Members davd_indigo Posted December 1, 2015 Members Share Posted December 1, 2015 It's a universe away anything going on today. Well maybe the Michael Buble thing. It's on getTV on Monday nights. They are maybe 6 episodes into the 26 episode series. It's said she was in debt and did the series to try to help dig out. It's mostly stage performances with studio audiences and guest stars. And choreographed dance numbers. Standard stuff back in those days. Someone may be interested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted December 1, 2015 Members Share Posted December 1, 2015 Thanks David! It was a difficult time for her... adulthood. An amazing talent but, of course, troubled. May she rest in peace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members davd_indigo Posted December 1, 2015 Author Members Share Posted December 1, 2015 Her performances amaze me. She was so seasoned and at the top of her form. And you can see hints sometimes that she may have had a few drinks. But she is so masterful in her performance. And when she tells ad libbed anecdotes... I've gone back and watched her on Jack Paar and Dick Cavett. Such a story teller. And you can see she's loaded on the later Cavett appearances. It occurred to me she was like Charlie Parker in that she burned out with substances, died young, and performed at an amazing level till the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rasputin1963 Posted December 1, 2015 Members Share Posted December 1, 2015 Fully agreed. Though this TV show is before my time, I've watched numerous clips from it. Even though she sometimes appeared soused, or recovering from a binge, she could nonetheless navigate quite complex orchestral arrangements, like her version of Arlen/Mercer's "Come Rain Or Come Shine", which features a rather complex polyrhythm sort of groove... She hits it all effortlessly, even when you are afraid she is losing track of her place in the piece. Funny, the "Greatest Generation" didn't have any problem with booze-drinking. As MAD MEN accurately showed, it was ALWAYS considered a good hour for a drink. How many movies of the 1940's and 50's feature a fully-stocked home bar, and some character always saying, "Gee! Looks like you need a drink!" My Maternal grandparents said that the very respectable social class they belonged to basically started drinking at 10: 00 am in the morning and didn't stop until they went to bed. In fact, it was thought, like cigarette smoking, to be quite classy and sophisticated-looking. There are some 1950's and 60's clips I've seen of WHAT'S MY LINE? where all four of the panel judges are obviously lit up like a Christmas tree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members davd_indigo Posted December 1, 2015 Author Members Share Posted December 1, 2015 This 12 1/2 minute clip is from the episode I saw last night. Beginning at around 9 minutes Judy begins "Look for the Silver Lining". Then Steve Lawrence sings (I think) another verse. Then at 11 minutes Judy and June Allyson sing a verse while Steve sings a different verse at the same time. A nice effect. I think she did this on another show with another guest and another song..[video=youtube;t-1rLAeKhsA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-1rLAeKhsA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bookumdano4 Posted December 3, 2015 Members Share Posted December 3, 2015 I used to watch that show when it was on the air. That along with my other favorite stuff like Burke's Law and Hootenanny. It was all in the last few months of the world as we knew it (ie before Feb 9 1964). Judy did look frail and wobbly to me at the time. I believe tv had just begun broadcasting Wizard of Oz every year (that and the ever-present yearly showing of Peter Pan). The contrast of Judy on tv in 1963 compared to the Wizard showings was quite a shock to me at that time. I remember when she had Streisand on the show too. Barbra was so-o-o yummy. Anyway, I think anyone watching the tv show at the time could see it was headed for a short run. I wouldn't have minded seeing Judy on "Hollywood Palace" on Saturday nights from time to time, but her own show was kind of tedious to watch. For me anyway.... but then, so was "What's My Line" on Sunday nights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members davd_indigo Posted December 4, 2015 Author Members Share Posted December 4, 2015 Anyway, I think anyone watching the tv show at the time could see it was headed for a short run. I wouldn't have minded seeing Judy on "Hollywood Palace" on Saturday nights from time to time, but her own show was kind of tedious to watch. For me anyway.... but then, so was "What's My Line" on Sunday nights. I don't know how it would have worked out it they'd put Judy G's show on another night. But the deck was stacked against her on Sunday nights at 9 pm. It was the same time as "Bonanza" over on NBC. I read that Bonanza was the 4th most popular show on TV at the time. And it was in color. Someone (somewhere I read) said they called Sunday 9 pm (against Bonanza) the graveyard. So maybe the writing was on the wall from the beginning. Add to that all the accounts of Judy's difficult behavior. Also they kept changing producers and formats. Starting with more of a variety format in the early shows, and moving to more of a concert format towards the end. I watch "What's My Line" sometimes. I think there are over 700 episodes out on youTube. I love the time capsule effect of getting a glimpse of some of the smartest people in the room (well, in TV anyway) circa 1955-1960. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Judy_Garland_Show Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bookumdano4 Posted December 4, 2015 Members Share Posted December 4, 2015 Yeah, until the Smothers Brothers appeared, nothing could stop Bonanza on Sunday nights. I don't think the SmoBros beat Bonanza in the ratings, but they sure gave me an immediate, welcome alternative. As to "What's My Line", I thought that show would never go away. I'd only watch it because I had already been watching Candid Camera just before it each Sunday. At least until I got into more or less permanent gigging from 1965 on out. At the time it was on in 1965, I vividly remember the mysterious murder of Dorothy Kilgallen and how somber the WML cast was as they signed in to the show a couple of days after her death. Spooky. To put into context how dated the show felt at the time for me, you can watch youtube reruns of the 1965 shows and realize at the moment those shows were still airing (and capturing my great-grandmother's avid attention), the music charts were ticking with the Stones "Get Off of My Cloud", and McGuire's "Eve of Destruction". Different universes simultaneously interacting on planet earth. Can you imagine the mystery guest on an October 1965 "What's My Line" being a 1965 David Crosby? Or Zal Yanovsky .... Mr. Cerf- "er, yes, are you currently starring in a Broadway show in town?"....... I did catch a youtube episode where Brian Epstein is the mystery guest. It's embarrassing... John Daily... or maybe the panel, can't seem to pronounce Brian's name correctly during the entire bit. Brian seems a little flustered as it goes on. The wml episodes with Groucho Marx or Ernie Kovacs on the panel are kind of interesting As to Judy Garland, I'm wondering if she was offered or contemplated a dramatic/comedy tv role other than variety. I suppose the issue would have been the long hours and her reliability factor. I'm not even sure if she routinely guest-starred in any 1960s drama series. Guess I could Google it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members davd_indigo Posted December 5, 2015 Author Members Share Posted December 5, 2015 I was too young to appreciate both Judy Garland's show and "What's My Line" when they were current. And I wasn't allowed to stay up late enough on Sunday night to watch "What's My Line" - I think at 10:30 pm. But it would have been surreal to see David Crosby or Zal Yanovsky on WML in 1965. I think for the conventional TV viewer, Ward Cleaver and Jim Anderson (Father Knows Best) was still the accepted look. I watched the Lovin' Spoonful on a youTube "Mike Douglas Show" clip a few years ago and actually noticed Zal's rhythm playing and physical charisma. I tried to find the performance (on Mike Douglas) and it doesn't seem to be out there now. And most of LS's performances on TV seem to be lip synced. I did find the concert footage below that shows Yanovsky's energy on stage. Live in Concert Lovin' Spoonful Regarding the death of Dorothy Kilgallen, I only became aware of the tragic news 3 or 4 years ago courtesy of the internet. I read something about her mixing alcohol and sleeping pills. I was old enough for the Smothers Brothers on Sunday Nights. And unlike Ed Sullivan who'd had some of the name bands like the Doors on his show, you got the feeling that they (the Smothers) actually got what was going on. It was a glimmer of musical light at that time and place in my life. Looking at the Wikipedia article I see they had Cream, Donovan, The Doors, Jefferson Airplane among many others. I remember they had the Who, who smashed up their equipment at the end of their set of tunes. I actually saw Spike Jones band smashing up equipment on an early 1950's Colgate Comedy Hour show when the shows were available on Netflix. I wondered if the Who got this really dumb idea from them. Another thing only related by way of nostalgia. When I was 12-13ish I had a radio next to my bed. Sometimes late at night lying in bed I'd surf the radio dial (AM radio) looking for something to listen to. I discovered a radio show playing black R&B. It was WLAC in Nashville. I had never heard of rhythm & blues at 12-13 years old, but liked what I heard. John R , the DJ was always pitching mail order records from "Ernie's Record Mart". He was a white guy who took on a black speaking persona. It was another source of musical food for my young mind. And from the second audio clip below, it seems I was part of Hoss Allen calls "under the pillow club" - kids who kept a transistor radio under their pillow listening to the station late at night. Audio clips from the John R show on WLAC About selling black records to white kids (Ernie's Record Mart) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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