Dick Cavett?

[robertoart]

Just seen the Lennon/Ono episodes. First real exposure to the Cavett show after hearing about the legendary guests and performances like Hendrix,Lennon etc. Looking forward to seeing the Ray Charles dvd and then wading through the many hours of comedians and the like. What is great fom my perspective is seeing whole episodes in there entirety and enjoying/discovering other guests that are not quite so present in the cultural memory. Really got a lot of laughs from seeing Stan Freberg and was able to do a bit of googling to find out about him.

Figure this show would have been formative viewing for many of the posters here. Any fond memories to share? Were there ever any jazz greats on the show at all?

Edited July 9, 2007 by freelancer

[Harold_Z]

If I remember correctly - the house band included Lou Volpe, Harold Vick, Bob Cranshaw and I think Jimmy Lovelace.

[robertoart]

If I remember correctly - the house band included Lou Volpe, Harold Vick, Bob Cranshaw and I think Jimmy Lovelace.

Wow! That is some house band. Does this mean I have some footage of Harold Vick to look forward to on these Dvd issues. That would be an unexpected surprise.

Edited July 9, 2007 by freelancer

[Harold_Z]

As I recall, there were two incarnations of Cavett's show. The band I'm thinking of was on the 2nd Cavett show.

Does the DVD set inclued anyof the latter Cavett shows?

[Hot Ptah]

I watched the first Dick Cavett show often. I do not remember jazz greats performing. I do remember Frank Zappa as a guest one night, with the Flo and Eddie band. They sang a song in German (which I now know was "Sofa #2") and then in a second performance, Frank played a wild extended electric guitar solo, definitely one of the more unusual things I had ever seen on TV.

Cavett's interview with Frank centered around the release of his new film, "200 Motels". I remember an excerpt from the film being played, in which Ringo Starr was carrying a smoking briefcase.

I recall Cavett treating Zappa with respect. At one point Zappa commented that Cavett was the only TV host with the "guts" to have him on as a guest.

I confirmed these memories by buying a cassette of the audio of this show from an ebay seller around 2000.

Edited July 9, 2007 by Hot Ptah

[GA Russell]

I remember Cavett asking Zappa, "What do you call your daughter Moon Unit?"

Zappa said, "Moon".

Cavett then said, "Who does Frank Zappa think is weird?"

[robertoart]

As I recall, there were two incarnations of Cavett's show. The band I'm thinking of was on the 2nd Cavett show.

Does the DVD set inclued anyof the latter Cavett shows?

Well from the little I know the footage is from his first run with one of your major networks. I did skim through some info that said the show spent a year on another network and then was on a Public television station thereafter.This info was from a quick google search in wikipedia the other day. Though I might not have taken all that in correctly.

Edited July 9, 2007 by freelancer

[robertoart]

I remember Cavett asking Zappa, "What do you call your daughter Moon Unit?"

Zappa said, "Moon".

Cavett then said, "Who does Frank Zappa think is weird?"

[Jim R]

I remember watching one of Cavett's shows every day at noon on one of our local PBS stations back in the mid-to-late 70's. I distinctly remember being pleasantly surprised to see an extended interview/performance of the MJQ. It seemed like such a rare and cool thing. Carson had jazz artists on of course, but I don't remember them getting much in the way of interview time. Anyway, at the time, I thought the MJQ show might make a serious impression on my folks (who did have some taste, despite being loyal L. Welk fans), who were also watching that day. Alas... no.

I've noticed that one of our premium cable channels has been running one hour-long Cavett show, about twice a month. So far I've seen Woody Allen, Robert Mitchum, Catherine Hepburn... and one or two others. The set is different from the show I remember watching, though. I knew Cavett had a few different shows, but I don't have that all sorted out.

[Jim R]

I recall Cavett treating Zappa with respect. At one point Zappa commented that Cavett was the only TV host with the "guts" to have him on as a guest.

Maybe it was later, but (the Great ) Mike Douglas had Zappa (and Lennon, and Chuck Berry, and other cutting edge type people) on his show. It's on YouTube (or at least it was a few months ago).

[BruceH]

I recall Cavett treating Zappa with respect. At one point Zappa commented that Cavett was the only TV host with the "guts" to have him on as a guest.

Maybe it was later, but (the Great ) Mike Douglas had Zappa (and Lennon, and Chuck Berry, and other cutting edge type people) on his show. It's on YouTube (or at least it was a few months ago).

Good ol' Mike Douglas. I used to love watching him.

[Christiern]

I used to think that Cavett was the "hippest" of the talk show hosts, but then he had Stan Getz as a guest--it was embarrassing. That's when I discovered that Cavett's questions were often not really his own (I later saw some scripts that confirmed it). Anyway, he asked Getz questions that clearly had been written for another musical guest--I hope that show was preserved, because the embarrassment of yesteryear is probably hilarity today. That particular show stuck with me more than any other, and I was a regular viewer.

Anyone else recall catching Getz on Cavett?

[Spontooneous]

I'm remembering from the PBS shows of the late '70s and early '80s that Cavett was at his weakest interviewing musicians. Not just jazz musicians.

[Jim R]

Interesting, Chris. I don't recall ever seeing that, but I'm a little surprised. Cavett always struck me as being pretty well-rounded, knowledgeable, and real. Maybe he was indeed out of his element where jazz was concerned... I was still pretty inexperienced at the time I saw the MJQ interview, so I may have over-estimated Cavett's contributions to that interview.

One thing that this topic reminds me of- the guy who currently sort of inhabits Cavett's former role as (supposedly) intelligent and well-rounded talk show host for PBS daytime consumption, Charlie Rose, strikes me as pretty much a complete dolt when it comes to all things musical. I've seen him interview all kinds of artists, from classical pianists to alternative rockers, and I get the impression that he needs somebody else to write questions for him.

[JSngry]

Cavett today, in retrospect, strikes me as somebody who back then knew what he knew, knew what he didn't know, tried to figure out what he should know, and proceeded to put it out on air accordingly. Worked for me then just fine.

Charlie Rose? Sorry. I think he's a clown.

[marcello]

I used to think that Cavett was the "hippest" of the talk show hosts, but then he had Stan Getz as a guest--it was embarrassing. That's when I discovered that Cavett's questions were often not really his own (I later saw some scripts that confirmed it). Anyway, he asked Getz questions that clearly had been written for another musical guest--I hope that show was preserved, because the embarrassment of yesteryear is probably hilarity today. That particular show stuck with me more than any other, and I was a regular viewer.

Anyone else recall catching Getz on Cavett?

No, but I remember seeing Grace Slick ( just after Woodstock) on the Cavett show and she kept calling him "Jim".

You know, in the black venacular "jim" can me something like dude, or really white dude.

So she kept on saying things like " You know, everything was beautiful, Jim" and "Well you know Jim..."

Then Cavett said "Well Janis...".

He didn't get it at all.

A total mayonnaise face, as we call it in these parts.

[Jim R]

I used to think that Cavett was the "hippest" of the talk show hosts, but then he had Stan Getz as a guest--it was embarrassing. That's when I discovered that Cavett's questions were often not really his own (I later saw some scripts that confirmed it). Anyway, he asked Getz questions that clearly had been written for another musical guest--I hope that show was preserved, because the embarrassment of yesteryear is probably hilarity today. That particular show stuck with me more than any other, and I was a regular viewer.

Anyone else recall catching Getz on Cavett?

No, but I remember seeing Grace Slick ( just after Woodstock) on the Cavett show and she kept calling him "Jim".

You know, in the black venacular "jim" can me something like dude, or really white dude.

So she kept on saying things like " You know, everything was beautiful, Jim" and "Well you know Jim..."

Then Cavett said "Well Janis...".

He didn't get it at all.

A total mayonnaise face, as we call it in these parts.

Hmm... I think I'd want to see this for myself, and form my own conclusions. Cavett had a very good sense of humor... and Grace Slick was not black (last time I checked), so...

[Jim R]

Charlie Rose? Sorry. I think he's a clown.

I get the sense that he's genuinely prepared for his political/world affairs interviews, but in just about every other category, the arts in particular, Not only that, he spends about 500% more time stating his questions than is necessary, and he loves to interrupt people so he can hear himself talk even more. Seems a likeable enough guy, but he's no Dick Cavett.

[GA Russell]

I remember the Grace Slick incident differently, although maybe we are talking about two different events.

As I recall, Slick had her time next to Cavett, and then moved down the couch. But she continued to hog the conversation, and Cavett said something like, "Please Miss Joplin!"

[Christiern]

I agree that Charlie Rose can be annoying and uninformed, but he has good guests and often handles them well. Looking back, my favorite interview show was one conducted by Bob Costas. He was always well-versed on the subject and he asked intelligent questions. He was up there w. Linda Ellerbee when it came to taking care of business, imo.

[marcello]

I remember the Grace Slick incident differently, although maybe we are talking about two different events.

As I recall, Slick had her time next to Cavett, and then moved down the couch. But she continued to hog the conversation, and Cavett said something like, "Please Miss Joplin!"

You're roght, he called her Miss Joplin.

The whole band played, but she did most of the talking, not on the couch as I remember.

This same show had Still and Crosby ( still with mud on thier pants ) and Hendrix was supposed to be on also, but they couldn't get him up.

Anyway, Cavett was no Nat Hentoff!

And a much shorter career!

August 19, 1969 - Jefferson Airplane, Joni Mitchell, Stephen Stills & David Crosby

Edited July 18, 2007 by marcello

[medjuck]

In the late '60s the Buffalo ABC station played a movie before the Cavett show so it didn't begin until 1:am. Nevertheless in Toronto (where all the US stations on cable were from Buffalo) we used to stay up late to see it . We forget how difficult it was to see counter-culture things on main-stream media in those days. One night Abbie Hoffman was supposed to be on and we all stayed up to watch it. But whenever he was on camera the screen went blank. In two-shots with Cavett half the screen would be blank. But at about 2am his arm broke in to Cavett's part of the screen and we all realized that he was wearing a flag shirt! Our phone started ringing off the hook with calls from friends who had figured out the same thing.

The next day I had a class with Marshall Mcluhan. We had a geat time discussing it. I claimed it was the greatest thing ever shown on tv.