Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Frank, Dino, Sammy and.....JOHNNY sing?


A little early Christmas present from me and our friend, commenter IMPERTINENT....oh, it doesn't get better than this! Enjoy (who knew Johnny Carson could SING?)
xxx Z

24 comments:

Z said...

I just wanted to add that Sammy always looks a tad insecure and I always hope it's me just being overly sensitive....because those guys ADORED HIM..but I often wonder if it's a bit of the old black/white thing from his earlier days...I've always felt that and hope I'm so wrong.

Anybody else read YES I CAN?

Z said...

sorry for getting too serious after that great music!

ADDRESS THAT...we don't need to get into race on this one! SORRY!

elmers brother said...

I just got an email sharing Johnny's service in the Navy during WWII. I had no idea.

elmers brother said...

wasn't he quite a drummer also?

Z said...

Wikipedia says he was a "talented amateur drummer", Elbro..very interesting! that guy was QUITE a talent!

elmers brother said...

I haven't watched the Tonight Show once since he left.

heidianne jackson said...

all of them - voices like angels and the ability to slapstick in the middle of such a beautifully rendered song. we just don't see talent like this anymore. at least i can't think of anyone.

elbro, i'm with you in that i haven't watched the tonight show a single time since johnny left. and unless someone spectacular, like johnny, shows backup on the scene, i don't see it ever happening.

is looking for another johnny or dino or sammy or frankie, like looking for another reagan? i think johnny summed up all of their beliefs about their "jobs" in the final seconds:

"we all thank ya, but WE had all the fun. gee, what a wonderful night this has been..."

thanks so much for reminding me the joy of music well performed and enjoyed in the performance.

Anonymous said...

I love this Z. It's just great. So sad to realize they're all gone.

How could one not enjoy seeing people who perform with such abandon and good old fashioned fun?

Real entertainment is just the best.

Pris

Z said...

The Tonight Show could NEVER EVER be as good as Carson's Tonight Show.
Can somebody tell me what's appealing about Conan OBrian, too, by the way? eeeoooo (not to be too unkind, but..)

This is just SUCH good entertainment.. ...AND SUCH good voices, too. What talent.

Dean Martin played a LOT of golf at two courses very near me. Two friends saw him all the time....he was never the same easy going, happy man after the death of his (gorgeous) son Dino, apparently. But, he was VERY kind, very respectful...a really decent guy.

Always On Watch said...

Oh, for those days again -- the days of the Rat Pack!

Mr. AOW had the pleasure of seeing Sammy perform live back in the 1980s. It doesn't get any better than Sammy at his peak!

Linda said...

It looks like they were all having a good time. I would have loved being able to see them. We never do anything! Sigh! I'm glad there is the internet.

Thanks, Z!

Chuck said...

The Rat Pack was before my time ;)

I like these guys though. Especially Frank Sinatra. I've never heard Johnny sing though, not bad.

elmers brother said...

I read Sammy's autobiography and Kitty Kelly's biography of Mr. Sinatra. Mr. Davis was into some weird Satanic stuff at one time and he did suffer some while serving in the Army because of his race. A great entertainer both. Their personal lives were a different story.

Jerry Lewis' book about him and Dean Martin I found very tender. He loved him and it showed.

Z said...

I can't get over Sinatra's phrasing and never will.

Elbro, the treatment Sammy got in the army was pretty bad, that's for sure.

Does anybody remember the CAROL BURNETT SHOW? I wish entertainment shows like that would come back; except I want THOSE PEOPLE back. I don't want a funny satire on GONE WITH THE WIND (remember?) with Madonna, Johnny Depp and Boy George.......ugh.

Joe said...

Thanks for a reminder of the days when entertainment was both professional and fun!

When did we forget that the two can, no MUST, go together?

Can you imagine ANY entertainer today who would put up with being "upstaged" like Dean Martin did in that piece and turn it into a perfect positive?

And not a nasty vulgarity in the house.

Who knew?

elmers brother said...

well said Joe.

My father was born and raised in Steubenville, Dean Martin's hometown and Mr. Martin himself bought the bells that sounded every hour at the local Catholic orphanage. It was wonderful to hear.

Dean Martin was a family favorite and still is. He made it look easy and fun, was dashing and suave. Will there ever be another like him? Seriously doubt it.

Z said...

There won't be another like him, you're right, Elbro.
My uncle was just here, he said Dino used to go to Bel Air Presbyterian Church quite regularly.....I hadn't known that.

This whole bunch was like talent-kissed, they really were. Amazing talent...almost always clean and hilarious. Too bad so few comedians can be so funny without making us laugh through their sheer audacity and nerve lowering the decency bar for a guffaw,you know?

Anonymous said...

I'm not a big fan of any of them, but I enjoyed the song itself. Johnny Carson's singing was a pleasant surprise. I wonder why he didn't do more.

And yes, I agree that there was definitely a black-white thing going on, with Johnny asking Sammy if he liked being on the back of the bus. Johnny made a few other awkward (racist?) moves: covering Sammy's eyes during the song and going up to Dean and Frank at the end, but not Sammy.

I had never thought of Johnny as being racist, but of course being overtly and subtly racist was fairly prevalent back then, including in show business. Not that it makes it right, of course.

Faith said...

Wasn't it Sammy asking Johnny How does it feel to sit in the back of the bus? I didn't get why he said it but it wasn't Johnny saying it.

Faith said...

I read up a bit on the Rat Pack after seeing this video. They were known for changing the rules against blacks in Las Vegas among other things. Such rules as that black entertainers didn't get a dressing room as white entertainers did but had to wait out by the pool between acts. There's no way there would have been any racism among them, or Johnny Carson either.

Z said...

Johnny's mouth isn't moving when that question's asked..off screen, it's Sammy asking Dean because Dean's been left out of the mix singing-wise for a few minutes...take another look. Then, somebody says (I think it's Sammy?) "Give Dean a go.."

Faith, are you alluding to my suggestion that Sammy always seems a tad uncomfortable to ME and I said it's a bit of the old black/white thing? I would NEVER imply it's the Rat Pack who was racist, it's his background; Sammy got it, but good, in the army and in private life, and I don't believe we ever forget those things. I believe he felt TOTALLY loved by Dean, Peter Lawford, Sinatra, and the rest of the bunch; but that he never felt he QUITE fit in, God bless him. I hope I'm wrong, it's a sense I get from his face quite often.
Man, what a talent.

Faith said...

Oh THAT makes sense of it if Sammy is saying it to DEAN. Yes, Johnny's mouth isn't moving.

No I wasn't alluding to what you said, Z, I was responding to Anonymous who thought it was Johnny saying that to Sammy and how it was a racist thing to say.

I have that same feeling you have about Sammy sometimes too though -- but then he'll do something like lead the parade at the end and I'm glad it's not a big thing. I'm glad he had that gang of friends. Even if he did have moments of not feeling he fit in, that must have gone a long way to soothing the hurts of his life -- plenty of them, and not just in the army.

Faith said...

Gotta say, though, I looked again and I don't see Sammy saying it to Dean. He's looking at Johnny right after he says that. But I think you must be right, Dean is the only one it makes sense for him to say it to.

Z said...

yes, I think he turned to Johnny right after saying it....Thing is, Dean didn't say it and the others in the frame didn't, so it had to be Sammy, and would figure when you consider what he said! :-)

I think Sammy did a lot for Black Americans everywhere..........and so did the Rat Pack who showed that EVERYONE is welcome!!