which was interesting as they asked him what songs he liked the most, of the songs that he recorded.

You could tell Sheppard was in awe of Emery and knows what he did for the careers of many country music stars. From the graveyard shift on WSM radio to the television show on RFD TV Emery has been an ambassador for country music.

Have recorded the next show when Emery interviews Lorrie Morgan. In fact Lorrie owes a lot of her success to Emery who hosted a morning show in Nashville, in which Lorrie often sang.

Life has not always been a bed of roses for Emery,  as he had a very rough childhood and entered the world of country music, to escape an unhappy situation at home. His marriage to Skeeter Davis who recorded The End of the World was a rocky one that ended in divorce. Emery has written  his autobiography and other books about country music.

Ralph Emery to me epitomizes country music and what it stands for and he may be the best interviewer ever in any entertainment spectrum.

 

It would be 56 years after his first radio job, before Emery was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2007.

Memories of a Lifetime: 1976-1980

1976 – We started the year of 1976 still working at Monroe Morning World. My wife was unhappy with her job and I found out there were two openings for my old job at Town Talk. So we moved back to Pineville, Louisiana at the Quail Creek Apartments off of Stilley Road in Pineville. It was good to be working in cold type again, after working with hot metal the previous two years in Monroe. My salary was $159 a week, when I left the Town Talk in 1974 and my salary had increased to $190 a week during the two years in Monroe. There were some negotiations with Town Talk personnel manager, who didn’t really want to pay the $190 salary, but I knew there was no way, that I would accept a cut in pay. He eventually agreed on the $190 salary, which totaled $9,880 for a year.

Can remember watching television that July 4, as the United States observed the 200th birthday since the Declaration of Independence.

1977 – We saw Elvis Presley at the Rapides Parish Coliseum in March. The seats were in the nosebleed section and we could barely even see Elvis, unlike our seats in Monroe, when we were on the floor, in about the 20th row from the stage. Elvis got sick that night and had to rest, while one of the backup singers sang a solo. We could tell that Elvis had gained a lot of weight, even sitting near the top of the coliseum, in seats that were the worst seats in the coliseum. Elvis didn’t even appear, at a scheduled Baton Rouge concert a couple of days later and was taken back to Memphis to Baptist Hospital.

We were watching the news on television in August of 1977, when we heard the news that Elvis had passed away. It came as a complete shock and it would be revealed later, that Elvis had a serious drug habit, that resulted in his death. This August marks the 36th anniversary of his death. Elvis would be 78 if still alive today.

1978 – My daughter Debbie was born on June 13 at 11:31 AM on a Tuesday at Rapides Hospital. We finally had cable television installed at the Quail Creek Apartments in 1978 and can remember being able to watch the Atlanta Braves on the WTCG Channel 17 superstation in Atlanta. We also were able to watch mostly Chicago Cubs games on WGN superstation out of Chicago.

1979 – We moved to our new home at 310 Burns Street in Pineville. I had remembered that house being built in 1958. The Louisiana College head football coach Les Patrick moved into the home. We lived across the street at 313 Burns Street, where we had lived since 1952. So it was like going home to live across the street from the house I had grown up in. So we moved into the house that had been built 21 years earlier.

1980 – Can’t remember much in the way of local news in 1980, but it was the year that John Lennon was shot outside his hotel. Other news that year included the election of President Ronald Reagan as he defeated President Jimmy Carter in the general election. Jessica Simpson was born in 1980 and will be 33, on the 10th of July.

A new Ford Pinto Pony automobile cost $3,910, while gasoline cost $1.19 a gallon.

United States boycotted the 1980 Olympics, because of Russia had invaded Afghanistan. Ironically, Russia left Afghanistan, while U.S. is presently in Afghanistan 33 years, after the Olympic boycott.

 

Memories of a Lifetime: 1971-1975

1971 – We were living on Riverfront Street in Pineville and very close to the Red River, so I walked to Town Talk each day. I passed a lady living in a tent, on the way to work each day. It was sad to know, that she couldn’t afford to live in a house, so she lived next to the river on public land. Later that year we moved to a duplex on Donahue Ferry for $50 a month, which saved us $25 a month in rent. Coincidentally, both the Riverfront and Donahue Ferry rentals burned down after we moved out of them. In addition the house behind us on Riverfront Street was a victim of the erosion of the banks of Red River, which forced the owners to leave their house, before it fell into the river.

1972 – Our first son Steve was born shortly after midnight at 1:52 AM on Thursday, February 17 at Rapides General in Alexandria, Louisiana. My wife’s mother drove down from Texarkana, Arkansas to assist my wife in taking care of Steve the first few days of his life.

This was also the year that the Alexandria Daily Town Talk converted from hot type to cold type composition. We now started using paper, instead of lead to produce the paper each day. The first day was chaos, since everyone was trying to work on all the pages at once. A system was soon put into place, designating what pages each page builder was responsible for, which made the production of the newspaper much smoother.

1973 – Steve would have a bad case of gastroenteritis, which caused his hospitalization. Former president Lyndon B. Johnson died while he was in the hospital. To compound the problems, during his hospitalization I was chosen to serve on a jury in a criminal case involving a drug store owner, who was shot in the back when he opened the store at night for the two criminals. Each suspect was found guilty and given a fifteen year sentence, so have been out of prison for at least 25 years now.

1974 – This was another eventful year, in which Elvis Presley indirectly helped me get a job at Monroe, Louisiana newspaper. We were watching the news on a Monroe television station and they mentioned that tickets were for sale to see Elvis Presley at the Monroe Civic Center. While in Monroe to see Elvis we passed the Morning World-New Star newspaper building and we decided I should apply for a job there. So when we got home I applied for a job and was granted an interview. We left the Town Talk for a $8 a week raise. It didn’t make much sense at the time, but I made so much overtime that I actually made thousands more than what the Town Talk paid.

Meanwhile….back to the Elvis Presley concert. You could feel the electricity in the air when Elvis took the stage, while singing “C.C. Rider”.  Elvis was still at the top of his game that night, since this was only a year, after his Aloha From Hawaii concert. It was sad to see the concert end, since it was such a great show. If Elvis was on drugs that night, then it wasn’t evident to me in his performance.

We moved to West Monroe, Louisiana the next day after Hank Aaron hit his 715th home run passing Babe Ruth, on the all-time home run list.

Our first apartment was the Shangri-La apartments off of Wellerman Road. I was only at my new job, for only a few days, when a lot of the workers, who were in the union went on strike. That caused me to get more overtime, than I ever wanted, since we were working so short-handed. Strike-breakers from the Shreveport Times came to work with us. I was worried that since I was new, that I might be mistaken for a strike-breaker. One of the strike-breakers was pulled over by a car, with flashing lights and then attacked by some union ruffians. Those on the picket line tried to prevent me from driving onto the parking lot, but I kept driving and they eventually moved out-of-the-way. None of the strikers ever returned to work at the Monroe newspaper plant.

I was in for a shock, since the Monroe Morning World was still using hot metal composition. So I was thrust back into the world of hot type, after having worked in cold type composition for two years. One of my jobs was to use a Ludlow stick which was used for the Page One headline.  The Morning World used three line staggered headlines, which made it even trickier to get the spacing just right. I had never been given the chance to use a Ludlow stick at Town Talk, so it was good to learn how they worked.

My main job was building pages and then after the shift was over would throw away the type, unless it was to be used in the News-Star the next day. We tossed the ads which would not run again in a bucket, and used string to tie up the ones that would run again and place them in the News-Star page. Basically what I did when arriving at work most days was tear down the News-Star pages and then set up the Morning World pages by placing the ads where they were designated to be placed in page layouts. When President Nixon looked like he was dying of phlebitis in 1974 we had several pages ready in case he died, but we eventually wound up throwing the pages in the bucket.

Another major event was the birth of our second son Kenneth on December 20 at 3:05 PM on a Friday. It turned out that week that I worked 73 hours with about 36 hours of overtime, since our normal week was 37 and a half hours. Then after getting off work on Christmas Eve we assembled a toy for my first son.

1975 – I worked so much in 1975, that I made $5,000 of overtime. I would work from 2:00 PM till 6:00 AM on most shifts. The composing room superintendent would call me each weekday and ask me if I would come into work at 2 PM, instead of the normal 4:30 PM. I once worked 49 days in a row, without one day off, because the foreman would ask me if I wanted to work both of my days off. I got sick on the 50th day, which I had off so it took a toll on me. So I was working 16 hour days on weekdays. This year consisted of working and sleeping for the most part, because when I woke up the boss would be calling me in to work early.

We moved again during 1975 to Monroe side of the Ouachita River, to the Plantation Apartments off of North 18th Street. We were much closer to work and didn’t have to cross a bridge to arrive at work. 1975 was a good year financially, but it was a tiring year, with so little time to sleep.

Off the Beaten Path Music Websites: Passions of Patchy

Passions of Patchy may be off the beaten path, compared to mega music sites like Pandora and Spotify, but that in no way means the content is not as good. There may not be as much musical content as the afore named sites, but this is not just a musical site.

Before you even scroll down to the music icons, there is a CLICKS icon for links, which take you to some very interesting sites, including a link to make your own license plate, then emailing it to someone, that is just one of many links.

The CHUCKLES icon provides a plethora of jokes like this:

I am not offended by all the blonde jokes, because I am not dumb and I am not blonde – Dolly Parton

You see a lot of smart guys with dumb women, but you hardly ever see a smart woman with a dumb guy. – Erica Jong

Six year old Del says the best way to have someone to fall in love with you is to tell them you own a bunch of candy stores.

The section is broken down to 27 categories. Caution: It is addictive and time-consuming, once you start reading the jokes.

TOUCH SOMEONE -This  is the first of the music sections and includes Bette Midler’s Wind Beneath My Wings and the REM classic Everybody Hurts. Rock Around the Clock seems to be out-of-place on this page, but it really doesn’t matter when you can hear Johnny Mathis sing his standard Misty.

The bottom row of icons is where you find most of the music on the page in jukebox format with list of songs to choose from.

BLUES IN MY EYE JUKE JOINT – This page consists of three jukeboxes consisting of songs like I’ve Been Loving You Too Long sung by the late and great Etta James which reminds us again of how great of a singer she was. The jukebox also includes current singers like Susan Tedeschi, singing  It Hurt So Bad.  Jonny Lang has his clothes in his matchbox and is heard singing Matchbox, a driving blues number that really jumps. There is an option at the bottom of each jukebox to play all the songs in jukebox. A lot of the songs may not be recognizable, due to them being sung and played by some of the blues pioneers of the past.

LOST IN THE 50′S AND DOO-WOP – Having grown up during this era, this is my favorite music on the entire website. The Lost in the 50′s page has six jukeboxes, filled with the songs, that baby boomers like me grew up with.

Some of favorites from the jukeboxes:

I Heard It Through the Grapevine – Marvin Gaye

Locomotion – Little Eva

Harbor Lights – The Platters

Shotgun – Jr. Walker and the All-Stars

Hurt – Timi Yuro…..one of the most emotion packed songs ever.

Lost in the 50′s…..this song takes me back to the 50′s, like no other song can do.

You next will find the DOO WOP jukebox on the bottom row of the Lost in the 50′s page. When you go to the Doo Wop page, there will be three speakers holding the doo wop music including songs like:

Blue Velvet – Clovers….This is nothing like the Bobby Vinton version as it gets the full doo wop treatment.

A Thousand Miles Away – Heartbeats….Doo wop music at its best.

Earth Angel – Penguins….A classic doo wop song that will live on forever, as long as there is music.

In The Still of the Night – Five Satins….This song was so well-known that it was included, as part of Ronnie Milsap’s song Lost in the 50′s.

SATIN SMOOTHIES -  Is   next as you return to the home page where you find two jukeboxes, where you can find the songs my parents grew up with, plus some we remember as teenagers. These songs were the chart-toppers, before Bill Haley and the Comets and Elvis Presley changed music forever in the middle 50′s.

These are just a few of those songs:

Old Cape Cod – Patti Page….You will be very fortunate, if you can find a song like this being recorded today.

Unforgettable – Nat King Cole….This has to be the best of Nat King Cole’s hits that has become a standard.

In The Mood – Glenn Miller Orchestra…. When you think of the big band era, this is one of the first songs, that come to mind and it sad we lost Glenn Miller during the war.

Lazy River – Mills Brothers….This was one of the premier groups of this era, who epitomized the music of the era.

SUNRISE GOSPEL – This page has only one jukeboxes but will bring back memories, to those of us who grew up in church in the 40′s, 50′s and 60′s, plus some more recent songs. The artists are not listed, but that sounds a lot like Dolly Parton on Farther Along.

Some of my favorites from this page:

Beyond the Sunset….song written by a blind person after a group of people were viewing a sunset together and thus the title of the song, since the blind writer said they looked beyond the sunset. The reading that goes with this song makes it even more special.

Family Bible….Willie Nelson wrote this song, but sold the rights to it for only $50 to Claude Gray, the country music singer.

Precious Memories….sang this at funeral once for a lady who attended our church. What a great thought to think of the precious memories, even though the loved one is gone.

TWO STEPPIN’ JUKE BOX - Last but not least, Patchy’s Passion includes three jukeboxes for country music fans.

The list includes:

Don’t Rock the Jukebox – Alan Jackson….This song really rocks out and tells the story of a man, who is too sad over his breakup with his girlfriend and doesn’t want to hear the Rolling Stones  on the jukebox, but wants to hear George Jones instead.

He Stopped Loving Her Today – George Jones….This song has been chosen as the best country music song ever, on many lists of Top 100 songs.

Sweet Dreams – Patsy Cline…. also recorded  by Tommy McLain of Pineville, Louisiana, who attended my high school in the 60′s. His recording of Sweet Dreams outsold Don Gibson, the writer  of the song and the immortal Patsy Cline. His version went to No.15 on the Billboard chart.

For the Good Times – Ray Price….Has it really been 42 years since Ray Price recorded this country classic? It is true and also it is true that Ray Price is still actively singing at the age of 86. The 2010′s started his eighth decade of being active in country music.

Passions of Patchy was created on March 17, 2000, which she dedicated to her mom Candy, who was dying of cancer. This page tells  about the last months of her mother’s life. If this doesn’t make your eyes tear up, then it may be time to have your pulse checked:

http://dapatchy.com/gospel/journal.html

You could spend hours at this website listening to the music and going to some of the links at the website.

Most of all though it is all about the music.

To go back in time to hear some of the music from the past that we never became tired of:

http://dapatchy.com/

Whitney Houston Death and Random Thoughts

Whitney Houston Dies At 48

Drugs have apparently taken the life of another music icon, with Whitney Houston dying on Saturday, on the eve of the Grammy Awards. From Elvis Presley to Michael Jackson and now Whitney Houston, we have seen how drugs can change lives of those who use them.

 

Houston was rumored to be a judge in the next season of X-Factor, just a day before her death. Simon Cowell has reportedly confirmed, that she was being considered as a judge for Season Two.

 

Amy Winehouse, also died in the last year to an apparent drug overdose.

 

 

Random Thoughts

I am beginning to wonder if Tony Bennett is becoming senile, after saying that drugs should be legalized soon after the death of Whitney Houston. That is problem now, since drugs are readily available in some form for those that use them. Their only problem may be the lack of cash to buy those drugs. Bennett is almost surely the last of the crooners left from the 30′s and 40′s.

 

When Bennett passes on it will signal the end to the era, that preceded Bill Haley and the Comets and Elvis Presley. Some of the crooners like Perry Como, Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin sang for many years, but now Bennett stands alone as a reminder of the crooner era.

 

It was interesting to find out that Houston has only recorded four studio albums in the last 25 years. Whitney Houston’s music is selling well, just like Michael Jackson’s albums sold well after his death.

 

The Grammy Awards tribute to the Beach Boys was not done well. The Beach Boys didn’t even sing until after two tribute songs. Then when they did sing, it was a repeat of Good Vibrations. They could have sung three songs instead of the tribute songs by the others. The Beach Boys deserved better, since they are one of the oldest groups in the music business having started in the early 60′s.  It was good to see Brian Wilson, Al Jardine, Mike Love and Bruce Johnston on the stage together again, after having broken up into Wilson singing by himself, Love and Johnston touring together and Jardine appearing apart from the others.

 

 

Sports Notes

Jeremy Lin of the New York Knicks did it again tonight, scoring a three pointer with nine seconds left to give the Knicks a 90-87 win over the Toronto Raptors. It will be interesting to see how much playing time Lin will receive, when Carmelo Anthony returns to action next week.

 

The Chicago White Sox signed Kosuke Fukudome to a $500,000 contract, which was a $14 million pay cut after being paid $14.5 million by the Cubs in 2011. Fukudome didn’t come close to living up to the hype after signing with the Cubs on a four-year contract. It will be like coming home for Fukudome, after spending part of the summer with the Cleveland Indians.

 

Politics

The GOP doesn’t seem close to having a candidate,  that will lead the party to victory in November.  We have seen wild swings in the voting during the primary and caucus season. Romney, Santorum or Gingrich should be standing on the platform at the GOP convention this summer, after winning the nomination but none of the three is a sure thing at this point, with the wild fluctuations we have seen this year. Gingrich seems to be out of it right now, but wait till the next primary at the end of this month. Gingrich has way too much baggage for the GOP hierarchy to give him their support. Gingrich has so many skeletons rattling around in his closet, that he only opens the closet in the dark, so his enemies can’t see all the skeletons.

 

Green Party candidate Roseanne Barr is not keeping the GOP candidates awake at night, worrying about her candidacy. She will do well to garner 500,000 votes on election night. It is difficult to take Barr serious after her rendition of the National Anthem at a baseball game a few years ago. Somebody in the front office had to be fired, for thinking it was a good idea for Barr to sing the National Anthem. It would be like someone letting Jaleel White to sing the National Anthem using his Steve Urkel voice. Whitney Houston put them all to shame when she sang the National Anthem at the 1991 Super Bowl.

 

Consumer Tips

Buyers need to be aware of buying electronics on QVC.com. I have seen their prices as much as $100 higher on some electronics and close to the highest prices. Priceblink.com provides a unique service to online buyers, since once you sign up to the free service, they will notify you of a cheaper price, than the price you see at a website. Priceblink.com can literally save a consumer hundreds of dollars.

 

 

 

 

1968-1969: Years of Assassinations, Moonwalks and Protests

 

 

 

Neil Armstrong walking on the moon.

 1968 and 1969 were years defined by the assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy, American astronauts being the first to walk on the moon, anti-war protests at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago and the New York Jets and the New York Mets were surprise Super Bowl and World Series winners.

 

Super Bowl II would be won by the Green Bay Packers when they defeated the Oakland Raiders on January 14.

 

Mister Roger’s Neighborhood would be seen for the first time on February 19, 1968.

 

March 16, 1968 would be one of the low points of the Vietnam War when between 374-504 unarmed civilians were killed at My Lai by United States troops. 2nd Lt. William Calley was charged with 22 of the deaths and sentenced to life imprisonment, but only served three-and-a-half years of house arrest.

 

President Lyndon B. Johnson announced on March 31 that he would not be running for president in the 1968 election. His decision resulted in the Democrats only having one president elected in the next 24 years, when Jimmy Carter was elected in 1976. It would be 1993 before Bill Clinton took office as the 42nd president and he would become the first Democratic president to serve two complete terms since Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

 

April 4, 1968 started a year of assassinations and demonstrations, when Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated on the balcony of his Memphis motel room. Ironically only seven days later the Civil Rights Act bill was passed by Congress, which outlawed racial discrimination, which Dr. King had been fighting before his death.

 

Then only two months and one day after the assassination of Dr. King, Bobby Kennedy was assassinated while celebrating a win in California primary during his 1968 presidential bid. Sirhan Sirhan is arrested for the murder of Kennedy.

 

 If Kennedy had lived to win the Democratic nomination, he may have defeated Richard Nixon in the 1968 election. Instead Nixon defeated Senator Hubert Humphrey by half a million votes.

 

The Yippies led by Jerry Rubin and Abbie Hoffman would descend on Chicago and the streets of Chicago turned into a riot zone as the Yippies and other radical groups battled Chicago police, U.S. Army and National Guard, while the Democratic convention was being held.

 

The chaos on the streets of Chicago poured onto the Democratic Convention floor when Senator Abraham Ribicoff denounced the use of Gestapo tactics in the streets of Chicago. His remarks enraged Mayor Richard Daley of Chicago would could be seen yelling at Ribicoff.

 

Anti-war protesters in Chicago may have hurt their own cause. In retrospect they may have protested at the wrong convention since the Democrats were more on their side than the Republicans. The Republican convention in Miami was turmoil free, in contrast to the chaos in Chicago.

 

Richard Nixon would go on to defeat Senator Humphrey in the general election.

 

1969 was another year with many newsworthy events and January 12 of 1969 would see the New York Jets defeat the Baltimore Colts 16-7, after Jets quarterback Joe Namath had predicted the Jets would upset the Colts.

 

Richard Nixon would take office as the 37th president on January 20. The Beatles who had first sang in America almost five years ago would hold their last public concert on January 30.

 

Sirhan Sirhan admits assassinating Bobby Kennedy on March 3. Ironically seven days later James Earl Ray would plead guilty to assassinating Dr. Martin Luther King. Later that month former President Dwight D. Eisenhower died on March 28, 8 years after finishing his second term as president.

 

The first American troop withdrawals of the Vietnam War were made on July 8. Senator Teddy Kennedy would end any hope of becoming president, when he drove his car off a bridge on July 18, in what became known as the Chappaquiddick incident. Mary Jo Kopechne would die at the age of 28 in the submerged car.

 

Two days later on July 20, Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon, when the lunar module Eagle landed on the moon. It had to be ranked as one of the biggest stories of the 20th century. The first flight by the Wright Brothers in 1903 would have been another major advance in the 20th century. Their flight led to commercial flights by airlines in later years.

 

August 9, 1969 was a day of violence as Charles Manson followers killed actress Sharon Tate and four others. The next day August 10, they would murder Leno and Rosemary LaBianca in their home.

 

August 15, 1969 will always be remembered as the day the Woodstock Music Festival kicked off on Max Yasgur’s farm in Bethel, New York. The promoters were expecting 50,000 fans, but those numbers were very conservative, considering 500,000 fans showed up.

 

August 17 would be another deadly day, this time because of Hurricane Camille which hit the Mississippi coast killing 248 people and causing damage of $1.5 billion.

 

The first ATM was installed in Rockville Centre, New York on September 2, while on the same day Ho Chi Minh, leader of North Vietnam died.

 

The Chicago Eight trial begin on September 24 in Chicago, but was changed to the Chicago Seven, when Bobby Seale a Black Panther was sentenced to four-year sentence for contempt of court.

 

Another New York sports team would win a championship, when the New York Mets defeated the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series. Seven years earlier the Mets had been the laughingstock of baseball when they posted a 40-120 record in 1962.

 

On a lighter note Sesame Street would be seen for the first time on the National Education Network on November 10.

 

While 250,000-500,000 demonstrators were protesting against the war in Washington, D.C. on November 15, Dave Thomas is busy opening the first Wendy’s in Columbus Ohio.

 

American astronauts would walk on the moon, only four months after the initial landing, four months prior to the Apollo 12 landing. Pete Conrad and Alan Bean would both walk on the moon.

 

With the year drawing to a close, a draft lottery was put in place on December 1 and would be the last major event of 1969.

 

A quick rundown of the events in 1968-1969:

 

1968

 

Dr. Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy Assassinated

Unarmed Vietnamese Citizens Killed By U.S. Troops

President Lyndon B. Johnson Announces He Will Not Run For Presidency

Anti-war protesters riot during the Democratic National Convention

Richard Nixon is elected president in general election.

 

1969

 

Richard Nixon takes office of presidency

Withdrawal of Vietnam troops commences

Teddy Kennedy drives car off bridge in Chappaquiddick incident

Four astronauts become first men to walk on moon

Charles Manson followers kill seven in two days

500,000 anti-war protesters attend Woodstock Music Festival

Hurricane Camille kills 248 persons

First ATM installed in Rockville Centre, New York

Ho Chi Minh Dies

Chicago 7 Trial Begins in Chicago

250,000-500,000 demonstrate in anti-war protest in Washington, D.C.

Dave Thomas opens first Wendy’s

Sesame Street shown for the first time on National Education Network

Draft lottery is instituted

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1953: The Last Year With No Rock and Roll On Charts

Song From Moulin Rouge by Percy Faith Orchestra was the No.1 song in 1953.

 

It was hard to believe that the first major rock and roll song, Shake, Rattle and Roll by Bill Haley and the Comets, would break into the Top 30 list, the next year 1954 ending in the No.26 spot. Bill Haley would come back in 1955, for his monster hit Rock Around the Clock, which went to No.2 on the chart.

The country had gone from an easy listening orchestra song in 1953, to two of the rocking and rollingest songs ever, in the space of two years.

These are some of the songs that were on the 1953 list, that began the end of the easy listening music era:

No. 2:  Vaya Con Dios – Les Paul and Mary Ford

No. 3:  How Much Is That Doggie In The Window – Patti Page….It was a novelty song that I can remember from Your Hit Parade Days.

No.8:  No Other Love – Perry Como

No.9:  Don’t Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes – Perry Como….Como had a third song on the list also Say Your Mine at No.21

No.12:  Ebb Tide – Frank Chacksfield Orchestra….One of the classic easy listening songs of all time. The orchestra  also had the No.27 song Limelight on the 1953 chart.

No.19:  Rags To Riches – Tony Bennett….One of the few singers who had a long career despite rock and roll taking over the charts.

No.22:  Dragnet – Ray Anthony Orchestra….Theme song from the television show Dragnet.

One of my favorite singers Joni James singing Why Don’t You Believe Me which was No.25 in 1953. She also had No.26 Your Cheating Heart and No.30 Have You Heard.

1953 chart represented a smorgasbord of musical tastes, from orchestra music, to novelty tunes, to the great crooners like Perry Como, Nat King Cole, Tony Bennett, groups like Hilltoppers, Ames Brothers and Gaylords, up and coming stars like Joni James, who would miss years of singing, while taking care of her very sick husband.

At the end of 1953, nobody probably even thought, that in 1956 Elvis Presley would have five songs in the Top 30, with Carl Perkins and Gene Vincent,  also having rock and roll songs, plus Bill Doggett had his instrumental hit Honky Tonk, which clearly was not an easy listening recording.

1956 emphasized even more that the easy listening era, was coming to an end. There were still some crooners and orchestras on the 1956 list. It is safe to say that 1957 was the year that rock n’ rollers took over the charts, 25 rock and roll songs making the top 30.

The easy listening era was over. We can still listen to old records and cassettes from the past, but it looks like rock n’ roll is here to stay, until the next best thing comes along.

The Bobhorst.com website lists the Top songs of each year from 1946-2010. The list expanded from Top 30 to Top 100. The link will take readers to the 1953 charts, but it can be switched to any year easily.

http://www.bobborst.com/popculture/top-100-songs-of-the-year/?year=1953

Johnny Ace: Singer Kills Himself on Christmas, 1954

Johnny Ace 25, died on Christmas, 1954 when he shot himself during a break between sets in Houston, Texas.

Johnny Ace an up and coming rhythm and blues singer had it all going his way until he shot himself on Christmas of 1954. For some reason Russian roulette is identified ,as the cause of his death. However two eyewitnesses tell a different story.

Big Mama Thornton’s bass player Curtis Tillman,  who was in the room at the time said this in Wikipedia about his death:

It was widely reported that Ace killed himself playing Russian roulette.^[4][5] Big Mama Thornton‘s bass player Curtis Tillman, however, who witnessed the event, said, “I will tell you exactly what happened! Johnny Ace had been drinking and he had this little pistol he was waving around the table and someone said ‘Be careful with that thing…’ and he said ‘It’s okay! Gun’s not loaded…see?’ and pointed it at himself with a smile on his face and ‘Bang!’ – sad, sad thing. Big Mama ran outta that dressing room yelling ‘Johnny Ace just killed himself!”^[6]

However Big Mama Thornton, who also witnessed the shooting tells a slightly different story:

Thornton said in a written statement (included in the book The Late Great Johnny Ace) that Ace had been playing with the gun, but not playing Russian roulette. According to Thornton, Ace pointed the gun at his girlfriend and another woman who were sitting nearby, but did not fire. He then pointed the gun toward himself. The gun went off, shooting him in the side of the head.

There has been speculation that Ace was murdered, but after reading the two eyewitness accounts of Tillman and Thornton, that seems impossible since neither mentions anyone else having a gun.

What we do know for sure is that Johnny Ace was born June 29, 1929 in Memphis, Tennessee and that he was born John Marshall Alexander, Jr. He later changed his name to Johnny Ace and appeared to be on his way to a successful recording career, when fate intervened and ended his life before his career could take off.

Johnny Ace singing Pledging My Love which became a posthumous No.1 hit.

Ironically, his biggest hit Pledging My Love was released after his death and was at the top of the Billboard R&B charts for ten weeks beginning on February 12, 1955.

56 years later the song is still being recorded and is one of the most recognizable songs among rhythm and blues fans.

Singer David Allan Coe sang Pledging My Love in concerts relating how he heard the news of his death. Elvis Presley recorded it during his last recording session in 1976 on his Moody Blue album.

The memory of Johnny Ace will live on as Pledging My Love will continue to be sung for years to come in concerts and on albums that have yet to be released.

American Idol: Il Volo Teenagers Wow American Idol Crowd Plus Elvis Presley Version

Italian teenagers Piero Barone, Gianluca Genoble and Ignazio Boschetto of IL VOLO made an impact on American Idol audience last week on results night.

I doubt if anyone attending the American Idol results show last Thursday night expected the three teenagers who comprise the Italian singing group IL VOLO, to have such powerful voices at their age.

You could see that the three contestants Haley Reinhart, Scotty McCreery and Lauren Alaina were thoroughly enjoying IL VOLO singing O Sole Mio.

IL VOLO singing O Sole Mio.

O Sole Mio is probably the oldest song ever sung on the American Idol stage by any guest singer or contestant. The song was written 113 years ago in 1898. If American Idol has a 1890′s theme one week next year, this will be one of the songs sang.

Elvis Presley sings It’s Now or Never to the tune of O Sole Mio after another singer sings part of the Italian version.

The Presley video was filmed in Rapid City, South Dakota less than two months before his death in August of 1977.

Elvis Presley Meets With President Nixon To Join Fight Against Drugs

It is ironic that Elvis Presley wrote a letter to President Nixon, to set up a meeting at the White House, so the president could declare Presley a federal agent in the war against drugs.

The meeting was held on December 21, 1970 and Presley was designated a federal agent at large in the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs.

The irony comes in, when Presley becomes a drug addict himself, which led to him dying in August of 1977 from an apparent drug overdose.

In the time between the meeting and his death Presley had become a drug addict of the worst magnitude.

After the meeting President Nixon thanks Presley for the gift of a Colt .45 in a letter written to Elvis. However, the president did not sign the letter but had his name stamped at the end of the letter.

Presley mentions in one of the documents that the Beatles came to United States, earning a lot of money, then returned to England taking an anti-American stand. It is clear that Presley disliked the Beatles from his comments about them. After all his career took a hit when the Beatles led the British invasion that changed the American music scene.

The following article from the National Archives documents the meeting between President Nixon and Elvis Presley. There are eight documents and 26 photos commemorating the meeting at this website:

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nsa/elvis/elnix.html#meet

After reading these documents, it is sad to think of what happened to both participants of this meeting. Less than four years later the Watergate scandal would threaten President Nixon with impeachment, thereby causing him to resign from the office of president in August of 1974.

Less than seven years later, Elvis would die at the young ago of 42. It is sad that Elvis instead of fighting drug use, became a user himself, ending his life way too soon.

Stefano Langone Sent Home on American Idol: Poll Asks Who Will Be American Idol in Season 10

Stefano Langone, who has lived in the bottom three for most of Season 10, finally was sent home by American Idol voters.

It was no surprise since that in two separate polls at this website, Stefano received no votes in either poll out of 180 votes cast. Stefano had almost as many lives as some cats by being the seventh contestant to leave, after being a wild card to make the final 13.

In my opinion for what it is worth, Jacob Lusk or Haley Reinhart will be sent home next week. Jacob may have been given the benefit of the doubt, after having problems with the musical tracks on Wednesday night, making it appear he messed up at the start of his song. Someone should have apologized to Jacob, if it was the fault of someone else on Wednesday night.

Haley Reinhart was sent to safety immediately after being told she was in the bottom three. It is a mystery why she is in the bottom three so often. Meanwhile, Lauren Alaina Suddeth, James Durbin and Scotty McCreery have never been in the bottom three.

Casey Abrams was actually sent home earlier this season, but remained after the judges used their save to keep him on the show.

James Durbin has given some mind blowing performances, which has kept him out of the bottom three, while Scotty McCreery and Lauren Alaina Suddeth seem to be coasting along on their popularity, although Scotty has been relatively free of criticism from the judges till Wednesday night. 

Scotty is the more talented of the two in my estimation, but Lauren seems to be as popular as Scotty, to not have been in the bottom three this season.

Still, Lauren may wind up in the bottom three on Thursday night, unless she gets the best of the night praise from the judges.

If Lauren leaves before Scotty, it should be a huge boost for Scotty in the voting since they would no longer be splitting the votes from country music fans.

Casey has seen a resurgence in votes, so may be in it to the end now. The judges like that he performs music of many genres and is constantly taking risks.

Pia Toscano: Fifth Girl in a Row Voted Off American Idol

Pia Toscano was the fifth straight female singer sent home, by American Idol voters in Season 10. The females outnumbered the male singers 7-6, when the field was pared down to 13 contestants.

Now the males outnumber the females 6-2, as they go into the Final 8 competition next week.  It looks like Naimi Adedapo and Thia Meghia were right, when they said that the younger girls watching the show are voting for the male singers, giving them an advantage this season.

America definitely voted wrong on Wednesday night, as they sent home the wrong singer. I thought it was time for Paul McDonald or Stefano Langone to go home. It isn’t that they didn’t sing well. It is just that someone had to go home and they were the most likely to go home.

It may be time to give the judges a say, in who gets voted as the American Idol. There needs to be a combination of fan voting and judge voting, to make sure the best singer is more likely to be voted in.

The way it is now, it is more of a popularity contest than a singing contest. Nobody can tell me that Pia Toscano was the ninth best singer in this year’s competition.

It wouldn’t surprise me to see Haley Reinhart or Lauren Alaina Suddeth sent home next week, since it seems like the female voters are mostly voting for the male singers.

This is just my opinion, but I believe Scotty McCreery is the leading vote getter. The fact that Jacob Lusk was in the bottom three tells me, that unless he makes a strong comeback, he won’t be in the final two on Finale Night next month.

America got it wrong during the Wednesday night vote. We can only hope America does better next week or we may continue to send the wrong singers home week after week.

The following poll lists the remaining eight contestants giving voters a chance to vote for the best singer remaining:

(Voters can vote more than once for the best singer)

Best American Idol Show Ever?

I can’t recall any American Idol show, in which the judges had almost all positive comments about the singers. With nine singers singing, that meant the judges commented on their singing 27 times.

The only negative comment was when Randy Jackson said that Stefano Langone wasn’t pausing long enough between lines of When a Man Loves a Woman, which I think he sang with great emotion.

The singers performed so well, it is almost impossible to predict the bottom three for tomorrow night’s elimination show.

Haley Reinhart had another strong night with her rendition of Piece of  My Heart, a Janis Joplin song.

Jacob Lusk gave his usual outstanding performance, but I am wondering if has enough fans to be the American Idol in 2011.

James Durbin sang When My Guitar Weeps which was much slower than what he usually sings but he still was able to work in one of his famed high notes at the end of the song.

Casey James impressed the judges by his playing the upright bass while singing the Creedence Clearwater classic Have You Ever Seen The Rain.

Pia Toscano stepped up the tempo singing River Deep, Mountain High, after singing ballads for several weeks in a row. She clearly has the best voice among the female singers, but not sure if she has the popularity of Haley Reinhart and Lauren Alaina Suddeth.

As much as we like to think of American Idol as a talent contest, popularity will have a lot to do with the final vote next month. Sometimes,  I wonder if the judges should give scores, like on Dancing With the Stars with their vote being counted while tallying the votes.

Scotty McCreery continues to turn in fine performances week after week. He has adapted his country music stylings to whatever the theme is for that week. He sang That’s All Right Mama as well as I have heard it sung this side of Elvis Presley.

After four weeks of females going home, we may see a male singer finally go home. I have an idea Paul McDonald will be in the bottom three, probably along with Stefano Langone and maybe Lauren Elaina Suddeth who sang You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman, with very positive comments from the judges.

If a male singer doesn’t go home this week, that would leave six male singers and two female singers in the Top Eight next week.

I may have heard Folsom Prison Blues sang too many times by Johnny Cash, to really enjoy the jazzy version by Paul McDonald.

American Idol led us on last week at the first of the show when the words “You won’t believe who is going home” appeared on the piano keys. They made it sound like one of the top singers might be going home.

However, when the votes were announced, Thia Meghia and Naima Adedapo were sent packing. I don’t think anyone was shocked they went home, but we were led to believe someone much better was going home.

It is all about the drama and Ryan Seacrest is the best at it. They build the drama to a fever pitch thinking they are going to announce who is going home, then Seacrest says “after the commercial”. Then they have a guest singer sing while the singers are waiting to see if they are going home.

Garth Brooks Reportedly Singing in Las Vegas For $100 Million Plus Bonus of $15 Million Jet

Garth Brooks has sold the third most albums in history with only The Beatles and Elvis Presley selling more with Elvis only a million albums ahead of Brooks.

Garth Brooks retired in 2001 at the age of 39 at the height of his popularity. He announced in 2009 that his retirement was ending.

Brooks was born on February 7, 1962 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He played baseball and football in high school. Oklahoma State University offered him a track scholarship and he threw the javelin for the track team.

Before listening to George Strait singing Unwound Brooks was more interested in rock music, then switched to country music. His first album was released in 1989, and it included his No.1 hit Tomorrow Never Comes. The Dance also on the album went to No.1 spot on the Billboard Country Music chart.

His No Fences album released in 1990 included four No.1 hits, including the song Friends in Low Places. Then Brooks did something I don’t agree with, by trying to prevent stores who sold used CD’s, from selling his latest album.

In 1993, Garth Brooks, who had criticized music stores which sold used CDs since it led to a loss in royalty payments, persuaded Capitol Records not to ship his August 1993 album In Pieces to stores which engaged in this practice. This led to several anti-trust lawsuits against the record label and ended with Capitol shipping the CDs to the stores after all.[29]

I can understand him wanting to make the most money possible, from his recordings, but trying to keep music fans like me from buying used CD’s was going to far in my book.

My CD album collection is mostly comprised of used CD’s bought in stores, at Amazon.com and at Ebay.com. Not everyone could afford to buy new CD’s including me, and Brooks who was already selling in the millions, should have not even brought the subject up. The situation ended up making him appear greedy.

Brooks continued to release new albums till 2001, when he released Scarecrow which would be his last album after having announced his retirement on Oct. 26, 2000. The album went to No.1 on both the pop and country charts.

Seven of his eight albums would reach No.1 on the Billboard Country chart. Those albums were released from 1989 to 2001.

Brooks is now in the middle of a five year contract with the Encore Las Vegas and is working his schedule so that he will be home for children during the week.

I went to the Ticketmaster.com website, and found out that a single ticket in the middle of the back section cost $253 before additional charges. The price had been $143 for the cheapest ticket before Steve Wynn the owner of the Encore raised the prices by $100 because of the demand for tickets.

To me this is preposterous considering we saw Elvis Presley at the prime of his career for less than $20 only about 20 rows back from the stage in Monroe, Louisiana in 1974.

I am not begrudging Garth Brooks for making a buck but sometimes rich people don’t think of the ones who made them what they are. Brooks may talk about how much he loves his fans, but he is hurting them, in the wallet by his exorbitant ticket prices.

His net worth is reportedly $325 million so it is not like he needs the money.

The following paragraph from the March 10 edition of the Las Vegas Sun tells me all I need to know about Garth Brooks:

It’s a mind-blowing contract valued by some at more than $100 million. His biggest thrill, though, this weekend also was the biggest tip he’s ever received: flying the private $15 million Challenger 604 jet for the first time that Steve gave him on top of the contract. It makes the Las Vegas treks possible so he doesn’t break the promise he made to his family.

For those interested in reading the entire article:

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/dec/14/garth-brooks-conquers-critics-and-fans-opening-wee/

Garth Brooks may be a great entertainer, but his actions tell me he is more worried about adding to his millions, than he is about his fans.

 

Archive.org: Great Multimedia Website

Archive.org will keep a reader entertained for hours.

Archive.org is probably the best source for audio and video online this side of YouTube.  The home page for the website as I write this article has a link to an audio version of a Grateful Dead concert at Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum at New Haven, Connecticut on May 11, 1981.

The concert is only one of 803,305 audio recordings at the website.  There are 2,214 old time radio related links to old time radio shows and magazines that were printed during the height of the popularity of old time radio.

One Roy Rogers episode has been downloaded 74,882 times showing that the website is available for downloading many of the old time radio shows we grew up with.

Old time radio fans will love looking at list after list of old time radio shows available for downloading including some of the more obscure shows which have very few episodes in existence.

The live music archive features 88,813 archives while the moving image archives total 451,934.

Avid readers will enjoy knowing that there are 2.694,639 texts including books and ebooks. The new Bookreader at the site includes Origin of the Species by Charles Darwin and is the example shown of how the Bookreader works.

http://blog.archive.org/2010/12/10/2685/

There is an audio version of some books but the one I listened to was not of the best quality and seemed to be a computer generated voice which probably would be tiring to listen to for an entire book.

Most readers may not enjoy the voice and instead opt to read the books without sound. For those that like the audio they should enjoy the feature that highlights the portion of the book being read by the voice.

The Mega Reader iPhone app provides access to the 1.8 million free books at archive.org so they each iPhone user can have their own personal reader.

Each volume of the Warren Report investigation of the assassination of  President John F. Kennedy is available to read.

The site is an excellent source of reading material for educators and students who are looking for books that are no longer copyrighted.

One word of caution: it could take hours just to look at what is available at archive.org. This website may have the most content of any website online and is worth going to the website to see for yourself what is available.

http://www.archive.org/

Jackie Gleason Orchestra: Laura

 

The Jackie Gleason Orchestra playing Laura.

The same Jackie Gleason that portrayed Ralph Kramden on the Honeymooners had his own orchestra and his Music For Lovers Only album was on the Billboard charts for 153 weeks which was about about three weeks short of being on the charts for three years.

He couldn’t read or write music but he could play a song while a composer would write down the notes. There are conflicting reports on the internet about whether he actually played an instrument yet he is shown playing the bass many years ago in a band but then other reports said he never played an instrument.

Bobby Hackett who was a member of the Jackie Gleason Orchestra has this to say about Gleason’s musical knowledge in this paragraph from suite101.com.:

One might ask how somebody who does not know how to write music could compose it. The great trumpeter, Bobby Hackett, had this to say about Gleason’s musical ability. “Jackie knows a lot more about music than he is given credit for. I have seen him conduct a sixty-piece orchestra and detect one discordant note in the brass section. He would immediately stop the music and locate the wrong note. It always amazed the professional musicians how a guy who technically didn’t know one note from another could do that. And he was never wrong.”

Capitol Records only offered him a $1,000 contract for his first record album. Gleason had no part in conducting the orchestra. His first ten albums made over $10 million each showing there was a market for romantic music.

Gleason hired Bobby Hackett to play the trumpet and combined his trumpet players with forty mandolin players to get the sound he wanted. Easy listening is a perfect description of his music.

He would release 53 record albums from 1952-1971. Six of those albums held the No.1 position in the Billboard 200 chart.

His albums earned $120 million showing that Gleason was not only a successful actor in television and the movies but his love for easy listening music gave Americans some of the greatest music ever recorded.

Sadly orchestra music was on the way out by 1957 with the advent of rock and roll and the popularity of romantic music waned as the new rock and roll sound took over the record charts for the most part as Elvis Presley changed music as did the Beatles six years later in 1964.

The Jackie Gleason Orchestra playing Misty which a fine example of easy listening music at its best.

Alabama: Christmas in Dixie

Alabama was one of the best selling groups among all genres selling more albums than Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton and Chicago.

It doesn’t seem like it has been 28 years since Christmas in Dixie was released by Alabama in 1982. This is an audio only version and haven’t found a video of Alabama singing it.

This is one of those picture songs in that the lyrics paint a picture bringing images of Christmases past as we listen to the song.  Haven’t heard this song played so far this Christmas season on any radio stations playing Christmas music.

It is songs like this that made Alabama one of the best country music groups with 32 songs reaching No.1 from 1980 to 1993. They finished their farewell tour in 2004 and have been retired from the road since then.

GACTV.com describes how well Alabama sold albums:

With 65 million albums sold worldwide, they’re one of the 20 best-selling acts of all time. In the U.S. alone, Alabama has sold more albums than Eric Clapton or Bob Dylan. They’ve outsold veteran rock bands like Chicago, Journey, Foreigner, Boston and even The Doors. And Alabama is one of the five biggest-selling country acts and the best-selling country group of all time, with career album sales that surpass those of Willie Nelson and Reba McEntire. The band was named Recording Industry Association of America’s Country Group of the Century.

I can still remember them coming to Rapides Parish Coliseum before they were well known but don’t know if they appeared there after they achieved stardom.

That is problem for the coliseum. Musical stars today like large venues because the larger the arena the more profits for the singers and their employees. It would be interesting to know if any major stars have appeared there in the last few years.

However back in 1977 Elvis Presley actually had back to back shows there on successive nights even though the coliseum had a capacity in the neighborhood of 8,000 seats. About five months later Elvis died in Memphis.

Joni James: In the Still of the Night Album

Joni James shown on the cover of her In the Still of the Night album which was recorded in 1955. Joni has one of the clearest, easy to listen to voices among all female jazz singers.

 

Joni James shown seven years later on her I'm Your Girl album and looks even younger than she appeared on the In the Still of the Night album.

This is my second post about Joni James but have since found out that she was the first American to record at London’s Abbey Road studio.  She went on to record a total of five albums at the historic studio.

Joni James was born in Chicago on September 22, 1930 as Giovanna Carmello Babbo before changing her name to Joni James so her original name wouldn’t be misprounounced.

While listening to a clip on David Gasten’s This is Vintage Now of Beverly Kenney it reminded me of Joni James.

The following interview is only a written interview but contains some interesting facts like Elvis Presley displaying her album covers on his wall at Graceland.

http://www.classicbands.com/JoniJamesInterview.html

Miss James was out of the music business from 1964 till 1986 to take care of her sick husband Tony Acquaviva who died

She would record seven songs that charted in the Top 10 during his first three years of recording and those songs would be the only ones to chart in the Top 10.

Joni James singing her No. 1 hit Why Don’t You Believe Me at Carnegie Hall in this audio only recording which was No.1 in 1952.

Creedence Clearwater Revival: Proud Mary

Creedence Clearwater Revival singing Proud Mary. John Fogerty wrote the song that was recorded two years later by Ike and Tina Turner. The CCR version went to No.2 while the Turner’s version peaked at No.4 on the charts.

Proud Mary was covered 65 times in 1969 and has been covered 100 times overall. Elvis Presley covered it in the 70′s.

CCR had a lot of hit songs but Proud Mary is the one most people think of when thinking of the group.

Elvis Presley: How Great Thou Art

Elvis Presley singing How Great Thou Art in June of 1977. Elvis died two months after singing this song.