A kinder, gentler version of the old blog. This will take a fun look at pop culture, because nothing upsets Ozarkers more than fun and pop culture. Mwu-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
Showing posts with label Christmas Carol. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas Carol. Show all posts
When you read or hear the stories behind most Christmas songs, they are very straight forward and have one definitive version. Maybe it is the "I-can't-believe-it-happened" factor involved or the fact that it happened fairly recently in history, but the details of the recording of Bing Crosby and David Bowie's duet "Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy" is getting more and more convoluted as the years go by. There is a Rashomon effect to what happened at the recording of the Christmas classic.
Here are the facts that are included in every version of the "behind-the-scenes" story:
This was a segment in Bing Crosby annual Christmas TV special. It was recorded in September of 1977. What nobody knew at the time was that it would be Bing Crosby's last Christmas special, although for a few years after his death there were retrospective "clip" shows aired. Bing Crosby died in November of 1977, before the special aired in December of that year.
This song was never meant to be a commercial recording. The performance was only for the TV special. Somewhere along the way, a radio station recorded the song off of one of the "clip" shows the aired after between 1978 - 1982. They began playing it on the radio at Christmas. In 1982, RCA released it against David Bowie wishes. He left RCA shortly after that. The version released by RCA was on a 7 inch extended single, ran for 5 minutes and contained the dialog from the TV special.
By his own admission, David Bowie said, "I hate "The Little Drummer Boy"! Is there something else I can sing?" That was why songwriters Ian Frasier, Larry Grossman and Buz Kohan wrote the song "Peace On Earth" for Bowie too sing.
Bowie and Crosby performed this with less than a hour rehearsal.
David Bowie's mother was a Bing Crosby fan.
From there it gets almost as bizarre as the idea of Bing Crosby singing a duet with David Bowie seemed in 1977. Stories from those involved have contained such elements as mutual admiration by both artist to neither artist had ever heard of the other artist. There are also accusations that both men were wearing too much makeup. There are also reports that it almost didn't happen because of a performer's ego, tyrannical producers and one of the performers almost dying during the rehearsal.
Remember fact number 3? There have been a few articles which suggest that Bowie threatened to walk off the show if he had to sing "The Little Drummer Boy." However, in an interview Bowie gave a few years back with a British music magazine, and in at least one of Ian Frasier's interviews, they portray this as just a casual comment not a egotistical tirade as some articles have suggested. However, the song was written rather quickly to please Bowie.
However, Bing's children have said the producers almost cancelled Bowie's appearance at the last minute, because he showed up dressed in his Ziggy Stardust makeup and wearing an earring. They insisted he get a make-over from the makeup and wardrobe department (apparently something was used to make Bowie's hair brown).
At the same time, Bowie said, in that interview with a British music magazine, that Crosby had, in his words, been "heavily made up" to make him appear healthy. He went on to say that Crosby seemed despondent during rehearsal and was having a hard time speaking. Then, according to Bowie, Bing collapsed. Bowie says Crosby was carried into another room and emergency personnel were called in. He was heard someone say that Bing "was gone," but a few minutes later, Crosby came in and said "Let's get back to work." This was the version that was used in the TV show and the eventual recording. He said Crosby was more alert this time and sounded great.
Mary Crosby (who later "shot J.R." on Dallas) said in an interview that "David seemed nervous." According to Bowie, the experience was "nerve wracking" after Bing collapsed. He said he had hoped to talk to Crosby and tell him how much his mother loved his music, but he said he felt that he "hadn't really met Bing Crosby. There was a light on, but nobody lived there anymore."
Then there is the on-going question of did Bing Crosby know who David Bowie was or did David Bowie really know who Bing Crosby was? Everyone agrees Bowie did this because his mother was a Bing Crosby fan. He said in that interview that was why he did it. However, some wonder if Crosby knew who Bowie was or anything about him. According to Ian Frasier, "I'm pretty sure he did. Bing was no idiot. If he didn't, his kids sure did." The Crosby kids said, in a recent interview, they vividly remember Bowie's arrival, so they were obviously excited about his.
Hearing the song played in heavy rotation on the radio at Christmas time in the "all Christmas, all the time" has taken part of the novelty away from this. After all, this was not made to be a commercial sold recording. It is essentially a song that was, more or less, taped off of a TV show. Also younger generations do not realize how shocking this was at the time, because to them, this is how David Bowie has always looked. This was the beginning of his "Thin White Duke" era and the end of "Ziggy Stardust." Also, the younger generation doesn't associated Crosby with WWII, but as the "guy who sings all the Christmas songs."
Eventually, all the stories will come together in a definitive "story-behind-the-song" that will be told by DJs, music historians and retro bloggers for generations to come.
NOTE: If I can ever find the magazine with that Bowie interview in it, I will try to scan it and post it on this blog, because so many people question my sanity when I mention reading it.
Since the 80s, it has been a tradition on David Letterman's shows for Paul Shaffer to tell the story of how he was music director on The Sonny & Cher Christmas Special. He has always performed a funny imitation of Cher singing "Oh Holy Night." Here is the whole closing medley of Christmas carols including Cher singing "Oh Holy Night." Paul has obviously exaggerated how she performed this song for comedy effect. The real shocker here is William Conrad singing. WOW!
This is a kind of free form, stream of consciousness post that may lead to a sequel, but I've tried to think of as many of these as possible. I began noticing that several things in the popular Christmas films were connected. Sometimes on purpose and sometimes on accident. If anyone thinks of one I left off, post a comment and I'll check it out.
Lionel Barrymore was originally to play Ebeneezer Scrooge in the movie version of A
Christmas Carol, but suffered an injury. He played the role on radio
every year. Because he was so good at playing Scrooge, Frank Capra chose him to play Old Man
Potter in It's a Wonderful Life.
In this scene from Santa Claus Conquers The
Martians, the kids defeat the bad guy, Voldar, using toys (provided by Ideal
Toys). MST3K and others have pointed out the violent and dangerous nature of some of
the toys used. The film was made in 1964. A year after that film came
out a movement by parents to have toy company stop selling war oriented
toys. It was around this time that New York radio personality Jean Shepard, talked to a
"concerned woman" in a coffee shop about the "Ban War Toys" movement.
It brought back a memory from his childhood of wanting a Red Ryder BB
gun and being told by several adults "You'll shoot your eye out." That
story was included in his book, In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash. It
became the basis for the movie A Christmas Story.
A Christmas Story was directed by Bob Clark, who also directed a horror film called Black Christmas in 1974 (Above). Peter Billingsley, who played Ralphie in A Christmas Story, plays an elf named Ming-Ming in Elf.
Obviously, Holiday Inn and White Christmas have both Bing Crosby and "White Christmas" in common, but what does White Christmas and It's a Wonderful Life have in common? If you said Alfalfa, you're right. Former Our Gang/Little Rascals star Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer played Mary's date at the dance in It's a Wonderful Life (His big moment is opening the gym floor to plunge George and Mary into the swimming pool in an act of jealousy). In White Christmas, he is only shown in a photo (below) as Vera-Ellen's brother "Freckle Face" Benny Haynes.
Also the gag involving the photo is similar to the one in another Christmas film, Home Alone. Kevin finds a photo of his bully, big brother Butch's girlfriend (above), which cause Kevin to say, "WOOF!" (below) It is actually a photo of a boy in drag. Director John Hughes felt that using a photo of a "real girl" would be cruel.
The 1934 film version of Victor Herbert's Babes In Toyland, starring Laurel and Hardy, there are several joking references to Walt Disney, including a Mickey Mouse clone (Below) and Three Little Pigs (accompanied by "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?" in the background).
In the 1961 Disney version of Babes in Toyland, Barnaby's henchmen are Laurel and Hardy clones (Above).
Character actor Dick Elliot plays the Judge in Christmas in Connecticut. In It's a Wonderful Life, he is the neighbor, who yells at George Bailey, "WHY DON'T YA KISS HER?" when he is escorting Mary home.
The actual title of this should be "Skinflint: A Country Christmas Carol," because that was the title of this forgotten Christmas TV special. It aired in 1979 amid a glut of TV versions "Christmas Carol" that included a one man version by Rich Little on HBO and a Waltons-ish version featuring Henry Winkler as a greedy old man (complete with age make-up).
Skinflint featured Hoyt Axton (pictured above) as a Cyrus Flint, a greedy banker, who runs the town of Flint City, Tennessee. Like Ebaneezer Scrooge, Flint had an abused, underpaid employee with a dying son played by Mel Tillis. His wife is played by Lynn Anderson. Flint has nephew, played by Larry Gatlin, that ask him to a Christmas party. Flint is visited by the ghost of a deceased partner, played by Tom T. Hall. He is visited by three more ghost. The ghost of the past, played by Martha Raye (Who is dressed like Minnie Pearl, which is odd) shows us that Flint's greedy cost him a relationship with a woman, played by Barbara Mandrell.
Also in the cast include Nashville Brass leader Danny Davis, Dotty West and the Statler Brothers. This TV special is not on video. As a matter of fact it was only shown once (that I recall). The actor, who played Mel Tillis and Lynn Anderson's son, posted on another blog that he is wanting to post his copy on You Tube.
