Harry Belafonte: More Than Calypso

February is Black History Month...or is it African American History Month? I dunno which is politically correct and since the Nostalgic Rambler is as white as a sheet, we probably just don't get it. Maybe we should? My record collection is filled with the likes of famed black artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Mahalia Jackson, and Harry Belafonte. Over the years I have heard about and winced at the terrible things these people had to endure during their lifetimes due to their skin color. I'm hoping that's all over with now but it did happen.

I've been on another calypso kick lately and have been enjoying some Harry Belafonte. This is one of his great albums which sold hundreds of thousands of copies. It's listed as one of the 1950s top selling records and includes The Banana Boat Song and Jamaica Farewell.

 People sure are strange though. Despite his music being adored by blacks and whites, some people got in an unroar when Harry and Petula Clark sang on tv together and touched each other !

 Nat King Cole was one of the first blacks to have his own tv show and many stations in the south of the US wouldn't carry his show because of his race.

 The Nostalgic Rambler grew up in the 1960s and didn't realize all of this was going on until much later. It's a good thing to educate kids on what went on back then. A documentary I found called "Harry Belafonte Sing Your Song" is a good way to do this.
To me though shows like this just leave me wanting more music. Harry turned into quite a political activist. A few clips of his music and tv shows are shown on the documentary, but that wasn't enough for me. Apparently Revlon sponsored two award winning television shows he starred in.... I want to see them but alas there were only a few clips shown. He didn't do any more as people got in an uproar that blacks were appearing with whites and vice versa. Hard to believe. 

 Oh well, back to those old Calypso albums.

Nostalgic Rambler discovers Loretta Young!

 Thanks to a recent screening on "Me TV" (an over the air broadcaster presenting classic TV shows) I have discovered the 1950s classic program "The Loretta Young Show" aka "Letters To Loretta."

I didn't know much about Loretta.  I have a copy of her 1947 film "The Farmer's Daughter" which is quite charming. After her famed film career she turned to television to be able to tell stories with a moral. The series won three Emmys and ran from 1953 to 1961.

 Loretta was always very style conscious and would make her grand entrance on her show wearing very fashionable gowns.  Despite being black and white, the audience loved it. Loretta  apparently even sued when years later her show was re-broadcast. She didn't want them showing her in outdated fashions!

 Her tv show was an anthology series, meaning she played different characters in different storylines. Unlike the shows on television these days, these scripts had heart and were very riveting.

There is an official Loretta Young webpage you can visit here. Me TV also has episodes of her show on line here. Pretty cool. You can watch her show whenever you want.

I love programs like "I Love Lucy" but they are run ad nauseum! Actually Lucy is about the last hold out of 1950s TV still being broadcast. Too bad we can't get someone to wake up and run Loretta's show more often. True, her gowns are outdated, but then the fashion of today looks like trash compared to the elegance of the 1950s and early 60s.

The In Sound From Way Out!

Back in the 1970s my mom would take us to the library where we could check out "stuff." Of course with my early love for records, I combed through the LP albums and often checked out some records to take home.

One of these was a strange album called "The In Sound From Way Out!" (don't forget the exclamation point!).  It featured 12 songs that featured sounds from electronic sources as well as instruments. The liner notes say the music was "carefully synchronized with music played by live musicians as well as....oscillators, tone generators and feedback loops."  This was long before digital music or keyboards were the norm. I guess this was supposed to be music created by a computer...if I computer could create music!

 I liked the record and wanted a copy of it. In those days that meant saying "everyone be quiet" as I would play the album on my record player. The sound would pick up into the microphone on my Radio Shack cassette tape recorder. This of course would mean when the dog barked or someone slammed the door, it would also be on the tape. Maybe that added to the electronic effect?

Recently I wondered if anyone had ever heard of this album and lo and behold it is actually available on CD! The story goes that back in 1966 when it was released, it took 275 hours of work to hand splice the sounds together to make this very off the wall album. It was the brainchild of Jean Jacques Perrey from France and Gershon Kingsley, a veteran of Broadway and classical music.

It's hard to explain what the music sounds like, so listen to it here or here. It was quite crazy and thrilling to a young boy to listen to. Today it is just as crazy, although I'm not sure I would record it onto my cassette recorder again! 

New Year Ramblings Andy Williams, Guy Lombardo

 Happy New Year to all the Nostalgic Rambler followers...Are you out there? Sometimes I wonder if this is just a therapy for myself or if someone is actually reading this. 

This posting will be just a little hodgepodge as I've been under the weather recently. But I did want to finally check in with "you all."

The newspaper did a story about the heirs of Guy Lombardo. Sad to hear that the memorabilia of the man who millions looked forward to watching every New Year's Eve is now deteriorating in storage units here in Florida. Read the story here.  I wish I could help but I don't think my wife would let me bring more "stuff" into the house. Maybe Michael Feinstein could help.

As most look forward to the New Year 2013, I turned to clock back to January 3 fifty years ago and watched "The Andy Williams Show". My wife gave me a dvd collection for Christmas (she knows what I like!).

 

 Hard to believe that I watched a show that was 50 years old to the day. It was in "Living Color on NBC" so to me it looked brand new. Those shows are so great. Where else can you see Irene Ryan from the Beverly Hillbillies as a singer and dancer? Or Bobby Darin, Vic Damone, and Henry Mancini all on one show as Andy's guests? The Osmond Brothers are on some of the shows and their parents even made an appearance. As usual I am enjoying my time warp. Am looking forward to the next two shows which feature Bing Crosby, Tennessee Ernie Ford and Ella Fitzgerald.

Sad to read the another of the greats Patti Page has left us. Her Tennessee Waltz, How Much Is That Doggie In The Window? or Old Cape Cod were songs that charmed millions.

Here's a link or two to Patti's hits.

Take care my friends! May the new year bring you all the best.

The Story of Christmas with Tennessee Ernie Ford

 Alright, alright, I know CHRISTmas isn't for several weeks but I want to give you this info so you can get a copy of it if you want to in time! The neighbors already have their CHRISTmas lights up, which drives me crazy. They are the ones that start taking everything down when December 25th arrives. By then they are sick of it all...

Anyhow,  in a time long long ago called the 1950s, record buyers had taste. So much so that they made this album a million seller:

Star Carol was one of the rare albums that sold that many back in the 1950s. The public snapped up several recordings Tennessee Ernie Ford made featuring Christian hymns.

In the 50s, Ford had a popular TV show. By the early 1960s Ernie Ford had gained enough stature in the industry for him to do whatever he wanted. His clout let him present a program entitled "The Story Of Christmas" on NBC, December 22, 1963. 

 

The hour long prime time show featured some unusual animation by Eyvind Earle and plenty of music by Ford and the Roger Wagner Chorale. Critics and audiences loved it.  

 Daily Variety said "The tape should be preserved and played back for years on end. It's brilliance will never be dimmed or excelled."  Unfortunately, the TV programmers have been dimmed and don't excel at much of anything anymore. Therefore a Christian based musical program isn't about to be seen on the network primetime agenda in 2012.

 Fortunately the master tape was found and released on dvd several years ago..........

 and the music from the special is still remembered enough that a cd was released.

Here are a few teaser clips I found on Youtube. Click here for a clip featuring the animation or if you want to see one of Ernie's records spinning around a nativity scene (!) click here . 

 I bought my copy of the show at www.ErnieFord.com.

December can be a hectic month so if I don't get to do another post, then Merry CHRISTmas to you all. Thanks so much for reading the ramblings of the Nostalgic Rambler!

A Christmas Story: revisited

 Back in 1983 when I was in college I remember going to the movies with my college roommate John to see a new movie called "A Christmas Story."  That was 29 years ago (!?). I don't remember much about the film. I was in my 20s then and recall something about a boy wanting a bb gun and a lamp that looked like a woman's leg. It didn't leave much of an impression on a young man.

Fast forward to today and I find out that this movie is now a cult classic favorite! Our local "Ocala Civic Theatre" (I don't like it when they call a theater a theatRE...but that's another subject) is putting on the stage version of the movie.

We went to see it and it really is a heartwarming story. Not only that, but it is set in the 1940s so you get plenty of Nostalgic Rambler type references including Ovaltine, Little Orphan Annie, radio shows, and during the intermission plenty of classic CHRISTmas music from Bing Crosby, The Andrews Sisters, and Kate Smith!

I never had a lamp that looks like a woman's leg. I did have a bb gun as a kid. 

If you live near Ocala, FL, the show runs through November 25, 2012. If you don't live here, rent the movie. I think I'll watch it again after 29 years.

Apparently this movie is so popular the home it was shot at in Cleveland is now a museum. I bet "Miracle on 34th Street" or "It's A Wonderful Life" doesn't even have THAT! 

Dreams Come True In Blue Hawaii

 Aloha! The Nostalgic Rambler has been on vacation lately, therefore the lack of a new entry here. We are back from the Hawaiian Islands and were very enthralled by them.  Musically speaking people have been fascinated with the islands for years. Since I couldn't take you all with me, here is a bit of Hawaiian flavor tainted a bit from the mainland influences.

Back in 1959 Billy Vaughn recorded an album of Hawaiian songs called "Blue Hawaii" which has always been one of my favorites. Besides the exotic gal on the cover, he presented snappy saxophone laced renditions of such songs as "Aloha oe" and "My Little Grass Shack." The album sold 500,000 copies and stayed on the charts for almost a year.

 Perhaps the most famous Hawaiian artist of the Nostalgic Rambler era was Don Ho, who released his famed "Tiny Bubbles" in 1966. This one hit wonder lead to his own tv show and a years long audience love affair with his Hawaiian shows to which tourists streamed.

  Elvis is still strongly remembered for his "Blue Hawaii" which apparently was filmed in part at the Polynesian Cultural Center in Oahu. While we were there his presence was felt in the gift shop where you can even buy a replica of his Hawaiian shirt used in the movie.

 The ukelele has been a beloved sound of Hawaiian music for quite a while. It seems to be enjoying a resurgence lately. On our cruise ship trip I took several lessons and at our final performance the stage was packed with ukelele-ists!

Aloha everyone!