Studio Work

[Mark Stryker]

Dig the well-known soloist at 2:05 mark. Also, lead trumpet appears to clam a couple times, which evokes some smiles from the podium. I won't identify any of the players to make it more fun.

Edited January 15, 2013 by Mark Stryker

[marcello]

Thad Jones! That's Mel Lewis on drums and is that Eddie Daniels on tenor?

[Mark Stryker]

You sure that's Mel? I thought it was a very young Eddie Daniels too, but Bill Kirchner said he didn't think so. Cliff Heather is playing bass trombone. Wayne Andre is also in the trombone section.

[marcello]

I'm not sure it's Mel (white drummer with glasses and all), and when I thought I saw Daniels, I guess I was in a Thad & Mel spell.

[BillF]

Pepper Adams too.

[sidewinder]

I was wondering if the drummer might be Bobby Rosengarden but not sure of that.

Definitely Cliff Heather on trombone. CBS orchestra? Romeo Penque flute?

Edited January 16, 2013 by sidewinder

[JSngry]

Al Cohn on second tenor? Ernie Royal sitting to Thad's left?

Not sure about Pepper Adams. I was wondering if maybe it was Danny Bank or Sol Schillinger. Was Gene Allen NY or LA?

The YouTube comments mention that it was the Elliot Lawrence CBS orchestra, so...whatever.

Oh, that lead alto player looks like a fullback or something.

[Michael Weiss]

Jimmy Knepper on the right end?

Doesn't look like Pepper on bari.

That's the "Theme From Golden Boy"

Edited January 16, 2013 by Michael Weiss

[Mark Stryker]

That's not Pepper. Might indeed be Ernie Royal. The others I don't know. Definitely the Elliott Lawernce Orchestra.

[Mark Stryker]

Here's something of a related clip. I put this up on Facebook a couple of weeks ago but don't think I posted here -- if so, I apologize. But my point is that they really don't make TV shows like they used to, that Sammy Davis was remarkable, that the studio work like this that used to support musicians has basically all disappeared. The band on the following clip just plays the shit out of this number.

The joke here, which is perhaps lost to the shifting sands of cultural history, is that Sammy Davis Jr. was slumming. "Hullabaloo," which featured the pop music of the day and was aimed at a young demo, had a different guest host each week, usually a Frankie Avalon or Paul Anka type. Contemporary audiences would have seen Davis as a curio in this context: The opening bit, with him doing all the au currant dances accompanied by music that shifts between his own idiom (swing) and the rock 'n' roll beat of the day, reinforces the disconnect, while casting Davis in the role of the unusually hip uncle. Having said that, he sings and dances the hell out of the number --amazing talent. When his taste antannae were engaged, especially in the '60s, he was a force -- he could swing, sing a ballad, hoof, impressions, play drums, vibes, trumpet, piano, good comedic actor. Born to show business.

Coda 1: The male Asian dancer is Patrick Adiarte, who later played Ho-Jon in the early episodes of "Mash."

Coda 2: Other dancers on the show include Michael Bennett and Donna McKechnie, who both had major Broadway careers, especially Bennett who choreographed and directed "A Chorus Line," etc. McKechnie won a Tony as "Cassie" in "A Chorus Line" and apparently also appeared on "Dark Shadows," which I never watched because it scared the shit out of me when I was 7. Pretty sure the other male dancer here is Bennett, but I am not gay enough to be able to identify McKechnie. (Hold your letters -- it's a joke.)

Coda 3: "Hullabaloo" was on in 65-66, NBC's answer to ABC's "Shinding!" where one of the dancer, btw, was a young Teri Garr.

Coda 4: The number, of course, is "This Could Be the Start of Something Big," which Steve Allen wrote, though the lyrics here were new for the show.

Coda 5: Jesus Christ, the Internet is a time suck.

Edited January 16, 2013 by Mark Stryker

[paul secor]

Amazing that the suits at NBC thought that a teen age audience would relate to a clown like Sammy Davis Jr. Then again, when I think about it, not so surprising that they might think so.

[JSngry]

Sammy might have been a clown, but he was a clown with crazymad skills, especially at tapping. It took me a looooong time to appreciate just how deep his skills really were, which of course does not alter his clowndom. But he's a clown for whom I now have immense respect.

[Mark Stryker]

Very complicated subject, but what we think of as his clowndown really comes into force after 1970. Much different before that, though there are aspects. But, as Jim says, the skills were really deep. I mean REALLY DEEP. What he did with them and the reasons why, including the identity issues, personal demons, cultural baggage, race and are irrelevant questions. But, again, skills. Sure at his worst, it's awful and clownish. But at its best: greatness. Dig:

Edited January 16, 2013 by Mark Stryker

[Mark Stryker]

Arrangement by Marty Paich -- that's Mel Lewis on drums (1960)

Duet with Mundell Lowe (1958)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hm_XkKUGxU

[Mark Stryker]

A little more show biz here but still ... (probably 1967/68)

The "Choreography" tune was Danny Kaye's number in "White Christmas"

Edited January 16, 2013 by Mark Stryker

[paul secor]

Everyone has their opinion(s). Mine is that he did a lot of things, and none of them well.

[JSngry]

Only in America.