A good friend of mine is a semi-snowbird. As I understand the term "snowbird", it applies to a Northerner who maintains a home in Florida and spends the entire Winter there soaking up the sun. My friend has the house but just uses it periodically, hence the "semi". In any case, I have to admit … Continue reading The Song Of The Snowbird
Tag: Music History
Joanie Sommers – Finding Her Musical Path
A lot of performers have had multi-layered careers with success in a wide variety of musical areas. One singer who successfully navigated her way through several would be Joanie Sommers, who has been everything from a teen idol to a familiar voice in TV commercials, but eventually became a respected jazz vocalist. Joanie Sommers (real … Continue reading Joanie Sommers – Finding Her Musical Path
Vic Dana Topped Them All
It's kind of funny how you can sometimes have a completely misguided memory of a song. If you had asked me about a very familiar Sixties song called "Red Roses for a Blue Lady," I would have answered that it was a big hit for Wayne Newton. Turns out that even though Newton did sell … Continue reading Vic Dana Topped Them All
Bent Fabric Is For Real
Although his name might sound like a piece of clothing in dire need of ironing, Bent Fabric -- who had a huge Grammy-winning hit in the early Sixties with the annoyingly addictive "Alley Cat" -- is a real person. The Danish-born composer and pianist, whose actual name is the much trickier to remember Bent Fabricius-Bjerre, … Continue reading Bent Fabric Is For Real
Kitty Wells – The Queen Still Rules
Earlier this year I wrote about country music legend Hank Thompson and how his classic song, "The Wild Side Of Life," inspired a musical response by another star. But even though Kitty Wells might have found fame -- and a little controversy -- with her answering song, "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels," … Continue reading Kitty Wells – The Queen Still Rules
Don’t Forget To Prime The Pump
I was again digging through old pictures and I found one of myself as a toddler with a daredevil streak. I was posing for the photo while precariously balanced on the spout of a water pump located near my maternal grandparents' house. They lived on the outskirts of a country village, and the pump was … Continue reading Don’t Forget To Prime The Pump
Al Martino Will Be Remembered
When I read that Al Martino had died recently, a number of thoughts went through my mind. Like a lot of people, I thought about his appearances in the Godfather movies -- not a lot of screen time, but memorable nonetheless. He played a mob-connected singer named Johnny Fontane, a character rumored to have been … Continue reading Al Martino Will Be Remembered
Teddy Wilson – Smoother Than Silk
If you were to take all the talented pianists whose careers stretched from the Big Band days to the the Modern Jazz era and lay them end to end, they'd reach to -- whoops. What I meant to say was that if you're looking for one among them who was the very definition of a … Continue reading Teddy Wilson – Smoother Than Silk
Upping The Bid With Leroy Van Dyke
I've attended my share of auctions through the years. When I was a young family man with limited funds I knew it was a good source of everything from furniture to tools, and -- admittedly -- the occasional useless gadget. But even before that, I had been known to place a bid or two and … Continue reading Upping The Bid With Leroy Van Dyke
Echoes Of The Beach Boys
I've written several pieces recently about groups like the Knickerbockers and the Buckinghams, two American bands in the Sixties who attempted to emulate the success of British groups like the Beatles. But popular groups of all kinds have always had their imitators, and it's sometimes fun to rediscover one like the Trade Winds, who seemed … Continue reading Echoes Of The Beach Boys
Geezer Music Club 