CLARINETITIS!

First performed in 1697, William Congreve's play The Mourning Bride includes as its first line, “Music hath charms to soothe the wild beast, to soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak,” implying that the rhythm and sounds in music can calm even one with a violent, aggressive nature. In the matter of my clarinet playing, it has a quite different effect!

HENRY MANCINI

                            30 years ago, we lost Henry Mancini. (April 16, 1924 – June 14, 1994)

                                                     Gone but his music will live on forever! 

My connection with Mancini is by way of the Pink Panther. I spent almost 18 years writing and drawing

THE PINK PANTHER comics for the Spanish speaking market at Novaro Publishers by permission from Western Publishing Co. and DePatie-Freleng.

Main Titles from THE PINK PANTHER

DANCING TO THE HITS!

 

THE RETURN OF THE CLARINET!

After more than 30 years of having abandoned it, I finally got another chance to play the clarinet thanks to a much welcome recent birthday gift.  But of course, it has been so long, I have to remember how to play the instrument, so I'm back to my beginner's days and dusting off those old clarinet courses, charts and tutorials. I'm back to square one with embouchure, fingering, tone and reed control.

Will I ever attain professional status?  Of course not! Will I become the next Benny Goodman? Never! 

But the point here is to just have fun and play to myself trying not to squeak much and flub as less as possible.  Music, maestro, please!

My first year trying to get some decent sound out of the instrument!

After much practice, I was proficient enough to get a gig on stage at a small dinner theater, playing

 "As Time Goes By" and "St. Louis Blues" in a musical show!

The day I got my new clarinet, 30 plus years after I had abandoned the instrument.

Back to the Clarinet Player Starter Kit!

Hopefully, this won't ever happen...but you never can tell!

MY TOP TEN ALL-TIME BEST CROONERS LIST

With the passing of Tony Bennett, this past July 21, one of the last remaining male singers from the great Golden Era of Pop Crooners was gone. I've always had great admiration for singers, especially since I can't utter a single good note with my vocal chords. In honor of Tony Bennett and all of the rest, I've compiled my personal list of great crooners, starting with number one, the top of the line and personal favorite, Frank Sinatra!

                                                              1) FRANK SINATRA

2) NAT KING COLE

 

3) DEAN MARTIN

4) BING CROSBY

5) SAMMY DAVIS JR.

6) TONY BENNETT

7) ANDY WILLIAMS

8) MATT MONRO

9) HARRY BELAFONTE

10) JACK JONES

As of this time, Jack Jones is the only performer in this list who is still with us. 

May he long continue to be so!

Vic Flick and Plas Johnson

 VIC FLICK -                                                                                                                                              You may not know the name Vic Flick, but you know his signature motif–that reverby lick from the James Bond theme, recorded in 1962 for Dr. No, the first in the long-running film franchise. Flick played on every Bond smash through Diamonds are Forever, and even recorded with Eric Clapton on the latter-day 007 soundtrack, License to Kill. You can further hear the guitarist in the film scores such as Midnight Cowboy and The Return of the Pink Panther, as well as cult shows like “The Avengers” and “The Prisoner.”

The John Barry Seven, featuring John Barry on trumpet and Vic Flick on the guitar.

Vic Flick 

The Clifford Essex Paragon Deluxe Guitar used by Vic Flick 

on the original James Bond Theme recording of 1962.

John Barry recorded a revised version in 1967.

You can listen to it here:

THE JAMES BOND THEME

The original James Bond Theme used in DR. NO :

The Original James Bond Theme

PLAS JOHNSON -

Plas Johnson's seductive tenor sound has been utilized on many studio sessions, including - most notably - the Pink Panther film (1963). A more versatile player than one might think, Johnson sounds equally at home in blues, R&B-ish, and hard bop settings. He recorded a single in New Orleans (1950), moved to Los Angeles, and was quickly established as a popular studio musician. Johnson worked with Johnny Otis and Charles Brown, recorded dates as a leader for Tampa (1956-1957), Score, Capitol (1958-1960), Ava (1964), and Concord (1975-1976), worked with the Capp-Pierce Juggernaut, and toured with the Gene Harris Superband in 1990. But to date, his most famous piece is the theme from THE PINK PANTHER, composed by Henry Mancini and recorded in 1963. 

"The Pink Panther Theme" is an instrumental composition by Henry Mancini written as the theme for the 1963 film The Pink Panther and subsequently nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Score at the 37th Academy Awards but lost to the Sherman Brothers for Mary Poppins. The eponymous cartoon character created for the film's opening credits by David DePatie and Friz Freleng was animated in time to the tune. The tenor saxophone solo was played by Plas Johnson.

PLAS JOHNSON

The Pink Panther original recording:

THE PINK PANTHER THEME

Music in the Cloud!

 

ACCORDION IN HELL

I took accordion lessons way, way back in Grade School. 

According to this FAR SIDE cartoon by Gary Larson, does that mean I'm going to end up 

at the place down below?

 

Since I know you're all dying to know, here's a close up of the Hohner Accordion Model that I used to play. The expression on my face on the picture at right, tells everything about the joy I felt about learning this instrument. 

SEPTEMBER SONG by SINATRA

This is one of my all-time favorite songs and the lyrics become more and more relevant as the years go by!

When I was a young man courting the girls

I played me a waiting game

If a maid refused me with tossing curls

I'd let the old Earth take a couple of whirls

And as time came around she came my way

As time came around, she came.

Oh, it's a long, long time from May to December

But the days grow short when you reach September.

When the autumn weather turns the leaves to flame

One hasn't got time for the waiting game

Oh, the days dwindle down to a precious few,

September, November.

And these few precious days I'll spend with you

These precious days I'll spend with you

September, November.

And these few precious days I'll spend with you

These precious days I'll spend with you.

Listen here:

Remembering BENNY GOODMAN on his birthday.

BENNY GOODMAN was born May 30, 1909. 

In celebration of his birthday, from the 1948 film A SONG IS BORN, here's a great rendition of "Stealing Apples". Starring Danny Kaye and Virgina Mayo, the film also features some swing greats like Louis Armstrong, Tommy Dorsey, Charlie Barnet, Lionel Hampton on the vibes, and many others! 

"LEAVING ON A JET PLANE" as sung by Frank Sinatra.

Frank Sinatra released SINATRA & COMPANY on the Reprise label in 1971. The album features several bossa nova styled songs recorded for a planned second album with Antonio Carlos Jobim but were used instead as part of this new production. Here, Sinatra sings several hits from new composers such as John Denver, who penned "Leaving On A Jet Plane", a nice tune which was incidentally used briefly on the1996 film THE ROCK where Sean Connery sings to it while taking a shower!

You can listen to the song here:

The song is one of several where Frank makes references to flying and air travel.

SEPTEMBER OF MY YEARS

   SEPTEMBER OF MY YEARS 

Arranged and Conducted by Gordon Jenkins 

                                                            LP Originally Released September 1965 

The first time I heard this song,  I was 14 years old and while I liked it very much, I didn't feel particularly identified with its lyrics. Now, 55 years later, the song has acquired deep and very relevant meanings for me.  It has become one of the iconic numbers in Frank Sinatra's repertoire.

One day you turn around and it's summer
Next day you turn around and it's fall
And the springs and the winters of a lifetime
Whatever happened to them all?

As a man who has always had the wand'ring ways
Now I'm reaching back for yesterdays
'Til a long-forgotten love appears
And I find that I'm sighing softly as I near
September, the warm September of my years

As I man who has never paused at wishing wells
Now I'm watching children's carousels
And their laughter's music to my ears
And I find that I'm smiling gently as I near
September, the warm September of my years

The golden warm September of my years

 

SEPTEMBER SONG by Sinatra

We welcome the beginning of a new month in this pandemic year, hoping that things get better as the months fly by.  Sinatra's song refers mainly to the passage of time and the fact that, as we grow older, time is much too precious to waste!

The song was featured in his 1962 album POINT OF NO RETURN although it had been recorded by him before and would appear in different versions later on, but this one is my favorite. The songs on this album were recorded on September of 1961 and were the final sessions at Capitol Records.

Sinatra then moved on to his own label, Reprise.