GA Russell

Lala: Charlie Byrd - Brazilian Byrd

My sister was the artist in the family, and she had a Jon Gnagy set. What I remember about his TV show was that he would take it nice and slow and easy for the whole show, and everything was cool. And then with the picture halfway done and fifteen seconds to go, he would finish it up way too fast for me to keep up with.

Thanks Bev! Lala: Sonny Rollins - The Complete Blue Note Recordings, disc 3

I'm sorry for her family, of course. I am not familiar with her work, so I can't comment on the profession's loss. This has been on digg for about 48 hours, since it was announced that she was brain dead. Am I the only one who feels that they should have pulled the plug then, rather than shipping to New York her body hooked to the machine? I feel that this is akin to desecration of a corpse.

From the LA Times: Jack Lawrence dies at 96; songwriter did lyrics for 'Tenderly' and 'Beyond the Sea' By Dennis McLellan March 18, 2009 Jack Lawrence, a songwriter who wrote the lyrics for hits such as "All or Nothing at All," "Tenderly" and "Beyond the Sea," has died. He was 96. Lawrence, who fractured his pelvic bone in a fall in his Redding, Conn., home Friday, died of complications Sunday at Danbury Hospital, said Richard D. Lawrence, Lawrence's longtime partner whom he adopted. Jack Lawrence In a songwriting career that began in the early 1930s, Lawrence had his songs recorded by artists such as Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, the Andrews Sisters, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and Tony Bennett. Among his songs, written in collaboration, are "Sunrise Serenade," which was recorded by Glenn Miller; and "Yes, My Darling Daughter," a hit for Dinah Shore. Singer-pianist Michael Feinstein, a friend, said Lawrence had lots of hits through the years but comparatively few became standards. "A standard is a song that lives through the ages," Feinstein told The Times on Tuesday. "Like many songwriters, a lot of his hits at the time have not endured past the era in which they were popular." But, Feinstein said, "various other songs were ones that became a veritable theme song" for the performer, and their status as standards was assured. "Tenderly," he said, became Rosemary Clooney's theme song. "All or Nothing at All," he said, "was one of Frank Sinatra's early hits that survived because of Sinatra's love of the song and his revising of it and re-recording it through the years." And "Beyond the Sea" will always be connected with Bobby Darin. "It was a French song for which an English lyric was created with no success," Feinstein said. "Then Jack wrote a new English lyric, which was successful with an anthemic sort of lyric that matched the majesty of the tune. "But when Bobby Darin found the song and swung it, it became an instant classic, and people only perform it a la Bobby Darin." Although Lawrence was primarily a lyricist, he also had great success writing music and lyrics, said Feinstein, who wrote the foreword to Lawrence's 2004 memoir, "They All Sang My Songs." Lawrence's song "Linda," which he wrote for his lawyer's young daughter, Linda Eastman -- she later married Paul McCartney -- was a big hit for Buddy Clark. And "If I Didn't Care" established the success of the Ink Spots. The son of Russian immigrants, Lawrence was born in Brooklyn on April 7, 1912. He was a self-taught pianist and began writing songs at age 10. But after he graduated from high school, his parents urged him to enroll in the First Institute of Podiatry. He did and graduated in 1933, about the same time his first song, the hit "Play Fiddle Play," written with Arthur Altman and Emery Deutsch, was published. Lawrence, who served in the Coast Guard and the Merchant Marine during World War II, continued writing songs throughout the war. His songwriting took him to Hollywood -- he shared a best song Oscar nomination with Richard Myers for "Hold My Hand" in the 1954 comedy "Susan Slept Here" -- and Broadway, for which he wrote music and lyrics for a number of productions, including the 1964-65 musical comedy "I Had a Ball." In the '80s, Lawrence was both a Broadway producer and owner of the Jack Lawrence and the Audrey Wood theaters. He was co-producer of off-Broadway's long-running "Other People's Money" and on Broadway with "Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music" and "Come Back to the 5 & Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean." Lawrence was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1975. "He was very secure in his place in the songwriting order," Feinstein said. "He knew that he was not the best-known, but he also had the confidence of having had great success through the decades."

Happy Birthday RT!

Congratulations impossible!

Happy Birthday Conrad!

From the LA Times: Hal Gaba dies at 63; chairman and co-owner of Concord Music Group Email Picture Hal Gaba and longtime friend and business partner Norman Lear bought Northern California-based Concord Records in 1999 and turned it into one of the world's largest independent record companies. It's now based in Beverly Hills and called the Concord Music Group. Gaba and longtime friend and business partner Norman Lear bought Concord in 1999 and turned it into one of the world's largest independent record companies. By Dennis McLellan March 13, 2009 Hal Gaba, a veteran entertainment industry executive who was chairman and co-owner of Concord Music Group, one of the world's largest independent record companies, has died. He was 63. Gaba, who also was co-chairman of Village Roadshow Entertainment Group and chief executive of ACT III Communications, died Monday at his home in Los Angeles of a rare form of prostate cancer called small cell cancer, said Concord Music Group spokesman Joel Amsterdam. "They make Hal Gabas three times a century. I have yet to meet the other two," TV producer Norman Lear, Gaba's longtime friend and business partner, told The Times on Thursday. "He was brilliant and kind and generous and open to a fault," Lear said. "There wasn't anybody in the building, from the parking attendant with whom he spoke fluent Spanish, to everybody involved in any department, who didn't enjoy bumping into Hal." Gaba launched his longtime association with Lear in 1974 when he joined Lear, Bud Yorkin and A. Jerrold Perenchio at Tandem Productions as an acquisitions consultant. In partnership with Lear in 1990, Gaba became president and chief executive of ACT III Communications, a multimedia holding company with interests in broadcasting, exhibition theater, publishing, motion pictures and music. At one point near the end of the '90s, while Lear and Gaba were discussing what to do next, Lear said that they had been following his bliss with ACT III. What, Lear asked Gaba, was his passion? "Music," Gaba replied. In 1999, Lear and Gaba became co-owners of Concord Records, which was founded as a small jazz label in Concord, Calif., in 1973. Now based in Beverly Hills and called the Concord Music Group, it has grown to encompass many genres of music, including jazz, pop, rock, Latin and classical. The company's growth is a reflection of Gaba's vision, Lear said. "In a sense, Hal was the growth of Concord: It was his bliss, his passion," he said. "If you wanted to hear Sinatra any time day or night, you walked into his office. He was always playing great music. That was his love." Glen Barros, Concord Music Group's president and chief executive, said "the plan was always to grow into something much bigger." "Hal was an extraordinary guy, who had such credibility and skills in figuring out ways to accomplish that," Barros said. In 2003, Concord Music Group teamed with Starbucks to jointly release "Genius Loves Company," a 2004 album of Ray Charles duets that sold more than 5 million copies worldwide and won eight Grammy Awards, including album of the year. It was so successful that it led Starbucks and Concord Music Group in 2007 to jointly form a new record label, Hear Music, which has released records from Paul McCartney, James Taylor, John Mellencamp, Joni Mitchell and others. (Before, Starbucks had used the name Hear Music on its proprietary compilation CDs.) The Concord-Starbucks partnership provided a marketing bonus: In addition to all the usual outlets, Hear Music releases are sold -- and played at -- the thousands of Starbucks locations in the United States and Canada. In 2004, Concord Music Group purchased the historic catalog of Fantasy Records, whose labels included Fantasy, Stax, Prestige and Milestone, among others. The catalog features recordings by artists such as John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, Otis Redding, Booker T. and the MGs and Creedence Clearwater Revival. In 2008, Gaba merged the Concord Music Group with Village Roadshow Pictures of Australia to form Village Roadshow Entertainment Group. Harold E. Gaba was born Jan. 22, 1946, in Oakland. He earned a bachelor's degree in finance at UC Berkeley and a master's degree in finance at UCLA. He launched his career in 1967 as a research analyst with the Los Angeles investment management and brokerage firm William O'Neil and Co. He later was president of Embassy Pay Television and vice chairman of Hal Roach Studios.

I remember now. The fourth song was Georgie Fame's Get Away.

TTK, why don't you go to Lala.com and listen to Down the Road Apiece for free?

TTK, thanks for that youtube link, but I think the video is wrong when it credits the horns to Mike Vickers. I believe that he had already left the group when that was recorded, and that Henry Lowther was on the trumpet there. I forget the name of the sax player. The band with Lowther and the other horn, and with Jack Bruce on bass, was the Pretty Flamingo band. ***** sidewinder, I can't prove a negative, but I don't believe that Lowther ever played with Chapter III, only with the Pretty Flamingo band. ***** TTK, after the group moved to Fontana, they recorded another EP of instrumentals called Instrumental Assassination, with Sweet Pea, Wild Thing, an original called One Way and a fourth song (a cover of a hit) which I don't remember. Those four songs were issued on the Fontana LP What a Mann. Can't say if they have ever been on a CD.

TTK, EMI issued a compilation of the original group's instrumentals called Soul of Mann. As I recall, it was issued on CD by See for Miles. Manfred Mann Chapter III was my favorite group when I was in college. I saw them in Washington, and Manfred let me plug my tape recorder into the band's electric power so I could record the concert! Unfortunately, most of it didn't come out, because it was too dark for me to set the levels properly. Both of Chapter III's albums have been released on CD, most recently with bonus tracks I believe. There was also a 4-CD issue of Manfred Mann which included some previously unreleased music from Chapter III's never-released third album, but I have never heard it.

I guess that means they won't reinstate my membership!

The Bombers cut Kevin Glenn yesterday, before they had to pay him any money. Funny that they weren't able to trade him for even a draft pick. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...tsFootball/home http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/Win...8687346-cp.html

Happy Birthday 2009 FFA! Yeah, I got your "Type here" right here.

I enjoyed that. That guy from Radiohead needs to take a shave. Isn't Radiohead the group that offered their latest album for free via downloading?

I once read that Wally Cox was something of a bodybuilder, and that when acting they always had to give him a lot of costume to cover up his physique.

They sent me a catalogue back in '86. I have no idea how they got my name. I called to place an order and spoke with Lourie. I asked him, and he said, "The jazz police." (!) Anyway, I was so excited when I received my first order, the Monk Blue Note and the Mulligan/Baker boxes, that I dashed off a letter and suggested The Four Freshmen, Gerald Wilson, and Richard Twardzik. It was many years later that they finally issued them, and I'm sure that my letter had no influence whatsoever.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday BClug!

The Rules Committee has proposed two important changes. The first would move the kickoff line following a safety touch from the 35 back to the 25. Conceding a safety touch to obtain better field position is SOP. This might make coaches think twice before giving up the two points. The second will need more thought. Right now the three QBs are neither imports nor non-imports. The QB is required to line up behind the center. The proposal would allow the QB to line up anywhere in the backfield. This would be a boon to QBs who can run like Kerry Joseph. You would have more interesting plays with a halfback option. But this might also require that the QBs just be declared imports. Otherwise a team could declare as a QB an American who has no passing ability. This would be politically harmful IMO because as it stands there are more non-imports on the team than imports. Calling the three QBs imports would give the majority of the squad over to the imports, which would undermine the rasion d'etre of the league. However, the majority of the players on the field (seven) would still be required to be non-imports. http://sports.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/...lobeSports/home

I find it interesting that you Brits are excited about Spotify, but on this side of the ocean nobody was interested when I started a thread about Lala. Today on Lala I listened to Disc 2 of Coltrane's Fearless Leader Prestige box.

Chris, I've always wanted to hear a Helen Morgan record. I haven't looked her up at Amazon, but I've never come across an album of hers. Who sounds like her?

The Argos released another ancient today, Jude St. John, as well as OL Jerome Davis. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/Tor...592931-sun.html