Category: Obituary
Here's a story that I really wanna tell
It's about Bo Diddley at the O.K. Corral
Now Bo Diddley didn't start no mess
He had a gun on his hip and a rose on his vest
'Cause Bo Diddley's a gunslinger
("Bo Diddley's a Gunslinger")
The fourth face on a mythical rock and roll Mount Rushmore would probably be open for debate. Buddy Holly or Bill Haley? Jackie Brenston (Ike Turner's sax player under whose name the "first rock and roll song," "Rocket 88," was released) or Little Richard? However, there would most likely be no argument for the other three faces: Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, and Bo Diddley.
Ellas Bates, or Ellas McDaniel, better known as Bo Diddley, died Monday of heart failure. "Unique and influential" is how Joel Whitburn's entry identifies Diddley. "Understatement" is what most people would say to that description. However, to be fair to Whitburn, he is limited by space in his Billboard books.
Forget what those popular (and very humorous) Nike commercials said, Bo knew Diddley. He knew the blues, too, having grown up in Mississippi. He listened to everything from Louis Jordan to Nat "King" Cole and put it all into his music, which was powered by what he called "drum licks on the guitar" played on that trademark box-shaped guitar of his. He was one of the earliest performers inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, being enshrined in its second "class" in 1987, and for good reason: Rock and roll would be completely different music without Bo's influence.
Farewell to the legendary Bo Diddley, dead at age 79.
Category: Obituary
It is with tremendous sadness that I report there is a void in the comedy on this earth.
Harvey Korman died today (Thursday 5/29) of complications from a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm suffered four months ago.
While comedy is subjective, I will make the bold proclamation that if Harvey Korman didn't make you laugh at least once, you have no sense of humor to speak of. This man was positively nuts -- in the best way possible. He took home four Emmy Awards for his work on The Carol Burnett Show. In reunion shows he, co-second banana Tim Conway, and Carol Burnett all admitted that Korman and Conway lived to crack each other up. (If you've ever seen outtakes of the show, you have witnessed how successful they were at making their co-stars laugh.)
What may arguably be Korman's legacy, however, is the role of Hedley Lamarr in Blazing Saddles. Constantly referred to as "Hedy" to his chagrin (and apparently the real Hedy Lamarr, who sued Mel Brooks over the use of her name -- not that Brooks cared, as is referenced in the film's scene where Governor LePetomane tells Korman's character, "Hey, it's eighteen something, you can sue her!"), Korman played the evil, lusty (remember him fondling the statue of Lady Justice?) attorney general to perfection. In a movie of parodies one of the best was Lamarr telling the gang of thugs he assembled to raid Rock Ridge, "You will be risking your lives, while I will be risking an almost-certain Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor!"
Harvey Korman in
SurfSide 6, 1961
Korman appeared as an actor in numerous television shows and films. It is his comedic skills on The Carol Burnett Show and in the works with Mel Brooks ("It was comedy heaven to make Harvey Korman laugh," a distraught Mel Brooks told the Associated Press) that will live on forever.
Farewell to the remarkably talented Harvey Korman, who passed away at age 81.
Category: News
More sad passings to report from the world of entertainment:
Richard "Dick" Sutcliffe (died May 11): The name might not ring a bell with you; however, Sutcliffe gave the world a piece of popular culture. He was the co-creator of the popular religious children's show Davy and Goliath, the Sunday morning saga of a boy (Davy) and his dog (Goliath) that always featured a Biblical message or faith-based lesson. Sutcliffe was 90 and died from complications resulting from a stroke.
Lloyd Moore (died May 22): A man recognized as the oldest living NASCAR driver passed away at the age of 95. According to the NASCAR obituary, Moore finished tied for 15th with Junior Johnson for most top 5 finishes (13) in the first six years of professional stock car racing.
Dick Martin (died May 24): Laugh-In always finished with Dan Rowan saying, "Say goodnight, Dick," to which Dick Martin replied, "Goodnight, Dick." (This is parodied at the conclusion of the Eagles' song "On the Border" from the album of the same name in 1974.) Martin graduated from comedian in front of the camera to director, putting his skills to work on The Bob Newhart Show, Brothers, Mama's Family, and the cult classic Sledge Hammer! Martin was 82 and died from respiratory failure.
Thelma Keane (died May 23): The name isn't familiar, but her character has delighted comic strip readers for generations. She was the inspiration for the wife in her husband Bil Keane's long-running strip The Family Circus. Thelma Keane was 82 and had Alzheimer's disease.
Geremi (Jeremi) Gonzalez (died May 25): A former major league pitcher who pitched for the Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay Rays, Boston Red Sox, Milwaukee Brewers, and New York Mets. Gonzalez was 33 and was killed by a lightning strike in his native Venezuela.
Sydney Pollack (died May 26): A man of multiple talents who could direct a great comedy like Tootsie (in which he also appeared as Dustin Hoffman's frustrated agent) or a majestic drama such as his Oscar-winning Out of Africa. Pollack died of cancer at age 73.
Earle Hagen (died May 26): Don't know the name? Betcha five bucks you know his song. Imagine a black-and-white image on a TV with a sheriff and his young son, fishing poles over their shoulders, walking down a dirt road. You're whistling, aren't you? That's Earle Hagen's signature song, which Andy Griffith actually released with lyrics under its title, "The Fishin' Hole." Other TV theme songs Hagen wrote include I Spy, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Mod Squad, and That Girl. Hagen was 88 and had been in ill health for several months.
A heartfelt farewell.
Category: News
Barry Maggert, 47, killed in a plane crash in Colorado on May 10. Maggert's younger brother is Jeff Maggert, professional golfer. Jeff withdrew from the Players Championship after his opening round to be with his family.
Jerry Wallace, 79, a singer with two distinctive careers (60s pop singer and 70s country performer), died May 5 of congestive heart failure. My country blog has more information.
Dottie Rambo, 74, Gospel Music Hall of Fame singer/songwriter, died May 11 when her tour bus was blown off the interstate in Missouri. The other blog also carries more details.
John Rutsey, 55, died May 10th from a heart attack. The name probably does not ring a bell with anyone except die-hard fans of one band. He was the original drummer and co-founder of the Canadian FM rock power trio Rush. He left the band in 1974 and was replaced by Neil Peart.
Larry Levine, 80, died May 8th (his 80th birthday) from emphysema. Levine was the sound engineer on the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds album as well as a number of records produced by Phil Spector. Levine also won a Grammy for his work on Herb Alpert & the Tiajuana Brass' hit "A Taste of Honey."
Category: Sports News
Favorite Big Brown won the 134th Kentucky Derby on Saturday (May 3), a race marred by tragedy when second place finisher Eight Belles broke both front ankles in the post-race gallop.
Eight Belles was scratched from the Kentucky Oaks, the traditional race for 3-year-old fillies held on the day before Kentucky Derby day in order to run her in the Kentucky Derby. Eight Belles' trainer, Larry Jones, won the Kentucky Oaks with Proud Spell.
This is not the first tragedy to strike horse racing's Triple Crown. In 2006, Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro broke down shortly after the start of the Preakness Stakes. He was finally euthanized in early 2007 after a valiant effort by his owners to save his life. In 1993, Preakness winner Prairie Bayou broke down during the Belmont Stakes and was euthanized.
Category: Obituary
(Note: The title of this blog is from the movie Planet of the Apes. Spoken by Charlton Heston's character George Taylor, it was voted the #66 greatest movie quote of all-time by the American Film Institute.)
But now he's incommunicado
Leaving such a hole in a world that believed
That a life with such bravado
Was taking the right way home
-- Jimmy Buffett, "Incommunicado"
When the news of Charlton Heston's passing broke this morning I could not help but flash back nearly 29 years ago, when John Wayne died. We have had great actors and legendary actors and multiple Oscar-winning actors, but there are very few actors to grace the Silver Screen who truly deserve to be labeled "American icons." John Wayne was one; Charlton Heston was definitely another. Much like Wayne, Heston transcended the films he made. How many times have you heard him referred to as Ben-Hur or Moses -- not the role, the actual person?
That is the mark of a great actor -- one who did his job very, very well. And that describes Heston. We cried with him at the conclusion of Planet of the Apes when he realized just where he was and what had happened. We yelled, "Soylent Green is people!" along with him at the conclusion of that film. And, honestly, who isn't going to be a little disappointed if, when they meet Moses, he doesn't look like Chuck Heston?
Heston announced in 2002 that he had the beginning stages of Alzheimer's disease. "I can part the Red Sea," Heston said in his public announcement, "but I can't part with you [the audience], which is why I won't exclude you from this stage in my life."
Perhaps controversial because of his political stance (he was a civil rights champion when it was not "cool" to be so, and he served as the president of the National Rifle Association for years), Heston will nevertheless be missed by people who disagreed with him as much as people who agreed with him in that aspect of his life. That is because Charlton Heston was one outstanding actor.
Heston was 84.
Category: Review/Sports
ESPN touts itself as "the worldwide leader in sports." That is only because they have no competition. Any network that came along to give them a run for the title would have no problem, if they actually ran sports and did not try to be an ESPN clone.
What is wrong with ESPN? Where to start? It's baseball season. It's NCAA Final Four season. It's NBA season. It's Masters golf season. With all this going on, what is ESPN's lead story? The release of the NFL schedule. There is a coach in the Women's Final Four closing in on one thousand victories (Tennessee's Pat Summitt). That should generate a little news for the women's tourney, instead of worrying about which end of the opening double-header John Madden is going to call five months from now.
Speaking of the women's Final Four, ESPN ran ads all through January and February that "every game" in the women's tournament would be on ESPN. They were only about 50 games short of keeping that promise.
The women's game raises another issue with ESPN. In January, ESPN honored Martin Luther King's birthday; in February they honored Black History month. In March, they ran Black Magic. However, March is Women's History month, not "black history month II." Couldn't ESPN honor Babe Didrikson in March the way they honor Jackie Robinson in February? If not, WHY not? They'd be the first to jump on a university (or a golf course) that practiced discrimination against women (real or imagined). But can they give women in sports any coverage the way they pay homage to other minorities? Apparently not.
In the early 80s, MTV was a marvelous network, showing videos of bands that could never get airplay on FM rock stations (when was the last time you heard Dave Edmunds or Warren Zevon on FM rock?). Now, when I even think of MTV and its no-music, none-of-the-time format, I wonder why Sting ever lamented, "I want my MTV" in the opening of Dire Straits' "Money for Nothing." The same is true of ESPN. We get to endure lame made-for-ESPN movies (the best of which was The Junction Boys, but that's almost like saying Porky's was the best movie in that series) and a TV series (Tilt) about poker. Meanwhile, only the 500 or 600 people who have Versus can watch hockey because ESPN stopped carrying the sport after the NHL strike/lockout canceled the 2004-05 season.
This is not the same network that once regaled us with Aussie Rules Football. And that is NOT a good thing.
