Christopher Hitchens and "Over the Rainbow"

Christopher Hitchens, essayist, who left our planet on December last year, said in 2002 “writing is recreational for me. I’m unhappy when I’m not doing it”.  This sentiment applies to many of us.  I have just found a new writing group and look forward to being with people who share the same passion.  Just quite what his connection is to Judy Garland escapes me now, except that they have both gone “over the rainbow”  Never mind….

It is interesting that some of us have a need to draw, paint, play a musical instrument but others  want to write.  Of course many of us do not have the brain, wit and success of Hitchens; nor do we become involved with so much controversy.

Hitchens was born in Portsmouth, England on April 13, 1949.   The family was not wealthy but sent him to a private school and he graduated from  Oxford University.  In Britain debate and arugment is a part of the school system and Hitchens embraced it; always willing to engage in any controversial subject.

He wrote for the The New Statesman, Vanity Fair, Nation and Atlantic and never missed any deadlines even though he kept up a busy social life.  He counted among his friends many of the writers of our times, Salman Rushdie, Martin Amis, Ian McEwan among others.  Friend, Christopher Buckley recalled a lunch with Hitchens which started at 1 pm and ended at 11 pm. Also he wrote books on Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine and many political essays, about international affairs. He was most identified with George Orwell, British essayist and author of “1984”.  In the course of his work to uncover the truth of any situation, he traveled to many hotspots of the world, Argentina, Portugal, Northern Ireland, Greece and Cyprus.  He was shot at in Sarajevo, jailed in Czechoslovakia and beaten in Beirut.  He formed the opinion that religion had caused many of the conflicts in the world.

The results were books such as, “God is Not Great: How religion Poisons Everything” (2007) and “The Missionary Position” (1995).  In one of his final interviews with Charlie Rose after the discovery of his fatal illness of esophageal cancer, they discussed life after death.  Hitchens insisted there was nothing after death, when you died that was the end of it. After his death I imagined how annoyed he would have been if he found himself “over the rainbow” in some form or another.   Some of us hope there is life after death but I suppose we will only know when the time comes. 

  

            

Stephen Sondheim's "Assassins" at Shenandoah Conservatory

Opening night is a success, "Alternately funny, terrifying, creepy, infuriating, and heart-wrenching, Assassins takes us all on an intense, arresting journey to a limbo populated by the men and women who have entered American history books for the wrong reasons." so says the director (daughter, Carolyn Coulson-Grigsby) in her notes on the program.

So we are in the car after all the photos, hugs and congratulations and granddaughter Eliza, aged 11 years, says "Can we go out with the cast to Buffalo Wild Wings?" (the show called for a child in some scenes and a small part as "Billy Moore" and Eliza had fulfilled these roles seriously with great dedication).  Eliza assured her mother there was some reason why she could go into school later the next day!  So mother says, "Yes" and "do you want to be dropped off home" to me?  "Hell NO, I never want to be dropped off home, I want to go where the action is."  As my Judy friends from New York can attest to!  Like grandmother, like mother, like daughter, as I mentioned to a friend later that night.

We lose Eliza to her new friends, 18-22 year old college students. Mom and I sit with a group of guys and get to talking about the great artists we had seen.  Carolyn tells them the classic story when I had nearly been arrested for audio taping and photographing Billy Joel, way back in the days when they were more strict about those things.  Also the times when a group of us used to line up for days for tickets for Paul McCartney and others.  She remembers seeing Sammy Davis Jr. at the Circle Star Theatre in San Carlos when she was about 8 years old, (remembers the book report she did) also Frank Sinatra and Mac Davis.  Sadly Judy was gone before my children could see her, but I did take Carolyn to see Jim Bailey (a Judy impersonator) in San Francisco. 

I begin to wonder if I am responsible for producing two performing arts children by taking them to see the "greats" when they were in their formative years?  I never will forget the expression on the face of fifteen year old son, Adrian, when we sat in the front row at the Flint Center in Cupertino for Woody Herman and his big band, or watching Gene Kruper play, the master drummer of all time.  Is this what made him the musician that he is?

But back to the discussions after the show.  I was so glad to hear that the young people are still crazy about the "greats" of the previous years.  Billy Joel seems to be a consistent favorite; not that Joel is gone but his days of the big concerts are over.  I think I must have gone to 15 or more of his concerts with my kids, way back before they could drive, and later when they drove me.

I am lucky to enjoy my children's careers.  I look forward to Carolyn's next directorial play, Pride and Prejudice in April and Adrian's Big Band concert with Bob McCheery, trumpeter from Los Angeles in February with the Dixon High School Band.

Judy's friend, Frank Sinatra

I feel it is time for me to write another blog. Before I left home I watched a television special on my local PBS station featuring Frank Sinatra and I realized that I had not written much about his friendship with Judy.

Frank Sinatra had a two week run at Carnegie Hall in the mid 1980s and he recorded one of these nights to give as a Christmas gift to his family and friends, and it had not been shown on television before.   One of his songs was "The Man (Gal) that Got Away" (Gershwin/Arlen) and although I do not usually like ANYONE singing one of Judy's songs, this particular version was absolutely beautiful.  He combined it with "It Never Entered my Head" (Rogers/Hart). I feel that as Sinatra grew into his older years he brought a greater sensitivity to his music.

Sinatra had great respect for composers and arrangers and made certain he gave them credit either before or after each song.  This was something I noticed when I took my children to see him at the Circle Star Theater, near San Francisco in the mid 1980s.  I loved his relaxed chats with the audience; accepting flowers and a bottle of Jack Daniels from fans. He seemed to be very happy then and I remember him saying that this (singing) was really all he wanted to do.

Of course singing was really all Judy wanted to do also.  They both loved to entertain. Although they had never appeared in a movie together (except perhaps in one of those mega star movies) they were great friends and often performed on radio programs together and this is where you can find their duets.

I love the photo taken at a night club where a very young Sinatra is kneeling talking to an equally young Judy who is sitting at a table with Van Johnson, I believe.  Sinatra is the person who called Judy every day when she was at Peter Bingham Hospital in Boston towards the end of her stint at MGM.  He sent a record player, records and flowers.

He was also the one who hired a bus and took a group of her friends to see her perform in Long Beach for a benefit for handicapped children in 1955.  There is a audio of the show floating around the fan base--and at the end of the show Judy must have gone off to change and Sinatra brings all the stars on the stage and introduces them.  There is some talk of someone singing and Sinatra says "I'm not following that!" and suggests that Dean Martin or Sammy Davis Jr. entertain.  He thoroughly understood her genius and once commented words along the lines "that when we have all been forgotten, Judy will not".

Some thoughts on traveling to Washington D.C. this season

I'm at Sacramento Airport!>

   It is 6 a.m. at the bustling airport and a mad house.  It is pouring of rain and many passengers arrived late and had to be re-scheduled, luckily I am on time.   The departure lounge does not hold the usual business travelers on this early morning flight to Washington D.C. but is full of interesting looking people.  As an anthropologist I particularly enjoy airports, watching all the different type of people traveling all over the world.  Today is a feast for my eyes.  Where do all these people come from, they don’t look like the usual passengers at Sacramento airport?   A 6 year-old girl bounces past me tossing her head to ensure we notice the large red feathers in her blonde hair.  Her mother equally blonde with many fluffy scarves following dragging a brother.  Then I see the dark curly haired father, wearing equally highly colored clothes, a red sweater this time, and pulling three cases on a rack.  Where do they come from?  They do not look like any Europeans I have seen before; perhaps from Russia or Eastern Europe?   Then I spy an interesting looking woman.  She is very short and very round.  She is dragging two suitcases on top of one another, a computer bag over her one shoulder and purse on other shoulder and the largest plastic bag I have ever seen!   This type of plastic bag I have seen in the Middle East or Europe.   She is like a round apple and rolls along with these appendices hanging from her body. She is obviously very strong.  How will she get them all on the plane?
>
> The boarding agent has obviously had a bad week.  She keeps calling out asking people to check bags and she won’t charge them.  It is a full flight, she says and space is at a premium but nobody is listening, they are all determined to get everything on the plane and consequently we are forty minutes leaving.  I see my round lady, a few seats ahead, pushing her plastic bag into an overhead, she made it!   Across the aisle I notice a Moslem young woman adjusting her head scarf; she seems to have trouble with her head phones.  In fact, she constantly finds it necessary to adjust the scarf; it comes off and she looks furtively around, in case anyone see her hair presumably and pulls it down across her forehead and twirls it around her neck.  She is very slim and tiny, wearing jeans and a brown jacket and very high heel sexy black sandals.  I find the modesty of the hair and sexy sandals such a contrast. Of course I can‘t take my eyes off her.  She is aware of me and I feel guilty about watching her.  I must smile the next time we catch eyes.  I smile and she responds and asks me the time, “How far are we away from Washington D.C.?”  We figure out we are about half way there.  She speaks very softly so I get up and move over to her. I ask if she is a student from Davis University, I know they have many foreign students.  No, she is attending Sac State University, studying languages.  She is going home for the holidays and misses her family so much.  She has two brothers and two sisters and talks to her mother and family on Skype  every day. She is traveling to Frankfurt and on to her home town.  I tell her I am an anthropologist and interested in people who are different from me.  Doubt she understands exactly what an anthropologist is but understands the concept.  I tell her I like her dark eyes and skin and she tells me she loves the Californian people with their big smiles.  Everyone smiles at her, she says.  I am glad about that because she is very brave to come from such a long way away and study in a culture so different from her own.  Where is she from?  Saudi Arabia, she says.  Oh good I think the first person I have met from Saudi Arabia.
>
> I have traveled to the Middle East many times and love the people. The first time was the trip I took with my daughter nearly twenty years ago to Egypt on this same flight to Frankfurt, then 6 hours lay over in Athens and finally into to Cairo at 10:30 p.m.  It seemed we had been flying for days, but the second we saw the bright lights of the hotels in the city, we were awake.  The Egyptians had decorated the hotels with Christmas themes for us and Disney land characters. It was a magical trip and led me to travel to Jordon, Syria, Tunisia and Libya.  The people were always very kind and considerate to us, I never will forget the man, walking with his wife, who nodded to us with hands together, saying “Welcome, welcome” in Syria. 
>
> I think of another young woman I met many years ago who was traveling around the world.  She went back to New Zealand and I have an urge to visit her and her family.  So a new trip is planned.
>
>  Hope everyone enjoys their time with family and friends during this holiday season.  Christmas was the holiday Judy particularly enjoyed and loved decorating her homes.

Comparison of two movies-"A Star" and "Show Business"

Lose that Long Face from "A Star is Born"

http://youtu.be/iChCYkO-b-g
http://youtu.be/iChCYkO-b-ghttp://youtu.be/iChCYkO-b-g

I’m watching “There’s no Business Like Show Business” with Ethel Merman (who managed to get herself into nine numbers yet!!) and Dan Dailey; vaudeville couple with three children, Johnnie Ray, Mitzi Gaynor and Donald O’Connor set in the early 1900’s.  This is a typical 20^th Century musical and suddenly I realize it was made in 1954, the same year that Judy made her “A Star is Born” masterpiece.  What a difference!   The first thing I noticed that there were no close-ups, absolutely none – even on Marilyn Monroe who had a small part in the movie. I can only assume that the director or cameraman did not know how to handle them in the new CinemaScope! 

Judy and Johnnie Ray

I enjoyed the Fox musicals and I particularly liked Betty Grable in movies like, “Mother Wore Tights” and there were so, so, many of these vaudeville movies.  

The powers to be who put together “A Star” had a deeper insight into what was happening in “show business” in the mid 1950s.  Of course we had a touch of vaudeville with Judy showing her rise in The Born in a Truck sequence.  

Born in a Trunk 

I thought of what a different path Judy was taking from her friends, and she had many friends in this movie.  I wonder if they ever met during the making of the two movies and discussed their projects.  Judy had met Donald O’Connor as a child in vaudeville and they were good friends through the years.  She and Ethel were certainly long time friends – I remember her telling us (Lorna Smith and I) in London in 1960 that she should be meeting Ethel and Kay Thompson in Italy.  And certainly at the end of her life she was friendly with Johnnie Ray and performed in Europe with him and was living in his rental house in London when she died.  Marilyn and Judy were social friends in Hollywood and fond of eachother.

Judy and Marilyn

How different these movies were and to consider them together makes us realize just how magnificent A Star is Born  was.   Judy was taking control of her career and shaking off the light hearted musicals of MGM.  What a pity that the three film package with Warner Bros. did not happen when she and Luft put together their original plans – just think we might have had two more movies of the caliber of The Star!

  

Still from "A Star"

            

Judy Garland Long Playing records

I am supposed to be writing a blog about the many Judy Garland LP's I have, but have got caught up listening to Steve Gadd's sax playing of "Georgia on my Mind" on Spotify.  How the technology has changed in the last 50 years!

Most of my long playing records

"Annie Get Your Gun" and Hannah's favorite doll 

Hannah and me and a couple of favorites

Well, back to the LP's.  Hannah came to visit me for a couple of days and instead of searching through my many Judy books, CD's and DVD's she was fascinated by my collection of long playing records and pulled them all out of the cupboard, spread them all over the place and luckily my turn table still worked and we played some of them-"Annie Get your Gun" was one.

Strangely, or maybe not, I never get them out now.  When did they stop producing LP's?  Was it in the late 1970's or 1980's when CD's arrived on the scene?  These LP's have been with me seemingly all my life.  Originally I had 78's but I guess I left those behind when I came to the States in 1962.  Those early Capital LP's were so important - Miss Show Business, Judy, Judy in Love and so on.  A new one would be issued every six months or so and we would play the new one again, again, and again until the songs were firmly entrenched  in our souls.  In talking with Lorna Smith, sometime in the last few years, we both agreed that we didn't actually need to play the records any more, they were already in our heads and could be called to mind any time we wished.  There is a songs for all our moods, happy, sad, funny or what every was needed.

I look at the history of the records; some were bought in England in the 1950's, some in the States and even more in England in the 1970's.  "A Star is Born" was brought back to me by a boy friend visiting the States on business in 1955s  - I remembered being so disappointed that it was a record I already had.  I'd hoped he would have found something that was not issued in England.   But it did have the impressive package which we didn't have over there.

These poor old records have had a long and tiring life.  The journey to Los Angeles, California in 1962; a move up to Northern California in 1967, back to England again in 1970 for 3 years, then back to Northern California - where they had some peace for 20 years.  Then either off to Connecticut or Palm Springs (can't remember).  Finally back to Northern California about twelve years ago.

What are my favorites?  The classical Capital editions of  "Judy," "Judy in Love," "Alone," Miss Show Business" along with the special LP which was produced by DeRoy Sound Services for the British Club many years ago.  This includes the radio show were Judy talks with 3-year old Liza and many radio programmes where we can hear Judy laughing and giggling with stars like Bob Hope and Bing Crosby.  This material we did not have access to many years ago.  Nowadays people can find practically anything on YouTube.

There have been some discussions recently on various web sites about where Judy most enjoyed singing and many people were surprised that she enjoyed the recording sessions best.  This makes most sense to me.  Having been with Judy on couple of her recording sessions, I saw her in action there.  I also saw her in concert many times, also several of CBS shows.  In the recording studio she was in control - see my previous blog about being at the London Sessions - Judy worked with the musical director and musicians - they were a team producing a piece of art.  Live performances were exciting, but one had to consider what was happening back stage; how the audience was; whether Judy felt her voice was in perfect condition -  many factors which she could not control.  At the studio, she would listen to the play back and re-do the recording if she wished.  She also did not have to dress up; could wear her comfortable attire, pants, flat shoes and blouse.  She didn't have to put up with someone fussing with her hair or make-up.    She was completely at home there and these are my favorite memories.

Always for Judy,  Joan

PS Just watching Judy duets on PBS, thank goodness for PBS.  Mickey and Judy "You're so Right for me" perfect.

Review of latest publication from The International Judy Garland Club

"Sweet to Stunning" - Homage to Young Judy

I shuffled the papers on my desk and find it!!  The latest publication from Gary Horrocks, and suddenly I am transported back to those early years on the MGM set with Judy.

I thought how pleased Judy would be, if she were to look down at us from over the rainbow,  to see how well the club is doing.  She always loved to see the publications they issued and enjoyed meeting members. I think she would be proud of the club now.

John Fricke captures her early life and first work with the studio up to the movie, For Me and My Gal.

John Walther brings alive Judy's work on the radio, not only singing but acting in several Theatre shows including Lux Radio and The Chase & Sanborn programs (sometimes we are lucky enough to find these performances included as an extra with a Judy movie on DVD).  She worked with practically everyone in the entertainment industry even those outside of MGM!  We must not forget the many composers, musicians and musical directors of the era.  She performed 140 live radio programs in seven years, in addition to her movie work; mostly in her teen years.

But the most interesting article to me was the one by Jonathan Summers.  He documents his efforts to get Judy's 1960 recordings at EMI released starting in April 2000.  At that time the studio decided the material 'would not do the artist justice'.  What absolute rubbish!!  There was no doubt that Judy was in her finest voice then.  Thank goodness Jonathan persisted and later worked with First Hand Records and managed to get a package together.  He mentions his difficulties in getting photographs from these sessions and I thought ironically that if Lorna Smith and I had taken a camera in to the EMI studios on August 3, 1960 when we were with Judy when she recorded four songs, we could have given him our photos!!! But we had decided not to take a camera in as this might be distracting to Judy as she was working.  Oh Well!

Thank you Jonathan for your efforts and thank you Gary and Justin for producing another beautiful edition.