A World Without Lou Jacobi?!? (1913 - 2009)

Another obit.

Actor Lou Jacobi has left this world, at age 95.

That's a good long run.

- Follow link to his obituary from The New York Times.

Five decades spent in showbiz.
Numerous appearances on stage, screen, TV - - and I'll wager that there is not one production among them that was not greatly improved by his presence.

Even just the sound of his distinctive voice - - I have fond memories of hearing him in the ensemble cast of some of Booker & Foster's silly comedy albums, like 'When You're In Love, The Whole World Is Jewish', or in the role of band leader Al Tijuana. ▶

- Click over to the 'Tijuana Brass Sound' box set post at WFMU's Beware of The Blog and you'll find numerous Al Tijuana cuts sprinkled throughout the available mp3s.

(At the very least, take a listen to the adaptation of
'Peter Gunn'.)

So:
A World Without Lou Jacobi In It?

Impossible to contemplate.

No thank you, I reject the notion.

His listing at IMDb tells me that it has been fifteen years since Lou Jacobi's last film credit, but I've enjoyed watching him on several occasions during that time.

I also see in that long list at IMDb that there are still many of his performances waiting for me in films I've not yet seen.

Thank you for everything Mr. Jacobi, I look forward to seeing you again soon.

- A YouTube clip embedded below: ▼

From 1971, a juicy Jacobi scene from Jules Feiffer's 'Little Murders', directed by Alan Arkin.

Jacobi plays the judge, reacting to news from engaged couple Marcia Rodd & Elliott Gould that they plan to omit God from their wedding vows...

Reasons To Be Cheerful: week of 10/23/09

Hello again!
Yes, months have passed and there has been not a peep from this blog, and it's been many more months since I've posted any sort of regular 'Reasons To Be Cheerful' entry.

Simply put, things haven't been cheerful.
Mostly things have been difficult, mostly in the same ways they've been difficult for mostly everyone everywhere.
Perhaps you've noticed these things.

Personally, I hate reading blogs with excuses, so for me it's been easier to say nothing.

(Above: 'This Is Not A Peep'▲ found in the flickr stream of Coyote Crossing, via Aristocob)

Thanks to everyone who has written, whether wondering about my whereabouts, expressing concern or wishing well.

While all my stuff continues to sit boxed up in storage hundreds of miles away, for the forseeable future it seems the only stuff I can enjoy sharing with you on this blog are things I've bumped into recently, and stuff I can point you towards that I've seen on the interwebs.

But it's still great fun to share, so let's get to it!

1. Comic Soupy Sales crosses the finish line at age 83. Bon Voyage Soup!

- Follow link to the New York Times obituary.

At right is the cover image from an LP I had as a little kid, one that I played over and over again on my little variable-speed portable phonograph, although I'd never seen the TV show.

I'd never caught Soupy's schtick with Pookie or White Fang or the rest of his puppet friends, but was still fascinated and entertained.

- Follow another link to a nifty collection of Soupy Sales Memorabilia.

And so on to fashion - -

2. Perhaps photos of 'Woolies' have already found their way to you?

It was news to me, and to a friend who passed them along to me. She says she was innocently googling for information on knitting with wool and came across photos of wool fetishists in various parts of the world.

These photos are from a French fetishists forum (Not quite safe for work), as featured at Izismile.Com.

Whatever makes you happy is fine with me, but my first reaction was to naively wonder how long I could be able stand the heat and the itchiness - -

- - followed by wondering about how soon a fully wool body-suit would start to stink, how you deal with stains and are they machine washable.

Too practical, I know... I've heard it before...
























3. And then there are the average people we see around us everyday as we set about our erranding...

The administrators at People of Walmart.Com are quick to stress that their site is not affiliated with Walmart.

We'll see how long that lasts as they continue this fascinating cultural anthropology project.

Folks from all over the U.S. are sending in photos they've taken of assorted "Wal-Creatures" they've encountered in the wild.

I'm sure I'd enjoy wandering the site more if the captions included for the photos weren't often so mean-spirited, but - -

- - even so...







... It can be...







... awfully...








... danged...







... difficult...







... to look away.





Compelling and important evidence!

Head over to
People of Walmart.Com and see for yourself.

4. Speaking of the rich pageantry of fancies and foibles found surrounding the human animal, the new Coen Brothers movie has opened.

Once again they've provided that brilliant balance of great story and visuals, superb casting and perfect left-field unpredictability that I always hope for in their films.

I'm so pleased that I managed to see 'A Serious Man' before I'd heard a thing about it.
No reviews, no synopsis, no mention of who was in it.

It won't happen very often, but I think that for most films (good, bad or indifferent) entering a theater without a clue is the best way to go, if you can possibly manage it.

Probably it helps if you have a good track record with the filmmakers.

As with other flicks from the Coens, 'A Serious Man' includes an interesting soundtrack with some note-worthy recordings.

It makes great use of several cuts from Jefferson Airplane's 'Surrealistic Pillow' album and a couple of other choice bits of '60s psychedelia, but the biggest surprise is a beautifully haunting vintage vocal piece sung in Yiddish by operatic baritone Sidor Belarsky.
◀

- Listen to Sidor Belarsky's 'Dem Milners Trern'
('The Miller's Tears') (click on link)

This film may not do for Mr. Belarsky and Yiddish Folk, Cantorial and Art Song what 'Oh Brother, Where Art Thou' did for Ralph Stanley and Bluegrass, but still it's always nice to see a little spotlight land on an artist that's off of most people's radar.

Follow these links for more:
- A nice little article from the San Francisco Examiner about Belarski (who died in 1975), his long and illustrious career, and his daughter's efforts to perpetuate his music.

- The Man & His Music, a tribute site.

- A Yiddish music archive, featuring mp3 download links for several of Sidor Belarsky's 78 RPM recordings.

- 'Dem Milners Trern' leads off Belarsky's LP 'Jewish Melodies', streaming in it's entirety on a page at Florida Atlantic University's Judaica Sound Archives.
Further investigation shows that 20 other Sidor Belarsky records may be heard there, in addition to over 8000 songs by dozens of other performers ranging not just from Jewish religious music and folk song, but klezmer, children's music, comedy records and more.

5. Speaking of vintage tuneage rediscovered, it's been out for a few months now, but I still can't stop listening to
Loudon Wainwright III's High Wide & Handsome -
The Charlie Poole Project.

- - Or trying to recommend it to people. (Thanks again to my pal Joe Sixpack for turning me on to it!)

From the website: "Loudon Wainwright III revisits the life, times, and recorded legacy of legendary singer and banjo picker Charlie Poole (1892-1931). ▼

"A grand gathering of songs both old and original..."

So not merely a collection of cover tunes, the 2-disc set also mingles in some new songs by Wainwright telling tales about the colorful life of Poole, as performed by Loudon and various musical friends and family members - - several assorted Wainwrights and Roches, Chris Thile of Nickel Creek and Geoff Muldaur from the old Kweskin Jug Band.

Some of LW3's fans may argue that it's not what they expected from him, but the whole project reeks of 'labor of love', and he's the perfect one to channel the spirit of a previous rowdy fellow troubadour.
Check it out!

- - And finally, a different stripe of musical archaeology, but nonetheless esoteric...

6. The lyrics to the theme from 'Mission Impossible'.

A little while back I was googling about while trying to remember obscure lyrics I'd heard to some old TV theme song or another, and found the best thing I could have hoped for;

'Seldom-Heard TV Theme Lyrics' posted at You Don't Have To Visit This Blog.

A 2006 post, and it looks like the blog may be dormant (a lot of that going around), but as of this writing, the download links are still active for a great mix of old TV themes - - most of which you never realized ever had lyrics.

The mix runs mostly to the 1960's and 70's, with a few more contemporary renditions or parodies thrown in.

In many cases, these television themes only had lyrics after the fact, a bit of padding on a record release trying to capitalize on a show's popularity - - Or perhaps adding extra verses to the short and familiar version sung on TV.

In some cases there had been lyrics all along, written for contractual or copyright reasons that were never used.
Usually it was the right choice, especially when the themes to many action series were inexplicably forced into the role of love songs when given the vocal treatment.

I urge you to investigate this group of tunes, and to try to keep your jaw off the floor while absorbing the lyrics to The 'Hogan's Heroes' March or 'The Odd Couple', or while listening to Sammy Davis, Jr. sing the theme from 'Hawaii Five-O'.








One oddball selection that's missing from the 'Seldom-Heard TV Theme Lyrics' mix is the amazing and twisted vocal rendition of the Mission: Impossible theme, performed by The Kane Triplets, a sister act popular in Vegas clubs and on The Ed Sullivan show in the 1960s.
Not sure when or how the vocal interpretation of composer Lalo Schifrin's familiar theme song came about, but the result needs to be heard.



- Listen to The Kane Triplets sing the 'Theme from Mission Impossible' at the Kane Triplets MySpace page, at the Kane Triplets website, or by clicking here.

The lyrics cruise past at a speedy clip, so you'll need to listen close to catch them all.

Looking around the web, it seems that most previous attempts to list these lyrics have either disappeared or were incorrect, so please allow me my attempt to keep them alive a little longer,,,

- 'Theme from Mission Impossible'

(verse 1)
Fly away
Disappear
I'll be there
Waiting

Run high
Run low
Don't stop
Go no matter where
You are bound
I'm around
Waiting

Hypnotized
On a string
Following
Wanting

Lead me there
Anywhere
I don't care
Cannot stop
And I won't stop
Till you're mine

(bridge)
I keep on dreaming of you
No doubt about it
You took my head and made it spin
Somewhere it's never been
I'm in the desert
The middle of nowhere
With no shoes I calmly bear
Burning coals of fire
But when I get through
That's when I'll begin to
undertake a mission that's impossible

(Repeat verse 1)

(Verse 2)
Run
Don't try to hide
Don't stay beside
I'm gonna get you

Get on a plane
Go far away
But any day
I'm gonna get you

Don't be afraid
If you may find
I'm on your mind
Don't try to fight it

Love's
A waiting fuse
You can't refuse
You're gonna light it

(outro)
Fly away
Disappear
I'll be there
Waiting

No matter where
You are bound
I'm around
Waiting

Time out from the muppets: Young Jim Henson's 'Tick-Tock Sick' (1960) and Time Piece (1965)

As a young man, puppeteer
Jim Henson was bursting with creative ideas and wasted no time in making things happen.

In the mid-1950s, he was making puppets for children's television before he was out of high school.

He created his first muppet TV show, Sam and Friends, during his freshman year of college.
The five-minute program aired daily, and ran for six years.

Simultaneously, Henson's muppets were making other TV appearances on variety shows and in assorted commercials.

But it wasn't all about muppets all the time...

When Henson graduated from college in 1960, he was married, had a new-born daughter, and had been working in TV and advertising for several years. He was 23.

That same year, Jim Henson released an odd, jazzy little 45 single.
On the A-side, 'Tick-Tock Sick', he complains of being 'bugged' by the relentless ticking of the clock.

Listen to:
Jim Henson - Tick-Tock Sick
(Signature Records 45, 1960)
(click for audio)

(label image via Muppet Wiki)




On the flipside...

Listen to:
Jim Henson -
The Countryside
(Signature Records 45, 1960)
(click for audio)

Regarding this 45 and a recurring motif of 'racing time' in Henson's work, Karen Falk, historian and head archivist for The Jim Henson Company said:
"Jim Henson accomplished an amazing amount in his life, but given the large number of files on unrealized projects that are in the archives, he clearly didn't have enough time to do all that he wanted to do. And 'Tick-Tock Sick' tells us that he was already feeling the crunch just six years into his career."

As the 1960's progressed, amidst increasing exposure of The Muppets, Henson also began working with experimental film.

'Time Piece' was a short film that Henson wrote, produced, directed and starred in. He began production in 1964 and took about a year to finish, working on it in between TV projects.

It premiered at New York's Museum of Modern Art in May of 1965, traveled the film festival circuit, and was nominated for a Best Live Action Short Subject Oscar in 1966.

Incorporating animation, reverse motion, rapid edits and a rhythmic, percussive soundtrack by
Don Sebesky, 'Time Piece' continues some of the theme explored by 'Tick-Tock Sick' a few years earlier.

Below, ▼ view 'Time Piece'...



- This post is a companion piece to one posted at Video Cabinet in Limbo, also regarding Jim Henson's muppetless productions.
Follow link to: Richard Schaal in Jim Henson's teleplay, 'The Cube' (1969)

See also:
Circa 1965, Henson made two Muppets, Inc. industrial promo films pitching to Wilson's Meats, an advertising account, filmed in a tongue-in-cheek, mock-documentary style.
Follow links to:
- Wilson's Meats #1
- Wilson's Meats #2

"Tina Louise becomes Les Crane's Dream Bride" - 1966 magazine photo spread

(A brief preamble: I was already thinking of our friend Gilligan and his blog, Retrospace, as I started preparations for this post, and that was before Gil was kind enough to bestow a Great Read Award upon ILTS this past Wednesday. The award's emblem of honor is posted towards the bottom of the lovely brown sidebar, big blushing thanks are extended to Mr. G, and this post is dedicated to him.)

This two-page article ran in the July, 1966 issue of TV Radio Mirror.

(Click on images to enlarge in a new window)

- Click here to view a super-sized image of page 1 in a new window.

- Click here to view a super-sized image of page 2 in a new window.

Actress Tina Louise and Radio & TV Talk Show Host Les Crane were married in Beverly Hills on Sunday, April 3rd, 1966.

In the early 1960s, Les Crane had hosted a late-night radio talk show in San Francisco, where he often stirred up controversy with his
left-wing liberal views and confrontational interview style.
In 1963, Crane took his show to New York City and to late-night television.

His big west coast movie career mentioned in the magazine article didn't go much beyond his supporting role in the film adaptation of Norman Mailer's
An American Dream.

By 1966, via her role as 'the movie star' on TV's Gilligan's Island,
Tina Louise had rocketed to a level of fame she'd not reached after fifteen years as a pin-up model, nightclub singer, and film & stage actress, though she was discomforted by the notion of being type-cast by her 'Ginger' portrayal.

When the sitcom was cancelled in 1967, she was quick in her attempts to distance herself from the role.

In the photo below, ▼ the newlyweds pose with Tina's co-star castaways...

...Though significant in his absence from the photo is 'The Professor', Russell Johnson.

What bit of behind-the-scenes intrigue can we infer from his not being present? Does it lend anything to the various sordid debates about the characters and cast of Gilligan's Island?

I prefer to believe that perhaps Russell Johnson was behind the camera, snapping the photograph with a camera he'd built out of a coconut shell and some beach glass.

At the time of the wedding, (Les Crane's third - - or perhaps fourth - - marriage) the tail end of the second season of Gilligan's Island was airing on Thursday nights, and presumably the cast was busy with production for the sitcom's third season episodes.

CBS then moved the show to Monday evenings, and cancelled the the series at the end of the third season.

Tina Louise had several TV and film appearances after 'getting off the island', often seeking out 'grittier' or more serious roles.

Les Crane returned to talk radio in Los Angeles in 1968.



Perhaps Crane's most often-noted achievement was his Grammy award-winning 1971 spoken-word recording of the prose poem (and popular
dorm-room poster) 'Desiderata'.

- Follow the link to
Richie Unterberger's liner notes to a re-release of the Les Crane LP that included his 'one-hit wonder' Top-10 single.

Tina Louise and Les Crane were divorced in 1974, the same year their daughter, Caprice Crane was born.
Not bad for a Hollywood marriage of that era.

Tina Louise never appeared in any of the Gilligan's Island TV movie reunions, though she's taken part in a few 'cast reunion' talk show appearances.

In the 1980's, Les Crane had great success after moving into the software industry, founding a company that made inter-active games and typing tutorials for PCs. He died in 2008, at age 74.

Lolitas - 'Fusée d'amour' (1989)

Les Lolitas were a Berlin-based band who sang primarily in French.

Their sound was a combination of influences that included American garage rock, rockabilly and French yé-yé, played with a punk sensibility. They formed in the mid-1980s and split around 1993.

Lead singer Françoise Cactus met Brezel Göring soon after, and they founded the fabulous multi-lingual
French-German electronica pop/rock duo, Stereo Total.

'Fusée d'amour' was the third Lolitas LP, recorded in Memphis, Tennessee in August of 1988 and produced by music biz chameleon
Alex Chilton.
Chilton plays just a bit of piano on the album, as does his friend and fellow Memphis legend Jim Dickinson.






(click on image to enlarge in a new window)

On the album cover, from left to right:
Olga La Basse - bass

Coco Nut - guitar

Françoise Cactus - vocals, drums

Michele Tutti Frutti - guitar, harmonica





- Follow link to view track listing & production credits.


From the Lolitas album
'Fusée d'amour' (New Rose Records, 1989),
Listen to:

Mummy
La Fille Qui Se Promene Sur Les Rails
Joli Johnny
Les Cactus

(click for audio)

- - OR download the full album (16 tracks) in one 46.5 Mb zipfile.





See also:
- Les Lolitas on MySpace
- StereoBio, A history of Françoise Cactus
- Stereo Total website

- As of this writing, the rest of the Lolitas catalog (and a Coco Nut solo record) are posted at cosmozebra. (This post hopefully improves upon Cosmo's slightly noisy vinyl rip of 'Fusée d'amour' - - unless you're a fan of clicks and pops)

What's a few more old dusty Men's magazines between friends? (flickr link)

(click on images to enlarge in a new window)

I've added just a few more old girlie mag cover scans to a big batch that I posted at Flickr almost a year ago...

- Please follow this link to my flickr set:
A 'Cover Gallery' of 1950s and '60s
Men's Magazines!
(50 images)

These late 1950s cover images allow the predominantly late '60s set to skew just a little earlier.

It's fun to see the relatively subtle (and tasteful) designs and color palette in the earlier covers give way to the kooky kraziness of the
High Sixties...

...Enjoy!


































































(click on images to enlarge in a new window)

-

Follow this link to my flickr set:
A 'Cover Gallery' of 1950s and '60s Men's Magazines!
(50 images)

Victor Borge mugs in 'Smörgås Borge' (1954 magazine photo-spread)

When this photo feature appeared in the March, 1954 issue of Pageant Magazine, Danish comedian / pianist Victor Borge was a just a few months in to his 2½-year run of 849 performances on Broadway with his one-man show, Comedy In Music.

◀ (click on images to read enlarged text in a new window)

In 'Smörgås Borge', photographer Martin Iger captured Mr. Borge's visual reactions to various queries.

Seems like Mr. Iger may have drawn some influence from Philippe Halsman's 'The Frenchman', a 1949 book using a similar concept for portraits of French film star Fernandel.

(Follow link to the previously posted 'Two Special Faces Photographed: Fernandel reacts for Philippe Halsman, Anna Russell on Positive Stinking')





▲ (click on images to read enlarged text in a new window)

There is a wealth of Borge material available online, including plenty of video clips from various appearances throughout his long career.

- Follow link to a favorite, in which Borge discusses composing.

- Go to the Wikipedia entry for assorted links and tribute sites.

- Be sure to visit The Victor Borge Collection at Internet Archive. They've gathered over two dozen fine audio recordings to enjoy, including excerpts from Comedy In Music, and his famous routines 'Inflationary Language' and 'Phonetic Punctuation'.

- For further related facial studies on this blog, follow links to:
The previously mentioned Fernandel and Anna Russell post, and
'Zero Mostel's Face, Zero Mostel's Life'

Jerry Ross Symposium - 'Hope For The Best (Expect The Worst)' b/w 'First Love' (1971)

In the early 1970s, record producer-promoter-song writer Jerry Ross tried on another hat, releasing a few records of lightly progressive pop and smoothed-out covers of rock hits, all crafted to be palatable for airplay on easy-listening radio stations.

This single release from early 1971 featured the theme from The Twelve Chairs, the second feature-length
Mel Brooks film, released the previous autumn.

In collaboration with his long-time 'house' composer John Morris, Mel's lyrics to the song are as timeless as ever...

Hope for the best, expect the worst
Some drink champagne, some die of thirst
No way of knowing
Which way it’s going
Hope for the best, expect the worst!

Hope for the best, expect the worst
The world’s a stage, we’re unrehearsed
Some reach the top, friends, while others drop, friends
Hope for the best, expect the worst!

I knew a man who saved a fortune that was splendid
Then he died the day he’d planned to go and spend it
Shouting “Live while you’re alive! No one will survive!”
Life is sorrow - - here today and gone tomorrow
Live while you’re alive, no one will survive - - there’s no guarantee

Hope for the best, expect the worst
You could be Tolstoy or Fannie Hurst
You take your chances, there are no answers
Hope for the best expect the worst!

I knew a man who saved a fortune that was splendid
Then he died the day he’d planned to go and spend it
Shouting “Live while you’re alive! No one will survive!”
Life is funny - - Spend your money! Spend your money!
Live while you’re alive, no one will survive - - there’s no guarantee



Hope for the best, expect the worst

The rich are blessed, the poor are cursed

That is a fact, friends, the deck is stacked, friends

Hope for the best, expect the – -
(even with a good beginning, it’s not certain that you’re winning,
even with the best of chances, they can kick you in the pantses)

Look out for the - - watch out for the worst!
Hey!

(The lyrics above are as heard during the film's opening credits. Not all of them are found on this Jerry Ross Symposium 45.)




(Note the title typo on the label!)
◀




Listen to:
Jerry Ross Symposium -
Hope For The Best (Expect The Worst)
(Colossus Records 45, 1971)
(click for audio)








Jerry Ross (not to be confused with an older showbiz Jerry Ross, the musical theater composer of Damn Yankees and The Pajama Game) had been a DJ and radio & TV announcer in Philadelphia in the late 1950s before becoming a record promoter there.

Branching off into composing and producing records, he also discovered teenage singer Kenneth Gamble.
Ross managed Gamble's career and was instrumental in teaming him with keyboardist Leon Huff.

The three collaborated as songwriters for several years before Gamble and Huff went on to huge fame as a team, writing and producing records, and helping to pioneer the 'Philly Soul' sound .

Ross went to New York in 1965 when he was hired as an A&R man by Mercury Records, where he soon had great success with acts like Jay & The Techniques, Spanky & Our Gang, Dee Dee Warwick, Jerry Butler, Keith, and Bobby Hebb.

Ross had also founded his own small record label, Heritage, in the early 1960s, releasing music by some of his Philadelphia acts.
He revived the label in 1968 after leaving Mercury, and put out records by Bill Deal and the Rhondels, Cherry People and
The Duprees, among others.

When a distribution deal with MGM ended around 1970, Ross went abroad to seek European distribution for the now independent Heritage label. While visiting Amsterdam he was taken with the Dutch music scene, and was able to secure the North American distribution rights for several acts.

Upon returning to the U.S., Ross started his new Colossus label (named after his miniature poodle) and began releasing records by his new 'Dutch Invasion' groups; Shocking Blue, The Tee Set, and The George Baker Selection.

Never one to put eggs in one basket, one function of his
'Jerry Ross Symposium' records was to provide MOR cover versions of hit songs by artists on his labels.

See also:
- Fellow music biz maven Artie Wayne interviews Jerry Ross at Spectropop.

- Jerry Ross at MySpace.

- As of this writing, the second Jerry Ross Symposium LP (with arrangements by Claus Ogerman) can be found at fullundie.


Chuck Sagle was the arranger / conductor on this single. As a bandleader, Sagle released a number of 'space-age pop' records in the '50s and '60s, often under his 'Carl Stevens' alias.

The flip-side of the 45 has sort of a 'Washington Square' / 'Midnight In Moscow' sound, accompanied by a watery shadow chorus.

Listen to:
Jerry Ross Symposium -
First Love
(Colossus Records 45, 1971)
(click for audio)









The Symposium performs the sentimental theme to the 1970 film First Love, written by
Don Black and composer
Mark London, who'd previously collaborated on 'To Sir With Love' in 1967.

Oscar-winner Don Black was the lyricist on many successful movie theme songs - - He worked with composer John Barry on 'Born Free' and several of the James Bond themes, including 'Thunderball' and 'Diamonds Are Forever', and he wrote Michael Jackson's hit, 'Ben' with Walter Scharf in 1972.

- Follow link to the Official Don Black Website.

'Percy' (magazine photo spread, 1971)

Another early 1970s photo-feature (below) from the pages of the Brit movie magazine Film And Filming, this time from the March, 1971 issue.

The film is 'Percy', a racy & ribald comedy fairly typical of the era, starring Hywel Bennett as the recipient of the
first-ever penis transplant.

(click on images to engorge in a new window)

Co-starring Denholm Elliott, Elke Sommer and Britt Ekland, 'Percy' was for many years a notable curiosity, known primarily for its soundtrack by The Kinks, their final album recorded for the Pye record label.













As of this writing, you can hear a few of those Kinks soundtrack selections at YouTube;
-God's Children
-The Way Love Used To Be
-Animals In The Zoo
(You may also be able to find the rest of the album here.)

Both the soundtrack and the film itself were out-of-print rarities for many years, and so became much sought-after, each in their own way - - though in the case of the film itself, the general consensus has been that maybe it's best to remain curious, rather than actually viewing the thing...

- Follow links to read essays about the film at The Auteurs and at Mondo Digital.

- Photos of the film's cast can be seen at The Actors Compendium .

(click on images to enlarge in a new window)











Regardless of any of Percy's shortcomings, it didn't deter the filmmakers from coming back with a sequel, 'Percy's Progress' (a.k.a. 'It's Not the Size That Counts'), in 1974.

Hywel Bennett bowed out the second time around, but Elke Sommer and Denholm Elliott were back to reprise their roles, joined by no less than Vincent Price and Barry 'Dame Edna' Humphries.

Podcast on a Summer's Day...

... or at least a day like today.

Like a lizard atop a wooden stump, there's a new link posted to a new 'I'm Learning To Share' podcast, and it's parked over near the top of the lovely brown sidebar.

(UPDATE: Another one gone. You might try poking around the audio annex...)

Parked, basking in the summer heat, sitting still and quiet until someone like you comes along to nudge it - -
- - Or to hear an interesting batch of music.

Either one...

Not enough people are talking about Judy Canova

It's possible that not enough people are still talking about actress / singer Judy Canova, and maybe that situation can change...

While lying awake late the other night, unable to sleep again, as often happens in that situation I pulled my laptop close to me and dialed up the Old Time Radio library at Internet Archive. Wanting a break from my customary late-night streaming of old Jack Benny shows or Fibber McGee & Molly, this time I stumbled onto their stash of 1940s episodes of The Judy Canova Show.

The realization soon came to me that perhaps there hasn't been enough Judy Canova in my life.

Sure, I knew of her - - I could recognize the comedienne from old photos, remembered a bit about her country cornball schtick and its context - - But in hearing her vintage radio comedy, it dawned on me that I'd not actually witnessed much of her in performance over the years, and certainly not in a long while.

You are encouraged to investigate the
The Judy Canova Show for yourself. (follow link)

As of this writing, The Internet Archive has almost three dozen episodes available for listening, dating from 1943 to 1948.

The half-hour radio sitcom revolves around Judy, playing 'herself' as an uncultured bumpkin uprooted to Hollywood life as a popular actress and singer.
Broad but gentle humor that still engages, despite its dated or non-PC moments.

The supporting cast includes Ruby Dandridge (mother of Dorothy Dandridge) as Geranium, the maid, and Mel Blanc as Pedro, the Mexican gardener / chauffeur, speaking with the same comic accent he'd use occasionally on The Jack Benny Program that would eventually evolve into the cartoon voice of Speedy Gonzales. (Not surprisingly, Blanc also doubles for other character voices and sound effects)

In the episodes I've heard so far, I recognized voices of radio veteran Verna Felton, as well as
Sheldon Leonard. Great voices!

The program ran for twelve years, first airing on CBS in 1943 on Tuesday nights, before moving to Sunday nights on NBC in 1945. Other cast members during the show's run included Hans Conried, Joseph Kearns and Gale Gordon (the latter two who, among other roles, would both go on in later years to play Mr. Wilson opposite Jay North's 'Dennis The Menace' on television).

Prior to her own show on radio,
Judy Canova (1913 - 1983) had made regular appearances on many radio programs during the 1930's, most notably The Chase & Sanborn Hour with
Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy.

She'd also had several supporting roles in films during that time, while working as a contract player for Warner Bros. and Paramount.

Her show business career had begun while still a teenager in Florida, performing in a singing trio with her sister, Anne, and older brother, Zeke.
The vaudeville circuit led them from Florida to New York, where 'The Three Georgia Crackers' were 'discovered' by singer Rudy Valee.

Radio, stage and film appearances soon followed, eventually paring the act down to a solo.

Though Judy had originally intended to pursue a more serious singing career, her talent and personality mixed with her unconventional looks to type-cast her into a good-natured yokel persona that she honed during the vaudeville years and played to perfection for decades following.

Below, ▼ appearing in a scene with her siblings in the 1937 film 'Artists & Models',
it's easy to see why she stood out...



- Follow this link to the Turner Classic Movies website to view Judy singing in a bathtub scene from the same film, before sharing dialogue with a young Ida Lupino.

- Follow link to other Judy Canova film clips at TCM.

Though 'Hillbilly Humor' was nothing new, there's a quality to
Judy Canova (including and beyond the 'hick' factor) that can be seen in the performances of comediennes who followed after her in the 1940s, '50s and beyond, from Minnie Pearl and Dorothy Shay, to Lucille Ball and Carol Burnett.

In 1940, Judy Canova was offered a movie contract by
Republic Pictures.

'Scatterbrain' provided her first leading role, and she would star in 17 films in fifteen years while working for Republic.

- Follow this link to Judy Canova's IMDb listing.

It was the popularity of those 'B-movies' that helped to land her the radio series, which led her to greater popularity than her films.



(click on images to enlarge in a new window)
























Below, ▼ a 1941 publicity shot (via Flickr) shows Canova posing with fellow Republic Pictures star, actor Tom Tyler, decked out for the adventure film serial Adventures of Captain Marvel, the very first film adaptation of a comic book super-hero.

















Speaking of comic books, Judy starred in just a few issues of her own, published by Fox Comics in 1950.

Below left, ▼ issue #3 features cover art by
(then soon-to-be) comics legends Wally Wood and
Joe Orlando, just prior to their heyday producing artwork for EC Comics.

- Learn more at Hooray For Wally Wood! and at Oddball Comics.










































Radio, film and numerous records made for
RCA-Victor and other labels made Canova a star throughout the 1940s and early '50s, as did a business sense that belied her standard performance persona.

Her contract with Republic Pictures ceased in 1955, the same year that her radio show ended.

Judy did transition to TV in the '50s, but through numerous guest appearances rather than starring vehicles. In addition, nightclub appearances and theatrical stage roles filled out the rest of her performance career, throughout the 1960s and into the '70s.

Below, ▼ In Hollywood with Liberace on
'The Colgate Comedy Hour', November 11, 1952.
(via LIFE Magazine)

- See also:
Articles at Brian's Drive-In Theater and at St. James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture.

◀ At left, Judy Canova at age 65, attending the National Film Society convention, May 1979, accompanied by her daughter, actress Diana Canova, Diana's partner, actor Steve Landesberg, and (on the right) Landesberg's mother.
(Photo by Alan Light,
click on image to enlarge in a new window)

UPDATE, 6.25.09: Big, big thanks to Matt for sending along a nice note that included 4 of his favorite tracks from an old 10-inch LP, 'Favorite Songs of Judy Canova'.

Sad but not terribly surprising, none of Judy's music is currently in print, at least here in the U.S. - -

- - And these great western-swingy tracks that Matt has provided weren't included on the last readily available CD collections of her work, so that makes them an extra-special treat for all of us!

Thanks for sharing, Matt!
It's kinda like Xmas or something...

Listen to:
Never Trust A Man
Bananas Ain't Got No Bonies
I Ain't Got Nobody
Twenty-five Chickens Thirty-five Cows

(click for audio)


UPDATE, 7.6.09: Thanks also to normadesmond for sending along a YouTube link to a video clip of
Judy Canova appearing on TV's 'What's My Line?' in 1954.
Norm uploaded it after seeing this post. Thanks for sharing!

Squirt in your eye (1945 print ad)

(click on image to enlarge)

Squirt, the grapefruit soft drink, was introduced in 1938.

Their mascot,
'Little Squirt' began appearing in their advertisements and promotions in 1941.

Though the company changed hands many times over the decades, and the formula has changed a bit, Squirt soda is still around today.

- - But when was the last time you saw
'Little Squirt'?
































Looks like there was a version of him still kicking around as late as the mid-1970s at least,
but since then?

Where do the old advertising mascots go to die?