This week in The Wall Street Journal, I interviewed actor Richard Thomas for my "House Call" column in the paper's Mansion section (go here). Richard talked about his early start on Broadway at age 7 and his parents, both of whom danced in the Ballets Russes and New York’s Ballet Theatre. Fans of the TV series The Americans will recall Richard as Frank Gaad, director of the FBI's Counter Intelligence Department. If you haven't binged the series on Amazon Prime, do. The series was as good as if not better than The Sopranos and Homeland combined. [Photo above of actor Richard Thomas at his Manhattan apartment by Matt Furman for The Wall Street Journal]
Here's Richard talking about how he wound up on The Americans...
Shout out for "House Call." A special thanks to Andrew Ferguson in this month's Atlantic, who wrote about the WSJ's Mansion section and mentioned my weekly "House Call" column...
One recurring feature about celebrities, titled “House Call,” not long ago gave us Moby, who in the 1990s, we are reminded, was “a pioneer of electronic dance music.” (I’m one who needed reminding: I can scarcely remember his music, perhaps because the 1990s is when I stopped dancing.) Moby’s story, as told to Mansion, is unrelievedly squalid, a Dickensian coming-of-age tale about a young fellow abandoned by his father and yanked around the country by an itinerant, drug-addled mother. Here’s a brief excerpt, so un-Mansion-like: “Being ashamed was my lot. My mother’s hippie life meant chaos, poverty, and shame.” This is the stuff of real journalism."
Jackie DeShannon, Hollywood's first female pop-rock singer-songwriter, sent along an email last night:
Dear Marc, Hope you are doing well and having summertime fun. This is the link to my new single, For Isla. Hope you like it. Go here...
The song (here) was inspired by Jackie's granddaughter. As you can hear, Jackie's voice sounds fantastic!
Here's Jackie in 1964 performing her hit song When You Walk in the Room...
João Gilberto. In my recent post on the late João Gilberto, I mentioned that his song Um Abraço No Bonfá took a Luiz Bonfá riff and built on it. Several readers wondered which song I was referring to. Here are the two songs:
Here's Luiz Bonfá's O Barbinha Branca in 1955...
And here's João Gilberto's Um Abraço No Bonfá in 1960, which translated means A Hug for Bonfá...
Batter up! I never knew footage existed of the 7th game of the 1960 World Series between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the New York Yankees. Years ago, a tape was found among the personal archives of Bing Crosby, who was part owner of the Pirates. He hired someone to shoot a kinescope film of the final game while he was away in France. Crosby reportedly was too nervous to watch the game in Pittsburgh, so he had a film made to watch later. Here are the last three innings, widely considered to be among the most dramatic three innings in World Series history. If you don't know the outcome, I won't spoil it...
Hazel Scott documentary. Robert McKeon sent along a link to a documentary on this highly underappreciated pianist...
Mike Mainieri. Des Stanley sent along terrific links to vibraphonist Mike Mainieri's two-hour performance in 2017 with the WDR Big Band in Germany conducted and arranged by Bob Mintzer:
And here's Part 2, which Des notes opens with an intoxicating duet between Mike and flutist Karolina Strassmayer playing the Spartacus Love Theme...
Dinah Washington. Last week I received an email from producer Angie Lee Cobbs:
Hi Marc, I hope this message finds you well. I’m writing to help spread the word about Dinah Washington's granddaughter, Angel Jenkins. She has written a touching song about the late singer and needs help preparing, recording and getting the song out for Dinah’s birthday on August 29th. Readers can help by donating and/or sharing the Go Fund Me link to her campaign. Go here.
What the heck. Here's Timmy Thomas at the organ in 1972 singing his hit Why Can't We Live Together...
Oddball album cover of the week.
In 1959, rubber sharks were a shoreline menace. I'm unsure of the pun on "wailin', since the hoisted predator seems more like a great white, not an ocean orca. In fact, that's not even Winnie Gould on the cover. She's here in 1962...
