Celebrating EXCELLENCE...That is ageless!
-John Bunyan (1628-1688)
Happy End of August!
How did that happen!?!?! Well, this summer, for the most part, has come and gone. I didn't get to a beach once this summer. I'm about to make up for that. I'm leaving in the AM for Oklahoma City!
And then off to Malibu till 9/11.
If I have wi-fi on my plane, My blog will be written from Continental Airlines tomorrow morning! Christine Talbott Sutin, you may want to tune in!
And I can't believe that we are hurling towards autumn.
I hope you all are more advanced on some level today than you were on August 1st!
My highlights for August were dinners with friends, seeing Lee Tannen's I LOVED LUCY with my friend Diane Findlay(pictured).
We also experienced an earthquake and Irene this month. If nothing else, August was anything but boring! May September be just as exciting with no natural disasters.
I'm looking forward to 10 days in Malibu! Seeing FOLLIES when I return.
Today, I am writing about excellence in entertainment that is ageless.The first entertainer, I saw only once in concert.
Did you know Carole Cook was the 2nd actress to play Dolly after Carol Channing? Yes! In the Australian company!
The second, I saw her in the original 42nd Street on stage and a couple of other times in events honoring Carol Channing.
I read in the NY TIMES earlier this week that Tom Jones was recovering in a hospital in Monaco on Sunday and said that "severe dehydration" had forced him to cancel a concert. Well, EVERYONE deserves a rest. I fainted on stage once on an opening night in front of a sold out house because of dehydration. It happens at every age. The bottom line is Mr. Jones is still working and is still at the top of his game.
I saw him several years ago when I was appearing in Atlantic City. We were invited by the head of the entertainment department and I was blown away by his show. A TRUE entertainer in EVERY since of the word. Here is wishing him a speedy recovery and back on the boards as soon as HE is ready!
Sir Thomas John Woodward,
(born 7 June 1940), known by his stage name Tom Jones, is a Welsh singer, particularly noted for his powerful voice.
Since the mid 1960s, Jones has sung many styles of popular music – pop, rock, R&B, show tunes, country, dance, techno, soul and gospel– and sold over 100 million records.
When we saw Tom, Whoopi Goldberg was at our table and he devoted this song to her.
Tom Jones was born at 57 Kingsland Terrace, Treforest, Pontypridd in South Wales.
His parents were Thomas Woodward (died 5 October 1981), a coal miner, and Freda Jones (died 7 February 2003).
His family was mainly of English descent, with both of his paternal grandparents being born in England and his maternal grandmother born in Wales to English parents. Most of his ancestral roots appear to lie in Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Somerset.
Jones began singing at an early age: he would regularly sing at family gatherings, weddings, and in his school choir. Jones is dyslexic and he did not like school or sports; however, he was able to gain confidence through his singing talent.
At age 12, Jones was diagnosed with by tuberculosis. Many years later he said, "I spent two years in bed recovering. It was the worst time of my life." During convalescence, he could do little else but listen to music and draw.
Jones' bluesy singing style developed out of the sound of American soul music. His early influences included blues and R & B greats like Little Richard, Solomon Burke, Jackie Wilson, and Brook Benton. Jerry Lee Lewis’s music also influenced him from a rock and roll perspective.
Woodward contrived the stage name "Tom Jones" to link himself to the image of the title character in Tony Richardson's then-recent hit film and to emphasize his Welsh nationality. Jones became the frontman for Tommy Scott and the Senators, a Welsh beat group, in 1963. They soon gained a local following and reputation in South Wales.
In 1964, Jones recorded several solo tracks with producer Joe Meek, who took them to various labels, but had little success. Later that year, Decca producer Peter Sullivan saw Tommy Scott and The Senators performing in a club and directed them to manager Phil Solomon, but their partnership was short-lived.
Love you Tom Jones! Now on to Carole Cooke!
Look Who Has Her Own Wine!!!Carole Cook has her own wine! Wines being sold to benefit an AIDS organization in San Francisco. $18 a bottle. I'll drink to that. But after one sip, you sound like you are from Abolene, Texas!
Carole Cook has appeared in many theatrical productions, in films and on television.
Born as Mildred Frances Cook, she was a protege of Lucille Ball. Ball gave her the stage name of "Carole", after her friend Carole Lombard because, Ball reportedly told Cook, "you have the same healthy disrespect for everything in general".
Cook appeared regularly on two of her shows, The Lucy Show and Here's Lucy. Ball was matron of honor at Cook's wedding in 1964 to actor Tom Troupe.
Cooke starred in the animated Disney film Home on the Range, as the voice of Pearl Gesner, the farmer of Patch of Heaven. She appeared in such feature films as The Incredible Mr. Limpet, Sixteen Candles, Grandview, U.S.A., American Gigolo and Summer Lovers. Her first film role was in Palm Springs Weekend.
She made guest appearances on such TV shows as The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy, Knight Rider, Magnum, P.I., Murder, She Wrote, Dynasty, Charlie's Angels, on a fourth season 1985 episode of The A-Team called "Members Only", and, more recently, on Grey's Anatomy. In 1974, Cook played Marta, the money-grubbing former wife of Walter Findlay (Bill Macy) on the series Maude. In 1976, she appeared as a bullying nurse in an episode of Emergency! in which Johnny Gage is injured by a hit-and-run driver. In 2006, she appeared as an elderly patient on the ABC drama Grey's Anatomy (episode 14 "Tell Me Sweet Little Lies", season two).
This is a teaser for Saturday's blog! HELLO, CAROLE!
TIERNEY SUTTON HAS A NEW ALBUM!! AMERICAN ROAD DEBUTS SEPT. 6!!
-About The Tierney Sutton Band
The Tierney Sutton Band is currently celebrating its 3rd consecutive Grammy Nomination for "Best Vocal Jazz Album".
During a collaboration that has spanned 17 years, they have also been awarded a JazzWeek Award for Vocalist Of The Year, consecutive nominations for Jazz Journalist Association awards, recorded several #1 Cds on jazz radio, and garnered critical praise throughout the world. Comprised of acclaimed vocalist Tierney Sutton and instrumental virtuosos Christian Jacob, Trey Henry, Kevin Axt and Ray Brinker, the band is an incorporated partnership and a model of both musical and business unity. Members of The Tierney Sutton Band have played and recorded with a diverse array of music legends including Ray Charles, Natalie Cole, Placido Domingo, Bonnie Raitt, James Taylor and countless others, yet the Tierney Sutton Band has demanded and received their commitment for almost 2 decades. They have headlined in recent years at Carnegie Hall, The Hollywood Bowl, The Kennedy Center and Jazz at Lincoln Center and have recorded 8 CDs to increasing recognition and acclaim. The Band's Album "On The Other Side" has been called by BusinessWeek "A Masterpiece ...eloquent, honest and magnificently sung and played." and the band's most recent CD, "Desire", has been described by The Chicago Sun Times as "a conceptual masterpiece."
Critics agree that the reason this band endures is in the music:
"Here and throughout the performance, Ms. Sutton conveyed a sense of jazz singing as an extension of spiritual meditation in which adherence to an ideal of balance and consistency and, yes, humility took precedence over any technical or emotional grandstanding.
Ms. Sutton is a pure jazz spirit who respects a song. Even when going out on an improvisatory limb, she never lets its essence slip away. The singer and her trio with whom she has worked for years - Christian Jacob on piano, Kevin Axt on bass and Ray Brinker on drums - have refined the kind of rapport that could only be achieved over time. Her deep, lingering renditions of chestnuts like "Blue Skies" and "Without a Song" are especially impressive for the sense of quiet joy she breathes into them."
-THE NEW YORK TIMES
Thank you ALL who contributed to this blog!
Tom Jones, Carole Cooke, and Tierney Sutton, thank you both for the gifts you have given me over the years!
To read more, Go to WIKIPEDIA, A Main Source of this blog!
Thank you for joining me on these nostalgic journeys! Remember, every five days, I'm going to answer a question on video that YOU send to me. You can ask me ANYTHING and I will answer your question on video within my blog. Send your questions to Richard@RichardSkipper.com Next question will be answered on September 5th from Malibu!
Here's to an INCREDIBLE September for ALL!
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TILL TOMORROW...HERE'S TO AN ARTS FILLED WEEK!
Richard Skipper, Richard@RichardSkipper.com
Another great blog. Have a great time in Malibu. After all you've been through on the east coast, you deserve a little R and R.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Stephan